Eric de Maré: between the functional and the beautiful

Eric de Maré’s photographs were very widely published in post-war Britain and his images may be seen to have influenced a generation of architects. Perhaps more than any polemic or lengthy rationale they expanded the possibilities of architectural design; his pioneering work on the photography of early industrial buildings seen in ‘The Functional Tradition’, published as an article in The Architectural Review in 1957 and subsequently as a book, helped to create a new language at a time ready for such change.

De Maré was part of the wider architectural culture of the Architectural Press and The Architectural Review, and acknowledged the influence of the long-time proprietor de Cronin Hastings as well as other contributors such as John Piper, Gordon Cullen and J.M. Richards. There are clear links with another major position in British architectural work of that period, the ‘New Brutalism': the Smithsons’ ideas of honesty of form and materials are very close to the lessons which were drawn from de Maré's photographic evidence, whilst drawing attention to the ordinary and unvalued was the common ground basic to both positions. More than this, his images of worn surfaces and ageing structures are informed by an acute architectural sensibility. De Maré's work represents a repudiation of the utopianism of Modernist practice and theory, in favour of a new kind of beauty, redemptive in the harshly utilitarian modern world.     

Occupational rehabilitation in the construction industry of Victoria

A survey of construction companies' secondary disability management practices was undertaken in the state of Victoria, Australia. The results indicate that formal rehabilitation and return‐to‐work programmes and practices are not adopted in many companies. Smaller construction firms were less likely to have adopted formal programmes or practices than medium‐to‐large firms. In particular, construction companies reported difficulties in the provision of suitable alternate or light duties for workers returning to work following an injury. Most companies regarded disability management practices to have increased operating costs while yielding little or no benefit in terms of reducing lost workdays. Strategies to overcome some of these impediments to rehabilitation and return‐to‐work in construction are recommended.     

Death in Venice: Tafuri's Life in the Project

Peter Zumthor writes about “developing an architecture which sets out from and returns to real things”, referring to both his own design process and the qualities he wishes his architecture to convey. In an architecture culture long accustomed to media saturation and the image, the phrase “real things” is provocative and potentially archaic. This paper examines what Zumthor means by that term by investigating how he establishes the core ideas or principles that come to inform design development; namely, by his approach to a brief, a site and a context. The paper draws on his writings as well as our own experience of being in his buildings, particularly through a rare interview we conducted with him in his new house and atelier in Haldenstein.

Thoor Ballylee: icon of an Irish imaginary

W.B. Yeats' restoration and recreation of Ballylee Castle in the west of Ireland from 1916 as ‘Thoor Ballylee’ saw it become the symbol and metaphor of his work as a poet. With the help of the architect, William Scott, an exponent of the English Arts and Crafts school, Yeats placed the tower and its landscape at the centre of his vision of the Irish past. The Arts and Crafts aesthetic that underpinned Yeats' idealisation of Irish society opposed and decried the modernisation of rural Ireland, attempting to preserve it as an idyll for the urban intelligentsia. In his appropriation and reconstruction of Ballylee Castle Yeats sought both to locate himself amongst the peasantry of the west of Ireland whom he idealised in his work and to reassert his own roots amongst the dying colonial order. This paper explores the ambivalence of Yeats' cultural nationalism against the backdrop of republican violence and the emergence of the Free State.     

The nature of choice in mass customized house building

There is a need to explore the actual uptake of specification options by clients in the context of the self-build housing industry. In so doing all the components in a house that can be customized were categorized so as to highlight the features that must be customizable and those that can be standardized. Through a longitudinal study of a German house builder, data from 16 projects over a 35-year time horizon have been collected. The extent of choice made in these projects has been determined by comparing the original standard building specification with the actual finalized fit-out specification of the project. In scrutinizing the collected data it became apparent that the number of changes made by the clients increased considerably over the timespan studied. More importantly, clients appreciated the freedom of choice as they were prepared to spend increasing amounts on customization. In particular specification options were made in the sanitary, internal design and façade categories. Moreover the results revealed that offering a high degree of choice is appropriate for most, but not all, components for the case house builder. Key areas for choice include those relating to sanitary ware and the façade.     

Filament content threshold for activated sludge bulking: artifact or reality?

An often-noted feature of activated sludge settleability is the existence of a threshold content of filamentous bacteria, below which filaments have a relatively small effect on settleability, and above which settleability is much more sensitive to filament content. This concept has historically been based on an apparent inflection point in settleability/filament content curves. However, this was demonstrated to be an artifact of data presentation on semi-logarithmic scales. Analyses of several published data sets indicated that there was little or no evidence of a threshold effect when data were presented on linear scales, particularly around the 150 mL/g sludge volume index (SVI) "threshold". Rather, there appears to be a generally continuous (and often nearly linear) relationship between filament content and SVI, suggesting that the threshold effect, as commonly perceived, is not accurate. A modified empirical model of filament content and settleability was also presented.     

