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Climatic changes can cause unpredictability in flood regimes that traditional flood risk management (FRM) approaches may struggle with. Therefore, flood resilience is seen as a supplementation to these approaches, putting a larger emphasis on flood acceptance and minimising consequences. An (emergent) group contributing towards flood resilience is civil society. This paper examines how civil society contributions can be furthered and guided in the Netherlands as well as exploring potential limitations in doing so. To achieve this, England is used as a good practice example due to a more developed and defined role for civil society being present here. Data were collected on both actual (England and the Netherlands) and potential (The Netherlands) civil society contributions. These were compared to identify potential avenues for Dutch civil society contributions to flood resilience that can be further investigated. The research shows that the most promising avenues are improving advocacy from citizens, improving local flood awareness and developing relationships between FRM authorities and existing citizen groups that can be harnessed and mobilised to support flood resilience. Additionally, the research also provides insights into potential limitations for transferring resilience approaches from one context to another beyond the cases discussed in this publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Austerity policies have affected local government for over a decade challenging their financial resilience to cope with further financial shocks. Using a financial resilience framework, this paper examines whether lower tier authorities behave in the same way as their higher tier counterparts when it comes to financial resilience to shocks. From a detailed field study of three lower tier (district) authorities in English local government, it is concluded that they do not have the capacity to 'Bounce Forwards'. They can only 'Bounce Back' in the short term and even that is becoming increasingly difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both England and the Netherlands have seen efforts to liberalise their audit markets for local government in recent decades. According to economic theory, these should benefit buyers as increased competition produces lower prices and improved quality. Increasing the number of competing audit firms in markets traditionally dominated by few large firms is widely seen as a key ingredient to this process. However, liberalisation has taken different paths in England, compared to the Netherlands. In England, a national‐level collaborative purchasing arrangement has seen a small number of large firms competing, whilst in the Netherlands, a free market has led to the withdrawal by Big‐4 firms and rapidly growing market share by mid‐tier and small firms. In this paper, we analyse contrasting market developments in local public audit in England and the Netherlands and accordingly analyse the underlying factors through applying an established framework for market analysis from industrial economics, Porter's five forces framework, together with an institutional logics approach to further understand the factors involved. We find the Porter framework a useful tool to identify structural differences between markets but one that requires further analysis to explain underlying dynamics, which in the case of Dutch and English local public audit markets is effectively provided by the use of concepts from institutional logics including a historical contingency analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, substantial changes have been implemented to the audit regimes for local authorities in several countries. Following the abolishment of the Audit Commission, a unique regime for the audit of local authorities has emerged in England, with external audit now fully conducted by private sector audit firms. Auditor appointments for the vast majority of local authorities are now managed by a new organisation, Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited (PSAA). Drawing on the determinants of audit credibility developed by Funnell, Wade and Jupe (2016), this paper examines how local authority stakeholders in the transformed landscape of local public audit in England perceive audit credibility, including the role of PSAA and other audit stakeholders. Findings show that the impact of current arrangements is positively perceived by stakeholders in relation to auditors' technical competence and independence, at least in the short term, however significant concern is found amongst stakeholders regarding the usefulness of local public audits. Compared to Funnell et al. (2016), we ascribe these differences to the different context of audit in English local government and suggest the relative weighting of determinants of audit credibility are contingent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the challenges facing English flood risk management (FRM) policy and practice when considering fair decision-making processes and outcomes at a range of spatial scales. It is recognised that flooding is not fair per se: the inherent natural spatial inequality of flood frequency and extent, plus the legacy of differential system interventions, being the cause. But, drawing on the three social justice models – procedural equality, Rawls’ maximin rule and maximum utility – the authors examine the fairness principles currently employed in FRM decision-making. This is achieved, firstly, in relation to the distribution of taxpayer's money for FRM at the national, regional and local levels and, secondly, for non-structural strategies – most notably those of insurance, flood warnings and awareness raising, land use control, home owner adaptation and emergency management. A case study of the Lower Thames catchment illustrates the challenges facing decision-makers in ‘real life’: how those strategies which appear to be most technically and economically effective fall far short of being fair from either a vulnerability or equality perspective. The paper concludes that if we are to manage flood risk somewhat more fairly then a move in the direction of government funding of nationally consistent non-structural strategies, in conjunction with lower investment decision thresholds for other local-level FRM options, appears to offer a greater contribution to equality and vulnerability-based social justice principles than the status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographers examining the spaces of government and governance, and in particular those drawing upon the writings of Michel Foucault on government and governmentality, have tended to overlook the importance of different media, technical devices and