Suchergebnisse

Il testo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore www.wkap.nl ; The increasing awareness and concern of people, researchers and decision makers for the maintenance and enhancement of goods and services provided by forest ecosystems significantly widened the scope of information needs for sustainable forest management on the task-specific, integrative and strategic level. Forest resource assessments have to provide reliable, harmonized, politically relevant, cost-efficient and intuitively visible information on the multiple functions of forests in the form of statistics, georeferenced data and thematic cartography. In this perspective, the need of reviewing and discussing improvements of forest inventory and monitoring approaches is acknowledged to cope with assessment and analysis tools required for the full understanding of forest ecosystems, from local to global scales. Only a limited amount of information can be provided by adding a set of new attributes to the list of attributes commonly used in assessing the productive function of forests and utilizing traditional survey designs. The diversity of information needs that have to be satisfied by current forest resource assessments require the adoption of new survey approaches and the extension of assessment frames from forests to landscapes. This is deemed distinctively true for the issues related to sustainable forest management and biodiversity monitoring. Within this framework, the major purpose of this volume of Kluwer`s "Forestry Science Series" is to give readers hands-on experiences about inventory and monitoring problems and potential by reviewing a selection of approaches, methods and tools for multi-resource forest surveys, with special reference to remote sensing, statistical sampling and spatial analyses. The book is intended for researchers and practitioners in the field of forest and environmental planning, environmental monitoring and environmental policies.

The aesthetic of development is the priority on political agendas, as opposed to development ethics. Development, as a concept and practice, leads us to a consensual theoretical and empirical debate. When we refer to developed countries, we categorise them as false homogeneity, but not less false is the appearance of homogeneity of the bad called underdevelopment. Subsumed into the category of individuals, the sum is derived from the statistical data: the category of subjects, as collective social subjects with skills but few opportunities. In this process of subsuming analytical categories, they are shown as opposing poles, on the same level, development and underdevelopment. We will address the following questions through this article: What is the development model in which we live and will this be a backward development model with a bumerang effect? ; La estética del desarrollo es la prioridad en las agendas políticas, frente a la ética del desarrollo. El desarrollo, como concepto y práctica, nos lleva a un debate teórico y empírico exento de consensos. Cuando nos referimos a países desarrollados categorizamos a los mismos en una falsa homogeneidad, pero no menos falsa es la apariencia de homogeneidad del, mal llamado, subdesarrollo. Subsumimos en la categoría de individuos, el sumatorio resulta del dato estadístico, la categoría de sujetos, en tanto sujetos sociales colectivos con capacidades pero escasas oportunidades. Y en este proceso de subsumir categorías analíticas se muestran como polos opuestos, en un mismo plano, desarrollo y subdesarrollo. Trataremos a través de este artículo de respondernos a las siguientes cuestiones: ¿Cuál es el modelo de desarrollo en el que vivimos?, ¿Será éste, un modelo de retro-desarrollo sometido a un efecto bumerang?

Challenges conservative & progressive perspectives on the implications of demographic changes brought on by Latin American & Asian immigration to the US, focusing on Mexican immigrants. Whiteness in the US is seen as a form of elitist cultural capital, & the notion of "raceclass" is offered as a lens through which to understand majority white objections to Mexican Americans. Hegemonic forms of whiteness in the US are delineated before addressing those raceclass factors that contribute to white evaluations of Mexican Americans: given & surnames, command of English, phenotype, height, religion, social class, & ethnic & racial identity. Next, six terms of Mexican-origin self-reference are examined to shed light on the degree of social distance that Mexican Americans place between themselves & majority whites: the national terms of Mexicano, Mexican, Chicano, & Mexican American, & the pannational terms of Latino & Hispanic. It is then noted that the social distance between Mexican & African Americans remains large, with data from the 1990 Latino Political survey revealing Mexican Americans show the most warmth toward whites & the least toward blacks. The wide Mexican-black social distance may be attributable to the former's immigrant status, ie, per Lucie Cheng & Yen Le Espiritu's (1989) immigrant hypothesis. Nativity & educational attainment play a role in warmer Mexican American attitudes toward blacks. Because racial & ethnic categories are not fixed & stable, it is unlikely that neither conservative nor progressive views on immigrant-related demographic change will come to pass. Instead, suggesting that the Mexican-origin population cannot be viewed as a monolithic entity, a three-way split of whites, blacks, & browns is predicted with Mexican Americans identifying as white or brown, portending a number of alternatives for future race relations. 2 Tables, 3 Figures. J. Zendejas

