Transport in a sustainable urban future

Transport is acknowledged as a vital ingredient of any credible strategy for the sustainable city because of the key role it plays in promoting economic development, quality of life and wellbeing. Yet managing urban transport effectively, given its complex and intersecting economic, environmental and social impacts, is also precisely the kind of ‘wicked problem’ that policy makers consistently find hard to resolve (Docherty and Shaw, 2011a; Conklin, 2006; Rittel and Webber, 1973). Many of the reasons for this are longstanding and emanate in particular from the dominance of the private car in meeting the demand for mobility, which has built up over many decades in the developed world, but which is now being reproduced at a much higher pace in the fast growing cities of the Pacific Rim and elsewhere (Newman and Kenworthy, 1999; Lyons and Loo, 2008). Although it has undoubtedly transformed our patterns of travel and consumption, concerns over the limitations and externalities of private car transport – primarily traffic congestion, environmental degradation and social exclusion – have for many years stimulated various initiatives designed to mitigate these externalities (Feitelson and Verhoef, 2001; Knowles et al, 2008). The conflict between the car, long promoted by neoliberal voices as a potent weapon of the free market and individual liberty, and competing visions of a more ‘public’ transport system based on collective modes such as the bus and train, and active travel by walking and cycling, has been played out over many years. Nowhere has this conflict been more intense than in cities, as it is here that the problems such as congestion, poor local air quality and mobility deprivation are often at their most intense (Cahill, 2010; Docherty et al, 2008)

Cell Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes

Acknowledgements The work described in this review was supported by a grant from the MRC. K.R.M. is supported by a fellowship from the Scottish Translational Medicines and Therapeutics Initiative through the Wellcome Trust.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A disintegrating cosmic string

We present a simple sandwich gravitational wave of the Robinson-Trautman family. This is interpreted as representing a shock wave with a spherical wavefront which propagates into a Minkowski background minus a wedge. (i.e. the background contains a cosmic string.) The deficit angle (the tension) of the string decreases through the gravitational wave, which then ceases. This leaves an expanding spherical region of Minkowski space behind it. The decay of the cosmic string over a finite interval of retarded time may be considered to generate the gravitational wave.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Class. Quantum Gra

Devolution as process: institutional structures, state personnel and transport policy in the United Kingdom

Devolution has been described as a key ‘global trend’ over recent decades as governments have decentralised power and responsibilities to subordinate regional institutions (Rodriguez-Pose and Gill, 2003). UK devolution is characterised by its asymmetrical nature with different territories granted different institutional arrangements and powers. In this paper, we seek examine the role of state personnel in mobilising the new institutional machinery and managing the process of devolution, focusing on transport policy. Our research shows a clear contrast between London and Northern Ireland, on the one hand, and Scotland and Wales, on the other, in terms of the effectiveness of political leaders in creating clear policy priorities and momentum in transport

Forth Road Bridge Closure Survey: Analysis of Commuter Behaviour: Final Findings Report May 2016

No abstract available

Transport strategy in Scotland since devolution

This article critically reviews how the Scottish Executive's approach to transport has developed since devolution. Although there is much to commend, a number of concerns can be identified, including the possibility that a number of strategic infrastructure schemes appear to have been approved on political rather than on technical grounds. It is difficult to know whether the current set of transport infrastructure investment plans represents good value for public money

Quantitative pharmacological study of some putative neurotransmitters in the carotid body of the cat and the rabbit

Afferent chemoreceptor activity was recorded from the peripheral cut end of the sinus nerve in anaesthetized cats and rabbits. It was found that intracarotid injection of dopamine inhibited spontaneous chemoreceptor activity in both species. 5~Hydroxytryptamine evoked a brief excitation followed by inhibition of discharge in both species. In cats, apomorphine caused a prolonged inhibition of chemoreceptor activity. Following administration of a~flupenthixol or haloperidol in cats and a-f1upenthixol in rabbits, dopamine no longer evoked an inhibitory response but instead tended to cause an increase in chemo¬ receptor discharge. Responses to the chemoreceptor stimulants sodium cyanide and hypoxia were potentiated following administration of dopamine-blocking agents. These results suggest the possibility that endogenous dopamine acts to depress afferent carotid chemoreceptor activity. Subsequent experiments in cats showed that the dopamine-uptake blockers benztropine and nomifensine, but not the monoamineoxidase inhibitor pargyline, potentiate the inhibitory action of injected dopamine and also potentiate chemoreceptor responses to sodium cyanide and hypoxia. These results imply that, in addition to its inhibitory action, endogenous dopamine has an excitatory action on chemoreceptor activity. It is suggested that the most likely physiological role for dopamine in the carotid body is as a chemical mediator in an 'amplification' system, modulating activity in sensory nerve endings which are themselves the chemoreceptors. Injection of acetylcholine in rabbits caused inhibition of afferent chemoreceptor activity, in contrast to the stimulation evoked in cats and dogs. In some experiments high doses of acetylcholine evoked a slight excitation which preceded the inhibition. This effect was probably brought about by an action on nicotinic receptors since it was blocked by mecamylamine but is unlikely to be of physiological significance. The muscarinic agonists methacholine and bethanechol, but not the nicotinic agonist subery1dicholine, also inhibited spontaneous chemoreceptor discharge indicating that the inhibition was brought about by an action on muscarinic receptors. The inhibition was blocked by atropine, although high doses were required to produce this effect. The inhibition is unlikely to be a consequence of a vascular action of acetylcholine since the vaso¬ dilator drugs sodium nitrite and sodium nitroprusside had little effect on chemoreceptor activity. The inhibition evoked by acetyl¬ choline was not reduced by a-f1upenthixol and is, therefore, unlikely to be secondary to dopamine release. It is proposed that acetylcholine may act as a transmitter in an inhibitory efferent pathway to the carotid body but is unlikely to act as an excitatory sensory transmitter

