Ecological Footprint Inequality across countries: the role of environment intensity, income and interaction effects

Recently, White (2007) analysed the international inequalities in Ecological Footprints per capita (EF hereafter) based on a two-factor decomposition of an index from the Atkinson family (Atkinson (1970)). Specifically, this paper evaluated the separate role of environment intensity (EF/GDP) and average income as explanatory factors for these global inequalities. However, in addition to other comments on their appeal, this decomposition suffers from the serious limitation of the omission of the role exerted by probable factorial correlation (York et al. (2005)). This paper proposes, by way of an alternative, a decomposition of a conceptually similar index like Theil’s (Theil, 1967) which, in effect, permits clear decomposition in terms of the role of both factors plus an inter-factor correlation, in line with Duro and Padilla (2006). This decomposition might, in turn, be extended to group inequality components (Shorrocks, 1980), an analysis that cannot be conducted in the case of the Atkinson indices. The proposed methodology is implemented empirically with the aim of analysing the international inequalities in EF per capita for the 1980-2007 period and, amongst other results, we find that, indeed, the interactive component explains, to a significant extent, the apparent pattern of stability observed in overall international inequalities. Key words: ecological footprint; international environmental distribution; inequality decomposition

Innovative implementation by non-state actors in environment-related areas : towards a positive implementation gap ?

This contribution (presented in the first International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP) in Grenoble in June 2013) explores the phenomena of innovation in action ("innovative implementation"). To do so, we operationalize "innovative implementation" as a strategy by which (coalitions of) non-state actors seek to develop ad hoc solutions to address a given environmental issue, going beyond what is provided for in formal policy designs. Following an inductive research strategy, we elaborate a conceptual framework whose main advantage is to bring the actors and their coalition (in all their diversity) back in the analysis. More concretely, we state that perceiving implementation as broader 'social interaction processes' (De Boer & Bressers 2011) within which actors play strategic 'games' (Bardach 1977, Scharpf 1997) opens interesting lines of research to better account for their innovative and strategic behaviours. In a second step, we apply this framework to three strategies of innovative implementation in different contexts, and identify on this basis empirical regularities in the individual pathways related to the emergence and success (or failure) of these strategies.

The effect of the functional attributes of objects within the caged environment on interaction time in laboratory rats

Determining rat preferences for, and behaviour towards, environmental enrichment objects allows us to provide evidence-based information about how the caged environment may be enriched. In recent years there have been many studies investigating the preferences of laboratory rodents for a wide variety of environmental enrichment objects and materials. While these have provided important information regarding the animals' perception of the items, very few studies have attempted to systematically investigate the precise attributes that constitute a preferred object and the behaviour that these objects afford. We have designed a research program to systematically study rats' motivation to interact with enrichment objects. Here we present the results from two experiments which examined the time rats spent with objects that only differed in size. This showed that rats spent longer with large objects rather than small ones, even though objects were presented individually. We also investigated the rats' behaviour with the objects in an open field and found that rats spent longer climbing on top of the large object. This behaviour continued when the large objects were laid on their sides instead of placed upright in the arena, suggesting that the rats were not simply climbing on the objects to investigate the top of the arena and thus an escape route, but instead were genuinely motivated to climb. This suggests that rat welfare could be enhanced by the addition to their cages of objects that permit climbing. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial economics and ecosystems: the interaction between economics and the natural environment

This collection of original research and review articles and has been designed with the joint aims of inspiring future work and of reminding environmental economists and researchers from other disciplines that looking for similarities and common features in their studies is more important than magnifying their differences. It is also suitable for use as a postgraduate text. The volume reflects the endeavour of mainstream economic thought to include, amongst its chief concerns, the study of all complex interactions between economies and natural space. It also documents efforts made by economists and other scientists to study the complex phenomenon of individual and collective decision making when faced with problems linking economic activity with the environment. Presenting a pluralistic view of approaches and methodologies, rather than an exhaustive list of topics of interest to environmental scientists, the editors have brought together innovative contributions that can be read as self-contained pieces of work.

