Avoidance bio-assays may help to test the ecological significance of soil pollution

We measured the short-term (100 min) avoidance of a soil heavily polluted by hydrocarbons by the soil springtail Folsomia candida, at six rates of dilution in a control, unpolluted soil. We compared the results with those of long-term (40-day) population tests. Five strains were compared, of varying geographical and ecological origin. When pure, the polluted soil was lethal in the long-term and avoided in the short-term by all strains. Avoidance tests, but not population tests, were able to discriminate between strains. Avoidance thresholds differed among strains. Two ecological consequences of the results were discussed: (i) toxic compounds may kill soil animals or deprive them from food, resulting in death of populations, (ii) pollution spots can be locally deprived of fauna because of escape movements of soil animals. Advantages and limitations of the method have been listed, together with proposals for their wider use in soil ecology and ecotoxicology.     

Aquatic risk assessment of the new rice herbicide profoxydim

A tiered protocol for assessing ecological risks has been applied to the rice pesticide profoxydim. The initial assessment (Tier I) was based on toxicity exposure ratio (TER) calculations based on laboratory data using a worst-case rice scenario. The first refinement (Tier II) was based on direct toxicity assessment (DTA) of water samples collected during a field-mesocosm study. Finally, a higher-tier assessment on the in situ assessment of paddy community responses (field-mesocosm-Tier III) was performed. A successive application of three pesticides, the herbicides azimsulfuron, propanil and the insecticide malathion, was used as reference controls. The refined assessments indicated a lower risk than that predicted from TER estimations. DTA-based Tier II showed toxicity effects only for concentrations above the recommended dose of profoxydim. Effects for reference controls were observed in DTA which were not expected from Tier I. The field-mesocosm study confirmed these effects but also showed that they were transient and of low relevance.     

Gender differences and demographic influences in perceived concern for driver safety and support for impaired driving countermeasures

IntroductionDriving safety, impaired driving, and legislation to address these concerns remain important issues. It is imperative countermeasures be targeted toward the most appropriate groups. This paper explores the potential relationship between gender and driving attitudes toward safety issues and impaired-driving countermeasures.MethodThe data are from the 2007 Impaired Driving Survey commissioned by Transport Canada and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada. The survey is a, stratified by region, telephone survey of 1,514 Canadian drivers 18 years of age and older with a valid driver's license who had driven within the past 30 days.ResultsThe findings illustrate a consistent impact of gender on these issues. Other variables were also identified as relevant factors although less consistently. Current findings suggest that strategies for building support for interventions, or for changing risk perception/concern for risky driving behaviors should be tailored by gender to maximize the potential for behavior change.ImpactThis information may assist program and policy developers through the identification of more or less receptive target groups. Future research directions are also presented.     

Suburban Areas in Developing Countries and Their Relationship to Groundwater Pollution: A Case Study of Mar del Plata, Argentina

2 were sampled in order to verify the impact of these problems on groundwater. All samples were analyzed for major ions, and about 30 of them for fecal coliforms and heavy metals. Nineteen samples were selected for pesticide analyses. The average nitrate content was 80 mg/liter, eight times the regional background value. Fecal coliforms were detected in 60% of the analyzed samples. Zinc content and a high Cl⁻/HCO₃ ⁻ ratio were observed in the surroundings of the solid waste disposal area. Moreover, lindane and heptachlor pesticides were detected in ten samples.     

Removal of NOM from drinking water: Fenton's and photo-Fenton's processes

The control of disinfection by-products during water treatment is primarily undertaken by reducing the levels of precursor species prior to chlorination. As many waters contain natural organic matter at levels of up to 15 mgl(-1) there is a need for a range of control methods to support conventional coagulation. Two such processes are the Fenton and photo-Fenton's processes and in this paper they are assessed for their potential to remove NOM from organic rich waters. The performance of both processes is shown to be depentent on pH, Fe: H2O2 ratio as well as Fe2+ dose. Under optimum conditions both processes achieved greater than 90% removal of DOC and UV254 absorbance. This removal lead to the trihalomethane formation potential of the water being reduced from 140 to below 10 microgl(-1), well below UK and US standards.     

