Influence of age-related stature on the frequency of body region injury and overall injury severity in child pedestrian casualties

OBJECTIVE: The current study aims to evaluate the influence of age-related stature on the frequency of body region injury and overall injury severity in children involved in pedestrian versus motor vehicle collisions (PMVCs). METHODS: A trauma registry including the coded injuries sustained by 1,590 1- to 15-year-old pedestrian casualties treated at a level-one trauma center was categorized by stature-related age (1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and 13-15 years) and body region (head and face, neck, thorax, abdomen and pelvic content, thoracic and lumbar spine, upper extremities, pelvis, and lower extremities). The lower extremity category was further divided into three sub-structures (thigh, leg, and knee). For each age group and body region/sub-structure the proportion of casualties with at least one injury was then determined at given Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) severity levels. In addition, the average and distribution of the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Score (MAIS) and the average Injury Severity Score (ISS) were determined for each age group. The calculated proportions, averages, and distributions were then compared between age groups using appropriate significance tests. RESULTS: The overall outcome showed relatively minor variation between age groups, with the average +/- SD MAIS and ISS ranging from 2.3 +/- 0.9 to 2.5 +/- 1.0 and 8.2 +/- 7.2 to 9.4 +/- 8.9, respectively. The subjects in the 1- to 3-year-old age group were more likely to sustain injury to the head, face, and torso regions than the older subjects. The frequency of AIS 2+ lower extremity injury was approximately 20% in the 1- to 3-year-old group, but was twice as high in the 4- to 12-years age range and 2.5 times as high in the oldest age group. The frequency of femur fracture increased from 10% in the youngest group to 26% in the 4- to 6-year-old group and then declined to 14% in the 10- to 15-years age range. The frequency of tibia/fibula fracture increased monotonically with group age from 8% in the 1- to 3-year-old group to 31% in the 13- to 15-year-old group. CONCLUSIONS: While the overall outcome of child pedestrian casualties appears to be relatively constant across the pediatric stature range considered ( approximately 74-170 cm), subject height seems to affect the frequency of injury to individual body regions, including the thorax and lower extremities. This suggests that vehicle safety designers need not only account for the difference in injury patterns between adult and pediatric pedestrian casualties, but also for the variation within the pediatric group.     

Real-time monitoring of nanoparticle retention in porous media

Nanoparticles are not specifically targeted in conventional treatment schemes; consequently, typical wastewater treatment systems are ineffective for nanoparticles removal. With rapidly increasing concern over their health effects, improved understanding of nanoparticle transport and retention in porous media filters is critical because of its application in new wastewater treatment methods and for assessment of the fate of the discharged nanoparticles in soil. In this study, a unique and robust integrated method is developed and validated. Experimentally, this approach uses an on-line, real-time, and in situ method for measuring nanoparticle retention dynamics, eliminating the laborious and less accurate sampling and off-line analysis. The data analysis part is a process simulator which provides both kinetic properties of the retention process as well as the overall capacity and loading. This technique is validated by application to the transport and retention of TiO₂ nanoparticles in two vastly different porous filtration media—activated carbon and sand. TiO₂ retained concentrations ranged from 0.24 to 0.37 mg g^?1 for activated carbon and 0.01–0.014 mg g^?1 for sand. The integrated method presented here is useful for both comparison of the filtration effectiveness of various porous materials as well as for process optimization and scale-up for industrial applications.     

Pinelands national reserve: An intergovernmental approach to nature preservation

The Pinelands National Reserve was created in 1978 when private interests and federal, state, and local governments allied to protect 378,000 ha (935,000 acres) of New Jersey's Pine Barrens from encroaching development. An intergovernmental authority, the Pinelands Commission, manages the reserve by implementing a regional plan to guide development away from environmentally sensitive areas and into designated growth centers. Through transferable development rights, financial gains from development in growth centers are used to compensate owners and localities in the reserve who might otherwise have developed their lands. The national reserve strategy contrasts with other federal strategies for preserving unique environments in which the federal government exercises exclusive control (e.g., national parks, monuments, and recreation areas). This article describes the strategy applied in the Pinelands and discusses the conditions in which it may be more or less effective than other strategies used to protect unique or valued landscapes. It then compares the Pinelands model with the strategies and conditions of california's Redwood National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore to develop propositions about the circumstances in which one or another strategy is more likely to be viable. Finally, it applies these propositions to the possibilities for future forest preservation in New England.     

