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Impacts Of Climate Change And Fisheries On The Celtic Sea Ecosystem, Valentina Lauria Jan 2012

Impacts Of Climate Change And Fisheries On The Celtic Sea Ecosystem, Valentina Lauria

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Climate change and fisheries have affected marine environments worldwide leading to impacts on ecosystem structure and functioning. However there is clear evidence of spatial variability in the response of these impacts both within and among marine ecosystems. Although several studies have tried to explain the effect of these impacts on marine food webs, it is unclear how they interact, and how they may affect marine ecosystems remains an important unanswered question. This suggests the urgent need for multiple-trophic level and ecosystem-based management approaches to account for both fisheries and climate change impacts at ocean basins across the globe. Marine apex …

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A Gis Based Spatial Decision Support System For Landscape Character Assessment, Faye Elanor Davey Jan 2012

A Gis Based Spatial Decision Support System For Landscape Character Assessment, Faye Elanor Davey

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) provides a structured approach to identifying the character and distinctiveness about the landscape. It is a tool used to identify what makes a location unique, a set of techniques and procedures used to map differences between landscapes based on their physical, cultural and historical characteristics. Although the UK has committed to assessing all of its landscapes by signing the European Landscape Convention in 2006, only 60% of coverage has been achieved. The majority of LCAs are carried out by professional environment or landscape consultancies rather than ‘in-house’. Geographical Information Systems are increasingly being used to collate …

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Developing Methods For Understanding The Nature Of Voting Patterns And Party Competition In Britain, Galina Borisyuk Jan 2012

Developing Methods For Understanding The Nature Of Voting Patterns And Party Competition In Britain, Galina Borisyuk

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This research both develops new methods and expands upon existing methodologies in order to improve our understanding of voting patterns and party competition in Britain. The thesis comprises five sections, each of which relates to a particular research focus. The first and principal section describes the process of determining a new method for decomposing electoral bias for three-party competition under simple plurality rules of voting. The study of electoral bias is important for voting systems that requires periodic boundary reviews intended to equalise electorate and to remove malapportionment. These papers describe both the process for developing the threeparty bias method …

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Emancipating The Many: A Practice Led Investigation Into Emergent Paradigms Of Immediate Political Action, Wolfgang Fiel Jan 2012

Emancipating The Many: A Practice Led Investigation Into Emergent Paradigms Of Immediate Political Action, Wolfgang Fiel

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The immediate catalyst for having taken up this study was the violent outbreak of weeks of public unrest in the Paris banlieus in the wake of the shooting of young man on the run from the police on October 27 2005. The obvious inability of local municipalities and police forces to explain, let alone to anticipate the swelling discontent with a system which is generally assumed to work effectively and to benefit all has led me to the assumption that we have entered a stage where the concept of representational democracy is seriously compromised. The sheer scale or projected growth …

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A Garden In Her Cups: Botanical Medicines Of The Anglo-American Home, C.1580 – 1800, Bruna Gushurst-Moore Jan 2012

A Garden In Her Cups: Botanical Medicines Of The Anglo-American Home, C.1580 – 1800, Bruna Gushurst-Moore

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis focuses on the domestic use of plant-based medicines within Early Modern English and Colonial American households, and establishes the defining framework of a domestic botanical culture. It reconstructs the relationship between domestic, popular, and learned medical cultures to reveal the breadth of that practice, demonstrating the unique characteristics of the domestic culture which are underpinned by a shared canon of herbs and a high degree of flexible adaptability by individual practitioners. The botanicals (medicinal plants and the remedies made from them) are themselves analysed through the genres of household receipt book manuscripts, private letters, and journals, as well …

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Spirited Measures And Victorian Hangovers: Public Attitudes To Alcohol, The Law And Moral Regulation., Henry Yeomans Jan 2012

Spirited Measures And Victorian Hangovers: Public Attitudes To Alcohol, The Law And Moral Regulation., Henry Yeomans

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

From alarm about the prospect of ‘twenty-four drinking’ to campaigns for a minimum price per unit, the last decade has shown that alcohol consumption is an inflammatory issue in this country. It has become commonplace to hear that drinking is ‘out of control’ and that it is a new and worsening problem largely unique to Britain. However, comparative research reveals that alcohol consumption in Britain is not unusually high and even a cursory glance at history shows that extreme bouts of alarm about drinking have been common on these shores since at least the eighteenth century. What is at the …

