Improving town, 1750-1820

The economic, cultural and political development of Belfast

Beyond Divided Territory::How Changing Understandings of Public Space in Northern Ireland can Facilitate New Identity Dynamics

The sectarian geography of Northern Ireland, whereby the majority of the population live in areas predominated by one religion or the other, is typically assumed to straightforwardly reflect the territorial identities of local residents. This conflation of place and identity neglects the role of place in actively shaping and changing the behaviours occurring within them. The present paper uses new developments in the area of social psychology to examine three case studies of place identity in Northern Ireland and explore the possibilities for change. A large scale survey of the display of flags and emblems across Northern Ireland demonstrates the extent of visible ter-ritorialisation, but also the relationship between understandings of space and the acceptability of these displays. Secondly, analysis of interviews with the Orange Or-der and nationalist residents concerning the Drumcree dispute illustrates how differ-ent constructions of space are used to claim and counterclaim rights to display iden-tity. Finally analysis of media and interview accounts of the St Patrick’s Day event in Belfast illustrate how new understandings of shared space can negate territorial identities and facilitate coexistence in the same place and facilitate good relations.

Sounds of the City

“Sounds of the City” is a large-scale community project and exhibition commissioned by the Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) and led by artists from the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC), Queen’s University Belfast. Over a four-month period, the artists worked together with two intergenerational groups in Belfast with the aim of addressing specific sound qualities of places, events and stories. Themes that surfaced from this process constitute the basis for the exhibition which promotes listening as a form of intersecting daily life, identity and memory. Five installations address aural contexts ranging from Belfast’s industrial heritage to the local family home. These are shaped by present and past experiences of workshop participants at Dee Street Community Centre in East Belfast and Tar Isteach in North Belfast. The themes and contents of these installations center upon the relationship between sound and memory, sound and place, and the documentation of everyday personal auditory experience.
All materials exhibited have emerged through workshops, interviews and field-recording sessions. Workshops acted as a basis from which to inform each group about the project’s aims, methods of listening, methods of documenting sound and the wider areas of soundscape studies and acoustic ecology. They also provided a central point allowing participants to organize outside activities and share material for exhibition.
“Sounds of the City” explores the relationship between sound and community through everyday life and presents a dynamic and ever-changing soundscape that shapes Belfast’s identity.

Sounds of the City has been exhibited at the MAC, Belfast 2012 and at Espaço Ecco, Brasilia 2013.

Behavioural context of multi-scale species distribution models assessed by radio-tracking

Incorporating ecological processes and animal behaviour into Species Distribution Models (SDMs) is difficult. In species with a central resting or breeding place, there can be conflict between the environmental requirements of the 'central place' and foraging habitat. We apply a multi-scale SDM to examine habitat trade-offs between the central place, roost sites, and foraging habitat in . Myotis nattereri. We validate these derived associations using habitat selection from behavioural observations of radio-tracked bats. A Generalised Linear Model (GLM) of roost occurrence using land cover variables with mixed spatial scales indicated roost occurrence was positively associated with woodland on a fine scale and pasture on a broad scale. Habitat selection of radio-tracked bats mirrored the SDM with bats selecting for woodland in the immediate vicinity of individual roosts but avoiding this habitat in foraging areas, whilst pasture was significantly positively selected for in foraging areas. Using habitat selection derived from radio-tracking enables a multi-scale SDM to be interpreted in a behavioural context. We suggest that the multi-scale SDM of . M. nattereri describes a trade-off between the central place and foraging habitat. Multi-scale methods provide a greater understanding of the ecological processes which determine where species occur and allow integration of behavioural processes into SDMs. The findings have implications when assessing the resource use of a species at a single point in time. Doing so could lead to misinterpretation of habitat requirements as these can change within a short time period depending on specific behaviour, particularly if detectability changes depending on behaviour. © 2011 Gesellschaft für ökologie.

Transgressing Contemporary Boundaries:The Narrator as True Custodian of Cultural Knowledge in Ulster Society

Historically in Gaelic culture, the bard was greatly valued and admired as an important and integral part of society. Travelled, schooled and specifically trained in their art, the bard helped ensure identity and reassurance for Gaelic families by grounding them both temporarily and spatially into their landscape. Entrusted with the duty and responsibility of recording place and event, the bards worked without writing and by transgressing man-made boundaries, travelled throughout the land weaving their histories into the very fabric of society.

