49,109 research outputs found

    Will buffer zones around schools in agricultural areas be adequate to protect children from the potential adverse effects of pesticide exposure?

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    California has proposed limiting agricultural pesticide use within 0.4 km of schools and childcare facilities. However, the 0.4-km buffer may not be appropriate for all pesticides because of differing toxicities, fate, and application methods. Living near pesticide use has been associated with poorer birth outcomes, neurodevelopment, and respiratory function in children. More research about exposures in schools, childcare facilities, and homes is needed. Despite incomplete science, this regulation is an important step to reduce potential exposures to children. The most vulnerable exposure period may be in utero, and future regulations should also aim to reduce exposures to pregnant women

    Commodity Trade Stabilization Through International Agreements

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    We introduce a simple and efficient procedure for the segmentation of rigidly moving objects, imaged under an affine camera model. For this purpose we revisit the theory of "linear combination of views" (LCV), proposed by Ullman and Basri [20], which states that the set of 2d views of an object undergoing 3d rigid transformations, is embedded in a low-dimensional linear subspace that is spanned by a small number of basis views. Our work shows, that one may use this theory for motion segmentation, and cluster the trajectories of 3d objects using only two 2d basis views. We therefore propose a practical motion segmentation method, built around LCV, that is very simple to implement and use, and in addition is very fast, meaning it is well suited for real-time SfM and tracking applications. We have experimented on real image sequences, where we show good segmentation results, comparable to the state-of-the-art in literature. If we also consider computational complexity, our proposed method is one of the best performers in combined speed and accuracy. © 2011. The copyright of this document resides with its authors

    Piscataqua Region Environmental Planning Assessment

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    The Piscataqua Region Environmental Planning Assessment (PREPA) was conducted to document the current status of environmental planning efforts and land use regulations for each of the 42 New Hampshire municipalities and 10 Maine municipalities (city and town governments) in the Piscataqua Region. The assessment involved analysis of over 80 questions associated with municipal regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to resource management. The assessment theme areas include land protection, wildlife habitat, stormwater management, erosion/sediment control, wetland and shoreland protections, floodplain management, and drinking water source protection, among others. Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) staff and Land Use Team worked closely with a variety of stakeholders and the four regional planning commissions that service the Piscataqua Region on the development of the PREPA assessment form. For each of the 52 towns in the region, staff from the regional planning commissions reviewed municipal planning documents and interviewed key municipal representatives to complete an assessment form for each municipality. Data were collected in early 2009. This data was compiled by PREP into a database and analyzed for regional trends. Results for individual towns as well as regional trends are presented in this final project report. Differences between New Hampshire and Maine environmental policies are also evaluated for select issues pertaining to water quality and habitat protection

    The Role of Law in the Planning Process

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    Town of Milton Shoreland Protection Project

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    Mettee Planning Consultants (MPC) worked with the Milton Conservation Commission to evaluate and streamline the town’s water resource protection regulations. One of the outcomes was revision and passage of a Shoreland Protection Overlay District as part of the town’s zoning ordinance

    An investigation of the evidence of benefits from climate compatible development

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    Climate change is likely to have profound effects on developing countries both through the climate impacts experienced, but also through the policies, programmes and projects adopted to address climate change. Climate change mitigation (actions taken to reduce the extent of climate change), adaptation (actions taken to ameliorate the impacts), and on-going development are all critical to reduce current and future losses associated with climate change, and to harness gains. In the context of limited resources to invest in climate change, policies, programmes, or projects that deliver ‘triple wins’ (i.e. generating climate adaptation, mitigation and development benefits) – also known as climate compatible development – are increasingly discussed by bilateral and multilateral donors. Yet there remains an absence of empirical evidence of the benefits and costs of triple win policies. The purpose of this paper is therefore to assess evidence of ‘triple wins’ on the ground, and the feasibility of triple wins that do not generate negative impacts. We describe the theoretical linkages that exist between adaptation, mitigation and development, as well as the trade-offs and synergies that might exist between them. Using four developing country studies, we make a simple assessment of the extent of climate compatible development policy in practice through the lens of ‘no-regrets’, ‘low regrets’ and ‘with regrets’ decision making. The lack of evidence of either policy or practice of triple wins significantly limits the capacity of donors to identify, monitor or evaluate ‘triple wins at this point in time. We recommend a more strategic assessment of the distributional and financial implications of 'triple wins' policies

    "Encystation": Containment and Control in Israeli Ideology and Practice

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    The radical closure of Gaza serves here as an extreme example of a process of isolation and immiseration of national enemies that is deeply rooted in Israeli ideology and practices of state formation. I use encystation to reveal the dual meaning of the term—that of radical isolation of diseased elements and that of protecting a fetus within a womb—and to show how the two meanings connect with respective Israeli policies toward Palestinians and Jews. I suggest in closing that the Oslo Accords have put in place mechanisms for the future imposition on West Bank Palestinians of the same containment currently afflicting Gaz
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