This article examines principals' espoused values and their values in action. It provides a reanalysis of previously collected data through a values lens. The original research study was an international quantitative and qualitative investigation of principals' leadership approaches that was based in 75 schools. This particular excerpt of the research provides a qualitative lens into two European principals' espoused values versus values in action in a site-based management environment. The study demonstrates that principals' espoused values can be different from their values in action as perceived by themselves and others. This has implications for the practical application of modern school restructuring site-based management theory, and it shows the need for a value-based component to principals' leadership training. ; Cet article porte sur les valeurs que les directeurs d'écoles épousent en principe et les valeurs qu'ils manifestent par leurs gestes. En s appuyant sur une optique axée sur les valeurs, on y présente une nouvelle analyse de données déjà recueillies. Le projet de recherche original consistait en une étude quantitative et qualitative des styles de leadership des directeurs dans 15 écoles. Cet extrait de la recherche fournit un portrait qualitatif des valeurs que deux directeurs européens épousent en principe par rapport aux valeurs qu'ils manifestent par leurs gestes dans un contexte de gestion sur les lieux. L'étude révèle que les valeurs adoptées par les directeurs peuvent se distinguer des valeurs qu'ils manifestent par leurs gestes, telles qu'elles sont perçues par eux-mêmes et par les autres. Les implications de cette conclusion touchent l'application pratique de la théorie moderne de la gestion sur les lieux de la restructuration scolaire. De plus, les résultats démontrent le besoin d'ajouter une composante fondée sur les valeurs dans la formation au commandement des directeurs d'écoles.

Diversification into the production and export of horticultural crops is a strategy increasingly adopted by developing countries to enhance incomes, employment and foreign exchange earnings. However, a relatively small number of countries dominate exports of horticultural products from Sub-Saharan Africa and for most African countries the horticulture export sector has remained very small and/or has experienced severe bottlenecks to expansion. The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) is financing projects to assist Least Developed Countries in the diversification of their commodity exports. As part of this programme, the CFC is funding this pilot project in Ethiopia and the Sudan to assess the needs and feasibility of developing commercial production of high value tropical fruit and vegetable products based on these countries' comparative advantage. The purpose of this report is to identify and prioritise the various capacity building measures that need to be devised and developed to overcome these constraints and thus facilitate an expansion of fruit and vegetable exports. The aim is to advise the relevant international and national institutions on modalities to adopt in order to strengthen the existing horticultural strategy in Ethiopia and Sudan and thus reduce poverty while enhancing the livelihood benefits accruing. The report has five chapters. The first is an introduction, while aspects of horticultural production and trade in Ethiopia and Sudan are discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 respectively. Chapter 4 reviews the international market situation looking specifically at European Union and Middle East markets. Chapter 5 contains conclusions and recommendations of the study. In addition, there are 7 Annexes, covering methodology, contacts and itinerary, workshops in Sudan and Ethiopia, detailed production and trade data, and materials consulted.

Human activities today often cause landscape habitat fragmentation and blockage of wildlife movements across landscapes and ecosystems. North American and European Union initiatives such as the Transportation Equity Act and COST-341 program have heightened the importance of mitigating the negative effects of roads, such as animal-vehicle collisions and barrier effects. Wildlife crossing structures are being incorporated into some road construction and improvement projects in an attempt to reduce negative effects on wildlife populations. Transportation and resource agencies are becoming increasingly accountable and therefore concerned as to whether highway mitigation measures are functional and perform to expected standards. However, there are presently gaps in our knowledge regarding the effectiveness of wildlife crossings structure applications. One reason for the lack of available information is that relatively few mitigation projects implement rigid monitoring programs with sufficient experimental design. Thus, results obtained from most studies remain anecdotal or descriptive at best. With sufficient lead-time, experimental study designs can provide rigorous assessments of highway impacts and wildlife crossing structure performance pre- versus post-construction. Alternative methods of post-construction assessment can be used if time does not permit for data collection during the pre-construction period. We review past and current methods used to evaluate wildlife crossing structures and examine criteria to consider when evaluating wildlife passage effectiveness. We focus on methods to monitor mammals and summarize representative studies published international journals and conference proceedings. We examine pre- and post-mitigation study designs versus evaluations that base effectiveness solely on post-mitigation monitoring. We make suggestions for conducting quality scientific evaluations that will allow transportation agencies to address the question, "Do wildlife crossing structures work?"

