Knowledge-based approach for planning healthy cities : the case of Logan-Beaudesert, Australia

Introduction - The planning for healthy cities faces significant challenges due to lack of effective information, systems and a framework to organise that information. Such a framework is critical in order to make accessible and informed decisions for planning healthy cities. The challenges for planning healthy cities have been magnified by the rise of the healthy cities movement, as a result of which, there have been more frequent calls for localised, collaborative and knowledge-based decisions. Some studies have suggested that the use of a ‘knowledge-based’ approach to planning will enhance the accuracy and quality decision-making by improving the availability of data and information for health service planners and may also lead to increased collaboration between stakeholders and the community. A knowledge-based or evidence-based approach to decision-making can provide an ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking through the use of technology during decision-making processes. Minimal research has been conducted in this area to date, especially in terms of evaluating the impact of adopting knowledge-based approach on stakeholders, policy-makers and decision-makers within health planning initiatives. Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to present an integrated method that has been developed to facilitate a knowledge-based decision-making process to assist health planning Methodology – Specifically, the paper describes the participatory process that has been adopted to develop an online Geographic Information System (GIS)-based Decision Support System (DSS) for health planners. Value – Conceptually, it is an application of Healthy Cities and Knowledge Cities approaches which are linked together. Specifically, it is a unique settings-based initiative designed to plan for and improve the health capacity of Logan-Beaudesert area, Australia. This setting-based initiative is named as the Logan-Beaudesert Health Coalition (LBHC). Practical implications - The paper outlines the application of a knowledge-based approach to the development of a healthy city. Also, it focuses on the need for widespread use of this approach as a tool for enhancing community-based health coalition decision making processes.

Thinking spatially, acting collaboratively : a GIS-based health decision support system for improving the collaborative health-planning practice

The field of collaborative health planning faces significant challenges due to the lack of effective information, systems and the absence of a framework to make informed decisions. These challenges have been magnified by the rise of the healthy cities movement, consequently, there have been more frequent calls for localised, collaborative and evidence-driven decision-making. Some studies in the past have reported that the use of decision support systems (DSS) for planning healthy cities may lead to: increase collaboration between stakeholders and the general public, improve the accuracy and quality of the decision-making processes and improve the availability of data and information for health decision-makers. These links have not yet been fully tested and only a handful of studies have evaluated the impact of DSS on stakeholders, policy-makers and health planners. This study suggests a framework for developing healthy cities and introduces an online Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based DSS for improving the collaborative health planning. It also presents preliminary findings of an ongoing case study conducted in the Logan-Beaudesert region of Queensland, Australia. These findings highlight the perceptions of decision-making prior to the implementation of the DSS intervention. Further, the findings help us to understand the potential role of the DSS to improve collaborative health planning practice.

Harnessing ICT-based tool for improving the collaborative health planning debate : the case of Logan-Beaudesert, Australia

The field of collaborative health planning faces significant challenges posed by the lack of effective information, systems and a framework to organise that information. Such a framework is critical in order to make accessible and informed decisions for planning healthy cities. The challenges have been exaggerated by the rise of the healthy cities movement, as a result of which, there have been more frequent calls for localised, collaborative and evidence-based decision-making. Some studies suggest that the use of ICT-based tools in health planning may lead to: increased collaboration between stakeholder sand the community; improve the accuracy and quality of the decision making process; and, improve the availability of data and information for health decision-makers as well as health service planners. Research has justified the use of decision support systems (DSS) in planning for healthy cities as these systems have been found to improve the planning process. DSS are information communication technology (ICT) tools including geographic information systems (GIS) that provide the mechanisms to help decision-makers and related stake holders assess complex problems and solve these in a meaningful way. Consequently, it is now more possible than ever before to make use of ICT-based tools in health planning. However, knowledge about the nature and use of DSS within collaborative health planning is relatively limited. In particular, little research has been conducted in terms of evaluating the impact of adopting these tools upon stakeholders, policy-makers and decision-makers within the health planning field. This paper presents an integrated method that has been developed to facilitate an informed decision-making process to assist in the health planning process. Specifically, the paper describes the participatory process that has been adopted to develop an online GIS-based DSS for health planners. The literature states that the overall aim of DSS is to improve the efficiency of the decisions made by stakeholders, optimising their overall performance and minimizing judgmental biases. For this reason, the paper examines the effectiveness and impact of an innovative online GIS-based DSS on health planners. The case study of the online DSS is set within a unique settings-based initiative designed to plan for and improve the health capacity of Logan-Beaudesert area, Australia. This unique setting-based initiative is named the Logan-Beaudesert Health Coalition (LBHC).The paper outlines the impact occurred by implementing the ICT-based DSS. In conclusion, the paper emphasizes upon the need for the proposed tool for enhancing health planning.

