Assessing sustainability in housing LED urban regeneration : insights from a housing association in Northern England

How far do current assessment methods allow the thorough evaluation of sustainable urban regeneration? Would it be useful, to approach the evaluation of the environmental and social impacts of housing regeneration schemes, by making both hidden pitfalls and potentials explicit, and budgeting costs and benefits in the stakeholders’ perspective? The paper aims at answering these questions, by focusing on a case study located in the Manchester area, the City West Housing Trust, a nonprofit housing association. Drawing from extensive fieldwork and including several interviews with key experts from this housing association, the paper first attempts to monetize the environmental and social value of two extant projects – a high-rise housing estate and an environmentally-led program. It then discusses whether and how a stakeholder-oriented approach would allow more engagement of both current and potential funders in the projects at hand. Findings from both the literature and the empirical data that was gathered show how in current housing regeneration processes, room for significant improvements in terms of assessment methods still exist. Findings additionally show that the environmental and social spillovers are largely disregarded because of a gap in the evaluation tools. This may also hinder the potential contributions of further funders in the achievements of higher impacts in terms of sustainability

Systemic pro-inflammatory cytokine status following therapeutic hypothermia in a piglet hypoxia-ischemia model

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory cytokines are implicated in the pathogenesis of perinatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI). The influence of hypothermia (HT) on cytokines after HI is unclear. Our aim was to assess in a piglet asphyxia model, under normothermic (NT) and HT conditions: (i) the evolution of serum cytokines over 48 h and (ii) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytokine levels at 48 h; (iii) serum pro/anti-inflammatory cytokine profile over 48 h and (iv) relation between brain injury measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and brain TUNEL positive cells with serum cytokines, serum pro/anti-inflammatory cytokines and CSF cytokines. METHODS: Newborn piglets were randomized to NT (n = 5) or HT (n = 6) lasting 2-26 h after HI. Serum samples were obtained 4-6 h before, during and at 6-12 h intervals after HI; CSF was obtained at 48 h. Concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1beta, -4, -6, -8, -10 and TNF-alpha were measured and pro/anti-inflammatory status compared between groups. White matter and thalamic voxel lactate/N-acetyl aspartate (Lac/NAA) (a measure of both oxidative metabolism and neuronal loss) were acquired at baseline, after HI and at 24 and 36 h. RESULTS: Lac/NAA was reduced at 36 h with HT compared to NT (p = 0.013 basal ganglia and p = 0.033 white matter). HT showed lower serum TNF-alpha from baseline to 12 h (p < 0.05). Time-matched (acquired within 5 h of each other) serum cytokine and MRS showed correlations between Lac/NAA and serum IL-1beta and IL-10 (all p < 0.01). The pro/anti-inflammatory ratios IL-1beta/IL-10, IL-6/IL-10, IL-4/IL-10 and IL-8/IL-10 were similar in NT and HT groups until 36 h (24 h for IL-6/IL-10); after this, 36 h pro/anti-inflammatory cytokine ratios in the serum were higher in HT compared to NT (p < 0.05), indicating a pro-inflammatory cytokine surge after rewarming in the HT group. In the CSF at 48 h, IL-8 was lower in the HT group (p < 0.05). At 48 h, CSF TNF-alpha correlated with Lac/NAA (p = 0.02) and CSF IL-8 correlated with white matter TUNEL positive cell death (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Following cerebral HI, there was a systemic pro-inflammatory surge after rewarming in the HT group, which is counterintuitive to the putative neuroprotective effects of HT. While serum cytokines were variable, elevations in CSF inflammatory cytokines at 48 h were associated with MRS Lac/NAA and white matter cell death

Bridging the gap between the home and the hospital : a qualitative study of partnership working across housing, health and social care

Rising demand and financial challenges facing public services have increased the impetus for greater integration across housing, health and social care. To provide insight into the benefits and challenges of partnership, we interviewed 37 housing professionals and held a validation workshop with eight external agencies working within a new, integrated housing service in the United Kingdom. The strength of the initiative rests on the capacity of neighbourhood officers to conduct home visits and refer tenants to support agencies. Yet this strength poses problems in partnership building because increased referrals threaten to overwhelm already stretched health services. Despite broadly supporting the initiative, officers expressed concern over losing specialist housing knowledge whilst filling in gaps for services. Tensions over professional role boundaries between officers and social workers, poor communication, lack of capacity in external agencies and difficulties in sharing information were identified as barriers to partnership. Whilst capacity issues were acknowledged, partner agencies welcomed the initiative and called for joint meetings and colocation of services. Lack of capacity of external agencies to respond to referrals threatens integrated housing and health initiatives. Greater interprofessional collaboration and further investment across the system is required to increase capacity and ensure referrals are translated into healthcare outcomes

Nonlinear Fitness Landscape of a Molecular Pathway

Genes are regulated because their expression involves a fitness cost to the organism. The production of proteins by transcription and translation is a well-known cost factor, but the enzymatic activity of the proteins produced can also reduce fitness, depending on the internal state and the environment of the cell. Here, we map the fitness costs of a key metabolic network, the lactose utilization pathway in Escherichia coli. We measure the growth of several regulatory lac operon mutants in different environments inducing expression of the lac genes. We find a strikingly nonlinear fitness landscape, which depends on the production rate and on the activity rate of the lac proteins. A simple fitness model of the lac pathway, based on elementary biophysical processes, predicts the growth rate of all observed strains. The nonlinearity of fitness is explained by a feedback loop: production and activity of the lac proteins reduce growth, but growth also affects the density of these molecules. This nonlinearity has important consequences for molecular function and evolution. It generates a cliff in the fitness landscape, beyond which populations cannot maintain growth. In viable populations, there is an expression barrier of the lac genes, which cannot be exceeded in any stationary growth process. Furthermore, the nonlinearity determines how the fitness of operon mutants depends on the inducer environment. We argue that fitness nonlinearities, expression barriers, and gene–environment interactions are generic features of fitness landscapes for metabolic pathways, and we discuss their implications for the evolution of regulation

