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Building/object: shared and contested territories of design and architecture
No full textBook synopsis: Building/Object addresses the space in between the conventional objects of design and the conventional objects of architecture, probing and reassessing the differences between the disciplines of design history and architectural history
Each of the 13 chapters in this book examine things which are neither object-like nor building-like, but somewhere in between – air conditioning; bookshelves; partition walls; table-monuments; TVs; convenience stores; cars – exposing particular political configurations and resonances that otherwise might be occluded. In doing so, they reveal that the definitions we make of objects in opposition to buildings, and of architecture in opposition to design, are not as fundamental as they seem.
This book brings new aspects of the creative and experiential into our understanding of the human environment
Djibouti: bridging the Gulf of Aden? balancing ports, patronage and military bases between Yemen's war and the Horn
Get PDFBook synopsis: The Gulf States and the Horn of Africa takes a deep dive into the complexities of power projection, political rivalry and conflict across the Red Sea and beyond. Focusing on the nature of interregional connections between the Gulf and the Horn, it explores the multifaceted nature of relations between states and the two increasingly important subregions. Bringing together scholars working on and in both regions, the book considers strategic competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and between the UAE and both Qatar and Turkey, along with other international engagement such as joint anti-piracy operations, counterterrorism cooperation, security assistance, base agreements and economic development.
Drawing on a range of subject expertise and field research across case study countries, the volume adds to the sparse literature on the regional and international politics of the Horn of Africa and Red Sea, gleaning specific insights from contemporary reflections across the book. This is essential reading for students and researchers interested in the Horn of Africa and the evolving regional geopolitics of the Gulf
Manipulating interface design features affects children’s stop-and-think behaviours in a counterintuitive-problem game
Get PDFThe human-computer interaction (HCI) design of educational technologies influences cognitive behaviour, so it is imperative to assess how different HCI strategies support intended behaviour. We developed a neuroscience-inspired game that trains children’s use of “stopping-and-thinking” (S&T)—an inhibitory control-related behaviour—in the context of counterintuitive science problems and tested the efficacy of four HCI features in supporting S&T: (1) a readiness mechanic, (2) motion cues, (3) colour cues, and (4) rewards/penalties. In a randomised eye-tracking trial with 45 7-to-8-year-olds, we found that the readiness mechanic increased S&T duration, that motion and colour cues proved equally effective at promoting S&T, that combining symbolic colour with the readiness mechanic may have a cumulative effect, and that rewards/penalties may have distracted children from S&T. Additionally, S&T duration was related to in-game performance. Our results underscore the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to educational technology research that actively investigates how HCI impacts intended learning behaviours
Gravel barrier resilience to future sea level rise and storms
Get PDFGlobally, communities, ecosystems, and assets situated within the coastal zone will likely experience increased risk in the future owing to chronic and acute pressures associated with climate change and associated sea level rise. Gravel barrier islands represent an intermediate pathway between seaward hazards and vulnerable landward receptors and possess inherent morpho-sedimentary characteristics which allow coastal risk reduction functions. If gravel barriers are to be usefully and reliably integrated into broader coastal risk management strategies, there is a need to understand the extent to which these landforms are likely to remain resilient under future environmental conditions. Using the Blakeney Point Barrier System, southern North Sea, this study investigates the resilience of gravel barrier landforms to storm surge conditions under future sea level rise scenarios. Resilience is assessed through reference to barrier resistance, susceptibility to state change, persistence, and continued functional performance. Numerical modelling reveals that variable pre-surge barrier morphologies result in a spectrum of episodic resilience trajectories along the barrier frontage. This study also considers the role of humans in altering landscape resilience, demonstrating that previously managed barrier sections (through reprofiling to steepen and heighten the barrier) are more vulnerable to severe morphological change, and associated landward overtopping volume, compared to unmanaged barrier sections. This said, under moderate to high sea level rise, even unmanaged barrier sections failed to demonstrate resilience to storm surge forcing. Such insights help temper our expectations regarding the coastal erosion and flood risk reduction functions of gravel barriers in the face of global environmental change
Genomic variations and epigenomic landscape of the Medaka Inbred Kiyosu-Karlsruhe (MIKK) panel