Now no longer with us, we find ourselves without the distinguished chronicler to undertake this duty. Yet the responsibility of the Gaelic bard is one still shared by all artists today; to facilitate memory and identity, whether good or bad. Many Ulster writers, by happenstance and geography have found themselves located in a place of painful histories. An immediate difficulty for those local writers becomes manifest by being intrinsically implicated into those histories – whilst having first-hand knowledge and comprehension beyond that of the outsider, the local writer is automatically damned by association and relationship, thereby tarnishing their voice in comparison to the perceived impartiality of others.
Some writers however have successfully sought ways to escape this limitation and have worked in ways that can transgress the restrictions of prejudgement. John Hewitt, by purposely becoming a self-imposed tourist was able to distance himself to write impartially about the past, recognising that ’the place without its ghosts is a barren place.’1 In ‘The Colony’,2 tradition, peoples and mapping of the land are all narrated by Hewitt in a similar way to the Gaelic bardic topographic poems of Sean O'Dubhagain and Giolla Na Naomh O'Huidhrin3 in compiling a rich cultural atlas.

Similarly the Belfast poet and novelist Ciaran Carson also writes and records the city from an intermediary position; that of translator. Mediating between reader and aisling,4 Carson himself takes the reader on a journey into name, meaning, time and place, focusing primarily on the city of Belfast, familiar in name but impenetrable in depth to most.

Furthermore, this once-forgotten tradition to chronicle is now being continued by the new breed of Irish crime writers where the likes of Brian McGilloway, Stuart Neville and Adrian McKinty can, by way of the crime novel, accurately record contemporary society. Thus, ghost estates, listed buildings, archaeological digs, street and city have all provided setting and subject matter for recent novels. Moreover by choosing the ‘outsider from within’ as their chief protagonist, whether detective or criminal, each author is able to transgress the boundaries of prejudice and preconception that hinder genuine understanding and knowledge.

Looking in turn at the Gaelic bard, the twentieth century Ulster poet and the new breed of Irish crime writer, the authors will outline the real value of the narrator, by being able to act as cultural transgressor beyond the seeming and alleged as the true chronicler in society, and then with specific reference to city and countryside in Ireland, as a valuable custodian of knowledge in architecture and place.

Keywords
Architecture, Crime Fiction, Cultural Atlas, Place, Poetry.

1 From ‘The Bloody Brae’, a one act play written by John Hewitt in the 1930’s.
2 Hewitt, J. (1968) published in Collected Poems 1932-67. London:McGibbon & Kee.
3 Lengthy and detailed medieval Gaelic poems composed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries first edited by John O'Donovan in 1862 for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society in Dublin.
4 The aisling is the Irish song or poem genre when the poet is visited by their muse in a daydream or dream-vision state.

Spacing Commemorative-related Violence in Northern Ireland: Assessing the implications for a society in transition

This paper explores the geography of commemorative-related violence in Northern Ireland and considers its ramifications for a society in transition. Using original primary research, this article contributes to discussions on violence, space and memory through a spatial analysis of new quantitative archival data and existing archival material explored through a multi-disciplinary lens. It examines the complex relationship between the practices and processes of commemoration, the violence that it sometimes occasions and the places in which such violence exists. In unpacking this specific form of violence we consider the continued importance of both place and past in a post-conflict society. This includes a concern for the changing structures and forms of governance that influence how the past is negotiated as Northern Ireland marks a decade of commemorations leading up to the centenary of its contested creation.

A Conditional Approach for Modelling Patient Re-admissions in Hospital using a mixture of Coxian phase-type distributions incorporating Bayes Theorem

The number of elderly patients requiring hospitalisation in Europe is rising. With a greater proportion of elderly people in the population comes a greater demand for health services and, in particular, hospital care. Thus, with a growing number of elderly patients requiring hospitalisation competing with non-elderly patients for a fixed (and in some cases, decreasing) number of hospital beds, this results in much longer waiting times for patients, often with a less satisfactory hospital experience. However, if a better understanding of the recurring nature of elderly patient movements between the community and hospital can be developed, then it may be possible for alternative provisions of care in the community to be put in place and thus prevent readmission to hospital. The research in this paper aims to model the multiple patient transitions between hospital and community by utilising a mixture of conditional Coxian phase-type distributions that incorporates Bayes' theorem. For the purpose of demonstration, the results of a simulation study are presented and the model is applied to hospital readmission data from the Lombardy region of Italy.

Picturing Probation: Exploring the utility of visual methods in comparative research

A previous review of research on the practice of offender supervision identified the predominant use of interview-based methodologies and limited use of other research approaches (Robinson and Svensson, 2013). It also found that most research has tended to be locally focussed (i.e. limited to one jurisdiction) with very few comparative studies. This article reports on the application of a visual method in a small-scale comparative study. Practitioners in five European countries participated and took photographs of the places and spaces where offender supervision occurs. The aims of the study were two-fold: firstly to explore the utility of a visual approach in a comparative context; and secondly to provide an initial visual account of the environment in which offender supervision takes place. In this article we address the first of these aims. We describe the application of the method in some depth before addressing its strengths and weaknesses. We conclude that visual methods provide a useful tool for capturing data about the environments in which offender supervision takes place and potentially provide a basis for more normative explorations about the practices of offender supervision in comparative contexts.

