Community Segregation Research Articles

Editorial

This edition, one of the most voluminous to date, opens with an oratio by IT Cohen Professor of International Law and Human Rights, Emory University School of Law, Johan van der Vyver. The paper was delivered in the HL Swanepoel series of lectures on 26 May in Potchefstroom. In a well documented paper covering historical perspectives on the right to self-determination, the definition thereof and limitations thereupon, Van der Vyver concludes that the "[d]rafters of the South African Constitution rejected segregation of rival ethnic, religious and linguistic communities, as well as the promotion of cultural, religious or linguistic homogeneity within our nation, as a means of counteracting group-related tensions in the country's social construct. . . . The new constitutional dispensation accordingly seeks to promote pride in one's group identities." He also points out that "[p]luralism, tolerance and broadmindedness have been singled out by the European Court of Human Rights as indispensable components of a democratic society." A link to video material of the lecture is also included.
 

The Conflicts of Worship Houses after the Reformation in North Sumatra, Indonesia

The diversity of religious communities in North Sumatra Province demographically based on religion and ethnicity occupies one of the plural province in Indonesia. The population demographics based on religion and ethnicity in some urban districts show high differences, some are Muslim as the majorities and the Christians as the minorities, and vice versa there are Muslim as the majority and the Christians as minority. With a research paradigm focused on conflict study, the segregation of religious communities in the conflict of worship houses in North Sumatra after reform is seen. As a result, there are three zones of territory categories: green, yellow and red. Green category is the conflict of worship house in the area does not occur even though the level of diversity is high enough. The yellow category is there is a burden of unresolved worship houses conflicts in the area, and the red category is there has been an existing worship houses conflict. The dominant conflicts of worship houses occur because the regulations on the construction of worship houses are often not used as a reference. The conflicts worship places occur in the areas where the majority-population composition is a minority. In a predominantly Christian area, the conflicts worship houses occur due to the cultural shock. In Muslim-majority areas, the conflicts of worship houses are caused by regulatory problems and inter-ethnic cultural diplomacy degradation.

Polychaetes from red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) and their relationship with the water conditions in the Gulf of Urabá, Colombian Caribbean

Los poliquetos tienen un papel importante en la ecología de las comunidades bénticas, dominan la infauna, reciclan nutrientes de la columna de agua y son comúnmente usados como indicadores biológicos. En el Golfo de Urabá (Caribe Colombiano), específicamente para las zonas de Bahía Marirrío y Ensenada de Rionegro no existen estudios sobre la ecología de los poliquetos, solo se han desarrollado algunos estudos taxonómicos. En esta investigación se evaluó la relación entre algunas variables fisicoquímicas y las especies de poliquetos encontradas. Adicionalmente, se realizaron algunas observaciones sobre las distribución espacial de estas especies en las dos zonas de estudio. Se encontró que las variables que mejor explican las segregación de las especies de poliquetos fueron el oxígeno disuelto y la conductividad eléctrica; la temperatura no tuvo un efecto significativo. En términos de distribución espacial se encontró que las especies Alitta succinea, Capitella cf. capitata y Ficopomatus miamiensis ocuparon las zonas interna, media y externa de las dos áreas de estudio en las dos temporadas de muestreo; mientras que Ficopomatus uschakovi (temporada de lluvia) y Stenoninereis sp. 1 (ambas temporadas) fueron registradas solamente la Ensenada de Rionegro en diferentes temporadas. Finalmente, las especies Nicolea modesta es registrada por primera vez para el Golfo de Urabá.

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 6 : 2008

Safety of our cities is now a global concern as more than half of the world’s population is now urban dwellers. Crime in cities is also increasing and even if we have the best police force in the country, it is still not possible for one organization to address the many factors that contribute towards crime which has influence perceptions of safety in our city.Crime in cities dictates on choice of where to live, work, shop and play and in some cities it has brought about segregation of communities, where wealthier communities that can afford security lives in gated and guarded neighbourhood.A Safe City is a sustainable city, where communities can live in a more inclusive and secure environment Root causes of crime is linked to and integrated with other issues like economics, health, housing, and the interaction of different social groups. Addressing safety issues will make cities more attractive and livable.That is why the Malaysian Institute of Planners decided to focus on the issue of Safe City in this journal’s publication. The Institute strongly feels that town planners have a role to play in making our urban spaces safer. Several articles in this journal explore the various issues that can contribute towards a Safe City and I would like to thank all the writers and editors for this special publication.Thank you.