A grounded theory of protest movement continuity

Using a thematic story telling approach which draws on ethnographic method, a grounded theory of protest movement continuity is presented. The grounded theory draws from theories and activist stories relating to the facilitative role of movement networks, social contagion theory and the cultural experience of activism. It highlights the contagious influence of protest networks in maintaining protest continuity over time and how this leads to common perceptions of development risk and opportunity within communities. It also reveals how communities use collective values and identity, social capital, emotional dynamics and symbolic artifacts to maintain protest continuity.

Cultural safety, diversity and the servicer user and carer movement in mental health research

This study will be of interest to anyone concerned with a critical appraisal of mental health service users’ and carers’ participation in research collaboration and with the potential of the postcolonial paradigm of cultural safety to contribute to the service user research (SUR) movement. The history and nature of the mental health field and its relationship to colonial processes provokes a consideration of whether cultural safety could focus attention on diversity, power imbalance, cultural dominance and structural inequality, identified as barriers and tensions in SUR. We consider these issues in the context of state-driven approaches towards SUR in planning and evaluation and the concurrent rise of the SUR movement in the UK and Australia, societies with an intimate involvement in processes of colonisation. We consider the principles and motivations underlying cultural safety and SUR in the context of the policy agenda informing SUR. We conclude that while both cultural safety and SUR are underpinned by social constructionism constituting similarities in principles and intent, cultural safety has additional dimensions. Hence, we call on researchers to use the explicitly political and self-reflective process of cultural safety to think about and address issues of diversity, power and social justice in research collaboration.

Trapping to monitor tephritid movement: Results, best practice, and assessment of alternatives

Movement of tephritid flies underpins their survival, reproduction, and ability to establish in new areas and is thus of importance when designing effective management strategies. Much of the knowledge currently available on tephritid movement throughout landscapes comes from the use of direct or indirect methods that rely on the trapping of individuals. Here, we review published experimental designs and methods from mark-release-recapture (MRR) studies, as well as other methods, that have been used to estimate movement of the four major tephritid pest genera (Bactrocera, Ceratitis, Anastrepha, and Rhagoletis). In doing so, we aim to illustrate the theoretical and practical considerations needed to study tephritid movement. MRR studies make use of traps to directly estimate the distance that tephritid species can move within a generation and to evaluate the ecological and physiological factors that influence dispersal patterns. MRR studies, however, require careful planning to ensure that the results obtained are not biased by the methods employed, including marking methods, trap properties, trap spacing, and spatial extent of the trapping array. Despite these obstacles, MRR remains a powerful tool for determining tephritid movement, with data particularly required for understudied species that affect developing countries. To ensure that future MRR studies are successful, we suggest that site selection be carefully considered and sufficient resources be allocated to achieve optimal spacing and placement of traps in line with the stated aims of each study. An alternative to MRR is to make use of indirect methods for determining movement, or more correctly, gene flow, which have become widely available with the development of molecular tools. Key to these methods is the trapping and sequencing of a suitable number of individuals to represent the genetic diversity of the sampled population and investigate population structuring using nuclear genomic markers or non-recombinant mitochondrial DNA markers. Microsatellites are currently the preferred marker for detecting recent population displacement and provide genetic information that may be used in assignment tests for the direct determination of contemporary movement. Neither MRR nor molecular methods, however, are able to monitor fine-scale movements of individual flies. Recent developments in the miniaturization of electronics offer the tantalising possibility to track individual movements of insects using harmonic radar. Computer vision and radio frequency identification tags may also permit the tracking of fine-scale movements by tephritid flies by automated resampling, although these methods come with the same problems as traditional traps used in MRR studies. Although all methods described in this chapter have limitations, a better understanding of tephritid movement far outweighs the drawbacks of the individual methods because of the need for this information to manage tephritid populations.

