Does the walkability of neighbourhoods affect children's independent mobility,independent of parental,socio-cultural and individual factors?

The association between neighbourhood walkability and children's independent mobility using an ecological approach is relatively unexplored. In 2007, 1480 10- to 12-year-old children (and 1314 parents) attending low and high walkable schools across Perth, Western Australia, completed surveys. Objective built environment, social-cultural and individual-level factors were explored. High neighbourhood walkability predicted girls' independent mobility. However, girls and boys were more likely to be independently mobile if they and their parents were confident that they could travel independently. Providing safe, walkable neighbourhoods – particularly for girls – combined with strategies to improve children's skills to safely navigate their neighbourhood may increase independent mobility.     

The Environmental Status of Hawkesbury River Sediments

The Hawkesbury River of New South Wales, Australia is under increasing environmental stress. Pre-anthropogenic and current levels of heavy metal concentrations have been established for bed sediments between Windsor and Broken Bay. Sediment heavy metal concentrations in the main channel of the Hawkesbury River are close to background, but are substantially elevated in the headwaters of Berowra Creek, Cowan Creek and in southeast Pittwater. The Berowra Waters area and the upper catchment contribute both heavy metals and organochlorines/pesticides to the Berowra estuary. High contaminant levels above and below the Hornsby sewage treatment plant, and above and below the Calna Creek sewage treatment plant, make an assessment of the contribution by these plants difficult. Analyses of oyster tissue from the middle and lower reaches of the estuary indicate that heavy metal contaminants are entering the food chain.     

The Nixon and Ford Administrations and the Future of Post-Franco Spain (1970–6)

What was the value of Spain to the United States in the last years of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco? Unlike the Western European states, Washington had specific military interests in Spanish territory: military bases that were part of NATO's defensive strategy even though Spain was not a member of the Alliance. Since 1953, the Francoist system had been the guarantor of the political stability essential for the proper use of the bases. With the dictator's death approaching, maintaining stability in post-Franco Spain was the main concern of the US government. The maintenance of the bases as well as the Spanish policy of the European NATO members who, for the US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, were capable of ‘making shoddy decisions of heroism so long as they don't have to pay for them’, would be essential to keep Spain stable.     

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo,Charles Maurras and colonial Madagascar

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (1903–1937) is widely considered to be the first major writer of la francophonie and as Madagascar’s national poet. His untimely death has been interpreted as an act of rebellion against French colonial rule. However, little attention has been given to his outspoken attachment to the ideas of Charles Maurras and the far right Action Française. This article explores Rabearivelo’s politics, his ambivalent relationship with colonial rule and the complexity of the identity politics expressed in his work.