Speciation of phosphorus in phosphorus-enriched agricultural soils using X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy and chemical fractionation

Knowledge of phosphorus (P) species in P-rich soils is useful for assessing P mobility and potential transfer to ground water and surface waters. Soil P was studied using synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy (a nondestructive chemical-speciation technique) and sequential chemical fractionation. The objective was to determine the chemical speciation of P in long-term-fertilized, P-rich soils differing in pH, clay, and organic matter contents. Samples of three slightly acidic (pH 5.5-6.2) and two slightly alkaline (pH 7.4-7.6) soils were collected from A or B horizons in two distinct agrosystems in the province of Québec, Canada. The soils contained between 800 and 2100 mg total P kg(-1). Distinct XANES features for Ca-phosphate mineral standards and for standards of adsorbed phosphate made it possible to differentiate these forms of P in the soil samples. The XANES results indicated that phosphate adsorbed on Fe- or Al-oxide minerals was present in all soils, with a higher proportion in acidic than in slightly alkaline samples. Calcium phosphate also occurred in all soils, regardless of pH. In agreement with chemical fractionation results, XANES data showed that Ca-phosphates were the dominant P forms in one acidic (pH 5.5) and in the two slightly alkaline (pH 7.4-7.6) soil samples. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy directly identified certain forms of soil P, while chemical fractionation provided indirect supporting data and gave insights on additional forms of P such as organic pools that were not accounted for by the XANES analyses.     

A Test of the Vegetation Mosaic Hypothesis: A Hypothesis to Explain the Decline and Extinction of Australian Mammals

The vegetation mosaic hypothesis suggests that medium-sized mammals occupying arid and semi-arid areas of Australia require a habitat that is a fine-grained mosaic of different vegetation types or seral stages. This mosaic is believed to have been created in the spinifex deserts of central Australia by Aboriginal burning practices. Its loss in the period 1940–1960 is postulated to be a primary reason for both major reductions in range and mainland extinctions of many species of medium-sized mammals at this time. This study measured the responses of three species of medium-sized mammals to vegetation patterns within spinifex grasslands that ranged from comparatively uniform to highly diverse. The abundance, condition, and reproductive status of golden bandicoots (Isoodon auratus) , northern brush-tailed possums (Trichosurus vulpecula arnhemensis) , and burrowing bettongs (Bettongia lesueur) were assessed within vegetation mosaics of various scales on Barrow Island, off the northwest coast of Australia. Scale of mosaic proved to have no significant effect on the numbers, condition, or reproductive status of any of the three species. Similarly, the creation of fine-grained mosaics of early seral-stage vegetation mixed within climax vegetation by extensive oil-field operations over nearly half the island had no significant effect on the number or condition of animals. Hence, scale of mosaic seems unlikely to be related to the mainland decline or extinction of these species. The pattern of decline and extinction on the mainland but continued survival on offshore islands is more consistent with the presence (mainland) or absence (islands) of introduced predators (foxes and cats) and herbivores (rabbits and stock).     

Mixing Zone Characterization of Two Transition Terrain Streams With Tracers1

Abstract: For most wastewater discharges to streams, the effluent creates a plume that becomes less distinct as it mixes with the receiving water. Constant‐discharge tracer studies were used to characterize the plume or physical mixing zone (PMZ) at two similar transition terrain streams. At both sites, the laterally unmixed PMZs did not extend across the entire stream and mixing occurred relatively quickly. The observed plumes were significantly smaller than the regulatory mixing zone (RMZ) allowed by the State of Colorado. At Site 1 mixing occurred within a much shorter distance due to the presence of a riffle zone located a few meters downstream of the discharge point. Interpretation of field data with an analytical model suggests that the effective transverse dispersion coefficient (k_z) for the riffle zone at Site 1 (～1 m²/s) was significantly higher than the average value over the longer nonriffle section at Site 2 (～0.01 m²/s). These results imply that to achieve the fastest mixing in transition terrain streams, thereby minimizing the size of the PMZ, discharge outfalls should be located upstream and close to riffle zones.     

