Detection of HTLV-IIa in blood donors in an urban area of the Amazon Region of Brazil (Belém, PA)

The human lymphotropic viruses type I (HTLV-I) and type II (HTLV-II) are members of a group of mammalian retroviruses with similar biological properties, and blood transfusion is an important route of transmission. HTLV-I is endemic in a number of different geographical areas and is associated with several clinical disorders. HTLV-II is endemic in several Indian groups of the Americas and intravenous drug abusers in North and South America, Europe and Southeast Asia. During the year of 1995, all blood donors tested positive to HTLV-I/II in the State Blood Bank (HEMOPA), were directed to a physician and to the Virus Laboratory at the Universidade Federal do Pará for counselling and laboratory diagnosis confirmation. Thirty-five sera were tested by an enzyme immune assay, and a Western blot that discriminates HTLV-I and HTLV-II infection. Two HTLV-II positive samples were submitted to PCR analysis of pX and env genomic region, and confirmed to be of subtype IIa. This is the first detection in Belém of the presence of HTLV-IIa infection among blood donors. This result emphasizes that HTLV-II is also present in urban areas of the Amazon region of Brazil and highlights the need to include screening tests that are capable to detect antibodies for both types of HTLV.

The impact of urban noise on primary schools: perceptive evaluation and objective assessment

This paper aims to assess the impact of environmental noise in the vicinity of primary schools and to analyze its influence in the workplace and in student performance through perceptions and objective evaluation. The subjective evaluation consisted of the application of questionnaires to students and teachers, and the objective assessment consisted of measuring in situ noise levels. The survey covered nine classes located in three primary schools. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for data processing and to draw conclusions. Additionally, the relationship of the difference between environmental and background noise levels of each classroom and students with difficulties in hearing the teacherâ s voice was examined. Noise levels in front of the school, the schoolyard, and the most noise-exposed classrooms (occupied and unoccupied) were measured. Indoor noise levels were much higher than World Health Organization (WHO) recommended values: LAeq,30min averaged 70.5 dB(A) in occupied classrooms, and 38.6 dB(A) in unoccupied ones. Measurements of indoor and outdoor noise suggest that noise from the outside (road, schoolyard) affects the background noise level in classrooms but in varying degrees. It was concluded that the façades most exposed to road traffic noise are subjected to values higher than 55.0 dB(A), and noise levels inside the classrooms are mainly due to the schoolyard, students, and the road traffic. The difference between background (LA95,30min) and the equivalent noise levels (LAeq,30min) in occupied classrooms was 19.2 dB(A), which shows that studentsâ activities are a significant source of classroom noise.

Prevalence of hypertension in the urban population of Catanduva, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of systemic hypertension and its control in the population of Catanduva, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: We carried out a randomized cross-sectional population-based study of the urban population of Catanduva with individuals above 18 years of age (688 individuals accounting for 0.9% of the referred population). We interviewed study participants to analyze the major qualitative and quantitative variables that could influence the hypertensive scenario and the risk for systemic hypertension. Blood pressure was measured through the indirect method according to the III Consenso Brasileiro de Hipertensão (III Brazilian Consensus on Hypertension), which established blood pressure levels > or = 140/90 mm Hg as hypertensive. RESULTS: The prevalence of systemic hypertension was higher in individuals with: (1) history of hypertension (p<0.0001); (2) diabetes mellitus (p=0.05); (3) body mass index (B. M. I) > or = 25 kg/m² (p<0.001); (4) low educational level (p<0.0001); (5) familial income ranging from 1 to 5 minimum wages (p<0.05); (6) unmarried status (divorced/separated and widow(er)s) (p<0.0001). Of the interviewed individuals, 27.6% (p=0.05) had blood pressure levels under control. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that the prevalence of systemic hypertension was 31.5%, and that 27.6% of the individuals interviewed had blood pressure levels under control at the time of the interview.

Random walk forecast of urban water in Iran under uncertainty

There are two significant reasons for the uncertainties of water demand. On one hand, an evolving technological world is plagued with accelerated change in lifestyles and consumption patterns; and on the other hand, intensifying climate change. Therefore, with an uncertain future, what enables policymakers to define the state of water resources, which are affected by withdrawals and demands? Through a case study based on thirteen years of observation data in the Zayandeh Rud River basin in Isfahan province located in Iran, this paper forecasts a wide range of urban water demand possibilities in order to create a portfolio of plans which could be utilized by different water managers. A comparison and contrast of two existing methods are discussed, demonstrating the Random Walk Methodology, which will be referred to as the â On uncertainty pathâ , because it takes the uncertainties into account and can be recommended to managers. This On Uncertainty Path is composed of both dynamic forecasting method and system simulation. The outcomes show the advantage of such methods particularly for places that climate change will aggravate their water scarcity, such as Iran.

Bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) of an urban park in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil

Some bat species are able to adapt to urban areas, where they find food and roosts. Despite the high number of parks in Brazilian cities, they did not yet raise the interest of most zoologists, except for some surveys of birds and butterflies. The objectives of the present study were: (i) to inventory the bat species of Quinta da Boa Vista (QBV), a large (25 ha) urban park centrally located in densely populated Rio de Janeiro, which is Brazil's second largest metropolis; (ii) to compare the species richness observed in roosts with the richness recorded through mist netting in flight routes and near fruiting fig trees; and (iii) to analyze recaptures of bats marked in this park and recaptured in other sites and vice-versa. Sampling totaled 104 sampling nights resulting in 3,256 captures (including 133 recaptures) between April 1989 and December 2004. We also sampled roosts and received some specimens from park visitors and city workers. We documented 21 bat species, predominantly large frugivores. The number of expected species for this park was 24.0 ± 4.6, and the total sampled represented 87.5% of the expected. The recapture of bats marked in surrounding forest fragments and in QBV shows the importance of urban parks for the maintenance of bat diversity. Inspection of roosts produced two species that had not been captured with other methods. Sampling near fruiting fig trees did not differ in terms of richness from sampling carried out far from these trees or during their non-fruiting periods.

Urban population density functions : the case of the Barcelona region

L'anàlisi de la densitat urbana és utilitzada per examinar la distribució espacial de la població dins de les àrees urbanes, i és força útil per planificar els serveis públics. En aquest article, s'estudien setze formes funcionals clàssiques de la relació existent entre la densitat i la distancia en la regió metropolitana de Barcelona i els seus onze subcentres.

Indicators and evaluation tools for the assessment of urban sustainability

This paper attempts to provide an explanation of why reductionistic approaches are not adequate to tackle the urban sustainability issue in a consistent way. Concepts such as urban environmental carrying capacity and ecological footprint are discussed. Multicriteria evaluation is proposed as a general multidimensional framework for the assessment of urban sustainability. This paper deals with the following main topics: 1) definition of the concept of urban sustainability 2) discussion of relevant sustainability indicators 3) multicriteria evaluation as a framework for the assessment of urban sustainability 4) an illustrative example.

Ecological sustainability and urban form

One controversial idea present in the debate on urban sustainability is that urban sprawl is an ecological stressing problem. We have tested this popular assumption by measuring the ecological footprint of commuting and housing of the 163 municipalities of the Barcelona Metropolitan Region and by relating the estimated values with residential density and accessibility, the fundamental determinant of residential density according to the Monocentric City Model.

Urban spatial structure and suburbanisation. The case of the Barcelona Metropolitan

The metropolitan spatial structure displays various patterns, sometimes monocentricity and sometimes multicentricity, which seems much more complicated than the exponential density function used in classic works such as Clark (1961), Muth (1969) or Mills (1973) among others, can effectively represent. It seems that a more flexible density function,such as cubic spline function (Anderson (1982), Zheng (1991), etc.) to describe the density-accessibility relationship is needed. Also, accessibility, the fundamental determinant of density variations, is only partly captured by the inclusion of distance to the city centre as an explanatory variable. Steen (1986) has proposed to correct that miss-especification by including an additional gradient for distance to the nearest transportation axis. In identifying the determinants of urban spatial structure in the context of inter-urban systems, some of the variables proposed by Muth (1969), Mills (1973) and Alperovich (1983) such as city age or population, make no sense in the case of a single urban system. All three criticism to the exponential density function and its determinants apply for the Barcelona Metropolitan Region, a polycentric conurbation structured on well defined transportation axes.

Knowledge, networks of cities and growth in regional urban systems

The objective of this paper is to measure the impact of different kinds of knowledge and external economies on urban growth in an intraregional context. The main hypothesis is that knowledge leads to growth, and that this knowledge is related to the existence of agglomeration and network externalities in cities. We develop a three-tage methodology: first, we measure the amount and growth of knowledge in cities using the OCDE (2003) classification and employment data; second, we identify the spatial structure of the area of analysis (networks of cities); third, we combine the Glaeser - Henderson - De Lucio models with spatial econometric specifications in order to contrast the existence of spatially static (agglomeration) and spatially dynamic (network) external economies in an urban growth model. Results suggest that higher growth rates are associated to higher levels of technology and knowledge. The growth of the different kinds of knowledge is related to local and spatial factors (agglomeration and network externalities) and each knowledge intensity shows a particular response to these factors. These results have implications for policy design, since we can forecast and intervene on local knowledge development paths.

The Olympic Games as a tool for urban renewal: the experience of Barcelona’92 Olympic Village

Paper discussing on the impact of the Games on the urban development of host cities, analysing in particular the Barcelona'92 Olympic Village. This article was published in the book entitled "Olympic Villages: a hundred years of urban planning and shared experiences" compiling the papers given at the 1997 International Symposium on International Chair in Olympism (IOC-UAB).

