Transport company safety climate—The impact on truck driver behavior and crash involvement

Objective: The present study investigated the relationships between safety climate and driving behavior and crash involvement.

Methods: A total of 339 company-employed truck drivers completed a questionnaire that measured their perceptions of safety climate, crash record, speed choice, and aberrant driving behaviors (errors, lapses, and violations).

Results: Although there was no direct relationship between the drivers' perceptions of safety climate and crash involvement, safety climate was a significant predictor of engagement in risky driving behaviors, which were in turn predictive of crash involvement.

Conclusions: This research shows that safety climate may offer an important starting point for interventions aimed at reducing risky driving behavior and thus fewer vehicle collisions.     

The affective foundations of high‐reliability organizing

The factors that compel individuals to exert the extraordinary effort needed to create high reliability—consistent error‐free performance under trying conditions—remain unspecified. Here, we propose that when individuals experience emotional ambivalence and prosocial motivation, it induces the broad thinking and other‐orientation that undergird mindful organizing and high reliability. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sport and commercial fishing conflicts: A theoretical analysis

A recreational sector is added to a standard commercial fishing optimal control model to identify public decision variables which should be considered when determining optimal population levels and allocating harvestable fish between sport and commercial users. Both linear and nonlinear models are presented. A predator-prey relationship is also considered. Results derived from the models indicate that shortcomings exist with current economic inputs to policy making because of failure to consider relevant bioeconomic relationships. Future research topics to remedy this are discussed.     

Reestablishing Naturally Functioning Dunes on Developed Coasts

Common beach management practices reduce the ecological values of coastal dunes. Mechanical beach cleaning eliminates incipient dunes, habitat for nesting birds, seed sources for pioneer dune colonizers and food for fauna, and artificially small, stabilized foredunes reduce the variability in microenvironments necessary for biodiversity. Recent initiatives for reducing coastal hazards, protecting nesting birds, and encouraging nature-based tourism provide incentive for the development of a restoration program for beaches and dunes that is compatible with human use. Suggested changes in management practice include restricting or rerouting pedestrian traffic, altering beach-cleaning procedures, using symbolic fences to allow for aeolian transport while preventing trampling of dunes, and eliminating or severely restricting exotic species. Landforms will be more natural in function and appearance but will be more dynamic, smaller and in a different position from those in natural areas. Research needs are specified for ecological, geomorphological, and attitudinal studies to support and inform restoration planning.     

EFFECTS OF TOPOGRAPHY AND SOIL PROPERTIES ON RECHARGE AT TWO SITES IN AN AGRICULTURAL FIELD1

ABSTRACT: Field experiments were conducted from 1992 to 1995 to estimate ground water recharge rates at two sites located within a 2.7‐hectare agricultural field. The field lies in a sand plain setting in central Minnesota and is cropped continuously in field corn. The sites are located at a topographically high (upland) site and a topographically low (lowland) site in an effort to quantify the effects of depression focusing of recharge. Three site‐specific methods were used to estimate recharge rates: well hydrograph analysis, chlorofluorocarbon age dating, and an unsaturated zone water balance. All three recharge methods indicated that recharge rates at the lowland site (annual average of all methods of 29 cm) exceeded those at the upland site (annual average of 18 cm). On an annual basis, estimates by the individual methods ranged from 12 to 44 percent of precipitation at the upland site and from 21 to 83 percent at the lowland site. The difference in recharge rates between the sites is primarily attributed to depression focusing of surface water runon at the lowland site. However, two other factors were also important: the presence of thin lamellae at the upland site, and coarser textured soils below a depth of 1.5 m at the lowland site.     

Effects of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol on the reproduction of the cladoceran species Ceriodaphnia reticulata and Sida crystallina

Single-species tests allow the assessment of chronical effects of endocrine disruptors on organisms under laboratory conditions. In the current study, three-generation tests with Ceriodaphnia reticulata and Sida crystallina were carried out to examine the influence of the synthetic hormone 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE) on the reproduction of these cladoceran species. For each species, six different concentrations (10-500 microg/l EE) and two controls were tested with eight replicates for a duration of 4 weeks. The test was initiated by transferring one neonate individual into a test vessel which was incubated under standardized conditions. Every 2 days, the medium was renewed and life history parameters such as survivorship of the adults and juveniles, clutch size, first appearance and number of produced offspring were investigated. Acute toxicity tests showed that C. reticulata (EC50 (24 h) 1814 microg/l) was more sensitive towards the substance compared to S. crystallina (EC50 (24 h) >4100 microg/l). The juvenile phase of S. crystallina was significantly shorter at concentrations above 100 microg/l EE. For C. reticulata, 17alpha-ethinylestradiol caused a higher mortality of the newly hatched juveniles at EE concentrations above 200 microg/l. No effects were found for mortality of adult animals, birth rate, number of juveniles per female and net reproduction rate of S. crystallina and C. reticulata. Thus, sublethal effects on parental generation exposed to EE lead to disturbances in reproduction and to affection of their offspring. Negative consequences for the population dynamic cannot be excluded, e.g. the decrease of a population.     

当地资源管理中多学科冲突分析和冲突减缓

在瑞典的研究项目"海岸带可持续管理"中,迄今已完成了几项冲突研究.鉴于这些研究的详细结果是分别发表的,本文综述这些冲突研究的重要成果,以及总结和概要讨论海岸带可持续管理资源和冲突研究的方法和主要成果.在关于环境和资源利用冲突的多学科和理论上分析以后,提出了海岸带可持续管理中所使用的方法,即相关利益方和冲突的结合分析.可归纳为以下主要4点:①绘制诸利益相关者及其利益图;②分析所有冲突;③研制减缓冲突和与利益相关者合作的方法;④把这些内容综合到一个系统之下,以便进行自然资源管理.在瑞典东、西海岸已经开展了一些资源利用冲突的范例研究,包括沿岸渔业、贻贝养殖、海岸带规划及具体的冲突,例如种群保护(海豹)和沿岸渔业之间冲突.研究人员既作为专家也作为冲突当事方参与.在冲突研究中,科学家作为利益相关者其作用值得特别注意.冲突管理不仅是为了解决目前的冲突,而且还作为资源综合管理系统的一部分,其中可开展知识转让;建立制度;科学、政治和行政等部门共同学习;以及科学家和资源用户之间合作.     

Activities of alkaline phosphatase in first trimester chorion biopsy tissue

We have determined the activity of alkaline phosphatase in chorionic villous tissue obtained in the first trimester of pregnancy, in order to obtain the normal range of values as a prerequisite for application to the prenatal diagnosis of the rare bone disease hypophosphatasia. The activities found were a combination of intestinal and liver/bone/kidney types; traces of placental type were present in only one sample.