Oral microbial community typing of caries and pigment in primary dentition.

BackgroundBlack extrinsic discoloration in primary dentition is a common clinical and aesthetic problem that can co-occur with dental caries, the most common oral diseases in childhood. Although the role of bacteria in the formation of pigment and caries in primary dentition is important, their basic features still remain a further mystery.MethodsUsing targeted sequencing of the V1-V3 hypervariable regions of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, we obtained a dataset consisting of 831,381 sequences from 111 saliva samples and 110 supragingival plaque samples from 40 patients with pigment (black extrinsic stain), 20 with caries (obvious decay), and 25 with both pigment and caries and from 26 healthy individuals. We applied a Dirichlet multinomial mixture (DMM)-based community typing approach to investigate oral microbial community types.ResultsOur results revealed significant structural segregation of microbial communities, as indicated by the identification of two plaque community types (A and B) and three saliva community types (C-E). We found that the independent occurrence of the two plaque community types, A and B, was potentially associated with our oral diseases of interest. For type A, three co-occurring bacterial genus pairs could separately play a potential role in the formation of pigment (Leptotrichia and Fusobacterium), caries (unclassified Gemellales and Granulicatella), and mixed caries and pigment (Streptococcus and Mogibacterium). For type B, three co-occurring bacterial genera (unclassified Clostridiaceae, Peptostreptococcus, and Clostridium) were related to mixed pigment and caries. Three dominant bacterial genera (Selenomonas, Gemella, and Streptobacillus) were linked to the presence of caries.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates that plaque-associated oral microbial communities could majorly contribute to the formation of pigment and caries in primary dentition and suggests potential clinical applications of monitoring oral microbiota as an indicator for disease diagnosis and prognosis.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2891-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Indexing immunity to malaria in South Africa in the 1920s and 1930s

During the 1920s and 1930s, medical authorities, municipal officials and employers of African farm labour in the lowveld regions of the former Transvaal constructed a system for classifying Africans in terms of their susceptibility or resistance to malaria. This classification system was based on imperfect knowledge about the actual distribution of malaria risk within the country. Yet it was employed to justify public health policies regarding malaria control and the segregation of urban communities in the lowveld region.

Segregation of the Anodic Microbial Communities in a Microbial Fuel Cell Cascade.

Metabolic interactions within microbial communities are essential for the efficient degradation of complex organic compounds, and underpin natural phenomena driven by microorganisms, such as the recycling of carbon-, nitrogen-, and sulfur-containing molecules. These metabolic interactions ultimately determine the function, activity and stability of the community, and therefore their understanding would be essential to steer processes where microbial communities are involved. This is exploited in the design of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), bioelectrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy present in substrates into electrical energy through the metabolic activity of microorganisms, either single species or communities. In this work, we analyzed the evolution of the microbial community structure in a cascade of MFCs inoculated with an anaerobic microbial community and continuously fed with a complex medium. The analysis of the composition of the anodic communities revealed the establishment of different communities in the anodes of the hydraulically connected MFCs, with a decrease in the abundance of fermentative taxa and a concurrent increase in respiratory taxa along the cascade. The analysis of the metabolites in the anodic suspension showed a metabolic shift between the first and last MFC, confirming the segregation of the anodic communities. Those results suggest a metabolic interaction mechanism between the predominant fermentative bacteria at the first stages of the cascade and the anaerobic respiratory electrogenic population in the latter stages, which is reflected in the observed increase in power output. We show that our experimental system represents an ideal platform for optimization of processes where the degradation of complex substrates is involved, as well as a potential tool for the study of metabolic interactions in complex microbial communities.

Zoobenthic communities on hard-bottom habitats in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