Evolutionary Dynamics of Intratumor Heterogeneity

Intraneoplastic diversity in human tumors is a widespread phenomenon of critical importance for tumor progression and the response to therapeutic intervention. Insights into the evolutionary events that control tumor heterogeneity would be a major breakthrough in our comprehension of cancer development and could lead to more effective prevention methods and therapies. In this paper, we design an evolutionary mathematical framework to study the dynamics of heterogeneity over time. We consider specific situations arising during tumorigenesis, such as the emergence of positively selected mutations (“drivers”) and the accumulation of neutral variation (“passengers”). We perform exact computer simulations of the emergence of diverse tumor cell clones over time, and derive analytical estimates for the extent of heterogeneity within a population of cancer cells. Our methods contribute to a quantitative understanding of tumor heterogeneity and the impact of heritable alterations on this tumor trait

Phenotypic Plasticity in Response to the Social Environment: Effects of Density and Sex Ratio on Mating Behaviour Following Ecotype Divergence

The ability to express phenotypically plastic responses to environmental cues might be adaptive in changing environments. We studied phenotypic plasticity in mating behaviour as a response to population density and adult sex ratio in a freshwater isopod (Asellus aquaticus). A. aquaticus has recently diverged into two distinct ecotypes, inhabiting different lake habitats (reed Phragmites australis and stonewort Chara tomentosa, respectively). In field surveys, we found that these habitats differ markedly in isopod population densities and adult sex ratios. These spatially and temporally demographic differences are likely to affect mating behaviour. We performed behavioural experiments using animals from both the ancestral ecotype (“reed” isopods) and from the novel ecotype (“stonewort” isopods) population. We found that neither ecotype adjusted their behaviour in response to population density. However, the reed ecotype had a higher intrinsic mating propensity across densities. In contrast to the effects of density, we found ecotype differences in plasticity in response to sex ratio. The stonewort ecotype show pronounced phenotypic plasticity in mating propensity to adult sex ratio, whereas the reed ecotype showed a more canalised behaviour with respect to this demographic factor. We suggest that the lower overall mating propensity and the phenotypic plasticity in response to sex ratio have evolved in the novel stonewort ecotype following invasion of the novel habitat. Plasticity in mating behaviour may in turn have effects on the direction and intensity of sexual selection in the stonewort habitat, which may fuel further ecotype divergence

Host Shifts from Lamiales to Brassicaceae in the Sawfly Genus Athalia

Plant chemistry can be a key driver of host shifts in herbivores. Several species in the sawfly genus Athalia are important economic pests on Brassicaceae, whereas other Athalia species are specialized on Lamiales. These host plants have glucosides in common, which are sequestered by larvae. To disentangle the possible direction of host shifts in this genus, we examined the sequestration specificity and feeding deterrence of iridoid glucosides (IGs) and glucosinolates (GSs) in larvae of five species which either naturally sequester IGs from their hosts within the Plantaginaceae (Lamiales) or GSs from Brassicaceae, respectively. Furthermore, adults were tested for feeding stimulation by a neo-clerodane diterpenoid which occurs in Lamiales. Larvae of the Plantaginaceae-feeders did not sequester artificially administered p-hydroxybenzylGS and were more deterred by GSs than Brassicaceae-feeders were by IGs. In contrast, larvae of Brassicaceae-feeders were able to sequester artificially administered catalpol (IG), which points to an ancestral association with Lamiales. In line with this finding, adults of all tested species were stimulated by the neo-clerodane diterpenoid. Finally, in a phylogenetic tree inferred from genetic marker sequences of 21 Athalia species, the sister species of all remaining 20 Athalia species also turned out to be a Lamiales-feeder. Fundamental physiological pre-adaptations, such as the establishment of a glucoside transporter, and mechanisms to circumvent activation of glucosides by glucosidases are therefore necessary prerequisites for successful host shifts between Lamiales and Brassicaceae

Climate change, phenological shifts, eco-evolutionary responses and population viability: toward a unifying predictive approach

The debate on emission targets of greenhouse gasses designed to limit global climate change has to take into account the ecological consequences. One of the clearest ecological consequences is shifts in phenology. Linking these shifts to changes in population viability under various greenhouse gasses emission scenarios requires a unifying framework. We propose a box-in-a-box modeling approach that couples population models to phenological change. This approach unifies population modeling with both ecological responses to climate change as well as evolutionary processes. We advocate a mechanistic embedded correlative approach, where the link from genes to population is established using a periodic matrix population model. This periodic model has several major advantages: (1) it can include complex seasonal behaviors allowing an easy link with phenological shifts; (2) it provides the structure of the population at each phase, including the distribution of genotypes and phenotypes, allowing a link with evolutionary processes; and (3) it can incorporate the effect of climate at different time periods. We believe that the way climatologists have approached the problem, using atmosphere–ocean coupled circulation models in which components are gradually included and linked to each other, can provide a valuable example to ecologists. We hope that ecologists will take up this challenge and that our preliminary modeling framework will stimulate research toward a unifying predictive model of the ecological consequences of climate change