How do children learn to cross the street? The process of pedestrian safety training

Objective: Pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of child death and may be reduced by training children to cross streets more safely. Such training is most effective when children receive repeated practice at the complex cognitive–perceptual task of judging moving traffic and selecting safe crossing gaps, but there is limited data on how much practice is required for children to reach adult levels of functioning. Using existing data, we examined how children's pedestrian skills changed over the course of 6 pedestrian safety training sessions, each composed of 45 crossings within a virtual pedestrian environment.

Methods: As part of a randomized controlled trial on pedestrian safety training, 59 children ages 7–8 crossed the street within a semi-immersive virtual pedestrian environment 270 times over a 3-week period (6 sessions of 45 crossings each). Feedback was provided after each crossing, and traffic speed and density were advanced as children's skill improved. Postintervention pedestrian behavior was assessed a week later in the virtual environment and compared to adult behavior with identical traffic patterns.

Results: Over the course of training, children entered traffic gaps more quickly and chose tighter gaps to cross within; their crossing efficiency appeared to increase. By the end of training, some aspects of children's pedestrian behavior was comparable to adult behavior but other aspects were not, indicating that the training was worthwhile but insufficient for most children to achieve adult levels of functioning.

Conclusions: Repeated practice in a simulated pedestrian environment helps children learn aspects of safe and efficient pedestrian behavior. Six twice-weekly training sessions of 45 crossings each were insufficient for children to reach adult pedestrian functioning, however, and future research should continue to study the trajectory and quantity of child pedestrian safety training needed for children to become competent pedestrians.     

Seat strength in rear body block tests

Purpose: This study collected and analyzed available testing of motor vehicle seat strength in rearward loading by a body block simulating the torso of an occupant. The data were grouped by single recliner, dual recliner, and all belts to seat (ABTS) seats.

Methods: The strength of seats to rearward loading has been evaluated with body block testing from 1964 to 2008. The database of available tests includes 217 single recliner, 65 dual recliner, and 18 ABTS seats. The trends in seat strength were determined by linear regression and differences between seat types were evaluated by Student's t-test. The average peak moment and force supported by the seat was determined by decade of vehicle model year (MY).

Results: Single recliner seats were used in motor vehicles in the 1960s to 1970s. The average strength was 918 ± 224 Nm (n = 26) in the 1960s and 1,069 ± 293 Nm (n = 65) in the 1980s. There has been a gradual increase in strength over time. Dual recliner seats started to phase into vehicles in the late 1980s. By the 2000s, the average strength of single recliner seats increased to 1,501 ± 335 Nm (n = 14) and dual recliner seats to 2,302 ± 699 Nm (n = 26). Dual recliner seats are significantly stronger than single recliner seats for each decade of comparison (P < .001). The average strength of ABTS seats was 4,395 ± 1,185 in-lb for 1989–2004 MY seats (n = 18). ABTS seats are significantly stronger than single or dual recliner seats (P < .001). The trend in ABTS strength is decreasing with time and converging toward that of dual recliner seats.

Conclusions: Body block testing is an quantitative means of evaluating the strength of seats for occupant loading in rear impacts. There has been an increase in conventional seat strength over the past 50 years. By the 2000s, most seats are 1,700–3,400 Nm moment strength. However, the safety of a seat is more complex than its strength and depends on many other factors.     

A Water Allocation Decision‐Support Model and Tool for Predictions in Ungauged Basins in Northeast British Columbia,Canada

Pressures on water resources due to changing climate, increasing demands, and enhanced recognition of environmental flow needs result in the need for hydrology information to support informed water allocation decisions. However, the absence of hydrometric measurements and limited access to hydrology information in many areas impairs water allocation decision‐making. This paper describes a water balance‐based modeling approach and an innovative web‐based decision‐support hydrology tool developed to address this need. Using high‐resolution climate, vegetation, and watershed data, a simple gridded water balance model, adjusted to account for locational variability, was developed and calibrated against gauged watersheds, to model mean annual runoff. Mean monthly runoff was modeled empirically, using multivariate regression. The modeled annual runoff results are within 20% of the observed mean annual discharge for 78% of the calibration watersheds, with a mean absolute error of 16%. Modeled monthly runoff corresponds well to observed monthly runoff, with a median Nash–Sutcliffe statistic of 0.92 and a median Spearman rank correlation statistic of 0.98. Monthly and annual flow estimates produced from the model are incorporated into a map‐ and watershed‐based decision‐support system referred to as the Northeast Water Tool, to provide critical information to decision makers and others on natural water supply, existing allocations, and the needs of the environment.     

