Evaluating the impact of HIA on urban reconstruction decision-making. Who manages whose risks?

Practitioners and academic researchers increasingly look to evaluation of health impact assessment (HIA) to improve its practice, its efficiency and its legitimacy. Evaluation is also used to account to policy-makers, who express doubts that the benefits of HIA justify its costs. Until recently evaluation of HIA focused on instrument design and procedures but now the focus needs to shift to analysis of the interaction of HIA and decision-making. Multiple case studies have been applied to identify the conditions in which HIA produces the desired benefits. These studies used analytical concepts derived from the literature on evaluation, knowledge utilization, science of sociology and knowledge management.This paper describes a case study in which the strategic motives of the decision-makers affected the impact of an HIA. This HIA comprised of a quantitative environmental model ‘City & Environment’ that was used to assess environmental health impacts of an urban reconstruction plan in a Dutch city. The evaluation of the HIA shows that the decision to follow the recommendations of the HIA was part of a damage control strategy. The more HIA goals deviate from the policy problem and the less HIA is embedded in institutional procedures, then the more HIA impact will be subject to strategic decision-making behaviour. Appropriate cognitive and social strategies are needed to avoid ‘negative learning’ in those the HIA seeks to influence.     

Recruitment,growth, and diel vertical migration of Euphausia pacifica in a temperate fjord

The pelagic crustacean Euphausia pacifica Hansen was sampled with a multiple-sample 1.0 m² Tucker trawl and a multiple-sample 1.0 m² vertical net in Dabob Bay, Washington on 17 dates between May 1985 and October 1987. Size (stage) structure and abundance of the population were determined for each date, while vertical distribution and diel migration were determined for 13 dates. Although internannual variability in both timing and magnitude of events occurred, consistent patterns were discernable. The population produced a large pulse of larvae (2 to 5 mm) in late spring of each year, apparently in response to the vernal phytoplankton bloom. Much lower abundances of larvae occurred during summer and autumn of each year, and larvae were completely absent during winter. Recruitment to the juvenile (6 to 9 mm) and adult (10 mm) stages was strongest during the summer, with abundances of these individuals peaking in summer and autumn. Individual growth rates, determined by modal progression analysis, were calculated for E. pacifica. Rates ranged from zero for some adult cohorts during the winter to 0.12 mm d^-1 for larvae during spring. The latter are among the highest ever reported for this species in the field. The vertical distributions and diel vertical migrations (DVM) of E. pacifica varied seasonally and between size (stage) classes. At night, all size classes were distributed in the surface layer (upper 25 m) irrespective of season or year. During the day, the larger/older stages were always distributed at middepths (50 to 125 m). In contrast, the daytime distribution of the larvae was more variable, being concentrated at the surface during spring and early summer of 1985, and at increasing depths later in the summer and autumn of 1985 and again in spring of 1986. This resulted in invariant DVM in the juveniles and adults, but variable DVM in the larvae, the latter of which is hypothesized to be a response to variable abundances of zooplanktivorous fish.     

Calcium chloride and calcium bromide aqueous solutions of technical and analytical grade in Lemna bioassay

Saturated water solutions of calcium chloride, calcium bromide and their 1:1 mixture are commonly used as "high density brines" for pressure control in oil wells. To compare the effect of these chemicals of technical grade with the effect of the chemicals of analytical grade the Lemna test was used. The multiplication rate, fresh weight, dry to fresh weight ratio, area covered by plants and chlorophyll content were measured as toxicity parameters. The concentrations of tested chemicals were 0.025, 0.05. 0.075 and 0.1 mol dm(-3). Generally, the chemicals of both technical and analytical grade in concentrations of 0.025 mol dm(-3) stimulated the Lemna minor growth, while tested chemicals in concentrations of 0.05 mol dm(-3) did not affect the growth significantly. The exceptions were results obtained by measuring fresh weight. Most of tested chemicals in concentrations of 0.075 mol dm(-3) and all chemicals in concentrations of 0.1 mol dm(-3) reduced the growth. No major differences between effects of tested chemicals of technical and analytical grade on plant growth were observed, except that tested chemicals of analytical grade in concentrations of 0.1 mol dm(-3) increased dry to fresh weight ratio much stronger than chemicals of technical grade. All tested chemicals in all concentrations increased chlorophyll content. After treatment with chemicals of analytical grade much higher increase of chlorophyll a concentration in comparison to increase of chlorophyll b was noticed, while chemicals of technical grade caused more prominent increase of chlorophyll b.     

