Preschool Children's Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Difference: A Study of 3- and 4-Year-Old Children in Northern Ireland

This paper presents the findings of a large-scale survey (n = 1,049) of the ethnic awareness and attitudes of 3-4 year old children in Northern Ireland. In drawing upon and applying Bourdieu’s notion of habitus, the paper demonstrates how even at this age, the children are already beginning to embody and internalize the cultural habits and dispositions of their respective ethnic groups. This was found in relation to the children’s: friendships choices; preferences for particular national flags; and dispositions towards specific sports associated with their respective communities. Informed by the work of Bourdieu, the paper concludes by arguing for the need for greater use of quantitative methods employing multivariate and multilevel statistical analyses and for these to be based on a more open and meaningful engagement with the findings of indepth qualitative and ethnographic research in this area.

Negotiating spatiality: Potential of border areas for intergroup mixing in divided cities

This paper will discuss the issues of spatial segregation in the divided city context,focusing on Belfast as a case study it will discuss, issues that limit the inclusivity of shared space in the city, the challenge of insular spatial patterns created by division, and the micro politics of everyday contact. It will argue the significance of creating everyday space to enable practical socio-spatial interaction between divided groups and propose that areas on community borders can be developed as active spaces accommodating services that the communities need, use, and want on an everyday basis, by doing so it offers a potential form valuable contact. It will report on an ongoing study which examines such sites located on community border and assesses their capacity to act as beneficial ‘spaces of engagement’ for communities set within divided context.

Aesthetic Perceptions - Is There a Difference?

Introduction: In recent times, the demand for aesthetic dentistry has increased, with patients presenting for treatment expecting an improvement in their aesthetics. Therefore, it is increasingly important for the dental profession to appreciate perceptions of dental aesthetics in order to provide a patient-centred service.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to quantify perceptions of aesthetics using a cross-sectional survey design. The hypotheses being tested were that differences exist in aesthetic perceptions of 1) dentists and dental students, 2) different age ranges and 3) gender.

Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to dental staff and students in the Cork University Dental School and Hospital. The questionnaire sought information relating to aesthetic perceptions by asking participants to compare photographs of smiles.

Results: 100 questionnaires were returned. It was found that differences existed in perceptions of dentists and dental students when certain aspects of a smile were evaluated, in particular when a minor flaw was present in a smile in addition to the major flaw being tested. Assuming that flaws were detected, more dental students (34%) than dentists (26%) were found to prioritise colour above more subtle flaws, such as a centreline shift. However, most results between the two groups are comparable in terms of their prioritising of importance of particular aspects of a smile, with no large significant differences.

Conclusion: Differences exist in aesthetic perceptions of dentists and dental students, especially with regard to tooth colour.

Machine learning for transient discovery in Pan-STARRS1 difference imaging

Efficient identification and follow-up of astronomical transients is hindered by the need for humans to manually select promising candidates from data streams that contain many false positives. These artefacts arise in the difference images that are produced by most major ground-based time-domain surveys with large format CCD cameras. This dependence on humans to reject bogus detections is unsustainable for next generation all-sky surveys and significant effort is now being invested to solve the problem computationally. In this paper, we explore a simple machine learning approach to real-bogus classification by constructing a training set from the image data of similar to 32 000 real astrophysical transients and bogus detections from the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. We derive our feature representation from the pixel intensity values of a 20 x 20 pixel stamp around the centre of the candidates. This differs from previous work in that it works directly on the pixels rather than catalogued domain knowledge for feature design or selection. Three machine learning algorithms are trained (artificial neural networks, support vector machines and random forests) and their performances are tested on a held-out subset of 25 per cent of the training data. We find the best results from the random forest classifier and demonstrate that by accepting a false positive rate of 1 per cent, the classifier initially suggests a missed detection rate of around 10 per cent. However, we also find that a combination of bright star variability, nuclear transients and uncertainty in human labelling means that our best estimate of the missed detection rate is approximately 6 per cent.