Tsoi Yuen Resistance and Post-80s Generation: A new wave of domestic social movement

Hong Kong was once a British colony and has been under the sovereignty of People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1997. However, some of the unjust practices and colonial legacies are infiltrated into the development ideology as well as the social structures. The construction of intercity express railway project announced in 2008 causing the demolishment of Tsoi Yuen Tsuen, a “non-indigenous” agricultural village in Hong Kong, was one of the current examples. Tsoi Yuen village was established under the former colonial sovereignty sixty years ago. Approximately 450 populations were affected that they had to relocate their homeland involuntarily. However, these villagers were very attached to their homelands and were unwilling to move, and meanwhile they found that they were absent in the government’s consultation and decision-making process. Soon they began their resistance and demanded for “No Move! No Demolish!”. Their movement was strongly supported by a group of “Post-80s generation” and turned into the most important social movement of the city in recent years. In fact, demolition of Tsoi Yuen Village for city development is not an isolated case in the city. Meanwhile the situation is getting worse in Mainland China. I chose the case study of Tsoi Yuen Resistance from 2008 to 2011 for revelation of the complicated colonial history and postcolonial era of Hong Kong. I focused on discussing the Tsoi Yuen Resistance and the Post-80s movement, and how they have exposed the tension between top-down urban planning and development and public movements fighting for a more democratic process in choosing their way of living. Through the study of a village movement which as well as the rationale behind the Post-80s’ support, I hoped to illustrate how this movement has awaken a different sense of living for the new generations in the midst of the high-sounding urban development. It is an opportunity to examine Hong Kong’s colonial epoch in a different perspective: through studying the Tsoi Yuen Village, let them (subalterns) speak for themselves. Furthermore, the significance of this resistance, taking place eleven years after the handover to the PRC, is an important fact that I shall not miss in later discussion. Last but not least, during the resistance, advanced technology and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, iPhone were used by Post 80s generation to spread the latest information in order to attract public’s concern and participation. Therefore, apart from studying Tsoi Yuen Resistance as a local social movement, I also regard it as a part of the global movement in perusing ecological lifestyle and civil society. How Post 80s’ generation manipulates the global idea in a local context will also be examined.

Trans-saccadic processing of visual and motor planning during sequential eye movements

How the brain maintains perceptual continuity across eye movements that yield discontinuous snapshots of the world is still poorly understood. In this study, we adapted a framework from the dual-task paradigm, well suited to reveal bottlenecks in mental processing, to study how information is processed across sequential saccades. The pattern of RTs allowed us to distinguish among three forms of trans-saccadic processing (no trans-saccadic processing, trans-saccadic visual processing and trans-saccadic visual processing and saccade planning models). Using a cued double-step saccade task, we show that even though saccade execution is a processing bottleneck, limiting access to incoming visual information, partial visual and motor processing that occur prior to saccade execution is used to guide the next eye movement. These results provide insights into how the oculomotor system is designed to process information across multiple fixations that occur during natural scanning.

Is UK Planning a Barrier to Energy Efficient Heritage Retrofit: A Comparative Analysis of a Selection of London Boroughs

This paper is part of a larger PhD research project examining the apparent conflict in UK planning between energy efficiency and conservation for the retrofit of the thermal envelope of the existing building stock. Review of the literature shows that the UK will not meet its 2050 emission reduction target without substantial improvement to the energy performance of the thermal envelope of the existing building stock and that significantly, 40% of the existing stock has heritage status and may be exempted from Building Regulations. A review of UK policy and legislation shows that there are clear national priorities towards reducing emissions and addressing climate change, yet also shows a movement towards local decision making and control. This paper compares the current status of thirteen London Boroughs in respect to their position on thermal envelope retrofit for heritage and traditionally constructed buildings. Data collection is through ongoing surveys and interviews that compare statistical data, planning policies, sustainability and environmental priorities, and Officer decision-making. This paper finds that there is a lack of consistency in application of planning policy across Boroughs and suggests that this is a barrier to the up-take of energy efficient retrofit. Various recommendations are suggested at both national and local level which could help UK planning and planning officers deliver more energy efficient heritage retrofits.

