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In mountainous regions with scarce gravity data, gravimetric geoid determination is a difficult task that needs special attention to obtain reliable results satisfying the demands, e.g., of engineering applications. The present study investigates a procedure for combining a suitable global geopotential model and available terrestrial data in order to obtain a precise regional geoid model for Konya Closed Basin (KCB). The KCB is located in the central part of Turkey, where a very limited amount of terrestrial gravity data is available. Various data sources, such as the Turkish digital elevation model with 3 '' x 3 '' resolution, a recently published satellite-only global geopotential model from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite (GRACE) and the ground gravity observations, are combined in the least-squares sense by the modified Stokes' formula. The new gravimetric geoid model is compared with Global Positioning System (GPS)/levelling at the control points, resulting in the Root Mean Square Error (RMS) differences of +/- 6.4 cm and 1.7 ppm in the absolute and relative senses, respectively. This regional geoid model appears to he more accurate than the Earth Gravitational Model 2008, which is the best global model over the target area, with the RMS differences of +/- 8.6 cm and 1.8 ppm in the absolute and relative senses, respectively. These results show that the accuracy of a regional gravimetric model can be augmented by the combination of a global geopotential model and local terrestrial data in mountainous areas even though the quality and resolution of the primary terrestrial data are not satisfactory to the geoid modelling procedure.
The main objective of this study is to compute a new gravimetric geoid model of Sudan
using the KTH method based on modification of Stokes' formula for geoid determination.
The modified Stokes' formula combines regional terrestrial gravity with long-wavelength
gravity information provided by the global gravitational model (GGM). The collected
datasets for this study contained the terrestrial gravity measurements, digital elevation
model (DEM), GPS/levelling data and four global gravitational Models (GGMs), (EGM96,
EIGEN-GRACE02S, EIGEN-GL04C and GGM03S).
The gravity data underwent cross validation technique for outliers detection, three gridding
algorithms (Kriging, Inverse Distance Weighting and Nearest Neighbor) have been tested,
thereafter the best interpolation approach has been chosen for gridding the refined gravity
data. The GGMs contributions were evaluated with GPS/levelling data to choose the best
one to be used in the combined formula.
In this study three stochastic modification methods of Stokes' formula (Optimum, Unbiased
and Biased) were performed, hence an approximate geoid height was computed. Thereafter,
some additive corrections (Topographic, Downward Continuation, Atmospheric and Ellipsoidal)
were added to the approximated geoid height to get corrected geoid height.
The new gravimetric geoid model (KTH-SDG08) has been determined over the whole
country of Sudan at 5′ x 5′ grid for area ( 4 ). The optimum method
provides the best agreement with GPS/levelling estimated to 29 cm while the agreement for
the relative geoid heights to 0.493 ppm. A comparison has also been made between the new
geoid model and a previous model, determined in 1991 and shows better accuracy.
≤φ ≤ 23 , 22 ≤ λ ≤ 38
Keywords: geoid model, KTH method, stochastic modification methods, modified Stokes' formula,
additive corrections.
Laser scanning technologies has become an important tool in many engineering projects and applications. The output of laser measuring is the point cloud, which is processed in a way that makes it suitable for different applications. Processing of point cloud data is achieved through laser scanning software packages. Depending on the field of application, these packages have many different kinds of functions and methods that can be used. The main processing tasks used on a laser scanning software package include registration, modelling and texture mapping. Investigation and comparison of two laser scanning processing packages (Leica Cyclone and InnovMetric PolyWorks) are performed in this study. The theoretical and mathematical backgrounds of the above functions are presented and discussed. The available methods and functions used by each of the packages for these tasks are addressed and discussed. By using sample data, these functions are trailed and their results are compared and analyzed.
The results from registration tests show the same results on both packages for the registration using target methods. Although, the results of cloud-to-cloud registration show some deviation from target registration results, they are more close to each other in both packages than to the target registration results. This indicates the efficiency of cloud-to-cloud methods in averaging the total registration error on all used points, unlike target registration methods.
The modelling tests show more differences in the accuracy of generated models between the two packages. For both fitting and surface construction methods, PolyWorks showed better results and capabilities for three-dimensional modelling. As a result, the advantages and disadvantages of each package are presented in relation with the used task and methods, and a review of data exchange abilities is presented.
Determination of the geoid with a high accuracy is a challenging task among geodesists. Its precise determination is usually carried out by combining a global geopotential model with terrestrial gravity anomalies measured in the region of interest along with some topographic information. In this paper, Molodensky's approach is used for precise determination of height anomaly. To do this, optimum combination of global geopotential models with the validated terrestrial surface gravity anomalies and some deterministic modification schemes are investigated. Special attention is paid on the strict modelling of the geoidal height and height anomaly difference. The accuracy of the determined geoid is tested on the 513 points of Iranian height network the geoidal height of which are determined by the GPS observations.
Sweden is one of the leading countries when it comes to availability in the physical environment. Approximately 7 000 children in Sweden are disabled. Half of these children use a wheelchair. It is every child's right to play, and it's thereby interesting to know whether every child is given the opportunity to use a playground. In the county of Helsingborg there are playgrounds appealing to many children, although the question is whether every child is given the chance to play at these playgrounds.
The aim of this study is to highlight the importance of availability at playgrounds and outline ways to improve the availability. The method used in this thesis is a literature study, focusing on legal framework and literature about availability, usability and playgrounds. The case study provides information about eight playgrounds in Helsingborg. There is also an interview with landscape architect Johanna Elgström.
Playgrounds where availability has been prioritized are often more available and useable for wheelchair-bound children. Still, the legal framework is in need of a more precise definition of availability and usability to ensure that playgrounds are suitable for children using a wheelchair. The playgrounds that are more available and useable can favor children using a wheelchair and give them the opportunity to socially interact with other children.
Since the 1st of January 2004 it has according to Swedish law been possible to form a 3D property. As the cities continue to grow and expand by attract more inhabitants it has become of a greater importance to develop the city and at the same time preserving its qualities. 3D property formation could be used to do so. This thesis focuses on 3D property formation where a facility is built underneath a public space. The thesis study how the responsibility to maintain the 3D property should be distributed between the property owners, in this case between the municipality and a private property owner, to establish a long term management of the public spplace as well as the underground construction. The research is carried out by studying property formation cases, detail plans and contracts. The results of the study shows that 3D property research is a highly complex matter and that a clear distribution of responsibilities between the property owners is requiredneeded in order to facilitate a long term management of the property. It is also important to distribute any eventual costs and clearly decide what responsibilities each property owner has. Lastly, collaboration between the divisions within the municipality as well as collaboration between the municipality and the department of cadastral survey is of great importance to secure that the information given in property formation cases, detail plans and contracts is unambiguous.
Classifying public transport service attributes based on their influence on overall traveler satisfaction can assist stakeholders and practitioners in introducing cost-efficient measures. To date most studies employed methods that were based on the assumption that the impact of service attributes on traveler satisfaction is entirely linear and symmetric. This study examines whether service attributes have a non-linear and asymmetric influence on the overall travel experience by employing the Three-factor theory (basic, performance and exciting factors). The analysis is conducted for different traveler segments depending on their level of captivity, travel frequency by public transport and travel mode used, and is based on a relatively large sample size collected for Stockholm County. Moreover, the estimated models control for important socio-demographic and travel characteristics that have been insofar overlooked. Results are presented in the form of a series of multi-level cubes that represent different essentiality of traveler needs which provide a useful methodological framework to further design quality service improvements that can be applied to various geographical contexts. Our findings highlight that a "one size fits all" approach is not adequate for identifying the needs of distinct traveler segments and of travelers using different travel modes. Furthermore, two-thirds of the attributes are consistently classified into the same factor category which entails important policy implications. This research deepens and expands the very limited knowledge of the application of the three-factor theory in the transport field.
Understanding how satisfaction with individual trip legs aggregates to the overall travel experience for different types of trips will enable the identification of the trip legs that are most impactful. For this purpose we analyze data on retrospective evaluations of entire multi-modal trip experiences and satisfaction with individual trip legs. We formulate and describe alternative aggregation rules and underpin them in theory and previous empirical findings. The results of a series of regression models show that for a large number of multi-modal trip configurations normative rules can better reproduce overall travel satisfaction than heuristic rules. This indicates that all trip legs need to be considered when evaluating the overall travel experience, especially for trips legs involving waiting and/or transferring time. In particular, weighting satisfaction with individual trip legs with perceived trip leg durations yielded the best predictor of overall travel satisfaction. No evidence for a disproportional effect of the last or most exceptional part of the trip was found. This research contributes to the literature on combining multi-episodic experiences and provides novel empirical evidence in the transport domain.
Ensuring safety during door-to-door public transport trips is a fundamental challenge to service providers as safety influences individuals' mobility. Using reported safety perceptions of travelers waiting at six bus stops with different characteristics in Stockholm, this study investigates factors that have an impact on determining travelers' perceived safety and crime perceptions. This is done by assessing the importance of real-time information provision and the environmental characteristics of bus stops during the day and at night for different types of crime, after controlling for travelers' individual and trip characteristics, and their previous experiences of victimization. Interaction effects of age, gender, and travel frequency are also tested. The results suggest that bus shelter characteristics, natural surveillance, and trustworthy real-time information are the most important factors influencing safety and crime perceptions. Additionally, safety perceptions are strongly influenced by previous experiences of victimization. The effect of perceived feelings about crime and safety are found to be nuanced by age and gender. Unlike some common beliefs, travelers: (1) feel less worried about becoming a victim of crime at bus stops associated with high crime rates; (2) prefer opaque shelters at night; and (3) have higher safety perceptions when the stop is located in an area of mixed land use. The impact of a bus stop's number of passers-by is found to be insignificant. No direct or indirect effects can be attributed to frequency of travel by bus, indicating that familiar places and routine behavior have noeffect on declared crime and safety perceptions.
