Prevalence of low back pain in three occupational groups in Shanghai, People's Republic of China

PROBLEM: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent work-related conditions affecting employed populations in developed countries, yet little is known about this condition among the world's largest, single-nation labor force: The People's Republic of China. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study of the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among garment workers, battery/kiln workers, and teachers in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Data were collected by personal interview and physical examination at six work sites. The overall response rate was 78%. RESULTS: The overall (N=383) self-reported annual prevalence of LBP symptoms lasting 24 hours or more was 50%. Garment workers had a higher annual prevalence of LBP (74%) than teachers (40%), prevalence ratio (PR=1.9, 95% CI=1.4-2.4). DISCUSSION: The overall annual prevalence of self-reported LBP (50%) was higher than that reported among 50 other Chinese employed study populations (30%). Healthy worker effects may have limited the conclusions from this cross-sectional study. SUMMARY: These results suggest that LBP is a prevalent condition in Chinese workers and that more work should be done to estimate its impact on the Chinese workforce. The findings for garment workers were consistent with increased risk of LBP among persons doing work in fixed, sedentary postures.     

Investigation of retardation effects on the titanium dioxide photodegradation system

The photocatalytic bleaching of dyes using TiO2 has appeared promising in laboratory studies, but little attention has been focused on whether other species such as might be found in wastewater have a deleterious effect on the photobleaching. This study describes the effects that result from the presence of ionic species, organic solvents and humic substances on the photobleaching of several dyes. The manner in which the photobleaching was affected by the presence of adventitious materials was carefully examined with an eye toward elucidating the mechanistic origin of the loss of the photochemical efficiency in the reaction. The overall retardation effects can be attributed to the combination of light attenuation, inhibition and competition effects.     

Sourcing sediment using multiple tracers in the catchment of Lake Argyle,Northwestern Australia

Control of sedimentation in large reservoirs requires soil conservation at the catchment scale. In large, heterogeneous catchments, soil conservation planning needs to be based on sound information, and set within the framework of a sediment budget to ensure that all of the potentially significant sources and sinks are considered. The major sources of sediment reaching the reservoir, Lake Argyle, in tropical northwestern Australia, have been determined by combining measured sediment fluxes in rivers with spatial tracer-based estimates of proportional contributions from tributaries of the main stream entering the lake, the Ord River. The spatial tracers used are mineral particle magnetics, the strontium isotopic ratio, and the neodymium isotopic ratio. Fallout of ¹³⁷Cs has been used to estimate the proportion of the sediment in Lake Argyle eroded from surface soils by sheet and rill erosion, and, by difference, the proportion eroded from subsurface soils by gully and channel erosion. About 96% of the sediment in the reservoir has come from less than 10% of the catchment, in the area of highly erodible soils formed on Cambrian-age sedimentary rocks. About 80% of the sediment in the reservoir has come from gully and channel erosion. A major catchment revegetation program, designed to slow sedimentation in the reservoir, appears to have had little effect because it did not target gullies, the major source of sediment. Had knowledge of the sediment budget been available before the revegetation program was designed, an entirely different approach would have been taken.     

Regional coexistence and local dominance in Chaoborus: species sorting along a predation gradient

Variation in the intensity of predation across the well-known environmental gradient of freshwater habitats from small, ephemeral ponds to large, permanent lakes is a key factor in the development and maintenance of aquatic community structure. Here, we present data on the distribution and abundance of four species of Chaoborus (Diptera: Chaoboridae) across this environmental gradient. Chaoborus show a distinct pattern of species sorting when aquatic systems are divided into fish and fishless environments, and this pattern is consistent with species traits known to influence their vulnerability to fish predation (i.e., pigmentation, diel vertical migration [DVM] behavior, and body size). To test whether fish are the drivers of this pattern, we created a gradient in fish density by stocking bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) into 15 experimental ponds in southwestern Michigan, USA, and then allowed Chaoborus species to colonize. There was clear evidence of species sorting along the predation gradient; Chaoborus americanus was most abundant in the fishless ponds, C. flavicans was neutral in response to fish, and C. punctipennis and C. albatus were most abundant at high fish biomass, a response consistent with their field pattern. Furthermore, prey preference experiments confirm that size selective predation and differences in Chaoborus species traits contribute to the pattern of Chaoborus abundance and distribution.     

