Planning for cooler cities: a plan quality evaluation for Urban Heat Island consideration

ABSTRACT

City strategic plans and enabling policies provide a framework for and inform future development across multiple scales. An exemplar city strategic plan will be one based on evidence, enabled by complementary policy outcomes, and built on the knowledge of the existing landscape. This study evaluated the plan quality of eighteen metropolitan strategic plans for city members in the 100 Resilient Cities initiative. A protocol was developed containing thirty-two indicators to assess plans capacity to act as a strategic planning tool to develop, analyse and implement strategies for the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The evaluation indicated that strategies addressing the UHI are rarely included in metropolitan plans. Strategic plans showed a lack of evidence-base to inform the potential actions. Urban warming is often linked to extreme weather events anticipated under climate change, not the UHI as a systemic and increasing phenomenon. We recommend that the pathway to addressing UHI mitigation and adaptation may lie in its nexus to aspects of climate change that concurrently can serve to support liveable and resilient cities.     

Phosphorus transfer in surface runoff from intensive pasture systems at various scales: a review

Phosphorus transfer in runoff from intensive pasture systems has been extensively researched at a range of scales. However, integration of data from the range of scales has been limited. This paper presents a conceptual model of P transfer that incorporates landscape effects and reviews the research relating to P transfer at a range of scales in light of this model. The contribution of inorganic P sources to P transfer is relatively well understood, but the contribution of organic P to P transfer is still relatively poorly defined. Phosphorus transfer has been studied at laboratory, profile, plot, field, and watershed scales. The majority of research investigating the processes of P transfer (as distinct from merely quantifying P transfer) has been undertaken at the plot scale. However, there is a growing need to integrate data gathered at a range of scales so that more effective strategies to reduce P transfer can be identified. This has been hindered by the lack of a clear conceptual framework to describe differences in the processes of P transfer at the various scales. The interaction of hydrological (transport) factors with P source factors, and their relationship to scale, require further examination. Runoff-generating areas are highly variable, both temporally and spatially. Improvement in the understanding and identification of these areas will contribute to increased effectiveness of strategies aimed at reducing P transfers in runoff. A thorough consideration of scale effects using the conceptual model of P transfer outlined in this paper will facilitate the development of improved strategies for reducing P losses in runoff.     

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content of membranes determines molecular activity of the sodium pump: implications for disease states and metabolism

The omega-3 polyunsaturate, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), plays a number of biologically important roles, particularly in the nervous system, where it is found in very high concentrations in cell membranes. In infants DHA is required for the growth and functional development of the brain, with a deficiency resulting in a variety of learning and cognitive disorders. During adulthood DHA maintains normal brain function and recent evidence suggests that reduced DHA intake in adults is linked with a number of neurological disorders including schizophrenia and depression. Here we report a high positive correlation between the molecular activity (ATP min^–1) of individual Na⁺K⁺ATPase units and the content of DHA in the surrounding membrane bilayer. This represents a fundamental relationship underlying metabolic activity, but may also represent a link between reduced levels of DHA and neurological dysfunction, as up to 60% of energy consumption in the brain is linked to the Na⁺K⁺ATPase enzyme.     

A GCMSD/ECD method for the simultaneous determination of toxaphene and toxaphene congeners

The methodology presented combines mass selective detection technology for routine automated total toxaphene determinations with electron capture detection confirmation of congener results. Total toxaphene values were calculated using a custom developed series of data analysis macroinstructions (macros) that eliminate potential interferences and collate peak areas. These macros create multi-level calibration tables with results automatically corrected for surrogate and performance standards. It is possible to produce congener data that provides results from both detectors in one report from a single injection.     

Bifocal/varifocal spectacles, lighting and missed-step accidents

Good lighting and the correct use of spectacles generally improve vision and presumably reduce the risk of accidents. However, bifocal and varifocal spectacles can increase the risk of misjudging distances when negotiating underfoot hazards. In some circumstances, the portion of the lens used for close work may inadvertently be used where accurate judgement of distance is necessary. This paper reports results from two studies of patient interviews using the Merseyside Accident Information Model; the first a study of accidents which occurred during paid employment (1504 cases) and the second of 1326 accidents mainly in domestic and leisure activities. Underfoot accidents were identified by the first unforeseen event perceived by the patient. The relationship between underfoot events and the type of spectacles worn by the patient at the time of accident was analysed. In both studies there was a significant association between accidents where the first event was ‘missed edge of’ (step) and wearing bifocal/varifocal spectacles. Corporal movements reported in both studies indicated that ‘stepping down’ when wearing bifocal/varifocal spectacles, increased the risk of ‘missed edge’ accidents. In the work environment corporal movements associated with manual handling of loads also increased the risk of ‘missed edge’ accidents when wearing bifocal/varifocal spectacles.     

Misdirections in Conservation Biology

Abstract: The hypothesis that conservation biology is proceeding along two separate trajectories ( Caughley 1994 ) has provoked extensive discussion. Caughley's dichotomy, a "small-population" paradigm versus a "declining-population" paradigm, has recently been exemplified in discussion of management strategies for conservation of the Javan gibbon (   Hylobates moloch ). Recommendations from extensive fieldwork focused on reducing the major known threat to the species—habitat destruction—and proposed a strategy of forest management and protection. A population and habitat viability analysis focused on an entirely different issue—low genetic diversity—and proposed a program of single-species genetic management. It is not surprising that geneticists see inbreeding as a major conservation problem, and it is not unusual that ecologists focus on how ecology relates to conservation. A problem results when managers assume that addressing only one or the other of these factors is the appropriate conservation action. Conservation biologists must learn to thoroughly analyze every conservation problem before trying to solve it. We must actively involve experts from all fields in forming and reviewing conservation strategies. If only captive breeding specialists or ecologists are invited to address a problem, then the techniques employed to solve it will be irrevocably biased. We do not all see the world in the same way, even within the relatively small field of conservation. To achieve effective conservation action, we must learn to balance and capitalize on our different perspectives.