Prevalence of alcohol-impaired driving and riding in northern Ghana

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the roadside prevalence of alcohol-impaired driving among drivers and riders in northern Ghana. The study also verifies motorists' perceptions of their own alcohol use and knowledge of the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit in Ghana.

Method: With the assistance of police, systematic random sampling was used to collect data at roadblocks using a cross-sectional study design. Breathalyzers were used to screen whether motorists had detectable alcohol in their breath and follow-up breath tests were conducted to measure the actual breath alcohol levels among positive participants.

Results: In all, 9.7% of the 789 participants had detectable alcohol, among whom 6% exceeded the legal BAC limit of 0.08%. The prevalence of alcohol-impaired driving/riding was highest among cyclists (10% of all cyclists breath-tested) followed by truck drivers (9%) and motorcyclists (7% of all motorcyclists breath-tested). The occurrence of a positive BAC among cyclists was about 8 times higher (odds ratio [OR] = 7.73; P < .001) and it was 2 times higher among motorcyclists (OR = 2.30; P = .039) compared to private car drivers. The likelihood for detecting a positive BAC among male motorists/riders was higher than that among females (OR = 1.67; P = .354). The odds for detecting a positive BAC among weekend motorists/riders was significantly higher than on weekdays (OR = 2.62; P = .001).

Conclusion: Alcohol-impaired driving/riding in Ghana is high by international standards. In order to attenuate the harmful effects of alcohol misuse such as alcohol-impaired driving/riding, there is the need to educate road users about how much alcohol they can consume and stay below the legal limit. The police should also initiate random breath testing to instill the deterrence of detection, certainty of apprehension and punishment, and severity and celerity of punishment among drink-driving motorists and riders.     

Reversibility of the structure and dewaterability of anaerobic digested sludge

The reversibility of the structure and dewaterability of broken anaerobic digested sludge(ADS)is important to ensure the efficiency of sludge treatment or management processes.This study investigated the effect of continuous strong shear(CSS)and multipulse shear(MPS)on the zeta potential,size(median size,d_(50)),mass fractal dimension(D_F),and capillary suction time(CST)of ADS aggregates.Moreover,the self-regrowth(SR)of broken ADS aggregates during slow mixing was also analyzed.The results show that raw ADS with d_(50) of 56.5μm was insensitive to CSS–SR or MPS–SR,though the size slightly decreased after the breakage phase.For conditioned ADS with d_(50) larger than 600μm,the breakage in small-scale surface erosion changed to large-scale fragmentation as the CSS strength increased.In most cases,after CSS or MPS,the broken ADS had a relatively more compact structure than before and d_(50) is at least 200μm.The CST of the broken fragments from optimally dosed ADS increased,whereas that corresponding to overdosed ADS decreased.MPS treatment resulted in larger and more compact broken ADS fragments with a lower CST value than CSS.During the subsequent slow mixing,the broken ADS aggregates did not recover their charge,size,and dewaterability to the initial values before breakage.In addition,less than 15%self-regrowth in terms of percentage of the regrowth factor was observed in broken ADS after CSS at average velocity gradient no less than 1905.6 sec~(-1).     

不同环境条件下聚羟基烷酸(PHAs)薄膜生物降解性研究

采用不同形态的PHAs薄膜（聚β－羟基丁酸（PHB）及β－羟基丁酸与β－羟基戊酸的共聚物（PHBV）膜）,在各种环境（如土壤和水体）的不同条件下,对膜的生物降解性进行了研究,并对其降解机制作了初步探讨。结果表明：PHAs膜具有生物降解性,在无菌条件下不能被降解;在不同的环境中,如不同土壤和水体,PHAs膜的降解情况不同;不同的条件,如pH、温度,对环境中PHAs膜的降解率有着不同的影响;PHB膜的生物降解速度比PHBV膜快;PHAs膜的厚度对其降解能力有很大影响。     

“R1-R4” AND “BOISED” SEDIMENT PREDICTION MODEL TESTS USING FOREST ROADS IN GRANITICS1

ABSTRACT: Erosion and sedimentation data from research watersheds in the Silver Creek Study Area in central Idaho were used to test the prediction of logging road erosion using the R1-R4 sediment yield model, and sediment delivery using the “BOISED” sediment yield prediction model. Three small watersheds were instrumented and monitored such that erosion from newly constructed roads and sediment delivery to the mouths of the watersheds could be measured for four years following road construction. The errors for annual surface erosion predictions for the two standard road tests ranged from +31.2 t/ha/yr (+15 percent) to -30.3 t/ha/yr (-63 percent) with an average of zero t/ha/yr and a standard deviation of the differences of 18.7 t/ha/yr. The annual prediction errors for the three watershed scale tests had a greater range from -40.8 t/ha/yr (-70 percent) to +65.3 t/ha/yr (+38 percent) with a mean of -1.9 t/ha/yr and a standard deviation of the differences of 25.2 t/ha/yr. Sediment yields predicted by BOISED (watershed scale tests) were consistently greater (average of 2.5 times) than measured sediment yields. Hillslope sediment delivery coefficients in BOISED appear to be overly conservative to account for average site conditions and road locations, and thus over-predict sediment delivery. Mass erosion predictions from BOISED appear to predict volume well (465 tonnes actual versus 710 tonnes predicted, or a 35 percent difference) over 15 to 20 years, however mass wasting is more episodic than the model predicts.     

