Travelling Distances,Modal Split and Transportation Energy in Thirty Residential Areas in Oslo

A study of the use of car and public transport among residents in 30 residential areas in Greater Oslo indicates that urban planning variables have a significant influence on the energy use per capita for local transport. Residents in local communities with a high density and a short distance to downtown Oslo travel considerably shorter distances and use considerably less energy per capita than those who live in low-density, outer areas. This is true also when the effects of other variables are neutralized. The influence of urban planning variables on the modal split is lower than on energy use. The distribution between public and private transport is influenced most of all by car ownership.     

Comprehensive prenatal diagnostics: Exome versus genome sequencing

Objective

This study aimed to assess the diagnostic yield of prenatal genetic testing using trio whole exome sequencing (WES) and trio whole genome sequencing (WGS) in pregnancies with fetal anomalies by comparing the results with conventional chromosomal microarray (CMA) analysis.

Methods

A total of 40 pregnancies with fetal anomalies or increased nuchal translucency (NT ≥ 5 mm) were included between the 12th and 21st week of gestation. Trio WES/WGS and CMA were performed in all cases.

Results

The trio WES/WGS analysis increased the diagnostic yield by 25% in cases with negative CMA results. Furthermore, all six chromosomal aberrations identified by CMA were independently detected by WES/WGS analysis. In total, 16 out of 40 cases obtained a genetic sequence variant, copy number variant, or aneuploidy explaining the phenotype, resulting in an overall WES/WGS diagnostic yield of 40%. WES analysis provided a more reliable identification of mosaic sequence variants than WGS because of its higher sequencing depth.

Conclusions

Prenatal WES/WGS proved to be powerful diagnostic tools for fetal anomalies, surpassing the diagnostic yield of CMA. They have the potential to serve as standalone methods for prenatal diagnosis. The study highlighted the limitations of WGS in accurately detecting mosaic variants, which is particularly relevant when analyzing chorionic villus samples.     

Participatory Forest Management in Ethiopia: Learning from Pilot Projects

Different arrangements of decentralized forest management have been promoted as alternatives to centralized and top down approaches to halt tropical deforestation and forest degradation. Ethiopia is one of the countries piloting one of these approaches. To inform future programs and projects it is essential to learn from existing pilots and experiences. This paper analyses five of the pilot participatory forest management (PFM) programs undertaken in Ethiopia. The study is based on the Forest User Group (FUG) members’ analyses of the programs using selected outcome variables: forest income, change in forest conditions, forest ownership feelings and effectiveness of FUGs as forest managing institutions. These variables were assessed at three points in time—before the introduction of PFM, during the project implementation and after the projects ended. Data were collected using group discussions, key informant interviews and transect walks through the PFM forests. The results show that in all of the five cases the state of the forest is perceived to have improved with the introduction of PFM, and in four of the cases the improvement was maintained after projects ended. Regulated access to the forests following introduction of PFM was not perceived to have affected forest income negatively. There are, however, serious concerns about the institutional effectiveness of the FUGs after projects ended, and this may affect the success of the PFM approach in the longer term.     

Risk as a challenge in practice: investigating climate change in water management

Climate change is one of the risks that society faces today. Among other things, it has the potential to interfere with the water environment, and thus it can be a relevant factor in current work with river basin management plans (RBMPs) in Denmark. At the same time, climate change in theory has characteristics that can pose challenges, if included in such a planning process. In this article, it is investigated what the attitudes towards climate change are among actors in the planning process, and what the main drivers, barriers and challenges related to including climate change in the RBMPs are, compared to the theoretical challenges. The investigation consists of a document study of hearing responses, interviews, and a survey among Danish municipalities. The overall results are that there are many attitudes towards the inclusion of climate change as a factor in RBMPs and that this diversity theoretically can be a challenge in the planning process. The main theoretical and practical barriers and challenges in connection with inclusion of climate change in RBMPs relate to lacking knowledge and uncertainty.     

Importance of timely metadata curation to the global surveillance of genetic diversity

Genetic diversity within species represents a fundamental yet underappreciated level of biodiversity. Because genetic diversity can indicate species resilience to changing climate, its measurement is relevant to many national and global conservation policy targets. Many studies produce large amounts of genome-scale genetic diversity data for wild populations, but most (87%) do not include the associated spatial and temporal metadata necessary for them to be reused in monitoring programs or for acknowledging the sovereignty of nations or Indigenous peoples. We undertook a distributed datathon to quantify the availability of these missing metadata and to test the hypothesis that their availability decays with time. We also worked to remediate missing metadata by extracting them from associated published papers, online repositories, and direct communication with authors. Starting with 848 candidate genomic data sets (reduced representation and whole genome) from the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration, we determined that 561 contained mostly samples from wild populations. We successfully restored spatiotemporal metadata for 78% of these 561 data sets (n = 440 data sets with data on 45,105 individuals from 762 species in 17 phyla). Examining papers and online repositories was much more fruitful than contacting 351 authors, who replied to our email requests 45% of the time. Overall, 23% of our email queries to authors unearthed useful metadata. The probability of retrieving spatiotemporal metadata declined significantly as age of the data set increased. There was a 13.5% yearly decrease in metadata associated with published papers or online repositories and up to a 22% yearly decrease in metadata that were only available from authors. This rapid decay in metadata availability, mirrored in studies of other types of biological data, should motivate swift updates to data-sharing policies and researcher practices to ensure that the valuable context provided by metadata is not lost to conservation science forever.     

