scholarly journals Stress in the city: meta-analysis indicates no overall evidence for stress in urban vertebrates

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1936) ◽  
pp. 20201754
Author(s):  
Maider Iglesias-Carrasco ◽  
Upama Aich ◽  
Michael D. Jennions ◽  
Megan L. Head
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
The City

As cities continue to grow it is increasingly important to understand the long-term responses of wildlife to urban environments. There have been increased efforts to determine whether urbanization imposes chronic stress on wild animals, but empirical evidence is mixed. Here, we conduct a meta-analysis to test whether there is, on average, a detrimental effect of urbanization based on baseline and stress-induced glucocorticoid levels of wild vertebrates. We found no effect of urbanization on glucocorticoid levels, and none of sex, season, life stage, taxon, size of the city nor methodology accounted for variation in the observed effect sizes. At face value, our results suggest that urban areas are no more stressful for wildlife than rural or non-urban areas, but we offer a few reasons why this conclusion could be premature. We propose that refining methods of data collection will improve our understanding of how urbanization affects the health and survival of wildlife.

scholarly journals Long-term outcomes of psychological treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Maxi Weber ◽  
Sarah Schumacher ◽  
Wiebke Hannig ◽  
Jürgen Barth ◽  
Annett Lotzin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Long Term Outcomes ◽  
Psychological Treatments

Abstract Several types of psychological treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are considered well established and effective, but evidence of their long-term efficacy is limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the long-term outcomes across psychological treatments for PTSD. MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PTSDpubs, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX, and related articles were searched for randomized controlled trials with at least 12 months of follow-up. Twenty-two studies (N = 2638) met inclusion criteria, and 43 comparisons of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) were available at follow-up. Active treatments for PTSD yielded large effect sizes from pretest to follow-up and a small controlled effect size compared with non-directive control groups at follow-up. Trauma-focused treatment (TFT) and non-TFT showed large improvements from pretest to follow-up, and effect sizes did not significantly differ from each other. Active treatments for comorbid depressive symptoms revealed small to medium effect sizes at follow-up, and improved PTSD and depressive symptoms remained stable from treatment end to follow-up. Military personnel, low proportion of female patients, and self-rated PTSD measures were associated with decreased effect sizes for PTSD at follow-up. The findings suggest that CBT for PTSD is efficacious in the long term. Future studies are needed to determine the lasting efficacy of other psychological treatments and to confirm benefits beyond 12-month follow-up.

A case study of noise pollution levels during the restrictions period due to COVID-19.

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (6) ◽  
pp. 206-214
Author(s):  
David Montes-González ◽  
Juan Miguel Barrigón-Morillas ◽  
Ana Cristina Bejarano-Quintas ◽  
Manuel Parejo-Pizarro ◽  
Guillermo Rey-Gozalo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

The pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) led to the need for drastic control measures around the world to reduce the impact on the health of the population. The confinement of people in their homes resulted in a significant reduction in human activity at every level (economic, social, industrial, etc.), which was reflected in a decrease in environmental pollution levels. Studying the evolution of parameters, such as the level of environmental noise caused by vehicle traffic in urban environments, makes it possible to assess the impact of this type of measure. This paper presents a case study of the acoustic situation in Cáceres (Spain) during the restriction period by means of long-term acoustic measurements at various points of the city.

scholarly journals CREATING MULTI-TEMPORAL MAPS OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTS FOR IMPROVED LOCALIZATION OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

2020 ◽  
Vol XLIII-B2-2020 ◽  
pp. 317-323
Author(s):  
J. Schachtschneider ◽  
C. Brenner
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Seasonal Effects ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Multi Temporal ◽  
One Year

Abstract. The development of automated and autonomous vehicles requires highly accurate long-term maps of the environment. Urban areas contain a large number of dynamic objects which change over time. Since a permanent observation of the environment is impossible and there will always be a first time visit of an unknown or changed area, a map of an urban environment needs to model such dynamics.In this work, we use LiDAR point clouds from a large long term measurement campaign to investigate temporal changes. The data set was recorded along a 20 km route in Hannover, Germany with a Mobile Mapping System over a period of one year in bi-weekly measurements. The data set covers a variety of different urban objects and areas, weather conditions and seasons. Based on this data set, we show how scene and seasonal effects influence the measurement likelihood, and that multi-temporal maps lead to the best positioning results.

