Influence of Glutaraldehyde Crosslinking and Alkaline Post-treatment on the Properties of Chitosan-Based Films

Depending on the modifications proposed, chitosan films present different characteristics, for instance correlated to hydrophilicity, chemical and mechanical properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of glutaraldehyde crosslinking and an alkaline post-treatment with NaOH on the characteristics of chitosan based films. Films were obtained by casting and characterized by thickness, swelling degree, mechanical and thermal properties and chemical structure. The water vapor permeability (WVP) was also evaluated for food packaging application. It was observed that crosslinking and NaOH post-treatment have great influence on the chitosan films characteristics. Crosslinking reduced the swelling degree of films and increased its fragility, whereas NaOH treatment also reduces the swelling degree and changes mechanical properties, acting in the same way as a crosslinker. The WVP analyses showed that the basic treatment could substitute the glutaraldehyde crosslinking for film water stability, without greatly compromising the barrier properties of chitosan based films.     

Our battle with hexachlorobenzene: citizen perspectives on toxic waste in Botany

The perspectives of residents are brought together in this assembly of statements concerning the management of hexachlorobenzene waste in Botany, a southeastern suburb of Sydney. The paper indicates how residents have responded as participants in public participation exercises, and the contribution made by lay experts in the search for a negotiated solution to the problems of legacy wastes. Resident comments on the role of independent scientific experts, on legal liability, and on the State Government sponsored Commission of Inquiry, indicate the deficit of resources faced by the local community. The paper provides insights into the status of citizen knowledge in environmental controversies and the pitfalls of participatory processes.     

The perpetual state of emergency that sacrifices protected areas in a changing climate

A modern challenge for conservation biology is to assess the consequences of policies that adhere to assumptions of stationarity (e.g., historic norms) in an era of global environmental change. Such policies may result in unexpected and surprising levels of mitigation given future climate‐change trajectories, especially as agriculture looks to protected areas to buffer against production losses during periods of environmental extremes. We assessed the potential impact of climate‐change scenarios on the rates at which grasslands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are authorized for emergency harvesting (i.e., biomass removal) for agricultural use, which can occur when precipitation for the previous 4 months is below 40% of the normal or historical mean precipitation for that 4‐month period. We developed and analyzed scenarios under the condition that policy will continue to operate under assumptions of stationarity, thereby authorizing emergency biomass harvesting solely as a function of precipitation departure from historic norms. Model projections showed the historical likelihood of authorizing emergency biomass harvesting in any given year in the northern Great Plains was 33.28% based on long‐term weather records. Emergency biomass harvesting became the norm (>50% of years) in the scenario that reflected continued increases in emissions and a decrease in growing‐season precipitation, and areas in the Great Plains with higher historical mean annual rainfall were disproportionately affected and were subject to a greater increase in emergency biomass removal. Emergency biomass harvesting decreased only in the scenario with rapid reductions in emissions. Our scenario‐impact analysis indicated that biomass from lands enrolled in the CRP would be used primarily as a buffer for agriculture in an era of climatic change unless policy guidelines are adapted or climate‐change projections significantly depart from the current consensus.     

Residents' perception of local brownfields in rail corridor area in the City of Roanoke: the effect of people's preconception and health concerns factors

This article examines preferences of residents for nearby brownfield sites and the factors affecting preferences. 200 residents in neighborhoods along the railyard in the City of Roanoke, Virginia, participated in a survey of their preferences for different brownfield scenes. Results indicate that scenes with historical landmarks and maintained landscapes received the highest ratings, regardless of preconceptions and health concerns. These are viewed less critically and thus could mask possible harms. In contrast, scenes with scruffy vegetation and rundown buildings revealed mixed preferences. For these types, participant preferences for change versus preservation fluctuated. Lastly, scenes with industrial remnants were preferred the least. Participants tended to associate these types with toxic pollutants that may adversely affect health. This suggests that planners need to convince people that these sites can be reused if they are cleaned up. The results are used to develop more effective engagement strategies for increasing support for brownfield redevelopment projects.     

Political transition and emergent forest‐conservation issues in Myanmar

Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long‐running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon‐scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land‐tenure insecurity, large‐scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure‐ and energy‐project planning, and reforming land‐tenure and environmental‐protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.     

Direct and indirect effects of climate and fishing on changes in coastal ecosystem services: a historical perspective from the North Sea

Humanity depends on the marine environment for a range of vital ecosystem services, at global (e.g. climate regulation), regional (e.g. commercial fisheries) and local scales (e.g. coastal defence and recreation). At the same time, marine ecosystems have been exploited for centuries, and many systems today are under stress from multiple sources. Recent studies have shown how both climate change and fishing have caused long-term changes in the marine environment. However, there is still poor understanding of how these changes influence change in coastal ecosystem services. In this paper, an integrated modelling approach is used to assess how the final delivery of marine ecosystem services to coastal communities is influenced by the direct and indirect effects of changes in ecosystem processes brought about by climate and human impacts, using fisheries of the North Sea region as a case study. Partial least squares path analysis is used to explore the relationships between drivers of change, marine ecosystem processes and services (landings). A simple conceptual model with four variables—climate, fishing effort, ecosystem process and ecosystem services—is applied to the English North Sea using historic ecological, climatic and fisheries time series spanning 1924–2010 to identify the multiple pathways that might exist. As expected, direct and indirect links between fishing effort, ecosystem processes and service provision were significant. However, links between climate and ecosystem processes were weak. This paper highlights how path analysis can be used for analysing long-term temporal links between ecosystem processes and services following a simplified pathway.     

Mapping the public first‐aid training landscape: uptake,knowledge, confidence and willingness to deliver first aid in disasters/emergencies—a scoping review

The above article from Disasters, published online on 24 June 2019 in Wiley Online Library ( http://wileyonlinelibrary.com ) has been withdrawn by agreement among the authors, the Journal editors and John Wiley & Sons Inc. on behalf of ODI. The withdrawal has been agreed because this is a duplicate of an article that has been published in Disasters Volume 44 Issue 1.