scholarly journals Are PM2.5 in the Atmosphere of a Small City a Threat for Health?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11329
Author(s):  
Glykeria Loupa ◽  
Zoi Panagiota Kryona ◽  
Varvara Pantelidou ◽  
Spyridon Rapsomanikis
Keyword(s):  
Local Population ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Small City ◽  
Small Cities ◽  
North East ◽  
Concentration Problem ◽  
Central Heating ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Single Chemical ◽  
Chemical Pollutant

A number of time series from two local PM2.5 monitoring stations were analyzed, for a small city, in North East Greece. They coincided with SARS-CoV-2 pandemic lockdowns and lifting restrictions. The aim of this analysis was to establish concentration exceedances and roughly apportion sources of the PM2.5 concentration problem. This was established by analyzing 24-h filter samples of trace elements using WD-XRF. It was found that the restrictions and their lifting did not significantly affect these concentrations. The main problems were assigned to emissions from biomass burning central heating and Saharan dust episodes. The study results indicate that even in small cities the air quality as far as PM2.5 is concerned can still be deleterious to the local population according to the WHO restricting levels but not according to the EU levels. The fact that PM2.5 is not a single chemical pollutant makes matters more complicated and renders such concentration upper levels, of little significance.

scholarly journals En dynamisk kulturarv – Dybbøls 12 metamorfoser

1970 ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Inge Andriansen
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Large Mass ◽  
Mass Graves ◽  
North East ◽  
The World ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Many

Dybbøl is the brow of a hill located about 30 km north-east of the border between Denmark and Germany. This area was once the former Danish Duchy of Schleswig, which was under German rule in the period from 1864 to 1920. Dybbøl was also the site of intense fighting during the Schleswig-Holstein Revolt of 1848–50 and the Danish-German War of 1864. There are remains of both Danish and German fortifications and earthworks, along with large mass graves in which troops from Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and Germany lie buried. After a plebiscite about the placing of the border was held in 1920, Schleswig was divided up, and the northern part – which included Dybbøl – became part of Denmark. This was followed by a comprehensive ”Danishification” of the cultural landscape, which had previously been dominated by a large Prussian victory monument and numerous German memorial stones. A Danish national park was set up at Dybbøl in 1924, with the backing of the local population and financial sup- port from a national collection appeal, and formally opened by the Danish prime minister. After this, Dybbøl became the epitome of the institutionalised cultural heritage of the state of Denmark, and would almost certainly be included in any ”cultural canon” of the most significant geographical locations that have helped shape the Danish sense of national identity. However, Dybbøl also features another – less comfortable – aspect of the Danish cultural heritage, bearing witness to Danish acts of vandalism perpetrated against the German monuments found here. Any study of the use of the history associated with Dybbøl uncovers layer upon layer of episodes that speak of conflicting interests and countless metamorphoses that led to the site being imbued with new values and a sequence of new identities. And in step with the resurgence of nationalist sentiments in Denmark since the mid-1980s, there has been a corresponding, strengthened re-annexation of the cultural heritage associated with Dybbøl. The need to cling on to and retain establis- hed, familiar positions and a fundamental sense of belonging are well-known aspects of the process of globalisation, and are seen throughout the world. In Dybbøl, this deep-felt need has resulted in the construction of a Danish fortification, and the Danish flag flying atop the many flagpoles has become more frequent sight. This process can also be interpreted as an expression of Danish foreign policy taking on a more active role in the world.

scholarly journals Reliability and validity of the Mizo-version of neck disability index for non-specific neck pain in the rural North-East Indian population

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 317
Author(s):  
Andrew Lalchhuanawma ◽  
Divya Sanghi
Keyword(s):  
Neck Pain ◽  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Neck Disability Index ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
East Indian ◽  
North East ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Neck Disability