We examine the effect of weather, accessibility and built-environment characteristics on overall travel experience as well as the experience with the latest trips. These are factors that are often disregarded in the travel satisfaction literature even though they are believed to largely influence the first mile of the door-to-door trip. This study fills a research gap in investigating all these factors by using, amongst other, a relatively large travel satisfaction survey from years 2009 to 2015 and by focusing on urban and peri-urban geographical contexts, the city and county of Stockholm (Sweden), respectively. The ordered logit model results show that county dwellers living close to a metro station and in well linked-to-all areas report higher overall travel satisfaction evaluations. In addition, precipitation and ground covered with snow have a negative influence on travel satisfaction. Our findings indicate that built-environment characteristics exert a rather weak influence on the travel experience, especially in the peri-urban context. However, some aspects such as living in areas with medium densities, low income and with high safety perceptions around public transport stations are associated with higher satisfaction levels. In turn, areas with single land uses are found to have lower travel satisfactions. These results are important for public transport planners and designers in devising measures to prevent and mitigate the negative outcome of some weather conditions and to conceive better designed transit oriented developments.
Modern humans are considered to have lost connection to nature and actions to reduce the separation between man and nature has been demanded. Green areas are often valued from a broad perspective and few studies have investigated the specific nature of the wild habitat. There also seem to be definitive problems and conflicts regarding the concept of "wild nature". The purpose of this report is to identify the specific values of wild nature and to investigate what the concept really can include. Another purpose is to investigate attitudes and associations to wild nature and how wild nature is being worked on in planning.
A literature study has been used as the primary method. The literature study has been supplemented with a minor case study including a documentary study, interviews and questionnaires.
The conclusion is that wild nature offers values of ecological, educational and experiential character. The ecological value is that wild nature allows biodiversity. The educational value includes aspects that help strengthen the connection to nature, which may lead to changed environmental behavior. Wild nature also has values that concerns for example the experience of spiritual and reflective emotions, contributing to stress reduction and increased well-being. Moreover, wild nature is associated with large areas unaffected by humans. The same approaches are in the planning process, and the experience of wild nature is often evaluated from an ecological perspective. This means that the potential of green spaces that does not fit into the traditional image is not taken advantage of. Wild nature can also be defined based on the experience qualities related to wildness. A development towards such an approach could mean that the specific nature of the wild nature is taken advantage of. This could contribute to the increased well-being of the residents, but in the long term, a more sustainable society.
Isostasy is a key concept in geoscience to interpret the state of mass balance between the Earth's crust and mantle. There are four well-known isostatic models: the classical models of Airy/Heiskanen (A/H), Pratt/Hayford (P/H), and Vening Meinesz (VM) and the modern model of Vening Meinesz-Moritz (VMM). The first three models assume a local and regional isostatic compensation, whereas the latter one supposes a global isostatic compensation scheme.
A more satisfactory test of isostasy is to determine the Moho interface. The Moho discontinuity (or Moho) is the surface, which marks the boundary between the Earth's crust and upper mantle. Generally, the Moho interface can be mapped accurately by seismic observations, but limited coverage of seismic data and economic considerations make gravimetric or combined gravimetric-seismic methods a more realistic technique for imaging the Moho interface either regional or global scales.
It is the main purpose of this dissertation to investigate an isostatic model with respect to its feasibility to use in recovering the Moho parameters (i.e. Moho depth and Moho density contrast). The study is mostly limited to the VMM model and to the combined approach on regional and global scales. The thesis briefly includes various investigations with the following specific subjects:
1) to investigate the applicability and quality of satellite altimetry data (i.e. marine gravity data) in Moho determination over the oceans using the VMM model, 2) to investigate the need for methodologies using gravimetric data jointly with seismic data (i.e. combined approach) to estimate both the Moho depth and Moho density contrast over regional and global scales, 3) to investigate the spherical terrain correction and its effect on the VMM Moho determination, 4) to investigate the residual isostatic topography (RIT, i.e. difference between actual topography and isostatic topography) and its effect in the VMM Moho estimation, 5) to investigate the application of the lithospheric thermal-pressure correction and its effect on the Moho geometry using the VMM model, 6) Finally, the thesis ends with the application of the classical isostatic models for predicting the geoid height.
The main input data used in the VMM model for a Moho recovery is the gravity anomaly/disturbance corrected for the gravitational contributions of mass density variation due in different layers of the Earth's crust (i.e. stripping gravity corrections) and for the gravity contribution from deeper masses below the crust (i.e. non-isostatic effects). The corrections are computed using the recent seismic crustal model CRUST1.0.
Our numerical investigations presented in this thesis demonstrate that 1) the VMM approach is applicable for estimating Moho geometry using a global marine gravity field derived by satellite altimetry and that the possible mean dynamic topography in the marine gravity model does not significantly affect the Moho determination, 2) the combined approach could help in filling-in the gaps in the seismic models and it also provides good fit to other global and regional models more than 90 per cent of the locations, 3) despite the fact that the lateral variation of the crustal depth is rather smooth, the terrain affects the Moho result most significantly in many areas, 4) the application of the RIT correction improves the agreement of our Moho result with some published global Moho models, 5) the application of the lithospheric thermal-pressure correction improves the agreement of VMM Moho model with some other global Moho models, 6) the geoid height cannot be successfully represented by the classical models due to many other gravitational signals from various mass variations within the Earth that affects the geoid.
We present a combined method for estimating a new global Moho model named KTH15C, containing Moho depth and Moho density contrast (or shortly Moho parameters), from a combination of global models of gravity (GOCO05S), topography (DTM2006) and seismic information (CRUST1.0 and MDN07) to a resolution of 1 degrees x 1 degrees based on a solution of Vening Meinesz-Moritz' inverse problem of isostasy. This paper also aims modelling of the observation standard errors propagated from the Vening Meinesz-Moritz and CRUST1.0 models in estimating the uncertainty of the final Moho model. The numerical results yield Moho depths ranging from 6.5 to 70.3 km, and the estimated Moho density contrasts ranging from 21 to 650 kg/m(3), respectively. Moreover, test computations display that in most areas estimated uncertainties in the parameters are less than 3 km and 50 kg/m(3), respectively, but they reach to more significant values under Gulf of Mexico, Chile, Eastern Mediterranean, Timor sea and parts of polar regions. Comparing the Moho depths estimated by KTH15C and those derived by KTH11C, GEMMA2012C, CRUST1.0, KTH14C, CRUST14 and GEMMA1.0 models shows that KTH15C agree fairly well with CRUST1.0 but rather poor with other models. The Moho density contrasts estimated by KTH15C and those of the KTH11C, KTH14C and VMM model agree to 112, 31 and 61 kg/m(3) in RMS. The regional numerical studies show that the RMS differences between KTH15C and Moho depths from seismic information yields fits of 2 to 4 km in South and North America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and Antarctica, respectively.
According to Vening Meinesz-Moritz (VMM) global inverse isostatic problem, either the Moho density contrast (crust-mantle density contrast) or the Moho geometry can be estimated by solving a non-linear Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. Here solutions to the two Moho parameters are presented by combining the global geopotential model (GOCO-03S), topography (DTM2006) and a seismic crust model, the latter being the recent digital global crustal model (CRUST1.0) with a resolution of 1A(0)x1A(0). The numerical results show that the estimated Moho density contrast varies from 21 to 637 kg/m(3), with a global average of 321 kg/m(3), and the estimated Moho depth varies from 6 to 86 km with a global average of 24 km. Comparing the Moho density contrasts estimated using our leastsquares method and those derived by the CRUST1.0, CRUST2.0, and PREM models shows that our estimate agrees fairly well with CRUST1.0 model and rather poor with other models. The estimated Moho depths by our least-squares method and the CRUST1.0 model agree to 4.8 km in RMS and with the GEMMA1.0 based model to 6.3 km.
An experiment for estimating Moho depth is carried out based on satellite altimetryand topographic information using the Vening Meinesz–Moritz gravimetric isostatichypothesis. In order to investigate the possibility and quality of satellite altimetry in Mohodetermination, the DNSC08GRA global marine gravity field model and the DTM2006 globaltopography model are used to obtain a global Moho depth model over the oceans with aresolution of 1 x 1 degree. The numerical results show that the estimated Bouguer gravity disturbancevaries from 86 to 767 mGal, with a global average of 747 mGal, and the estimatedMoho depth varies from 3 to 39 km with a global average of 19 km. Comparing the Bouguergravity disturbance estimated from satellite altimetry and that derived by the gravimetricsatellite-only model GOGRA04S shows that the two models agree to 13 mGal in root meansquare (RMS). Similarly, the estimated Moho depths from satellite altimetry andGOGRA04S agree to 0.69 km in RMS. It is also concluded that possible mean dynamictopography in the marine gravity model does not significantly affect the Moho determination.
In this study, the Moho depth is estimated based on the refined spherical Bouguer gravity disturbance and DTM2006 topographic data using the Vening Meinesz-Moritz gravimetric-isostatic hypothesis. In this context, we compute the refined spherical Bouguer gravity disturbances in a set of 1 degrees x 1 degrees blocks. The spherical terrain correction, a residual correction to each Bouguer shell, is computed using rock heights and ice sheet thicknesses from the DTM2006 and Earth2014 models. The study illustrates that the defined simple Bouguer gravity disturbance corrected for the density variations of the oceans, ice sheets and sediment basins and also the non-isostatic effects needs a significant terrain correction to become the refined Bouguer gravity disturbance, and that the isostatic gravity disturbance is significantly better defined by the latter disturbance plus a compensation attraction. Our study shows that despite the fact that the lateral variation of the crustal depth is rather smooth, the terrain affects the result most significantly in many areas. The global numerical results show that the estimated Moho depths by the simple and refined spherical Bouguer gravity disturbances and the seismic CRUST1.0 model agree to 5.6 and 2.7 km in RMS, respectively. Also, the mean value differences are 1.7 and 0.2 km, respectively. Two regional numerical studies show that the RMS differences between the Moho depths estimated based on the simple and refined spherical Bouguer gravity disturbance and that using CRUST1.0 model yield fits of 4.9 and 3.2 km in South America and yield 3.2 and 3.4 km in Fennoscandia, respectively.
