Bridging the gap between planning and architecture: a closer look at design collaboration

The two fields of Community Planning and Architecture have separately been dealing with the dilemma of suitable housing for many years; each have implemented projects and policies designed to improve conditions, some succeeded but for the most part, most failed. In today\u27s world, integration is the key to moving forward; disciplines need to work together, instead of separately, to solve our housing problems. After many failed housing projects and policies, we have learned that the problems can not be solved by one person, or even one entity. It is for these reasons; I believe the two professions of Planning and Architecture need to collaborate. Collaboration can be done in many forms, it can be a design team guided by a planning consultant, it can include a planning entity with a designer on staff, or it can be a full partnership between a planning entity and a design entity working equally together to form a collaborative team. In my research, I looked at how different entities are collaborating in order to develop urban infill housing. In the end, this research concludes with a framework for successful collaboration when designing housing projects; a framework which organizations can use to help implement collaboration within their own structure. Through intensive interviews, three organizations with experience in housing projects were studied. In order to qualify for my research the design organization must have finished a housing project in which they believe there was a level of collaboration between the field of Planning and the field of Architecture. Three participants within each organization were interviewed, a Project Manager, an Architect and a Planner. Interviews focused on dimensions of professional collaboration (D\u27Amour date). The four dimensions of collaboration evaluated include governance, shared goals, formalization, and internalization. Each of these four dimensions contributes to the level of collaboration an organization has participated in. The results of the interviews confirm findings from other professions that all dimensions are important in successful housing collaborations. The results also suggest areas of particular importance for the design fields. The paper concludes with discussion about how organizations can have collaboration structure within their area of practice

Gold-Catalyzed Direct C(sp³)−H Acetoxylation of Saturated Hydrocarbons

In this communication we report our studies towards the development of a gold-catalyzed direct acetoxylation of C(sp3)−H bonds. We achieve this through the use of the hypervalent iodine reagent PhI(OAc)2 in combination with a simple gold salt (HAuBr4) as the catalyst. Through a comparison of the reactivities of cyclooctane and adamantane we judge the reaction to proceed via hydride transfer. This is further substantiated through computational studies of the relative energies for the anions, radicals and cations derived from C−H bond cleavage of cyclooctane and adamantane relevant to the C−H cleaving step

Using Electronic Commerce to Improve Health Care Management

While some health claims are processed electronically, many others are not. In addition, the electronic transactions rarely capture data that would be very useful to provider and payer decision makers. As a result, clinical, administrative, and policy decisions often are made with incomplete and outdated information. This paper presents an integrated information system that can alleviate these shortcomings and promote effective electronic commerce in health care

New maps and cartographic materials, April 2019 [reviews]

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first attempt at tackling the “New Maps” column! First, a big thank you to David Bertuca for all his hard work in making this column a reality for the past 14 years. From thought-provoking quotes to insightful reviews (and the occasional chuckle), he’s provided a fantastic resource for all of us. I have big shoes to fill

New maps and cartographic materials, June 2019 [reviews]

Fifty years ago in June 1969, the Stonewall Riots sparked the gay rights movement in the United States. In commemoration of the events that started a national conversation, June is designated by LGBT communities (and this year by the President through Twitter) as Pride Month, in which these communities celebrate their identities and advancements in the gay rights equality movement and seek to dispel shame and stigma and bring awareness to the discrimination and violence faced by those communities. For folks like me, Pride Month is an opportunity to celebrate who we are and spread love, acceptance, and awareness, and to let those who are still figuring out who they are know that they’re not alone

Behind the Scenes: Metadata and Data Visualization [position statement]

Project position statement presented at the Visualizing the Future Symposium in August 2019. Identifying and addressing existing metadata-related challenges, advocating for and applying metadata standards that follow FAIR data principles to data visualization, and creating or supplementing metadata-specific instruction will improve usability of data, supplement scholarly communication of research, and help connect library users with the appropriate support for their data visualization needs

Environmental risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infections and the impact of latent infections on allostatic load in residents of Central North Carolina

Background: Toxoplasma gondii infection can be acquired through ingestion of infectious tissue cysts in undercooked meat or environmental oocysts excreted by cats. This cross-sectional study assessed environmental risk factors for T. gondii infections and an association between latent infections and a measure of physiologic dysregulation known as allostatic load. Methods: Serum samples from 206 adults in the Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina area were tested for immunoglobulin (IgG) responses to T. gondii using commercial ELISA kits. Allostatic load was estimated as a sum of 15 serum biomarkers of metabolic, neuroendocrine and immune functions dichotomized at distribution-based cutoffs. Vegetated land cover within 500 m of residences was estimated using 1 m resolution data from US EPA’s EnviroAtlas. Results: Handling soil with bare hands at least weekly and currently owning a cat were associated with 5.3 (95% confidence limits 1.4; 20.7) and 10.0 (2.0; 50.6) adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of T. gondii seropositivity, respectively. There was also a significant positive interaction effect of handling soil and owning cats on seropositivity. An interquartile range increase in weighted mean vegetated land cover within 500 m of residence was associated with 3.7 (1.5; 9.1) aOR of T. gondii seropositivity. Greater age and consumption of undercooked pork were other significant predictors of seropositivity. In turn, T. gondii seropositivity was associated with 61% (13%; 130%) greater adjusted mean allostatic load compared to seronegative individuals. In contrast, greater vegetated land cover around residence was associated with significantly reduced allostatic load in both seronegative (p <?0.0001) and seropositive (p =?0.004) individuals. Conclusions: Residents of greener areas may be at a higher risk of acquiring T. gondii infections through inadvertent ingestion of soil contaminated with cat feces. T. gondii infections may partially offset health benefits of exposure to the natural living environment

"But I'm not a GIS person!" Teaching introductory GIS programming through an interactive web map workshop [poster]

Poster presented in February 2019 at NCGIS. The goal of UNC Greensboro’s (UNCG) Graduate Student Professional Development team is to support graduate students and prepare them for entry into the workforce by providing opportunities for training, networking, and scholarship. Current trends in the job market point to a growing demand for digital skills, especially in GIS-related fields. However, many graduate students, especially those in social sciences or humanities, have little to no experience with GIS and other digital skills. To address a growing demand for digital skills in the job market, UNC Greensboro’s Graduate Student Professional Development Team is developing a series of bootcamp-style workshops. The objectives of these events are to train students in digital methodologies, and give them opportunities to show their research and network with peers and professionals in their fields

Customizable Leaflet Maps [slides]

Slides from a presentation given at the Triangle Digital Humanities Institute at UNC (Chapel Hill) in May 2019. Learn about Leaflet, an easy-to-use open source JavaScript library for creating customizable interactive maps, in this hands-on workshop taught by a humanities librarian and a GIS/data viz librarian from UNC Greensboro. Leaflet requires only basic ability to read and edit HTML, CSS, and JSON in order to create beautiful maps for presentations and exhibits, but can be used in combination with other scripting languages and GIS technologies for visualizations of larger data sets