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Current Issues Facing Men and Boys: A Case for Urgent Change.
No full textThis important book offers an accessible overview and timely examination of the unique challenges faced by men and boys in contemporary society.
It covers a wide range of topics, including the male mental health crisis, the impact of media and popular culture on male identity, and issues related to body image, as well as education, work, sexual behaviour, relationships, and the evolving roles of fatherhood. Additionally, it addresses the prevalence of violence, homelessness, substance misuse, and specific issues faced by men in institutional settings like the military and prison. Written in a user-friendly style, each chapter contains summary action points and signposts to further resources where relevant. The book takes an intersectional approach throughout, which continually considers the role of gender, ethnicity, religion, culture, class, and sexuality in the lives of men and boys. It therefore serves as an inclusive and comprehensive resource for promoting a more compassionate society, highlighting the need for evidence-based interventions and strategies to foster meaningful change that supports the well-being of men and boys.
Emphasizing that addressing men's issues complements and reinforces the broader fight for gender equality, this practical book is highly relevant for mental health professionals, educators, and other practitioners who are interested in understanding the unique challenges that men and boys face. It will also be useful reading for students of psychology, gender studies, sociology, health and social care, and many other subjects
Sustainable tourism implementation in urban areas: challenges and opportunities
No full textThis chapter focuses on challenges and opportunities faced by urban destinations in their efforts to implement sustainable tourism measures. It starts by highlighting the importance of the sustainability concept and discusses how it can help policy makers better manage the impacts of tourism in a destination. A brief overview is then offered on the published literature on sustainable tourism development in cities. This shows that despite the recent popularity of the topic among researchers and policy makers, and the inclusion of the sustainability concept in many tourism policy documents, the progress is slow when it comes to implementing sustainable tourism principles in urban destinations. The chapter continues with a discussion on several key challenges faced by city destinations, including debates around definitions and interpretations of the sustainability concept; planning and managing sustainable tourism in cities; the importance of adopting new technologies and smart solutions; the structural changes brought by the sharing economy; challenges faced by tourism managers in maintaining a well trained and experienced workforce; and the threats posed by climate change. The last part of the chapter discusses several future trends in sustainable tourism development in urban destinations and highlights the actions that need to be taken by policy makers and the industry if tourism is to become more sustainable. Emphasis is put on the role cities and tourism play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
Microbiological evaluation of the indigenous fermented condiment okpeye available at various retail markets in the south-eastern region of Nigeria
Get PDFIn Africa, indigenous fermented condiments contribute to food security as a low-cost source of protein. Okpeye is an indigenous fermented condiment produced from Prosopis africana seeds. The reliance on spontaneous fermentation processes and unhygienic practices during production often results in the contamination of the final product with microbial hazards. A microbiological evaluation of 18 commercial samples of okpeye purchased from six markets in two cities in southeastern Nigeria was conducted. Fifty-nine (59) bacteria were isolated and identified at the species level by phenotyping and sequencing the 16S rRNA, gyrB and rpoB genes. Bacillus (47.4 %) and Staphylococcus (42.3 %) were the predominant bacterial genera in okpeye. Overall, B. amyloliquefaciens and S. simulans were the most frequently occurring bacteria and were present in all samples. In addition, B. cereus was isolated in samples obtained from all markets. Other bacterial species included B. velezensis, Oceanobacillus caeni, S. cohnii, Escherichia fergusonni and Vagacoccus lutrae. The B. cereus isolates (10) were screened for the presence of 8 enterotoxin genes(hblA, hblC, hblD, nheA, nheB, nheC, cytK, entFM) and one emetic gene (cesB). The non-haemolytic enterotoxin (nheABC) and haemolytic enterotoxin (hblABD) complexes were present in 70 % and 50 % of B. cereus respectively. The positive rate of cytK and entFM genes was 70 %, while the cesB gene was 30 %. Antibiotic susceptibility assessment showed that most of the isolates were susceptible to gentamicin, tetracycline, streptomycin, and erythromycin but resistant to ciprofloxacin and vancomycin. These findings highlight the need for further controls to reduce contamination with potential pathogenic bacteria in indigenous fermented condiments such as okpeye. There is also a need to educate producers regarding hygienic practices to safeguard public health and food security
Perceptions and Reuse of Concrete Building Structures
