Life at the water’s edge: an analysis of human behaviour and urban design of public open space at the water’s edge

Over the past decade, North America's urban waterfronts have experienced a renaissance. Urban waterfronts, which once provided the heart and lifeline of many North American cities by acting as a gateway connecting the American interior and the rest of the World, have undergone vast changes and are now the staging areas for numerous uses, to be enjoyed by all of the public, in many different ways. Throughout history, a relationship between man and the water's edge has always existed. The water's edge is where life is most diverse and unique. The water's edge has traditionally been viewed as part of the public realm. A strong commitment to maintaining public access to the shore and waterways of the world has consistently been upheld, starting with the Justinian Law of ancient Rome and continuing through English Common Law as reflected in maritime ordinances. Urban waterfronts have historically been the hub of transportation, trade and commerce. Along many waterfronts, port cities symbolize the history and maritime activities of these traditionally working waterfronts. As many of these waterfront cities first emerged, the waterfront was intimately linked with the city. However, in North America, with the rapid growth of commercial activity, warehouses, railway yards and expressways at the water's edge, cities became disconnected from their waterfronts. Over the past decade, many North American urban waterfronts have undergone yet another transformation. The waterfront has become a valuable amenity, to be shared by all. Urban waterfronts, which were once stigmatized as a worthless industrial wasteland are now respected as a valuable asset for their views, large tracts of underdeveloped land, history, maritime industry and activity, environmental characteristics and their opportunities for recreation opportunities both on land and water. In addition, watercourses have been cleansed due to stricter environmental regulations, and a "back to the city movement" of people seeking places to Uve in the inner cities, have resulted in the redevelopment of many of North America's waterfronts. As waterfronts undergo this transformation, an opportunity is afforded by the public to regain access to the water's edge. At the current time, municipal and provincial (or state) policies are in place which allow the public to require that a portion of land parallel to the water's edge be dedicated for public use, as waterfront lands are redeveloped. These lands are usually used as public open space, in one form or another. In the case of many urban waterfronts, the space is developed with a seawall and a bicycle/pedestrian path. However, all too often little or no attention is paid to including proper lighting, the types of surface materials and landscaping used, seating opportunities, relationship of the space to the street and other nearby spaces, the history and/or maritime character of the area, or public access points to the open space. As a result, the space is not used. To address these concerns, this thesis challenges the popular way of planning and designing waterfront open space by focusing on the specific issue of how urban waterfront open space is designed and how it is used. To accomplish this task, the thesis presents an exploratory study which firstly documents the complexities involved in the process of urban waterfront change from industrial uses to a mix of uses including public open space. It then reviews the literature regarding the design of urban plazas, which share many of the same characteristics as urban waterfront open space, in order to define a list of design elements which could be applied when designing waterfront open space. To test the similarities between the design elements of urban plazas and of urban waterfront open space, case studies examine two waterfront locations in the Vancouver Lower Mainland: Westminster Quay in New Westminster, and; Steveston Landing in Richmond. In these case studies, field observations are used to identify how these waterfront open spaces are designed and how they are used. This information is augmented by survey data collected on site through interviews with the users of the spaces to determine how far and by what means users arrive at the spaces and for what purposes and how frequently do they use the spaces. In addition, interviews held with the designers, planners and managers of the two waterfront open spaces establish what the guiding policies, design approaches and anticipated outcomes were prior-to the construction of the spaces.Applied Science, Faculty ofCommunity and Regional Planning (SCARP), School ofGraduat

The Mediterranean benthic herbivores show diverse responses to extreme storm disturbances

Catastrophic storms have been observed to be one of the major elements in shaping the standing structure of marine benthic ecosystems. Yet, little is known about the effect of catastrophic storms on ecosystem processes. Specifically, herbivory is the main control mechanism of macrophyte communities in the Mediterranean, with two main key herbivores: the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and the fish Sarpa salpa. Consequently, the effects of extreme storm events on these two herbivores (at the population level and on their behaviour) may be critical for the functioning of the ecosystem. With the aim of filling this gap, we took advantage of two parallel studies that were conducted before, during and after an unexpected catastrophic storm event. Specifically, fish and sea urchin abundance were assessed before and after the storm in monitored fixed areas (one site for sea urchin assessment and 3 sites for fish visual transects). Additionally, we investigated the behavioural response to the disturbance of S. salpa fishes that had been tagged with acoustic transmitters. Given their low mobility, sea urchins were severely affected by the storm (ca. 50% losses) with higher losses in those patches with a higher density of sea urchins. This may be due to a limited availability of refuges within each patch. In contrast, fish abundance was not affected, as fish were able to move to protected areas (i.e. deeper) as a result of the high mobility of this species. Our results highlight that catastrophic storms differentially affect the two dominant macroherbivores of rocky macroalgal and seagrass systems due to differences in mobility and escaping strategies. This study emphasises that under catastrophic disturbances, the presence of different responses among the key herbivores of the system may be critical for the maintenance of the herbivory function

Crystal structure of a human CD3-ε/δ dimer in complex with a UCHT1 single-chain antibody fragment

The α/β T cell receptor complex transmits signals from MHC/peptide antigens through a set of constitutively associated signaling molecules, including CD3-ε/γ and CD3-ε/δ. We report the crystal structure at 1.9-Å resolution of a complex between a human CD3-ε/δ ectodomain heterodimer and a single-chain fragment of the UCHT1 antibody. CD3-ε/δ and CD3-ε/γ share a conserved interface between the Ig-fold ectodomains, with parallel packing of the two G strands. CD3-δ has a more electronegative surface and a more compact Ig fold than CD3-γ; thus, the two CD3 heterodimers have distinctly different molecular surfaces. The UCHT1 antibody binds near an acidic region of CD3-ε opposite the dimer interface, occluding this region from direct interaction with the TCR. This immunodominant epitope may be a uniquely accessible surface in the TCR/CD3 complex, because there is overlap between the binding site of the UCHT1 and OKT3 antibodies. Determination of the CD3-ε/δ structure completes the set of TCR/CD3 globular ectodomains and contributes information about exposed CD3 surfaces

COPA mutations impair ER-Golgi transport and cause hereditary autoimmune-mediated lung disease and arthritis

Unbiased genetic studies have uncovered surprising molecular mechanisms in human cellular immunity and autoimmunity. We performed whole-exome sequencing and targeted sequencing in five families with an apparent mendelian syndrome of autoimmunity characterized by high-titer autoantibodies, inflammatory arthritis and interstitial lung disease. We identified four unique deleterious variants in the COPA gene (encoding coatomer subunit α) affecting the same functional domain. Hypothesizing that mutant COPA leads to defective intracellular transport via coat protein complex I (COPI), we show that COPA variants impair binding to proteins targeted for retrograde Golgi-to-ER transport. Additionally, expression of mutant COPA results in ER stress and the upregulation of cytokines priming for a T helper type 17 (TH17) response. Patient-derived CD4(+) T cells also demonstrate significant skewing toward a TH17 phenotype that is implicated in autoimmunity. Our findings uncover an unexpected molecular link between a vesicular transport protein and a syndrome of autoimmunity manifested by lung and joint disease