Report to incommunities on the About Turn project

This is an independent account of the work of the Incommunities About Turn project to support households in difficulty with ther tenancy. The project has run for 3 years and has a track record in dealing with difficult tenancies. LSE Housing has examined the tenancy records, evidence from staff interviews and family development, in order to highlight how much progress is being made, what barriers and difficulties are faced and how this work fits within the wider national and Bradford city context. Our aim is to present an overview of the costs and benefits of this project from the perspective of new social priorities in te housing world and its difficulties with the most marginal tenants

Report to incommunities on the About Turn project.

This is an independent account of the work of the Incommunities About Turn project to support households in difficulty with ther tenancy. The project has run for 3 years and has a track record in dealing with difficult tenancies. LSE Housing has examined the tenancy records, evidence from staff interviews and family development, in order to highlight how much progress is being made, what barriers and difficulties are faced and how this work fits within the wider national and Bradford city context. Our aim is to present an overview of the costs and benefits of this project from the perspective of new social priorities in te housing world and its difficulties with the most marginal tenants.

‘Teach in’ on energy and existing homes: restoring neighbourhoods and slowing climate change.

Homes that have already built account for 99% of our total housing stock. We estimate that 86% of the current stock will still be in use in 2050. Building new homes is carbon intensive and implies many wider environmental impacts. But the existing stock can be made more efficient, at a reasonable cost, to realise many environmental and social gains. Homes are responsible for 27% of our total CO2 emissions through their energy use, for half of public water use, and they generate large amounts of total UK waste. Large savings can be achieved using technologies that are readily available, cost effective and cheaper than many alternatives. In addition, construction waste contributes to 33% of the total UK waste stream. LSE Housing held two workshops in June 2008 to explore how to retrofit the existing stock. The workshops specifically looked at demonstrating the links between neighbourhood renewal, social cohesion and energy conservation. Participants included managers of existing homes, regeneration companies, local authorities, and housing associations as well as policy makers. The aim of the workshop was to share experience on how to make the existing stock both more attractive and more energy efficient with big gains for the environment and communities. Tackling resource efficiency in existing homes requires a comprehensive package of measures to deliver a step change. But the payback from implementing these changes will be great. This report summarises the aims of the workshops, together with the views of participants on the main barriers to retrofitting the existing stock, and key ideas on ‘where to start’.

Physical Bias of Galaxies From Large-Scale Hydrodynamic Simulations

We analyze a new large-scale ($100h^{-1}$Mpc) numerical hydrodynamic simulation of the popular $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model, including in our treatment dark matter, gas and star-formation, on the basis of standard physical processes. The method, applied with a numerical resolution of $<200h^{-1}$kpc (which is still quite coarse for following individual galaxies, especially in dense regions), attempts to estimate where and when galaxies form. We then compare the smoothed galaxy distribution with the smoothed mass distribution to determine the "bias" defined as $b\equiv (\delta M/M)_{gal}/(\delta M/M)_{total}$ on scales large compared with the code numerical resolution (on the basis of resolution tests given in the appendix of this paper). We find that (holding all variables constant except the quoted one) bias increases with decreasing scale, with increasing galactic age or metallicity and with increasing redshift of observations. At the $8h^{-1}$Mpc fiducial comoving scale bias (for bright regions) is 1.35 at $z=0$ reaching to 3.6 at $z=3$, both numbers being consistent with extant observations. We also find that $(10-20)h^{-1}$Mpc voids in the distribution of luminous objects are as observed (i.e., observed voids are not an argument against CDM-like models) and finally that the younger systems should show a colder Hubble flow than do the early type galaxies (a testable proposition). Surprisingly, little evolution is found in the amplitude of the smoothed galaxy-galaxy correlation function (as a function of {\it comoving} separation). Testing this prediction vs observations will allow a comparison between this work and that of Kauffmann et al which is based on a different physical modelingmethod.Comment: in press, ApJ, 26 latex pages plus 7 fig

Ocular Hypotensive Effect of ONO-9054, an EP3/FP Receptor Agonist: Results of a Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Dose Escalation Study

Purpose: To assess pharmacodynamic and safety profiles of ONO-9054 following single and multiple day dosing in subjects with ocular hypertension or open-angle glaucoma. Materials and Methods: This was a phase I, single-center, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled dose-escalation study. Nine subjects were randomized to each of ONO-9054 3, 10, 20, 30 μg/mL and 12 to placebo. Subjects received a single drop to each eye at 07:00±30 minutes (single dose). Following a 4-day no-treatment period, subjects were dosed once daily for 14 consecutive days (multiple day dosing). Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured regularly and compared with baseline measurements. Ocular examinations assessed safety and tolerability. Results: Mean IOP decreased dose dependently. Following single dosing, IOP decreased from 22.9±4.0 to 15.9±2.3 mm Hg (ONO-9054, 30 μg/mL) at peak effect 9 hours postdose; the reduction in placebo-treated subjects was from 22.3±2.4 to 21.5±3.3 mm Hg. Following multiple day dosing, the greatest reduction in IOP occurred 1 hour postdose on day 18, from 23.3±0.6 to 15.1±2.4 mm Hg (ONO-9054, 10 μg/mL); the smallest reduction at this time was from 23.9±0.8 to 18.6±2.0 mm Hg (ONO-9054, 3 μg/mL). Pressures remained reduced on day 19, 25 hours after the last dose, when the lowest measurement was 15.8±2.1 mm Hg (ONO-9054, 10 μg/mL). Anterior uveitis and vitreous detachment were each reported in 2 subjects and considered moderate by the Investigator. Ocular hyperemia and tolerability symptoms were generally mild and transient. Conclusions: ONO-9054 was well-tolerated and elicited dose-dependent reductions in IOP, which were sustained for at least 24 hours following 2 weeks of consecutive daily dosing

Developing Curriculum-Led Human-Centred Spatial Design Briefs for Next Generation Learning Environments in Higher Education

There have been major shifts in learning goals, curricula and pedagogy over the past century, particularly the last thirty years. In the last decade the area of learning space design has emerged as a key research focus, policy priority and strategic direction in both schools and the higher education sector. In response to these major shifts, innovative spatial approaches to learning have given rise to ânext generationâ learning environments. These environments address a multiplicit and fluid set of parameters and considerations. The rate of change in the sector and in technology, shifts in pedagogy and conceptions of learning, and the needs and expectations of new generations of students all give rise to a far more complex process than the design of traditional learning spaces. In the conception of these next generation learning environments the relationships between the users, curriculum, pedagogy, technology and spatial environments are recognized as fluid and evolving and influenced by a diverse array of stakeholders both within and beyond the campus. Intrinsic to these relationships are strategic directives, objectives and transformative processes acting on macro and micro levels. It is this complexity and interrelatedness that signals the need for universities to not only rethink the typology of environments for learning but also the process for conceiving, briefing and creating them. It is this need, and the paucity of research in this area, that defines the focus of this paper and an Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded research project from which this paper stems. The project is mapping a protocol for the development of curriculum-led human-centred spatial design briefs for next generation learning environments. This paper presents the designerly approach to the research project, the methods for investigation, brief development and the âtoolsâ being developed and tested