Os alunos de risco no 2º ciclo da Escola Básica 2, 3 Ana de Castro Osório, no ano lectivo 2004/2005: um estudo de caso

O presente estudo aborda a problemática dos alunos de risco no 2° Ciclo da E.B. 2,3 Ana de Castro Osório, no ano letivo 2004/2005. Na dimensão teórica são referenciadas algumas questões de Organização Escolar (escola reflexiva, autonomia de escola, gestores intermédios e supervisão escolar, o papel do Diretor de Turma, o Projeto Curricular de Escola, algumas linhas orientadoras da política educativa portuguesa, no período em que decorre a elaboração desta investigação) e abordados alguns aspetos gerais dos pré-adolescentes, diversos conceitos de risco, a ação de diversas entidades com competência na área da infância e juventude, o papel da família e a relação desta com a escola. Foi utilizada a metodologia do “Estudo Caso”, no decurso da qual foram analisados documentos internos da escola e elaborados instrumentos de recolha de dados (questionários aplicados aos Alunos e aos seus Diretores de Turma). No tratamento das informações de natureza quantitativa, utilizou-se o programa informático Excel, enquanto nas questões abertas procedeu-se à análise de conteúdo. Em síntese, concluiu-se que: a) um terço dos alunos que frequentava o 2° Ciclo do Ensino Básico, foi sinalizado como “aluno de risco”. Cerca de 75% era do 5° Ano de Escolaridade. Os fatores de risco que mais se destacam são: assiduidade irregular, desmotivação/desinteresse/apatia, défice de atenção e concentração, indisciplina e retenções sucessivas no seu percurso escolar. A família é pouco participativa. b) a resposta curricular dá-se essencialmente dentro da sala de aula; c) a resposta organizacional assenta essencialmente nalgumas medidas previstas nos documentos legislativos. Na última parte do trabalho deixamos expressas as conclusões do estudo mais pormenorizadas, bem como algumas recomendações/sugestões que eventualmente, poderão orientar posteriores investigações. /ABSTRACT - The risk students on a 2nd Cycle of classroom of the E.B. 2, 3 Ana de Castro Osório, during academic year of 2004/2005: A Case study The present study attempts to assess risk students on a 2nd Cycle (Sth and 6th grades) classroom of the “E.B. 2, 3 Ana de Castro Osório” Public School during the academic year of 2004/2005. On a theoretical scale, are assessed some questions about the Classroom Organization (reflexive school, school autonomy, intermediate directors and school supervision, the role of the Class Tutor, the School Curricular Project, some guidelines about the Portuguese education policy during the period when this study took place), and was also assessed some general aspects of preadolescents, risk concepts, and actions taken by various organizations specialized in the areas of childhood and youth, the role of the family and the interrelation between the family and the school. It was used a “Case Study” methodology during which was assessed school documents of this particularly school, and data collecting instruments (Student-applied and Class Tutor-applied questionnaires). On dealing with quantitative data, it was used the Excel application, while for the open questions was assessed by its contents. In brief, it was concluded that: a) a third of students that attended the 2nd Cycle Basic Education schools revealed to be “risk students”. Around 75% of them were 5th grade students. Among the most important risk factors are: irregular attendance, unmotivated/aloofness /apathy, lack of attention and concentration, indiscipline and successive retentions during their education pathway. The family is scarcely participative. b) The curricular response is normally given within the classroom; c) the organizational response lies mostly on some measures included in government documents. On the last part of the paper, we focus on more detailed conclusions, as well as give recommendations/suggestions which may eventually be of guidance to future studies.

