Regions Of Great Britain Research Articles

STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF BRITISH TOPONYMS

The article is devoted to the review of structural and semantic features of British toponyms. The study of toponyms helps to understand the linguistic image of the world, highlighting ethnic experience and culture. Toponyms are important as means of transmitting historical, cultural, and other information across generations, which makes their study relevant in linguistics. The proper names of British territories are very diverse, as the country has been home to various civilizations and peoples for many centuries, each of which contributed to the language through their own names. In this work, 200 toponyms from three regions of Great Britain were investigated. According to the origin, the researched toponyms are divided into native and borrowed. Native proper names predominate in England, while toponyms of Scandinavian origin are found in the northern regions and the west of the country. Wales and Scotland are characterized mainly by Celtic names. Borrowed toponyms are distinguished according to four linguistic sources: Celtic, Latin, Scandinavian and Norman-French. English contains more loanwords because it is open to receiving words from other languages due to contact with other cultures and colonial heritage. In general, people who named geographical objects were guided by the features of the landscape where this object was located. This category of toponyms occurs in all three parts of Britain and has many subgroups. The emergence of this group is a logical consequence of the fact that the ancestors of the British named their surroundings according to what they saw. When creating and choosing toponyms, a certain pragmatic orientation can be observed, which depends on various factors, such as the historical context of naming, the level of cultural development, social, political, religious or patriotic motives of persons who give certain names to geographical objects. This layer of vocabulary is of great interest to researchers because it can collect linguistic, sociocultural and historical experience.

Regional variation in intergenerational social mobility in Britain.

We present the first comprehensive set of estimates of variation in intergenerational social mobility across regions of Great Britain using data from the UK Labour Force Survey. Unlike the Social Mobility Index produced by the Social Mobility Commission, we focus directly on variation in measures of intergenerational social class mobility between the regions in which individuals were brought up. We define regions using the NUTS classification and we consider three levels, from 11 large NUTS1 regions, to 168 NUTS3 regions, across England, Wales, and Scotland. We investigate whether it is possible to form an index of social mobility from these measures and we address a neglected question: how much does the region in which someone was raised matter in comparison with the social class in which they were raised?

Economic value of the hot-day cooling provided by urban green and blue space

Increasing high temperatures due to climate change are exacerbated by urban heat island effects, resulting in a range of human health and economic impacts. The green and blue infrastructure (GBI) in cities that underpins nature-based solutions (NBS) can help alleviate hot-day temperatures. In this study we bring together multiple data sources to evaluate the cooling benefit provided by urban GBI in terms of avoided losses in labour productivity, for eleven City Regions in Great Britain, over a ten-year period. We defined the urban extent to include the green (woodland, grassland and parks, gardens) and blue (rivers and canals, lakes and ponds) features within cities, and derived aggregate cooling factors for urban areas in each City Region, applying additional cooling factors to buffer zones around larger GBI features. We collated gridded meteorology data to assess the number of hot-days exceeding 28 °C Wet Bulb Globe Temperature in each City Region over the period 2008–2017, and applied response functions to evaluate loss of worker productivity for ten economic sectors. For the GBI features (aggregated adjacent features >200 m2), gardens make up the biggest component (26% of urban extent) closely followed by grassland and parks (24%), with woodland at 6%. The aggregate cooling factor of GBI ranged from 0.64 – 0.89 °C across the eleven City Regions. The economic benefit of cooling was greatest for London, due to its greater exposure to hot days, and its greater contribution to the economy than other City Regions. In the hottest year of 2015, the cooling benefit in London was £ 13.97 m. The cooling benefit varied considerably from one year to the next, depending on meteorology, and will increase under climate change.

Paradoxes of social mobility in London

We analyse social mobility in London and seek to address two paradoxes. Among people living in London, relative mobility, or social fluidity, appears to be remarkably low when compared with other regions of Great Britain. But social fluidity among people who were brought up in London is similar to that of people brought up elsewhere in Britain. This is our first paradox. Furthermore, it is widely held that social fluidity is higher among people with higher levels of education, yet, the proportion of people with a University degree is much higher among people living in London than in any other region: how is this compatible with its relatively low social fluidity? This is our second paradox. We address these puzzles and find that they are largely explained by patterns of migration into and out of London by two groups that have received little attention hitherto in studies of mobility in the capital: International migrants and people who were brought up in London but who no longer live there.

