Source profiles for industrial, mobile, and area sources in the Big Bend Regional Aerosol Visibility and Observational study

Representative PM2.5 and PM10 source emissions were sampled in Texas during the Big Bend Regional Aerosol Visibility and Observa (BRAVO) study. Chemical source profiles for elements, ions, and carbon fractions of 145 samples are reported for paved and unpaved road dust, soil dust, motor vehicle exhaust, vegetative burning, four coal-fired power stations, an oil refinery catalytic cracker, two cement kilns, and residential meat cooking. Several samples were taken from each emitter and source type, and these were averaged by source type, and in source subgroups based on commonality of chemical composition. The standard deviation represents the variability of the chemical mass fractions. BRAVO profiles differed in some respects from profiles measured elsewhere. High calcium abundances in geological dust, high selenium abundances in coal-fired power stations, and high antimony abundances in oil refinery catalytic cracker emissions were found. Abundances of eight thermally evolved carbon fractions [Atmos. Environ. 28 (15) (1994) 2493] differ among combustion sources, and a Monte Carlo simulation demonstrates that these differences are sufficient to differentiate among several carbon-emitters.     

Boundary between the north and south Atlantic populations of the swordfish (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Xiphias gladius</Emphasis>) inferred by a single nucleotide polymorphism at calmodulin gene intron

Genetic differentiation of the Atlantic swordfish (Xiphias gladius) was investigated by a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the calmodulin gene (CAM) intron locus. Clearly distinct allele and genotype frequencies were observed between the north (20–41°N) and mid-south (10°N–33°S) Atlantic samples. Much lower frequency of A allele (37.5–57.1%) was observed in the north samples (n = 160 in total) than in the mid-south samples (83.3–92.6%; n=354), and homozygote BB was common in the north samples (23.4–31.3%) but very rare or absent (0–3.9%) in the mid-south samples. Very strong population subdivision was observed between the two groups (F _ST = 0.34, P < 0.001), while the allele and genotype frequencies within each ocean basin persisted over time (1990–2002 in the north, and 1994–2002 in the mid-south). Of two samples from the presumed boundary zone, one (n = 18) (14°N, 48°W) presented intermediate frequencies of the A allele (66.7%) and BB homozygote (11.1%), while the other (n = 23) (10–17°N, 28–37°W) shared similar frequencies of the A allele (89.1%) and BB homozygote (4.3%) with those of the mid-south Atlantic samples. These results indicate that the gene flow and individual migration between the north and mid-south Atlantic populations are considerably restricted and that the current management boundary between the north and south Atlantic swordfish stocks of 5°N should be reconsidered.     

Fetal tissue involvement in the late infantile type of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis

Prenatal diagnosis in a pregnancy at risk for late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (Batten's disease) was undertaken at 17 weeks' gestation by ultrastructural examination of amniotic fluid cells. The presence of curvilinear profiles indicated an affected fetus and the diagnosis was confirmed, after the pregnancy was terminated, by the finding of many typical curvilinear profiles in multiple tissues which included skin, amnion, umbilical vessels, blood, liver, and brain. Comparison between the involved cells in the amniotic fluid and fetal tissues suggests that these cells are probably derived from the periderm, and possibly also from the amnion. The prominent presence of cytosomes in the periderm and intermediate cells of the fetal epidermis and occasionally also in the endothelial cells of the dermis suggests that fetal skin may be a useful alternative site for assessing fetal involvement. Control specimens of the amniotic fluid, fetal skin, amnion, and liver showed no similar cytosomes. However, some control amniotic fluid samples did contain cells with large collections of irregular trilaminar membranes, and these could be open to misinterpretation. It is important that only typical curvilinear profiles are considered as an indication of an affected pregnancy.     

PISCES: Tracking Trace Chemicals in Power Plants

PISCES, Power Plant Integrated Systems: Chemical Emissions Studies, is a multimedia chemical species project on plant emissions. Products generated in the PISCES project will help utilities design and operate their plants to minimize chemical species emissions. PISCES takes a holistic approach to the control of toxics by acknowledging that a chemical removed from a gas stream will appear in a liquid or solid stream.     

Crowding in platform staircases of a subway station in China during rush hours

Crowding during the morning peak hours at a platform staircase in a subway station in China was studied in this paper. Passenger flow was surveyed with normal evacuation time recorded. The evacuation process was simulated with the software buildingEXODUS. Predicted results on the total evacuation time and maximum flow capacity of the selected staircase were compared with the field observations. Two parameters, the width of staircase utilized per person and the maximum upstairs walking speed used in the software were identified to be noticeably different from the field studies. Predictions agreed better with the observations after tuning these two parameters. It is concluded that the evacuation simulation software can be applied for safety design with appropriate tuning on the key parameters through field tests.     

On-site rainwater harvesting and treatment for drinking water supply: assessment of cost and technical issues

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study assessed the performance of rainwater-harvesting systems installed for selected public utilities in the northern provinces of Vietnam where...     

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.     

Norwegian farmers ceasing certified organic production: Characteristics and reasons

This article examines the characteristics of and reasons for Norwegian farmers’ ceasing or planning to cease certified organic production. We gathered cross-sectional survey data in late 2007 from organic farmers deregistering between January 2004 and September 2007 (n = 220), and similar data from a random sample of farmers with certified organic management in 2006 (n = 407). Of the respondents deregistering by November 2007, 17% had quit farming altogether, 61% now farmed conventionally, and 21% were still farming by organic principles, but without certification. Nearly one in four organic farmers in 2007 indicated that they planned to cease certification within the next 5–10 years. From the two survey samples, we categorised farmers who expect to be deregistered in 5–10 years into three groups: conventional practices (n = 139), continuing to farm using organic principles (uncertified organic deregistrants, n = 105), and stopped farming (n = 33). Of the numerous differences among these groups, two were most striking: the superior sales of uncertified organic deregistrants through consumer-direct marketing and the lowest shares of organic land among conventional deregistrants. We summarised a large number of reasons for deregistering into five factors through factor analysis: economics, regulations, knowledge-exchange, production, and market access. Items relating to economics and regulations were the primary reasons offered for opting out. The regression analysis showed that the various factors were associated with several explanatory variables. Regulations, for example, figured more highly among livestock farmers than crop farmers. The economic factor strongly reflected just a few years of organic management. Policy recommendations for reducing the number of dropouts are to focus on economics, environmental attitudes, and the regulatory issues surrounding certified organic production.