2,964 research outputs found
Public participation and New Urbanism: a conflicting agenda?
The challenges to public participation in planning are numerous. Inclusive and equitable processes are recognised as an ideal in much planning theory and practice, yet this ideal is increasingly difficult to realise in today’s societies that comprise diverse and multiple publics. Within the wider sustainability debate, ‘New Urbanism’ has emerged as a pragmatic alternative to convention allow-density development. Concomitant with a range of prescribed physical outcomes, the New Urbanism movement advocates a process of ‘citizen-based participatory planning and design’. Charrettes, with urban design workshops, are the favoured tools for achieving this goal. However, it is argued that the adherence to a single type of participatory tool can be inconsistent with accepted ideals of participation processes and has several implications. Of particular concern is the role of the charrette planner or facilitator, a figure who has the potential to manipulate the public because of his/her inevitable allegiance to the New Urban agenda. In addition, the examination of a charrette process in a small New Zealand town raises several broader questions about the ability of the approach to address issues of inclusiveness and the recognition of difference, two fundamental elements of good participatory processes
New Urbanism and Contextual Relativity: Insights from Sweden
Contextual relativities in the diversifying expression of New Urbanism are increasingly important. In this article, we explore the significance of context using a Scandinavian setting as example. We examine two embodiments of the Swedish realisation of New Urban neighbourhoods. Important in our exploration are the relationalities with contemporary contexts and belief systems, since every effort to create space becomes “an elaboration of the beliefs and values of some collection of people, expressed and fostered in their promotion of a preferred reality” (Stokowski, 2002, p. 374). The findings from the study demonstrate that the Swedish New Urban neighbourhood—no matter how meaningful as a communicative form mediating between agents and structures—cannot effect social cohesion or isolation. Rather, form communicates or evokes meaning in a variety of complex ways, suggesting the importance of “look[ing] to multiply…our readings of the city” (Leach, 1997, p. 158), particularly high-level readings that echo notions of the common good. Those concerned with New Urbanism’s embodiments should deliberate on relational fluidities and thereby strike a balance between conceptualising such urban design as either deterministically exceeding its power (Lawhon, 2009) or as side-lined to the whimsical relativity of particular consumers (Latham, 2003; Smith, 2002)
The effect of different imaging techniques for the visualisation of evidence in court on jury comprehension
Evidence presented within a courtroom should be clear so that the members of the jury can understand it. The presentation of distressing images, such as human remains, can have a negative effect on the jury since photographic images may evoke emotional responses. Therefore, it is important to understand how other visual mediums may improve comprehension, bias, or distress individuals. For this study, 91 individuals were randomly assigned one of three visual evidence formats in a mock courtroom exercise. These included photographs, 3D visualisations, or a 3D-printed model. The results show that the use of 3D imaging improves the juror’s understanding of technical language used within a courtroom, which in turn better informs the juror’s in their decision-making
DeWitt-Schwinger Renormalization and Vacuum Polarization in d Dimensions
Calculation of the vacuum polarization, , has seen a recent resurgence, notably
for black hole spacetimes. To date, most calculations of this type have been
done only in four dimensions. Extending these calculations to dimensions
includes -dimensional renormalization. Typically, the renormalizing terms
are found from Christensen's covariant point splitting method for the
DeWitt-Schwinger expansion. However, some manipulation is required to put the
correct terms into a form that is compatible with problems of the vacuum
polarization type. Here, after a review of the current state of affairs for
calculations and a thorough introduction to
the method of calculating and for certain spacetimes is discussed, with application to four and
five dimensions.Comment: 21 pages, 2 tables, 3 figures. References added, rewritten to clarify
some points, corrections performed, our claim in the first version that there
is an error in Anderson's calculations is incorrec
ADAS analysis of the differential emission measure structure of the inner solar corona. II. A study of the `quiet Sun' inhomogeneities from SOHO CDS-NIS spectra
We present a study of the differential emission measure (DEM) of a `quiet
Sun' area observed in the extreme ultraviolet at normal incidence by the
Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on the SOHO spacecraft. The data used for
this work were taken using the NISAT_S observing sequence. This takes the full
wavelength ranges from both the NIS channels (308-381 Angtr. and 513-633
Angst.) with the 2 arcsec by 240 arcsec slit, which is the narrowest slit
available, yielding the best spectral resolution. In this work we contrast the
DEM from subregions of 2 by 80 arcsec with that obtained from the mean
spectrum of the whole raster (20 by 240 arcsec). We find that the DEM
maintains essentially the same shape in the subregions, differing by a constant
factor between 0.5 and 2 from the mean DEM, except in areas were the electron
density is below cm and downflow velocities of 50 km/s
are found in the transition region. Such areas are likely to contain plasma
departing from ionisation equilibrium, violating the basic assumptions
underlying the DEM method. The comparison between lines of Li-like and Be-like
ions may provide further evidence of departure from ionisation equilibrium. We
find also that line intensities tend to be lower where velocities of the order
of 30 km/s or higher are measured in transition region lines. The DEM analysis
is also exploited to improve the line identification performed by Brooks et al
(1999) and to investigate possible elemental abundance variations from region
to region. We find that the plasma has composition close to photospheric in all
the subregions examined.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables. Table 5 is available only online. A
copy of Table 5 can be found at http://webusers.ct.astro.it/acl/table5.dat.
