The theory of neighbourhood decline due to pariah land uses: Regaining control of the downward cycle

Abstract

Some neighbourhood environments have become dumping grounds for locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) that middle-class Americans do not want near their homes. LULUs may combine with other pariah land uses to collectively undermine the quality of the local environment, reduce investment, government services, the proportion of middle-income people and associated businesses. As important neighbourhood attributes are lost, illegal activities, derelict structures, trash-strewn lots and the concentration of poor and unhealthy people may increase. This paper describes the theory behind the impact of pariah land uses through examples of the downward spiral experienced by Camden, New Jersey and the south Bronx, New York. It then documents the experience of one community, Elizabethport, New Jersey, in reversing that downward spiral. Success in Elizabethport came from the synergistic activities of local, state and federal governments, community groups, and not-for-profit organizations as they struggled to regain control through local environmental management, rebuilding, and reducing crime. Social capital was also strengthened by using a local community health concern—that of childhood asthma. Efforts to reverse the downward spiral of urban decay from pariah land uses should be multi-faceted, spurred by local efforts that address local concerns.     

Biamnial elevated alpha-fetoprotein and positive acetylcholinesterase in twins,one with anencephaly

Anencephaly in twin B was accompanied by elevated amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and a positive acetylcholinesterase (AChE) band on gel electrophoresis in both twin sacs, although twin A was normal. AChE results did not help distinguish the false positive AFP in this set of twins, implying that AChE may diffuse transamniotically as has been previously postulated for AFP. In light of the low concordance rate for neural tube defects in twins, patient counselling in this situation must include the information that AFP and AChE may be falsely elevated in normal twin when the other twin has a neural tube defect.     

Comparison of three enzyme immunoassays for measuring 17beta-estradiol in flushed dairy manure wastewater

Natural steroidal estrogens are an environmental concern because low nanogram per liter concentrations in water can adversely affect aquatic vertebrate species by disrupting the normal function of their endocrine systems. There is a critical need to accurately measure estrogens in dairy wastes, a potential source of estrogens such as 17beta-estradiol, to assess the risk of estrogen contamination of agricultural drainage waters resulting from land application. Commercially available enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kits have been used for measuring 17beta-estradiol in livestock manure, but it is not known if different EIAs provide similar results. We compared three EIAs by measuring 17beta-estradiol in two samples of flushed dairy manure wastewater (FDMW). The measured concentrations of 17beta-estradiol in FDMW differed according to the immunoassay used. The differences were attributed to a matrix interference associated with coextracted humic substances. Future research should develop methods that enable routine measurement of 17beta-estradiol in livestock wastes by more conclusive analytical techniques such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.     

Microbial responses to in situ chemical oxidation,six‐phase heating,and steam injection remediation technologies in groundwater

The evaluation of microbial responses to three in situ source removal remedial technologies—permanganate‐based in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO), six‐phase heating (SPH), and steam injection (SI)—was performed at Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida. The investigation stemmed from concerns that treatment processes could have a variety of effects on the indigenous biological activity, including reduced biodegradation rates and a long‐term disruption of community structure with respect to the stimulation of TCE (trichloroethylene) degraders. The investigation focused on the quantity of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and its distribution to determine the immediate effect of each remedial technology on microbial abundance and community structure, and to establish how rapidly the microbial communities recovered. Comprehensive spatial and temporal PLFA screening data suggested that the technology applications did not significantly alter the site's microbial community structure. The ISCO was the only technology found to stimulate microbial abundance; however, the biomass returned to predemonstration values shortly after treatment ended. In general, no significant change in the microbial community composition was observed in the SPH or SI treatment areas, and even small changes returned to near initial conditions after the demonstrations. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The development of a measure of safety climate: The role of safety perceptions and attitudes

