Reliability and validity of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory in Chinese drivers

Objective: The Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI) has been widely used in assessing the associations between driving styles and traffic violations and accidents in different cultural contexts. Due to the lack of a valid instrument to assess driving style, studies concerning driving style and its influence factors are limited in China. Thus, this study aimed to adapt and validate a Chinese version of the MDSI.

Methods: Seven hundred and sixty drivers aged from 19 to 60 years old were asked to complete the MDSI and a personality scale (trait anger, sensation seeking, altruism, and normlessness). Exploratory factory analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to obtain the factorial structure of the MDSI. The external validity of the MDSI was then evaluated by examining the associations between driving styles and personality traits, demographic variables, and traffic violations and crashes.

Results: EFA revealed a 6-factor structure of the MDSI (i.e., risky, anxious, angry, distress reduction, careful, and dissociative driving styles). CFA confirmed that the model fit of the MDSI was acceptable. The MDSI factors were moderately or weakly correlated with trait anger, sensation seeking, altruism, and normlessness. Significant gender and age differences in driving styles were found. Moreover, drivers who had traffic violations or crashes in the past year scored higher on risky and angry driving styles and lower on careful driving style than those who had not have traffic violations or crashes.

Conclusions: The Chinese version of the MDSI proved to be a reliable, valid, and highly useful instrument. It could be used to assess Chinese drivers who are at risk due to their maladaptive driving styles.     

Determination of 27 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water: The benefit of isotope dilution

• Isotope dilution method was developed for the determination of 27 PPCPs in water. • The established method was successfully applied to different types of water samples. • The correction effect of corresponding 27 ILSs over 70 d was investigated. • Benefit of isotopic dilution method was illustrated for three examples. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a unique group of emerging and non-persistent contaminants. In this study, 27 PPCPs in various water samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE), and determined by isotope dilution method using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem triple quadruple mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). A total of 27 isotopically labeled standards (ILSs) were applied to correct the concentration of PPCPs in spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river, effluent and influent sewage. The corrected recoveries were 73%–122% with the relative standard deviation (RSD)<16%, except for acetaminophen. The matrix effect for all kinds of water samples was<22% and the method quantitation limits (MQLs) were 0.45–8.6 ng/L. The developed method was successfully applied on environmental water samples. The SPE extracts of spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river and wastewater effluent were stored for 70 days, and the ILSs-corrected recoveries of 27 PPCPs were obtained to evaluate the correction ability of ILSs in the presence of variety interferences. The recoveries of 27 PPCPs over 70 days were within the scope of 72%–140% with the recovery variation<37% in all cases. The isotope dilution method seems to be of benefit when the extract has to be stored for long time before the instrument analysis.     

Improving Pro-environmental Behaviours in Spain. The Role of Attitudes and Socio-demographic and Political Factors

Over the last 30 years, Spain has witnessed great economic growth. Nevertheless, in spite of an increasing degree of environmental concern, environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviours are still clearly below the European average. In this context, this paper analyses the impact of personal control and attitudes, and of certain socio-demographic, economic and political variables in the development of two environmentally friendly behaviours in Spain: consumption and purchase. The data were provided by a survey carried out in 2007 by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (Centre for Sociological Research) in Spain. The results show the importance of personal control, level of environmental information, political ideology, age and educational level variables to explaining the development of pro-environmental-related consumption behaviours. Personal attitudes, work situation, female gender and level of environmental information influence pro-environmental purchase behaviour in a positive way. Taking into account that personal attitudes are more determining of pro-environmental purchase than consumption behaviour, policy measures such as informal education, tax measures, social and individual norms and interpersonal and institutional trust are discussed to increase the development of pro-environmental behaviours in Spain.     

居民生活用电碳排放交易机制研究

个人排放交易被认为可以促进居民参与碳减排,但是因其减排收益难以覆盖高昂的建立和运行成本,降低了公众接受度。本文提出除了考虑碳减排的收益外,更需要关注个人排放交易机制的教育价值、形成正确的激励以及鼓励创新的价值,并提出可以基于当前国内多地实行的阶梯电价制度,利用电力系统现有的用户网络和账户系统,建立居民生活用电碳排放交易机制,以降低成本并实现上述价值。在此基础上,就居民生活用电碳排放交易机制的配额设定与分配、配额交易以及清缴问题做了细致的分析,并提出绿色电力作为补充电力可以免费获得碳配额以促进绿色消费。同时,比较分析了在居民生活用电交易机制和阶梯电价制度下,不同居民家庭以及电力公司的用电成本(收益),指出了其在形成正确的激励方面的作用。最后指出在条件成熟的情况下,居民生活用电碳排放交易机制可以扩展到居民的其他能源消费领域,以实现更为全面的个人排放交易。     

