Innovation for sustainable urban tourism: some thoughts on best practice

This paper examines a series of strategic initiatives that have been undertaken by Tourism Queensland (TQ), a State Tourism Organization in Australia, to develop tourism and in particular to develop networks in tourism destinations. This paper firstly examines the nature of sustainable urban tourism (SUT) and discusses approaches to defining it. It suggests that developing SUT requires a generic approach to improving sustainable tourism operations amongst all suppliers in an urban area. Further, this approach suggests that best practice in marketing and policy development can be adopted to attract tourists to a SUT destination and examples of this approach are provided.

Sustainable Tourism and Eradication of Poverty (Step): impact assessment of a tourism development program in Brazil

This paper aims to evaluate the social impacts of the Tourism Development Program (Prodetur) in the northeastern town of Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil. The method used is based on the difference in difference technique applied to the 1991 and 2000 Census microdata. The results suggest social advances following from poverty relief based on income - where the benefits are distributed, generally, in a relatively equal manner between the native and migrant population. There is a relative deterioration in the sanitary situation, which consists of a very serious problem in the mid- and long-term, whose costs are mostly borne by the native population. Therefore, maintaining the natural capital is the main aspect that distances Porto Seguro’s tourism supply from the concept of sustainability. The article also relies on difference in difference estimators to assess the impacts of local public policies related to the sector.

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae): coexistence and susceptibility to temephos, in municipalities with occurrence of dengue and differentiated characteristics of urbanization

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to verify the coexistence between Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus populations in municipalities of the States of Paraná and Santa Catarina with different urbanization profiles where dengue occurs and evaluate their susceptibility to the organophosphate temephos. METHODS: The number of eggs per ovitrap were counted and incubated for hatching to identify the species. Data analysis of the populations was conducted to determine randomness and aggregation, using the variance-to-mean ratio (index of dispersion). Susceptibility to temephos was evaluated by estimation of the resistance ratios RR50 and RR95. Aedes aegypti samples were compared with the population Rockefeller and Aedes albopictus samples were compared with a population from the State of Santa Catarina and with the Rockefeller population. RESULTS: Coexistence between Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus and the aggregation of their eggs were observed at all the sites analyzed in the State of Paraná. CONCLUSIONS: All the Aedes aegypti populations from the State of Parana showed alteration in susceptibility status to the organophosphate temephos, revealing incipient resistance. Similarly, all the Aedes albopictus populations (States of Paraná and Santa Catarina) presented survival when exposed to the organophosphate temephos.

Temperature, urbanization and body color polymorphism in South Brazilian populations of Drosophila kikkawai (Diptera, Drosophilidae)

Body color polymorphism of urban populations of cosmopolite fly Drosophila kikkawai Burla, 1954 was investigated in relation to its possible association with environmental temperature. Samples of D. kikkawai were collected in spring, summer, autumn and winter between 1987 to 1988, in zones with different levels of urbanization in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. A clear association was observed between darker flies and both seasons with low temperatures and areas of low urbanization (where temperature is generally lower than in urbanized areas). Results of preliminary laboratory experiments involving six generations of flies grown in chambers at temperatures of 17º and 25ºC confirmed this tendency to a relationship between body color and temperature, with allele frequency of the main gene involved in body pigmentation changing over time.

Schistosomiasis in a low prevalence area: incomplete urbanization increasing risk of infection in Paracambi, RJ, Brazil

The risk of schistosomiais infection and heavy infection in the locality of Sabugo was evaluated in relation to housing in areas with different urbanization development and to residential supply with snail-infested water. Critical sanitary conditions were found in areas of incomplete urbanization, where healthy water supply sources were scarce, and draining of sewage, without previous treatment, was made directly to the water-bodies used for domestic and leisure activities, despite being Biomphalaria tenagophila snail breeding-places. Stool examinations (Kato-Katz and Lutz methods) showed prevalence of 2.9%, mean intensity of 79 eggs per gram of stool and 47% of positive cases presenting intense infection. The use of snail-contaminated water for domestic purposes was considered a risk factor for infection. It is concluded that incomplete urbanization would facilitate transmission, probably enhancing the intensity of infection and that a low prevalence could hide a highly focal transmission. The relevance of these facts upon the efficiency of epidemiologic study methods and disease control planning are then discussed.

Distribution of dengue vectors in neighborhoods with different urbanization types of Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil

Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus are vectors of dengue viruses, which cause endemic disease in the city of Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas, Brazil. More than 53 thousand cases have been registered in this city since the first epidemic in 1998. We evaluated the hypothesis that different ecological conditions result in different patterns of vector infestation in Manaus, by measuring the infestation level in four neighborhoods with different urbanization patterns, during the rainy (April), dry (August), and transitional (November) seasons. Ae. aegypti predominated throughout the study areas and sampling periods, representing 86% of all specimens collected in oviposition traps. High frequencies of houses positive for both species were observed in all studied sites, with Ae. aegypti present in more than 84% of the houses in all seasons. Ae. albopictus, on the other hand, showed more spatial and temporal variation in abundance. We found no association between infestation level and house traits. This study highlights the homogeneity of dengue vector distribution in Manaus.