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Installation Art And Memory: A Practice-As-Research Exploration, James Barber Jan 2012

Installation Art And Memory: A Practice-As-Research Exploration, James Barber

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This practice-as-research project investigates how a piece of site-responsive Installation Art, titled Triple Point Dunnage (exhibited in Royal William Yard, June 2009), can be used to generate knowledge about memory work through experience of site. Working in dialogue with the ideas of Daniel C. Dennett, Lucy Lippard and Gaston Bachelard, I attempted to create a permeable and fluctuating creative setting for the memory work of participants. An approach that used site as a stimulant within a process which also incorporated theoretical themes. During the period of design and construction, I interacted with and recorded interviews with people who had a …

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Linguistic Processing Of Accented Speech Across The Lifespan., Alejandrina Cristia, Amanda Seidl, Charlotte Vaughn, Rachel Schmale, Ann Bradlow, Caroline Floccia Jan 2012

Linguistic Processing Of Accented Speech Across The Lifespan., Alejandrina Cristia, Amanda Seidl, Charlotte Vaughn, Rachel Schmale, Ann Bradlow, Caroline Floccia

School of Psychology

In most of the world, people have regular exposure to multiple accents. Therefore, learning to quickly process accented speech is a prerequisite to successful communication. In this paper, we examine work on the perception of accented speech across the lifespan, from early infancy to late adulthood. Unfamiliar accents initially impair linguistic processing by infants, children, younger adults, and older adults, but listeners of all ages come to adapt to accented speech. Emergent research also goes beyond these perceptual abilities, by assessing links with production and the relative contributions of linguistic knowledge and general cognitive skills. We conclude by underlining points …

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Implicit Social Learning In Relation To Autistic-Like Traits, Matthew Hudson, Tanja C.W. Nijboer, Tjeerd Jellema Jan 2012

Implicit Social Learning In Relation To Autistic-Like Traits, Matthew Hudson, Tanja C.W. Nijboer, Tjeerd Jellema

School of Psychology

No abstract provided.

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Individual Differences In (Non-Visual) Processing Style Predict The Face Inversion Effect, Na Wyer, D Martin, T Pickup, Cn Macrae Jan 2012

Individual Differences In (Non-Visual) Processing Style Predict The Face Inversion Effect, Na Wyer, D Martin, T Pickup, Cn Macrae

School of Psychology

Recent research suggests that individuals with relatively weak global precedence (i.e., a smaller propensity to view visual stimuli in a configural manner) show a reduced face inversion effect (FIE). Coupled with such findings, a number of recent studies have demonstrated links between an advantage for feature-based processing and the presentation of traits associated with autism among the general population. The present study sought to bridge these findings by investigating whether a relationship exists between the possession of autism-associated traits (i.e., as indicated by individuals’“autism quotient” [(AQ) and the size of the FIE. Participants completed an on-line study in which the …

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Expanded Narrative: An On-Line Resource For Students, Lecturers And Practitioners, Emma Whittaker Jan 2012

Expanded Narrative: An On-Line Resource For Students, Lecturers And Practitioners, Emma Whittaker

School of Art, Design and Architecture

To investigate the ways in which the development of linear and interactive narrative features within undergraduate arts curricula at Plymouth University and partner colleges. To investigate the methods used to create expanded narratives by specialists in the field, within and outside of the arts. To develop an on-line resource that brings together expanded narrative practices from the arts, creative industries and research institutions, that provides relevant content for integration with HE arts curricula, that showcases student work and provides an evolving document of the student experience and offers opportunities for sharing knowledge and skills. The development of a community of …

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Internationalising Chinese Maritime Higher Education: Developing Content And English Language Integrated Teaching And Learning, Robyn Morgan Pyne Jan 2012

Internationalising Chinese Maritime Higher Education: Developing Content And English Language Integrated Teaching And Learning, Robyn Morgan Pyne

