A new landscape of arts-based buildings and comparative cultural policies on the island of Ireland: the curse of Jocasta's necklace

Much current cultural policy research focuses on activity traditionally viewed as arts practice: visual arts, music, literature and dance. Architecture’s role in the discussion of cultural policy is, however, less certain and thus less frequently interrogated. The study presented here both addresses this dearth of in-depth research while also contributing to the interdisciplinary discussion of cultural policy in wider terms. In seeking to better understand how architectural culture is regulated and administered in a specific case study, it unpacks how the complicated relationships of nominal and explicit policies on both sides of the Irish/Northern Irish border contributed to the significant expansion of arts-based buildings 1995-2008. It contrasts political and cultural motivations behind these projects during a period of significant economic growth, investment and inward immigration. Data has been gathered from both official published policies as well as interviews with elite actors in the decision-making field and architects who produced the buildings of interest in both countries. With the sizeable number of arts-based buildings now completed in both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, one must wonder if this necklace of buildings is, like Jocasta’s, a thing of both beauty and redolent with a potential future curse. It is the goal of this project to contribute to the larger applied and critical discussion of these issues and to engage with future policy design, administration and, certainly, evaluation.

A study of the use of the trimesium salt of glyphosate to desiccate and ret flax and linseed (Linum usitatissimum) and of its effects on the yield of straw, seed and fibre

A replicated field plot experiment was carried out in Northern Ireland in 1996 with flax, cv Ariane, and linseed, cv Flanders, each grown at seed rates of 500, 1000 and 1500 seeds/m(2), in which a comparison was made between netting of the standing crop, following desiccation by the trimesium salt of glyphosate (Touchdown, Zeneca Ltd.), and water or dew retting of the pulled crop. Application at 4 litres/ha on 9 August, 33 days after the mid-point of flowering (MPF), achieved both desiccation and partial retting of the crop within 14 days. Over 16 % clean long fibre was extracted by scutching the stand-netted flax straw, yielding 800 kg/ha fibre, while water retting achieved 20 extraction and 980 kg/ha yield and dew netting 8.5 % and 420 kg/ha respectively. The dew retting was uneven, resulting in high losses during fibre extraction, while water retting for 7 days at 25 degreesC did not achieve complete retting resulting in a high content of woody fragments in the fibre. Fibre yields increased by almost 50 % with the high v. low seed rate. Linseed was less well retted than flax and contained higher levels of impurity in the extracted long fibre which, after retting, yielded 120 to 310 kg/ha at extraction rates of 2.9 % to 7.5 %.

In a second experiment in 1998 flax cvs. Viola and Evelyn were treated with the timesium salt of glyphosate at rates of 2, 4 or 6 litres/ha 10, 20, 30 or 40 days after MPF on 5 July. Viola desiccated satisfactorily at all spray dates with 4 and 6 litres/ha glyphosate. The 20-day treatment desiccated more slowly than the 30-day and the 2 litres/ha rate did not achieve complete desiccation, but the trimesium salt of glyphosate achieved better desiccation at this timing than that found in earlier studies with the original form of glyphosate. Evelyn desiccated more slowly and less evenly than Viola particularly at the 20-day and 40-day timings. Spraying at MPF + 10 days interrupted early development of the seed and fibre significantly reducing yields. Due to slower desiccation the 20-day timing was no better than the 30-day, which was well retted by harvest 44 days after spraying, and gave the highest yield of clean long fibre. The spraying 40 days after MPF was considered too late in the season to be of practical use. It was concluded that retting of standing flax following desiccation with the trimesium salt of glyphosate was more effective than with the earlier formulation and that resting of the standing crop could achieve equivalent or better retting with similar fibre yields to traditional retting methods. The optimum spray timing was found to be about 30 days after MPF with 4 or 6 litres/ha, the lower rate being adequate for glyphosate responsive varieties such as Viola.

