Microorganisms: Indicators of pollution in integrated livestock-fish farming systems

Twelve fishponds each measuring 1,000 m² stocked with 2,000 fish consisting of 85% Oreochromis niloticus, 14% Cyprinus carpio and 1% Ophicephalus striatus were used to determine the level of fecal coliforms in the pondwater and fish flesh and the presence of Salmonella in the pondwater. Water samples for coliforms were collected at weekly intervals while those for Salmonella were done biweekly from three pond sites. Fish were randomly sampled by seining the pond over a three-month period. Both water and fish samples were analyzed for coliforms with the multiple-tube fermentation technique and for Salmonella using the swab technique. Results showed coliform counts with mean concentrations varying from 29,700/L of water in the middle of the pond to 18,100/L farthest from the manure dumping site. Differences in concentration between collection sites were not significant (P > 0.05) but mean values obtained weekly differed significantly (P < 0.05). Tilapia had coliform counts of 1.7 while carp had 1.1/g flesh. Differences among fish samples of the same species were not significant (P > 0.05) but were significant between species (P < 0.05). Biochemical tests revealed the presence of E. coli and Klebsiella sp. and more commonly S. cholerasuis.     

Pilot plant/full scale EP system design and performance on a BOF application

An ESP pilot plant study was done on emissions from a BOF process which is cyclic with very high and low gas volumes, temperature and grain loadings. Data collected were EP performance vs. gas velocity, and collection area. Also measured was particle size distribution, dust resi opacity at the EP outlet. From this data, a full size EP system was designed and installed. Recent performance tests indicate the data agrees well with the initial pilot plant study. Emissions have been reduced from 11 grs/scf (27.1 g/m³) to less than 0.033 grs/scf (81 mg/m³) and opacity to 20% or less.     

A review of in vitro testing systems applicable to diesel health effects research

In vitro mutagenicity and carcinogenicity testing techniques are currently being used to assess the potential risk to man of exposure to diesel exhaust emissions. This paper examines general considerations of such systems, the types of in vitro tests currently available, the advantages and disadvantages of each cell line and type of test, the limitations of in vitro techniques, the alternative human cell lines that could be utilized for diesel health effects studies, and recommendations for future research employing in vitro methods.     

Concentrations of 131I in the urine of Japanese adults and children following the Chernobyl nuclear accident

Iodine-131 in urine samples from 15 Japanese subjects was determined during the period 4 to 29 May 1986. In a male adult, the peak concentration (3.3 Bq dm⁻³) was observed on 9 May, the levels decreasing thereafter to less than the detection limit by 29 May. The highest concentration observed was 7.6 Bq dm⁻³ in a female adult. The urinary concentrations in the 11 adult subjects appeared to correlate with consumption of green leafy vegetables and milk. In four children, 6 to 14 years old, ¹³¹I concentrations in urine were generally higher than those of the adults. The major source of ¹³¹I intake was confirmed to be from vegetables, not milk.     

Annoyance due to aircraft noise has increased over the years—Results of the HYENA study

In the HYENA study (HYpertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports) noise annoyances due to aircraft and road traffic noise were assessed in subjects that lived in the vicinity of 6 major European airports using the 11-point ICBEN scale (International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise). A distinction was made between the annoyance during the day and during the night. L_den and L_night were considered as indicators of noise exposure. Pooled data analyses showed clear exposure–response relationships between the noise level and the noise annoyance for both exposures. The exposure–response curves for road noise were congruent with the EU standard curves used for predicting the number of highly noise annoyed subjects in European communities. Annoyance ratings due to aircraft noise, however, were higher than predicted by the EU standard curves. The data supports other findings suggesting that the people's attitude towards aircraft noise has changed over the years, and that the EU standard curve for aircraft noise should be modified.     

Conservatism vs. conservationism: differential influences of social identities on beliefs about fracking

ABSTRACT

Although recent expansions in hydraulic fracking operations across the United States have led to greater news coverage and attention from the public, overall understanding remains fairly low. For some, relevant social identities, including environmental or political, may provide a short cut to becoming informed about fracking, or to determining what they believe about it and how that influences their positions on fracking policies. Social identity influence frameworks provide an approach to understanding the relationships between belief and identity, which this study investigates through its affiliational and attitudinal components. National survey data are used to model pathways from environmental and political identities to beliefs about risks associated with fracking. Environmental attitudes significantly predicted belief that fracking has health risks, and mediated a relationship from environmental group affiliation, but environmental information was not significant. Ideology had direct and indirect effects, through partisan media use, while partisanship had direct effects on beliefs about environmental risks.     

