The social ecosystem for revitalizing two- to four-unit buildings in Woodlawn : a case study and strategic plan

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 132-138).The social ecosystem approach explores the individuals and organizations that help effect a particular social outcome and the factors within their environment that contribute to or hinder their success. Applied to the particular housing and community development challenge facing 2-4 unit properties in the Chicago neighborhood of Woodlawn, the standard social ecosystem model is augmented with an explicit incorporation of a development process to emphasize the importance of the entrepreneurial, financial, technical and undeniably social aspects of real estate in revitalizing urban communities. The research sets out to explore the historical causes and processes that led to vacancy and market decline; the current condition of the market and neighborhood; lessons learned from previous efforts; and the parameters of action imposed by important stakeholder interests. This analysis reveals how population loss, speculation fueled by unrealized hopes of gentrification and accumulated property-level deliquencies combine to sustain high vacancies in Woodlawn. Recent declines in homeownership, depressed property values, a shortage of local amenities and structural barriers lowering investor margins also inhibit sustainable building uses in favor of landlords who "milk" properties and target Housing Choice Voucher Recipients. Due to the lack of social capital, the neighborhood struggles to control violence and maintain the public realm. The consequence is a diminished ability to attract prospective residents despite considerable local assets. The proposed response advances five strategic outcomes: stabilization of the market; advocacy for both better policy and internal structure; expansion of loans and financial assistance for homeowners; expansion of technical assistance and counseling for homeowners; and the prioritization of local development approaches that spread benefits more equitaby than is typical of gentrification. The associated recommendations, which broadly consider policy, planning and community development, seek to create a synergy capable of addressing the challenges surfaced by the social ecosystem framework and building on existing strengths and opportunities.by Rance G.D. Graham-Bailey.M.C.P

Studies on Polytetrafluoroethylene Latices. Part 2. Coagulation by Hydrolysable Electrolytes

The colloidal stability of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) latices has been examined as a function of pH at different concentrations of aluminium nitrate. The basic behaviour observed can be subdivided into three pH domains, lower than· pH 3.3, pH 3.3 to 5.2 and pH 5.2 to 7.5. In the lowest pH region, coagulation of the latex appeared to occur as a consequence of compression of the electrical double layer by a 3 : 1 electrolyte. In the pH region 3.3 to 5.2 cationic polynuclear aluminium ions were formed which adsorbed on the particles and neutralised the charge on the negative latex particles. Charge reversal and restabilization of the latices as cationic particles, however, was not observed. The appeared to be a consequence of the relatively high charge reversal concentration and the possible weak adsorption of polynuclear species on the PTFE surface. Coagulation in the pH region 5.2 to 7.5 appeared to be the consequence of several mechanisms operating together

Putting Flat Λ\LambdaCDM In The (Redshift) Bin

Flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmology is specified by two constant fitting parameters in the late Universe, the Hubble constant $H_0$ and matter density (today) $\Omega_m$. In the cosmology literature, one typically \textit{assumes} that there is no redshift evolution of cosmological parameters when one fits data sets. Here, in mock observational Hubble data we demonstrate evolution in distributions of best fit parameters with effective redshift. As a result, considerably different $(H_0, \Omega_m)$ best fits from Planck-$\Lambda$CDM cannot be precluded in high redshift bins. We explore if observational Hubble data, Type Ia supernovae and standardisable quasar samples exhibit redshift evolution of best fit $\Lambda$CDM parameters. In all samples, we confirm an increasing $\Omega_m$ (decreasing $H_0$) trend with increasing bin redshift. Through comparison with mocks, we confirm that similar behaviour can arise randomly within the flat $\Lambda$CDM model with probabilities as low as $p = 0.0021$ ($3.1 \, \sigma$).Comment: 5 pages, 10 figures; v2 added explanations and appendi

The effects of interactions between proline and carbon nanostructures on organocatalysis in the Hajos-Parrish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert reaction

