Children's “peace with nature” festival — Assisi

The Festival described in this article won the Golden Ball Award for education of the Italian Academy of Lincei. Dr Maria Luisa Cohen, the author, was honoured with the Tree of Learning Award for 1988, by the Commission on Education and Training of the IUCN, for her services to environmental education and her promotion and participation in the Festival.     

Alcohol ignition interlock programs

The alcohol ignition interlock is an in-vehicle DWI control device that prevents a car from starting until the operator provides a breath alcohol concentration (BAC) test below a set level, usually .02% (20 mg/dl) to .04% (40 mg/dl). The first interlock program was begun as a pilot test in California 18 years ago; today all but a few US states, and Canadian provinces have interlock enabling legislation. Sweden has recently implemented a nationwide interlock program. Other nations of the European Union and as well as several Australian states are testing it on a small scale or through pilot research. This article describes the interlock device and reviews the development and current status of interlock programs including their public safety benefit and the public practice impediments to more widespread adoption of these DWI control devices. Included in this review are (1) a discussion of the technological breakthroughs and certification standards that gave rise to the design features of equipment that is in widespread use today; (2) a commentary on the growing level of adoption of interlocks by governments despite the judicial and legislative practices that prevent more widespread use of them; (3) a brief overview of the extant literature documenting a high degree of interlock efficacy while installed, and the rapid loss of their preventative effect on repeat DWI once they are removed from the vehicles; (4) a discussion of the representativeness of subjects in the current research studies; (5) a discussion of research innovations, including motivational intervention efforts that may extend the controlling effect of the interlock, and data mining research that has uncovered ways to use the stored interlock data record of BAC tests in order to predict high risk drivers; and (6) a discussion of communication barriers and conceptual rigidities that may be preventing the alcohol ignition interlock from taking a more prominent role in the arsenal of tools used to control DWI. Whether interlock programs can help public policymakers achieve their expressed goals of substantially reducing the level of impaired driving will remain uncertain until procedural barriers and intransigent judiciary practices can be overcome that provide for more systematic routine use of interlock programs. Despite strong effectiveness evidence in all studies to date, the real potential of this technology to reduce the road toll cannot be estimated until they are more widely adopted.     

The effectiveness of ESP (Electronic Stability Program) in reducing real life accidents

ESP (Electronic Stability Program) has recently been introduced onto the market in an effort to reduce the number and severity of loss-of-control automobile accidents. This reduction is expected to be particularly evident for accidents on roads with low friction (e.g., wet or icy conditions). This study aimed to evaluate the statistical effectiveness of ESP using data from accidents that occurred in Sweden during 2000 to 2002. To control for exposure, induced exposure methods were used, where ESP-sensitive to ESP-insensitive accidents and road conditions were matched in relation to cars equipped with and without ESP. Cars of similar, or in some cases identical, make and model were used to isolate the role of ESP. As predicted, the study showed a positive effect of ESP in circumstances where road surfaces have low friction. The overall effectiveness was 22.1 (+/-21) percent, while for accidents on wet roads, the effectiveness increased to 31.5 (+/-23.4) percent. On roads covered with ice and snow, the corresponding effectiveness was 38.2 (+/-26.1) percent. In addition, ESP was found to be effective for three different types of cars: small front-wheel drive; large front-wheel drive; and large rear-wheel drive.     

Efficacy of vegetated buffer strips for retaining Cryptosporidium parvum

Overland and shallow subsurface hydrologic transport of pathogenic Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts from cattle feces into surface drinking water supplies is a major concern on annual grasslands in California's central and southern Sierra Nevada foothills. Soil boxes (0.5 m wide x 1.1 m long x 0.3 m deep) were used to evaluate the ability of grass vegetated buffer strips to retain 2 x 10(8) spiked C. parvum oocysts in 200-g fecal deposits during simulated rainfall intensities of 30 to 47.5 mm/h over 2 h. Buffers were comprised of Ahwahnee sandy loam (coarse-loamy, mixed, active, thermic Mollic Haploxeralfs; 78:18:4 sand to silt to clay ratio; dry bulk density = 1.4 g/cm(3)) set at 5 to 20% land slope, and >/=95% grass cover (grass stubble height = 10 cm; biomass = 900 kg/ha dry weight). Total number of oocysts discharged from each soil box (combined overland and subsurface flow) during the 120-min simulation ranged from 1.5 x 10(6) to 23.9 x 10(6) oocysts. Observed overall mean log(10) reduction of total C. parvum flux per meter of vegetated buffer was 1.44, 1.19, and 1.18 for buffers at 5, 12, and 20% land slope, respectively. Rainfall application rate (mm/h) was strongly associated with oocyst flux from these vegetated buffers, resulting in a decrease of 2 to 4% in the log(10) reduction per meter buffer for every additional mm/h applied to the soil box. These results support the use of strategically placed vegetated buffers as one of several management strategies that can reduce the risk of waterborne C. parvum attributable to extensive cattle grazing on annual grassland watersheds.     