Get PDFConcrete has gone through significant changes in popularity in the United Kingdom. This paper explores factors associated with shifts in the perception, and reuse of concrete buildings. and how these changes have influenced the use of concrete in Architecture and Design in the UK. The popularity of concrete has fluctuated over the past few decades. This is driven by a combination of cultural, aesthetic and sustainability factors. In the 1980’s and 90’s fairfaced, textured, bush-hammered concrete acquired a reputation which took some three decades to reverse. UK public opinion on concrete ‘Brutalist’ buildings of these decades is mixed, but tends to often be negative, where terms used include ‘Depressing’, ‘Hideous’, ‘Monstrosities’, ‘Eyesores’. There is currently a growing appreciation for the history and cultural significance of concrete and specifically ‘Brutalist’ architecture. Although these buildings were previously despised, they are now recognised as part of the UK’s architectural heritage and efforts are made to preserve them for future generations. Buildings and complexes, which were once run-down urban environments, are now changed into more desirable housing complexes often leading to drastic social changes in the area. Concrete has been generally seen as a material that has significant environmental impact, especially in terms of carbon emissions. Concrete’s durability, thermal mass and fire protection properties paired with advances in technology that can improve the appearance and consistency of finishes, have all improved the popularity of concrete. Strides are also being made to improve the sustainability of concrete constituent materials. The positioning of concrete as a sustainable, energy efficient building material that can also have an aesthetic appeal, combined with its versatility and durability, make concrete once again a popular choice for contemporary architecture and Interior design.
Keywords: architecture, concrete buildings, aesthetics, sustainabilit
Parental Alienation – What do we know, and what do we (urgently) need to know? A narrative review.
Get PDFResearch on behaviour seeking to disrupt, deny, or negatively impact the parent-child relationship, sometimes labelled as Parental Alienation (PA), has burgeoned in recent years. Despite this proliferation, the theoretical and practical conceptualisation of PA is still a highly controversial topic, un-helped by the potential outpacing of academic knowledge on PA in relation to its application in socio-legal and clinical contexts. Confusion and controversy persist despite several recent reviews seeking to provide clarity on different areas of PA-related discourse (e.g., its effect on alienated children). The current narrative review, therefore, sought to synthesise learnings from those reviews (most of which were published between 2020 and 2022), with subsequently published work, in the most comprehensive and contemporaneous overview of PA to date. As a narrative review, there were no specific inclusion criteria, other than a limitation to English manuscripts and literature from the last ten years. Snowballing was also utilized, whereby reference lists were used to identify further papers for inclusion. The resulting review outlines current understandings of a) the key areas of controversy relating to PA, including how it is defined, its use in family court proceedings, and recommendations on intervention, b) how PA is enacted, by whom, and in what contexts, and c) how PA impacts on parents, children, and other family members. Crucially, urgent recommendations for further research directions are then made, particularly in relation to legal applications and therapeutic intervention
Stakeholder analysis in the application of cutting-edge digital visualisation technologies for urban flood risk management: A critical review
No full textCutting-edge flood visualisation technologies are becoming increasingly important in managing urban flood
risks, particularly from the perspective of stakeholders who play a crucial role in controlling and reducing the
risks associated with flood events. This review study provides a comprehensive overview of stakeholder analysis
in this context, highlighting gaps in current research and paving the way for future investigations. For this
purpose, scientific literature and critical analysis are conducted based on identified relevant research works to
map the mutual role of stakeholders in this context. This study categorises cutting-edge technologies into four
groups - virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and digital twin - and explores their adoption in
engaging various stakeholders across the five key stages of risk management: prevention, mitigation, preparation,
response, and recovery. Results show that existing research has primarily concentrated on the support to
water utilities and the communication with the general public. However, there is a noticeable gap in research
regarding the comprehensive engagement of important stakeholders such as policy-makers, researchers, and
insurance providers. Furthermore, the study highlights disparities in the involvement of stakeholders in damage
assessment studies, particularly with a lack of representation from policy-makers and researchers. Finally, the study introduces the concept of overlooked key stakeholders and the interconnected impacts they have, which
has received relatively little attention in previous research
Oral care practices and hospital-acquired pneumonia prevention: A national survey of Australian nurses.
