Displaying publications 121 - 140 of 230 in total

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  1. Factors affecting waste generation: a study in a waste management program in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
    Afroz R, Hanaki K, Tudin R
    Environ Monit Assess, 2011 Aug;179(1-4):509-19.
    PMID: 21046234 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-010-1753-4
    Information on waste generation, socioeconomic characteristics, and willingness of the households to separate waste was obtained from interviews with 402 respondents in Dhaka city. Ordinary least square regression was used to determine the dominant factors that might influence the waste generation of the households. The results showed that the waste generation of the households in Dhaka city was significantly affected by household size, income, concern about the environment, and willingness to separate the waste. These factors are necessary to effectively improve waste management, growth and performance, as well as to reduce the environmental degradation of the household waste.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities/statistics & numerical data
  2. The potential reuse of biodegradable municipal solid wastes (MSW) as feedstocks in vermicomposting
    Sim EY, Wu TY
    J Sci Food Agric, 2010 Oct;90(13):2153-62.
    PMID: 20718020 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.4127
    There is an urgent need globally to find alternative sustainable steps to treat municipal solid wastes (MSW) originated from mismanagement of urban wastes with increasing disposal cost. Furthermore, a conglomeration of ever-increasing population and consumerist lifestyle is contributing towards the generation of more MSW. In this context, vermicomposting offers excellent potential to promote safe, hygienic and sustainable management of biodegradable MSW. It has been demonstrated that, through vermicomposting, MSW such as city garbage, household and kitchen wastes, vegetable wastes, paper wastes, human faeces and others could be sustainably transformed into organic fertiliser or vermicompost that provides great benefits to agricultural soil and plants. Generally, earthworms are sensitive to their environment and require temperature, moisture content, pH and sometimes ventilation at proper levels for the optimum vermicomposting process. Apart from setting the optimum operational conditions for the vermicomposting process, other approaches such as pre-composting, inoculating micro-organisms into MSW and redesigning the conventional vermireactor could be introduced to further enhance the vermicomposting of MSW. Thus the present mini-review discusses the potential of introducing vermicomposting in MSW management, the benefits of vermicomposted MSW to plants, suggestions on how to enhance the vermicomposting of MSW as well as risk management in the vermicomposting of MSW.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities/economics
  3. Analyzing the relationships between travel mode indicators and the number of passenger transport fatalities at the city level
    Asadi-Shekari Z, Moeinaddini M, Sultan Z, Shah MZ, Hamzah A
    Traffic Inj Prev, 2016 08 17;17(6):650-5.
    PMID: 26890058 DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2015.1136739
    OBJECTIVE: A number of efforts have been conducted on travel behavior and transport fatalities at the neighborhood or street level, and they have identified different factors such as roadway characteristics, personal indicators, and design indicators related to transport safety. However, only a limited number of studies have considered the relationship between travel behavior indicators and the number of transport fatalities at the city level. Therefore, this study explores this relationship and how to fill the mentioned gap in current knowledge.

    METHOD: A generalized linear model (GLM) estimates the relationships between different travel mode indicators (e.g., length of motorway per inhabitants, number of motorcycles per inhabitant, percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, percentage of daily trips by public transport) and the number of passenger transport fatalities. Because this city-level model is developed using data sets from different cities all over the world, the impacts of gross domestic product (GDP) are also included in the model.

    CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results imply that the percentage of daily trips by public transport, the percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, and the GDP per inhabitant have negative relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities, whereas motorway length and the number of motorcycles have positive relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities.

    Matched MeSH terms: Cities/epidemiology
  4. Fulltext Evaluation and diagnosis of obstacles to land-based ecological security in resource-based cities: A case study of Xingtai city
    Zhu C, Li Y, Zhang L, Wang Y
    PLoS One, 2020;15(11):e0241618.