Arctic hard-bottom locations are habitats for a variety of benthic organisms, which have been described by species occurrence, abundance, or biomass. However, only few studies have included descriptions of communities on such locations in the Arctic, whereas this has been frequently done for soft-bottom communities. Thus, the focus of this study is to determine a limited number of characteristic zoobenthic communities that occupy Arctic shallow subtidal habitats on hard-bottom locations in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. The habitats at these locations graded from bedrock near the surface to mixed bottom with pockets of loose gravel and sediments deeper. Samples were collected by divers in August and September 1996 and 1998 from two square frames (0.25 m2) from each of the depths 0–2.5–5–10–15–20–25–30 m at all transects except JUTT (max. 15 m) and OSSI (max. 5 m). Seven communities were identified after considering species dominance, similarity between species associations, and the potential role of conspicuous species in the communities. The communities were described as: 1—Amphipoda community; 2—Symplectoscyphus community; 3—Branched bryozoans community; 4—“Developed fauna” community; 5—“Impoverished fauna” community; 6—Balanus community; and 7—Bivalvia community. Segregation of communities was based on species dominance (biomass), as confirmed by multivariate analyses. Species primarily responsible for the establishment of communities were determined, and particularly the importance of barnacles (Balanus balanus) and Branched bryozoans (Eucratea loricata and Tricellaria ternata) is discussed. Macroalgae were of less importance for identification of communities and distributional patterns of zoobenthos.

High-Throughput Sequencing Shows High Fungal Diversity and Community Segregation in the Rhizospheres of Container-Grown Conifer Seedlings

Forest nurseries in Sweden produce ca. 360 million seedlings of Pinus sylvestris L. and Picea abies (L.) Karst. annually. Fungi represent the largest microbial component in rhizospheres and may significantly affect health and, consequently, quality of the seedlings. The aim of this study was to assess fungi focusing on pathogens in roots and the sphagnum peat growth substrate of healthy-looking P. sylvestris and P. abies seedlings from nine forest nurseries situated in northern, central and southern regions of Sweden. We hypothesized that nursery stock and the growth substrate can provide a venue for dissemination of fungal diseases. In each nursery and for each tree species, 100 seedlings with the growth substrate were collected during the dormant period. DNA was isolated from parts of root systems and from samples of the growth substrate, amplified using internal transcribed spacer of rDNA as a marker and 454-sequenced. Clustering at 98.5% similarity of 169,844 high-quality sequences resulted in 619 non-singleton fungal taxa. Although results showed that management practices in forest nurseries generally give a healthy stock, latent establishment of pathogenic fungi in both roots and the growth substrate supported the hypothesis. Furthermore, seedling roots and the growth substrate were inhabited by distinct communities of fungi, and lifestyles of these fungi largely determined community segregation into particular ecological niche.

Forest Structure, Plant Diversity and Local Endemism in a Highly Varied New Guinea Landscape

The Island of New Guinea is renowned for its high biodiversity, which arises in part from its complex geology and topographical variability. The island is, however, relatively understudied. We surveyed forest plant communities in the poorly studied Naoro-Brown catchment of the West Koiari region of Papua New Guinea. We identified four forest types—riverine successional forest, lower montane forest, hill forest, and riverine mixed forest—along a 13-km transect, and examined forest structure (tree height, stand density, and biomass) and tree species diversity (species richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, and composition) in these forest types. We also assessed the effect of local topography on floristic patterns. Forest structure and species diversity varied greatly among the forest types, with topography strongly affecting species assemblages. These results suggest that highly varied landscapes may contain high beta diversity via intense segregation and establishment of varied vegetation communities. Beta diversity in New Guinea may be higher than expected as such highly varied landscapes are common, yet poorly studied. To effectively conserve biodiversity in New Guinea's forests, protection must include forested landscapes that best represent the topographical variability throughout the island to account for locally endemic species restricted to specific ecological niches.

16S gut community of the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort

BackgroundObesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are major public health concerns worldwide, and their prevalence has only increased in recent years. Mexican Americans are disproportionately afflicted by obesity and T2D, and rates are even higher in the United States-Mexico border region. To determine the factors associated with the increased risk of T2D, obesity, and other diseases in this population, the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort was established in 2004.ResultsIn this study, we characterized the 16S gut community of a subset of 63 subjects from this unique cohort. We found that these communities, when compared to Human Microbiome Project subjects, exhibit community shifts often observed in obese and T2D individuals in published studies. We also examined microbial network relationships between operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC) and three additional datasets. We identified a group of seven genera that form a tightly interconnected network present in all four tested datasets, dominated by butyrate producers, which are often increased in obese individuals while being depleted in T2D patients.ConclusionsThrough a combination of increased disease prevalence and relatively high gut microbial homogeneity in the subset of CCHC members we examined, we believe that the CCHC may represent an ideal community to dissect mechanisms underlying the role of the gut microbiome in human health and disease. The lack of CCHC subject gut community segregation based on all tested metadata suggests that the community structure we observe in the CCHC likely occurs early in life, and endures. This persistent ‘disease’-related gut microbial community in CCHC subjects may enhance existing genetic or lifestyle predispositions to the prevalent diseases of the CCHC, leading to increased attack rates of obesity, T2D, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and others.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40168-015-0072-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Race, insurance type, and stage of presentation among lung cancer patients.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether African-American lung cancer patients are diagnosed at a later stage than white patients, regardless of insurance type. The relationship between race and stage at diagnosis by insurance type was assessed using a Poisson regression model, with relative risk as the measure of association. The setting of the study was a large tertiary care cancer center located in the southeastern United States. Patients who were diagnosed with lung cancer between 2001 and 2010 were included in the study. A total of 717 (31%) African-American and 1,634 (69%) white lung cancer patients were treated at our facility during the study period. Adjusting for age, sex, and smoking-related histology, African-American patients were diagnosed at a statistically significant later stage (III/IV versus I/II) than whites for all insurance types, with the exception of Medicaid. Our results suggest that equivalent insurance coverage may not ensure equal presentation of stage between African-American and white lung cancer patients. Future research is needed to determine whether other factors such as treatment delays, suboptimal preventive care, inappropriate specialist referral, community segregation, and a lack of patient trust in health care providers may explain the continuing racial disparities observed in the current study.

