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More and more cities are developing strategies and implementing actions to increase their resilience to a diversity of environmental, social and economic challenges. International networks such as 100 Resilient Cities, established by the Rockefeller Foundation, are supporting cities to find and implement solutions to ‘shocks and stresses.’ This new approach to urban governance, often initiated by philanthropic organizations, is debated. On the one hand, these initiatives are celebrated as catalysts for transformational change through ‘collaboration’ and ‘co-design’ in contexts such as mobility, energy, green space or housing. On the other hand, urban resilience initiatives have been criticized for prioritizing private sector agendas and top-down approaches and hollowing out public sector tasks and democratic participation. However, little is known how urban resilience strategies are actually implemented in practice. Embedded action research on the implementation of the Resilient Melbourne strategy provides the opportunity to have a closer look at this highly contested topic. This paper provides first insights into the research project Urban Resilience in Action, using the Resilient Melbourne strategy to assess the implementation of selected actions. It shows that a reconceptualization and new analytical dimensions are needed to understand urban resilience as an urban innovation strategy.

We ask whether iconic co-speech gestures are judged as more natural by naive participants when their content is entailed by a preceding context, or repeated in the same utterance, or when they contribute new information (i.e., are nontrivial). Our results show, first, that the acceptability of co-speech gestures is not affected by whether they are entailed by a preceding context (they are not “hard presupposition triggers”). In contrast, our second finding is that gestures are affected by content in the same utterance, such that they are judged more acceptable when they reinforce information already present in the proposition. In addition, gestures varied widely in how acceptable they were judged even in the same information contexts, which we take to be an indication that we are just scratching the surface of a more general question about the felicity of co-speech gestures, of which the current study provides a first experimental foundation.

In recent decades, heated debate around green technology and its equitable access has aroused the concern of international scholars. This paper provides a review on the exclusion of green technology referred to as ‘green techno-apartheid’ and examines selected key eco-cities (i.e. Masdar, Songdo IBD and Bangalore) considered in the 2013 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on ‘City-Level Decoupling’ (2013). Metropolitan planning is a crucial instrument in addressing the challenges of urban social sustainability and is thus considered an important mechanism for developing a platform to approach issues of equitable access to green technology. The study reviews five metropolitan plans: the ‘London Plan’ (London, England), the ‘Municipal Plan 2011 for Greater Copenhagen’ (Copenhagen, Denmark), the ‘Economically Strong and Sustainable Structural Vision: Amsterdam 2040’ (Amsterdam, Netherlands), the ‘Hong Kong 2030: Planning Vision and Strategy’ (Hong Kong, China) and the ‘Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036’ (Sydney, Australia). The results of the study suggest that while all these plans focus on promoting green technology within a framework of ecological modernisation, they lack appropriate tools for achieving equitable modernisation and enhancing social equity. Consequently, it is essential that researchers and planners take further steps and develop effective instruments to improve equitable access to green technologies and achieve long-term urban social sustainability. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons are neuroendocrine cells that are born in the nasal placode during embryonic development and migrate through the nose and forebrain to the hypothalamus, where they regulate reproduction. Many molecular pathways that guide their migration have been identified, but little is known about the factors that control the survival of the migrating GnRH neurons as they negotiate different environments. We previously reported that the class 3 semaphorin SEMA3A signals through its neuropilin receptors, NRP1 and NRP2, to organise the axons that guide migrating GnRH neurons from their birthplace into the brain. By combining analysis of genetically altered mice with in vitro models, we show here that the alternative neuropilin ligand VEGF164 promotes the survival of migrating GnRH neurons by co-activating the ERK and AKT signalling pathways through NRP1. We also demonstrate that survival signalling relies on neuronal, but not endothelial, NRP1 expression and that it occurs independently of KDR, the main VEGF receptor in blood vessels. Therefore, VEGF164 provides survival signals directly to developing GnRH neurons, independently of its role in blood vessels. Finally, we show that the VEGF164-mediated neuronal survival and SEMA3A-mediated axon guidance cooperate to ensure that migrating GnRH neurons reach the brain. Thus, the loss of both neuropilin ligands leads to an almost complete failure to establish the GnRH neuron system.

