BACKGROUND Participation restriction is defined as "problems an individual may experience in involvement in life situations" and refers to the personal and societal consequences of health conditions. There is a growing interest in participation restriction because (i) problems with work or looking after others may be more concerning to individuals than the signs and symptoms of health condition...

Ecologically Sustainable Development in Australia can be described as going beyond the protection of the environment from the impacts of pollution, to protecting and conserving natural resources. In an urban environmental context this means urban development (both greenfield development and urban renewal) that seeks to have no long term effects on various aspects of the environment related to a...

Landscapes always change, as they are the expression of the constant interaction between natural and cultural forces in the environment. Applied to an urban/peri-urban case, changes are seen as a menace. By identifying the past urbanization patterns, policy makers and planners can gain better insight into the contributing factors that have resulted in the most problematic development patterns n...

1. Current views of anthropogenic environments emphasize the extreme novelty of urban and industrial ecosystems. Proponents of reconciliation ecology argue that we need to use such habitats to conserve biodiversity, given the inadequacy of natural reserve systems. 2. Some of the harshest anthropogenic ecosystems may be able to support indigenous biodiversity due to their structural or functiona...

This paper describes a system for generating virtual reality environments and, more specifically, three-dimensional geometric models of large-scale urban areas for driving instruction simulators. These models include roads, buildings, road signs and road markings. Such models also find application in other training simulators, virtual reality environments and games.

Carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas and a major agent of climate change. This study quantified carbon (C) emissions from energy consumption and C storage and uptake by greenspace for three cities in middle Korea: Chuncheon, Kangleung, and Seoul. Carbon emissions were estimated using C emission coefficients for fossil fuels consumed. Carbon storage and uptake by woody plants were compu...