Use of recycling stations in Borlänge, Sweden--volume weights and attitudes

This paper presents a study of recycling stations in the municipality of Borl?nge, Sweden. The main objectives were to measure volume weights of recyclables, to facilitate future planning of collection intervals and bin/container volume, and to investigate the general attitudes among the public towards waste management in general and recycling stations in particular. Volume weights measured in bins/containers were: paper/newsprint: 297 kg/m3, glass packaging: 297 kg/m3, metal packaging: 81.7 kg/m3, paper packaging: 27.8 kg/m3, plastic packaging: 28.1 kg/m3. The recycling stations have been in use since 1994. Most visitors (90%) arrived by car but said the visit to the recycling station was not the main purpose of the trip. The results from the interviews indicated that the people who use the recycling stations have found ways to incorporate waste sorting into their everyday lives, with the help of information, design of the collection system and environmental concerns.     

Risk Removed? Steps Towards Building Trust in Humanitarian Mine Action

This article examines the role of building trust in Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA). The role of trust following a mine-clearance operation is largely an unexplored region. Drawing on case studies from Angola, Mozambique and Afghanistan, the article explores how trust can be understood in the context of humanitarian initiatives such as landmine clearance, and outlines the challenges associated with building trust among populations with experience of armed conflict. Because trust is difficult to re-establish following a war, the argument presented here suggests that one way in which this can be done is through building relationships at the organisational and interpersonal levels. The analysis reviews specific measures that mine-action agencies have used to build trust, looking at the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The analysis concludes by suggesting general guidelines for how mine-action practitioners can facilitate trust, and by outlining some promising avenues for future research.     

Growth of the queen conch Strombus gigas,with a discussion of the practicality of its mariculture

Data on the growth of the large marine snail Strombus gigas was obtained from specimens collected as veligers in the plankton and reared through metamorphosis, from larger individuals (5.5 cm) reared in a mariculture system, and from field tagrecapture experiments. Using the von Bertalanffy growth equation, I estimate that 1, 2, and 3 year-old juvenile snails are 10.8, 17, and 20.5 cm in maximum shell length, respectively. The snails reach the flaring-lip stage after 3 years and have a mean longevity of another 3 years. Approximately 12% of the total weight of a juvenile snail is marketable meat. Measurements of meat weight, shell length, and total weight are highly correlated with one another, thereby providing reliable means of assessing meat yields from living snails. The mariculture of S. gigas is feasible, but because of the snails' slow rate of growth it may not be economically practical at this time. Perhaps local fisheries in the Caribbean Sea could be reestablished and/or maintained by seeding subtidal algal flats with hatchery-reared juvenile snails.     

Effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl on vitamin K-dependent blood coagulation in male and female WAG/Rij-rats

Newborns are susceptible to hemorrhages (hemorrhagic disease of the newborn or HDN) due to vitamin K deficiency. Induction of cytochrome P450 in the fetal liver by maternal anticonvulsant therapy such as phenobarbital or phenytoin is considered to be a major cause. An observed increase in late hemorrhagic disease (LHD) in breast fed neonates gave rise to the hypothesis that PCBs and dioxins, P450-inducing contaminants present in human milk, might effect vitamin K-dependent blood coagulation. This hypothesis was studied in rats. Administration of a single oral dose of 0.003, 0.03, 0.3, 3 or 30 nmol 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) per kg bodyweight or 0.75, 4, 20, 100 or 500 micromol 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl/kg bw (HxCB) to female and male rats resulted in dose-related reductions of the vitamin K-dependent coagulation factor VII. The highest factor VII reduction in female rats was 44%, observed after TCDD exposure. The Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level (LOAEL) of TCDD on female factor VII levels was 0.3 nmol/kg bw (96 ng/kg). There was a significant inverse correlation between Factor VII levels and induction of hepatic ethoxyresorufin O-deethylating (EROD) activity, reflecting CYP1A1, and total P450 content. HxCB had no effect on female coagulation factors. In contrast, in male rats only exposure to HxCB, which induces mainly CYP2B1 and 2B2, decreased both coagulation factors dramatically up to 88%. The LOAEL of HxCB on factor VII in male rats was 100 micromol/kg bw (36 mg/kg). In general, effects on coagulation factors in male rats exceeded those in females. In addition, sex-dependent differences of TCDD and HxCB were observed on the hepatic vitamin K cycle enzyme activities in female and male rats. Vitamin K-dependent (gamma-glutamyl carboxylase activity was mainly induced in female rats; 2.3-fold in the highest dose group of TCDD. In male rats only vitamin K 2,3-epoxide reductase (KO-reductase) activity was induced 1.7-fold by the highest dose of HxCB. KO-reductase activity in female rats was also increased by TCDD, however, less pronounced than the carboxylase activity. Concluding, the hepatic vitamin K cycle still functions and is not blocked by TCDD or HxCB, thus explaining the observed reduction in factor VII. Finally, the possible role of P450 in vitamin K deficiency is discussed. Based on these results it is suggested to investigate the possible role of PCBs and dioxin-like compounds in LHD in more detail.     

Dynamic exchange of gaseous elemental mercury during polar night and day

From February 29 until June 15 2008 gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) fluxes above a snow covered surface was measured in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard using a GEM flux gradient method. A clear seasonal pattern in the meteorological variables associated with the GEM flux was observed. For the first time in Ny-Ålesund a net deposition of GEM was recorded during polar night, despite the lack of Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDE). 7500 ng m⁻² GEM was emitted from the surface snow to the air during the entire study. The depositions of GEM and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) were calculated to be 1500 and 1000 ng m⁻², respectively, during the same time period. The GEM fluxes reported in this study were found to be comparable to GEM fluxes measured at other Arctic locations (i.e. Alert and Barrow), suggesting that GEM acts in a similar way throughout the Arctic. An assessment of the GEM flux gradient method used discovered a non-linear GEM concentration profile. The nonlinearity was explained by a non-stationary turbulence regime. The GEM flux calculated was not found to be representative for the entire surface boundary layer.