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Developed Areas (developed + area)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	33%

Selected Abstracts

Targeting Conservation Action through Assessment of Protection and Exurban Threats

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2003
DAVID M. THEOBALD
I developed a methodology to assess the level of threat to conservation of biodiversity to help guide conservation action. This method incorporates socioeconomic indicators of risk, including developed and roaded areas, and measures the proportion of conservation lands affected by developed areas. In addition, I developed a metric called conservation potential to measure the degree of fragmentation of patches caused by development. As an illustration I applied this methodology to Colorado (U.S.A.). Protection levels were determined by examining land ownership, resulting in protected lands (status levels 1 and 2) and unprotected lands (status levels 3 and 4). Areas were considered threatened (at risk) if a land-cover patch had >20% roaded area, >15% developed area, or was highly fragmented. Although 24 of 43 natural land-cover types were unprotected (49% of the state), 9 additional types were threatened. Combining conservation-status protection levels with patterns of threat targets the geographic area where conservation action is needed, provides a way to determine where so-called protected areas are at risk, and allows conservation strategies to be better refined. Resumen: Las evaluaciones de biodiversidad a nivel de paisaje se esfuerzan por proporcionar información para la planificación del uso del suelo y actividades de conservación mediante datos sobre áreas de alto valor de biodiversidad y bajo estatus de protección. Desarrollé una metodología para evaluar el nivel de amenaza para la conservación de la biodiversidad para ayudar a guiar acciones de conservación. Este método incorpora indicadores socioeconómicos de riesgo, incluyendo áreas desarrolladas y con caminos, y mide la proporción de tierras de conservación afectadas por áreas desarrolladas. Adicionalmente, desarrollé una medida llamada potencial de conservación para cuantificar el grado de fragmentación debido al desarrollo. Como un ejemplo, apliqué esta metodología a Colorado (E. U. A). Los niveles de protección se determinaron examinando la propiedad, resultando en tierras protegidas (niveles 1 y 2) y no protegidas (niveles 3 y 4). Las áreas se consideraron amenazadas (en riesgo) si tenían >20% de su superficie con caminos, >15% del área desarrollada o si estaban muy fragmentadas. Aunque 24 de los 43 tipos de cobertura natural no estaban protegidos (49% del estado), 9 más estaban amenazados. La combinación de estatus de conservación y niveles de protección con patrones de amenazas identifica al área geográfica donde se requieren acciones de conservación, proporciona una forma de examinar donde están en riesgo las llamadas áreas protegidas y permite que las estrategias de conservación sean mejor ajustadas. [source]

Catching Up or Falling Behind?

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2000
Economic Performance, Regional Trajectories in the "New Europe"
Abstract: This paper examines the trajectories of economic development of European national and regional economies in light of the pressures for greater integration and enlargement of the European Union. Using a variety of data sets, we demonstrate that there are significant variations in the speed and direction of change in per capita income and in productivity and employment rates across countries and a sample of European regions, and that falling behind (divergence) occurs as well as catching up (convergence). Making sense of spatial development therefore requires, we argue, that attention be paid to processes of differentiation and, in particular, to the falling behind experienced by less developed areas in East Central Europe and the forging ahead of the most developed, as well as to processes of catch-up. The paper also contributes to an assessment of the appropriateness of interpretations of growth and spatial development through countering the dominant discourse of convergence in neoclassical and neoliberal formulations and by suggesting that integration brings with it a number of important territorial "costs" associated with increasing inequality. [source]

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: THE FRENCH CASE

ECONOMIC INQUIRY, Issue 4 2010
RAPHAËL FRANCK
This article provides a test of the secularization hypothesis, which argues that economic growth, industrialization, increased literacy, and low fertility decrease religiosity. It focuses on the elections of the secular politicians who voted in favor of the separation between Church and State in the French Parliament in 1905. If the secularization hypothesis is correct, these secular politicians should have been elected in the most developed areas of France at the turn of the twentieth century. Contrary to the predictions of the secularization hypothesis, we find that the support for secular politicians originated in the rural areas of France. (JEL Z12, D72, N43) [source]

Sampling survey on intellectual disability in 0,6-year-old children in China

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 12 2008
Z.-H. Xie
Abstract Objectives To understand the current status of intellectually disabled children and the prevalence of intellectual disability (ID) in children aged 0,6 years and its risk factors, and to provide scientific evidence to formulate relevant policies for helping intellectually disabled children. Methods Multiphase, stratified, unequal proportional and cluster sampling was adopted to investigate 60 124 children aged 0,6 years. All the children investigated were screened for ID using the Denver Developmental Screening Test, and those with positive screening test would be further diagnosed by varied specialists using the Gesell Developmental Inventory. Results In total, 560 of 60 124 children were diagnosed as intellectually disabled with an overall prevalence of 0.93%. Prevalence of ID was highest in children living in medium-developed areas with a prevalence of 1.20%, higher than in those living in developed areas (0.75%) and in underdeveloped areas (0.84%). It was higher in rural areas (1.03%) than in urban areas (0.83%), and higher in boys (1.01%) than in girls (0.84%). Prevalence of ID increased with the age of children and decreased with the educational level of their parents. Conclusions The study suggested that ID is still prevalent in the children of China, and rehabilitation for them is lagging behind current needs. Early prevention of ID in children and pre-school education for them should be strengthened. [source]

Prevalence and Etiology of Hearing Loss in Rural Nicaraguan Children

THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 3 2007
James E. Saunders MD
Abstract Objective/Hypothesis: The prevalence and causes of pediatric hearing loss (HL) in the developing world are largely unknown. Infectious sequelae, ototoxic medications, and genetic causes may play a larger role in developing countries. In addition, the significance of GJB2 mutation gene in poorly developed areas remains unclear. The intent of this study is to investigate the prevalence and etiology of HL in children living in a remote, impoverished region of northern Nicaragua. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Clinical data from two sources were analyzed: data from screening examinations performed in rural schools in the Department of Jinotega, Nicaragua (group A) and pediatric HL patients seen at the Otolaryngology and Audiology Clinic in Jinotega, Nicaragua (group B). Patients with congenital HL were offered a genetic test for GJB2 mutations. Comparisons were made using parametric (analysis of variance) and nonparametric (Kruskal-Wallis) tests. Results: School-based screening examinations (group A) revealed a high prevalence of significant HL (>30 dB) of 18%. The majority of these children had normal otoscopic examinations (58%). A family history of HL was seen in 24% of children who failed screening exams. Positive family history was more common in patients with HL (P < .01) and in specific schools (P < .05). Clinic-based evaluations (group B) reveal a population with predominantly severe-profound HL. Physical dysmorphism was common, yet identifiable syndromic HL was rare. Although familial HL was common (33%), there were no pathologic GJB2 mutations. Other common risk factors in this population were maternal infection during pregnancy, neonatal distress, low birth weight or prematurity, and gentamicin exposure. Conclusions: HL in this rural, third world environment is more prevalent, and the etiologies responsible in this study group are different from those encountered in industrialized nations. Poor perinatal health care, infectious causes, gentamicin exposure, and hereditary HL are potentially preventable causes that play a major role in this population. [source]