The growth of trade unions under British colonialism : a comparative study

Britain brought to its colonies a set of Western attitudes toward the appropriate role and status of trade unions. On September 17, 1930, Lord Passfield (formerly Sidney Webb), Secretary of State for the Colonies issued a directive, urging all colonial governments to take appropriate measures to encourage the exist- ence of trade unions. Lord Passfield said: "I regard the formation of such associations in the Colonial Dependencies as a natural and legitimate consequence of social and industrial progress, but I recognize that there is a danger that, without sympathetic supervision and guidance, organizations of labourers without experience of combination for any social or economic progress, may fall under the domination of disaffected persons, by which their activities may be diverted to improper and mischievous ends. I accordingly feel that it is the duty of Colonial Governments to take such steps as may be possible to smooth the passage of such organizations, as they emerge, into constitutional channels. As a step in this direction it is, in my opinion, desirable that legislation on the lines of Section 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act 1871 should be enacted in all Dependencies, where it does not already exist, declaring that trade unions are not criminal, or unlawful for civil purposes, and also providing for the compulsory registration of trade unions". This directive was to remain standard British policy towards trade unions in the colonies and provided the "raison d'etre" which became known as the "British Model".peer-reviewe

Baseline marine benthic surveys in the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean)

Extract from: MEDCOAST 97 : Proceedings of the Third International Conference on the Mediterranean Coastal Environment, Qawra, Malta / E. Ozhan (editor), (1997)During the period 1991 to 1997, extensive baseline studies of the submarine geomorphology, infralittoral habitats, macrobenthic assemblages, and demersal fish fauna, were carried out in 14 different sites around the Maltese Islands, using conventional SCUBA diving techniques. These were made as part of assessments of the environmental impact of existing or proposed projects, or in order to produce an inventory of coastal resources. In total, these surveys covered a sea-bed area of ca. 7.55Km² and a coastline length of ca 24 km, and represent the most extensive biological surveys of the marine environment carried out to date in the Maltese Islands. The results of these surveys have been presented as maps showing the type, location, and spatial extent of these physical and biological features. The Peres & Picard (1964) scheme, as adapted by Pen~s (1967; 1982) was used to classify and characterize the benthic assemblages recorded during the surveys. Our results show that, in tenus of spatial extent, the most important macrobenthic assemblages are the communities of photophilic 'algae on hard substrata, meadows of the sea-grass Posidonia oceanica and communities of bare well-sorted sand. For all these, many subtypes and facies exist, depending on the light intensity, hydrodynamic conditions, microtopography, sediment granulometry and other edaphic factors, and anthropic influences, including pollution. Other assemblages with a limited spatial distribution include meadows of the sea-grass (vmodocea nodosa and of the Lessepsian immigrant Halophila stipu/acea on sandy bottoms, the assemblages of boulder fields which are complexes of photophilic and sciaphilic communities, and those of marine caves. Our maps are supplemented by descriptions of the different habitats and macrobenthjc assemblages, species lists, and semi-quantitative data on percentage cover for the dominant macroalgae, shoot density counts for sea-grass meadows, and population density counts for the main macrofaunal species. These maps and data-sets are intended to be used (i) for assessing the status of habitats, species assemblages, and individual species, around the Maltese Islands in order to recommend appropriate measures for their conservation, including inclusion in red data lists; (ii) for designation of marine protected areas; and (iii) as baselines against which future monitoring studies and surveys can be compared.peer-reviewe

Genetic basis of between-individual and within-individual variance of docility

Funded by Alces Software UCLA Academic Senate Division of Life Sciences National Geographic Society National Science Foundation. Grant Numbers: IDBR-0754247, DEB-1119660, DBI-0242960, DBI-0731346 University of Aberdeen Data deposited at Dryad: doi:10.5061/dryad.11vf0.Peer reviewedPostprin

Environmental consequences of Maltese MSW incineration

The intensity of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generation by human and economic activities causes environmental impacts, particularly critical in small insular countries, such as Malta. Thus, an investigation of the potential of Maltese MSW incineration with energy recovery was performed in this work focused on thermodynamic and land use aspects. The electricity potential of an MSW incinerator with associated electrical power plant to be built in Malta can be estimated as 5% of the total energy consumed in 2010 in the archipelago; alternatively, in a CHP configuration, it can also supply all the thermal energy required in 2010 for Multi-Effect Desalination. During its lifespan the plant can reduce deposition in landfills by at least 270,000 m2 (0.09% of the archipelago total area), diminishing also the potential for water and soil contamination. Last but not least, it can contribute to decrease the dependence on imported fossil fuels

Energy recovery and impact on land use of Maltese municipal solid waste incineration