БРИТАНСЬКО-ФРАНЦУЗЬКА БОРОТЬБА ЗА КАНАДУ (КІНЕЦЬ 1680-Х – ПОЧАТОК 1760-Х РР.)

The article is devoted to the four wars between Great Britain and France in the late 1680s and early 1760s, as a result of which it was determined who would own the territory of modern Canada: King William’s War or War of the League of Augsburg, Queen Anne’s War (or War of the Spanish Succession), King George’s War (War of the Austrian Succession) and the Seven Years’ War (Conquest). The purpose of the article is to consider the British-French wars of the 17th – 18th centuries on the territory of Canada, which determined its future. The research methodology is based on the principle of historicism and problem-chronological and complex approaches. Comparative and analytical methods made it possible to compare the starting positions of Great Britain and France in North America and the course and results of their armed struggle for Canada in the context of the wars of both empires on different continents. The scientific novelty of the study consists in an attempt to show the complexity, consistency and patterns of the British-French struggle for Canada. Its circumstances and main milestones are traced, which influenced not only the results of the struggle, but also laid the foundation for the development of Canada for the following centuries. This, as well as insufficient attention to the problem in Ukrainian Canadian studies, strengthens the relevance of this article. Conclusions. As a result of the British-French wars, Great Britain became the victor and the most powerful colonial and maritime empire. Instead, France ceded positions and possessions, in particular in North America. The first three wars began in Europe, and later hostilities also began in North America, involving mainly the colonists and their Native American allies. But the last, Seven Years’ War began precisely in North America. The British used regular troops in it. The British fleet also played a significant role, as well as the larger population and production capacity of their colonies compared to the French. If in the first three wars the French were able to compensate for these factors due to more effective mobilization and the involvement of Indians as allies, then in the fourth and last war they were defeated. The main consequence was the termination of the existence of New France and the consolidation of dominance in the region of Great Britain, which determined the further development of Canada as a colony, and later the dominion of Great Britain.

Knowledge Spillovers, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and the Geography of High Growth Firms

Knowledge created outside the firm, but within the same region, is a key enabler of high-growth firms. This paper develops an entrepreneurial ecosystems conceptual framework focussing on knowledge spillovers and regional absorptive capacity, to account for interregional differences in high-growth firm rates. This is tested using panel data from 378 regions in Great Britain. Knowledge creation (SME-engaging and research-intensive universities, innovative firms) and knowledge spillovers (primarily through vertically related industries) reveal to be of key importance. Other key regional enablers of high growth firms pertain to entrepreneurship culture, talent, intermediate services, networks, finance and demand growth.

Dealing with non-equilibrium bias and survey effort in presence-only invasive Species Distribution Models (iSDM); predicting the range of muntjac deer in Britain and Ireland

Invasive species managers utilise species records to inform management. These data can also be used in Species Distribution Models (SDM) to predict future spread or potential invasion of new areas. However, issues with non-equilibrium (also called disequilibrium) can cause difficulties in modelling invasive species that have not fully colonised their potential distribution and, in addition, sampling bias can result from a lack of information on survey effort, a particular issue for presence only modelling techniques. Geographical confounds are unavoidable when building iSDMs but there are methods that allow prediction to be optimised. We used maximum entropy (Maxent) to model suitable habitat for invasive Reeve's muntjac deer (Muntiacus reevesi) throughout Great Britain and Ireland comparing several methods that aimed to address invasive Species Distribution Modelling (iSDM) bias including spatial filtering, weighted background points and targeted background points built at varying spatial extents. Model evaluation metrics suggested that the model, which explicitly failed to account for non-equilibrium at the full extent of Great Britain and Ireland using random background points, predicted the species' current invasive range best. This highlighted that negative environmental relationships are likely to represent uncolonised areas rather than habitat selection and thus, low predicted suitability of uncolonised areas was misleading. Of the models that dealt with non-equilibrium conceptually best, by restricting the training extent to their current invasive range or core range, and utilised targeted background points accounting for survey effort (cells with other deer species recorded as present yet with no records for muntjac) as the best model evaluation metric, yielded relatively poor predictive performance. This implied limited habitat selectivity or avoidance within the colonised range which, when spatially extrapolated, suggested virtually all regions in Great Britain and Ireland may be vulnerable to future muntjac invasion.

