Mackey topology on locally convex spaces and on locally quasi-convex groups. Similarities and historical remarks

A counterpart of the Mackey–Arens Theorem for the class of locally quasi-convex topological Abelian groups (LQC-groups) was initiated in Chasco et al. (Stud Math 132(3):257–284, 1999). Several authors have been interested in the problems posed there and have done clarifying contributions, although the main question of that source remains open. Some differences between the Mackey Theory for locally convex spaces and for locally quasi-convex groups, stem from the following fact: The supremum of all compatible locally quasi-convex topologies for a topological abelian group G may not coincide with the topology of uniform convergence on the weak quasi-convex compact subsets of the dual groupG∧. Thus, a substantial part of the classical Mackey–Arens Theorem cannot be generalized to LQC-groups. Furthermore, the mentioned fact gives rise to a grading in the property of “being a Mackey group”, as defined and thoroughly studied in Díaz Nieto and Martín-Peinador (Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics 80:119–144, 2014). At present it is not known—and this is the main open question—if the supremum of all the compatible locally quasi-convex topologies on a topological group is in fact a compatible topology. In the present paper we do a sort of historical review on the Mackey Theory, and we compare it in the two settings of locally convex spaces and of locally quasi-convex groups. We point out some general questions which are still open, under the name of Problems.

Contemplating Open Source Enterprise Systems

Until recently, integration of enterprise systems has been supported largely by monolithic architectures. From a technical perspective, this approach has been challenged by the suggestion of component-based enterprise systems. Lately, the nature of software as proprietary item has been questioned through the increased use of open source software in business computing in general. This suggests the potential for altered technological and commercial constellations for the design of enterprise systems, which are presented in four scenarios. © Springer-Verlag 2004.

Open Source Enterprise Systems: Towards a Viable Alternative

Enterprise systems are located within the antinomy of appearing as generic product, while being means of multiple integrations for the user through configuration and customisation. Technological and organisational integrations are defined by architectures and standardised interfaces. Until recently, technological integration of enterprise systems has been supported largely by monolithic architectures that were designed, and maintained by the respective developers. From a technical perspective, this approach had been challenged by the suggestion of component-based enterprise systems that would allow for a more user-focused system through strict modularisation. Lately, the product nature of software as proprietary item has been questioned through the rapid increase of open source programs that are being used in business computing in general, and also within the overall portfolio that makes up enterprise systems. This suggests the potential for altered technological and commercial constellations for the design of enterprise systems, which are presented in different scenarios. The technological and commercial decomposition of enterprise software and systems may also address some concerns emerging from the users’ experience of those systems, and which may have arisen from their proprietary or product nature.

Landscape symphonies : gardening as a source of landscape architecture practice engaged with change

The notion of designing with change constitutes a fundamental and foundational theoretical premise for much of what constitutes landscape architecture, notably through engagement with ecology, particularly since the work of Ian McHarg in the 1960s and his key text Design with Nature. However, while most if not all texts in landscape architecture would cite this engagement of change theoretically, few go any further than citation, and when they do their methods seem fixated on utilising empirical, quantitative scientific tools for doing so, rather than the tools of design, in an architectural sense, as implied by the name of the discipline, landscape architecture.

Journalism, History and the Politics of Popular Culture

I argue that a divergence between popular culture as “object” and “subject” of journalism emerged during the nineteenth century in Britain. It accounts not only for different practices of journalism, but also for differences in the study of journalism, as manifested in journalism studies and cultural studies respectively. The chapter offers an historical account to show that popular culture was the source of the first mass circulation journalism, via the pauper press, but that it was later incorporated into the mechanisms of modern government for a very different purpose, the theorist of which was Walter Bagehot. Journalism’s polarity was reversed – it turned from “subjective” to “objective.” The paper concludes with a discussion of YouTube and the resurgence of self-made representation, using the resources of popular culture, in current election campaigns. Are we witnessing a further reversal of polarity, where popular culture and self-representation once again becomes the “subject” of journalism?

Fear, trust and Aborigines : The historical experience of state institutions and current encounters in the health system

Troubled dynamics between residents of an Aboriginal town in Queensland and the local health system were established during colonisation and consolidated during those periods of Australian history where the policies of 'protection' (segregation), integration and then assimilation held sway. The status of Aboriginal health is, in part, related to interactions between the residents' current and historical experiences of the health and criminal justice systems as together these agencies used medical and moral policing to legitimate dispossession, marginalisation, institutionalisation and control of the residents. The punitive regulations and ethnocentric strategies used by these institutions are within the living memory of many of the residents or in the published accounts of preceding generations. This paper explores current residents' memories and experiences.