Planners in the Future City: Using City Information Modelling to Support Planners as Market Actors

Recently, Adams and Tiesdell (2010), Tewdwr-Jones (2012) and Batty (2013) have outlined the importance of information and intelligence in relation to the mediation and management of land, property and urban consumers in the future city. Traditionally, the challenge for urban planners was the generation of meaningful and timely information. Today, the urban planners’ challenge is no longer the timely generation of urban data, rather, it is in relation to how so much information can be exploited and integrated successfully into contemporary spatial planning and governance. The paper investigates this challenge through a commentary on two City Information Modelling (CIM) case studies at Northumbria University, UK. This commentary is grouped around four key themes, Accessibility and availability of data, accuracy and consistency of data, manageability of data and integration of data. It is also designed to provoke discussion in relation to the exploitation and improvement of data modelling and visualisation in the urban planning discipline and to contribute to the literature in related fields. The paper concludes that the production of information, its use and modelling, can empower urban planners as they mediate and contest state-market relations in the city. However, its use should be circumspect as data alone does not guarantee delivery of a sustainable urban future, rather, emphasis and future research should be placed upon interpretation and use of data

Autistic Disorders and Schizophrenia: Related or Remote? An Anatomical Likelihood Estimation

Shared genetic and environmental risk factors have been identified for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia. Social interaction, communication, emotion processing, sensorimotor gating and executive function are disrupted in both, stimulating debate about whether these are related conditions. Brain imaging studies constitute an informative and expanding resource to determine whether brain structural phenotype of these disorders is distinct or overlapping. We aimed to synthesize existing datasets characterizing ASD and schizophrenia within a common framework, to quantify their structural similarities. In a novel modification of Anatomical Likelihood Estimation (ALE), 313 foci were extracted from 25 voxel-based studies comprising 660 participants (308 ASD, 352 first-episode schizophrenia) and 801 controls. The results revealed that, compared to controls, lower grey matter volumes within limbic-striato-thalamic circuitry were common to ASD and schizophrenia. Unique features of each disorder included lower grey matter volume in amygdala, caudate, frontal and medial gyrus for schizophrenia and putamen for autism. Thus, in terms of brain volumetrics, ASD and schizophrenia have a clear degree of overlap that may reflect shared etiological mechanisms. However, the distinctive neuroanatomy also mapped in each condition raises the question about how this is arrived in the context of common etiological pressures

Premature differentiation of nephron progenitor cell and dysregulation of gene pathways critical to kidney development in a model of preterm birth

Preterm birth is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity. Survivors have a greater risk for kidney dysfunction and hypertension. Little is known about the molecular changes that occur in the kidney of individuals born preterm. Here, we demonstrate that mice delivered two days prior to full term gestation undergo premature cessation of nephrogenesis, resulting in a lower glomerular density. Kidneys from preterm and term groups exhibited differences in gene expression profiles at 20- and 27-days post-conception, including significant differences in the expression of fat-soluble vitamin-related genes. Kidneys of the preterm mice exhibited decreased proportions of endothelial cells and a lower expression of genes promoting angiogenesis compared to the term group. Kidneys from the preterm mice also had altered nephron progenitor subpopulations, early Six2 depletion, and altered Jag1 expression in the nephrogenic zone, consistent with premature differentiation of nephron progenitor cells. In conclusion, preterm birth alone was sufficient to shorten the duration of nephrogenesis and cause premature differentiation of nephron progenitor cells. These candidate genes and pathways may provide targets to improve kidney health in preterm infants

Are Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia Neuroanatomically Distinct? An Anatomical Likelihood Meta-analysis

Objective: There is renewed debate on whether modern diagnostic classification should adopt a dichotomous or dimensional approach to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This study synthesizes data from voxel-based studies of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to estimate the extent to which these conditions have a common neuroanatomical phenotype. Methods: A post-hoc meta-analytic estimation of the extent to which bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or both conditions contribute to brain gray matter differences compared to controls was achieved using a novel application of the conventional anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE) method. 19 schizophrenia studies (651 patients and 693 controls) were matched as closely as possible to 19 bipolar studies (540 patients and 745 controls). Result: Substantial overlaps in the regions affected by schizophrenia and bipolar disorder included regions in prefrontal cortex, thalamus, left caudate, left medial temporal lobe, and right insula. Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia jointly contributed to clusters in the right hemisphere, but schizophrenia was almost exclusively associated with additional gray matter deficits (left insula and amygdala) in the left hemisphere. Limitation: The current meta-analytic method has a number of constraints. Importantly, only studies identifying differences between controls and patient groups could be included in this analysis. Conclusion: Bipolar disorder shares many of the same brain regions as schizophrenia. However, relative to neurotypical controls, lower gray matter volume in schizophrenia is more extensive and includes the amygdala. This fresh application of ALE accommodates multiple studies in a relatively unbiased comparison. Common biological mechanisms may explain the neuroanatomical overlap between these major disorders, but explaining why brain differences are more extensive in schizophrenia remains challenging

Annual Report 2010 - Operation and Utilisation of the High Flux Reactor

The High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten is managed by the Institute for Energy (IE) of the EC - DG JRC and operated by NRG who are also licence holder and responsible for commercial activities. The HFR operates at 45 MW and is of the tank-in-pool type, light water cooled and moderated. It is one of the most powerful multi-purpose materials testing reactors in the world and one of the world leaders in target irradiation for the production of medical radioisotopes.JRC.F.4-Nuclear Reactor Integrity Assessment and Knowledge Managemen

Operation and Utilisation of the High Flux Reactor: Annual Report 2013

The High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten is managed by the Institute for Energy and Transport (IET) of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and operated by the Nuclear Research and consultancy Group (NRG) which is also the licence holder and responsible for its commercial activities. The High Flux Reactor (HFR) operates at 45 MW and is of the tank-in-pool type, light water cooled and moderated. It is one of the most powerful multi-purpose materials testing reactors in the world and one of the world's leaders in target irradiation for the production of medical radioisotopes.JRC.F.4-Innovative Technologies for Nuclear Reactor Safet