Post-Sustainable Development

The past 15 years have witnessed the rise of post-development theory as a means of understanding the development discourse since the 1940s. Post-development argues that intentional development (as distinct from immanent development - what people are doing anyway) is a construct of Western hegemony. Sustainable development, they argue, is no different and indeed is perhaps worse, given that most of the global environmental degradation has been driven by consumerism and industrialization in the West. Critics of post-development counter by stating that it only provides destruction by tearing apart what is currently practiced in 'development' without providing an alternative. When post-developmentalists do offer an alternative it typically amouints to little more than a call for more grassroots involvement in development and disengagement from a Western agenda. Post-sustainable development analysis and counter-analysis has received remarkably little attention within the sustainable development literature, yet this paper argues that it can make a positive contributrion by calling for an analysis of discourse rather than a hiding of power differentials and an assumption that consensus must exist within a community. A case is made for a post-sustainable development that acknowledges that diversity will exist and consensus may not be achievable, but at the same time participation can help with learning. The role of the expert within sustainable development is also discussed. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Post-(sustainable)-development?

This paper critically reviews the application of a post-development analysis to sustainable development by employing a defined target for post-development analysis – the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Data from the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) for 146 countries are used to generate statistically significant EKC models, and the approach is deconstructed by employing post-development theory. While an ESI derived EKC is an easy target for post-development critique, there are foundations upon which both rest, and are not easily dismissed. Neither is the typical post-development 'alternative' of encouraging 'endogenous discourse' and grassroots movements at odds with sustainable development. As a result, this paper argues that sustainable development theory already incorporates much of the critique and alternatives raised by post-developmentalists. Indeed, what is more disconcerting is that sustainable development readily encompasses such apparently divergent ideas represented by the ESI, EKC and post-developmental critique and solutions.

Water deficits promote flowering in Rhododendron via regulation of pre and post initiation development

Flowering is generally considered to be advanced by water deficits in many woody perennial species. A long-standing paradigm being that as a plant senses severe environmental conditions resources are diverted away from vegetative growth and towards reproduction before death. It is demonstrated that in Rhododendron flowering is promoted under water deficit treatments. However, the promotion of flowering is not achieved via all increase in floral initiation, but through separate developmental responses. If regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) is imposed prior to the time of initiation, fewer vegetative nodes are formed before the apical meristems switch to floral initiation, and chronologically, floral initiation occurs earlier. Both RDI and partial rootzone drying (PRD) treatments stimulate the development of more flowers Oil each inflorescence if the treatments are continued after the plant has undergone floral initiation. However, floral initiation is inhibited by soil water deficits. If the soil water deficit continues beyond the stages of floral development then anthesis call occur prematurely oil the fully formed floral buds without a need for a winter chilling treatment. It is hypothesised that inhibition of floral initiation in plants experiencing severe soil water deficits results from the inhibitory action Of ABA transportation to the apical meristem from stressed roots. It is demonstrated that ABA applications to well-watered Rhododendron inhibit floral initiation. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cardiac Na+/H+ exchanger during post-natal development in the rat: Changes in mRNA expression and sarcolemmal activity

We examined Na+–H+exchanger isoform 1 (NHE-1) mRNA expression in ventricular myocardium and its correlation with sarcolemmal NHE activity in isolated ventricular myocytes, during postnatal development in the rat. The expression of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA did not change in ventricular myocardium between 2 and 42 days after birth. Therefore, at seven time points within that age range, GAPDH expression was used to normalize NHE-1 mRNA levels, as determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis. There was a progressive five-fold reduction in NHE-1 mRNA expression in ventricular myocardium from 2 days to 42 days of age. As an index of NHE activity, acid efflux rates (JH) were determined in single neonatal (2–4-day-old) and adult (42-day-old) ventricular myocytes (n=16/group) loaded with the pH fluoroprobe carboxy-seminaphthorhodafluor-1. In HEPES-buffered medium, basal intracellular pH (pHi) was similar at 7.28±0.02 in neonatal and 7.31±0.02 in adult myocytes, but intrinsic buffering power was lower in the former age group. The rate at which pHirecovered from a similar acid load was significantly greater in neonatal than in adult myocytes (0.36±0.07v0.16±0.02 pH units/min at pHi=6.8). This was reflected by a significantly greaterJH(22±4v9±1 pmol/cm2/s at pHi=6.8), indicating greater sarcolemmal NHE activity in neonatal myocytes. The concomitant reductions in tissue NHE-1 mRNA expression and sarcolemmal NHE activity suggest that myocardial NHE-1 is subject to regulation at the mRNA level during postnatal development.

Resilience planning, economic change and the politics of post-recession development in London and Hong Kong

For much of the 1990s and 2000s, the emphasis of urban policy in many global cities was on managing and mitigating the social and environmental effects of rapid economic growth. The credit crunch of 2008 and the subsequent recession have undermined some of the core assumptions on which such policies were based. It is in this context that the concept of resilience planning has taken on a new significance. Drawing on contemporary research in London and Hong Kong, the paper shows how resilience and recovery planning has become a key area of political debate. It examines what is meant by conservative and radical interpretations of resilience and how conservative views have come to dominate ‘recovery’ thinking, with élite groups unwilling to accept the limits to the neo-liberal orthodoxies that helped to precipitate the economic crisis. The paper explores the implications of such thinking for the politics of urban development.

