Lead and cadmium in teeth,bone and kidneys of rats with a standard Pb‐Cd supply

Male Wistar rats received a combination of 25 ppm PbCl₂ and 5 ppm CdCl₂ in drinking water at different developmental stages. Pb and Cd levels of incisors, molars, epiphyses, diaphyses and kidney cortex were recorded by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results confirmed that Pb has an affinity for hard tissue and especially to teeth, but it also accumulated in soft tissues under the above conditions. In addition, the results indicated none or only a moderate placental or mammary barrier for Pb, and suggested a high absorption of lead from the intestine of sucklings. The results also confirmed that kidney cortex is a primary target for Cd, and indicated that Cd has crossed the placental and mammary barriers to some degree. The positive significant correlation between Cd levels in molars and kidney cortex suggested that rodent molars indicate a degree of Cd absorption, whereas incisors do not. It is supposed that rodent molars are comparable to human deciduous teeth. It is thus confirmed that human deciduous teeth indicate previous lead exposure. It is further inferred that they also can be used as indicators of previous Cd‐exposures.     

Bioaccumulation of As,Cd, Cu,Fe and Pb in wild grasses affected by the Aznalcóllar mine spill (SW Spain)

The collapse of the tailing dam in the Aznalcóllar pyrite mine (SW Spain) occurred in April 1998 and affected approximately 4300 ha along the Agrio and Guadiamar valleys. An urgent soil cleaning up and remediation programme was started just after the accident. Eighteen months later, mineral nutrients and trace elements concentration in soil and two wild grasses--Cynodon dactylon and Sorghum halepense--have been studied. Three types of conditions are distinguished: (a) unaffected soils (control); (b) cleaned up and remediated soils (remediated); and (c) sludge-covered soils left in a fenced plot (non-remediated). As, Cd, Cu and Pb in grasses reached toxic levels for the food web in the non-remediated plot, while on remediated soils only Cd reached a toxic level in grass tissues. However, Pb and, to a lesser extent As and Fe, reached also toxic levels in unwashed plants (as they would be ingested by animals) in remediated soils. Both native grasses seem tolerant of trace elements pollution and suitable for stabilisation of spill-affected soils.     

Housing vouchers as a means of poverty deconcentration and race desegregation: Patterns and factors of voucher recipients’ spatial concentration in Cleveland

Housing Choice Voucher Program is the single largest housing subsidy program in the USA with the goal of poverty deconcentration and race desegregation. This study aims to identify the presence and locations of voucher holders’ spatial concentration, and to investigate the factors associated with the location outcomes of voucher recipients in Cleveland from 2005 to 2009. Hotspot analysis indicated that voucher holders have clustered together and their concentrations have changed during the five years. Over time, concentration patterns spread out from the central city to suburbs. Spatial concentrations were significantly different by race. Regression analysis identified several factors associated with voucher recipients’ concentration, including race, availability of affordable housing, poverty rates, vacancy rates, and accessibility to public transportation. The spatial error model estimation and Geographically Weighted Regression account for spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity. Results from the study presented the limited potential of the voucher program since voucher holders are still clustered in specific neighborhoods, even though they tend to move in less poor neighborhoods over time.     

Numerical Simulation and Analysis of Excavation and Support in Traffic Tunnel of a Power Station?

To evaluate the rationality of the excavation and support structure design in tunnel engineering, numerical simulation and structural deformation stability anal...     

The decline of a homeowning society? Asset-based welfare,retirement and intergenerational equity in Australia

Researchers have increasingly recognised a link between homeownership levels and retirement policy, particularly in English-speaking welfare states. Housing is central to asset-based welfare policies, which may enable households to efficiently manage life course risks, but may exacerbate wealth inequality and expose them to market volatility. Australia presents an important case for understanding the dynamics of asset-based welfare, with its retirement approach combining high homeownership rates and a limited public pension. This paper investigates emerging generational differences in homeownership in Australia. Recent research has identified declining homeownership amongst younger cohorts. Using cross-sectional data, we explore alternative theoretical explanations for this trend. We find no evidence that declining homeownership reflects changing investment choices or delayed family formation. Instead, recent trends are consistent with intensifying inequalities based on class and care responsibilities. This casts doubt on the viability of Australia as a homeownership society and asset-based retirement policies in a financialised economy.     

What factors influence the abundance and distribution of sacred forests in Odisha,a densely forested state in eastern India?

