In this paper, we explore a range of concerns that arise in measuring short-term effects of ozone on health. In particular,
we tackle the problem of measuring exposure using alternative daily measures of ozone derived from hourly concentrations.
We adopt the exposure paradigm of Chiogna and Bellini (Environmetrics 13:55–69, 2002) extending it to ozone concentrations,
and we compare its performances with respect to traditional exposure measures by exploiting model selection. To investigate
the stability of model selection, we then apply the idea of bootstrapping the modelling process. 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Environmental arsenic exposure in adults and children has been associated with a reduction in the expression of club cell secretory protein (CC16) and... 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Simultaneous achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially energy efficiency (SDG 7), economic growth (SDG 8), and pollution... 相似文献
The presence of potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) in playground soils is generally associated with anthropogenic sources such as vehicle traffic, industries, construction sites, and biomass burning. Studies indicate that PHEs are harmful to human health and may even be carcinogenic. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical, morphological, and mineralogical properties of soil samples from three public playgrounds located in the cities of Bogota, Medellin, and Barranquilla. Besides, the possible impacts caused by the aerodynamics of particles in Colombian cities were verified. The morphology, composition, and structure of the nanoparticles (NPs) (< 100 nm) present in these soils were evaluated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) equipped with high-precision field emission (FE) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Soil samples were predominantly feldspar, quartz, and, to a lesser extent, clay minerals, carbonates, and hematites. The average content of PHEs was anthropogenically enriched in relation to the upper continental crust. As and Sn showed a large spatial variation, indicating the influence of local sources, such as vehicle traffic and industries. There is an inverse relationship between the total concentrations of some elements and their leachable fractions. The accumulation of traffic-derived PHEs has a negative impact on human health and the environment, which is alarming, especially for elements such as Pb, Sb, or As. Therefore, the presence of PHEs should receive greater attention from public health professionals, and limits should be set and exposures controlled. This study includes the construction of a baseline that provides basic information on pollution, its sources, and exposure routes for humans in the vicinity of Colombia’s major cities, characterized by their increasing urbanization and industrialization.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Antimicrobial additives in personal care products (PCPs) such as triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC) are of environmental concern due to their... 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Water contamination is a common problem, especially considering dyes and drugs disposal. A possible and effective treatment method to remove these... 相似文献
Pathogens exert a strong selection pressure on organisms to evolve effective immune defences. In addition to individual immunity, social organisms can act cooperatively to produce collective defences. In many ant species, queens have the option to found a colony alone or in groups with other, often unrelated, conspecifics. These associations are transient, usually lasting only as long as each queen benefits from the presence of others. In fact, once the first workers emerge, queens fight to the death for dominance. One potential advantage of co-founding may be that queens benefit from collective disease defences, such as mutual grooming, that act against common soil pathogens. We test this hypothesis by exposing single and co-founding queens to a fungal parasite, in order to assess whether queens in co-founding associations have improved survival. Surprisingly, co-foundresses exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium did not engage in cooperative disease defences, and consequently, we find no direct benefit of multiple queens on survival. However, an indirect benefit was observed, with parasite-exposed queens producing more brood when they co-founded, than when they were alone. We suggest this is due to a trade-off between reproduction and immunity. Additionally, we report an extraordinary ability of the queens to tolerate an infection for long periods after parasite exposure. Our study suggests that there are no social immunity benefits for co-founding ant queens, but that in parasite-rich environments, the presence of additional queens may nevertheless improve the chances of colony founding success. 相似文献
Polishing by laser beam radiation is a novel manufacturing process to modify the initial surface topography in order to achieve a desired level of surface finish. The performance of laser polishing (LP) is determined by an optimum combination of several key process parameters. In this regard, the overlap between two successive laser beam tracks is one of the important LP process parameters, which has a significant effect over the final surface quality. In the current study, influence of overlap between the laser beam tracks on surface quality was experimentally investigated during the laser polishing of AISI H13 tool steel. Surface areas were polished by using four different overlap percentages (e.g. 80%, 90%, 95%, and 97.5%) while applying the same energy density. The improvement of surface quality was estimated through the analysis of line profiling surface roughness Ra, areal topography surface roughness Sa, and material ratio function. Also, individual components of the surface quality, e.g. waviness and roughness, and their evolution during LP were statistically analyzed using the power spectral density and the transfer functions. Finally, as an example of the best achieved LP result, flat surface area was polished using optimum set of the process parameters improving surface quality by 86.7% through the reduction of an areal topography surface roughness Sa from 1.35 μm to 0.18 μm. 相似文献
Indentifying common priorities in shared natural resource systems constitutes an important platform for implementing adaptation
and a major step in sharing a common responsibility in addressing climate change. Predominated by discourses on REDD + (Reduced
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of
forest carbon stocks in developing countries) with little emphasis on adaptation there is a risk of lack of policy measures
in addressing climate change in the Congo Basin. Forest products and ecosystem services provide security portfolios for the
predominantly rural communities, and play major roles in national development programmes in both revenue and employment opportunities.
