Perspectives on the Use of Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Management in Cleveland and Milwaukee

Green infrastructure is a general term referring to the management of landscapes in ways that generate human and ecosystem benefits. Many municipalities have begun to utilize green infrastructure in efforts to meet stormwater management goals. This study examines challenges to integrating gray and green infrastructure for stormwater management, informed by interviews with practitioners in Cleveland, OH and Milwaukee WI. Green infrastructure in these cities is utilized under conditions of extreme fiscal austerity and its use presents opportunities to connect stormwater management with urban revitalization and economic recovery while planning for the effects of negative- or zero-population growth. In this context, specific challenges in capturing the multiple benefits of green infrastructure exist because the projects required to meet federally mandated stormwater management targets and the needs of urban redevelopment frequently differ in scale and location.     

Pathophysiology,diagnosis and management of prenatal upper tract dilatation

Upper tract dilatation presenting as renal pelvis dilatation with or without ureteric dilatation is one of the more common abnormalities detected on prenatal ultrasound scanning. The majority of cases are due to pelvi-ureteric and vesico-ureteric junction anomalies, and vesico-ureteric reflux. Prenatal diagnosis with ultrasound may be aided by biochemical analysis of fetal blood and urine. The natural history of prenatally detected abnormalities remains under review. Precise diagnosis, and therefore prognosis, may not be made until after birth. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Walking to school: Community design and child and parent barriers

The roles of community design and parent and child perceptions of walkability to school are tested for associations with walking in three communities: a walkable new urbanist community, a mixed community (standard suburban community where the walk to school traversed part of the new urbanist community), and less walkable standard suburban community. Perceived environmental barriers to walking to school are measured and compared for fifth graders (n = 193) and their parents (n = 177). Results showed that children and parents often agreed on walking barriers, except an interaction showed that — in the less walkable community — parents perceived worse barriers than did their children. Perceptions of barriers increased from walkable, to mixed, to less walkable communities. Students walked more when they attended the school in the walkable community, they lived near school, parents and children perceived fewer barriers to walking, and children had lower BMI scores, net of demographic controls. Thus the walk to school is embedded within multiple types of supports, all of which should be addressed to encourage walking to school.     

Passive ammonia monitoring in the United States: comparing three different sampling devices

The need for ambient gaseous ammonia (NH(3)) measurements has increased in the last decade as reactive NH(3) concentrations and deposition fluxes show little change even with tightening standards on nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) emissions. Currently, there are several networks developing methods for adding NH(3) measurements in the U.S. Gaseous NH(3) measurements will provide scientists and policymakers data which can be used to estimate ecosystem inputs, validate air quality models including trends and regional variability, and evaluate changes to the environment based on additional emission reduction requirements and estimates of critical nitrogen load exceedances. The passive samplers described in this paper were deployed in duplicate or triplicate and collocated with annular denuders or continuous instruments to determine their accuracy. The samplers assessed included the Adapted Low-Cost Passive High Absorption (ALPHA), Radiello(?), and Ogawa passive samplers. The median relative percent differences (MRPD) between the reference method and passive samplers for the ALPHA, Radiello(?) and Ogawa were -2.4%, -37% and -44%, respectively. The precision between duplicate samplers for the ALPHA and Ogawa samplers, was 7% and 6%, respectively. Triplicate Radiello(?) precision was assessed using the coefficient of variation (CV). The CV for the Radiello(?) samplers was 10%. This article discusses the statistical results from these studies.     

Microplastic and Nanoplastic Pollution: Characterization,Transport, Fate,and Remediation Strategies

Plastics continues to have a critical and essential role in human society such as food packing,product packages and building materials.In the meantime,it has be...