Get PDFHospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) also known as non-ventilator associated pneumonia, is one of the most common infections acquired in hospitalised patients. Improving oral hygiene appears to reduce the incidence of HAP. This study aimed to describe current practices, barriers and facilitators, knowledge and educational preferences of registered nurses performing oral health care in the Australian hospital setting, with a focus on the prevention of HAP. We present this as a short research report. We undertook a cross sectional online anonymous survey of Australian registered nurses. Participants were recruited via electronic distribution through existing professional networks and social media. The survey used was modified from an existing survey on oral care practice. The survey was completed by 179 participants. Hand hygiene was considered a very important strategy to prevent pneumonia (n = 90, 58%), while 45% (n = 71) felt that oral care was very important. The most highly reported barriers for providing oral care included: an uncooperative patient; inadequate staffing; and a lack of oral hygiene requisite. Patients' reminders, prompts and the provision of toothbrushes were common ways believed to help facilitate improvements in oral care. Findings from this survey will be used in conjunction with consumer feedback, to help inform a planned multi-centre randomised trial, the Hospital Acquired Pneumonia PrEveNtion (HAPPEN) study, aimed at reducing the incidence of HAP. Findings may also be useful for informing studies and quality improvement initiatives aimed at improving oral care to reduce the incidence of HAP. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Urban water infrastructure: A critical review on climate change impacts and adaptation strategies
Get PDFUrban water infrastructure (UWI) plays a critical role in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) by providing safe drinking water, sanitation, and wastewater management, and contributing to sustainable cities. However, UWI faces significant challenges, including the high cost of
failure in the face of devastating natural disasters increasingly caused by climate change. Many current infrastructures, built years ago, are not adapted to climatic changes, posing a threat to both UWI functions and the SDGs they support. To address these challenges, this study critically reviews recent research on UWI performance under climate change conditions, the impacts of
climate change on long-term sustainability, and potential adaptation strategies. The present study suggests that incorporating the effects of climate change and sustainability criteria into UWI is essential. The results also reveal that severe flooding and water shortages are the most significant impacts of climate change on urban water infrastructure. Furthermore, the effects of other climate
parameters, such as temperature rise due to the global warming phenomenon, should not be underestimated
Switched on Messiaen: what affordances might CEMIs offer to deliver an alternative sonic manifestation of the stymied aspirations of the proto-spectralist movement?
No full textMessiaen noted that “in my opinion, one does not fully understand music if one has not often experienced these two phenomena: complementary colours [and the] natural resonance of sounding bodies.” For him, “complexes of sound” were more important than musical genre. Further, his student Florentz indicated the range of harmonics available on organs, his ideal future ‘harmonic’ organ and the way birds communicated. Both created birdsong-like music from harmonics and complexes of timbres.
This submission presents a short, initially-improvised composition using birdsong from Messiaen’s sketches and material from works including Sept haïkaï. Here, the lyrebird will mimic it; manifested by human soprano and synthesiser respectively.
Comprising a typical post-1960s Messiaen form (chorales, monodies, complex superimposed counterpoint) and other aspects of his musical language, layers of synthesised timbres from the Townshend collection will bring harmonics and ‘complexes of sound’ – unavailable to Messiaen – to create a musical narrative that extends the ecology of his music.
During synthesiser performance, multiple human operators will respond to sonograms of real birdsong presented as a graphical score for the adjustment of front-panel parameters. The keyboardist will have no prior knowledge of the likely timbres and must improvise in response to them, embodying Ascott’s (Groundcourse) “unlearning through disorientation”. Synth-triggers will be mapped via a custom-designed controller array, facilitating a unique performative hybridisation of multiple instruments. The piece will be further (re)composed/produced and binaurally mixed in Dolby Atmos® to bring perceived elevation to the birdsong.
The video will present both the final artefact as provocateur and some of its seminal precursors, creating new knowledge by examining trajectories in between, and the implications of synthesiser-spectralism, reimagined. The presenters bring expertise in multiple areas of this concept – each able to direct the ensuing discussion in different ways to offer wide-ranging and meaningful incisiveness