Urban Actuation: Public Space as a Catalyst for Urban Revitalization

The physical and social benefits of public space apparent to architects, landscape architects, and urban designers are endangered in many North American mid-size cities as residential, commercial and industrial development spreads further from the core of the city. Enduring a surplus of surface parking, vacant storefronts and abandoned lots, the physical ailments of distressed city centres have an equally negative impact on the social environment. As a result, the community's perception of public space is in a fragile state as their experience of a fragmented urban environment creates feelings of insecurity and vulnerability. Engaging this vulnerable territory of the city, this thesis explores public space as a testing ground for new ideas to be hypothesized, tested and developed. The proposal, a product of an in-depth study of the theory and practice of Everyday Urbanism and Temporary Use, develops a method for design and analysis titled Urban Actuation. Applied to the site of Galt City Centre, Cambridge, Ontario, the Urban Actuation process provides an inclusive way to perceive, value and develop urban public space. Proposed interventions emerge from empirical observation of the existing physical and social conditions of the city and are tested as a means of engaging the community and receiving feedback into the process. Intended to accompany market-driven development, Urban Actuation champions the design professional and city leaders to educate the community on the importance of public space while fostering physical and social urban change

Screening risk assessment tools for assessing the environmental impact in an abandoned pyritic mine in Spain

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of the Total Environment 409.4 (2011): 692-703 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.10.056This paper describes a new methodology for assessing site-specific environmental impact of contaminants. The proposed method integrates traditional risk assessment approaches with real and variable environmental characteristics at a local scale. Environmental impact on selected receptors was classified for each environmental compartment into 5 categories derived from the whole (chronic and acute) risk assessment using 8 risk levels. Risk levels were established according to three hazard quotients (HQs) which represented the ratio of exposure to acute and chronic toxicity values. This tool allowed integrating in only one impact category all the elements involved in the standard risk assessment. The methodology was applied to an abandoned metal mine in Spain, where high levels of As, Cd, Zn and Cu were detected. Risk affecting potential receptors such as aquatic and soil organisms and terrestrial vertebrates were assessed. Whole results showed that impact to the ecosystem is likely high and further investigation or remedial actions are necessary. Some proposals to refine the risk assessment for a more realistic diagnostic are included.This work has been financed by Madrid Community through EIADES Project S-505/AMB/0296, and by Spanish MinistryfEducation and Science, project CTM-2007-66401-CO2/TECN

Health effects and wind turbines: A review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Wind power has been harnessed as a source of power around the world. Debate is ongoing with respect to the relationship between reported health effects and wind turbines, specifically in terms of audible and inaudible noise. As a result, minimum setback distances have been established world-wide to reduce or avoid potential complaints from, or potential effects to, people living in proximity to wind turbines. People interested in this debate turn to two sources of information to make informed decisions: scientific peer-reviewed studies published in scientific journals and the popular literature and internet.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The purpose of this paper is to review the peer-reviewed scientific literature, government agency reports, and the most prominent information found in the popular literature. Combinations of key words were entered into the Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge^SMand the internet search engine Google. The review was conducted in the spirit of the evaluation process outlined in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Conclusions of the peer reviewed literature differ in some ways from those in the popular literature. In peer reviewed studies, wind turbine annoyance has been statistically associated with wind turbine noise, but found to be more strongly related to visual impact, attitude to wind turbines and sensitivity to noise. To date, no peer reviewed articles demonstrate a direct causal link between people living in proximity to modern wind turbines, the noise they emit and resulting physiological health effects. If anything, reported health effects are likely attributed to a number of environmental stressors that result in an annoyed/stressed state in a segment of the population. In the popular literature, self-reported health outcomes are related to distance from turbines and the claim is made that infrasound is the causative factor for the reported effects, even though sound pressure levels are not measured.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>What both types of studies have in common is the conclusion that wind turbines can be a source of annoyance for some people. The difference between both types is the reason for annoyance. While it is acknowledged that noise from wind turbines can be annoying to some and associated with some reported health effects (e.g., sleep disturbance), especially when found at sound pressure levels greater than 40 db(A), given that annoyance appears to be more strongly related to visual cues and attitude than to noise itself, self reported health effects of people living near wind turbines are more likely attributed to physical manifestation from an annoyed state than from wind turbines themselves. In other words, it appears that it is the change in the environment that is associated with reported health effects and not a turbine-specific variable like audible noise or infrasound. Regardless of its cause, a certain level of annoyance in a population can be expected (as with any number of projects that change the local environment) and the acceptable level is a policy decision to be made by elected officials and their government representatives where the benefits of wind power are weighted against their cons. Assessing the effects of wind turbines on human health is an emerging field and conducting further research into the effects of wind turbines (and environmental changes) on human health, emotional and physical, is warranted.</p