    PMID: 33156886 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241618
    To provide a theoretical basis for sustainable land resource utilization and a reference for areas with similar natural conditions, an evaluation index for land-based ecological security was constructed based on the Driving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model and the improved analytic hierarchy process (IAHP) and entropy methods, and the land-based ecological security status of Xingtai city from 2006 to 2017 was evaluated. Then, the obstacles to land-based ecological security were diagnosed. The results show that the values of the comprehensive evaluation index of land-based ecological security were 0.28-0.66 in the period from 2006 to 2017. The value of the index of land-based ecological security was low in the first seven years and gradually improved in the last five years of the study period. However, the overall situation was grave, and the ecological security conditions were poor. The main obstacles to land-based ecological security were the usage of pesticides, investment in environmental pollution treatments, the degree of machine cultivation, the rate of cultivation and the usage of fertilizer in Xingtai city. Based on the results of the land-based ecological security evaluation and the main obstacles identified in Xingtai city, this paper proposes management strategies and suggestions for improving land-based ecological security in Xingtai city. The specific proposals are as follows: vigorously develop green agriculture, increase investment in environmental pollution control, increase input in science and technology, and strengthen supervision and management of land use.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities/statistics & numerical data
  5. Fulltext Epidemiology of blood parasitic infections in the urban rat population in peninsular Malaysia
    Alias SN, Sahimin N, Edah MA, Mohd-Zain SN
    Trop Biomed, 2014 Jun;31(2):230-40.
    PMID: 25134892 MyJurnal
    A total of 719 wild rats were captured from four localities representing the west (Kuala Lumpur), east (Kuantan), north (Georgetown) and south (Malacca) to determine the diversity of blood protozoan from the urban wild rat population in peninsular Malaysia. Five rat species were recovered with Rattus rattus diardii being the most dominant species, followed by Rattus norvegicus, Rattus exulans, Rattus annandalei and Rattus argentiventer. Two blood protozoan species were found infecting the rodent population namely, Plasmodium sp. (42.1%) and Trypanosoma lewisi (25.0%). This study reports the presence of Plasmodium sp. for the first time in the rodent population in Malaysia. Two main intrinsic factors were identified affecting the parasitic infections. Trypanosoma lewisi infections were influenced by host age and sex with infections observed higher in male and juvenile rats meanwhile Plasmodium sp. infections were observed almost similar in both sexes. However, infections were higher in sub-adult rats.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities/epidemiology
  6. Fulltext Extending Data for Urban Health Decision-Making: a Menu of New and Potential Neighborhood-Level Health Determinants Datasets in LMICs
    Thomson DR, Linard C, Vanhuysse S, Steele JE, Shimoni M, Siri J, et al.
    J Urban Health, 2019 08;96(4):514-536.
    PMID: 31214975 DOI: 10.1007/s11524-019-00363-3
    Area-level indicators of the determinants of health are vital to plan and monitor progress toward targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Tools such as the Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART) and UN-Habitat Urban Inequities Surveys identify dozens of area-level health determinant indicators that decision-makers can use to track and attempt to address population health burdens and inequalities. However, questions remain as to how such indicators can be measured in a cost-effective way. Area-level health determinants reflect the physical, ecological, and social environments that influence health outcomes at community and societal levels, and include, among others, access to quality health facilities, safe parks, and other urban services, traffic density, level of informality, level of air pollution, degree of social exclusion, and extent of social networks. The identification and disaggregation of indicators is necessarily constrained by which datasets are available. Typically, these include household- and individual-level survey, census, administrative, and health system data. However, continued advancements in earth observation (EO), geographical information system (GIS), and mobile technologies mean that new sources of area-level health determinant indicators derived from satellite imagery, aggregated anonymized mobile phone data, and other sources are also becoming available at granular geographic scale. Not only can these data be used to directly calculate neighborhood- and city-level indicators, they can be combined with survey, census, administrative and health system data to model household- and individual-level outcomes (e.g., population density, household wealth) with tremendous detail and accuracy. WorldPop and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) have already modeled dozens of household survey indicators at country or continental scales at resolutions of 1 × 1 km or even smaller. This paper aims to broaden perceptions about which types of datasets are available for health and development decision-making. For data scientists, we flag area-level indicators at city and sub-city scales identified by health decision-makers in the SDGs, Urban HEART, and other initiatives. For local health decision-makers, we summarize a menu of new datasets that can be feasibly generated from EO, mobile phone, and other spatial data-ideally to be made free and publicly available-and offer lay descriptions of some of the difficulties in generating such data products.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities/statistics & numerical data
  7. Consumer purchase intention towards environmentally friendly vehicles: an empirical investigation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Afroz R, Masud MM, Akhtar R, Islam MA, Duasa JB
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2015 Oct;22(20):16153-63.
