'A future of the past'. Disjuncture between urban and cultural policy planners in the city of Skopje

In 1993, the city of Antwerp was inaugurated a European Capital of Culture, following Athens, Florence, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Glasgow, Dublin and Madrid. Unlike other cities which simply sought on providing a series of cultural events, in Antwerp the intention was to challenge the use of culture as a tool for developing tourism, or for broader instrumental objectives such as urban regeneration. “A future of the past”’, Antwerp`s 12 month programme emphasized the multicultural environment of the city and intended not to glorify but rather to unravel areas of tension and threat to social cohesion posed by the rise of the nationalistic political movement. Twenty years later, within a different political and economical, but yet, multicultural context, a similar question is posed for the urban regeneration practices in the capital of Macedonia, the city of Skopje. Skopje and its main metropolitan area is subject of urban re-imagining which has articulated abundant critical discussions within the urban and cultural arena. The government-run project titled “SKOPJE 2014” aims to alter the city center by constructing administrative buildings, commercial spaces and baroque style cultural institutions, dozens of monuments, fountains, bridges and sculptures. What is the 'future of the representational past' objectified in the public space in Skopje in economical terms? Does the spatial regeneration which have been undertaken help overcome barriers to social inclusion and combat threats to community well being? Does cultural renaissance celebrate local distinctiveness and the multicultural composition of the city? The paper will look at these questions from a viewpoint of the economical, social and cultural facet of the project, thus challenging the pragmatic application of multiculturalism in urban policy. Finally, the paper will question whether Europe besides a Cultural Capital needs an annual example of a successful multicultural city initiative

Agroforestry Interactions in Rainfed Agriculture: Can Hedgerow Intercropping Systems Sustain Crop Yield on an Ultisol in Lampung (Indonesia)?

The productivity of rainfed agriculture land developed on Ultisols is limited by physical and chemical constraints. These problems can be solved and consistently high yields obtained only by the development of comprehensive manage-ment systems. In the 1980s, hedgerow inter-cropping was promoted initially for improving soil fertility and sustainability of crop production on nutrient-depleted soils. However the previous enthusiasm for hedgerow intercropping is unsupported by scientific evidence and its labour demand too high. The question remains, is there a window of opportunity where the biophysical principle of hedgerow intercropping is sound? Research to compare the long-term performance of crops and trees in hedgerow intercropping and monocluture cropping is needed. This research has been conducted at long-term field experiment station at the BMSF-Project, Lampung, Indone-sia. The experiment site had non-nitrogen-fixing peltophorum (PP), nitrogen-fixing gliricidia (GG) and alternate peltophorum and gliricidia (PG) hedgerow intercropping and maize / groundnut monoculture (C) treatments. We concluded that the net interactions related to soil fertility and competition for growth resources in peltophroum were positive for crop yield in PP and PG but negative for GG. Even so, the PP and PG sys-tems resulted in similar yields as monocropping; however, hedgerow intercropping considerably improved soil fertility attributes

Echocardiographic prediction of outcome after cardiac resynchronization therapy: conventional methods and recent developments

Echocardiography plays an important role in patient assessment before cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and can monitor many of its mechanical effects in heart failure patients. Encouraged by the highly variable individual response observed in the major CRT trials, echocardiography-based measurements of mechanical dyssynchrony have been extensively investigated with the aim of improving response prediction and CRT delivery. Despite recent setbacks, these techniques have continued to develop in order to overcome some of their initial flaws and limitations. This review discusses the concepts and rationale of the available echocardiographic techniques, highlighting newer quantification methods and discussing some of the unsolved issues that need to be addressed

Diverse values of nature for sustainability

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being(1,2), addressing the global biodiversity crisis(3) still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature's diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever(4). Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature's values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)(5) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals(6), predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature(7). Arguably, a 'values crisis' underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change(8), pandemic emergence(9) and socio-environmental injustices(10). On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature's diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions(7,11). Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures

Diverse values of nature for sustainability

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being1,2, addressing the global biodiversity crisis3 still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever4. Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)5 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals6, predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature7. Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change8, pandemic emergence9 and socio-environmental injustices10. On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions7,11. Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures

New Pharmacological Agents to Aid Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Harm Reduction: What has been Investigated and What is in the Pipeline?

A wide range of support is available to help smokers to quit and aid attempts at harm reduction, including three first-line smoking cessation medications: nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline and bupropion. Despite the efficacy of these, there is a continual need to diversify the range of medications so that the needs of tobacco users are met. This paper compares the first-line smoking cessation medications to: 1) two variants of these existing products: new galenic formulations of varenicline and novel nicotine delivery devices; and 2) twenty-four alternative products: cytisine (novel outside of central and eastern Europe), nortriptyline, other tricyclic antidepressants, electronic cigarettes, clonidine (an anxiolytic), other anxiolytics (e.g. buspirone), selective 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors, supplements (e.g. St John’s wort), silver acetate, nicobrevin, modafinil, venlafaxine, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI), opioid antagonist, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) antagonists, glucose tablets, selective cannabinoid type 1 receptor antagonists, nicotine vaccines, drugs that affect gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transmission, drugs that affect N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDA), dopamine agonists (e.g. levodopa), pioglitazone (Actos; OMS405), noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, and the weight management drug lorcaserin. Six criteria are used: relative efficacy, relative safety, relative cost, relative use (overall impact of effective medication use), relative scope (ability to serve new groups of patients), and relative ease of use (ESCUSE). Many of these products are in the early stages of clinical trials, however, cytisine looks most promising in having established efficacy and safety and being of low cost. Electronic cigarettes have become very popular, appear to be efficacious and are safer than smoking, but issues of continued dependence and possible harms need to be considered