Role of alpha 7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor in Calcium Signaling Induced by Prion Protein Interaction with Stress-inducible Protein 1

The prion protein (PrP(C)) is a conserved glycosylphosphatidyl-inositol-anchored cell surface protein expressed by neurons and other cells. Stress-inducible protein 1 (STI1) binds PrP(C) extracellularly, and this activated signaling complex promotes neuronal differentiation and neuroprotection via the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and cAMP-dependent protein kinase 1 (PKA) pathways. However, the mechanism by which the PrPC-STI1 interaction transduces extracellular signals to the intracellular environment is unknown. We found that in hippocampal neurons, STI1-PrP(C) engagement induces an increase in intracellular Ca(2+) levels. This effect was not detected in PrP(C)-null neurons or wild-type neurons treated with an STI1 mutant unable to bind PrP(C). Using a best candidate approach to test for potential channels involved in Ca(2+) influx evoked by STI1-PrP(C), we found that alpha-bungarotoxin, a specific inhibitor for alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha 7nAChR), was able to block PrP(C)-STI1-mediated signaling, neuroprotection, and neuritogenesis. Importantly, when alpha 7nAChR was transfected into HEK 293 cells, it formed a functional complex with PrP(C) and allowed reconstitution of signaling by PrP(C)-STI1 interaction. These results indicate that STI1 can interact with the PrP(C).alpha 7nAChR complex to promote signaling and provide a novel potential target for modulation of the effects of prion protein in neurodegenerative diseases.

Interaction of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with ionic surfactants evaluated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy

EPR spectra of 5- and 16-doxyl stearic acid nitroxide probes (5-DSA and 16-DSA, respectively) bound to bovine serum albumin (BSA) revealed that in the presence of ionic surfactants, at least, two label populations coexist in equilibrium. The rotational correlation times (tau) indicated that component I displays a more restricted mobility state, associated to the spin labels bound to the protein; the less immobilized component 2 is due to label localization in the surfactant aggregates. For both probes, the increase of surfactant concentration leads to higher motional levels of component 1 followed by a simultaneous decrease of this fraction of nitroxides and its conversion into component 2. For 10 mM cethyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), the nitroxides are 100% bound to the protein, whereas at 10mM N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate (HPS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) the fractions of bound nitroxides are reduced to 18% and 86%, respectively. No significant polarity changes were observed in the whole surfactant concentration range for component 1. Moreover, at higher surfactant concentration, component 2 exhibited a similar polarity as in the pure surfactant micelles. For 16-DSA the surfactant effect is different: at 10mM of HPS and CTAC the fractions of bound nitroxides are 76% and 49%, respectively, while at 10 mM SDS they are present exclusively in a micellar environment, consistent with 100% of component 2. Overall, both SDS and HPS are able to effectively displace the nitroxide probes from the protein binding sites. while CTAC seems to affect the nitroxide binding to a significantly smaller extent. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Study of the interaction between cardiolipin bilayers and methylene blue in polymer-based Layer-by-Layer and Langmuir films applied as membrane mimetic systems

An increase of the reports involving mimetic systems has been observed. Briefly, these systems use biological phospholipids to exploit specific interactions between membrane-models and drugs. Here, the Layer-by-Layer (LbL) and Langmuir techniques were used to investigate the interaction between cardiolipin (CLP-negative phospholipid) and a cationic-like drug methylene blue (MB). Supported by a cationic polyelectrolyte (PAH), LbL films containing PAH/(CLP + MB) and PAH/(CLP + MB + AgNP) were grown up to 14 bilayers. The optical microscopy analysis revealed a decrease of the CLP vesicle sizes in the presence of MB as a possible consequence of the MB action onto the mechanical properties of the CLP membrane. From FTIR spectra, changes mainly related to peak position and band intensity and shape were observed in the spectra from PAH/CLP when in the presence of MB. The latter supports that the interactions between the phosphate and amine charged groups from CLP and PAH, respectively, established during the LbL film fabrication, besides the CLP hydrocarbon environment, are influenced by the presence of MB. Using the micro-Raman technique, a chemical mapping was build based on MB spectrum by resonance Raman scattering (RRS) and surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS). The later phenomenon was activated by Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) trapped within the LbL film allowing collecting spectra for a single bilayer of PAH/(CLP + MB + AgNP). A rough estimation showed a SERRS amplification of 10(3) in comparison to RRS spectra. As a complementary approach, Langmuir films of CLP in the presence of co-spread MB were investigated through surface pressure vs mean molecular area (pi-A) isotherms. The results showed that for concentrations of MB below 100 mol%, the drug is expelled to water subphase for high values of surface pressure (condensed phase). For concentration at 100% and higher, the MB keeps bound to CLP floating monolayer. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interaction of the nonionic surfactant C12E8 with high molar mass poly(ethylene oxide) studied by dynamic light scattering and fluorescence quenching methods

