Geomagnetic field affects spring migratory direction in a long distance migrant

Night-migrating song birds travel to and from their wintering and breeding areas often separated thousands of kilometers apart and are clearly capable of finding intended goal areas from a distant location. Displacement experiments provide a useful way to highlight orientation and navigational skills in migrants. To investigate which cues birds actually use to compensate for displacement and the exact mechanism of each cue, experiments with manipulation of single cues are required. We conducted a simulated displacement of lesser whitethroats Sylvia curruca on spring migration. Birds were displaced not geographically but in geomagnetic space only, north and south of their breeding area to test whether they incorporate information from the geomagnetic field to find their breeding area. Lesser whitethroats held in southeast Sweden but experiencing a simulated displacement north of their breeding area (Norway) failed to show a consistent direction of orientation, whereas birds displaced south of their breeding area (Czech Republic) exhibited consistent northerly orientation, close to the expected seasonally appropriate direction, after displacement toward the trapping location. The absence of a clear compensatory direction in birds displaced north might be due to unfamiliar magnetic information or lack of sufficient information such as a magnetic gradient when moving around. By isolating one orientation cue, the geomagnetic field, we have been able to show that lesser whitethroats might incorporate geomagnetic field information to determine latitude during spring migration.     

Use of recycling stations in Borlänge, Sweden--volume weights and attitudes

This paper presents a study of recycling stations in the municipality of Borl?nge, Sweden. The main objectives were to measure volume weights of recyclables, to facilitate future planning of collection intervals and bin/container volume, and to investigate the general attitudes among the public towards waste management in general and recycling stations in particular. Volume weights measured in bins/containers were: paper/newsprint: 297 kg/m3, glass packaging: 297 kg/m3, metal packaging: 81.7 kg/m3, paper packaging: 27.8 kg/m3, plastic packaging: 28.1 kg/m3. The recycling stations have been in use since 1994. Most visitors (90%) arrived by car but said the visit to the recycling station was not the main purpose of the trip. The results from the interviews indicated that the people who use the recycling stations have found ways to incorporate waste sorting into their everyday lives, with the help of information, design of the collection system and environmental concerns.     

Operator-centred local error management in air traffic control

Introduction: A large number of air traffic control occurrences take place without resulting in loss of separation between aircraft. Unfortunately such occurrences are seldom reported and therefore not used for disclosing system weaknesses, such as inappropriate methods and procedures.The ATCC (Air Traffic Control Centre) Malmoe made a trial with local reporting of “learning occurrences”. The trial was ATCO-(Air Traffic Controller) centred. The study objectives were to evaluate if ATCOs would start to report after a defined training and marketing effort, if they could identify system weaknesses, if concrete actions for safety improvement would be taken as a result of the trial and to what extent expert support was necessary.Method and material: The trial period was eight months. The ATCO report would be made on a simple form, available on site. These reports would then be analysed in groups and the marketing and feedback efforts would be co-ordinated by the local flight safety group.Results: 43 reports were filed and analysed during the trial period. The initial motivational training and marketing was considered adequate. During the group discussions, the ATCOs identified system weaknesses within 40 of the reports. The resulting safety improvement actions included: the ATCC unit becoming more active in contacting the pilots and airline companies, the renaming of some waypoints (due to name similarities), the implementation of safer procedures when relieving ATCOs, the training of ATCOs in cockpit flight management systems, and the initiation of a research project primarily concerned with ATCO mental overload.Expert support was required in the beginning to help ATCOs focus on the system rather than on the individual.     

Differences in Long-term Medical Consequences Depending on Impact Direction Involving Passenger Cars

Objective: There is limited knowledge of the long-term medical consequences for occupants injured in car crashes in various impact directions. Thus, the objective was to evaluate whether injuries leading to permanent medical impairment differ depending on impact direction.

Methods: In total, 36,743 injured occupants in car crashes that occurred between 1995 and 2011 were included. All initial injuries (n = 61,440) were classified according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2005. Injured car occupants were followed for at least 3 years to assess permanent medical impairment. The data were divided into different groups according to impact direction and levels of permanent impairment. The risk of permanent medical impairment was established for different body regions and injury severity levels, according to AIS.

Results: It was found that almost 12% of all car occupants sustained a permanent medical impairment. Given an injury, car occupants involved in rollover crashes had the highest overall risk to sustain a permanent medical impairment. Half of the head injuries leading to long-term consequences occurred in frontal impacts. Far-side occupants had almost the same risk as near-side occupants. Occupants who sustained a permanent medical impairment from cervical spine injuries had similar risk in all impact directions (13%) except from rollover (17%). However, these injuries occurred more often in rear crashes. Most of the injuries leading to long-term consequences were classified as minor injuries by AIS for all impact directions.

Conclusions: Studying crash data from a perspective of medical impairment is important to identify injuries that might not be prioritized only considering the AIS but might lead to lower quality of life for the occupant and also costs for society. These results can be used for road transport system strategies and for making priority decisions in vehicle design.     

