Meet & fly : sustainable transport academics and the elephant in the room

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Church Organists:Analysing their Willingness to Play

There currently exists a scarcity of church organ players even though they have traditionally been well paid. This paper presents an empirical investigation into the factors that affect the church organ player’s willingness to play. Results suggest pay does not attract the organ player to the position but being paid in situ increases their willingness to play, as do larger choir sizes and a better instrument quality. We also identify that organ players should be taught when they are young, as the younger the church organ player started learning the instrument then the greater their willingness to play.Religious participation; Willingness to play; Church Organ player

Toepassing van het knoop-plaatsmodel in Vlaanderen

Het afstemmen van mobiliteit op ruimtelijke ordening en omgekeerd blijkt een moeilijke opgave in Vlaanderen. De wijze waarop beide beleidsdomeinen de voorbije decennia zijn vormgegeven staat haaks op de principes die naar aanloop van het Beleidsplan Ruimte Vlaanderen worden geagendeerd. Dit onderzoek focust op twee van deze ruimtelijke principes: ‘ontwikkelen op knooppunten van collectief vervoer’ en ‘ontwikkelen op basis van de bestaande voorzieningengraad’. Beide principes worden geassocieerd met het stedenbouwkundig principe Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Vertrekkende vanuit het knoop-plaatsmodel van Bertolini (1999) worden in dit onderzoek alle treinstations in het Vlaamse en Brusselse spoornetwerk onder de loep genomen. In het model wordt de bereikbaarheid van en naar het knooppunt en de centraliteit in het netwerk geconfronteerd met de nabijheid van verschillende types voorzieningen, inwoners- en tewerkstellings-dichtheden en andere aspecten van de ruimtelijke structuur. Een dergelijke analyse laat toe om het verband tussen beide dimensies op systematische wijze voor elk knooppunt te visualiseren en te onderzoeken, en om verschillende types stationsbuurten te onderscheiden met het oog op het formuleren van ontwikkelingskansen voor strategische verdichting langsheen knooppunten van collectief vervoer. De eerste resultaten uit dit onderzoek lijken de evenwichtsassumptie uit Bertolini’s knoop-plaatsmodel voor Vlaanderen te bevestigen. Het merendeel van de stations bevindt zich immers in de ‘gebalanceerde’ gebieden van het model. Na verdere algemene observaties voor het Vlaams en Brussels Hoofdstedelijke Gewest, worden enkele knopen die duidelijk afwijken van dit generieke verband in meer detail toegelicht. Een discussie waarin enkele randvoorwaarden tot succesvolle implementatie van TOD-ingrepen, bedenkingen ten aanzien van duurzaam transportbeleid en toekomstige onderzoekslijnen worden geschetst, sluit het geheel af

Knowledge Management: Results from an Exploratory Case Study

This paper presents the results of an exploratory case study into knowledge management within an organisation. Using a theoretical framework as a guide to research and analysis, the case study looked the knowledge processes of generation, codification and utilisation, and the effects that different corporate sub-systems have on the knowledge processes, as well as KM efforts as a whole. The results have led to the identification of areas requiring extra investigation that will be explored in future research

Larangan dan Sanksi Pidana Bagi Pemberi Bantuan Hukum

Hak atas Bantuan Hukum telah diterima secara universal yang dijamin dalam Kovenan Internasional tentang Hak-Hak Sipil dan Politik (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).Meskipun Bantuan Hukum tidak secara tegas dinyatakan sebagai tanggung jawab negara namun ketentuan Pasal 1 ayat (3) Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945 menegaskan bahwa “Negara Indonesia adalah negara hukum”. Dalam negara hukum, negara mengakui dan melindungi hak asasi manusia bagi setiap individu termasuk hak atas Bantuan Hukum.Seiring dengan pelaksanaannya pemberian Bantuan Hukum yang dilakukan belum banyak menyentuh orang atau kelompok orang miskin, sehingga mereka kesulitan untuk mengakses keadilan karena terhambat oleh ketidakmampuan mereka untuk mewujudkan hak-hak konstitusional mereka, yang menjadi permasalahannya yakni bagaimana larangan bagi pemberi bantuan hukum dalam melaksanakan pemberian bantuan hukum kemudian bagaimana pemberlakuan sanksi pidana bagi pemberi bantuan hukum dalam pelaksanaan pemberian bantuan hukum. Olehkarena ruanglingkup penelitianini adalah pada disiplin Ilmu Hukum, maka dalam penelitian ini penulis menggunakan penelitian juridis kepustakaan yakni dengan “cara meneliti bahan pustaka” atau yang dinamakan penelitian hukum normatif.” Hasil penelitian ini menjelaskan bahwa larangan bagi pemberi bantuan hukum dalam melaksanakan pemberian bantuan hukum, yakni pemberi Bantuan Hukum dilarang menerima atau meminta pembayaran dari Penerima Bantuan Hukum yaitu orang atau kelompok orang miskin dan/atau pihak lain yang terkait dengan perkara yang sedang ditangani Pemberi Bantuan Hukum, sedangkan pemberlakuan sanksi pidana menurut Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 16 Tahun 2011 tentang Bantuan Hukum, Pasal 21: Pemberi Bantuan Hukum yang terbukti menerima atau meminta pembayaran dari Penerima Bantuan Hukum dan/atau pihak lain yang terkait dengan perkara yang sedang ditangani sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 20, dipidana dengan pidana penjara paling lama 1 (satu) tahun atau denda paling banyak Rp50.000.000,00 (lima puluh juta rupiah)

