Ultrasound-assisted electrodeposition synthesis of nZVI-Pd/AC toward reductive degradation of methylene blue

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A novel composite (nZVI/Pd-AC) was prepared by loading nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) and Pd on activated carbon (AC) electrode under...     

Overestimation of self-reported driving exposure: Results from the SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study

Objectives: The accuracy of self-reported driving exposure has questioned the validity of using self-reported mileage to inform research questions. Studies examining the accuracy of self-reported driving exposure compared to objective measures find low validity, with drivers overestimating and underestimating driving distance. The aims of the current study were to (1) examine the discrepancy between self-reported annual mileage and driving exposure the following year and (2) investigate whether these differences depended on age and annual mileage.

Methods: Two estimates of drivers’ self-reported annual mileage collected during vehicle installation (obtained via prestudy questionnaires) and approximated annual mileage driven (based upon Global Positioning System data) were acquired from 3,323 participants who participated in the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study.

Results: A Wilcoxon signed rank test showed that there was a significant difference between self-reported and annual driving exposure during participation in SHRP 2, with the majority of self-reported responses overestimating annual mileage the following year, irrespective of whether an ordinal or ratio variable was examined. Over 15% of participants provided self-reported responses with over 100% deviation, which were exclusive to participants underestimating annual mileage. Further, deviations in reporting differed between participants who had low, medium, and high exposure, as well as between participants in different age groups.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that although self-reported annual mileage is heavily relied on for research, such estimates of driving distance may be an overestimate of current or future mileage and can influence the validity of prior research that has utilized estimates of driving exposure.     

1968～2018年洞庭湖江湖连通河道松滋口冲淤变化特征

探究江湖连通河道演变态势是评估重大人类活动事件对江湖关系变化影响的重要环节。以洞庭湖—荆江三口中松滋口河道为研究对象，通过建立其河道长期的水位—流量关系曲线分析其河道的冲淤变化特征，对其河道冲淤变化驱动因素进行分析，并采用实测河道断面资料验证其结果的可靠性。结果表明：水位—流量关系曲线法分析河道地形冲淤演变特征与实测横断面地形资料分析结果一致，松滋口河道同流量下水位下降对应于该时期河道冲刷，同流量下水位上升对应于河道淤积。不同时期松滋口东西分支河道冲淤变化主要驱动因素不同。1968～1981年间，下荆江裁弯引起的河势变化是西支新江口河道冲刷与东支沙道观河道淤积的主要诱因。1981～2003年间，其东西两支河道淤积主要是由于葛洲坝运行后引起的上荆江河道冲刷导致的。2003～2018年间，其河道冲刷主要是由于三峡大坝运行引起的河道水沙比例的大幅改变导致的。     

Community-Based Integrated Watershed Management

1 INTRODUCTIONIn the past, natural resources management initiatives havefocused on large but specific sector projects such as dams,reservoirs for water supply schemes, irrigation systems,crop production, at forestation, etc. Often these projectswere treated as technical and administrative issues ratherthan as a socio-economic and political one. However, thehigh social and environmental cost of such schemes haveled to a change of paradigm since the 1980s towards small-scale community projec…     

Dynamics of growth and seed production in the Siberian stone pine: The level and pattern of variation in characters

A statistical analysis of interannual variation in a set of vegetative and generative characters over 13 years has been performed to characterize the growth and seed production dynamics of the Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) in the southeast of the forest zone in western Siberia. The results have shown that the range of fluctuations in most of vegetative characters is ordinary and their distribution is close to normal. The range of fluctuations in many generative characters is enormous (from 0 to +∞), and the distribution of their values is usually skewed, with low values being recorded several times more frequently than high values. Most variable are the proportion of abortive cones and other characters that are determined mainly in the spring of the pollination year. These characters account for a very high level of variation in the total seed production.     

Coat color polymorphism in populations of the northern mole vole in the Ural Region

Collections made in the course of long-term field studies on ecology of the northern mole vole Ellobius talpinus Pall. in the Ural Region and neighboring areas (more than 2000 individuals from 24 points of the species range) were used to analyze geographic variation in its coat color (color morphs). On the basis of long-term observations (1985–1999) on marked animals from a polymorphic population (Kurtamyshskii raion, Kurgan oblast), the life spans of males and females and the dependence of life span on population density and structure were estimated in animals of different color morphs. Each color morph of E. talpinus was shown to have specific features of the seasonal dynamics of age structure and migrations.