Are sustainable companies less risky and more profitable?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were significant differences in accounting indicators when comparing sustainable enterprises to other similar companies that are not considered as sustainable. The Corporate Sustainability Index of BM (São Paulo Stock, Commodities and Futures Exchange) was the criterion selected to break down the samples into sustainable and non-sustainable enterprises. The accounting indicators were separated into two kinds: risk (dividend payout, percentage growth of assets, financial leverage, current liquidity, asset size, variability of earnings, and accounting beta) and return (ROA, ROE, asset turnover, and net margin). We individually analyzed the companies in the energy sector, followed by those in the banking sector, as well as the entire ISE portfolio as of 2008/2009, including all the sectors. Mann-Whitney tests were performed in order to verify the difference of the means between the groups (ISE and non-ISE). The results, considering the method chosen and the time span covered by the study, indicate that there are no differences between sustainable companies and the others, when they are assessed by the accounting indicators used here.

Review of semiochemicals that mediate the oviposition of mosquitoes: a possible sustainable tool for the control and monitoring of Culicidae

The choice for suitable places for female mosquitoes to lay eggs is a key-factor for the survival of immature stages (eggs and larvae). This knowledge stands out in importance concerning the control of disease vectors. The selection of a place for oviposition requires a set of chemical, visual, olfactory and tactile cues that interact with the female before laying eggs, helping the localization of adequate sites for oviposition. The present paper presents a bibliographic revision on the main aspects of semiochemicals in regard to mosquitoes' oviposition, aiding the comprehension of their mechanisms and estimation of their potential as a tool for the monitoring and control of the Culicidae.

Sustainable drugs and global health care

Each day, Earth's finite resources are being depleted for energy, for material goods, for transportation, for housing, and for drugs. As we evolve scientifically and technologically, and as the population of the world rapidly approaches 7 billion and beyond, among the many issues with which we are faced is the continued availability of drugs for future global health care. Medicinal agents are primarily derived from two sources, synthetic and natural, or in some cases, as semi-synthetic compounds, a mixture of the two. For the developed world, efforts have been initiated to make drug production "greener", with milder reagents, shorter reaction times, and more efficient processing, thereby using less energy, and reactions which are more atom efficient, and generate fewer by-products. However, most of the world's population uses plants, in either crude or extract form, for their primary health care. There is relatively little discussion as yet, about the long term effects of the current, non-sustainable harvesting methods for medicinal plants from the wild, which are depleting these critical resources without concurrent initiatives to commercialize their cultivation. To meet future public health care needs, a paradigm shift is required in order to adopt new approaches using contemporary technology which will result in drugs being regarded as a sustainable commodity, irrespective of their source. In this presentation, several approaches to enhancing and sustaining the availability of drugs, both synthetic and natural, will be discussed, including the use of vegetables as chemical reagents, and the deployment of integrated strategies involving information systems, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and detection techniques for the development of medicinal plants with enhanced levels of bioactive agents.

ASSESSMENT OF A 5-YEAR-OLD REHABILITATED RIPARIAN FOREST: IS IT ALREADY SUSTAINABLE?

ABSTRACTAs important as the establishment of projects of ecological restoration is its assessment post-implementation to know whether the area is becoming self-sustainable or need to be redirected. In this way, this study aimed to know the current situation of a 5-year-old rehabilitated riparian forest,inserted in an anthropogenic impacted region,at the das Velhas River, Minas Gerais State, studying the canopy openness and recruitment of seedlings as plant indicators. 15 plots were allocated in the forest, where hemispherical photographs were taken to analyze the canopy openness and evaluate all seedlings from 0.30 m to 1.30 m height.Canopy openness ranged from 23.7% to 38.8% between seasons and only 192 seedlings were found,from 13 species, five of them exotic and aggressive. Although canopy openness was low, it seems that lateral penetration of light has been favoring the development and dominancy of plants from invasive species, whereas few native ones have been recruited. The exotic/invasive plants may compromise the success of restoration mainly by competition with native planted species. The outcomes evidenced an unsustainability of the riparian forest and the requirement of some management actions to control exotic and invasive plants and ensure the preservation of the area and its ecological roles over time.

Influence of urbanization on land surface temperature in Recife city

Urbanization has caused significant environmental impacts, replacing natural surfaces by buildings, decreasing green vegetated areas, soil sealing and atmospheric pollution which contribute to increase the land surface temperature in such areas. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the influence of urbanization on land surface temperature (Ts) in Recife city - Pernambuco (PE), in Brazil, using the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor images from Landsat 5 satellite. To perform the study, images of August 4, 1998 and September 6, 2010 were obtained and processed to generate Ts thematic maps of Recife-PE and of two districts of this city (Curado and Casa Amarela), in order to analyze the transformation dynamics that has occurred in the area. Through the profile produced for the study area, a spatial and temporal increase of the Ts surface was noticeable in the suburb-downtown direction: 6°C of difference between these areas. The Casa Amarela district, with high urban concentration, presented the highest Ts values observed (>27°C).