Search

The "raison d'etre" of all universities is to create and deliver "academic value", which we define as the sum total of the contributions from the 360-degree "angles" of the academic community, including all categories of staff, as well as external stakeholders (e.g. regulatory, commercial, professional and community interests). As a way to conceptualise these complex relationships, we present the "academic wheel" to illustrate the structural nature of them. We then discuss the implications of the different--and sometimes difficult--perspectives of academic, professional and administrative groups in the context of a number of important social psychological processes. We ask whether it is possible to reconcile, what is sometimes perceived as, managerial Taylorism with the academic freedom of (Laurie) Taylorism. We conclude that recognition and active management of these processes are required for each university to optimise its own brand of "core academic value".

In this paper we present a field-based practical exercise that allows students in forestry, ecology and natural resources to develop their understanding of forest stand dynamics. The exercise involves measurement of key tree growth parameters in four even-aged, single-species plantation stands of different age but occupying sites with similar soil and environmental characteristics. The selected stands represent key stages in stand development, from establishment to rotation age for maximum fibre production. In the field, students work in small teams to gather data from an equal number of plots within each stand. Tree parameters include top height, crown diameter, live crown ratio and diameter at breast height. In addition, information on stand density and understorey vegetation is collected. Plot size and number can be varied to suit the constraints of class size and available time, though circular plots of 100m[superscript 2] are recommended. In the classroom, data are pooled and analysis focuses on presenting tree and vegetation changes through time. The simplest way of interpreting the data is to prepare graphs and charts for each of the parameters, though more advanced statistical interpretations are possible. The project as outlined here can be modified to meet the needs of different groups, and has been successfully used in undergraduate teaching of silviculture and forest ecology, as well as in postgraduate courses in natural resources management. (Contains 4 figures and 4 tables.)

Discusses a three-year research project in which a virtual environment to teach radioactivity in secondary schools in the United Kingdom was developed and tested. Emphasizes the importance of involving teachers through the development process and confirms the importance of school-based evaluation studies in the development and evaluation of educational software. (Author/LRW)

The article presents the author's criticism on an essay written by Gary Bell which was related to the future of honors education. He discusses analogy between the privatization of honors education and privatization of the rail service in Great Britain. He further discusses pressure faced by college faculties for improving the graduation rates of the students.

The article focuses on the antibribery provisions and its administrative procedure for enforcement around the world. It provides summary of criticisms of those provisions by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (COC) which are interpretated by Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It explores procedural law governing the DOJ's enforcement policy formulation and suggests amendments to Bribery Act 2010 of Great Britain.

This article presents information on the rights of prisoners within the British and German prison systems. It also situates the issue of prisoners' rights, within wider constitutional debates that are becoming increasingly influential in discussions of human rights and citizenship in general. It is informed that in recent years the prison system of the Federal Republic of Germany has attracted considerable international attention, since a substantial and unexpected decline in the prison population was identified from the mid- 1980s. It is further informed that German criminologists have reinforced a favorable image of the German prison system which is rapidly becoming seen as a model, to be copied and emulated by other countries that are perceived as penally more backward. It is informed that British prisons are in appalling state. The prisons finally reached breaking point when prisoner discontent broke out into disorder on 1st April, 1990 at Strangeways Prison and then quickly spread to others.

Microplastic is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant, but large gaps still exist in our knowledge of its distribution. We conducted a detailed assessment of the extent and variability of microplastic pollution in the Bristol Channel, UK. Sand samples were collected between the 5th and 30th August 2017, with microplastic recovered from 15 of the 16 beaches sampled along a coastal extent of ~230 km. In total, 1446 particles of suspected microplastic were extracted using a cascade of sieves and visual identification. The most common microplastics recovered were fragments (74%) and industrial plastic pellets (13%). We used Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to analyse 25% of recovered particles, 96.5% of which were confirmed as plastic, with polyethylene (61%) and polypropylene (26%) the most common polymers. Our analysis of local beach environments indicates microplastic burdens were higher on lower energy beaches with finer sediments, highlighting the importance of depositional environment in determining microplastic abundance. • Microplastics (1–5 mm) reported on 16 beaches in the Bristol Channel, UK. • Samples collected from surface sediment at the most recent high tide line. • Fragments (74%) and Industrial plastic pellets (13%) most common plastic types. • FTIR revealed polyethylene (61%) to be the most common polymer. • Microplastic burdens higher on lower energy beaches with finer sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lysimeters located outdoors have been used to evaluate the decomposition of buried oily beach sand waste (OBS) prepared using Forties light crude oil and sand from different locations around the British coast. The OBS (5% oil by weight) was buried as a 12-cm layer over dune pasture sub-sand and overlain by 20 cm of dune pasture topsoil. Decomposition rates of oil residues averaged 2300 kg ha-1 in the first year and the pattern of oil decomposition may be represented by a power curve. Oil decomposition was strongly related to the temperature in the OBS layer, but was also significantly affected by rainfall in the previous 12 h. The CO2 flux at the surface of the treatment lysimeters followed the relationship [log10 CO2 (mg C m-2 h-1)=0.93+0.058x OBS temp. (deg. C)-0.042x 12 h rain (mm)]. There was considerable variationin the rate of oil decomposition in sands collected from different sites. Sand from Askernish supported most microbial activity whilst sand from Tain was relatively inactive. The decomposition process appeared to cease when the sand became saturated with water, i.e. temporarily anaerobic. However, decomposition recommenced when the soil driedout. The fastest rate of decomposition occurred in sand from one of the two sites predicted to have high populations of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. Larger particle size and higher Ca content may also besignificant factors governing the rate of decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]