Conical Horn Antenna with Spiral Phase Plate for Difference Pattern Generation

This paper describes the performance characteristics and experimental validation of a compact conical horn antenna with a dielectric cylinder spiral phase plate attached at its aperture. This performs the function of a spatial phase imprinting device creating a helical wave-front which results in a null in the far field radiation pattern of the antenna assembly.

Representing Irishness in Belfast’s Gaeltacht Quarter

This paper examines a place-making project in post-conflict Belfast, analyzing efforts to transform an area which has often been used as a byword for militant Irish nationalism and social deprivation into an inclusive, vibrant tourist destination and cultural hub themed around the Irish language (called the "Gaeltacht Quarter‟). The antagonistic and territorial assumptions about place that characterize divided cities now co-exist with global trends towards the commodification of difference as recreation or spectacle, and longstanding struggles over the representation of contested identities are intertwined with the struggle to compete for international tourism and investment. The proliferation of officially themed quarters in many cities across the world reflects the enthusiasm with which planning authorities have embraced the vision of difference as a benign resource for the creation of tourist revenue. Yet, analysis of „quartering‟ processes reveals that such commodification does not neutralise or evade the political potency of naming, representing and delimiting cultural difference. Indeed, this paper argues that such projects offer a valuable insight into the inseparable roles of physical and representational space as both loci and catalysts of contestation in urban conflicts. Bringing together a wide range of public and private interest groups, projects redefining parts of Belfast as distinctive quarters have been explicitly linked with efforts to deterritorialize the city. The creation of bounded, themed spaces as an attempt to leave behind the ethno-sectarian geographical segregation that parts of Belfast still experience has its particular ironies, but is in many ways typical of contemporary trends in urban planning. The Gaeltacht Quarter exemplifies both the importance and the challenge of representation within cities where culturally distinguishing features have acted as markers of violent division, and where negotiations about how to successfully encompass difference necessarily address multiple local and international audiences simultaneously.

Electrochemical promotion of catalysis controlled by chemical potential difference across a mixed ionic-electronic conducting ceramic membrane - An example of wireless NEMCA

A La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2F_0.8O₃ mixed ionic electronic conducting (MIEC) membrane was used in a dual chamber reactor for the promotion of the catalytic activity of a platinum catalyst for ethylene oxidation. By controlling the oxygen chemical potential difference across the membrane, a driving force for oxygen ions to migrate across the membrane and backspillover onto the catalyst surface is established. The reaction is then promoted by the formation of a double layer of oxide anions on the catalyst surface. Thelectronic conductivity of the membrane material eliminates the need for an external circuit to pump the promoting oxide ion species through the membrane and onto the catalyst surface. This renders this "wireless" system simpler and more amenable for large-scale practical application. Preliminary experiments show that the reaction rate of ethylene oxidation can indeed be promoted by almost one order of magnitude upon exposure to an oxygen atmosphere on the sweep side of the membrane reactor, and thus inducing an oxygen chemical potential difference across the membrane, as compared to the rate under an inert sweep gas. Moreover, the rate does not return to its initial unpromoted value upon cessation of the oxygen flow on the sweep side, but remains permanently promoted. A number of comparisons are drawn between the classical electrochemical promotion that utilises an external circuit and the "wireless" system that utilises chemical potential differences. In addition a 'surface oxygen capture' model is proposed to explain the permanent promotion of the catalyst activity. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

European urban spaces in crisis - the mapping of affective pracitices with Living with Difference: introduction

The introduction outlines the notion of urban space and crisis in Europe while taking into account the more recent protests and riots in different cities, in and beyond Europe. It is argued that the phenomen of protest is happening alongside the economic crisis underscoring an alternative political public civic spirit expressing to a certain degree the renaissance and timely making of, what might be called in the digital age, #œuvre. Its forces and emotional properties capture a political realm that unfolds as a globalized urban transnational public space, still progressing. Further, it introduces the collection of papers for the special themed feature. Five papers look at affective practices through a Continental European lens, which places the meaning of race, migration and intersecting identity angles at the centre of debates of individual encounters in public spaces. The final and sixth paper, written by Brenda Yeoh, looks through a Singapore/East Asia lens, and comments on the common European threats as well as on the historical specificity and implications of distinctive geo-political spaces for affective practices.