Gazing at Ground Zero: Tourism, Voyeurism and Spectacle

This essay uses the temporary viewing platform at the site of the former World Trade Center to explore our fascination with violence, conflict and disaster. It illustrates how discourses of voyeurism and authenticity promote a desire for sites of horror, and examines how that desire both disrupts and reinforces our prevailing interpretations of global politics. The viewing platform at Ground Zero was initially constructed to manage the thousands of people who traveled to New York in response to the shocking media images of 11 September. However, their desire to escape mediation and touch "the real" had the opposite effect - it transformed Ground Zero into a tourist attraction. Using Ground Zero as a starting point, this essay theorizes discourses of voyeurism and authenticity through the work of Baudrillard, Debord and Bauman in an effort to position the tourist as a significant political subject.

A New Concept of Interprofessional Education in Planning Programmes: Reflections on Healthy Urban Planning Project

Although widely debated, some of the defining professional characteristics of planners appear to be competencies in co-ordination, mediation and multidisciplinary working. Despite this, there is little pedagogical reflection on how interprofessional skills are promoted in planning programmes. This paper reflects on the experience of bringing together undergraduate students from medicine and planning to explore the concept of Healthy Urban Planning in a real life context of an urban motorway extension. This reveals a number of unexpected outcomes of such collaboration and points to the value of promoting interprofessional education, both as a way of increasing interest in some of the key challenges now facing society and in order to induce greater professional reflection amongst our students.

A New Concept of Interprofessional Education in Planning Programmes: Reflections on a Healthy Urban Planning Project

Although widely debated, some of the defining professional characteristics of planners appear to be competencies in co-ordination, mediation and multidisciplinary working. Despite this, there is little pedagogical reflection on how interprofessional skills are promoted in planning programmes. This paper reflects on the experience of bringing together undergraduate students from medicine and planning to explore the concept of Healthy Urban Planning in a real life context of an urban motorway extension. This reveals a number of unexpected outcomes of such collaboration and points to the value of promoting interprofessional education, both as a way of increasing interest in some of the key challenges now facing society and in order to induce greater professional reflection amongst students.

'Democratic Transition, Judicial Accountability and Judicialisation of Politics in Africa: The Nigerian Experience'

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the growing incidence of judicialisation of politics in Nigeria’s democratisation experience against the backdrop of questionable judicial accountability. Design/methodology/approach – The article draws on legal and political theory as well as comparative law perspectives. Findings – The judiciary faces a daunting task in deepening democracy and (re) instituting the rule of law. The formidable challenges derive in part from structural problems within the judiciary, deficient accountability credentials and the complexities of a troubled transition. Practical implications – Effective judicial mediation of political transition requires a transformed and accountable judiciary. Originality/value – The article calls attention to the need for judicial accountability as a cardinal and integral part of political transitions. Keywords Democracy, Politics, Law, Nigeria, Africa Paper type Viewpoint

Invader-invader interactions in relation to environmental heterogeneity leads to zonation of two invasive amphipods, Dikerogammarus villosus (Sowinsky) and Gammarus tigrinus Sexton: amphipod pilot species project (AMPIS) report 6

As biological invasions continue, interactions occur not only between invaders and natives, but increasingly new invaders come into contact with previous invaders. Whilst this can lead to species replacements, co-existence may occur, but we lack knowledge of processes driving such patterns. Since environmental heterogeneity can determine species richness and co-existence, the present study examines habitat use and its mediation of the predatory interaction between invasive aquatic amphipods, the Ponto-Caspian Dikerogammarus villosus and the N. American Gammarus tigrinus. In the Dutch Lake IJsselmeer, we found broad segregation of D. villosus and G. tigrinus by habitat type, the former predominating in the boulder zone and the latter in the soft sediment. However, the two species co-exist in the boulder zone, both on the short and longer terms. We used an experimental simulation of habitat heterogeneity and show that both species utilize crevices, different sized holes in a plastic grid, non-randomly. These amphipods appear to optimise the use of holes with respect to their 'C-shape' body size. When placed together, D. villosus adults preyed on G. tigrinus adults and juveniles, while G. tigrinus adults preyed on D. villosus juveniles. Juveniles were also predators and both species were cannibalistic. However, the impact on G. tigrinus of the superior intraguild predator, D. villosus, was significantly reduced where experimental grids were present as compared to absent. This mitigation of intraguild predation between the two species in complex habitats may explain the co-existence of these two invasive species.

Role of behaviour in biological invasions and species distributions; lessons from interactions between the invasive Gammarus pulex and the native G-duebeni (Crustacea : Amphipoda)

In attempting to understand the distributions of both introduced species and the native species on which they impact, there is a growing trend to integrate studies of behaviour with more traditional life history/ecological approaches. The question of what mechanisms drive the displacement of the freshwater amphipod Gammarus duebeni by the often introduced G pulex is presented as a case study Patterns of displacement are well documented throughout Europe, but the speed and direction of displacement between these species can be varied. From early studies proposing interspecific competition as causal in these patterns, I review research progress to date. I show there has been no evidence for interspecific competition operating, other than the field patterns themselves, a somewhat tautological argument. Rather, the increased recognition of behavioural attributes with respect to the cannibalistic and predatory nature of these species gave rise to a series of studies unravelling the processes driving field patterns. Both species engage in 'intraguild predation' (IGP), with moulting females particularly vulnerable to predation by congeneric males. G pulex is more able both to engage in and avoid this interaction with G duebeni. However, several factors mediate the strength and asymmetry of this IGP, some biotic (e.g. parasitism) and others abiotic (e.g. water chemistry). Further, a number of alternative hypotheses that may account for the displacement (hybridization; parasite transmission) have been tested and rejected. While interspecific competition has been modelled mathematically and found to be a weak interaction relative to IGP, mechanisms of competition between these Gammarus species remain largely untested empirically. Since IGP may be finely balanced in some circumstances, I conclude that the challenge to detect interspecific competition remains and we require assessment of its role, if any, in the interaction between these species. Appreciation of behavioural attributes and their mediation should allow us to more fully understand, and perhaps predict, species introductions and resultant distributions.

