Residential Radon in U.S. Counties V Lung Cancer in Women Who Predominantly Never Smoked

Previous studies have found that mean-residential-radon (Rn) levels for U.S. counties are negatively associated with age-adjusted county rates of lung-cancer mortality (LCM), after adjustments for potentially confounding factors. Those results may be due to (a) confounding unaddressable by any county-level (ecological) study design, or (b) county-level factors such as Rn/smoking or age/radon correlations or exposure misclassifications from the use of disparate data sources. Possibilities (b) were addressed by comparing age-specific LCM rates for white women in 2821 U.S. counties who died in 1950–54 at age 40+ (11% of whom ever smoked), or at age 60+ (% of whom ever smoked), to county Rn levels newly estimated from U.S. Rn, climatic and geological-survey data. Significant negative LCM v Rn trends were found for both age groups, after adjusting for age and subsets of 21 county-level socioeconomic, climatic and other factors. Negative trends were largest for counties with 100 Bq m^–3 Rn (p 0.00087; 420 analyses). Adjusted relative risk (RR_adj) for LCM was significantly elevated (1 < [95% conf. limits on RR_adj] 1.46) in 43 of 210 analyses comparing LCM rates in counties with > 150 Bq m^–3 v 65–100 Bq m^–3 Rn, most involving adjustment for climate- and education-related factors likely to have influenced exposure to indoor air contaminants such as Rn and cigarette smoke. Though inconclusive due to potential ecological-fallacy-related confounding that could not be controlled, results from this ecological study are most consistent with a U-shaped dose-response relationship between 1950–54 LCM risk and U.S. residential radon in white women who predominantly never smoked.     

江西省食管癌与岩石类型

利用江西省大量岩石类型和食管癌死亡调查资料，对食管癌死亡率与人群生存区岩石类型的相关性进行了研究。结果表明，江西省食管癌死亡率与岩石类型密切相关。食管癌死亡率与变质岩、碳酸盐岩、第四系松散岩、红色碎屑岩呈正相关，与岩浆岩呈负相关，与碎屑岩相关不显著。     

Economic valuation of health impacts of air pollution in Mumbai

Air pollution leads to serious negative impacts on health. Thephysical evidence is compelling. An attempt has been made inthis paper to establish dose-response relationship of AmbientAir Quality Index and human health, based on time spent by anindividual in different microenvironments during one day.Economic valuation of morbidity and mortality has been attemptedthrough lost salary approach. The results show that theavoidance cost is 29% of the total health damage cost.     

Ecotoxicity monitoring of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil using earthworm (Eisenia foetida)

In order to assess the applicability of an earthworm bioassayas a technique for monitoring the soil flushing process, short-term and long-term toxicity tests were conducted on remediatedsoil using various pore volumes of surfactant solution. Resultsobtained on short-term toxicity testing indicated that biomassincreased as the soil flushing proceeded, and on diesel-contaminated soils this testing showed that the effect of dieselis lethal and that 25 pore volumes of soil surfactant were notsufficient to abrogate the toxic effect of diesel. These short-term tests also showed strong sublethal relationships between the development of biomass, and the concentrations of toxic chemicals in the soil. Although relationships between contaminants and the various bioassay parameters examined werenot significant in long-term testing, an increase in the numberof juveniles was observed over time, which may have been a consequence of a reduction in toxicity associated with the flushing process.     

全球变暖对上海和广州人群死亡数的可能影响

研究表明，最高气温达到３４℃以上的“热日”死亡数显增加，“热日多出死亡数”占夏季总死亡数的百分率，上海为４．２％，广州为３．８％，广州人对人热压力的适应性比上海人强。如果上海和广州未来温升不同１℃，冬夏死亡数变化不大；如温升几度，夏季死亡数上升，超过冬季死亡数的下降，全年死亡率增高。     

全球变暖对上海和广州人群死亡数的可能影响

研究表明，最高气温达到３４℃以上的“热日”死亡数显著增加，“热日多出死亡数”占夏季总死亡数的百分率，上海为４．２％，广州为３．８％。广州人对热压力的适应性比上海人强。如果上海和广州未来温升不到１℃，冬夏死亡效变化不大；如温升几度，夏季死亡数上升，超过冬季死亡数的下降，全年死亡率增高。     

剩余污泥好氧消化的生物降解性研究

测定和分析了剩余污泥好氧消化的生物活性参数脱氢酶活性（ＤＨＡ）、氧摄取速率（ＯＵＲ）以及混合液挥发性悬浮固体（ＭＬＶＳＳ）。结果表明，ＤＨＡ、ＯＵＲ分别与ＭＬＶＳＳ显著相关，相关系数分别为０．９６９８（ｎ＝８）和０．９３０４（ｎ＝８）。因此，ＤＨＡ将会成为剩余污泥好氧消化研究和运行控制中一种有效的活性参数，ＤＨＡ还能被用于估计好氧消化中非降解性ＭＬＶＳＳ浓度。     

用秀丽小杆线虫监测厦门岛海水水质

首次采用野生型秀丽小杆线虫( Caenorhabditis elegans )与带有HSP16启动子的转基因虫株分别对厦门岛附近5个站位的表层水样污染程度进行了监测,二者研究结果具有相关性,但采用转基因秀丽小杆线虫大大缩短了监测时间,提高了灵敏度.这是国内应用模式生物秀丽小杆线虫对环境及污染物的监测研究的首次报道.     

Apparent sibling rivalry in the freshwater fingernail clam<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Sphaerium striatinum</Emphasis>

In Sphaerium striatinum, a freshwater brooding bivalve, up to 97.5% of offspring that adults initially produce fail to reach independence. Marsupial sacs, specialized extensions of gill filaments that act as nurseries, initially contain multiple offspring in various sizes and stages of development. However, by the time offspring reach later stages of development, marsupial sacs typically contain only one offspring. Brood mortality is hypothesized to be the result of competition among embryos for nutrients and/or space. Sphaeriid eggs do not contain enough yolk for offspring to complete development. Adults supply additional nutrients required to reach independence. Brood capacity is limited by adult size. Adults cannot physically brood all offspring they produce. Here, we examine the validity of the competition hypothesis for brood mortality. We reared offspring, in vitro, through metamorphosis under varying nutrient levels and embryo densities. While hatching success and time to hatching were not influenced by nutrients or density, both factors had significant effects on the percentage of embryos completing metamorphosis and timing of metamorphosis. A higher percentage of offspring completed metamorphosis in higher nutrient levels and lower densities. Offspring reared with higher nutrient levels and lower densities also completed metamorphosis more rapidly. We discuss these results in relation to hypotheses for the overproduction of offspring, sibling rivalries, as well as factors that might explain brood mortality in this species.Communicated by T. Czeschlik     

Mortality rates of pathogen indicator microorganisms discharged from point and non-point sources in an urban area

This research measured the mortality rates of pathogen indicator microorganisms discharged from various point and non-point sources in an urban area.Water samples were collected from a domestic sewer,a combined sewer overflow,the effluent of a wastewater treatment plant,and an urban river.Mortality rates of indicator microorganisms in sediment of an urban river were also measured.Mortality rates of indicator microorganisms in domestic sewage,estimated by assuming first order kinetics at 20°C were 0.197 day -1 ,0.234 day -1 ,0.258 day -1 and 0.276 day -1 for total coliform,fecal coliform,Escherichia coli,and fecal streptococci,respectively.Effects of temperature,sunlight irradiation and settlement on the mortality rate were measured.Results of this research can be used as input data for water quality modeling or can be used as design factors for treatment facilities.