Microalgal communities epibiontic on the marine hydroid <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eudendrium racemosum</Emphasis> in the Ligurian Sea during an annual cycle

The microalgal community associated with Eudendrium racemosum, a marine hydroid widely distributed in the Mediterranean Sea, was studied during an annual cycle, at monthly frequency, in a coastal station of the Ligurian Sea. Microalgae were represented mainly by diatoms, which exhibited higher abundance and biomass values between autumn and spring (max 46,752 cells mm⁻² and 1.94 μg C mm⁻², respectively), while during summer a significant decrease was observed (min 917 cells mm⁻² and 0.013 μg C mm⁻²). High levels of abundance of filamentous cyanobacteria were observed in summer. Spatial distribution of epibiontic microalgae showed a markedly increasing gradient from the basal to the apical part of hydroid colonies. Considering the growth forms of diatom communities, motile diatoms (mainly small naviculoid taxa) were the most abundant in all the periods. Adnate (Amphora and Cocconeis spp.) were distributed mainly in the basal and central part of hydroid colonies and showed two peaks (autumn and summer). Erect forms (mainly Tabularia tabulata, Licmophora spp., Cyclophora tenuis) were mainly distributed in the apical part of the colonies and showed their maximum densities in spring–summer. Tube-dwelling (Berkeleya rutilans, Parlibellus sp.) were observed at low densities throughout the study period, without any significant temporal or spatial variability. Comparing the microalgal communities on marine hydroid to those grown on mimic substrata placed in the sampling station during summer, significantly higher values of abundance were observed in the hydroid, suggesting that microalgae may benefit from the polyp catabolites. This fact was particularly evident for the adnate diatoms, whose temporal trend paralleled the cycle of hydroid host.     

PCB in soils and estimated soil-air exchange fluxes of selected PCB congeners in the south of Sweden

PCB concentrations were studied in different soils to determine the spatial variation over a region of approximately 11 000 km(2). PCB congener pattern was used to illustrate the spatial differences, as shown by principal component analysis (PCA). The relationship to different soil parameters was studied. PCB concentrations in soil showed a large variation between sampling-areas with median concentrations ranging between 2.3 and 332 ng g(-1) (dw). Highest concentrations were found at two sites with sandy soils, one with extremely high organic carbon content. Both sites were located on the west coast of southern Sweden. Soils with similar soil textures (i.e. sandy silt moraine) did not show any significant differences in PCB concentrations. PCB congener composition was shown to differ between sites, with congener patterns almost site-specific. PCB in air and precipitation was measured and the transfer of chemicals between the soil and air compartments was estimated. Soil-air fugacity quotient calculations showed that the PCBs in the soil consistently had a higher fugacity than the PCBs in the air, with a median quotient value of 2.7. The gaseous fluxes between soil and air were estimated using standard modelling equations and a net soil-air flux estimated by subtracting bulk deposition from gaseous soil-air fluxes. It was shown that inclusion of vertical sorbed phase transport of PCBs in the soil had a large effect on the direction of the net soil-air exchange fluxes.     

A System Dynamics Model for the Environmental Management of the Sepetiba Bay Watershed, Brazil

In the recent past, the Sepetiba Bay watershed, located in the Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil has experienced rapid industrial development and population growth, as well as an increase in water pollution and environmental degradation. To analyze the complex interrelationships among the agents affecting the Sepetibza Bay environment, a system dynamics model was developed. The model builds on extensive studies conducted for the watershed, and simulates different hypotheses of economic growth and of demographic expansion. Thus, it can be used as a decision support tool for the identification of investment priorities and policy analyses under various scenarios. In order to provide a comprehensive approach to the environmental management of the Sepetiba Bay watershed, the model had to consider only the most relevant aspects of the behavior and the key interactions among agents operating in the watershed. In this article, the model’s structure is presented together with some of its main results.     

What is a static head measurement? Evaluating structural error and implications for regional groundwater modeling

Most groundwater modelers avoid using static heads measured from active production wells because they can introduce a bias into model calibration. However, in the deep confined Cambrian-Ordovician Sandstone Aquifer System in the Central Midcontinent of North America, dedicated observation wells are sparse and remote from areas of most concentrated pumping. As a result, in areas where drawdown is the greatest and modeling is most needed, only static heads from production wells are available for calibration. This paper evaluates two leading sources of discrepancies in using production well data, spatial and temporal structural error (S.E.). A simple Theis solution is used to evaluate the potential magnitude of spatial S.E. when calibrating a regional MODFLOW model with coarse cell resolution. Despite theoretical analyses indicating that spatial S.E. could be significant, statistical analysis of the model results suggests that temporal S.E. is dominant. Long (ranging over decades) or frequent (monthly) head datasets are key in understanding temporal S.E., to better capture water-level variability. In this study, the range in static head observations impacted estimates of the remaining time a well could extract water from the aquifer by 0.1 to 16.0 years. This uncertainty in future water supply is highly relevant to stakeholders and must be assessed in hydrographs depicting risk.     

Amitraz induced cytotoxic effect on bovine cumulus cells and impaired oocyte maturation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of amitraz (AMZ) on the primary culture of bovine cumulus cells (CC) and...     

Conflicting Frames about Ownership and Land Use Drive Wildfire Ignitions in a Protected Conservation Area

The creation of protected conservation areas may result in protracted conflicts between stakeholders. In this study we examine the drivers of anthropogenic wildfire ignitions in the National Park of “los Alerces” (NPA) in Patagonia, Argentina. The NPA was established in 1937 to protect the native “andino-patagónico” forests from wildfires as well as preserving its scenic beauty and native flora and fauna. At the time of its creation state authorities prohibited all extractive human activities in the “intangible”—fully protected—“National Park” section, while other regulated extractive and ecotourism activities were allowed to continue in the “Natural Reserve” section in an effort to accommodate the historical entitlements of the displaced populations of “pobladores” (settlers) that had been living in the NPA for over a century. Here we interviewed the main stakeholder groups—“pobladores”, forest rangers and administrators, ecolodge owners and angler club members—to identify the drivers of wildfire ignitions in the park. Wildfires have been singled out by state authorities as the main threat to the NPA though considerable scientific uncertainty exists regarding their complex ecological effects. This study argues, based on the human and biophysical system data collected, that two conflicting cultural frames exist within the NPA that provide the necessary backdrop for understanding the drivers of wildfire ignitions. In turn, these findings raise puzzling dilemmas for the main theoretical approaches that have been used to inform and design conflict management strategies in protected conservation areas.