Behavior of potentially toxic elements from stoker-boiler fly ash in Interior Alaska: paired batch leaching and solid-phase characterization

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Despite significant investigation of fly ash spills and mineralogical controls on the release of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from fly ash,...     

Assessing climate change and health vulnerability at the local level: Travis County,Texas

We created a measure to help comprehend population vulnerability to potential flooding and excessive heat events using health, built environment and social factors. Through principal component analysis (PCA), we created non‐weighted sum index scores of literature‐reviewed social and built environment characteristics. We created baseline poor health measures using 1999–2005 age‐adjusted cardiovascular and combined diabetes and hypertension mortality rates to correspond with social–built environment indices. We mapped US Census block groups by linked age‐adjusted mortality and a PCA‐created social–built environment index. The goal was to measure flooding and excessive heat event vulnerability as proxies for population vulnerability to climate change for Travis County, Texas. This assessment identified communities where baseline poor health, social marginalisation and built environmental impediments intersected. Such assessments may assist targeted interventions and improve emergency preparedness in identified vulnerable communities, while fostering resilience through the focus of climate change adaptation policies at the local level.     

Are rivers just big streams? A pulse method to quantify nitrogen demand in a large river

Given recent focus on large rivers as conduits for excess nutrients to coastal zones, their role in processing and retaining nutrients has been overlooked and understudied. Empirical measurements of nutrient uptake in large rivers are lacking, despite a substantial body of knowledge on nutrient transport and removal in smaller streams. Researchers interested in nutrient transport by rivers (discharge >10000 L/s) are left to extrapolate riverine nutrient demand using a modeling framework or a mass balance approach. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, we present data using a pulse method to measure inorganic nitrogen. (N) transport and removal in the Upper Snake River, Wyoming, USA (seventh order, discharge 12000 L/s). We found that the Upper Snake had surprisingly high biotic demand relative to smaller streams in the same river network for both ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-). Placed in the context of a meta-analysis of previously published nutrient uptake studies, these data suggest that large rivers may have similar biotic demand for N as smaller tributaries. We also found that demand for different forms of inorganic N (NH4+ vs. NO3-) scaled differently with stream size. Data from rivers like the Upper Snake and larger are essential for effective water quality management at the scale of river networks. Empirical measurements of solute dynamics in large rivers are needed to understand the role of whole river networks (as opposed to stream reaches) in patterns of nutrient export at regional and continental scales.     

The effects of young brood on the foraging behavior of two strains of honey bees (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis mellifera</Emphasis>)

Honey bee foragers specialize on collecting pollen and nectar. Pollen foraging behavior is modulated by at least two stimuli within the nest: the presence of brood pheromone and young larvae and the quantity of stored pollen. Genetic variation in pollen foraging behavior has been demonstrated repeatedly. We used selected high and low pollen-hoarding strains of bees that differ dramatically in the quantity of pollen collected to determine if the observed differences in foraging could be explained by differential responses to brood stimuli. Workers from the high and low pollen-hoarding strains and wild-type bees were co-fostered in colonies with either brood or no brood. As expected based on previous studies, returning high pollen-hoarding foragers collected heavier pollen loads and lighter nectar loads than low pollen-hoarding bees. Effects of brood treatment were also observed; bees exposed to brood collected heavier pollen loads and initiated foraging earlier than those from broodless colonies. More specifically, brood treatment resulted in increased pollen foraging in high pollen-hoarding bees but did not affect pollen foraging in low pollen-hoarding bees, suggesting that high pollen-hoarding bees are more sensitive to the presence of brood. However, response to brood stimuli does not sufficiently explain the differences in foraging behavior between the strains since these differences persisted even in the absence of brood.     

High natural fusion rates in a botryllid ascidian

Many benthic colonial invertebrates have the ability to fuse and form chimeras with compatible colonies. Botryllid ascidians are model organisms for the study of the evolution of and molecular basis for allorecognition, and fusion rates have been determined for different populations and species by random sampling and fusion testing between individuals. However, natural fusion rates over time have not been documented. Nine settlement panels were deployed in Salem Harbor, Massachusetts, USA and Botrylloides violaceus settlement, growth, and fusion monitored from July to mid-August 2007. Seventy-three percent of the recruits observed fused with at least one other colony, while 4% neither fused nor were overgrown. Multifused colonies were not observed to grow faster than single colonies when growth was calculated as increase in size beyond the summation of fused entities; however, they were significantly larger. These results suggest that larvae settle in clumps of compatible individuals, and that large subtidal colonies may be the result of high numbers of fusions between compatible colonies.     

Evaluation of a population mobility,mortality, and birth surveillance system in South Kivu,Democratic Republic of the Congo

Prospective, community-based surveillance systems for measuring birth, death, and population movement rates may have advantages over the ‘gold-standard’ retrospective household survey in humanitarian contexts. A community-based, monthly surveillance system was established in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in partnership with a local implementing partner and the national ministry of health. Data were collected on the occurrence of births, deaths, arrivals, and departures over the course of one year, and a retrospective survey was conducted at the end of the period to validate the information. Discrepancies between the two approaches were resolved by a third visit to the households with discordant records. The study found that the surveillance system was superior in terms of its specificity and sensitivity in measuring crude mortality and birth rates as compared to the survey, demonstrating the method's potential to measure accurately important population-level health metrics in an insecure setting in a timely, community-acceptable manner.     

In situ chemical oxidation: Lessons learned at multiple sites

This paper compiles a detailed set of in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) lessons learned pertaining to design, execution, and safety based on global experiences over the last 20 years. While the benefits of a “correct” application are known (e.g., cost effectiveness, speed, permanence of treatment), history also provides examples of a variety of “incorrect” applications. These provide an opportunity to highlight recurring themes that resulted in failures. ISCO is, and will continue to provide, an important remedial tool for site remediation, particularly as a component of a multifaceted approach for addressing large and complex sites. Future success, however, requires an objective understanding of both the benefits and the limitations of the technology. The ability to learn from the mistakes of the past provides an opportunity to eliminate, or at least minimize, them in the future. Over the last 25 years of ISCO application, process understanding and knowledge have improved and evolved. This paper combines a thorough discussion of lessons learned through decades of ISCO implementation throughout all aspects of ISCO projects with an analysis of changes to the ISCO remediation market. By discussing the interplay of these two themes and providing recommendations from collective lessons learned, we hope to improve the future of safe, cost‐effective, and successful applications of ISCO.     

Cycle Aware Package: Using Haddon’s matrix to reduce novice driver crashes with cyclists

Abstract

Objectives: What are we teaching drivers about safely interacting with cyclists? This is the main objective of the Cycle Aware project. As part of the study, a teaching and learning package is being developed to fill this gap in Australia.

Methods: Cycle Aware is a major national project that takes a mixed methods approach to investigate how cyclists are taught to share the road with cyclists when learning to drive. The project has five stages: (1) a national review of the driver licensing documentation; (2) interviews with key stakeholders (n?=?35) involved with novice driver education; (3) analysis of cyclist-novice driver crash data to identify the most frequent crash types; (4) develop a teaching and learning package (Cycle Aware Package), and; trial and evaluate Cycle Aware Package.

Results: Overall, drivers are taught little about sharing the road with cyclists. Representation of cyclists in government documentation is mixed and mostly negative and interviews identified driver-cyclist tensions related to attitudes and awareness of sharing the road. Crash types were similar among novice and experienced drivers. The Cycle Aware Package is being finalised and will be trialled in South Australia and Northern Territory in early 2019.

Conclusions: Cycle Aware will provide new insights into the way drivers are taught to share the road with cyclists. The Cycle Aware Package with interactive online content and driver competencies will facilitate a new approach to addressing this gap among Australia drivers.     

Optimization and validation of enhanced biological reduction of 1,2,3‐trichloropropane in groundwater

Laboratory and field demonstration studies were conducted to assess the efficacy of enhanced biological reduction of 1,2,3‐trichloropropane (TCP) in groundwater. Laboratory studies evaluated the effects of pH and initial TCP concentrations on TCP reduction and the activity of a microbial inoculum containing Dehalogenimonas (Dhg). Laboratory results showed successful reduction at a pH of 5 to 9 with optimal reduction at 7 to 9 and at initial TCP concentrations ranging from 10 to over 10,000 micrograms per liter (μg/L). Based on findings from the laboratory study, the effects of TCP concentration, geochemical conditions, and amendment concentration on bioremediation efficacy were investigated during a field demonstration at a site with relatively low initial concentrations of TCP (< 2 μg/L). The field demonstration included injection of emulsified vegetable oil (EVO) and lactate as a carbon substrate for biostimulation, followed by bioaugmentation using the microbial inoculum containing Dhg. Post‐injection performance monitoring demonstrated reduction of TCP to below laboratory detection limits (< 0.005 μg/L) after an initial lag period of approximately six months following injections. TCP reduction was accompanied by generation of the degradation byproduct propene. A marginal increase in TCP concentrations, potentially due to an influx of upgradient aerobic groundwater containing TCP, was observed eight months after injections thereby demonstrating the sensitivity of this bioaugmentation application to changes in geochemical parameters. Despite this marginal increase, performance monitoring results indicate continued TCP biodegradation 15 months after implementation of the injection program. This demonstration suggests that enhanced biodegradation of TCP by combining biostimulation and bioaugmentation may be a promising solution to the challenges associated with remediation of TCP, even when present at low part per billion concentrations in groundwater.     

Anticipatory capacity in response to global change across an extreme elevation gradient in the Ica Basin,Peru

Regional Environmental Change - Mountainous areas with extreme elevation gradients and corresponding ranges of biophysical and socioeconomic conditions are highly vulnerable to global change. We...