414 research outputs found
How does progress towards the child mortality millennium development goal affect inequalities between the poorest and least poor? Analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data.
A 21st century metropolitan green belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt (henceforth MGB) has been proposed since the late nineteenth century but was first realised in the 1930s, and expanded under Abercrombieâs 1944 Greater London Plan. After decades of growth the MGB measures 5,160 square kilometres and covers parts of 68 local districts and London boroughs. Local planning authorities do have the power to modify the MGB through ad hoc reviews, although only in âexceptional circumstancesâ. These can include a shortage of housing land (though this alone doesnât guarantee that change will be permitted). An early reason for proposing a MGB was to give access to the countryside but later it was to physically constrain the growth of London. The current aims of the policy are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which says that âThe fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently openâ. To do this it seeks to check unrestricted sprawl of large built up areas, keep neighbouring towns from merging, safeguard the countryside from encroachment, preserve the setting and special character of historic towns and promote urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land. Despite the name, Green Belt is not an environmental designation â in fact Duncan Sandys, the minister responsible for its expansion in the 1950s, said Green Belt land did not have to be green or even particularly attractive, as its purpose was to stop urban development. However, government guidance suggests that after establishing a Green Belt, the local authority might want to improve public access, provide recreation opportunities or improve the appearance or quality of the land â but actual use or enjoyment of the Green Belt is clearly seen as an incidental benefit of the policy. In the post-war period there was a two-pronged approach to directing development in South East England: the MGB constrained the supply of land, and at the same time New Towns were created to house people dispersed from larger cities including London. This link between state planned constraint and development (and the cross regional approach), although never perfectly realised, has long since been broken
Queer Spiritual Spaces
Drawn from extensive, new and rich empirical research across the UK, Canada and USA, Queer Spiritual Spaces investigates the contemporary socio-cultural practices of belief, by those who have historically been, and continue to be, excluded or derided by mainstream religions and alternative spiritualities. As the first monograph to be directly informed by 'queer' subjectivities whilst dealing with divergent spiritualities on an international scale, this book explores the recently emerging innovative spaces and integrative practices of queer spiritualities. Its breadth of coverage and keen critical engagement mean it will serve as a theoretically fertile, comprehensive entry point for any scholar wishing to explore the queer spiritual spaces of the twenty-first century
Studienweg und Studienerfolg: eine Untersuchung ĂŒber Verlauf und Dauer des Studium von 2000 StudienanfĂ€ngern des Sommersemesters 1957 in Berlin, Bonn, Frankfurt/Main und Mannheim
On the characteristic connection of gwistor space
We give a brief presentation of gwistor space, which is a new concept from
G_2 geometry. Then we compute the characteristic torsion T^c of the gwistor
space of an oriented Riemannian 4-manifold with constant sectional curvature k
and deduce the condition under which T^c is \nabla^c-parallel; this allows for
the classification of the G_2 structure with torsion and the characteristic
holonomy according to known references. The case with the Einstein base
manifold is envisaged.Comment: Many changes since first version, including title; Central European
Journal of Mathematics, 201
Rigid upper bounds for the angular momentum and centre of mass of non-singular asymptotically anti-de Sitter space-times
We prove upper bounds on angular momentum and centre of mass in terms of the
Hamiltonian mass and cosmological constant for non-singular asymptotically
anti-de Sitter initial data sets satisfying the dominant energy condition. We
work in all space-dimensions larger than or equal to three, and allow a large
class of asymptotic backgrounds, with spherical and non-spherical conformal
infinities; in the latter case, a spin-structure compatibility condition is
imposed. We give a large class of non-trivial examples saturating the
inequality. We analyse exhaustively the borderline case in space-time dimension
four: for spherical cross-sections of Scri, equality together with completeness