practices of self-government to specific rationalities and programmes of government. In this paper I argue that the materialities and immaterialities of many mundane media technologies, the way they articulate and translate particular programmes of government, and the way they instil practices of self-government in citizens, are important but frequently overlooked dimensions of the geographies of government. I focus on the codes of countryside conduct – The Country Code/Countryside Code – that have been published in England and Wales since 1951. I examine how the National Parks Commission, and subsequently the Countryside Commission and Countryside Agency, identified the potential strengths and limitations of using the Country Code booklet to govern the conduct of visitors to the countryside. The paper shows how the material form of the booklet and methods of distributing and promoting it were seen to matter, and examines how civil servants attempted to extend the ‘reach’ of the Code and articulate its message through a diverse range of media which entailed different kinds of performative encounters in different spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the transition of talk to text in the process of performing and recording semi-structured interviews over the telephone. In particular, it considers the ways respondents and the materials enjoined in the process of interviewing exceed their role in the research process. Drawing on my experience of conducting telephone interviews in the UK, I position the interview as an uncertain encounter: one framed by earlier narrations as much as the aims and objectives of the research project; and an orientation towards ‘talk’ as much as the reduction of performance to text. Far from losing track of these uncertainties I argue that tape-recorders are well equipped to document these in/audible realms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the transitions from primary to secondary school for a contemporary cohort of children moving between state schools in England. It uses data on over 12 000 primary schools, over 2000 secondary schools and around 400 000 pupils. The results suggest that the experiences of poor pupils at age 11 may be quite different, on average, to their non-poor peers’. Poor pupils’ primary peer groups are more fractured at the age of 11 and these pupils tend to find themselves more concentrated within lower performing secondary schools. High ability pupils are more likely to go to the modal secondary school of their cohort if it is better than average; the reverse is true for low ability pupils. Poor pupils are less likely to go to the modal school when it is better than average but more likely to go when it is worse. Finally, we find that primary schools which have high academic test scores have more bifurcated flows: poor and non-poor pupils are dispersed across different secondary schools. This analysis of within-primary school differences in destination is one of the novel contributions of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The word ‘dwelling’, to dwell, supposes engagement, in the sense that those who dwell are seen to engage with others and, in doing so, contribute to social capital and cohesion expressed in the forming of ‘community’. Second home buying may be viewed as a course of action severing the process–product link between dwelling and community, as a brake on the community building process. In this paper, I contrast the view of dwelling as process – and its coupling with the ‘traditional’ place–community – with alternative notions of dwelling, and argue that the prevailing view is largely concerned with public and collective dwelling (and ‘productive interaction’), and underplays the importance of private dwelling, and hence the self-identity and orientation – key aspects of dwelling – that flow from the use of private property, including the use of second homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory research approaches are increasingly popular with geographers in developed as well as developing countries, as critical qualitative methodologies which at their best work with participants to effect change. This paper adds to recent debates over the methodologies, practices, philosophical and political issues involved. Drawing on a project on young people, exclusion and crime victimization in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, we discuss the limitations of participatory diagramming and illustrate some of the social and political barriers to meaningful participation in, and action from, this type of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the pattern of hospital utilization (rather than provision) in England prior to the establishment of the NHS, showing the extent to which the probability of obtaining hospital treatment was a function of residence. Access to hospital care depended on the vigour of voluntarism and the political priorities of local governments. The pattern of voluntary hospital utilization is shown to have been markedly unequal, but the effect of municipal provision was to reduce disparities in access to services. The paper demonstrates variations in hospital utilization and discusses contemporary assessments of the situation. This work contributes to debates about the efficacy of non-profit forms of welfare delivery; it provides a novel British study to complement American work in this field. It also raises questions about the contemporary vogue for partnerships in health care delivery between the public and private sectors, arguing that such proposals rest on an optimistic view of history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unfurling of global capitalism – and its attendant effects – has long been fertile intellectual terrain for geographers. But whilst studies of the processes and mechanisms of globalisation undoubtedly assume a talismanic importance in the discipline, geographers, with few exceptions, have left examinations of early economic liberalism to historians. One such critically important episode in the evolution of the liberal economic project was the repeal of the so-called ‘Corn Laws’ in 1846. Whilst the precise impact of the Manchester-based Anti-Corn Law League (ACLL) continues to be a matter of conjecture, Eric Sheppard has asserted that their particular take on political economy managed to assume a ‘truth-like status’ and worldwide universality. But the ACLL’s campaign represents only one, albeit decisive, stage in the long intellectual and practical struggle between ‘protectionists’ and the disciples of free trade. Studies of the non-’Manchester’ components have tended to focus squarely upon national politics. This paper examines a pivotal attempt in 1838 by Lord Melbourne’s Government to experiment