Mandating interlocks for fully revoked offenders: the New Mexico experience

OBJECTIVE: In New Mexico, between July 1999 and December 2002, the installation of an ignition interlock was an optional judicial sanction for second and third driving-while-impaired (DWI) offenders. This is a study of the recidivism of 437 offenders who were convicted and installed interlocks for an average of 322 days during that period. METHODS: The comparison group was a stratified random sample (N = 12,554) of the 20,949 offenders who were convicted during the same period but did not install interlocks. DWI arrest and conviction data for all study participants were received from the Motor Vehicle Department's Citation Tracking System. RESULTS: Only 11 (2.5%) of the interlock offender group were rearrested for DWI while interlocks were installed, whereas 1,017 (8.1%) of the comparison group were rearrested during an equivalent 322-day period. Survival graphs and Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to compare the interlock and noninterlock groups during installation, after installation, and for the entire period up to December 2004. Results indicate a reduction in recidivism of 65% during installation. After removal, there was no significant difference in recidivism rates in a 3-year follow-up period. Following all offenders for 4 years, including both the period while the interlock was installed and the period after its removal, indicates that the difference in recidivism achieved during installation, though not increased, is maintained, so at the end of 4 years, interlock users still have lower total recidivism than nonusers. CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of interlock effectiveness reported here is similar to those in other published studies with comparable samples.     

Suicidal behavior by motor vehicle collision

BACKGROUND: The ability for suicides of drivers to be disguised as traffic accidents raises the possibility that suicidal behaviors of this nature are far more prevalent than previously thought, potentially impacting health, road safety, and insurance companies. METHOD: Persons residing at the Gold Coast, Australia, identified as having a history of suicidal ideation and behaviors (n = 1,196), were sent a mail-out survey after their consent was obtained in initial telephone contact (CATI random digit-dialing). Among those responding, 412 had made suicide plans or arrangements and 228 suicide attempts. RESULTS: Of those who reported planning a suicide, 14.8% (19.1% of male planners and 11.8% of female planners) had conceived to have a motor vehicle "accident" (n = 61). Of all attempters, 8.3% (13.3% of male attempters) had previously attempted via motor vehicle collision (n = 19). All attempters reported having emotional or mental problems at the time of the event. Suicide planners were significantly more likely to be in full-time employment and have a partner and children compared with other planners. CONCLUSION: The study gives a rare insight into driver suicide plans and attempts, via a large-scale community survey, to provide the best opportunity of collecting unbiased data on the driver suicide behavior. Results suggest the use of this method, particularly in attempts made by males, may be underreported leading to inaccuracy of statistics. The motives behind choosing this method are somewhat different to those behind other methods, including financial benefits and eliminating stigma in the aftermath of a suicide.     

Morphological responses and tolerance of a tree native to the Brazilian Cerrado Astronium fraxinifolium Schott to boron toxicity

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The indiscriminate use of fertilizers and chemical pesticides can lead to boron contamination of the soil. Decontamination in general is expensive and...     

Emissions from a controlled fire in municipal solid waste bales

Environmental and safety aspects of seasonal storage of baled municipal solid waste to be used as fuel for energy production (waste fuel), was investigated and experiments were carried out on burning of bales. The flammability, combustion processes and emissions were studied by simulating, in small-scale, potential effects of a possible fire in full-scale bale storage area. Despite the high water content and the high density of the bales, after setting fire, the bales burned well, even though no risk for self-ignition exists. The following parameters of the combustion product were measured continuously: O2, CO2, CO, SO2, NO, NO2, NOx, THC, smoke gas rate and the temperature of the smoke. Soot particles in the smoke were collected and analysed for Hg, Pb, Cd, As, Ni, Cr, Mn, Cu, Co, Sb and V concentrations. The analysis of the moisture content, concentrations of Hg, Cd, HCl, HF, HBr, NH3, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), chlorinated and brominated dioxins (PCDD/F and PBrDD/F, respectively) were carried out. It was found that the PCDD/F levels (TEQs) varied according to the system used: 12.53 ng (I-TEF-88)/Nm3; 14.09 ng (I-TEF-99)/Nm3; 13.86 ng (Eadons)/Nm3. The PAH concentration was 3.04 microg/Nm3. The contents of the metals in the smoke (with the exceptions of Pb and Cd with mean values of 1.74 and 0.36 mg/m3, respectively) were below the limit values established by the Swedish Ministry of Environment for emissions from incineration plants [Swedish Ministry of Environment, (2002:1060), F?rordning 2002:1060 om avfallsf?rbr?nning. Available from http://www.notisum.se/rnp/SLS/LAG/20021060.HTM]/EU-directive [(2000/76/EC), Directive 2000/76/EC, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the Incineration of Waste. http://www.Scotland. gov.uk/library5/environment/iecda.pdf]. The HCl concentration was 10 times higher than the limit value (mean value of 99 mg/m3).     

