Suitability of Nicotiana tabacum 'Bel W3' for biomonitoring ozone in São Paulo, Brazil

Nicotiana tabacum 'Bel W3' is a widely used sensitive bioindicator for ambient ozone, but it is rarely used in tropical countries. Our goal was to determine the suitability of this plant for biomonitoring ozone in the city of S?o Paulo by evaluating the relationships between leaf necroses and ozone under field conditions and measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence and antioxidants in plants exposed to different concentrations of ozone in closed chambers. While a weak linear relationship between leaf injury and ozone concentrations (R(2)=0.10) was determined in the field, a strong linear relationship was observed in the chamber experiments. Maximum leaf injury was observed in plants submitted to 40 ppb, which coincided with a significant decrease in fluorescence and total ascorbic acid. The relationship between leaf damage observed in the field and ozone was improved when the concentrations were limited to 40 ppb (R(2)=0.28).     

Influence of pH,EDTA/Fe(II) ratio,and microbial culture on Fe(II)-mediated autotrophic denitrification

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fe(II)-mediated autotrophic denitrification with four different microbial cultures under different pH and EDTA/Fe(II) conditions was investigated in...     

Investigation of different ethylenediamine-N,N′-disuccinic acid-enhanced washing configurations for remediation of a Cu-contaminated soil: process kinetics and efficiency comparison between single-stage and multi-stage configurations

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A comparison of Cu extraction yields for three different ethylenediamine-N,N′-disuccinic acid (EDDS)-enhanced washing configurations was...     

Concentrations of trace elements in tissues of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian coastlines (Calabria,Italy)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Toxic trace elements from both, natural and anthropogenic origin, pose a threat to aquatic environments and marine wildlife due to their long-range...     

Effects of Changes in Biodiversity on Ecosystem Function in Tropical Forests

Changing land use in the tropics has resulted in vast areas of damaged and degraded lands where biodiversity has been reduced. The majority of research on biodiversity has been focused on population and community dynamics and has rarely considered the ecosystem processes that are intimately related. We present a framework for examining the effects of changes in biodiversity on ecosystem function in natural, managed, and damaged tropical forests. Using a whole-ecosystem approach, the framework identifies key nutrient and energy cycling processes and critical junctures or pathways, termed interfaces, where resources are concentrated and transferred between the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. Processes occurring at these interfaces, and the organisms or attributes participating in these processes, exert a strong influence on ecosystem structure. We use examples from Puerto Rico, Southern China, Dominica, and Nicaragua to illustrate how the functional diversity framework can be applied to critically examine the effects of changes in biodiversity on ecosystem function, and the relative success or failure of rehabilitation strategies. The few available data suggest that functional diversity, and not just species richness, is important in maintaining the integrity of nutrient and energy fluxes. High species richness, however, may increase ecosystem resiliency following disturbance by increasing the number of alternative pathways for the flow of resources. We suggest ways in which the framework of functional diversity can be used to design research to examine the effects of changes in biodiversity on ecosystem processes and in the design and evaluation of ecosystem management and land rehabilitation projects in the tropics.     

A meta‐analysis of the interrelationships between employee lateness,absenteeism, and turnover: Implications for models of withdrawal behavior

We meta‐analyzed the correlations between voluntary employee lateness, absenteeism, and turnover to (i) provide the most comprehensive estimates to date of the interrelationships between these withdrawal behaviors; (ii) test the viability of a withdrawal construct; and (iii) evaluate the evidence for competing models of the relationships between withdrawal behaviors (i.e., alternate forms, compensatory forms, independent forms, progression of withdrawal, and spillover model). Corrected correlations were .26 between lateness and absenteeism, .25 between absenteeism and turnover, and .01 between lateness and turnover. These correlations were even smaller in recent studies that had been carried out since the previous meta‐analyses of these relationships 15–20 years ago. The small‐to‐moderate intercorrelations are not supportive of a withdrawal construct that includes lateness, absenteeism, and turnover. These intercorrelations also rule out many of the competing models of the relationships between withdrawal behaviors, as many of the models assume all relationships will be positive, null, or negative. On the basis of path analyses using meta‐analytic data, the progression of withdrawal model garnered the most support. This suggests that lateness may moderately predict absenteeism and absenteeism may moderately predict turnover. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Advanced rescue techniques: lessons learned from the collapse of a building in Nairobi, Kenya

This paper examines the collapse of a five-storey building in Nairobi, Kenya, on 23 January 2006. It draws on reports from local authorities and on debriefings by Israel's Home Front Command (HFC), including information on injury distribution, rescue techniques, and the mode of operation. Most of the 117 people found under the structure were evacuated on the first day to a public hospital, which was overwhelmed by the incident. HFC forces arrived 23 hours after the disaster. At that stage, two people were still buried under the building and special techniques (tunnelling and scalping) were required to secure their evacuation. The two people quickly recovered after a short stay in hospital. Local technology is the preferred option during such events because time is crucial. International cooperation is required when this technology is not available. All of the hospitals in the disaster area, including private facilities, should participate in treating casualties.     

The design of water markets when instream flows have value

The main objective of this paper is to design and test a decentralized exchange mechanism that generates the location-specific pricing necessary to achieve efficient allocations in the presence of instream flow values. Although a market-oriented approach has the potential to improve upon traditional command and control regulations, questions remain about how these rights-based institutions can be implemented such that the potential gains from liberalized trade can be realized. This article uses laboratory experiments to test three different water market institutions designed to incorporate instream flow values into the allocation mechanism through active participation of an environmental trader. The smart, computer-coordinated market described herein offers the potential to significantly reduce coordination problems and transaction costs associated with finding mutually beneficial trades that satisfy environmental constraints. We find that direct environmental participation in the market can achieve highly efficient and stable outcomes, although the potential does exist for the environmental agent to influence outcomes.