We present a method for estimating a new global Moho model (KTH15C), containing Moho depth and density contrast, from a combination of global models of gravity (GOCO05S), topography (DTM2006) and seismic information (CRUST1.0 and MDN07) to a resolution of 1°×1° based on a solution of Vening Meinesz-Moritz' inverse problem of isostasy. Particularly, this article has its emphasis on the modelling of the observation standard errors propagated from the Vening Meinesz-Moritz and CRUST1.0 models in estimating the uncertainty of the final Moho model. The numerical results yield Moho depths ranging from 6.5 to 70.1 km, with a global average of 23.4 ± 13 km. The estimated Moho density contrasts range from 21 to 680 kg/m3, with a global average of 345.4 ± 112 kg/m3. Moreover, test computations display that in most areas estimated uncertainties in the parameters are less than 3 km and 50 kg/m3, respectively, but they reach to more significant values under Gulf of Mexico, Chile, Eeastern Mediterranean, Timor sea and parts of polar regions. Comparing the Moho depths estimated by KTH15C and those derived by KTH11C, GEMMA2012C, CRUST1.0, KTH14C, CRUST14 and GEMMA1.0 models shows that KTH15C agree fairly well with CRUST1.0 but rather poor with other models. The Moho density contrasts estimated by KTH15C and those of the KTH11C and KTH14C model agree to 120 and 80 kg/m3 in RMS. The regional numerical studies show that the RMS differences between KTH15C and Moho depths from seismic information yields fits of 2 to 4 km in South and North America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and Antarctica, respectively.
Rivers as one of the most important topographic factor have played a strategic role not only on the appearance of cities but they also affect the structure and morphology of cities. In this paper I intend to find out the influence of rivers on the morphology of a cities and discuss that how a city in its physical network interacts with a river flowing inside. My study area is river-cities in Sweden in which they have not received much attention in this issue. To this purpose I use space syntax method integrating with geospatial analysis and extract the properties of physical form of cities in terms of global and local integration value, choice value and so on. Comparing the states of presence and absence of rivers in these cities as well as evaluating the effect of rivers on the morphology of areas located in different banks of rivers are also part of interest in this paper. The primary result shows that although a river is not comparable to a city based on size and the area occupied by, it has a significant effect on the form of a city in both global and local properties. In addition, tracking the pattern of river-cities and their interaction to rivers may lead us to interoperate the physical form of these cities in terms of structured and distributed cities.
Resilience defined as the capacity of a system to manage impacts, keep its efficiency and continue its development has been scrutinized by researchers from different points of view over the past decades. Due to the prominence of resilience in urban planning, this paper intends to find out how the spatial structure of cities deals with disturbances, and if geographical phenomena such as rivers affect the resilience in cities. Using the space syntax methods syntactically analyze the resilience in cities, we innovatively introduce two measures; similarity and sameness. These measures are in relation with the syntactical properties of cities and compare the degree of resilience between different groups. Similarity measures the degree to which each city retains the relative magnitude of its foreground network after a disturbance and sameness is the degree to which each city retains the same segments as its foreground network after a disturbance. Likewise to network resilience studies, we apply different disturbances on cities and explore the reaction of cities to disturbances in terms of size of the foreground network and which segments are parts thereof. We then compare different groups based on these measurements as a method to analyze sameness and similarity. The results show that the resilience, in the way we define it, is different in different cities depending on in which view and based on which parameters we are discussing the resilience. Additionally morphological phenomena such as rivers have a great impact on the structure of cities and in turn on their resilience.
Background: As dynamic systems rivers and cities have been in interaction under changing relations over time, and the morphology of many cities has risen through a long and steady struggle between the city functions and the river system flowing inside. This makes river cities an interesting case to study how the presence of geographical features interacts with spatial morphology in the formation of cities.
Methods: The basis of this research is enabled by utilizing a novel model for cross-city comparison presented by Hillier in his Santiago keynote in 2012 called a "star model". This is done on large samples of cities investigating concurrent configurations, as well as how the properties in this star model react to specific forms of disturbance.
Results: Results illustrate that the foreground network as identified through maximum choice values in cities are more vital to the structure of cities than the bridges. The overall syntactic structure tends to retain its character (degree of distributedness) and the location of its foreground network (which street segments constitute the foreground network) even when bridges are targeted. Furthermore, counter to the initial hypothesis, river cities tend to change less than non-river cities after targeted disturbance of the systems. Finally, the results show that while there is a statistical morphological difference between river cities and non-river cities, this difference is not directly explained through the bridges.
Conclusion: Integrating space syntax with statistical and geospatial analysis can throw light on the way in which the properties of city networks and urban structure reflect the relative effect of rivers on the morphology of river cities. The paper, finally, contributes through offering one piece of a better perception of the structure of river-cities that can support strategies of river-cities interaction as well as enhance our knowledge on the constraints and limits to that interaction.
Visibility analysis is one of the key methods in space syntax theory that discusses visual information conveyed to observers from any location in space that is potentially directly visible for the observer without any obstruction. Visibility – simply defined as what we can see – not only affects the spatial function of buildings, but also has visual relation to the perception of buildings by inhabitants and visitors. In this paper we intend to present the result of visibility analysis applied on a sample of building layouts of different sizes and functions from a variety of places of periods. The main aim of this paper is to statistically explore the general trends of building layouts and show if and how visibility properties such as connectivity, clustering coefficient, mean depth, entropy, and integration values can make distinctions among different functions of buildings. Our findings reveal that there are significant correlation coefficients among global properties of visibility in which we consider the mean value of properties, a similarity suggesting that they are not intensively manipulated by architecture. On the other hand, there are correlations although less so than the previous, still significant among local properties of visibility in which we consider the (max-min) value of properties, suggesting that social, cultural or other physical parameters distinguish buildings individually. We also show that functions such as 'museum' and 'veterinary' are relatively well-clustered, while functions such as 'ancient' and 'shopping' show high diversity. In addition, using a decision tree model we show that, in our sample, functions such as 'museum' and 'library' are more predictable rather than functions such as 'hospital' and 'shopping.' All of these mean that – at least in our sample – the usability and applicability of well-clustered and well-predicted functions have been predominant in shaping their interior spaces; vice versa, in well-diverse and unpredicted functions, the pragmatic solutions of people's daily life developed in material culture affect the visual properties of their interior spaces.
In the wake of climate change and its impact on increasing the number and intensity of floods, adaptability of cities to and resistance against the flood hazard is critical to retain functionality of the cities. Vulnerability of urban infrastructure and its resilience to flooding from different points of view have been important and worth investigating for experts in different fields of science. Flood hazards as physical phenomena are influenced by form of the cities and thus the magnitude of their impacts can be intensified by urban infrastructures such as street networks and buildings (Bacchin et. al, 2011). In this paper, we aim to develop a method to assess the resilience of a river city (the city of Gothenburg in Sweden), which is prone to flood events, against such disturbances and find out how the city reacts to river floods and to what extent the city retains its accessibility to essential amenities after a flood occurs. To do so, collecting required data; we, firstly, simulate flood inundation with two different return periods (50 and 1000 years) and then the impact areas overlay on the street networks. Evaluating the resilience of the city, syntactic properties of the street networks before and after flooding are measured at different scales. Additionally, accessibility and the minimum distance of the street networks to essential amenities such as healthcare centers, schools and commercial centers, at a medium distance (3 Km) is examined. The results show that flooding influences the city configuration at global scale more than the local scale based on comparison of syntactic properties before and after flooding. However, the results of accessibility and the minimum distance show that the impact of flooding on the functionality of the city is more limited to the riparian areas and the city is not affected globally.
Flooding is one of the most destructive natural disasters which have rapidly been growing in frequency and intensity all over the world. In this view, assessment of the resilience of the city against such disturbances is of high necessity in order to significantly mitigate the disaster effects of flooding on the city structures and the human lives. The aim of this paper is to develop a method to assess the resilience of a river city (the city of Gothenburg in Sweden), which is prone to flood Hazard, against such disturbances. By simulating flood inundation with different return periods, in the first step, the areas of impact are determined. To assess the resilience, two different methods are followed. One is a syntactic method grounded in the foreground network in space syntax theory and the other is based on measuring accessibility to the essential amenities in the city. In the first method, similarity and sameness parameters are defined to quantitatively measure the syntactic resilience in the city. In the next step, accessibility to amenities and the minimum distance to amenities before and after each disturbance is measured. The results, in general, show that such disturbances affect the city structure and the resilience of the city differently. For instance, the city is more resilient after flooding ac- cording to accessibility measures. This clearly means that the answer to the question of resilience is mainly dependent on "resilience of what and for what."
Environmental monitoring, assessment and conservation programmes worldwide have led to the development of scientific and technological methods to study the changes in our environment. As a result, a technique for monitoring atmospheric metal deposition was developed in Sweden in the 1960s. This technique is based on the principle that, carpet-forming moss obtains its nutrients from dry deposition particles in the air. The Swedish Environmental Research institute (IVL) has a database of concentrations of metals in terrestrial mosses. These were sampled during the national moss surveys (1975 – 2000). From these point data, long-term changes in the deposition loads can be studied.One aim of this project is to create continuous surfaces for these point data and to develop a technique to map the spatio-temporal changes. It also seeks to quantify the temporal changes in metal loads of the moss data for over 20 years. With the amount of data increasing from various air quality assessments and monitoring methods, it is prudent to approach the data analysis from a multidisciplinary perspective. By using statistics, geostatistic, GIS and visualization methods, the quantitative, spatial and temporal trends of the moss surveys were analysed. Multidimensional visualizations based on exploratory data analysis were applied to the data to visualize and reveal trends in the multivariate data.The project area comprised the whole Sweden with the data from 1975 to 2000, with the exception of the moss survey in 1975, which was conducted only in southern Sweden. A combination of GIS, geostatistics and high dimensional visualization techniques were applied in the data cleaning and analysis stages.The results of the project show the rate of change of metal loads over the years and the spatial distribution of the metal depositions as well. The visual approach used from the data cleaning to results presentation makes it easily comprehensible to non-scientist as well.