Temperature-Dependent Persistence of Human Norovirus Within Oysters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Crassostrea virginica</Emphasis>)

This study characterizes the persistence of human norovirus in Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) held at different seawater temperatures. Oysters were contaminated with human norovirus GI.1 (Norwalk strain 8FIIa) by exposing them to virus-contaminated water at 15 °C, and subsequently holding them at 7, 15, and 25 °C for up to 6 weeks. Viral RNA was extracted from oyster tissue and hemocytes and quantitated by RT-qPCR. Norovirus was detected in hemocytes and oysters held at 7 and 15 °C for 6 weeks and in hemocytes and oysters held at 25 °C for up to 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. Results confirm that NoV is quite persistent within oysters and demonstrate that cooler water temperatures extend norovirus clearance times. This study suggests a need for substantial relay times to remove norovirus from contaminated shellfish and suggests that regulatory authorities should consider the effects of water temperature after a suspected episodic norovirus-contamination event.     

Using activated biochar for greenhouse gas mitigation and industrial water treatment

This study explored the feasibility of using residual biomass to both mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and remediate water contaminated by hydrocarbons. Using produced (process-affected) water from Canada’s oil sands operations as a case study, activated biochar (ACB) was found to have a higher affinity to organics than activated coal and removed 75 % of total organic carbon (TOC) from produced water in steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations or 90 % of the TOC from synthetic tailings (ST) water sample. Up to 6 Tg dry biomass year^?1 would be required to treat the waters associated with the 93?×?10⁶-m³ of bitumen recovered per year. Landfilling the spent ACB and flaring any biogas produced were estimated to provide a greater GHG benefit than the combustion of the biochar + organics for heat to offset natural gas demand. Net costs for the ACB were about 13.84?$?m^?3 bitumen for SAGD operations and 1.76?$?m^?3 bitumen for mining operations. The values for mining operations justify further work to create a value chain that will integrate bioprocesses into the fossil fuel industry.     

Virus Genome Quantification Does not Predict Norovirus Infectivity After Application of Food Inactivation Processing Technologies

When determining the effect of food processing on the infectivity of any contaminating virus, it is necessary to distinguish unambiguously between infectious and non-infectious viruses present. However, this can be difficult in the particular case of noroviruses (NoVs) because no reliable cell culture model is available. The aim of this study was to assess the use of molecular methods—RT real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and enzymatic treatment (ET) coupled to RT-qPCR—to quantify the infectivity of NoV after application of various inactivating food-processing technologies. RT-qPCR and ET-RT-qPCR gave significantly different (P < 0.01) results concerning the reduction in viral genome counts by all inactivation procedures and conditions used, except for HHP treatment at 600 MPa for 5 min. These findings indicate that the ET prior to RT-qPCR has an effect on the estimation of the reduction of virus genome counts, and may eliminate genomes of affected virus particles. However, no correlation was found between the results obtained by ET-RT-qPCR and those obtained by cell culture. Therefore, the effect is presumably only partial, and not adequate to allow accurate estimation of virus inactivation. Consequently, our results indicate that the quantification of virus genomes by PCR, regardless of prior ET, is not adequate for establishing virus inactivation and/or infectivity. In addition, our results also illustrate that the general effect of virus inactivation is not directly correlated to effects on the integrity of virus genome and protein capsid. Presumably, inactivation by food processing is the consequence of effects on proteins involved in adhesion and invasion stages.     

