The role of national identity in determining proposals for devolution in the United Kingdom
This article examines national identity in the three sub-state units of the United Kingdom which were granted devolved powers in 1998 (Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). This 
article argues that national identity provides a compelling explanation for why powers were devolved asymmetrically, as compared to federal states where powers are generally uniform at the sub-state level.
Wales and the Westminster Model
This article discusses the significance of the ‘inward’ and ‘outward’ faces of the ‘Westminster model’ for the institutions of devolved government in Wales. In 1997-1998, the objective was to create something that resembled Westminster as little as possible. Subsequently, the ‘inward’ face has seen an increasing assumption of key features of the Westminster model, notably a separation between the executive and legislative branches, due to practical political needs in Wales. In other respects, the model has not been followed. As regards its ‘outward’ face, constraints on the autonomy of the Assembly mean it forms part of broader patterns of government within the wider UK system rather than possessing any form of sovereignty or autarchy.
Numerical analysis and experimental observation of guidewire motion in a blood vessel model.
We have developed a computer-based system to simulate a guidewire in blood vessels for surgical planning, intra-operative assistance, and to facilitate the design of new guidewires. In this study, we compared simulation results with experimental results for validation of the simulation system. First, we inserted a commercial guidewire into a poly (vinyl alcohol) hydrogel blood vessel model using a two-axis automatic stage and measured the position of the guidewire tip and the contact force between the guidewire and the vessel. The experimental apparatus can be used not only for the validation of numerical analyses, but also as a simulation system. Second, similarly to the experiment, the motion of the guidewire in the blood vessel model was calculated when the proximal part of the guidewire model was pushed and twisted. The model of the guidewire is constructed with viscoelastic springs and segments, and the proximal part of the guidewire model is constrained by the fixed catheter model. Collisions between the guidewire and the vessel are calculated, and the contact forces are determined according to the stiffness of the vessel wall. The same tendency was seen in the trajectories and the contact force of both the experimental and simulated guidewire tips.