Disasters, whether natural or man-made have become an issue of mounting concern all over the world. Natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions are yearly phenomena that have devastating effect on infrastructure and property and in most cases, results in the loss of human life. Floods are amongst the most prevalent natural disasters. The frequency with which floods occur, their magnitude, extent and the cost of damage are escalating all around the globe. Accra, the capital city of Ghana experiences the occurrence of flooding events annually with dire consequences. Past studies demonstrated that remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) are very useful and effective tools in flood risk assessment and management. This thesis research seeks to demarcate flood risk areas and create a flood risk map for the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area using remote sensing and Geographic information system. Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) is used to carry out the flood risk assessment and Sentinel-1A SAR images are used to map flood extend and to ascertain whether the resulting map from the MCA process is a close representation of the flood prone areas in the study area. The results show that the multi-criteria analysis approach could effectively combine several criteria including elevation, slope, rainfall, drainage, land cover and soil geology to produce a flood risk map. The resulting map indicates that over 50 percent of the study area is likely to experience a high level of flood. For SAR-based flood extent mapping, the results show that SAR data acquired immediately after the flooding event could better map flooding extent than the SAR data acquired 9 days after. This highlights the importance of near real-time acquisition of SAR data for mapping flooding extent and damages. All parts under the study area experience some level of flooding. The urban land cover experiences very high, and high levels of flooding and the MCA process produces a risk map that is a close depiction of flooding in the study area. Real time flood disaster monitoring, early warning and rapid damage appraisal have greatly improved due to ameliorations in the remote sensing technology and the Geographic Information Systems.
The aims of this paper are to empirically test and evaluate methods for describing intraurban polycentricity, and to evaluate the polycentric development with respect to the regional development plan of the Office of Urban and Regional Transportation in 2001. The study area is Stockholm County and the time period investigated is 1991-2004. Three dimensions of polycentricity are analyzed: urban nuclei size relations, spatial distribution of urban nuclei, and potential interaction (accessibility). According to the methods' various qualifications in describing polycentric forms it is proposed here that a combination of methods is preferable for this subject. The polycentric structure exposes an increasing and considerable concentration of urban resources to the major urban nuclei. This concentration is combined with an increased spatial dispersal of the urban nuclei. In relative terms, the accessibility has decreased concerning the accessibility by public transportation modes and increased (workspace) or remained on almost the same level (residential space) by car transportation mode. Thus, the urban structural change in the Stockholm region corresponds to the political guidelines. In spite of this, by the increase in relative accessibility by car and decrease in the relative accessibility by public transportation modes the goal concerning higher share in public transports may not be possible to fulfill.
Idag lever vi i ett globaliserat konsumtionssamhälle, i ett allt intensivare tempo där konkurrensen är hård om tid, utrymme och uppmärksamhet. I vår samtid är även kultur- och stadsmiljöerna på olika sätt "produkter" och "resurser". Men hur påverkar samhällsutvecklingen kulturarvet och vår syn på dess värden? Kanske kan vi tydligare se utvecklingstrenderna och kulturarvets roll för hållbar stadsutveckling om vi blickar bakåt i tid och även vänder perspektivet mot framtiden? I Det förflutna i framtidens stad lägger en grupp forskare olika tidsperspektiv på relationen mellan kulturarv, konsumtion och hållbar stadsutveckling. Författarna arbetar till vardags med framtidsstudier, samhällsplanering, arkeologi, arkitektur och konst och de samsas här under tematiska avsnitt som framtidsvisioner, valmöjligheter, tid och rörelse i stadslandskapet. Texterna gör nedslag i vår närmiljö bland resor, detaljhandel, bostäder och livsstilsideal. Författarna frågar sig bland annat hur vi kan bygga in hemkänsla, identitet och trygghet i stadsmiljön. Kan vi återanvända historiska bostadsmodeller? Och vem bestämmer vilka minnen som är värda att bevaras – vilka föreställningar om framtiden har bäring på samtidens kulturmiljövård? Boken vänder sig till beslutsfattare, tjänstemän, studenter och en bred allmänhet – alla som har ett intresse för såväl utmaningar som lösningar för en hållbar stad.
Interurban-level focus during the last decade has shifted from the compact city towards a polycentric urban framework. The ability to define consistent urban structures and also link them with sustainability goals has been hindered by inconsistent evaluation methods for density and mixed functionality in a polycentric framework. The aim of this research is to test and combine various methods from these perspectives in order to define more reliable and consistent descriptions of urban structures. The methods used are spatial-density modelling using kernel convolution, a polycentric density estimation, and methods depicting mixed functionality and the association between density and mixed functionality. The empirical findings relate to planning goals at both national and international level. The study region is the municipality of Strangnas, within the Stockholm City Region since 1997. Results from the analysis reveal urban development towards further segregated land use and sprawl, as well as a decreasing link with a polycentric urban scheme. The methods developed for depicting urban form could be useful tools in the planning process and may reinforce the possibility for analysing links between urban form and sustainability aspects. This improved knowledge in turn could contribute towards formulating future planning principles.
The changes of land use patterns and urban structures could be seen as the dynamic result of the trade off between public and private interests. Thereby the land use change is to some extent unpredictable. The focus in the current study is to measure the importance of spatial location factors regarding new residential and commercial buildings in relation to existing urban amenities and political guidelines. The relative importance of the location factors was studied by multinomial regression analysis. Results from this study reveal that the location profiles of new urban object types attained here indicate strong correspondence with local political land use guidelines and to clustering. The spatial distribution of new urban settlements does not in general correspond to the monocentric urban scheme where firms and residents locate in spatial proximity to urban centres.
Since the 1990s a number of new railway stations have been established in Sweden on new or rerouted lines, while other stations have been reconstructed at their original locations. Some stations were located in urban surroundings, others in semi-urban or peripheral locations depending on the trade of between regional speed, and local urban circumstances. The urban form consequences depending on station localisation of these transport infrastructure investments are nonetheless unknown. In order to provide a basis for future planning, this research aims to provide knowledge on urban form consequences of relocating railway stations. 13 stations were selected in a case study. Changes in urban densities from 1993 to 2013 were analysed by a combination of kernel techniques and estimation of monocentric density models. Stations within an urban and semi-urban environments show strong agglomeration tendencies. Within peripheral environments, the urban development was unclear or even negative. In an urban environment, the location of the station still attracted more urban resources compared to the location of the urban density centre. These findings should be understood in the light of a market-oriented socio-economic context since 1990th influencing the planning system and the development of urban form.
This paper analyses the gap between planning theory and planning practice in Swedish infrastructure planning. Planning theory was of limited relevance in order to understand the planning processes and the documents. Instead sociology, political theory and philosophy appeared as useful theoretical resources. Bourdieu's theories on social and cultural capital, and 'the feel for the game' were useful in understanding planning practice. In order to develop communicative planning theory into a useful asset for planning practice the system perspective and the emphasis on public spheres from Habermas communicative action theory, critical realism and political pluralism might well serve as theoretical point of departures.
This research has been emphasized on integration of plants in skyscraper design which play a vital role for the energy conservation by the building as well as improving the living quality into these vertical cities. Throughout the thesis work it has been studied to establish the necessity of planting to incorporate into skyscrapers, for the well being of our economy, society and the environment. The rules and regulations in various countries have been studied. The provisions of integrate plants into skyscraper includes the four possible options like, Green roof, Green wall, Biofilter and Indoor potting plants which can be incorporate into the esign. Benefits and impacts have been studied in terms of energy savings and ndoor environmental qualities. For example green roof can reduce 50% of cooling oad; green wall can reduce 10 degree centigrade indoor temperature, where as biofilter and indoor plants purifies indoor air by 50% to 60%. Available technologies for green installments, like complete, modular and vegetated blanket system for green roof; modular, freestanding and cable-rope system for green wall; active and passive system for biofilter and different types of indoor plants have been addressed here along with their examples and case studies. At the end the ecommendation shows that integration of plants into skyscrapers can change the micro and macro environment, climate, can restore the ecology and benefited to the economy. Results are the noticeable decrease in urban heat island, rapid reduction of energy consumption and cost, refreshing air for a healthy environment.
Key words: Green Skyscraper, integration of plants, green roof, green wall, biofilter, ecological impact, climate, energy savings, indoor air quality, aesthetics, design technology.
Obesity has become a global epidemic due to changes in society and in behavioral patterns of communities over the last decades. The decline in physical activity is one of the major contributors to the global obesity epidemic. Thus programs, plans and policies that promote walking could be a possible solution against obesity and its comorbidities. That is because walking is the simplest and most common form of physical activity among adults, regardless of age, sex, ethnic group, education or income level.
The characteristics of the built environment might be significant factors that affect people's decision to walk. Thus, measurable characteristics can assist in determining the extent to which the built environment affects the people. These characteristics can also provide indirect evidence of the state of population health for the area under study. Towards the analysis and assessment of potential associations between a number of measures of the built environment and walking, Geographic Information Systems have an increasing acceptance. Composite measures, also known as Walkability Indices, are a promising method to measure the degree to which an area provides opportunities to walk to various destinations.
The main objective of this research is to develop a method to model walkability drawing partially from previously developed Walkability Indices and walkability measures, and suggest eventually an improved Walkability Index composed of 6 parameters. These are: i) Residential Density, ii) Diversity – Entropy Index, iii) Connectivity, iv) Proximity, v) Environmental Friendliness, vi) Commercial Density – FAR. The chosen spatial unit of analysis is the Census Tract level. The method of buffering that defines spatial units around geocoded locations at a given distance is also employed in an attempt to suggest an improvement of previously used methods. The study area is New York City (NYC).
The results imply that Manhattan is the most walkable Borough, while Staten Island is the least walkable Borough. It is also suggested that NYC has a centripetal structure, meaning that the historical center and the entire island of Manhattan is more developed, and more walkable, followed by the adjacent areas of the neighboring Boroughs of Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. The farthest areas of NYC's periphery are consistently found to have the lowest walkability. Additionally, neighborhoods that are extremely homogeneous in terms of land-use and do not include considerable number of commercial parcels score very low. Hence, Census Tracts that are mainly characterized by primarily industrial land-use or contain large transportation infrastructures (e.g. ports, airports, large train stations) or even large metropolitan parks display limited walkability.
The results and findings coincide to a satisfactory extent with the results of previous studies. However, the comparison is simple and barely based on easily observed patterns. As a result, the validity of the new Walkability Index might need further assessment due to limitations and lack of data.
All types of limitations have been identified including limitations in data and in methodology. Suggestions for further research include possible additional parameters that can be employed in our Walkability Indices (e.g. crime rate, and separate parameter for parks and green areas) and further research whether the components of a Walkability Index should be weighted or not. In general, Walkability Indices are promising GIS applications that still need further research and development.