with the effective elimination of import duties on fresh fruit. Unlike most agricultural commodities, table fruit was produced in a tightly defined area, thus allowing the Government’s experiment to play out, in theory, without national political fallout. Whilst the Government’s clandestine actions left little time for a concerted opposition to develop, Kentish fruit growers soon organised. A formidable lobby was forged that drew wide local support yet also evolved beyond the original ‘epistemic community’. Whilst the coalition failed in their efforts to reintroduce protective duties, their actions allow us to see how protectionist ideologies and policies were vivified through practices at many different spatial scales and to better understand the complex spatiality of protectionist takes on political economy. Their campaign also changed – at least in the short term – the course of British mercantile policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater mills historically were found throughout England serving a wide variety of uses. The decline in the need for water power over the last 100 years saw a reduction in the number of operational mills. Despite this decline, the associated river structures were rarely removed and many of these have exceeded their design life and have failed or are now starting to fail, with important geomorphological implications for the river. This paper investigates the geomorphological impacts of mills and their structures on English rivers, and considers their legacy for the contemporary management of these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to identify the factors that determine the prevalence of private medical insurance (PMI) in England.Secondary data sources are the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) 1997–2000, Laing's Healthcare Market Review 1999–2000, the United Kingdom (U.K.) Department of Health's National Health Service Waiting Times Team, and the Work Force Statistics Branch of the Department of Health.Logistic regression models for panel data were used to compare non-PMI subscribers with individual subscribers and those with employer-provided PMI.The BHPS data are collected by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex. Other data used were collected by Laing and Buisson and the U.K. Department of Health.Individual PMI is more prevalent among the well-educated and healthy. Income, age, sex, and political preference are key determinants of PMI prevalence for both individual and employer paid PMI. Individuals are also likely to reflect on information with regard to waiting times in deciding whether or not to purchase PMI cover. The withdrawal of the tax subsidy in 1997 to PMI subscribers over 60 years of age did not impact on their rate of withdrawal from PMI coverage relative to the rate among all PMI subscribers, but may have discouraged potential new subscribers.Current trends in the PMI market suggest that, over time, individually purchased PMI is likely to be partially displaced by PMI purchased as part of a company-based plan. However, having PMI is linked to economic factors in both groups, suggesting a similar segment of the population valuing the responsiveness that PMI provides. Geographic factors relating to waiting times and supply-side factors are associated with both individual and company-based PMI. The withdrawal of the tax subsidy to individual subscribers older than age of 60 resulted in a significant decline in the demand for PMI. In particular, the number of new subscribers in this group declined substantially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A programme of asymptomatic swabbing was piloted in 2021/2022 in England to further understand the risk of human infection with avian influenza in exposed individuals and to evaluate this surveillance approach as a public health measure. There were challenges in deploying this pilot that will need to be addressed for future seasons. However, there was one detection of avian influenza A(H5N1) in a human despite low uptake in eligible exposed persons. Future use of asymptomatic swabbing could help provide an evidence base to quantify asymptomatic infection, quickly identify signals of increased animal to human transmission and improve public health preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to assess which components of landscape structure in lowland English farmland could best predict patterns in bird community composition, total bird density and densities of 12 birdspecies. As far as possible, predictors were sought that were consistent in their effects over a 20 yr period. The data were derived frommapping censuses in 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986 with yearly sample sizes ranging from 41 to 51 plots, of minimum size 50 ha. Landscape composition was quantified in terms of 10 landscape variablesrepresenting broad structural (e.g. density of woodland) and crop attributes (e.g. proportion of area under cereals) plus altitude. Gradients in bird community composition were defined as plotscores on axis1 of a detrended correspondence analysis (AXIS1). This gradient consistently represented a gradient from plots rich in woodland bird species to ones rich in field-feeding and wetland species. Multiple regression was used to build models containing 2-, 3- and 4-variables. Twoapproaches were used to combine data from the six years and models based on the single best subset in each year were found to be most consistent with respect to predictor selection. Predictors were tested by building models based on each combination of five years and assessing how well the predictors explained variation in the bird variables for the sixth, independent year. The predictors were relatively successful in explaining variations in densities of wren, robin, willow warbler, blue tit, great tit and chaffinch but especially AXIS1 which was explained in terms of woodland density, field size and altitude. The predictors were unsuccessful in explaining total bird density, song thrush density and white throat density. Structural attributes of landscape(especially density of hedgerow and woodland, but also riversand ponds) were frequent predictors of species densities, but variables relating to farming system were not, with the exception of skylark and [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The initial purposes of regulation of medicines in England, and latterly in the United Kingdom, were principally to raise government revenue, to discourage murder by poisoning and to regulate the activities of pharmacists. It was only much later that regulators sought to ensure that medicines were of good quality, reasonably safe, and at least somewhat effective, and to curtail misuse of drugs. Here we survey the history