Les dimensions géographiques de l’insécurité chez les personnes âgées : application à deux quartiers de Montréal

Cet article porte sur l'interprétation géographique des notions de peur et d'insécurité chez les personnes âgées de deux quartiers de Montréal. Les résultats d'une enquête effectuée entre novembre 1977 et mars 1978 montrent que celles-ci sont en partie fonction de l'espace bâti mais aussi des dimensions physiologiques et socio-économiques des répondants.This article concerns the geographical interpretation of the reactions of fear and insecurity as experienced by the aged people in two Montreal neighborhoods. The results of an interview conducted between November 1977 and March 1978 demonstrate that these emotions are in part a function of the spatial disposition of structures and in part the result of the psychological and socio-economic pecularities of those interviewed

Impacts of Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality

Waste from agricultural livestock operations has been a long-standing concern with respect to contamination of water resources, particularly in terms of nutrient pollution. However, the recent growth of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) presents a greater risk to water quality because of both the increased volume of waste and to contaminants that may be present (e.g., antibiotics and other veterinary drugs) that may have both environmental and public health importance. Based on available data, generally accepted livestock waste management practices do not adequately or effectively protect water resources from contamination with excessive nutrients, microbial pathogens, and pharmaceuticals present in the waste. Impacts on surface water sources and wildlife have been documented in many agricultural areas in the United States. Potential impacts on human and environmental health from long-term inadvertent exposure to water contaminated with pharmaceuticals and other compounds are a growing public concern. This work-group, which is part of the Conference on Environmental Health Impacts of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations: Anticipating Hazards—Searching for Solutions, identified needs for rigorous ecosystem monitoring in the vicinity of CAFOs and for improved characterization of major toxicants affecting the environment and human health. Last, there is a need to promote and enforce best practices to minimize inputs of nutrients and toxicants from CAFOs into freshwater and marine ecosystems

Model International Mobility Convention

While people are as mobile as they ever were in our globalized world, the movement of people across borders lacks global regulation. This leaves many refugees in protracted displacement and many migrants unprotected in irregular and dire situations. Meanwhile, some states have become concerned that their borders have become irrelevant. International mobility—the movement of individuals across borders for any length of time as visitors, students, tourists, labor migrants, entrepreneurs, long-term residents, asylum seekers, or refugees—has no common definition or legal framework. To address this key gap in international law, and the growing gaps in protection and responsibility that are leaving people vulnerable, the "Model International Mobility Convention" proposes a framework for mobility with the goals of reaffirming the existing rights afforded to mobile people (and the corresponding rights and responsibilities of states) as well as expanding those basic rights where warranted. In 213 articles divided over eight chapters, the Convention establishes both the minimum rights afforded to all people who cross state borders as visitors, and the special rights afforded to tourists, students, migrant workers, investors and residents, forced migrants, refugees, migrant victims of trafficking and migrants caught in countries in crisis. Some of these categories are covered by existing international legal regimes. However, in this Convention these groups are for the first time brought together under a single framework. An essential feature of the Convention is that it is cumulative. This means, for the most part, that the chapters build on and add rights to the set of rights afforded to categories of migrants covered by earlier chapters. The Convention contains not only provisions that afford rights to migrants and, to a lesser extent, States (such as the right to decide who can enter and remain in their territory). It also articulates the responsibilities of migrants vis-à-vis States and the rights and responsibilities of different institutions that do not directly respond to a right held by migrants

Géographie de la santé et mode de vie : l'obésité et l'hypertension artérielle chez les Cri et les Inuit du Nord du Québec

Medical geography and living habits: obesity and hypertension among the Cree and Inuit of Northern Quebec. — We estimate obesity rates for the Crée and Inuit of Northern Quebec using the Quételet Body Mass Index (BMI) for the 18 communities involved in a health survey conducted in 1983- 1984. The geographical analysis of variation in the BMI index, as well as of hypertension, were investigated both at the village level and at the subregional scale. Several risk factors were selected in order to account for statistical differences.Le surpoids et l'obésité chez les Indiens Cri et les Inuit des 18 communautés du Nord du Québec ont été estimés à l'aide de l'indice de masse corporelle de Quételet. Une analyse géographique des variations de l'indice et de la pression artérielle a été faite à l'échelle des villages et des sous-régions. Plusieurs facteurs de risque ont été sélectionnés pour rendre compte des différences statistiques.Thouez Jean-Pierre, Foggin P., Ekoe J.-M., Nadeau M., Rannou A. Géographie de la santé et mode de vie : l'obésité et l'hypertension artérielle chez les Cri et les Inuit du Nord du Québec. In: Espace géographique, tome 22, n°2, 1993. pp. 166-178

Pedestrian crossing decision-making: A situational and behavioral approach

Among road users, pedestrians are those whose continued trajectory is the less constrained by the environment and by the regulation rules. Consequently, the choice of where, when and how to cross roads are more or less conforming with the awaited behavior. Proceeding with an experimental approach, from observations of pedestrian crossings to the modeling of the decision-making process, a categorization of both environments and of pedestrian behavior is proposed