Detection of spatially clustered outbreaks in motor vehicle crashes: What’s the best method?

Spatio-temporal surveillance methods for detecting outbreaks of disease are fairly common in the literature, with the SCAN statistic setting the benchmark. Spatio-temporal surveillance methods are less commonly described in relation to detection of outbreaks in motor vehicle crashes. The exponential two-pass CUSUM (E2PC) plan designed to detect age-clustered outbreaks is here compared to the SCAN statistic for early detection of spatially clustered outbreaks in crashes. If the shape and size of the outbreaks are known in advance, then the SCAN statistic has advantages over the E2PC plan. However, if outbreaks vary significantly in terms of size but are roughly rectangular in shape then the E2PC plan as outlined in this paper has advantages over the SCAN statistic.     

Support for environmental protection: an integration of ideological-consistency and information-deficit models

The divergent roles of education in predicting environmental support among liberals, conservatives, and moderates in the United States are explained by integrating ideological-consistency and information-deficit models. Increased political polarization among elites has led to divergent environmental positions advocated by liberal and conservative political and media leaders; it was predicted that education would increase public attention to these elite cues and, consistent with the ideological-consistency model, increased education would lead to attitudes in line with consensual positions endorsed by party elites. Across two nationally representative data sets, higher levels of education were associated with stronger environmental support among liberals and weaker environmental support among conservatives. Moderates were predicted to have fewer elite cues on which to base their attitudes; consistent with the information-deficit model, higher levels of education among moderates were associated with strengthened environmental support. A moderated-mediation model supported the differential application of these two theories.     

Liquid Entrainment from a Mobile Bed Scrubber

Liquid entrainment rate and drop size distribution were measured in the exhaust gas stream from a mobile bed scrubber. The pilot plant scrubber was 46 cm (18 in.) square and was packed with 3.8 cm (1.5 In.) diameter hollow polyethylene spheres to a static depth of 25 cm (10 in.). Entrainment flow rate depends on both gas and liquid rates. At a liquid/gas ratio of 6.7 l/m³ (50 gal/Mcf) and a superficial gas velocity of 2.6 m/sec (8.5 ft/sec) the entrainment flow rate was 0.0064 l/m³ (0.05 gal/Mcf) and at 3.75 m/sec (12.3 ft/sec) it was 0.031 l/m³ (0.23 gal/Mcf). The mass median drop diameter was about 400 nm at a liquid/gas ratio of 6.7 l/m³. The drop size distribution appears to be bimodal. Dye impregnated paper and cascade impactor techniques were used to measure drop size.     

Species-specific bioluminescence facilitates speciation in the deep sea

The vast darkness of the deep sea is an environment with few obvious genetic isolating barriers, and little is known regarding the macroevolutionary processes that have shaped present-day biodiversity in this habitat. Bioluminescence, the production and emission of light from a living organism through a chemical reaction, is thought to occur in approximately 80 % of the eukaryotic life that inhabits the deep sea (water depth greater than 200 m). In this study, we show, for the first time, that deep-sea fishes that possess species-specific bioluminescent structures (e.g., lanternfishes, dragonfishes) are diversifying into new species at a more rapid rate than deep-sea fishes that utilize bioluminescence in ways that would not promote isolation of populations (e.g., camouflage, predation). This work adds to our understanding of how life thrives and evolution shaped present-day biodiversity in the deep sea, the largest and arguably least explored habitat on earth.     

Sorption of MS2 bacteriophage to layered double hydroxides: effects of reaction time, pH, and competing anions

Batch sorption and column breakthrough studies were conducted to investigate the potential of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) to remove bacteriophage MS2 from contaminated waters. All four of the LDHs evaluated in this study had very high retention capacities for MS2. Sorption results showed that MS2 could be completely removed from 5.2 x 10(2) plaque-forming units (pfu)/mL solution by Mg-Al LDH 2 (i.e., 2:1 Mg to Al ratio LDH), with the highest sorption capacity observed in this study of 1.51 x 10(10) pfu/g. Attachment of MS2 to LDHs was a rapid process and reached quasi-equilibrium after a 1-h reaction time. Within the pH range studied (pH 4-9), Mg-Al LDH 2 showed high sorption potential for MS2 at all pH values but sorption decreased slightly with increasing solution pH. Background solution anions influenced virus sorption, with SO4(2-) and HPO4(2-) decreasing sorption significantly whereas the presence of NO3- had little effect on the attachment of MS2 to Mg-Al LDH 2. The addition of another virus (phiX174) only caused a slight decrease in the retention of MS2 by Mg-Al LDH 2, suggesting that there was insignificant competitive sorption between MS2 and phiX174 on LDH surfaces. Results from column experiments indicate that there was no MS2 breakthrough from columns packed with Mg-Al LDH 2-coated sand, suggesting complete MS2 retention at the virus concentration tested. The high mass recovery by beef extract solution revealed that the removal of viruses by the LDH was due to sorption of MS2 to LDH surfaces, rather than inactivation.     

