Urban development and visual culture: Commodifying the gaze in the regeneration of Tigné Point, Malta

This paper explores some of the hitherto under-researched intersections between urban (re)development, urban planning and visual culture. What emerges is an academic context that, to date, has largely compartmentalised discrete literatures on ‘view’, ‘value of the view’ and cityscape change, (re)Imagineering and (re)scripting). It shows how materialising processes associated with the commodification of a panoramic view in politico-economic and cultural terms can be used to transform and regenerate along neoliberal lines. It demonstrates how panoramas, when treated as a commodity within the context of neoliberal capitalism, are appropriated, (re)imagined and (re)scripted by architects and property developers to create high status, residential and commercial space for an affluent élite. As such, panoramas are a mechanism for the acceleration of capital accumulation that inherently create new and reinforce existing spatial inequalities. This study draws on research into the commodification of the view of the historic city of Valletta in the redevelopment of Tigné Point, the largest, most comprehensive regeneration scheme in Malta in recent years

Spin-orbit-driven band inversion in bilayer graphene by the van der Waals proximity effect.

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is the key to realizing time-reversal-invariant topological phases of matter1,2. SOC was predicted by Kane and Mele3 to stabilize a quantum spin Hall insulator; however, the weak intrinsic SOC in monolayer graphene4-7 has precluded experimental observation in this material. Here we exploit a layer-selective proximity effect-achieved via a van der Waals contact with a semiconducting transition-metal dichalcogenide8-21-to engineer Kane-Mele SOC in ultra clean bilayer graphene. Using high-resolution capacitance measurements to probe the bulk electronic compressibility, we find that SOC leads to the formation of a distinct, incompressible, gapped phase at charge neutrality. The experimental data agree quantitatively with a simple theoretical model in which the new phase results from SOC-driven band inversion. In contrast to Kane-Mele SOC in monolayer graphene, the inverted phase is not expected to be a time-reversal-invariant topological insulator, despite being separated from conventional band insulators by electric-field-tuned phase transitions where crystal symmetry mandates that the bulk gap must close22. Our electrical transport measurements reveal that the inverted phase has a conductivity of approximately e2/h (where e is the electron charge and h Planck's constant), which is suppressed by exceptionally small in-plane magnetic fields. The high conductivity and anomalous magnetoresistance are consistent with theoretical models that predict helical edge states within the inverted phase that are protected from backscattering by an emergent spin symmetry that remains robust even for large Rashba SOC. Our results pave the way for proximity engineering of strong topological insulators as well as correlated quantum phases in the strong spin-orbit regime in graphene heterostructures

Amino acid-inducible peptide transport in saccharomyces cerevisiae

In an effort to characterize the number, relative role and regulation of peptide transporters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the transport of a range of toxic and radiolabeled peptides was examined in this yeast under various physiological conditions. A new regulatory control on peptide transport was identified. The presence of micromolar concentrations of any one of numerous amino acids resulted in induction of pep tide transport activity. Increases in peptide transport were indicated by large increases in sensitivity to toxic peptides and by a 25-fold increase in the initial rate of tritiated leucyl-leucine uptake. Spontaneous, transport-deficient mutants were identified under induced conditions by their resistance to toxic di- or tripeptides and fell into three complementation groups. Such mutants accumulated radiolabeled peptides at minimal rates and lost only their amino acid-inducible sensitivity to toxic peptides. Each mutant retained the sensitivity to certain toxic dipeptides seen in the wild type strain in the absence of induction. The sensitivity to toxic peptides retained in peptide transport-deficient mutants may represent a second system for the utilization of some peptides or may be the result of periplasmic or membrane-associated peptidase activity. Since amino acid-induction of peptide transport activity was prevented by addition of cycloheximide, proteins synthesized in response to addition of an amino acid inducer were analysed on one- and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels of pulse-labeled yeast extracts. A putative peptide permease could not be clearly identified, however, because none of the proteins synthesized in response to amino acid addition were also enriched in a crude yeast membrane fraction. Attempts at cloning the gene or genes which encode the peptide permease by complementation, or through use of a gene dosage selection, were unsuccessful

