Savitch, Ethan; Frank, Adam; Carroll-Nellenback, Jonathan; Haqq-Misra, Jacob; Kleidon, Axel; Alberti, Marina. (2021). Triggering a Climate Change Dominated Anthropocene: Is it Common Among Exocivilizations? Astronomical Journal, 162(5).
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Abstract
We seek to model the coupled evolution of a civilization and its host planet through the era when energy harvesting by the civilization drives the planet into new and adverse climate states. In this way, we ask if triggering Anthropocenes of the kind humanity is experiencing might be a generic feature of planet-civilization evolution. This question has direct consequences for both the study of astrobiology and the sustainability of human civilization. Furthermore, if Anthropocenes prove fatal for some civilizations then they can be considered as one form of a Great Filter and are therefore relevant to discussions of the Fermi Paradox. In this study, we focus on the effects of energy harvesting via combustion and vary the planet's initial chemistry and orbital radius. We find that in this context, the most influential parameter dictating a civilization's fate is their host planet's climate sensitivity, which quantifies how global temperatures change as CO2 is added to the atmosphere. Furthermore, this is in itself a function of the planet's atmospheric CO2 level, so planets with low levels of CO2 will have high climate sensitivities and high probabilities of triggering climate change. Using simulations of the coupled nonlinear model combined with semi-analytic treatments, we find that most planets in our initial parameter space experience diminished growth due to climate effects, an event we call a climate-dominated Anthropocene.
Keywords
Habitable Planets; Complex Life; Evolution; Earth
Rhew, Isaac C.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Lyles-riebli, Rose; Lee, Christine M. (2022). Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment Methods to Examine Spatio-temporal Exposures Associated with Marijuana Use Among Young Adults: A Pilot Study. Spatial And Spatio-temporal Epidemiology, 41.
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Abstract
Background: This study demonstrates the use of geographic ecological momentary assessment (GEMA) methods among young adult marijuana users. Method: Participants were 14 current marijuana users ages 21-27 living in Greater Seattle, Washington. They completed brief surveys four times per day for 14 consecutive days, including measures of marijuana use and desire to use. They also carried a GPS data logger that tracked their spatial movements over time. Results: Participants completed 80.1% of possible EMA surveys. Using the GPS data, we calculated daily number of exposures to (i.e., within 100-m of) marijuana retail outlets (mean = 3.9 times per day; SD = 4.4) and time spent per day in high poverty census tracts (mean = 7.3 h per day in high poverty census tracts; SD = 5.1). Conclusions: GEMA may be a promising approach for studying the role spatio-temporal factors play in marijuana use and related factors.
Keywords
Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment; Spatio-temporal Factors; Marijuana; Young Adults; Geographic Information System; Poverty; Substance Use; Alcohol; Tracking
Bassok, Alon; Hurvitz, Phil M.; Bae, C-H. Christine; Larson, Timothy. (2010). Measuring Neighbourhood Air Pollution: The Case of Seattle’s International District. Journal Of Environmental Planning & Management, 53(1), 23 – 39.
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Abstract
Current US regulatory air quality monitoring networks measure ambient levels of pollutants and cannot capture the effects of mobile sources at the micro-scale. Despite the fact that overall air quality has been getting better, more vulnerable populations (children, the elderly, minorities and the poor) continue to suffer from traffic-related air pollution. As development intensifies in urban areas, more people are exposed to road-related air pollution. However, the only consideration given to air quality, if any, is based on ambient measures. This paper uses an inexpensive, portable Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) to measure Black Carbon (BC) emissions, a surrogate for diesel fuels emissions, in Seattle's International District. With the aid of a GPS receiver, street-level BC data were geocoded in real space-time. It was found that pollution levels differed substantially across the study area. The results show the need for street-level air pollution monitoring, revisions in current land use and transportation policies, and air quality planning practice.
Keywords
Emission Standards; Air Pollution; Atmospheric Deposition; Social Groups; Waste Products; Sanitary Landfills; Black Carbon; Freeway Air Pollution Sheds (faps); Land Use; Mobile Monitoring; Neighbourhood Air Quality; Aerosol Light-absorption; Respiratory Health; Coefficient; Exposure; Symptoms; Children; Pollutants; Particles; Exhaust; Asthma
Winterbottom, Daniel. (2010). Building Bosnia. Landscape Architecture, 100(4), 94 – 102.
