Objective: Drivers’ behaviors such as violations and errors have been demonstrated to predict crash involvement among young Omani drivers. However, there is a dearth of studies linking risky driving behaviors to the personality of young drivers. The aim of the present study was to assess such traits within a sample of young Omani drivers (as measured through the behavioral inhibition system [BIS] and the behavioral activation system [BAS]) and determine links with aberrant driving behaviors and self-reported crash involvement.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Sultan Qaboos University that targeted all licensed Omani's undergraduate students. A total of 529 randomly selected students completed the self-reported questionnaire that included an assessment of driving behaviors (e.g., Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, DBQ) as well as the BIS/BAS measures.
Results: A total of 237 participants (44.8%) reported involvement in at least one crash since being licensed. Young drivers with lower BIS–Anxiety scores and higher BAS–Fun Seeking tendencies as well as male drivers were more likely to report driving violations. Statistically significant gender differences were observed on all BIS and BAS subscales (except for BAS–Fun) and the DBQ subscales, because males reported higher trait scores. Though personality traits were related to aberrant driving behaviors at the bivariate level, the constructs were not predictive of engaging in violations or errors. Furthermore, consistent with previous research, a supplementary multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that only driving experience was predictive of crash involvement.
Conclusions: The findings highlight that though personality traits influence self-reported driving styles (and differ between the genders), the relationship with crash involvement is not as clear. This article further outlines the key findings of the study in regards to understanding core psychological constructs that increase crash risk. 相似文献
Back in 1992, the Gulf of Aqaba Environmental Action Plan (GAEAP), a collaboration between the Aqaba Region Authority (ARA), Jordan and the World Bank, gave considerable emphasis to the environmental protection of the Gulf of Aqaba [The World Bank. Gulf of Aqaba Environmental Action Plan. Report No. 12244JO (1993).]. The document recommended the establishment of a marine reserve and the long term monitoring of the coastal habitats' environmental quality. The combination of a dedicated follow up, the collaborative efforts of ARA and the Marine Science Station (MSS), and the founding of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) have turned the recommendations into reality. A comprehensive monitoring program of the Jordanian coastal habitats commenced in 1999. The first three years of the program were financed by a donation from The Global Environmental Facility (GEF). In return, Jordan has committed itself to the maintenance of the monitoring program as an ongoing tool for sustainable coastal management. The monitoring program includes observations on benthic habitat, fish communities, bottom sediments and seawater quality. This paper focuses on the results of seawater-quality monitoring in the first three years. Records of weather conditions, coastal currents, seawater temperature, transparency, salinity, density, pH, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate, particulate matter, chlorophyll a, zooplankton biomass, total coliform, fecal coliform, hydrocarbons and sedimentation rate have been generated monthly since January 1999 at six coastal stations, and one offshore reference station, in the Jordanian waters of the Gulf of Aqaba. The coastal stations are located at sites with different benthic habitats and are occupied by different human activities. Offshore records of density (thermohaline structure), nutrients and chlorophyll a depicted two well-defined seasons; a nutrient-/chlorophyll a-rich, mixed water winter from December to April and a nutrient-/chlorophyll a-poor, stratified water summer from June to October. Short transition seasons appeared in May and November. The mixing and stratification seasons were also clearly depicted in the coastal waters. Statistical analysis of the three-year data collected at the offshore station revealed no significant inter-annual differences in the upper 125 m of the water column with respect to any of the measured parameters. At coastal stations, the water quality at the two northernmost stations was significantly different in comparison to the upper 125 m at the offshore station and to the other coastal stations, with respect to the two key indicator parameters: inorganic nitrogen and chlorophyll a. The three-year findings of the monitoring program are employed to suggest standard codes of reference for the coastal water quality. 相似文献
A method for determining atmospheric concentrations of eight pesticides applied to corn and soybean crops in Mato Grosso state, Brazil is presented. The method involved a XAD-2 resin cartridge coupled to a low volume air pump at 2 L min?1 over 8 hours. Pesticides were recovered from the resin using sonication with n-hexane:ethyl acetate and determined by GC-MS. Good accuracy (76–128%) and precision (CV < 20%) were obtained for atrazine, chlorpyrifos, alpha- and beta-endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate, flutriafol, malathion, metolachlor and permethrin. Method detection ranged from 9.0 to 17.9 ng m?3. This method was applied to 61 gas phase samples collected between December 2008 and June 2009. Atrazine and endosulfan were detected both in urban and rural areas indicating the importance of atmospheric dispersion of pesticides in tropical areas. The simple and efficient extraction method and sampling system employed was considered suitable for identifying pesticides in areas of intense agricultural production. 相似文献
Background, aim, and scope In papermaking, there is a continuous interest both to minimize fresh water consumption and to reduce discharges into the
environment. These general trends mean an increase in the amounts of detrimental substances, such as resin and fatty acids,
in papermaking process waters. Resin acids, in particular, are responsible for much of the toxicity typically present in paper
mill effluents and, for this reason, the routine and rapid monitoring of these compounds in various process streams is necessary.
This also means that there is a continuous need to develop straightforward offline and online techniques to clarify problems
occurring, for example, as a result of the introduction of more intensively closed systems of water circulation. In the present
study, we describe the use of a novel, online, sample enrichment technique followed by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization–mass
spectrometry (APCI-MS) suitable for monitoring the concentration levels of common resin and fatty acids in papermaking process
waters.
