Public participation in development – the idea of a development 'jury' servic

Delivering sustainable development requires consideration of social, economic and environmental factors. Many players are involved but in all cases at some point society (the general public) need to have a say. To facilitate this, we need something which we don’t have at present, i.e. a fair, representative, effective, efficient and affordable system to allow public participation in decision maki

Ceramic micropalaeontology: the analysis of microfossils in ancient ceramics

Microfossils can be a common component of ancient ceramic artefacts. Their analysis in this unusual context is a little-known, yet promising cross-disciplinary application of micropalaeontology. The following article presents the first detailed assessment of the phenomenon of microfossils in ancient ceramics and demonstrates how micropalaeontology can contribute to a range of issues in archaeological ceramic analysis and the reconstruction of the human past. In describing a methodology by which micropalaeontologists and archaeologists can analyse microfossiliferous ceramics, this paper presents the foundations of an approach, which is here referred to as Ceramic Micropalaeontology

Cognitive and mood assessment tools for use in stroke

No abstract available

An Investigation into Factors Affecting the Chilled Food Industry

With the advent of Industry 4.0, many new approaches towards process monitoring, benchmarking and traceability are becoming available, and these techniques have the potential to radically transform the agri-food sector. In particular, the chilled food supply chain (CFSC) contains a number of unique challenges by virtue of it being thought of as a temperature controlled supply chain. Therefore, once the key issues affecting the CFSC have been identified, algorithms can be proposed, which would allow realistic thresholds to be established for managing these problems on the micro, meso and macro scales. Hence, a study is required into factors affecting the CFSC within the scope of Industry 4.0. The study itself has been broken down into four main topics: identifying the key issues within the CFSC; implementing a philosophy of continuous improvement within the CFSC; identifying uncertainty within the CFSC; improving and measuring the performance of the supply chain. However, as a consequence of this study two further topics were added: a discussion of some of the issues surrounding information sharing between retailers and suppliers; some of the wider issues affecting food losses and wastage (FLW) on the micro, meso and macro scales. A hybrid algorithm is developed, which incorporates the analytic hierarchical process (AHP) for qualitative issues and data envelopment analysis (DEA) for quantitative issues. The hybrid algorithm itself is a development of the internal auditing algorithm proposed by Sueyoshi et al (2009), which in turn was developed following corporate scandals such as Tyco, Enron, and WorldCom, which have led to a decline in public trust. However, the advantage of the proposed solution is that all of the key issues within the CFSC identified can be managed from a single computer terminal, whilst the risk of food contamination such as the 2013 horsemeat scandal can be avoided via improved traceability

Ortho-substituent effects in NHC-catalysis

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are extensively used in contemporary organocatalysis in diverse C-C bond forming reactions. Although successful, high catalyst loadings are typically required and chemoselectivity highly depends on catalyst type and structure. Catalysts are commonly selected by screening based approaches because it is not entirely clear how the structures of both the N-aryl ring and aldehyde substrate affect reactivity. In particular, ortho-substituents on both the NHC and aryl aldehyde have been found to display enhanced rate and equilibrium constants for deprotonation and hydroxyaryl adduct formation, however, the mechanistic reason is unclear. Chapter 2 describes the synthesis, kinetic evaluation and structural analysis using X-ray crystallography and DFT calculations of a range of triazolium salts, which are precursors to triazolyl NHCs. The findings from this chapter suggest that large dihedral angles between the triazolium and N-aryl ring, which are found in ortho-substituted systems, lead to relatively fast proton transfer from the triazolium salts. This is attributed to a ground state destabilisation of the cationic starting material through reduced inter-ring conjugation. Chapter 3 describes the kinetic studies aimed at investigating ortho-substituent effects on both the catalyst and aldehyde substrate on the intial hydroxyaryl adduct forming equilibrium. Ortho-substituted NHCs result in relatively fast rates and large equilibrium constants for hydroxyaryl adduct formation. This may be attributed to the relatively large dihedral angle between the triazolyl and N-aryl rings. Approach of the incoming electrophile requires the N-aryl ring to rotate out of plane of the triazolyl ring, which results in an energetic penalty for non-ortho-substituted NHCs. An ortho-alkoxy substituent on the aryl aldehyde have also been found to lead to enhanced rate and equilibrium constants for formation relative to unsubstitued aryl aldehyde. These findings are rationalised in terms of the formation of an increasingly optimal intramolecular H-bond in the transition state for hydroxyaryl adduct formation. Chapter 4 describes the attempts to determine a pKa for the conjugate acid of the Breslow intermediate based on the triazolyl scaffold. Methylated analogues were prepared and the kinetics of deprotonation by NMR and stopped flow UV-vis spectrophotometry are in agreement and suggest that a small proportion of O-methylated BI is observable in aqueous solution. Attempts were also made to reprotonate the BI to determine a pKa value in aqueous solution

Counting of discrete Rossby/drift wave resonant triads (again)

The purpose of our earlier note (arXiv:1309.0405 [physics.flu-dyn]) was to remove the confusion over counting of resonant wave triads for Rossby and drift waves in the context of the Charney-Hasegawa-Mima equation. A comment by Kartashov and Kartashova (arXiv:1309.0992v1 [physics.flu-dyn]) on that note has further confused the situation. The present note aims to remove this obfuscation

The law and penology of prison discipline

The study is of the disciplinary systems within the prisons of England and Wales. It concerns the response of the courts to prison matters brought before them and examines the effects upon prison life of an increasing demand for adherence to the rules of natural justice. Statutory authorities for the imposition of punishment within prison are reviewed as is the complex interweaving of statute, statutory instrument and internal regulations. There is a comprehensive examination of those parliamentary debates, conferences, committees of inquiry, reports and judgments that have influenced change. Particular reference is made to the question of legal or other assistance for an accused prisoner who faces a disciplinary hearing within the prison. The paper contains an account of the subsystems of discipline said to operate within penal establishments whereby the pressures of institutional life may conspire to prevent a prisoner receiving that to which he or she knows he or she is entitled. The paper draws upon the developing case law, the literature in the field and on private sources. The last of these includes the voice of prisoners themselves who are able to say how, if at all, a growing awareness by staff of the requirements of natural justice has affected the regime under which they live