Nara +20: a theory and practice perspective

The 1994 Nara Document played an important role in building bridges between tangible and intangible heritage and supporting a shift towards a broader values-based approach to the stewardship of the historic environment. Nara +20 marks a second stage in this process, and places the discussion in the context of the present day in the prevalent discourse of globalisation as well as the more nuanced concerns for sustainability and resilience. In identifying five prioritised action areas it calls for the development of new processes and methodologies that recognise heritage values as evolving more than ever before and that decision-making in the conservation field is a complex process dependent on effective negotiation at a time when threats to cultural heritage are also on the increase. Through an emphasis on stakeholder involvement through communities of interest Nara +20 implicitly signals the diminishing role being played by the State in the heritage field and by extension that of the expert and the scientific discourse from which modern conservation evolved

Effectiveness and safety of opicapone in Parkinson's disease patients with motor fluctuations: The OPTIPARK open-label study

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of opicapone, a once-daily catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor, have been established in two large randomized, placebo-controlled, multinational pivotal trials. Still, clinical evidence from routine practice is needed to complement the data from the pivotal trials. METHODS: OPTIPARK (NCT02847442) was a prospective, open-label, single-arm trial conducted in Germany and the UK under clinical practice conditions. Patients with Parkinson’s disease and motor fluctuations were treated with opicapone 50 mg for 3 (Germany) or 6 (UK) months in addition to their current levodopa and other antiparkinsonian treatments. The primary endpoint was the Clinician’s Global Impression of Change (CGI-C) after 3 months. Secondary assessments included Patient Global Impressions of Change (PGI-C), the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-8), and the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS). Safety assessments included evaluation of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs). RESULTS: Of the 506 patients enrolled, 495 (97.8%) took at least one dose of opicapone. Of these, 393 (79.4%) patients completed 3 months of treatment. Overall, 71.3 and 76.9% of patients experienced any improvement on CGI-C and PGI-C after 3 months, respectively (full analysis set). At 6 months, for UK subgroup only (n = 95), 85.3% of patients were judged by investigators as improved since commencing treatment. UPDRS scores at 3 months showed statistically significant improvements in activities of daily living during OFF (mean ± SD change from baseline: − 3.0 ± 4.6, p < 0.0001) and motor scores during ON (− 4.6 ± 8.1, p < 0.0001). The mean ± SD improvements of − 3.4 ± 12.8 points for PDQ-8 and -6.8 ± 19.7 points for NMSS were statistically significant versus baseline (both p < 0.0001). Most of TEAEs (94.8% of events) were of mild or moderate intensity. TEAEs considered to be at least possibly related to opicapone were reported for 45.1% of patients, with dyskinesia (11.5%) and dry mouth (6.5%) being the most frequently reported. Serious TEAEs considered at least possibly related to opicapone were reported for 1.4% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Opicapone 50 mg was effective and generally well-tolerated in PD patients with motor fluctuations treated in clinical practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered in July 2016 at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02847442)

Impacts of cultural dynamics on conservation of Suakin, Sudan

This article was published in the journal Proceedings of the ICE- Engineering Sustainability [http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/serial/ensu]. Permission is granted by ICE Publishing to print one copy for personal use. Any other use of these PDF files is subject to reprint fees.The aim of this work was to explore the impact of local cultural dynamics on the conservation of the built heritage of Suakin, an abandoned historic port on the Red Sea coast of Sudan, through a collaborative stakeholder approach. Key representatives of local stakeholder groups attended a two-day workshop and took part in a series of collaborative activities. These encompassed the production of a rank-ordered list of the key local cultural dynamics impacting on the port's conservation, agreement to a number of actions to address obstacles to conservation, identification of local cultural values collectively determined by stakeholder and confirmation of the value of an integrated conservation approach. The workshop enabled a shared understanding and responsibility between stakeholders and established a commitment to further action to address the key local cultural dynamics impacting on the conservation. This collaborative stakeholder participation represented a new step in the port's conservation and invited the development of more formal protocols to enable the equal representation and participation of stakeholders in future conservation activities and initiatives

Architecture and town planning education in the Netherlands A European comparison

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:q95/06003 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Architecture and town planning education in the Netherlands A European comparison - appendices

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:q95/06004 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo