Abstract:The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires EU member states to produce and implement river basin management plans, which are to be designed and updated via participatory processes that inform, consult with, and actively involve all interested stakeholders. The assumption of the European Commission is that stakeholder participation, and institutional adaptation and procedural innovation to facilitate it, are essential to the effectiveness of river basin planning and, ultimately, the environmental impact of the Directive. We analyzed official documents and the WFD literature to compare implementation of the Directive in EU member states in the initial WFD planning phase (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009). Examining the development of participatory approaches to river basin management planning, we consider the extent of transformation in EU water governance over the period. Employing a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, we map the implementation "trajectories" of 13 member states, and then provide a detailed examination of shifts in river basin planning and participation in four member states (Germany, Sweden, Poland and France) to illustrate the diversity of institutional approaches observed. We identify a general tendency towards increased, yet circumscribed, stakeholder participation in river basin management in the member states examined, alongside clear continuities in terms of their respective pre-WFD institutional and procedural arrangements. Overall, the WFD has driven a highly uneven shift to river basin-level planning among the member states, and instigated a range of efforts to institutionalize stakeholder involvement-often through the establishment of advisory groups to bring organized stakeholders into the planning process.

Urban sprawl is eroding the traditionally compact, diverse, and mixed Southern European cities. Besides the rise in land and energy consumption, the expansion of low density urban forms also affects water, a critical resource in the region. This study examines garden watering in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona in order to illustrate the importance of outdoor water use in the urbanization process, and, following the insights provided by urban political ecology, to highlight the differences in garden types and water spending according to power relations derived from income levels. Results indicate that, generally, higher income households prefer and can afford more water-consuming Atlantic gardens whereas lower income households have to resort to more climate-adapted species. These differences produce in turn different urban natures based on who can and who cannot afford water costs. [

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Background and Purpose-Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is a cell surface and circulating enzyme involved in recruitment of lymphocytes and neutrophils through its semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) activity. We aimed to study plasma VAP-1/SSAO activity in relation to the risk for intracranial bleeding complications in patients with stroke treated with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the greatest safety concern with this treatment. Methods-In 141 patients with ischemic stroke, we measured VAP-1/SSAO activity in plasma taken before tPA administration. Hemorrhagic events were classified according to brain CT criteria and functional outcomes evaluated using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. We also assessed the potential therapeutic effect of blocking VAP-1/SSAO activity in a rat embolic stroke model treated with tPA. Results-We saw significantly higher levels of plasma VAP-1/SSAO activity in patients who subsequently experienced hemorrhagic transformation. Elevated plasma VAP-1/SSAO activity also predicted worse neurological outcome in these patients. In the rat model, we confirmed that use of the inhibitor semicarbazide prevented adverse effects caused by delayed tPA administration, leading to a smaller infarct volume. Conclusions-Our data demonstrate that baseline VAP-1/SSAO activity predicts parenchymal hemorrhage after tPA, suggesting the safety of thrombolytic agents could be improved by considering VAP-1/SSAO activity. Furthermore, anti-VAP-1/SSAO drugs given with tPA may prevent neurological worsening in patients with ischemic stroke. (Stroke. 2010;41:1528-1535.)