Rapid assessment of insect pollination services to inform decision-making

Pollinator declines have prompted efforts to assess how land-use change affects insect pollinators and pollination services in agricultural landscapes. Yet many tools to measure insect pollination services require substantial landscape-scale data and technical expertise. In expert workshops, 3 straightforward methods (desk-based method, field survey, and empirical manipulation with exclusion experiments) for rapid insect pollination assessment at site scale were developed to provide an adaptable framework that is accessible to nonspecialist with limited resources. These methods were designed for TESSA (Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-Based Assessment) and allow comparative assessment of pollination services at a site of conservation interest and in its most plausible alternative state (e.g., converted to agricultural land). We applied the methods at a nature reserve in the United Kingdom to estimate the value of insect pollination services provided by the reserve. The economic value of pollination services provided by the reserve ranged from US$6163 to US$11,546/year. The conversion of the reserve to arable land would provide no insect pollination services and a net annual benefit from insect-pollinated crop production of approximately $1542/year (US$24∙ha^–1∙year^–1). The methods had wide applicability and were readily adapted to different insect-pollinated crops: rape (Brassica napus) and beans (Vicia faba) crops. All methods were rapidly employed under a low budget. The relatively less robust methods that required fewer resources yielded higher estimates of annual insect pollination benefit.     

Effect of Introduced Mosquitofish on Pacific Treefrogs and the Role of Alternative Prey

Abstract: Mosquitofish ( Gambusia affinis ) are distributed by many mosquito control programs because of their broad habitat tolerance and because they are considered by some to be effective mosquito predators. As a result, mosquitofish have become established as an exotic species in numerous perennial streams in the Santa Monica Mountains within the last 10–15 years. Previous studies have found that mosquitofish prey heavily on California newt (   Taricha torosa ) larvae that inhabit mountain streams. We found Pacific treefrog (   Hyla regilla ) tadpoles in the stomachs of 65% of stream-caught mosquitofish. In both laboratory and field experiments, we found that mosquitofish preyed heavily on treefrog tadpoles, even when high densities of mosquito larvae were presented as alternative prey. Thus, despite apparent high densities of Pacific treefrog populations, our experiments suggest that introduced mosquitofish may negatively affect stream-breeding H. regilla in the Santa Monica Mountains.     

Combining GIS with fuzzy multicriteria decision-making for landfill siting in a fast-growing urban region

Landfill siting is a difficult, complex, tedious, and protracted process requiring evaluation of many different criteria. This paper presents a fuzzy multicriteria decision analysis alongside with a geospatial analysis for the selection of landfill sites. It employs a two-stage analysis synergistically to form a spatial decision support system (SDSS) for waste management in a fast-growing urban region, south Texas. The first-stage analysis makes use of the thematic maps in Geographical information system (GIS) in conjunction with environmental, biophysical, ecological, and socioeconomic variables leading to support the second-stage analysis using the fuzzy multicriteria decision-making (FMCDM) as a tool. It differs from the conventional methods of integrating GIS with MCDM for landfill selection because the approach follows two sequential steps rather than a full-integrated scheme. The case study was made for the city of Harlingen in south Texas, which is rapidly evolving into a large urban area due to its vantage position near the US-Mexico borderlands. The purpose of GIS was to perform an initial screening process to eliminate unsuitable land followed by utilization of FMCDM method to identify the most suitable site using the information provided by the regional experts with reference to five chosen criteria. Research findings show that the proposed SDSS may aid in recognizing the pros and cons of potential areas for the localization of landfill sites in any study region. Based on initial GIS screening and final FMCDM assessment, "site 1" was selected as the most suitable site for the new landfill in the suburban area of the City of Harlingen. Sensitivity analysis was performed using Monte Carlo simulation where the decision weights associated with all criteria were varied to investigate their relative impacts on the rank ordering of the potential sites in the second stage. Despite variations of the decision weights within a range of 20%, it shows that "site 1" remains its comparative advantage in the final site selection process.