The ReadMe file is at http://webusers.ct.astro.it/acl/ReadMe. Accepted by
Astronomy and Astrophysic
Gastric Lipomatosis
Gastric lipomatosis is an extremely rare condition. We present a case of a 69-year-old woman admitted with epigastric soreness. Computerized tomography (CT) revealed extrinsically compressing, fat-containing mass lesions on the entire gastric wall of the antrum and body except for the lesser curvature. A subtotal gastrectomy was performed. Pathology findings confirmed a gastric lipomatosis with multiple gastric ulcerations and extensive disruptions of the muscular layers. This case and reports of other gastric lipomatosis cases indicate that CT should be used to characterize large submucosal masses because CT can show the specific nature and extent of the disease. We believe that surgical treatment is the most appropriate treatment for symptomatic gastric lipomatosis that shows extensive gastric involvement, or when there are multiple gastric lipomas
Thinking out of the box? A content analysis of the response to published research on the effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer
A content analysis of the rapid email responses to a potentially controversial article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on the effect of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on a group of patients with bloodstream infection at a university hospital in Israel was performed. The content analysis revealed 12 main themes, of which the most predominant were negative and relating to methodological concerns or comments, and/or were religious in nature, often with direct reference to God. Further responses were of a satirical nature, mocking the study. It is concluded that perhaps the real strength of the paper lies not in the results of the study itself, but in the challenge to what constitutes conventional wisdom and the encouragement to readers of the BMJ to Think out of the box
Applying the Cry of Pain model as a predictor of deliberate self-harm in an early-stage adult male prison population
Purpose: Deliberate self-harming behaviour is more prevalent within the prison environment than in community samples, with those in the first weeks of imprisonment at greatest risk. Research in this area has been largely atheoretical and a unifying model may improve the predictability of assessment and the development of intervention approaches. This study applied William and Pollock’s (2001) Cry of Pain model as the theoretical process of deliberate self-harm in the early stages of imprisonment. Method: A prospective study of new arrivals at an adult male prison. Participants (n =181) completed questionnaires and it was hypothesised that the factors derived from the model (perceived stress, defeat, entrapment and absence of rescue factors) would be predictive of future deliberate self-harm. Prisoners with active psychosis and non-English speakers were excluded. All participants were followed up for four months for instances of self-harm. Eighteen participants engaged in self-harm during this period. Results: The Cry of Pain Model was supported in the analysis. Hierarchical binary logistic regression confirmed that all features of the model were supported as predictive of future self-harm in prison, even after controlling for previous self-harm, depression and hopelessness. Conclusion: The Cry of Pain model is supported as a predictive model for deliberate self-harm in prison. Suggestions are offered as to the impact on assessment and intervention directions in prison
Structure based inhibitor design targeting glycogen phosphorylase b. Virtual screening, synthesis, biochemical and biological assessment of novel N-acyl-β-d-glucopyranosylamines
Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) is a validated target for the development of new type 2 diabetes treatments. Exploiting the Zinc docking database, we report the in silico screening of 1888 β- D-glucopyranose-NH-CO-R putative GP inhibitors differing only in their R groups. CombiGlide and GOLD docking programs with different scoring functions were employed with the best performing methods combined in a “consensus scoring” approach to ranking of ligand binding affinities for the active site. Six selected candidates from the screening were then synthesized and their inhibitory potency was assessed both in vitro and ex vivo. Their inhibition constants’ values, in vitro, ranged from 5 to 377 µM while two of them were effective at causing inactivation of GP in rat hepatocytes at low µM concentrations. The crystal structures of GP in complex with the inhibitors were defined and provided the structural basis for their inhibitory potency and data for further structure based design of more potent inhibitors
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