Over time, technological developments have become increasingly relevant. This thesis endeavoured to research a number of pioneering technological implementations in three different cities - all...Show moreOver time, technological developments have become increasingly relevant. This thesis endeavoured to research a number of pioneering technological implementations in three different cities - all pioneers in certain technological implementations. Developments are evolving quickly and everyone is now familiar with smart technologies, for example: Smart lighting, advanced waste management or decongestion of traffic junctions. The focus of this thesis is to investigate the process of these pioneering technical implementations. The question this thesis answered was: how were certain decisions made? Why were they made and what were their consequences? In order for this to be done in a structural way, the Social Construction Of Technology (SCOT) theory was used.. This is a theory that advocates a broad interpretation of technology and focuses primarily on cultural and sociological aspects. The implementations of technologies on CCTV in London, predictive policing software in Milan and the application of smart lighting in Eindhoven were all separately examined in this thesis. This involved examining the key drivers for the implementation of these technologies and their impact on visitors and residents of these three different cities. The results of this thesis display the idea that technologies are mainly implemented due to availability and political factors. However, the addition of safety-promoting technologies are not always beneficial to the visitors and residents of the respective cities, as the technologies are not always able to meet ethical standards when it comes to privacy and equality.Show less
This thesis studies the, by the Museum of London Archaeological Services (MoLAS) analyzed and shared, open source osteological database of the Chelsea Old Church cemetery site OCUoo. Based on this...Show moreThis thesis studies the, by the Museum of London Archaeological Services (MoLAS) analyzed and shared, open source osteological database of the Chelsea Old Church cemetery site OCUoo. Based on this data set, the study aims to research whether there is a correlation between obesity associated diseases, such as: osteoarthritis, gout, and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), and body mass. In addition, it attempts to research whether there's a sex-based difference that may influence such a correlation. It does so by creating three subsidiary question that are meant to lead to answering the main question. Subsequently, a sample selection according to the criteria required for this study (adult, sex determined, availability of femoral head breadth metric data). This sample selection will be further tailored by implementing the revised Ruff et al. (2012) body mass estimation equation, before it will undergo statistical data analysis with the use of the SPSS statistics program. The result depicts a data set that's relatively balanced and has a normal distribution. It may be noted that the mean of the body mass (kg) of those with pathological diagnoses lies higher than for those without. As well as that the pathologies follow suit as expected in regard of their prevalence in a certain sex. Osteoarthritis is more common among female individuals while gout and DISH are more common among male individuals. These notions could indicate that there may be a correlation; however, the statistical analyses resulted in the acceptance of the null hypothesis as there's no statistical significance. Therefore, against expectations and contemporary studies, it can be assumed that there's no correlation between obesity-associated diseases and body mass.Show less
The goal of this thesis research is to test if the prevalence of vertebral pathological conditions reflect hard labour/tough life in the Arnhem Eusebiuskerk population and a lowstatus, middle...Show moreThe goal of this thesis research is to test if the prevalence of vertebral pathological conditions reflect hard labour/tough life in the Arnhem Eusebiuskerk population and a lowstatus, middle-status and high-status population from London. The vertebral pathological conditions that have been compared are vertebral osteoarthritis, osteophytes, intervertebral disc disease, Schmorl’s nodes and fusion. First, the prevalence of the vertebral pathological conditions have been compared between the Arnhem population and the three London populations. After that, the prevalence has been compared between the males and females within each population followed by a comparison of the prevalence across the age categories. The latter has been done for each population as well. Lastly, the male and female sample of the populations have been compared separately between the Arnhem population and the three London populations. To summarise, there does seem to be a relationship between vertebral pathology and social status in the Arnhem and London populations. Most vertebral pathological conditions are namely more prevalent in the low-status Arnhem population than in the higher status London populations. The prevalence of the vertebral pathological conditions in the lowstatus St. Arnhem population is similar to that of the low-status St. Bride’s Lower Churchyard population. Based on this, it can be inferred that the vertebral pathological conditions are more common in the lower status populations than in the higher status populations of this thesis. This could have been the result of the kind of labour these status groups were involved in. Furthermore, there does seem to be a difference in the prevalence of the vertebral pathological conditions between males and females; in three out of four populations (all except the St. Benet Sherehog population) males may have had harder working conditions than the females. When the prevalence in the male and female sample of the population were compared between Arnhem and the three London populations separately, a trend can be seen that may indicate that at least the males of the Arnhem population had harder working conditions than those in the other populations. The results have also shown that there are some biases. The first bias is that the statistically significant differences in the vertebral pathological conditions are more influenced by the male sample than by the female sample in all populations with Schmorl’s nodes likely being influenced by biological variation to some extent. Furthermore, the development of many of the vertebral pathological conditions are, at least to some extent, influenced by age in all populations.Show less
