The occurrence of high ozone levels in the atmosphere of urban areas has become a serious pollution problem in a number of large cities in the world. Although mathematical models have been proposed for predicting ozone concentrations as a function of a number of gas components, sometimes there are uncertainties due to lack of the combined effects of meteorological factors and the complex chemical reaction system involved. The application of neural network models, based on measured values of air pollutants and meteorological factors at different locations within the S?o Paulo Metropolitan Area, combine chemical and meteorological information. This has shown to be a promising tool for predicting ozone concentration. Simulations carried out with the model indicate the sensitivity of ozone in relation to different air pollution and weather conditions. Predictions using this model have shown good agreement with measured values of ozone concentrations. 相似文献
In this paper we analyse an ordination method in which spatial contiguity information is included. The original method, proposed by Ver Hoef and Glenn-Lewin (1989), is extended, using graphs to describe spatial contiguity for several sampling schemes where locations are given. Extensions for two dimensional grids and for the case of discrete measures of abundance are analysed. Applications to simulated transect frequency data and real data collected on a regular grid are reported. 相似文献
This paper reflects critically on the results of a vulnerability assessment process at the household and community scale using a quantitative vulnerabilities and capacities index. It validates a methodology for a social vulnerability assessment at the local scale in 62 villages across four agro‐ecological/livelihood zones in Sindh Province, Pakistan. The study finds that the move from vulnerability narratives to numbers improves the comparability and communicational strength of the concept. The depth and nuance of vulnerability, however, can be realised only by a return to narrative. Caution is needed, therefore: the index can be used in conjunction with qualitative assessments, but not instead of them. More substantively, the results show that vulnerability is more a function of historico‐political economic factors and cultural ethos than any biophysical changes wrought by climate. The emerging gendered vulnerability picture revealed extremes of poverty and a lack of capacity to cope with contemporary environmental and social stresses. 相似文献
In species with parental care, competition among siblings for access to limited parental resources is common. Sibling competition can be mediated by begging behaviour, a suite of different visual and acoustic displays by which offspring solicit parental care. These are mostly addressed to the parents upon food provisioning, but can also be performed in the absence of the attending parents. This so-called parent-absent begging (PAB) may function as an intrabrood communication signal and potentially affect intrabrood competition dynamics for access to food. We investigated the role of PAB in moulding sibling interactions and its effect on food intake among altricial barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) nestlings, both under normal and experimentally reduced food intake. Frequency of PAB increased after food deprivation. Nestlings that had performed PAB increased their begging intensity upon the subsequent parental feeding visit, while siblings reduced their own begging level, but only when they had not been food-deprived. As a consequence, nestlings which had performed PAB before parental arrival had larger chances of receiving food. However, nestlings did not benefit from displaying PAB when competing with food-deprived siblings. Our findings show that PAB reliably reflects need of food, indicating that a nestling will vigorously compete for the subsequent food item. By eavesdropping siblings' PAB displays, nestlings may optimally balance the costs of scrambling competition, the direct fitness gains of being fed and the indirect fitness costs of subtracting food to needy kin. However, large asymmetries in satiation between competitors may lead individual offspring to monopolize parental resources, irrespective of PAB displays. 相似文献
Mercury in air has been measured at five coastal Mediterranean sites, involving measurements in Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia and
Israel. Four two-weeks long measurements campaigns were performed at the five sites. The measurements were carried out during
autumn 2003 and winter, spring and summer 2004. Total gaseous mercury/elemental gaseous mercury, particulate mercury and divalent
gaseous mercury were measured in parallel at the five sites. The activities constituted a subtask of the EU funded MERCYMS
research project, which also included Mediterranean Sea cruises where both mercury in air and water were measured. The result
from an evaluation of all the coastal air data is presented. Mercury concentrations from the different sites are compared
with similar data obtained in northern Europe and elsewhere. The result shows that the background concentration of mercury
in Mediterranean coastal air is lower than earlier anticipated. Background concentrations of TGM, RGM and TPM corresponded
to 1.75–1.80 ng m−3, 1–13 and 3–23 pg m−3, respectively. The measurements also showed that the mercury concentration occasionally can be very high in some areas due
to local anthropogenic emissions. It is proposed that diurnal variation in RGM concentrations observed during situation with
nocturnal inversion merely is an effect of meteorology rather than due to local photochemistry. 相似文献
The heavy metal bioavailable fraction of a soil is a core parameter to verify the potential risks of contaminant exposure
to organisms or plants. The purpose of the present work is to identify the bioavailable metal fraction in soils treated with
chelates. This fraction was evaluated directly by analyzing metal concentrations in soil solution and indirectly using sequential
extraction procedures. The metal bioavailable fraction was compared with metal accumulated in plant leaves, grown in both
untreated and chelate-treated reactors. In order to verify the effect of the readily and slowly biodegradable chelates [S,S]-ethylenediaminedisuccinic
acid (EDDS), methylglycine diacetic acid (MGDA), and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on metal speciation in soils,
a simulation of chelate treatment was made and metal concentrations in different soil compartments before and after the simulation
were compared. Lead concentration in the soil solution was positively correlated with metal concentration in the test plants.
