THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING OF MATERIALS WHICH EXHIBIT ANOMALOUS FADING

This article reports a generalised and systematic approach to the thermoluminescence (TL) dating of samples which suffer from anomalous fading. We hypothesise that the TL signal from each mineral phase is composed of a stable and an unstable portion. The decay of the unstable TL is accelerated thermally, until only stable TL remains. The dating is then carried out on this stable signal. The results, on four known-age, coeval samples, exhibiting gross anomalous fading (25-50% loss over a few days), indicate that many, if not all, samples may successfully be dated with this approach.     

European Policy and the Regions: A Review and Analysis of Tensions

This article explores a series of tensions inherent in the series of European policies that are designed to improve the competitiveness of regions in the face of globalization. Its focus is the co-existence of interventionist policies intended to overcome problems of lagging regions such as cohesion policies and those, for example competition policy which are designed to remove barriers to market integration and that are anti-interventionist. Moreover, the changing relationship between the European Union (EU), member states and the regions and problems of how regions are defined complicate policy implementation. To review these issues, the article adopts an agent-centred approach to understanding economic behaviour in the face of globalization in particular geographical and sectoral contexts. This methodology is used to highlight five sources of tension relating to the reality of the experience of globalization. These are illustrated by evidence from a recently completed EU Fifth Framework Programme study of regional adjustment strategies and technological change in five European countries.     

Australian Federal Government Road Funding 1972–1986

Increasing Commonwealth Government desire to establish national priorities for road expenditure was successfully thwarted by constitutionally powerful State Governments until the early 1980s Political considerations interfered with the consistently efficiency-orientated national priorities suggested by the Commonwealth Government's advisory organisation. The paper evaluates efficiency, equality and equity as potential bases for road funding, before analysing what happened over the period 1972-86. The 1982 ABRD program allowed the Commonwealth to impose its priorities in an area of State constitutional authority.     

BRISTLECONE PINE AND ANCIENT EGYPT: A RE-APPRAISAL

Previous comparisons of the radiocarbon dates of tree-ring-dated bristlecone pine samples and historicallydated samples from Egyptian archaeological sites have led to conflicting conclusions regarding the validity of the bristlecone pine calibration of radiocarbon dates. However, the new statistical analysis presented in this paper shows that the bristlecone pine calibration of the radiocarbon time-scale is not incompatible with the given Egyptian historical chronology in the period 3000–300 B.C. (calendar years). This analysis is the first to allow for possible additional variability in the radiocarbon dates of short-lived samples (due to short-term fluctuations in the atmospheric carbon-14 level), and to examine the effect on the analysis of any changes in the precision ascribed to the historical dates of the samples. Furthermore, the paper examines the reasons for the conflicting conclusions obtained in previous analyses, and uses the differences in the paired radiocarbon dates on the Egyptian samples to investigate the overall repeatability of these radiocarbon measurements.