Use of the ouput of a lead risk assessment model to establish soil lead cleanup levels

Three general methods to calculate soil contaminant cleanup levels are assessed: the truncated lognormal approach, Monte Carlo analysis, and the house-by-house approach. When these methods are used together with a lead risk assessment model, they yield estimated soil lead cleanup levels that may be required in an attempt to achieve specified target blood lead levels for a community. The truncated lognormal approach is exemplified by the Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health (SEGH) model, Monte Carlo analysis is exemplified by the US EPA's LEAD Model, and the house-by-house approach is used with a structural equation model to calculate site-specific soil lead cleanup levels. The various cleanup methods can each be used with any type of lead risk assessment model. Although all examples given here are for lead, the cleanup methods can, in principle, be used as well with risk assessment models for other chemical contaminants to derive contaminant-specific soil cleanup levels.     

Diagnosis of Bloom's syndrome by sister chromatid exchange evaluation in chorionic villus cultures

Cultures of a chorion biopsy taken from a pregnancy at risk of Bloom's syndrome revealed the high sister chromatid exchange frequency diagnostic of this rare disorder. To obtain the result, cultures were grown under standard conditions, with the addition of 10μM 5′;-bromodeoxyuridine for the final 48 h of incubation. This result demonstrates the feasibility of early prenatal diagnosis of Bloom's syndrome.     

Grief and mid-trimester fetal loss

Fetal loss through miscarriage or termination of pregnancy for genetic reasons often provokes the grief of bereavement. This is not fully understood, and the extent of the distress is often underestimated by professionals and family alike. We have examined elements of the normal bereavement process and have found that they may occur in specific and accentuated forms in mid-trimester fetal loss. We discuss our findings in the light of the attachment theory—a psychodynamic model for understanding grief reactions.     

Dorsal shaving affects concentrations of faecal cortisol metabolites in lactating golden hamsters

Breeding of golden hamsters is classically performed at thermal conditions ranging from 20 to 24 °C. However, growing evidence suggests that lactating females suffer from heat stress. We hypothesised that shaving females dorsally to maximise heat dissipation may reduce stress during reproduction. We thus compared faecal cortisol metabolites (FCM) from shaved golden hamster mothers with those from unshaved controls. We observed significantly lower FCM levels in the shaved mothers (F_1,22?=?8.69, p?=?0.0075) pointing to lower stress due to ameliorated heat dissipation over the body surface. In addition, we observed 0.4 °C lower mean subcutaneous body temperatures in the shaved females, although this effect did not reach significance (F_1,22?=?1.86, p?=?0.18). Our results suggest that golden hamsters having body masses being more than four times that of laboratory mice provide a very interesting model to study aspects of lactation and heat production at the same time.     

Self‐leadership in the context of part‐time teleworking

Employees who work periodically in both a traditional office and home office (part‐time teleworkers) face opportunities and risks related to both working locations. As self‐leadership might play a crucial role in this context, we examined within‐person variations in self‐leadership (self‐reward, self‐punishment, self‐cueing, self‐goal setting, imagining successful performance, and evaluation of beliefs and assumptions) on home days and office days. In a typical workweek, 195 part‐time teleworkers filled out daily surveys (729 days), and we examined the relationship between working location (office and home) and self‐leading behavior as well as the mediating role of autonomy. Finally, we investigated whether self‐leading behavior relates to ego depletion and work satisfaction at the end of the working day. Multilevel analyses revealed that part‐time teleworkers reported higher use of self‐reward, self‐goal setting, and visualization of successful performance on home days than on office days. The association between working location and self‐reward, self‐goal setting, visualization of successful performance, and evaluation of beliefs and assumptions was mediated by autonomy. There were no indirect effects of working location on ego depletion through self‐leadership. However, we found that on home days, part‐time teleworkers were more satisfied with their job at the end of the workday through self‐goal setting.     

Relationship between road traffic noisescape and urban form in Hong Kong

This paper reports on a study which explored the possible relationship between road traffic noisescape and urban form in Hong Kong. A total of 212 residential complexes from 11 contrasting urban forms were sampled, and their noise levels assessed both at dwelling and neighbourhood scales by noise mapping. Its findings indicate that residential complexes with different urban forms have significantly different noisescape attributes. There is a strong correlation between the noise characteristics and morphological indicators at the dwelling scale. A less obstreperous noisescape is associated with urban forms with lower road and building densities, and with building arrangements which provide self-noise screening. These findings suggest that urban form is an influential determinant of the noisescape in the urban environment, and they point to the need to rethink the conventional approach to managing the urban acoustic environment.     

Inter-annual variability in the breeding performance of six tropical seabird species: influence of life-history traits and relationship with oceanographic parameters

We investigated inter-annual variability in the breeding performance of six tropical seabirds with different life histories. We further examined the extent to which presumed differences among years in food availability to seabirds were related to large-scale oceanic processes (El Niño Southern Oscillation and Indian Ocean Dipole) or local features around the colony (Sea Surface Temperature—SST, chlorophyll-a concentration, wind patterns, association with underwater predators). Two food shortages were recorded: (1) a short-term event operating at a local-scale, lacking any relationship with any measured oceanographic parameters and affecting only a few seabird species; (2) a generalized and protracted event, strikingly characterized by low SST, possibly induced by a La Niña and/or negative IOD event, and with detrimental impacts in the whole seabird community. Overall, species with inflexible feeding habits and fast chick growth rates were more affected by food shortage events than those with more plastic life-history traits.