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Against a long trend decline in the membership of political parties in Western democracies, there has been an unexpected surge in the UK since 2015. Interestingly, this phenomenon has also been observed amongst British expatriates, despite their historically very low levels of engagement. Our paper explores this development using a multi-methods approach to investigate its impact across the three main parties, comparing the relative importance of supply-side and demand-side factors in each case. We show that the creation and development of British parties abroad are the result of two contrasting dynamics: a top-down one, which gives legitimacy and structure and in some cases, resources, and a bottom-up one, which gives purpose but also networks. Our survey of British expatriate party members reveals a diversity of triggers and motivations for membership, making an original contribution to the wider literature on party membership and on the political engagement of emigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the changing demographics of societies around the world, ageing has become a major concern for governments and policy makers alike. What has also become clear is that the older adult consumer group and the factors affecting this age group have been studied relatively less in the literature. In this paper, we aim to investigate the adoption, usage, and diffusion of smartphones within the UK older adults so as to identify the factors encouraging or inhibiting smartphone usage and service provision within this age group. To this end, we propose a conceptual framework (Model of Smartphone Acceptance) based on a set of well-known theories of adoption and diffusion. We collected data from 984 participants living in north London and applied the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique to analyse the data. Our research can contribute towards reducing some of the existing digital divide within UK older adults. Moreover, businesses can benefit from our research by understanding the significant factors affecting the adoption of smartphones among the UK older population and to adapt their policies accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In western capitalist societies the state has become increasingly criticized for its inadequacy as a mechanism for distributing welfare inclusively. In particular, it has been criticized for its lack of flexibility in meeting the needs of increasingly plural populations, and for being too distant to enable service users to participate in the meeting of their welfare needs. Consequently, in many countries, including the United Kingdom, voluntary and community associations have been used to distribute welfare with the belief that it can remedy the defects of universal state provision. This paper suggests the voluntary and community sector can only achieve this if the organizations are democratically organized, ensuring participation from staff and users. Moreover, participation should be based around the norms of deliberative democracy. The paper argues that this form of participation will best ensure that the needs, preferences, and interests of subordinate groups are included in social policy delivery, due to the fostering of public reason. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses upon ways in which National Lottery funding impacts upon aspects of identity for small- to medium-sized organizations in the United Kingdom, and highlights some of the less-anticipated difficulties that groups may experience after receipt of a grant. A large Lottery grant can facilitate rapid expansion and may necessitate a degree of organizational learning for which groups are often unprepared. The paper suggests that a Lottery grant may lead to changes in the ways in which an organization identifies itself, or is identified by stakeholders. However, these changes may not be accompanied by a corresponding change in the organization's capacity or underlying cultural ethos. On the basis of the primary research carried out in 2003, the paper examines the implications of these changes for individual organizations and for the sector more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the legitimacy of third sector organizations in the policy process in the United Kingdom. It draws on empirical research to examine how legitimacy is defined, both by third sector organizations and by those they target within government. The paper argues that while many third sector organizations give high priority to political forms of legitimacy—in the sense of participatory structures and accountability to members and beneficiaries—government is generally more likely to give priority to technical forms of legitimacy, e.g., the quality of research and the ability to implement policy. Nonetheless, political legitimacy is still important, first because this is the form of legitimacy that third sector organizations claim for themselves and second because, as government gives way to governance with an increase in partnerships and collaboration, the dilemmas faced by third sector organizations in achieving political legitimacy are being faced on a broader canvas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the phrase 'basic research' as a term used in science policy discussion dates only to about 1920. At the time the phrase referred to what we today commonly refer to as applied research in support of specific missions or goals, especially agriculture. Upon the publication of Vannevar Bush's well-known report, Science - The Endless Frontier, the phrase 'basic research' became a key political symbol, representing various identifications, expectations and demands related to science policy among scientists and politicians. This paper tracks and evaluates the evolution of 'basic research' as a political symbol from early in the 20th century to the present. With considerable attention having been paid to the on-going evolution of post-Cold War science policy, much less attention has focused on the factors which have shaped the dominant narrative of contemporary science policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years questions concerning the impact of public research funding have become the preeminent site at which struggles over the meanings and value of science are played out. In this paper we explore the 'politics of impact' in contemporary UK science and research policy and, in particular, detail the ways in which UK research councils have responded to and reframed recent calls for the quantitative measurement of research impacts. Operating as 'boundary organisations' research councils are embroiled in what might be characterised as the 'politics of demarcation' in which competing understandings of the cultural values of science are traded, exchanged and contested. In this paper we focus on the way the UK's 'Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council' (EPSRC) has responded to contemporary policy discourses concerning the impacts of public research expenditure. We argue that, in response to the shifting terms of contemporary science policy, the EPSRC has adopted three distinct strategies. Firstly, in collaboration with other