Le document étudie les inefficacités dues au management et l'impact des décisions financières sur la performance des exploitations dans les pays en transition. La contribution de la gestion financière à la performance des exploitations agricoles est particulièrement intéressante à étudier, puisqu'il s'agit d'une nouvelle fonction pour tous les agriculteurs des pays d'Europe centrale. L'efficacité technique est tout d'abord estimée, par la méthode Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) en combinaison avec une procédure de bootstrapping afin de tenir compte de la variabilité statistique. Le bootstrap homogène et la procédure proposés par Simar et Wilson (1998 et 2000) sont appliqués. Puis l'impact des décisions financières est analysé par un modèle Tobit. L'endogénéité des variables financières est prise compte, tout d'abord en testant l'exogénéité avec le test de Smith et Blundell (1986), puis en utilisant l'estimateur proposé par Amemiya (1978) dans les cas où l'exogénéité ne peut pas être acceptée. Le cas des exploitations tchèques, individuelles et collectives, spécialisées en grandes cultures et en élevage, est donné comme exemple. Les résultats d'estimation par la DEA indiquent qu'en moyenne en République tchèque les exploitations collectives sont plus efficaces techniquement que les exploitations individuelles, mais la construction des intervalles de confiance avec le bootstrapping ne confirme pas entièrement ces conclusions. Les résultats de l'étude de l'impact des variables d'endettement sur l'efficacité technique montrent que l'application d'un estimateur efficace augmente l'écart-type en comparaison avec l'estimation par un modèle Tobit standard, mais ne révèlent pas de différences substantielles entre les exploitations individuelles d'un côté et collectives de l'autre. Les deux types d'exploitations semblent avoir à leur charge les coûts du principal (la banque) provenant de l'information imparfaite et du contrôle. Cela suggère de mettre l'accent en terme politique sur les facteurs qui peuvent réduire ...

Background: The association between herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the development of HSV vaccines have increased interest in the study of HSV epidemiology.Objectives: To estimate the age and sex specific seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections in selected populations in Brazil, Estonia, India, Morocco, and Sri Lanka.Methods: Serum samples were collected from various populations including children, antenatal clinic attenders, blood donors, hospital inpatients, and HIV sentinel surveillance groups. STD clinic attenders were enrolled in Sri Lanka, male military personnel in Morocco. Sera were tested using a common algorithm by type specific HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibody assay.Results: 13 986 samples were tested, 45.0% from adult females, 32.7% from adult males, and 22.3% from children. The prevalence of HSV-1 varied by site ranging from 78.5%-93.6% in adult males and from 75.5%-97.8% in adult females. In all countries HSV-1 seroprevalence increased significantly with age (p<0.001) in both men and women. The prevalence of HSV-2 infection varied between sites. Brazil had the highest age specific rates of infection for both men and women, followed by Sri Lanka for men and Estonia for women, the lowest rates being found in Estonia for men and India for women. In all countries, HSV-2 seroprevalence increased significantly with age (p<0.01) and adult females had higher rates of infection than adult males by age of infection.Conclusions: HSV-1 and HSV-2 seroprevalence was consistently higher in women than men, particularly for HSV-2. Population based data on HSV-1 and HSV-2 will be useful for designing potential HSV-2 vaccination strategies and for focusing prevention efforts for HSV-1 and HSV-2 infection.

Untersucht wurde, ob die Mitarbeit im Schulunterricht zu politischen Themen einen positiven Einfluss auf das politische Interesse von Jugendlichen hat und welche geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede sich dabei abzeichnen. Den Analysen lag ein Paneldatensatz von 558 Brandenburger Gymnasiastinnen und Gymnasiasten zugrunde, die zum ersten Mal in der 10. und dann drei weitere Male in der 11., 12. und 13. Klasse befragt wurden. Weibliche Jugendliche waren über alle vier Messzeitpunkte hinweg weniger stark an Politik interessiert und arbeiteten seltener bei politischen Themen im Schulunterricht mit als männliche Jugendliche. Beide Geschlechter informierten sich häufiger im Schulunterricht über Politik als in Gesprächen mit ihren Eltern oder Freunden. Querschnittlich berechnete multiple Regressionen sowie ein längsschnittlich berechnetes Kreuzpfadmodell bestätigten den positiven Einfluss der Mitarbeit im Schulunterricht auf das politische Interesse. In den querschnittlichen Regressionen war der Einfluss bei den weiblichen Jugendlichen signifikant schwächer, in der längsschnittlich angelegten Kausalanalyse ergab sich kein Geschlechtsunterschied. Der Schulunterricht während der Oberstufenzeit konnte den schon in der 10. Klasse vorhandenen Geschlechtsunterschied im politischen Interesse nicht verringern. (DIPF/Orig.) ; It was examined, if the engagement in school lessons about politics had a positive influence on the development of political interest of youths, and if gender-differences occurred in that process. The analyses were based on a four-wave panel data set of 558 pupils of the highest school track in Germany (Gymnasium) in one of the new states (Brandenburg). The pupils were asked to participate in grade 10,11,12 and 13. Across all four measurement occasions female adolescents were less interested in politics and less engaged in school lessons about politics than male adolescents. Male and female adolescents were more engaged in school lessons about politics than in talks about politics with their parents or their friends. In a cross sectional multiple regression analysis and in a cross-lagged panel model a positive influence of the engagement in school lessons about politics on political interest was found. In the multiple regression analysis this influence was significantly weaker for the female adolescents, in the cross lagged panel model no sex-difference occurred. The instructions about politics could not diminish the sex-difference in political interest during the high-school time. (DIPF/Orig.)