Background: The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is an important self-assessment tool used extensively worldwide, in clinical practice with implications into scientific research fields. It is used to assess the extent of pain and levels of functional disability associated with neck pain. The NDI consists of 10 items where each item was scored from a scale of 0 to 5 giving the maximum score possible to 50. Though proven to be a reliable instrument in the English-speaking population, the NDI has never been validated and culturally adapted in the Mizo language among the rural north-east Indian region where English is not spoken as means of communication. The aim is to translate and cross culturally adapt the NDI into Mizo tawng (official language of Mizoram) with the objective of establishing reliability and validity of the M-NDI in patients with non-specific neck pain.Methods: A total of 49 subjects participated voluntarily from the rural primary health care, Lunglei district, Mizoram. Subject having chronic non-specific neck pain lasting more than 3 months were included after taking a written formal consent.Results: The internal consistency determined by Cronbach alpha, and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) using the test-retest reliability showed a good and an excellent reliability respectively (α=0.82, ICC=0.97, 95% CI= 0.95-0.98). Construct validity was determined between the variables-Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and NDI by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and found to have a good correlation r=0.89 and significant difference at p<0.001.Conclusions: The study results concluded the Mizo version of NDI to be easy to understand, reliable and valid instrument for measuring disability and functional limitations of daily activities in non-specific neck pain in the Mizo speaking population.

scholarly journals Urbanization Chaos of Suburban Small Cities in Poland: ‘Tetris Development’

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Anna Majewska ◽  
Małgorzata Denis ◽  
Wioleta Krupowicz
Keyword(s):  
Urban Sprawl ◽  
Kernel Density ◽  
City Center ◽  
Spatial Order ◽  
Small Cities ◽  
Spatial Chaos ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Central Statistical ◽  
Central Statistical Office ◽  
The Eu

This paper investigates the phenomenon of spatial chaos in Poland resulting from urban sprawl. The phenomenon is particularly visible in the case of suburban small cities which, in contrast to cities in the EU-15 countries with similar populations, are expanding excessively, causing a growth of urbanized areas exceeding several times the growth of their population. Suburbs of these cities increasingly resemble a badly played Tetris game. The selected study area consists of several cities in the Warsaw suburban zone where an increased dynamic of these processes can be observed. The paper presents detailed studies concerning the selected representative small cities. The morphology of urban tissue was studied as a marker of spatial order including: development intensity, street grid, plots parameters, presence of technical infrastructure, and distance from the functional city center. The analyses were performed based on cartographic archives, the data of the Central Statistical Office of Poland, topographic database and Kernel Density Estimation. ArcGIS ESRI and AutoCad software was used to present the study results. The conducted studies intend to diagnose the changes in the spatial layout in the context of the objectives of spatial order and sustainable development, and to define the indicators which should be taken into account in spatial planning documents drawn up for the studied areas.

A small upland city gets a big make-over: Local responses to state ‘modernity’ plans for Lào Cai, Vietnam

Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (16) ◽  
pp. 3432-3449
Author(s):  
Youssef Henein ◽  
Thi-Thanh-Hien Pham ◽  
Sarah Turner
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Small Cities ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Local Responses ◽  
Lao Cai ◽  
Everyday Realities

Since 1986, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has undergone tremendous upheavals in urban growth, city planning and market integration. Yet the complex transformations underway in small cities and towns, especially those in uplands regions, and their impacts on residents’ livelihoods, have been relatively ignored to date in the academic literature. Drawing on small cities and everyday politics concepts, we examine the contested relationships between a socialist state bent on completing a major urban make-over for an upland small city, and the reactions and strategies of local residents. From its historical roots as a small border trading post and colonial garrison town in the late 1800s, Lào Cai has now grown to be a key node on the Greater Mekong Sub Regions’ Eastern Corridor. Urban planning has taken a distinctively ‘modern’ turn since the early 1990s, and the contemporary city reflects a curious blend of socialist urban planning ideals, state visions of modernity and the everyday realities of the local population. Great efforts are being made by city officials and developers to copy the urban forms of Vietnam’s large low-land cities, while concurrently ignoring many of the basic needs of the local population, revealing sharp inequalities. Nonetheless, residents are subtly pushing back against the state’s plans via a range of strategies that also highlight the nuances of inhabiting a small upland city.