Climate Communications: Conflicts and Opportunities

The occasion for this forum was sparked by a front-page story in the New York Times by John M. Broder entitled, “Seeking to Save the Planet, with a Thesaurus” (May 1, 2009, p. A11). The article focused on the non-profit EcoAmerica's report, “Climate and Energy Truths: Our Common Future,” which shares research on communication approaches to engaging climate change and energy issues. The Broder article included commentary from Robert J. Brulle, Professor of Sociology and Environmental Science at Drexel University. In response, George P. Lakoff, Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at UC-Berkeley, published an essay in The Huffington Post, “Why Environmental Understanding, or ‘Framing,’ Matters: An Evaluation of the EcoAmerica Summary Report” (May 19, 2009). The discussion about this report and differing approaches to environmental communication continued on blogs, in emails, and through various other forums. The editorial leadership team of this journal thought such prominent attention to environmental communication in the nexus of so many disciplines and professional investments was exciting. We are pleased the following scholars and practitioners are willing to elaborate on the stakes of this discussion in this forum.     

A developmental perspective on early-life exposure to neurotoxicants

BackgroundStudies of early-life neurotoxicant exposure have not been designed, analyzed, or interpreted in the context of a fully developmental perspective.ObjectivesThe goal of this paper is to describe the key principles of a developmental perspective and to use examples from the literature to illustrate the relevance of these principles to early-life neurotoxicant exposures.MethodsFour principles are discussed: 1) the effects of early-life neurotoxicant exposure depend on a child's developmental context; 2) deficits caused by early-life exposure initiate developmental cascades that can lead to pathologies that differ from those observed initially; 3) early-life neurotoxicant exposure has intra-familial and intergenerational impacts; 4) the impacts of early-life neurotoxicant exposure influence a child's ability to respond to future insults. The first principle is supported by considerable evidence, but the other three have received much less attention.DiscussionIncorporating a developmental perspective in studies of early-life neurotoxicant exposures requires prospective collection of data on a larger array of covariates than usually considered, using analytical approaches that acknowledge the transactional processes between a child and the environment and the phenomenon of developmental cascades.ConclusionConsideration of early-life neurotoxicant exposure within a developmental perspective reveals that many issues remain to be explicated if we are to achieve a deep understanding of the societal health burden associated with early-life neurotoxicant exposures.     

Personal exposure versus monitoring station data for respirable particles

Personal exposure to respirable particles of 12 subjects working at the same location, but living in various parts of Zagreb, was monitored for 7 consecutive days and compared with simultaneously obtained data from the outdoor network station nearest to subject's home. Although personal exposure is related to the outdoor pollution, other sources play a considerable role. Indoor exposure takes, on the average, more than 80% of the total time. The ratio between average personal exposure and respirable particle levels in the outdoor air decreases with the increased outdoor concentration (r = −0.93), indicating that this relationship might serve as a basis for a rough estimate of possible personal exposure.     

Correlates of age at first birth among the slum dwellers in Sylhet,Bangladesh

The first birth marks a transition of a woman into motherhood. It contributes substantially to overall fertility of each individual woman. The age at which childbearing begins influences the number of children a woman bears throughout her whole reproductive life span. Thus, the mother’s age at first birth influences the total number of births that she might have in her life, which impacts the size, composition, and future growth of the population. Child-bearing at very young ages is common among the poor in Bangladesh. The objective of the present study is to examine the factors associated with age at first birth among slum dwellers of five selected slums (locally, colony) in Sylhet city corporation area, Bangladesh. The data of this study was collected from 520 women aged 14–50 years. The study found that almost 93% of women were married by the ages of 18 years and about 56% of the women have had their first child by the age of 18 years. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model was used to analyze the factors correlated with women’s age at first birth. The regression model is significant with an F-value of 49.48 and can explain 40.4% of the variation in the dependent variable as it is indicated by the R-square.     