COMMUNICATION IN INNOVATION COMMUNITIES: AN ANALYSIS OF 100 OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE PROJECTS

We develop a model of innovation communities which allows us to address in a systematic way the influence of users and developers as well as communication between and within these groups. Based on this model, we derive a formal approach to quantify communication flows, community activity and community turnover. These measures are calculated using the data of 100 open source software projects. Our empirical analysis shows that: (i) Users play indeed a predominant role in communication, which points towards the vivid role of an active user community; (ii) communication is highly concentrated, which points towards the importance of active individuals and (iii) community turnover exhibits only little correlation with community segregation, which may allow to benefit from high turnover rates while keeping negative effects small. We argue that insight from this extensive analysis not only complements existing case studies, it also provides a reference frame to put these singular results into perspective when aiming at generalizations.

Methanogen prevalence throughout the gastrointestinal tract of pre-weaned dairy calves

The methanogenic community throughout the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of pre-weaned calves has not been well studied. The current study firstly investigated the distribution and composition of the methanogenic community in the rumen, ileum, and colon of 3–4 week-old milk-fed dairy calves (n = 4) using 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis. The occurrence of methanogens in the GIT of pre-weaned calves was further validated by using PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE), and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was applied to quantify the methanogenic community in the rumen, jejunum, ileum, cecum, colon and rectum of 8 3–4 week old animals. Both cloning libraries and PCR-DGGE revealed that phylotypes close to Methanobrevibacter were the main taxon along the GIT in pre-weaned sucking calves. The composition and abundance of methanogens varied significantly among individual animals, suggesting that host conditions may influence the composition of the symbiotic microbiota. Segregation of methanogenic communities throughout the GIT was also observed within individual animals, suggesting possible functional differences among methanogens residing in different GIT regions. This is the first study to analyze methanogenic communities throughout the GIT of milk-fed newborn dairy calves and reveal both their diversity and abundance. The identification of methanogens in the lower GIT of pre-weaned dairy calves warrants further investigation to better define methanogen roles in GIT function and their impact on host metabolism and health.

Gated Community and Housing Segregation: Empirical Evidence from Chongqing, China

Researches on the gated community in Chinese cities have been growing very fast, but empirical studies are limited, especially those on the relationship between gated community and housing segregation. Three micro-districts in Chongqing are selected for the questionnaire survey. Retrospective questions are included to obtain information about the homeowners’ condition before moving into the gated communities, and then by comparing it with their current situation we can estimate the impact of the gated community on housing segregation. The survey found that, after moving into the gated communities, many homeowners’ familiarity with the neighbors and their contact with other people decreases. It is also found that homeowners’ participation in local public affairs decreases. This supports the view that gated community aggravates housing segregation. However, the survey also found that many homeowners feel the income differences among the neighbors increase and the changes of several types of their external activities don’t show a consistent pattern. All these evidence suggests a complex relationship between gated community and housing segregation in Chinese cities and the removal of danwei from the housing system affects people’s experience in the gated community.

