Assessing human-induced pressures on coastal areas with publicly available data

The assessment of human-induced pressures on the coastal area is essential to target management plans effectively, and moreover is required by the EU Water Framework Directive. A simple and cost-effective assessment of human-induced pressures on the coastal zone is applied using two methodologies: a qualitative visual assessment which uses satellite images; and a quantitative assessment based on governmental census data. These methods are applied to defined areas (23 areas) of four Italian regions: Liguria, Tuscany, Latium and Sardinia. The results show a high agreement (83%) between these two methods, in which only four of the 23 areas are classified differently. These differences may mainly be ascribed to the qualitative or quantitative properties of the methods, and to the different geographical units adopted. These characteristics however provide complementary information, which suggests that the application of both proposed methods confirms reliability and allows fine-tuning of the assessment. The pressure assessment proposed is simple, time and cost-effective, and repeatable over time and space. It therefore can be applied in different contexts to respond to legislative requirements or to target management plans and remedial actions effectively.     

Estimating Dead Wood During National Forest Inventories: A Review of Inventory Methodologies and Suggestions for Harmonization

Efforts to assess forest ecosystem carbon stocks, biodiversity, and fire hazards have spurred the need for comprehensive assessments of forest ecosystem dead wood (DW) components around the world. Currently, information regarding the prevalence, status, and methods of DW inventories occurring in the world’s forested landscapes is scattered. The goal of this study is to describe the status, DW components measured, sample methods employed, and DW component thresholds used by national forest inventories that currently inventory DW around the world. Study results indicate that most countries do not inventory forest DW. Globally, we estimate that about 13% of countries inventory DW using a diversity of sample methods and DW component definitions. A common feature among DW inventories was that most countries had only just begun DW inventories and employ very low sample intensities. There are major hurdles to harmonizing national forest inventories of DW: differences in population definitions, lack of clarity on sample protocols/estimation procedures, and sparse availability of inventory data/reports. Increasing database/estimation flexibility, developing common dimensional thresholds of DW components, publishing inventory procedures/protocols, releasing inventory data/reports to international peer review, and increasing communication (e.g., workshops) among countries inventorying DW are suggestions forwarded by this study to increase DW inventory harmonization.     

产中性纤维素酶芽孢杆菌Y106产酶条件优化

筛选得到一株高产中性纤维素酶的芽孢杆菌Ｙ１０６,并对其发酵条件进行了优化,麸皮能够较大幅度地促进产酶,果糖是良好的诱导物,有机氮流促进产酶的效果优于无机氮源,最优的有机氮源是蛋白胨。Ｆｅ＾３＋、Ｆｅ＾２＋、Ｎａ＾＋、Ｃａ＾２＋可以促进纤维素酶的合成,而Ｃｕ＾２＋、Ａｇ＾＋、Ｃｏ＾２＋、Ｈｇ＾２＋则对合成起遏制作用,在酶反应系统中Ｆｅ＾３＋、Ｆｅ＾２＋、Ｃａ＾２＋、Ｍｇ＾２＋能激活纤维素酶活性,Ｃｏ     

The relation of non-culpable traffic incidents to bus drivers' celeration behavior

PROBLEM: The driver celeration behavior theory predicts that celerations are associated with incidents for which the driver has some responsibility in causing, but not other incidents. METHOD: The hypothesis was tested in 25 samples of repeated measurements of bus drivers' celeration behavior against their incidents for two years. RESULTS: The results confirmed the prediction; in 18 samples, the correlation for culpable incidents only was higher than for all incidents, despite the higher means of the latter. Non-culpable incidents had correlations close to zero with celeration. DISCUSSION: It was pointed out that most individual crash prediction studies have not made this differentiation, and thus probably yielded underestimates of the associations sought, although the effect is not strong, due to non-culpable accident involvements being few (less than a third of the total). The methods for correct identification of culpable incident involvements were discussed.     

