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At least 577 records · Page 32Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Local stakeholders' perspectives on improving the urban environment to reduce child pedestrian injury: implementing effective public health interventions at the local level.

Local-level public health interventions require action from multiple agencies, organizations and individuals, yet little is known about how best to work with stakeholders to facilitate change. We sought local stakeholders' perspectives on how best to address impediments to implementing interventions designed to reduce child pedestrian injury by improving the pedestrian environment. We conducted 20 in-person, key informant interviews with people who would be the likely advocates for environmental change to improve the pedestrian environment in one US city, Baltimore, Maryland. We discuss the importance of reframing child pedestrian injury risk as a livability issue, increasing awareness about the potential impact of environmental changes to improve public safety, and the need for a formal efficient process to facilitate communication between local government and other stakeholders. These findings provide public health professionals and advocates with useful insight into how local stakeholders view the issue and their perspectives on how best to achieve change.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2003

Socioeconomics drive urban plant diversity.

Spatial variation in plant diversity has been attributed to heterogeneity in resource availability for many ecosystems. However, urbanization has resulted in entire landscapes that are now occupied by plant communities wholly created by humans, in which diversity may reflect social, economic, and cultural influences in addition to those recognized by traditional ecological theory. Here we use data from a probability-based survey to explore the variation in plant diversity across a large metropolitan area using spatial statistical analyses that incorporate biotic, abiotic, and human variables. Our prediction for the city was that land use, along with distance from urban center, would replace the dominantly geomorphic controls on spatial variation in plant diversity in the surrounding undeveloped Sonoran desert. However, in addition to elevation and current and former land use, family income and housing age best explained the observed variation in plant diversity across the city. We conclude that a functional relationship, which we term the "luxury effect," may link human resource abundance (wealth) and plant diversity in urban ecosystems. This connection may be influenced by education, institutional control, and culture, and merits further study.

Arizona↗
PubMed2003

Quality assessment of urban trees: a comparative study of physiological characterisation, airborne imaging and on site fluorescence monitoring by the OJIP-test.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the complementary utility of chlorophyll fast fluorescence OJIP transient (from 50 microns to 1s) measurements in the aerial study of rows of trees. We identify limitations in photochemical events induced by urban injuries on Platanus acerfolia L. using the JIP-test procedure. The Performance Index (PIABS) showed the largest dynamic range to characterise the vitality of trees. Individual trees were graded into three quality groups based on the individual PIABS value compared to the overall average for trees in the alley. These groups are: high performers, with PIABS 50% higher than the alley average; normal trees, with a deviation from the alley average between -50% and %; and poor performers, whose deviation from the alley average was -50% or less. Trees also were grouped into five vitality categories on the basis of a stereoscopic and morphologic observation of the symmetry of tree crowns, percentage of defoliation and reflectance property in the visible and infra-red range. Here, we report a remarkable correlation between the airborne remote sensing data and the on-site fluorescence measurements.

Belgium↗
PubMed1975

Reliability of forecasts of annoyance reactions. A study of exposure to noise and air pollution.

Studies of the effect of external environmental factors on the individual are often carried out in order to obtain a basis for forecasts. The aim of the case studies reported has been to check the reliability of predictions of annoyance from four different external sources of discomfort. The results confirm the assumption that forecasts based on empirical studies provide a reliable picture of what the occurrence and extent of the annoyance reactions will be.

Air Pollution↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of air pollution on prevalence of rhinitis in Istanbul.

The effects of air pollution on health are of concern worldwide. There are several pollutants of concern, among which are sulfur dioxide, total suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic chemicals. In several studies, researchers investigated the effects of those pollutants on lung and nasal functions, although in very few studies has nasal function been addressed. We evaluated the effects of air pollution on the prevalence of rhinitis in a metropolitan of Turkey, Istanbul. Until 1994, coal was used for both domestic heating and industrial processes in the city. Consequently, sulfur dioxide and total suspended particulate concentrations in the ambient air exceeded limits of air-quality standards. In recent years, especially during the early 1990s, hazardous air pollution levels were reached in Istanbul. In this study, we evaluated the incidence of rhinitis before and after installation of a natural-gas network in a polluted area of the city. In 1994, 62.5% of the individuals studied suffered from rhinitis, compared with 51% of the sample in 1996 (p < .05). Age, gender, smoking status, heating source, nor household crowding significantly affected this outcome. The findings strengthened the role of pollutant levels as risk factors for rhinitis.

Adolescent↗