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Ready for a change in your Falmouth home's décor? Refurbishing your floors may be easier than you thought, thanks to Carpet Barn Carpet One Floor & Home. As part of the largest buying group in the world, we save money on flooring from the biggest brands, mills, and manufacturers and transfer those savings to our customers. Our goal is to bring you the best flooring at the best price, backed by the best service so you can have a great experience from selection to installation.
We start by applying the expertise of our Carpet Barn Carpet One Floor & Home sales professionals with the added help of Carpet One's SelectAFloor™ system to simplify the selection process when it comes to look, feel, and price point. Whether you want to install cozy carpeting, the contemporary look and feel of ceramic tile, the rich hues and textures of natural hardwood, or the dependability and style of materials like vinyl and luxury laminate flooring, you can count on Carpet Barn Carpet One Floor & Home to supply the very best options. Once you've decided, we even install flooring right in your home. By choosing Carpet One Carpet Barn Carpet One Floor & Home installation experts, you know you'll get a job well done at a great price, ensuring that your flooring experience is superb from start to finish. And what's more, you can select from a variety of our warranties that will keep your floors protected long after the installation.
And at Carpet Barn Carpet One Floor & Home, we're dedicated to more than just flooring. At Carpet Barn Carpet One Floor & Home in Falmouth, MA, we are locally-owned and locally-operated, so we're invested in the Falmouth area. We are Carpet Barn Carpet One Floor & Home committed to maintaining an involvement in the Falmouth community. Are you ready to learn more? Come in to your Carpet Barn Carpet One Floor & Home store in Falmouth today and see what a difference we can make. We're happy to help you find the perfect flooring for your Falmouth home.
Falmouth, MA
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Sat, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.Sun, By Appointment

subset: commoncrawl


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The Best Rescue Championship qualifiers is a set of activities that take place independently to Buckham Fair, with the final Championship taking place at Buckham Fair's event every year. The championships, coordinated by a team of people who are passionate about rehoming and animal rescue, could not be successfully held without the involvement of it's own set of sponsors. The team is very proud to have some of the region's finest businesses supporting a cause that is so close to our hearts.
2018 Sponsors of the Best Rescue Championships include:
Since 1756 Kitson & Trotman have offered quality, experienced legal advice and services to individuals and
businesses. We provide legal advice and services to business and private clients throughout the South West, nationally and internationally. Our offices are in Bridport, Beaminster, Weymouth and Lyme Regis – Dorset. Our lawyers are highly experienced in their respective fields and remain personally involved at every stage of your instructions. The firm has been at the forefront of legal services in Dorset and the South West for over 250 years. We offer a friendly, tailored service and we can arrange to visit local clients at their home or business premises.
Girling and Bowditch Vets are a family owned Veterinary Practice providing a friendly, caring, high quality Vet service to pet owners, farmers and small holders in West Dorset and South Somerset. Rehabilitation services include physiotherapy and hydrotherapy in our rehabilitation centre located next to the main surgery in Beaminster, Dorset. Girling and Bowditch vets also have branch surgeries on Bull Lane in Maiden Newton, near Dorchester and at Old Mill Lane in Crewkerne, Somerset.
With our fully equipped facilities we are able to offer a wide range of veterinary services such as diagnostic imaging, in-house laboratory, nurse clinics, acupuncture and much more as well as rehabilitation services including physiotherapy and hydrotherapy in our purpose built rehabilitation centre located next to the main surgery which is run by our Chartered Veterinary Physiotherapist and Registered Veterinary Nurse.
Mole Country Stores Dorchester Welcomes You: Our 12,000sq ft of retail space has climate control offering a comfortable shopping experience no matter what the weather. There is adequate free parking, and help with loading vehicles. When purchasing bulky goods not possible to take away with you, a delivery facility is available. The store is very popular with farmers, trades people, contractors and public alike. It is one of the smartest Countrystores in the UK, drawing customers from all over Dorset, and beyond. So whether you have have a window box or a farm, a domestic pet or a large flock/herd, the product offering is geared to you! The business is well supported by specialist teams within all areas of trading, including veterinarians, agronomists and nutritionalists.


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Craig Blacklock
Archival Pigment Print Photograph
Negative Date: 2013
Produced in a Limited Edition of 9 prints (plus 1 Model's Proof).
Signed and numbered in the print margin, au recto.
Artist's Preferred Print Size: 20×30″
Maximum Available Print Size: 24×36″
IMPORTANT NOTE ON PRINT SIZE: The artist feels that his collectors should not be limited to one choice in print size, as collectors have different spaces in which to display their works of art. Therefore, Mr. Blacklock offers the option to custom tailor his prints to the needs of individual collectors. Prints are available from 24×16″, all the way up to (in some cases) 60×40″, all at the same print price. Limited edition prints are therefore priced by edition number (not size) for any custom print size of your choice, up to the maximum size listed above.
Starting Print Price: $1,200.
(Note: Price increases as the edition sells out. See exhibition main page for more information.)
Contact Soulcatcher Studio to purchase this print.
Image copyright © of the respective artist or estate. All rights reserved.
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From engagement parties to bridal showers and bachelorette parties, your memories and celebrations start before you walk down the aisle. The great news is, as the bride, your friends, family, and venue will help plan these memorable events for you. As far as venues go, The Grand America Hotel is a perfect choice for any […]
Shopping for a wedding gown is an exciting and fun time, but it can be overwhelming if you're unsure of what to look for. Our friends at Gateway Bridal & Prom have offered these tips of advice to help you choose the best dress for your wedding day.
George grew up in a charming town near London and Jennie is from Cedar Fort. The pair met shortly after George moved to Utah from England.
For local couple Katy and Spencer, all it took for her to capture his heart were fresh baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and a dash of resilience.
Minnesotans Genevieve (Gen) and Todd attended the same high school, but didn't meet until college.
Wedding veils are the classic bridal accessory, but with so many styles to choose from, how do you choose the perfect one for your wedding style?
Three tone-on-tone palettes—and their talented creators—prove that a single color can inspire a spectacular and serene scene.
Congrats! You're engaged. Now that he's popped the question, what happens next? Choosing the date, picking the perfect dress, and finding the venue can seem daunting at first, but we have some secrets to success for you.
Halloween weddings cliché? We don't think so. This eerily beautiful styled shoot by PS Event Design, SodaBee and Aerie Photography proves that Halloween-themed weddings and elegance can coexist.
It's a nice day for a white wedding, don't you think? Inspired by the kitschy fads from the '80s—hair bands, pixelated video games and cassette tapes—the creative team of Brynn Larsen of Blooms & Co. and Michelle Frampton of Miesh Photography amps the volume of the era with a modern-day twist.


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Vibrators, dildos and sex toys from FUN FACTORY sex toy amsterdam
A sex toy is an object or device used to enhance sexual pleasure. Lovehoney offers a huge range of sex toys. No matter what body parts you have, or what your relationship status, we have sex toys to help you enjoy a more exciting, playful sex life. Why do people use sex toys? Sex toys can help you to explore new sensations and experiences, whether you use them solo or with someone else. For


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Bringing Your New Cat Home
It is easy to get swept up in the excitement of picking up your new pet, so it's a good idea to prepare in advance:
- Be sure to bring along a pet carrier lined with a soft, washable material
- Prepare a room in advance to ease the transition
Most cats will settle in well if given some time to acclimate to their new environment. A new routine and an unknown environment can be traumatic to an adult cat. Place your new cat in a room that you have prepared in advance. Confining her to a small area will be less overwhelming than giving her free rein over the house right away.
Place all the necessary supplies – litter box, food, water scratch post and a soft place to sleep in the room. It is not unusual for a mature feline to deal with this type of change by going into hiding. Don't force the relationship; ignore the cat until she begins to seek some attention from you. This may take a few days or weeks for an adult cat.
If she is the only cat in the house, you can begin letting her explore the house after she has begun eating and using her litter box regularly. If there are other resident cats or dogs, a gradual introduction is all-important – first impressions can be lasting impressions for felines.
Time and patience are the keys to successfully introducing a new cat to into the household. The cat should have a room of her own during the introduction process.
- Exchange the new cat's bedding with that of the resident cat so that they can become acquainted with each others scent before they meet each other.
- Next, rotate rooms. Let the new cat explore the house while the resident cat spends time in the new cat's room.
- When they are relaxed about this step, crack the door of the room open so that the cats can see each other, but cannot push the door open. Two small toys attached with several inches of string and slipped under the door will encourage parallel play.
- When the cats are calm in each others presence, it is time to let the new cat out for a few minutes. The length of the visits can increase each day. The process may take a few days or a few weeks depending on the personality of the cats.
Throughout the introduction process speak quietly and calmly to the cats. Praise them when they are tolerant of each others presence. Give special attention to the resident cat because it is this cat's territory that is being invaded, and is the one who is most likely to need reassurance. Until they become friends, give the new cat loving only when the resident cat is not around.
If at any time the cats become fearful or hostile, return the newcomer to its room and close the door. A minor setback will not ruin the budding friendship, but an aggressive encounter will be remembered for a long time and should be avoided at all costs. Whenever you run into a problem, backup to the previous stage of the process and then move carefully forward again. Only you can determine the pace of the introduction process. The time you spend gradually introducing your cats will eventually be rewarded with years of harmonious feline companionship.


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The following is a transcript of the Scrubs episode "My New God".
Scene 1
Open: Hallway.
J.D.'s Narration: After four years, I know the hospital so well I can sneak in a little nap walk before rounds.
(J.D. yawns, closes his eyes and starts walking down the hall.)
J.D.'s Thoughts: Two quick steps to the left to avoid Overly-Ambitious Orderly.
(J.D. sidesteps around an orderly walking through with a large stack of folders.)
J.D.'s Thoughts: Hop over the dead guy Doug's dragging because he lost his gurney again.
(J.D. steps over the body bag Doug is dragging out of a room.)
Doug: The man's dead, J.D. Show some respect.
J.D.'s Thoughts: And finally, Dr. Kelso's 9AM wrong shoulder tap.
(J.D. walks by on Dr. Kelso's right and taps his left shoulder.)