Modeling thermoelectric power generation in view of climate change: a comment

Numerous power plants in Europe had to be throttled in summer months of the years 2003 and 2006 due to water shortages and high water temperatures caused by a hot and dry summer. Therefore, the effects of higher temperatures on power plants have received much attention in the last years. One article published in Regional Environmental Change presents a study about ‘Modeling thermoelectric power generation in view of climate change’. In this article, the statement is given that other studies do not include aspects as environmental legislation or cots of water shortages. This comment will show that in at least one article cited these aspects are considered.     

Intrapopulation variation in the quality of dandelion seed progeny in zones of chemical and radioactive contamination

Interfamilial variation in metal tolerance and radioresistance of seed progeny from F ₁ plants was studied in the dandelion from cenopopulations growing over several decades in gradients of radioactive or chemical contamination. The progeny from the impact zone of the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT) proved to be highly viable but had latent injuries that accounted for a high sensitivity to additional technogenic impact. In the F ₁ generation from the zone of chemical contamination, high seed viability was combined with increased tolerance to additional impact of radiation and heavy metals. No significant differences between responses to challenge with habitual and new factors were revealed in samples from either zone.     

农村环境治理中的政府责任再论析:元治理视域

当前,我国农村环境问题日益突出。如何实现农村环境的有效治理,学者从不同角度进行了探讨。无论学者如何强调PPP模式的意义、如何强调社会公众以及社会组织的作用,研究最后基本都会指向政府责任。本论文的创新之处就在于重新强调农村环境治理中的政府责任,特别是将其置于元治理视域下进行论析。元治理即治理的治理,元治理并不排斥治理主体的多元化,但更加重视和强调政府在社会治理中的重要性。根据元治理理论,政府在农村环境治理中的责任可以界定为:农村环境治理成本的承担者和多元治理体系的构建者,PPP模式的设计和监督者,社会组织参与治理的支持者和农民参与治理的引导者。当前,农村环境治理中政府责任担当存在的主要问题包括,政府农村环境治理投入不足和治理体系不完善、PPP模式中政府监督责任弱化、对社会组织参与治理的支持不足以及对农民参与治理的引导不够。元治理视域下农村环境治理中政府责任的实现,不仅需要政府承担起最主要治理主体责任,而且需要政府积极引领其他主体参与到农村环境治理中来,形成治理合力。具体而言,应以财政投入增加和多元治理体系构建实现政府最主要主体责任,同时,政府应以监督责任强化为重点保障PPP模式实施,以发展能力提升积极支持社会组织参与,以环境意识和制度信任水平提高等引导农民参与。     

Laboratory studies of the diffusive transport of Cs and Co through potential waste repository soils

Tests using reconstituted samples have been performed to assess the diffusive transport of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁶⁰Co through natural regolith materials from a region in South Australia being considered for a radioactive waste repository. A double diffusion cell apparatus made of polycarbonate resin was developed to estimate the effective diffusion (D_e) and sorption coefficients (K_d) that allowed large withdrawals from the source and collector cells and has enabled tests with low concentrations of radioactivity. An alternative to porous stainless steel filter plates has also been used to reduce uncertainty in test interpretation. Analysis of the transient data used a staged method of the Laplace transform to take into consideration the volume of the samples withdrawn from the apparatus during testing. At test completion samples were cut into slices and analysed for radionuclide concentration. Data obtained from the sliced samples confirmed that both numerical and experimental data produced acceptable mass balance. The D_e values obtained in this study were of the order of 10⁻⁶ cm² s⁻¹ for both species, higher than previously published data. The K_d values from the diffusion and batch sorption tests were in reasonable agreement for ¹³⁷Cs, but an order of magnitude different for ⁶⁰Co. The sorption of the latter radionuclide was strongly pH dependent, and this dependency during diffusion tests would benefit from further investigation.     

Wind farm and fauna interaction: detecting bird and bat wing beats through cyclic motion analysis

Recent Government announcements have implied that wind power will play a major part in providing energy for the UK (BBC 2007 BBC. 2007. Wind ‘could power all UK homes’ [online], British Broadcasting Corporation. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7135930.stm [Accessed 20 January 2008] [Google Scholar]). However, there is much concern that wind farms can have a significant impact on flying fauna (bats and birds) using the area, particularly at night. As part of an Environmental Impact Assessment, thorough appropriate surveys are necessary for quantifying and minimising any risk wind farms may cause flying fauna. Manual surveys that are commonly used are not always cost‐effective, efficient or practical. Remote systems based on motion detection are increasingly being used to monitor wildlife.

