Ideology, centralisation and urban planning in Britain and Sweden

This paper outlines the main elements of the Thatcherist ideology focusing on the process of centralisation. The implications of this process for British local government and planning are explored. Attention then turns to Sweden with a discussion of the consensus culture and decentralisation policy. Again the implications for planning are pursued with an emphasis on the 'negotiation' style of planning which has emerged in recent years. The concluding section compares the two experiences and notes many similarities notwithstanding the different ideological contexts.

Colorectal cancer and the relationship between genes and the environment

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries, with both genetic and environmental factors contributing to the etiology and progression of the disease. Several risk factors have been identified, including positive family history, red meat intake, smoking, and alcohol intake. Protective factors include vegetables, calcium, hormone replacement therapy, folate, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and physical activity. The interaction between these environmental factors, in particular diet and genes, is an area of growing interest. Currently, oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and mismatch repair genes are believed to play an essential role in colorectal carcinogenesis. When considering the genetics of CRC, only 10% of cases are inherited and only 2-6% can be ascribed to the highly penetrant genes, such as APC, hMLH and hMSH2. Lower penetrance genes combined with a Western-style diet contribute to the majority of sporadic CRCs. The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of the epidemiologic studies that have been conducted and present the major findings. Here, we examine the molecular events in CRC, with particular focus on the interaction between genes and environment, and review the most current research in this area.

The role of temperament and family environment in the development of anxiety disorder: two-year follow-up

Objective Behavioural inhibition (BI) in early childhood is associated with increased risk for anxiety. The present research examines BI alongside family environment factors, specifically maternal negativity and overinvolvement, maternal anxiety and mother-child attachment, with a view to providing a broader understanding of the development of child anxiety. Method Participants were 202 children classified at age 4 as either behaviourally inhibited (N=102) or uninhibited (N=100). Family environment, BI and child anxiety were assessed at baseline and child anxiety and BI were assessed again two-years later when participants were aged 6 years. Results After controlling for baseline anxiety, inhibited participants were significantly more likely to meet criteria for a diagnosis of social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder at follow-up. Path analysis suggested that maternal anxiety significantly affected child anxiety over time, even after controlling for the effects of BI and baseline anxiety. No significant paths from parenting or attachment to child anxiety were found. Maternal overinvolvement was significantly associated with BI at follow-up. Conclusions At age 4, BI, maternal anxiety and child anxiety represent risk factors for anxiety at age 6. Furthermore, overinvolved parenting increases risk for BI at age 6, which may then lead to the development of anxiety in later childhood.

Cereal aphids and their natural enemies: responses to landscape composition and agri-environment schemes

There are potential conflicts between food security, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. Currently, there are still gaps in our understanding on the links between land use, biodiversity and ecosystem services; all have implications for sustainable agriculture. To improve food productivity in an ecologically friendly manner we should consider adapting current pest control techniques from being reliant on chemical means towards a more integrated approach. However, to do this, farmers and land owners require more information in order to make informed decisions. This brief review explores field level and landscape scale impacts on aphid control by their natural enemies. This will be done by exploring the effects of local field margin flower strips and two key landscape scale factors, winter wheat and lowland calcareous grasslands on aphids and their natural enemies. Research questions which need answering are discussed.

Palaeoenvironmental evidence for the impact of the crusades on the local and regional environment of medieval (13th–16th century) northern Latvia, eastern Baltic

This paper evaluates the impact of the crusades on the landscape and environment of northern Latvia between the 13th–16th centuries (medieval Livonia). The crusades replaced tribal societies in the eastern Baltic with a religious state (Ordenstaat) run by the military orders and their allies, accompanied by significant social, cultural and economic developments. These changes have previously received little consideration in palaeoenvironmental studies of past land use in the eastern Baltic region, but are fundamental to understanding the development and expansion of a European Christian identity. Sediment cores from Lake Trikāta, located adjacent to a medieval castle and settlement, were studied using pollen, macrofossils, loss-on-ignition and magnetic susceptibility. Our results show that despite continuous agricultural land use from 500 BC, the local landscape was still densely wooded until the start of the crusades in AD 1198 when a diversified pattern of pasture, meadow and arable land use was established. Colonisation followed the crusades, although in Livonia this occurred on a much smaller scale than in the rest of the Ordenstaat; Trikāta is atypical showing significant impact following the crusades with many other palaeoenvironmental studies only revealing more limited impact from the 14th century and later. Subsequent wars and changes in political control in the post-medieval period had little apparent effect on agricultural land use.