Thus, raising the profile of forests in the policy arena especially in the twin roles of addressing climate change in mitigation
and adaptation and achieving resilient development is crucial. Within the framework of the Congo Basin Forests and Climate
Change Adaptation project (COFCCA) project, science policy dialogue was conducted to identify and prioritize forest based
sectors vulnerable to climate change but important to household livelihoods and national development. The goal of the prioritization
process was for the development of intervention in forest as measures for climate change adaptation in Central Africa. Participants
constituted a wide range of stakeholders (government, Non Governmental Organizations, research institutions, universities,
community leaders, private sectors etc.) as representatives from three countries directly involved in the project: Cameroon,
Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. Building on national priorities, four forest related sectors were
identified as common priorities at the regional level for focus on climate change adaptation. These sectors included: (1)
energy with emphasis on fuel wood and Charcoal; (2) Water principally quality, quantity, accessibility, etc.; (3) Food with emphasis on Non Timber Forest Products, and (4) Health linked to healthcare products (medicinal plants). Using these prioritized sectors, the project focused on addressing the impacts of climate change on local communities and the development of adaptation strategies in the three pilot countries
of the Congo Basin region. The four sectors constitute the key for development in the region and equally considered as priority sectors in the poverty
reduction papers. Focused research on these sectors can help to inject the role of forests in national and local development
and their potentials contributions to climate change adaptation in national and public discourses. Mainstreaming forest for
climate change adaptation into national development planning is the key to improve policy coherence and effectiveness in forest
management in the region. 相似文献
Efforts to mitigate climate threats should not exclude the household as the household is a major driver of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions through its consumption patterns. This paper derives an emission index that could be used to estimate inventories
of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from kerosene combustion for lighting in Nigeria and also looks at the implications of solar pv lighting replacing
kerosene lamp in Nigeria. Findings indicate that (1) average CO2 emissions from kerosene combustion for lighting in Nigeria is about 0.06 kg per hour per lamp, which can be taken as the
kerosene lamp CO2 emission index for Nigeria. (2) about 3 × 10Wp solar pv will be required to replace a kerosene lamp, while about 0.124 tonnes of CO2 will be avoided per lamp per year, operating at 6 h daily. At the national level, under the kerosene lamp replacement projection
assumptions made, between 0.4 and 1.0 million tonnes of CO2 will be avoided per year. The household investment required to owe a solar pv, including the capital cost of switching from
kerosene lamp, is about US356, whilethenationalcapitalinvestmentoutlayisbetween 1,138.265 andUS356, while the national capital investment outlay is between 1,138.265 and US2,848 million. (3)
Certified Emission Reduction (CER) units, assuming CO2 is traded, will generate significant annual revenues on the order of 6.96 to almost US17.4 millionperyear, whileearningsfromunspenthouseholdkerosenefuelcouldamounttobetween 2,520 andUS17.4 million per year, while earnings
from unspent household kerosene fuel could amount to between 2,520 and US6,300 million over the life span of the solar pv.
The micro-economic assessment carried out indicates the non-attractiveness of solar pv use at the household level, and (4)
to promote solar pv use, both long and short term policy measures that aim at cost reduction were suggested. The paper concludes
that, factoring the suggested measures into the climate, energy, and financial policy decision discourse in Nigeria could
empower the households to play a significant role in achieving global CO2 emission reduction, but at the local level. 相似文献