Exposure Factors for Wastewater‐Irrigated Asian Vegetables and a Probabilistic Rotavirus Disease Burden Model for Their Consumption

Many farmers in water‐scarce regions of developing countries use wastewater to irrigate vegetables and other agricultural crops, a practice that may expand with climate change. There are a number of health risks associated with wastewater irrigation for human food crops, particularly with surface irrigation techniques common in the developing world. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends using quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to determine if the irrigation scheme meets health standards. However, only a few vegetables have been studied for wastewater risk and little information is known about the disease burden of wastewater‐irrigated vegetable consumption in China. To bridge this knowledge gap, an experiment was conducted to determine volume of water left on Asian vegetables and lettuce after irrigation. One hundred samples each of Chinese chard (Brassica rapa var. chinensis), Chinese broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra), Chinese flowering cabbage (Brassica rapa var. parachinensis), and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were harvested after overhead sprinkler irrigation. Chinese broccoli and flowering cabbage were found to capture the most water and lettuce the least. QMRAs were then constructed to estimate rotavirus disease burden from consumption of wastewater‐irrigated Asian vegetables in Beijing. Results indicate that estimated risks from these reuse scenarios exceed WHO guideline thresholds for acceptable disease burden for wastewater use, signifying that reduction of pathogen concentration or stricter risk management is necessary for safe reuse. Considering the widespread practice of wastewater irrigation for food production, particularly in developing countries, incorporation of water retention factors in QMRAs can reduce uncertainty regarding health risks for consumers worldwide.     

ON THE EQUIVALENCE OF SOME INDICES OF SIMILARITY: IMPLICATION FOR BINARY PRESENCE/ABSENCE DATA

Cohen’s kappa, a special case of the weighted kappa, is a chance‐corrected index used extensively to quantify inter‐rater agreement in validation and reliability studies. In this paper, it is shown that in inter‐rater agreement for 2 × 2 tables, for two raters having the same number of opposite ratings, the weighted kappa, Cohen’s kappa, Peirce, Yule, Maxwell and Pilliner and Fleiss indices are identical. This implies that the weights in the weighted kappa are less important under such assumptions. Equivalently, it is shown that for two partitions of the same data set, resulting from two clustering algorithms having the same number of clusters with equal cluster sizes, these similarity indices are identical. Hence, an important characterisation is formulated relating equal numbers of clusters with the same cluster sizes to the presence/absence of a trait in a reliability study. Two numerical examples that exemplify the implication of this relationship are presented.     

Social Learning in Transnational Spatial Planning Processes: An Analysis of the ‘V4+2’ Cooperation on Spatial Development

ABSTRACT

Social learning can offer a useful lens to analyse multi-actor cooperation processes and their outcomes. In this paper, a conceptual framework based on learning theories is applied to a recent transnational spatial planning process in Central Europe to analyse how the cooperation agenda was shaped, a joint strategy developed, and to understand the possible policy effects of this process. The findings allow a reflection on the potentials of, and challenges for, multi-actor cooperation on spatial planning in large regions covering several countries.     

People with sight impairment in the world of visual arts: does it make any sense?

Abstract

The article describes an educational and artistic project in Poland where individuals with sight impairments could learn more about visual arts through guided city tours around their greatest monuments, appreciation of art pieces and meetings with artists. During workshops, they could test their own artistic skills by creating tactile drawings, pottery sculptures, photographs and tactile picture book. The effects of their attempts were presented in a temporary exhibition in the contemporary art gallery (with an associated educational program). The exhibition was a significant experience both for the artists with visual impairments and the visitors. Through analysis of the structure and content of the artworks, the gallery visitors could understand more about the situation of people with sight impairments as they struggle with everyday tasks and how creative they are.     

Unilateral collaboration: The practices and understandings of traditional birth attendants in southeastern Nigeria

Background

Despite the promotion of hospital-based maternity care as the safest option, for less developed countries, many women particularly those in the rural areas continue to patronise indigenous midwives or traditional birth attendants. Little is known about traditional birth attendants’ perspectives regarding their pregnancy and birth practices.

Some results about bivariate discrete distributions through the vector of aging intensities

In this paper bivariate vectors of discrete aging and alternative aging intensities are introduced. Using these vector-valued functions we present some results about bivariate discrete distributions.     

Nation in Market Times: Connecting the National and the Commercial. A Research Overview

This article provides an overview of the growing body of research pertaining to different forms of mediated nationhood. In particular, it focuses on the relatively recent trend toward increasing articulations of national identity with the language of consumerism and neoliberal market ideology. It argues that the process is twofold; on the one hand commercial entities employ nationalist appeals in order to sell their commodities, a process which is called “nationalizing the commercial”. On the other hand, nation states make advantage of advertising agencies to create attractive and competitive nation brands which is a process of “commercializing the national”. The article argues that this double logic is a result of the growing importance of the economic power in societies which can be named as " economization of the social" . In the context where the political articulations of nationhood are subsumed by the commercial ones, the link between the national and the commercial is seldom challenged or questioned.     

The perception of realistic and symbolic threat and its influence on prejudice,ingroup favouritism and prosocial response: The native population in the face of immigration / Percepción de amenaza realista y simbólica,su influencia sobre el prejuicio,el favoritismo endogrupal y la respuesta prosocial: la población nativa ante la inmigración

In a context of inflow of immigration and economic crisis, new forms of prejudice and the activation of the perception of threat (realistic and symbolic) will determine the response to immigrant minorities (outgroups). The antecedents of threat are considered to be: the perception of the intergroup situation and the forms of affective prejudice. The outcome variables are ingroup favouritism, prosocial response, empathy and willingness to help. In a cross-sectional study based on a random survey of Basques (n = 500), structural equation modelling analyses were applied to test the differences between realistic and symbolic threat. The results indicate that when the majority group status is perceived as legitimate, the perception of realistic threat arises and this increases ingroup favouritism and decreases prosocial response to the outgroup, directly and through the expression of affective prejudice. Symbolic threat, on the other hand, plays a more limited role. Mechanisms of the perception of realistic and symbolic threat regarding attitudes of natives to immigrants are discussed.