Air quality measurements for the aerosol research and inhalation epidemiology study

Measurements of pollutant gases, airborne particulate matter mass and composition, and meteorology have been made at a core site near downtown Atlanta, GA, since August 1998 in support of the Aerosol Research and Inhalation Epidemiology Study (ARIES). This site is one of eight in the Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization network. The measurement objective is to provide a long-term, multivariate dataset suitable for investigating statistical associations of respiratory and cardiovascular disease with airborne particulate matter composition, meteorology, and copollutant gases through epidemiologic modeling. Measurements are expected to continue through 2010. Ancillary multiyear measurements at additional sites in the Atlanta metropolitan area and in short-term exposure assessments have been used to estimate the exposure/measurement error associated with using data from a central site to approximate human exposures for the entire area. To date, 13-, 25-, and 53-month air quality datasets have been used in epidemiologic analyses.     

How important is vehicle safety in the new vehicle purchase/lease process for fleet vehicles?

OBJECTIVE: Despite the potential benefits that fleet vehicle purchase decisions could have on road safety, the role that vehicle safety plays in fleet managers' purchase decisions is poorly understood. METHODS: In this study, fleet managers from Sweden and Spain completed a questionnaire regarding the importance of vehicle safety in the new vehicle purchase/lease process and the importance that is placed on safety options/features relative to other convenience and comfort features. RESULTS: The findings of the current study suggest that vehicle safety is generally not the primary consideration in the vehicle purchase process and is consistently outranked by factors such as price and dependability/reliability. For example, when asked to indicate the vehicle factors that are included in their company's criteria for purchasing/leasing a new vehicle, fleet managers from both Sweden and Spain were more likely to list the vehicle's price, reliability, running costs, size, and fuel consumption than the vehicle's safety (defined as the vehicle's EuroNCAP rating/other safety reports). In addition, the findings of this study suggest that the importance of vehicle safety did not differ across the two countries. For example, there was no significant difference in the proportion of fleet managers who indicated that EuroNCAP ratings were part of their official policy across the two countries. CONCLUSION: The findings highlighted the need to educate fleet managers about vehicle safety in the new vehicle purchase/lease process. In addition, vehicle safety information, such as EuroNCAP results or other crash test results need to be promoted more widely and effectively so that they play a more prominent role in their new vehicle choices.     

In situ soil treatments to reduce the phyto- and bioavailability of lead, zinc, and cadmium

A study was established near a former Zn and Pb smelter to test the ability of soil amendments to reduce the availability of Pb, Zn, and Cd in situ. Soil collected from the field was amended in the lab with P added as 1% P-H3PO4, biosolids compost added at 10% (referred to hereafter as "compost"), and a high-Fe by-product (referred to hereafter as "Fe") + P-triple superphosphate (TSP) (2.5% Fe + 1% P-TSP) and incubated under laboratory conditions at a constant soil pH. Changes in Pb bioavailability were measured with an in vitro test and a feeding study with weanling rats. Field-amended and incubated soils using these plus additional treatments were evaluated using the in vitro extraction and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb. cv. Kentucky-31) metal concentration. Reductions were observed across all parameters but were not consistent. In the feeding study, the 1% P-H3PO4 and compost treatments resulted in a decrease of 26% in rat tissue Pb concentration compared with the control soil. The 2.5% Fe + 1% P-TSP showed a 39% decrease. The 1% P-H3PO4 treatment caused the greatest reduction in in vitro extractable Pb from field samples (pH 2.2) with a measured reduction of 66%, while the compost treatment had a 39% reduction and the 2.5% Fe + 1% P-TSP treatment a 50% reduction. The in vitro extraction (pH 1.5) run on field samples showed no reduction in the compost or Fe treatments. The 1% P-H3PO4 treatment was the most effective at reducing plant Pb, Zn, and Cd.     