Water and climate variability in developing countries: the case of Uganda

Water safety and climate mitigation measures are global concerns. In this study, climate variability and related health implications were examined. The data included 11,101 outpatient records in the Luwero district from the Ugandan Ministry of Health database, the records of 2,358 outpatients connected with water-related health risks linked to climate variability (diseases such as cholera, typhoid, acute diarrhoea and dysentery) from seven sub-county health centres, monthly mean rainfall data for 30 years (1977–2007), and information from 90 households that harvest rainwater near the local health units. Using a logistic regression, the analysis controlled for the following list of social factors that potentially influence capabilities: personal characteristics (education), cultural norms, the capacity to cope with shocks, seasonal variation, societal favouritism and community segregation. Integrated water management, man-made induced activities and information on effects of climate variability were important in mitigation planning. Young people, including those under the age of 18, were significantly more vulnerable than people of other ages to water-related health risks linked to climate variability. Although both the young and the elderly are susceptible to waterborne illnesses, the findings reveal a link to climate variability, which is inadequately emphasised. We recommend persistence in climate mitigation measures and control against water-related risks.

Defining and Testing Targets for the Recovery of Tropical Streams Based on Macroinvertebrate Communities and Abiotic Conditions

Here, we set target values to measure the ecological improvement of streams, based on invertebrate communities, riparian vegetation, instream habitat conditions and water chemistry. The study area is a large tropical catchment (Rio das Velhas, Minas Gerais, Brazil) affected by pastures, mining areas and a large urbanized area but also includes natural protected areas. Two stream types were found in the catchment, based on stream size, elevation, climate and geology with significantly different macroinvertebrate communities. In spite of a marked wet/dry seasons' climatic pattern, that does not result in the segregation of communities. Four classes of global degradation (IV—bad to I—good condition) were defined based on the available abiotic information, corresponding to a gradient in structure and biotic metrics of macroinvertebrate communities, matching the current knowledge on taxa sensitivity to pollution and general disturbance. Class I corresponds to target conditions to be achieved under restoration programmes. Using this approach, we were able to detect an improvement of abiotic conditions in four urban streams that benefited from enhancement measures in 2007–2008. However, invertebrate communities improved clearly in only one site (biotic metrics and community structure). Our study highlighted that good water quality alone is not enough and that only the combined effect of water quality, riparian vegetation and instream habitat condition enhancement resulted in the improvement of invertebrate communities. An important limiting factor for macroinvertebrate communities' recovery may be the distance to source populations. We concluded that the combined use of biological and abiotic target values for measuring the recovery of streams is needed to fully achieve an ecological restoration. This approach can also be valuable in the regular monitoring of streams to assess stream degradation. Target values based on other biological elements, such as fishes and algae, and functional processes could also contribute to define more global and realistic goals. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Urban Housing Discrimination and Segregation of Urban Minority Communities

One can argue that discrimination still exist even after the civil rights movement. Many researchers have measured discrimination concerning housing, predatory lending and education. However, only few research studies were conducted based on credit score information, which showed gaps between whites and minorities within housing and lending. Credit score information is considered a vital instrument used by banks, employers, and property mangers.Research shows a connection between low credit scores and predatory lending. Does the credit reporting agencies impact the lives of minorities by supporting housing segregation and discrimination through credit scores? Minorities typically have lower credit scores, therefore the minority population continues to suffer from segregation and discrimination under the blanket of institutional or structural racism.

Ahmedabad's Home Remedies: Housing in the Re-Making of an Industrial City, 1920–1960

Long known as innovative in modernist architecture, mid century Ahmedabad was also pioneering in another area of built form: housing. Starting in the 1920s when Indians seized control of urban politics, Ahmedabadis launched a number of bold new initiatives to improve housing in the city, involving a striking range of actors—labour activists, middle-class reformers, mill owners, and municipal leaders. Largely ignored under earlier British leadership, housing became a key way for Ahmedabadis to lay claim to a new, more inclusive vision of the city. Although housing continued to play a prominent role in politics after Independence, the 1950s actually marked a retreat from that earlier inclusive vision, ultimately enshrining the class and community segregation that marks Ahmedabad today.

Femicide and Colonization

This article explores the murder of women and girls, which we name it Femicide, among the Palestinian community living in Israel. Specifically, it analyzes how the dialectic interrelationship between informal and formal legal-social systems constructs the murders of Palestinian women. The data revealed that femicide is a crime empowered by the wider context of colonization and the increasing spatial segregation of Palestinian communities. The study confirms the need to move beyond simplistic "cultural" explanations of femicide, and pay closer attention to the ways in which the structure, politics and economy of death function in colonized spaces and contexts.