Purpose. To test the effects of a community-based physical activity intervention designed to increase physical activity and to conduct an extensive process evaluation of the intervention. Design. Quasi-experimental. Setting. Two rural communities in South Carolina. One community received the intervention, and the other served as the comparison. Subjects. Public school students who were in fifth grade at the start of the study (558 at baseline) were eligible to participate. A total of 436 students participated over the course of the study. Intervention. The intervention included after-school and summer physical activity programs and home, school, and community components designed to increase physical activity in youth. The intervention took place over an 18-month period. Measures. Students reported after-school physical activity at three data collection points (prior to, during, and following the intervention) using the Previous Day Physical Activity Recall (PDPAR). They also completed a questionnaire designed to measure hypothesized psychosocial and environmental determinants of physical activity behavior. The process evaluation used meeting records, documentation of program activities, interviews, focus groups, and heart rate monitoring to evaluate the planning and implementation of the intervention. Results. There were no significant differences in the physical activity variables and few significant differences in the psychosocial variables between the intervention and comparison groups. The process evaluation indicated that the after-school and summer physical activity component of the intervention was implemented as planned, but because of resource and time limitations, the home, school, and community components were not implemented as planned. Conclusions. The intervention did not have a significant effect on physical activity in the target population of children in the intervention community. This outcome is similar to that reported in other studies of community-based physical activity intervention.

<i>Background:</i> Routine patch testing is usually performed with 2-day occlusion. Yet, shortening the application period, without diminishing diagnostic accuracy, would benefit patients. Previous studies document that differences in application time may produce variable results. <i>Objective:</i> Our objective was to determine whether 1-day application elicits similar results to 2-day application in diagnostic patch testing. <i>Methods:</i> Simultaneous duplicate patch test series were applied to the opposite sides of the upper back on 250 consecutive patients, using the TRUE test system. One set of allergens was removed after 24 and the other after 48 h. <i>Results:</i> A total of 221 positive reactions were observed either after 24 or 48 h of occlusion in 113 (46%) patients. Of these, 190 were concordant, i.e. positive, after 24 and 48 h of occlusion, and 31 were discordant. Twenty-nine of the discordant reactions were observed only after 48 h of occlusion and 2 only after 24 h of occlusion. Of the 27 (19%) patients with discordant patch test reactions, the allergen was deemed to be of definite present or past relevance in 16 (6% of the total and 14% of all patients with positive reactions). <i>Conclusion:</i> These data confirm that the overall concordance of results after 24 and 48 h of application is high. However, clinically relevant allergens would have been missed in 16 patients if only the 24-hour occlusion test was performed. In the light of these results, we consider that the standard 48-hour application remains appropriate for diagnostic patch testing.

Background  Parents with intellectual disabilities frequently feel socially excluded and often become dependent on statutory agencies for support. This study aimed to tackle these difficulties by means of a group intervention.Methods  Group intervention was provided to 12 parents with borderline or mild intellectual disabilities over 14 weeks. The effects of intervention were evaluated by comparing the intervention group with a borderline or mild intellectual disabilities control parent group (n = 10). Both experimental parent group (EPG) and control parent group (CPG) received home‐based teaching programmes during this period. Parents' self‐concept and perception of the quality of relationship with their children, partners, family members and professionals were assessed (Judson Rating Scale and Behaviour Problem Index) during baseline, post‐intervention and at 27‐week follow‐up.Results  The results indicate that self‐concept improved significantly for the EPG with no observable gains made by the CPG. However, the 'feel good factor' which came from improvements in parents' self‐concept did not immediately benefit their children. In addition, the quality of relationship between EPG parents and their children, as well as parents' expectations of their children's capabilities did not improve as a result of group intervention. Nonetheless, follow‐up data revealed that group training did result in (i) all of the EPG parents making new friends and (ii) other positive social and practical changes taking place within their families. Single parent status and the accumulative effect of multiple group attendance were identified as important factors affecting parents' perception of themselves and the quality of their relationships.Conclusions  The immediate and long‐term benefits of group attendance for parents with intellectual disabilities and secondary benefits for their children are discussed.

