This book takes as its starting point the need to examine critically the case for landscape reconnection. It looks at alleged disconnections and their supposed consequences. It explores the arguments ...about reconnecting the natural and human elements of whole landscapes. More broadly, it considers landscape as an arena within which science, humanities and professions can find common ground, and in which vivid social learning can occur about key social and environmental issues. It takes a dynamic view of landscape, in contrast to the popular image of timeless, traditional scenery. It accepts that even the most cherished cultural landscapes will change and, indeed, it views 'change drivers' as a potentially positive means of creating new connectivities between people and place. It recognises the growing interest in promoting resilience and ecosystem services across extensive landscapes - such as by creating new 'space' for water and wildlife.
The theme is related to “Large Parks on Post-industrial Sites in Contemporary Urban Landscape Conceptions”, which is expounded in the fields of landscape architecture, landscape ecology and urban ...planning. A worldwide perspective is created so as to conduct cross-cultural research on the theories and practices of large-scale urban parks in North America, Germany and China. Through the scientific approach of ‘critical rationalism’, three design paradigms of large parks in different conceptions of contemporary urban landscapes are formulated based on quantitative and qualitative analysis, which are classified as the organic parks of North American ‘landscape urbanism’, the structural parks of German ‘landscape structuralism’ and the large parks of Chinese ‘urban inventory renewal’. By means of critical thinking in diverse cultural interpretations, the research aims to reveal remarkable similarities and differences between the cultures in the Western world according to their understanding of landscapes (coherent vs. creative), landscape and ecology (representation vs. metaphor), and landscape and life (diversity vs. unpredictability). Through theoretical analysis and case studies, it demonstrates that the international park paradigms characterised by complexity, diversity, sustainability, appropriation and identity can influence various socio-cultural, ecological, and aesthetic developments. Finally, the analytical results of the two park paradigms in Western countries are adopted in the examination of landscape architectural park models and urbanistic theoretical frameworks in China. This monograph is written primarily for scholars, professionals and students in the fields of landscape architecture, urban planning and architecture. The book, involving in-depth analysis about urban parks, green open spaces, green infrastructure and post-industrial landscapes, will have international appeal. It will appeal to readers at different levels. Above all, it may be of interest to professionals who are concerned with the topics urban parks and post-industrial landscapes, as well as Chinese scholars and experts, particularly those looking at China’s urban renewal and the ongoing transformation of post-industrial sites at different scales. This book will have strong implications for relevant urban landscape practices in China. Furthermore, it will be supported by the author’s colleagues from various countries such as Germany, Italy, USA, Canada, Brazil and China. Moreover, students to whom the author teaches courses of Landscape Architecture History and Theory and Landscape Planning and Design at BUCEA, as well as the international students at Collaborative Classes organized by BUCEA, TUM, and POLIMI (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), are encouraged to read this book.
James and Nancy Duncan look at how the aesthetics of physical landscapes are fully enmeshed in producing the American class system. Focusing on an archetypal upper class American suburb-Bedford in ...Westchester County, NY-they show how the physical presentation of a place carries with it a range of markers of inclusion and exclusion.
James Duncan is a University Lecturer in Geography at Cambridge University, and Nancy Duncan is Affiliated Lecturer of Geography at Cambridge University.
Landscape Bell, Simon
2012, 20121127, 2012-11-27
eBook
Landscapes develop and evolve through an interacting series of processes - climatic, geological, ecological and cultural - over varying periods of time. These processes shape the structure and ...character of the landscapes which we experience. Over time, distinctive patterns emerge - ranging in scale from the distribution of small plants to the sculptured sides of a huge canyon. Our perception of these patterns goes beyond just their visual appreciation - beautiful though they may be - into a richer understanding of how we experience our environment.
By understanding this complex pattern-process interaction we can obtain a deeper awareness of landscape and our place in it - as inhabitants and as shapers. The book explores the nature of patterns and ways of classifying them before studying the nature of perception (primarily visual but including other senses), then proceeds to relate this perception to aesthetics and from there to the design process. From this point the main driving processes in landscape are introduced alongside the resulting patterns, these being climatic, landform, ecosystem and cultural aspects.
It is this integrative approach of looking at landscape as a kind of self-organising system, overlaid by conscious human planning activities and the unity of pattern and process, which makes this book unique. Landscape draws from a wide range of neighbouring disciplines, of which the landscape planner or designer needs to be aware, but which are often taught as distinct elements. Bell binds these fundamentals together, which enables the landscape to be 'read', and this reading to be used as the basis for planning and design.
This second edition updates and refreshes the original material with added sections and new photos, particularly making use of the developments in satellite photography. Featuring full colour throughout, this textbook is ideal for anyone studying landscape
For this article, I reviewed empirical studies finding significant ecological responses to habitat fragmentation per se-in other words, significant responses to fragmentation independent of the ...effects of habitat amount (hereafter referred to as habitat fragmentation). I asked these two questions: Are most significant responses to habitat fragmentation negative or positive? And do particular attributes of species or landscapes lead to a predominance of negative or positive significant responses? I found 118 studies reporting 381 significant responses to habitat fragmentation independent of habitat amount
.