In understanding the safety climate or culture of a workplace, the perceptions and attitudes of the workforce are important factors in assessing safety needs. Safety solutions may fail if they do not take into account these prevailing attitudes and perceptions. Also, changes in attitudes and perceptions about safety are often likely outcomes of safety interventions. The aim of this study was to develop a measure of perception and attitudes about safety as an indicator of safety culture for use with working populations. After reviewing the structure and content of a number of older, related measures of safety attitudes, a 67-item questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed in a self-administered form to 1560 workers in a wide variety of types of jobs and 660 questionnaires were returned from 7 workplaces with a response rate of 42%. Items were evaluated by Cronbach alpha which showed that the item set shared considerable common variance. Scale development was approached in two ways. First items which were highly skewed were removed, resulting in removal of around half of the items, with very little loss in alpha. The remaining items were then subjected to factor analysis which revealed five factors; personal motivation for safe behaviour, positive safety practice, risk justification, fatalism and optimism. This factor structure showed acceptable psychometric properties. Second, in an effort to produce a unidimensional scale with a small, but representative set of items, additional items were removed which had high correlation with other items. This resulted in loss of around half of the remaining items. The short scale contained 17 items with again overall acceptable psychometric properties. The most striking finding in the development of this questionnaire was that there was little variation between respondents on a very large proportion of the questions originally selected. Clearly there are well-known beliefs about safety in the working community which need to be understood in order to progress the concept of safety culture.     

Vegan diets for women,infants, and children

Infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant and lactating women have been described as groups with special needs. Regardless of diet chosen, these groups are at higher risk for nutritional deficiencies than adult males. Vegan diets can be safely used by these groups if foods, and in some instances supplements, are selected which provide a healthful and nutritionally adequate diet. Guidelines have been developed for those choosing to follow vegan diets. In many instances vegan diets offer health benefits. Studies of vegans are limited by factors such as heterogeneity of diets, the size and extent of this type of study, and difficulty in subject identification. There is a scarcity of studies of newer vegetarians who are often more mainstream than the vegetarians of the 1960s and 1970s. In some instances this has led to assumptions about today's vegans which are based on out-dated information. Thorough scientific studies of today's vegetarians, especially of those in groups with special needs, are needed.     

Megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome in two male siblings

Two male sibs with severe congenital megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome (MMIHS) are presented. Both had enlarged bladder and hydronephrosis due to reduced bladder emptying, decreased bowel motility, and malrotation of the colon. Repeated careful ultrasound examination of the urinary tract in the second sib failed to show significant bladder enlargement prior to 25 weeks' gestation, which has been considered to be a reliable prenatal diagnostic sign for MMIHS. Slight bilateral enlargement of the renal pelves was noted at 21 weeks' gestation, and this may represent the earliest prenatally-detectable observation in this disease. Although more females than males with this condition have been reported, our cases provide support for an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance with a similar recurrence risk for both sexes.     

Discordance between prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis and outcome of pregnancy

From 1.3.73 to 30.9.80 5580 women had an amniocentesis performed here or elsewhere; fetal chromosome analyses were carried out in this laboratory. We found 112 abnormal karyotypes (2 per cent) out of 5591 chromosome analyses. In 40 women (0.7 per cent) no cytogenetic diagnosis was obtained. Follow-up was successful in 99.5 per cent. Nine cases are reported in detail: Three cases had discrepancy between the karyotype in amniotic fluid and peripheral blood after delivery, two of these cases turned out to be 46,XX (male) while the third was prenatally determined as trisomy 21, but had a 46,XX karyotype at birth. Six cases had discrepancy between the karyotype in amniotic fluid and the phenotypic outcome at birth/abortion. One case was a prenatally undetected 45,X/46,XY mosaicism; one case was an unexplained 45,X male fetus; two cases were prenatally determined as trisomy 21, but at abortion a normal karyotype was determined and in two cases maternal cells were probably examined. The incidence of cytogeneric errors in this study was very low.     

Alternative Non-market Value-Elicitation Methods: Are the Underlying Preferences the Same?

We advocate a more formal structural approach for comparing WTP for non-market or pre-test-market goods conveyed by fundamentally different preference elicitation mechanisms. Seven independent samples of respondents were asked to value the identical good. Elicitation methods include one actual purchase and six widely used hypothetical choice formats. Using a common underlying indirect utility function (and stochastic structure) allows data for different elicitation methods to be used independently, compared pair-wise (as in much of the earlier literature) or pooled across all samples in one unified model with heteroscedasticity across elicitation methods. Our differences in estimated WTP for the individual models are typical of earlier findings. However, pooled-data models that allow for heteroscedasticity reveal that while there are substantial differences in the amount of noise in the different samples, a common underlying systematic component of the preference structure cannot be rejected for at least four (and possibly five) of these seven elicitation methods.