Driver hand-held cellular phone use: a four-year analysis

INTRODUCTION: The use of hand-held cellular (mobile) phones while driving has stirred more debate, passion, and research than perhaps any other traffic safety issue in the past several years. There is ample research showing that the use of either hand-held or hands-free cellular phones can lead to unsafe driving patterns. Whether or not these performance deficits increase the risk of crash is difficult to establish, but recent studies are beginning to suggest that cellular phone use elevates crash risk. METHODS: The purpose of this study was to assess changes in the rate of hand-held cellular phone use by motor-vehicle drivers on a statewide level in Michigan. This study presents the results of 13 statewide surveys of cellular phone use over a 4-year period. Hand-held cellular phone use data were collected through direct observation while vehicles were stopped at intersections and freeway exit ramps. Data were weighted to be representative of all drivers traveling during daylight hours in Michigan. RESULTS: The study found that driver hand-held cellular phone use has more than doubled between 2001 and 2005, from 2.7% to 5.8%. This change represents an average increase of 0.78 percentage points per year. The 5.8% use rate observed in 2005 means that at any given daylight hour, around 36,550 drivers were conversing on cellular phones while driving on Michigan roadways. The trend line fitted to these data predicts that by the year 2010, driver hand-held cellular phone use will be around 8.6%, or 55,000 drivers at any given daylight hour. CONCLUSIONS: These results make it clear that cellular phone use while driving will continue to be an important traffic safety issue, and highlight the importance of continued attempts to generate new ways of alleviating this potential hazard.     

Herbicide Roundup® and its main constituents cause oxidative stress and inhibit acetylcholinesterase in liver of Carassius auratus

Roundup® is a glyphosate-based herbicide containing a mixture of surfactants. This paper evaluates the toxic effects of Roundup® and its main constituents on the goldfish, Carassius auratus, after 7 days exposure. Fish were exposed to 0.16, 0.032 and 0.0064 mg/L of Roundup® [containing 41% isopropylamine salt of glyphosate (G.I.S) and 18% polyoxyethylene amine (POEA)], G.I.S, and POEA. Their livers were taken for determining reactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, malondialdehye (MDA) content and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. Hydroxyl radical (·OH) could be induced by exposing Roundup® at a rate of 43%–111%, G.I.S at 90%–124% and POEA at142%–157%. A decreased SOD activity was observed in fish exposed to G.I.S and POEA. The contents of MDA significantly increased when exposed to Roundup® at all concentrations, 0.16 mg/L G.I.S and 0.032 mg/L POEA. The exposure led to an inhibition of AChE in livers overall during the experimental periods. POEA was more toxic than Roundup® or G.I.S during this experiment. AChE and ·OH are supposed to be sensitive biomarkers of the exposure of Roundup® and its main constituents to C. auratus.     

Estimating nitrate leaching with a transfer function model incorporating net mineralization and uptake of nitrogen

Because of the complex interaction of chemical and biological processes of nitrogen (N) in soils, it is difficult to estimate the leaching of nitrate with various N transformations in porous media. In this study, a transfer function model was developed to simulate the outflow concentration of nitrate in soils during the growth of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), taking into account the main N transformations using source and sink terms. The source and sink terms were treated as inputs to the solute transport volume and incorporated into the transfer function model to characterize their effects on nitrate concentration in the outflow. A field experiment was conducted in three nonweighing lysimeters for 181 d. Nitrate concentrations were measured along the 2-m soil profile of each lysimeter at different times. Comparison between the experimental data and simulated results with the transfer function showed that the model provided reasonable prediction of the nitrate leaching process as well as the total amount leached. Results also indicated that considering the N transformations in the transfer function significantly increased the estimation accuracy. The relative errors of total amount leached were < 7% with the N transformations included, but up to 17% without including the transformation processes.     

