Whe' yu' from?

"Whe' yu' from?" The question was put to me as I wandered, camera in hand, in the old square of Spanish Town, Jamaica's former capital. The local man, lounging in the shade of one of the colonial Georgian buildings that enclose the square, was mildly curious about what he took to be a typical white tourish photgraphing the sights of the decayed historic town. At that time, my home was in Kingston where i lived with my wife and baby son. I was then working in the Jamaican Government Town Planning Department in a job that took me all over the island. Turning to my questioner, I replied, "Kingston". There was a brief pause, and then the man spoke again: "No Man! Whe' yu' really from?" I still have difficulties when asked this question. Where am I from? What does this question mean? Does it refer to where I was born, where I spent my previous life or where I live now? Does it have a broader meaning, an enquiry about my origins in terms of background and previous experience? The following chapters are my attempt to answer these questions for my own satisfaction and, I hope, for the amusement of others who may be interested in the life of an ordinary English boy whose dream to travel and see the world was realized in ways he could not possibly have imagined. Finding an appropriate title for this book was difficult. Thursday's Child, North and South and War and Peace all came to mind but, unfortunately for me, those titles had been appropriated by other writers. Thursdays's Child is quite a popular book title, presumably because people who were born on that day and, in the words of the nursery rhyme, had 'far to go', are especially likely to have travellers' tales to tell or life stories of the rags-to-riches variety. Born on a Thursday, I have travelled a lot and I suppose that I have gone far in life. Coming from a working class family, I 'got on' by 'getting a good education' and a 'good job'. I decided against adding to the list of Thursday's Children. North and South would have reflected my life in Britain, spent in both the North and South of England, and my later years, divided between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of the globe, as well as in countries commonly referred to as the 'advanced' North and the 'underdeveloped' South. North and South has already been appropriated by Mrs Gaskell, something that did not deter one popular American writer from using the title for a book of his. My memories of World War Two and the years afterwards made War and Peace a possible candidate, but readers expectnig an epic tale of Tolstoyan proportions may have been disappointed. To my knowledge, no other book has the title "Whe' Yu' From?". I am grateful to the Jamaican man whose question lingered in my memory and provided the title of this memoir, written decades later. This book is a word picture. It is, in a sense, a self-portrait, and like all portraits, it captures something of the character, it attempts to tell the truth, but it is not the whole truth. This is because it is not my intention to write my entire life story; rather I wish to tell about some of the things in my experience of life that have seemed important or interesting to me. Unlike a painted portrait, the picture I have created is intended to suggest the passage of time. While, for most of us in Western society, time is linear and unidirectional, like the flight of an arrov or the trajectory of a bullet, memory rearranges things, calling up images of the past in no particular order, making connections that may link events in various patterns, circular, web-like, superimposed. The stream of consciousness is very unlike that of streams we encounter in the physical world. Connections are made in all directions; thoughts hop back and forth in time and space, from topic to topic. My book is a composition drawn from periods, events and thoughts as I remember them. Like life itself, it is made up of patches, some good, some bad, but in my experience, always fascinating. In recording my memories, I have been as accurate as possible. Little of what I have written is about spectacular sights and strange customs. Much of it focuses on my more modest explorations includng observations of everyday things that have attracted my attention. Reading through the chapters, I am struck by my childhood freedom to roam and engage in 'dangerous' activities like climbing trees and playing beside streams, things that many children today are no longer allowed to enjoy. Also noticeable is the survival of traditions and superstitions from the distant past. Obvious too, is my preoccupation with place names, both official ones that appear on maps and sign boards and those used by locals and children, names rarely seen in print. If there is any uniting theme to be found in what I have written, it must be my education in the fields, woods and streets of my English homeland, in the various other countries in which I have lived and travelled, as well as more formally from books and in classrooms. Much of my book is concerned with people and places. Many of the people I mention are among those who have been, and often have remained, important and close to me. Others I remember from only the briefest of encounters, but they remain in my memory because of some specific incident or circumstance that fixed a lasting image in my mind. Some of my closest friends and relatives, however, appear nowhere in these pages or they receive only the slightest mention. This is not because they played an unimportant roles in my life. It is because this book is not the whole story. Among those whe receive little or no mention are some who are especially close to me, with whom I have shared happy and sad times and who have shown me and my family much kindness, giving support when this was needed. Some I have known since childhood and have popped up at various times in my life, often in different parts of the world. Although years may pass without me seeing them, in an important sense they are always with me. These people know who they are. I hope that they know how much I love and appreciate them. When writing my memoir, I consulted a few of the people mentioned in this book, but in the main, I have relied on my own memory, asided by daiary and notebook entries and old correspondence. In the preparation of this manuscript, I benefited greatly from the expert advice and encouragement of Neil Marr of BeWrite Books. My wife Anne, inspiration for this book, also contributed in the valuable role of critic. She has my undying gratitude.