Post-Disaster Urban Recovery Monitoring in Pisco After the 2007 Peru Earthquake Using Satellite Image

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1059-1068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoyo Hoshi ◽  
◽  
Osamu Murao ◽  
Kunihiko Yoshino ◽  
Fumio Yamazaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Visual Interpretation ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
The City ◽  
Post Disaster

Pisco was the area most damaged by the 2007 Peru earthquake. The purpose of this research is to develop possibilities of using satellite imagery to monitor postdisaster urban recovery processes, focusing on the urban change in Pisco between 2007 and 2011. To this end, the authors carried out field surveys in the city in 2012 and 2013 and also examined previous surveys to determine that building reconstruction peaked between 2008 and 2009. After analyzing the five-year recovery process, the authors compared its reconstruction conditions by visual interpretation with those by image analysis using satellite image. An accuracy of 71.2% was achieved for the visual interpretation results in congested urban areas, and that for developed districts was about 60%. The result shows that satellite imagery can be a useful tool for monitoring and understanding post-disaster urban recovery processes in the areas in which conducting long-term field survey is difficult.

The Effects of Corpus Use on Second Language Vocabulary Learning: A Multilevel Meta-analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 721-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansol Lee ◽  
Mark Warschauer ◽  
Jang Ho Lee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

Abstract This study investigates the effects of corpus use on second language (L2) vocabulary learning as well as the influence of moderators on effectiveness. Based on 29 studies representing 38 unique samples, all of which met several criteria for inclusion (e.g. with control groups), we found an overall positive medium-sized effect of corpus use on L2 vocabulary learning for both short-term (77 posttest effect sizes; Hedges’ g = 0.74, SE = 0.09, p < .001) and long-term periods (34 follow-up effect sizes; Hedges’ g = 0.64, SE = 0.17, p < .001). Furthermore, large variation in adjusted mean effect sizes across moderators was revealed. Above all, for the different dimensions of L2 vocabulary knowledge, in-depth knowledge (i.e. referential meanings as well as syntactic features of vocabulary) was associated with a large effect size. Moreover, the results revealed that learners’ L2 proficiency and several features of corpus use (i.e. interaction types, corpus types, training, and duration) influence the magnitude of the effectiveness of corpus use in improving L2 vocabulary learning.

scholarly journals Microbiological Air Monitoring and Long-Term Evaluations of Selected Urban Areas in the City of Tirana

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Erjon Troja ◽  
Luljeta Pinguli ◽  
Rozana Troja ◽  
Eltion Dhamo ◽  
Elena Muça
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Aspergillus Terreus ◽  
Viable Count ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Total Viable Count ◽  
National Program ◽  
Scientific Evaluation ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
The City

The described experimental study, performed over the years, includes the quantitative and qualitative monitoring of the presence of microorganisms of air in outdoor and indoor environments of the Albanian Capital, Tirana, during a time when large demographic movements, accompanied by important urban interventions and infrastructural changes, have been part of our lives. A project, part of the National Program in Biotechnology (R & D—the year 2000), was the first support to obtain a database on microbiological air pollution in selected urban areas in Tirana and isolate and identify specific air microbial pollutants. The results obtained were an incentive to continue further with additional scientific evaluation monitoring research, which included the years 2011 to 2015 and then those of 2016–2020. Over the years, there has been a significant reduction in pollutant microbial loads (for selected outdoor areas of the center of Tirana, the total discovered loads decreased from values of the order 105–106, to currently about 102, for the same areas). A fluctuation in indoor microbial loads was observed in many cases. Additionally, a prominent presence of typical environmental fungi pollutants such as Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, as well as bacterial pollutants, cocci, and bacilli (typical Bacillus megatherium) was identified during a Total Viable Count (TVC) and other microbiological tests of identification.

scholarly journals Integrasi Daya Tarik Wisata Kota Denpasar Bali

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-66
Author(s):  
I Gusti Bagus Rai Utama
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Shopping Malls ◽  
Traditional Markets ◽  
Multiple Components ◽  
City Tourism ◽  
Historical Monuments ◽  
Tourism Attractions ◽  
The City

The model of the development of an integrated city tourism urgently to be done for the short- term and long-term. Develop urban area is an attempt to increase revenue through taxes hotels, restaurants, and simultaneously increase the economic activity in urban areas. The good management of the city tourism will realize the satisfaction of all parties. Some of the cities in Indonesia deserves to be developed as a city tourism when viewed from multiple components as tourism attractions. These components are like: the town hall, roads that meaningful myth, historical monuments, culinary, college or university, shopping malls, traditional markets, squares, parks, museums, fairs, and other attractions. To be able to make it as a tourist product, the necessary integration related aspects comprising aspects of the attraction of the city, the transportation aspect, the aspect of main and supporting facilities, and institutional aspects such as the attributes of human resources, systems, and other related institutions. The city of Denpasar as as a business center of the activity in case the tourists both domestic and foreign tourists, require restructuring. Structuring urgent to do is structuring the local community business centers, the arrangement of lodges or hotels, and the area attractions management.