Of these responses, 76% were positive. Most significant fragmentation effects were positive, irrespective of how the authors controlled for habitat amount, the measure of fragmentation, the taxonomic group, the type of response variable, or the degree of specialization or conservation status of the species or species group. No support was found for predictions that most significant responses to fragmentation should be negative in the tropics, for species with larger movement ranges, or when habitat amount is low; most significant fragmentation effects were positive in all of these cases. Thus, although 24% of significant responses to habitat fragmentation were negative, I found no conditions in which most responses were negative. Authors suggest a wide range of possible explanations for significant positive responses to habitat fragmentation: increased functional connectivity, habitat diversity, positive edge effects, stability of predator-prey host-parasitoid systems, reduced competition, spreading of risk, and landscape complementation. A consistent preponderance of positive significant responses to fragmentation implies that there is no justification for assigning lower conservation value to a small patch than to an equivalent area within a large patch-instead, it implies just the opposite. This finding also suggests that land sharing will usually provide higher ecological value than land sparing.
This innovative environmental history of the long-lived European chestnut tree and its woods offers valuable new perspectives on the human transition from the Roman to the medieval world in Italy. ...Integrating evidence from botanical and literary sources, individual charters and case studies of specific communities, the book traces fluctuations in the size and location of Italian chestnut woods to expose how early medieval societies changed their land use between the fourth and eleventh centuries, and in the process changed themselves. As the chestnut tree gained popularity in late antiquity and became a valuable commodity by the end of the first millennium, this study brings to life the economic and cultural transition from a Roman Italy of cities, agricultural surpluses and markets to a medieval Italy of villages and subsistence farming.
How do landscapes—defined in the broadest sense to incorporate the physical contours of the built environment, the aesthetics of form, and the imaginative reflections of spatial ...representations—contribute to the making of politics? Shifting through the archaeological, epigraphic, and artistic remains of early complex societies, this provocative and far-reaching book is the first systematic attempt to explain the links between spatial organization and politics from an anthropological point of view.
The Classic-period Maya, the kingdom of Urartu, and the cities of early southern Mesopotamia provide the focal points for this multidimensional account of human polities. Are the cities and villages in which we live and work, the lands that are woven into our senses of cultural and personal identity, and the national territories we occupy merely stages on which historical processes and political rituals are enacted? Or do the forms of buildings and streets, the evocative sensibilities of architecture and vista, the aesthetics of place conjured in art and media constitute political landscapes—broad sets of spatial practices critical to the formation, operation, and overthrow of polities, regimes, and institutions? Smith brings together contemporary theoretical developments from geography and social theory with anthropological perspectives and archaeological data to pursue these questions.
Context
A background assumption of landscape approaches is that some landscape patterns are more sustainable than others, and thus searching for these patterns should be a unifying theme for all ...landscape-related studies. We know much about biodiversity, ecosystems, and human wellbeing in our landscapes, but much less about how their interactions influence, and are influenced by, landscape patterns. To help fill this knowledge gap, landscape sustainability science (LSS) has emerged. However, the core research questions and key approaches of this new field still need to be systematically articulated.
Objectives
The main objectives of this paper were: (1) to propose a set of core research questions for LSS, and (2) to identify key cross-disciplinary approaches that can help address these questions.
Methods
I took a qualitative and subjective approach to review and synthesize the literature relevant to landscape sustainability, based on which I developed core questions and identified key cross-disciplinary approaches.
Results
Eight core questions were proposed to focus on understanding the relationships among landscape pattern, biodiversity, ecosystem function, ecosystem services, and human wellbeing, assessing the impacts of environmental and socio-institutional changes on these relationships, and fusing knowledge and action through landscape design/planning and governance processes. Ten inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches were identified, and their key characteristics were discussed in relation to landscape sustainability.
Conclusions
LSS has emerged as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research field that aims to understand and improve sustainability by focusing on landscape scales, while considering local and global scales in the same time. To advance LSS, future research not only needs to emphasize the relationships among landscape pattern, ecosystem services, and human wellbeing, but also to proactively integrate complementary approaches across natural and social sciences. Landscape sustainability is inevitably connected to the broader regional and global context; but if global sustainability is to be achieved, our landscapes must be sustained first. It is not the other way around.
Introduction: Over the last decade MM diagnosis and therapy have greatly improved; notably due to an increasing number of “novel agents” (NA; e.g. PIs, IMiDs, mAbs, HDAC-, PD1/PD-L1-inhibitors). ...Anti-MM-therapy has gained complexity; orientation towards “state of the art” chemotherapy (CTx) protocols and international guidelines, as well as their continuous evaluation is highly important. According to the international literature, analyses of CTx management and particularly the use of novel substances have mainly been performed in the context of clinical trials (CT), therefore in a selected minority of patients (pts). In order to determine, whether guideline recommendations on MM therapy are thoroughly implemented in- and outside CT settings, we performed a real-world data analysis on clinical MM practice patterns. Substance use was analyzed in view of treatment lines and evaluated for “MM-pathway conformity”.