Exploring influencing factors of short-lived buildings in China's urban renewal : evidence from Chongqing

With the fast development of urban sprawl and renewal in China, many buildings are “non-nature” short-lived, i.e. demolished after only a few years. For this concern, this research explores the influencing factors of short-lived buildings and provides the scientific foundation for sustainable urban management and planning. Cases for this research are 1734 buildings demolished in Jiangbei district, the middle region of Chongqing City. Internal and external factors for the short-lived buildings are identified by applying logistic analysis. The results indicate that nine factors have significant influence on short-lived buildings. This research also find that buildings with low density, utilization and compensation while high land development potential are more likely to become short-lived buildings.

Response to “Comment on ‘Indications of energetic consequences of decoherence at short times for scattering from open quantum systems’” [AIP Advances 1, 049101 (2011)]

The Comment by Mayers and Reiter criticizes our work on two counts. Firstly, it is claimed that the quantum decoherence effects that we report in consequence of our experimental analysis of neutron Compton scattering from H in gaseous H2 are not, as we maintain, outside the framework of conventional neutron scatteringtheory. Secondly, it is claimed that we did not really observe such effects, owing to a faulty analysis of the experimental data, which are claimed to be in agreement with conventional theory. We focus in this response on the critical issue of the reliability of our experimental results and analysis. Using the same standard Vesuvio instrument programs used by Mayers et al., we show that, if the experimental results for H in gaseous H2 are in agreement with conventional theory, then those for D in gaseous D2 obtained in the same way cannot be, and vice-versa. We expose a flaw in the calibration methodology used by Mayers et al. that leads to the present disagreement over the behaviour of H, namely the ad hoc adjustment of the measured H peak positions in TOF during the calibration of Vesuvio so that agreement is obtained with the expectation of conventional theory. We briefly address the question of the necessity to apply the theory of open quantum systems.

Indications of energetic consequences of decoherence at short times for scattering from open quantum systems

Decoherence of quantum entangled particles is observed in most systems, and is usually caused by system-environment interactions. Disentangling two subsystems A and B of a quantum systemAB is tantamount to erasure of quantum phase relations between A and B. It is widely believed that this erasure is an innocuous process, which e.g. does not affect the energies of A and B. Surprisingly, recent theoretical investigations by different groups showed that disentangling two systems, i.e. their decoherence, can cause an increase of their energies. Applying this result to the context of neutronCompton scattering from H2 molecules, we provide for the first time experimental evidence which supports this prediction. The results reveal that the neutron-proton collision leading to the cleavage of the H-H bond in the sub-femtosecond timescale is accompanied by larger energy transfer (by about 3%) than conventional theory predicts. It is proposed to interpreted the results by considering the neutron-proton collisional system as an entangled open quantum system being subject to decoherence owing to the interactions with the “environment” (i.e., two electrons plus second proton of H2).

Short-term changes in axial length during simulations of typical far, intermediate and near tasks