This article considers the rapid evolution and increased prominence of the C40 Cities Climate Change Leadership Group and its commitment to the development of a new style of thinking, and possibly a new urban construct. This new construct is not yet understood, perhaps due to the fact that it is an inchoate ideal being forged through the work of the network for the future of our cities. Such an assessment is well situated within the political economy of urban sustainability, with its ability to set up an interrogative frame to identify the progressive and regressive possibilities that the C40 signals. This article argues that the C40 cities propose nothing new in their ideas, providing a reinforcement of neoliberal urbanism. We need to deviate from technocratic and “econocratic” approaches toward pathways that emphasize the democratic content of socioenvironmental development. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Many countries are searching for ways to reduce the energy and carbon impact of housing. The terms net zero-energy home and net zero-carbon home have entered the policy lexicon, without clear definitions and without widespread understanding of the likely policy impact. Is the concept limited to bespoke architect driven buildings for specific green clients, or does it have relevance in the mainstream house building sector and for typical households? When we consider volume house building and contemporary lifestyles, what is the energy end-use reality of so called zero-energy homes? Can government policy instruments deliver housing estates that are thermally comfortable, energy efficient and powered by renewable energy? The Lochiel Park Green Village in South Australia represents a genuine attempt through government policy processes to create a suburb of (nearly) zero-energy homes in a near zero-carbon estate. The development includes 103 highly energy efficient homes of various sizes, all utilising solar thermal and solar photovoltaic sources, and built to stringent environmental urban design guidelines. The energy used and generated at each house is being monitored and analysed to extend our understanding of what happens when families bring their energy habits to near zero-energy homes. Appliance and equipment audits are conducted to extend our knowledge of the energy services utilised in contemporary digital-age lifestyles. This paper provides an insight into the quanta of energy using appliances and equipment that fill our homes and satisfy our ever-growing needs. The paper presents key results from the first two years of monitoring for the initial tranche of houses, demonstrating that although significant reductions in operating energy use have been achieved, few households have reached a net zero energy standard. The research highlights the extent to which our choice of energy systems and our individual behaviour affect the total annual energy use. The energy end-use and energy generation results are examined to identify the contribution of near zero-energy homes to the twin policy challenges of anthropogenic climate change and peak power demand. Using empirical evidence from extensive monitoring, this paper throws new light on the energy use of actual families in contemporary near zero-energy homes. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

In the construction industry, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly valued as one factor that will contribute to business sustainable development. Construction enterprises typically develop CSR reports as one way to maintain a positive corporate image. There is a growing body of research which considers the effectiveness of CSR. However, understanding what CSR means to the construction industry, and how to practice it, is limited. This paper develops a framework for CSR indicators relevant to construction enterprises worldwide as a tool for CSR performance. CSR stakeholders are identified through literature review, and these stakeholders are mapped on construction process and corporation to represent stakeholders involved in construction enterprises. Based on stakeholder theory, CSR performance issues related to each stakeholder are developed to show key factors of CSR performance of construction companies, and the indicators are subsequently extracted to reveal specific contents included in these performance issues. The indicator system provides guidance for CSR implementation in the construction industry and enables construction enterprises to assess CSR performance scientifically, which in turn will assist the attainment of business sustainable development. Future research opportunities exist to define a transparent weight system, to investigate the role of contextual factors, and to examine interactions of stakeholders and interactions of indicators in this model. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Sustainability is an issue of concern in many industrial sectors. The construction industry is no exception. The study described in this paper adopts a critical qualitative approach to investigate sustainability policy practices in the construction industry. This approach includes a statement of principles, sustainability reporting incorporated within a financial report, and a stand-alone sustainability reporting system. The top international contractors listed by Engineering News Record (ENR) were examined. The results show that sustainability policy development varies from case to case in these companies but trends are emerging on common issues addressed. The findings show a trend of increasingly level of disclosure of corporation's commitmnets an achievements on sustainability. Similarly, the energy efficiency and conservation, greenhouse gas emission reduction and integration of renewable energy resources into projects are among the common themes of these sustainability policies disclosed by construction contractors. The construcion industry can learn from the energy sector that is advanced in sustainability reporting.