    PMID: 26070739 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-4841-8
    This paper examines whether attitudes towards electric vehicles (ATEVs), subjective norms (SNs) and perceived behavioural control (PBC) have significant associations with consumer purchase intention (PI) and the purchase behaviour of environmentally friendly vehicles (EFVs). The results from the survey questionnaires are analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings of this paper indicate that ATEV, SN and PBC significantly influence PI. This finding also indicates that environmental consequence and individual preferences do not influence the PI of the respondents. We found that Malaysian car owners are largely unaware of the greenhouse effects on the environment or attach to it little importance, which is reflected in their PI towards EFVs. The outcomes of this study could help policymakers design programmes to influence attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and purchase behaviour to prevent further air pollution and reduce CO2 emissions from the transportation sector.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities/statistics & numerical data*
  8. Epidemiology and characteristics of the dengue outbreak in Guangdong, Southern China, in 2014
    Huang L, Luo X, Shao J, Yan H, Qiu Y, Ke P, et al.
    Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis, 2016 Feb;35(2):269-77.
    PMID: 26700953 DOI: 10.1007/s10096-015-2540-5
    Dengue is a rapidly spreading mosquito-borne disease caused by the dengue virus (DENV) and has emerged as a severe public health problem around the world. Guangdong, one of the southern Chinese provinces, experienced a serious outbreak of dengue in 2014, which was believed to be the worst dengue epidemic in China over the last 20 years. To better understand the epidemic, we collected the epidemiological data of the outbreak and analyzed 14,594 clinically suspected dengue patients from 25 hospitals in Guangdong. Dengue cases were then laboratory-confirmed by the detection of DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) antigen and/or DENV RNA. Afterwards, clinical manifestations of dengue patients were analyzed and 93 laboratory-positive serum specimens were chosen for the DENV serotyping and molecular analysis. Our data showed that the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong had spread to 20 cities and more than 45 thousand people suffered from dengue fever. Of 14,594 participants, 11,387 were definitively diagnosed. Most manifested with a typical non-severe clinical course, and 1.96 % developed to severe dengue. The strains isolated successfully from the serum samples were identified as DENV-1. Genetic analyses revealed that the strains were classified into genotypes I and V of DENV-1, and the dengue epidemic of Guangdong in 2014 was caused by indigenous cases and imported cases from the neighboring Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia and Singapore. Overall, our study is informative and significant to the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong and will provide crucial implications for dengue prevention and control in China and elsewhere.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  9. Children's exposure to food advertising on free-to-air television: an Asia-Pacific perspective
    Kelly B, Hebden L, King L, Xiao Y, Yu Y, He G, et al.
    Health Promot Int, 2016 Mar;31(1):144-52.