Purpose: To investigate the changes in axial length with the combined effect of accommodation and angle of gaze (convergence and downward gaze) over 5 minutes in groups of myopes and emmetropes. Methods: A total of 31 subjects (nine emmetropes, 10 low myopes, and 12 moderate to high myopes) aged from 18 to 31 years were recruited. To measure ocular biometrics in inferonasal gaze with accommodation, an optical biometer (Lenstar LS900) was inclined on a tilt and height adjustable stage, with the subject’s chinrest mounted on a rotary stage to induce various levels of convergence by rotation of the subject’s head in primary or downward gaze. Initially, the subjects performed a distance viewing task in primary gaze for 10 minutes to provide a ‘wash-out’ period for prior visual tasks, and then the subject’s axial length and ocular biometrics were measured in nine different combinations of gaze/accommodation over 5 minutes. These nine sessions for all gaze measurements (i.e. three levels of accommodation 9 three levels of convergence) were completed across 3 days of testing (one accommodation condition on each day).The nine combinations of gaze/accommodation were based on those required to view the centre, right and left edges of a distant TV at 6 m in primary gaze, an intermediate task (i.e. computer at 50 cm in 10° downward gaze) and a near task (i.e. reading A4 page at 20 cm in 20° downward gaze). Subjects were wearing a custom built three-axes head tracker throughout the experiment that monitored subjects’ relative head movements (roll, pitch and yaw) during measurements. Results: A significant increase in axial length occurred with the combined effect of accommodation, convergence and downward gaze (repeated measures ANOVA, p < 0.001), with the greatest axial elongation during the near task in downward gaze with convergence (i.e. downward 20°/inward 33°, with 5 D accommodation) (mean change 33 ± 13 lm, after 5 minutes task) followed by the intermediate task (i.e. downward 10°/inward 25°, with 2 D accommodation) (mean change 14 ± 11 lm, after 5 minutes task).Changes in axial length for the distance task (i.e. primary gaze/9° convergence, with 0.16 D accommodation) were not statistically significant (mean change 4 ± 8 lm, after 5 minutes task, p > 0.05). Moderate to high myopes had a greater change in the axial length (mean change 40 ± 11 lm after 5 minutes of near task) than that of emmetropes (mean change 29 ± 15 lm after 5 minutes of near task) and low myopes (mean change 29 ± 16 lm after 5 minutes of near task) associated with time (p = 0.02) and accommodation by time (p = 0.03). Conclusions: The combination of accommodation, convergence and downward angle has a significant short term effect on axial length over time. The near task in downward gaze with convergence caused a greater change in axial length than the intermediate and distant visual tasks. The greater axial elongation measured in the infero-nasal direction with accommodation is most likely associated with a combination of biomechanical factors such as, extraocular muscle forces and ciliary muscle contraction.

Reduced resting skeletal muscle protein synthesis is rescued by resistance exercise and protein ingestion following short-term energy deficit

The myofibrillar protein synthesis (MPS) response to resistance exercise (REX) and protein ingestion during energy deficit (ED) is unknown. We determined, in young men (n=8) and women (n=7), protein signaling, resting post-absorptive MPS during energy balance [EB: 45 kcal∙(kg FFM∙d)-1] and after 5d of ED [30 kcal∙(kg FFM∙d)-1] as well as MPS while in ED after acute REX in the fasted state and with the ingestion of whey protein (15 and 30 g). Post-absorptive rates of MPS were 27% lower in ED than EB (P<0.001), but REX stimulated MPS to rates equal to EB. Ingestion of 15 and 30 g of protein after REX in ED increased MPS ~16 and ~34% above resting EB, (P<0.02). p70 S6Kthr389 phosphorylation increased above EB only with combined exercise and protein intake (~2-7 fold; P<0.05). In conclusion, short-term ED reduces post-absorptive MPS, however, a bout of REX in ED restores MPS to values observed at rest in EB. The ingestion of protein after REX further increases MPS above resting EB in a dose-dependent manner. We conclude that combining REX with increased protein availability after exercise enhances rates of skeletal muscle protein synthesis during short term ED and could, in the long term, preserve muscle mass.

‘The struggle for welcome’ : valuing difference through refugee stories in the English Curriculum

This paper is concerned with how refugee stories can be used as the means of exploring values and developing intercultural understanding in the English classroom. To illustrate this possibility, André Dao’s (2005) Vuot Bien – The Search for Freedom: Huong Thi Nguen’s Story, about the impact of war and oppression on people’s lives, together with the experience of seeking freedom and acceptance in Australia as a Vietnamese refugee, is selected as the text for a Year 9 English class. In examining the features of this short story, we also consider how recent efforts to foster intercultural understanding in the new national curriculum in Australia might be advanced in the English classroom. We argue that this text and others in the genre of refugee narratives written by young people, provide vicarious opportunities to analyse how valuing freedom and having the courage to seek it can be brought to light when an individual survives one life and begins the challenges of creating a new life among strangers. Examining the values dimensions of such texts also allows young people to unpack and critique the ways in which cultural experiences, including their own, shape and form identities and how engaging with the experiences of others can be the vehicle for valuing difference. We hope our discussion might encourage teachers in other countries undergoing cultural shifts in response to the movements of people will be encouraged to consider this ‘double entendre’ in which the refugee experience is shaped not only by ‘the journey’ and also by ‘the arrival’ and the degree to which newcomers, refugee or asylum seekers, are made welcome by the receiving community.