Conjugated linoleic acid and atherosclerosis: no effect on molecular markers of cholesterol homeostasis in THP-1 macrophages

Macrophage cholesterol homeostasis is a key process involved in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) regulate the transcription of the genes involved in cholesterol homeostasis and thus represent an important therapeutic target in terms of reducing atherosclerosis. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a potent anti-atherogenic dietary fatty acid in animal models of atherosclerosis and is capable of activating PPARs in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, this study examined whether the anti-atherogenic effects of CLA in vivo could be ascribed to altered cholesterol homeostasis in macrophages and macrophage derived foam cells. Of several genes that regulate cholesterol homeostasis investigated, CLA had most effect on the class B scavenger receptor CD36. The cis-9,trans-11 CLA (c9,t11-CLA) and trans-10,cis-12 CLA (t10,c12-CLA) isomers augmented CD36 mRNA expression (P

Direct Democracy and Regional Integration::Citizens' Perceptions of Treaty Implications and the Irish Reversal on Lisbon

Analyses of voting in European Union referendums typically distinguish between ‘second-order’ effects and the impact of substantive ‘issues’. In order to explain change in referendum outcome, two types of substantive issues are distinguished in this article. Focusing on Irish voting in the Lisbon Treaty referendums and using data from post-referendum surveys, it is found that perceptions of treaty implications outperform underlying attitudes to EU integration in predicting vote choice at both referendums, and perceptions of treaty implications are strong predictors of vote change between the referendums. The findings have broadly positive implications for normative assessments of the usefulness of direct democracy as a tool for legitimising regional integration advance.

A more direct way to make catalysts: one-pot ligand-assisted aerobic stripping and electrodeposition of copper on graphite

Electrodeposition of metals onto conductive supports such as graphite potentially provides a lower-waste method to form heterogeneous catalysts than the standard methods such as wet impregnation. Copper electrodeposition onto pressed graphite disc electrodes was investigated from aqueous CuSO4-ethylenediamine solutions by chronoamperometry with scanning electron microscopy used to ascertain the particle sizes obtained by this method. The particle size was studied as a function of pH, CuSO4-ethylenediamine concentration, and electrodeposition time. It was observed that decreasing the pH, copper-ethylenediamine concentration and time each decreased the size of the copper particles observed, with the smallest obtained being around 5-20 nm. Furthermore, electroless aerobic oxidation of copper metal in the presence of ethylenediamine was successfully coupled with the electrodeposition in the same vessel. In this way, deposition was achieved sequentially on up to twenty different graphite discs using the same ethylenediamine solution, demonstrating the recyclability of the ligand. The materials thus prepared were shown to be catalytically active for the mineralisation of phenol by hydrogen peroxide. Overall, the results provide a proof-of-principle that by making use of aerobic oxidation coupled with electrochemical deposition, elemental base metals can be used directly as starting materials to form heterogeneous catalysts without the need to use metal salts as catalyst precursors.

"New" and "Old" Social Risks: Life Cycle and Social Class Perspectives on Social Exclusion in Ireland

The life cycle concept has come to have considerable prominence in Irish social policy debate. However, this has occurred without any systematic effort to link its usage to the broader literature relating to the concept. Nor has there been any detailed consideration of how we should set about operationalising the concept. In this paper we argue the need for "macro" life cycle perspectives that have been influenced by recent challenges to the welfare state to be combined with "micro" perspectives focusing on the dynamic and multidimensional nature of social exclusion. We make use of Irish EU-SILC 2005 data in developing a life cycle schema and considering its relationship to a range of indicators of social exclusion. At the European level renewed interest in the life cycle concept is associated with the increasing emphasis on the distinction between "new" and "old" social risks and the notion that the former are more "individualised". Inequality and poverty rather than being differentially distributed between social classes are thought to vary between phases in the average work life. Our findings suggest the "death of social class" thesis is greatly overblown. A more accurate appreciation of the importance of new and old social risks requires that we systematically investigate the manner in which factors such as social class and the life cycle interact.