    PMID: 24997194 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dau055
    There is an established link between food promotions and children's food purchase and consumption. Children in developing countries may be more vulnerable to food promotions given the relative novelty of advertising in these markets. This study aimed to determine the scope of television food advertising to children across the Asia-Pacific to inform policies to restrict this marketing. Six sites were sampled, including from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea. At each site, 192 h of television were recorded (4 days, 16 h/day, three channels) from May to October 2012. Advertised foods were categorized as core/healthy, non-core/unhealthy or miscellaneous, and by product type. Twenty-seven percent of advertisements were for food/beverages, and the most frequently advertised product was sugar-sweetened drinks. Rates of non-core food advertising were highest during viewing times most popular with children, when between 3 (South Korea) and 15 (Indonesia) non-core food advertisements were broadcast each hour. Children in the Asia-Pacific are exposed to high volumes of unhealthy food/beverage television advertising. Different policy arrangements for food advertising are likely to contribute to regional variations in advertising patterns. Cities with the lowest advertising rates can be identified as exemplars of good policy practice.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  10. Level and transport pattern of faecal coliform bacteria from tropical urban catchments
    Chow MF, Yusop Z, Toriman ME
    Water Sci Technol, 2013;67(8):1822-31.
    PMID: 23579839 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2013.048
    Urbanization and frequent storms play important roles in increasing faecal bacteria pollution, especially for tropical urban catchments. However, only little information on the faecal bacteria levels from different land use types and the factors that influence bacteria concentrations is available. Thus, the objectives of this study were to quantify the levels and transport mechanism of faecal coliforms (FCs) from residential and commercial catchments. Stormwaters were sampled and the runoff flow rates were measured from both catchments during four storm events in Skudai, Malaysia. The samples were then analysed for FC, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS) and ammoniacal-nitrogen (NH3-N) concentrations. Intra-storm and inter-storm characteristics of FC bacteria were investigated in order to identify the level and transport pattern of FC. The commercial catchment showed significantly higher event mean concentration (EMC) of FC than the residential catchment. For the residential catchment, the highest bacterial concentrations occurred during the early part of stormwater runoff with peak concentrations usually preceding the peak flow. First flush effect was more prevalent at the residential catchment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  11. Appraisal of domestic solid waste generation, components, and the feasibility of recycling in Erbil, Iraq
    Shuokr Qarani Aziz, Hamidi Abdul Aziz, Mohammed Jk Bashir, Mohd Suffian Yusoff
    Waste Manag Res, 2011 Aug;29(8):880-7.
    PMID: 21242179 DOI: 10.1177/0734242X10387462
    Solid waste collection and disposal are among the most vital services provided to about 700 770 residents of the city of Erbil in northern Iraq. As such, proper waste management systems that consider both the quantity and composition of domestic solid waste are strongly required to address the increasing amount of solid waste. Unfortunately, these essential data are not easily available. The present study sought to gather data on the quantity and composition of domestic solid waste collected from different quarters in Erbil, and the feasibility of recycling these wastes. The solid waste generation rate (GR), uncompacted density, and weight percentages of combustible and incombustible materials were determined based on the collected materials (i.e., food, plastic, paper, metal, glass and cloth). The results show that the average GR and uncompacted density were 0.654 kg capita(-1) day(-1) and 175.72 kg m(-3), respectively. The weight percentages of food, plastic, paper, metal, glass, and cloth as components of domestic solid waste were 79.34, 6.28, 5.9, 3.6, 3.42 and 1.45%, respectively.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  12. A holistic framework for design of cost-effective minimum water utilization network
    Wan Alwi SR, Manan ZA, Samingin MH, Misran N
    J Environ Manage, 2008 Jul;88(2):219-52.
