The canopy cover Webmap of the United Kingdom’s towns and cities

Urban trees and other green infrastructure are advocated as a cost-effective sustainable solution to ameliorate the socio-economic and environmental challenges of urbanisation. UK research has only recently started to quantify urban trees. Tree canopy cover percentage (TCC) is a useful indicator of tree presence. Its estimation can be reproducible, simple, fast, and cost-effective; it can also be evaluated through citizen science, improving people’s appreciation for urban trees and widening the data collection resource pool. This research summarises a citizen science assessment of the TCC of the UK’s 5,749 urban wards. Descriptive statistics are presented spanning local authority to country. The area-weighted mean (and standard error) of TCC across urban wards was 17.3 ± 0.1%. Nationally, the TCC were 11.8 ± 0.5%, 15.7 ± 0.5%, 17.5 ± 0.2%, and 18.1 ± 0.5%, for Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales, respectively. Results show that only 27.6% of urban wards had a TCC higher than 20%, previously suggested as a minimum target for UK towns. The findings highlight substantial geographical variance in TCC equity, as well as a negative correlation between TCC and deprivation. This information will be of value in urban forest strategy and management

Organic chloramines in drinking water: An assessment of formation, stability, reactivity and risk

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. Although organic chloramines are known to form during the disinfection of drinking water with chlorine, little information is currently available on their occurrence or toxicity. In a recent in vitro study, some organic chloramines (e.g. N-chloroglycine) were found to be cytotoxic and genotoxic even at micromolar concentrations. In this paper, the formation and stability of 21 different organic chloramines, from chlorination of simple amines and amino acids, were studied, and the competition between 20 amino acids during chlorination was also investigated. For comparison, chlorination of two amides was also conducted. The formation and degradation of selected organic chloramines were measured using either direct UV spectroscopic or colorimetric detection. Although cysteine, methionine and tryptophan were the most reactive amino acids towards chlorination, they did not form organic chloramines at the chlorine to precursor molar ratios that were tested. Only 6 out of the 21 organic chloramines formed had a half-life of more than 3 h, although this group included all organic chloramines formed from amines. A health risk assessment relating stability and reactivity data from this study to toxicity and precursor abundance data from the literature indicated that only N-chloroglycine is likely to be of concern due to its stability, toxicity and abundance in water. However, given the stability of organic chloramines formed from amines, more information about the toxicity and precursor abundance for these chloramines is desirable

Identification of a BRCA2-Specific modifier locus at 6p24 related to breast cancer risk

Common genetic variants contribute to the observed variation in breast cancer risk for BRCA2 mutation carriers; those known to date have all been found through population-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To comprehensively identify breast cancer risk modifying loci for BRCA2 mutation carriers, we conducted a deep replication of an ongoing GWAS discovery study. Using the ranked P-values of the breast cancer associations with the imputed genotype of 1.4 M SNPs, 19,029 SNPs were selected and designed for inclusion on a custom Illumina array that included a total of 211,155 SNPs as part of a multi-consortial project. DNA samples from 3,881 breast cancer affected and 4,330 unaffected BRCA2 mutation carriers from 47 studies belonging to the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 were genotyped and available for analysis. We replicated previously reported breast cancer susceptibility alleles in these BRCA2 mutation carriers and for several regions (including FGFR2, MAP3K1, CDKN2A/B, and PTHLH) identified SNPs that have stronger evidence of association than those previously published. We also identified a novel susceptibility allele at 6p24 that was inversely associated with risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers (rs9348512; per allele HR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.80-0.90, P = 3.9×10−8). This SNP was not associated with breast cancer risk either in the general population or in BRCA1 mutation carriers. The locus lies within a region containing TFAP2A, which encodes a transcriptional activation protein that interacts with several tumor suppressor genes. This report identifies the first breast cancer risk locus specific to a BRCA2 mutation background. This comprehensive update of novel and previously reported breast cancer susceptibility loci contributes to the establishment of a panel of SNPs that modify breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers. This panel may have clinical utility for women with BRCA2 mutations weighing options for medical prevention of breast cancer

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

The Urban Environment, Children and Biophilia: Do children use and prefer biodiverse urban habitats?