Dr. Kelso: Dammit. Every morning, tapping. No one's ever there!
J.D.'s Narration: Of course, you can't be ready for everything.
(Janitor grabs J.D. and pulls him aside.)
Janitor: Hey! Help me move this weekend.
J.D.'s Thoughts: We scoff...
(J.D. scoffs.)
J.D.'s Thoughts: ...And we walk away.
(Cut to Nurse's Station. Dr. Cox, Jordan and Jack enter.)
Dr. Cox: Remind me again why you're having our son baptized.
Jordan: Oh, what do you care? You're not even going.
Dr. Cox: Fine, let him go to church. I mean, I let him go to magic shows, I'll just tell him it's all a lie when he gets home so he doesn't have any of those crazy nightmares.
Jordan: By the way, I invited your sister.
Dr. Cox: Jordan, please tell me you didn't.
Jordan: Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie, I didn't realize you'd be so upset. I'll call her and tell her not to come. Ha ha! How weird would it be if I was like that?
Carla: Totally.
Jordan: Weird.
(Jordan and Jack exit.)
J.D.: When is this joyous occasion?
Dr. Cox: You're not invited.
J.D.: Oh, I see. Family only, everyone, that's how they're doing it.
Carla: I'm going.
Dr. Cox: Newbie, give me a break. Of course you're going. As a matter of fact, I'd--I'd like you to be the boy's godfather.
J.D.: [whispering] I--am honored.
Dr. Cox: [whispering] I--am lying.
(Dr. Cox exits. Carla tries to stifle laughter.)
J.D.: I'm not sure I see how that's funny.
(J.D. exits, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.)
(Cut to Admissions Area.)
Elliot: Uh, what's with the second beeper?
Turk: Carla gave it to me. She's got me on twenty-four hour baby-making alert, and we haven't had sex since her last ovulation. Did you know that women only do that once a month?
J.D.: Of course I knew that, Turk, I'm a doctor.
J.D.'s Thoughts: Once a month? That's crazy!
Elliot: I don't know why I even bother ovulating. Little Haley doesn't have a chance this month. I name my eggs, big frick. Last month, it was Cassie.
J.D.: Ooh, Cassie's pretty.
Elliot: Oh, she would have been, J.D., she would have been.
(Dr. Cox whistles)
Dr. Cox: Everyone! This is my sister, Paige. Paige, I'd like you to meet--random people I don't care about.
Dr. Kelso: Ahh! Here for the baptism. I remember my son, Harrison's big day. All of us laughing at him in his frilly little baptism dress. Well, we're not laughing anymore, Harrison's a poofter. Bob Kelso.
(He shakes Paige's hand and exits.)
J.D.: Hi, I'm J.D. I'm sure Perry's spoken of me.
Paige: No...
J.D.: Nothing about taking a talented go-getter under his wing, or being a surrogate father to a boy who's lost his own? Nothing about that at all, I'm surprised. That's interesting to me, but OK.
J.D.'s Thoughts: Don't cry in front of people.
Paige: Perry and I don't talk much.
J.D.: Oh, they don't talk much, everybody. There's no talking in the family.
Dr. Cox: Rest assured, Newbie, even if we did talk from morning till night about all big and tiny things that matter most to me, the big being my son, Jack, cure of cancer and the resurgence of the hard-shell taco. The small--
Paige: [interrupting, imitating Dr. Cox] The small being my ex-wife, Jordan, wind energy, and, ah he-he-hell, fruit-infused liquors, your name still would not have come up.
Dr. Cox: I'm honestly not sure which one of you I find more irritating.
J.D.: What does he find irritating about you?
Dr. Cox: Fire at will.
Paige: I embrace the Lord, Jesus Christ as my personal savior.
(Uncomfortable pause.)
J.D.'s Thoughts: I'm not sure why it was suddenly so awkward, but I wish something would break the tension.
(A beeper goes off. Turk enters, dancing.)
Turk: [singing] Hallelujah! A brother's 'bout to have some sex. Ha-Ha-Hallelujah! A brother's 'bout to have some seeeeeex! Smack the money maker! Smack it!
(Turk bends down in front of J.D. J.D. spits on his palm and spanks Turk.)
J.D.: That's how he likes it.
Turk: Awww, sex time, people!
(Turk exits.)
J.D.: He's married, so it's strictly procreation sex! His wife's throwing her legs up in the air because they're trying for a boy....Like Jesus.
Scene 2
Open: ICU
Paige: You know what used to drive Perry nuts as a kid? Every night we'd play Horse in the driveway, and I'd always kick his ass.
J.D.: Can Christians say "ass" now? I have a friend, Pat Casey, he called his mom an ass once. She hit him in the face with an iron. He still goes to church, but he can't whistle anymore.
Paige: OK. I'm gonna go say hi to Jordan.
(Paige exits. Dr. Cox enters.)
J.D.: She's dynamite. How'd you end up with a born-again Christian sister?
Dr. Cox: I don't know. Maybe the TV was broken one day and she picked up the bible instead and found it to be just a darn good read. Or maybe it had something to do with our mother's ability to watch silently as our dad drunkenly knocked us from room to room. What do you think there, Newbie?
J.D.: Probably the room to room thing.
Dr. Cox: Uh-huh.
J.D.'s Narration: It's always hard to find the right words in a moment like this.
J.D.: Dr. Cox, if it makes you feel any better, at the baptism I'll be there to keep Paige company.
Dr. Cox: Yeah. You're not going.
(Dr. Cox exits.)
J.D.: [to himself] Dammit! Stupid baptism.
(Cut to Turk's and Carla's apartment. Turk dances towards the bedroom.)
Turk: I'm gonna have some sex! I'm gonna have some se-AAAHHHH!
(Turk opens the bedroom door. Carla is sitting on the bed, surrounded by books, charts and other items.)
Carla: OK, my cervical mucus is peaking, my temperature is slightly elevated, and these pillows will keep my vagina angled so the semen can pool against my cervix.
Turk: Baby, that is some god-awful dirty talk.
Carla: Turk, we're making a baby, now let's get down to business.
Turk: Honey, I need to feel the heat. I need at least 30 minutes of foreplay. Then, and only then can I be fully ready--to make love to you.
Carla: Tyra Banks.
Turk: Yeh...
Carla: There, you're ready.
(Carla lies down on the bed. Cut to Nurse's Station. J.D. is sitting on the counter. Janitor enters in slow motion, glaring at J.D. Ominous organ music and low chanting set the background. Music falters as Janitor becomes obscured by a group of staffers.)
Janitor: Oh, hey fellas, I'm trying to give someone the evil eye over there. Would you mind breaking it up so I can...you understand.
(The staffers break up and exit.)
Janitor: Thanks, fellas, very nice of you. Appreciate it. Thank you.
(Janitor resumes glaring at J.D. and walks on in slow motion. Music continues.)
J.D.: He's just mad because I won't help him move.
Jordan: Well you should have done it. Helping someone move is like oral sex. You do it once and they owe you for life.
Elliot: My high school boyfriend is an accountant and he still does my taxes for free. You what's weird, he also does my brother Barry's.
Dr. Kelso: My son, Harrison, dabbles in sadomasochism and he has a new gimp named Barry. Or is it Larry? At my age it's getting harder and harder to keep track of his gimps.
J.D.'s Narration: And then it occurred to me. This was the perfect opportunity to take an enemy and turn him into a friend.
(Cut to ICU.)
J.D.: I'll do it.
Janitor: I knew you would. You're very predictable.
J.D. & Janitor: [in unison] No I'm not. Stop doing that. Peanut butter egg dirt!
(Dr. Cox enters.)
Dr. Cox: Newbie, let's go, Mr. Donnelly's test results are in.
(Dr. Cox and J.D. exit. Cut to Mr. Donnelly's room. His family is present.)
J.D.'s Narration: It's never easy to tell a family that medicine isn't working.
Dr. Cox: I uh, I wish I had better news for you. Unfortunately we're not seeing the improvement we'd hoped for with his medication.
Mrs. Donnelly: What are our options?
Dr. Cox: I'm afraid there are no other options.
(Paige enters.)
Paige: There's always prayer.
J.D.'s Thoughts: Oh no.
Paige: You know, with God by your side, anything is possible.
Dr. Cox: Could I see you in Stop-Filling-My-Patient's-Head-With-False-Hope ward?
(Paige and Dr. Cox step exit the room.)
Dr. Cox: Paige, we have protocol here. First, we shake our magic eight ball, then we explore all witchcraft-related options.
Paige: Oh, right, because people who believe in God are crazy. And you're the sane one.
(Cut to J.D. inside the room, watching Paige and Dr. Cox argue.)
J.D.: Hey, do you guys like improv? Because I'm kind of an expert. There's a game we play in class where you make up what people are saying. Like, watch: Do you want some pie? Not me, I hate pie. What are you talking about? Who hates pie? Everyone loves pie. I've always hated pie! You never understood me. You're a pie racist! Well, you're a cobbler whore!
J.D.'s Thoughts: For God's sake, get off pie!
(Cut to outside the room)
Paige: Jerk.
Dr. Cox: Republican.
(Cut to inside Mr. Donnelly's room.)
J.D.: Pie.
(Cut to cafeteria.)
J.D.: I've got to find an improv class that doesn't meet in the back of a pie shop.
(Turk's pager goes off.)
Turk: Ugh. Dammit, I've gotta go have ovulation sex again.
J.D.: Ar you actually complaining about getting to have sex? Because that is so insensitive, Turk.
Turk: J.D...
(J.D. stands.)
J.D.: Let me feel my feelings, Turk! We worked on this!
(J.D. exits.)
Turk: I really gotta stop doing that.
Elliot: You can talk to me if you want.
Turk: Elliot, I can't talk to you about sex, I can't understand any of that crazy gibberish you use. Penis is, shwing-something.
Elliot: Swhing-shwong, peepers or peep.
Turk: Right, and vagina is...?
Elliot: Disgusting, but also bajingo or hoo-hoo.
Turk: Here's the deal. I'm trying to get in the mood, right? And Carla's going on and on about her cervical mucus.
Elliot: Uh-bup-bup. Mmm-mm. From now on [whispering] cervical mucus [normally] will be referred to as icky-sticky.