of the regulation of medicines and poisons in England from the perspective of clinicians with an interest in therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of wealth inequality in England from the late thirteenth to the sixteenth century, based on a novel database of distributions of taxable household wealth across 17 counties plus London. To account for high thresholds of fiscal exemption, a new method is introduced to reconstruct complete distributions from left‐censored observations. First, we analyse inequality at the county level, finding an impressive stability across time in the relative position of the English counties, perturbed only by the tendency of the South and South‐East to become relatively more inegalitarian. Then, we produce an aggregate distribution representative of England as a whole, and we detect an overall tendency for inequality to grow from medieval to early modern times due largely to North–South divergence in average household wealth. We discuss our results in the light of the recent literature on historical inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the current interest in neighbourhood-based policy in England and considers the extent to which the output geography developed for the 2001 census helps to meet the need for neighbourhood-based data. The characteristics of the new census output geography are presented, and the difficulties of creating meaningful neighbourhood geographies from statistical reporting units reviewed. The new geography will provide a much improved basis for the consolidation of data from official administrative sources, but additional challenges are also discussed in relation to the future of census data collection and publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Antihistamines are routinely taken to control allergic reactions or sedation to induce sleep. There are, however, growing concerns regarding sedating antihistamine misuse. This research aims to evaluate deaths related to antihistamines in England occurring during 2000–2019. Methods: Cases reported to the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths from England occurring in 2000–2019 with antihistamine detections at postmortem were extracted for analysis. Results: In total, 1666 antihistamine postmortem detections were identified from 1537 cases. Sedating antihistamines available for purchase under pharmacist supervision but without need for a prescription (pharmacy‐only medications) were present in a significant majority of cases (85.2%, P <.01). Despite an increasing trend for antihistamine‐related deaths over time, the proportion of deaths where an antihistamine was implicated declined over the same period. Specific concerns with regards to the misuse of these pharmacy‐only sedating antihistamines are raised with regards to the significant proportion of cases that were concluded as suicide (20.9%, P <.01), and the high prevalence of their use in combination with other central nervous system depressants (94.8% of cases). Conclusion: This is the first report in over 40 years regarding antihistamine‐related mortality from England. The rising trend in sedating antihistamine‐related deaths may be contributed to by their increasing availability and the perceived negligible dangers associated with antihistamines, both from the general public and learned professionals. Awareness of the dangerous sedative properties that some antihistamines possess is, however, heightened in individuals deliberately seeking these effects. Urgent review of sedating antihistamines currently assigned under the pharmacy‐only classification is needed to achieve antihistamine harm reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Local Healthwatch have been operating since 2013 as 'consumer champions' in health and social care in England. There is little evidence about how they operate and the daily practices through which they seek to represent citizen views and influence others. Objective: To explore (a) the current organizational arrangements, relationships and impact of local Healthwatch in England, and (b) to what extent do these vary across local Healthwatch organizations. Design: An online survey of all 150 local Healthwatch in England between December 2018 and January 2019. The survey comprised 47 questions and used a combination of closed‐ and open‐response questions. Results: We received responses from 96 local Healthwatch (68% response rate). Most local Healthwatch reported that they are 'independent' organizations that only do Healthwatch‐related work (58.3%) and are funded through a contract (79.2%). Budget cuts have affected four‐fifths of local Healthwatch (79.3%) since 2013. Three‐quarters (74%) of local Healthwatch currently receive funding external to that provided by their local authority for their Healthwatch functions. Most Healthwatch engage with only one CCG (56.3%), one mental health trust (82.3%) and one community health trust (62.5%), though 59.4% engage with more than one hospital trust. Healthwatch respondents overwhelmingly reported impacts that were local in nature. Conclusions: Geographical and historical factors, the quality and quantity of their relationships with stakeholders, and different funding arrangements all contribute to high variability in the structure and activities of local Healthwatch and to shaping the nature of their work and impact across England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic diversity of populations has important ecological and evolutionary consequences, whose understanding is fundamental to improve the sustainability of agricultural production. Studies of how differences in agricultural management and environment influence the population structure of insect pests are central to predict outbreaks and optimize control programs. Here, we have studied the population genetic diversity and evolution of Sitobion avenae and Sitobion miscanthi, which are among the most relevant aphid pests of cereals across Europe and Asia, respectively. We have used genotyping by sequencing (GBS) to identify genome‐wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to infer the geographic structure and migration patterns. In the present study, we show that the population structure in present‐day populations is different from that described in previous studies, which suggest that they have evolved recently possibly as a response to human‐induced changes in agriculture. This study shows that S. avenae in England is predominantly parthenogenetic and there has been a demographic and spatial expansion of a single genetic cluster, which could correspond with the insecticide resistance superclone identified in previous studies. Conversely, in China, S. miscanthi populations are mostly cyclical parthenogenetic, with