Conceptualizing models using multidimensional constructs: a review and guidelines for their use

While information on multidimensional constructs and empirical methods has become more accessible, there remain substantial challenges to theorizing about their form and implications. There are at least two ostensible reasons for such difficulties. First is the issue of terminology; many different terms are currently used to represent the same structural concept, and there is no evidence of standardization taking place around a single set of terms. Second, many studies do not clearly explain the theoretical reasons for choosing the specific multidimensional form of their constructs. To address these deficiencies, we use concepts from the research methods literature, and illustrations from the information systems (IS) literature, to review definitions and issues related to conceptualizing and operationalizing structural models that include multidimensional constructs. Such advice is necessary if we are going to develop and test increasingly sophisticated theoretical models in IS research. We also offer guidelines about how to conceptualize specific forms of multidimensional constructs. By lending greater conceptual clarity to the literature, we believe that this paper provides a foundation for future research incorporating multidimensional constructs in empirical analysis.     

Performance-driven design of Biocompatible Mg alloys

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys provide numerous benefits as a resorptive biomaterial and present the very real possibility of replacing current metallic implant materials in a variety of roles. The development of suitable biodegradable implant alloys is a multidisciplinary challenge, since alloy design must be confined to a range of alloying additions that are biologically nontoxic, whilst still providing the requisite mechanical properties. This leaves a small number of compatible elements that can provide benefits when alloyed with Mg, including calcium (Ca) and zinc (Zn). To date, although a range of different Mg alloys have been investigated both in vitro and in vivo, little work has been performed to characterize the relationship between the composition of Mg alloys, their corrosion and resulting mechanical properties over time. Consequently it is crucial to understand how these properties may be related if alloys are to be successfully screened for implantation in the body.     

Neurofuzzy control of a low‐temperature desulphurization plant

Low‐temperature desulphurization (LTD) is a low‐cost alternative to conventional wet scrubbing for removing sulphur dioxide from flue gas produced by power generating plants. A problem in the design of conventional controllers to achieve and maintain process conditions for optimal desulphurisation is the lack of mathematical models to characterise the complex desulphurization process and unexpected environ mental disturbances. The aim of the work reported in this paper was to replace a skilled human operator who could successfully regulate the LTD plant through manipulation of low‐level controllers with a competitive neurofuzzy system, which possesses both the learning ability of neural networks and the structural transparency of fuzzy logic systems. A hierarchical control structure was adopted whereby the competitive neurofuzzy method was used at the top level for co‐ordinating actions of low‐level conventional controllers. This approach would considerably simplify the task of designing the control system and has been shown to yield high‐level controllers with performances at least equalling that of expert operators, as demonstrated in this paper. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reprint of “Safe places for pedestrians: Using cognitive work analysis to consider the relationships between the engineering and urban design of footpaths”

Footpaths provide an integral component of our urban environments and have the potential to act as safe places for people and the focus for community life. Despite this, the approach to designing footpaths that are safe while providing this sense of place often occurs in silos. There is often very little consideration given to how designing for sense of place impacts safety and vice versa. The aim of this study was to use a systems analysis and design framework to develop a design template for an ‘ideal’ footpath system that embodies both safety and sense of place. This was achieved through using the first phase of the Cognitive Work Analysis framework, Work Domain Analysis, to specify a model of footpaths as safe places for pedestrians. This model was subsequently used to assess two existing footpath environments to determine the extent to which they meet the design requirements specified. The findings show instances where the existing footpaths both meet and fail to meet the design requirements specified. Through utilising a systems approach for footpaths, this paper has provided a novel design template that can inform new footpath design efforts or be used to evaluate the extent to which existing footpaths achieve their safety and sense of place requirements.     

Regulation Theory,Global Competition Among Cities And Capital Embeddedness

This paper reviews the contribution of regulation theory to our understanding of urban development and its regulation by the state. The theory provides a useful instrument for convergence of politics, economics and geography in which the crucial questions of territoriality of local states and the embeddedness of capital can be considered. But there remains much to be explored both in the mode of development of the global economy over time, and in the relationship between global economic structures and local political institutions. The further development of regulation theory demands a reconceptualisation of power and the absorption of ecological/environmental and feminist discourses into the debates.     

Housing and Economic Development in Indian Country: Challenge and Opportunity

Global Warming: Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment J. T. Houghton, G. J. Jenkins, and J. J. Ephraums, editors. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1990. 305 pp. $34.95 (paperback).

Global Warming: Leaving Eden to Protect and Manage the Earth E. G. Nisbet. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1991. 358 pp. $14.95 (paperback).

Global Warming: Global Environmental Issues: A Climatological Approach David D. Kemp. Routledge, Chapman and Hall, London, 1990. 220 pp. $15.95 (paperback).

