The Nottingham Cycle-friendly Employers Project: Lessons for encouraging cycle commuting

The Nottingham Cycle Friendly Employers Project studied the effectiveness of measures to promote cycling to work by eight large city employers under the 1995 governmentfunded Cycle Challenge. Progress was monitored by ‘before’ and ‘after’ surveys, by examination of the measures, and by discussions with the employers. Overall cycling awareness and activity were increased by the project: 42% of employees said their cycle commuting had increased. The main influences, about equally, were providing workplace cycling facilities, a house or job move making cycling more attractive, and heightened awareness of the importance of regular exercise for health. The most welcomed and best used measures were secure cycle parking, showering and changing facilities, and cycle purchase loans.     

Informal privatisation of community taps: issues of access and equity

On the basis of a detailed case study this paper questions the equity of centralised piped drinking water supply systems installed by the government of Nepal in rural areas. The study shows how processes of socio-technical interaction and change alter the physical water supply infrastructure of the installed public water supply system, simultaneously altering patterns of access to taps and water. The analysis suggests that this happens through a process of “informal privatisation”, with community taps becoming appropriated by individuals over time, cutting off some families from their access to community tap water while reinforcing the water security of others. This process is deeply shaped by prevailing relations of power and cultural difference along axes of gender, caste and wealth.     

Is fetal gender a risk factor for severe congenital cytomegalovirus infection?

Cytomegalovirus is the main cause of congenital viral infection and amniotic fluid viral load appears to be the single nonclinical prognostic factor. However, as in other infectious diseases, host genetics may influence the severity of the disease. To test this hypothesis, we looked retrospectively at the fetal gender in cases of severe congenital cytomegalovirus infection in our database. We also analyzed the international English literature covering this subject between 1985 and 2003. The proportion of females with brain abnormalities was statistically different from that of males (62/258: 24% vs 30/251: 12%, p = 0.004). The risk of abnormal brain development in infected fetuses was twice as high in females than in males (Chi² = 8.7; OR = 2, IC [1.26–3.21]). In our cases, amniotic fluid CMV DNA load was not significantly higher in males than in females (p = 0.06) and was also similar in severely and non-severely infected fetuses (p = 0.09). Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When is female leadership an advantage? Coordination requirements,team cohesion,and team interaction norms

This study seeks to understand to what extent and in what contexts women leaders may be advantageous for teams. More specifically, this study examines how team leader gender relates to team cohesion, cooperative learning, and participative communication. Furthermore, the study argues that advantages derived from female leadership may be contingent on teams' coordination requirements. I propose that as teams' coordination requirements increase (i.e., with functional diversity, size, and geographic dispersion), teams with women leaders report more cohesion and more cooperative and participative interaction norms than those with men leaders. I aggregated survey responses from the members of 82 teams in 29 organizations at the team level. Findings from hierarchical linear modeling analyses suggest that female leadership is more positively associated with cohesion on larger and more functionally diverse teams and more positively associated with cooperative learning and participative communication on larger and geographically dispersed teams. These results call for more research on boundary conditions on the relationship between leader gender and team outcomes, on the role of relational leadership on complex and diverse teams and, ultimately, on the potential mediating role of cohesion and team interaction norms on the relationship between leader gender and team performance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

南丹矿业活动影响区人群头发中重金属含量特征

为探讨矿业活动对"有色金属之乡"南丹矿区周边常住居民健康的影响,采集矿业活动影响区车河镇、大厂镇、长老乡及对照区六寨镇中典型村庄居民发样200个,用原子荧光形态分析仪(AFS-9700)、石墨炉原子吸收分光光谱仪(AA 700)和电感耦合等离子发射光谱仪(Optima 7000)测试其重金属含量.结果表明,受影响区人群发样中As、Sb、Cd和Pb的平均含量分别为1.260、2.161、2.466和20.92μg·g-1,分别是对照区的4.0、20、2.1和1.9倍,且车河、大厂人群发样中Sb含量超出推荐正常范围;受影响区人群发样中Zn含量与居民年龄呈负相关(P0.05,n=151),Cd和Pb含量与居民年龄呈弱负相关(P0.1,n=151);通过独立样本t检验,受影响区男性居民发样中Cd含量显著高于女性(P0.05),而女性居民发样中Cu和Zn含量显著高于男性(P0.05).调查区域人群发样中As与Sb、Cd与Pb、As与Cd呈显著相关性(P0.01).可见,南丹矿业活动对周边常住人群人发重金属积累效应明显.     

