Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This population-based study evaluated the short-term association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations and its constituents and... 相似文献
Abstract: Systematic conservation assessment (an information‐gathering and prioritization process used to select the spatial foci of conservation initiatives) is often considered vital to conservation‐planning efforts, yet published assessments have rarely resulted in conservation action. Conservation assessments may lead more directly to effective conservation action if they are reoriented to inform conservation decisions. Toward this goal, we evaluated the relative priority for conservation of 7 sites proposed for the first forest reserves in the Union of the Comoros, an area with high levels of endemism and rapidly changing land uses in the western Indian Ocean. Through the analysis of 30 indicator variables measured at forest sites and nearby villages, we assessed 3 prioritization criteria at each site: conservation value, threat to loss of biological diversity from human activity, and feasibility of reserve establishment. Our results indicated 2 sites, Yiméré and Hassera‐Ndrengé, were priorities for conservation action. Our approach also informed the development of an implementation strategy and enabled an evaluation of previously unexplored relations among prioritization criteria. Our experience suggests that steps taken to ensure the closer involvement of practitioners, include a broader range of social data, encourage stakeholder participation, and consider the feasibility of conservation action can improve the relevance of assessments for conservation planning, strengthen the scientific basis for conservation decisions, and result in a more realistic evaluation of conservation alternatives.相似文献
A study was conducted to investigate the effects of time-gap settings and contents of secondary tasks on a fix-based bus driving simulator on drivers’ performance while reclaiming control from ACC in a car-following scenario of emergency brake by the lead vehicle. Thirty professional bus drivers drove on the simulator with the scenario of highway traffic flow under 12 random time-gap settings: from 0.64 s to 2.40 s with the interval of 0.16 s. As for the effects of secondary tasks, subjects were evenly divided into three conditions: no secondary task interference, simple secondary task, and complex task. The results demonstrated that different safety demarcations of time-gaps on subjective acceptance and driving performance can be found out. The integrated demarcations separated time-gaps into divisions that represented different levels of danger. It revealed that the safer time-gaps for different situations were: longer than 1.60 s for none-secondary task distraction and longer than 2.08 s for being continuously distracted by secondary tasks. The demand for simple tasks is relatively high, so a larger time-gap is needed for the driver to remain safe. This research has implications for the time-gap selection of ACC and effects of secondary task distraction on buses. A next logical step will focus on determining time-gaps for lead vehicles on curves or slopes, when multiple vehicles are present ahead, and modeling driver behavior and performance with ACC for cars, buses, and other types of vehicles. 相似文献
An important marine pollution issue identified by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is NOx emissions; however, the stipulated method for determining the NOx certification value does not reflect the actual high emission factors of slow-speed two-stroke diesel engines over long-term slow steaming. In this study, an accurate method is presented for calculating the NOx emission factors and total amount of NOx emissions by using the actual power probabilities of the diesel engines in four types of bulk carriers. The proposed method is suitable for all types and purposes of diesel engines, is not restricted to any operating modes, and is highly accurate. Moreover, it is recommended that the IMO-stipulated certification value calculation method be modified accordingly to genuinely reduce the amount of NOx emissions. The successful achievement of this level of reduction will help improve the air quality, especially in coastal and port areas, and the health of local residents.
Implications: As per the IMO, the NOx emission certification value of marine diesel engines having a rated power over 130 kW must be obtained using specified weighting factor (WF)-based calculation. However, this calculation fails to represent the current actual situation. Effective emission reductions of 6.91% (at sea) and 31.9% (in ports) were achieved using a mathematical model of power probability functions. Thus, we strongly recommend amending the certification value of NOx Technical Code 2008 (NTC 2008) by removing the WF constraints, such that the NOx emissions of diesel engines is lower than the Tier-limits at any load level to obtain genuine NOx emission reductions. 相似文献
This paper discusses about the quantitative effect of windbreak fences on wind velocity in the reclaimed land at Saemangeum in South Korea. Windbreak fences were constructed in the reclaimed land to reduce the wind velocity to prevent the generation and diffusion of dust. However, up to this time, no in-depth studies were conducted to quantitatively measure the effect of the windbreak fences on wind velocity thus an optimum windbreak structure is not yet determined. Using CFD simulations, the effects of fence porosity, fence height, and the distance between the adjacent fences were investigated. A wind tunnel experiment was initially conducted and data gathered were used to develop the CFD models. From the experiments and CFD simulations, the overall percentage difference of the measured velocities was 7.20% which is generally acceptable to establishing the reliability of the CFD models. The reduction effect on wind velocity was measured in between the adjacent fences up to a height of 0.6 m from the ground surface. In terms of porosity ( = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6), 0.2 was found to be the optimum value. Conversely, the effect of fence height (0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 m) showed no significant difference; therefore, 0.6 m height is recommended. In addition, the reduction effect of distance between the adjacent fences (2, 4 and 6 m) on wind velocity having a 0.2 porosity has decreased to about 75% regardless of the distance. In the case of the reclaimed land in Saemangeum, a decrease of 75% can prevent the generation and diffusion of dusts. However, the source of dusts is very large. Therefore, constructing an array of windbreak with 6 m distance between them is deemed necessary. 相似文献
We characterize the monthly variation in (1 → 3)-β-d-glucan concentration measured over the course of 1 year, and we evaluate the characteristics of size selection using a two-stage cyclone sampler. The (1 → 3)-β-d-glucan concentrations were measured in four bio-related laboratories. A total of 156 samples were collected using a new two-stage cyclone sampler. Analysis of (1 → 3)-β-d-glucan was performed using the kinetic Limulus amebocyte lysate assay. The study showed that airborne (1 → 3)-β-d-glucan concentrations were significantly higher in laboratory D (mean ± SD 1,105?±?1,893 pg/m3) and in the spring (5,458 pg/m3). The highest concentration of (1 → 3)-β-d-glucan occurred in the spring, particularly in May. 相似文献