Applying the adaptation pathway approach to increase resilience to flooding: experiences and outlook from the city of Bilbao

The present study investigates the twinning rates in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, during the years 2003–2014. The data were drawn from the Brazilian Health Department database of Sistema de Informações de Nascidos Vivos de São Paulo—SINASC (Live Births Information System of São Paulo). In general, more information is available on the incidence of twinning in developed countries than in developing ones. A total of 24,589 twin deliveries and 736 multiple deliveries were registered in 140 hospitals of São Paulo out of a total of 2,056,016 deliveries during the studied time period. The overall average rates of singleton, twin, and multiple births per 1,000 maternities (‰) were 987.43, 11.96 (dizygotic (DZ) rate was 7.15 and monozygotic (MZ) 4.42), and 0.36, respectively. We further regressed maternal age and historical time period on percentage of singleton, twin, and multiple birth rates. Our results indicated that maternal age strongly positively predicted twin and multiple birth rates, and negatively predicted singleton birth rates. The historical time period also positively, although weakly, predicted twin birth rates, and had no effect on singleton or multiple birth rates. Further, after applying Weinberg's differential method, we computed regressions separately for the estimated frequencies of DZ and MZ twin rates. DZ twinning was strongly positively predicted by maternal age and, to a smaller degree, by time period, while MZ twinning increased marginally only with higher maternal age. Factors such as increasing body mass index or air pollution can lead to the slight historical increase in DZ twinning rates. Importantly, consistent with previous cross-cultural and historical research, our results support the existence of an age-dependent physiological mechanism that leads to a strong increase in twinning and multiple births, but not singleton births, among mothers of higher age categories. From the ultimate perspective, twinning and multiple births in later age can lead to higher individual reproductive success near the end of the reproductive career of the mother.

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Spatial patterns of seasonal distribution of Corvidae (the case of urban habitats)

Biosystems Diversity ◽

10.15421/011662 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. V. Matsyura ◽

А. А. Zimaroyeva ◽

K. Jankowski

Keyword(s):

Abundant Species ◽

Common Species ◽

Strong Increase ◽

Winter Period ◽

Positive Trend ◽

Breeding Density ◽

Buffer Zones ◽

Green Areas ◽

Hooded Crows ◽

The City

Corvids in Zhytomyr city reach maximum density in the winter period. Rooks and Eurasian Jackdaws were the most abundant species in winter, usually feeding in multispecies flocks and forming collective roosts.Suburban green areas (buffer zones) were characterized by a considerably high diversity of Corvidae species: this habitat was occupied by all six species. We also registered the highest density of Eurasian Jays and Hooded Crows in this habitat. The green areas in the city center were also characterized by significant corvid density, especially during the breeding season. The maximum breeding density of Rooks was in these habitats, which held 6 of 12 identified urban colonies in Zhytomyr. We found that the European Magpies, Eurasian Jays, and Hooded Crows also had high breeding success here. Eurasian Jackdaws occurred here only in autumn and winter, when they fed together with Rooks on lawns, gardens, and parks. With stable snow cover the Rook density in habitats of the green areas decreased due to the depletion of food resources.The individual buildings zone of the city were characterized by the lowest density of all corvid species, except for European Magpies and Eurasian Jays. The number of common species (Rooks, Eurasian Jackdaws, and Hooded Crows) was low because of shortage of food resources, lack of sites for large roosting flocks and shortage of suitable nesting sites. However, Eurasian Magpies reached one of their highest densities in this habitat (12.8 birds/km2). This species was registered in habitats around private buildings all the year round, successfully nesting in the yards of private houses and on trees in the streets. Its breeding density was 11.2 birds/km2.During three years of research (2009–2012) the density of all corvids except for European Magpie, practically did not change, although we determined a slight positive trend for all the species. The strong increase in the number of Eurasian Jackdaws could be explained by the increasing density of wintering populations or due to the increasing number of migrants from more northern regions.

