On Site

Contemporary debates on the transformation of building methods, the structure of the building industry, and the introduction of new technologies (informational, material and structural) in professional literature and in the architectural humanities tend to ignore the realities of work on construction sites. This follows a long history of failure to recognise the importance of workers’ experience and knowledge of building as a process by the key professions in the industry. The absence of the working process in accounts of historical development is exacerbated by abstract reflection on building know-how, categories of expertise, and the structure of the industry, when these are not supported by direct observation and engagement with building work and workers. Key assumptions about the relation between structural and technological changes in the industry and the knowledge, skills, composition, and requirements of the workforce can be challenged by paying attention to day-to-day activities and conditions of site work

New Methods of Documenting the Past: Recreating Public Preaching at Paul's Cross, London, in the Post-Reformation Period

My goal is to develop a virtual research environment for study of the performance of sermons at Paul's Cross in the churchyard of St. Paul's Cathedral, England's most important public pulpit in the early modern period, where official religious policies were defended and religious controversies of the Reformation were debated. This innovative use of digital technology will be highly multidisciplinary, combining software for architectural modeling and acoustic simulation with historic visual and textual records as well as recent archaeological evidence. We will be able to hear recordings of Paul's Cross sermons performed in its original pronunciation from various locations within the historic space and in the context of a background of extraneous noises and the hubbub of human activity, recreating the challenges both preachers and worshippers confronted in such large public gatherings

Farm-gate N and P balances and use efficiencies across specialist dairy farms in the Republic Ireland

working paperThis study establishes farm gate N and P balances and use efficiencies based on the average of 2 years of Teagasc National Farm Survey data in 2009 and 2010. The weighted average farm gate N surplus for this nationally representative sample of specialist dairy farms was 143.4 kg N ha-1. Average farm gate nitrogen use efficiency was 23.2%. For dairy farms operating under an EU Nitrates Derogation, the average N surplus was higher at 181.8 kg N ha-1 and averageN use efficiency was slightly lower at 22.2%. The total average farm gate P balance was 4.1 kg ha-1 in surplus, and P use efficiency averaged 83.9%. P balance ranged from -7.3 to 23.0 kg ha-1. A total of 27% had a negative P balance. The average P surplus for farms with a Nitrates Derogation was below the average of all farms at 3.5 kg P ha-1 and average P use efficiency for these Derogation farms was above the average of all farms at 90%

Developing the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network to derive indicators around the sustainable use of nitrogen and phosphorus at farm level.

peer-reviewedThis study uses a national farm survey which is part of the European Union (EU) Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) to develop environmental sustainability indicators in the use of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) across a range of farm systems in the Republic of Ireland. Farm level micro data were used to calculate all inputs and outputs of N and P that cross the farm gate and to derive balances (kg ha-1) and overall use efficiencies across 827 farms in 2012. The sample is populated weighted to represents 71,480 farms nationally. Results indicated an average N balance of 71.0 kg ha-1 and use efficiency of 36.7% across the nationally representative sample. Nitrogen balances were between two and four times higher across specialist dairy farms compared to livestock rearing and specialist tillage systems. Nitrogen use efficiency was generally lowest across milk producing systems compared to livestock rearing and tillage systems. Phosphorus balance and use efficiency averaged 4.7 kg ha-1 and 79.6% respectively across the sample. Specialist tillage and dairying farms had higher average P balances compared to other livestock based systems. The approach developed in this analysis will form the benchmark for temporal analysis across these indicators for future nutrient balance and efficiency trends and could assist other members of the EU FADN to develop similar nationally representative indicators.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

The Fast-Track Procedure: Problems of Implementation

The Trade Act of 1974 represented the most significant reformulation of United States international economic policy since the Trade Agreements Act of 1934. Responding to criticism from several quarters, Congress included in the Act major additions to the laws dealing with unfair foreign trade practices. In particular, the Act contained several measures intended to expedite the processing of antidumping complaints. One of these measures, the so-called fast-track provision, created a potentially powerful administrative mechanism to permit the summary dismissal of clearly unmeritorious complaints. Unfortunately, implementation of this amendment has suffered from a lack of legislative guidance, and it is not at all clear that the provision has produced significant changes in the administration of the antidumping laws. This article will review the origins of the fast-track provision, and some of the problems associated with its administration

Retinoic acid induces the differentiation of B cell hybridomas from patients with common variable immunodeficiency.