Hurvitz, Philip M.; Moudon, Anne Vernez. (2012). Home Versus Nonhome Neighborhood: Quantifying Differences in Exposure to the Built Environment. American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 42(4), 411 – 417.
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Abstract
Background: Built environment and health research have focused on characteristics of home neighborhoods, whereas overall environmental exposures occur over larger spatial ranges. Purpose: Differences in built environment characteristics were analyzed for home and nonhome locations using GPS data. Methods: GPS data collected in 2007-2008 were analyzed for 41 subjects in the Seattle area in 2010. Environmental characteristics for 3.8 million locations were measured using novel GIS data sets called SmartMaps, representing spatially continuous values of local built environment variables in the domains of neighborhood composition, utilitarian destinations, transportation infrastructure, and traffic conditions. Using bootstrap sampling, CIs were estimated for differences in built environment values for home (1666 m) GPS locations. Results: Home and nonhome built environment values were significantly different for more than 90% of variables across subjects (p < 0.001). Only 51% of subjects had higher counts of supermarkets near than away from home. Different measures of neighborhood parks yielded varying results. Conclusions: SmartMaps helped measure local built environment characteristics for a large set of GPS locations. Most subjects had significantly different home and nonhome built environment exposures. Considering the full range of individuals' environmental exposures may improve understanding of effects of the built environment on behavior and health outcomes. (Am J Prev Med 2012;42(4):411-417) (C) 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Keywords
Built Environment; Public Health Research; Individual Differences; Neighborhoods; Environmental Exposure; Health Of Homeless People; Global Positioning System; Data Analysis; Quantitative Research; Seattle (wash.); Washington (state); Geographic Information-systems; Global Positioning Systems; Physical-activity; Health Research; Urban Form; Land-use; Associations; Transportation; Availability; Walkability
Bogus, Susan M.; Migliaccio, Giovanni C.; Jin, Ruoyu. (2013). Study of the Relationship between Procurement Duration and Project Performance in Design-Build Projects: Comparison between Water/Wastewater and Transportation Sectors. Journal Of Management In Engineering, 29(4), 382 – 391.
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Abstract
Previous studies on building, industrial, and transportation projects found that projects delivered using design-build tend to perform better than projects delivered with the traditional design-bid-build method. However, performance of design-build projects is affected by various factors, with procurement-related factors being among the most influential. Whereas other aspects of procurement have been largely investigated, the effect of procurement duration on project performance has been studied only for design-build transportation projects. In addition, few studies have focused specifically on the delivery of water/wastewater projects. This paper includes the results of a study on the relationship between procurement duration and performance of water/wastewater design-build projects. The study methodology was based on regression analysis of data from a sample of water/wastewater design-build projects. The results show that unlike the transportation sector, procurement duration has little effect on either schedule or cost performance in the water/wastewater sector. Likely reasons for this difference were then explored through a content analysis of procurement documents. (C) 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Keywords
Design Engineering; Procurement; Project Management; Regression Analysis; Transportation; Waste Management; Procurement Documents; Schedule Performance; Cost Performance; Design-build Transportation Projects; Procurement-related Factors; Design-bid-build Method; Water-wastewater Sectors; Transportation Sectors; Project Performance; Procurement Duration; Design/build; Project Delivery; Water; Wastewater
Purcell, Mark. (2013). To Inhabit Well: Counterhegemonic Movements and the Right to the City. Urban Geography, 34(4), 560 – 574.
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Abstract
A right to the city, understood as a conjoint claim to a right to inhabit urban space well, can be an effective starting point from which diverse urban movements can begin to build broad counterhegemonic coalitions for alternative urban futures. In this article, I argue that the right to the city supports the project of establishing relations of equivalence among members of coalitions--balancing relations of sameness/difference and interdependence/autonomy.
Keywords
Right To The City; Urban Social Movements; Autogestion; Urban Politics
El-Anwar, Omar; Aziz, Tamer Abdel. (2014). Integrated Urban-Construction Planning Framework for Slum Upgrading Projects. Journal Of Construction Engineering And Management, 140(4).