Respirometric analysis of activated sludge models from palm oil mill effluent

Activatedsludgemodels (ASMs) have been widely used as a basis for further model development in wastewater treatment processes. Values for parameters to be used are vital for the accuracy of the modeling approach. A continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), as open respirometer with continuous flow for 20 h is used in ASMs. The dissolved oxygen (DO) profile for 11 days was monitored. It was found the mass transfer coefficient KLa is 0.3 h-1 during lag and start feed phase and 0.01 h-1 during stop feed phase, while the heterotrophic yield coefficient YH is 0.44. Some of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) fractionations of palmoilmilleffluent (POME) using respirometric test in ASM models are Ss 50 mg/L, SI 16,600 mg/L, XS 25,550 mg/L, and XI 2,800 mg/L. The comparison of experimental and ASM1 from OUR concentration is found to fit well

Kopist, samplare, omskapare eller referent? : En studie av skribentroller vid källhantering i svenska och svenska som andraspråk på gymnasiet

Den här uppsatsen syftar till att belysa källhantering i underkända texter av vetenskaplig karaktär från de nationella proven i svenska 3 och svenska som andraspråk 3 på gymnasiet. Källhanteringen granskas med textuell innehållsanalys och skribentrollerna kopist, samplare, omskapare och referent används som analysverktyg (Nilsson 2002). Totalt studeras 42 elevtexter, 21 från varje ämne. Resultatet visar att de flesta elevtexterna uppvisar en blandning av flera skribentroller. I få texter uppvisas referenten, kopisten och samplaren som mest framträdande. När endast textreproduktionen är i fokus visas vidare att omskaparen är den vanligaste skribentrollen i elevtexterna totalt sett. I texter skrivna i ämnet svenska förekommer främst omskapningar. I texter skrivna i ämnet svenska som andraspråk märks större variation bland de skribentroller som är dominerande och omskaparen, blandaren och referenten visas i flest texter. Generellt synliggör resultatet dock att det finns många likheter i texter, skrivna inom de två ämnena. Resultatet tyder på att mer övning gällande att skriva med egna ord och sammanfatta är nödvändigt i undervisning i båda ämnena för att fler elevtexter främst ska visa refererande som strategi. Vidare syns ett behov av att ytterligare arbeta med textbearbetning.

Place, practice, and flow: Information practices in the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery

This paper presents the findings of a study exploring the information practices of members of a religious organization. Its focus is the “Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery.” Particularly, this paper focuses on the study’s findings in relation to participants’ information practices in constructing their understanding of “the Temple.” The study is informed by an information practices theoretical perspective, drawing on work from a variety of disciplines, including Castells’ space of flows, and Fisher’s information grounds. Data was gathered from participant observation, interviews with both monks and devotees and email follow-ups, and analysis of the online presence of the temple through its website. Five social constructs for the temple appear frequently in the interviews: Virtual space; Physical/geographical place; Virtual space; Symbol; Process and practices; and Organization. Participants’ information practices are not only limited to spiritual purposes but also are linked to various social practices, activities, and interests. The study’s findings suggest that constructions of place play a hitherto underexplored role in the multi-layered relationship between people and informatio