Methods: We performed a detailed analysis of 287 myeloma pts treated at our University Medical Center, part of the DSMM study group in 2014/15. The pt cohort was defined using the hospital pharmacy and tumor documentation (TBD) databases. TBD analysis enabled the detailed acquisition of pt characteristics, such as age at initial diagnosis (ID), gender, Durie and Salmon (D&S) and International Staging System stage (ISS). Status of transplantation (Tx), comorbidity (via Revised Myeloma Comorbidity Index R-MCI), CT data, treatment line/cycle and the year of CTx application were collected using electronic medical records, TBD and CTx management tools. Basic data on therapy composition was collected for the years 2005 to 2017, separating two treatment periods for 1st, 2nd and 3rd-line therapy of 2005-2012 and 2013-2017. This cut-off was carefully chosen to discriminate best between NA- and non-NA-based regimens, and between first generation PI- (bortezomib (BOR) and IMiD-use (thalidomide (THAL), lenalidomide (LEN)) and second generation NA.
Results: Pt characteristics were representative for tertiary centers with a median age of 63 years (27-89), 54% were 60-79 and 14% >80 years old. The male:female gender ratio was 58%:42% and ISS predominantly advanced (II/III:62%). Pts showed substantial comorbidities and were classified as fit, intermediate-fit and frail according to R-MCI in 33%, 56% and 11%, respectively. Of interest, 33% of pts could be enrolled in CTs and 88% received 1st line treatment at our center. 275 pts received 1st-line, 149 pts 2nd-line and 97 pts 3rd-line treatment (Fig.1). As expected, numbers of pts decreased with subsequent lines of treatment, albeit the median time to 2nd line therapy due to progression amounted to 2 years. As depicted in Fig.1, 1st line conventional CTx (cCTx) alone was rare and substantially declined over time from 12% 2005-2012 to 1% in 2013-2017. 200 pts (73%) were treated with BOR in 1st line, 63 of 106 reinduced pts received BOR in 2nd or 3rd line. IMiD 2nd and 3rd line treatment was also common within different regimens and the combination of 2 NA of both PI+IMiD increased over time (BOR+THAL, BOR+LEN). The use of second generation NA in 2nd and 3rd line treatment notably increased in 2013 to 2017 in line with their approval. Our analysis revealed that 44% of second generation NA protocols were administered outside CT settings, mainly due to tight inclusion and wide CT exclusion criteria. Maintenance was performed in 57% of pts, predominantly with LEN (60%) and within DSMM CT protocols.
Conclusion: Our analyses demonstrate that NA combinations are used predominantly today, whereas the use of cCTx alone is substantially declining. While BOR plays an important role in induction, LEN was subsequently used for maintenance and in outpatient-regimens. BOR-reinduction as a validated treatment option is also reflecting the substantial amount of BOR-based protocols worldwide. A significant percentage of second generation NA are administered outside CT settings, representing the fast and effective implementation of guideline recommendations into the real-world clinical practice at our and other MM centers. Currently, we are assessing the percentage of pts discussed in our weekly MM tumorboard, the evidence level of therapeutic interventions, PFS and OS. Results will be shown at the meeting, including the comparison of our data with others in a detailed review of the literature.
Display omitted
Engelhardt:German Cancer Aid (#11424): Other: Educational Grant; Janssen Cilag GmbH: Other: Educational Grant; Celgene GmbH: Other: Educational Grant; Amgen GmbH: Other: Educational Grant.
This book presents an evidence-based approach to landscape planning and design for urban blue spaces that maximises the benefits to human health and well-being while minimising the risks. Based on ...applied research and evidence from primary and secondary data sources stemming from the EU-funded BlueHealth project, the book presents nature-based solutions to promote sustainable and resilient cities. Numerous cities around the world are located alongside bodies of water in the form of coastlines, lakes, rivers and canals, but the relationship between city inhabitants and these water sources has often been ambivalent. In many cities, water has been polluted, engineered or ignored completely. But, due to an increasing awareness of the strong connections between city, people, nature and water and health, this paradigm is shifting. The international editorial team, consisting of researchers and professionals across several disciplines, leads the reader through theoretical aspects, evidence, illustrated case studies, risk assessment and a series of validated tools to aid planning and design before finishing with overarching planning and design principles for a range of blue-space types. Over 200 full-colour illustrations accompany the case-study examples from geographic locations all over the world, including Portugal, the United Kingdom, China, Canada, the US, South Korea, Singapore, Norway and Estonia. With green and blue infrastructure now at the forefront of current policies and trends to promote healthy, sustainable cities, Urban Blue Spaces is a must-have for professionals and students in landscape planning, urban design and environmental design. Open Access for the book was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 666773
