Scenario planning for the Edinburgh city region

This paper examines the application of scenario planning techniques to the detailed and daunting challenge of city re-positioning when policy makers are faced with a heavy history and a complex future context. It reviews a process of scenario planning undertaken in the Edinburgh city region, exploring the scenario process and its contribution to strategies and policies for city repositioning. Strongly rooted in the recent literature on urban and regional economic development, the text outlines how key individuals and organisations involved in the process participated in far-reaching analyses of the possible future worlds in which the Edinburgh city region might find itself

Investigation into Stability, Transition and Turbulence of Thermal Plumes

In this thesis, the stability, transition and turbulence of thermal plumes were investigated by numerical simulation. Experiments were also conducted, but only for the validation of the simulation code being used. The effect of variable transport properties on a large eddy simulation of a turbulent axisymmetric plume was examined, and it was shown that an in-house incompressible Navier-Stokes solver, which is based on a standard Smagorinsky LES model, with the effects of variable properties incorporated using a modified Sutherlands law, predicts the correct statistical behaviours of the turbulent plume. The near-field puffing instability in thermal planar plumes, which had received little attention in the literature, was investigated by direct numerical simulation. The associated lapping flow instability, forming bulge structures over a heated floor section, was studied using a channel flow model, which allows the lapping flow velocity to be varied. The parametric dependencies were found for the bulge formation and the oscillation frequencies in the lapping flow. Further, the Prandtl number dependent transitional behaviours in the near-field were investigated, and direct stability analysis was conducted to study the lapping flow and stem instabilities. Experiments using a shadowgraph technique and an in-house, two-dimensional, two-component particle image velocimetry, with water as the working fluid, provided validations for the near-field unsteady behaviours of thermal plumes. A ventilated filling box flow with a transitional planar plume was also investigated by direct numerical simulation. A mapping of transitional flow behaviours was obtained, and the parametric dependencies of turbulence statistics and mean flow characteristics were investigated. The three-dimensionality was shown to have only minor effects on the transitional ventilated filling box flows being considered

Effectiveness of Salmonella control strategies in fattening pigs

The first aim of this study was to examine which control mechanism is the most effective and profitable to control Salmonella in fattening pigs

Probing problems and priorities in oral health (care) among community dwelling elderly in the Netherlands: a mixed method study

Background: Complex dentitions and decline in adequate oral hygiene in elderly may lead to poor oral health. This may have impact on their general health, wellbeing and quality of life. With increased longevity, the problems and needs in oral health of community dwelling elderly lead to changes in oral health care needs. We identified and prioritized problems and needs in oral health of community dwelling elderly. Methods: The problems and needs in oral health of community dwelling elderly were elicited during focus groups and interviews. The list of problems and needs derived thereof was presented to 97 elderly who prioritized these. Results: Overall, older people appeared to be satisfied with their current oral health, and the maintenance and care for their oral health. Cost of care was identified as a major problem in general. There are differences in current perceived problems and needs and problems and needs anticipated for the future. Perceived current problems and needs concern dental care provision and knowledge on oral health of professionals and patients. For anticipated future problems and needs the importance of daily oral care by caregivers was prioritised, while emphasis was placed on fear of losing autonomy. Conclusion: It is important to take the perspectives and expectations of elderly into account in policy and planning of future oral health care practice, because these differ from the perspectives of dental professionals

Indicators of affective empathy, cognitive empathy and social attention during emotional clips in relation to aggression in three-year-olds

Research indicates that impaired empathy is a risk factor of aggression and that social attention is important for empathy. The role of social attention in associations between empathy and aggression has not yet been fully elucidated. Therefore, indicators of affective empathy, cognitive empathy, social attention, and aggression were simultaneously assessed in children aged 45 months. A total of 61 mother–child dyads participated in a lab visit, during which maternal reports of aggression were obtained. Children watched three clips showing a sad, scared, and happy child, respectively, and a neutral social clip while heart rate was recorded. Heart rate change from nonsocial baseline clips to emotional clips was calculated as an index of affective empathy. Questions about the emotions of the children in the clips were asked to assess cognitive empathy. Social attention was defined as time spent looking at faces during the clips. Correlation analyses revealed negative associations between affective empathy and aggression and between social attention and aggression. Furthermore, multivariate linear regression analyses indicated that the association between affective empathy and aggression was moderated by social attention; the negative association between affective empathy and aggression was stronger in children with relatively reduced social attention. No association was found between cognitive empathy and aggression. Therefore, both affective empathy and social attention are important targets for early interventions that aim to prevent or reduce aggression

Measurement with Persons: A European Network

The European ‘Measuring the Impossible’ Network MINET promotes new research activities in measurement dependent on human perception and/or interpretation. This includes the perceived attributes of products and services, such as quality or desirability, and societal parameters such as security and well-being. Work has aimed at consensus about four ‘generic’ metrological issues: (1) Measurement Concepts & Terminology; (2) Measurement Techniques: (3) Measurement Uncertainty; and (4) Decision-making & Impact Assessment, and how these can be applied specificallyto the ‘Measurement of Persons’ in terms of ‘Man as a Measurement Instrument’ and ‘Measuring Man.’ Some of the main achievements of MINET include a research repository with glossary; training course; book; series of workshops;think tanks and study visits, which have brought together a unique constellation of researchers from physics, metrology,physiology, psychophysics, psychology and sociology. Metrology (quality-assured measurement) in this area is relativelyunderdeveloped, despite great potential for innovation, and extends beyond traditional physiological metrology in thatit also deals with measurement with all human senses as well as mental and behavioral processes. This is particularlyrelevant in applications where humans are an important component of critical systems, where for instance health andsafety are at stake