Developing Literary Glasgow: Towards a Strategy for a Reading, Writing and Publishing City

Since the 1990s, urban cultural policy in the UK has been bound to the cause of urban regeneration. Much has been written in examination and critique of this relationship, but what happens when the direction of strategic attention is reversed and civic leadership seeks to regenerate culture itself? The city of Glasgow, having made capital of culture over many decades, has moved towards a strategy for the development of literary Glasgow. This thesis documents a search for those factors crucial to that strategy. The research focuses on literary Glasgow as one aspect of the city’s cultural sector; identifies and examines gaps in the relationship between the civic cultural organisation and literary communities; and highlights those elements vital to the formation of a strategy for development of the literary in Glasgow. An extended period of participatory ethnographic research within the Aye Write! book festival and Sunny Govan Community Radio, is supplemented with data from interviews conducted across the literary sector and analysis of organisational documentation. Through these a gap has been identified between the policies and operations of a civic cultural organisation, and the desires of those engaged within the literary community. This gap is caused, in part, by the lack of a mechanism with which to reconcile contrasting narratives about the cultural essence of the city, or to negotiate the variations in definitions of value in relation to cultural engagement. The interdisciplinary approach builds upon insights from existing work within publishing studies, cultural policy, complexity theory and organisational studies to construct an understanding of the dynamics of Glasgow’s literary sector. This reveals the need for a framework in support of a landscape of practice, a desire for the placement of boundary objects to facilitate engagement, and the significance of value in relation to participation in literary activity. This work informs a strategy for literary Glasgow and contributes to conversations on strategies for cultural development in other cities

Improving child protection : a systematic review of training and procedural interventions

Aim: To synthesise published evidence regarding the effectiveness of training and procedural interventions aimed at improving the identification and management of child abuse and neglect by health professionals. Methods: Systematic review for the period 1994 to 2005 of studies that evaluated child protection training and procedural interventions. Main outcome measures were learning achievement, attitudinal change, and clinical behaviour. Results: Seven papers that examined the effectiveness of procedural interventions and 15 papers that evaluated training programmes met the inclusion criteria. Critical appraisal showed that evaluation of interventions was on the whole poor. It was found that certain procedural interventions (such as the use of checklists and structured forms) can result in improved recording of important clinical information and may also alert clinical staff to the possibility of abuse. While a variety of innovative training programmes were identified, there was an absence of rigorous evaluation of their impact. However a small number of onegroup pre- and post-studies suggest improvements in a range of attitudes necessary for successful engagement in the child protection process. Conclusion: Current evidence supports the use of procedural changes that improve the documentation of suspected child maltreatment and that enhance professional awareness. The lack of an evidence based approach to the implementation of child protection training may restrict the ability of all health professionals to fulfil their role in the child protection process. Formal evaluation of a variety of models for the delivery of this training is urgently needed with subsequent dissemination of results that highlight those found to be most effective

The 2007 Provincial Election and Electoral System Referendum in Ontario

Ontario’s general election in Oct. 10, 2007, was unprecedented for several reasons. The election was held on a date fixed by legislation and not one set by the premier or his caucus, something new to Ontario and relatively new to Canadian politics. Turnout declined to 53%, the lowest ever in Ontario history. The incumbent Liberals won a second consecutive majority government, something the party had not achieved since 1937. And finally, the election featured a referendum question that asked voters in Ontario to approve reforms to the electoral system, a proposal that was overwhelmingly rejected. This article explores each of the above-stated elements as they unfolded in the election