Risk factors for increased BTEX exposure in four Australian cities

Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) are common volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in urban airsheds. Elevated levels of VOCs have been reported in many airsheds at many locations, particularly those associated with industrial activity, wood heater use and heavy traffic. Exposure to some VOCs has been associated with health risks. There have been limited investigations into community exposures to BTEX using personal monitoring to elucidate the concentrations to which members of the community may be exposed and the main contributors to that exposure. In this cross sectional study we investigated BTEX exposure of 204 non-smoking, non-occupationally exposed people from four Australian cities. Each participant wore a passive BTEX sampler over 24h on five consecutive days in both winter and summer and completed an exposure source questionnaire for each season and a diary for each day of monitoring. The geometric mean (GM) and range of daily BTEX concentrations recorded for the study population were benzene 0.80 (0.04-23.8 ppb); toluene 2.83 (0.03-2120 ppb); ethylbenzene 0.49 (0.03-119 ppb); and xylenes 2.36 (0.04-697 ppb). A generalised linear model was used to investigate significant risk factors for increased BTEX exposure. Activities and locations found to increase personal exposure included vehicle repair and machinery use, refuelling of motor vehicles, being in an enclosed car park and time spent undertaking arts and crafts. A highly significant difference was found between the mean exposures in each of the four cities, which may be explained by differences in fuel composition, differences in the mix and density of industry, density of motor vehicles and air pollution meteorology.     

种植密度和降水对冬小麦田N2O排放的影响

为研究种植密度对农田N2O排放的影响和探讨N2O排放季节性波动的原因，于1999～2000年小麦生长季在南京市郊江宁县进行了不同播种量（0.90、180和270kg/hm^2）和大田试验，观测分析结果表明：在相同的气象条件和田间管理下，播种～越冬阶段的N2O排放不受播种量的影响，近青～成熟阶段的N2O排放通量与播种量成正比，裸地条件下的N2O排放与播量为90kg/hm^2下的排放无明显差异，造成该生长季内N2O排放季节性波动的主要原因是降水，返表～成熟阶段的N2O排放通量随观测日前6d的加权平均降水解呈指数增加。     

Preliminary screening of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and other fluorochemicals in fish, birds and marine mammals from Greenland and the Faroe Islands

Extensive screening analyses of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and related perfluorinated compounds in biota samples from all over the world have identified PFOS as a global pollutant and have shown its bioaccumulation into higher trophic levels in the food chain. Perfluorinated compounds have been found in remote areas as the Arctic. In this study a preliminary screening of PFOS and related compounds has been performed in liver samples of fish, birds and marine mammals from Greenland and the Faroe Islands. PFOS was the predominant fluorochemical in the biota analyzed, followed by perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA). PFOS was found at concentrations above LOQ (10 ng/g wet weight) in 13 out of 16 samples from Greenland and in all samples from the Faroe Islands. The results from Greenland showed a biomagnification of PFOS along the marine food chain (shorthorn sculpin < ringed seal < polar bear). The greatest concentration of PFOS was found in liver of polar bear from east Greenland (mean: 1285 ng/g wet weight, n = 2). The geographical distribution of perfluorinated compounds in Greenland was similar to that of persistent organohalogenated compounds (OHCs), with the highest concentrations in east Greenland, indicating a similar geographical distribution to that of OHCs, with higher concentrations in east Greenland than in west Greenland.     

Effects of urbanization on the population structure of freshwater turtles across the United States

Landscape‐scale alterations that accompany urbanization may negatively affect the population structure of wildlife species such as freshwater turtles. Changes to nesting sites and higher mortality rates due to vehicular collisions and increased predator populations may particularly affect immature turtles and mature female turtles. We hypothesized that the proportions of adult female and immature turtles in a population will negatively correlate with landscape urbanization. As a collaborative effort of the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN), we sampled freshwater turtle populations in 11 states across the central and eastern United States. Contrary to expectations, we found a significant positive relationship between proportions of mature female painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and urbanization. We did not detect a relationship between urbanization and proportions of immature turtles. Urbanization may alter the thermal environment of nesting sites such that more females are produced as urbanization increases. Our approach of creating a collaborative network of scientists and students at undergraduate institutions proved valuable in terms of testing our hypothesis over a large spatial scale while also allowing students to gain hands‐on experience in conservation science.     

Validating a Safety Climate Model in Metal Processing Industries: A Replication Study

This paper attempts to replicate a safety climate model originally tested in Australia to assess its applicability in a different context: namely, across production workers in 22 medium-sized metal processing organizations in Austria. The model postulates that safety knowledge and safety motivation mediate the relation between safety climate on the one hand and safety compliance and participation on the other. Self-report data from 1075 employees were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the replication study largely confirmed the original safety climate model. However, in addition to indirect effects, direct links between safety climate and actual safety behavior were found.     

Safety lessons and reflections following incinerator vent commissioning in a chemical plant; a case study of a complex socio-technical system

In a bulk chemical plant producing resins, a flashback from an incinerator through the vent system into the reactor hall occurred during commissioning of a newly installed vent header system. The original design of the vent header system was seriously flawed not being in line with current practice. Subsequently the vent header was re-designed into a rich/lean vent header system. This paper explores the reasons behind a number of incidents and near misses that occurred during both the commissioning of a vent header system and its recommissioning following system re-design. Furthermore, it reflects on some broader implications for approaches to safety around what can be recognised as complex socio-technical systems.     