An investigation of the potential of Maltese Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) for energy recovery is carried in this work together with a preliminary assessment of the corresponding economic and land use impacts. MSW composition data was collected to evaluate the waste combustion enthalpy. Data from 1997 to 2010 allowed the conclusion that an incinerator with a capacity of 32,500kg/h can treat all the waste expectably generated in Malta during next 20 years. The thermodynamics of the steam cycle combined with elemental analysis were applied to study the contribution for power (PG) and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generation. The thermal energy was analyzed assuming its use in desalination. The best scenario considered corresponds to a potential electric power of 10 MW (PG) or to a maximum 4.8 million m3/year of desalinated water combined with and 7.25 MW (CHP). It was concluded that incineration and CHP have the greatest potential to maximize revenues, due to the optimal combination of heat production and electricity generation. Finally, a calculation of the savings in land use due to the MSW incineration implementation was performed. Those savings could represent from 13,500 to 17,000 m2 per year, a decisive benefit for Malta.The authors acknowledge the financial support of IPC through project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011 (Strategic Project-LA 25-2011-2012) for the execution of the work described herein. The work would not have been possible without the support of various individuals and institutions in Portugal and in the Maltese islands. In Portugal, we are grateful for the information provided by LIPOR - Central de Valorizacao Energetica, at Maia, which allowed us to validate the incineration data gathered in the literature. Our sincere thanks are also addressed to Prof. Toste de Azevedo, Viriato Semiao, Zdena Zsigraiova, Gilberto Tavares and Rui Martins, of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Instituto Superior Tecnico, who helped us with the thermodynamic calculations and with other important incineration related information. We acknowledge the help of Prof. Godfrey Pirotta, Edward Mallia, Tonio Sant and Maria Attard of the University of Malta for their availability to explain and contextualize the islands' energy and environment policies. Finally, the assistance of WasteServ Malta Corporation, which provided actual information about MSW generation and further details about the Maltese waste management system, should also be acknowledged

Potential for energy recovery from maltese MSW: a thermodynamic analysis

An investigation of the Maltese Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) potential for energy recovery is carried in this work. In a first step, MSW composition data was collected to evaluate the waste combustion enthalpy by a weighted average of each fraction, using the corresponding Low Heat Value (LHV). Results indicate that each kilogram of Maltese MSW releases circa 8,726 kJ of energy when combusted. Data from 1997 to 2009 allowed the conclusion that an incinerator with a capacity of 32.5 tonnes per hour can treat the waste expectably generated in Malta during the plant life span. In a second step, MSW elemental analysis was used to evaluate (i) the necessary stoichiometric air (152.4%) and (ii) the temperature of the flue gas (915.5 ºC), respecting the 6% ratio (voxygen/vfluegas) imposed by EU regulations. Finally, the thermodynamics of the steam cycle was applied to study the possible contribution of energy recovery for electrical power generation (PG) and co-generation (CHP). The thermal energy was analyzed assuming its use in desalination (multi effect distillation, MED), by means of the so-called gain output ratio (GOR) index. The final results lead to a potential power of 10 MW (PG) or a minimum of 7.25 and 4.85 millions m3/year of desalinated water MW (CHP)

Emerging themes in population consequences of disturbance models

Funding: K.A.K., R.S.B. and D.P.C. were supported by the E&P Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Programme (JIP) of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) (grant no. 00-07-23). K.A.K. was also supported by the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship. E.P. was supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) (grant no. N00014-19-1-2464). D.P.C. was also supported by ONR (grant no. N00014-18-1-2822).Assessing the non-lethal effects of disturbance from human activities is necessary for wildlife conservation and management. However, linking short-term responses to long-term impacts on individuals and populations is a significant hurdle for evaluating the risks of a proposed activity. The Population Consequences of Disturbance (PCoD) framework conceptually describes how disturbance can lead to changes in population dynamics, and its real-world application has led to a suite of quantitative models that can inform risk assessments. Here, we review PCoD models that forecast the possible consequences of a range of disturbance scenarios for marine mammals. In so doing, we identify common themes and highlight general principles to consider when assessing risk. We find that, when considered holistically, these models provide valuable insights into which contextual factors influence a population's degree of exposure and sensitivity to disturbance. We also discuss model assumptions and limitations, identify data gaps and suggest future research directions to enable PCoD models to better inform risk assessments and conservation and management decisions. The general principles explored can help wildlife managers and practitioners identify and prioritize the populations most vulnerable to disturbance and guide industry in planning activities that avoid or mitigate population-level effects.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A preliminary report on the marine Macrobenthos and the Demersal fish fauna of the island of Filfla (Maltese Islands, Central Mediterranean)

The nature, distribution, and abundance of the main component species of the supralittoral, mediolittoral and upper infralittoral marine macrobenthic assemblages of Filfla were studied during a series of expeditions to the islet between 1990 and J 994. The demersal fish fauna was censused by direct observation. The distribution of sponges was studied along two 2m-wide belt transects laid along a gently sloping and a steep sloping bottom, respectively. In general, the same type of benthic assemblages as found on other exposed rocky coasts in the Maltese Islands occurred at Filfla. However, at Filfla, the littoral zones were compressed, and species richness and abundance in the littoral and sublittoral were generally low compared to other exposed rocky shores in the Maltese Islands. In spite of the extensive infralittoral sandy bottoms present at Filfla, no sea-grass meadows were encountered. Most of these differences are probably attributable to the high exposure, the extensive boulder shores and submarine boulder fields that surround the islet, and to bottom turbulence. Large differences in species composition and abundance of sponges were found between the two transects. Crambe crambe and Agelas oroides were the most abundant sponges on the steep bottom, while Sarcotragus spinosula was the most abundant species on the more gently sloping one. Compared to that of mainland sites, the demersal fish fauna of Filfla was impoverished in terms of both species richness and abundance.peer-reviewe