‘Why Can’t the Future be More Like the Past?’ Planning History Track,Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP), Annual Congress,Department of Civic Design,University of Liverpool, 15–18 July 2009

AESOP’s 2009 Congress was hosted by the University of Liverpool as part of the centenary celebration of its Department of Civic Design, the world’s oldest university planning school. ‘Why Can’t the Future be More Like the Past?’ was the conference title on all the banners and conference bags – an oddly querulous question, nevertheless it did the trick in getting participants to think historically throughout AESOP 2009. Michael Hebbert and Dirk Schubert ran a planning history track for six of the conference’s seven parallel session slots. Their call for papers elicited 30 abstracts which reduced to 17 papers, a comfortable quantity allowing good time for presentation and discussion. The track had the fortune to be allocated a wood‐panelled Architecture lecture theatre with superb projection facilities – more than one speaker gasped at the glory of their own PowerPoint images.     

Developing local government policy and processes for community consultation and participation

Abstract

This paper documents the development of a local government community consultation and capacity building vision and strategy. A central argument is that traditional government perspectives on community consultation must be reconsidered to include greater opportunities for informed community participation in planning and decision making processes for a sustainable community.     

Reforma Interior in Málaga: modernization and morphological change in the nineteenth century

In the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth, various attempts were made to ‘modernize’ the city of Málaga (southern Spain) in terms of structural and built environment. These efforts originated from different groups at different times and with varying degrees of success but they had, as their principal motive, a shared desire to advance the image of the city against a background of political unrest and significant economic decline from mid-nineteenth century prosperity. With this objective in mind, there was a shared perspective that the visual appearance of the city and its morphological structure had to be modernized. However, in detail, the specific schemes proposed reflected the diverse ideologies and objectives of their chief protagonists although the generic term Málaga Moderna came to be applied to a wide range of different proposals. This article will examine the development of these key actor groups and their varying impact on the city's urban form.     

Microenvironment of Tumor-Draining Lymph Nodes: Opportunities for Liposome-Based Targeted Therapy

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that the total number of global cancer cases in 2013 reached 14 million, a 10% rise since 2008, while the total number of cancer deaths reached 8.2 million, a 5.2% increase since 2008. Metastasis is the major cause of death from cancer, accounting for 90% of all cancer related deaths. Tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLN), the sentinel nodes, are the first organs of metastasis in several types of cancers. The extent of metastasis in the TDLN is often used in disease staging and prognosis evaluation in cancer patients. Here, we describe the microenvironment of the TDLN and review the recent literature on liposome-based therapies directed to immune cells within the TDLN with the intent to target cancer cells.     

Electricity System Reliability Issues During Energy System Transformation

Energy system transformation in the electric energy industry encompasses a broad range of changes in how primary energy is produced, transported, converted, priced, and delivered to consumers. Minnesota Power (ALLETE) is responding to these changes by implementing strategies like our EnergyForward resource strategy. EnergyForward describes the transition to a diverse and balanced generation portfolio that meets customers' desires for clean, safe, flexible, and affordable electricity.     

Structural and compositional analysis of (InGa) (AsSb)/GaAs/GaP Stranski–Krastanov quantum dots

We investigated metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy grown (InGa)(AsSb)/GaAs/GaP Stranski–Krastanov quantum dots (QDs) with potential applications in QD-Flash memo...     

SARS-CoV-2 Altered Hemorheological and Hematological Parameters during One-Month Observation Period in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients

Hematological and hemorheological parameters are known to be altered in COVID-19; however, the value of combined monitoring in order to deduce disease severity is only scarcely examined. A total of 44 acute SARS-CoV-2-infected patients (aCOV) and 44 age-matched healthy controls (Con) were included. Blood of aCOV was sampled at admission (T0), and at day 2 (T2), day 5 (T5), day 10 (T10), and day 30 (T30) while blood of Con was only sampled once. Inter- and intra-group differences were calculated for hematological and hemorheological parameters. Except for mean cellular volume and mean cellular hemoglobin, all blood cell parameters were significantly different between aCOV and Con. During the acute disease state (T0–T5), hematological and hemorheological parameters were highly altered in aCOV; in particular, anemic conditions and increased immune cell response/inflammation, oxidative/nitrosative stress, decreased deformability, as well as increased aggregation, were observed. During treatment and convalescence until T30, almost all abnormal values of aCOV improved towards Con values. During the acute state of the COVID-19 disease, the hematological, as well as the hemorheological system, show fast and potentially pathological changes that might contribute to the progression of the disease, but changes appear to be largely reversible after four weeks. Measuring RBC deformability and aggregation, as well as oxidative stress induction, may be helpful in monitoring critically ill COVID-19 patients.     

Assessment of Bone Microstructure by Micro CT in C57BL/6J Mice for Sex-Specific Differentiation

It remains uncertain which skeletal sites and parameters should be analyzed in rodent studies evaluating bone health and disease. In this cross-sectional mouse study using micro-computed tomography (µCT), we explored: (1) which microstructural parameters can be used to discriminate female from male bones and (2) whether it is meaningful to evaluate more than one bone site. Microstructural parameters of the trabecular and/or cortical compartments of the femur, tibia, thoracic and lumbar vertebral bodies, and skull were evaluated by µCT in 10 female and 10 male six-month-old C57BL/6J mice. The trabecular number (TbN) was significantly higher, while the trabecular separation (TbSp) was significantly lower in male compared to female mice at all skeletal sites assessed. Overall, bone volume/tissue volume (BV/TV) was also significantly higher in male vs. female mice (except for the thoracic spine, which did not differ by sex). Most parameters of the cortical bone microstructure did not differ between male and female mice. BV/TV, TbN, and TbSp at the femur, and TbN and TbSp at the tibia and lumbar spine could fully (100%) discriminate female from male bones. Cortical thickness (CtTh) at the femur was the best parameter to detect sex differences in the cortical compartment (AUC = 0.914). In 6-month-old C57BL/6J mice, BV/TV, TbN, and TbSp can be used to distinguish male from female bones. Whenever it is not possible to assess multiple bone sites, we propose to evaluate the bone microstructure of the femur for detecting potential sex differences.