XANES spectroscopic analysis of phosphorus speciation in alum-amended poultry litter

Aluminum sulfate (alum; Al(2)(SO(4))(3).14H(2)O) is used as a chemical treatment of poultry litter to reduce the solubility and release of phosphate, thereby minimizing the impacts on adjacent aquatic ecosystems when poultry litter is land applied as a crop fertilizer. The objective of this study was to determine, through the use of X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy and sequential extraction, how alum amendments alter P distribution and solid-state speciation within the poultry litter system. Our results indicate that traditional sequential fractionation procedures may not account for variability in P speciation in heterogeneous animal manures. Analysis shows that NaOH-extracted P in alum amended litters is predominantly organic ( approximately 80%), whereas in the control samples, >60% of NaOH-extracted P was inorganic P. Linear least squares fitting (LLSF) analysis of spectra collected of sequentially extracted litters showed that the P is present in inorganic (P sorbed on Al oxides, calcium phosphates) and organic forms (phytic acid, polyphosphates, and monoesters) in alum- and non-alum-amended poultry litter. When determining land application rates of poultry litter, all of these compounds must be considered, especially organic P. Results of the sequential extractions in conjunction with LLSF suggest that no P species is completely removed by a single extractant. Rather, there is a continuum of removal as extractant strength increases. Overall, alum-amended litters exhibited higher proportions of Al-bound P species and phytic acid, whereas untreated samples contained Ca-P minerals and organic P compounds. This study provides in situ information about P speciation in the poultry litter solid and about P availability in alum- and non-alum-treated poultry litter that will dictate P losses to ground and surface water systems.     

Engaging with the natural environment: The role of affective connection and identity

Research has shown pro-environmental behaviour to be positively associated with the strength of emotional connection towards the natural environment. The present study (N=199) investigated the predictive utility of an extended model of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) [ Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behaviour. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211] for people's intentions to engage with the natural environment. It was hypothesised that both affective connection and identification with the natural environment would contribute significantly to the prediction of people's intentions. A secondary hypothesis was that participants who had grown up in rural areas would report more positive orientations towards engaging with the natural environment than would urban participants. The research found that affective connection was a significant independent predictor of intentions to engage with the natural environment. Environmental identity was only a significant predictor in the absence of affective connection in the regression model. As predicted, rural and urban participants differed significantly along the measured variables.     

Medium-Sulfur Coal and Fly Ash Resistivity

Electric generating plants burning medium-sulfur coal need a way to predict when ESP performance will be limited by high electrical resistivity of the collected fly ash. The main uncertainty in mathematical predictions of fly ash resistivity lies in the marginal effect of naturally occurring SO₃ vapor in the flue gas. This paper results from a project to expand the data base of SO₃/SO₂ concentrations and fly ash resistivities measured in utility fly ash precipitators. Complete data sets are presented from three plants in the Southern Company electric system. In situ resistivity data are compared with laboratory measurements and with two different mathematical predictions of resistivity based on coal and ash analyses. The revised version of the resistivity predictor gives results in good agreement with resistivity values measured both in situ and in the laboratory.     

Improvement of Hot–side Precipitator Performance with Sodium Conditioning—An Interim Report

The development of an unexpected, time-dependent degradation of performance of hot-side precipitators collecting ash from certain coals (usually low-sodium, low-sulfur coals) has caused serious problems at a number of major utility installations. A jointly funded research project was developed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Electric Power Research Institute, and Southern Company Services, Inc., to evaluate sodium conditioning as a possible solution to these performance deficiency problems.