Dynamic light scattering has been used to investigate ternary aqueous solutions of n-dodecyl octaoxyethylene glycol monoetber (C12E8) with high molar mass poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The measurements were made at 20 °C, always below the cloud point temperature (Tc) of the mixed solutions. The relaxation time distributions are bimodal at higher PEO and surfactant concentrations, owing to the preacute of free surfactant micelles, which coexist with the slower component, representing the polymer coil/micellar cluster comptex. As the surfactant concentration is increased, the apparent hydrodynamic radius (RH) of the coil becomes progressively larger. It is suggested that the complex structure consists of clusters of micelles sited within the polymer coil, as previously concluded for the PEO-C12E8-water system. However. C12E8 interacts less strongly than C12E8 with PEO; at low concentrations of surfactant the complex does not contribute significantly to the total scattered intensity. The perturbation of the PEO coil radius with C12E8 is also smaller than that in the C12E8 system. The addition of PEO strongly decreases the clouding temperature of the system, as previously observed for C12E8/PEO mixtures in solution Addition of PEO up to 0.2% to C12E8 (10 wt %) solutions doss not alter the aggregation number (Nagg) of the micelles probably because the surfactant monomers are equally partitioned as bound and unbound micelles. The critical micelle concentration (cmc), obtained from the I1/I3 ratio (a measure of the dependence of the vibronic band intensities on the pyrene probe environment), does not change when PEO is added, suggesting that for neutral polymer/surfactant systems the trends in Nagg and the cmc do not unambiguously reflect the strength of interaction.

Interaction of a synthetic antimicrobial peptide with model membrane by fluorescence spectroscopy

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Interaction of chitosan and mucin in a biomembrane model environment

Chitosans have been widely exploited in biological applications, including drug delivery and tissue engineering, especially owing to their mucoadhesive properties, but the molecular-level mechanisms for the chitosan action are not known in detail. It is believed that chitosan could affect the mucus by interacting with the proteins mucins, in a process mediated by the cell membrane. In this study we used Langmuir monolayers of dimyristoylphosphatidic acid (DMPA) as simplified membrane models to investigate the interplay between the activity of mucins and chitosan. Surface pressure and surface potential measurements were performed with DMPA monolayers onto which chitosan and/or mucin was adsorbed. We found that the expanding effect from mucin was considerably reduced when chitosan was injected after mucin had been adsorbed on the DMPA monolayer. The results were consistent with the formation of complexes between mucin and chitosan, thus highlighting the importance of electrostatic interactions. Furthermore, chitosan could remove mucin that was co-deposited along with DMPA in Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films, which could be ascribed to molecular-level interactions between chitosan and mucin inferred from the FTIR spectra of the LB films. In conclusion, the results with Langmuir and LB films suggest that electrostatic interactions are crucial for the mucoadhesive mechanism, which is affected by the complexation between chitosan and mucin. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

STATISTICAL TEST FOR GENOTYPE AND ENVIRONMENT CONTRIBUTION IN THE GENOTYPES x ENVIRONMENTS INTERACTION MATRIX

The objective of the present work was to propose a method for testing the contribution of each level of the factors in a genotypes x environments (GxE) interaction using multi-environment trials analyses by means of an F test. The study evaluated a data set, with twenty genotypes and thirty-four environments, in a block design with four replications. The sum of squares within rows (genotypes) and columns (environments) of the GxE matrix was simulated, generating 10000 experiments to verify the empirical distribution. Results indicate a noncentral chi-square distribution for rows and columns of the GxE interaction matrix, which was also verified by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Q-Q plot. Application of the F test identified the genotypes and environments that contributed the most to the GxE interaction. In this way, geneticists can select good genotypes in their studies.

Spatial audition in a static virtual environment : the role of auditory-visual interaction

The integration of the auditory modality in virtual reality environments is known to promote the sensations of immersion and presence. However it is also known from psychophysics studies that auditory-visual interaction obey to complex rules and that multisensory conflicts may disrupt the adhesion of the participant to the presented virtual scene. It is thus important to measure the accuracy of the auditory spatial cues reproduced by the auditory display and their consistency with the spatial visual cues. This study evaluates auditory localization performances under various unimodal and auditory-visual bimodal conditions in a virtual reality (VR) setup using a stereoscopic display and binaural reproduction over headphones in static conditions. The auditory localization performances observed in the present study are in line with those reported in real conditions, suggesting that VR gives rise to consistent auditory and visual spatial cues. These results validate the use of VR for future psychophysics experiments with auditory and visual stimuli. They also emphasize the importance of a spatially accurate auditory and visual rendering for VR setups.

Towards an Active Design. An Approach on the Body Interaction with the Built Environment.