孕期低剂量镉暴露对不同性别胎鼠肝脏发育的影响及其分子调控机制的研究

为探究镉对胎儿肝脏发育的毒性作用.拟选用15只性成熟的8周龄的雌性C57BL/6小鼠,与雄鼠交配见栓后,于妊娠第7.5 d(Embryonic 7.5,E7.5)时,随机分为3组(每组5只),分别通过饮用水暴露法饲喂0、20和40 mg·L^-1的氯化镉溶液,并于E14.5 d时收集各组小鼠的胎儿肝脏等组织.通过Ki67和TUNEL染色方法探究镉对不同性别胎鼠肝脏的增殖功能和凋亡功能的影响,并通过PCR芯片筛查和实时定量PCR方法检测镉处理组的雌性和雄性胎鼠肝脏中与细胞增殖和凋亡功能相关基因的表达变化.此外,我们还将通过石墨炉火焰原子吸收技术对镉处理组的雌性和雄性胎鼠的镉含量进行检测.结果显示:孕期低剂量镉暴露对胎儿体重、胎肝重量和肝脏指数均无显著性影响.在本实验条件下,镉对胎鼠肝脏的凋亡功能无显著性影响,但对增殖功能具有抑制作用,且该抑制作用具有雌性依赖性的特征.镉特异性诱导雌性胎鼠肝脏中NF1等多个细胞增殖功能相关基因以及TGF-β1信号通路分子的表达失衡;但对雄性胎鼠肝脏中相关基因的表达水平无显著性影响.镉在雌性胎儿组织中的积累量显著高于雄性胎儿组织.综上所述,孕期低剂量镉暴露特异性抑制雌性胎儿肝脏的细胞增殖功能,并诱导雌性胎儿肝脏中NF1等多个增殖功能相关基因以及TGF-β1信号通路分子的表达失衡,该性别依赖性的抑制作用可能与镉在雌性胎儿中相对较高的积累量相关.     

Social, cultural and structural influences on household waste recycling: A case study

The household-recycling rate in the Borough of Burnley, England in 2001/2002 was only half the national average of 12%. This research employed both quantitative and qualitative surveys in order to ascertain whether householders’ attitudes to recycling were contributory factors to the generally poor recycling performance and to investigate other social, cultural and structural influences. The Borough has a large Asian–British population concentrated in two deprived wards where recycling rates are particularly low, so special attention was given to ascertaining their attitudes towards recycling.The quantitative survey comprised a postal questionnaire sent to a random sample of 360 households drawn from the electoral register. The qualitative survey consisted of group interviews with the Asian–British population at local community centres and focus groups attended by volunteers from the quantitative study.The findings suggest that householders are very willing to participate in recycling, as shown by the almost 80% claiming to recycle paper, but that local recycling services are too unreliable and inconvenient to allow them to do so comprehensively. Asian–British attitudes to recycling were found to be no different to those of the wider population, with their low participation being linked to the higher priorities imposed upon them by economic deprivation. The findings are broadly in line with those of the literature in that recycling participation tends to be higher among more affluent and older people, but lower among less affluent and younger households, probably due in part to the availability of both storage space and time, with the implication that the Borough's preponderance of terraced housing militates against a high recycling rate. Policy recommendations to local authorities include the provision of bespoke recycling services to suit the variety of residential conditions across the UK, and the provision of regular feedback to householders regarding recycling services and performance.Further research is needed to identify non-recyclers and to explore how householders’ underlying psychological, cultural and social attitudes to recycling impinge upon recycling and participation rates.