Estimation of Short-Term Effects of Air Pollution on Stroke Hospital Admissions in Wuhan, China

Background and Objective:High concentrations of air pollutants have been linked to increased incidence of stroke in North America and Europe but not yet assessed in mainland China. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between stroke hospitalization and short-term elevation of air pollutants in Wuhan, China.Methods:Daily mean NO2, SO2 and PM10 levels, temperature and humidity were obtained from 2006 through 2008. Data on stroke hospitalizations (ICD 10: I60-I69) at four hospitals in Wuhan were obtained for the same period. A time-stratified case-crossover design was performed by season (April-September and October-March) to assess effects of pollutants on stroke hospital admissions.Results:Pollution levels were higher in October-March with averages of 136.1 μg/m3 for PM10, 63.6 μg/m3 for NO2 and 71.0 μg/m3 for SO2 than in April-September when averages were 102.0 μg/m3, 41.7 μg/m3 and 41.7 μg/m3, respectively (p<.001). During the cold season, every 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 was associated with a 2.9% (95%C.I. 1.2%-4.6%) increase in stroke admissions on the same day. Every 10 ug/m3 increase in PM10 daily concentration was significantly associated with an approximate 1% (95% C.I. 0.1%-1.4%) increase in stroke hospitalization. A two-pollutant model indicated that NO2 was associated with stroke admissions when controlling for PM10. During the warm season, no significant associations were noted for any of the pollutants.Conclusions:Exposure to NO2 is significantly associated with stroke hospitalizations during the cold season in Wuhan, China when pollution levels are 50% greater than in the warm season. Larger and multi-center studies in Chinese cities are warranted to validate our findings. © 2013 Xiang et al

Erratum (Regional Assessment of Climate Change in the Mediterranean, (2012), (E1), 10.1007/978-94-007-5772-1_19)

In the original publication Prof. Xavier Rodo has the wrong affiliation. The correct affiliations are: 1. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys, 23 | 08010 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain 2. Institut Català de Ciències del Clima (IC3), Carrer Doctor Trueta, 203 | 08005 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain © 2013, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

The housing pathways of lesbian and gay youth and intergenerational family relations: A Southern European perspective

Against the heteronormativity of the increasing field of studies around intergenerational family relations within asset-based welfare systems, the paper analyses the housing pathways of lesbian and gay young people, focusing on family intergenerational relations and the implications concerning emotional, private and sexual life. The paper focuses on Greece and Italy, two countries characterized by the so-called ‘Southern European’ model of welfare system centred around the family. Given the persistence of homo/lesbophobia, this process pushes lesbian and gay youth to negotiate between housing choices and personal lives in ambivalent ways. The housing strategies analysed are regrouped into four categories: i) the return to the family house; ii) the dependence on the family of origin to buy or rent; iii) international migration to be more autonomous; iv) the experience of alternative housing models, mostly squatting, or sharing (including Airbnb). Our categorization must not be interpreted as fixed or immutable since people might try different solutions over time