The aim of this paper was to study the influence of microbial biofilms on the high copper levels measured in the drinking water of rural houses. Drinking water parameters and copper pipe surfaces were analysed in the copper plumbing systems of rural and urban houses. The water in rural houses had pH values of 6.2 and alkalinity values of 63mg/L as CaCO3, whereas in urban houses the pH values we...

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between house dust mite, cat and dog allergen levels with household characteristics in the houses of children living in urban and rural areas in central Poland. METHODS Dust samples were collected from 141 urban and 191 rural houses. Der f1 + Der p1, Can f 1, and Fel d1 levels were measured and associated with residential condit...

Peri-urban infestations with triatomine bugs, their sources and their dynamics have rarely been investigated. Here, we corroborated the reported occurrence of Triatoma infestans in a peri-urban area and in neighbouring rural houses in Pampa del Indio, in the Argentine Chaco, and identified its putative sources using spatial analysis and demographic questionnaires. Peri-urban householders report...

Losses to life and property from unplanned fires (wildfires) are forecast to increase because of population growth in peri-urban areas and climate change. In response, there have been moves to increase fuel reduction--clearing, prescribed burning, biomass removal and grazing--to afford greater protection to peri-urban communities in fire-prone regions. But how effective are these measures? Seve...

Obesity is a growing public health concern in both developed and developing countries, creating acute challenges in places with scant resources. In Ghana, obesity rates have risen substantially in recent decades, a trend particularly noted in urban areas. However, high levels of migration and urbanization indicate a situation that is more complex than a simple urban/rural distinction may be abl...

Some archaeologists have suggested recently that clusters of houses at Classic Maya sites functioned as urban neighborhoods. This article presents comparative historical and ethnographic data from low-density cities to support this interpretation. I review two Mesoamerican cases: the Aztec calpolli and the modern Tzotzil house cluster; and urban clusters in two African cases: the Nupe city of B...

IN 1924 another organisation entered the halfway house field. This was the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society (ESMWS) which was formed in 1919 to deal with the mental problems of ex-servicemen which had been brought on by their service in the war. Three homes are now run by this Society. "Tyrwhitt House" was opened in 1946 and is for men in need of a short period of rest and rehabilitation (ave...

the old tissues of the cities have been faced to rapid changes and turned to destructive process during the last decades, because of the huge rush of technology and consequently the social revolutions and changes as a conceivable result of such technological attacks. as a general argument, in one hand, such changes and technological flourishing provided urban modern services and let the modern ...

Greening of facades is a non-expensive option to increase the amount of vegetation in urban areas. Especially in areas with dense settlement, the filtering effect of facade greening can improve urban air quality. In this paper, results from field experiments and numerical simulations are presented. Using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry the amount of heavy metals on leaf samples from seven houses...