Neuropilin 1 (NRP1) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is essential for blood vessel development in vertebrates. Best known for its ability to bind members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and class 3 semaphorin families through its extracellular domain, it also has a highly conserved cytoplasmic domain, which terminates in a SEA motif that binds the PDZ protein synectin/GIPC1/NIP. Previous studies in zebrafish embryos and tissue culture models raised the possibility that the SEA motif of NRP1 is essential for angiogenesis. Here, we describe the generation of mice that express a form of NRP1 that lacks the cytoplasmic domain and, therefore, the SEA motif (Nrp1(cyto)(Δ)(/)(Δ) mice). Our analysis of pre- and perinatal vascular development revealed that vasculogenesis and angiogenesis proceed normally in these mutants, demonstrating that the membrane-anchored extracellular domain is sufficient for vessel growth. By contrast, the NRP1 cytoplasmic domain is required for normal arteriovenous patterning, because arteries and veins crossed each other at an abnormally high frequency in the Nrp1(cyto)(Δ)(/)(Δ) retina, as previously reported for mice with haploinsufficient expression of VEGF in neural progenitors. At crossing sites, the artery was positioned anteriorly to the vein, and both vessels were embedded in a shared collagen sleeve. In human eyes, similar arteriovenous crossings are risk factors for branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), an eye disease in which compression of the vein by the artery disrupts retinal blood flow, causing local tissue hypoxia and impairing vision. Nrp1(cyto)(Δ)(/)(Δ) mice may therefore provide a suitable genetic model to study the aetiology of BRVO.

The dominance of the neoliberal discourse in the sustainability debate has tended to privilege the economy over environment and social dimensions with implications for what is measured by sustainability monitoring systems. Moreover, systems to measure sustainability, including those influenced by neoliberal discourse, lack robust definitions and fail to address the interrelationship between social, economic and environmental contexts. If sustainability indicators are to help understand the interrelated forces driving change, by providing indications of sustainability, then the indicators should be derived from an epistemologically consistent conceptual framework which encapsulates clearly defined phenomena. The paper discusses whether sustainability indicators in the Australian context are derived from an epistemologically consistent framework. It is argued that the validity of current sustainability reporting systems is contestable. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The development of retail competition in South Australia has exposed small consumers to substantial price rises in recent years. Such price increases for a service that is regarded as essential in the 21 century raise equity issues. Little research has yet been completed relating to the impact on the community of such prices rises, although a recent review of the socioeconomic indicators that monitor the impact of increasing electricity prices concluded that there had been a decrease in electricity affordability. It is, unfortunately, difficult to make an assessment of the impact of a decrease in electricity affordability because current indicators for measuring the decrease and its effects do not fit within a conceptual framework. This results in ad hoc indicator selection, no clear direction of benchmarks, nor acceptable targets for indicators. Offered in this paper is a discussion of these issues, along with a series of recommendations to support the establishment of a framework to monitor electricity affordability in South Australia.

A construction is found in American Sign Language that we call a Question–Answer Clause. It is made of two parts: the first part looks like an interrogative clause conveying a question, while the second part resembles a declarative clause answering that question. The very same signer has to sign both, the entire construction is interpreted as truth-conditionally equivalent to a declarative sentence, and it can be uttered only under certain discourse conditions. These and other properties of Question–Answer Clauses are discussed, and a detailed syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic account is provided. Question–Answer Clauses are argued to be copular clauses consisting of a silent copula of identity connecting an interrogative clause in the precopular position with a declarative clause in the postcopular position. Pragmatically, they instantiate a topic/comment structure, with the first part expressing a sub-question under discussion and the second part expressing the answer to that sub-question. Broader implications of the analysis are discussed for the Question Under Discussion theory of discourse structuring, for the analysis of pseudoclefts in spoken languages, and for recent proposals about the need for answerhood operators and exhaustivity operators in the grammar and the consequences for the syntax/semantics/pragmatics interface.

Fertility critically depends by a small number of hypothalamic neurons secreting the neurohormone GnRH. During development GnRH neurons migrate from the nasal placode to the hypothalamus by following the migratory path formed by the vomeronasal axons. Developmental defects of this process can cause congenital GnRH deficiency (GD), characterized by absent/delayed puberty and consequent infertility. The underlying mutated loci are for the majority of GD cases unknown, partially because of a poor understanding of the molecular mechanisms that control the development of these crucial neuroendocrine cells. Here we provide evidence of the importance of class 3 semaphorins and their receptors in this process. Specifically, I will explain how two different semaphorins play distinct roles during the migration of GnRH neurons. Thus, semaphorin3A affects the migration of GnRH neurons in the nasal compartment, via the co-receptors Neuropilin-1 and 2, whereas semaphorin3E via its receptor plexind1 controls the survival of GnRH neurons once positioned in the hypothalamus. Accordingly, disrupted semaphorin signalling may be involved in the aethiopathogenesis of genetic diseases characterized by GnRH deficiency.