Genetic Variants Associated with Long-Terminal Repeats Can Diagnostically Classify Cannabis Varieties

Cannabis sativa (Cannabis) has recently been legalized in multiple countries globally for either its recreational or medicinal use. This, in turn, has led to a marked increase in the number of Cannabis varieties available for use in either market. However, little information currently exists on the genetic distinction between adopted varieties. Such fundamental knowledge is of considerable value and underpins the accelerated development of both a nascent pharmaceutical industry and the commercial recreational market. Therefore, in this study, we sought to assess genetic diversity across 10 Cannabis varieties by undertaking a reduced representation shotgun sequencing approach on 83 individual plants to identify variations which could be used to resolve the genetic structure of the assessed population. Such an approach also allowed for the identification of the genetic features putatively associated with the production of secondary metabolites in Cannabis. Initial analysis identified 3608 variants across the assessed population with phylogenetic analysis of this data subsequently enabling the confident grouping of each variety into distinct subpopulations. Within our dataset, the most diagnostically informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were determined to be associated with the long-terminal repeat (LTRs) class of retroelements, with 172 such SNPs used to fully resolve the genetic structure of the assessed population. These 172 SNPs could be used to design a targeted resequencing panel, which we propose could be used to rapidly screen different Cannabis plants to determine genetic relationships, as well as to provide a more robust, scientific classification of Cannabis varieties as the field moves into the pharmaceutical sphere.     

EPLIN,a Putative Tumour Suppressor in Colorectal Cancer,Implications in Drug Resistance

Colorectal cancer is a serious threat to human health. Poor prognosis and frequently reported drug resistance urges research into novel biomarkers and mechanisms to aid in the understanding of the development and progression of colorectal cancer and to optimise therapeutic strategies. In the current study, we investigated the roles of a putative tumour suppressor, EPLIN, in colorectal cancer. Our clinical colorectal cancer cohort and online databases revealed a downregulation of EPLIN in colorectal cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. The reduced expression of EPLIN was associated with poor clinical outcomes of patients. In vitro cellular function assays showed that EPLIN elicited an inhibitory effect on cellular growth, adhesion, migration and invasion. Utilising a protein microarray on protein samples from normal and tumour patient tissues suggested HSP60, Her2 and other signalling events were novel potential interacting partners of EPLIN. It was further revealed that EPLIN and HSP60 were negative regulators of Her2 in colorectal cancer cells. The clinical cohort also demonstrated that expression of HSP60 and Her2 affected clinical outcomes, but most interestingly the combination of EPLIN, HSP60 and Her2 was able to identify patients with the most unfavourable clinical outcome by independently predicting patient overall survival and disease free survival. Furthermore, EPLIN and HSP60 exhibited potential to regulate cellular response to chemotherapeutic and EGFR/Her2 targeted therapeutic agents. In conclusion, EPLIN is an important prognostic factor for patients with colon cancer and reduced EPLIN in CRC contributes to aggressive traits of CRC cells and their responses to chemotherapeutic drugs. Collectively, EPLIN is a pivotal factor for the development and progression of colorectal cancer and has important clinical and therapeutic values in this cancer type.     

eDNA,Amyloid Fibers and Membrane Vesicles Identified in Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 Biofilms

Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 is a model soil- and plant-associated bacterium capable of forming a variety of air–liquid interface biofilms in experimental microcosms and on plant surfaces. Previous investigations have shown that cellulose is the primary structural matrix component in the robust and well-attached Wrinkly Spreader biofilm, as well as in the fragile Viscous Mass biofilm. Here, we demonstrate that both biofilms include extracellular DNA (eDNA) which can be visualized using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), quantified by absorbance measurements, and degraded by DNase I treatment. This eDNA plays an important role in cell attachment and biofilm development. However, exogenous high-molecular-weight DNA appears to decrease the strength and attachment levels of mature Wrinkly Spreader biofilms, whereas low-molecular-weight DNA appears to have little effect. Further investigation with CLSM using an amyloid-specific fluorophore suggests that the Wrinkly Spreader biofilm might also include Fap fibers, which might be involved in attachment and contribute to biofilm strength. The robust nature of the Wrinkly Spreader biofilm also allowed us, using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, to identify matrix-associated proteins unable to diffuse out of the structure, as well as membrane vesicles which had a different protein profile compared to the matrix-associated proteins. CLSM and DNase I treatment suggest that some vesicles were also associated with eDNA. These findings add to our understanding of the matrix components in this model pseudomonad, and, as found in other biofilms, biofilm-specific products and material from lysed cells contribute to these structures through a range of complex interactions.