El impacto de la tecnología en el ambiente construido y en las actividades en él desarrolladas, es una de las causas de la progresiva sedentarización de la especie humana. Desde un enfoque que analiza la interacción del cuerpo con la arquitectura, a través de distintas referencias en escalas diversas, esta investigación intenta establecer la relación entre la evolución del ambiente pasivo y la sedentarización, proponiendo frente a un espacio mecanizado y digitalizado que disminuye la actividad física humana, la búsqueda de nuevos tipos de espacios arquitectónicos que promuevan el movimiento repercutiendo en el bienestar y la salud. Esta tesis estudia por tanto el impacto de la tecnología en el espacio, intentando aproximarse a estrategias que disminuyan el efecto pasivo y estimulen la actividad motora. Estas propuestas abarcan tanto la ciudad, como la edificación y el propio espacio doméstico afectando a los sistemas de circulación, a la configuración espacial y sobre todo a la incorporación de ”espacios activos”, en donde se contempla la posibilidad de un uso alternativo de la tecnología como un elemento positivo.

Assessing the accessibility impact of transport policy by a land-use and transport interaction model - The case of Madrid

Accessibility is an essential concept widely used to evaluate the impact of transport and land-use strategies in urban planning and policy making. Accessibility is typically evaluated by using separately a transport model or a land-use model. This paper embeds two accessibility indicators (i.e., potential and adaptive accessibility) in a land use and transport interaction (LUTI) model in order to assess transport policies implementation. The first aim is to define the adaptive accessibility, considering the competition factor at territorial level (e.g. workplaces and workers). The second aim is to identify the optimal implementation scenario of policy measures using potential and adaptive accessibility indicators. The analysis of the results in terms of social welfare and accessibility changes closes the paper. Two transport policy measures are applied in Madrid region: a cordon toll and increase bus frequency. They have been simulated through the MARS model (Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator, i.e. LUTI model). An optimisation procedure is performed by MARS for maximizing the value of the objective function in order to find the optimal policy implementation (first best). Both policy measures are evaluated in terms of accessibility. Results show that the introduction of the accessibility indicators (potential and adaptive) influence the optimal value of the toll price and bus frequency level, generating different results in terms of social welfare. Mapping the difference between potential and adaptive accessibility indicator shows that the main changes occur in areas where there is a strong competition among different land-use opportunities.

Reduced organic sulfur: Analysis and interaction with mercury in the aquatic environment

Reduced organic sulfur (ROS) compounds are environmentally ubiquitous and play an important role in sulfur cycling as well as in biogeochemical cycles of toxic metals, in particular mercury. Development of effective methods for analysis of ROS in environmental samples and investigations on the interactions of ROS with mercury are critical for understanding the role of ROS in mercury cycling, yet both of which are poorly studied. Covalent affinity chromatography-based methods were attempted for analysis of ROS in environmental water samples. A method was developed for analysis of environmental thiols, by preconcentration using affinity covalent chromatographic column or solid phase extraction, followed by releasing of thiols from the thiopropyl sepharose gel using TCEP and analysis using HPLC-UV or HPLC-FL. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of the method using HPLC-FL detection were 0.45 and 0.36 nM for Cys and GSH, respectively. Our results suggest that covalent affinity methods are efficient for thiol enrichment and interference elimination, demonstrating their promising applications in developing a sensitive, reliable, and useful technique for thiol analysis in environmental water samples. The dissolution of mercury sulfide (HgS) in the presence of ROS and dissolved organic matter (DOM) was investigated, by quantifying the effects of ROS on HgS dissolution and determining the speciation of the mercury released from ROS-induced HgS dissolution. It was observed that the presence of small ROS (e.g., Cys and GSH) and large molecule DOM, in particular at high concentrations, could significantly enhance the dissolution of HgS. The dissolved Hg during HgS dissolution determined using the conventional 0.22 μm cutoff method could include colloidal Hg (e.g., HgS colloids) and truly dissolved Hg (e.g., Hg-ROS complexes). A centrifugal filtration method (with 3 kDa MWCO) was employed to characterize the speciation and reactivity of the Hg released during ROS-enhanced HgS dissolution. The presence of small ROS could produce a considerable fraction (about 40% of total mercury in the solution) of truly dissolved mercury (< 3 kDa), probably due to the formation of Hg-Cys or Hg-GSH complexes. The truly dissolved Hg formed during GSH- or Cys-enhanced HgS dissolution was directly reducible (100% for GSH and 40% for Cys) by stannous chloride, demonstrating its potential role in Hg transformation and bioaccumulation.