Turk: Icky-sticky.
Elliot: Continue.
(Cut to ICU. J.D. enters with two cups of coffee)
J.D.: Morning, sunshine!
Dr. Cox: Never. Say that. Again.
J.D.: Noted. That was quite a fight you had with your sister yesterday. Won't it be a little awkward when you show up at St. Mary's cathedral on the corner of Maple and Pine, right across from Temple Oheb Shalom at 4 PM today?
Dr. Cox: That's not where the baptism is, but nice try.
J.D.: Mark my words, when that little bastard is dipped in water, I will be there.
Dr. Cox: Anyway, I just invited Paige to come by, Mr. Donnelly's labs came back. It looks like the steroid is finally working. If you happen to be keeping score at home, that would be Medicine: 1, God: 0.
J.D.: You don't have to rub it in her face.
Dr. Cox: Yeah, and I don't have to stick Dr. Kelso's stethoscope down my pants every morning, but I still do. Now isn't there some other relationship out there you could be trying to fix?
(Dr. Cox exits.)
J.D.'s Narration: Actually, there was.
(Cut to a living room, which is presumably Janitor's.)
J.D.: Morning, sunshine.
Janitor: I don't like that.
J.D.: Nobody seems to.
Janitor: Well, come on. Let's grab some boxes and get to moving, huh?
J.D.'s Thoughts: I hope I can find a way to connect with him.
(Janitor grabs a vase off the top shelf and knocks another one off. J.D. dives for it and catches it before it hits the ground.)
Janitor: Thanks for saving that. That's one of my favorite pieces.
J.D.: You're welcome, friend.
(J.D. places the vase in a box.)
J.D.: I gotta say, you've got a lot of Asian art around here.
Janitor: When I was kid, I always thought I'd travel the world, you know? So after college, I went to China. Did all the normal touristy things, I saw the Great Wall, ate the food, had a baby with a local. You know, just the regular stuff. Anyway, I guess I decorate my place this way because it reminds me of a more optimistic time. That probably sounds crazy.
J.D.: Doesn't sound crazy at all.
Janitor: Thanks, buddy.
(Janitor pats J.D. on the shoulder.)
J.D.'s Thoughts: And like that, I was in.
(Cut to Turk driving his Mini. His pager goes off as.)
Turk: Damn!
(Turk sees a sign at a Dunkin Donuts:)
(Cut to Turk's and Carla's apartment. Turk enters)
Carla: I paged you an hour ago.
Turk: I was in surgery.
Carla: Is that doughnut glaze on your cheek?
Turk: Guess we're not having sex, huh?
Carla: Ohh, no we're having sex. Get in there.
Turk: Wait, baby, I'm too full.
Carla: Now, Turk!
Turk: Man!
(Cut to living room. Most of the furnishings are now in boxes. J.D. and Janitor are drinking beer.)
J.D.: Long story short, after confirming it with my bunk mates, that counselor and his "friendship lotion" were transferred out of our cabin and we never spoke about it again.
Janitor: Well, what doesn't kill you...
(They clink their bottles together)
J.D.'s Thoughts: We're as thick as two thieves in a pod.
Janitor: OK. Time to move some of the heavier stuff. So you might want to put on these gloves. And the attic upstairs has a lot of fiberglass in it. So here's a hat.
J.D.: Thanks, pal.
Janitor: Sure, bud.
(J.D. puts on the hat and gloves.)
J.D.'s Narration: I figured out why I'm so great at managing relationships. I don't rub things in people's faces.
(Cut to Mr. Donnelly's room.)
Dr. Cox: I thought you might like to know that your husband's chest X-ray look better. He is finally starting to improve.
Mrs. Donnelly: Thank you so much.
Dr. Cox: I was really just doing my job.
Mrs. Donnelly: Oh, I'm talking to Paige. She was up all night praying with us.
(Cut to Turk's and Carla's apartment - Bedroom)
Carla: You big jerk!
(Carla gets up out of bed as Turk stretches out.)
J.D.'s Narration: I never go to bed very, very mad.
Turk: [to himself] Angry sex is awesome.
(Cut back to living room. J.D. picks up a Buddha statue.)
J.D.'s Narration: And I've always known that if I make the slightest gesture of friendship to a difficult coworker...
(An Asian couple enter the room)
Asian man: Who are you?
J.D.'s Narration: ...I'll end up robbing an Asian couple's house.
(J.D. exits, running, still carrying the statue.)
Scene 3
Open: Street. J.D. runs full speed with the Buddha statue as two dogs chase him.
J.D.'s Narration: I couldn't help wondering what the sentence was for stealing a Buddha. After all, people get pretty sensitive about religion.
(Cut to Dr. Cox's apartment.)
Dr. Cox: Could I comment on the baptism dress?
Paige: I think you should wait until you see the matching slippers and tiny handbag.
Dr. Cox: You're actually asking him to cross-dress on the same day that you're introducing him to a religion that will condemn him to hell for it. That's a trauma two-fer.
Jordan: Can you two please just try to get along? Now I'm getting some blush for Jack because this lace collar is washing out his face. Terrible.
Dr. Cox: Paige, will you just acknowledge that medicine made Mr. Donnelly better?
Paige: Fine. It was medicine.
Dr. Cox: Uh-huh.
Paige: Thank God for creating medicine.
Dr. Cox: Eh- J- Gh -Gh- That's it! That is it!
(He walks over and picks Jack up.)
Dr. Cox: Now, you--you may be a total goner. But God's not getting His hands on this one. No way, no how. Come on, Jack. We got places to go.
(Dr. Cox exits with Jack. Cut to Turk's and Carla's apartment. Turk is in the bathroom)
Carla: Turk, I'm ready!
Turk: [to himself] All right. So angry sex is awesome. But that's no reason to go down a bad road.
(Turk comes out of the bathroom.)
Turk: Baby, you know what I miss? When your body was kickin'.
(He turns off the lights. Cut to another scene.)
Turk: I ain't touching no damn diapers. WAAAAHHH!
(Carla grabs him and pulls him on top of her. Cut to another scene. Turk kisses Carla.)
Turk: Baby, all I'm saying is that in some European countries it's perfectly acceptable for a man to have a mistress.
Carla: Why you--
(She is interrupted by Turk kissing her. Cut to another scene. Carla gets out of bed as Turk rolls over.)
Carla: I'm gonna make you pay for every word you said!
Turk: [to himself] Worth it!
(Cut to the bar. J.D. sits by himself with the Buddha statue.)
J.D.'s Narration: Now that I'm on the lam, I thought about two things. One, what my prison name would be...
J.D.: [to himself] Gizmo.
J.D.'s Narration: And two, whether some relationships were beyond repair. Then fate threw me another curve.
(Dr. Cox enters with Jack.)
J.D.: Hey, who's your friend?
Dr. Cox: My boy in a dress. Who's yours?
J.D.: Well, seeing as he gave me the strength to outrun the Sheriff's K-9 unit, I'd say he's my new god.
Dr. Cox. Hm.
J.D.: You can rub mine's belly if I can rub yours.
Dr. Cox: Don't you touch my son.
(Cut to Turk's and Carla's apartment.)
Turk: Angry sex is like a drug. I can't stop.
(Carla enters.)
Carla: I'll be right out, I'm just fixing my hair.
Turk: Rake's in the closet, baby.
(Carla glares at Turk, then exits again.)
Turk: Help me!
Elliot: Turk, just go back to the way things were. Carla loved it. Don't you get it? Trying to make a baby with you is the sexiest thing in he world to her.
Turk: Elliot, I'm a man. I've been programmed to think that a baby is the worst possible consequence of sex.
Elliot: Well, it's not.
(Flashback to Elliot in a car with her boyfriend in the woods.)
Elliot: Honey for my honey!
(She pours honey on his chest and begins to lick it off. She notices a bear behind him, outside and recoils in fear.)
Boy: Why are you stopping?
(The bear begins rocking the car as Elliot and her boyfriend cry in terror. End flashback.)
Elliot: Losing a baseball scholarship because a bear ate your arm is a much worse consequence of sex.
Turk: You have to help me end this angry sex cycle.
(Carla enters.)
Carla: I'm ready.
Elliot: Oh, Carla, Turk's making you mad on purpose because the angry sex is so good. Ahhh, the cycle is broken.
(Carla slaps Turk on the back of the head. Cut to bar. Jack is in a booster seat.)
Dr. Cox: There will be no whining or crying while we sit here, understood?
J.D.: He seems fine.
Dr. Cox: I wasn't talking to him.
J.D.: I don't whine or cry.
Janitor: Really. How do you explain these photos of you whining and crying as you run away from the Kwan's apartment?
J.D.: These are coasters.
Janitor: My camera's broken.
J.D.: You turned me into a felon!
Dr. Cox: You know what, there, Newbie? You can go to the baptism. Take Jack. Jordan will kill me if he's not there. Plus, I know you. You're exactly one watered-down appletini away from trying to fix my sister and me.
J.D.: No, thank you. If there's one thing I learned from this guy, it's that I need to stop trying to fix people's relationships.
Janitor: You're welcome.
(J.D. picks up Jack.)
J.D.: Still. I've never know you to judge a person based on their beliefs. In fact, you're pretty tolerant of everyone. Except Hugh Jackman.
Dr. Cox: Eh.
J.D.: I just don't understand why your sister being religious bothers you so much.
Dr. Cox: It doesn't.
J.D.: Then why are you so angry?
(Cut to church: Jack's baptism. J.D. is improvising dialogue between the Buddha statue and a crucifix.)
J.D: So, do you like pie? Look at me. Do I look like a guy who doesn't like pie? I love pie. Incidentally, where do you by your loincloths?
Jordan: I-I don't think I can do this without Perry. I mean, he's my everything.
Paige: You're right. It would be weird if you were like that.
Jordan: Right?
Paige: Yeah.
Jordan: Yeah.
(Cut to Turk and Carla, sitting in the pew with Elliot between them.)
Turk: I just don't understand why we can't have fun.
Carla: I am so glad you had to hurt my feelings to have fun.
Turk: I can't believe you! Calm down!
Carla: Calm down? I am going to kill you.
Turk: [skyward] You hear that? She's gonna kill me. Get her.
