Multiple regression analysis of the sources of variation in orientation of two sympatric sandhoppers, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Talitrus saltator</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Talorchestia brito</Emphasis>, from an exposed Mediterranean beach

Two sympatric species from an exposed sandy beach in north-western Tunisia, the sandhoppers Talitrus saltator (Montagu) and Talorchestia brito Stebbing, were compared as regards orientation under natural conditions. Sets of experiments were carried out on the beach using two experimental arenas, one permitting the view of both the sky and landscape and the other of the sky only. Replicates were made at different hours of the day, in different days and period of the year and with various climatic conditions. Multiple regression models were fitted to the angular data obtained. These models allow an estimate of the trends of variation depending on a combination of factors. The simultaneous effects of environmental factors influencing orientation were quantified for each species. The sun was confirmed as the major orientation cue in these populations, but the concentration of directional choices was enhanced by the landscape vision. The climatic factors affected orientation in different ways depending on the time of day and year. When the two species were compared, Talitrus saltator showed a higher flexibility of response than Talorchestia brito under the same environmental conditions, supporting the hypothesis of a higher level of terrestrialization of the former species.     

Environmental Perceptions and Social Relations in the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve

Biosphere reserves were developed in part to integrate conservation with regional development objectives and thereby to include protected areas within the resource management of inhabited areas. The Mapimí Biosphere Reserve of Durango, Mexico, provides an example of the difficulties confronted by protected-area managers in implementing the biosphere reserve concept, especially when groups with vested interests in the site perceive the same environment differently. The reserve supports a long-term research program on the ecology of the Chihuahuan Desert and has succeeded in protecting an endangered species of tortoise with the cooperation of the local residents. However, coexisting forms of land tenure and resource management, including extensive cattle grazing prevent complete protection of the core zone, and the gap between basic and applied research has hindered the reserve's managers and researchers from developing their good public relations into a plan for regional conservation.     

Public registers of environmental information: an assessment of their role

Considerable importance is attached to the role of the public in environmental matters as consumers, investors, lobbyists and electors. To involve the public in safeguarding the environment it is necessary to capture their interest and to inform them. This paper assesses the contribution of registers of environmental information as one way of informing the public. It draws together the findings of three separate pieces of research into the use of public registers (including water registers, planning registers, local air pollution control registers and waste registers) undertaken in the last seven years. The registers are assessed in terms of their contribution in promoting public reassurance, agency accountability, industrial responsibility and public participation.     

Standardized error severity score (ESS) ratings to quantify risk associated with child restraint system (CRS) and booster seat misuse

Objective: Although numerous research studies have reported high levels of error and misuse of child restraint systems (CRS) and booster seats in experimental and real-world scenarios, conclusions are limited because they provide little information regarding which installation issues pose the highest risk and thus should be targeted for change. Beneficial to legislating bodies and researchers alike would be a standardized, globally relevant assessment of the potential injury risk associated with more common forms of CRS and booster seat misuse, which could be applied with observed error frequency—for example, in car seat clinics or during prototype user testing—to better identify and characterize the installation issues of greatest risk to safety.

Methods: A group of 8 leading world experts in CRS and injury biomechanics, who were members of an international child safety project, estimated the potential injury severity associated with common forms of CRS and booster seat misuse. These injury risk error severity score (ESS) ratings were compiled and compared to scores from previous research that had used a similar procedure but with fewer respondents. To illustrate their application, and as part of a larger study examining CRS and booster seat labeling requirements, the new standardized ESS ratings were applied to objective installation performance data from 26 adult participants who installed a convertible (rear- vs. forward-facing) CRS and booster seat in a vehicle, and a child test dummy in the CRS and booster seat, using labels that only just met minimal regulatory requirements. The outcome measure, the risk priority number (RPN), represented the composite scores of injury risk and observed installation error frequency.

Results: Variability within the sample of ESS ratings in the present study was smaller than that generated in previous studies, indicating better agreement among experts on what constituted injury risk. Application of the new standardized ESS ratings to installation performance data revealed several areas of misuse of the CRS/booster seat associated with high potential injury risk.

Conclusions: Collectively, findings indicate that standardized ESS ratings are useful for estimating injury risk potential associated with real-world CRS and booster seat installation errors.     

Evaluation of developmental metrics for utilization in a pediatric advanced automatic crash notification algorithm

Objective: Appropriate treatment at designated trauma centers (TCs) improves outcomes among injured children after motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). Advanced Automatic Crash Notification (AACN) has shown promise in improving triage to appropriate TCs. Pediatric-specific AACN algorithms have not yet been created. To create such an algorithm, it will be necessary to include some metric of development (age, height, or weight) as a covariate in the injury risk algorithm. This study sought to determine which marker of development should serve as a covariate in such an algorithm and to quantify injury risk at different levels of this metric.