The COVID-19 alcohol paradox: British household purchases during 2020 compared with 2015-2019.

British supermarket-panel data suggest no increases in overall sales and purchases of alcohol following COVID-19 lockdowns, yet survey and mortality data suggest otherwise. This paper attempts to unravel the paradox. Based on purchase data of 79,417 British households from Kantar Worldpanel, we undertake controlled interrupted time series analysis of the impact of COVID-19 confinement introduced on 23rd March 2020, and variably applied during 2020, compared to purchases during 2015 to 2019 as controls. We also undertook Poisson regression analyses to estimate if changes in purchases differed by household socio-demographic and economic factors. Excess off-trade household alcohol purchases (expressed as grams of ethanol) following the introduction of confinement, were 29.2% higher (95% CI = 25.8% to 32.5%) for the post-confinement months of 2020, being larger until mid-July 2020 (37.5%, 95%CI = 33.9 to 41.26%) when pubs re-opened with restrictions, and smaller (24.6%, 95%CI = 21.6 to 27.7) thereafter. During the time of complete pub closures, and fully adjusting for no on-trade purchases, household purchases of alcohol did not change when compared with the same time period during 2015–2019 (coefficient = -0.9%, 95%CI = -5.6 to 3.8). Excess purchases from 23rd March to 31st December 2020 varied by region of Great Britain, being higher in the north of England, and lower in Scotland and Wales. Excess purchases were greater in the most deprived households, compared with the least deprived households. Excess purchases increased substantially as the amount of alcohol normally purchased by a household increased, with the top one fifth of households that normally bought the most alcohol increasing their purchases more than 17 times than the bottom one fifth of households that bought the least alcohol. That the heaviest buyers of alcohol increased their purchases the most, with some independent impact of socio-economic disadvantage, might explain why reported alcohol problems and recent alcohol-related death rates might have increased. A conclusion of this is that alcohol policy to reduce high consumption of alcohol, and the availability of help and treatment to reduce alcohol consumption become more important during extraordinary times, such as COVID lockdowns.

Evaluation of Influencing Factors on Great Britain‘S Export Values

Abstract Research purpose. The research aimed at identifying the main factors influencing export values in the region of Great Britain (GB) for the period of the last 30 years. Design / Methodology / Approach. In order to implement the investigation, the following tasks were intended: (1) To analyse scientific literature and mark out at least five non - dependent variables that impact export values of Great Britain. (2) Basing on findings, outlined in a scientific review, suggest or choose the methodology that is the most appropriate for this kind of tasks’ determination. (3) Collect the data for dependent and non-dependent variables (at least 30 samples). (4) Based on the presented methodology, determine the selected factors’ impact and make the statistical and economic analysis. The research was mainly done using quantitative analysis methods (descriptive, correlation, regressive analysis). Quantitative modelling and descriptive statistics methods are selected for investigation because they can suggest a different approach to analysing the factors influencing export values. Findings. Five non-dependent variables were marked out as factors influencing the export values in the selected region: gross domestic product (GDP); the number of employees in the region; amounts of cargo transportation; average salary in the region and labour costs. Calculation of the correlation coefficients showed that all independent variables were statistically significant. There is a very strong relationship between export values and GDP, employment, and labour costs. Originality / Value / Practical implications. The findings of this research can be applied in order to evaluate and determine the economic impact of the GB processes on the entire world, as Britain’s export values are among the top ten in the world. It is important to emphasise that the deeper analysis of the influencing factors of the volume of export in Great Britain showed an interrelation of these factors. So further investigation of this factor’s impact is essential.

Big Data and its potential role in regional growth: evidence from Great Britain

ABSTRACT To understand the links between Big Data and economic development is to focus on the knowledge that may be created from Big Data and the knowledge workers who can produce and use this knowledge to maximum economic impact. Using location quotients, this paper finds that the current geographical concentration of employees with skills to generate value from Big Data means that economic opportunities will be centred in the London and South East regions. In contrast, Big Data opportunities will be less important for the already lagging regions in Great Britain.