occurs only in anti-de Sitter space-time. On the other hand, in the toroidal
case, regular non-trivial initial data sets saturating the bound exist.Comment: improvements in the presentation; some statements correcte
Persistence with anti-tumour necrosis factor therapies in patients with psoriatic arthritis: observational study from the British Society of Rheumatology Biologics Register
Objectives. To evaluate the riskâbenefit profile of anti-TNF therapies in PsA and to study the predictors of treatment response and disease remission [disease activity score (DAS)-28 < 2.6]. Methods. The study included PsA patients (n = 596) registered with the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR). Response was assessed using the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) improvement criteria. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were developed to examine factors associated with EULAR response and disease remission using a range of covariates. Poisson regression was used to calculate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for serious adverse events (SAEs) vs seronegative RA controls receiving DMARDs, adjusting for age, sex and baseline co-morbidity. Results. At baseline, the mean (s.d.) DAS-28 was 6.4 (5.6). Of the patients, 70.3% were EULAR responders at 12 months. At 6 months, older patients [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.97 per year; 95% CI 0.95, 0.99], females (adjusted OR 0.51; 95% CI 0.34, 0.78) and patients on corticosteroids (adjusted OR 0.45; 95% CI 0.28, 0.72) were less likely to achieve a EULAR response. Over 1776.2 person-years of follow-up (median 3.07 per person), the IRR of SAEs compared with controls was not increased (0.9; 95% CI 0.8, 1.3). Conclusions. Anti-TNF therapies have a good response rate in PsA, and have an adverse event profile similar to that seen in a control cohort of patients with seronegative arthritis receiving DMARD therapy
From hermitean clifford analysis to subelliptic dirac operators on odd dimensional spheres and other CR manifolds
We show that the two Dirac operators arising in Hermitian Clifford analysis are identical to standard differential operators arising in several complex variables. We also show that the maximal subgroup that preserves these operators are generated by translations, dilations and actions of the unitary n-group. So the operators are not invariant under Kelvin inversion. We also show that the Dirac operators constructed via two by two matrices in Hermitian Clifford analysis correspond to standard Dirac operators in euclidean space. In order to develop Hermitian Clifford analysis in a different direction we introduce a sub elliptic Dirac operator acting on sections of a bundle over odd dimensional spheres. The particular case of the three sphere is examined in detail. We conclude by indicating how this construction could extend to other CR manifolds.publishe
Efficient and accurate computation of eye diagrams and bit-error rates in a single-channel CRZ system
Dispersal distances and migration rates at the arctic treeline in Siberia â a genetic and simulation-based study
A strong
temperature increase in the Arctic is expected to lead to latitudinal
treeline shift. This tundraâtaiga turnover would cause a positive
vegetationâclimate feedback due to albedo decrease. However, reliable
estimates of tree migration rates are currently lacking due to the complex
processes involved in forest establishment, which depend strongly on seed
dispersal.
We aim to fill this gap using LAVESI, an individual-based and spatially
explicit Larix vegetation simulator. LAVESI was designed to simulate plots within
homogeneous forests. Here, we improve the implementation of the seed
dispersal function via field-based investigations. We inferred the effective
seed dispersal distances of a typical open-forest stand on the southern
Taymyr Peninsula (northern central Siberia) from genetic parentage analysis
using eight nuclear microsatellite markers.
The parentage analysis gives effective seed dispersal distances (median âŒ10 m) close to the seed parents. A comparison between simulated and
observed effective seed dispersal distances reveals an overestimation of
recruits close to the releasing tree and a shorter dispersal distance
generally. We thus adapted our model and used the newly parameterised version
to simulate south-to-north transects; a slow-moving treeline front was
revealed. The colonisation of the tundra areas was assisted by occasional
long-distance seed dispersal events beyond the treeline area. The treeline
(âŒ1 tree haâ1) advanced by âŒ1.6 m yrâ1, whereas the
forest line (âŒ100 trees haâ1) advanced by only âŒ0.6 m yrâ1.
We conclude that the treeline in northern central Siberia currently lags behind
the current strong warming and will continue to lag in the near future.</p
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