A comment on Michael Pacione’s ‘The power of public participation in local planning in Scotland: the case of conflict over residential development in the metropolitan green belt’

Michael Pacione’s article published in this journal in 2014 correctly notes that the Planning (Scotland) etc. Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’) has, contrary to the Scottish Government’s claimed intentions, enormously restricted the opportunities for communities to engage in the planning system, resulting in widespread disillusion and resentment. However, Pacione makes a number of notable factual errors and, to use a good Scots term, seems to get himself into a bit of a ‘guddle’ (a messy confusion) in failing to identify the fundamental distinction between the statutory procedures governing consultation on, and adoption of, local development plans and those governing the submission and determination of planning applications. The purpose of this commentary is to identify and correct the errors in the Pacione paper and, in so doing, shed some light on the operation of the Scottish land use planning system pre and post 2006. After that I revisit the examination of the East Dunbartonshire Local Plan 2 (‘EDLP2’) in 2011 (which provides the material for much of Pacione’s case study on the Redmoss Farm site in Milton of Campsie near Glasgow) (East Dunbartonshire Council 2012). Finally, I bring the position up to date by examining the Reporters’ examination into the subsequent 2015 East Dunbartonshire Local Development Plan (‘EDLDP’) (East Dunbartonshire Council 2015). In passing, I should add that I am not particularly familiar with the East Dunbartonshire area and I have never visited Redmoss Farm. My research into the scrutiny of the two local development plans (‘LDPs’) is based on published documents available through the internet

Donald Trump’s Golf Resort in Aberdeenshire, Scotland: The ‘Greatest’ Incomplete Planning Disaster in the World?

In 2006 Donald Trump submitted a planning application to transform an area of protected dunes and open countryside along the coast of north east Scotland into a major golf and leisure resort. He claimed the golf course would be the greatest in the world and would transform the region’s oil economy. Citing the economic benefits the Scottish Government approved the project in 2008. Trump has constructed the golf course but has failed to deliver the hotel and other elements of the project. Against the backdrop of planning deregulation, the paper examines why the officials failed to include appropriate planning conditions to ensure delivery of the project and prevent a great incomplete planning disaster. Recognising the limitations of current public law enforcement mechanisms it invokes concepts borrowed from contract law. Holding that Trump is in breach of contract and has benefitted from unjust enrichment, it examines the scope for applying damages, restitution and specific performance as alternative remedies

Experiences with the use of axisymmetric elements in cosmic NASTRAN for static analysis

Discussed here are some recent finite element modeling experiences using the axisymmetric elements CONEAX, TRAPAX, and TRIAAX, from the COSMIC NASTRAN element library. These experiences were gained in the practical application of these elements to the static analysis of helicopter rotor force measuring systems for two design projects for the NASA Ames Research Center. These design projects were the Rotor Test Apparatus and the Large Rotor Test Apparatus, which are dedicated to basic helicopter research. Here, a genetic axisymmetric model is generated for illustrative purposes. Modeling considerations are discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of using axisymmetric elements are presented. Asymmetric mechanical and thermal loads are applied to the structure, and single and multi-point constraints are addressed. An example that couples the axisymmetric model to a non-axisymmtric model is demonstrated, complete with DMAP alters. Recommendations for improving the elements and making them easier to use are offered

Henri Temianka Correspondence; (walton)

This collection contains material pertaining to the life, career, and activities of Henri Temianka, violin virtuoso, conductor, music teacher, and author. Materials include correspondence, concert programs and flyers, music scores, photographs, and books.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/temianka_correspondence/2993/thumbnail.jp

An Analysis of Employing the Circuit Breaker as an Alternative Approach for Targeting Aid to Low-Income Students in Kentucky

Affordability is an essential element of college opportunity. The federal government and the states have acknowledged this belief by adopting policies to ensure that no academically qualified student who desires an education is limited access due to a lack of financial resources. But, many lower-income families today are having trouble paying for college due to a unique set of circumstances. First, the cost of higher education as a percentage of income has been increasing for over a decade, causing families to spend increasingly larger proportions of their incomes to afford postsecondary education. Second, the federal government has shifted its emphasis from providing aid through grants, which tend to benefit lower-income students, to loans and education tax benefits, which tend to benefit wealthier students. Third, many states have created merit-based financial aid programs, which also benefit higher income students, as achievement tends to be positively correlated to income. Combined, these elements have put higher education out of reach for many low-income students and families. These trends have been especially acute in Kentucky. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a relative measure of ability-to-pay for higher education services. In the process, this study identifies the factors that have contributed to the affordability problem surveys the various federal and state financial aid programs currently available to Kentucky students and families designs and estimates the cost of a comprehensive program which targets financial aid to Kentucky’s poorest students The approach designed in this study was modeled after a widely-used policy for providing property tax relief to low-income and elderly homeowners. Named for how they are activated, circuit breakers provide benefits only when property taxes exceed a certain percentage of a taxpayers’ income and tend to direct benefits to the most disadvantaged taxpayers. The cost of the program was calculated using enrollment and cost of attendance data obtained from an affordability study conducted for the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education in 2005. The results of this study indicate that such a program could serve as a reasonable program for supplementing need-based aid to Kentucky’s most disadvantaged students. The study recommends that the state conduct studies to examine the benefits and costs of adopting an approach based more on a student’s ability to pay. In line with the 2005 affordability study, this paper also recommends state policy makers develop a standard measure of affordability for the state and to begin gather longitudinal student data to better estimate how ability-to-pay affects college choices. Targeting benefits to those students that need them the most may be the only way to ensure that all high-ability students have equal access to higher education regardless of income. Developing new affordability measures and methods that target financial aid to low-income and disadvantaged students will help reduce financial barriers and enhance access to and participation in higher education in Kentucky. Although most evidence suggests that the benefits from college tend to be distributed to the individuals consuming higher education, it provides a number of positive externalities to society such as better citizenship; higher degrees of compliance with public laws, increased per-capita income. In the end such policies will improve the overall lives of Kentuckians and provide a more promising future for the state

