Cobalt speciation assay for human serum,Part I. Method for measuring large and small molecular cobalt and protein-binding capacity using size exclusion chromatography with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy detection

A method utilizing size exclusion liquid chromatography (SEC) was developed to separate and quantify large molecular cobalt (Co) (e.g., albumin-Co) from cyanocobalamin (vitamin B₁₂) and small molecular Co (e.g., glutathione-Co and free Co) in human serum. Highly selective and sensitive detection using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry was coupled with SEC to provide a method with reliable accuracy, precision, recoveries, stability, and a detection limit of 0.037 μg/L in undiluted serum. Other divalent metal cations known to compete with Co(II) for serum albumin-binding sites (such as iron, zinc, manganese, cadmium, copper, nickel, and lead) did not significantly alter Co(II) quantification. Co–protein binding capacity determination of individual serum samples indicated that addition of 2500 μg Co/L to undiluted human serum resulted in approximately 90% distribution to the large molecular Co peak, consistent with Co binding to high-affinity divalent metal binding sites on albumin. Since serum albumin binding partially sequesters biologically active Co(II) ions, this method provides an important tool for better understanding the kinetics and toxicology of Co compounds. Thus, the proposed method might play an important role in establishing Co dose–response relationships that affect the equilibrium concentrations of free ionic Co(II).     

Analysis of recent trends in bus and coach safety in Britain

We examine in detail trends from 1966 to 1990 and the fitting of statistical models to assess whether significant changes have taken place in casualty rates since local bus deregulation in 1986.The major source of data is the ‘Stats 19’ collated from police reports by the Department of Transport.The evidence indicates that no significant change in casualty rates for bus and coach occupants (defined as those killed or seriously injured) has occurred since local bus deregulation, although the previous trend of reduction in fatality rates has not been maintained.International comparisons have been made between Britain and a sample of other West European countries. Britain appears to have a higher occupant fatality rate. However, other countries′ data do not always include casualties to bus and coach occupants other than those in which vehicular collisions occur. Better comparative data is available for accidents involving buses and coaches with other road users, notably for Britain and Germany. These suggest that such accidents tend to reflect the national pattern of road casualty rates — for example, Germany has a higher level of collisions between buses and coaches, and other road vehicles, while Britain has a relatively high incidence of casualties involving pedestrians.Differences in accident rates between Britain and other European countries and the extent to which they reflect real differences, as distinct from those due to differences in recording of data, are evaluated, along with policy implications.     

MAPPING REGIONAL PRECIPITATION INTENSITY DURATION FREQUENCY ESTIMATES1

ABSTRACT: For regional precipitation frequency analyses, methods are needed to spatially interpolate or smooth point intensity duration frequency (IDF) estimates at gage sites for the purposes of visualization and estimation at ungaged sites. In this study to update IDF estimates for Michigan, the assumption is made that for practical purposes, the entire state may be treated as a homogeneous region in which annual maximum precipitation is identically distributed at each site apart from a site‐specific scaling factor, commonly known as the index flood. Several interpolation and smoothing techniques are evaluated for IDF estimation at ungaged sites, including trend surface analysis, thin plate splines, inverse distance weighting, and several kriging algorithms. Ordinary block kriging is recommended as a practical and objective method for smoothing the variability in the index flood values and developing isopluvial maps.     

Case study: Sonoco's materials reclamation improves environmental performance through quality-based management

Multinational corporations are facing increasing pressures and finding stronger incentives to integrate environmental management into their overall business strategies. National and local environmental regulations are becoming more stringent in Europe, Japan, East and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and many developing countries, and international voluntary standards of environmental management are being endorsed by a growing number of governments. Multinational firms are embracing these standards not only to assure the public of their concern for environmental protection, but also to enhance their competitiveness in international markets. The British Standard 7750, the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), and the ISO 14000 series are setting new guidelines for effective corporate environmental management. Beyond complying with local and national laws, corporations now have wider latitude in how they adapt their business practices to these emerging environmental management standards. In order to capitalize on that creative latitude, companies must have corporate cultures and internal management systems that allow them to respond quickly and effectively to changing environmental requirements. Exemplary corporate environmental performance is usually related to strong and progressive leadership, a culture that recognizes the importance of environmental protection, and the willingness to operate by quality-based management principles. This article describes how one international corporation, Sonoco, in responding successfully to changing environmental pressures to reclaim and recycle its products in the wake of the solid waste crisis in the United States and more stringent environmental regulations in Europe, used its management competencies and corporate culture to turn what could have been serious barriers to expansion of its core businesses into new opportunities. By adopting a bold materials reclamation program, Sonoco was able to overcome potential limitations on its operations in the United States and abroad and to develop new business segments that benefited the company and the environment.     