    PMID: 17449168
    Water pinch analysis (WPA) is a well-established tool for the design of a maximum water recovery (MWR) network. MWR, which is primarily concerned with water recovery and regeneration, only partly addresses water minimization problem. Strictly speaking, WPA can only lead to maximum water recovery targets as opposed to the minimum water targets as widely claimed by researchers over the years. The minimum water targets can be achieved when all water minimization options including elimination, reduction, reuse/recycling, outsourcing and regeneration have been holistically applied. Even though WPA has been well established for synthesis of MWR network, research towards holistic water minimization has lagged behind. This paper describes a new holistic framework for designing a cost-effective minimum water network (CEMWN) for industry and urban systems. The framework consists of five key steps, i.e. (1) Specify the limiting water data, (2) Determine MWR targets, (3) Screen process changes using water management hierarchy (WMH), (4) Apply Systematic Hierarchical Approach for Resilient Process Screening (SHARPS) strategy, and (5) Design water network. Three key contributions have emerged from this work. First is a hierarchical approach for systematic screening of process changes guided by the WMH. Second is a set of four new heuristics for implementing process changes that considers the interactions among process changes options as well as among equipment and the implications of applying each process change on utility targets. Third is the SHARPS cost-screening technique to customize process changes and ultimately generate a minimum water utilization network that is cost-effective and affordable. The CEMWN holistic framework has been successfully implemented on semiconductor and mosque case studies and yielded results within the designer payback period criterion.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  13. Runoff quality and pollution loadings from a tropical urban catchment
    Yusop Z, Tan LW, Ujang Z, Mohamed M, Nasir KA
    Water Sci Technol, 2005;52(9):125-32.
    PMID: 16445181
    Runoff quality draining from 17.14 km2 urban catchment in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, was analysed. The land-use consists of residential (30.3%), agricultural (27.3%), open space (27.9%), industrial (8.1%) and commercial (6.4%) areas. Three storm events were sampled in detail. These storms produced stormflow between 0.84 mm and 27.82 mm, and peakflow from 2.19 m3/s to 42.36 m3/s. Water quality showed marked variation during storms especially for TSS, BOD and COD with maximum concentrations of 778 mg/l, 135 mg/l and 358 mg/l, respectively. Concentrations of TOC, DOC, NH3-N, Fe and level of colour were also high. In general, the river quality is badly polluted and falls in Class V based on the Malaysian Interim National Water Quality Standards. Event Mean Concentrations (EMC) for various parameters varied considerably between storms. The largest storm produced higher EMC for TSS, NO3-N and SS whereas the smaller storms tend to register higher EMC for BOD, COD, NH3-N, TOC, Ca, K, Mg, Fe and Zn. Such variations could be explained in terms of pollutant availability and the effects of flushing and dilution. Based on a three-month average recurrence interval (ARI) of rainfall, the estimated event loadings (ton/ha) of TSS, BOD, COD, TOC, NH3-N and NO3-N were 0.055, 0.016, 0.012, 0.039, 0.010, 0.0007 and 0.0002, respectively. Heavy metals present in trace quantities. Storms with 3 months ARI could capture about 70% of the total annual loads of major pollutants.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  14. Distributions and health risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in atmospheric aerosols of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Omar NY, Mon TC, Rahman NA, Abas MR
    Sci Total Environ, 2006 Oct 1;369(1-3):76-81.
    PMID: 16766020
    The concentrations and distributions of particle bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) collected over a 10 month period in ambient environment, at street levels as well as during a hazy episode are reported. Ambient and street level distributions of PAHs were similar and their occurrence was attributed to vehicular emissions. However, in haze particles, a different pattern of PAHs was observed, characterized by relatively low levels of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and high levels of benzofluoranthenes (BFs). The BaP equivalency results showed that the potential health risk associated with haze smoke particles was 4 times higher than that of street level particles whereas the lowest health risk was associated with ambient atmospheric particles.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  15. Urbanization, Extreme Events, and Health: The Case for Systems Approaches in Mitigation, Management, and Response
    Siri JG, Newell B, Proust K, Capon A
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2016 Mar;28(2 Suppl):15S-27S.