The Great Gatsby and Ned Kelly: Telling national iconic stories through a transnational lens

This chapter will examine how transnational film making allows national and iconic stories to shift outside their imposed national boundaries, freeing them from “nation building” constraints and predetermined ideological motivations. Each interpretation creates one more dimension to the story’s complexity and hybridity assuring its continuance and relevance into the future. Each new film version, and in the case of iconic stories, each new transnational film version, breathes new energy and life into the stories and also stops monolithic ownership of them. What is also of interest in this chapter is the judgement cast upon each of the retelling and adaptations of these iconic stories. Every adaptation is weighed up and judged against a mythic ideal, and as such, each always falls short of imagined expectations. But in a paradoxical fashion, it is this failure to capture that provides the impetus for the story’s future retellings.

Short-term nutritional supplementation during management of pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibosis: A controlled study, including effects of protein turnover

Effects of nutritional supplements on minimizing weight loss and abnormalities of protein turnover during pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibrosis (CF) were studied by controlled trial. Patients received pulmonary therapy and either standard diet (n = 10) or adjunctive enteral supplements (n = 12). Initial protein turnover, measured by [15N]glycine kinetics, showed alterations of protein synthesis (P Syn) and catabolism (P Cat), which correlated with the degree of underweight, and negligible net protein deposition (P Dep). With treatment both groups had significant increases in mean body weight and forced expiratory volume in 1 s, expressed as percent predicted value for height (FEV1) by 3 wk, but a significant correlation between initial underweight and subsequent weight gain was observed only in supplemented patients. Mean P Syn and P Dep increased significantly (p < 0.001) only in the supplemented group. Pulmonary exacerbations in CF have important adverse effects on body-protein metabolism, similar to changes in protein-energy malnutrition and infection. These effects are reversed by short-term nutritional support. Strategic nutritional intervention should thus be considered in management, especially in malnourished patients.

Board of Delegates of American Israelites records 1859-1881, 1887, 1932

Contains printed copies of the 1860 constitution and by-laws, copies of proceedings and annual reports, 1859-1877, of the Board of Delegates; report on Jews in Roumania, an 1874 annual report of the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society, manuscript minute books and minutes of meetings, 1859-1876, resolutions, executive, financial, ritual slaughtering and other special committee reports, newspaper clippings and correspondence with synagogues and organizations in the U.S. who constitute the membership of the Board of Delegates, with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations with whom they later merged, the Union's Board of Delegates of Civil and Religious Rights, and with individuals and organizations in foreign countries including the Alliance Israelite Universelle, the Anglo-Jewish Association, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Committee for the Roumanian Jews (Berlin), the Koenigsberg Committee, and the London Roumanian Committee.

American Jewish Committee. Office of Jewish War Records, undated, 1918-1921, 1962.

The records consist of documentation of the American Jewish Committee's project to describe Jewish participation in the United States Armed Forces during World War I. The bulk of the material consists of questionnaires that the AJC sent to servicemen to determine Jewish identity, which contain information on personal identification and details of military service. Responses to the questionnaire come from both Jews and non-Jews. In addition, the collection contains office papers concerning the project and a ledger of manuscripts. The manuscripts document the distribution of records the Office of Jewish War Records collected, as well as list Jews who died or were given military honors.

Letter in Ladino and Spanish

Digital image

Scopophobia/Scopophilia: electric light and the anxiety of the gaze in postwar American architecture