Patients carrying mutations within the amyloid-␤ (A␤) sequence develop severe early-onset cerebral amyloid angiopathy with some of the related variants manifesting primarily with hemorrhagic phenotypes. Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) are typically associated with blood brain barrier disruption and hemorrhagic transformations after ischemic stroke. However, their contribution to cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related hemorrhage remains unclear. Human brain endothelial cells challenged with A␤ synthetic homologues containing mutations known to be associated in vivo with hemorrhagic manifestations (A␤E22Q and A␤L34V) showed enhanced production and activation of MMP-2, evaluated via Multiplex MMP antibody arrays, gel zymography, and Western blot, which in turn proteolytically cleaved in situ the A␤ peptides. Immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry analysis highlighted the generation of specific C-terminal proteolytic fragments, in particular the accumulation of A␤-(1-16), a result validated in vitro with recombinant MMP-2 and quantitatively evaluated using deuteriumlabeled internal standards. Silencing MMP-2 gene expression resulted in reduced A␤ degradation and enhanced apoptosis. Secretion and activation of MMP-2 as well as susceptibility of the A␤ peptides to MMP-2 degradation were dependent on the peptide conformation, with fibrillar elements of A␤E22Q exhibiting negligible effects. Our results indicate that MMP-2 release and activation differentially degrades A␤ species, delaying their toxicity for endothelial cells. However, taking into consideration MMP ability to degrade basement membrane components, these protective effects might also undesirably compromise blood brain barrier integrity and precipitate a hemorrhagic phenotype. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)3 , the deposition of amyloid in vessel walls of the central nervous system, compromises leptomeningeal and cortical vessels affecting medium and small size arteries and arterioles as well as capillary endothelium. The most common form of CAA is associated with amyloid-␤ (A␤) deposition, particularly in elderly individuals and in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) (1, 2). In these cases the deposited protein, A␤, is originated by sequential processing of the amyloid precursor protein primarily generating peptides constituted by 40-and 42-amino acid residue-long peptides, A␤40 and A␤42, respectively. For reasons not completely understood, A␤42 is one of the main components of parenchymal amyloid plaques, whereas A␤40 is the predominant species present in vascular deposits (2-4). The fibrillar and compact A␤ deposition in the brain vessel walls has been related to abnormalities in the vasculature including microaneurysms and fibrinoid necrosis (5), which can subsequently compromise the integrity of the blood brain barrier (BBB). Indeed, one of the most relevant pathological consequences of CAA is the development of intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH) usually affecting cortical and subcortical areas. In turn, ICH results in elevated mortality rates a...

While the city of Barcelona is being held up worldwide as an example of a compact and sustainable urban settlement, its metropolitan region has been suburbanized with low-density housing that, among other impacts, threatens the water supply system of the area. In this process of urbanization new landscapes of consumption -greening the city with non-native natures -have been produced, requiring a higher use of water and other inputs. Starting with the drought events of 2008 in Metropolitan Barcelona, this article aims to develop an understanding of the production of the green city in a Mediterranean environment. Using urban political ecology, and extending our scope to cultural theories, we investigate the proliferation of Atlantic gardens in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region. By broadening existing debates on suburban natures from a predominantly North American focus to other contexts, the article aims to offer a different view of the political, economic and cultural constructions of urban natures in order to facilitate the design of more equitable cities.The Catalan government under a postdoctoral grant Beatriu de Pinós and the Spanish CICYT under grant number CSO2009-12772-C03-01 funded part of the research for this article. We would like to especially thank Professor Erik Swyngedouw of the University of Manchester, the Park and Garden Service of the Barcelona City Council for helpful historical information and Josefina Gómez Mendoza for helpful information about Madrid. We would also like to thank the three IJURR referees for relevant suggestions and criticisms on previous versions of the manuscript. The usual disclaimers apply. bs_bs_banner

In this article we focus our attention on the progressively prominence of the citizen participation into the networks of governance oriented toward urban regeneration. We expound the main results of our recent research carried out in 10 deprived neighborhoods in Catalonia (Spain), going in depth into three central issues: (1) the weight of citizen participation in the governance networks, (2) the substantive effects of this participation, and (3) the factors that influence the variety of experiences of participation in urban regeneration. We conclude that the development of participatory governance networks is dialectically related to policy outcomes and to prior structural elements like the position of the neighborhoods within the urban system or the availability and characteristics of the local social capital.

By the means of evaluating the planning process carried out in Catalonia (Spain) according to the requirements of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, this article explores the relation between the characteristics of a deliberative process and its results. Our research examines the effects of a real deliberative process on river basin management planning, identifies its strengths and weakness and unveils those factors that explain the lights and the shadows of deliberation. Our evaluation shows that, although the deliberative process achieved significant outputs, most of the participants were unsatisfied with the results. The article concludes that the behaviour rules of the participants, the methodology used, the political engagement and the resources invested are crucial to understanding most of the deliberative processes' success. On the other hand, the lack of deliberative culture, the existence of weak governmental leadership and the absence of some key actors explain the participants' dissatisfaction with the results.