Spatial patterns of tungsten and cobalt in surface dust of Fallon,Nevada

Spatial patterns of tungsten and cobalt are described for surface dust of Fallon, Nevada, where a cluster of childhood leukemia has been ongoing since 1997. In earlier research, airborne tungsten and cobalt was shown to be elevated in total suspended particulates in Fallon. To fine-tune the spatial patterns of tungsten and cobalt deposition in Fallon, surface dust was collected in a grid pattern within as well as outside of Fallon to establish background concentrations of metals. In surface dust, tungsten and cobalt show sharp peaks (934 ppm and 98 ppm, respectively) within Fallon just north of highway 50 and west of highway 95. These two peaks overlap spatially, and given the grid pattern used for collecting surface dust, the source area of these two airborne metals can be pinpointed to the vicinity of hard-metal industry located north of highway 50 and west of highway 95. Fallon is distinctive in west central Nevada because of high airborne tungsten and cobalt particulates, and given its cluster of childhood leukemia, it stands to reason that additional biomedical research is in order to test directly the leukogenicity of combined airborne tungsten and cobalt particulates.     

Western Land Managers will Need all Available Tools for Adapting to Climate Change,Including Grazing: A Critique of Beschta et al.

In a previous article, Beschta et al. (Environ Manag 51(2):474–491, 2013) argue that grazing by large ungulates (both native and domestic) should be eliminated or greatly reduced on western public lands to reduce potential climate change impacts. The authors did not present a balanced synthesis of the scientific literature, and their publication is more of an opinion article. Their conclusions do not reflect the complexities associated with herbivore grazing. Because grazing is a complex ecological process, synthesis of the scientific literature can be a challenge. Legacy effects of uncontrolled grazing during the homestead era further complicate analysis of current grazing impacts. Interactions of climate change and grazing will depend on the specific situation. For example, increasing atmospheric CO₂ and temperatures may increase accumulation of fine fuels (primarily grasses) and thus increase wildfire risk. Prescribed grazing by livestock is one of the few management tools available for reducing fine fuel accumulation. While there are certainly points on the landscape where herbivore impacts can be identified, there are also vast grazed areas where impacts are minimal. Broad scale reduction of domestic and wild herbivores to help native plant communities cope with climate change will be unnecessary because over the past 20–50 years land managers have actively sought to bring populations of native and domestic herbivores in balance with the potential of vegetation and soils. To cope with a changing climate, land managers will need access to all available vegetation management tools, including grazing.     

A Two‐Decade Watershed Approach to Stream Restoration Log Jam Design and Stream Recovery Monitoring: Finney Creek,Washington

A federal, state, and private partnership leveraged resources and employed a long‐term, systematic approach to improve aquatic habitat degraded by decades of intensive forest management in Finney Creek, a tributary to the Skagit River of Northwest Washington State. After more than a decade of work to reduce sediment sources and the risk of landslides within the watershed, log jam installation commenced in 1999 and progressed downstream through 2010. Log jam design was adapted as experience was gained. A total of 181 log jams, including 60 floating log ballasted jams, were constructed along 12 km of channel. The goal was to alter hydraulic processes that affect aquatic habitat formation along 39 km of stream with emphasis on 18.5 km of lower Finney Creek. Aquatic habitat surveys over a five‐year period show an increase in the area of large pools and an accompanying increase in residual and maximum pool depth in the lower river reach. Channel cross sections show a generally deeper channel at the log jams, better channel definition in the gravel deposits at the head of the log jams, and improved riffle and thalweg development below the log jams. Stream temperature in the upper river decreased by 1.0°F in the first three years, and 1.1°F in the lowest treated reach over nine years. There is a trend of less stream heating over the restoration time period. Photo points show that riparian vegetation is recolonizing gravel bars.     

Integrated and comprehensive estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from land systems

Exchanges of carbon and nitrogen between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems involve a complex set of interactions affected by both natural and management processes. Understanding these processes is important for managing ecosystem productivity and sustainability. Management processes also affect the net outcome of exchanges of greenhouse gases between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. In developing a national carbon accounting system (NCAS) for Australia to account for emissions and removal of greenhouse gases to and from the atmosphere, a carbon:nitrogen mass balance ecosystem model (FullCAM) was developed. The FullCAM model is a hybrid of empirical and process modelling. The approach enables application to a wide range of natural resource management issues, because it is at land-management-relevant spatial and temporal resolution and captures the main process and management drivers. The scenario-prediction capability can be used to determine the emissions consequences of different management activities. Because, in Australia, emissions of greenhouse gases are closely related to the retention of dead organic matter and the availability of nitrogen for plant growth, the carbon and nitrogen cycling as modelled are good indicators of ecosystem productivity and condition. The NCAS also emphasizes the advantages of a comprehensive and integrated approach to developing a continental scale ecosystem-modelling system that has relevance both to estimation of greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable management of natural resources.