Family Name Origins and Intergenerational Demographic Change in Great Britain

We develop bespoke geospatial routines to typify 88,457 surnames by their likely ancestral geographic origins within Great Britain. Linking this taxonomy to both historic and contemporary population data sets, we characterize regional populations using surnames that indicate whether their bearers are likely to be long-settled. We extend this approach in a case study application, in which we summarize intergenerational change in local populations across Great Britain over a period of 120 years. We also analyze much shorter term demographic dynamics and chart likely recent migratory flows within the country. Our research demonstrates the value of family names in characterizing long-term population change at regional and local scales. We find evidence of selective migratory flows in both time periods alongside increasing demographic diversity and distinctiveness between regions in Great Britain.

Assessing the competitiveness of Kazakhstan regions: creating an index

Today there is no single universally accepted method for assessing the competitiveness of the country’s regions. For this reason, the research created a methodology for assessing competitiveness at the regional level for Kazakhstan. The three-factor model of Huggins for ranking the regions of Great Britain by the level of competitiveness was used as the basis, and then the model was expanded on the example of a study assessing the competitiveness of the regions of the European Union countries. All data for assessing the competitiveness of the regions of Kazakhstan were collected from the official website of the Committee on Statistics of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In the article, 14 regions and 2 cities of republican significance were ranked in terms of competitiveness. As a result, the most competitive regions of Kazakhstan were Almaty city, Atyrau region and Nur-Sultan city, the worst indicator was found for the North Kazakhstan and Zhambyl regions.

Sheep scab – the importance of accurate diagnosis

Sheep scab, caused by the Psoroptes ovis mite (Fig 1), is characterised by yellow scabs on the skin surface and is accompanied by restlessness, scratching, wool loss, bleeding wounds and...

The Spatial Footprint of the Knowledge Economy: The Role of Intangible Investment in Shaping Regional Inequalities in Great Britain

AbstractSince the advent of the knowledge economy it has become evident that the territorial footprint of investment in intangible assets is largely asymmetrical. First, these types of assets tend to be distributed unevenly across space. Second, intangible assets are an important source of productivity growth and competitiveness. Although significant advances have been made in measuring intangible assets and accounting for their effects in economic outcomes, their exact nature remains vague. Within the national accounts framework the majority of intangibles are, even now, still treated as intermediate expenditure. Consequently, intangibles are largely excluded from conventional measures of output and investment, making it difficult to account for their spatial effects. The present paper adjusts gross value added (GVA) data for NUTS 3 regions in Great Britain for intangibles. The adjusted series are then used to investigate trends in regional inequalities in GVA per employee in this country during the pre‐recession period 1995–2007.

Accounting for geographical variance in the union satisfaction gap

AbstractEvidence of spatial variance in the relationship between trade union membership and job satisfaction is limited. Using three nationally representative data sets, we examine lower levels of satisfaction among union members and considers how this relationship varies geographically across the nations and regions of Great Britain. The analysis demonstrates that the union satisfaction gap can largely be accounted for by relative characteristics of union members and the jobs that they hold. However, there is evidence of geographical variance. The union satisfaction gap is generally found to be highest within Scotland and North of England. Despite high levels of union membership, evidence of a union satisfaction gap in Wales is relatively weak. These differences relate to differences in the perceptions of industrial relations among employees across these areas, which appear to be related to geographical variance in worker heterogeneity.

Abrupt events and population synchrony in the dynamics of Bovine Tuberculosis

Disease control strategies can have both intended and unintended effects on the dynamics of infectious diseases. Routine testing for the harmful pathogen Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) was suspended briefly during the foot and mouth disease epidemic of 2001 in Great Britain. Here we utilize bTB incidence data and mathematical models to demonstrate how a lapse in management can alter epidemiological parameters, including the rate of new infections and duration of infection cycles. Testing interruption shifted the dynamics from annual to 4-year cycles, and created long-lasting shifts in the spatial synchrony of new infections among regions of Great Britain. After annual testing was introduced in some GB regions, new infections have become more de-synchronised, a result also confirmed by a stochastic model. These results demonstrate that abrupt events can synchronise disease dynamics and that changes in the epidemiological parameters can lead to chaotic patterns, which are hard to be quantified, predicted, and controlled.

Use of vaccines and factors associated with their uptake variability in dogs, cats and rabbits attending a large sentinel network of veterinary practices across Great Britain.