Industry's role in air quality improvement: Environmental management opportunities for the 21st century

More than 200 years ago, Adam Smith, the founder of modern economics, wrote in the Wealth of Nations that “…consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attention to…that of the consumer.” In recent years, the rapid growth of the world economy has given Adam Smith's maxim new meaning. The age-old desire for consumption grows unabated and increasing numbers of consumers around the world are attaching new value to the environmental quality of goods and services and expressing concern over the environmental impacts of industrialization. That concern is growing because more than 70 percent of the world's urban population live in areas where the air is seriously polluted and as many as 750,000 people—the majority in developing countries—die each year of ailments caused by air pollution.¹ Over the past 25 years, corporations throughout the world have made dramatic changes in the way they do business as more people come to understand how the ecological system works and how polluted air and water endanger human health. The key to increasing industry's participation in the drive for higher standards of air quality is the growing realization that effective environmental management, technological development, and technology dissemination are cost-effective and profitable business strategies. Global competition is making firms around the world more customer-conscious and, to the extent that consumers demand products that minimize environmental degradation and enhance the quality of their lives, businesses in every industry must respond in order to survive.² This article examines how changes in business practices, driven by a better understanding of how natural environments function, are converging to provide new opportunities for environmental management that go beyond regulatory compliance to reduce air pollution. Although sound and well-enforced environmental regulations are an essential foundation for improving air quality, command-and-control systems alone are unlikely to achieve the lower levels of pollution that will be necessary to achieve sustainable development in the 21st century. In cooperation with government, businesses in every industry can play crucial roles in achieving higher standards of air quality while at the same time maintaining acceptable levels of economic growth. We explore three ways in which corporations can contribute to environmentally sustainable development: (1) by adopting proactive environmental management systems that focus on air pollution prevention; (2) by developing new technologies for air pollution control and reduction; and (3) by transferring air pollution control and prevention technologies through international trade and investment.     

Remediation Technologies Screening Matrix and Reference Guide: Version III

The U. S. Army Environmental Center (USAEC) is leading an effort to update the Remediation Technologies Screening Matrix and Reference Guide, Third Edition under the auspices of the Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable (FRTR). Its purpose is to create a comprehensive “Remediation Technologies Yellow Pages” for use by those responsible for environmental cleanup. The Guide is being produced as a multiagency cooperative effort published under the FRTR. Members of this effort include USAEC, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center (NFESC), the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Interstate Technologies Regulation Cooperative (ITRC). This article provides a comprehensive look at environmental technology information provided in the electronic user-defined Remediation Technologies Screening Matrix and Reference Guide.     

Workload and psychological strain: A test of the French,Rodgers, and Cobb hypothesis

This study of a random sample of self-employed and non-self-employed dentists tests the French, Rodgers, and Cobb (1974) hypothesis, which predicts a curvilinear relationship between psychological strain and person-environment fit. Self-employed dentists had lower strain scores (based on measures of job satisfaction and self-esteem) and greater congruency in P-E fit (based on comparisons of preferred and typical hours in practice) than dentists who were not self-employed. The relationship between strain and P-E fit among self-employed dentists was curvilinear. Both self-esteem and job satisfaction were higher for dentists with a congruent fit between typical and preferred workload and lower for dentists with incongruent fit.     

MOTIVATING REDUCTIONS IN DRAIN WATER WITH BLOCK-RATE PRICES FOR IRRIGATION WATER1

ABSTRACT: Increasing block-rate prices for irrigation water were implemented during 1989 in a 10,000-acre irrigation district in California's San Joaquin Valley. The program motivated improvements in irrigation practices that reduced the volume of water delivered to farm fields and the volume of drain water collected in on-farm drainage systems. The ratio of net crop water requirements to field deliveries increased from 0.65 in 1988 to 0.73 in 1989. The volume of drain water collected at a subset of 20 drainage systems was reduced by 351.1 acre-feet (11.5 percent). Estimated loads of salt, boron, and selenium were reduced by 2,407 tons (11.0 percent), 3.33 tons (11.0 percent), and 0.07 tons (9.2 percent).     

Timber harvest planning—A combined optimization/simulation model

A special cascading fixed charge structure can be used to characterize a forest management planning problem in which the objectives are to identify the optimal shape of forest harvest cutting units and simultaneously to assign facilities for logging those units. We describe a four-part methodology that has been developed to assist forest managers in analyzing areas proposed for harvesting. This methodology performs an analysis of harvesting feasibility, computes the optimal solution to the cascading fixed charge problem, undertakes a GASP IV simulation to provide additional information about the proposed harvesting operation, and permits the forest manager to perform a time-cost analysis that may lead to a more realistic, and thus improved, solution.     

Erosion control at construction sites on red clay soils

Five single-treatment methods used to stabilize seeded areas at urban and highway construction sites (asphalt-tacked straw, jute netting, mulch blanket, wood chips, excelsior blanket) were tested for their ability to control erosion of red clay soils by comparisons with exposed sites and multiple treatments. Sediment in runoff from experimental plots was characterized during low and high intensity precipitation from natural rainfall episodes during April, May, and June. Reductions in the total sediment concentration of runoff ranged from 28 percent (asphalt-tacked straw, 50 percent slope) to 90 percent (multiple treatments, 40 percent slope), with 85 percent of the eroded material composed of particles <0.04 mm in diameter. Larger size fractions were effectively reduced by all treatments tested regardless of slope (70 percent decrease). Established grass cover exceeded 90 percent on all plots after 60 days, but sediment release remained similar, attributable to high intensity rainfall, poor establishment of root systems, and piping on plots treated with tacked straw or jute netting. Results indicate that current stabilization methods shift sediment compostion toward a smaller particle size, causing single treatments to be minimally effective for controlling erosion of the major component of red clay soils. Because small particles have the greatest direct effect on aquatic biota, certain impacts of sedimentation may not be measurably lessened by single treatments in regions where red clays predominate even though the total sediment load is reduced by as much as 75 percent. Clearly, a multiple-treatment approach offers significantly greater control of erosion on red clay soils, however, current economic and construction policy represents a substantial deterrent to implementation.