The Role of Business Services in Regional Development: The Case of the Scottish Highlands

This research is concerned primarily with the provision of private and public sector business services in the Highlands of Scotland. This is a sparsely populated area with a variety of economic problems, including remoteness from main centres providing business services. The research involved a survey of over fifty manufacturing and fish farming enterprises in the region, and fourteen accountancy firms. Semi-structured interviews identified which services firms use and provided information on the quality of services

Environmental controls on the production of calcium carbonate by earthworms

Lumbricus terrestris earthworms produce calcium carbonate (CaCO3) granules with unknown physiological function. To investigate carbon sequestration potential, the influence of temperature and CO2 concentration ([CO2]) on CaCO3 production was investigated using three soils, five temperatures (3-20 C) and four atmospheric [CO2] (439-3793 ppm). Granule production rates differed between soils, but could not be related to any soil characteristics measured. Production rates increased with temperature, probably because of higher metabolic rate, and with soil CO2 concentration. Implications for carbon sequestration are discussed. CaCO3 production in earthworms is probably related to pH regulation of blood and tissue fluid in the high CO2 environment of the soil

From findspot to site: a spatial examination of the Mesolithic resource in Surrey

Surrey has a diverse range of Mesolithic occupation evidence, spanning the Early Mesolithic, Horsham period and the Later Mesolithic. This paper collates these data and then quantitatively analyses the relationships between the geographical distributions of Mesolithic material and a range of environmental characteristics. The distribution of material is also analysed using a GIS to understand where ‘hotspots’ (and ‘coldspots’) of activity may be located and takes into account variations in collecting activity and modern discovery opportunities. There is evidence that the environment may have been important in determining the spatial extent of Mesolithic hunter-gatherer behaviour, and this is assessed through comparison of the Mesolithic resource and a range of environmental variables. The record shows a prevalence of hunting-type assemblages in the south-west of the county, where the majority of microliths and points were identified, together with sites with evidence for occupation (often excavated as such, or with evidence for domestic activities such as burning). There was also evidence that records identified on higher elevations and steeper slopes appeared to represent items used, discarded or lost on hunting trips and potentially highlighted the importance of these regions as lookout or observation locations; however, there was a lack of occupation sites based near these optimal viewing locations. The majority of occupation sites were located across an east--west Greensand band, and situated within 5km of the Clay-with-Flints outcrops. These were wet/dry marginal regions, probably conducive to settlement owing to the benefits these locations may have had for hunting and gathering. A lower density of records from north-west and south-east Surrey appear to indicate these areas were used primarily for the processing of material while people were moving across the landscape. The overall high proportion of findspots and scatters within the dataset may result from the nature of hunter-gatherer living, with high levels of mobility within the landscape alongside ephemeral occupation and activity sites

Evidence of resilience to past climate change in Southwest Asia: early farming communities and the 9.2 and 8.2 ka events

Climate change is often cited as a major factor in social change. The so-called 8.2 ka event was one of the most pronounced and abrupt Holocene cold and arid events. The 9.2 ka event was similar, albeit of a smaller magnitude. Both events affected the Northern Hemisphere climate and caused cooling and aridification in Southwest Asia. Yet, the impacts of the 8.2 and 9.2 ka events on early farming communities in this region are not well understood. Current hypotheses for an effect of the 8.2 ka event vary from large-scale site abandonment and migration (including the Neolithisation of Europe) to continuation of occupation and local adaptation, while impacts of the 9.2 ka have not previously been systematically studied. In this paper, we present a thorough assessment of available, quality-checked radiocarbon (14C) dates for sites from Southwest Asia covering the time interval between 9500 and 7500 cal BP, which we interpret in combination with archaeological evidence. In this way, the synchronicity between changes observed in the archaeological record and the rapid climate events is tested. It is shown that there is no evidence for a simultaneous and widespread collapse, large-scale site abandonment, or migration at the time of the events. However, there are indications for local adaptation. We conclude that early farming communities were resilient to the abrupt, severe climate changes at 9250 and 8200 cal BP

A Laboratory Procedure for Measuring the Dispersion Characteristics of Loaded Tires

It is of interest to be able to measure the wave dispersion characteristics of tires, since that information can be used to identify the types and speeds of waves propagating within them. The latter information can be used, for example, to identify the waves that preferentially radiate sound or create structure-borne disturbances that can propagate into the vehicle interior. This type of measurement is usually performed by driving an unloaded tire at one point on its treadband with a shaker, and then measuring the resulting radial vibration around the tire circumference by using a laser vibrometer. The latter spatial data can then be Fourier transformed, one frequency at-a-time, to reveal the tire’s dispersion characteristics. However, it is well known that loading a tire has a significant impact on its dynamic response, causing circumferential modes of both the carcass and interior air space to split, for example. In this paper, the design and construction of an experimental rig that allows dispersion measurements to be made on a loaded tire will be described. Here, the focus was on relatively low frequencies, so the rig was designed to be dynamically rigid below 300 Hz

Uranium Migration in Crystalline Rocks

The mechanisms controlling the migration of uranium in crystalline rocks such as granites or granodiorites are insufficiently well understood to arrive at a quantitatively defensible safety case for deep disposal of radioactive waste. To help further our knowledge of the relevant processes, a controlled column experiment was undertaken using a disc of metallic (depleted) uranium as a source and granodiorite samples from a former candidate disposal site for spent uranium fuel, Sievi in Finland, as the host medium. The experiment ran for approximately 500 days. This report summarises efforts made to simulate the uranium migration observed during the experiment. The model was developed from blind predictions to an inverse model that attempted to reproduce the measured effluent data. In the absence of independently derived kinetic data for uranium precipitation and dissolution it is difficult to arrive at a truly unique solution. Nevertheless, the exercise has been instructive in highlighting the principal areas of uncertainty and the pit falls that await those seeking to represent far more complex hydrogeochemical systems than that investigated here.JRC.F.7-Energy systems evaluatio

Sport and the push for 'Empire 2.0': the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the media

In recent years, the Commonwealth has gained renewed political and diplomatic importance. Stuart Whigham and Jack Black examine how this development has affected the portrayal of sporting events in the British media, using the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games as a case study

Economic Impact of the Proposed Neart Na Gaoithe Offshore Windfarm

We were asked by Mainstream Renewable Power Limited (MRP Ltd) to evaluate the economic impact on the Scottish economy of the proposed Neart Na Gaoithe offshore windfarm project. Specifically, we will focus on the GDP and employment effects of the anticipated size and profile of expenditure for this project. There are different methodologies that can be employed to arrive at such estimates, and this note sets out one such approach and the key results that follow. As with all such analysis, these figures are estimates and should be viewed as such. In particular, we would note that the development is not currently in place and tendering for the different components has not yet been completed. Therefore, this analysis is based on detailed information on the anticipated supply chain for this project provided to us by MRP Ltd. These data identify anticipated spend in Scotland and in the rest of the UK and were compiled for the Neart Na Gaoithe supply chain plan which was submitted to the UK Government