research councils the EPSRC have emphasised the intellectual and metrological challenge presented by attempts to quantify the economic impact of public research expenditure, emphasising instead the cumulative impacts of a broad portfolio of 'basic science'. Secondly, the EPSRC has sought to widen the discursive meaning of research impacts - specifically to include societal and policy impacts in addition to economic ones. Thirdly, the EPSRC has introduced a new framing into the 'impact agenda', preferring to talk about 'pathways to impact' rather than research impacts per se. In responding to government priority setting, we argue that the EPSRC has sought to exploit both the technical fragility of auditing techniques and the discursive ambiguity of notions of impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper investigates the relationships between registrations, de-registrations and population density at county level in the UK using VAT data for 20 years over the period 1980–1999. The rationale for this is based on the need to understand how the extent to which, in different parts of the UK, differences in the relationship between birth rates and death rates combine to produce an interpretable pattern in net birth rates. The analysis of the net birth rate shows that a strategy aimed at the net birth rate might, in principle, just as well aim at reducing business failure, rather than raising the birth rate. Indeed this might be more efficient, since it implies that less start-ups are “wasted” as it would avoid the necessity, if targets are to be reached, of encouraging those individuals who are patently unsuited to running their own business into business ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparative analysis of giving ethos and behavior in the United States and the United Kingdom, in particular the relationship of giving to civic life. Obvious disparities between the two countries exist when overall levels of giving are considered. In the United States, individual giving as a percentage of gross national or domestic product has consistently hovered around 2% of Gross Domestic Product. By contrast, charitable giving in the United Kingdom has yet to reach 1% of GDP. The paper identifies the differences in giving ethos and behavior in the two countries in relation to the complexity of the differences between the political structures, social attitudes, and the role of charitable giving in the two countries. In particular, the paper postulates a set of models—generosity and altruism—for explaining the differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To care and feel cared for are considered fundamental to what makes us human, and what enables us to live and thrive in this world. Yet for the UK's asylum-seeking population who is living with uncertainties for the future, care appears absent. In such contexts, it is imperative to understand how care is enacted, experienced, and valued amongst spaces and people often considered to be care-less. Drawing on data collected in four collaborative photographic workshops and photo elicitation interviews with asylum seekers and refugees (ASRs) (N: 7), this study aims to gain insight into how ASRs in the UK care and feel cared for and their relative ability to forge friendships during their migration journey. We show how their relationship to caregiving and care-receiving changes over time and is deeply influenced by asylum policies and the refugee experience more generally. Responding to feminist scholars' calls to disrupt the normative assumptions about how and between whom care is exchanged, this article highlights the diversity of friendships forged while on the move and seeking asylum as well as the caring practices emerging in situations of precarity, the pervasive impacts of the hostile environment on disrupting and distorting such caring relationships, and cautious but agentic and caring ways that ASRs seek to navigate the ambiguities of friendships in hostility. In doing so, the article provides an important counter-narrative to the dominant portrayal of ASRs as passive recipients of care, by highlighting how their way to approach care and friendship varies across time and circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on projections of the United Kingdom's ethnic group populations for 2001-2051. For the years 2001-2007 we estimate fertility rates, survival probabilities, internal migration probabilities and international migration flows for 16 ethnic groups and 355 UK areas. We make assumptions about future component rates, probabilities and flows and feed these into our projection model. This model is a cohort-component model specified for single years of age to 100+. To handle this large state space, we employed a bi-regional model. We implement four projections: (1) a benchmark projection that uses the component inputs for 2001; (2) a trend projection where assumptions beyond 2007 are adjusted to those in the UK 2008-based National Population Projections (NPP); (3) a projection that modifies the NPP assumptions and (4) a projection that uses a different emigration assumption. The projected UK population ranges between a low of 63 millions in 2051 under the first projection to a high of 79 million in the third projection. Under all projections ethnic composition continues to change: the White British, White Irish and Black Caribbean groups experience the slowest growth and lose population share; the Other White and Mixed groups to experience relative increases in share; South Asian groups grow strongly as do the Chinese and Other Ethnic groups. The ethnic minority share of the population increases from 13% (2001) to 25% in the trend projection but to only 20% under our modified emigration projection. However, what is certain is that the UK can look forward to be becoming a more diverse nation by mid-century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognition of Mesolithic impacts in mid Holocene pollen diagrams of the British Isles has led to the development of models describing sophisticated woodland management, particularly through the use of fire, by Mesolithic populations. However, the significance of human agency in creating mid Holocene woodland disturbances is unclear, with natural and human-induced clearings arguably indistinguishable in the pollen record. Analysis of non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) should aid the identification of events and processes occurring within these woodland disturbances and provide more precise palaeoecological data. In this paper we present pollen, charcoal and NPP analyses from a potentially critical location in the Mesolithic impacts debate. NPP types aid significantly in the reconstructions, suggesting periods of dead wood, grazing, local burning and wetter ground conditions. The results indicate that between 7700 and 6800 cal b.p., a predominantly wooded environment periodically gave way to phases of more open woodland, with inconsistent evidence for animal grazing. From 6800 cal b.p., a phase of open woodland associated with high charcoal concentrations and indicators of grazing was observed. This probably represents the deliberate firing of vegetation to improve grazing and browse