General health status and functional disability following injury in traffic crashes

OBJECTIVE: With increasing rates of survival associated with traffic crashes, a shift to understand the consequences of injury has risen to prominence. This prospective cohort study set out to examine general health status and functional disability at 2 months and 6-8 months post-crash. METHODS: Participants were otherwise healthy adults aged 18-59 years admitted to hospitals, excluding those with moderate-severe head injury and spinal cord injury. Sixty-two adults completed interviews prior to discharge and at 2 months and 8 months post-discharge. RESULTS: By 8 months post-crash, 89 percent had resumed employment and or study, two thirds rated the resolution of their medical problems to be excellent (14.5 percent) or good (53 percent), and 82 percent were considered to be fully self-sufficient with respect to activities of daily living. Despite this, results from the SF-36 indicated significant reductions in health status at 2 and 8 months post-crash relative to pre-crash health, with domain scores up to 26 percent lower than pre-crash scores, while assessment of activities of daily living indicated residual functional disability at both follow-up times. Self-reported pain was higher for both males and females at both follow-up times compared with pre-crash self-reported pain. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated significant, ongoing loss of health-related quality of life and impairment associated with injuries sustained in road crashes, highlighting the need for continuing care post-discharge to facilitate a rapid return to optimal health.     

Parental conflict and blue egg coloration in a seabird

When both parents provide offspring care, equal sharing of costly parental duties may enhance reproductive success. This is crucial for longlived species, where increased parental effort in current reproduction profoundly affects future reproduction. Indication of reproductive value or willingness to invest in reproduction may promote matching responses by mates, thus reducing the conflict over care. In birds with biparental care, blue-green eggshell color may function as a signal of reproductive value that affects parental effort, as predicted by the signaling hypothesis of blue-green eggshell coloration. However, this hypothesis has not been explored during incubation, when the potential stimulus of egg color is present, and has been little studied in longlived birds. We experimentally studied if egg color affected incubation patterns in the blue-footed booby, a longlived species with biparental care and blue eggs. We exchanged fresh eggs between nests of the same laying date and recorded parental incubation effort on the following 4 days. Although egg color did not affect male effort, original eggshell color was correlated with pair matching in incubation. Exchanged eggshell color did not affect incubation patterns. This suggests that biliverdin-based egg coloration reflects female quality features that are associated with pair incubation effort or that blue-footed boobies mate assortatively high-quality pairs incubating more colorful clutches. An intriguing possibility is that egg coloration facilitates an equal sharing of incubation, the signal being functional only during a short period close to laying. Results also suggest that indication of reproductive value reduces the conflict over care.     

New estimates of down syndrome risks at chorionic villus sampling,amniocentesis, and livebirth in women of advanced maternal age from a uniquely defined population

Current measures of livebirth prevalence of Down syndrome are derived from data obtained up to 20 years ago, before the introduction of the prenatal diagnostic tests amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS). For women aged 36–52 years, but who were not tested prenatally, we proposed to make a direct estimate of current livebirth prevalence of Down syndrome. We could also determine prevalence at the time of CVS and amniocentesis in women of the same age undergoing prenatal testing. Differences in these prevalences allow an estimation of the relative loss of Down syndrome during pregnancy. In Victoria, Australia, we identified 3041 women having CVS, 7504 having amniocentesis, and 13 139 having no test. Smoothed regression estimates of age-specific livebirth prevalence were found to be higher than in the early studies. The estimate of spontaneous loss was 17 per cent between the time of CVS and amniocentesis, and 18 per cent after the time of amniocentesis. The latter figure is lower than previous estimates and may be explained by a greater likelihood of a Down syndrome fetus surviving to be liveborn, given the modern approach to early obstetric intervention. These current risk estimates of livebirth may be useful updates for genetic counselling, but perhaps more importantly, may be used as precise maternal age-related risk figures, necessary in the design and implementation of prenatal screening programmes for Down syndrome.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ether in sewage sludge in Germany

Sewage sludge samples from 11 municipal waste water treatment plants in Germany were collected from March 2002 to June 2003. Total Tri- to HpBDE concentrations (sum of significant congeners BDE 28, 47, 99, 153, 154 and 183) ranged from 12.5 to 288 (median 108) and DeBDE (BDE 209) concentrations from 97.1 to 2217 (median 256) ng/gd.m. BDE 209 dominated the congener profile. A significant change of the Tri- to HpBDE congener profile (% of total BDE 28, 47, 99, 153, 154, 183 without 209) in sludge from different stages of the waste water treatment process (primary sludge, secondary excess sludge and (dewatered) digested sludge), indicating a degradation of DeBDE to these congeners, was not observed.