Sources of Alkylphenols and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates in Wastewater—A Substance Flow Analysis in Stockholm, Sweden

This is a study of the sources of alkylphenol and alkylphenol ethoxylates in wastewater, including the new observation that the main contribution is from textiles. Alkylphenols and alkylphenol ethoxylates are widely used chemicals in various applications that are partly under environmental restrictions within Europe. The study sets out to analyze the most important sources of this large group of organic compounds in an urban wastewater system. A substance flow analysis (SFA) of the technosphere in Stockholm, Sweden in 2004 was conducted, allowing a comparison of 13 groups of goods’ emissions to wastewater. It was found that the groups of textiles and cleaning agents were the major sources to wastewater, while the group’s personal care products and paint and lacquers give smaller contributions. The content of alkylphenol ethoxylates in goods, especially in textiles, is a most significant source and is probably valid for other urban areas as well.     

Monitoring of raptors and their contamination levels in Norway

This article summarizes results from raptor monitoring and contamination studies in Norway of the golden eagle, gyrfalcon, white-tailed sea eagle, osprey, peregrine, and merlin. Golden eagle and gyrfalcon populations have been monitored since 1990 as part of the "Monitoring Programme for Terrestrial Ecosystems" (TOV). No long-term trend in the population size or productivity of golden eagle has been shown in any of the 5 study areas. The reproductive output of gyrfalcon is monitored in 3 areas. It is positively correlated with the populations of its main prey species, the rock ptarmigan and the willow ptarmigan. The white-tailed sea eagle population has been monitored since 1974 by the Norwegian Ornithological Society, and the population is increasing. The levels of pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls are low in the eggs of both the golden eagle and the gyrfalcon, but elevated levels and effects on reproduction have been indicated for a coastal subpopulation of golden eagle. The pollutant levels in white-tailed sea eagle are lower than in the Baltic population of sea eagles, and shell thinning was never severe overall, but individual eggs have contained pollutant concentrations above critical levels. The levels of pollutants in the bird-eating falcons, peregrine, and merlin were higher than in other species. New emerging pollutants, like brominated diphenylethers and perfluorinated organic compounds, could be detected in all species. By incorporating available published and unpublished data, we were able to produce time trends for pollutants and shell thickness over 4 decades.     

Formation, release and control of dioxins in cement kilns

Co-processing of hazardous wastes in cement kilns have for decades been thought to cause increased emissions of PCDD/PCDFs--a perception that has been evaluated in this study. Hundreds of PCDD/PCDF measurements conducted by the cement industry and others in the last few years, on emissions and solid materials, as well as recent test burns with hazardous wastes in developing countries do not support this perception. Newer data has been compared with older literature data and shows in particular that many emission factors have to be reconsidered. Early emission factors for cement kilns co-processing hazardous waste, which are still used in inventories, are shown to be too high compared with actual measurements. Less than 10 years ago it was believed that the cement industry was the main contributor of PCDD/PCDFs to air; data collected in this study indicates however that the industry contributes with less than 1% of total emissions to air. The Stockholm Convention on POPs presently ratified by 144 parties, classifies cement kilns co-processing hazardous waste as a source category having the potential for comparatively high formation and release of PCDD/PCDFs. This classification is based on early investigations from the 1980s and 1990s where kilns co-processing hazardous waste had higher emissions compared to those that did not burn hazardous waste. However, the testing of these kilns was often done under worst case scenario conditions known to favour PCDD/PCDF formation. More than 2000 PCDD/PCDF cement kiln measurements have been evaluated in this study, representing most production technologies and waste feeding scenarios. They generally indicate that most modern cement kilns co-processing waste today can meet an emission level of 0.1ngI-TEQ/m(3), when well managed and operated. In these cases, proper and responsible use of waste including organic hazardous waste to replace parts of the fossil fuel does not seem to increase formation of PCDD/PCDFs. Modern preheater/precalciner kilns generally seems to have lower emissions than older wet-process cement kilns. It seems that the main factors stimulating formation of PCDD/PCDFs is the availability of organics in the raw material and the temperature of the air pollution control device. Feeding of materials containing elevated concentrations of organics as part of raw-material-mix should therefore be avoided and the exhaust gases should be cooled down quickly in long wet and long dry cement kilns without preheating. PCDD/PCDFs could be detected in all types of solid samples analysed: raw meal, pellets and slurry; alternative raw materials as sand, chalk and different ashes; cement kiln dust, clinker and cement. The concentrations are however generally low, similar to soil and sediment.     