Representativity and univocity of traffic signs and their effect on trajectory movement in a driving simulation task: Warning signs

Objective: The effect of traffic signs on the behavior of drivers is not completely understood. Knowing about how humans process the meaning of signs (not just by learning but instinctively) will improve reaction time and decision making when traveling. The economic, social, and psychological consequences of car accidents are well known.

Methods: This study sounds out which traffic signs are more ergonomic for participants, from a cognitive point of view, and determines, at the same time, their effect in participants' movement trajectories in a driving simulation task.

Results: Results point out that the signs least representative of their meaning produce a greater deviation from the center of the road than the most representative ones.

Conclusions: This study encourages both an in-depth analysis of the effect on movement of roadside signs and the study of how this effect can be modified by the context in which these signs are presented (with the aim to move the research closer to and analyze the data in real contexts). The goal is to achieve clarity of meaning and lack of counterproductive effects on the trajectory of representative signs (those that provoke fewer mistakes in the decision task).     

Perceptions towards solar mini‐grid systems in India: A multi‐stakeholder analysis

This study identifies and assesses the perspectives of four key stakeholder groups towards solar minigrids in rural India. The stakeholders considered are policymakers, minigrid developers and operators, development organizations, and national grid representatives. Recent state and national policies in India have increased the focus on minigrids and their services. In this study, stakeholder interviews were employed to identify the attitudes towards the recent electricity policy, the underlying context for minigrid development, the role of minigrids in rural electrification, and the inclusion of minigrid systems within the larger framework of electricity sector policies by the recent government minigrid policies. Results indicate that stakeholders agree that minigrids, as a rural electricity service, are currently viable to complement the national grid due to their high reliability, performance in remote regions, and diminishing cost per unit. However, stakeholders disagree on the future outcomes, with diverging views on the priority of minigrids as an electrification tool in the face of the expanding central grid, the ideal implementation strategy for minigrids, and the potential for grid‐minigrid interaction. Based on stakeholder feedback, the growth of minigrids in India is likely to be constrained by the confidence in recent policies, necessitating more frequent dialogue among decision makers and a solidified relationship to the national electricity grid.     

War Zones and Game Sinks in Lewis and Clark's West

The journals of Lewis and Clark reveal a major difference in the taxa, numbers, and behavior of megafauna on either side of the Rocky Mountains in western North America. Two prior events set the stage for what Lewis and Clark would find. The first was the extinction around 13,000 years ago of two-thirds of the native megafauna of the American West. The second was the effects on Indians of deadly new diseases and new technologies brought by Europeans in the post-Columbian era. Populations of large animals, which were preferred prey for native people, were not immune to European influence. Along the Columbia River corridor west of the Rockies, tens of thousands of people lived in a game sink. Here Lewis and Clark's party found too few animals to live off the land by hunting. They adapted poorly to the local diet of fish and roots offered by the Nez Perce and bought dogs and horses to sustain themselves. To the east, uninhabited lands along the Upper Missouri and the Yellowstone rivers supported an abundance of wild game, especially bison, elk, deer, pronghorn, and wolves. This game source occupied part of a buffer zone of 120,000 km² probed by various Indian war parties, some of them armed with muskets. William Clark recognized the relationship and near the end of their journey he wrote that they found large numbers of large animals in the land between nations that were at war. Both the abundance of game in buffer or war zones and scarcity of big game in sinks have been misinterpreted as a natural or typical condition. Although efforts to restore ecosystems to what is described in early journals may have merit, they are aimed at a flickering target. Long before these journals were written, the land had been stripped of most of its native megafauna through human influence. In the absence of humans, we predict that much larger populations of bison, elk, deer, and wolves would have ranged the West than were reported in historic documents.