Neural Dynamics of Saccadic and Smooth Pursuit Eye Movement Coordination during Visual Tracking of Unpredictably Moving Targets

How does the brain use eye movements to track objects that move in unpredictable directions and speeds? Saccadic eye movements rapidly foveate peripheral visual or auditory targets and smooth pursuit eye movements keep the fovea pointed toward an attended moving target. Analyses of tracking data in monkeys and humans reveal systematic deviations from predictions of the simplest model of saccade-pursuit interactions, which would use no interactions other than common target selection and recruitment of shared motoneurons. Instead, saccadic and smooth pursuit movements cooperate to cancel errors of gaze position and velocity, and thus to maximize target visibility through time. How are these two systems coordinated to promote visual localization and identification of moving targets? How are saccades calibrated to correctly foveate a target despite its continued motion during the saccade? A neural model proposes answers to such questions. The modeled interactions encompass motion processing areas MT, MST, FPA, DLPN and NRTP; saccade planning and execution areas FEF and SC; the saccadic generator in the brain stem; and the cerebellum. Simulations illustrate the model’s ability to functionally explain and quantitatively simulate anatomical, neurophysiological and behavioral data about SAC-SPEM tracking.

Target Selection by Frontal Cortex During Coordinated Saccadic and Smooth Pursuit Eye Movement

Oculomotor tracking of moving objects is an important component of visually based cognition and planning. Such tracking is achieved by a combination of saccades and smooth pursuit eye movements. In particular, the saccadic and smooth pursuit systems interact to often choose the same target, and to maximize its visibility through time. How do multiple brain regions interact, including frontal cortical areas, to decide the choice of a target among several competing moving stimuli? How is target selection information that is created by a bias (e.g., electrical stimulation) transferred from one movement system to another? These saccade-pursuit interactions are clarified by a new computational neural model, which describes interactions among motion processing areas MT, MST, FPA, DLPN; saccade specification, selection, and planning areas LIP, FEF, SNr, SC; the saccadic generator in the brain stem; and the cerebellum. Model simulations explain a broad range of neuroanatomical and neurophysiological data. These results are in contrast with the simplest parallel model with no interactions between saccades and pursuit than common-target selection and recruitment of shared motoneurons. Actual tracking episodes in primates reveal multiple systematic deviations from predictions of the simplest parallel model, which are explained by the current model.

Movement-related potentials in Huntington's disease: movement preparation and execution

Movement-related potentials (MRPs) reflect increasing cortical activity related to the preparation and execution of voluntary movement. Execution and preparatory components may be separated by comparing MRPs recorded from actual and imagined movement. Imagined movement initiates preparatory processes, but not motor execution activity. MRPs are maximal over the supplementary motor area (SMA), an area of the cortex involved in the planning and preparation of movement. The SMA receives input from the basal ganglia, which are affected in Huntington's disease (HD), a hyperkinetic movement disorder. In order to further elucidate the effects of the disorder upon the cortical activity relating to movement, MRPs were recorded from ten HD patients, and ten age-matched controls, whilst they performed and imagined performing a sequential button-pressing task. HD patients produced MRPs of significantly reduced size both for performed and imagined movement. The component relating to movement execution was obtained by subtracting the MRP for imagined movement from the MRP for performed movement, and was found to be normal in HD. The movement preparation component was found by subtracting the MRP found for a control condition of watching the visual cues from the MRP for imagined movement. This preparation component in HD was reduced in early slope, peak amplitude, and post-peak slope. This study therefore reported abnormal MRPs in HD. particularly in terms of the components relating to movement preparation, and this finding may further explain the movement deficits reported in the disease.