Reclaiming data for improved city governance: Barcelona’s New Data Deal

Cities today are key sites for the operation of global digital marketplaces. It is on the curbsides and at the intersections of cities where technology companies and digital platforms gain access to valuable urban data to be used in the delivery of data-driven services. In this context, urban data ownership and control have become a central policy arena for smart city governance. This article argues that, given the increased policy activism by city governments, there is an urgent need to better understand the key goals and instruments deployed by cities to resist corporate control of urban data. It first reviews the treatment of the topic by different strands in the literature on smart city governance and then uses the ‘New Data Deal’ programme launched by the city of Barcelona to draw empirical data from one of the author’s involvement leading the programme, interviews with actors involved in the programme as well as from key policy and evaluation documents. By studying the design and implementation of Barcelona’s ‘New Data Deal’, an early mover and leading reference in the academic and policy debates, the article presents the key successes, limitations and tensions faced by a city government trying to regain access and control over urban data, including a reflection on the role that city governments can play in shaping a global agenda around improved data governance

Investigation of red blood cell mechanical properties using AFM indentation and coarse-grained particle method

© 2017 The Author(s). Background: Red blood cells (RBCs) deform significantly and repeatedly when passing through narrow capillaries and delivering dioxygen throughout the body. Deformability of RBCs is a key characteristic, largely governed by the mechanical properties of the cell membrane. This study investigated RBC mechanical properties using atomic force microscopy (AFM) with the aim to develop a coarse-grained particle method model to study for the first time RBC indentation in both 2D and 3D. This new model has the potential to be applied to further investigate the local deformability of RBCs, with accurate control over adhesion, probe geometry and position of applied force. Results: The model considers the linear stretch capacity of the cytoskeleton, bending resistance and areal incompressibility of the bilayer, and volumetric incompressibility of the internal fluid. The model's performance was validated against force-deformation experiments performed on RBCs under spherical AFM indentation. The model was then used to investigate the mechanisms which absorbed energy through the indentation stroke, and the impact of varying stiffness coefficients on the measured deformability. This study found the membrane's bending stiffness was most influential in controlling RBC physical behaviour for indentations of up to 200 nm. Conclusions: As the bilayer provides bending resistance, this infers that structural changes within the bilayer are responsible for the deformability changes experienced by deteriorating RBCs. The numerical model presented here established a foundation for future investigations into changes within the membrane that cause differences in stiffness between healthy and deteriorating RBCs, which have already been measured experimentally with AFM

NMR characterization of spin-1/2 alternating antiferromagnetic chains in the high-pressure phase of (VO)2P2O7

Local-susceptibility measurements via the NMR shifts of $^{31}$P and $^{51}$V nuclei in the high-pressure phase of (VO)$_{2}$P$_{2}$O$_{7}$ confirmed the existence of a unique alternating antiferromagnetic chain with a zero-field spin gap of 34 K. The $^{31}$P nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate scales with the uniform spin susceptibility below about 15 K which shows that the temperature dependence of both the static and dynamical spin susceptibilities becomes identical at temperatures not far below the spin-gap energy.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; To be published in J. Phys. Condens. Matte

Formation of Sub-galactic Clouds under UV Background Radiation

The effects of the UV background radiation on the formation of sub-galactic clouds are studied by means of one-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. The radiative transfer of the ionizing photons due to the absorption by HI, HeI and HeII, neglecting the emission, is explicitly taken into account. We find that the complete suppression of collapse occurs for the clouds with circular velocities typically in the range V_c \sim 15-40 km/s and the 50% reduction in the cooled gas mass with V_c \sim 20-55 km/s. These values depend most sensitively on the collapse epoch of the cloud, the shape of the UV spectrum, and the evolution of the UV intensity. Compared to the optically thin case, previously investigated by Thoul & Weinberg (1996), the absorption of the external UV photon by the intervening medium systematically lowers the above threshold values by \Delta V_c \sim 5 km/s. Whether the gas can contract or keeps expanding is roughly determined by the balance between the gravitational force and the thermal pressure gradient when it is maximally exposed to the external UV flux. Based on our simulation results, we discuss a number of implications on galaxy formation, cosmic star formation history, and the observations of quasar absorption lines. In Appendix, we derive analytical formulae for the photoionization coefficients and heating rates, which incorporate the frequency/direction-dependent transfer of external photons.Comment: 38 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Thermotomaculum hydrothermale gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel heterotrophic thermophile within the phylum Acidobacteria from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney in the Southern Okinawa Trough

http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/darwin/cruise/natsushima/nt08-13/

Modifying the surface electronic properties of YBa2Cu3O7-delta with cryogenic scanning probe microscopy

We report the results of a cryogenic study of the modification of YBa2Cu3O7-delta surface electronic properties with the probe of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). A negative voltage applied to the sample during STM tunneling is found to modify locally the conductance of the native degraded surface layer. When the degraded layer is removed by etching, the effect disappears. An additional surface effect is identified using Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy in combination with STM. We observe reversible surface charging for both etched and unetched samples, indicating the presence of a defect layer even on a surface never exposed to air.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Superconductor Science and Technolog

Heat and the planning system: how can local authorities encourage deployment of low and zero-carbon heating?

There is widespread recognition of the need for new homes to feature only low or zero-carbon (LZC) heating. However, residential developers continue to choose conventional high-carbon options such as natural gas boilers over net-zero compatible alternatives. This study explores how UK local authorities (LAs) within the English planning system can encourage residential developers to deploy LZC heating systems within their projects. We adopt an embedded case study design and analyse 30 residential project proposals within two LA areas. Our study examines local planning policies and interactions between developers and LA officers, along with the resultant outcomes, through documentary analysis and expert interviews with local stakeholders. We find that LAs can encourage developers to adopt LZC heating technologies above and beyond what is required nationally. The conditions for this to occur are (1) a planning policy which restricts allowable heating technology options, (2) empowering LA officers to enforce policies, (3) advice and support for developers to consider alternatives, and where necessary, (4) political backing to challenge unwilling developers. Study findings highlight the important role of LAs in creating the conditions for the transition to LZC heating, which show how they can use powers within the planning system to encourage developers to make low carbon choices without the need for direct investment

A fresh look at the evolution and diversification of photochemical reaction centers

In this review, I reexamine the origin and diversification of photochemical reaction centers based on the known phylogenetic relations of the core subunits, and with the aid of sequence and structural alignments. I show, for example, that the protein folds at the C-terminus of the D1 and D2 subunits of Photosystem II, which are essential for the coordination of the water-oxidizing complex, were already in place in the most ancestral Type II reaction center subunit. I then evaluate the evolution of reaction centers in the context of the rise and expansion of the different groups of bacteria based on recent large-scale phylogenetic analyses. I find that the Heliobacteriaceae family of Firmicutes appears to be the earliest branching of the known groups of phototrophic bacteria; however, the origin of photochemical reaction centers and chlorophyll synthesis cannot be placed in this group. Moreover, it becomes evident that the Acidobacteria and the Proteobacteria shared a more recent common phototrophic ancestor, and this is also likely for the Chloroflexi and the Cyanobacteria. Finally, I argue that the discrepancies among the phylogenies of the reaction center proteins, chlorophyll synthesis enzymes, and the species tree of bacteria are best explained if both types of photochemical reaction centers evolved before the diversification of the known phyla of phototrophic bacteria. The primordial phototrophic ancestor must have had both Type I and Type II reaction centers