The non-covalent interactions of S-(-)-proline with the surfaces of carbon nanostructures (fullerene, nanotubes and graphite) change the nucleophilic-electrophilic and acid-base properties of the amino acid, thus tuning its activity and selectivity in the organocatalytic Hajos-Parrish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert (HPESW) reaction. Whilst our spectroscopy and microscopy measurements show no permanent covalent bonding between S-(-)-proline and carbon nanostructures, a systematic investigation of the catalytic activity and selectivity of the organocatalyst in the HPESW reaction demonstrates a clear correlation between the pyramidalisation angle of carbon nanostructures and the catalytic properties of S-(-)-proline. Carbon nanostructures with larger pyramidalisation angles have a stronger interaction with the nitrogen atom lone pair of electrons of the organocatalyst, thereby simultaneously decreasing the nucleophilicity and increasing the acidity of the organocatalyst. These translate into lower conversion rates but higher selectivities towards the dehydrated product of Aldol addition

Auditory perception in individuals with Friedreich’s Ataxia

INTRODUCTION: Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an inherited ataxia with a range of progressive features including axonal degeneration of sensory nerves. The aim of this study was to investigate auditory perception in affected individuals. METHODS: Fourteen subjects with genetically defined FRDA participated. Two control groups, one consisting of healthy, normally hearing individuals and another comprised of subjects with sensorineural hearing loss, were also assessed. Auditory processing was evaluated using structured tasks designed to reveal the listeners' ability to perceive temporal and spectral cues. Findings were then correlated with open-set speech understanding. RESULTS: Nine of 14 individuals with FRDA showed evidence of auditory processing disorder. Gap and amplitude modulation detection levels in these subjects were significantly elevated, indicating impaired encoding of rapid signal changes. Electrophysiologic findings (auditory brainstem response, ABR) also reflected disrupted neural activity. Speech understanding was significantly affected in these listeners and the degree of disruption was related to temporal processing ability. Speech analyses indicated that timing cues (notably consonant voice onset time and vowel duration) were most affected. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that auditory pathway abnormality is a relatively common consequence of FRDA. Regular auditory evaluation should therefore be part of the management regime for all affected individuals. This assessment should include both ABR testing, which can provide insights into the degree to which auditory neural activity is disrupted, and some functional measure of hearing capacity such as speech perception assessment, which can quantify the disorder and provide a basis for interventio

Translocal imagination of Hong Kong connections: the shifting of Chow Yun-Fat's star image since 1997

Anyone who is interested in Hong Kong cinema must be familiar with one name: Chow Yun-fat (b. 1955). He rose to film stardom in the 1980s when Hong Kong cinema started to attract global attention beyond East Asia. During his early screen career, Chow established a star image as an urban citizen of modern Hong Kong through films such as A Better Tomorrow/Yingxiong bense (John Woo, 1986), City on Fire/Longhu fengyun (Ringo Lam, 1987), All About Ah-Long/A Lang de gushi (Johnnie To, 1989), God of Gamblers/Du shen (Wong Jing, 1989), and Hard Boiled/Lashou shentan (John Woo, 1992)

The long-term health and wellbeing impacts of Healthy New Towns: a six-month feasibility study of Healthy New Town demonstrator sites in England

BACKGROUND: Major public health challenges in England include high levels of health risk behaviour and associated diseases. In the context of an ageing population and falls in spending on adult social care, these challenges place huge pressure on health services. There is evidence to show that living environments can shape health, wellbeing and behaviour. However, there is an urgent need to understand how this evidence can be brought together to deliver healthy environments in local urban settings. The HNT programme was commissioned by NHS England in 2015 and is supported by Public Health England. HNTs are 10 major housing developments that aim to improve population health by applying healthy built environment design principles, increasing residents' use of healthy spaces, promoting community activation and cohesion to improve mental health and reduce social isolation, and creating new models for integrating health and social care. The programme provides a natural experiment in which to investigate the effects on health, wellbeing and inequalities of large-scale interventions targeting the wider social determinants of health. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: 1. What are the similarities and differences in the Healthy New Town (HNT) programme developments, activities and processes, contexts and expected impacts and outcomes across the HNT sites? 2. How feasible is the use of existing HNT evaluation data and data from routine sources as the baseline for a longer-term study to assess impact on health, wellbeing and behavioural outcomes, programme processes and mechanisms and Social Return on Investment? AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1) To produce participatory systems maps for 5 HNT sites, illustrating processes and expected outcomes from HNT activities and developing a theoretical framework for longer-term research. 2) To scope and synthesise available qualitative data produced through existing local evaluations and to test the feasibility of using this data to ground a longer-term qualitative study of HNT processes. 3) To define primary and secondary outcome measures for assessment of HNT effectiveness and Social Return on Investment, using existing HNT datasets and routinely available data. 4) To test the feasibility of expanding the research programme to include the 5 HNT sites that are not currently in the HNT Evaluation Collaborative to improve study power and representativeness. METHODS The proposed research involves workstreams to: a) use participatory systems mapping with stakeholders in each HNT to produce a theoretical framework for a longer term study on the HNT programme; b) scope and synthesise existing qualitative data from local HNT evaluations to understand local processes and intervention mechanisms; c) scope and standardise local and routinely available data to establish a baseline and feasibility for a longer term study of health and economic outcomes; d) build relationships and recruit 5 further HNTs into the proposed research. TIMELINE FOR DELIVERY The proposed research will be conducted between 1st November 2018 and 30th April 2019 to enable completion while HNT site leads are still in post. ANTICIPATED IMPACT AND DISSEMINATION The proposed research will produce a theoretical framework for the HNT programme, designed to guide further research on the health impacts of HNTs. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations and local audiences including residents, local government and Public Health England