Elliot: OK, look. You two stop fighting or I will turn this church around.
J.D.'s Narration: Sometimes I think it takes a child to make you see the light.
(Paige and Jordan walk down the aisle towards the altar with Jack. Everyone turns to watch. Jordan holds him over the baptismal font as the priest baptizes him. Dr. Cox enters the back of the church, beer in hand, and acknowledges Paige, who spots him. Jordan and Jack light a baptismal candle together.)
Elliot: Isn't he beautiful?
Turk: Yeah. He is.
(Cut to Hospital parking lot. Dr. Cox is playing basketball. He shoots a layup and misses.)
Paige: Oh, wow! Has anyone ever told you you're an extremely average athlete?
Dr. Cox: Oh, that's cold, sis. That's ice cold. You know, uh, I've been thinking about why I hate seeing you so much.
Paige: Please, Perry, don't hold back.
Dr. Cox: It's not the God stuff. I've worked hard to try to forget everything about our childhood. But when I see you, I-I can't think about anything else.
Paige: It's hard for me, too.
Dr. Cox: But I don't see why you can't be there for the major events in Jack's life.
Paige: I'd love to see him turn three.
Dr. Cox: The major events, Paige? His graduation, his wedding, his divorce, his funeral. The big four?
Paige: I beat you at Horse, he has a church wedding.
Dr. Cox: Done.
(Paige shoots the ball backwards and makes the shot.)
Paige: That went in, didn't it?
Dr. Cox: Did you thank the G-man for that?
Paige: That was all me, baby.
Dr. Cox: Yeah, it was.
J.D.'s Narration: So maybe relationships can be fixed. Whether it's by coming around to your spouse's way of thinking.
(Cut to Turk's and Carla's apartment. Turk is half undressed and looking at the baby-making books.)
Turk: Carla, I'm sorry. I didn't get how this baby-making stuff could be sexy. But I do now.
Carla: Well, you know, Turk? I can't get angry if you give me a little help.
Turk: [Category:Transcripts]]in Carla's ear] If you had no hair, you'd look like Danny DeVito.
Carla: Aww, Turk, a little help.
(Cut to the Kwan's apartment.)
J.D.'s Narration: Or by reassuring the Kwan's that their big guy didn't desert them.
(The golden Buddha statue is at the front door with a sign that says "I MISSED YOU". Cut to hospital parking lot.)
J.D.'s Narration: In the end, you just have to be willing to take the first step.
Dr. Cox: By the way, Jack's birthday is in the spring...sometime.
Paige: March 21st. Bye, Perry.
(She kisses Dr. Cox on the cheek and climbs into a taxi.)
Dr. Cox: Bye, Paige. You know, Paige is a silly name.
Paige: Perry's worse.
(The taxi leaves)


text:
OK, so now that the boys have been separated from the men and we are down to the final 16 at the World Cup, just where is the money going? In what may not come as a massive surprise, Brazil is still the team punters are keen on, with the home team clearly the best…Read More
Month: June 2014
Wallabies Outsiders Against All Blacks In Bledisloe
Despite the Wallabies' 3-nil demolition of France, the Aussies have been installed $2.40 outsiders against the All Blacks in their Bledisloe Cup opener at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. Online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au has priced New Zealand at $1.54 to continue their dominance over Australia and achieve a world record 18th consecutive test victory on August 16. The…Read More
Suarez Gives England The Golden Boot
We neednt've been surprised – Luis Suarez breaks English defenders hearts every week in the EPL, but his two goals for Uruguay this morning have rocketed him into contention to be the World Cup's leading goalscorer, with online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au dramatically winding his price in from $51 to $15! Germany's Thomas Muller remains favourite to…Read More
Harry Kewell Dives Into Controversial Subject
We're still not over THAT "dive" that knocked the Socceroos out of the 2006 World Cup at the hands of eventual winners Italy, but 8 years on, Socceroos great Harry Kewell says diving isn't a major issue in the game, and won't be at Brazil 2014. Kewell made the surprising revelation as part of his…Read More
Melbourne City New 2014/15 Aleague Favourites After Villa Signing
The newly named Melbourne City has gone from the wooden spoon one season to title favourites the next at Sportingbet.com.au after news that Spanish football star David Villa will take part in a 10-game stint for the club. Sportingbet.com.au has slashed the odds of Melbourne City winning the 2014/15 A-League season from $6.50 into $5,…Read More
Srikandi Popular In Big Three For Brisbane
It will be a massive day at Eagle Farm on Saturday with three Group 1 races to be decided and Stradbroke favourite Srikandi is the punters pick so far. Online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au has also received plenty of action in the other majors, the Queensland Derby and J. J. Atkins, but Srikandi ($4.50) is the stand…Read More


text:
The Wine Standards branch of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a 12-week public consultation on its enforcement policy.
It is a year since Wine Standards became part of the FSA, following implementation of the Hampton Review recommendations.
The consultation document, which is available on the FSA's web site on www.food.gov.uk, describes the regulatory framework, the risk-based approach to inspection and the enforcement powers available to inspectors, and invites comment from stakeholders.
"We have eight regionally based inspectors who are responsible for carrying out inspections at vineyards, traders and wholesalers. Wine Standards inspectors have always worked closely with the industry, offering advice and assistance on how to comply with the regulations.
"The consultation exercise offers the opportunity to listen to the views of stakeholders, with the aim of improving our effectiveness and ensuring that inspection and enforcement is consistent, transparent and proportionate," said Alan Curran, head of the FSA's wine standards branch.


text:
These two fake pee are undoubtedly the best synthetic urine brands on the market. However, there are many differences between them. In this Sub Solution and Quick fix review, I will compare them, tell you what are the advantages and disadvantages of buying Quick Fix and why Clear Choice urine is still the most popular synthetic urine in 2019. I will also mention Clear Choice's new premium synthetic urine and their brilliant practice kit, that makes using synthetic urine much safer!
A Quick Sub Solution Review
Sub Solution is manufactured by Clear Choice, they have a few other detox products such as Quick Luck, Oral Clear, and Rescue Cleanse detox drink. Sub Solution s premium category it costs two times more than any other synthetic urine. The reasons people choose this brand are: It contains many chemicals, much more than other fake pee brands. It also comes with a perfectly balanced PH and gravity. Uric acid and urea are both common in better fake urines, Sub Solution have them both. But the best things are the heat activator powder, which makes urine heating super easy, and another thing is it looks like real human urine, not like a fake thing. Looks smells like real pee and if you shake it a little, it can produce some foam just like the real pee does.
I don't want to go in to even more details here, if you want to know more about Sub Solution, check out this review.
Spectrum Labs Quick Fix Review
Spectrum labs Quick Fix is one of the oldest synthetic urine brands on the market. It doesn't contain as many chemicals as Sub Solution, but it has all the essentials, plus some more (still better than Upass, Xstream or Agent X). For a simple pre-employment drug test, this brand should do the job without any problem. It's premixed and it comes with heating pads. It's not as sophisticated as heat activator powder but still works very well.
Sub Solution vs Quick Fix
It's easy to choose between them, Sub Solution is way superior to Quick fix, it contains more chemicals, Sub Solution looks like real piss, hell it even smells like that, on the other hand, Quick Fix looks unnatural, some says it has a greenish color, no foam, and no smell. Using heat activator is super easy, you can heat up your sample within a few seconds, the whole process takes less than 1 minute. Heating up Quick Fix is not that easy, first you will need to find the right temperature then wrap it with the heating pad and hope it works, otherwise, it will be too hot or too cold when you arrive at the lab.
There are two points where Quick Fix can beat Clear Choice Sub Solution: Quick fix is premixed so you do not have to mess with urine powder and mixing. The other thing is its price tag, Quick Fix costs 39$ while Sub Solution costs 80$. If you have some extra cash, and you want to be 100% safe, always go with Sub Solution. If you are low on budget and the test is just a simple pre-employment drug test, then you can choose Quick Fix, it will pass the test without any problem, just make sure the temp is correct when you enter the facility.
Quick Luck And The Practice Kit
As I said, in the beginning, there are two new clear choice products, the practice kit, and Quick Luck. Practice kit is what its name suggests, at check out, you can add this kit to your cart and you can practice for the "big day" it contains heat activator, you can do it a couple of times at home so in real life situation you will know exactly what to do. Quick Luck is the most expensive brand on the market, one bottle costs. There is not much difference between Sub Solution and Quick Luck, only the price and a few added extra chemicals. Quick Luck is premixed and it comes with heat activator powder and heating pad as well. For me, Sub Solution is more than enough, but if you do not want to mess with mixing water and urine powder, go with Quick Luck urine.


text:
A New Type of Doors System can Transform a Business
The majority of businesses probably do not give a lot of thought to the types of doors they use. For most people, doors are doors. The truth is doors have changed quite a bit in recent years. Now there are many more choices. This is excellent news for companies that want to enhance their operations. […]Read More


text:
Athena SWAN
The Department is committed to the Athena SWAN Charter of recognising advancement of gender equality: representation, progression and success for all.
Equality and Challenge Unit's Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research.
In May 2015 the charter was expanded to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), and in professional and support roles, and for trans staff and students. The charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.
NDORMS achieved an Athena SWAN Silver Award in October 2015. The application process encouraged self-reflection, gave us the opportunity to celebrate current successes and provided a framework for introducing organisational and cultural changes that truly provide the open, supportive and family-friendly research environment that we aim to have.
Our Department's Silver Action Plan includes:
- Welcome and support for new staff
- Mentoring and Personal Development Review schemes
- Support for students and post-docs on their career progression
- Improving staff awareness of promotion opportunities
- Raise staff awareness on reporting systems on bullying and harassment
- Support outreach activities
Read more in our application for the Athena Swan Silver Award.
The Athena SWAN Self Assessment Team continually looks at opportunities to improve current processes and procedures regarding equality and diversity within NDORMS and aims to think about different measures and actions to make NDORMS a truly welcoming and supportive environment for all staff and students.
The group is formed by a broad range of people within the department and has representation from many different groups of staff.
Since 2012 we have focused on improving our support for gender equality and diversity in the department. The principals of the Athena Swan charter have become embedded within our mission and our strategic aims.