Probing the Role(s) of Bbs1 with CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing

BBS1 is the most commonly mutated of 21 genes which cause Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a rare, autosomal recessive “ciliopathy”. It results from dysfunction of an antenna-like organelle called the primary cilium, which participates in signalling events during development and homeostasis. Bardet-Biedl syndrome is considered a model ciliopathy in that it exhibits cardinal, multi-systemic features of ciliopathies, including kidney disease, retinal degeneration, polydactyly and obesity. There is, however, a disconnect in our comprehension of how these phenotypes manifest from mutations in ciliopathy genes. The ways in which BBS1 functions within the cell remain unclear and may extend beyond the cilium. One obstacle to understanding how mutations in BBS genes lead to disease is the great phenotypic variability that exists between patients, even siblings with the same causative variants. This project probed the cellular roles of Bbs1 in mouse kidney epithelial cells using the ground-breaking gene editing technique, CRISPR/Cas9. Clonal cell lines carrying biallelic indel mutations in Bbs1 were developed and their genomic DNA, transcripts and protein characterised. Although clones revealed an inconsistent ability to form cilia, an entirely unexpected, novel cell-cell adhesion phenotype was identified in Bbs1-/-. Consistent with recent discoveries of genetic compensation following gene knockout, the severity of this phenotype correlated inversely with Bbs1 transcript instability. Transcriptomics suggested Bbs1 knockout caused a loss of epithelial identity associated with an upregulation of mesenchymal biomarkers and, in the absence of genetic compensation, the downregulation of epithelial markers, culminating in disrupted apical-basal polarity, defective cell-cell adhesion and loss of epithelial barrier integrity. Whether genetic compensation contributes to the phenotypic variability seen in Bardet-Biedl syndrome patients remains to be seen and might provide valuable opportunities for novel therapeutics. This work suggests Bbs1 may have roles beyond the cilium and the Bbs1-/- cell models generated herein will provide a useful tool for future investigations

Preferred levels for background ducking to produce esthetically pleasing audio for TV with clear speech

In audio production, background ducking facilitates speech intelligibility while allowing the background to fulfill its purpose, e.g., to create ambience, set the mood, or convey semantic cues. Technical details for recommended ducking practices are not currently documented in the literature. Hence, we first analyzed common practices found in TV documentaries. Second, a listening test investigated the preferences of 22 normal-hearing participants on the Loud- ness Difference (LD) between commentary and background during ducking. Highly personal preferences were observed, highlighting the importance of object-based personalization. Sta- tistically significant difference was found between non-expert and expert listeners. On average, non-experts preferred LDs that were 4 LU higher than the ones preferred by experts. A sta- tistically significant difference was also found between Commentary over Music (CoM) and Commentary over Ambience (CoA). Based on the test results, we recommend at least 10 LU difference for CoM and at least 15 LU for CoA. Moreover, a computational method based on the Binaural Distortion-Weighted Glimpse Proportion (BiDWGP) was found to match the median preferred LD for each item with good accuracy (mean absolute error = 1.97 LU ± 2.50)

Immunological and Physiological Differences Between Layer- and Broiler Chickens after Concurrent Intratracheal Administration of Lipopolysaccharide and Human Serum Albumin

Layers and broilers were concurrently intratracheally challenged with 0.5 mg Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 0.1 mg Human Serum Albumin (HuSA) at 3 weeks of age. Specific total and isotype-specific (IgM, IgG, IgA) Antibody (Ab) responses to HuSA during 3 weeks following immunization, cellular in vitro mitogen responses to Concanavalin A (Con A) and specific cellular responses in vitro to different dosages of HuSA, blood serotonin (5-HT) levels, plasma Corticosterone (CORT) levels at 6 weeks of age and ex vivo nitric oxide (NO) production in the presence of LPS, respectively, were measured in all birds. Higher in vitro cellular responses to HuSA, but not Con A, were found in the broilers than in the layers. Also higher total, IgM and IgG antibody responses to HuSA were found in the broilers. Higher ex vivo NO production was found in the layers. A heavier spleen weight was found in the broilers, but relative spleen weight was higher in the layers. The broilers grew much heavier and also maintained a higher growth during the first 24 and 48 h after i.t. challenge with LPS and HuSA. No breed effect was found for body temperature responses after i.t. challenge. Blood 5-HT levels and plasma CORT levels were significantly higher in the layers. Number and type of significant correlations between 5-HT levels, cachectin response to LPS, antibody levels and cellular immunity differed between breeds. Our data suggest comparable immune responses to i.t. HuSA challenge in broilers and layers of similar age and confirm the earlier reported higher humoral immune response in broilers. On the other hand, the cachectin response to LPS differed between broilers and layers. Our results do not confirm the earlier reported higher cellular immune response of layers. Different significant relationships between physiological parameters in broilers and layers were found. Our results suggest that selection for enhanced growth does not necessarily affect specific immune competence of poultr