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Factors associated with longevity: design and preliminary data of the MADRID+90 study

10.31234/osf.io/s9a84 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Miguel Ángel Fernández-Blázquez ◽

Teodoro Del Ser ◽

Belén Frades-Payo ◽

Marina Ávila-Villanueva ◽

Meritxell Valentí-Soler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Status ◽

Cognitive Testing ◽

Economic Consequences ◽

Strong Increase ◽

Second Phase ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Age Related ◽

New Policies ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

The progressive ageing of the population represents a challenge for society. In particular, a strong increase in the number of people over 90 is expected in the next two decades. As this phenomenon will lead to an increase in illness and age-related dependency, the study of long-lived people represents an opportunity to explore which lifestyle factors are associated with healthy ageing and which with the emergence of age-related diseases, especially Alzheimer's type dementia. The project “Factors associated with healthy and pathologically aging in a sample of elderly people over 90 in the city of Madrid” (MADRID+90) brings together a powerful multidisciplinary research team in neurodegenerative diseases that includes experts in epidemiology, neurology, neuropsychology, neuroimaging and computational neuroscience. In the first phase of the project, a stratified random sampling was carried out according to the census of the city of Madrid followed by a survey conducted on 191 people aged 90 and over. This survey gathered information on demographics, clinical data, lifestyles and cognitive status. Here, the main results of that survey are showed. The second phase of the project aims to characterize individual trajectories in the course of either healthy and pathological ageing, from a group of 50 subjects over 90 who will undergo a comprehensive clinical examination comprised of neurological and cognitive testing, MRI and EEG. The ultimate goal of the project is to characterize the biophysical and clinical profiles of a population that tends to receive little attention in the literature. A better understanding of the rapidly increasing group of nonagenarians will also help to design new policies that minimize the impact and future social and economic consequences of the ageing phenomenon.

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COVID-19 scenarios for comparing the effectiveness of age-specific vaccination regimes, exemplified for the city of Aschaffenburg (Germany)

10.1101/2021.08.31.21262915 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tobias Krebs ◽

Holger von Jouanne-Diedrich ◽

Michael J Moeckel

Keyword(s):

Local Population ◽

Age Groups ◽

The Elderly ◽

Strong Increase ◽

Published Data ◽

Model Parameters ◽

Agent Based ◽

The Past ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

Purpose of this report: The purpose of this rapid communication is to illustrate the effectiveness of different vaccination regimes for controlling the number of severe and critical COVID-19 cases in the city of Aschaffenburg, Germany. Our results show that, despite numerous vaccinations in the past, further vaccinations are necessary to immunize the population and to keep the number of severe and critical cases low in the coming months. Considering that not all people can or want to receive vaccination, we compare different age-specific vaccination approaches. Applied Methods: We use the agent-based epidemiological simulator Covasim for discussing the impact of different vaccination strategies. We calibrate it to reproduce the historical course of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city of Aschaffenburg, Germany; for this, we model and integrate numerous public health interventions imposed on the local population. As for some of the political actions rigorous quantification is currently not available, we fit those unknown (free) model parameters to published data on the measured epidemiological dynamics. Then we calculate the state of immunization of the population, gained through infections and vaccinations, at any time in the past, including models for time-dependent immunity decay that have been made available in Covasim. Finally, we define and compare scenar-ios of different vaccination regimes, especially with regard to vaccinating adolescents and providing booster vaccinations to the elderly. Key message: Without further vaccinations, we expect a strong increase in severe and critical cases. In order to restrict their growth our simulations suggest that in all considered cases vaccinations of unvaccinated people is more effective than booster vaccinations for already fully vaccinated people. This applies even to vaccinations of young people who are not themselves at high risk of developing severe or critical illness. We attribute this observation to the fact that immunization of adolescents indirectly protects vulnerable age groups by preventing the spread of the virus more ef-fectively than further immunizing other age groups. This indicates that with the pandemic ongoing, strategies focussed on minimizing individual health risks by vaccinations may no longer coincide with those needed to minimize the num-ber of severe and critical cases.

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Public Policies to Promote Sustainable Transports: Lessons from Valencia

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031141 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1141

Author(s):

Guillermo Mateu ◽

Alberto Sanz

Keyword(s):

Public Policies ◽

Sustainable Transportation ◽

Strong Increase ◽

Urban Mobility ◽

Transportation Mode ◽

The Public ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Potential Benefits ◽

The City

Bicycling appears in the literature on urban mobility as a more sustainable transportation mode for future transportation, based on empirical evidence of the potential benefits of bicycling on the environment, society, and health. In this context, public interventions to promote and maintain bicycling as a sustainable practice and its positive effects are salient. This article reviews different cycling policies with respect to cycling facilities present in the literature and compares them with a case study in Valencia (Spain). We collected information on the public policies implemented in Valencia and the traffic intensity in bike lanes over detecting loops distributed around the city. The results show a strong increase in bicycle use accompanying the implementation of public policies that promote bicycling. The effectiveness of public policies and their impact on bicycling and sustainability are discussed.