From Apple to Orange: Narratives of Small City Migration and Settlement among the Urban Middle Class

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 402-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Ocejo
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
New York City ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
York City ◽  
Small City ◽  
Small Cities ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
The City

As large cities become unaffordable, some people in the urban middle class are moving to small cities but risk replicating gentrification and its harms. Based on a qualitative research project on Newburgh, a small city north of New York City, this paper examines the narratives that middle-class urbanites construct to make sense of this migration, their new urban environment, and their place within it. These narratives describe their decision to move (migration) and their everyday lives in the city (settlement). Most importantly, their narratives are shaped by their social positions as both displaced residents and gentrifiers and as both consumers and producers of space. But despite being self-aware gentrifiers, their settlement narratives lack reflections on their own displacement from New York City, and instead emphasize how they try to mitigate gentrification’s harms. The paper concludes with a discussion of what makes gentrifiers in small cities distinct from those in large ones.

Evolution and metallogenic settings of the Pados-Tundra chrome-bearing ultramafic complex, Kola Peninsula: isotope Sm-Nd and U-Pb evidence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Serov ◽  
Tamara Bayanova ◽  
Ekaterina Steshenko ◽  
Eugenii Kunakkuzin ◽  
Elena Borisenko
Keyword(s):  
Kola Peninsula ◽  
Layered Series ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Ultramafic Complex ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Partially Observed ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Enclosing Rocks

&lt;p&gt;The Pados-Tundra massif is located in the western Kola Peninsula and included in the Notozero ultrabasic rock complex (Vinogradov, 1971). The intrusion occurs as a body of ca. 13 km&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; stretched out to the north-east. Enclosing rocks are Archaean granite- and granodiorite-gneisses. There are three major areas in the massif structure (Mamontov, Dokuchaeva, 2005): endocontact area, rhythmically layered series, and upper area. The endocontact area with thickness of 10-20 m occurs as schistose amphibole rocks formed during the metamorphism of main rocks. The rhythmically layered series occurs as a number of rocks from dunites to orthopyroxenites and composes most of the massif. There are 7 rhythms in total, each of which starts with dunites and ends with orthopyroxenites. Dykes of mezo- and leucocratic gabbro, diorites, and hornblendites are developed in the series rocks. The upper gabbronorite area can be partially observed in the north-eastern massif. Presumably, its major volume has been overlapped by enclosing rocks as a result of the overthrust. In the massif, there are 4 horizons of disseminated stratiform chromite ores, which are confined to dunites and serpentinites, as well as to a number of lens- and column-like bodies (podiform type) of chromite ores (Mamontov, Dokuchaeva, 2005; Barkov et al., 2017). Previous isotope-geochronological studies have determined the massif rock age of 2.15 Ga (Shapkin et al., 2008). However, further geological field observations and analysis of the obtained data assume that the intrusive is much older.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;New Sm-Nd geochronological data indicate that the massif rocks and its rhythmically layered series are of Paleoproterozoic age, which is similar to the age of the Cu-Ni-Co-Cr-PGE ore-magmatic system of the Fennoscandian Shield (Amelin et al., 1995; Bayanova et al., 2014, 2017, 2019; Hanski et al., 2001; Huhma et al., 1990, 1996; Layered intrusions ...; 2004; Maier, Hanski, 2017; Mitrofanov et al., 2019; Peltonen, Brugmann, 2006; Puchtel et al., 2001; Serov, 2008; Serov et al., 2014; Sharkov, 2006; Sharkov, Smolkin, 1997). Complex Sm-Nd and U-Pb isotope-geochronological studies have allowed determining the major formation and alteration stages of the Pados-Tundra complex rocks:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8211;&amp;#160; formation of the rhythmically layered series rocks of the intrusive 2485&amp;#177;77 Ma, harzburgites of the layered series &amp;#8211; 2475&amp;#177;38 Ma;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8211; metamorphism of the massif rocks at the turn of 1.95 - 1.9 Ga;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8211; postmetamorphic cooling of the complex rocks t&amp;#1086; 650&amp;#176;-600&amp;#176;&amp;#1057; at the turn of 1872&amp;#177;76 Ma (Sm-Nd for metamorphic minerals) and then to 450&amp;#176;-400&amp;#176;&amp;#1057; (U-Pb for rutile, 1804&amp;#177;10 Ma).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, the study results expand geography the East-Scandinavian large Palaeoproterozoic igneous province and are prospective for further study of analogous ultramafite-mafite complexes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;All investigations and were supported by the RFBR 18-05-70082, 18-35-00246, Presidium RAS Program #48 and are in frame of the Theme of Scientific Research 0226-2019-0053.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Lactobacilli From Buffalo Milk and Yogurt With Antibacterial Activity Against Gram-Negative Uropathogens