one sexual stage in autumn to produce overwintering eggs, and there are six genetically differentiated subpopulations and high genetic differentiation between geographic locations, which suggests that further taxonomical research is needed. Unlike S. avenae in England, there is no evidence for insecticide resistance and there is no predominance of a single lineage in S. miscanthi in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the general practitioners (GPs) with regard to the degree of urbanization, social deprivation, general health, and disability.Data Sources: Small area population data and GP practice data in England.Study Design: We used a floating catchment area method to measure spatial GP accessibility with regard to the degree of urbanization, social deprivation, general health, and disability.Data Collection: Data were collected from the Office for National Statistics and the general practice census and analyzed using a geographic information system.Principal Findings: In all, 25.8 percent of the population in England lived in areas with a significant low GP accessibility (mean z-score: -4.2); 27.6 percent lived in areas with a significant high GP accessibility (mean z-score: 7.7); 97.8 percent of high GP accessibility areas represented urban areas, and 31.1 percent of low GP accessibility areas represented rural areas (correlation of accessibility and urbanity: r = 0.59; p<.001). Furthermore, a minor negative correlation with social deprivation was present (r = -0.19; p<.001). Results were confirmed by a multivariate analysis.Conclusion: This study showed substantially differing GP accessibility throughout England. However, socially deprived areas did not have poorer spatial access to GPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite increasing calls for shared decision making (SDM), the precise mechanisms for its attainment are unclear. Sharing decisions in mental health care may be especially complex. Fluctuations in service user capacity and significant power differences are particular barriers. Objective and design: We trialled a form of facilitated SDM that aimed to generate patients' treatment preferences in advance of a possible relapse. The ‘Joint Crisis Plan’ (JCP) intervention was trialled in four mental health trusts in England between 2008 and 2011. This qualitative study used grounded theory methods to analyse focus group and interview data to understand how stakeholders perceived the intervention and the barriers to SDM in the form of a JCP. Results: Fifty service users with psychotic disorders and 45 clinicians participated in focus groups or interviews between February 2010 and November 2011. Results suggested four barriers to clinician engagement in the JCP: (i) ambivalence about care planning; (ii) perceptions that they were ‘already doing SDM’; (iii) concerns regarding the clinical ‘appropriateness of service users’ choices'; and (iv) limited ‘availability of service users’ choices'. Service users reported barriers to SDM in routine practice, most of which were addressed by the JCP process. Barriers identified by clinicians led to their lack of constructive engagement in the process, undermining the service users' experience. Conclusions: Future work requires interventions targeted at the engagement of clinicians addressing their concerns about SDM. Particular strategies include organizational investment in implementation of service users' choices and directly training clinicians in SDM communication processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities, in particular geographically based local communities, have become a key site for disaster intervention, often expressed through the promotion of ‘community resilience’. However, the complexity of the community concept or the potential difficulties of such an approach are not always appreciated. Qualitative semi‐structured interviews with residents in flooded localities in both urban and rural contexts in northern England reveal a complex relationship between attachment to the locality, communal identities and local networks. This relationship is explained through the proposed concept of the ‘conscious community’, which builds on the conceptualisation of community as a structure of meaning, to show how the cultural, spatial and social elements of local community creation are inextricably linked. The local communities created by residents could take very varied forms, and so their ability to take on the tasks increasingly expected of them in a shift to a localised and community‐based approach to flood risk management (FRM) was also very varied. In the urban context the flood experience proved a significant factor in community construction, and thereby responses to subsequent flooding. Residents did much to help one another, both physically and emotionally, but it cannot be assumed that the largely informal networks of the ‘conscious community’ are able to take on more formal FRM tasks. Yet a better understanding of local community construction could allow practitioners to utilise, support or build on local structures to enable local communities to be better prepared for flooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Great Britain (GB), increased levels of wind penetration require substantial reinforcements for transmitting power from Scotland to England. In the National Grid 2020 Vision, offshore and onshore infrastructure reinforcements have been proposed, the inland reinforcement including series compensation (fixed capacitors). A possible detrimental effect of onshore series compensation is the appearance of subsynchronous resonance (SSR). SSR caused by the interaction between turbogenerators and a series‐compensated electrical network is studied. A three‐machine system representing the onshore‐reinforced mainland GB system is examined. The effect of series compensation equipment on SSR is assessed. The effects of quadrature boosters in the network are also investigated. Time‐domain simulations are carried out in power systems computed aided design (PSCAD) whereas system modelling and eigenvalue analyses are conducted in MATLAB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixteen different Lower Carboniferous (Tournai-sian Courceyan to Chadian age, Mississippian) chondrichthyan teeth types have been extracted from Triassic erosional/aeolian fills in shallow karst systems found in the limestone quarry at Cromhall, Gloucestershire, England. These Carboniferous teeth have been found within a much larger assemblage of dis-articulated bones and teeth belonging to small late Triassic ter-restrial reptiles, for which Cromhall quarry is famous. The Carboniferous teeth are derived fossils, released during subaer-ial dissolution of the surrounding limestones. Owing to low specimen