Bird Species Assemblages as Indicators of Biological Integrity in Great Basin Rangeland

The study evaluates the potential for bird species assemblages to serve as indicators of biological integrity of rangelands in the Great Basin in much the same way that fish and invertebrate assemblages have been used as indicators in aquatic environments. Our approach was to identify metrics of the bird community using relatively simple sampling methods that reflect the degree of rangeland degradation and are consistent over a variety of vegetation types and geographic areas. We conducted the study in three range types (i.e., potential natural plant community types) in each of two widely separated areas of the Great Basin: south-eastern Idaho (sagebrush steppe range types) and west-central Utah (salt-desert shrub range types). Sites were selected in each range type to represent three levels of grazing impact, and in Idaho included sites modified for crested wheatgrass production. Birds were sampled by point counts on 9 100-m radius plots at 250-m spacing on each of 20 sites in each area during the breeding season. In sagebrush-steppe, 964 individuals in 8 species of passerine birds were used in analyses. Five metrics were significantly related to impact class, both when analyzed within range type and when analyzed with all range types combined. Species richness, relative abundance of shrub obligate species, and relative abundance of Brewer's sparrow were generally lower for the higher impact classes, whereas the reverse was true for dominance by a single species and for relative abundance of horned larks. In contrast, total number of individuals did not differ significantly as a function of impact class. In salt-desert shrub, a total of 843 birds in 4 species were included in analyses, 98% of which were horned larks. None of the metrics identified above was significantly related to impact class. Two metrics for breeding birds in sagebrush steppe (species richness and dominance) showed little overlap between values for the extremes of impact class, and thus they have potential as indicators of biological integrity. However, the sensitivity of these metrics appears to be greatest at the high impact end of the spectrum, which suggests they may have limited utility in distinguishing between sites having light and moderate impact.     

The Integration of Environmental Sustainability Considerations into EU Development Policy: A Case Study of the LEADER Initiative in the West of Ireland

In peripheral parts of Europe such as the West of Ireland, where environment-development tensions may be particularly sensitive, environmental sustainability principles need to be integrated into all policy and programme areas, as the Fifth Environmental Action programme requires. This paper examines the small but significant LEADER rural development initiative to assess how much its operation integrates sustainability considerations. While LEADER-supported projects are often environmentally benign, there is little evidence of proactive application in LEADER group strategies of sustainability criteria which are other than weak. Economic imperatives dominate LEADER programmes, and many actors are sanguine about potential environmental problems arising from development.     

RUNOFF OF METALS FROM ALUM-TREATED HORSE MANURE AND MUNICIPAL SLUDGE1

ABSTRACT: Land application of organic soil amendments can increase runoff concentrations of metals such as Fe and Zn, metalbids such as B and As, and non-metals such as P and S that have the potential for causing adverse environmental impacts. Aluminum sulfate, or alum (Al₂(SO₄)3*(14H₂O), can reduce concentrations of some materials in runoff from sites treated with organic amendments. The objectives of this study were to (a) quantify concentrations of selected constituents (Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, P, Pb, 5, Se, Ti, and Zn) in runoff from plots treated with horse manure (mixed with stall bedding) and municipal sludge, (b) assess runoff quality effects of alum addition to those treatments, and (c) determine time variations in concentrations of the constituents. Horse manure and municipal sludge were applied to twelve 2.4 by 6.1 m fescue plots (six each for the manure and sludge). Alum was added to three of the manure-treated and three of the sludge-treated plots. Simulated rainfall (64 mm/h) was applied to the 12 treated plots and to three control (no treatment) plots. The first 0.5 h runoff was sampled and analyzed for the constituents described above. Addition of manure or sludge had no effect on runoff concentrations of the majority of constituents. In some cases (e.g., Al, As, Fe, Zn), however, concentrations were near or in excess of threshold values recommended for marine wildlife protection. Alum addition increased runoff of Al, Ca, K, and 5, due likely to its composition and by the addition of lime to counteract the acidity of alum. Concentration decreases of more than 50 percent were noted for P for the horse manure treatment. No alum effect was detected for P in runoff from the sludge-treated plots, possibly due to relatively stable P forms in the sludge. Runoff concentrations of Al, As, Fe, K, Mn, and P followed an approximately first-order decline with respect to time. Runoff concentrations of Ca and 5, however, peaked during the second runoff sample (four minutes following initiation of runoff), suggesting that differences in mobility and/or transport mechanisms exist among the materials investigated.