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 109-113
Author(s):  
Sahar Baie ◽  
Ania Ahani Azari ◽  
Teena Dadgar
Keyword(s):  
Antibacterial Activity ◽  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Inhibitory Activity ◽  
Buffalo Milk ◽  
Diffusion Method ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
E Coli ◽  
North East ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Tract Infections

Background: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the antibacterial activity of Lactobacillus strains isolated from buffalo milk and yogurt in Aliabad-e Katul city, Golestan province, north-east of Iran. Methods: Raw milk and yogurt samples were collected and cultured on MRS medium by incubating anaerobically at 37°C for 48 hours. The suspected colonies were identified on the basis of Gram staining, biochemical tests, and carbohydrates fermentation. The antibacterial activity of the cell-free supernatant (CFS) extracted from Lactobacillus strains was determined using the agar well diffusion method against standard strains of Escherichia coli ATCC 11303, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 13883, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15442 as well as gram-negative uropathogens previously isolated from patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs). Three isolates of E. coli (E1, E2, and E3), two isolates of P. aeruginosa (P1 and P2), and two isolates of K. pneumoniae (K1 and K2) were used in this study. Results: A total of 19 Lactobacillus strains were identified as L. plantarum, L. casei, L. acidophilus, and L. helveticus. Based on the results of antibacterial activity test, the isolates had the highest and lowest inhibitory effects on the E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates, respectively. Among the isolates, only L. casei isolates showed inhibitory activity against K. pneumoniae isolates. Conclusions: In this study, Lactobacilli from buffalo milk and yogurt demonstrated a good inhibitory activity against E. coli as a common cause of urinary tract infection. Therefore, further studies are recommended to elucidate their potential for being used as an alternative to antibiotic therapy.

scholarly journals Physical-geographical conditions of the creating and developing of the small cities of Lviv region

2015 ◽  
pp. 95-102
Author(s):  
Yuriy Zhuk
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Small City ◽  
Small Cities ◽  
The Past ◽  
Natural Factors ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Impact

Small cities serve important functions in the territorial and economic system of the country. They are essential elements of the settlement network, which involved in industrial production, agricultural service of the surrounding areas, perform the transport functions. They are cultural, recreational and scientific centres. Significant impact on the functioning of small cities is connected with natural factors – the relief, climate, forests, land and mineral resources. Combined with the historical development, they played a crucial role in the formation of settlement network. Influence of terrain, including its plainness, the proximity of groundwater affects the location of settlements in high, watershed areas, the size of settlements, settlement features. The impact of physical-geographical conditions of Lviv region on creation and development of small cities are described in the article. The classification of small cities of Lviv region by the physicalgeographical regions was done. The physical-geographical regions of Lviv region and their suitability for the creating of the cities in the past are analysed. Keywords: a small city, physical-geographical conditions, the natural potential of the area.

scholarly journals Assessment of sources and distribution metals in groundwater of Pondicherry region, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-53
Author(s):  
Thilagavathi R ◽  
Chidambaram S ◽  
Thivya C ◽  
Banajarani Panda ◽  
Ganesh N
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Heavy Metal Concentration ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
North East ◽  
Study Results ◽  
South West Monsoon

The proposed study investigates the seasonal variation in the concentration and the source of the heavy metals like Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe in the groundwater samples of Pondicherry region. The study results reveal that, the heavy metal concentration is high during South West Monsoon season (SWM) compared to that of North East Monsoon season (NEM). The pH was near neutral and metal load representing most of the samples were low during NEM. Statistical analysis shows that the 63.7 % of the total variance is observed during NEM and 68.9% during SWM. Geographic information system (GIS) tool was considered for the study to understand the environmental pollution status of the groundwater systems of the study area and to identify the groundwater quality parameters. The multivariate statistical analysis explains that the source of trace metal in the groundwater is derived from natural origin except copper and lead as these contaminants were derived from anthropogenic activities. Based on the output of WATEQ4F, several species of heavy metals exist, in which the dominant species are Mn, CuCl2, PbCO3, Fe and Zn.

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