Invalid party wall awards and how to avoid them

Considers the reasons for the invalidity of party wall awards. Examines decided cases under earlier party wall legislation in the context of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Explains invalidity on the basis of an excess of the surveyors’ statutory authority. Defines this authority in terms of jurisdiction and power. Demonstrates the limits of the surveyors’ authority and emphasises the importance of strict compliance with statutory procedures. Concludes that surveyors should adopt an inquisitive and analytical approach to the scope of their authority to avoid the possibility of invalid awards. Echoes John Anstey’s earlier warning that surveyors should avoid a broad-brush approach to their duties which will only leave them “covered in soot”

Large Interstellar Polarisation Survey. LIPS I: FORS2 spectropolarimetry in the Southern Hemisphere

Polarimetric studies of light transmitted through interstellar clouds may give constraints on the properties of the interstellar dust grains. Traditionally, broadband linear polarisation (BBLP) measurements have been considered an important diagnostic tool for the study of the interstellar dust, while comparatively less attention has been paid to spectropolarimetric measurements. However, spectropolarimetry may offer stronger constraints than BBLP, for example by revealing narrowband features, and by allowing us to distinguish the contribution of dust from the contribution of interstellar gas. Therefore, we have decided to carry out a Large Interstellar Polarisation Survey (LIPS) using spectropolarimetric facilities in both hemispheres. Here we present the results obtained in the Southern Hemisphere with the FORS2 instrument of the ESO Very Large Telescope. Our spectra cover the wavelength range 380--950\,nm at a spectral resolving power of about 880. We have produced a publicly available catalogue of 127 linear polarisation spectra of 101 targets. We also provide the Serkowski-curve parameters, as well as the wavelength gradient of the polarisation position angle for the interstellar polarisation along 76 different lines of sight. In agreement with previous literature, we found that the best-fit parameters of the Serkowski-curve are not independent of each other. However, the relationships that we obtained are not always consistent with what was found in previous studies.Comment: Accepted by A&A (replaced on 12 October 2017 simply to correct a Metadata error

State Agency Promising Practice: Connecticut Showcases Creative Jobs with “Employment Idol”

In 2007, the State of Connecticut’s Department of Developmental Services (DDS) partnered with the self-advocacy group People First of Connecticut to develop Employment Idol, an innovative project for promoting employment as the preferred outcome for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (ID/DD) in the state. Spinning off the concept of the popular television show American Idol, Connecticut’s Employment Idol showcases the employment success stories of a select group of individuals with ID/DD

State Agency Promising Practice: Oklahoma - Contracting with Industry for the Provision of Job Coaching Supports

Contracts with Industry, implemented in the 1990s as the Natural Supports Initiative, is a program option that allows the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) to contract directly with businesses to provide job coaching supports that become a part of the natural workplace. Individuals participating in this program are employed by a business and are paid minimum wage or better. The name change to Contracts with Industry was an effort to distinguish the program from other DDSD employment options that involve employment service providers and paid job coaches

Connections between linguistic and musical sound systems of British and American trombonists

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to determine whether measurable and perceptible differences between American and British trombonists exist; second, to determine whether any of these measurable differences correlate in any way with established differences between American English and British English speech. The specific correlation between trombone sustain timbre and spoken vowels will be considered using American and British subjects in large groups, smaller dialect subgroups, and individually. In addition, the manufacturing origin of the trombone will be considered, to determine whether any differences are attributable to the instrument rather than the player. Current research that specifically considers instrumental timbre as related to speech does not yet exist. However, the fields of acoustics, linguistics, and music cognition have produced studies that informed the background assumptions of this project. American and British trombone player participants were asked to complete a series of five tasks. These tasks included two playing conditions, two speaking conditions, and one listening test. Following the completion of the project, the data was organized and analyzed to address the two objectives of the study. The first question, that of a perceptible difference, was tested by asking participants to identify whether recordings were performed by American artists or not. Subjects in this project were unable to do so, but did exhibit a preference for those recordings that they believed were performed by artists from their own dialect group. The second question, that of measurable differences relating to language, was addressed by creating a two formant spatial plot for each large dialect group, as well as dialect sub-groups and individuals. These showed that a measurable difference in timbre does exist, and that it can be related to the corresponding differences in speech. When considering whether the player or his/her choice of instrument produced this effect, recordings showed that both the player and the instrument impacted the timbre inventory, although the effect of the player was much stronger than that of the instrument

Delivering targeted library resources into a Blackboard framework

Book chapter describing how the UNCG University Libraries have adapted the Blackboard course management system to allow the delivery of course-targeted library resources directly from the Blackboard interface

The right of public access to commercial television stations in North Carolina

The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine who may have access to air time on television stations in North Carolina, (2) to discover the attitudes of station managers with regard to the governmental regulation of the granting of air time, and (3) to determine the current policies of television stations regarding the granting of air time. A questionnaire containing three parts was sent to every manager of a commercial television station in North Carolina. Section I of the questionnaire asked questions concerning the granting of free time. Section II asked questions about paid access. Section III dealt with management attitude. Of the seventeen managers, five fully completed their questionnaires (29.4%); four more answered only Section III, for a total of nine responses to that section (52.9%)

Combinations of lines, planes, and forms that generate eye movement

Leonardo DaVinci once stated: "The eve Is called the window of the Soul and is the chief means whereby the understanding can most fully and abundantly appreciate the infinite works of nature." This statement about the importance of the eye in painting by DaVinci, somewhat expresses my concern in painting because of the emphasis I place on infinite perception by the eye. I am concerned with the eye movement as ones eyes move over a complete area, surface, or space that is contained inside designated points or inside four edges of any size dimensioned format. To produce this eye movement, I project lines, planes, and forms (either two-dimensional or three-dimensional) onto two-dimensional surfaces (and within certain surface dimensions) that most positively move the eye rhythmically and automatically from one point to another point as well as backward and forward in space without obstruction