This paper answers the research question: ‘How are the people of London, United Kingdom, experiencing the effects of terrorist attacks in their daily lives?’, using ethnographyas a way of...Show moreThis paper answers the research question: ‘How are the people of London, United Kingdom, experiencing the effects of terrorist attacks in their daily lives?’, using ethnographyas a way of behavioral observation.Online interviews were conducted and used as the main sourceof data, as the research was conducted from The Hague, and there were time constraints. The interlocutors were gathered through LinkedIn and required to live in London for at least five years. Asthere is no current ethnographic research, mostly psychological literature was used to relate the data to. Multiple themes emerged from the interviews, consisting of, the effects of encountering terrorism, the effects of terrorist activity on police and travel, and the change in the city dynamics. These factors all influence the interlocutors in their daily lives, and contribute toa change in decision-making. It is concluded that safety enhancing procedures may seem like an overreaction and irrelevant nowadays, as stated by some interlocutors. Even though in the immediate aftermath of an attack, awareness and fear rise, there is a focus on the resilience of London, claiming the city is multicultural and does not give in. The interlocutors agree that they are aware of the possible risk of a terrorist attack, however, they are not willing to change their daily routine, adapting to this risk. Therefore, the effects of terrorism can be felt, but do not take the upper hand in the interlocutors’ lives.Show less
Nineteenth-century London expanded tremendously due to British imperialism. The Britons were acquinted with new cultures and religions. Besides the benefits of the forming of London as metropolis,...Show moreNineteenth-century London expanded tremendously due to British imperialism. The Britons were acquinted with new cultures and religions. Besides the benefits of the forming of London as metropolis, the citizens experienced new anxieties. Urbanisation from immigrants led to xenophobia. The use of alcohol and opium rose and the city became even more divided wealth wise. Stevenson, Wilde and Stoker explore these Victorian anxiety.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to study the influence of status on the prevalence of non-specific stress in post-medieval London. This is researched by comparing the prevalence of two non-specific...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to study the influence of status on the prevalence of non-specific stress in post-medieval London. This is researched by comparing the prevalence of two non-specific stress markers in and between two high-status populations (Chelsea Old Church and St. Bride’s Fleet Street) and two low-status populations (St. Bride’s Lower Churchyard and Cross Bones burial ground) from post-medieval London. The non-specific stress markers that were used in the comparisons were the prevalence of enamel hypoplasia and growth (through mean femur length). The high-status and low-status populations were compared on their own as well as together, combining Chelsea Old Church and St. Bride’s Fleet Street into one high-status population and St. Bride’s Lower Churchyard and Cross Bones burial ground into one low-status population. The four populations, as well as the aggregated populations, were divided into several age groups and the two sexes for (statistical) comparison. In the results it was found that over all, the high-status population of post-medieval London had less (severe) non-specific stress, but that when the populations were studied separately and divided into groups, the results became more nuanced. It was shown that the population from St. Bride’s Fleet Street experienced the least (severe) non-specific stress, the population from Cross Bones burial ground experienced the most (severe) non-specific stress and the populations from Chelsea Old Church and St. Bride’s Lower Churchyard experienced a similar amount (and severity) of stress.Show less
This edition elaborately discusses the letters between London based nurseryman William Malcolm (d.1798) and David van Royen (1727-1799), professor of Botany and the director of the Hortus Botanicus...Show moreThis edition elaborately discusses the letters between London based nurseryman William Malcolm (d.1798) and David van Royen (1727-1799), professor of Botany and the director of the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden, written between 1768-1773. The research focuses on how this correspondence gives insight in the study of botany in Leiden and the development of its botanical garden, the international plant trade and the extensive network of people involved, and the close relationship between science and commerce in the second half of the eighteenth century.Show less
