Describing typeforms: a designer's response

The paper sets out an overview of a pragmatic research investigation initiated within a doctoral enquiry, and which continues to inform design practice and pedagogy. Located within the fields of typography and information design, and very much concerned with design history, enquiry emphasized exploration of alternative design research methodologies in the production of a design outcome loaded with pedagogical ambition. The issue being addressed within the investigation was the limited scope of existing typeface classificatory systems to adequately describe the diversity of forms represented within current type design practice and thus, recent acquisitions to an established teaching collection in London. Addressing this issue unexpectedly came to utilize the researcher’s own design practice as a methodology for managing emergent enquiry, and for organizing and generating new knowledge through the employment of visual information management methods. A primary outcome of the enquiry was a new framework for the description of typeforms. This new framework will be described in terms of its operation, divergence from existing models and potential for application

Developing best practice for infilling daily river flow data

Complete river flow time series are indispensable to the sustainable management of water resources and even very short gaps can severely compromise data utility. Suitably-flagged flow estimates, derived via judicious infilling, are thus highly beneficial. The UK National River Flow Archive provides stewardship of and access to daily river flow records from over 1500 gauging stations and, whilst the majority are sensibly complete, historical validation reveals a significant quantity of gaps. A full assessment of the suitability of existing techniques for infilling such gaps is lacking. This paper therefore presents an appraisal of various simple infilling techniques, including regression, scaling and equipercentile analysis, according to their ability to generate daily flow estimates for 25 representative UK gauging stations. All of the techniques rely upon data transfer from donor stations and results reveal that the equipercentile and multiple regression approaches perform best. Case studies offer further insight and an example of infilling is presented, along with areas of future study. The results demonstrate the potential for developing generic infilling methodologies to ensure a consistent and auditable approach towards infilling, which could find wider application both within the UK and internationally

Technologies of Romance: On the choice of typeface for a book and the possibilities for technological Romance

This paper offers a rationale for the typefaces chosen for the publication Technologies of Romance: Part II written by Paul O’Kane and celebrated at a symposium held at the Science Museum in November 2018. In setting out this rationale the paper broadens its considerations to reflect on the extent to which typefaces might in themselves usefully be considered as technologies of Romance. It locates the practice of noting in print the typeface used in a given publication both historically and within contemporary practice. The recording of the decisions informing the making of a book starts to hint at the nature of the book itself as a technology, and allows for some discussion of the values of ‘making’ books within both past and present contexts of production, including the challenge of digital readers. Elaboration on the decisions concerning the use of a given typeface for a publication then opens out a discussion of the intention behind selection, and both the functional and emotional ambitions of the typeface choice. The associative aims informing selection of a typeface are explored against an understanding of the associative embedding of meaning within aspects of the terminology of typefaces, as well as the scripts they represent and their designed forms. The paper explores for example the imperial associations embedded in the character shapes of the basic letterforms, as well as the technological implications of the terms such as uppercase and lowercase and the problematic colonial implications of the term ‘Latin’ to describe the script in question. In considering the archival possibilities of typefaces as technologies the paper concludes by reflecting on examples of digital typeface design practice, which have actively sought to re-imagine a previous era of letterpress typesetting technology and the possibilities for investigating ongoing Romantic ideals within this very particular and highly specialised design discipline

Role of the acquired immune response in virus clearance and neuropathology in Semliki Forest virus infection

Viral encephalitis is a serious and important human and animal health problem, as exemplified by West Nile encephalitis and HIV-related dementia. There is a need for better understanding of the pathogenesis of virus encephalitis. Experimentally, Semliki Forest virus (SFV) is an excellent mouse model of viral encephalitis and virus-induced demyelination. SFV is an alphavirus of the Togaviridae. In mice it is neuroinvasive and neurotropic. Following infection of susceptible mouse strains, clearance of infectious brain virus is coincident with inflammatory cell infiltration and is followed by demyelination. There is some existing evidence to suggest that CNS demyelination observed following SFV infection has an immune aetiology and based on transient depletion studies that CD8+ T-cells are likely to be the main effectors of this.This thesis examines the role of acquired immune responses in SFV encephalitis. The role of components of the acquired immune response in mediating clearance of infectious virus and virus RNA and in the pathogenesis of demyelination was examined using mice with genetic deletions affecting components of acquired immune responses. This included mice deficient in CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cell responses and in specific T-cell mediators IFNγ, perforin and Fas. Infectious virus was determined by plaque assay, the presence of virus RNA by quantitative, real-time PCR and the neuropathology by standard histopathology and immunohistochemistry.Analysis of inflammatory infiltrates in the SFV infected CNS demonstrated a rapid influx of macrophages and NK cells and a >40-fold increase in T-lymphocytes, predominantly CD8+ cells. Mice lacking CD8+ T-cells showed no difference in their ability to clear infectious virus from the brain, but had a slower clearance of virus RNA. Adoptive transfer of CD8+ T-cells to SFV infected SCID mice demonstrated that CD8+ T-cells mediated the demyelinating lesions. Mice lacking CD4⁺ T-cells were unable to generate good antibody responses and were unable to clear infectious virus. Transfer of anti-SFV hyperimmune (HI) serum to SFV infected SCID mice lowered virus RNA to levels comparable to those in immunocompetent (BALB/c) mice. However, antibody alone was not sufficient to eliminate virus RNA and infectious virus reappeared once antibody levels dropped.IFNγR⁻/⁻ mice were found to have slower clearance of virus RNA compared to wildtype mice but IFNγ was not necessary for the development of demyelinating lesions. A protective role for IFNγ was demonstrated in SFV infection; recombinant IFNγ transiently protected SFV infected IFNa/ßR⁻/⁻ mice. Neither perforin nor Fas was necessary for clearance of infectious virus or viral RNA. SFV infected Fas knock-out mice had increased CNS demyelination.In summary this thesis demonstrates that in SFV infection, CD8⁺ T-cells are the main component of the CNS inflammatory response; CD8⁺ T-cells mediate the lesions of demyelination; clearance of infectious virus is mediated by antibody but antibody alone is insufficient to clear all virus RNA; CD8⁺ T-cells and the IFN-γ system contribute to the elimination of virus RNA. It is likely that both antibody and CD8⁺ T-cells are required to eliminate SFV infection