An analysis of the UK development industry's role in brownfield regeneration

Purpose – This study aims to provide a review of brownfield policy and the emerging sustainable development agenda in the UK, and to examine the development industry’s (both commercial and residential) role and attitudes towards brownfield regeneration and contaminated land. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses results from a two-stage survey of commercial and residential developers carried out in mid-2004, underpinned by structured interviews with 11 developers. Findings – The results suggest that housebuilding on brownfield is no longer the preserve of specialists, and is now widespread throughout the industry in the UK. The redevelopment of contaminated sites for residential use could be threatened by the impact of the EU Landfill Directive. The findings also suggest that developers are not averse to developing on contaminated sites, although post-remediation stigma remains an issue. The market for warranties and insurance continues to evolve. Research limitations/implications – The survey is based on a sample which represents nearly 30 per cent of UK volume housebuilding. Although the response in the smaller developer groups was relatively under-represented, non-response bias was not found to be a significant issue. More research is needed to assess the way in which developers approach brownfield regeneration at a local level. Practical implications – The research suggests that clearer Government guidance in the UK is needed on how to integrate concepts of sustainability in brownfield development and that EU policy, which has been introduced for laudable aims, is creating tensions within the development industry. There may be an emphasis towards greenfield development in the future, as the implications of the Barker review are felt. Originality/value – This is a national survey of developers’ attitudes towards brownfield development in the UK, following the Barker Review, and highlights key issues in UK and EU policy layers. Keywords Brownfield sites, Contamination Paper type Research paper

Development of speech fluency over a short period of time: effects of pedagogic intervention

This study investigates the effects of a short-term pedagogic intervention on the development of L2 fluency among learners studying English for Academic purposes (EAP) at a university in the UK. It also examines the interaction between the development of fluency, and complexity and accuracy. Through a pre-test, post-test design, data were collected over a period of four weeks from learners performing monologic tasks. While the Control Group (CG) focused on developing general speaking and listening skills, the Experimental Group (EG) received awareness-raising activities and fluency strategy training in addition to general speaking and listening practice i.e following the syllabus. The data, coded in terms of a range of measures of fluency, accuracy and complexity, were subjected to repeated measures MANOVA, t-tests and correlations. The results indicate that after the intervention, while some fluency gains were achieved by the CG, the EG produced statistically more fluent language demonstrating a faster speech and articulation rate, longer runs and higher phonation time ratios. The significant correlations obtained between measures of accuracy and learners’ pauses in the CG suggest that pausing opportunities may have been linked to accuracy. The findings of the study have significant implications for L2 pedagogy, highlighting the effective impact of instruction on the development of fluency.

Research agenda for the built environment in Latin America

This paper disseminates the outcomes of a series of interdisciplinary and multi-sector research seminars that focused on current development problems in a region of fast urban growth. Qualitative data was collected during round table discussions and workshops involving practitioners and government officials from some of the largest economies in Latin America. The authors then grouped these discussions into coherent themes and framed them into current scholarly debates. After assessing the suitability of theory to respond to practice, the paper concludes with four key areas for further research, with the final aim to encourage more scholarly analysis that can better inform development policy in emerging economies.

The effect of impaired thyroid function during development on the mechanical properties of avian bone

Thyroid hormones show fluctuating levels during the post-hatching development of birds. In this paper we report the results of the first mechanical tests to quantify the effect of hypothyroidism, during post-natal development, on the skeletal properties of a precocial bird, the barnacle goose, as determined by microhardness testing. The effect of hypothyroidism is tissue-specific; bone from the femora of birds is not significantly affected by induced hypothyroidism, however, there is a strong positive relationship between the levels of circulating thyroid hormones and the mechanical properties of bone from humeri. In the barnacle goose the development of the wing skeleton and musculature depends on an increase in circulating thyroid hormones and our analysis shows that, in its absence, the mechanical competence of the bone mineral itself is reduced in addition to the decreased bone length and muscle development previously reported in the literature. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Integrating Sustainability into Brownfield Regeneration: Rhetoric or Reality? – An Analysis of the UK Development Industry

In the UK and elsewhere the use of the term ‘sustainable brownfield regeneration’ has resulted from the interweaving of two key policy themes, comprising ‘sustainable development’ and ‘brownfield regeneration’. This paper provides a critical overview of brownfield policy within the context of the emerging sustainable development agenda in the UK, and examines the development industry's role and attitudes towards key aspects of sustainable development and brownfield regeneration. The paper analyses results from a survey of commercial and residential developers carried out in mid‐2004, underpinned by structured interviews with eleven developers in 2004–2005, which form part of a two‐and‐half‐year EPSRC‐funded project. The results suggest that despite the increasing focus on sustainability in government policy, the development industry seems ill at ease with precisely how sustainable development can be implemented in brownfield schemes. These and other findings, relating to sustainability issues (including the impact of climate change on future brownfield development), have important ramifications for brownfield regeneration policy in the UK. In particular, the research highlights the need for better metrics and benchmarks to be developed to measure ‘sustainable brownfield regeneration’. There also needs to be greater awareness and understanding of alternative clean‐up technologies to ‘dig and dump’.