Friedreich's ataxia-associated childhood hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a national cohort study

OBJECTIVE: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an important predictor of long-term outcomes in Friedreich's ataxia (FA), but the clinical spectrum and survival in childhood is poorly described. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of children with FA-HCM. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective, longitudinal cohort study of children with FA-HCM from the UK. PATIENTS: 78 children (<18 years) with FA-HCM diagnosed over four decades. INTERVENTION: Anonymised retrospective demographic and clinical data were collected from baseline evaluation and follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary study end-point was all-cause mortality (sudden cardiac death, atrial arrhythmia-related death, heart failure-related death, non-cardiac death) or cardiac transplantation. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis of FA-HCM was 10.9 (±3.1) years. Diagnosis was within 1 year of cardiac referral in 34 (65.0%) patients, but preceded the diagnosis of FA in 4 (5.3%). At baseline, 65 (90.3%) had concentric left ventricular hypertrophy and 6 (12.5%) had systolic impairment. Over a median follow-up of 5.1 years (IQR 2.4-7.3), 8 (10.5%) had documented supraventricular arrhythmias and 8 (10.5%) died (atrial arrhythmia-related n=2; heart failure-related n=1; non-cardiac n=2; or unknown cause n=3), but there were no sudden cardiac deaths. Freedom from death or transplantation at 10 years was 80.8% (95% CI 62.5 to 90.8). CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest cohort of childhood FA-HCM reported to date and describes a high prevalence of atrial arrhythmias and impaired systolic function in childhood, suggesting early progression to end-stage disease. Overall mortality is similar to that reported in non-syndromic childhood HCM, but no patients died suddenly

Impaired mucosal defense to acute colonic injury in mice lacking cyclooxygenase-1 or cyclooxygenase-2

To investigate roles in intestinal inflammation for the 2 cyclooxygenase (COX) isoforms, we determined susceptibility to spontaneous and induced acute colitis in mice lacking either the COX-1 or COX-2 isoform. We treated wild-type, COX-1–/–, COX-2–/–, and heterozygous mice with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to provoke acute colonic inflammation, and we quantified tissue damage, prostaglandin (PG) E2, and interleukin-1β. No spontaneous gastrointestinal inflammation was detected in mice homozygous for either mutation, despite almost undetectable basal intestinal PGE2 production in COX-1–/– mice. Both COX-1–/– and COX-2–/– mice showed increased susceptibility to a low-dose of DSS that caused mild colonic epithelial injury in wild-type mice. COX-2–/– mice were more susceptible than COX-1–/– mice, and selective pharmacologic blockade of COX-2 potentiated injury in COX-1–/– mice. At a high dose, DSS treatment was fatal to 50% of the animals in each mutant group, but all wild-type mice survived. DSS treatment increased PGE2 intestinal secretion in all groups except COX-2–/– mice. These results demonstrate that COX-1 and COX-2 share a crucial role in the defense of the intestinal mucosa (with inducible COX-2 being perhaps more active during inflammation) and that neither isoform is essential in maintaining mucosal homeostasis in the absence of injurious stimuli