Secondary Transfer Effects of Intergroup Contact: Alternative Accounts and Underlying Processes

Although intergroup contact is one of the most prominent interventions to reduce prejudice. the generalization of contact effects is still a contentious issue This research further examined the rarely studied secondary transfer effect (STE, Pettigrew, 2009) by which contact with a primary outgroup reduces prejudice toward secondary groups that are not directly involved in the contact Across 3 cross-sectional studies conducted in Cyprus (N = 1.653), Northern Ireland (N = 1,973). and Texas (N = 275) and 1 longitudinal study conducted in Northern Ireland (N = 411). the present research sought to systematically rule out alternative accounts of the STE and to investigate 2 potential mediating mechanisms (ingroup reappraisal and attitude generalization) Results indicated that, consistent with the STE. contact with a primary outgroup predicts attitudes toward secondary outgroups. over and above contact with the secondary outgroup, socially desirable responding. and prior attitudes Mediation analyses found strong evidence for attitude generalization but only limited evidence for ingroup reappraisal as an underlying process Two out of 3 tests of a reverse model, where contact with the secondary outgroup predicts attitudes toward the primary outgroup. provide further evidence for an indirect effect through attitude generalization Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed, and directions for future research are identified

Selecting Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids to Optimize Voltammetric Responses: The Oxidation of NADH

The electrochemistry of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) in its reduced form was examined in two room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs): 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C(2)mim][NTf2]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophos-phate ([C(4)mim][PF6]). NADH oxidation has previously been studied in aqueous solution where it follows the pathway: one-electron oxidation to the NADH(center dot+) radical cation, deprotonation to produce the neutral NAD(center dot) radical, then oxidation to the NAD(+) cation. The electrochemistry of NADH was examined in [C(2)mim][NTf2] and [C(4)mim][PF6] at the bare Pt electrode (10 mu m diameter): In [C(2)mim][NTf2], no oxidation was observed; in [C(4)mim][PF6], an oxidative signal was observed, which likely followed the pathway described above, where upon formation of the NADH(center dot+) radical cation, the [PF6](-) anion (unlike the [NTf2](-) anion) reacts with the proton to form HPF6, which decomposes. This demonstrates the tunability of RTILs, whereby the choice of one anion in an RTIL over another can promote a reaction. Poly(vinylferrocene) (PVF) was studied as a mediator for the NADH detection in both RTILs to attempt to lower the potential of NADH detection. The Pt electrode was modified with PVF, and the oxidation of PVF to PVF+ was observed in [C(2)mim][NTf2] and [C(4)mim][PF6], but no mediation of the NADH oxidation was observed.

Increased endocytosis in retinal vascular endothelial cells grown in high glucose medium is modulated by inhibitors of nonenzymatic glycosylation

We sought to determine if hyperglycaemia is responsible for increased retinal vascular endothelial-cell (RVEC) endocytosis in diabetes and to assess the role of nonenzymatic glycosylation in mediation of this novel endothelial-cell pathology. RVECs were propagated in media containing either 5 or 25 mmol/l glucose for up to 10 days after which they were exposed to the protein tracer horseradish peroxidase for 30 min. The level of RVEC endocytosis was quantified in intact cell monolayers by electron microscopic stereology, and in cell lysates by a simple spectrophotometric method. The effect of the nonenzymatic glycosylation inhibitors, aminoguanidine and D-lysine, on high-glucose medium induced changes in RVEC endocytosis was tested by inclusion of these agents in the culture medium. RVECs exposed to 25 mmol/l glucose showed a stepwise increase in endocytosis of horseradish peroxidase culminating in a two- to threefold increase after 10 days. Endocytosis returned to normal levels after a further 10 days in 5 mmol/l glucose medium. The increase in RVEC endocytosis was markedly reduced, but not completely normalised, by aminoguanidine and D-lysine. Exposure of cultured RVECs to 25 mmol/l glucose causes an increase in endocytosis of similar magnitude to that experienced by RVEC in early diabetes, and implicates hyperglycaemia in the latter situation. A significant component of the increase in RVEC endocytosis appears to be mediated by nonenzymatic glycosylation.

Promoting Health Behaviour Change in the Cardiac Patient

The importance of giving patients advice in relation to positive health behaviour change geared towards maximizing physical health must not be overlooked and is an important role of the cardiac nurse in contemporary health care. However, over-reliance on offering advice can often be counter-productive and less likely to achieve effective change. Patients are more likely to make positive health behaviour changes when they self-generate their own solutions to the health issues and problems that they face. In this article, the authors encourage cardiac nurses to embrace a less directive and more facilitative approach to patient health behaviour change in light of the mounting evidence that exists to the effectiveness of motivational interviewing techniques.