A new photoproduct of the drug furosemide in aqueous media

The solar phototransformation of furosemide has been investigated in aqueous media. Irradiation of the drug in distilled water, in water and humic acids or nitrate ions, and in sewage sludge water affords a new dehalogenated dimer. The formation of the dimer has been explained by the formation of a cation radical intermediate. The low-measured environmental concentration of furosemide with respect to predicted environmental concentration in the Po and Lambro Rivers could be justified by its phototransformation.     

Characterisation of a reference site for quantifying uncertainties related to soil sampling

The paper reports a methodology adopted to face problems related to quality assurance in soil sampling. The SOILSAMP project, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency of Italy (APAT), is aimed at (i) establishing protocols for soil sampling in different environments; (ii) assessing uncertainties associated with different soil sampling methods in order to select the "fit-for-purpose" method; (iii) qualifying, in term of trace elements spatial variability, a reference site for national and international inter-comparison exercises. Preliminary results and considerations are illustrated.     

Anguilla anguilla L. plasma cortisol, lactate and glucose responses to abietic acid, dehydroabietic acid and retene

Anguilla anguilla L. were exposed to 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.9 and 2.7 microM abietic (AA), dehydroabietic (DHAA) acids and retene (Re) during 8, 16, 24 and 72 h. The eels plasma cortisol, glucose and lactate were measured. A significant decrease in plasma cortisol was observed at 72 h exposure to 0.9 and 2.7 microM Re. DHAA (0.1 microM) significantly decreased plasma cortisol in eels after 8 and 24 h exposure. However, a significant plasma cortisol increase was found after 16 h, 2.7 microM AA exposure and after 24 h exposure to 0.1 microM and 2.7 microM AA. Furthermore, 72 h exposure to 0.9 microM AA also induced a plasma cortisol increase. A general rise in plasma glucose was detected after all exposure periods to Re. The plasma lactate also increased after 72 h exposure to 2.7 microM AA and after 8 h exposure to 0.1 microM DHAA.     

Radon concentration in hospital buildings erected during the last 40 years in Białystok, Poland

The aim of the study was to compare radon concentrations in neighbouring hospital buildings which were constructed in different years during the period 1963-2000 and are located in areas with similar radon potential. The value of arithmetic mean (AM) radon concentration in soil gas amounted to 14,464 Bq m(-3). In a hospital built 40 years ago, the AM radon concentration in the cellar was 38.4+/-36.7 Bq m(-3) and on higher levels it was 17.1+/-10.3 Bq m(-3). In a hospital built 16 years ago, these values equaled 45.5+/-47.2 Bq m(-3) and 20.4+/-12.5 Bq m(-3), respectively. In the newest hospital, built three years ago, radon concentration (AM) in a cellar was 32.3+/-27.4 Bq m(-3) and the respective value on higher levels amounted to 20.4+/-12.6 Bq m(-3). When comparing radon concentrations in the cellars, no statistically significant differences were found. Similarly, no statistically significant differences were observed between radon concentrations measured on higher levels in investigated hospital buildings.     

Quality assurance for the measurements and monitoring of radioactivity in the environment

During the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) of the European Commission--according to an institutional programme in support to the policy of the European Commission for the implementation of Art. 35 and 36 of the Euratom Treaty as well as in the framework of the OSPAR Convention for the protection of marine environment of the north-east Atlantic--at the Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU--General Directorate Joint Research Centre--European Commission), a reference laboratory for the measurement of radioactivity in the environment (MaRE laboratory) has been set up. In this paper, the principles and philosophy in order to improve the quality and reliability of analytical data for the measurement and monitoring of radioactivity in the environment under a quality assurance (QA) programme are presented. Examples of how a QA programme at the MaRE laboratory is developed and applied are given. Internal and external quality control (QC) programmes are also discussed.