resources, although it remains unclear whether fire was responsible for initially creating the woodland opening, or if it was part of an opportunistic use of naturally occurring woodland clearings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper analyses the interrelation between the transport system and measures of resource consumption such as material and energy consumption over a 60-year period (1937-1997) in the UK. Non-motorized transport and time consumption for mobility are estimated in addition to conventional measures of transport. During the period analyzed, the UK population grew by 20% while transport of goods and persons increased more than threefold and material and energy consumption almost doubled. The transport intensity of domestic material input (DMI) doubled to 300 ton-kilometers (tkm) per ton of DMI while the transport intensity of domestic energy consumption (DEC) doubled to 20 tkm per gigajoule (GJ) of DEC. Thus, while the material and energy intensity of GDP declined significantly, a well-established trend in many advanced countries, the transport intensity of materials and energy consumption rose. These findings suggest a close link between transport, economic development, and long-term structural transformations. In the case of personal transport, a “rebound effect” was also observed: whereas the average speed of transport has greatly increased, the average number of hours per day devoted to personal transport has not declined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we report on empirical research which investigates social capital of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Bringing an international perspective to the work, we make a comparison between 30 firms located in West London and Munich in the sectors of food manufacturing/production, marketing services and garages. Here we present 6 case studies, which we use to illustrate the early findings from this pilot project. We identify differences in approach to associational membership in Germany and the U.K., with a greater propensity to "belong" to an official group in Germany. We distinguish clear sectoral similarities across the countries, and indications that certain personality types will seek out engagement and find time beyond busy work life schedules, often merging work/home/leisure life and friends. Some of our cases illustrate that formal institutions, networks and mutual relationships can develop social capital for the SME, although we should take care not to assume a universal win-win situation for those who are engaged and contribute to the common good. Some of the obstacles to cooperation and civic engagement are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Responding to the increasing demand for Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) treatment in the United Kingdom (UK) at times of limited budgets and resources is a great challenge for decision-makers. Therefore, there is a need to find innovative policies, which improve operational efficiency and achieve the best value for money for patients. This study aims to develop a Decision Support Tool (DST) that assesses the impact of implementing new DVT patients' management and care policies aiming at improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing value for money. Methods: With the involvement of stakeholders from a number of DVT services in the UK, we developed a DST combining discrete event simulation (DES) for DVT pathways and the Socio Technical Allocation of Resources (STAR) approach, an agile health economics technique. The model was inputted with data from the literature, local datasets from DVT services, and interviews conducted with DVT specialists. The tool was validated and verified by various stakeholders and two policies, namely shifting more patients to community services (CSs) and increasing the usage of the Novel Oral Anticoagulant (NOAC) drug were selected for testing on the model. Results: Sixteen possible scenarios were run on the model for a period of 5 years and generated treatment activity, human resources, costing, and value for money outputs. The results indicated that hospital visits can be reduced by up to 50%. Human resources' usage can be greatly lowered driven mainly by offering NOAC treatment to more patients. Also, combining both policies can lead to cost savings of up to 50%. The STAR method, which considers both service and patient perspectives, produced findings that implementing both policies provide a significantly higher value for money compared to the situation when neither is applied. Conclusions: The combination of DES and STAR can help decision-makers determine the interventions that have the highest benefits from service providers' and patients' perspectives. This is important given the mismatch between care demand and resources and the resulting need for improving operational and economic outcomes. The DST tool has the potential to inform policymaking in DVT services in the UK to improve performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents research findings on the role of universities in forming partnerships for local economic regeneration as seen through the eyes of potential partners The move by universities into the local arena is viewed against a backcloth of an expanding higher education system, the need to establish a 'niche market' and an ever present financial imperative. The views of other agencies and organisations reveal the existence of a deep cultural divide between them and universities which has consequences for the roles universities see themselves as playing, for the management of institutions and for their mod of operation in regeneration networks. The paper identifies how universities should respond if they are to meet partners' concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cost-of-illness analysis for the United Kingdom is part of a Europe-wide study on the costs of multiple sclerosis (MS). The objective was to analyze the costs and quality of life (utility) related to the level of disease severity. People with MS from a database administered by a UK charity (the MS Trust) were asked to participate in the survey by answering a postal questionnaire. In addition to details on the disease (type of disease, relapses, level of functional disability), the questionnaire asked for information on all resource consumption, medical, non-medical, work absence and informal care as well as utility. The response rate was 19%, and a total of 2048 people were included. The mean age of the cohort was 51 years, and 23% of people were ≥60 years of age. Disease severity was concentrated in people with moderately severe MS (Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score of 4 to 6.5), with 21, 60 and 19% of people reporting mild, moderate and severe disease, respectively. Costs and utility are highly correlated with disease severity. Mean annual costs for all people in the study increase from approximately £ 12.000 at an EDSS score <4 to almost £ 60.000 at an EDSS score ≥7. In particular, employment rates are reduced from 82% in early disease to 2% at an EDSS score of 8, while the costs of inpatient care, investments, informal care and productivity losses increase by more