RESUMO
Deposition of airborne sulfates and nitrates is considered to be an important factor in the decline of certain fish populations and of forest health in the eastern United States. A solution has been sought through legislation that mandates significant reductions in anthropogenic emissions of oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, precursors of sulfates and nitrates. This paper looks at the changes in sulfate deposition in the middle eastern United States from 1975 to 1990 and 2010 due to SO2 emission reductions brought about by 1970, 1977, and 1990 clean-air legislation. Recently developed emission inventories, together with a statistical, long-range transport model, were used to construct the estimates. The results show that sulfate deposition decreased over the middle eastern United States by about 25% between 1975 and 1990 and will decrease another 45% between 1990 and 2010-reductions commensurate with the overall decreases in SO2 emissions. The results further indicate that about half of the sulfur deposited in the environmentally sensitive southern Appalachian Mountains comes from states not a part of the southern Appalachian region. These estimates contain a measure of uncertainty due to uncertainty in emission estimates, the interannual variability of meteorology, and uncertainty arising from model assumptions and choices of oxidation and deposition rates. The model was able to reproduce about 10% of the variability in observations of wet sulfate deposition at over 100 sites over a 12-year period.
RESUMO
HIV research, treatment, and support programs in North America have been based on the premise that HIV is a gay man's disease. HIV also affects women. The purposes of this study were to: (1) examine the feelings, concerns, and needs of HIV infected women in a mid-sized Canadian city; and (2) determine whether a community agency for HIV positive persons was adequately supporting women. With informed consent, HIV positive women attending the community agency or a regional medical care facility were interviewed using qualitative research methods to elicit their lived experience. Eight women were interviewed (20% of the women who are HIV positive in this center). Four areas of concern were identified: (1) the impact of diagnosis on women and their children; (2) need for supports specific to HIV positive women; (3) differences in needs and supports available to men and women; and (4) lack of comfort with, or knowledge about, currently available facilities. These results are consistent with previously reported research. HIV positive women who are neither drug-users nor promiscuous feel stigmatized and less supported than HIV positive males. Recommendations for practice included: formulation of self-help groups for women, a more female friendly atmosphere, presence of female staff and other HIV positive women to support these women, and improved inter-agency cooperation. Many recommendations have been implemented and exceeded. The community agency now includes a child's play area, the hiring of a female social worker, and the establishment of an off-site support group for HIV positive women.