Photodegradation of pesticides .1. Photolysis rates and half‐life of acylanilides and their major metabolites in water

The photolysis in water solution of three fungicides (Metalaxyl, Benalaxyl, and Furalaxyl) was studied under artificial light. At λ = 254 Benalaxyl and Furalaxyl underwent fast degradation with rearrangement reactions less complex than those of Metalaxyl. Under A = 254–290 the photolysis was very fast and Benalaxyl and Furalaxyl show a common behaviour. This was found to be a kinetic consecutive process leading, at first, to N‐2,6‐xylyl‐D,L‐alaninate (II), which was degraded to 2,6‐dimethylaniline (IV). This amine gives unknown products. Metalaxyl underwent a parallel/consecutive photodegradtion to give (II) and N‐(methoxyacetyl)‐2,6‐dimethylaniline (VI). While (II) was easily converted to (IV) as earlier, (VI) was more stable to photolysis. Under λ > 290 all the fungicides shown very slow degradation with pseudo first order rate constants. The photoproducts were degraded faster than the parent compounds by factors from 13 to 1800. The presence of photosensitizer in water (humic acids or acetone) resulted in total decomposition of fungicides and of their photoproducts.     

Physico-chemical characteristics of fine fraction materials from an old crystal glass dumpsite in Sweden

Physico-chemical characteristics of waste, particularly fine fraction (FF), from an old crystal glass waste dump in Sweden were studied to assess recycling or disposal alternatives. Hand-sorting of the waste indicated glass content of 44.1% while sieving established the FF as a more soil-like mix of glass and other materials constituting 33.3% of all excavated waste. The FF was around neutral pH with 24.4% moisture content, low values of Total Dissolved Solids, Dissolved Organic Carbon and fluorides, but hazardous concentrations of As, Cd, Pb and Zn according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. While the FF leached metals in low concentrations at neutral pH, it leached considerably during digestion with nitric acid, implying leaching risks at low pH. Thus, the waste requires safe storage in hazardous waste class ‘bank account’ storage cells to avoid environmental contamination as metal recovery and other recycling strategies for the glass waste are being developed. The study could fill the information gap regarding preservation of potential resources in the on-going, fast-paced excavation and re-landfilling of heavy metal contaminated materials in the region.     

Genotoxic Effect of Phenol on the Cells of Onion (Allium cepa) Roots

The roots of onion (Allium cepa) stand out for having cells with large size and small number of chromosomes.These characteristics make them useful in bioassays for the measurement of a variety of cytogenetic and morphological parameters , in which they can be used as toxicity indicators of the induction and formation of micronuclei and chromosomal aberrations.Based on this background , the potential genotoxic effect of phenol concentration on cells of A.ceparoots was investigated either in terms of induced aberrations or micronuclei formation.The results demonstrated that the higher the concentration of phenol , the higher the incidence of abnormalities , thus confirming the genotoxicity of this pollutant.     

A jellyfish diet for the herbivorous green turtle Chelonia mydas in the temperate SW Atlantic

Feeding ecology of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) was studied from 2008 to 2011 at Samborombón Bay (35°30′–36°30′S, Argentina), combining data on digestive tract examination and stable isotope analysis through a Bayesian mixing model. We found that animal matter, in particular gelatinous plankton, was consumed in large proportions compared to herbivorous food items such as terrestrial plants and macroalgae. This diet is facilitated by the high abundance of gelatinous plankton in the region, thus confirming the adaptive foraging behaviour of the juveniles according to prey abundance in the SW Atlantic. To our knowledge, this is the first study to employ this combination of techniques and to conclusively demonstrate that animal matter, in particular gelatinous plankton, is important in the diet of the neritic green sea turtles.     

Analysis of sex sequences by means of generalized linear mixed models

Adaptive strategies of sex allocation functioning to increase fitness, including strategic allocation of sex in relation to birth order and sex composition of the progeny, have frequently been explored, but the development of a statistical framework for these analyses has lagged behind. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap by devising a method for analyzing sex sequences based on a proper parameterization of generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs). The method is highly flexible and can be easily extended to investigate sequences of traits or events or other longitudinal data. As a worked example, we focus on the analysis of sex sequences of offspring produced by females in a single reproductive event and develop a method that allows analyzing simultaneously sequences of different length (e.g., clutches of different size) and sequences with missing data, as may frequently happen in “real-world” data sets. Different patterns of allocation among traits or events along the sequence were investigated, and a real data base of sex sequences of eclectus parrots (Eclectus roratus) fledglings produced by different females was analyzed. A tutorial for running the analyses with the R or the SAS software is provided in the Electronic Supplementary Material.     

A measure of sustainability of Brazilian agribusiness using directional distance functions and data envelopment analysis

The social and environmental impacts caused by the modernization of Brazilian agribusiness have evoked a growing interest in the search of balance between social-economics development and the adequate use of natural resources, driving the country to sustainable development. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to estimate a set of indicators of relative efficiency in the Brazilian agricultural sector, which satisfy the concept of Pareto optimality, potentiates simultaneously both economic, ecological dimensions and social functions. To reach this purpose, the method of directional distance functions and data envelopment analysis was applied. These indicators confirm, in different ways, the hypothesis that it is possible to perform consistent productive strategies with the maximization of social welfare, despite the apparent antagonism among these three dimensions. In addition, it is shown that efficient Brazilian states tend to combine the three dimensions in different ways. Hence, it can be concluded that several equilibrium taken sustainable can be achieved through different actions on poverty and environmental impact reduction without necessarily generating productive inefficiencies. This result can be considered of prominent importance for sustainable development in Brazil and can also serve as a reference in the definition of goals of the plan ‘Brazil without Misery’ and international commitments to reduce Greenhouse Gas – GHG – in Brazil, especially for the 17 inefficient Brazilian states.