This is a report on sacred forests of Odisha, a large and densely forested state in eastern India. Using district-level data from government agencies on geographical area, demographics, forest cover, and sacred forest sizes and numbers, we test what factors influence the observed distributions and abundance of sacred forests. Results show that at the district level, population size of scheduled tribes was unrelated to total population size. Forest area was greater in larger districts, and where tribal populations were greater, but per cent forest cover declined with overall population density. There are 2166 documented sacred forests in the state of Odisha, with most being small (median = 0.2 ha). Multiple regression analyses show that the number of sacred forests is unrelated to total forest area but is significantly positively associated with Tribal population size. Sacred forests have survived decline during recent deforestation, and indigenous cultural practices appear to promote the persistence of natural vegetation.     

Elevated mercury concentrations in soils, sediments, water, and fish of the Madeira River basin, Brazilian Amazon: a function of natural enrichments?

Previous site-specific investigations have found that mercury concentrations in water, sediments, and biota of the Brazilian Amazon are elevated above global averages, and that these concentrations are a direct result of widespread mercury amalgamation mining operations conducted by non-organized prospectors. In order to assess the regional impacts of Hg contamination from these non-organized gold mining activities, water, sediments, and fish were systematically collected in 1997 along a 900-km reach of the Madeira River. The sampling program extended from the Amazon River upstream to Porto Velho, the site of historic and ongoing mercury amalgamation mining. Mercury concentrations were found to be elevated above global averages in all sampled media. However, the geochemical data suggest that the high mercury levels are due largely to natural sources and natural biogeochemical processes, and that the impacts of anthropogenically released mercury from mine sites is relatively localized.     

Are multimodal travelers more satisfied with their lives? A study of accessibility and wellbeing in the Denver,Colorado metropolitan area

In this study, we ask how the ability to use multiple transportation options affects one's subjective wellbeing (SWB), including aspects such as physical health, financial security, standard of living, and personal relationships. A clearer understanding of these associations can inform investments in multimodal infrastructure. We draw on 232 surveys from a diverse set of residents in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area and find that having more transportation choices can improve standard of living for low- and middle-income residents. Multimodal middle-income residents are also more satisfied with their health and what they are achieving in life. Vehicle owners report higher levels of satisfaction with their standard of living, health, and achievements, compared to non-owners, unless auto is their only travel mode. Only low-income respondents had significant differences in standard of living by where they lived, with greatest satisfaction in the urban core. These results confirm the relationship between public transit and SWB, and contribute to our understanding of how the concept of motility (social and spatial mobility) shapes one's quality of life. The findings have implications for investments in transportation modes across neighborhood types and populations, so that people have a range of travel options to meet their needs and increase their satisfaction with their goals through improved daily travel.     

A vertical profile of dissolved trace metals (Al,Cd, Cu,Mn, Ni) over the median valley of the mid Atlantic ridge, 43°N: Implications for Hydrothermal activity

A detailed hydrographic station was worked over a segment of the median valley at the Mid Atlantic Ridge. Measurements of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and micronutrients showed water in the valley to be well mixed below the height of the sill. In the deeper water, anomalously high concentrations of Mn were present (1.9nM at 3279 m) and these are attributed to hydrothermal activity. Concentrations of Cd, Cu and Ni did not appear to differ from those expected for this region. This is consistent with the level of Mn enrichment and what is known about the likely composition of hydrothermal fluids. Enrichment of Al occurs in the median valley to a much greater extent (40 nM at 2400 m) than would be expected from known compositions of hydrothermal fluids.     

Housing indicators in europe,a tool for housing research and housing policy?

Announcement

Housing indicators in europe, a tool for housing research and housing policy?     

Infrastructure Planning: in a State of Panic?

Abstract

Infrastructure is routinely framed in contemporary urban policy as a vehicle to grow the economy through the creation of jobs. In periods of economic downturn and when ongoing fiscal uncertainty ensues, governments may look to the construction and maintenance of social and public infrastructure such as social housing and public transport. Cities and communities that have endured infrastructure deficits in the past may become the beneficiaries of adjusted national and state-level policy to support economic prosperity through expedient infrastructure implementation programs. Yet in the post-GFC policy environment urban infrastructure has recentred the role of infrastructure in driving urban economic recovery in terms of economic prosperity. Drawing from the state of exception literature, I call on the notion of urgency to explore infrastructure planning as it manifests at the juncture between strategic planning and implementation. This paper will contribute to the critical urban planning literature by examining how infrastructure prioritisation and implementation is shaped through a characterisation of urgency which subverts the relationship between urban infrastructure planning, implementation and planning process.     

Digging in the megaproject's graveyard: Why do megaprojects die,and how to check their health?