Air-to-vegetation transfer rates of natural submicron aerosols

Submicron aerosol deposition to outdoor vegetation was evaluated by measuring vegetation and air concentrations of ²¹²Pb, ²¹⁴Pb, and ⁷Be attached to atmospheric aerosols. A biomass-normalized deposition velocity (V_D), with units of m³ kg^?1 s^?1, was used to compare species and isotopes with respect to air-to-vegetation transfer rates. For ²¹²Pb ($\text{t}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= 10·64 h}$), higher night-time air concebtrations dominate deposition, while for ²¹⁴Pb ($\text{t}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= 26·8}\text{min}$), deposition measurements over shorter time periods relative to changing atmospheric conditions were possible. Calculated V_D values were usually higher for ²¹⁴Pb, possibly reflecting wind-enhanced deposition during the afternoon period of sampling. Evergreen species, including pines, were not appreciably different from deciduous species. Most striking was the narrow range of results (factor of 6 for 34 ²¹²Pb measurements of 20 species). Beryllium-7 ($\text{t}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= 53·3 d}$) was used to evaluate time-integrated deposition by sampling vegetation in California near the end of dry summers. Similar deposition rates were found for this isotope. The results of the study indicated that naturally radioactive atmospheric aerosols can be used to understand the dynamics of submicron aerosol deposition to ecosystems.     

The effect of an ergonomic intervention on musculoskeletal, psychosocial and visual strain of VDT entry work: organization and methodology of the international study.

This special issue of the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE) reports the results from an extensive multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative investigation of the impacts on visual display terminal (VDT) work of musculoskeletal, visual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors. For brevity, this effort has been referred to as the MEPS project (musculoskeletal--eyestrain--psychosocial--stress). This paper lays out the basic methodological structure of the study. The study was conducted in 4 countries utilizing VDT data entry workers as the primary subject population. A battery of objective and subject assessment measures, including muscle load, visual function, physical and visual strain, postural, ergonomic and psychosocial factors, were assessed at 3 different points in time. A pre-test was given prior to an ergonomic intervention. Two post-tests were given 1 month and 1 year after the ergonomic intervention.     

The effect of an ergonomic intervention on musculoskeletal, psychosocial and visual strain of VDT data entry work: the Norwegian part of the international study.

The Norwegian MEPS (musculoskeletal--visual--psychosocial--stress) study included 3 groups: data entry, data dialogue (female) and data dialogue (male). Before intervention, the data entry group reported significantly more symptoms and signs of musculoskeletal illness and had longer periods in front of the video display terminal (VDT) without a break. The ergonomic intervention consisted mainly of ergonomic information and training. After intervention, the data dialogue female group reported a significant reduction in shoulder pain in parallel with a reduction in trapezius load. Increasing the understanding in how to adjust the work stand and chair may have been contributing factors to reducing the pain level. There was a significant reduction in eye problems in all groups; the greatest reduction in eye symptoms was seen in the groups who had new optometric corrections.     

Sorption, mobility, and transformation of estrogenic hormones in natural soil

Potent estrogenic hormones are consistently detected in the environment at low concentration, yet these chemicals are strongly sorbed to soil and are labile. The objective of this research was to improve the understanding of the processes of sorption, mobility, and transformation for estrogens in natural soils, and their interaction. Equilibrium and kinetic batch sorption experiments, and a long-term column study were used to study the fate and transport of 17beta-estradiol and its primary metabolite, estrone, in natural soil. Kinetic and equilibrium batch experiments were done using radiolabeled 17beta-estradiol and estrone. At the concentrations used, it appeared that equilibrium sorption for both estrogens was achieved between 5 and 24 h, and that the equilibrium sorption isotherms were linear. The log K(oc) values for 17beta-estradiol (2.94) and estrone (2.99) were consistent with previously reported values. Additionally, it was found that there was rate-limited sorption for both 17beta-estradiol (0.178 h(-1)) and estrone (0.210 h(-1)). An approximately 42 h long, steady-flow, saturated column experiment was used to study the transport of radiolabeled 17beta-estradiol, which was applied in a 5.00 mg L(-1) solution pulse for 44 pore volumes. 17beta-estradiol and estrone were the predominant compounds detected in the effluent. The effluent breakthrough curves were asymmetric and the transport modeling indicated that sorption was rate-limited. Sorption rates and distributions of the estrogens were in agreement between column and batch experiments. This research can provide a better link between the laboratory results and observations in the natural environment.     

Tree thermometers and commodities: Historic climate indicators

In four modern trees, hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios track the modern temperature records.In a 2000-yr sequence of a Japanese cedar, there are the same periodicities of variation of D/H and O¹⁸/O¹⁶ as have been found in O¹⁸/O¹⁶ in a Greenland ice well.The same periodicities are found in uranium and organic carbon concentrations versus depth in a sea core from the Santa Barbara Channel, and in carbon-14 variations in a sequence of Bristlecone pine from southern California.In a 2000-yr sequence of Japanese cedar and in a 1000-yr sequence of European oak D/H and O¹⁸/O¹⁶ are related to each other by a slope of 8, just as they are in world-wide precipitation.In a 72-yr sequence of Sequoia gigantea, measured year by year for its oxygen isotope ratios, the 10.5-yr cycle of sunspot numbers found, but not the 21-yr cycle of sunspot magnetism; this we believe indicates that the sun is affecting the earth's climate with non-magnetic particles, probably photons.All these phenomena are related to periodic changes in sea surface temperature caused by periodic changes in the sun.