The ‘Exposed’ Population, Violent Crime in Public Space and the Night-time Economy in Manchester, United Kingdom

The daily rhythms of the city, the ebb and flow of people undertaking routines activities, inform the spatial and temporal patterning of crime. Being able to capture citizen mobility and delineate a crime-specific population denominator is a vital prerequisite of the endeavour to both explain and address crime. This paper introduces the concept of an exposed population-at-risk, defined as the mix of residents and non-residents who may play an active role as an offender, victim or guardian in a specific crime type, present in a spatial unit at a given time. This definition is deployed to determine the exposed population-at-risk for violent crime, associated with the night-time economy, in public spaces. Through integrating census data with mobile phone data and utilising fine-grained temporal and spatial violent crime data, the paper demonstrates the value of deploying an exposed (over an ambient) population-at-risk denominator to determine violent crime in public space hotspots on Saturday nights in Greater Manchester (UK). In doing so, the paper illuminates that as violent crime in public space rises, over the course of a Saturday evening, the exposed population-at-risk falls, implying a shifting propensity of the exposed population-at-risk to perform active roles as offenders, victims and/or guardians. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and policy relevance of these findings

Managing climate change risks in New York City’s water system: assessment and adaptation planning

Adaptation to climate change, Climate mitigation, Risk management, Sea-level rise, Urban infrastructure, Water quality, Water supply, Sewer systems, Wastewater treatment,

Quantitative population dynamics of microbial communities in plankton-fed microbial fuel cells

This study examines changes in diversity and abundance of bacteria recovered from the anodes of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) in relation to anode potential, power production and geochemistry. MFCs were batch-fed with plankton, and two systems were maintained at different potentials whereas one was at open circuit for 56.8 days. Bacterial phylogenetic diversity during peak power was assessed from 16S rDNA clone libraries. Throughout the experiment, microbial community structure was examined using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism. Changes in cell density of key phylotypes, including representatives of δ-, ε-, γ-proteobacteria and Flavobacterium-Cytophaga-Bacteroides, were enumerated by quantitative PCR. Marked differences in phylogenetic diversity were observed during peak power versus the final time point, and changes in microbial community structure were strongly correlated to dissolved organic carbon and ammonium concentrations within the anode chambers. Community structure was notably different between the MFCs at different anode potentials during the onset of peak power. At the final time point, however, the anode-hosted communities in all MFCs were similar. These data demonstrate that differences in growth, succession and population dynamics of key phylotypes were due to anode potential, which may relate to their ability to exploit the anode as an electron acceptor. The geochemical milieu, however, governs overall community diversity and structure. These differences reflect the physiological capacity of specific phylotypes to catabolize plankton-derived organic matter and exploit the anode of an MFC for their metabolism directly or indirectly through syntrophy.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Social inequalities and the rise in violent deaths in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil: 2000-2006 Desigualdades sociais e crescimento das mortes violentas em Salvador, Bahia, Brasil: 2000-2006

An ecological study was carried out using information zones as units of analysis in order to assess the evolution of socio-spatial inequalities in mortality due to external causes and homicides in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil, in 2000 and 2006. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE) and the City Health Department (Secretaria Municipal de Saúde) provided the data sources, and causes of death were reviewed and reclassified based on reports from the Institute of Legal Medicine (Instituto Médico Legal). The information zones were classified into four social strata according to income and schooling. The ratio between mortality rates (inequality ratio) was calculated and confirmed a rise of 98.5% in the homicide rate. In 2000, the risk of death due to external causes and murders in the stratum with the worst living conditions was respectively 1.40 and 1.94 times greater than in the reference stratum. In 2006 these figures were 2.02 and 2.24. The authors discuss the implications for inter-sectoral public policies, based on evidence from the study's findings.<br>Com o objetivo de analisar a evolução das desigualdades socioespaciais na mortalidade por causas externas e homicídios em Salvador, Bahia, Brasil, entre 2000-2006, foi realizado um estudo ecológico, tendo as zonas de informação e estratos sociais como unidades de análise. O Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) e a Secretaria Municipal de Saúde foram fontes de dados. As causas básicas de óbito foram revisadas e reclassificadas com base em relatórios do IML. As zonas de informação foram classificadas em quatro estratos sociais a partir da renda e da escolaridade. Calculou-se a razão entre as taxas de mortalidade (razão de desigualdade). Verificou-se aumento de 98,5% na taxa de homicídios no período. Em 2000, o risco de morte por causas externas e homicídios no estrato de piores condições de vida foi, respectivamente, 1,40 e 1,94 vezes maior que no estrato de referência. Em 2006, esses valores foram de 2,02 e 2,24. Os autores discutem as implicações para as políticas públicas intersetoriais evidenciadas pelos achados do presente estudo