The soluble fraction showed the best correlation with metal concentration in soil solution. The simulation of the chelate
treatment demonstrated that EDTA and EDDS were able to extract part of the organic- and sulfide-bound fraction, which are
less available to plants. 相似文献
Non-random sex allocation may occur whenever the expected reproductive value of sons and daughters differs, as is the case when the sexes differ in susceptibility to environmental conditions or maternal effects (e.g. egg size and hatch order). Under such circumstances, covariation between egg and clutch characteristics and egg sex may be expected, and this covariation should vary with maternal state or ecological conditions. In this 2-year study (2007–2008), we examined sex allocation in relation to egg and clutch traits in the yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, a species where male chicks are larger and more susceptible to harsh rearing conditions than female ones. In 2008, eggs were more likely male early in the season in two- but not three-egg clutches, and large eggs were more likely males late in the season. No egg/clutch traits predicted egg sex in 2007. Within-clutch egg mass asymmetry (the difference in egg mass between the first- and last-laid eggs) predicted sex in both years. In 2007, clutches with smaller egg mass variation were more likely to contain males, while in 2008 this relationship held for the last-laid egg and was reversed for the preceding egg(s). Laying order and sex of the previous egg did not predict egg sex, providing no evidence of sex-specific oocyte clustering. Thus, the relationships between egg sex and egg/clutch traits differed among years, suggesting a phenotypically plastic response of females to extrinsic conditions, and involved within-clutch egg mass asymmetry, a trait likely reflecting variation in maternal quality and/or reproductive tactics, which has been largely neglected in previous studies of sex allocation. 相似文献
Eggs and embryos of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus were used as a model to study the effect at the cellular level of potential anti-mitotic compounds extracted from the diatom
Thalassiosira rotula. Eggs and embryos incubated in a water-soluble diatom extract, corresponding to 5 × 106 and 107 cells ml−1, were totally blocked (i.e. cell division was blocked) at the one-cell stage. At lower concentrations (2.5 and 1.25 × 106 cells ml−1), the first mitotic division was inhibited in 32 ± 26% and 25 ± 3.5% of the zygotes, respectively, demonstrating the dose-dependent
effect of diatom extracts on sea urchin development. Immunofluorescence dyes, specific for DNA and α-tubulin subunits, were
used to stain nuclei and microtubules in sea urchin embryos during various phases of development. Images with the confocal
laser scanning microscope showed that tubulin was not organised in filaments at the sperm aster and cortex levels, and that
the pronuclei were not fused in embryos incubated soon after fertilisation with water-soluble diatom extracts corresponding
to 107 cells ml−1. At lower diatom-extract concentrations (4 × 106 cells ml −1), fusion of the pronuclei occurred but the mitotic spindle was not formed. Microtubules were clearly de-polymerised and the
chromatin appeared globular and compacted at the centre of the cell. A similar structure was observed for sea urchin embryos
incubated with 0.1 mM colchicine, a potent anti-mitotic compound. When sea urchin embryos were incubated in water-soluble diatom extracts at different
times prior to the first mitotic division, microtubules appeared de-polymerised at each step, from pronuclear fusion to telophase,
and cell division was blocked. At the histological level, embryos incubated with 4 × 106 cells ml−1 diatom extract showed nuclear fragmentation without cytokinesis. The possible use of sea urchin embryos as a bioassay to
test for other unknown compounds with cytotoxic activity in phytoplankton species is discussed.
Received: 7 May 1998 / Accepted: 9 December 1998 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The use of different types of zeolites (X, Na-P1, and 4A) synthesized by different methods and scales were tested in this work to adsorb nutrients... 相似文献
Introduction: Driving under the influence (DUI) citations are still a serious concern among drivers aged 16–20 years and have been shown to be related to increased risk of fatal and nonfatal crashes. A battery of laws and policies has been enacted to address this concern. Though numerous studies have evaluated these policies, there is still a need for comprehensive policy evaluations that take into account a variety of contextual factors. Previous effort by this research team examined the impact of 20 minimum legal drinking age–21 laws in the state of California, as they impacted alcohol-related crash rates among drivers under 21 years of age while at the same time accounting for alcohol and gas taxes, unemployment rates, sex distribution among drivers, and sobriety checkpoints. The current research seeks to expand this evaluation to the county level (San Diego County). More specifically, we evaluate the impact of measures subject to county control such as retail beverage service (RBS) laws and social host (SH) laws, as well as media coverage, city employment, alcohol outlet density, number of sworn officers, alcohol consumption, and taxation policies, to determine the most effective point of intervention for communities seeking to reduce underage DUI citations.
Methods: Annual DUI citation data (2000 to 2013), RBS and SH policies, and city-wide demographic, economic, and environmental information were collected and applied to each of the 20 cities in San Diego County, California. A structural equation model was fit to estimate the relative contribution of the variables of interest to DUI citation rates.
Results: Alcohol consumption and alcohol outlet density both demonstrated a significant increase in DUI rates, whereas RBS laws, SH laws, alcohol tax rates, media clusters, gas tax rates, and unemployment rates demonstrated significant decreases in DUI rates.
Conclusions: At the county level, although RBS laws, SH laws, and media efforts were found to contribute to a significant reduction in DUI rates, the largest significant contributors to reducing DUI rates were alcohol and gas taxation rates. Policy makers interested in reducing DUI rates among teenagers should examine these variables within their specific communities and consider conducting community-specific research to determine the best way to do so. Future efforts should be made to develop models that represent specific communities who are interested in reducing DUI rates among drivers aged 16–20 years. 相似文献