Development of a wearable assistive soft robotic device for elbow rehabilitation

The loss of motor function at the elbow joint can result as a consequence of stroke. Stroke is a clinical illness resulting in long lasting neurological deficits often affecting somatosensory and motor cortices. More than half of those that recover from a stroke survive with disability in their upper arm and need rehabilitation therapy to help in regaining functions of daily living. In this paper, we demonstrated a prototype of a low-cost, ultra-light and wearable soft robotic assistive device that could aid administration of elbow motion therapies to stroke patients. In order to assist the rotation of the elbow joint, the soft modules which consist of soft wedge-like cellular units was inflated by air to produce torque at the elbow joint. Highly compliant rotation can be naturally realised by the elastic property of soft silicone and pneumatic control of air. Based on the direct visual-actuation control, a higher control loop utilised visual processing to apply positional control, the lower control loop was implemented by an electronic circuit to achieve the desired pressure of the soft modules by Pulse Width Modulation. To examine the functionality of the proposed soft modular system, we used an anatomical model of the upper limb and performed the experiments with healthy participants.

Development and validation of the Morphing Fear Questionnaire (MFQ)

Morphing fears (also called transformation obsessions) involve concerns that a person may become contaminated by and acquire undesirable characteristics of others. These symptoms are found in patients with OCD and are thought to be related to mental contamination. Given the high levels of distress and interference morphing fears can cause, a reliable and valid assessment measure is needed. This article describes the development and evaluation of the Morphing Fear Questionnaire (MFQ), a 13-item measure designed to assess for the presence and severity of morphing fears. A sample of 900 participants took part in the research. Of these, 140 reported having a current diagnosis of OCD (SR-OCD) and 760 reported never having had OCD (N-OCD; of whom 24 reported a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder and 23 reported a diagnosis of depression). Factor structure, reliability, and construct and criterion related validity were investigated. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a one-factor structure replicable across the N-OCD and SR-OCD group. The MFQ was found to have high internal consistency and good temporal stability, and showed significantly greater associations with convergent measures (assessing obsessive-compulsive symptoms, mental contamination, thought-action fusion and magical thinking) than with divergent measures (assessing depression and anxiety). Moreover, the MFQ successfully discriminated between the SR-OCD sample and the N-OCD group, anxiety disorder sample, and depression sample. These findings suggest that the MFQ has sound psychometric properties and that it can be used to assess morphing fear. Clinical implications are discussed.

Over expression of Plk1 does not induce cell division in rat cardiac myocytes in vitro

BACKGROUND: Mammalian cardiac myocytes withdraw from the cell cycle during post-natal development, resulting in a non-proliferating, fully differentiated adult phenotype that is unable to repair damage to the myocardium, such as occurs following a myocardial infarction. We and others previously have shown that forced expression of certain cell cycle molecules in adult cardiac myocytes can promote cell cycle progression and division in these cells. The mitotic serine/threonine kinase, Polo-like kinase-1 (Plk1), is known to phosphorylate and activate a number of mitotic targets, including Cdc2/Cyclin B1, and to promote cell division. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The mammalian Plk family are all differentially regulated during the development of rat cardiac myocytes, with Plk1 showing the most dramatic decrease in both mRNA, protein and activity in the adult. We determined the potential of Plk1 to induce cell cycle progression and division in cultured rat cardiac myocytes. A persistent and progressive loss of Plk1 expression was observed during myocyte development that correlated with the withdrawal of adult rat cardiac myocytes from the cell cycle. Interestingly, when Plk1 was over-expressed in cardiac myocytes by adenovirus infection, it was not able to promote cell cycle progression, as determined by cell number and percent binucleation. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that, in contrast to Cdc2/Cyclin B1 over-expression, the forced expression of Plk1 in adult cardiac myocytes is not sufficient to induce cell division and myocardial repair.

Nucleolin is regulated both at the level of transcription and translation

Nucleolin is a multi-functional protein that is located to the nucleolus. In tissue Culture cells, the stability of nucleolin is related to the proliferation status of the cell. During development, rat cardiomyocytes proliferate actively with increases in the mass of the heart being due to both hyperplasia and hypertrophy. The timing of this shift in the phenotype of the myocyte from one capable of undergoing hyperplasia to one that can grow only by hypertrophy occurs within 4 days of post-natal development. Thus, cardiomyocytes are an ideal model system in which to study the regulation of nucleolin during growth in vivo. Using Western blot and quantitative RT-PCR (TaqMan) we found that the amount of nucleolin is regulated both at the level of transcription and translation during the development of the cardiomyocyte. However, in cells which had exited the cell cycle and were subsequently given a hypertrophic stimulus, nucleolin was regulated post-transcriptionally. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.