Using urban man-made ponds to reconstruct a 150-year history of air pollution in northwest England

A regional pollution history has been reconstructed for the borough of Halton (northwest England) from four urban ponds in north Cheshire and south Merseyside, using environmental analyses of lake sediment stratigraphies. Mineral magnetism, geochemistry and radiometric dating have produced profiles of pollution characteristics dating from the mid-nineteenth century to present day. These pollution profiles reflect the atmospheric deposition of a range of pollutants over 150 years of intensified industry. Distinct phases of pollution deposition and characteristics are identified reflecting: (1) intensification of industry in the nineteenth century; (2) expansion of industry during the twentieth century; (3) post 1956 Clean Air Acts. This work promotes the potential use of these pollution archives for use in epidemiology to better understand links between human health and environmental pollution, especially for diseases with long latency times, where retrospective pollution exposure assessments are important.     

Occupational safety conditions of bus drivers in Metro Manila,the Philippines

The study looks into the occupational safety and working conditions among bus drivers in Metro Manila, the Philippines. Quantitative data were collected through survey interviews of 95 bus drivers using the stratified sampling technique. Results showed that bus drivers worked an average of 16?h/day and were engaged in risky driving behaviors such as over-speeding and road racing in order to reach their quota for the day. Fifty-nine percent experienced work-related accidents, with a mean of three accidents. The most common accident was hitting another vehicle followed by side swipe. The accidents were blamed on other drivers, followed by vehicle defect, inattentiveness and tiredness/micro-sleep or sudden involuntary sleep while driving. The most common health symptoms experienced by the bus drivers were fatigue, back pain, and cough and colds. This study underlines the need for an occupational health and safety program for bus drivers in the Philippines.     

Religious harassment in the workplace: An examination of observer intervention

Religious harassment claims in the United States have risen sharply over the past decade. However, victims of religious harassment may not always report harassment, and true rates may be higher. Hence, actions taken by third parties present (observers) are important in combating harassment in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to extend a previous model of observer intervention and related research by testing it empirically in the context of religious harassment and identify factors that influence observers' decision to intervene (intervention), when they intervene (level of immediacy), and how much they intervene (level of involvement). Across two studies, we find evidence that verbal harassment, ambiguity of intent, relationship to target/harasser, recurrence belief, religious commitment, pro‐social orientation, and the interactive effect of shared religion and religious commitment predict intervention. Furthermore, individuals show higher levels of involvement and immediacy in intervention when costs are low and emotional reactions are high. Implications of these findings for engaging observers in combatting harassment are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integration of SWAT and HSPF for Simulation of Sediment Sources in Legacy Sediment‐Impacted Agricultural Watersheds

A total maximum daily load for the Chesapeake Bay requires reduction in pollutant load from sources within the Bay watersheds. The Conestoga River watershed has been identified as a major source of sediment load to the Bay. Upland loads of sediment from agriculture are a concern; however, a large proportion of the sediment load in the Conestoga River has been linked to scour of legacy sediment associated with historic millpond sites. Clarifying this distinction and identifying specific segments associated with upland vs. channel sources has important implications for future management. In order to address this important question, we combined the strengths of two widely accepted watershed management models — Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for upland agricultural processes, and Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) for instream fate and transport — to create a novel linked modeling system to predict sediment loading from critical sources in the watershed including upland and channel sources, and to aid in targeted implementation of management practices. The model indicates approximately 66% of the total sediment load is derived from instream sources, in agreement with other studies in the region and can be used to support identification of these channel source segments vs. upland source segments, further improving targeted management. The innovated linked SWAT‐HSPF model implemented in this study is useful for other watersheds where both upland agriculture and instream processes are important sources of sediment load.     

Accumulation of radiocesium by mushrooms in the environment: a literature review

During the last 50 years, a large amount of information on radionuclide accumulators or "sentinel-type" organisms in the environment has been published. Much of this work focused on the risks of food-chain transfer of radionuclides to higher organisms such as reindeer and man. Until the 1980s and 1990s, there were few published data on the radiocesium ((134)Cs and (137)Cs) accumulation by mushrooms. The present review of published data for (134,137)Cs accumulation by mushrooms in nature discusses the aspects that promote (134,137)Cs uptake by mushrooms and focuses on mushrooms that demonstrate a propensity for use in the environmental biomonitoring of radiocesium contamination. Transfer factors (TF, as dry weight concentration in fruiting body divided by concentration in substrate) ranged up to 24 (unitless), and aggregate transfer factors (T(ag), as Bq(137)Cs/kg dw in fruiting body divided by the aerial deposition as Bq/m(2)) ranged up to 8m(2)/kg dw.     