Today nearly half of the world’s children will grow up in the highly modified and artificial urban landscape (UNICEF, 2012). These children will experience an environment largely alien to the more natural one we have evolved to be in, leaving them to grow up in a state of ‘biological poverty’ (Kellert and Wilson, 1993; Turner et al., 2004). For these children urban green spaces provide a residual link to the natural world, preserving opportunities to experience and connect to biodiversity. However, the distribution and quality of urban green space across cities is patchy and increasing parental safety concerns may restrict access to even nearby natural areas. As such many urban children may be in danger of growing up in isolation from nature and the developmental and wellbeing benefits it provides (Louv, 2008). In this thesis I aim to assess children’s habitat use in urban areas to explore whether they are able to access and use urban green spaces. I predict that children will preferentially seek out and use the biodiverse areas available to them, as would be expected by the Biophilia Hypothesis, proposed by EO Wilson as the innate affiliation towards the natural world (Wilson, 1984). To explore children’s habitat use patterns, I used data collected from interviews with 126 children in two urban centres of New Zealand. I applied approaches developed from wildlife research to estimate children’s home ranges and habitat use. I estimated the biodiversity present within each child’s neighbourhood and home range area to assess how much biodiversity is available and used by each child in their day-to-day movements. Further, I applied resource selection analysis to gain quantitative estimates of children’s habitat preferences. Overall, I found that the biodiversity available to children in their neighbourhoods was varied but generally high, with some form of green space located close to all children. I found home range size was a key determinant of how much biodiversity a child had access to. However I also found evidence for a continued decline in home range size, with a median home range size of less than three hectares. Further, over a quarter of children had restricted ranges which prevented them from accessing any biodiverse green habitats, indicating that declining home range sizes could be facilitating a disconnection to nature. Yet, for the majority of children who did have access to nature in their neighbourhood, they did not show any preference for these more biodiverse habitats available. Instead, children spent most of their time outdoors either in their garden or on residential streets. Further resource selection analyses identified gardens, streets and both paved and green sports fields as being the most preferred habitat types. These suggest children’s habitat use is motivated by selecting sites that are close to their home and which support play, rather than biodiversity values (Moore, 1986; Jansson and Persson, 2010). The lack of biophilic behaviour in children despite available and accessible biodiversity suggests that children may be spending more time indoors with electronic media (Pergams and Zaradic, 2006). Through a combination of lack of availability, declining independence and the allure of modern technology, children are growing up isolated from nature and ignorant of the benefits it affords (Louv, 2008). This trend is concerning as it means future generations will grow up with little knowledge of or empathy for the environment (Pyle, 1978; Miller, 2005). It is therefore important to improve children’s connection to nature by integrating biodiversity into the urban environment, and children’s lives, to a greater degree. I explore the possible roles of urban planning, school education, and parent’s in supporting this

The Urban Environment, Children and Biophilia: Do children use and prefer biodiverse urban habitats?

