Bioaerosol Concentration at an Outdoor Composting Center

ABSTRACT

Compost centers are one of many environments that produce airborne microorganisms. The objective of this study was to compare the bacterial, fungal, and acti-nomycete concentrations at the Norman, OK, compost center to background concentration of these same microorganisms. For this comparison, a modified Andersen Microbial Sampler was used. Sampling was performed at three sites at the outdoor compost center and at two background sites. The concentration of each microorganism was measured as total colony forming units per cubic meter (CFU/m³). The predominantly downwind compost center site had a 10-fold increase in all the microorganisms in comparison with the other sites (p < 0.05). The median concentrations (95% confidence interval) of total viable bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes at this site were 5059 (CI₉₅= 4952-9600) CFU/m³, 2023 (CI₉₅= 2586-6806) CFU/m³, 972 (CI₉₅= 964-1943) CFU/m³, and 2159 (CI₉₅= 1755-4190) CFU/m³, respectively.     

Regime shift in a coastal marine ecosystem

We demonstrate changes in ecosystem stable states in a coastal lagoon that are consistent with what a regime shift would hypothesize. In the nutrient-stressed Ringk?bing Fjord, Denmark, a small change in one variable (salinity) facilitated by a change in sluice management, caused a sudden regime shift from a bottom-up controlled turbid state, into a top-down controlled clear-water state. The change in dominating pathway of organic matter production from pelagic turnover to benthic-pelagic coupling was facilitated by new recruitment and growth of existing suspension-feeding clams, Mya arenaria. With the invasion of clams, benthic grazing became the key feature of the biological structure. Phytoplankton composition and zooplankton abundance were also affected by the change in biological structure. The small, but sudden, increase in salinity caused by the change in sluice management led to a dramatic reduction in biomass and coverage of benthic vegetation and thus affected herbivorous waterbird populations. In recent years, plant coverage has been increasing, as can be expected with increased water transparency. The regime shift has some major implications for coastal water management and revealed some conflicts between different types of nature and environmental protection legislation.     

Use of Small-area Data to Support a Community Agenda in Boston Chinatown

Boston Chinatown is a community that grapples with a constant pressure from the downtown area to build new and larger buildings. The effort to preserve the residential aspect of Chinatown has used data analysis in recent years by forming partnerships with academics. This has allowed for more sophisticated studies of traffic injuries, scientific surveys of residents about environmental health, the measurement of noise levels and the construction of physical and electronic mapping of data. While not the only factor contributing to the community's efforts to question the role of development, these data have added useful tools that reduce, but do not eliminate, the disparity between what the community brings to discussions about the environmental impact of development and what the developers have at their disposal.     

旅游认证体系

研究者们在全世界范围内确定了约 250种自愿性举措用来设立旅游业标准 . 这些举措包括行动 规范、奖励、标准检测、最佳方法和大约 70种提供批准标识或标志的生态标签和认证体系 . 这些体系越来越多地被用来展示在社会和 /或环境方面较好的行业 . 　　……     

Toxicity removal from hard board wastewater

The rapid growth of industry in Egypt in recent years has made industrial pollution an important issue. During the past decade fish production in some canals and lakes have virtually ceased due to the discharge of industrial and agricultural wastewater. The alternatives under study include effluent treatment before discharge to receiving water. Highly polluted wastewater from a hard board mill was treated using the activated sludge process. Factors affecting the efficiency of the treatment were detention time and organic loading rate. The results indicated that BOD and phenol reduction reached 82% and 94% respectively. when the organic loading rate was 0.1 (kg BOD/kg SS). The process proved to be successful in completely eliminating the toxicity effect of the waste on Nile fish (Tilapia nilotica).     

Changes in HIV/AIDS/STI knowledge, attitudes and practices among commercial sex workers and military forces in Port Loko, Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone suffered from 11 years of civil war (1991-2002) resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and mutilations together with massive population displacement. In 2001, ARC International, Sierra Leone conducted a baseline survey of 201 commercial sex workers (CSWs) and 202 military respondents on the knowledge, attitudes and practices surrounding HIV/AIDS and STIs in Port Loko, Sierra Leone. In 2003, a comparable post-intervention survey of 202 CSWs and 205 military respondents was performed. Comparison of baseline and post-intervention results showed that HIV/AIDS knowledge increased among both groups, with those able to name three effective means of avoiding AIDS increasing from 5 per cent to 70 per cent among CSWs, and 11 to 75 per cent among the military. Reported condom use during last sex increased among CSWs from 38 to 68 per cent and among military from 39 to 68 per cent. These results demonstrate that, despite the challenges inherent in a post-conflict country, good-quality AIDS-prevention programmes can be effective.     

Cometary dust studied with infrared photometry

Our knowledge of the physical properties of cometary dust grains derives primarily from measurements of their thermal emission and optical scattering. The infrared data for bright, nonperiodic comets have recently been augmented by observations of fainter periodic comets beyond 1 AU. Small absorbing grains, ? 1 μm radius, are necessary to explain the observed infrared flux at wavelengths 3 to 20 μm while small silicate grains are necessary to explain the excess flux near 10 and 18 μm observed in many comets within 1 AU of the sun. These conclusions are consistent with collected micrometeorites and dynamical analysis of comet dust tails. The thermal emission from all well-observed comets at R≦1.5 AU can be fit by a size distribution function with a change in mean particle size less than a factor 2.5.     

Socioecological influences on the reproductive success of female mountain gorillas (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gorilla beringei beringei</Emphasis>)

Over the past few decades, socioecological models have been developed to explain the relationships between the ecological conditions, social systems, and reproductive success of primates. Feeding competition, predation pressures, and risk of infanticide are predicted to influence how female reproductive success (FRS) depends upon their dominance rank, group size, and mate choices. This paper examines how those factors affected the reproductive success of female mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) of the Virunga Volcanoes, Rwanda from 1967–2004. Reproductive success was measured through analyses of interbirth intervals, infant survival, and surviving infant birth rates using data from 214 infants born to 67 females. Mountain gorillas were predicted to have “within-group scramble” feeding competition, but we found no evidence of lower FRS in larger groups, even as those groups became two to five times larger than the population average. The gorillas are considered to have negligible “within-group contest” competition, yet higher ranked mothers had shorter interbirth intervals. Infant survival was higher in multimale groups, which was expected because infanticide occurs when the male dies in a one-male group. The combination of those results led to higher surviving birth rates for higher ranking females in multimale groups. Overall, however, the socioecological factors accounted for a relatively small portion of the variance in FRS, as expected for a species that feeds on abundant, evenly distributed foliage.