Driver's alcohol and passenger's death in motor vehicle crashes

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies on alcohol involvement associated with fatal injury in traffic crashes have focused on the drivers, but the passenger's view is not well known. This study (1) analyzes the relationship between passenger's death and alcohol inebriation of the driver and (2) estimates the role of alcohol as the cause of a crash by examining who was at fault, sober, or inebriated. METHOD: The study includes all motor vehicle passengers (n = 420) who died in crashes in Sweden 1993 through 1996 and were medicolegally autopsied. Autopsy reports from the Departments of Forensic Medicine, including toxicological analyses, and police reports were studied. Presence of alcohol among drivers was based on blood and breath tests. RESULTS: One-fifth of the fatally injured passengers and one-fifth of the tested drivers were under the influence of alcohol. The youngest drivers had the highest prevalence of drunken driving. Drivers at fault were alcohol positive in 21% of these crashes and drivers were not at fault in 2% of these crashes. In 53% of the crashes where both the passenger and driver were alcohol positive, the passenger had a lower alcohol concentration than the driver. Children (<16 years) comprised 15% of the killed passengers. Notably, the children were riding with a driver who was under influence of alcohol in 13% of these crashes. Alcohol involvement was not tested in half of the surviving drivers. CONCLUSIONS: The data show that 20% of both passengers and drivers were under the influence of alcohol. Increased testing of surviving drivers regarding alcohol and other drugs is recommended.     

Eye movement and reaction time measures of the effectiveness of caution signs

The effectiveness of various forms of caution signs was evaluated using saccadic eye movements and reaction time as the dependent variables. Both dependent measures show that caution signs requiring specific positive actions are processed more slowly and less efficiently than signs requiring avoidance behaviors. Additionally, the data show that changing the order of the “consequences” and “instructions” elements of the caution signs did not influence the number of saccades, the speed, or accuracy of interpretation. The research shows that saccadic eye movement may be an effective method for evaluating the design of caution signs.     

Passivsammler für die zeitintegrierte chemische und toxikologische Überwachung des Schadstoffgehaltes in Grund- und Oberflächenwasser

The availability of high-quality water plays a pivotal role for the protection of the ecosystem and the quality of human life. An important step in assessing ground and surface water quality is sampling. The time-integrated accumulation of environmental contaminants by passive sampling is an attractive alternative to conventional snap-shot sampling. Thein situ accumulation during passive sampling allows the detection of even lowconcentrated contaminants and reduces cost and time for continuous monitoring. Passive sampling provides information on the whole sampling period and avoids the transport and storage of large sample volumes. Matrix effects are reduced due to the selective enrichment. Various passive samplers have been developed for sampling in aqueous media. Early developments used water filled dialysis tubes for the sampling of trace elements. Later on, solvent filled devices and triolein-filled semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were deployed. More recent developments use a solid rather than a liquid sorbent as the receiving phase. Examples of this are the solid phase microextraction (SPME) and the membrane enclosed sorptive coating (MESCO). In addition to comprising miniature devices, SPMEs as well as MESCO are thermodesorbable and, as such, no longer require solvent extraction. Conventionally the sampled contaminants are removed from the passive sampling devices by solvent extraction or thermodesorption in order to be analyzed chemically. For an in-depth analysis of sampled analytes, however, it would be advantageous to modify passive sampling such that sampled contaminants can also be analyzed biologically. Thus, it is our goal to construct a passive sampling device that serves both as a sampling device as well as an exposure chamber for toxicity testing. The principle underlying this technology is the bioavailability of sorbed contaminants, thereby eliminating the need for solvent extraction.     

Seaweed richness and herbivory increase rate of community recovery from disturbance

The importance of herbivores and of plant diversity for community succession and recovery from disturbance is well documented. However, few studies have assessed the relative magnitude of, or potential interactions between, these factors. To determine the combined effect of herbivory and surrounding algal species richness on the recovery of a rocky intertidal community, we conducted a 27-month field experiment assessing algal recruitment and succession in cleared patches that mimic naturally forming gaps in the ambient community. We crossed two herbivore treatments, ambient and reduced abundance, with monocultures and polycultures of the four most common algal species in a mid-high rocky intertidal zone of northern California. We found that both the presence of herbivores and high surrounding algal richness increased recovery rates, and the effect of algal richness was twice the magnitude of that of herbivores. The increased recovery rate of patches containing herbivores was due to the consumption of fast-growing, early colonist species that preempt space from perennial, late-successional species. Mechanisms linking algal richness and recovery are more numerous. In polycultures, herbivore abundance and species composition is altered, desiccation rates are lower, and propagule recruitment, survival, and growth are higher compared to monocultures, all of which could contribute the observed effect of surrounding species richness. Herbivory and species richness should jointly accelerate recovery wherever palatable species inhibit late-successional, herbivore-resistant species and recruitment and survival of new colonists is promoted by local species richness. These appear to be common features of rocky-shore seaweed, and perhaps other, communities.     