Significance of food type for growth of ephyrae Aurelia aurita (Scyphozoa)

We studied growth of newly released Aurelia aurita ephyra larvae fed five different food types, including a large-sized copepod, a phytoflagellate, and suspended POM (particulate organic matter) made from bivalve meat. Experiments were run at saturated food concentration in two different temperatures over 10 days. The effect of small differences in temperature was inconsistent and interacted with the effect of food type, which, in turn, was highly significant. A low average growth rate (4-9% day^-1) was shown when feeding on the large-sized copepod Calanus finmarchicus (80 µg AFDW individual^-1), in spite of an extremely high daily ration of up to 1500% of body AFDW. When feeding on the cryptophyte Rhodomonas baltica (ca. 8 µm cell diameter), the ephyrae showed an average growth rate over the 10 day experiment of 7-11%, but with a considerably higher growth rate during the first days. Suspended POM generated an average growth rate of 7-9% day^-1, whereas fresh bivalve meat, manually placed into the stomach of the ephyra, gave an average growth rate of 12-14% day^-1. Artemia nauplii (ca. 3 µg AFDW individual^-1), used as a general reference, resulted in higher growth rates than any of the other food types (17-31% day^-1). We conclude that A. aurita ephyrae can capture and feed on phytoplankton, large copepods, and POM; that phytoplankton might be of nutritive significance early in development; and that the high quantity of large-sized copepods ingested is inefficiently converted to growth during early development. POM is a potential food source because of the ability of the ephyrae to encounter and ingest it, although concentration, size distribution, and nutritional composition of natural POM probably constrain its effect on growth.     

Remediation of drinking water contaminated with arsenic by the electro-removal process using different metal electrodes

The purification of water by the electro-removal process using different metal electrodes is widely used in different spheres of science and industry. The comparative characteristics under galvanostatic conditions of zinc (Zn), brass (Cu-Zn), copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) anodes for arsenic (As) removal from water by the electro-removal process in laboratory scale experiments were determined at current densities of 1.5, 3 and 12 mA cm(-2) for 60 min, from a solution containing different concentrations of As(v) (from 70 to 130 microg L(-1)). The results at these different current densities indicated that rapid arsenic removal was achieved at higher current densities (12 mA cm(-2)), with the chemical precipitation of arsenate complexes. The removal of As was relatively efficient, with the following tendency (at 1.5 mA cm(-2)): Fe (>93%) congruent with Zn (>93%) > Cu-Zn (>73%) >Cu (>67%), these efficiencies were relatively independent of the removal rate for all the initial arsenic concentrations investigated. This behaviour is attributed to the electrochemical intrinsic properties of the most active metals, and to the chemical precipitation reactions following the electrochemical process, iron being the most attractive metal for arsenic removal for practical applications.     

Safety-culture in a Norwegian shipping company

Problem: Although there has been considerable interest in safety culture and safety climate in many industries, little attention has been given to safety culture in one of the world's riskiest industries, shipping. Method: Using both self developed items and items from published research on safety culture, safety climate, and quality and management style, a 40-item safety culture questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed in a self-administered form to sailors onboard 20 vessels and to officers attending a seminar in Manila. A total of 349 questionnaires were collected (total response rate, 60%). Results, discussion and impact on industry: Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed 11 factors when the Kaiser eigenvalue rule was used and four factors when the scree test criterion was used. The factor structure in the material confirmed structures found in other industries. The relative importance of the factors from the factor analysis on “level of safety” measures was tested by canonical correlation analysis and regression analysis. The results confirmed previous research and showed that the most important factors were influential across industries. To determine weather differences existed between nationalities, occupations, and vessels the factors from the PCA was subjected to Multiple Discriminant Analysis. Significant differences between occupations, nations, and vessels were found on one or more of the factors from the PCA.