Prevalence of Alcohol-Related Problems in an Elderly Population and Their Association With Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

Background: Studies investigating the association between alcohol use and cognitive disorders in the elderly population have produced divergent results. Moreover, the role of alcohol in cognitive dysfunction is not clear. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of alcohol-related problems in an elderly population from Brazil and to investigate their association with cognitive and functional impairment (CFI) and dementia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was performed. A sample of 1,145 elderly people was examined in 2 phases. Several instruments were utilized in the first phase: the CAGE questionnaire was used to identify potential cases of alcohol-related problems, and a screening test for dementia was used to estimate CFI. The CAMDEX interview (Cambridge Examination) and DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition) criteria were used for the clinical diagnosis of dementia in the second phase. Results: ""Heavy alcohol use"" (CAGE >= 2) was found in 92 subjects (prevalence: 8.2%). It was associated with gender (males, p < 0.001), low education (only in females, p = 0.002), and low socioeconomic level (p = 0.001, in females; p = 0.002, in males). The Mini Mental State Examination exhibited a nonlinear relationship with alcohol-related problems in females; ""mild-moderate alcohol use"" (CAGE < 2) presented the highest score. A significant association between alcohol-related problems and cognitive dysfunction was found only in females. ""Heavy alcohol use"" was associated with higher CFI and dementia rates compared to ""mild-moderate alcohol use"" (p = 0.003 and p < 0.001, respectively). ""Mild-moderate alcohol use"" had a tendency of association with lower CFI and dementia rates when compared to ""no alcohol use"" (p = 0.063 and 0.050, respectively). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that alcohol use does not have a linear relationship with cognitive decline.

Environmental policies in an international mixed duopoly

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of environmental and trade policies in an international mixed duopoly serving two markets. We suppose that the firm in the home country is a welfare-maximizing public firm, while the firm in the foreign country is its own profit-maximizing private firm. We find that the environmental tax can be a strategic instrument for the home government to distribute production from the foreign private firm to the home public firm. An additional effect of the home environmental tax is the reduction of the foreign private firm's output for local consumption, thereby expanding the foreign market for the home public firm.

Forest management in an urbanizing landscape

This paper aims at building a theoretical framework to examine the impact of development pressure on private owner’s forest management practices, namely, on regeneration and conversion cut dates. As the rent for developed land is rising over time, our model creates the possibility of switching from forestry to residential use at some point in the future, thus departing from the Faustmann’s traditional setup. Comparative statics results with respect to stumpage prices, regeneration costs and urban growth parameters are provided. The results obtained depend on the impact on the opportunity cost of holding the stand and the impact on the opportunity cost of holding the land, generalizing Faustmann’s unambiguous results.

Late Pliensbachian-Early Toarcian (Early Jurassic) environmental changes in an epicontinental basin of NW Europe (Causses area, central France): A micropaleontological and geochemical approach

We present an integrated work based on calcareous nannofossil and benthic foraminiferal assemblages, and geochemical analyses of two Upper Pliensbachian-Lower Toarcian sections located in the central-South France. The studied sections, Tournadous and Saint-Paul-des-Fonts, represent the proximal and the distal part, respectively, of the Jurassic Causses Basin, one of the small, partly enclosed basins belonging to the epicontinental shelf of the NW Tethys. At the transition from Late Pliensbachian to Early Toarcian, the Causses Basin recorded an emersion in response to the global sea-level fall. Our data indicate severe environmental conditions of marine waters, including salinity decrease and anoxia development, occurring in the Early Toarcian. The acme of this deterioration coincides with the Early Toarcian Anoxic Event (T-OAE) but, due to the restricted nature of the basin. anoxia persisted until the end of the Early Toarcian. mainly in the deeper parts of the basin. The micronutrients and organic organic-matter fluxes were probably high during the entire studied time interval, as shown by nannofossil and foraminiferal assemblages. However, nannoplankton production drastically decreased during the T-OAE, as demonstrated by very low nannofossil fluxes, and only taxa tolerant to low-saline surface waters could thrive. At the same time, benthic foraminifers temporarily disappeared in response to sea-bottom anoxia. Our study demonstrates that environmental changes related to the T-OAE are well-recorded even in small, partly enclosed basins of NW Europe, like the Causses Basin. Within this area, the effects of global changes. like sea sea-level and temperature fluctuations, are modulated by local conditions mainly controlled by the morphology of the basin. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Access to environmental information in an Open European Society - Directive 2003/4. Research Paper in Law 5/2003

[From the Introduction]. Information gives knowledge and knowledge gives power. Though in all EC Member States, the task to protect the environment is given to the administration, it is obvious that the administration is not the owner of the environment. The environment is everybody's. It is for this reason that administrative decisions which affect the environment must be transparent, open and must strike a balance between the general interest to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment on the one hand, the satisfying of specific private or public interests on the other hand. In order to allow at least a certain control of whether the administration strikes the right balance between the need to protect the environment and other legitimate or less legitimate needs, it appears normal and self-evident that information on the environment which is in the hands of public authorities, be also made available to the public and to citizens.

Analysis of Land Use Change as a Method of Predicting Water Demands in an Urbanizing Environment: Redland, Miami-Dade County, Florida

The fluctuation in water demand in the Redland community of Miami-Dade County was examined using land use data from 2001 and 2011 and water estimation techniques provided by local and state agencies. The data was converted to 30 m mosaicked raster grids that indicated land use change, and associated water demand measured in gallons per day per acre. The results indicate that, first, despite an increase in population, water demand decreased overall in Redland from 2001 to 2011. Second, conversion of agricultural lands to residential lands actually caused a decrease in water demand in most cases while acquisition of farmland by public agencies also caused a sharp decline. Third, conversion of row crops and groves to nurseries was substantial and resulted in a significant increase in water demand in all such areas converted. Finally, estimating water demand based on land use, rather than population, is a more accurate approach.

UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in an Urbanized World

Bosch Foundation, Germany

Randomized control trials in an imperfect world

Randomized control trials (RCTs) have become increasingly important as an evidence-based method to evaluate interventions such as government programs and policy initiatives. Frequently, however, RCTs are characterized by ``imperfect compliance'' in that not all the subjects who are randomly assigned to take a treatment choose to do so. This could result in a failure to identify the treatment effect, or the impact of the treatment on the the population. However, useful information on treatment effectiveness can still be recovered by estimating ``bounds'' or a range of values in which treatment effectiveness can lie.