城市污水处理厂及其受纳水体中5种典型PPCPs的赋存特征和生态风险

以5种药品及个人护理用品(pharmaceuticals and personal care products,PPCPs)包括氯贝酸、酮洛芬、萘普生、双氯芬酸和布洛芬为目标物,初步研究了它们在上海某生活污水处理厂不同污水处理单元中的赋存特征和去除特性,探讨了污水处理厂受纳河流中5种PPCPs的分布情况,并对其在受纳水体中的生态风险进行了初步评估.结果表明,5种PPCPs在污水处理厂进水中均被检出,表明生活污水是污水处理厂中PPCPs的来源之一.5种PPCPs在整个污水处理工艺中不能全部去除,微生物转化/降解是主要降解机制.受纳污水河流中5种PPCPs的分布特征与污水处理厂出水中的相似,且排污口下游水体中目标物浓度普遍高于上游,反映出污水处理厂排放可能是其受纳水体中PPCPs的主要来源之一.初步风险评估结果表明,受纳水体中双氯芬酸存在高生态风险,而酮洛芬、萘普生、氯贝酸和布洛芬的生态风险相对较低.     

矿业特色环境专业创新人才培养模式的探索

培养创新型的环境工程专业培养人才是目前高等学校环境工程教育工作者面临的一个重要课题。近年来中国环境专业的招生规模在逐渐加大,面对着高等教育的日益大众化,环境工程领域的学生近年来面临的就业压力也在不断增大,大学的培养观念和能力面临着挑战。高等院校作为环境工程技术人才的培养基地,如何适应国家发展的需要,培养具有创新性能力的的环境工程专业人才是非常必要的。本文介绍了中国矿业大学(北京)近年来在进行矿业特色环境专业创新人才培养方面的做法,以期对现阶段环境工程专业的建设提供一定的借鉴意义。     

骆马湖表层水体中32种PPCPs类物质的污染水平、分布特征及风险评估

为评价骆马湖水体中药品和个人护理品(PPCPs)的污染水平、空间分布特征及生态风险,利用高效液相色谱-串联质谱测定了骆马湖水体中22个采样点的32种PPCPs.结果表明,骆马湖表层水体中共检出了23种PPCPs,总浓度范围为892~1 536 ng·L~(-1),其中浓度最高的为诺氟沙星(256~707 ng·L~(-1)),其次是酮洛芬(85~438 ng·L~(-1))、安赛蜜(101~290 ng·L~(-1))及萘普生(1.9~112 ng·L~(-1)).不同采样位点的PPCPs浓度存在一定的空间差异,呈现湖东北部地区较高,西南部地区较低的趋势.房亭河入湖口处PPCPs浓度较高,嶂山闸出湖口处浓度较低.对13种药物类PPCPs生态风险评价结果表明,诺氟沙星RQs为0.26~0.72,对于骆马湖水生生态系统表现为中风险,吉非罗齐在大部分采样点RQs0.01,表现为低风险,其余的化合物RQs0.01未表现出生态环境风险.采用简单叠加模型计算PPCPs的联合毒性风险熵范围为0.29~0.75,整体上看,骆马湖PPCPs对于水生生物表现出中风险.对6种PPCPs的人体健康风险结果表明,RQs均小于1,表明骆马湖PPCPs对人体健康无直接风险.     

我国煤矿劳动防护用品使用现状调查分析及对策研究

劳动防护用品是保障从业人员安全与健康的最后一道防线.本文在对全国部分重点产煤省份煤矿劳动防护用品现场调研的基础上,分析了不同类型煤矿劳动防护用品的现状及存在的问题,提出了进一步做好煤矿劳动防护用品管理工作的对策.     

Characterisation of Particulate Matter Sampled during a Study of Children's Personal Exposure to Airborne Particulate Matter in a UK Urban Environment

The personal exposure of children aged 9 – 11 years to particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) was carried out between January and September 1997 in the London Borough of Barnet. Personal sampling along with home, garden and classroom microenvironmental monitoring was completed for all ten children. Each child was monitored for five days during winter, spring and summer. All children completed daily time activity diaries to provide information on any potential activities that could influence their exposure to particulate matter. Each evening a household activity questionnaire was also completed by the parents. Personal Environmental Monitors were used to sample personal exposure to PM₁₀ and PM_2.5. Harvard Impactors were used for the microenvironmental sampling of both size fractions. The children's mean personal exposure concentrations for PM₁₀ during winter, spring and summer were 72, 54 and 35 µg/m³ respectively and for PM_2.5 22, 17 and 18 µg/m³ respectively. In order to determine the potential sources of particulate matter, analysis of the Teflon filters has been undertaken. The physical characteristics of the particles have been identified using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The relationships between personal exposure concentrations and the different microenvironments will be discussed.     

Environment and Personal Well-being in Urban China

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between environment and personal well-being using a sample of 562 urban employees from three cities in Liaoning province in the People’s Republic of China.In contrast to previous studies,this study controlled positive affectivity (PA),negative affectivity (NA),job satisfaction and Big Five personality traits.In addition,the research variables of personal well-being index (PWI),positive affectivity,negative affectivity,job satisfaction,Big Five,and environmental satisfaction are measured with multi-item scales.The research finds that environmental satisfaction is positively related to personal well-being,suggesting that improvement of the natural surroundings in the cities can improve people’s well-being.