Explicitness of consequence information in warnings

Four experiments were carried out to assess effects of product warning explicitness on purchase preferences and caution in use. Explicitness was defined as the specificity or detail with which potential injury consequences were described. All experiments employed a paradigm in which warnings varying in explicitness were described for familiar products. Subjects rated various perceptions of the products, purchase preferences, and intent to act cautiously in using the product. Results indicated that more explicit warnings were associated with greater levels of perceived dangerousness, hazard understanding, injury severity, and manufacturers' concern. While explicit warnings were also associated with an increased intent to act cautiously in using products, no clear relationship was found between explicitness and purchase preferences. It is recommended that product warnings should be explicit regarding injury consequences, especially where injuries may be severe. Given such information, product users, particularly those less familiar with a product, are more likely to exercise greater caution during use. Further, manufacturers' concern that explicit warnings may negatively impact sales appears to be unwarranted.     

Gametogenic periodicity in the chemosynthetic cold-seep mussel “<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bathymodiolus” childressi</Emphasis>

The gametogenic periodicity of the cold seep mussel “Bathymodiolus” childressi was analysed from a time series of samples from depths of ∼ 650 m surrounding the Brine Pool cold seep on the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Occasional samples were retrieved from Bush Hill and GC 234 for comparison. At the Brine Pool, both females and males showed strong reproductive periodicity with the initiation of gametogenesis from December to March, followed by a period of gamete growth or proliferation and spawning from October to February. Gametogenesis was synchronized at all three sites. Gametogenic periodicity appears to be correlated with surface production that peaks during the winter months. Downward flux of detritus during this period may provide food for the planktotrophic larvae and also supplementary nutrition for the adult, which has chemosynthetic bacterial symbionts but is also capable of filter feeding. Individuals in all three populations carried parasites and these were especially common at Bush Hill and GC234, where it is suggested they have a major impact on reproductive output.     

Combined steam-dry reforming of toluene in syngas over CaNiRu/Al2O3 catalysts

Cracking, steam reforming, dry reforming, and combined steam and dry reforming of toluene in model syngas were performed using catalysts to simulate tar removal produced during biomass gasification. The catalysts were prepared by adding Ru, Ca, and Mn to Ni-based catalysts, and their properties were measured using BET, pulse CO chemisorption, XRD and TG. In steam and dry reforming of toluene, a high toluene conversion was observed with increasing Ca content in the catalyst and catalysts containing Ca showed a higher activity than those containing Mn. In combined steam-dry reforming with syngas, 1%CaNiRu/Al₂O₃ indicated a conversion of 93.9% at 800°C.     

Fine Dust Filtration Using a Metal Fiber Bed

Abstract

A bed-type filter composed of thin metal alloy fiber was closely examined with dust capturing in cold and hot runs. The investigation of an individual mechanism across the filter bed indicated that the aerated dust could be initially collected by depth filtration, and after a while, surface filtration dominated the overall dust collection. The present metal fiber bed was comparable to the conventional ceramic filters because of its good collection efficiency with low pressure drop. It also showed potential to be used as a prefilter in a diesel exhaust trapping system.     

Water quality changes of a closed underground coal mine in Korea

The objective of this study was to assess the changes in mine water quality as an underground mine flooded from July 2005 to October 2008. The effect of air injection with a blower into the water was used to evaluate the potential to convert ferrous to ferric iron and to provide in situ treatment and precipitation. Mine flooding averaged 31 cm/day with a linear shape until November 2007, when it flattened out due to outflow. During flooding, mine water pH remained around 6, but Eh shifted from 200 to −150 mV. After the mine water level stabilized, contents of elements such as Fe and SO₄ tended to decrease as time passed. Air was injected by diffusers (150 L/min/each) at three different depths of 2, 3, and 5 m below the water level in the shaft. Dissolved oxygen eventually increased to 4 or 5 mg/L depending on the depth of the diffusers. Aeration caused conversion of ferrous iron to ferric iron and about 30 mg/l of iron was removed from the mine water. Therefore, air injection shows potential as a semi-active treatment or part of conventional treatment to precipitate iron in the mine pool.     

