The 1999 Fresno Particulate Matter Exposure Studies: Comparison of Community,Outdoor, and Residential PM Mass Measurements

ABSTRACT

Two collaborative studies have been conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) and National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory to determine personal exposures and physiological responses to par-ticulate matter (PM) of elderly persons living in a retirement facility in Fresno, CA. Measurements of PM and other criteria air pollutants were made inside selected individual residences within the retirement facility and at a central outdoor site on the premises. In addition, personal PM exposure monitoring was conducted for a subset of the participants, and ambient PM monitoring data were available for comparison from the NERL PM research monitoring platform in central Fresno. Both a winter (February 1-28, 1999) and a spring (April 19-May 16, 1999) study were completed so that seasonal effects could be     

Influence of humic acid on the sorption of uranium(IV) to kaolin

Safety assessments for radioactive waste disposal require estimations of the migration of radionuclides in soils. The influence of humic acid (HA) on the sorption of uranium in its +4 oxidation state to kaolin has been examined from pH 4 to 8, with HA concentrations of 15–200 ppm. In the absence of HA, 20–40% of the U(IV) was in solution, with more sorption occurring at higher pH. The presence of HA solubilised up to 90% of the uranium with higher solubilities at higher HA concentrations and higher pH values. Uranium sorption was mapped against HA sorption, and it was found that there was a lower level of U(IV) sorption than can be accounted for by just measuring HA sorption. However, this effect got less marked as the pH rose. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the fraction of surface-bound HA is the controlling parameter for modelling in these systems.     

Individual consistency in exploratory behaviour and mating tactics in male guppies

While behavioural plasticity is considered an adaptation to fluctuating social and environmental conditions, many animals also display a high level of individual consistency in their behaviour over time or across contexts (generally termed ‘personality’). However, studies of animal personalities that include sexual behaviour, or functionally distinct but correlated traits, are relatively scarce. In this study, we tested for individual behavioural consistency in courtship and exploratory behaviour in male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in two light environments (high vs. low light intensity). Based on previous work on guppies, we predicted that males would modify their behaviour from sneak mating tactics to courtship displays under low light conditions, but also that the rank orders of courtship effort would remain unchanged (i.e. highly sexually active individuals would display relatively high levels of courtship under both light regimes). We also tested for correlations between courtship and exploratory behaviour, predicting that males that had high display rates would also be more likely to approach a novel object. Although males showed significant consistency in their exploratory and mating behaviour over time (1 week), we found no evidence that these traits constituted a behavioural syndrome. Furthermore, in contrast to previous work, we found no overall effect of the light environment on any of the behaviours measured, although males responded to the treatment on an individual-level basis, as reflected by a significant individual-by-environment interaction. The future challenge is to investigate how individual consistency across different environmental contexts relates to male reproductive success.     

A juvenile lizard specimen with well-preserved skin impressions from the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China

Lizards are now relatively well known from the Yixian Formation of northeastern China. In this study, we describe a juvenile lizard from a fossil horizon at Daohugou, Inner Mongolia. These beds predate the Yixian Formation, and are probably Late Jurassic or earliest Cretaceous in age. The new specimen thus documents the first lizard material from the Daohugou locality and is the earliest lizard skeleton from China. Comparisons with developmental stages of modern lizards suggest the Daohugou lizard is a hatchling. Although tiny, the specimen is notable in preserving exquisite skin impressions showing the variation in scalation across the body, the shape and position of the cloacal outlet, and details of the manus and pes. These are the earliest recorded lepidosaurian skin traces. In its general proportions and the possession of paired frontals, the small Daohugou lizard resembles both the Yixian taxon Yabeinosaurus tenuis and the questionable Jeholacerta formosa, but it differs from the latter in scalation and, based on other characters, may be distinct from both.     

Controlled Enrichment System for Experimental Fumigation of Plants in the Field with Sulfur Dioxide

A prototype Free-Air Controlled Enrichment (FACE) system was developed at Brookhaven National "Laboratory (BNL) for the experimental control of gas concentrations in an open field, without any form of enclosure. This FACE system consists of a toroidal plenum chamber, 15 m in diameter, with a series of 32 vertical vent pipes from which the release of a test gas can be controlled. Data on gas concentration at the center of the array and wind velocity are fed to a microprocessor where a proportional, integrative, differential (PID) algorithm is used to regulate a mass-flow controller. Data on wind direction are used to control the opening and closing of the vertical vent pipes to maintain an upwind release. In 72 hours of continuous operation during which wind velocity varied between 0.3 to 8 m sec^-1, the FACE prototype maintained 1 -min averaged concentrations within twenty percent of the 40 ppb set point 94 percent of the time.     