than tenfold between an EDSS score of 0-1 and a score ≥7. Utility decreases from 0.92 at an EDSS score of 0 to a state worse than death in the most severe state (–0.18 at an EDSS score of 9). Compared to the results in an earlier cost study in the United Kingdom using a comparable methodology, costs have substantially increased, by roughly 40%. Part of the increase is due to a higher use of disease-modifying drugs and, possibly linked with this, a higher use of ambulatory care and services. Another part of the increase is most likely due to an increased age in the current sample, with more patients on early retirement due to MS and more intense use of informal care. However, another reason may lie in the methodology, e.g. different unit costs or differences in the sample distribution, despite a similar mean EDSS score of 5.1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan and the UK appear to have few commonalities in terms of their history of and approach to migration law and policy. However, strong similarities in their contemporary approaches can be detected. Migration sits at the very top of the national political agendas and both have undertaken successive, major policy reforms over the past decade. Both have governments publicly committed to policies to attract 'highly skilled' migrants, with a restrictive approach towards 'unskilled' migrants. This article draws out the similarities and differences of migration law and policy in Japan and the UK via their respective legislative structures and policy trajectories on highly skilled migration. The article argues that Japan and the UK promote a market-driven model which enables highly skilled migration to be 'sold' to publics believed to be hostile to increased migration. Yet, the rapid changes in policy and revising of applicable rules often prevents the successful recruitment of highly skilled migrants to both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the migration infrastructures and pathways through which migrants move into, through and out of irregular status in Japan and the UK and how these infrastructures uniquely shape their migrant experiences of irregularity at key stages of their migration projects. Our analysis brings together two bodies of migration scholarship, namely critical work on the social and legal production of illegality and the impact of legal violence on the lives of immigrants with precarious legal status, and on the role of migration infrastructures in shaping mobility pathways. Drawing upon in-depth qualitative interviews with irregular and precarious migrants in Japan and the UK collected over a ten-year period, this article develops a three-pronged analysis of the infrastructures of irregularity, focusing on infrastructures of entry, settlement and exit, casting a comparative light on the mechanisms that produce precarious and expendable migrant lives in relation to access to labour and labour conditions, access and quality of housing and law enforcement, and how migrants adapt, cope, resist or eventually are overpowered by them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite substantial investment in step-free access at UK railway stations, persons with reduced mobility (PRMs) continue to travel less than their able-bodied counterparts and little is known about the value of step-free access. This research examines the benefits of step-free access and its relationship with rail usage among PRMs, and the wider benefits of railway station accessibility. Methods: These issues are explored through a mixed methods approach. Semi-structured interviews with ten key organisations were undertaken, as was an analysis of Senior/Disabled Persons Railcard data from 17 railway stations in Buckinghamshire, each with varying levels of step-free accessibility. Results: The results show that the benefits of step-free access extend beyond benefits at the individual level typically associated with those limited to PRMs, and demonstrate the potential to positively affect the society at large economically, environmentally, and socially. The findings also show a positive correlation between the level of step-free accessibility at a railway station and the percentage of PRMs using it. Conclusions: This research argues that government and interested stakeholders should commit to expanding the number and coverage of step-free stations throughout the UK. They should ensure that the appraisal process for investment in step-free accessibility appropriately captures both user and non-user benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative criminology research published in the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) in the 1990s is reviewed. Publications are divided into five topical categories: measurement; explanations or correlates; police or crime prevention; sentencing; and correctional treatment. The most sophisticated studies are on longitudinal and criminal career research, correlates of victimization, quasi-experimental analysis of policing strategies, prediction of reconviction and sentencing, and evaluation of correctional treatment using statistical controls. More fundamental long-term research on the causes of crime is needed, together with more concern for reliability and validity issues, and more evaluation research including controls for extraneous variables using quasi-experimental or (preferably) experimental techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom Government intends to require land development in England to contribute to improving biodiversity values. The basis for this, the offsetting of impacts on biodiversity, stems from and reinforces a neoliberal economic approach, fits with the privatising of conservation, and at a landscape level may improve biodiversity values. However, challenging decision-makers is the current lack of robust evidence that offsetting works, meaning allowing development despite uncertain future biodiversity benefits. Additionally, financial support for local government is declining, making it unclear whether and how effective independent auditing of biodiversity net gain will be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mary Douglas (1993) has indicated some of the shared concerns that keep voluntary enclaves together as 'social movements'. The present paper describes a rather different kind of enclave politics, being concerned with the 'new violence' of groups enclaved by social exclusion and force. The paper focuses on the emergence and subsequent development of dissidents in the civil war in Sierra Leone. The RUF was at the outset a tiny but conventional guerrilla force, modelled on one of the militias in the Liberian civil war, and seeking to overthrow a decayed neo-patrimonial 'one-party' regime. Gaining little popular support, its members became marooned in forested isolation on the Liberia-Sierra Leone border. Recruits were mainly school children seized by force and 'converted' through having to take part in atrocities against rural civilians. Unable to return to the larger society on pain ofsummary execution, captives have had little option but to adjust to the political fantasies of a violent and unstable leadership. They were enclaved by force. Indicating the