What is the Value of Home? NOT FOR SALE - West End Interventions

Many Australians today are image consumers. We fail to question the importance of lifestyle imagery created and promoted by Real Estate Agencies whom have no actual part in the physical creation of house, or indeed the intimate making of "home" through our experiences of place. Real Estate Markets dictate how, where, when and what we buy. Re-sale values, profit-making, and value-adding interfere with the crafting of a home over time as a tangible, individual, collaborative, and rich lived experience of dwelling. The "NOT FOR SALE" project is a response and critique of the dominance of real estate forces in West End within the context and unshakable presence of a booming inner-city property market. This proposal originated from an experimental dwelling in Avebury St., West End. This project has been fashioned over a period of several years primarily from recycled local materials, interconnected with the changing needs and spatial requirements of the occupants and project participants. The influence of property markets is of little concern in this home "making". The "NOT FOR SALE" project attempts to question and critique the purely financial value that we as a society place upon our homes. By appropriating and re-coding the Real Estate Signage typologies, we aim to provoke social commentary on the dominance of real estate forces in the West End suburb. There is a strong and rich tradition of anti-consumerist activist graffiti in West End. Activists re-code signs and property with political commentary and critique. The "NOT FOR SALE" project draws upon this tradition through our RRESign (Recodified Real Estate Signs): we aim to redress the dominant commercial forces associated with the single house/property. Collectively, at the scale of the street, these RRESigns will reflect a critique of street scale, amenity, and character. Finally, at the scale of the suburb, the network of RRESigns will reflect a critique of the idea of place making. Collectively, the aim of the "NOT FOR SALE" RRESign interventions is to highlight the idea of making and the material characteristics of dwelling that challenges the cultural value of commodified property, re-defining and prioritising the idea of "home". Conventional Real Estate signs use images and text to sell an idea of home: our proposed interventions sell nothing, and are rather celebrations of the joy of making tactile, handcrafted objects, and by extension, the making and crafting of home. The intimate and experiential understanding of home will be harnessed through the engagement of local residents. Community groups within West End such as Local Push can further disseminate the RRESign interventions. The signs will be constructed West End-specific materials (old signs purchased from inexpensive second-hand material merchant Reverse Garbage in Montague Rd.): turning post-consumer waste into objects of material beauty and social critique. Residents and community groups will be encouraged to place their RRESigns outside their properties and adjacent real estate signs, frustrating and recoding the existing For-Sale signs that currently dominate the West End street scape. The project is dependent on the support of the local residents, extending from a few signs in Avebury St. to a network of RRESigns throughout West End. A commentary on people's responses to the project will be linked to the www.apbv.com.au website. What is the value of home

Multiple relapses into opiate and crack misuse among people in recovery:An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Relapsing multiple times back into opiate and crack cocaine misuse significantly increases the risk for overdose death, of which rates continue to soar worldwide. This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of opiate and crack relapse from the lived experience perspectives of people in recovery from substance misuse. Semi-structured interviews were held, and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed two superordinate themes which highlighted the impact of relapse on an individual's sense of self, their conceptualizations of relapse, and their approach to recovery thereafter. The study offers implications and future directions for mental health authorities and addiction professionals

Spatializing design history: Considerations on the use of maps for studies on print culture

A paper given at ICDHS 2016 – 10th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies in Teipei, Taiwan on the use of visual mapping techniques in contemporary typographic design history research