Climate change and disaster impact reduction

Based on papers presented at the 'UK - South Asia Young Scientists and Practitioners Seminar on Climate Change and Disaster Impact Reduction' held at Kathmandu, Nepal on 5-6 June, 2008

Mapping trends and framing issues in higher music education: Changing minds/changing practices

This article presents five case studies from within music in higher education programmes that collectively explore key questions concerning how we look at the challenges and trends, and the need for change to react to the recent higher education (HE) climate, through reference to teaching musicians the skills, knowledge and diverse career creativities that are valued in preparing musicians to enter sustained careers. In this article, the National Association for Music in Higher Education (NAMHE) elected committee members explore the emerging issues and agendas within the context of higher education, and the national and international policy shifts that are occurring. The case studies explore: (1) an inclusive curriculum and undergraduate student partner project; (2) employability skills and postgraduate courses; (3) digital creativities; (4) music career creativities and gender; and (5) an integrated student experience

Natural Course of Uncorrected Visual Acuity of Chidren in Primary Schools and the Relationship between Uncorrected Visual Acuity and Life Habits

Quantitative Tool. (PDF 219 kb

Characterization of the poplar pan-genome by genome-wide identification of structural variation

Many recent studies have emphasized the important role of structural variation (SV) in determining human genetic and phenotypic variation. In plants, studies aimed at elucidating the extent of SV are still in their infancy. Evidence has indicated a high presence and an active role of SV in driving plant genome evolution in different plant species.With the aim of characterizing the size and the composition of the poplar pan-genome, we performed a genome-wide analysis of structural variation in three intercrossable poplar species: Populus nigra, Populus deltoides, and Populus trichocarpa. We detected a total of 7,889 deletions and 10,586 insertions relative to the P. trichocarpa reference genome, covering respectively 33.2?Mb and 62.9?Mb of genomic sequence, and 3,230 genes affected by copy number variation (CNV). The majority of the detected variants are inter-specific in agreement with a recent origin following separation of species.Insertions and deletions (INDELs) were preferentially located in low-gene density regions of the poplar genome and were, for the majority, associated with the activity of transposable elements. Genes affected by SV showed lower-than-average expression levels and higher levels of dN/dS, suggesting that they are subject to relaxed selective pressure or correspond to pseudogenes.Functional annotation of genes affected by INDELs showed over-representation of categories associated with transposable elements activity, while genes affected by genic CNVs showed enrichment in categories related to resistance to stress and pathogens. This study provides a genome-wide catalogue of SV and the first insight on functional and structural properties of the poplar pan-genome

The Religion of Social Media: When Islam Meets the Web

The purpose of this feature article is to identify the reasons why some social media users disclose their religious beliefs through sites such as Facebook and Twitter. According to the Pew Research Center, 20 percent of Americans share their faith online. After a series of in-depth interviews, I discovered that for some, religious-related posts serve as personal religious reminders. Others share their religious views on social media to feel a sense of community, or to eliminate stereotypes and ignorance surrounding their religion

Impact Assessment of Land Use Planning on Travel Behavior in Doha, Qatar

In the last decade Qatar has witnessed a rapid growth in its economic and industrial sector as a result of oil and gas economies. This transformed small port cities to large sprawling metropolitan and increased the population. Infrastructure and transportation projects began to develop and the city began to witness down falls in its urban fabric. This is due to the lack of implementation of master plans, poor land use planning and lack of systematic processes, as a consequence to the fast economic and industrial growth. Urban communities in Qatar depend highly on motorized movement and private transport. Therefore, cities like Doha became uninviting and poorly designed. Land use planning and travel behavior are closely associated and influence one another. Land use planning impacts the transportation network, generates travel distance and time, and influence people’s behavior. Hence, direct implications of land use planning decisions are imposed and reflected on travel behavior. Land use planning decisions increase sprawl into dispersed, automobile dependent development. While other land use planning decisions are useful for supporting the ability of smart growth. The thesis aims to examine and investigate the influence of land use factors on travel behavior within old and new urban contexts. In doing so, it introduces the way Qatar spatially organized its city over the years and examines the land use impact on travel behavior. The factors investigated in this thesis include density, regional accessibility, land use mix and roadway connectivity. Using the Qatar Strategic Transport Model data, we observe the relationship between land use attributes and travel behavior. The social economic characteristic and the residential self-selection are considered for home-based work and non-work trips. As an overall, Fereej Abdul Aziz generates a higher density, mixed use and complete planning than Al Messila, and has the potential to achieve a high regenerative symbiotic district. On the other hand, Al Messila has potential to reduce green house gas emission and reduce resource use to assist in decreasing the environmental footprint of the city and urban sprawl. The results indicate the following; density is considered to be the most influential factor of built environment, residential characteristics effect traveler’s decisions, socioeconomic elements are in agreement with the cultural prospect, and the more distant the work place is, the greater the travel distance and travel trips. The study focuses on developing land use policies and recommendations through the assessment of Doha’s current land use conditions and their impact on travel behavior. They look at three dimensions of the urban form including density, diversity and design. The guidelines include; consolidation of urban context via increased density and mixed use planning to enforce stronger design control and increase the security, vitality, and transit system use. It is essential to establish policies that balance household from settling in high density areas, foster location of major traffic, limit new developments and balance jobs and housing. Finally guidelines need to be in place to encourage the use of public transport and cater for pedestrian friendly neighborhoods