predictive strength of Douglas' arguments about the cultural dynamics of the enclave, the subsequent atrocity-drenched story of the RUF suggests that it is not the content of belief that determines institutional culture but vice versa. To survive, the enforced enclave develops the concerns of the classic 'sect' - a doctrinaire 'rationality' (expressed in crude acts of 'subtractive' violence), rejection of magic, decision making by lots, preoccupation with defection, otiose leadership style. If the rest of the world is to come to terms with violent enclave organizations such as the RUF and Algerian GIA it may have to pay more careful attention tothe way enclave institutions think. They may not respond 'rationally' to the kinds of incentives offered by mainstream groups organised around hierarchical and/or individualist systems of social accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2nd conference on 'Algal Modelling: Processes and Management' was held at The University of Reading on Monday July 6th 1998. A full capacity of 50 delegates attended, including visitors from overseas and the U.K. water industry. Twelve papers were delivered in two sessions chaired by Prof. Colin Reynolds (Institute of Freshwater Ecology &Visiting Prof. at the University of Reading) and Professor Paul Whitehead (Director of the Aquatic Environments Research Centre at the University of Reading). A key-note address was given by Prof. Steve Chapra (University of Colorado and University of Reading). Selected papers from the conference have been produced and refereed and now form part of this special issue of Hydrobiologia. The conference followed the 1st event held in 1996 and published in Hydrobiologia (Howard, 1997a) and aimed to provide an up-to-date review of the state-of-the-artof algal modelling and its application to the management of problem algal blooms. The problem of toxic cyanobacteria provided the basis for the conference and for the papers presented though attention was given to a wide range of hydrological and biological processes. In recent years, there has been widespread media coverage of the cyanobacterial bloom problem prompted by the rapid deaths of many animals afterimmersion in water containing toxic cyanobacteria and, in 1996, the apparent fatal poisoning of 45 dialysis patients in Brazil after receiving water supplied by a bloom-affected river. Public concern about the potential threat of toxic cyanobacteria is usually justified. Theapparent increase in the frequency of problem blooms may reflect increased monitoring, but is also a symptom of the global eutrophicationproblem. In England and Wales, the organisation responsible for monitoring and protecting the water environment, the National Rivers Authority (now part of the Environment Agency) established a Toxic Algae Task Group in 1989. At the first conference, the group's Secretary, Dr Fer [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine management developments are occurring across the United Kingdom with the major aim to ensure economic growth and security of marine resources via the provision of legislative guidelines for sustainable management of activities within the marine environment. Many of these directives also provide guidance for maintaining ecologically valuable and/or endangered species and habitats that exist alongside, and may also support, marine activities/use. Marine governance is largely guided by several key directives laid out and implemented by governing authorities of Europe, the United Kingdom and those countries comprising the United Kingdom, and in line with several international conventions. The directives set out by each authority or convention may act discretely but more often tend to overlap, which can lead to confusion about the relevant marine conservation requirements and objectives that must be fulfilled for a given region, site or feature. Additionally, management objectives driven by the same legislation may oppose one another, adding further complexity to the matter. This article aims to provide an overview of governance that holds relevance to managing marine habitats and species, especially those deemed sensitive, ecologically valuable and/or endangered. A general overview and summary schematic tool of the marine governance, legislation and designations within each level of authority for the United Kingdom are provided. Additional consideration of the implications for legislation upon the United Kingdom leaving the EU is briefly discussed and a comparative case study of two marine habitats of high conservation value is provided to demonstrate how different sites/features may have considerably different management requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cluster headache (CH) is a debilitating condition that is generally associated with substantial health care costs. Few therapies are approved for abortive or prophylactic treatment. Results from the prospective, randomised, open-label PREVA study suggested that adjunctive treatment with a novel non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) device led to decreased attack frequency and abortive medication use in patients with chronic CH (cCH). Herein, we evaluate whether nVNS is cost-effective compared with the current standard of care (SoC) for cCH. Methods: A pharmacoeconomic model from the German statutory health insurance perspective was developed to estimate the 1-year cost-effectiveness of nVNS + SoC (versus SoC alone) using data from PREVA. Short-term treatment response data were taken from the clinical trial; longer-term response was modelled under scenarios of response maintenance, constant rate of response loss, and diminishing rate of response loss. Health-related quality of life was estimated by modelling EQ-5D™ data from PREVA; benefits were defined as quality-adjusted life-years (QALY). Abortive medication use data from PREVA, along with costs for the nVNS device and abortive therapies (i.e. intranasal zolmitriptan, subcutaneous sumatriptan, and inhaled oxygen), were used to assess health care costs in the German setting. Results: The analysis resulted in mean expected yearly costs of €7096.69 for nVNS + SoC and €7511.35 for SoC alone and mean QALY of 0.607 for nVNS + SoC and 0.522 for SoC alone, suggesting that nVNS generates greater health benefits for lower overall cost. Abortive medication costs were 23 % lower with nVNS + SoC than with SoC alone. In the alternative scenarios (i.e. constant rate of response loss and diminishing rate of response loss), nVNS + SoC was more effective and cost saving than SoC alone. Conclusions: In all scenarios modelled from a German perspective, nVNS was cost-effective compared with current SoC, which suggests that adjunctive nVNS therapy provides economic benefits in the treatment of cCH. Notably, the current analysis included only costs associated with abortive treatments. Treatment with nVNS will likely promote further economic benefit when other potential sources of cost savings (e.g. reduced frequency of clinic visits) are considered. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier , 03OCT2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part of the political argument in favour of the right to buy (RTB) was that it would stimulate the economy by encouraging the inter-regional mobility of those in public sector housing. This is the first study to examine whether RTB-owners are indeed more mobile than those in social housing. Using longitudinal data from the British household panel survey and panel regression models we show that the probability of a RTB-owner making a long distance move falls between that of social renters and owner occupiers. However, the difference between RTB-owners and homeowners or social renters is not significant. Social renters are significantly less likely to move over long distances than traditional owners. The results also suggest that RTB-owners are less likely than traditional owners to move for job related reasons, but more likely than social renters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws upon concepts developed in recent empirical and theoretical work on high skilled and academic mobility and migration including accidental mobility, forced mobility and negotiated mobility. These concepts inform a situated, qualitative study of mobility among international postdoctoral researchers in life sciences and engineering fields who were employed at US and UK universities in 2008 and 2009. Informed by epistemological methods in the Foucauldian tradition of discourse and governmentality, the study explores how policy discourse and technologies empower and limit scientists and engineers in negotiating employment arrangements across national boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Projections of the UK's ethnic populations from 2001 to 2051 show significant future change. Groups outside the White British majority will increase in size and share, not only in core areas but throughout the country. Ethnic minorities will shift out of deprived local authorities and into less deprived ones, while the White distribution remains stable. The share of the Mixed group population in the most deprived quintile (Q5) of local authorities reduces from 26 to 19%, while its share in the least deprived quintile (Q1) increases from 22 to 29%. The corresponding shifts for Asian groups are from 25 to 18% for Q5 and from 9 to 20% for the Q1. For Black groups the Q5 quintile sees a decrease from 54 to 39% while the Q1 sees an increase from 7 to 19%. There are shifts to local authorities with lower ethnic minority concentrations by Mixed, Asian and Black populations from local authorities with high ethnic concentrations, while the White, Chinese and Other group distributions remain in 2051 as they were in 2001. So, ethnic minority groups will be less segregated from the rest of the population in 2051 than in 2001. Indices of Dissimilarity between each group and the rest of the population fall by a third over the projection period. The UK in 2051 will be a more ethnically diverse society than in 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has existed in name for over 70 years. It is practiced in many countries and it is studied in academia around the world. However, CSR is not a universally adopted concept as it is understood differentially despite increasing pressures for its incorporation into business practices. This lack of a clear definition is complicated by the use of ambiguous terms in the proffered definitions and disputes as to where corporate governance is best addressed by many of the national bodies legislating, mandating, or recommending CSR. This article explores the definitions of CSR as published on the Internet by governments in four countries (United Kingdom (UK), France, the United States, and Canada). We look for a consensus of understanding in an attempt to propose a more universal framework to enhance international adoption and practice of CSR using the triple bottom line. Our results concur with the findings of both national and international bodies and suggest that both within and among the countries in our study there exists no clear definition of the concept of CSR. While there are some similarities, there are substantial differences that must be addressed. We present a number of proposals for a more universal framework to define CSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Population is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In England and Wales, the quantity and quality of renal services have improved significantly in the last decade. While acceptance rates for renal replacement therapy appear low by international standards, they are now commensurate with many other northern European countries. The major growth in renal services has been in hemodialysis, especially at satellite units. Health care is predominantly publicly funded through a tax-based National Health Service, and such funding has increased in the last 10 years. Improvements in health outcomes in England and Wales are expected to continue due to the recent implementation of standards, initiatives, and monitoring mechanisms for renal transplantation, vascular access, and patient transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study examined the effects of “negative'' contact experiences with beneficiaries on charity volunteers' job satisfaction and organizational commitment within a helping and caring charitable organization that for 3.5 years had operated an internal marketing program. It was hypothesized that negative experiences downwardly moderated (i) the impact of the charity's internal market activities on satisfaction and commitment, and (ii) the influences of certain job attributes (autonomy, teamworking, and supervisory support) on these variables. Three personal characteristics (affect intensity, vulnerability to stress, and a person's reasons for having become a volunteer) were also posited to moderate the effects of negative experiences on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Linkages between the last two variables and a volunteer's desire to provide high-quality client services were explored. The results indicated strong connections between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and a volunteer's personal commitment to providing high-quality services. Levels of organizational commitment were influenced positively and significantly by the charity's internal marketing activities and negatively by the number of unpleasant client-contact experiences that a volunteer had to endure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom has a prestigious track record in genetic and genomic research, with the structure of DNA, and delivery of a third of the human genome being significant landmarks. UK genomic research benefits from a variety of funding sources in both the public and private sector, and efforts to co-ordinate research strategies. Here we describe how this investment has impacted on the UK research capacity and highlight examples of progress in translating genetic information into improved healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced networked technologies have the potential to support deep strategic and operational transformation within voluntary organizations as they seek to respond to shifts in the social, economic, and political spheres in which they operate. Evidence form our study of U.K. voluntary organizations demonstrates