Today nearly half of the world’s children will grow up in the highly modified and artificial urban landscape (UNICEF, 2012). These children will experience an environment largely alien to the more natural one we have evolved to be in, leaving them to grow up in a state of ‘biological poverty’ (Kellert and Wilson, 1993; Turner et al., 2004). For these children urban green spaces provide a residual link to the natural world, preserving opportunities to experience and connect to biodiversity. However, the distribution and quality of urban green space across cities is patchy and increasing parental safety concerns may restrict access to even nearby natural areas. As such many urban children may be in danger of growing up in isolation from nature and the developmental and wellbeing benefits it provides (Louv, 2008). In this thesis I aim to assess children’s habitat use in urban areas to explore whether they are able to access and use urban green spaces. I predict that children will preferentially seek out and use the biodiverse areas available to them, as would be expected by the Biophilia Hypothesis, proposed by EO Wilson as the innate affiliation towards the natural world (Wilson, 1984). To explore children’s habitat use patterns, I used data collected from interviews with 126 children in two urban centres of New Zealand. I applied approaches developed from wildlife research to estimate children’s home ranges and habitat use. I estimated the biodiversity present within each child’s neighbourhood and home range area to assess how much biodiversity is available and used by each child in their day-to-day movements. Further, I applied resource selection analysis to gain quantitative estimates of children’s habitat preferences. Overall, I found that the biodiversity available to children in their neighbourhoods was varied but generally high, with some form of green space located close to all children. I found home range size was a key determinant of how much biodiversity a child had access to. However I also found evidence for a continued decline in home range size, with a median home range size of less than three hectares. Further, over a quarter of children had restricted ranges which prevented them from accessing any biodiverse green habitats, indicating that declining home range sizes could be facilitating a disconnection to nature. Yet, for the majority of children who did have access to nature in their neighbourhood, they did not show any preference for these more biodiverse habitats available. Instead, children spent most of their time outdoors either in their garden or on residential streets. Further resource selection analyses identified gardens, streets and both paved and green sports fields as being the most preferred habitat types. These suggest children’s habitat use is motivated by selecting sites that are close to their home and which support play, rather than biodiversity values (Moore, 1986; Jansson and Persson, 2010). The lack of biophilic behaviour in children despite available and accessible biodiversity suggests that children may be spending more time indoors with electronic media (Pergams and Zaradic, 2006). Through a combination of lack of availability, declining independence and the allure of modern technology, children are growing up isolated from nature and ignorant of the benefits it affords (Louv, 2008). This trend is concerning as it means future generations will grow up with little knowledge of or empathy for the environment (Pyle, 1978; Miller, 2005). It is therefore important to improve children’s connection to nature by integrating biodiversity into the urban environment, and children’s lives, to a greater degree. I explore the possible roles of urban planning, school education, and parent’s in supporting this

The importance of urban gardens in supporting children's biophilia

Exposure to and connection with nature is increasingly recognized as providing significant well-being benefits for adults and children. Increasing numbers of children growing up in urban areas need access to nature to experience these benefits and develop a nature connection. Under the biophilia hypothesis, children should innately affiliate to nature. We investigated children’s independent selection of spaces in their neighborhoods in relation to the biodiversity values of those spaces, in three New Zealand cities, using resource-selection analysis. Children did not preferentially use the more biodiverse areas in their neighborhoods. Private gardens and yards were the most preferred space, with the quality of these spaces the most important factor defining children’s exposure to nature. Children’s reliance on gardens and yards for nature experiences raises concerns for their development of a nature connection, given disparities in biodiversity values of private gardens in relation to socioeconomic status, and the decline in sizes of private gardens in newer urban developments

Restricted home ranges reduce children’s opportunities to connect to nature: demographic, environmental and parental influences

While many studies have documented the decline in the extent of children’s independent movements, none have explicitly evaluated the impact of this change in behaviour on opportunities to connect with nature. We estimate and compare the biodiversity values within urban children’s home ranges, and relate exposure to biodiversity to children’s perceptions and use of their neighbourhoods. We interviewed 178 children aged 9–11 years in three New Zealand cities. While children often had biodiverse areas present within 500 m of their home, their restricted home range size meant many of these natural areas fell outside of the range of their daily movements. Children’s declining independent mobility, strongly influenced by parental restrictions, appears to limit their freedom to use diverse and natural habitats within their urban neighbourhood, with use instead focused on private gardens and formal greenspaces. Development of a connection to nature in urban areas must therefore take place primarily in private gardens, which are threatened by urban planning approaches that promote dense residential developments with public rather than private greenspace