Ground-Water Hydraulics as an Aid to Geologic Interpretation

Author Institution: Hydraulic Engineer, U. S. Geological Survey, Columbus, Ohi

Highly Emissive Europium Complexes

One commercial application of emissive lanthanide complexes is in fluoroimmunoassays, which combine FRET with time-resolved detection of emission to glean information on biological interactions. Herein the development of highly emissive europium complexes to act as FRET donors in this process is described. Each complex reported in this thesis incorporates a coordinating ligand, which chelates to the metal ion centre, and a sensitising group, capable of populating the europium excited state. To maximise the molar extinction coefficient and emission quantum yield of the complexes, variation of the ligand and sensitising group, was addressed. An initial study into the use of 3-azaxanthone as a sensitising group was undertaken. A constitutional isomer of this chromophore is known to sensitise europium emission. The new system was developed to allow inclusion of four sensitising groups per complex, with a view to maximising the overall molar extinction coefficient. The resulting systems showed little improvement upon previously reported complexes and a new chromophore was devised, which possesses a much higher molar extinction coefficient and is able to sensitise europium emission efficiently. A series of complexes was synthesised in which the chelating ligand was varied to investigate the effect upon the photophysical properties. The complex with the properties best suited to the FRET application combines phenylphosphinate donating groups with a high degree of symmetry about the metal ion centre. The ability of this complex to withstand quenching of emission by a number of competitive anions and cations was explored and it was found that the complex possesses high kinetic stability. By bringing together the favourable photophysical properties imparted by the phenylphosphinate ligand and the high molar extinction coefficient of the new sensitising group, a final europium complex was synthesised with an extraordinarily high brightness, defined as the product of the emission quantum yield and molar extinction coefficient. This final complex met the specification for a FRET donor set out at the beginning of the project

Techniques for determination of impact forces during walking and running in a zero-G environment

One of the deleterious adaptations to the microgravity conditions of space flight is the loss of bone mineral content. This loss appears to be at least partially attributable to the minimal skeletal axial loading concomitant with microgravity. The purpose of this study was to develop and fabricate the instruments and hardware necessary to quantify the vertical impact forces (Fz) imparted to users of the space shuttle passive treadmill during human locomotion in a three-dimensional zero-gravity environment. The shuttle treadmill was instrumented using a Kistler forceplate to measure vertical impact forces. To verify that the instruments and hardware were functional, they were tested both in the one-G environment and aboard the KC-135 reduced gravity aircraft. The magnitude of the impact loads generated in one-G on the shuttle treadmill for walking at 0.9 m/sec and running at 1.6 and 2.2 m/sec were 1.1, 1.7, and 1.7 G, respectively, compared with loads of 0.95, 1.2, and 1.5 G in the zero-G environment

Trophic Transfer of Arsenic from an Aquatic Insect to Terrestrial Insect Predators.

The movement of energy and nutrients from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems can be substantial, and emergent aquatic insects can serve as biovectors not only for nutrients, but also for contaminants present in the aquatic environment. The terrestrial predators Tenodera aridifolia sinensis (Mantodea: Mantidae) and Tidarren haemorrhoidale (Araneae: Theridiidae) and the aquatic predator Buenoa scimitra (Hemiptera: Notonectidae) were chosen to evaluate the efficacy of arsenic transfer between aquatic and terrestrial environments. Culex tarsalis larvae were reared in either control water or water containing 1000 µg l(-1) arsenic. Adults that emerged from the control and arsenic treatments were fed to the terrestrial predators, and fourth instar larvae were fed to the aquatic predator reared in control or arsenic contaminated water. Tenodera a. sinensis fed arsenic-treated Cx. tarsalis accumulated 658±130 ng g(-1) of arsenic. There was no significant difference between control and arsenic-fed T. haemorrhoidale (range 142-290 ng g(-1)). Buenoa scimitra accumulated 5120±406 ng g(-1) of arsenic when exposed to arsenic-fed Cx. tarsalis and reared in water containing 1000 µg l(-1) arsenic. There was no significant difference between controls or arsenic-fed B. scimitra that were not exposed to water-borne arsenic, indicating that for this species environmental exposure was more important in accumulation than strictly dietary arsenic. These results indicate that transfer to terrestrial predators may play an important role in arsenic cycling, which would be particularly true during periods of mass emergence of potential insect biovectors. Trophic transfer within the aquatic environment may still occur with secondary predation, or in predators with different feeding strategies

Seawall design on the open coast

Seawall design on the open coast is an often overlooked problem in the State of Florida as well as other areas of the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Escoffier [1] mentions numerous seawall failures and improper design considerations along the Mississippi Gulf Coast which were exposed by hurricanes after the seawalls were built. It is hoped that this bulletin, along with Reference 3, will provide a good starting place for those involved in technical design and construction supervision aspects of seawalls