The importance of context for effective public engagement: learning from the governance of waste

This paper takes a new look at the importance of context – institutional and political – in effective public engagement processes. It does so through a rare comparative opportunity to examine the effectiveness of processes of public engagement in two UK waste authorities, where the same waste company was involved as both the primary contractor for the delivery of the waste management service (including new energy-from-waste facilities) and, furthermore, the same staff delivered the public engagement. Interrogating these cases affords the opportunity to place flesh on the bones of the sometimes ‘abstract’ skeleton of context. While engagement processes support effective local governance in an era of partnerships and deliberative democracy, the paper identifies that the methods adopted cannot be played out devoid of detailed understanding and response to local context, including the strength of partnership working between the public and private sector, the degree of political support for engagement, and the extent to which a traditional institutional paternalism still dominates.     

Comparison of Statistical Designs and Experimental Protocols Used to Evaluate Rain Acidity Effects on Field-Grown Soybeans

Published results of four field experiments testing effects of acidic precipitation in field-grown soybeans have led to contradictory conclusions. This paper examines the experimental procedures and protocols of the four experiments which could have contributed to differences in both the reported crop yields and the interpretations or conclusions drawn from the experiments.

The most important difference among the experiments is in their statistical designs. Two of the field layouts used only one plot per treatment, providing replication only for plants, rows or sectors within plots, but not among plots. By using real data from a highly replicated experiment it is shown that with such deficient statistical designs treatment effects cannot be separated from other microenvironmental variables peculiar to a specific plot location.

The other two experiments were highly replicated. They were designed to detect differences of approximately 10% among treatment means. Type 1 error, a, was predetermined, and replication was sufficient to keep type 2 error low. This design was made possible because a preliminary experiment was available to estimate the expected components of variance. Despite differences in the procedures and protocols among the four experiments, it is primarily the quality of the experimental design which has determined their validity and relative utility for crop loss assessment.     

Predator cues and an herbicide affect activity and emigration in an agrobiont wolf spider

Animals use chemical cues for signaling between species. However, anthropogenic chemicals might interrupt this natural chemical information flow, with potential impacts on predator-prey interactions. Our goal was to explore how Buccaneer® Plus, a common herbicide similar to Round-up® (active ingredient glyphosate), affected the interactions between intraguild predators. The wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Hentz, 1844) is numerically dominant in agricultural systems across the eastern United States, and often falls prey to or competes with the larger wolf spider, Hogna helluo (Walckenaer, 1837) and/or the carabid beetle, Scarites quadriceps (Chaudoir, 1843). We tested the effects of chemical cues from these intraguild predators and exposure to herbicide on the activity, emigration, and survival of P. milvina using a full-factorial laboratory experiment. Both predator cues and herbicide led to a decrease in movement by P. milvina. However, although H. helluo cues alone decreased movement, S. quadriceps cues only decreased movement when combined with herbicide. These results indicate that predation risk and herbicide application likely interact in complex ways to affect the movement of a major arthropod predator in agricultural systems, and thus may have complex effects on the food web.     

Community opinion concerning airport noise-abatement alternatives

In the present study we examined (1) community opinion of airport noise-abating alternatives and (2) the influence of perceived control on attitudes concerning noise-abatement policies and annoyance toward aircraft noise. We proposed that residents who perceive themselves as having little control over aircraft noise exposure would express higher levels of annoyance than residents who believe they have some degree of control. Furthermore, residents with low levels of perceived control would be less favorable toward proposed noise-abatement alternatives. Survey results collected from 239 households within the 65 CNEL contour of a community airport in Southern California support these hypotheses. Findings indicate strong public support for noise abatement and strong opposition to land-use alternatives. In addition, residents' perceptions of control in the airport planning and management process are significantly related to their annoyance with noise and their opinions about noise management policies.