Plymouth Business School Theses

This thesis examines how new maritime nations, which are engaged in the export of seafaring labour, need to respond to the demands of the international maritime industry. In particular, traditional maritime nations are calling for greater internationalisation of maritime education and training. The global labour market for seafarers, which is dominated by employers from traditional maritime nations, demands internationally minded graduates. China’s response to these demands for quality labour exports from new maritime nations is the subject of exploration in this thesis. Within the specific context of Maritime English teaching and learning, a significant opportunity for innovation and change is …

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Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, And Information Leakage: An Empirical Analysis Of The Chinese Stock Market, Hui Zhang Jan 2012

Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, And Information Leakage: An Empirical Analysis Of The Chinese Stock Market, Hui Zhang

Plymouth Business School Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the effect of corporate governance on firm performance and information leakage in the Chinese securities market. As one of the major emerging markets in the world, the results of this thesis are valuable not only to the Chinese market, but also to other emerging markets. To achieve this purpose, data is collected from most of the non-financial listed companies in the two Chinese stock exchanges, which are the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock exchange. The data sample covers the period from 2004 to 2008, since there was a series of …

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Eve And The Madonna In Victorian Art, Bebhinn Dungan Jan 2012

Eve And The Madonna In Victorian Art, Bebhinn Dungan

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

Abstract This study identifies and addresses representations of Eve and the Madonna exhibited at seven well-known London venues during the Victorian era (1838-1901). The subjects of Eve and the Madonna are here selected for detailed analysis from the broader context of Victorian religious subject pictures, a category of Victorian art that remains arguably under-researched. Nineteenth-century religious art was rooted in a Romantic sensibility and was invested with the purpose of providing a balm during a course, commercial industrial age, which, like the Enlightenment that preceded it, heralded the birth of modern life. Religious art of the nineteenth-century was promoted for …

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Development Of A Framework For Sustainable Repair Of Adobe Building In An Urban Area In Nigeria, Theophilus Adeyinka Shittu Jan 2012

Development Of A Framework For Sustainable Repair Of Adobe Building In An Urban Area In Nigeria, Theophilus Adeyinka Shittu

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

Building with earth is still a living practice in Nigeria most especially in the northern region. Pear shaped sun-dried earth brick (tubali) was used traditionally by the Hausa in northern Nigeria. However, the use of tubali has ceased to exist in favour of the adobe blocks in both the urban and rural settlements in Nigeria. Sabon Gari, the study area is one of the urban areas in this region with buildings constructed with adobe. However, these adobe buildings are in deplorable conditions and in dire need of repair. Sabon Gari in Kaduna was selected as the thesis’ study area because …

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Moving Image Production And The Pedagogical Development Of Media Literacy, K Parker, L French, S Moore Jan 2012

Moving Image Production And The Pedagogical Development Of Media Literacy, K Parker, L French, S Moore

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

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The Socio-Temporary In Architecture: Territories Of Second-Order Cybernetics, S Murrani Jan 2012

The Socio-Temporary In Architecture: Territories Of Second-Order Cybernetics, S Murrani

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

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Drawing Into Knowing: A Natural History, Sm Black, L Imperatore Jan 2012

Drawing Into Knowing: A Natural History, Sm Black, L Imperatore

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Co-presentation w/ Lynn Imperatore. ABSTRACT Whether drawing commences in strategic suspension of cognition or from a posture that seeks deeper recognition of the considered object, this research pair share a method of practice that employs the drawn line to trace paths commencing outward from acknowledged deficiencies of information. Both view drawing as tool for exploration; a kind of raw material of thought-made-visible in marks that nibble away at preconception and other barriers to knowledge. The resultant records of such active thinking reveal discoveries to both the artists and a wider audience. A practice-based drawing project was devised in order to …

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Investigating E-Commerce Adoption In Small And Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises: A Case Of Travel Agents In Egypt, Mohamed Ahmed Abd-Elraouf Abou-Shouk Jan 2012

Investigating E-Commerce Adoption In Small And Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises: A Case Of Travel Agents In Egypt, Mohamed Ahmed Abd-Elraouf Abou-Shouk