    PMID: 26219559 DOI: 10.1177/1010539515595694
    Extreme events, both natural and anthropogenic, increasingly affect cities in terms of economic losses and impacts on health and well-being. Most people now live in cities, and Asian cities, in particular, are experiencing growth on unprecedented scales. Meanwhile, the economic and health consequences of climate-related events are worsening, a trend projected to continue. Urbanization, climate change and other geophysical and social forces interact with urban systems in ways that give rise to complex and in many cases synergistic relationships. Such effects may be mediated by location, scale, density, or connectivity, and also involve feedbacks and cascading outcomes. In this context, traditional, siloed, reductionist approaches to understanding and dealing with extreme events are unlikely to be adequate. Systems approaches to mitigation, management and response for extreme events offer a more effective way forward. Well-managed urban systems can decrease risk and increase resilience in the face of such events.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  16. The economic case for low carbon waste management in rapidly growing cities in the developing world: The case of Palembang, Indonesia
    Papargyropoulou E, Colenbrander S, Sudmant AH, Gouldson A, Tin LC
    J Environ Manage, 2015 Nov 1;163:11-9.
    PMID: 26280124 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.08.001
    The provision of appropriate waste management is not only an indicator of development but also of broader sustainability. This is particularly relevant to expanding cities in developing countries faced with rising waste generation and associated environmental health problems. Despite these urgent issues, city authorities often lack the evidence required to make well-informed decisions. This study evaluates the carbon and economic performance of low-carbon measures in the waste sector at a city level, within the context of a developing country. Palembang in Indonesia is used as a case of a medium-sized city in a newly industrialized country, with relevance to other similar cities in the developing world. Evidence suggests that the waste sector can achieve substantial carbon emission reductions, and become a carbon sink, in a cost effective way. Hence there is an economic case for a low carbon development path for Palembang, and possibly for other cities in developing and developed countries facing similar challenges.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  17. Phenolic water pollutants in a Malaysian River basin
    Abdullah P, Nainggolan H
    Environ Monit Assess, 1991 Oct;19(1-3):423-31.
    PMID: 24233958 DOI: 10.1007/BF00401330
    Phenolic chemicals with their very low taste and odour thresholds, high persistence and toxicity, are of growing concern as water pollutants. The compounds are known to exist in raw water as well as in treated water. The level of phenolic priority pollutants in water within the catchment area of the Linggi River Treatment Plant in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, which includes the Linggi river basin, was monitored. The 4-aminoantipyrin colourimetric method was used to determine total phenols whereas capillary column gas chromatography was used to determine the individual compounds. The results show that at most sampling stations, particularly those within the Seremban municipality, the level of phenols was found to exceed the recommended Malaysian standard of 2.0 μg/L(-1) for raw water. This is seen as the direct impact of industrial and urbanization of the area and clearly indicates the unhealthy state of the Linggi river. The results also indicate the need to improve the water quality if the river is going to be used as a source of raw water.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  18. Fulltext Persistent mosquito fogging can be detrimental to non-target invertebrates in an urban tropical forest
    Lee NSM, Clements GR, Ting ASY, Wong ZH, Yek SH
    PeerJ, 2020;8:e10033.
    PMID: 33062440 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10033
    Background: Human population growth has led to biodiversity declines in tropical cities. While habitat loss and fragmentation have been the main drivers of urban biodiversity loss, man-made interventions to reduce health risks have also emerged as an unintentional threat. For instance, insecticide fogging to control mosquito populations has become the most common method of preventing the expansion of mosquito-borne diseases such as Dengue. However, the effectiveness of fogging in killing mosquitoes has been called into question. One concern is the unintended effect of insecticide fogging on non-target invertebrates that are crucial for the maintenance of urban ecosystems. Here, we investigate the impacts of fogging on: (1) target invertebrate taxon (Diptera, including mosquitoes); (2) non-target invertebrate taxa; and (3) the foraging behavior of an invertebrate pollinator taxon (Lepidoptera) within an urban tropical forest.