Temperature and salinity: two climate change stressors affecting early development of the New Zealand sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus

Temperature and salinity are important environmental factors affecting the normal functioning of marine animals, particularly animals such as sea urchins living in shallow waters and tide pools. Here, we evaluated the effect of different combinations of temperature and salinity on early embryos of the endemic New Zealand sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus. Animals were collected at Matheson’s Bay (36º18′17′′S; 174º47′51′′E) in north-eastern New Zealand in February 2013. Embryos were exposed to five salinities (29, 31, 34, 35 and 37 ppt) and two temperatures (18 and 21 °C) during the first 24 h of development. Low salinity (29 ppt) affected all parameters (fertilization, development rate, gastrulation and normal development), with ca. 50 % of embryos surviving at 29 ppt, whereas seawater temperature only affected development rate and gastrulation. An increase in temperature from 18 to 21 °C minimized the negative effect of low salinity (≤31 ppt) on development rate and gastrulation of E. chloroticus. Overall, the results of this study suggest that early embryos of E. chloroticus have developmental plasticity to withstand reductions in salinity up to 29 ppt; however, it is still unknown whether the surviving embryos will be able to complete larval development at low salinities, particularly whether the embryos and larvae are carried into extreme environments such as estuaries where salinity is even lower. Multistressor studies are very important for climate change research as multiple environmental factors will act together in the wild, having major consequences for development and recruitment of marine invertebrates.     

Who counts in evaluating the effects of air pollution policies on households? Non-market valuation in the presence of dependencies

Individuals who are likely to realize the largest benefits from improvements in air quality often depend on other members of their households to make time or monetary contributions to their care. The presence of these dependency relationships among household members poses challenges for benefit estimation since it is unlikely that the conditions necessary for recovering the underlying individual preferences from household choices are satisfied in this setting. We propose a conceptual framework that highlights the role of these dependencies in the choice models used to estimate the willingness to pay for environmental quality improvements. We design a complementary stated preference survey that describes hypothetical dependency relationships for household members of different ages to test the implications of our conceptual model. Respondents' stated choices take into account the proposed care-giving responsibilities for young children and teenagers but not for older adults.     

The influence of metabolically engineered glucosinolates profiles in Arabidopsis thaliana on Plutella xylostella preference and performance

The oviposition preference and larval performance of the diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella, was studied using Arabidopsis thaliana plants with modified glucosinolate (GS) profiles containing novel GSs as a result of the introduction of individual CYP79 genes. The insect parameters were determined in a series of bioassays. The GS content of the plants as well as the number of trichomes were measured. Multivariate analysis was used to determine the possible relationships among insect and plant variables. The novel GSs in the tested lines did not appear to have any unequivocal effect on the DBM. Instead, the plant characteristics that affected larval performance and larval preference did not influence oviposition preference. Trichomes did not affect oviposition, but influenced larval parameters negatively. Although the tested A. thaliana lines had earlier been shown to influence disease resistance, in this study no clear results were found for P. xylostella.     

Developing safer passengers through a school-based injury prevention program

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among young people. Fourteen percent of adolescents aged 13–14 report passenger-related injuries within three months. Intervention programs typically focus on young drivers and overlook passengers as potential protective influences. Graduated Driver Licensing restricts passenger numbers, and this study focuses on a complementary school-based intervention to increase passengers’ personal- and peer-protective behavior. The aim of this research was to assess the impact of the curriculum-based injury prevention program, Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY), on passenger-related risk-taking and injuries, and intentions to intervene in friends’ risky road behavior. SPIY was implemented in Grade 8 Health classes and evaluated using survey and focus group data from 843 students across 10 Australian secondary schools. Intervention students reported less passenger-related risk-taking six months following the program. Their intention to protect friends from underage driving also increased. The results of this study show that a comprehensive, school-based program targeting individual and social changes can increase adolescent passenger safety.     

Physiological responses of horseshoe crab (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Limulus polyphemus</Emphasis>) embryos to osmotic stress and a possible role for stress proteins (HSPs)

We tested the effects of osmotic stress on survival, developmental rate, and level of HSPs on American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) embryos. Animals were maintained in the laboratory at an ambient salinity of 20 ppt and then exposed to 4-h osmotic shocks at salinities of 10, 30, 40, 50, and 60 ppt, with a control group at 20 ppt. Horseshoe crab embryos had 100% developmental success (defined as individuals reaching the first instar or trilobite larval stage) at all salinities. However, osmotic stresses, especially hyperosmotic conditions, slowed the rate of development. Embryos subjected to osmotic stress showed higher levels of HSP70 and HSP90 than control animals kept at a salinity of 20 ppt. HSPs are of value to horseshoe crab embryos in surviving the fluctuating salinities that are typical of estuarine beach habitats.