Crime control through housing management

Over the last decade the management of social housing in England and Wales has extended to the formal control of bad behaviour. This thesis charts the political development of this increasingly important function and the legal infrastructure within which it operates. Part one explores the development of the crime control function of social landlords over the last decade within its political, social and economic context. Part two then provides a critique of the resultant emphasis upon public protection within housing policy by identifying the conflicts and tensions this has created with the competing discourses of legal due process and welfarism

Friends reconsidered: Cultural politics, intergenerationality, and afterlives

With the passing in 2014 of the twentieth anniversary of its debut episode, the iconic millennial sitcom Friends retains a rare cultural currency and remains a crucial reference point for understanding the concerns of Generation X. This special issue, therefore, interrogates the contemporary and historical significance of Friends as a popular sitcom that reflected and obfuscated American fin de siècle anxieties at the time, and considers the lasting resonance of its cultural afterlife. Its abiding impact as millennial cultural touchstone can be seen in its persistent ability to find new generations of viewers and its manifest influence on myriad extratextual phenomena

David A.J. Richards, The Rise of Gay Rights and the Fall of the British Empire

Review of David A.J. Richards, The Rise of Gay Rights and the Fall of the British Empire: Liberal Resistance and the Bloomsbury Group (Cambridge University Press, 2013)

Peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles : versatile biomaterials for diagnostic and therapeutic applications

Colloidal gold solutions have been used for centuries in a wide variety of applications including staining glass and in the colouring of ceramics. More recently, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been studied extensively due to their interesting size-dependent electronic and optical properties. GNPs can be functionalized easily with biomolecules that contain thiols, amines, or even phosphine moieties. For example, the reaction of thiol-containing peptides with GNPs has been used extensively to prepare novel hybrid materials for biomedical applications. A range of different types of peptides can be used to access biomaterials that are designed to perform a specific role such as cancer cell targeting. In addition, specific peptide sequences that are responsive to external stimuli (e.g. temperature or pH) can be used to stabilise/destabilise the aggregation of colloidal GNPs. Such systems have exciting potential applications in the field of colorimetric sensing (including bio-sensing) and in targeted drug delivery platforms. In this review, we will give an overview of the current methods used for preparing peptide functionalized GNPs, and we will discuss their key properties outlining the various applications of this class of biomaterial. In particular, the potential applications of peptide functionalized GNPs in areas of sensing and targeted drug delivery will be discussed

‘The 90s are officially over’: Generation X celebrity break-ups.

In this piece we consider the intersection of relationships, nostalgia, and generational identities as struc- turing elements in celebrity culture, through a small sample of high-profile Gen X examples

IR Monitoring of the Microquasar GRS 1915+105: Detection of Orbital and Superhump Signatures

We present the results of seven years of K-band monitoring of the low-mass X-ray binary GRS 1915+105. Positive correlations between the infrared flux and the X-ray flux and X-ray hardness are demonstrated. Analysis of the frequency spectrum shows that the orbital period of the system is $P_{orb}= 30.8 \pm 0.2$ days. The phase and amplitude of the orbital modulation suggests that the modulation is due to the heating of the face of the secondary star. We also report another periodic signature between 31.2 and 31.6 days, most likely due to a superhump resonance. From the superhump period we then obtain a range on the mass ratio of the system, $0.05 < q < 0.12$.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures; v2: minor change

Ground-dwelling arthropod responses to succession in a pinyon-juniper woodland

Stand-replacing wildfire is an infrequent but important disturbance in southwestern pinyon-juniper woodlands. A typical successional cycle in these woodlands is approximately 300 years or more after a stand-replacing fire. Arthropods, especially ground-dwelling taxa, are one of the most abundant and diverse fauna in terrestrial ecosystems and are typically responsive to microhabitat change. Little is known regarding community responses of ground-dwelling arthropods to changes in woodland successional stages from early ecosystems dominated by grasses, herbaceous plants, and fire adapted shrubs to tree-dominated old-growth ecosystems. In 2007 and 2008, within Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, we compared the community composition of ground-dwelling arthropods between old-growth pinyon-juniper stands that were 300–400 years old and early successional areas recovering from a stand-replacing fire in 2002. The 2002 fire eliminated the dominant woody vegetation, which was replaced by increased herbaceous vegetation and bare ground. The early successional arthropod community showed a significantly higher abundance in major arthropod taxonomic groups, except spiders, compared to old-growth woodland. Old-growth species richness was greater in late August–September, 2007 and greater in early successional habitats during April–July, 2008. Spatial variability of the habitat was much greater in the recently burned early successional plots than the old-growth late successional plots. The differences in habitat were strongly correlated with arthropod community composition, suggesting that ground-dwelling arthropods are very sensitive to habitat changes. Habitat affiliation was strong, with 83% (early succession ruderal) and 91% (old-growth woodland) of the species found primarily or exclusively in one habitat. Many habitat indicator species (defined as species found in significantly greater abundance in one habitat) were found in both burned and old-growth habitats. Several species were found to be strict specialists exclusive to only one of these habitats. Collectively, the results suggest that heightened concern over loss of old-growth woodlands is warranted, given the distinct nature of the ground-dwelling arthropod community in old-growth habitats

Pinyon pine mortality alters communities of ground-dwelling arthropods

We documented the effect of drought-induced mortality of pinyon pine (Pinus edulis Engelm.) on communities of ground-dwelling arthropods. Tree mortality alters microhabitats utilized by ground-dwelling arthropods by increasing solar radiation, dead woody debris, and understory vegetation. Our major objectives were to determine (1) whether there were changes in community composition, species richness, and abundance of ground-dwelling arthropods associated with pinyon mortality and (2) whether specific habitat characteristics and microhabitats accounted for these changes. We predicted shifts in community composition and increases in arthropod diversity and abundance due to the presumed increased complexity of microhabitats from both standing dead and fallen dead trees. We found significant differences in arthropod community composition between high and low pinyon mortality environments, despite no differences in arthropod abundance or richness. Overall, 22% (51 taxa) of the arthropod community were identified as being indicators of either high or low mortality. Our study corroborates other research indicating that arthropods are responsive to even moderate disturbance events leading to changes in the environment. These arthropod responses can be explained in part due to the increase in woody debris and reduced canopy cover created by tree mortality

Functional tests of the competitive exclusion hypothesis for multituberculate extinction

Multituberculate mammals thrived during the Mesozoic, but their diversity declined from the mid-late Paleocene onwards, becoming extinct in the late Eocene. The radiation of superficially similar, eutherian rodents has been linked to multituberculate extinction through competitive exclusion. However, characteristics providing rodents with a supposed competitive advantage are currently unknown and comparative functional tests between the two groups are lacking. Here, a multifaceted approach to craniomandibular biomechanics was taken to test the hypothesis that superior skull function made rodents more effective competitors. Digital models of the skulls of four extant rodents and the Upper Cretaceous multituberculate Kryptobaatar were constructed and used (i) in finite-element analysis to study feeding-induced stresses, (ii) to calculate metrics of bite force production and (iii) to determine mechanical resistances to bending and torsional forces. Rodents exhibit higher craniomandibular stresses and lower resistances to bending and torsion than the multituberculate, apparently refuting the competitive exclusion hypothesis. However, rodents optimize bite force production at the expense of higher skull stress and we argue that this is likely to have been more functionally and selectively important. Our results therefore provide the first functional lines of evidence for potential reasons behind the decline of multituberculates in the changing environments of the Paleogene.Peer reviewe