The Integrated Pest Management Educator Pilot Project in Boston Public Housing: Results and Recommendations

Abstract

The German cockroach is the most common pest of urban, low-income housing in the United States and is associated with high pesticide use by residents. Cockroach allergen is implicated in asthma exacerbation and initiation and in the growing social and medical aspects of the disease. A safe and secure home environment is an environmental justice issue, and environmentally sound and effective models of cockroach control are needed in public and low-income multifamily housing. One model that offers potential is the integrated pest management (IPM) peer educator model (IPM Educator) in public housing as a component of IPM. A pre–post-analysis of an IPM Educator pilot programme in Boston public housing was undertaken. Thirty-four moderate- to high-infested units received baseline assessment and three applications of gel baits and IPM treatment by a pest control operator. Before the first pest control application, residents received written notice to prepare their units for treatment, a standard procedure. Before the second and third pest control treatments, an IPM Educator instructed residents in basic pest biology and habits, preparation for treatment, and the role of sanitation in pest control. Results showed a significant improvement in rate of preparation for pest control treatment after the IPM Educator intervention when compared with the preparation rate before the education intervention, and a significant reduction in cockroach populations by the third visit in units that were prepared and had improved sanitation, when compared with unprepared units and unclean units. The IPM peer educator is a promising, low-cost model of educating and engaging residents of urban, low-income, multifamily housing in environmentally sound pest control, thereby giving them some power and control over their living environment. It is also a potential source of professional training and jobs for public housing and other low-income housing residents.     

Long-term effects of lead poisoning on bone mineralization in vultures exposed to ammunition sources

Long-lived species are particularly susceptible to bioaccumulation of lead in bone tissues. In this paper we gain insights into the sublethal effects of lead contamination on Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus). Our approach was done on the comparison of two populations (Canary Islands and Iberian Peninsula) differing in exposures to the ingestion of lead ammunition. Blood lead levels were higher in the island population (Canary Islands range: 5.10-1780 μg L⁻¹n = 137; Iberian Peninsula range: 5.60-217.30 μg L⁻¹n = 32) showing clear seasonal trends, peaking during the hunting season. Moreover, males were more susceptible to lead accumulation than females. Bone lead concentration increased with age, reflecting a bioaccumulation effect. The bone composition was significatively altered by this contaminant: the mineralization degree decreased as lead concentration levels increased. These results demonstrate the existence of long-term effects of lead poisoning, which may be of importance in the declines of threatened populations of long-lived species exposed to this contaminant.     

Unexpected control of soil carbon turnover by soil carbon concentration

Soils are a key component of the terrestrial carbon cycle as they contain the majority of terrestrial carbon. Soil microorganisms mainly control the accumulation and loss of this carbon. However, traditional concepts of soil carbon stabilisation failed so far to account for environmental and energetic constraints of microorganisms. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that these biological limitations might have the overall control on soil carbon stability. In a long-term experiment, we incubated ¹³C-labelled compost with natural soils at various soil carbon concentrations. Unexpectedly, we found that soil carbon turnover decreased with lower carbon concentration. We developed a conceptual model that explained these observations. In this model, two types of particles were submitted to random walk movement in the soil profile: soil organic matter substrate and microbial decomposers. Soil carbon turnover depended only on the likelihood of a decomposer particle to meet a substrate particle; in consequence, carbon turnover decreased with lower carbon concentration, like observed in the experiment. This conceptual model was able to simulate realistic depth profiles of soil carbon and soil carbon age. Our results, which are simply based on the application of a two-step kinetic, unmystify the stability of soil carbon and suggest that observations like high carbon ages in subsoil, stability of carbon in fallows and priming of soil carbon might be simply explained by the probability to be decomposed.     

CASING AND LEAK DEPTHS,AND SOLUTE TRAVEL TIMES TO WELLS1

ABSTRACT: A mathematical solution based on porous media flow is developed for solute travel time to a well as affected by a leak around the upper part of the casing. Consider a well of radius 0.2 meters (m) penetrating, fully, a semiconfined aquifer of thickness 6 m with impermeable casing length of 4.5 m, and screened casing length 1.5 m. Around the upper 1.5 m of the impermeable casing length, there is a highly permeable region (a leak). The radius of influence of the well is 10 m. The porous flow medium has a hydraulic conductivity of 10 m/day and a porosity of 0.25. Between the water table and the water level in the well, there is a steady state pumped down head difference of 0.3 m. Solute travel time from a point at the bottom of the leak to the well is 2.33 days. If the leak is sealed (grouted), the travel time is 6.24 days. Examples of six different geometries are given. Laboratory studies verify the theory. The computations should be useful in the design and protection of water wells from solutes, such as from agriculture, industry, strip mines, or sanitary landfills.     

Smart Growth and Sustainable Development: challenges, solutions and policy directions

In this paper, we focus on the issues related to development densities that emerged from our study of sprawl and development issues in three regions of British Columbia, Canada. We chose to focus on this aspect of the Smart Growth agenda because, while many of its other elements enjoy wide support across social interests, the goal of achieving a higher density urban fabric is highly controversial. We proceeded by collecting data on development densities and 13 indicators of community sustainability in 26 municipalities. The results suggest that the density of communities is associated with efficiencies in infrastructure and with reduced automobile dependence, with the ecological and economic implications which flow from that. However, it does not necessarily correlate with greater affordability of housing or more access to green space. In fact, if anything, we discovered a negative relationship between housing affordability and green space per capita and higher land-use densities. In a second stage of the research, we conducted a qualitative analysis of a subset of six municipalities and identified key policy issues for moving ahead with the Smart Growth agenda. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy issues that emerged from these case studies.     

汉江富营养化动态模型研究

针对汉江富营养化问题，建立水体富营养化动态模型，其特点是不仅能够较好地模拟浮游植物的变化过程，而且能够提供发生水华的原因和生态机理的解释。最后汉江武汉段1998年发生的水华事件为实例进行模拟，结果表明模型合理可信。     

Technical aid for hydraulics research in developing nations

Many water-related problems are shared by most of the developing countries and the industrialized nations could be in position of offering aid in such problems. Water scarcity and access to safe water, water pollution, severe storms and floods, droughts, waterborne diseases and landslides and mud floods are the most commonly shared problems among developing nations. These problems were discussed in a workshop organized as part of the Fifth International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics in 2008. The discussion included identification of actors both in the developing and developed nations (vgr. local and national governments, NGOs, universities, foundations and private and public research institutions), aid modalities such as education, technology transfer, technology development and direct investment as well as restrictions and barriers in the form of political and legal issues, economic limitations, cultural differences and geographic distances. Recommendations about how developed nations could help developing countries are issued.     

LAND-USE AND WATER-QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE GEORGES CREEK BASIN,MARYLAND1

ABSTRACT: Models developed in Ohio to predict water quality conditions resulting from various land uses associated with the surface mining of coal are employed to ascertain their transferability to Maryland conditions. Discriminant analysis is employed to assess patterns of association between water quality and land use variables, and predictive models were then constructed with which to quantify changes in stream quality to be expected from the changing mosaic of upstream land uses in the Georges Greek basin of western Maryland. Data collected under procedures specified by the regulatory authority in Maryland may have accounted for the lack of statistically significant results from these models. Suggested changes in the collection of data are made for the coal region of Maryland.