In the years of reconstruction and economic boom that followed the Second World War, the domestic sphere encountered new expectations regarding social behaviour, modes of living, and forms of dwelling. This book brings together an international group of scholars from architecture, design, urban planning, and interior design to reappraise mid-twentieth century modern life, offering a timely reassessment of culture and the economic and political effects on civilian life. This collection contains essays that examine the material of art, objects, and spaces in the context of practices of dwelling over the long span of the postwar period. It asks what role material objects, interior spaces, and architecture played in quelling or fanning the anxieties of modernism’s ordinary denizens, and how this role informs their legacy today. Table of Contents [Book] Introduction Robin Schuldenfrei Part 1: Psychological Constructions: Anxiety of Isolation and Exposure 1. Taking Comfort in the Age of Anxiety: Eero Saarinen’s Womb Chair Cammie McAtee 2. The Future is Possibly Past: The Anxious Spaces of Gaetano Pesce Jane Pavitt 3. Scopophobia/Scopophilia: Electric Light and the Anxiety of the Gaze in American Postwar Domestic Architecture Margaret Petty Part 2: Ideological Objects: Design and Representation 4. The Allegory of the Socialist Lifestyle: The Czechoslovak Pavilion at the Brussels Expo, its Gold Medal and the Politburo Ana Miljacki 5. Assimilating Unease: Moholy-Nagy and the Wartime-Postwar Bauhaus in Chicago Robin Schuldenfrei 6. The Anxieties of Autonomy: Peter Eisenman from Cambridge to House VI Sean Keller Part 3: Societies of Consumers: Materialist Ideologies and Postwar Goods 7. "But a home is not a laboratory": The Anxieties of Designing for the Socialist Home in the German Democratic Republic 1950—1965 Katharina Pfützner 8. Architect-designed Interiors for a Culturally Progressive Upper-Middle Class: The Implicit Political Presence of Knoll International in Belgium Fredie Floré 9. Domestic Environment: Italian Neo-Avant-Garde Design and the Politics of Post-Materialism Mary Louise Lobsinger Part 4: Class Concerns and Conflict: Dwelling and Politics 10. Dirt and Disorder: Taste and Anxiety in the Working Class Home Christine Atha 11. Upper West Side Stories: Race, Liberalism, and Narratives of Urban Renewal in Postwar New York Jennifer Hock 12. Pawns or Prophets? Postwar Architects and Utopian Designs for Southern Italy Anne Parmly Toxey. Coda: From Homelessness to Homelessness David Crowley

Multiple conformational states in crystals and in solution in alpha gamma hybrid peptides. Fragility of the C-12 helix in short sequences

The conformational properties of foldamers generated from alpha gamma hybrid peptide sequences have been probed in the model sequence Boc-Aib-Gpn-Aib-Gpn-NHMe. The choice of alpha-aminoisobutyryl (Aib) and gabapentin (Gpn) residues greatly restricts sterically accessible coil formational space. This model sequence was anticipated to be a short segment of the alpha gamma C-12 helix, stabilized by three successive 4 -> 1 hydrogen bonds, corresponding to a backbone-expanded analogue of the alpha polypeptide 3(10)-helix. Unexpectedly, three distinct crystalline polymorphs were characterized in the solid state by X-ray diffraction. In one form, two successive C-12 hydrogen bonds were obtained at the N-terminus, while a novel C-17 hydrogen-bonded gamma alpha gamma turn was observed at the C-terminus. In the other two polymorphs, isolated C-9 and C-7 hydrogen-bonded turns were observed at Gpn (2) and Gpn (4). Isolated C-12 and C-9 turns were also crystallographically established in the peptides Boc-Aib-Gpn-Aib-OMe and Boc-Gpn-Aib-NHMe, respectively. Selective line broadening of NH resonances and the observation of medium range NH(i)<-> NH(i+2) NOEs established the presence of conformational heterogeneity for the tetrapeptide in CDCl3 solution. The NMR results are consistent with the limited population of the continuous C-12 helix conformation. Lengthening of the (alpha gamma)(n) sequences in the nonapeptides Boc-Aib-Gpn-Aib-Gpn-Aib-Gpn-Aib-Gpn-Xxx (Xxx = Aib, Leu) resulted in the observation of all of the sequential NOEs characteristic of an alpha gamma C-12 helix. These results establish that conformational fragility is manifested in short hybrid alpha gamma sequences despite the choice of conformationally constrained residues, while stable helices are formed on chain extension.

Electrical switching and short-range order in As-Te glasses

The local structural order in chalcogenide network glasses is known to change markedly at two critical compositions, namely, the percolation and chemical thresholds. In the AsxTe100-x glassy system, both the thresholds coincide at the composition x = 40 (40 at. % of arsenic). It is demonstrated that the electrical switching fields of As-Te glasses exhibit a distinct change at this composition.