Vaccination remains a mainstay of companion animal population health. However, how vaccine use at a population level complies with existing guidelines is unknown. Here we use electronic health records to describe vaccination in dogs, cats and rabbits attending a large sentinel network of UK veterinary practices. In total, 77.9% (95% CI: 77.6-78.1) of animals had recorded vaccinations. The percentage of animals with recorded vaccinations was higher in dogs, neutered animals, in insured dogs and cats and in purebred dogs. Vaccination rates varied in different regions of Great Britain in all species. Dogs and cats belonging to owners living in less deprived areas of England and Scotland were more likely to be recorded as vaccinated. In the vaccinated population, cats received more core vaccines per year of life (0.86) than dogs (0.75), with feline leukaemia vaccines almost as frequent as core vaccines. In dogs, leptospira vaccines were more frequent than core vaccines. This descriptive study suggests a substantial proportion of animals are not benefiting from vaccine protection. For the first time, we identify potential factors associated with variations in recorded vaccination frequency, providing a critical baseline against which to monitor future changes in companion animal vaccination and evidence to inform future targeted health interventions.

Habitat associations of epigeal spiders in upland calcareous grassland landscapes: the importance for conservation

Upland calcareous grassland landscapes are typically comprised of a matrix of calcareous grassland, acid grassland and limestone heath plant communities. This matrix of habitats is produced by a combination of underlying geology, climate and management. These landscapes are typically managed through grazing, with management targeted to maintain particular plant communities in the calcareous grassland habitat, whilst patches of acid grassland and limestone heath are not targeted by conservation management. The biodiversity value of acid grassland and limestone heath patches within the calcareous grassland matrix are unknown. This study provides the first assessment of their biodiversity value by examining aspects of epigeal spider diversity supported by these non-target habitat patches in comparison to calcareous grassland. Spiders were sampled in each habitat from April to August 2014 using pitfall traps across three upland regions in Great Britain. Spider species assemblages were distinct between limestone heath and both grassland types. Distinction in species assemblages are likely due to differences in vegetation structure and microclimate, e.g., humidity, degree of shade. Each habitat type supported several rare species (e.g., Jacksonella falconeri, Agyneta subtilis) revealing the contribution to spider fauna. The distinct spider species assemblage and presence of rare species in limestone heath patches demonstrate their importance in the upland calcareous grassland matrix. This study highlights the value of monitoring biodiversity in non-target habitats within a habitat matrix alongside those that are actively targeted by management.

Assessment of the resource base for engineered geothermal systems in Great Britain

An assessment of the engineered geothermal system (EGS) resource base that might be available for the generation of electricity for Great Britain has been undertaken by adopting a globally self-consistent protocol that if universally adopted, would allow estimates of EGS made for different countries and regions to be comparable. Maximum estimated temperatures at depths of 5 and 7 km are greater than 200 and 300 °C respectively, a considerable increase over previous estimates. The total heat in place in the basement, to a depth of 9.5 km that is theoretically available for EGS is 357,197 EJ. If it were possible to develop just 2% of this resource, this would be equivalent to 1242 times the final UK energy consumption in 2015. The theoretical and technical potential power has been calculated from the available heat in place. The total technical potential power, to a depth of 6.5 km, is 222,393 MWe and represents just 0.4% of the theoretical potential power. Current EGS exploitation is more likely to be restricted to a depths of around 4.5 km and reservoir temperatures greater than 175 °C. In which case technical potential power is mainly restricted to regions of high heat producing granites and represents a total technical potential power of 2280 MWe. However, improvements in drilling technology are expected to enable economic drilling to depths of 7 km or greater that will enable EGS exploitation in all regions of Great Britain.

Differing house price linkages across UK regions: A multi-dimensional recursive ripple model

The aim of this study is to determine the nature of the relationship between house prices of different types of housing across the UK regions. We use an Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds testing approach to determine the long-run relationships between house prices as well as an error correction model to estimate the short-run dynamics between house prices. The data include house prices across the regions of Great Britain and for new, old and modern houses. The results suggest that house price shocks ripple across regions, although the nature of the relationship varies across housing types. We further simulate the impact of house price shocks and reveal a complex structure whereby a house price shock in region A impacts upon prices in other regions, which in turn feedback into region A in a recursive ripple.