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Abstract
Slums are areas of population concentrations developed in the absence of physical planning and lack access to life essentials. Slums represent major national challenges in countries where they exist, especially developing countries. Various intervention strategies can be adopted to upgrade and/or replace slums, but are often faced with serious construction challenges, such as lack of access to sites and poor terrain conditions. Moreover, during the execution of slum upgrading projects, resident families can experience significant social and economic disruptions. The objective of this paper is present an integrated urban-construction planning framework for slum upgrading projects. This framework incorporates participatory upgrading and is designed to achieve three important objectives, including (1)maximizing the benefits of slum upgrading projects by identifying and accelerating the delivery of urgent projects; (2)providing more accurate and practical estimates of upgrading projects costs and timelines, which enables controlling and minimizing the total projects costs and durations; and (3)minimizing the social and economic disruptions for resident families during construction. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the potential of the proposed framework and its core multiobjective optimization process.
Keywords
Construction; Industrial Economics; Optimisation; Planning; Project Management; Social Sciences; Integrated Urban-construction Planning Framework; Slum Upgrading Projects; Physical Planning; Intervention Strategies; Construction Challenges; Economic Disruptions; Social Disruptions; Urgent Projects Delivery; Project Costs; Multiobjective Optimization Process; Logistics; Constructability; Optimization; Design; Build; Urban Areas; Slums Upgrading; Logistics Planning; Multi-objective Optimization; Integrated Design-build; Project Planning And Design
Purcell, Mark. (2014). Rancière and Revolution. Space & Polity, 18(2), 168 – 181.
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Abstract
This paper explores what role Rancière's work can play in the struggle for a more democratic world. It highlights the strength of Rancière's conception of democracy, which clearly identifies democracy as a popular disruption of the prevailing police order. This order claims to have assigned a proper role to all parts of society. Democracy for Rancière is when an element emerges that has not been taken account of and demonstrates the police order's claim to be false. Among the many benefits of this way of understanding democracy, it upsets any easy association between hegemony and democracy - as in Laclau & Mouffe - and it refuses utterly the ideological fiising of democracy, capitalism, and the state offered by the liberaldemocratic- capitalist consensus. However, Rancière's approach also introduces significant limits on democracy because it denies that democracy can ever do more than disrupt the prevailing order. It does not allow for the possibility that democracy can grow and spread to the point that it becomes pervasive in the polity. This paper uses the case of the Egyptian uprising to show how this limitation closes off important political possibilities. The paper argues that Deleuze & Guattari's theorisation of revolution, when used carefully, is a necessary corrective to Rancière's too-restricted concept of democracy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Space & Polity is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Keywords
Political Philosophy; Democracy; Hegemony; Capitalism; Egyptian Revolution, Egypt, 2011-; Deleuze; Guattari; Ranciere; Revolution; Ranciere, Jacques, 1940-
Drewnowski, Adam; Aggarwal, Anju; Tang, Wesley; Moudon, Anne Vernez. (2015). Residential Property Values Predict Prevalent Obesity but Do Not Predict 1-year Weight Change. Obesity, 23(3), 671 – 676.
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Abstract
ObjectiveLower socio economic status (SES) has been linked with higher obesity rates but not with weight gain. This study examined whether SES can predict short-term weight change. MethodsThe Seattle Obesity Study II was based on an observational cohort of 440 adults. Weights and heights were measured at baseline and at 1 year. Self-reported education and incomes were obtained by questionnaire. Home addresses were linked to tax parcel property values from the King County, Washington, tax assessor. Associations among SES variables, prevalent obesity, and 1-year weight change were examined using multivariable linear regressions. ResultsLow residential property values at the tax parcel level predicted prevalent obesity at baseline and at 1 year. Living in the top quartile of house prices reduced obesity risk by 80% at both time points. At 1 year, about 38% of the sample lost >1 kg body weight; 32% maintained ( 1 kg); and 30% gained >1 kg. In adjusted models, none of the baseline SES measures had any impact on 1-year weight change. ConclusionsSES variables, including tax parcel property values, predicted prevalent obesity but did not predict short-term weight change. These findings, based on longitudinal cohort data, suggest other mechanisms are involved in short-term weight change.
Keywords
Body-mass-index; Socioeconomic-status; United-states; Physical-activity; King County; Association; Health; Trends; Gain; Income