    Methods: We carried out fogging with Pyrethroid insecticide (Detral 2.5 EC) at 10 different sites in a forest situated in the state of Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Across the sites, we counted the numbers of knocked-down invertebrates and identified them based on morphology to different taxa. We constructed Bayesian hierarchical Poisson regression models to investigate the effects of fogging on: (1) a target invertebrate taxon (Diptera) 3-h post-fogging; (2) selected non-target invertebrate taxa 3-h post-fogging; and (3) an invertebrate pollinator taxon (Lepidoptera) 24-h post-fogging.

    Results: A total of 1,874 invertebrates from 19 invertebrate orders were knocked down by the fogging treatment across the 10 sites. Furthermore, 72.7% of the invertebrates counted 3-h post-fogging was considered dead. Our regression models showed that given the data and prior information, the probability that fogging had a negative effect on invertebrate taxa 3-h post-fogging was 100%, with reductions to 11% of the pre-fogging count of live individuals for the target invertebrate taxon (Diptera), and between 5% and 58% of the pre-fogging count of live individuals for non-target invertebrate taxa. For the invertebrate pollinator, the probability that fogging had a negative effect 24-h post-fogging was also 100%, with reductions to 53% of the pre-fogging count of live individuals.

    Discussion: Our Bayesian models unequivocally demonstrate that fogging has detrimental effects on one pollinator order and non-target invertebrate orders, especially taxa that have comparatively lower levels of chitinisation. While fogging is effective in killing the target order (Diptera), no mosquitos were found dead in our experiment. In order to maintain urban biodiversity, we recommend that health authorities and the private sector move away from persistent insecticide fogging and to explore alternative measures to control adult mosquito populations.

    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  19. Fulltext Achieving sustainable soil and water protection: The perspective of agricultural water price regulation on environmental protection
    Chou L, Dai J, Qian X, Karimipour A, Zheng X
    Agric Water Manag, 2021 Feb 28;245:106583.
    PMID: 33100487 DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106583
    With the development of Chinese economy, more and more attention has been paid to environmental protection, the implementation of water price policy affects economic and environmental changes in China. This paper analyzes the impact of water price policy on agricultural land use and the scale of water pollution discharge in 240 cities in China between 2001 and 2017, by including data from China Urban Statistical Yearbook and China Land & Resources Almanac. The theoretical analysis of this study indicates that the optimal scale of pollution depends on the local initial endowment, economic investment capital and the marginal cost of environmental pollution caused by government's economic activities. Furtherly, the economic activities have a worsening impact on environmental pollution, but when the government implements environmental protection and water price policy measures in response to environmental pollution caused by economic activities, it has a significant impact on the decline in the scale of pollution. The government has promoted the pollution suppression model in the formulation of water prices, which has internalized the external cost of pollution in economic activities and can effectively reduce the scale of agricultural water pollution discharge.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
  20. Fulltext Tropospheric Ozone Formation Estimation in Urban City, Bangi, Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN)
    Abdul Aziz FAB, Abd Rahman N, Mohd Ali J
    Comput Intell Neurosci, 2019;2019:6252983.
    PMID: 31239836 DOI: 10.1155/2019/6252983
    Due to the rapid development of economy and society around the world, the most urban city is experiencing tropospheric ozone or commonly known as ground-level air pollutants. The concentration of air pollutants must be identified as an early precaution step by the local environmental or health agencies. This work aims to apply the artificial neural network (ANN) in estimating the ozone concentration forecast in Bangi. It consists of input variables such as temperature, relative humidity, concentration of nitrogen dioxide, time, UVA and UVB rays obtained from routine monitoring, and data recorded. Ten hidden layer is utilized to obtain the optimized ozone concentration, which is the output layer of the ANN framework. The finding showed that the meteorology condition and emission patterns play an important part in influencing the ozone concentration. However, a single network is sufficient enough to estimate the concentration despite any circumstances. Thus, it can be concluded that ANN is able to give reliable and satisfactory estimations of ozone concentration for the following day.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cities
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