Fast‐moving airborne targets such as aeroplanes can falsely trigger motion‐detection based remote systems. As birds and bats repetitively flap their wings, this oscillating motion can be used to distinguish them from other airborne targets. Time periods between wing oscillations are not always constant, and hence the motion is not periodic. A method to detect cyclic motion based on similarity matrices is proposed, and synthetic and real data are used.     

“2+26”城市治霾方案效果评估:以山东省为案例的研究

以京津冀大气污染传输通道“2+26”城市为对象的区域性雾霾专项治理已经开展两年有余。要判断“2+26”城市治霾方案的实施是否取得了显著成效需要通过科学的实证分析加以验证。采集山东省13个内陆城市2016—2018年每日空气质量指数(AQI)、六种单项污染物(PM 2.5、PM 10、SO 2、NO 2、CO、O 3)浓度以及气象条件等数据,以其中属于“2+26”城市的7城市作为实验组,其余6城市作为对照组,基于双重差分法,对“2+26”城市治霾方案在山东省相关城市的实施效果进行评估,试图分离方案实施所带来的环境效应。结果表明:①“2+26”城市治霾方案的实施总体上有效,对污染传输通道7城市空气质量指数(AQI)指标的降低发挥了显著作用。②“2+26”城市治霾方案对污染传输通道城市的PM 2.5、PM 10、CO浓度的降低有显著贡献,但对SO 2、NO 2和O 3指标的改善贡献并不明显。③对方案进行分时段动态效应分析发现,《京津冀及周边地区2017年大气污染防治工作方案》的发布并未对污染传输通道城市空气质量改善产生立竿见影的效果,而《京津冀及周边地区2017—2018年秋冬季大气污染综合治理攻坚行动方案》《京津冀及周边地区2018—2019年秋冬季大气污染综合治理攻坚行动方案》的落实和执行才是“2+26”城市治霾方案显著见效的保障。该研究在严格遵守双重差分法前提条件的同时,还通过了一系列稳健性检验确保评估结果的可靠性。     

Using nematodes in soil ecotoxicology

Nematodes represent a very abundant group of soil organisms and non-parasitic species are important for soil quality and in the soil food web. In recent years, it has been shown that nematodes are appropriate bioindicators of soil condition and they are also suitable organisms for laboratory toxicity testing. The aims of this paper are to overview and critically assess methods and approaches for researching soil nematode ecotoxicology. In natural ecosystems, nematode abundance and community structure analyses were proved to be sensitive indicators of stress caused by soil pollutants and ecological disturbance. Community structure analyses may be approached from a functional or ecological point of view; species are divided into groups according to their feeding habits or alternatively the maturity index is calculated according to their ecological strategy. Many environmental factors have the potential to affect nematode community, which consequently results in high space and time variability. This variance is major handicap in field ecotoxicological studies because pollutant-nematode relationships are obscured. For prospective risk assessment of chemicals, several toxicity tests with nematodes were developed and are increasingly used. Sensitivity of these tests is comparable to tests with other soil species (e.g. enchytraeids, earthworms and springtails) while tests are less demanding to space and time. Most studies have focused on metal toxicity but organic compounds are almost overlooked. Endpoints used in tests were often mortality, reproduction or movement, but more sublethal endpoints such as feeding or biomarkers have been used recently too. Although there is an increasing amount of knowledge in soil nematode ecotoxicology, there is still a lot of various issues in this topic to research.     

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.     

Comprehensive Analysis of Radioactive and Chemical Contamination of Water Bodies in the Area of Radium-Industry Waste Storage

Genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of water samples from the creeks flowing through the area of radium mining waste storage into the Ukhta River and from this river were assessed using biological tests with Allium schoenoprasum L. Chemical analysis of the samples indicated that concentrations of parent heavy natural radionuclides, ²¹⁰Pb, and ²¹⁰Po do not exceed the allowable level. Of ten heavy metals, only Zn and Mn concentrations exceeded MACs. The results of biological tests provided evidence for the significantly increased genotoxicity of water samples. The mitotic index increased with an increase in the concentration of Zn ions and manifested an inverse dependence on the activity of ²³⁸U. The genotoxic effect linearly depended on Zn concentration. Possible mechanisms responsible for the induction of these biological effects are discussed.