EXPLAINING THE ADOPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES IN THE UNITED STATES

Using a large national sample of U.S. cities the authors create an environmental policy index to explore the factors that explain the adoption and implementation of environmental policies at the local level. Using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods, these data indicate that cities with higher populations, more highly educated citizens, higher percentages of Hispanic residents, located in the West (and more specifically California), and that are central cities are more likely to engage in environmental policies. Furthermore, this article finds evidence of differences in engagement based upon the subarea of environmental protection examined.     

Utilization of Glucose Oxidase for Extending the Shelf-Life of Fish

The preservative benefits of the enzymic glucose oxidase/catalase system were measured in refrigerated, fresh, whole winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus Waldbaum) and winter flounder fillets. The enzyme system was applied as a dip, as an ice and immobilized in algin blankets. Advantages were an extended period of sensory acceptance and delayed onset of putrefactive odors, 21 days vs 15 days for controls. The pattern of endogenous hypoxanthine accumulation and decline was unaffected, but parameters thought to measure proteolytic activity were modified: creatinine turnover was slowed and ammonia generation was retarded.     

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCKS GRANTS IN URBAN COUNTIES: THE CASE OF HAMILTON COUNTY,OHIO

Urban counties must struggle with metropolitan expansion in order to deliver vital urban services. With the passage of the Housing and Community Development Act, urban counties throughout the nation found it necessary to develop the administrative capacity and the intergovernmental network sufficient to implement the Act. Hamilton County, Ohio, offers a typical example of how an urban county implemented CDBG. The result was a small county community development staff that look a pragmatic approach and relied heavily on the recommendations of participating municipalities and townships. The funded projects were primarily oriented toward transportation and public works. These projects, widely dispersed throughout the county, rewarded diverse political interests, generated few political conflicts, and required minimal county staff resources.     

THE POLITICS OF COMPETITIVE REGIONALISM IN GREATER BOSTON

ABSTRACT: Neil Brenner argues that contemporary scholarship often neglects the changing contexts of regionalism and thus overstates the possibilities for organizing new political responses to changing economic conditions. Drawing on Brenner's analysis, this paper examines the politics of regionalism in Greater Boston, a metropolitan area where state government plays the dominant role in policymaking. It examines how state elected officials have responded to the region's volatile economic context, and in particular how they have attempted to enhance the region's competitive advantage through tax cuts, deregulation and downsizing government. Their successes, however, have complicated efforts to reform local land use regulation, an issue increasingly seen as central to the region's economic future.     

Factors Affecting the Acceptability of Low-Nitrite Smoked, Cured Ham

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the consumer acceptance of samples of cooked, smoked ham which varied in sodium nitrite concentration and to evaluate the importance of two factors hypothesized to affect their acceptability. The first experiment assessed the importance of color to the overall acceptability of smoked ham. Results indicated that satisfactory color in this product can significantly increase its acceptability, even when other attributes (e.g. flavor) of the product are inferior. The second experiment assessed the effect of a warning of the possible dangers of sodium nitrite on the acceptability of the products. Results showed that the warning had no effect on the consumers' acceptance of the product.     

EFFECTS of STERILIZING DOSES of GAMMA IRRADIATION ON LEVELS of VITAMIN A, AMINO ACIDS, and FATTY ACIDS IN SELECTED DAIRY PRODUCTS

Frozen dairy products intended for low microbial diets of immunosuppressed patients were sterilized by exposure to 40 kGy (4 Mrad) of cobalt-60 irradiation. Levels of vitamin A, amino acids, and selected fatty acids were measured in yogurt bars, ice cream, Cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, and nonfat dry milk before and after irradiation. Addition of antioxidants to the frozen dairy desserts prior to irradiation at - 78C was not effective in preventing degradation of vitamin A. There were significant decreases of approximately 90% in levels of vitamin A in Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese irradiated at -78C and 0–5C compared to the corresponding nonirradiated products. Levels of vitamin A in nonfat dry milk irradiated at three different temperatures (22C, 0–5C, or - 78C) were variable compared to levels in the nonirradiated product. Levels of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids were retained in all irradiated dairy products analyzed. Irradiation at the specified temperatures did not affect levels of individual amino acids in nonfat dry milk or mozzarella cheese.     

EFFECT OF CONCURRENT HIGH HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE, ACIDITY AND HEAT ON THE INJURY AND DESTRUCTION OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES

The effect of concurrent use of high hydrostatic pressure, heat and acidity on Listeria monocytogenes Scott A and CA was investigated. In general, lethality was enhanced when cells were pressurized at higher temperatures or lower pH. Strain CA demonstrated an additional 3-log₁₀ reduction when pressurized at pH 4.0 as compared with pH 6.0 at 353 MPa, 45C for 10 min. Scott A was reduced an additional 1 log₁₀ by increasing the temperature from 25C to 45C with pressurization at 252 MPa, pH 6.0 for 30 min. Exposure to 404 MPa at 45C for 30 min demonstrated complete injury or death of CA cells with an initial concentration of >10⁸ CFU/mL. At least an 8-log₁₀ reduction was observed for both L. monocytogenes strains Scott A and CA when exposed to the combined treatments of 252 MPa, 45C, pH 4.0 for 30 min .     

DOES THE CREATIVE ENGINE RUN? A CONSIDERATION OF THE EFFECT OF CREATIVE CLASS ON ECONOMIC STRENGTH AND GROWTH

ABSTRACT: Florida's book, The Rise of the Creative Class, ranks 276 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) according to a creativity index. This article explores whether the creativity index or its subcomponents are related to the economic strength or growth in MSAs. Economic strength is operationalized using Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) per capita for the year 2000. Economic growth is operationalized by the percent change in GMP from 1993 to 2003 and from 2000 to 2004. The first time period is used to test these economic measures against the distribution of the creative class from 1990 as presented in the hardcover edition of The Rise of the Creative Class. The second is used to test the economic measures against the components of the creativity index as defined in the softcover edition of the same work. Our results raise questions as to the whether the concentration of the creative class in an MSA acts as an economic engine.     

Foreclosure Is Not an Equal Opportunity Stressor: How Inequality Fuels the Adverse Health Implications of the Nation's Financial Crisis

Foreclosure rates persist at high levels, segregation remains a central organizing feature of metropolitan regions, and a variety of health problems continue to plague metropolitan regions across the United States. Each of these issues is the subject of much policy debate and scholarly research. Missing from most of this discussion, however, is the intersection of these social forces. In recent years, a connection between foreclosures and health has been documented. A question that arises and is explored in this research is whether the impact of foreclosures on health is exacerbated by various measures of inequality. This article examines the emerging impact of foreclosures on health and the longstanding effects of racial and socioeconomic inequality (e.g., racial segregation, concentration of poverty, and income inequality) on health in major metropolitan areas. More importantly, multivariate statistical analyses are conducted to determine whether, and the extent to which, these indicators of inequality mediate the impact of foreclosures on health. The findings suggest policy implications for the development, expansion, and allocation of health care and financial services to address challenges posed by the ongoing foreclosure crises facing the nation's metropolitan areas.