Attitudes towards relocation following Hurricane Sandy: should we stay or should we go?

This study explores the dilemma of whether to rebuild or relocate from the areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Since disasters represent the discernible manifestation of other complex coastal hazards, they offer a window of opportunity to engage residents in the dialogue on relocation as sometimes the most effective risk reduction strategy. The following research evaluates attitudes towards relocation and willingness to consider buyout among 46 surveyed households located in highly‐affected communities five months after Sandy. It also gauges perceptions of coastal risks and recovery concerns as drivers of relocation, the level of support for different adaptation strategies, and preferences related to the relocation process itself on how and where to relocate and with what type of assistance. Responses indicate that, even though residents prefer structural solutions to address coastal hazards, they are not fully opposed to the possibility of relocation mostly for personal health and safety reasons.     

Expatiating the impact of anthropogenic aspects and climatic factors on long-term soil monitoring and management

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This article is an extensive collection of scientific literature related to the impact of fertilizers on soil microbial and enzymatic activity. Due to...     

Conservation and management-oriented ecological research in the coastal zone of Baja California, Mexico

This paper presents the main results of two studies of contrasting natural and man-induced conditions along the Pacific coast of Baja California (Mexico), based on the assumption that ecological insight can be obtained from man-induced modifications insofar as relevant activities are explicitly addressed as parts of the systems under study. The study is concerned with a fragmented coastal succulent-sage scrub and showed that several patches of different size and age may harbor as many species as non-fragmented areas, and that 83% of the original species assemblage persisted in the fragments, in which the invasion by opportunistic exotic species may not progress beyond certain limits. The study of dune-backed and urban-backed beaches showed a significantly greater abundance of the Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) at the dune-backed beach, where a much more active back-shore feeding of adult birds and the only evidences of breeding occurred. Both studies refer to landscape features of regional concern and its results may be used in conservation management. The results on fragmented coastal succulentsage scrub may encourage alternative urban designs that keep patches of the original landscape, thus meeting existing requirements of low density urban development for most of the coastal succulent-sage scrub area. The evidence presented on the negative effects of dune destruction on the abundance, feeding and reproductive performance of a threatened bird species has a bearing on the topic of biodiversity management. It may also contribute to the conservation of the coastal dunes system.     

Genotoxicity monitoring of freshwater environments using caged crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus)

Genotoxicity of freshwater pollution was assessed by measuring DNA damage in haemocytes of caged freshwater crayfish Astacus leptodactylus by the means of Comet assay and micronucleus test, integrated with the measurements of physiological (total protein concentration) and immunological (total haemocyte count) haemolymph parameters as biomarkers of undergone stress. Crayfish were collected at the reference site (River Mre?nica) and exposed in cages for 1 week at three polluted sites along the Sava River (Zagreb, Sisak, Krapje). The long term pollution status of these locations was confirmed by chemical analyses of sediments. Statistically significant increase in DNA damage measured by the Comet assay was observed at all three polluted sites comparing to the crayfish from reference site. In addition, native crayfish from the mildly polluted site (Krapje) cage-exposed on another polluted site (Zagreb) showed lower DNA damage than crayfish from the reference site exposed at the same location indicating adaptation and acclimatisation of crayfish to lower levels of pollution. Micronuclei induction showed similar gradient of DNA damage as Comet assay, but did not reach the statistical significance. Observed increase in total haemocyte count and total protein content in crayfish from polluted environments in the Sava River also confirmed stress caused by exposure to pollution. The results of this study have proved the applicability of caging exposure of freshwater crayfish A. leptodactylus in environmental genotoxicity monitoring using Comet assay and micronucleus test.     

Duplication of 9 p11.2-p13.1: a benign cytogenetic variant

The detection of very rare variants in prenatal diagnosis often causes counseling difficulties and anxiety in parents. We describe a duplication of the proximal region of chromosome 9 short arm in two cases of prenatal diagnosis and in one young woman, with evidence that such rearrangement is an uncommon variant. The duplication was investigated using Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Although the cytogenetic findings were indicative of a ‘duplication 9p syndrome’ associated with mental and developmental retardation, we were able to demonstrate that the rearrangement was a heteromorphism with no phenotypic consequence. We also determined the breakpoint regions of the rearrangement and identified the BAC probes that precisely define the duplicated region devoid of risk of phenotypic effects. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aporrectodea caliginosa, a suitable earthworm species for field based genotoxicity assessment?

There is a growing interest for the application of biomakers to field-collected earthworms. Therefore we have evaluated the usability of native populations of endogeic, widely distributed earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa in the assessment of soil genotoxicity using the Comet assay. Validation of the Comet assay on earthworm coelomocytes has been established using commercially available Eisenia fetida exposed to copper, cadmium, and pentachlorophenol, along with A. caliginosa exposed to copper in a filter paper contact test. Neutral red retention time (NRRT) assay was conducted on copper exposed and field-collected earthworms. Significant DNA and lysosomal damage was measured using Comet and NRRT assays in native populations of A. caliginosa sampled from the polluted soils in the urban area in comparison to the earthworms from the reference site. The results of this study confirm the employment of A. caliginosa as a suitable species for the in situ soil toxicity and genotoxicity field surveys.