numbers and uncertainty of intraspecific character, 10 types of teeth are left in open nomenclature, although it is likely they represent new taxa. They belong to Jalodus, Ctenacanthiformes, Protacrodus, Orodus, Chomatodus, Petalodonti-dae, Euchondrocephali?, Helodus and Psephodus. A new genus and species, Cromhallia parvunda, of indeterminate phyloge-netic relationships, is also erected. The assemblage includes also an identified suite comprising Thrinacodus ferox, Branso-nella cf. nebraskensis and Stethacanthus cf. altonensis. The iden-tification of all fish teeth found in the Cromhall assemblages as derived fossils from the Carboniferous removes any ambiguity regarding the fully terrestrial nature of the late Triassic fauna preserved in the residue-bearing karst systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistence of traditional monarchies in modern societies, which are otherwise characterized by democratic and egalitarian values, remains a paradox in the social sciences. In part this is attributable to the lack of psychological investigation into the relationship between subject and sovereign, and in particular the ways in which the political and social values of the citizenry shape understandings of a hereditary monarch's right to represent a national community. Adopting the qualitative analysis methods of discursive psychology and grounded theory, the current study examines vernacular accounts of nationhood and monarchy in England in both formalized conversational interviews (n = 60) and impromptu street interviews (n = 56). Focusing on accounts of Prince Charles's recent proposal to change the role of the monarch, from 'Defender of the (Christian) Faith' to 'Defender of Faiths,' those in favor treated it as a positive step towards reflecting a diverse (religious) community, bringing the monarchy into line with current concerns of pluralism and upholding values of personal choice and individual rights. Participants who rejected the proposed change in title construed it as antithetical to these values in terms of reflecting personal stake and interest, an abuse of power, or an imposition on other faiths. In all accounts, the prime concern was in safeguarding the political and social values of the citizenry. In conclusion it is argued that the study of subjects' relationship to the monarch, its function and legitimacy, can provide an opportunity to examine how values can characterize a national community and facilitate national diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In human-dominated regions, protected areas are complemented by other conservation strategies (e.g., restrictive zoning, incentive payments) to maintain biodiversity and other ecosystem services. These strategies are often not mutually exclusive, with many areas covered by multiple (tiered) management strategies. However, it is not known whether tiering increases (or decreases) representation of ecosystem services. Here, we compare the representation of four ecosystem services by areas protected by both tiered and single conservation strategies (protected areas, restrictive zoning, and incentive payments to landowners) in a human-dominated region (England). Tiering always coincided with the highest levels of stored carbon, sometimes coincided with high biodiversity and agricultural production, but never coincided with high recreational value. We also show that tiering is common in England and biased towards upland areas. Future evaluations of the effectiveness of conservation strategies should consider the degree of overlap of the different strategies fully to understand which are most effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sauropod dinosaur ‘ Bothriospondylus’, originally named on the basis of Late Jurassic remains from England, is demonstrated to be invalid, and the characters used to diagnose it are shown to be obsolescent features which are widespread throughout Sauropoda. Material referred to this genus spans a temporal range from the Middle Jurassic until the early Late Cretaceous and has been described from five different countries, across three continents. These remains represent a wide array of sauropod groups, comprising non-neosauropod eusauropods, a macronarian, titanosauriforms (including at least one definite brachiosaurid) and a rebbachisaurid. The type material of the Middle Jurassic ‘ B. madagascariensis’ represents a derived non-neosauropod eusauropod and possesses two potential autapomorphies. However, as a result of the fragmentary nature of the material and the uncertainty surrounding its association, a new taxon is not erected. Of the numerous specimens referred to ‘ Bothriospondylus’, however, several remains are considered diagnostic: Ornithopsis hulkei (Early Cretaceous, UK), Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis (Middle Jurassic, Madagascar) and Nopcsaspondylus alarconensis (early Late Cretaceous, Argentina). At least three types of sauropod were present in the Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) of north-west Madagascar, with a basal eusauropod ( Archaeodontosaurus), a more derived eusauropod (‘ B. madagascariensis’) and a titanosauriform ( Lapparentosaurus) all approximately contemporaneous. Palaeocontinental reconstructions suggest that Middle Jurassic Madagascan sauropods would still have been capable of global biotic interchange, and this is perhaps reflected in their diverse assemblage. Re-evaluation of these Malagasy forms has shed new light on this important time period in sauropod evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is much concern in the UK about the effects on community cohesion of antisocial behaviour, but to date relatively little is known about the geography of such behaviour: for what sort of people, and in what sort of places, are high levels of antisocial behaviour a problem? What are the links, if any, between such behaviour and local socio-economic conditions, and how do such perceptions relate to local crime rates? Using data from the British Crime Survey and other secondary datasets, we develop and extend previous work that has investigated links between individual socio-economic characteristics, neighbourhood characteristics and individual perceptions of antisocial behaviour. A multilevel modelling approach is used to ensure that individual- and area-level effects are not conflated. Secondly we extend the substantive knowledge surrounding the relationship between neighbourhood ethnic heterogeneity and individual perceptions of antisocial behaviour. In so doing, we challenge recent contentions that heterogeneity is associated with declining social cohesion and trust. We conclude that at a small-area scale for England, the primary area-level determinants of high levels of antisocial behaviour