Expert Perceptions of Approaches to Protecting Isolated Wetlands in the Northeastern United States

In this article, we describe how protecting vernal pools was discussed by experts in the northeastern United States (U.S) within the context of a theoretical policy framework. We offer insight about characteristics of feasible vernal pool policy solutions, and identify gaps in our understanding, particularly regarding conditions in states currently lacking specific vernal pool protections. Vernal pools are geographically isolated, intermittent wetlands that provide important habitat for a variety of plants and animals. Many may not be federally protected as a result of judicial decisions over the past two decades, and the rule intended to clarify what qualifies for federal protection is currently being reviewed by the courts. Thus, state or local policy approaches may be alternatives to conserving vernal pools. We interviewed vernal pool experts in the northeastern U.S. regarding approaches to vernal pool protection and analyzed their perceptions through the lens of Kingdon's ( 2011 ) multiple streams policy development framework. The framework denotes 13 characteristics of three processes associated with policy development: problem identification, policy solution development, and the impacts of politics. While analyzed for all 13 components, we found participants most often discussed feasibility of policy formulation and implementation, particularly with regard to protecting vernal pools of high value while also remaining within the bounds of what public opinion supports.     

Spatial Variability of Pool-Tail Fines in Mountain Gravel-Bed Stream Affects Grid-Count Results1

Bunte, Kristin, John P. Potyondy, Kurt W. Swingle, and Steven R. Abt, 2012. Spatial Variability of Pool-Tail Fines in Mountain Gravel-Bed Stream Affects Grid-Count Results. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(3): 530-545. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00629.x Abstract: Fine sediment (<2 and <6 mm) particles underlying a 49-intersection grid placed on a streambed at 25, 50, and 75% of the wetted pool-tail width are commonly counted to assess the status and trend of aquatic ecosystems or to monitor changes in the supply of fines in mountain gravel-bed streams. However, results vary even when crews perform nearly identical procedures. This study hypothesized that spatial variability of pool-tail fines affects grid-count results and that a sampling scheme can be optimized for precision and accuracy. Grid counts taken at seven evenly spaced locations across the wetted width of 10 pool tails in a pool-riffle study stream indicated a bankward fining trend with secondary peaks of fines within the stream center. Sampling locations close to the waterlines harbored more than twice as many fines as central locations. Most of the five grid-count schemes derived from the seven sampled locations produced significantly different results. Compared with sampling at all seven locations, schemes that focus near waterlines overpredicted fines, while those that focus on the center underpredicted them. Variability of fines among pool tails was the highest within a broad band along the waterlines; hence, focusing sampling there yielded the most variable results. The scheme sampling at 25, 50, and 75% of the wetted width had the lowest precision and moderate accuracy. Accuracy and precision of grid-count results can be greatly improved by sampling at seven even-spaced locations across the pool tail.     

Typologizing Stakeholder Information Use to Better Understand the Impacts of Collaborative Climate Science

There is increasing interest among scholars in producing information that is useful and usable to land and natural resource managers in a changing climate. This interest has prompted transitions from scientist- to stakeholder-driven or collaborative approaches to climate science. A common indicator of successful collaboration is whether stakeholders use the information resulting from the projects in which they are engaged. However, detailed examples of how stakeholders use climate information are relatively scarce in the literature, leading to a challenge in understanding what researchers can and should expect and plan for in terms of stakeholder use of research findings. Drawing on theoretical, typological, and evaluation insights from the field of information use, we examine stakeholder use of climate information emerging from 13 collaborative climate science projects conducted in the western United States between 2012 and 2016. Three primary types of use emerge from our findings—conceptual, instrumental, and justification—reflecting common typologization of information use. Conceptual use was the most predominant. We suggest that researcher awareness of this typology can enable more systematic understanding of what project outputs stakeholders use and impacts of those outputs, giving way to new areas of inquiry and aiding in the conceptualization and design of climate information products for land and natural resource managers.