Long-Term Effects of Fertilization on Soil Organic Carbon Changes in Continuous Corn of Northeast China: RothC Model Simulations

Soil organic C (SOC) content can increase by managing land use practices in which the rates of organic C input exceed those of organic C mineralization. Understanding the changes in SOC content of Black soils (mainly Typic Halpudoll) in northeast China is necessary for sustainable using of soil resources there. We used the RothC model to estimate SOC levels of Black soils under monoculture cropping corn in a long-term fertilization trial at Gongzhuling, Jilin Province, China. The model outputs for the changes in SOC were compared with measured data in this long-term fertilization/manure trial. The sound performance of model in simulating SOC changes suggests that RothC is feasible with Black soils in the temperate climatic region of northeast China. The modeled and measured results indicated that the treatment without fertilizer/farmyard manure (FYM) addition led to a continuous decline in SOC during the study period and N and NPK fertilization were inadequate to maintain the SOC levels in the plow layer (upper 20 cm) unless FYM was added under the current conventional management associated with no above-ground crop residues returning into the soil. Soil organic carbon could follow the same path of decline if the same management practices are maintained. Model results indicate that returning above-ground crop residues to the soil from 2002 to 2022 would increase SOC by 26% for the treatment without fertilization addition, 40% for N treatment, 45% for NPK treatment, and 38% and 46% for N and NPK treatments with FYM addition, compared to the levels in the corresponding treatments in 2002. The simulation results suggest that the RothC model is a feasible tool to assess SOC trend under different management practices, and returning above-ground crop residues into the soil would lead to a remarkable increase in SOC of Black soils in the region.     

印钞行业废水中邻苯二甲酸酯类化合物残留分析

建立了以HLB固相萃取柱和反相液相色谱法测定水体中8种邻苯二甲酸酯类环境激素的方法,同时对印钞行业废水中邻苯二甲酸酯类环境激素进行了测定,检出邻苯二甲酸丁基苄基酯(BBP)一种邻苯二甲酸酯类环境激素。使用标准保留时间定性及实际水样加标定性两种定性方法,对实验结果进行了质量控制。结果表明,这两种定性方法所得结论完全一致,证明数据准确可信。     

2008-2017年苏州沿江三市主要入江支流水质变化特征

采用单因子评价法和Spearman秩相关系数评价法，对2008—2017年苏州沿江三市（张家港、常熟、太仓）主要入江支流水质变化特征进行分析。结果表明，苏州沿江三市的入江支流水质总体好转，张家港市入江支流水质明显好转，太仓市入江支流水质有所好转，常熟市入江支流水质总体保持稳定；NH₃-N、COD和BOD₅是影响入江支流水质的主要污染指标；主要污染指标优Ⅲ类比例总体呈上升趋势，但2014—2016年有所下降。2017年沿江三市入江支流水质总体处于Ⅲ类水平。     

催化动力学光度法测定痕量铜（Ⅱ）

研究了在稀硫酸介质中，用α，α‘－联吡啶作活化剂，痕量铜催化高碘酸钾氧化茂红Ｔ的褪色反应及动力学条件，建立了催化动力学光度法测定痕量铜的方法。检测限为０．４１μｇ／ＬＣｕ，线性范围为０－０．８μｇ／２５ｍＬＣｕ。方法操作简单，灵敏度高，准确性好，可用于水质及人发中痕量铜的测定，结果满意。     

西藏尼洋河流域果树资源及其开发途径探讨

西藏尼洋河流域果树资源丰富,栽培果树有苹果、梨、桃、李、杏和葡萄等9种和90多个品种;野生果树有7科16属41种,目前利用程度低,开发潜力大。文中提出了该地区果树资源的开发途径,在尼洋河下游和雅鲁藏布江的扎绕乡至派乡之间段的河谷地上形成“Y”字型的水(干)果种植带,建设成为西藏的水(干)果生产基地,并对现有果园改造更新,充分利用野生水果资源,建立果品综合加工厂等以满足西藏市场对水果和果品的需要。