The pressure to complete Infrastructure Megaprojects (IMs) is enormous; once started, IMs are commonly considered too costly to be stopped. Still, despite this widespread belief, several IMs are terminated during delivery/construction. Notwithstanding its empirical and theoretical relevance, few studies investigate IMs termination during delivery/construction. This paper aims to develop further the “reverse escalation of commitment” theory which sense-makes the termination of IMs. We take a critical confrontation of the existing literature addressing two questions: (1) Why are IMs terminated during delivery/construction? and (2) How does the project termination process occur in IMs? By analysing 30 unfinished IMs, we identified the six determinants for IMs termination, contributing to the development of reverse-escalation of commitment theory by providing a processual perspective of the four most common patterns leading to IMs termination. Finally, we provide a checklist for identifying key elements leading to IMs termination.     

Tissue, age, and sex distribution of thallium in shrews from Doñana, a protected area in SW Spain

In 1998, the protected area of Do?ana, an important natural region in SW Europe, was affected with great amount of acidic waters and sludge from a pyrite mine loaded with toxic metals such as thallium (Tl). Since this ecological catastrophe, several studies have addressed the effects of this pollution on the flora and fauna in this protected area. However, in contrast to other non-essential metals, scarce information on Tl was available after this disaster, especially in terrestrial environments. This study reported a 3- and 10-fold increase in Tl in liver and kidneys, respectively, of the greater white-toothed shrew, Crocidura russula, in the polluted site in comparison with reference animals. Kidneys showed the highest concentrations of this metal in the polluted site, whereas both organs analysed have similar concentrations in the reference site. Although no significant age-dependent variation was found, adults had higher concentrations than juveniles. Moreover, females showed higher concentrations than males. These results demonstrate the high entrance and transfer of Tl in terrestrial food-chains. To the best of my knowledge, these data constitute the first measurements of Tl in mammals from the protected area of Do?ana and are among the few available for insectivorous mammals.     

How to tackle extreme deprivation and socio-spatial segregation? Policy efforts and their results in Hungary

Twenty years after the collapse of socialism it is justified to make a stock about the results of the new political and economic system. This paper deals only with a small—but important—aspect: the situation of the most deprived social groups and most segregated areas. How did the magnitude of these groups and areas change? Did their absolute and relative position improve or just the opposite? What effect had the market processes, the national and local level public policies and are there any changes due to the EU accession? The paper starts with a short overview about the last two decades. A short theoretical chapter deals with the interpretation of deprivation and segregation, showing the specialities of the post-socialist countries. This is followed by a short overview of western policies and debates. The main focus is on the analysis of Hungarian policy efforts and their real results. Finally, the impact of the Structural Funds is analysed with some suggestions for changes that potentially could lead to more effective policies.     

What’s in a (Migrant) House? Changing Domestic Spaces,the Negotiation of Belonging and Home-making in Ecuadorian Migration

Migrants’ constructions of their domestic spaces, and their struggle to feel at home in both receiving and sending societies, are an emerging focus of research in migration studies. Housing issues are also a privileged observatory on their transnational social engagement, as well as on the changing boundaries of their membership and belonging. This article addresses the everyday bases of their home-making and house-building practices, drawing on a multi-sited ethnography of Ecuadorian migration to Italy. What can be inferred from the ways in which migrants inhabit their houses “here”, while typically investing in better housing arrangements “there”, as to their alignment towards either society? What do their housing-related practises suggest about the potential to feel locally and transnationally at home, given the structural constraints they are subject to? By tracing the meanings, enactments and locations of migrants’ home, I aim to advance the debate on home and migration in two respects: the persistent materiality which underlies the home experience, and the significance of migrants’ houses, particularly in sending societies, as a window on the mixed social consequences of migration.     

What are the costs and benefits of biodiversity recovery in a highly polluted estuary?

Biodiversity recovery measures have often been ignored when dealing with the restoration of degraded aquatic systems. Furthermore, biological valuation methods have been applied only spatially in previous studies, and not jointly on a temporal and spatial scale. The intense monitoring efforts carried out in a highly polluted estuary, in northern Spain (Nervión estuary), allowed for the economic valuation of the costs and the biological valuation of the benefits associated with a 21 years sewage scheme application. The analysis show that the total amount of money invested into the sewage scheme has contributed to the estuary’s improvement of both environmental and biological features, as well as to an increase in the uses and services provided by the estuary. However, the inner and outer parts of the estuary showed different responses. An understanding of the costs and trajectories of the environmental recovery of degraded aquatic systems is increasingly necessary to allow policy makers and regulators to formulate robust, cost-efficient and feasible management decisions.