scholarly journals Greenroof Study: Final Report An Assessment of Greenroof Design and Maintenance in Portland, Oregon: 2011 – 2013

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Windy Beck ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Sewer System ◽  
The City ◽  
Term Maintenance ◽  
Storm Sewer

In 1999 the City of Portland (City) began to require that stormwater management facilities (SMF) be built when private property is newly developed or redeveloped (City Code Chapter 17.38). Proper maintenance and upkeep of SMFs is essential to ensuring they function appropriately. The City’s Maintenance Inspection Program (MIP) is tasked with inspecting stormwater management facilities on private properties in order to ensure that they are being properly operated and maintained and to meet provisions of the City’s NPDES Municipal Separated Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit. Greenroofs are one type of SMF that are installed to satisfy this requirement. Understanding the long-term maintenance needs of a greenroof is essential to reaching MIP goals established by City Code and the MS4 permit. Data collection occurred between November 2011 and May 2013 at private properties in Portland, Oregon during routine maintenance inspections of stormwater management facilities for the City’s Maintenance Inspection Program (MIP).

scholarly journals A Series of Meta-Analytic Tests of the Efficacy of Long-Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Franz Josef Woll ◽  
Felix D. Schönbrodt
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Publication Bias ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy ◽  
Meta Analyses

Abstract. Recent meta-analyses come to conflicting conclusions about the efficacy of long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy (LTPP). Our first goal was to reproduce the most recent meta-analysis by Leichsenring, Abbass, Luyten, Hilsenroth, and Rabung (2013) who found evidence for the efficacy of LTPP in the treatment of complex mental disorders. Our replicated effect sizes were in general slightly smaller. Second, we conducted an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing LTPP (lasting for at least 1 year and 40 sessions) to other forms of psychotherapy in the treatment of complex mental disorders. We focused on a transparent research process according to open science standards and applied a series of elaborated meta-analytic procedures to test and control for publication bias. Our updated meta-analysis comprising 191 effect sizes from 14 eligible studies revealed small, statistically significant effect sizes at post-treatment for the outcome domains psychiatric symptoms, target problems, social functioning, and overall effectiveness (Hedges’ g ranging between 0.24 and 0.35). The effect size for the domain personality functioning (0.24) was not significant ( p = .08). No signs for publication bias could be detected. In light of a heterogeneous study set and some methodological shortcomings in the primary studies, these results should be interpreted cautiously. In conclusion, LTPP might be superior to other forms of psychotherapy in the treatment of complex mental disorders. Notably, our effect sizes represent the additional gain of LTPP versus other forms of primarily long-term psychotherapy. In this case, large differences in effect sizes are not to be expected.

scholarly journals Plastic Hotspot Mapping in Urban Water Systems

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 342
Author(s):  
Paolo Tasseron ◽  
Hestia Zinsmeister ◽  
Liselotte Rambonnet ◽  
Auke-Florian Hiemstra ◽  
Daniël Siepman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Urban Water Systems ◽  
Term Data

Reducing plastic pollution in rivers, lakes, and oceans is beneficial to aquatic animals and human livelihood. To achieve this, reliable observations of the abundance, spatiotemporal variation, and composition of plastics in aquatic ecosystems are crucial. Current efforts mainly focus on collecting data on the open ocean, on beaches and coastlines, and in river systems. Urban areas are the main source of plastic leakage into the natural environment, yet data on plastic pollution in urban water systems are scarce. In this paper, we present a simple method for plastic hotspot mapping in urban water systems. Through visual observations, macroplastic abundance and polymer categories are determined. Due to its simplicity, this method is suitable for citizen science data collection. A first application in the Dutch cities of Leiden and Wageningen showed similar mean plastic densities (111–133 items/km canal) and composition (75–80% soft plastics), but different spatial distributions. These observations emphasize the importance of long-term data collection to further understand and quantify spatiotemporal variations of plastics in urban water systems. In turn, this will support improved estimates of the contribution of urban areas to the plastic pollution of rivers and oceans.

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