Historic evolution and urban planning typology of Olympic Village

Article providing a broad historical overview of the role and typology of Olympic villages along the history of the Modern Olympic Games. This article was published in the book entitled ‘Olympic Villages: a hundred years of urban planning and shared experiences’ compiling the papers given at the 1997 International Symposium on International Chair in Olympism (IOC-UAB).

Estudi de la diversitat de picoflagel·lats heterotròfics a la zona de Blanes mitjançant tècniques moleculars i de cultiu

S’ha estudiat la diversitat de picoflagel—·lats heterotròfics, d’aigües del nord-oest del mar Mediterrani, mitjançant DGGE , biblioteques de clons i enriquiments. S’ha trobat que la diversitat és alta (índex Shannon 2,227), com en d’altres estudis, però que disminueix en afegir matèria orgànica (extracte de llevat o d’arròs), amb índex de Shannon de fins a 0,731. Per una entrada d’aigua continental rica en nutrients, s’han desenvolupat millor les crisofícies en detriment d’altres organismes habituals al medi marí, com els MAST.

New York City: "gilt cage" or "promised land" ? : representations of urban space in Edith Wharton and Anzia Yezierska

This thesis explores the importance of literary New York City in the urban narratives of Edith Wharton and Anzia Yezierska. It specifically looks at the Empire City of the Progressive Period when the concept of the city was not only a new theme but also very much a typical American one which was as central to the American experience as had been the Western frontier. It could be argued, in fact, that the American city had become the new frontier where modern experiences like urbanization, industrialization, immigration, and also women's emancipation and suffrage, caused all kinds of sensations on the human scale from smoothly lived assimilation and acculturation to deeply felt alienation because of the constantly shifting urban landscape. The developing urban space made possible the emergence of new female literary protagonists like the working girl, the reformer, the prostitute, and the upper class lady dedicating her life to 'conspicuous consumption'. Industrialization opened up city space to female exploration: on the one hand, upper and middle class ladies ventured out of the home because of the many novel urban possibilities, and on the other, lower class and immigrant girls also left their domestic sphere to look for paid jobs outside the home. New York City at the time was not only considered the epicenter of the world at large, it was also a city of great extremes. Everything was constantly in flux: small brownstones made way for ever taller skyscrapers and huge waves of immigrants from Europe pushed native New Yorkers further uptown on the island, adding to the crowdedness and intensity of the urban experience. The city became a polarized urban space with Fifth Avenue representing one end of the spectrum and the Lower East Side the other. Questions of space and the urban home greatly mattered. It has been pointed out that the city setting functions as an ideal means for the display of human nature as well as social processes. Narrative representations of urban space, therefore, provide a similar canvas for a protagonist's journey and development. From widely diverging vantage points both Edith Wharton and Anzia Yezierska thus create a polarized city where domesticity is a primal concern. Looking at all of their New York narratives by close readings of exterior and interior city representations, this thesis shows how urban space greatly affects questions of identity, assimilation, and alienation in literary protagonists who cannot escape the influence of their respective urban settings. Edith Wharton's upper class "millionaire" heroines are framed and contained by the city interiors of "old" New York, making it impossible for them to truly participate in the urban landscape in order to develop outside of their 'Gilt Cages'. On the other side are Anzia Yezierska's struggling "immigrant" protagonists who, against all odds, never give up in their urban context of streets, rooftops, and stoops. Their New York City, while always challenging and perpetually changing, at least allows them perspectives of hope for a 'Promised Land' in the making. Central for both urban narrative approaches is the quest for a home as an architectural structure, a spiritual resting place, and a locus for identity forming. But just as the actual city embraces change, urban protagonists must embrace change also if they desire to find fulfillment and success. That this turns out to be much easier for Anzia Yezierska's driven immigrants rather than for Edith Wharton's well established native New Yorkers is a surprising conclusion to this urban theme.

L'ordenació dels espais de sòl no urbanitzable periurbà al Vallès Occidental: marc normatiu, planificació i experiències pràctiques

Els espais periurbans juguen un paper important en la configuració del territori i del medi ambient, ja que contenen valors i acullen funcions diverses (ecològiques i ambientals, socials i lúdiques, productives etc.). Si bé és cert que a la comarca del Vallès Occidental aquests espais són –també- producte de la relació amb un context geogràfic molt humanitzat, també ho és que actualment i en aquest context, es donen circumstàncies d’amenaça a l’equilibri que fou origen dels valors i funcions esmentats (tendències urbanitzadores i metropolització). Aquest escenari de complexitat demana una òptima ordenació del territori que garanteixi la preservació dels valors i funcions anomenats. El marc i les eines dels quals la societat s’ha dotat per a fer-ho les aporta el planejament del territori, la legislació sectorial etc. Tot i que aquest marc presenta oportunitats per a l'ordenació d’espais de sòl no urbanitzable periurbà, a la realitat pràctica s’observen pocs resultats d’aquesta favorable avinentesa. Aquesta és la paradoxa principal que planteja l’estudi de la temàtica escollida.