New East Manchester: urban renaissance or urban opportunism?

In this paper we ask how a shrinking city responds when faced with a perforated urban fabric. Drawing on Manchester’s response to its perforated eastern flank - and informed by a parallel study of Leipzig - we use the city’s current approach to critique urban regeneration policy in England. Urban renaissance holds out the promise of delivering more sustainable - that is more compact, more inclusive and more equitable - cities. However, the Manchester study demonstrated that the attempt to stem population loss from the city is at best fragile, despite a raft of policies now in place to support urban renaissance in England. It is argued here that Manchester like Leipzig is likely to face an ongoing battle to attract residents back from their suburban hinterlands. This is especially true of the family market that we identify as being an important element for long-term sustainable population growth in both cities. We use the case of New East Manchester to consider how discourses linked to urban renaissance – particularly those that link urbanism with greater densities - rule out some of the options available to Leipzig, namely, managing the long-term perforation of the city. We demonstrate that while Manchester is inevitably committed to the urban renaissance agenda, in practice New East Manchester demonstrates a far more pragmatic – but equally unavoidable – approach. This we attribute to the gap between renaissance and regeneration described by Amin et al (2000) who define the former as urbanism for the middle class and the latter as urbanism for the working class. While this opportunistic approach may ultimately succeed in producing development on the ground, it will not address the fundamental, and chronic, problem; the combination of push and pull that sees families relocating to suburban areas. Thus, if existing communities in East Manchester are to have their area buoyed up – or sustained - by incomers, and especially families, with greater levels of social capital and higher incomes urban policy in England will have to be challenged

Producing mixed linked xylooligosaccharides from red algae biomass through single-step enzymatic hydrolysis

BackgroundThe red alga Palmaria palmata is a rich source of sugar compounds, particularly mixed-linkage xylans present in the cell walls of the algae. In contrast to their terrestrial lignocellulosic counterparts, these xylans are more easily accessible. They can be hydrolyzed enzymatically into valuable xylooligosaccharides (XOS), known for their prebiotic, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory properties.ResultsThis study introduces a simplified, one-step enzymatic process utilizing the endo-1,4-beta-xylanase FO15_GH10 that directly hydrolyzes P. palmata biomass to produce XOS, eliminating the need for prior xylan extraction and improving efficiency. The exact structure of the resulting XOS was determined using NMR and MS/MS techniques. In addition, the xylosidase FO17_GH43 can be added to break down all residual 1,4-linked XOS. As a result, only 1,3- and mixed-linkage XOS (degree of polymerization (DP) 2-4) remains under simultaneous increase of the xylose obtained. Using FO15_GH10 alone, it was possible to produce approximately 17.6 (+/- 0.16) % (176 mg) XOS from 1 g of powdered biomass while combining both enzymes resulted in 22.6 (+/- 0.51) % (226 mg) XOS. Further optimization upon upscaling offers the possibility of achieving even greater improvements.ConclusionIn summary, our one-step enzymatic approach offers an efficient and sustainable method for producing XOS directly from P. palmata biomass. This streamlined process overcomes the need for resource-consuming extraction processes. The further characterization of the obtained XOS and the potential to gain solely 1,3- and mixed-linkage XOS is paving the way for future studies on their functional properties

Spectral fiber dosimetry with beryllium oxide for quality assurance in hadron radiation therapy

Using the radioluminescence light of solid state probes coupled to long and flexible fibers for dosimetry in radiotherapy offers many advantages in terms of probe size, robustness and cost efficiency. However, especially in hadron fields, radioluminophores exhibit quenching effects dependent on the linear energy transfer. This work describes the discovery of a spectral shift in the radioluminescence light of beryllium oxide in dependence on the residual range at therapeutic proton energies. A spectrally resolving measurement setup has been developed and tested in scanned proton fields. It is shown that such a system can not only quantitatively reconstruct the dose, but might also give information on the residual proton range at the point of measurement

The possible experts: how epistemic communities negotiate barriers to knowledge use in ecosystems services policy

notes: This paper is based on research carried out with the support of the European Research Council grant on Analysis of Learning in Regulatory Governance, ALREG http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/ceg/research/ALREG/index.php. The author wishes to thank the other authors in this special edition and in particular the issue editors Andy Jordan and Duncan Russel.publication-status: AcceptedClaire A Dunlop, 2014. The definitive, peer-reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 32(2), 2014.The increased saliency of how to value ecosystems services has driven up the demand for policy-relevant knowledge. It is clear that epistemic communities’ advice can show-up in policy outcomes, yet little systematic analysis exists prescribing how this can actually be achieved. This article draws on four decades of knowledge utilisation research to propose four types of ‘possible expert’ that might be influential on ecosystems services. The first section reports the broad findings of a literature review on knowledge use in public policy, and outlines the four-fold conceptualisation pioneered by Carol Weiss that defines the literature. Section two systematises the field by placing these four modes of knowledge use within an explanatory typology of policy learning. With how, when and why experts and their knowledge are likely to show-up in policy outcomes established, the article then proposes the boundaries of the possible in how the ecosystems services epistemic community might navigate the challenges associated with each learning mode. Four possible experts emerge. The expert with: political antenna and epistemic humility; the ability to speak locally and early to the hearts and minds of citizens; a willingness to advocate policy, and, finally, an enhanced institutional awareness and peripheral policy vision. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the utility of the analysis.European Research Counci

Agreeing to disagree: ‘doing disagreement’ in assessed oral L2 interactions

While disagreements are often considered dispreferred choices and potentially face-threatening acts due to their oppositional nature, this perception does not adequately reflect the importance of disagreeing for many types of interaction, such as problem-solving and decision-making. Developing ability in performing this speech act therefore becomes relevant for learners of an L2 in order to show achievements in such general language learning targets as expressing and defending opinions and arguments, as well as negotiating consensual decisions. This paper presents a sequential analysis of disagreements in assessed interactions of advanced German-speaking learners of English, observed in three different exam formats, i.e. teacher-led interview, role play with teacher and paired student interaction. Overall, 33 disagreement episodes were identified in 18 oral exams. Findings show that the choice of examination format constrains range and type of disagreement trajectory enacted by the learners, highlighting the influence of minor contextual differences. Moreover, analyses of these exams suggest that linguistic alignment can and does co-exist with oppositional talk, supporting the notion that the purpose of achieving a successful joint performance of L2 interaction carries weight even when there is disagreement on a content level