<i>Objectives:</i> To describe β-thalassaemia (thalassaemia) carrier testing behaviour (whether tested or intentions of testing) amongst a sample of UK Pakistani adults; their level of knowledge about thalassaemia, and their attitudes toward thalassaemia carrier testing. <i>Method:</i> In a cross-sectional design semi-structured interviews, data were obtained from 59 Pakistani adults including 19 parents of children with thalassaemia; 20 of their relatives, and 20 'lay' adults. The outcome measures include: knowledge of thalassaemia and genetic inheritance, carrier testing behaviour, attitudes toward carrier testing and source of information about thalassaemia. <i>Results:</i> Knowledge about carriers and inheritance of thalassaemia was low. Intention to have carrier testing was low in those participants who had not been tested. Participants generally had positive attitudes toward carrier testing. Relatives and lay adults most frequently identified a thalassaemia family member as their source of information about thalassaemia, and only seven parents identified 'a health service source' as their source of information. <i>Conclusion:</i> Pakistani adults have insufficient knowledge to be aware of their risk of carrying a gene that may result in the birth of a child with thalassaemia. This finding may explain in part why intention to have carrier testing was low. Although thalassaemia is discussed in families where the disease is present, it is unlikely that information about its inheritance is discussed. Further empirical evidence is needed to improve the quality of information disseminated by both professionals and non-professionals to ensure Pakistani adults are able to make informed decisions about carrier testing, prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy.

Beryllium is the strongest of the lightweight metals. Used primarily in military applications prior to the end of the Cold War, beryllium is finding new applications in many commercial products, including computers, telecommunication equipment, and consumer and automotive electronics. The use of beryllium in nondefense consumer applications is of concern because beryllium is toxic. Inhalation of beryllium dust or vapor causes a chronic lung disease in some individuals at concentrations as low as 0.01 μg/m3 in air. As beryllium enters wider commerce, it is prudent to ask what risks this might present to the general public and to workers downstream of the beryllium materials industry. We address this question by evaluating the potential for beryllium exposure from the manufacturing, use, recycle, and disposal of beryllium‐containing products. Combining a market study with a qualitative exposure analysis, we determine which beryllium applications and life cycle phases have the largest exposure potential. Our analysis suggests that use and maintenance of the most common types of beryllium‐containing products do not result in any obvious exposures of concern, and that maintenance activities result in greater exposures than product use. Product disposal has potential to present significant individual risks, but uncertainties concerning current and future routes of product disposal make it difficult to be definitive. Overall, additional exposure and dose‐response data are needed to evaluate both the health significance of many exposure scenarios, and the adequacy of existing regulations to protect workers and the public. Although public exposures to beryllium and public awareness and concern regarding beryllium risks are currently low, beryllium risks have psychometric qualities that may lead to rapidly heightened public concern.

To quantify the health benefits of environmental policies, economists generally require estimates of the reduced probability of illness or death. For policies that reduce exposure to carcinogenic substances, these estimates traditionally have been obtained through the linear extrapolation of experimental dose‐response data to low‐exposure scenarios as described in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment (1986). In response to evolving scientific knowledge, EPA proposed revisions to the guidelines in 1996. Under the proposed revisions, dose‐response relationships would not be estimated for carcinogens thought to exhibit nonlinear modes of action. Such a change in cancer‐risk assessment methods and outputs will likely have serious consequences for how benefit‐cost analyses of policies aimed at reducing cancer risks are conducted. Any tendency for reduced quantification of effects in environmental risk assessments, such as those contemplated in the revisions to EPA's cancer‐risk assessment guidelines, impedes the ability of economic analysts to respond to increasing calls for benefit‐cost analysis. This article examines the implications for benefit‐cost analysis of carcinogenic exposures of the proposed changes to the 1986 Guidelines and proposes an approach for bounding dose‐response relationships when no biologically based models are available. In spite of the more limited quantitative information provided in a carcinogen risk assessment under the proposed revisions to the guidelines, we argue that reasonable bounds on dose‐response relationships can be estimated for low‐level exposures to nonlinear carcinogens. This approach yields estimates of reduced illness for use in a benefit‐cost analysis while incorporating evidence of nonlinearities in the dose‐response relationship. As an illustration, the bounding approach is applied to the case of chloroform exposure.