Get PDFThe teleost medaka (Oryzias latipes) is a well-established vertebrate model system, with a long history of genetic research, and multiple high-quality reference genomes available for several inbred strains (HdrR, HNI and HSOK). Medaka has a high tolerance to inbreeding from the wild, thus allowing one to establish inbred lines from wild founder individuals. We have exploited this feature to create an inbred panel resource: the Medaka Inbred Kiyosu-Karlsruhe (MIKK) panel. This panel of 80 near-isogenic inbred lines contains a large amount of genetic variation inherited from the original wild population. We used Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) long read data to further investigate the genomic and epigenomic landscapes of a subset of the MIKK panel. Nanopore sequencing allowed us to identify a much greater variety of high-quality structural variants compared with Illumina sequencing. We also present results and methods using a pan-genome graph representation of 12 individual medaka lines from the MIKK panel. This graph-based reference MIKK panel genome revealed novel differences between the MIKK panel lines compared to standard linear reference genomes. We found additional MIKK panel-specific genomic content that would be missing from linear reference alignment approaches. We were also able to identify and quantify the presence of repeat elements in each of the lines. Finally, we investigated line-specific CpG methylation and performed differential DNA methylation analysis across the 12 lines. We thus present a detailed analysis of the MIKK panel genomes using long and short read sequence technologies, creating a MIKK panel specific pan genome reference dataset allowing for the investigation of novel variation types that would be elusive using standard approaches
Small Island Developing States in a post-pandemic world: challenges and opportunities for climate action
Get PDFSmall Island Developing States (SIDS) have been impacted by and responded to COVID-19 in ways that give us clues about vulnerabilities under climate change, as well as pathways to resilience. Here, we reflect on some of these experiences drawing on case study examples from the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean SIDS, exploring how SIDS have responded to COVID-19 and considering the potential for coping mechanisms enacted for the pandemic to support long-term resilience to climate change. Island responses to the pandemic highlight both new directions, like tourist schemes that capitalise on the rise of remote working in Barbados and Mauritius, and reliance on tried and tested coping mechanisms, like bartering in Fiji. Some of the actions undertaken to respond to the pressures of the pandemic, such as visa schemes promoting ‘digital nomadism’ and efforts to grow domestic food production have climate resilience and equity dimensions that must be unpacked if their potential to contribute to more sustainable island futures is to be realised. Importantly, the diversity of contexts and experiences described here illustrates that there is no single ‘best’ pathway to climate-resilient post-pandemic futures for SIDS. While the emerging rhetoric of COVID-19 recovery often speaks of ‘roadmaps’, we argue that the journey towards a climate-resilient COVID-19 recovery for SIDS is likely to involve detours, as solutions emerge through innovation and experiment, and knowledge-sharing across the wider SIDS community
Specialists, generalists, or both? Founders’ multidimensional breadth of experience and entrepreneurial ventures’ fundraising at IPO
Get PDFDifferent streams of research have led to contradictory conclusions about the venture performance implications of founders’ breadth of experience. While extant empirical studies have explored the performance implications of founders’ breadth of experience at the start-up stage, we focus on the later stage of the initial public offering (IPO). We theorize that investors categorize venture founders based on two salient dimensions—their industry and functional background—and we relate this categorization to resource acquisition at IPO. To test our model, we use a hand-collected dataset of 175 entrepreneurial IPOs in the Alternative Investment Market in London (2002–2013) and two randomized experiments. We theorize and find that compared to entrepreneurial ventures with a lead founder specializing in one industry or one function, investors generally devalue those with a category-spanning lead founder (a generalist). However, devaluation is less severe when a lead founder is a generalist in one dimension (e.g., industry) but a specialist in the other dimension (e.g., function). We also theorize and empirically test trust as a mechanism for the generalist penalty. Specifically, audience members (investors) have low trust in a generalist producer (founder) in contexts where the two parties consider entering into a partnership (equity investment at IPO), and so that generalist producer is devalued. Finally, we show that an external expert endorsement—in our case, from intensive venture capital affiliations—offsets the generalist penalty, especially when category spanning occurs in multiple category dimensions
Uncertainty of historic GLAD forest data in temperate climates and implications for forest change modelling
Get PDFForest loss and degradation are central problems in the context of climate change and biodiversity conservation. The identification of areas of loss relies on accurate base maps. Central datasets in this context are the products of the Global Land Analysis & Discovery (GLAD) project. Although the GLAD forest cover products are primarily intended to serve as a near real-time flag for areas of forest loss, its historic datasets are increasingly also being used in ways that go beyond this initial focus. To date, very little information is available on the performance of GLAD data in temperate regions. This study aims to address this research gap by comparing the GLAD baseline forest cover maps for the years 2000 and 2010 with UK national forest datasets. The results showed substantial commission errors, which highlight potential problems when deviating from the GLAD datasets’ intended use. GLAD data appear to be less useful in regions with a high proportion of medium to low-density canopy cover. In such cases, its application in forest models should only be used in conjunction and cross-calibration with good quality reference data
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