There are few literary characters who speak to the imagination such as Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr John Watson. The city in which these stories are set has an equally strong grasp...Show moreThere are few literary characters who speak to the imagination such as Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr John Watson. The city in which these stories are set has an equally strong grasp on the imaginations of the masses: the moment Sherlock Holmes and London are mentioned within the same breath, a very iconic and somewhat stereotypical image of the city comes to mind. A foggy, smoke ridden city, congested with traffic, populated by exotic figures, which in the nineteenth century has become the heart of a global Empire.1 This of course, is a stereotypical image of the city, a way of describing the city by authors in order to gain some form of control over the immense city. This will be discussed in greater depth in the following chapter. The characters Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are still quite as popular as they were in the nineteenth century, maybe even more so. In the recent years the two iconic characters have starred in movies, various TV-shows as well as new books. There are some authors who have tried to recapture the magic of Sherlock Holmes.2 Whether they have succeeded is another matter, and does not fit within the scope of this research. Though the stories have always focussed on the world’s only consulting detective and the good doctor, they are always connected to capital of an Empire, London. This connection between Sherlock Holmes and London is precisely the subject of this research. The question which has been centralised in this work is: What was the message that Conan Doyle was possibly trying to send his contemporary readers through his description of London and his use of the genre of crime fiction?Show less
Osteoporosis is a hot topic for clinical research in modern Western society, but seems rare in archaeological human remains. This study had the aim to investigate if osteoporosis can be used as a...Show moreOsteoporosis is a hot topic for clinical research in modern Western society, but seems rare in archaeological human remains. This study had the aim to investigate if osteoporosis can be used as a method to detect the changes in living conditions before and into the Industrial Revolution in London. For this research, the osteology rapports from nine Medieval and sixteen post-Medieval cemeteries are used. These cemeteries were all excavated by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder with various causes, for instance vitamin D deficiency, alcohol and smoking. Due to a malfunction between bone resorption and bone formation, bones get more fragile and are easier to break. Through typical fractures and the bone mineral density certain types of osteoporosis can be detected in archaeological human remains. The Industrial Revolution is an important time of change. Not only in terms of industrialization, but also for nutrition, living conditions and lifestyle. This disease can reflect the change of socio-economic and environmental conditions between Medieval and the post-Medieval period. A database had been made from all the individuals analysed by MOLA. From this database, two datasets are composed for the individuals with osteoporosis. A total of 9 individuals from the Medieval period and 76 individuals from the post-Medieval period show skeletal changes consistent with osteoporosis. Through statistical analysis it became clear that there is increase of the disease into the post-Medieval period. This increase is most likely the result of the Industrial Revolution. Also, more females were affected than males and most of the individuals were older than 46 years at death. However, there was no difference in affected individuals between low and high socio-economic statuses. This research has its limitations, especially since there is inconsistency in the recording of osteoporosis in the original data. Recommendations for a standardization of methods to investigate osteoporosis have been made among other suggestions for future research.Show less
In this thesis the possible correlation between vertebral pathologies and social status was examined in two post-medieval populations from London (1700-1850 AD). One group contained individuals of...Show moreIn this thesis the possible correlation between vertebral pathologies and social status was examined in two post-medieval populations from London (1700-1850 AD). One group contained individuals of high social status, Chelsea Old Church, and one of lower social status, Cross Bones. As it could be expected that individuals of lower social class may have undertaken more physically demanding activities, vertebral pathologies which can appear as a result of stress should be more abundant in the Cross Bones group. Conversely diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), a disease associated with dietary excess should be more visible in high social status groups. The groups are compared using age groups and chi-squared tests.Show less
The coincidence of increased immigration into Britain in the late nineteenth century with the revitalisation of the trade union movement encourages the investigation of interaction between the two...Show moreThe coincidence of increased immigration into Britain in the late nineteenth century with the revitalisation of the trade union movement encourages the investigation of interaction between the two phenomena. This study seeks to determine the impact that immigrants had upon trade unions that were primarily created for workers born in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, whether through joining these unions, through the impact of their own independent unions, or as unorganised workers. Specifically, the Alliance Cabinet Makers Association, the primary furniture making union, is considered as an example of immigrant integration into British trade unionism of the period, revealing significant levels of immigrant participation, and therefore evidence for considerable acculturation into elements of British society. Trade union records and census data are combined to create an in-depth study of the background and identities of hundreds of trade union members over a thirty year period. Ultimately, the historical investigation is compared to contemporary trends in immigration and trade unionism, both in the United Kingdom and the United States.Show less