Human-human B cell hybridomas constructed from B lymphocytes of common variable immunodeficiency (CVI) patients and the nonsecreting cell line WIL2/729 HF consistently secrete low levels of Ig and appear to retain a defect characteristic of the CVI patient's B cells. We assessed the differentiative capacity of retinoic acid (RA) on these hybridomas, as well as on hybridomas constructed from normal B cells and from patients with selective IgA deficiency. RA at concentrations varying between 10(-5) and 10(-9) M augmented IgM secretion 4-20-fold from four of four CVI hybridomas tested, but did not affect Ig secretion from normal or IgA-deficiency hybridomas. In support of this elevated Ig secretion, RA enhanced the de novo synthesis of biosynthetically labeled light (kappa) and heavy (mu) Ig (up to 4- and 15-fold, respectively) in the CVI hybridoma line JK32.1. The increase in IgM synthesis/secretion could not be accounted for by RA-induced alteration in the cell cycle. In inducing this increase in IgM production, RA was found to affect two aspects of Ig gene expression: (a) the steady-state levels of heavy and light chain mRNAs were enhanced, and (b) the processing of mu heavy chain transcripts to the secreted mRNA form became favored over the membrane mRNA form. We also show that expression of Leu-17 (CD38), a surface marker that is re-expressed in the late pre-plasma stage of B cell development, was increased by RA from less than 20% to greater than 90% of the total cell population, with a concomitant 4-10-fold augmentation in the mean fluorescence intensity. Changes in both Leu-17 expression and de novo Ig synthesis were prominent by 24 h, but could be observed as early as 8 h after induction. Taken together, our study demonstrates that RA affects a marked alteration in the differentiated state of the CVI hybridoma clones. This finding suggests that retinoids can enhance the functional capabilities of B cells with defects in maturation and support further studies to evaluate their clinical potential in CVI

On some differential equations arising in a time domain inverse scattering problem for a dissipative wave equation

The problem of identification of one spatially varying material property, defined within a slab, from boundary measurements is examined. This inverse problem is described by a functional differential equation. Uniqueness and existence of the solution of this inverse problem and the associated direct problem is proven. Of major importance in any inverse problem are the properties of the operator mapping the boundary measurements to the material property. It is shown that this operator is continuous and differentiable

Combatting Anti-Indigenous Prejudice Through Imagined Contact: A Mixed-Methods Investigation

Anti-Indigenous prejudice is a pervasive, enduring phenomenon in Canada, drawing on a heavily-entrenched legacy of colonialism. To date, no social psychological studies have examined techniques that could reduce this prejudice and its correlates in a Canadian context. To address this gap, an experimental study drawing on the imagined contact hypothesis was conducted. Participants (N = 307) were randomly assigned to imagine a positive interaction with a stranger of an unspecified or Indigenous ethnic background. They then described the imagined interaction in writing, and completed questionnaires measuring modern and old-fashioned prejudice, intergroup anxiety, perceptions of outgroup variability, and their support for an Indigenous-related petition. Participants also had an opportunity to sign this ostensibly real petition, providing a more behavioural measure of their support for this cause. These measures were filled out for a second time at a four-week follow-up (n = 212). Results showed that the imagined contact intervention had no effect on participants’ attitudes, emotion, or behaviour at either Time 1 or Time 2. That is, participants who imagined a positive interaction with an Indigenous person, as compared to a person of an unspecified racial background, evinced the same levels of prejudice, anxiety, and petition support. A thorough analysis of the qualitative data showed that participants in the Indigenous condition had significantly less positive interaction experiences than those in the control condition. Further analysis also produced two major themes: 1) Indigenous culture and identity, and 2) racism. The first theme encompassed discussion of a) traditions, b) the opportunity to learn about Indigenous culture, c) reserves, and d) intergroup tensions, while the second theme included a) participants making racist comments, b) their understandings of racism, and c) hardships faced by Indigenous people. Overall, imagined contact’s failure to reduce prejudice and other forms of negativity towards Indigenous people indicates that more tailored intervention strategies are needed in this particular context