Air pollutant source characterization using the revised regional haze tracking metric and a photochemical grid model and implications for regional haze planning

The 2017 revisions to the Regional Haze Rule clarify that visibility progress at Class I national parks and wilderness areas should be tracked on days with the highest anthropogenic contributions to haze (impairment). We compare the natural and anthropogenic contributions to haze in the western United States in 2011 estimated using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended method and using model projections from the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) and the Particulate Source Apportionment Tool (PSAT). We do so because these two methods will be used by states to demonstrate visibility progress by 2028. If the two methods assume different natural and anthropogenic contributions, the projected benefits of reducing U.S. anthropogenic emissions will differ. The EPA method assumes that episodic elevated carbonaceous aerosols greater than an annual 95th percentile threshold are natural events. For western U.S. IMPROVE monitoring sites reviewed in this paper, CAMx-PSAT confirms these episodes are impacted by carbon from wildfire or prescribed fire events. The EPA method assumes that most of the ammonium sulfate is anthropogenic in origin. At most western sites CAMx-PSAT apportions more of the ammonium sulfate on the most impaired days to global boundary conditions and anthropogenic Canadian, Mexican, and offshore shipping emissions than to U.S. anthropogenic sources. For ammonium nitrate and coarse mass, CAMx-PSAT apportions greater contributions to U.S. anthropogenic sources than the EPA method assigns to total anthropogenic contributions. We conclude that for western IMPROVE sites, the EPA method is effective in selecting days that are likely to be impacted by anthropogenic emissions and that CAMx-PSAT is an effective approach to estimate U.S. source contributions. Improved inventories, particularly international and natural emissions, and further evaluation of global and regional model performance and PSAT attribution methods are recommended to increase confidence in modeled source characterization.

Implications: The western states intend to use the CAMx model to project visibility progress by 2028. Modeled visibility response to changes in U.S. anthropogenic emissions may be less than estimated using the EPA assumptions based on total U.S. and international anthropogenic contributions to visibility impairment. Additional model improvements are needed to better account for contributions to haze from natural and international emissions in current and future modeling years. These improvements will allow more direct comparison of model and EPA estimates of natural and anthropogenic contributions to haze and future visibility progress.     

Copper-ligand complex for the decolorization of synthetic dyes

The reaction system containing Cu(II), hydrogen peroxide and D-arabinono-1,4-lactone was found to be effective in the decolorization and reduction of toxicity of azo, thiazine-, triphenylmethane- and anthraquinone-based synthetic dyes. More than 85% decolorization was obtained with 100ppm Acridine Orange, Azure B, Chicago Sky Blue 6B, Crystal Violet, Evans Blue, Poly B-411, Reactive Blue 2, Reactive Blue 5, and Remazol Brilliant Blue R incubated for 24h in the presence of 10mM CuSO(4), 20mM D-arabinono-1,4-lactone and 80 mM H(2)O(2). The rate of decolorization was not affected by pH in the range of 3-9. The rapid decolorization was accompanied by a fast decomposition of H(2)O(2) in the reaction mixture and by a fast production of hydroxyl radicals.     