Mercado electrónico para serviços de teleradiologia

O desenvolvimento das soluções baseadas em telemedicina tem permitido a criação e o desenvolvimento de novas formas de prestar cuidados de saúde, aproximando prestadores de pacientes e diminuindo os tempos de espera associados, melhorando a qualidade do serviço prestado. No entanto, nem sempre a introdução de tecnologia nos processos de saúde corresponde a uma redução nas assimetrias existentes a nível nacional na prestação de cuidados. O principal objectivo deste trabalho consistiu em desenvolver um sistema que permita a criação de um mercado electrónico de teleradiologia tirando partido das soluções tecnologicamente evoluídas já existentes e da boa distribuição de equipamento a nível nacional. Neste mercado é possível maximizar a satisfação de pacientes e entidades requisitantes de exames radiológicos em relação ao serviço prestado, sem prejudicar a qualidade do serviço prestado, ao mesmo tempo que optimiza a utilização do equipamento disponibilizado. Para tal, foi verificado o actual estado da arte em termos de sistemas de telemedicina e de teleradiologia, tendo igualmente sido confirmada a percepção existente das assimetrias a nível nacional em termos de distribuição de recursos humanos no sector da saúde. Depois de verificar o actual fluxo de trabalho em termos de requisição, execução e interpretação de exames imagiológicos, procedeu-se à sua optimização e adaptação para um mercado de teleradiologia, desenhando um conjunto de requisitos associados com as principais etapas de execução dos exames, identificando os principais entraves ao seu funcionamento e propondo mecanismos originais de resolução com base em sistemas de informação. Ao nível de sistemas de informação, é apresentado um protótipo que possibilita a demonstração da implementação de alguns dos mais importantes requisitos anteriormente apresentados e o seu funcionamento, demonstrando o funcionamento prático do sistema de mercado de imagens baseado em teleradiologia. Finalmente é demonstrada a exequibilidade prática desta solução mediante a apresentação de um modelo de negócio onde se apresentam os benefícios decorrentes da implementação deste sistema e os respectivos custos associados com a implementação de uma infra-estrutura desta natureza.

A integração curricular da intercompreensão numa turma de ELE

O presente Relatório Final de estágio tem como principal intento fazer o relato de uma experiência de integração curricular da intercompreensão (IC) numa turma de Espanhol Língua Estrangeira (ELE) do Ensino Secundário, decorrente do desenvolvimento de uma sessão na plataforma Galanet, procurando verificar de que forma esta experiência concorrre para o desenvolvimento curricular da disciplina. Após uma breve incursão pela paisagem didatológica que enforma este trabalho e pelos documentos reguladores do ensino de ELE em Portugal, prossegue-se com uma apresentação do contexto em que a intervenção foi realizada e da intervenção em si mesma (objetivos, estratégias, materiais, etc.). Posteriormente, procede-se a uma análise qualitativa e quantitativa dos dados, recolhidos ao longo das diversas intervenções didáticas: notas de campo elaboradas pela própria professora, artefactos escritos e orais elaborados pelos alunos; inquérito final. Propõe-se uma análise dos dados a partir do referencial aprendente, elaborado no âmbito do projeto Miriadi (Mutualização e Inovação por uma Rede de Intercompreensão à Distância), e do CARAP (Cadre de Référence pour les Approches Plurielles), orientado para as abordagens plurais do ensino-aprendizagem de línguas. Em concomitância, descreve-se de que forma a presente proposta de integração curricular da IC no ensino de ELE concorre para atingir os objetivos propostos pelo Programa de Espanhol para o Ensino Secundário, 10º ano iniciação. Os resultados evidenciam que a integração curricular da IC no ensino de ELE induz dinâmicas de ensino-aprendizagem que, ao colocarem os sujeitos em situações de comunicação plural, envolvem-nos nas suas dimensões afetiva e inteletual, originando significativas aprendizagens, tanto no que concerne a aspetos linguísticos comuns às diversas línguas românicas como a particularidades da língua espanhola.

Aquifer recharge in Moura region (South Portugal)

Dissertação de mest., Recursos Hídricos, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Univ. do Algarve, 2011

Conflit sexuel et polyandrie de la commodité chez une espèce polygynandre: les effets combinés des processus pré- et post- copulatoires sur le succès reproducteur de "Gerris buenoi"

Chez les patineurs, des processus postcopulatoires sont documentés et un conflit sexuel sur le taux d’accouplement est démontré. Cependant, leurs effets combinés sur le succès reproducteur ont rarement été investigués. Cette étude joint une analyse de filiation génétique à des observations comportementales pour évaluer l’effet des processus pré- et post- copulatoires sur le succès reproducteur de Gerris buenoi. Nos résultats montrent la nature antagoniste des combats précopulatoires et un niveau de résistance optimal intermédiaire pour les femelles. Cependant, le taux d’accouplement n’a eu aucune influence sur le succès reproducteur des deux sexes. Un taux d’accouplement élevé permettant à des processus postcopulatoires de se mettre en place ainsi que plusieurs copulations superflues ont vraisemblablement masqué les effets attendus du taux d’accouplement. Notre étude confirme l’idée que des précisions peuvent être apportées sur les forces de sélection sexuelle en jeu lorsque l’on considère tous les épisodes d’un cycle d’accouplement chez les animaux polygynandres.

Estágio no Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Norte - Polo: Hospital de Santa Maria - Serviço de Dietética e Nutrição

Relatório de estágio de mestrado, Nutrição Clínica, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina, 2015