Vulnerability and multiple deprivation perspectives on economic exclusion in Europe: A latent class analysis

In this paper we address issues relating to vulnerability to economic exclusion and levels of economic exclusion in Europe. We do so by applying latent class models to data from the European Community Household Panel for thirteen countries. This approach allows us to distinguish between vulnerability to economic exclusion and exposure to multiple deprivation at a particular point in time. The results of our analysis confirm that in every country it is possible to distinguish between a vulnerable and a non-vulnerable class. Association between income poverty, life-style deprivation and subjective economic strain is accounted for by allocating individuals to the categories of this latent variable. The size of the vulnerable class varies across countries in line with expectations derived from welfare regime theory. Between class differentiation is weakest in social democratic regimes but otherwise the pattern of differentiation is remarkably similar. The key discriminatory factor is life-style deprivation, followed by income and economic strain. Social class and employment status are powerful predictors of latent class membership in all countries but the strength of these relationships varies across welfare regimes. Individual biography and life events are also related to vulnerability to economic exclusion. However, there is no evidence that they account for any significant part of the socio-economic structuring of vulnerability and no support is found for the hypothesis that social exclusion has come to transcend class boundaries and become a matter of individual biography. However, the extent of socio-economic structuring does vary substantially across welfare regimes. Levels of economic exclusion, in the sense of current exposure to multiple deprivation, also vary systematically by welfare regime and social class. Taking both vulnerability to economic exclusion and levels of exclusion into account suggests that care should be exercised in moving from evidence on the dynamic nature of poverty and economic exclusion to arguments relating to the superiority of selective over universal social policies.

The effects of past, present and future climate change on range-wide genetic diversity in northern North Atlantic marine species

It is now accepted that changes in the Earth’s climate are having a profound effect on the distributions of a wide variety of species. One aspect of these changes that has only recently received any attention, however, is their potential effect on levels of within-species genetic diversity. Theoretical, empirical and modelling studies suggest that the impact of trailing-edge population extirpation on range-wide intraspecific diversity will be most pronounced in species that harbour the majority of their genetic variation at low latitudes as a result of changes during the Quaternary glaciations. In the present review, I describe the historical factors that have determined current patterns of genetic variation across the ranges of Northern North Atlantic species, highlight the fact that the majority of these species do indeed harbour a disproportionate level of genetic diversity in rear-edge populations, and outline how combined species distribution modelling and genetic analyses can provide insights into the potential effects of climate change on their overall genetic diversity.

Wound and skin team. Impact on pressure ulcer prevalence in chronic care.

1. Decreasing the prevalence of pressure ulcers in a chronic care hospital presents a challenge to care providers. 2. The promotion of staff nurses as educational resources has a positive effect on their participation in a wound and skin care team. 3. When basic prevention practices are not in place, risk factors are less useful indicators to predict the development of pressure ulcers. 4. Educating nurses about pressure ulcer etiology, prevention strategies, and treatments has a positive impact on reducing the number of patients who develop pressure ulcers and the number of pressure ulcers that develop on patients in a chronic care hospital.

Growth, dye degradation and ligninolytic activity studies on Zimbabwean white rot fungi

White rot fungi were collected from Chirinda and Chimanimani hardwood forests in Zimbabwe and studied with respect to growth temperature optima and dye decolorization. Temperature optima were found to vary (between 25-37 degreesC) amongst the isolates. The isolates were screened for their ability to degrade the polymeric dyes; blue dextran and Poly R478 and the triphenylmethane dyes; cresol red, crystal violet and bromophenol blue. Semi-quantitative determination of the hydrolytic enzyme activities possessed by the white rot fungi was determined using the API ZYM system. Lignin peroxidase (LiP), manganese peroxidase (MnP) and laccase activities in the fungi were also determined. No LiP was detected in any of the isolates but all isolates showed manganese peroxidase and laccase activities. Time related decolorization studies and optimum pH determinations for Poly R478 degradation by the isolates were carried out in liquid cultures. The most significant rates of Poly R478 decolorization in liquid cultures were found with the following isolates: Trametes cingulata, Trametes versicolor, Trametes pocas, DSPM95 (a species to be identified), Datronia concentrica and Pyenoporus sanguineus. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.