Urban development and visual culture: Commodifying the gaze in the regeneration of Tigné Point, Malta

This paper explores some of the hitherto under-researched intersections between urban (re)development, urban planning and visual culture. What emerges is an academic context that, to date, has largely compartmentalised discrete literatures on ‘view’, ‘value of the view’ and cityscape change, (re)Imagineering and (re)scripting). It shows how materialising processes associated with the commodification of a panoramic view in politico-economic and cultural terms can be used to transform and regenerate along neoliberal lines. It demonstrates how panoramas, when treated as a commodity within the context of neoliberal capitalism, are appropriated, (re)imagined and (re)scripted by architects and property developers to create high status, residential and commercial space for an affluent élite. As such, panoramas are a mechanism for the acceleration of capital accumulation that inherently create new and reinforce existing spatial inequalities. This study draws on research into the commodification of the view of the historic city of Valletta in the redevelopment of Tigné Point, the largest, most comprehensive regeneration scheme in Malta in recent years

Tailored Print Communication and Telephone Motivational Interviewing Are Equally Successful in Improving Multiple Lifestyle Behaviors in a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Computer tailoring and motivational interviewing show promise in promoting lifestyle change, despite few head-to-head comparative studies. Purpose: Vitalum is a randomized controlled trial in which the efficacy of these methods was compared in changing physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption in middle-aged Dutch adults. Methods: Participants (n?=?1,629) were recruited via 23 general practices and randomly received either four tailored print letters, four motivational telephone calls, two of each type of intervention, or no information. The primary outcomes were absolute change in self-reported physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption. Results: All three intervention groups (i.e., the tailored letters, the motivational calls, and the combined version) were equally and significantly more effective than the control group in increasing physical activity (hours/day), intake of fruit (servings/day), and consumption of vegetables (grams/day) from baseline to the intermediate measurement (week 25), follow-up 1 (week 47) and 2 (week 73). Effect sizes (Cohen's d) ranged from 0.15 to 0.18. Participants rated the interventions positively; interviews were more positively evaluated than letters. Conclusions: Tailored print communication and telephone motivational interviewing or their combination are equally successful in changing multiple behaviors. © 2010 The Author(s)

Topographic attributes override impacts of agronomic practices on prokaryotic community structure

While topography can infer erosion potential, the practice of conventional agronomic management can trigger accelerated erosion and pose major threats to soil assets such as biodiversity. The majority of farmlands in Upper-Eastern Ghana are moderately hilly and highly susceptible to erosion. This study pioneered the comparative and interactive effects of topography and conventional versus conservation agriculture practices (reduced tillage, main crop and cover crop, crop residue retention vs. removal) in treatments amended with 0, 40, and 80 kg ha−1 N on soil physicochemical properties and microbiota. Topography imposed profound shifts in soil physiochemical properties and prokaryotic community structure. Foot-slope soils harbored higher prokaryotic richness and diversity compared to the up-slope. Bacillaceae (28.95%) and anaerobic bacteria increased in relative abundance in foot-slope soils, while Micrococcaceae (25.79%) gained prominence in up-slope soils. The effect of tillage was significant in foot-slope while crop rotation was influential in up-slope soils on structuring the prokaryotic community. The interactive effect of slope × tillage was significant in altering soil physiochemical properties, but not prokaryotic community structure. Variation in prokaryotic community composition was explained by soil physiochemical properties (14.5%), elevation as a proxy for topography (11.3%), and spatial distance (10.8%), but rather weakly overall by agronomic practices. Among the soil physicochemical properties, pH, clay content, total C%, volumetric water content, temperature, cation exchange capacity, and NO3−-N were relevant factors influencing the soil microbiota. Geomorphic and soil edaphic properties appeared to interact and were the primary triggers of variation in soil microbiota and their responses to the range of agronomic practices that incorporated conservation management outcomes