Supervisor-Directed Emotional Labor as Upward Influence: An Emotions-as-Social-Information Perspective

To access organizational resources, subordinates often strive to influence supervisors' impressions. Moreover, subordinates' interactions with supervisors are known to be ripe with emotions. Nevertheless, research on upward impression management has rarely examined how subordinates' emotion regulation in supervisor interactions may shape their tangible outcomes. The present study introduces subordinates' emotional labor toward supervisors as a novel means of upward influence. Building on the emotions-as-social-information model, we propose that supervisor-directed emotional labor indirectly relates with supervisory reward recommendations by shaping supervisors' liking and perceived competence of subordinates. Moreover, we cast supervisors' epistemic motivation as a boundary condition for these indirect relations. We tested these notions using time-lagged data from 377 subordinates and 91 supervisors. When supervisors' epistemic motivation was higher (but not lower), (1) supervisor-directed surface acting related negatively with supervisors' liking and perceived competence of subordinates and (2) supervisor-directed deep acting related positively with supervisors' liking of subordinates. Liking and perceived competence, in turn, related positively with supervisors' willingness to recommend subordinates for organizational rewards. These findings highlight supervisor-directed emotional labor as an upward impression management strategy with both beneficial (deep acting) and detrimental (surface acting) implications, and they illustrate important mechanisms and a key contingency factor for these consequences.     

Conservation and monitoring of a persecuted African lion population by Maasai warriors

Although Africa has many threatened species and biological hot spots, there are few citizen science schemes, particularly in rural communities, and there has been limited evaluation of existing programs. We engaged traditional Maasai warriors (pastoralist men aged 15 to 35) in community‐based conservation and demographic monitoring of a persecuted African lion (Panthera leo) population. Through direct engagement, we investigated whether a citizen science approach employing local warriors, who had no formal education, could produce reliable data on the demographics, predation, and movements of a species with which their communities have been in conflict for generations. Warriors were given benefits such as literacy training and skill enhancement and engaged in the monitoring of the lions. The trained warriors reported on lion sign across an area nearly 4000 km². Scientists worked together with the warriors to verify their reports and gather observations on the lion population. Using the verified reports and collected observations, we examined our scientific knowledge relative to the lion population preceding and during the citizen science program. Our observations showed that data quality and quantity improved with the involvement and training of the participants. Furthermore, because they engaged in conservation and gained personal benefits, the participants came to appreciate a species that was traditionally their foe. We believe engaging other local communities in biodiversity conservation and monitoring may be an effective conservation approach in rural Africa.     

Spatially differentiated management-revised discharge scenarios for an integrated analysis of multi-realisation climate and land use scenarios for the Elbe River basin

A spatially differentiated, management-revised projection of natural water availability up to 2053 was requested for a basin-wide scenario study about the impact of global change in the Elbe River basin. Detailed discharge and weather information of the recent years 1951–2003 were available for model calibration and validation. However, the straightforward “classic” approach of calibrating a hydrological model on observed data and running it with a climate scenario could not be taken, because most observed river runoffs in Central Europe are modified by human management. This paper reports how the problem was addressed and how a major projection bias could be avoided. The eco-hydrological model SWIM was set up to simulate the discharge dynamics on a daily time step. The simulation area of 134,890?km2 was divided into 2,278 sub-basins that were subdivided into more than 47,500 homogeneous landscape units (hydrotopes). For each hydrotope, plant growth and water fluxes were simulated while river routing calculation was based on the sub-basin structure. The groundwater module of SWIM had to be extended for accurate modelling of low flow periods. After basin-scale model calibration and revisions for known effects of lignite mining and water management, evapotranspiration and groundwater dynamics were adjusted individually for more than 100 sub-areas largely covering the entire area. A quasi-natural hydrograph was finally derived for each sub-area taking into account management data for the years 2002 (extremely wet) and 2003 (extremely dry). The validated model was used to access the effect of two climate change scenarios consisting of 100 realisations each and resembling temperature increases of 2 and 3?K, respectively. Additionally, four different land use scenarios were considered. In all scenario projections, discharge decreases strongly: The observed average discharge rate in the reference period 1961–1990 is 171?mm/a, and the scenario projections for the middle of the twenty-first century give 91–110?mm/a, mainly depending on the climate scenario. The area-averaged evapotranspiration increases only marginally within the scenario period, e.g., from about 570 to about 580?mm/a for the temperature increase of 2?K, while potential evapotranspiration increases considerably from about 780 to more than 900?mm/a. Both discharge and evapotranspiration changes vary strongly within the basin, correlating with elevation. The runoff coefficient that globally decreases from 0.244 to 0.160 in the 2?K scenario is locally governed primarily by land use; 68% of the variance of the decreases can be attributed to this factor.     

Gaseous emission during the composting of pig feces from Chinese Ganqinfen system

The Ganqinfen system – a process of manually cleaning animal feces by means of a shovel – is a widely used manure separating method in Chinese pig farms. Ganqinfen pig feces and chopped corn stalks were mixed at the ratio of 7:1, and composted in 1.5 m³ rotting boxes for 70 d. Evolution of CH₄, N₂O and NH₃ during composting, and the effects of turning and covering, were studied in this research. Results showed that 20–39% and 0.5–4% of total nitrogen were lost in the form of NH₃ and N₂O respectively, and 0.1–0.9% of initial organic carbon was emitted as CH₄. Turning enhanced air exchange in the piles, thus decreasing CH₄ emission by 83–93% and shortening the maturing period. When trials were finished, all non-turned piles were separated to three layers by moisture content. This structure caused the N₂O losses of non-turning treatments to be 6–12.7 times higher than that of turning treatments. Covering materials reduced air exchange at the surface of the pile, thus decreasing the O₂ supply and consequently increasing CH₄ production by 33–45%. Covering also reduced NH₃ emission by 4–34%. For the composting of Ganqinfen pig feces, we suggest that a program of turning twice weekly without covering will result in compost that is sufficiently matured after 6 wk with the lowest resultant greenhouse gas emission.