Methods: A retrospective review of occupants age < 19 years within the MVC data set NASS-CDS 2000–2011 was performed. R² values of logistic regression models using age, height, or weight to predict 18 key injury types were compared to determine which metric should be used as a covariate in a pediatric AACN algorithm. Clinical judgment, literature review, and chi-square analysis were used to create groupings of the chosen metric that would discriminate injury patterns. Adjusted odds of particular injury types at the different levels of this metric were calculated from logistic regression while controlling for gender, vehicle velocity change (delta V), belted status (optimal, suboptimal, or unrestrained), and crash mode (rollover, rear, frontal, near-side, or far-side).

Results: NASS-CDS analysis produced 11,541 occupants age < 19 years with nonmissing data. Age, height, and weight were correlated with one another and with injury patterns. Age demonstrated the best predictive power in injury patterns and was categorized into bins of 0–4 years, 5–9 years, 10–14 years, and 15–18 years. Age was a significant predictor of all 18 injury types evaluated even when controlling for all other confounders and when controlling for age- and gender-specific body mass index (BMI) classifications. Adjusted odds of key injury types with respect to these age categorizations revealed that younger children were at increased odds of sustaining Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2+ and 3+ head injuries and AIS 3+ spinal injuries, whereas older children were at increased odds of sustaining thoracic fractures, AIS 3+ abdominal injuries, and AIS 2+ upper and lower extremity injuries.

Conclusions: The injury patterns observed across developmental metrics in this study mirror those previously described among children with blunt trauma. This study identifies age as the metric best suited for use in a pediatric AACN algorithm and utilizes 12 years of data to provide quantifiable risks of particular injuries at different levels of this metric. This risk quantification will have important predictive purposes in a pediatric-specific AACN algorithm.     

A spatial risk assessment methodology to support the remediation of contaminated land

When soil and groundwater contaminations occur over large areas, remediation measures should be spatially prioritized on the basis of the risk posed to human health and in compliance with technological and budget constraints. Within this scope, the application of human health risk assessment algorithms in a spatially resolved environment raises a number of methodological and technical complexities. In this paper, a methodology is proposed and applied in a case study to support the entire formulation process of remediation plans, encompassing hazard assessment, exposure assessment, risk characterisation, uncertainty assessment and allocation of risk reduction measures. In the hazard assessment, it supports the selection of Contaminants of Concern (CoC) with regard to both their average concentrations and peak concentrations, i.e. hot spots. In the exposure assessment, it provides a zoning of the site based on the geostatistical mapping of contaminant. In the risk characterisation, it generates vector maps of Risk Factors on the basis of the risk posed by multiple substances and allows the interrogation of most relevant CoC and exposure pathways for each zone of the site. It also supports the Monte Carlo based probabilistic estimation of the Risk Factors and generates maps of the associated uncertainty. In the risk reduction phase, it supports the formulation of remediation plans based on the stepwise spatial allocation of remediation interventions and the on-time simulation of risk reduction performances. The application of this methodology is fully supported by an easy-to-use and customized Geographical Information System and does not require high expertise for interpretation. The proposed methodology is the core module of a Decision Support System (DSS) that was implemented in the DESYRE software aimed at supporting the risk-based remediation of megasites.     

Effects of nitrogen addition on the growth of the salt marsh grassElymus athericus

Effects of nitrogen addition on the growth of the salt marsh grassElymus athericus were studied under greenhouse conditions. The addition of inorganic nitrogen (in the form of nitrate or ammonium and ranging from 0–24 g N/m²) stimulated the growth ofElymus athericus at the highest addition. Addition of nitrogen led to an increase of the soil nitrate concentrations both in the nitrate and ammonium treated soil in the first period of the experiment, whereas no differences were present at the end of the experiment. Ammonium in the ammonium treatments was transformed to nitrate within 15 days. In another experiment the values of the stable isotope nitrogen-15—expressed as δ¹⁵N-in nitrogen compounds used as fertilizer, in salt marsh soil and ofElymus athericus were measured. The δ¹⁵N of the N-compounds added (between ?3.2 and +2.6‰) were lower than the soil (ca.+10‰) and plants (ca.+8‰). During growth in water culture the δ¹⁵N of the leaves, stems and roots ofElymus athericus decreased from +9‰ to ?1‰. The latter value was close to the °¹⁵N of the N-compounds used in the water solution. Addition of N-compounds in soil culture, however, did not lead to such a decrease of the °¹⁵N ofElymus athericus. The difference in δ¹⁵N between soil nitrogen and the N-compounds added may be too small to be used successfully in ecological studies of nitrogen fluxes in the salt marsh environment.