Fuel Reduction Management Practices in Riparian Areas of the Western USA

Two decades of uncharacteristically severe wildfires have caused government and private land managers to actively reduce hazardous fuels to lessen wildfire severity in western forests, including riparian areas. Because riparian fuel treatments are a fairly new management strategy, we set out to document their frequency and extent on federal lands in the western U.S. Seventy-four USDA Forest Service Fire Management Officers (FMOs) in 11 states were interviewed to collect information on the number and characteristics of riparian fuel reduction treatments in their management district. Just under half of the FMOs surveyed (43%) indicated that they were conducting fuel reduction treatments in riparian areas. The primary management objective listed for these projects was either fuel reduction (81%) or ecological restoration and habitat improvement (41%), though multiple management goals were common (56%). Most projects were of small extent (93% < 300 acres), occurred in the wildland-urban interface (75%), and were conducted in ways to minimize negative impacts on species and habitats. The results of this survey suggest that managers are proceeding cautiously with treatments. To facilitate project planning and implementation, managers recommended early coordination with resource specialists, such as hydrologists and fish and wildlife biologists. Well-designed monitoring of the consequences of riparian fuel treatments on fuel loads, fire risk, and ecological effects is needed to provide a scientifically-defensible basis for the continued and growing implementation of these treatments.     

Sustainability of natural resource use for an Amazonian indigenous group

This research examines how the Kandozi indigenous group governs access to fish and timber for sale and evaluates their perceptions of sustainability of those natural resources. The Kandozi occupy a biodiverse tropical forest in the northern Peruvian Amazon with lakes and seasonally flooded areas. Qualitative methods and a comparative examination of access to resources were used to explore current processes that shape access and the people’s perceptions of their benefit from natural resources. Results indicated that environmental heterogeneity, kinship, land tenure, the legal framework, and knowledge all shaped access with some differences due to the dissimilar natures of fish and timber. This research concludes that the sustainability of this and similar systems are dependent upon the moment at which the analysis is done, because of the changing needs of people over time, in addition to changes in external factors and the natural variations that occur in the resources used. The range of relations and interactions among different processes that shape access, and the historically contingent characteristic of access and its evolution over time, help better understand the complexity of a given social-ecological system.     

Source-to-receptor pathways of anthropogenic PM2.5 in Detroit,Michigan: Comparison of two inhalation exposure studies

Recent studies have attributed toxic effects of ambient fine particulate matter (aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm; PM_2.5) to physical and/or chemical properties rather than total mass. However, identifying specific components or sources of a complex mixture of ambient PM_2.5 that are responsible for adverse health effects is still challenging. In order to improve our understanding of source-to-receptor pathways for ambient PM_2.5 (links between sources of ambient PM_2.5 and measures of biologically relevant dose), integrated inhalation toxicology studies using animal models and concentrated air particles (CAPs) were completed in southwest Detroit, a community where the pediatric asthma rate is more than twice the national average. Ambient PM_2.5 was concentrated with a Harvard fine particle concentrator housed in AirCARE1, a mobile air research laboratory which facilitates inhalation exposure studies in real-world settings. Detailed characterizations of ambient PM_2.5 and CAPs, identification of major emission sources of PM_2.5, and quantification of trace elements in the lung tissues of laboratory rats that were exposed to CAPs for two distinct 3-day exposure periods were completed.This paper describes the physical/chemical properties and sources of PM_2.5, pulmonary metal concentrations and meteorology from two different 3-day exposure periods—both conducted at the southwest Detroit location in July 2003—which resulted in disparate biological effects. More specifically, during one of the exposure periods, ambient PM_2.5-derived trace metals were recovered from lung tissues of CAPs-exposed animals, and these metals were linked to local combustion point sources in southwest Detroit via receptor modeling and meteorology; whereas in the other exposure period, no such trace metals were observed. By comparing these two disparate results, this investigation was able to define possible links between PM_2.5 emitted from refineries and incinerators and biologically relevant dose, which in turn may be associated with observed health effects.