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MADRID+90 study on factors associated with longevity: Study design and preliminary data

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0251796 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. e0251796

Author(s):

Miguel A. Fernández-Blázquez ◽

Teodoro del Ser ◽

Belén Frades-Payo ◽

Marina Ávila-Villanueva ◽

Meritxell Valentí-Soler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthy Aging ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Cognitive Testing ◽

Economic Consequences ◽

Strong Increase ◽

Second Phase ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Age Related ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

The progressive aging of the population represents a challenge for society. In particular, a strong increase in the number of people over 90 is expected in the next two decades. As this phenomenon will lead to an increase in illness and age-related dependency, the study of long-lived people represents an opportunity to explore which lifestyle factors are associated with healthy aging and which with the emergence of age-related diseases, especially Alzheimer’s type dementia. The project “Factors associated with healthy and pathologically aging in a sample of elderly people over 90 in the city of Madrid” (MADRID+90) brings together a multidisciplinary research team in neurodegenerative diseases that includes experts in epidemiology, neurology, neuropsychology, neuroimaging and computational neuroscience. In the first phase of the project, a stratified random sampling was carried out according to the census of the city of Madrid followed by a survey conducted on 191 people aged 90 and over. This survey gathered information on demographics, clinical data, lifestyles and cognitive status. Here, the main results of that survey are showed. The second phase of the project aims to characterize individual trajectories in the course of either healthy and pathological aging, from a group of 50 subjects over 90 who will undergo a comprehensive clinical examination comprised of neurological and cognitive testing, MRI and EEG. The ultimate goal of the project is to characterize the biophysical and clinical profiles of a population that tends to receive little attention in the literature. A better understanding of the rapidly increasing group of nonagenarians will also help to design new policies that minimize the impact and future social and economic consequences of rapidly aging societies.

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Hospitals: N.Y. Appellate Court Denies Move to Privatize Public Hospital

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1017/s1073110500012961 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 202-203

Author(s):

Robert Chatham

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

New York City ◽

York City ◽

Public Health System ◽

Municipal Hospital ◽

The Public ◽

Public Benefit ◽

For Profit ◽

Benefit Corporation ◽

The City

The Court of Appeals of New York held, in Council of the City of New York u. Giuliani, slip op. 02634, 1999 WL 179257 (N.Y. Mar. 30, 1999), that New York City may not privatize a public city hospital without state statutory authorization. The court found invalid a sublease of a municipal hospital operated by a public benefit corporation to a private, for-profit entity. The court reasoned that the controlling statute prescribed the operation of a municipal hospital as a government function that must be fulfilled by the public benefit corporation as long as it exists, and nothing short of legislative action could put an end to the corporation's existence.In 1969, the New York State legislature enacted the Health and Hospitals Corporation Act (HHCA), establishing the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) as an attempt to improve the New York City public health system. Thirty years later, on a renewed perception that the public health system was once again lacking, the city administration approved a sublease of Coney Island Hospital from HHC to PHS New York, Inc. (PHS), a private, for-profit entity.

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ASHA Convention 2013

ASHA Leader ◽

10.1044/leader.an11.18072013.46 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (7) ◽

pp. 46-48

Keyword(s):

Ice Cream ◽

Annual Convention ◽

The City ◽

Rich History

This year's Annual Convention features some sweet new twists like ice cream and free wi-fi. But it also draws on a rich history as it returns to Chicago, the city where the association's seeds were planted way back in 1930. Read on through our special convention section for a full flavor of can't-miss events, helpful tips, and speakers who remind why you do what you do.

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App it Up in the City of Stars

ASHA Leader ◽

10.1044/leader.app.22072017.np ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 22 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Sean Sweeney

Keyword(s):

The City

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Spectacle and the City

10.1017/9789048517022 ◽

2013 ◽

Keyword(s):

The City

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