relatively low uptake of the core networking technologies and applications essential to support such transformation. Friends of the Earth and The Samaritans are exceptions to this trend. Case studies of these organizations demonstrate that they are using advanced networked technologies to reconfigure key information flows and relationships, in support of enhanced campaigning and more effective user services. The extent to which these organizations are able to exploit the transformational potential that the technologies present is tempered by historically institutionalized relationships and values by which they are characterized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L.f. is reported in this paper to be present at only 29 sites in the south east of England and in South Wales, in a wide range of water body types, which are typically slow-flowingand eutrophic. The current infestation is likely to have originated from various introductions from a single clone available at aquatic garden centres and nurseries in the U.K.. Experiments on the optimum chemical control method have shown that the plant is most susceptible to the herbicide 2,4-D amine applied at 4.23 kg ha-1 active ingredient (a.i.). Initial observations suggest that the species isresistant to the herbicide glyphosate applied at 2.16 kg a.i. ha-1. This resistance is postulated to be due to insufficient uptake of the herbicide through the leaf cuticle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Family Expenditure Survey provides a long time series of household-level data on U.K. charitable giving, which previously has not been exploited. Data analyzed for the period 1978–93 reveal a long-term decline in the proportion of households giving to charity, which persists once we control for changes in other characteristics that affect giving, such as income and wealth. The biggest declines in the number of givers are among younger and poorer households. We also draw out generation-specific trends in a way that is crucial to thinking about future trends in funding for the voluntary sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines air quality changes that can arise from implementing specific traffic management schemes, based on the findings of current and past impact assessments. Air quality changes arising from pedestrianisation, traffic rerouting, traffic calming, and bus priority routes are outlined. Case studies are presented where air quality was measured before and after the implementation of a scheme in order to assess how effective traffic management can be in reducing ambienttraffic-related pollutant levels. Limitations of past and current studies are highlighted. The need for more monitoring studies, and the need for data from those studies to be used to test and validate a range of suitable numerical models, is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 has resulted in a large numberof air quality modelling assessments being carried out to predict the effects on ambient air quality of various individual industrial sources as a part of the application process for authorization to operate. Currently there is no standard approach to carrying out air quality modelling assessments in the UK and, consequently, the content and quality of studies can vary enormously. To examine this variation, twenty five assessments which included dispersion model ling were selected and assessed against criteria derived from consideration of the requirements of these studies. The criteria derived also took account of two sets of guidelines. One set has been produced by the Instituteof Environmental Assessment and the other by the Royal Meteorological Society. It should be noted, however, that this paper does not set out to produce a 'user's manual' for air quality modelling studies, but rather to examine various studies against set criteria. Aspects ofeach assessment which have been examined include: the site description; the objectives of the study; the representativeness and reliability of the input data; the assumptions made; and the communication of the results. Each category considered has been evaluated and marked against a common scoring scheme. In general the resulting scores were poor with 56% of the assessment scoring less than 50% and only 8% of the assessments scoring more than 70%. Many of the assessments examined would not be capable of being fully audited or reproduced because they contained insufficient details of the input data used or the assumptions made. In the context of ever increasing concern regarding the effects of air quality there needs to be a clear understanding of the efficiency and effectiveness of the tools which are being used to measure or predict air quality. Also in light of the UK Department ofthe Environment's air quality management initiative it is necessary for [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inexpensive near-infrared diode lasers are now being used to enable high sensitivity, real time monitoring of gases both in open path measurements of urban air quality and in industrial environments for sta& gas emission monitoring. Individual species are detected in a highly selective manner via overtone and combination bands of their vibrational spectra. Operating at room temperature and with simple optical components they can be made into portable instruments, ideal for field measurements. Combined with optical fibres they can be used for accessing remote and possibly dangerous locations. This paper presents current progress on the development of such a system illustrating recent results on ammonia monitoring at 1540 nm and acetylene at 780 nm. Sensitivities of the order of parts per million and below have been attained. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach to air pollution monitoring will be described. Pressure broadening results are alsogiven for the 2v1 band of ammonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model to forecast concentrations of nitrogen dioxide NO2 in urban areas. A box model provides a simple and robust description of air quality in urban areas, especially whereemissions data are only available on a fairly coarse grid. BOXURB isa box model with some novel features. It can use synoptic observations of the meteorology, or numerical forecasts of wind and cloud. Traffic emissions are adjusted by time and day of week, and space heatingemissions by degree hours. The urban heat flux combines an urban heat store adjustment, a space heating term, and the rural heat flux. Pollutants accumulate with the onset of light winds. NO2 is forecast by subdividing the NOx into its constituents, NO (nitric oxide) and NO2. The subdivision is empirical for most of the year, but in ozone episodes the photostationary state is invoked. The forecasts are sent by the Met Office to NETCEN AEA Technology for use in the Department of Environment's Air Quality Bulletin System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Imidacloprid is an active ingredient included in plant protection, biocidal and veterinary medicinal products (VMPs). VMPs containing Imidacloprid are formulated as spot-on products or collars and designed to protect pets, predominantly dogs and cats, from parasite infestation. Monitoring