Holoprosencephaly: Prenatal diagnosis by sonography and magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed on two women at the 33rd and 34th pregnancy week, respectively, after ultrasonographic detection of a brain malformation. Fetal neuromuscular blockade was induced by pancuronium bromide injected into the umbilical vein under continuous ultrasound (US) guidance. MR images supported the echotomographic diagnosis of holoprosencephaly, improving the image quality and offering additional information in such cases of difficult differential fetal diagnosis. Holoprosencephaly was finally confirmed by neonatal US and autopsy (case 1), US, CT and MR (case 2).     

Mastrus ridibundus parasitoids eavesdrop on cocoon-spinning codling moth, Cydia pomonella, larvae

Cocoon-spinning larvae of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella L. (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae) employ a pheromone that attracts or arrests conspecifics seeking pupation sites. Such intraspecific communication signals are important cues for illicit receivers such as parasitoids to exploit. We tested the hypothesis that the prepupal C. pomonella parasitoid Mastrus ridibundus Gravenhorst (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) exploits the larval aggregation pheromone to locate host prepupae. In laboratory olfactometer experiments, female M. ridibundus were attracted to 3-day-old cocoons containing C. pomonella larvae or prepupae. Older cocoons containing C. pomonella pupae, or larvae and prepupae excised from cocoons, were not attractive. In gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) analyses of bioactive Porapak Q extract of cocoon-derived airborne semiochemicals, ten compounds elicited responses from female M. ridibundus antennae. Comparative GC-mass spectrometry of authentic standards and cocoon-volatiles determined that these compounds were 3-carene, myrcene, heptanal, octanal, nonanal, decanal, (E)-2-octenal, (E)-2-nonenal, sulcatone, and geranylacetone. A synthetic 11-component blend consisting of these ten EAD-active compounds plus EAD-inactive (+)-limonene (the most abundant cocoon-derived volatile) was as effective as Porapak Q cocoon extract in attracting both female M. ridibundus and C. pomonella larvae seeking pupation sites. Only three components could be deleted from the 11-component blend without diminishing its attractiveness to M. ridibundus, which underlines the complexity of information received and processed during foraging for hosts. Mastrus ridibundus obviously eavesdrop on the pheromonal communication signals of C. pomonella larvae that reliably indicate host presence.

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Climate change: linking adaptation and mitigation through agroforestry

Agriculture is the human enterprise that is most vulnerable to climate change. Tropical agriculture, particularly subsistence agriculture is particularly vulnerable, as smallholder farmers do not have adequate resources to adapt to climate change. While agroforestry may play a significant role in mitigating the atmospheric accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG), it also has a role to play in helping smallholder farmers adapt to climate change. In this paper, we examine data on the mitigation potential of agroforestry in the humid and sub-humid tropics. We then present the scientific evidence that leads to the expectation that agroforestry also has an important role in climate change adaptation, particularly for small holder farmers. We conclude with priority research questions that need to be answered concerning the role of agroforestry in both mitigation and adaptation to climate change.     

Age-related foetal sex ratio bias in Iberian red deer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cervus elaphus hispanicus</Emphasis>): are male calves too expensive for growing mothers?

Several theories predict offspring biases towards males or females with increasing reproductive resources of the mother to maximize reproductive returns by offspring, or as a result of prohibitive cost of the most expensive sex for young mothers or those in poor condition. This study examines foetus sex of 221 harvested hinds in a food-supplemented game estate for 10 years, according to hind age class (yearlings, subadults or adults), precise age, body mass and condition, and jaw length. A logistic model showed that hinds had a greater probability of bearing a male foetus with increasing age class, but not with any other variable. The greatest bias was found in yearling hinds. After controlling for age class and mass, jaw length was smaller in pregnant compared to non-pregnant yearlings and subadults, which suggests a trade-off between reproduction and growth. The bias towards females in yearlings increased as gestation proceeded, which suggests that the bias might be a result of selective abortion of male foetuses. Although results do not exclude an investment in males to increase number of grand-offspring, they suggest that young hinds may produce daughters as a trade-off between low energetic-cost offspring and their need to grow.Communicated by S. Krackow