Wireless charging and shared autonomous battery electric vehicles (W+SABEV): synergies that accelerate sustainable mobility and greenhouse gas emission reduction

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - Emerging technologies play important roles in shaping future mobility systems and impacting sustainability performance of the transportation...     

Diverse migration strategies in hoopoes (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Upupa epops</Emphasis>) lead to weak spatial but strong temporal connectivity

The annual cycle of migrating birds is shaped by their seasonal movements between breeding and non-breeding sites. Studying how migratory populations are linked throughout the annual cycle—migratory connectivity, is crucial to understanding the population dynamics of migrating bird species. This requires the consideration not only of spatial scales as has been the main focus to date but also of temporal scales: only when both aspects are taken into account, the degree of migratory connectivity can be properly defined. We investigated the migration behaviour of hoopoes (Upupa epops) from four breeding populations across Europe and characterised migration routes to and from the breeding grounds, location of non-breeding sites and the timing of key migration events. Migration behaviour was found to vary both within and amongst populations, and even though the spatial migratory connectivity amongst the populations was weak, temporal connectivity was strong with differences in timing amongst populations, but consistent timing within populations. The combination of diverse migration routes within populations and co-occurrence on the non-breeding grounds between populations might promote exchange between breeding populations. As a result, it might make hoopoes and other migrating bird species with similar strategies more resilient to future habitat or climatic changes and stabilise population trends.     

Using Hidden Markov Models to characterise intermittent social behaviour in fish shoals

The movement of animals in groups is widespread in nature. Understanding this phenomenon presents an important problem in ecology with many applications that range from conservation to robotics. Underlying all group movements are interactions between individual animals and it is therefore crucial to understand the mechanisms of this social behaviour. To date, despite promising methodological developments, there are few applications to data of practical statistical techniques that inferentially investigate the extent and nature of social interactions in group movement. We address this gap by demonstrating the usefulness of a Hidden Markov Model approach to characterise individual-level social movement in published trajectory data on three-spined stickleback shoals (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and novel data on guppy shoals (Poecilia reticulata). With these models, we formally test for speed-mediated social interactions and verify that they are present. We further characterise this inferred social behaviour and find that despite the substantial shoal-level differences in movement dynamics between species, it is qualitatively similar in guppies and sticklebacks. It is intermittent, occurring in varying numbers of individuals at different time points. The speeds of interacting fish follow a bimodal distribution, indicating that they are either stationary or move at a preferred mean speed, and social fish with more social neighbours move at higher speeds, on average. Our findings and methodology present steps towards characterising social behaviour in animal groups.     

Contaminant Exposure and Effects—Terrestrial Vertebrates Database: Trends and Data Gaps for Atlantic Coast Estuaries

In order to examine the condition of biota in Atlantic coast estuaries, "Contaminant Exposure and Effects—Terrestrial Vertebrates" database (CEE-TV) has been compiled through computerized search of published literature, review of existing databases, and solicitation of unpublished reports from conservation agencies, private groups, and universities. Summary information has been entered into the database, including species, collection date (1965–present), site coordinates, estuary name, hydrologic unit code, sample matrix, contaminant concentrations, biomarker and bioindicator responses, and reference source, utilizing a 98-field character and numeric format. Currently, the CEE-TV database contains 3699 geo-referenced records representing 190 vertebrate species and >140,000 individuals residing in estuaries from Maine through Florida. This relational database can be directly queried or imported into a Geographic Information System to examine spatial patterns, identify data gaps and areas of concern, generate hypotheses, and focus ecotoxicological field assessments. Information on birds made up the vast majority (83%) of the database, with only a modicum of data on amphibians (<0.1%). Of the >75,000 chemical compounds in commerce, only 118 commonly measured environmental contaminants were quantified in tissues of terrestrial vertebrates. There were no CEE-TV data records in 15 of the 67 estuaries located along the Atlantic coast and Florida Gulf coast. The CEE-TV database has a number of potential applications including focusing biomonitoring efforts to generate critically needed ecotoxicological data in the numerous "gaps" along the coast, reducing uncertainty about contaminant risk, identifying areas for mitigation, restoration or special management, and ranking ecological conditions of estuaries.     

Value congruence,control, sense of community and demands as determinants of burnout syndrome among hospitality workers

Employees working in the hospitality industry are constantly exposed to occupational stressors that may lead employees into experiencing burnout syndrome. Research addressing the interactive effects of control, community and value congruence to alleviate the impact of workplace demands on experiencing burnout is relatively limited. The present study examined relationships among control, community and value congruence, workplace demands and the three components of burnout. A sample of 418 employees working in a variety of hospitality associations including restaurants and hotels in Spain were recruited. Moderation analyses and linear regressions analyzed the predictive power of control, community and value congruence as moderating variables. Results indicate that control, community and value congruence were successful buffers in the relationships between workplace demands and the burnout dimensions. The present findings offer suggestions for future research on potential moderating variables, as well as implications for reducing burnout among hospitality employees.     

Practical Perspectives of 1,4‐Dioxane Investigation and Remediation

1,4‐Dioxane (dioxane) is a contaminant of emerging concern that is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a likely human carcinogen. Dioxane has been used as a minor or major ingredient in many applications, and is also generated as an unwanted by‐product of industrial processes associated with the manufacturing of polyethylene, nonionic surfactants, and many consumer products (cosmetics, laundry detergents, shampoos, etc.). Dioxane is also a known stabilizer of chlorinated solvents, particularly 1,1,1‐trichloroethane, and has been commonly found comingled with chlorinated solvent plumes. Dioxane plumes at chlorinated solvent sites can complicate site closure strategies, which to date have not typically focused on dioxane. Aggressive treatment technologies have greatly advanced and are clearly capable of achieving lower parts per billion cleanup criteria using ex situ advanced oxidation processes and sorption media. In situ chemical oxidation has also been demonstrated to effectively remediate dioxane and chlorinated solvents. Other in situ remedies, such as enhanced bioremediation, phytoremediation, and monitored natural attenuation, have been studied; however, their ability to achieve cleanup levels is still somewhat questionable and is limited by co‐occurring contaminants. This article summarizes and provides practical perspectives on dioxane analysis, plume stability relative to other contaminants, and the development of investigation tools and treatment technologies.     

Toxicity and Mutagenicity of Component Classes of Oils Isolated from Soils at Petroleum- and Creosote-Contaminated Sites

Abstract

Microtox and Ames bioassays were employed to assess acute toxicity and mutagenicity of water soluble components of class–fractionated oils extracted from one creosote–and four petroleum–contaminated soils. Microtox results revealed that potential acute toxicity resides mainly in the polar class fractions at three sites and indicated potential synergistic and antagonistic effects between compounds in the total extracts at two sites. Ames Salmonella/microsome testing indicated that the polyaromatic fractions at two sites exhibit weak mutagenicity with enzymatic activation, while the polar fractions at two sites are weakly mutagenic without enzyme activation. Further chemical characterization of the polar and polyaromatic fractions is required to fully assess the potential of health and ecological risks at the creosote–and petroleum–contaminated sites exhibiting these toxic responses.