Materials and methods The representative process water samples were taken from the grinding zone of a thermomechanical pulping mill. The samples
were first preconcentrated in a precolumn C18, and the analytes were transferred online to MS. The high intensive [M–H]− ion was used for the identification of each analyte since, according to the present ionization method, no other fragmentation
was observed. Laboratory-scale, online measurements with an online sample feed were carried out by connecting a centrifugal
pump and a ceramic filter to the APCI-MS.
Results Quality parameters, such as repeatability, linearity, and limit of detection (LOD), were determined by using dehydroabietic
acid (DHAA) in order to evaluate the suitability of the method for the rapid screening of concentration levels. This method
provided satisfactory linearity and a good correlation between analyte concentration and peak area. The suitability of the
system for the continuous analysis of the same acids was evaluated in laboratory-scale, online experiments. In all cases,
the response to changes in the analyte concentration was linear, and the repeatability of the system was also satisfactory.
Discussion Only a few studies have been published on the analysis of resin and fatty acids with MS techniques. The present method was
applied to the monitoring of dehydroabietic, oleic, and stearic acids. The quality parameters were highly comparable with
those reported earlier, and the LOD values of the DHAA were below the levels usually encountered in process waters. The quality
parameters were only slightly higher than those obtained by the traditional methods of analysis, probably due to the absence
of an effective sample clean-up before analysis.
Conclusions The results of the laboratory-scale, online experiments indicated that the online enrichment APCI-MS system is a suitable
alternative for monitoring the concentration levels of selected resin and fatty acids in papermaking process waters. The method
can be used, for example, to provide useful information about the concentration levels of these acids in different stages
of the process, thus signaling possibly impending problems. In general, faster and simpler measurements are needed to meet
the requirements for a reduction in fresh water usage in papermaking.
Recommendations and perspectives Compared to the conventional methods used for this purpose, the main benefits of the method are rapidity of measurement, simplicity
of use, and absence of the need for multistage sample treatments (short analysis time). For this reason, this online method
is more suitable for the control of papermaking by analyzing the concentration levels of interfering substances (i.e., selected
resin and fatty acids) than an offline analysis detailing all the individual extractives-based compounds in process streams.
It is also obvious that the technique can easily be modified for other environmental pollutants as well. 相似文献
We measure the trapped non-wetting phase saturation as a function of the initial saturation in sand packs. The application of the work is for CO2 storage in aquifers where capillary trapping is a rapid and effective mechanism to render injected CO2 immobile. The CO2 is injected into the formation followed by chase brine injection, or natural groundwater flow, which displaces and traps CO2 on the pore scale as a residual immobile phase. Current models to predict the amount of trapping are based on experiments in consolidated media, while CO2 may be stored in relatively shallow, poorly consolidated systems. We use analogue fluids at ambient conditions. The trapped saturation initially rises linearly with initial saturation to a value of approximately 0.13 for oil/water systems and 0.14 for gas/water systems. There then follows a region where the residual saturation is constant with further increases in initial saturation. This behaviour is not predicted by the traditional literature trapping models, but is physically consistent with unconsolidated media where most of the larger pores can easily be invaded at relatively low saturation and there is, overall, relatively little trapping. A good match to our experimental data was achieved with the trapping model proposed by Aissaoui. 相似文献
The main objective of the present investigation is to study the temporal and spatial variations of the quality of ambient air in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis (KW) test showed significant spatial variations and interactions of spatial-temporal among five mobile monitoring stations for 11 air pollutants. The Mann Whitney (MW) test demonstrated the seasonality of spring over winter for the PM(10), PM(2.5), NO(2), CO and p-xylene, the seasonality of winter over spring for O(3), and no significant seasonal variation for NH(3), benzene, SO(2), toluene and H(2)S. It is concluded that emissions from automobile exhaust, industrial and developmental projects are responsible for the spatial air pollution, and that air temperature is the controlling factor for the seasonal variations. 相似文献
Lake Nokoué and Cotonou Lagoon are the most important and most productive continental freshwaters in Bénin, with an estimated fish production of over 2 tonnes per hectare in Lake Nokoué. Organochlorine pesticides are used in agriculture and to repel tsetse flies, malaria mosquitoes and other diseases raised. Sediment, fish, shrimp and oyster species were collected in Lake Nokoué and Cotonou Lagoon for pesticide residues analysis. The main pesticides identified in sediment were pp′-DDT and its metabolites pp-DDE and pp′-DDD, with residue levels between the detection limit and 24.4 μg/kg dry weight. Fish species commonly consumed such as Elops lacerta, Podamasys jubelini, Gobbienellus occidentalis, Ethmalosa fimbriata, Mugil cephalus and Hemichromis fasciatus were contaminated with residues of seven to nine pesticides, including pp-DDE, op′-DDD, pp′-DDD, op′-DDT, pp′-DDT, α-endosulfan, aldrin, dieldrin and γ-hexachlorocyclohexane. The levels ranged from detection limit to 289 ng/g lipid. The same pesticides were also detected in other aquatic species, such as shrimp and oysters. A summed risk assessment, comparing pesticide intake levels through fish consumption with tolerable daily intake levels proposed by the World Health Organization, showed in all cases a low risk for human health. 相似文献