Offspring sex ratio response to host size in the parasitoid wasp Spalangia endius

The host size model, an adaptive model for maternal manipulation of offspring sex ratio, was examined for the parasitoid wasp Spalangia endius. In a Florida strain, as the model predicts, daughters emerged from larger hosts than sons, but only when mothers received both small and large hosts simultaneously. The pattern appeared to result from the mother's ovipositional choice and not from differential mortality of the sexes during development. If sex ratio manipulation is adaptive in the Florida strain, it appears to be through a benefit to daughters of developing on large hosts rather than through a benefit to sons of developing on small hosts. Both female and male parasitoids were larger when they developed on larger hosts. For females, developing on a larger host (1) increased offspring production, except for the largest hosts, (2) increased longevity, (3) lengthened development, and (4) had no effect on wing loading. For males, development on a larger host had no effect on any measure of male fitness – mating success, longevity, development duration, or wing loading. In contrast, a strain from India showed no difference in the size of hosts from which daughters versus sons emerged, although both female and male parasitoids were larger when they developed on larger hosts. These results together with previous studies of Spalangia reveal no consistent connection between host-size-dependent sex ratio and host-size-dependent parasitoid size among strains of S. endius or among species of Spalangia. Received: 28 October 1998 / Received in revised form: 20 May 1999 / Accepted: 30 May 1999     

Migration and natural fate of a coal tar creosote plume: 1. Overview and plume development

A volume of sand containing coal tar creosote was emplaced below the water table at CFB Borden to investigate natural attenuation processes for complex biodegradable mixtures. Coal tar creosote is a mixture of more than 200 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic compounds and phenolic compounds. A representative group of seven compounds was selected for detailed study: phenol, m-xylene, naphthalene, phenanthrene, 1-methylnaphthalene, dibenzofuran and carbazole. Movement of groundwater through the source led to the development of a dissolved organic plume, which was studied over a 4-year period. Qualitative plume observations and mass balance calculations indicated two key conclusions: (1) compounds from the same source can display distinctly different patterns of plume development and (2) mass transformation was a major influence on plume behaviour for all observed compounds.     

为什么有“高铁”还要建“磁悬浮”

<正>2010年3月13日,在全国人大新闻中心举行的集体采访中,铁道部总规划师郑健透露,上海至杭州199公里的磁悬浮项目立项已获批复,目前正在做深化研究。这也是中长期规划中唯一的磁悬浮线路。我国要不要建设"磁悬浮"已争论     

春季和夏季辽东湾表层沉积物中重金属的分布及来源

为研究辽东湾表层沉积物中重金属的分布特征及其来源,于2013年5月(春季)和8月(夏季)在辽东湾设置38个采样点,采集表层沉积物样品,测定6种典型重金属(Cu、Pb、Zn、Cd、Hg、As)的质量分数,并采用相关性、主成分及聚类分析对重金属来源进行研究. 结果表明:春季和夏季辽东湾表层沉积物中w(Cu)、w(Pb)、w(Zn)、w(Cd)、w(Hg)、w(As)平均值分别为28.77、26.62、108.89、0.50、0.03、12.09 mg/kg和26.05、24.22、71.93、0.22、0.05、11.03 mg/kg;单因子方差分析结果表明,w(Cu)、w(Zn)、w(Cd)、w(Hg)在春季和夏季有显著差异,w(Pb)、w(As)无差异. 重金属高值区春季主要分布在辽东湾北部西侧小凌河口外至葫芦岛以南海域,夏季主要分布在北部河口及鲅鱼圈、金州湾附近,低值区均位于辽东湾中部海域. 春季辽东湾表层沉积物重金属的来源主要包括有机质络合、海上活动、工业排污入海与河流所携带的工业和生活污水,夏季来源主要包括海上活动、工业排污入海、河流携带的工业和生活污水以及地表径流. 所调查的38个采样点重金属在污染程度上可分为3类,其中Cu、Zn、Hg和As属轻度污染,Pb属中度污染,Cd为严重污染;整体空间分布特点为西部和北部近河口区域重金属质量分数偏高,中部远河口海域较低.      

辽东湾表层沉积物重金属生态风险及预警

为对辽东湾表层沉积物重金属的潜在生态风险进行定量评价及预警分析,根据2012—2015年每年8月的调查数据,计算了6种重金属元素（cu、PB、ZN、CD、HG和AS）的IGEO（地累积指数）、rI（综合潜在生态危害指）和IGE（生态风险预警指数）．　结果表明:2012年和2013年辽东湾表层沉积物重金属元素的IGEO由大到小顺序为AS>CU>ZN>PB>CD>HG,2014年为AS>CU>ZN>PB>CD>;2012—2014年辽东湾表层沉积物重金属污染区域主要位于北部河流入海口海域、葫芦岛周边海域．　风险分级和预警评价结果显示,各重金属元素的ＥＲＩ（单项潜在生态危害指数）平均值均小于40,rI均小于150,处于低潜在生态风险状态;辽东湾所有采样点中,2012年有5.6%的采样点处于2级生态风险等级（O　eR≤1.0）,属生态风险预警级别,94.4%的采样点处在生态风险无警级别,2013—2014年所有采样点均处于生态风险无警级别．　对辽东湾生态环境具有潜在危害的元素是CD、aS和HG,辽东湾表层沉积物中AS、ZN、CD在部分采样点已达到生态风险预警级别,应加大对该海域的环境监测力度．