Future Cities: Asserting Public Governance

The smart city has become a main prism through which urban futures are viewed. With it comes the promise of big data technology enabling more resource-efficient urban systems and improved governance. Increasingly, however, this technocentric view is being challenged, at least rhetorically, by seeking to place people at the heart of smart city development. Yet, especially in the case of the UK, such development typically takes place within a governance context which marginalises established planning and decision processes, thus arguably weakening public accountability. Moreover, the norms of engagement change in that citizens are assigned more of an entrepreneurial role as co-producers of data-driven information. It becomes necessary, therefore, to reconsider as well as reinvigorate the place of the public in the future city. This article seeks to do so by making the case, on one hand, for strengthening institutional frameworks and, on the other, advancing a more active role for citizens to become involved in actualising and scrutinising future cities

The Imperial IRAS-FSC Redshift Catalogue (IIFSCz)

We present a new catalogue, the Imperial IRAS-FSC Redshift Catalogue (IIFSCz), of 60,303 galaxies selected at 60 micron from the IRAS Faint Source Catalogue (FSC). The IIFSCz consists of accurate position, optical, near-infrared and/or radio identifications, spectroscopic redshift (if available) or photometric redshift (if possible), predicted far-infrared (FIR) and submillimetre (submm) fluxes ranging from 12 to 1380 micron based upon the best-fit infrared template. About 55% of the galaxies in the IIFSCz have spectroscopic redshifts and a further 20% have photometric redshifts obtained through either the training set or the template-fitting method. For S(60)>0.36 Jy, the 90% completeness limit of the FSC, 90% of the sources have either spectroscopic or photometric redshifts. Scientific applications of the IIFSCz include validation of current and forthcoming infrared and submm/mm surveys such as AKARI, Planck and Herschel, follow-up studies of rare source populations, large-scale structure and galaxy bias, local multiwavelength luminosity functions and source counts. The catalogue is publicly available from http://astro.imperial.ac.uk/~mrr/fss/Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Revised on 23/04/09. The catalogue has been revised to correct the fluxes of extended sources. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Ultrasound assisted one-pot synthesis of benzo-fused indole-4, 9-dinones from 1,4-naphthoquinone and α-aminoacetals

A one-pot synthesis of benzo[f]indole-4,9-diones from 1,4-naphthoquinone with α-aminoacetals has been developed. This method provides a straightforward synthesis of benzo[f]indole-4,9-diones via intramolecular nucleophilic attack of aminoquinones to aldehydes under mild reaction conditions. The detailed mechanism was also investigated

Clinical Results of Minimally Invasive Open-Heart Surgery in Patients with Mitral Valve Disease: Comparison of Parasternal and Low-Sternal Approach

Clinical results of minimally invasive mitral valve surgery were retrospectively reviewed, and two different surgical approaches were compared in this study. Between 1997 and 2004, a total of 86 patients with mitral valve disease underwent minimally invasive surgery at theYonsei University Cardiovascular Center. Age of patients averaged 41.6 ± 14.0 years and 69 patients were female. Surgical approach included lowsternal incisions with mini-sternotomy, and right parasternal or thoracotomy approach. Either direct aortic or femoral arterial and bicaval cannulations were used in all patients. Patients were divided into two groups according to the method of surgical approach (parasternal (P) vs low-sternal (L)), and the results were compared. Postoperative NYHA functional class improved to 1.1 ± 0.4 in all patients (no significant statistical difference between two groups). Mean wound length (P: 9.21 ± 1.10 vs L: 11.24 ± 0.82 cm, p<0.05), and mechanical ventilation time (P: 10.42 ± 4.36 vs L: 12.90 ± 5.00 min, p=0.04) was significantly shorter in parasternal group, and mean operation time(P:294.74 ± 59.41 vs. L:259.31 ± 54.36 min, p=0.03) was significantly shorter in low-sternal group. Mean cardiopulmonary bypass time, and aortic cross clamp time was also shorter in low-sternal group without statistical difference. There were 2 minor wound complications in all patients (p=NS), and no hospital death. Comparing the two different surgical approach of minimally invasive mitral valve surgery, parasternal approach is thought to be more beneficial in reducing postoperative scar, and intubation time

The Environments of Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies: Star Formation Rates increase with Density

This work studies the environments and star formation relationships of local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRG) in comparison to other types of local and distant (z~1) galaxies. The infrared (IR) galaxies are drawn from the IRAS sample. The density of the environment is quantified using 6dF and Point Source Catalogue redshift survey (PSCz) galaxies in a cylinder of 2h^-1 Mpc radius and 10h^-1 Mpc length. Our most important result shows the existence of a dramatic density difference between local LIRGs and local non-LIRG IR galaxies. LIRGs live in denser environments than non-LIRG IR galaxies implying that L_IR=10^11 h^-2 L_sun marks an important transition point among IR-selected local galaxies. We also find that there is a strong correlation between the densities around LIRGs and their L_IR luminosity, while the IR-activity of non-LIRG IR galaxies does not show any dependence on environment. This trend is independent of mass-bin selection. The SF-density trend in local LIRGs is similar to that found in some studies of blue cloud galaxies at z~1 which show a correlation between star formation and local density (the reversal of the relation seen for local galaxies). This, together with the rapid decline of the number count of LIRGs since z~1, could mean that local LIRGs are survivors of whatever process transformed blue cloud galaxies at z~1 to the present day or local LIRGs came into existence by similar process than high redshift LIRGs but at later stage.Comment: 13 pages with 6 figures. Discussion expanded and references added to match accepted MNRAS version, results unchange

