Public Awareness and Concern with Air Pollution in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area

The public attitudes survey involving St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and Madison and St. Clair Counties, Illinois, was completed and published in the fall of 1964. A total of 1002 respondents gave needed information for the development of an acceptable abatement program. Substantial proportions from the study area expressed the view that they have had some negative reaction to the quality of the air. These respondents indicated that air pollution meant, primarily, odor and smoke with residents of some localities indicating other significant elements. The interviewed persons felt that factories and businesses were the prime causal agents in the existence of air pollution. Over 90 percent of all respondents felt that some governmental agency should do something about air pollution in the St. Louis area, with some bi-state metropolitan agency being the principal choice. The residents also expressed a willingness to pay minimal tax support for such a program. Indications as to the significance of air pollution in a general problems context, difference in attitudes between sub-sections of the study area, and more detailed analysis of the problem, its causes, and possible cures are contained in the study r     

Multiresidue analysis of organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides in duplicate-diet solid food by pressurized liquid extraction

An analytical method was developed for determining organophosphate pesticides (OPP) and pyrethroid pesticides (PYR) in duplicate-diet solid food. The method consisted of pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) with dichloromethane followed by cleanup with gel permeation and solid phase extraction columns and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Quantitative recoveries (73-117 %) of the target pesticides were obtained for spiked duplicate-diet food samples. The percent standard deviation (% RSD) of replicate food samples was within ± 20 %. Another method was developed for determining a common OPP metabolite, 3, 5, 6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) in duplicate-diet food. The method consisted of a PLE with methanol followed by liquid-liquid partitioning, derivatization, and GC/MS analysis. Recoveries of TCP ranged from 83 to 101 % for spiked duplicate-diet food samples. The % RSD of replicate food samples was within ± 15 %. The results confirmed that these methods are reliable and robust, and that they can be used in routine analysis. In addition, a storage stability study for a common OPP, chlorpyrifos (CPF), in solid food samples was performed. The fortified (15)N-(13)C-labeled CPF was stable over 16 mo storage at -20° C in the dark. The developed analytical methods were successfully applied to 278 duplicate-diet food samples from preschool children, demonstrating that these methods are robust and suitable for routine analysis in future exposure monitoring studies.     

An empirical investigation of construction and demolition waste generation rates in Shenzhen city, South China

The construction and demolition waste generation rates (C&D WGRs) is an important factor in decision-making and management of material waste in any construction site. The present study investigated WGRs by conducting on-site waste sorting and weighing in four ongoing construction projects in Shenzhen city of South China. The results revealed that WGRs ranged from 3.275 to 8.791 kg/m² and miscellaneous waste, timber for formwork and falsework, and concrete were the three largest components amongst the generated waste. Based on the WGRs derived from the research, the paper also discussed the main causes of waste in the construction industry and attempted to connect waste generation with specific construction practices. It was recommended that measures mainly including performing waste sorting at source, employing skilful workers, uploading and storing materials properly, promoting waste management capacity, replacing current timber formwork with metal formwork and launching an incentive reward program to encourage waste reduction could be potential solutions to reducing current WGRs in Shenzhen. Although these results were derived from a relatively small sample and so cannot justifiably be generalized, they do however add to the body of knowledge that is currently available for understanding the status of the art of C&D waste management in China.     

'It'll never happen to me': understanding public awareness of local flood risk

Following the severe flood events of 1998 and 2000, the United Kingdom's Environment Agency prioritised the need to increase public flood risk awareness. Drawing on data collected during research undertaken for the Environment Agency, this paper contributes to understanding of one aspect of flood awareness: people's recognition that their property is in an area that is potentially at risk of flooding. Quantitative analyses indicate that class is the most influential factor in predicting flood risk awareness, followed by flood experience and length of time in residence. There are also significant area differences. Our qualitative work explores how those defined as 'at risk' account for their lack of awareness or concern about their risk status. We conclude that the problem is often not simply a lack of awareness, but rather, assessments of local risk based on experience that underestimate the impact of rare or extreme events. We underline the importance of engaging with local perspectives on risk and making local people part of 'awareness-raising' processes.     

Coupled human and natural systems

Humans have continuously interacted with natural systems, resulting in the formation and development of coupled human and natural systems (CHANS). Recent studies reveal the complexity of organizational, spatial, and temporal couplings of CHANS. These couplings have evolved from direct to more indirect interactions, from adjacent to more distant linkages, from local to global scales, and from simple to complex patterns and processes. Untangling complexities, such as reciprocal effects and emergent properties, can lead to novel scientific discoveries and is essential to developing effective policies for ecological and socioeconomic sustainability. Opportunities for truly integrating various disciplines are emerging to address fundamental questions about CHANS and meet society's unprecedented challenges.     

Perinatal outcomes and genomic characteristics of fetal copy number variants: An individual record linkage study of 713 pregnancies

Objective

To determine the perinatal outcomes of fetuses diagnosed with a pathogenic copy number variant (CNV) or variant of uncertain significance (VUS); and to characterize these variants in terms of testing indication, genomic location, size, and inheritance.

Methods

Retrospective study of singleton pregnancies with a pathogenic CNV or VUS from a single laboratory during 2012–2018. Probabilistic record linkage between the prenatal diagnosis dataset and perinatal outcome data for births from 20 weeks gestation was performed. If no birth record was found, this implied a pregnancy loss <20 weeks.

Results

We included 6945 prenatal microarray results; a pathogenic CNV was detected in 230 (3.3%, 95% CI: 2.9%–3.8%) and a VUS in 483 (7.0%, 95% CI: 6.4%–7.6%). Of pregnancies with a pathogenic CNV, 20.0% (95% CI: 15.3%–25.6%) had a live birth, 3.0% (95% CI: 1.5%–6.2%) had a perinatal death (stillbirth or neonatal death), and 77% (95% CI: 71.1%–81.9%) had no birth record. Of those with a VUS, 64.4% (95% CI: 60.0%–68.5%) had a live birth, 1.8% (95% CI: 1.0%–3.5%) had a perinatal death, and no birth record was found for 33.7% (95% CI: 29.7%–38.1%). Most pathogenic CNVs (61.1%) were <7 Mb in size. The most common microdeletion syndromes were DiGeorge, Wolf-Hirschhorn, and Cri-du-chat syndromes.

Conclusion

This study provides an overview of perinatal outcomes and frequency of recurrent CNVs observed in the prenatal microarray era.     

A Global Evaluation of Coral Reef Management Performance: Are MPAs Producing Conservation and Socio-Economic Improvements?

There is a consensus that Marine Protected Area (MPA) performance needs regular evaluation against clear criteria, incorporating counterfactual comparisons of ecological and socio-economic performance. However, these evaluations are scarce at the global level. We compiled self-reports from managers and researchers of 78 coral reef-based MPAs world-wide, on the conservation and welfare improvements that their MPAs provide. We developed a suite of performance measures including fulfilment of design and management criteria, achievement of aims, the cessation of banned or destructive activities, change in threats, and measurable ecological and socio-economic changes in outcomes, which we evaluated with respect to the MPA’s age, geographical location and main aims. The sample was found to be broadly representative of MPAs generally, and suggests that many MPAs do not achieve certain fundamental aims including improvements in coral cover over time (in 25% of MPAs), and conflict reduction (in 25%). However, the large majority demonstrated improvements in terms of slowing coral loss, reducing destructive uses and increasing tourism and local employment, despite many being small, underfunded and facing multiple large scale threats beyond the control of managers. However spatial comparisons suggest that in some regions MPAs are simply mirroring outside changes, with demonstrates the importance of testing for additionality. MPA benefits do not appear to increase linearly over time. In combination with other management efforts and regulations, especially those relating to large scale threat reduction and targeted fisheries and conflict resolution instruments, MPAs are an important tool to achieve coral reef conservation globally. Given greater resources and changes which incorporate best available science, such as larger MPAs and no-take areas, networks and reduced user pressure, it is likely that performance could further be enhanced. Performance evaluation should test for the generation of additional ecological and socio-economic improvements over time and compared to unmanaged areas as part of an adaptive management regime.