Global Warming: Global Climate Change and Life on Earth Richard L. Wyman, editor. Rout-ledge, Chapman and Hall, London, 1991. 282 pp. $24.95 (paperback).

Global Warming: Global Climate Change and California Joseph B. Knox and Ann Foley Scheuring, editors. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1992. 184 pp. $12.95 (paperback).

The Environment: Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards: A Time for Discourse Bunyan Bryant and Paul Mohai, editors. Westview Press, San Francisco, 1992. 251 pp. $32.00 (paperback).

The Environment: Sustaining the Earth John Young. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1990. 202 pp. $10.95 (paperback).

The Environment: Rural Environmental Planning for Sustainable Communities Frederick O. Sargent, Paul Lusk, Jose A. Rivera, and Maria Varela. Island Press, Washington, DC, 1991. 254 pp. $24.95 (paperback).

The Environment: Environmental Politics: Public Costs, Private Rewards Michael S. Greve and Fred L. Smith, Jr., editors. Praeger, New York, 1992. 212 pp. $19.95 (paperback).

Planning and Its Subfields: Customer Service in Local Government: Challenges for Planners and Managers Bruce W. McClendon. Planners Press, American Planning Association, Chicago, 1992. 194 pp. $45.95, $34.95 (paperback).

Planning and Its Subfields: Reviving the American Dream: The Economy, the States and the Federal Government Alice M. Rivlin. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, 1992. 196 pp. $15.95.

Planning and Its Subfields: Left Coast City: Progressive Politics in San Francisco, 1975-1991 Richard Edward DeLeon. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, 1992. 239 pp. $35.00, $14.95 (paperback).

Planning and Its Subfields: The New Frontier for Land Policy: Planning and Growth Management in the States John M. DeGrove, with Deborah Miness. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA, 1992. 176 pp. $18.95 (paperback).

Planning and Its Subfields: Magic Lands: Western Cityscapes and American Culture After 1940 John M. Findlay. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1992. 394 pp. $35.00.

Planning and Its Subfields: The Power of Maps Denis Wood. Guilford Press, New York, 1992. 248 pp. $35.00, $15.95 (paperback).

Planning and Its Subfields: Put up or Give Way: States, Economic Competitiveness, and Poverty John Sidor. Council of State Community Development Agencies, Washington, DC, 1991.243 pp. $20.00 (paperback).

Planning and Its Subfields: North American Free Trade: Assessing the Impact Nora Lustig, Barry P. Bosworth, and Robert Z. Lawrence, editors. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, 1992. 274 pp. $28.95, $10.95 (paperback).

Briefly Noted: Electronic Byways: State Policies for Rural Development Through Telecommunications Edwin B. Parker and Heather Hudson, with Don A. Dillman, Sharon Strover, and Frederick Williams. Westview, Boulder, CO, 1992. 306 pp. $57.50, $18.85 (paperback).

Briefly Noted: Credit Where It's Due: Development Banking for Communities Julia Ann Parzen and Michael Hall Kieschnick. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1992. 275 pp. $29.95.

Briefly Noted: Reclaiming the Past Landmarks of Women's History Page Putnam Miller, editor. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1992. 232 pp. $35.00.

Briefly Noted: Renewing Cities Ross J. Gittell. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1992. 232 pp., $39.50.

Briefly Noted: Regions Reconsidered: Economic Networks, Innovation, and Local Development in Industrialized Countries Edward Bergman, Gunther Maier, and Franz Todtling, editors. Mansell, London, 1991. 312 pp. $80.00.

Briefly Noted: Defense, Welfare and Growth: Perspective and Evidence Steve Chan and Alex Mintz, editors. Routledge, Chapman and Hall, New York, 1992. 248 pp. $59.95.

Briefly Noted: The Changing Image of the City: Planning for Downtown Omaha, 1945-1973 Janet R. Daly-Bednarek. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1992. 292 pp. $37.50.     

The Case of The Case Study in City Planning and Municipal Management

Abstract

PLAN FOR REZONING THE CITY OF NEW YORK. A Report by Harrison, Ballard &; Allen. City Planning Commission. New York. 1950. 290 pp. maps, illustrations. $2.00.

CONTROLLED ACCESS EXPRESSWAYS IN URBAN AREAS—A symposium. Highway Research Board Bulletin No. 25. Washington, D. C., 1950. 45 pages, illustrated. 60 cents.

SOCIAL PRESSURES IN INFORMAL GROUPS. By Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter and Kurt Back. Harper Bros., New York, 1950. x-930 pp. $3.00.

PRODUCTION OF NEW HOUSING. A Research Monograph on Efficiency in Production. By Leo Grebler. Social Science Research Council. New York 1950. ix+ 186 pp. $1.75.