data collected under the Water Framework Directive between 2016 and 2018 showed detectable and varying levels of Imidacloprid in the UK surface water bodies. The aim of the work was to investigate the potential contribution of VMPs by developing a model for predicting the emissions from sewage treatment plants from the use of dog and cat spot-on and collar VMPs. Due to the absence of appropriate exposure models for VMPs, the model was built based on the principles of environmental exposure assessment for biocidal products. Results: Three emission paths were considered to be the most likely routes for repeated emissions to waterways from the use of spot-on and collar VMPs, i.e., transfer to pet bedding followed by washing, washing/bathing of dogs, and walking dogs in the rain. The developed model was used to calculate the Imidacloprid concentrations in surface water after discharge from wastewater treatment plants. Realistic worst-case input parameters were deduced from sales and survey data and experimental studies. Modelled total concentrations in surface water for each pathway ranged from 0.84 to 4.8 ng/L. The calculated concentrations did not exceed the ecological thresholds for the most sensitive aquatic invertebrate organisms and were found to be much lower than the UK monitoring data for river water. For example, the calculated concentration from the bathing/washing of dogs was < 3% of the highest levels of Imidacloprid measured in surface waters. Conclusion: In conclusion, a model has been successfully built and applied. The modelled data indicate that these VMPs make only a very small contribution to the levels of Imidacloprid observed in the UK water monitoring programme. Further, calculated concentrations do not exceed ecotoxicological threshold values indicating acceptable chronic safety to aquatic organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management and effects of 3-year and 5-year set-aside covers on soil mineral nitrogen (SMN, 0.0-0.9 m) were studied at six sites in England. Soil mineral N was measured annually in autumn and spring during the period of set-aside cover, with more frequent SMN sampling over the first winter after ploughing out the covers. Spring SMN was measured in the second year after set-aside. Nitrate leaching losses were also measured at three sites in the first winter after destructionof the 5-year set-aside covers. Winter cereals were grown in both test years after each set-aside period. Amounts of both autumn and spring SMN in the perennial rye-grass (PRG), perennial rye-grass/white clover (PRG/WC) and natural regeneration (NR) covers were generally less than, or similar to those in the continuous arable treatment duringeach year of set-aside, indicating a slightly smaller nitrate leaching risk under set-aside management. Slight increases in autumn SMN, and hence leaching potential were, however, observed under PRG/WC in the fourth and fifth years, compared with continuous arable cropping. Ploughing out of both 3-year and 5-year covers increased soil N supply and potential nitrate leaching losses over winter, compared with continuous arable cropping. By the following spring, mean increases across all sites in amounts of SMN after 3-year covers of PRG, NR and PRG/WC were 14, 18 and 33 kg ha-1 N, respectively, compared with the arable rotation. Equivalent increases in spring SMN following destruction of the 5-year set-aside covers were almost identical, at 17, 19 and 33 kg ha-1, respectively, although only the ploughed-out PRG/WC covers increased SMN at the clay sites. Measured nitrate leaching losses in the first winter after 5-year set-aside were greatest after PRG/WC at two sites on shallow chalk but greatest after NR, which had a naturally large clover content, at the third sitewhich was on a sandy soil. However, the leaching losses after set-aside [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last two decades, the importance of sulphur dioxide as a pollutant has moved away from its association with suspended particulate matter, to it being a precursor of SO42- aerosol (acidic e.g. sulphuric acid, or neutralised e.g. ammonium sulphate). Co-located concentration data of sulphur dioxide and SO42-, at nine monitoring sites situated in predominantlyrural areas in the United Kingdom, collected over the time period 1979-1995, have been analysed. The time series for both species are discussed for the sites. Further analysis has shown that there is a degree of correlation between sulphur dioxide and SO42- for most of the sites considered. This correlation is of approximately the same level for most of the sites taken independently and together, and in most cases the slopes and intercepts associated with the simple empirical model equations arising from the correlation analysis, are of the same order of magnitude. The implementation of these site-dependent model equations within dispersion models for the prediction of the concentration of airborne sulphate aerosol from knowledge of sulphur dioxide concentration is discussed. Furthermore, the correlation analysis revealed the influence of transported sulphate aerosol on the local concentration, especially during high concentration episodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The national distribution of Fallopia japonica (Japanese Knotweed), Heracleum mantegazzianum (Giant Hogweed) and Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam) in bankside habitats is given for 1994-96 in the U.K. and contrasted with the occurrence of large stands of other nuisance plants. The typical habitats of these plants were derived by analysis of flow, channel and bank substrates from River Habitat Surveys and shows their invasion potential across the U.K. Study of the dispersal mechanisms and control techniques shows: (a) the consequences of accidental introductions to river banks from locations away from the river, (b) their further dispersal by the downstream drift of seed orfragments with their subsequent invasion, and (c) the key areas in the development of appropriate control programs. The concentration of effort to immediate action and to small areas, especially upstream, is recommended, in preference to widespread but incomplete control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During River Habitat Surveys on the physical structure of the watercourses in the U.K., channel vegetation types were recorded as presentor extensive in 10 m wide belt transects at 50 m intervals over 500 m reaches for some 2435 stratified random sites in 1995-96. Data on attached, submerged, emergent and free-floating aquatic vegetation were grouped into nine broad morphological groups such as submerged broad-, linear- and fine-leaved, free-floating, emergent, etc. Vegetationdata are supported by assessments of physical parameters at each site including dimension, flow types, channel substrate and the slope ofthe channel. The general habitat requirements for each group are shown to agree with assumed requirements but with a broader distributionof habitats. Eight percent of channels had excessive growths of vegetation and would normally be considered for weed control; this was a minimum estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]