Search

In recent years, municipalities throughout California have struggled to meet housing needs, and construction of new housing units in the state has not kept apace of demand, resulting in increased housing costs that rank among the highest in the nation. At the same time, California faces pressure to achieve ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals in the relatively near term. Meeting those goals will require significant decreases in transportation sector emissions, which represent about 40 percent of the state’s GHG emissions. Particularly impacted by both the affordability and climate change crises are low-income Californians, whose communities suffer disproportionate impacts from lack of housing availability and vulnerability to climate change—and who also are California’s most reliable transit riders.Lawmakers seeking to tackle both housing and greenhouse gas reduction goals have turned to transit-oriented development programs—zoning programs that promote increased housing density close to mass transit options like bus and rail—as one way to address both issues. This paper focuses on one such transit-oriented development program, the City of Los Angeles’ Transit Oriented Communities Affordable Housing Incentive Program (TOC Program). The TOC Program offers density and other development incentives to projects within a half-mile radius of major transit stops, in exchange for developer commitments to provide a set percentage of deed-restricted affordable housing units within those projects.The TOC Program has been a major driver of affordable housing production in the City of Los Angeles since its adoption in late 2017, but certain structural and legal constraints may be impeding its full capacity to augment affordable housing supply. This paper explores those potential constraints and offers recommendations to increase the program’s efficacy. It also explores how the program can provide data and lessons learned to lawmakers considering similar inclusionary transit-oriented development programs within their jurisdictions, or even at the state level.

The consumption of Western diet (WD) – enriched in fats and sugars – is associated with overweight, obesity and male reproductive disorders. In addition to WD intake, crops and dairy products display residues of herbicides, including glyphosate and 2,4‐D that are widely applied worldwide. The concomitant exposure to WD and herbicides – mimicking contemporary scenarios – is not fully investigated. Thus, we evaluated the effects of glyphosate and 2,4‐D, alone or in mixture, on WD‐induced alterations in the male genital system. Male C57BL6J mice were submitted to WD (chow containing 20% lard, 0.2% cholesterol, 20% sucrose, and high sugar solution with 23.1 and 18.9 g/L of D‐fructose and D‐glucose) for 6 months. Concomitantly to WD, the animals received glyphosate (0.05, 5, or 50 mg/kg/day), 2,4‐D (0.02, 2 or 20 mg/kg/day) or their mixture (0, 05 + 0.02, 5 + 2, or 50 + 20 mg/kg/day) by intragastrical administration (5×/week). Doses were based on Acceptable Daily Intake (ADIs) or No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) values. Herbicide exposure did not alter the WD‐induced obesity, hypercholesterolemia and hyperglycemia. WD induced sperm cell abnormalities, reduced the number, volume and area of Leydig cells, enhanced the frequency of epididymal abnormalities, decreased the proliferation in both germinal and epididymal epithelia, and reduced the number of androgen receptor (AR) positive epididymal cells. Remarkably, the herbicide mixtures promoted such WD‐induced effects: increased the frequency of sperm cell and epididymal abnormalities (absence of sperm, cytoplasmic vacuoles, and clear cell hypertrophy) (5 + 2 and 50 + 20 doses); decreased Leydig cell nuclei volume and area (5 + 2 and 50 + 20 doses), reduced epididymal cell proliferation (all mixtures), and AR expression (50 + 20 dose). In addition, herbicide mixtures reduced serum testosterone levels (5 + 2 and 50 + 20 doses). Our findings indicate that the mixture of glyphosate and 2,4‐D herbicides, mimicking environmentally relevant scenarios, promotes WD‐induced changes in the male genital system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Driveline infections (DLI) are a serious complication in patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVAD). Apart from the differentiation between superficial and deep DLI, there is no consensus on the classification of the severity of DLI. Little is known about risk factors and typical bacteria causing DLI in centrifugal‐flow LVADs. Methods: In this single‐center study with 245 patients, DLI were classified by their local appearance using a modification of a score suggested by the Sharp Memorial group. The driveline exit site was inspected routinely every 6 months. Results: Severe DLI were detected in 34 patients (15%) after 6 months and in 24 patients (22%) after 24 months. The proportion of patients with DLI increased significantly during the follow‐up (p = 0.0096). The most common bacteria in local smears were Corynebacterium, coagulase‐negative Staphylococcus, and Staphylococcus aureus. Fifty‐nine patients were hospitalized more than once for DLI. In these patients, S. aureus was the most common bacterium. It was also the most common bacterium in blood cultures. Higher BMI, no partnership, and a HeartMate 3 device were identified as risk factors for DLI in a multivariable cause‐specific Cox regression. Conclusion: This study is a standardized analysis of DLI in a large cohort with centrifugal‐flow LVADs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since studies on the reproductive consequences after the exposure to environmentally relevant doses of Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) during critical stages of development are scarce, this study evaluated female reproductive parameters of adult rats exposed to a low dose of BaP during the juvenile phase. Female rats (Post-natal 21) were treated with BaP (0 or 0.1 µg/kg/day; gavage) for 21 consecutive days. During the treatment, no clinical signs of toxicity were observed. Nevertheless, the ages of vaginal opening and first estrus were anticipated by the BaP-exposure. At the sexual maturity, the juvenile exposure compromised the sexual behavior, as well as the placental efficiency, follicle stimulating hormone levels, placenta histological analysis, and ovarian follicle count. A decrease in erythrocyte, platelet, and lymphocyte counts also was observed in the exposed-females. Moreover, the dose of BaP used in this study was not able to produce estrogenic activity in vivo. These data showed that juvenile BaP-exposure, at environmentally relevant dose, compromised the female reproductive system, possibly by an endocrine deregulation; however, this requires further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]