Evaluating social inclusion: An adaptable measure for use on college campuses

Gender and sexual identity discrimination are commonly reported among persons of non-heterosexual or non-cisgender identities. Sexual and gender minority (SGM) students are more likely to experience discrimination, hate crimes, poverty, sexually transmitted infections, anxiety, and depression compared to heterosexual and cisgender individuals. These marginalized experiences create a unique need for education, resources, support, and community. Greater awareness of sexual and gender minorities encourages college students to feel comfortable sharing their experiences, and openly identifying as a sexual and/or gender minority. Consequently, to retain the full breadth of diversity within university communities, centers on campus that provide programming, education, and advocacy for minority students are essential for an inclusive campus climate that nurtures diverse student populations. Given the dearth in empirical instruments to support social inclusion among Sexual and Gender Minorities on college campuses, the purpose of this research was to, 1.) Develop a meaningful measure for use in the evaluation of gender identity and sexuality among college students and their perceived social inclusion through the lens of a social inclusion center; and 2.) Include questions addressing efficacy of relevant social inclusion centers for SGM students, staff, faculty, and their allies. This research focuses on self-report data collected through the Gender and Sexual Inclusion, Knowledge, and Attitude Survey from staff, faculty, and undergraduate students from a small liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest (N = 218)

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Consultant contract related to Cat Island property

Climate and colonialism

Recent years have seen a growth in scholarship on the intertwined histories of climate, science and European imperialism. Scholarship has focused both on how the material realities of climate shaped colonial enterprises, and on how ideas about climate informed imperial ideologies. Historians have shown how European expansion was justified by its protagonists with theories of racial superiority, which were often closely tied to ideas of climatic determinism. Meanwhile, the colonial spaces established by European powers offered novel ‘laboratories’ where ideas about acclimatisation and climatic improvement could be tested on the ground. While historical scholarship has focused on how powerful ideas of climate informed imperial projects, emerging scholarship in environmental history, history of science and historical geography focuses instead on the material and cognitive practices by which the climates of colonial spaces were made known and dealt with in fields such as forestry, agriculture and human health. These heretofore rather disparate areas of historical research carry great contemporary relevance of studies of how climates and their changes have been understood, debated and adapted to in the past

Spin-orbit driven band inversion in bilayer graphene by van der Waals proximity effect

Spin orbit coupling (SOC) is the key to realizing time-reversal invariant topological phases of matter. Famously, SOC was predicted by Kane and Mele to stabilize a quantum spin Hall insulator; however, the weak intrinsic SOC in monolayer graphene has precluded experimental observation. Here, we exploit a layer-selective proximity effect---achieved via van der Waals contact to a semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide--to engineer Kane-Mele SOC in ultra-clean \textit{bilayer} graphene. Using high-resolution capacitance measurements to probe the bulk electronic compressibility, we find that SOC leads to the formation of a distinct incompressible, gapped phase at charge neutrality. The experimental data agrees quantitatively with a simple theoretical model in which the new phase results from SOC-driven band inversion. In contrast to Kane-Mele SOC in monolayer graphene, the inverted phase is not expected to be a time reversal invariant topological insulator, despite being separated from conventional band insulators by electric field tuned phase transitions where crystal symmetry mandates that the bulk gap must close. Electrical transport measurements, conspicuously, reveal that the inverted phase has a conductivity $\sim e^2/h$, which is suppressed by exceptionally small in-plane magnetic fields. The high conductivity and anomalous magnetoresistance are consistent with theoretical models that predict helical edge states within the inversted phase, that are protected from backscattering by an emergent spin symmetry that remains robust even for large Rashba SOC. Our results pave the way for proximity engineering of strong topological insulators as well as correlated quantum phases in the strong spin-orbit regime in graphene heterostructures.Comment: 7 pages of main text + 13 pages supplementary material and figures. More information available at http://www.afylab.com/publications