Plymouth Business School Theses

SMEs are often described as slow adopters of technology. However, adopting e-commerce is one of many strategies taken by travel agents to re-intermediate themselves in the global travel market against the threat of disintermediation. Exploratory studies have revealed that Egyptian travel agents are laggards when it comes to technology adoption, although they perceive e-commerce as a beneficial tool that can increase their chances of survival. As many as 59.2% of Egyptian travel agents were found not to have websites (Egyptian Travel Agents Association, 2008), this study investigates the factors affecting e-commerce adoption by travel agents. Past literature has shown that …

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Developing Strategic Information System Planning Model In Libya Organisations, Esam Osman Jan 2012

Developing Strategic Information System Planning Model In Libya Organisations, Esam Osman

Plymouth Business School Theses

This quantitative research study investigated the impact of organisational context on the process and success of strategic IS planning (SISP) in post-implementation information systems in Libyan organisations. A set of direct and indirect relationships were investigated in the research model. The organisational context presented as a contingent situational variable mediated by SISP process and predicted by SISP success (the criterion variable). The causality of the relationship set was developed from the contingency theory of information systems and supported by fit models in strategic management research. The study deployed multivariate analysis represented in the structural equation modelling (SEM) to develop robust …

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Multi-Level Elections In Western Europe: Determinants Of Voting And The Role Of Salience., Jeremy Johns Jan 2012

Multi-Level Elections In Western Europe: Determinants Of Voting And The Role Of Salience., Jeremy Johns

Plymouth Business School Theses

Previous comparative research into the determinants of voting using aggregate data has suffered from two limitations: it relied predominantly on country-level data; and it seldom ventured beyond a consideration of one or two types of elections. In order to overcome these shortcomings, we use an original dataset in which data are aggregated to sub-national units; and include examples of national, sub-national, and supra-national elections. A total of 66 elections between 1995 and 2008 are included, drawn from ten Western European countries: Belgium, England, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. For each country, the same sub-national geographical …

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North Korea: Transport And Logistics Scenarios And South Korean Enterprises' Location Decisions, Kelvin Ka Liong Pang Jan 2012

North Korea: Transport And Logistics Scenarios And South Korean Enterprises' Location Decisions, Kelvin Ka Liong Pang

Plymouth Business School Theses

North Korea is one of the world’s last remaining communist countries. Insistence on self-sufficiency has resulted in the stagnation of its economy and collapse of its transport distribution system. This research project examines how various scenarios for North Korea and the implications of South Korean enterprises’ location decisions affect future transport and logistics developments in North Korea. In the foreseeable future, aside from Chinese companies, South Korean investors will probably be the only companies to invest heavily in the North, driven by political and economic motivations. The objectives of this study are four-fold. Firstly, it analyses the political and economic …

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An Empirical Study Into Uk Customer Expectations Of Dining Out In Relation To Meal Cost, Christina Westhead Jan 2012

An Empirical Study Into Uk Customer Expectations Of Dining Out In Relation To Meal Cost, Christina Westhead

Plymouth Business School Theses

The continued growth of the UK dining out industry, and the unceasing trend in popularity for customers to spend time and money eating outside the home, has led to an increase in the number of dining out establishments, and competition between businesses. Although there have been studies examining aspects of the restaurant industry and food consumption outside the home, very little research has looked specifically at customer expectations. Therefore, this thesis examines customer expectations associated with the meal experience in relation to the varying costs of dining out opportunities. In addition, the study reflects on customers’ socio-economic characteristics combined with …

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‘Implicit Creation’ – Non-Programmer Conceptual Models For Authoring In Interactive Digital Storytelling, Ulrike Martina Spierling Jan 2012

‘Implicit Creation’ – Non-Programmer Conceptual Models For Authoring In Interactive Digital Storytelling, Ulrike Martina Spierling

Plymouth Business School Theses

Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS) constitutes a research field that emerged from several areas of art, creation and computer science. It inquires technologies and possible artefacts that allow ‘highly-interactive’ experiences of digital worlds with compelling stories. However, the situation for story creators approaching ‘highly-interactive’ storytelling is complex. There is a gap between the available technology, which requires programming and prior knowledge in Artificial Intelligence, and established models of storytelling, which are too linear to have the potential to be highly interactive. This thesis reports on research that lays the ground for bridging this gap, leading to novel creation philosophies in future …

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An Insider Misuse Threat Detection And Prediction Language, Georgios Vasilios Magklaras Jan 2012

