Factors controlling measurements of radon mass exhalation rate

Radon mass exhalation rate of soil samples was measured using an exhalation chamber of 10 dm(3) volume and a Lucas cell. The results show that mass of sample, grain size and water content influence the radon mass exhalation rate. For soil of (226)Ra activity concentration about 2500 Bq kg(-1) and samples within the range from 0.20 kg to 0.50 kg, the radon mass exhalation rate values are higher than those for samples of other masses. The observed radon exhalation rate is an inverse function of the average grain size. At the water content about 6% by weight, the radon mass exhalation rate reaches maximum, then it decreases with both increasing and decreasing of the water content in the sample.     

Transfer of radiocarbon liquid releases from the AREVA La Hague spent fuel reprocessing plant in the English Channel

The recent risk assessment by the North-Cotentin Radioecology Group (, 1999) outlined that (14)C has become one of the major sources of the low dose to man through seafood consumption. It was recommended that more data should be collected about (14)C in the local marine environment. The present study aims to respond to this recommendation. The estimation of (14)C activity in marine species is based on concentration factor values. The values reported here ranged from 1x10(3) to 5x10(3)Bqkg(-1)ww/BqL(-1). A comparison was made between the observed and predicted values. The accuracy of (14)C activity calculations was estimated between underestimation by a factor of 2 and over-estimation by 50% (95% confidence interval). However, the use of the concentration factor parameter is based on the biological and seawater compartments being in steady state. This assumption may not be met at short distances from the point of release of discharges, where rapid changes in seawater concentration may be smoothed out in living organisms due to transfer kinetics. The data processing technique, previously published by Fiévet and Plet (2003. Estimating biological half-lives of radionuclides in marine compartments from environmental time-series measurements. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 65, 91-107), was used to deal with (14)C transfer kinetics, and carbon half-lives between seawater and a few biological compartments were thus estimated.     

From concept to practice: the long road to operationalising protection

For the past two decades, humanitarian actors have been grappling increasingly with the complex issue of protecting civilians. The definition of protection adopted by humanitarians is considered to be too broad to provide effective operational direction. This paper aims to contribute to recent initiatives to operationalise protection. Teasing out a broad typology of humanitarian protection through an examination of the scope, objectives, and strategies of a range of humanitarian actors, it suggests, would result in better identification of gaps and the channelling of efforts to support a system‐wide protection response. Emphasising recent calls for collective analysis as a means of eventuating protection, the paper also draws attention to the contested understanding that may arise concerning solutions to protection crises. Closely entwined with politics, protection defies neat technical solutions. The paper concludes that deepening knowledge of how communities conceive their own interests may provide the basis for a collective protection response.     

Estimating the generation of recycled metals from obsolete motorcycles in Vietnam for ELV management

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The demand for various modes of transportation has significantly increased around the world due to rapid urbanization, the increase in population,...     

Systematic review of conservation interventions to promote voluntary behavior change

Understanding human behavior is vital to developing interventions that effectively lead to proenvironmental behavior change, whether the focus is at the individual or societal level. However, interventions in many fields have historically lacked robust forms of evaluation, which makes it hard to be confident that these conservation interventions have successfully helped protect the environment. We conducted a systematic review to assess how effective nonpecuniary and nonregulatory interventions have been in changing environmental behavior. We applied the Office of Health Assessment and Translation systematic review methodology. We started with more than 300,000 papers and reports returned by our search terms and after critical appraisal of quality identified 128 individual studies that merited inclusion in the review. We classified interventions by thematic area, type of intervention, the number of times audiences were exposed to interventions, and the length of time interventions ran. Most studies reported a positive effect (n = 96). The next most common outcome was no effect (n = 28). Few studies reported negative (n = 1) or mixed (n = 3) effects. Education, prompts, and feedback interventions resulted in positive behavior change. Combining multiple interventions was the most effective. Neither exposure duration nor frequency affected the likelihood of desired behavioral change. Comparatively few studies tested the effects of voluntary interventions on non-Western populations (n = 17) or measured actual ecological outcome behavior (n = 1). Similarly, few studies examined conservation devices (e.g., energy-efficient stoves) (n = 9) and demonstrations (e.g., modeling the desired behavior) (n = 5). There is a clear need to both improve the quality of the impact evaluation conducted and the reporting standards for intervention results.     

A survey of identified kairomones and synomones used by insect parasitoids to locate and accept their hosts

Summary The host utilization process of insect parasitoids can be described by three stages of (1)habitatlocation, (2)host-location, and (3)host-acceptance andoviposition. There are 19 systems in which chemicals used inhabitat-location have been identified, 12 systems in which chemical cues leading tohost-location have been identified, and 16 systems in which chemicals elicitinghost-acceptance andoviposition have been identified. Both the chemical class and the source of the infochemical change with the stage of the host utilization process. Semiochemicals identified in thehabitatlocation stage were predominantly aldehydes, alcohols, sulfur-containing compounds, esters and terpenes, and were equally likely to be from the host-plant of the host, or from the host itself. Semiochemicals identified in thehost-location stage were sugars, alkanes, terpenes and heterocyclic aromatic compounds and 3/4 of them were host-produced cues. In thehost-acceptance andoviposition stage the identified semiochemicals were all produced by the host and were proteins, amino acids, triglycerides and salts. The importance of recognizing specific cues involved in host utilization by parasitoids is discussed, and suggestions for future research are made.     

Injuries as a Result of California Earthquakes in the Past Decade

The devastating effects of earthquakes have been demonstrated repeatedly in the past decade, through moderate and major earthquakes such as the October 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake (5.9 on the Richter scale), the October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1) and the January 1994 Northridge earthquake (6.7). While 'official' tallies of injuries and deaths are reported for each event, the numbers vary from report to report. For Northridge, the number of injuries vary between 8,000 and 12,000; the number of deaths from 33 to 73 (Peek-Asa et al., 1997; Durkin, 1996).While official estimates are commonly reported following disasters, the study of actual numbers, types and causes of casualties has not developed. In this paper, we identify the numbers and risk factors for injuries within community-based samples across three earthquakes in urban California. We first report the numbers and types of injuries in each earthquake and then identify risk factors specifically associated with the Northridge earthquake