Apoptotic Pattern of Cochlear Outer Hair Cells and Frequency-specific Hearing Threshold Shift in Noise-exposed BALB/c Mice

ObjectivesApoptosis of outer hair cell (OHC) can be identified through nuclear staining by specific nuclear changes. The change of filamentous actin (F-actin) is also involved in early cell death process. The study was designed to investigate OHC death along the whole length of the organ of Corti.MethodsBALB/c hybrid mice were used in this study. The noise group was exposed to white noise of 120 dB SPL for 3 hr per day for 3 consecutive days. The tone burst auditory brainstem response (ABR) test was conducted and cochleas from each group were obtained for the immunostaining of FITC phalloidin for F-actin and propidium iodide (PI) for nuclei.ResultsABR threshold of the noise group significantly increased after noise exposure (P<0.001). No threshold shift was found in the control group. Threshold shift of the noise group constantly increased from 4 to 16 kHz, but threshold shifts at 16 kHz and 32 kHz were similar. Patterns of OHC staining were subclassified as FITC+PI- cells, FITC+ PI+ cells, FITC-PI+ cells and missing cells. Proportion of normal live OHCs (FITC+PI-) rapidly decreased from the apex to the base. In the basal turn, FITC-PI+ cells and vacancy OHC (missing cells) were observed easily. Apoptotic and missing cells were most abundant at 60% of the whole length of the Corti organ.ConclusionWe could subclassify morphologic changes in OHC death after noise exposure. Quantitative changes in OHCs along the whole Corti organ showed a plateau pattern similar to that of a frequency-specific threshold shift

Pro-inflammatory Cytokine Expression of Spleen Dendritic Cells in Mouse Toxoplasmosis

Dendritic cells have been known as a member of strong innate immune cells against infectious organelles. In this study, we evaluated the cytokine expression of splenic dendritic cells in chronic mouse toxoplasmosis by tissue cyst-forming Me49 strain and demonstrated the distribution of lymphoid dendritic cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). Pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 increased rapidly at week 1 post-infection (PI) and peaked at week 3 PI. Serum IL-10 level followed the similar patterns. FACS analysis showed that the number of CD8α+/CD11c+ splenic dendritic cells increased at week 1 and peaked at week 3 PI. In conclusion, mouse splenic dendritic cells showed early and rapid cytokine changes and may have important protective roles in early phases of murine toxoplasmosis

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) blended spectra catalogue: strong galaxy-galaxy lens and occulting galaxy pair candidates

We present the catalogue of blended galaxy spectra from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. These are cases where light from two galaxies are significantly detected in a single GAMA fibre. Galaxy pairs identified from their blended spectrum fall into two principal classes: they are either strong lenses, a passive galaxy lensing an emission-line galaxy; or occulting galaxies, serendipitous overlaps of two galaxies, of any type. Blended spectra can thus be used to reliably identify strong lenses for follow-up observations (high-resolution imaging) and occulting pairs, especially those that are a late-type partly obscuring an early-type galaxy which are of interest for the study of dust content of spiral and irregular galaxies. The GAMA survey setup and its AUTOZ automated redshift determination were used to identify candidate blended galaxy spectra from the cross-correlation peaks. We identify 280 blended spectra with a minimum velocity separation of 600 km s−1, of which 104 are lens pair candidates, 71 emission-line-passive pairs, 78 are pairs of emission-line galaxies and 27 are pairs of galaxies with passive spectra. We have visually inspected the candidates in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS) images. Many blended objects are ellipticals with blue fuzz (Ef in our classification). These latter ‘Ef’ classifications are candidates for possible strong lenses, massive ellipticals with an emission-line galaxy in one or more lensed images. The GAMA lens and occulting galaxy candidate samples are similar in size to those identified in the entire SDSS. This blended spectrum sample stands as a testament of the power of this highly complete, second-largest spectroscopic survey in existence and offers the possibility to expand e.g. strong gravitational lens surveys

A Case of Successful Selective Abortion Using Radio-frequency Ablation in Twin Pregnancy Suffering from Severe Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome

Twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) is one of the major complication of monochorionic twin pregnancy which is mainly understood by placental vascular anastomosis. Perinatal mortality and morbidity is high as 80-100% if untreated and even higher if the disease is developed at early stage. Variety of methods of isolating or intercepting placental vascular anastomosis are introduced, but they are only available in centers where all the required equipments are prepared. We report here a case of TTTS complicated with severe polyhydroamnios during the second trimester. The blood supply to donor twin was interrupted successfully at 19+2 weeks of gestation by minimally invasive radio-frequency cord ablation, under ultrasound guidance. The normal recipient twin was delivered successfully at 35 weeks of gestation and had no eventful neonatal course

Identification of PSEN1 and APP Gene Mutations in Korean Patients with Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease

Although mutations in three genes, amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PSEN1), and presenilin 2 (PSEN2), have been identified as genetic causes of early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD), there has been a single report on a PSEN1 mutation in Koreans. In the present study, we performed a genetic analysis of six Korean patients with EOAD. Direct sequencing analysis of the APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2 genes revealed two different mutations of the PSEN1 gene (G206S and M233T) and one mutation of the APP gene (V715M) in three patients with age-at-onset of 34, 35, and 42 yr, respectively. In addition, two patients with age-at-onset of 55 and 62 yr, respectively, were homozygous for APOE ε4 allele. One woman had no genetic alterations. These findings suggest that PSEN1 and APP gene mutations may not be uncommon in Korean patients with EOAD and that genetic analysis should be provided to EOAD patients not only for the identification of their genetic causes but also for the appropriate genetic counseling