An Insider Misuse Threat Detection And Prediction Language, Georgios Vasilios Magklaras

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Numerous studies indicate that amongst the various types of security threats, the problem of insider misuse of IT systems can have serious consequences for the health of computing infrastructures. Although incidents of external origin are also dangerous, the insider IT misuse problem is difficult to address for a number of reasons. A fundamental reason that makes the problem mitigation difficult relates to the level of trust legitimate users possess inside the organization. The trust factor makes it difficult to detect threats originating from the actions and credentials of individual users. An equally important difficulty in the process of mitigating insider …

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Gauge Invariant Constructions In Yang-Mills Theories, Poonam Sharma Jan 2012

Gauge Invariant Constructions In Yang-Mills Theories, Poonam Sharma

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Understanding physical configurations and how these can emerge from the underlying gauge theory is a fundamental problem in modern particle physics. This thesis investigates the study of these configurations primarily focussing on the need for gauge invariance in constructing the gauge invariant fields for any physical theory. We consider Wu’s approach to gauge invariance by identifying the gauge symmetry preserving conditions in quantum electrodynamics and demonstrate how Wu’s conditions for one-loop order calculations (under various regularisation schemes) leads to the maintenance of gauge invariance. The need for gauge invariance is stressed and the consequences discussed in terms of the Ward …

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An Analysis Of Eastern European Liner Shipping During The Period Of Transition, Heidi Rebecca Cottam Jan 2012

An Analysis Of Eastern European Liner Shipping During The Period Of Transition, Heidi Rebecca Cottam

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Transition in Europe is one of the most important transformations in modern history. This research investigates the impact of economic and political transition on the liner sector of post-Soviet Europe. Former socialist shipping corporations have begun to offer services under market conditions and left behind the rigid leeway of central planning (Cottam and Roe 2007). Extensive adjustments in ownership, organisation, fleets and markets have transpired. Successful transformation of the maritime industries has a major influence upon the speed and route of economic development in transition countries (Von Brabant 2011). Despite this, liner shipping has received very little attention from academia. …

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Quality Of Service Optimisation Framework For Next Generation Networks, Frank Gerd Weber Jan 2012

Quality Of Service Optimisation Framework For Next Generation Networks, Frank Gerd Weber

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Within recent years, the concept of Next Generation Networks (NGN) has become widely accepted within the telecommunication area, in parallel with the migration of telecommunication networks from traditional circuit-switched technologies such as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) towards packet-switched NGN. In this context, SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), originally developed for Internet use only, has emerged as the major signalling protocol for multimedia sessions in IP (Internet Protocol) based NGN. One of the traditional limitations of IP when faced with the challenges of real-time communications is the lack of quality support at the network layer. In line with NGN specification work, …

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Evolution Of Grasping Behaviour In Anthropomorphic Robotic Arms With Embodied Neural Controllers, Gianluca Massera Jan 2012

Evolution Of Grasping Behaviour In Anthropomorphic Robotic Arms With Embodied Neural Controllers, Gianluca Massera

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The works reported in this thesis focus upon synthesising neural controllers for anthropomorphic robots that are able to manipulate objects through an automatic design process based on artificial evolution. The use of Evolutionary Robotics makes it possible to reduce the characteristics and parameters specified by the designer to a minimum, and the robot’s skills evolve as it interacts with the environment. The primary objective of these experiments is to investigate whether neural controllers that are regulating the state of the motors on the basis of the current and previously experienced sensors (i.e. without relying on an inverse model) can enable …

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The Effects Of Manufactured Nanoparticles On Fish Physiology, Reproduction And Behaviour, Christopher Ramsden Jan 2012

The Effects Of Manufactured Nanoparticles On Fish Physiology, Reproduction And Behaviour, Christopher Ramsden

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Over the last decade the development and use of nanomaterials (NMs) and nanoparticles (NPs) has increased at a great rate. As a result there is an ever increasing risk of exposing humans and wildlife to these potentially harmful materials. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are two of the most widely used NMs at present. Their potentially harmful effects on organisms and physicochemical properties have been investigated in a growing number of scientific studies. However understanding the level of risk they may pose is far from satisfactory. The present body of work has addressed various aspects of …

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