lie in material circumstances, and that ethnic heterogeneity has no discernible effect on perceptions of antisocial behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In human geography cities are routinely acknowledged as complex and dynamic built environments. This description is rarely extended to the suburbs, which are generally regarded as epiphenomena of the urbs and therefore of little intrinsic theoretical interest in themselves. This article presents a detailed critique of this widely held assumption by showing how the idea of ‘the suburban’ as an essentially non-problematic domain has been perpetuated from a range of contrasting disciplinary perspectives, including those that directly address suburban subject matter. The result has been that attempts to articulate the complex social possibilities of suburban space are easily caught between theories of urbanisation that are insensitive to suburban specificity and competing representations of the suburb that rarely move beyond the culturally specific to consider their generic significance. This article proposes that the development of a distinctively suburban theory would help to undermine one-dimensional approaches to the built environment by focusing on the relationship between social organisation and the dynamics of emergent built form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent revision of the marine metriorhynchid crocodilians indicates that a partial skull previously assigned to the species Metriorhynchus superciliosus and newly discovered postcranial elements from the Kimmeridge Clay of Westbury, Wiltshire belong to a new species of metriorhynchid. This material is herein described and referred to a new species of the genus Dakosaurus, characterised by four apomorphies: the size and shape of the enlarged supratemporal fossae; relatively large teeth, and half the number in relatives; the robust and unornamented cranium; and the angle that the prefrontal makes with the long axis of the skull. In a new phylogenetic analysis, Dakosaurus carpenteri sp. nov. is the basal member of a clade containing also D. maximus and D. andiniensis: it is not so short-snouted and its teeth are not so few and large as in the other two species, but the new form illustrates the ecological transition among metriorhynchids from a piscivorous diet to high-order carnivory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent bulk sampling and study of museum collections has revealed a high diversity of hybodont sharks from the English Bathonian, with 15 species being recognised. In addition, study of dental and skeletal material from the English Callovian has allowed the diagnosis of a new genus and species, Planohybodus peterboroughensis gen. et sp. nov., allowing the Bathonian species Hybodus grossiconus Agassiz to be referred to Planohybodus. Two additional new genera, Secarodus and Frangerodus, are erected for the Bathonian taxa Hybodus polyprion Agassiz and Strophodus lingualis Woodward, respectively. Egertonodus duffini sp. nov. is described and the diagnosis of Egertonodus based on dental material is discussed. The previously unrecorded Hybodus sp., Parvodus sp., and Lonchidion sp. are recognised but left in open nomenclature. Asteracanthus medius (Owen) is recorded in the British Bathonian for the first time, and the status of Bathonian nominal species of Asteracanthus are assessed. Bathonian hybodonts showed great diversity in trophic ecology and many of the species are specific to particular palaeoenvironments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern study of fossil crinoids began with J. S. Miller who, in 1821, described specimens from southern England, nearby Wales and other regions, and named several common Early Carboniferous genera. Later, in 1950–60, James Wright monographed all known Early Carboniferous crinoids from the British Isles. In spite of such previous scrutiny, we recognize here two new genera among species already described: Glamorganocrinus gen. nov. (type species: Ophiurocrinus gowerensis Wright, 1960) from South Wales and Mendipocrinus gen. nov. (type species: Poteriocrinus latifrons Austin and Austin, 1847) from southern England. These new genera increase the number of advanced cladid genera in the Ivorian Substage of the Tournaisian in western Europe to 18, and the total number of crinoid genera to 36. A review of species assigned to Mespilocrinus has led to the recognition of M. granulifer De Koninck and LeHon, 1854 as a nomen dubium. A new species of Mespilocrinus, M. wrighti sp. nov., is described from the Ivorian of South Wales; this is the most highly derived species of the genus, as based on a phylogenetic analysis including ten species and 13 characters, with Pycnosaccus as the outgroup. A single, well-ordered tree resulted from this analysis. Interpretation of this tree suggests that the centre of evolution for Mespilocrinus was North America, where three species appeared during the Kinderhookian (early Tournaisian), rapidly achieving morphological disparity within the genus. This radiation event was part of the overall explosive radiation of crinoids following the Late Devonian mass extinction event when crinoid diversity was at a global minimum during the Frasnian. Recovery began during the Famennian, followed by an explosive radiation in the Tournaisian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phragmoteuthida from the Lower Jurassic (Upper Sinemurian) of Dorset, England, are fully described for the first time. Two species are recognized and described: Phragmoteuthis montefiorei (J. Buckman) and P. huxleyi sp. nov. Phragmocones have an apical angle of between 20 and 30 degrees, and relatively few chambers compared with belemnoids. The conotheca is multi-layered. The siphuncle is thick-walled. The pro-ostracum is long and three-lobed as in the Triassic species. Arms are short and bear pairs of slightly curved hooks. Shell and siphuncle structure do not indicate a close relationship with other coleoids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We document ethnic segregation in secondary schools in England in 2001 in order to contribute to the debate on the degree of ethnic group social integration. We use indices of dissimilarity and isolation to compare the patterns of segregation across nine ethnic groups. We find that levels of ethnic segregation in England's schools are high, with considerable variation both across LEAs and across different minority ethnic groups. By combining the two indices we are able to identify areas of particular concern as scoring highly on both. For pupils of South Asian origin, these include the locations of the severe disorders in the summer of 2001. Finally, we show that ethnic segregation is only weakly related to income segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question: A set of easily-measured (‘soft’) plant traits has been identified as potentially useful predictors of ecosystem functioning in previous studies. Here we aimed to discover whether the screening techniques remain operational in widely contrasted circumstances, to test for the existence of axes of variation in the particular sets of traits, and to test for their links with ‘harder’ traits of proven importance to ecosystem functioning. Location: central-western Argentina, central England, northern upland Iran, and north-eastern Spain. Recurrent patterns of ecological specialization: Through ordination of a matrix of 640 vascular plant taxa by 12 standardized traits, we detected similar patterns of specialization in the four floras. The first PCA axis was identified as an axis of resource capture, usage and release. PCA axis 2 appeared to be a size-related axis. Individual PCA for each country showed that the same traits remained valuable as predictors of resource capture and utilization in all of them, despite their major differences in climate, biogeography and land-use. The results were not significantly driven by particular taxa: the main traits determining PCA axis 1 were very similar in eudicotyledons and monocotyledons and Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Poaceae. Links between recurrent suites of ‘soft’ traits and ‘hard’ traits: The validity of PCA axis 1 as a key predictor of resource capture and utilization was tested by comparisons between this axis and values of more rigorously established predictors (‘hard’ traits) for the floras of Argentina and England. PCA axis 1 was correlated with variation in relative growth rate, leaf nitrogen content, and litter decomposition rate. It also coincided with palatability to model generalist herbivores. Therefore, location on PCA axis 1 can be linked to major ecosystem processes in those habitats where tile plants are dominant. Conclusion: We confirm the existence at the global scale of a major axis of evolutionary specialization, previously recognised in several local floras. This axis reflects a fundamental trade-off between rapid acquisition of resources and conservation of resources within well-protected tissues. These major trends of specialization were maintained across different environmental situations (including differences in the proximate causes of low productivity, i.e. drought or mineral nutrient deficiency). The trends were also consistent across floras and major phylogenetic groups, and were linked with traits directly relevant to ecosystem processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent empirical and theoretical work on river meanders suggests that instability is inherent. Within this context, an occurrence of multiple cut-offs could be interpreted as a clustering associated with self-organized criticality. Types of meander behaviour ranging from stable to chaotic are examined as trajectories or attractors within the phase space of rate of meander movement and bend curvature and change to the system is explored as shift from one attractor to another. It is suggested that this new approach provides insights into meander dynamics and provides a basis to identify the conditions, limits and constraints under which different behaviour occurs. Basic controls of energy and resistance underlie planform behaviour, but need to be refined in relation to the morphology and stability of channel courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytoplasmas detected by fluorescence microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been discovered infecting Prunus trees at a site in south-east England. The pathogens were detected in tissue samples taken in autumn and also in spring. The symptoms in infected trees varied from severe decline to absence. PCR experiments using group-specific primers to amplify regions of the 16S RNA gene indicated that the phytoplasmas are similar to European stone fruit yellows isolates occurring in southern and eastern Europe. This is the first record of phytoplasmas in Prunus species in the UK. The origin of the infection is unknown. The implications of this new disease for the fruit industry are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post-glacial pollen stratigraphies of two sequences of lake sediments (Hockham Mere and The Mere, Stow Bedon) are compared. Both suggest displacement of existing taxa when new taxa arrive from their cold-stage refugia and expand their populations. Hockham Mere is within an area of sandy soils, while The Mere at Stow Bedon is within an area of calcareous till soils. There have been differences in the forest vegetation around the two sites for most of the last 10000 years, and the competitive interactions between the forest trees differ also. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a wealth of published research on the nature of woodland soils, little is known about the nature of soils on sites that have supported woodland for many hundreds of years, namely ancient woodland. The properties and variability of soils in three ancient woods; one in the New Forest, Hampshire and two in Berkshire, were compared with those under recent woods. The acidity of ancient and recent woodland soils was high and remarkably similar. Only where cultivation of soils had preceded woodland establishment was soil acidity lower. The quantity of carbon in the soils studied was inversely related to soil acidity and the ancient woods had accumulated larger quantities of carbon than their recent counterparts. The quantities of Ca, Mg and K were larger in the ancient woods except where prior cultivation had taken place. Total and organic phosphate contents of the ancient woodland soils were also consistently larger. The nature and pattern of soil variability in ancient woodland soils was quite distinct from that found in recent woods. Overall, the variability of soil acidity, carbon content and organic phosphate was larger in the ancient woodland soils but the pattern of variability differed between the soil properties. No clear association existed between the pattern of soil acidity and individual trees. At the surface of some of the woodland soils, however, carbon distribution appeared to be associated with individual trees. At depth in the ancient woodland soils, the association with the existing vegetation cover was not so clear. It is probable that the ancient woodland soils retained relict features of previous vegetation cover. Organic phosphate distribution was very strongly associated with the present vegetation cover. The pattern of distribution of organic phosphate appeared to be stronger than that of soil acidity and carbon content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]