Modeling China's semiconductor industry fluorinated compound emissions and drafting a roadmap for climate protection

Fluorinated compounds (FC) are high-global warming potential (GWP) greenhouse gases used and emitted during the manufacture of silicon semiconductor devices. Following the U.S. EPA's PFC Emissions Vintage Model (PEVM), uncontrolled FC emissions are modeled as proportional to total manufactured layer area (TMLA) of silicon. FC emissions of World Semiconductor Council (WSC) charter member countries (Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States), which voluntarily committed in 1999 to lower FC emissions by 2010 to 10% of baseline year emissions, are modeled for the period 1995–2020. For this same period, emissions from Chinese manufacturers under alternative emission reduction scenarios are modeled. If Chinese manufacturers were to adopt a baseline year of 2005 and a reduction target of 10% below baseline year emissions to be achieved by 2020, emissions would be 3.4 MMTCO₂eq, comparable to the similarly projected controlled emissions of an average WSC charter member country (=16.3/5 MMTCO₂eq) in 2020. The relative stringency of the alternative reduction scenarios considered for China vary between 50 and 95% reduction compared to business as usual (BAU). This is comparable to the stringency of the WSC charter members’ goals for which FC emission reduction technologies are currently available.     

Nonadditive effects of floral display and spur length on reproductive success in a deceptive orchid

Pollinators may mediate selection on traits affecting pollinator attraction and effectiveness, and while nonadditive effects of traits influencing the two components of pollination success are expected when seed production is pollen limited, they have been little studied. In a factorial design, we manipulated one putative attraction trait (number of flowers) and one putative efficiency trait (spur length) previously shown to be subject to pollinator-mediated selection in the deceptive orchid Dactylorhiza lapponica. Removal of half of the flowers reduced pollen removal, proportion of flowers receiving pollen, fruit set, and fruit mass compared to unmanipulated plants, while spur-tip removal increased fruit set and fruit mass but did not affect pollen removal or proportion of flowers receiving pollen. The effect of spur-tip removal on fruit mass was stronger among plants with intact number of flowers compared to plants with experimentally reduced number of flowers. The results demonstrate that number of flowers and spur length are direct targets of selection and may affect female fitness nonadditively. More generally, they show that the adaptive value of a given trait can depend on floral context and illustrate how experimental approaches can advance our understanding of the evolution of trait combinations.     

A pilot study of pesticides and PCBs in the breast milk of women residing in urban and agricultural communities of California

Currently, there is no nationally representative human milk biomonitoring program in the United States (U.S.) and no studies have reported non-persistent pesticides in the milk of U.S. women. In this pilot study we developed a multiresidue laboratory method to measure non-persistent and persistent pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in human milk samples from women residing in the agricultural region of Salinas, CA (n = 13) and the urban San Francisco Bay Area, CA (n = 21). Samples were collected from 2002-2007. Median concentrations in pg g(-1) milk among urban and agricultural women, respectively were reported for: chlorpyrifos (24.5 and 28.0), cis-permethrin (81.9 and 103), trans-permethrin (93.1 and 176), hexachlorobenzene (191 and 223), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (220 and 443), o,p'-DDT (36.6 and 62.4), p,p'-DDT,(107 and 102), o,p'-DDE (5.65 and 5.17), p,p'-DDE (3170 and 3490), dacthal (2.79 and 3.43), PCB 118 (92.8 and 17.0), PCB 138 (183 and 38.2), PCB 153 (242 and 43.6) and PCB 180 (239 and 683). Among urban women, median concentrations were 4.02 and 4.32 pg g(-1) milk for chlorpyrifos-methyl and propoxur, respectively. These results suggest that neonates and young children may be exposed to persistent and non-persistent pesticides and PCBs via breast milk.     

The efficacy of maternal age screening for Down's syndrome in Wessex

The uptake of amniocentesis in Wessex for the period 1986–1988 was 36 per cent (2873 of 8004 births), a proportion that has not altered significantly since 1984. There is a large difference in uptake between women in the lower risk age group, 35–36 years, and those in the higher risk group, 37 + years, and very considerable differences in uptake among different districts. The prenatal detection over the 3-year study period for women aged 35 or more, after correction for spontaneous loss of Down's syndrome fetuses between prenatal detection and birth, is 53 per cent, a figure that must be inflated due to our failure to ascertain all liveborn Down's syndrome patients.     

Rapid detection of nanoplastics and small microplastics by Nile-Red staining and flow cytometry

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Microplastics are of rising health concerns because they have been detected even in remote and pristine environments, from the Artic snow to the Marianne Trench....     

Fauna of the green alga Cladophora glomerata in the Baltic Sea: density, diversity, and algal decomposition stage

The green alga Cladophora glomerata (L.) is a common macrophyte in the northern Baltic Sea, where it forms drifting mats during summer. We studied the effect of its stage of decomposition on the density, diversity, and resource usage of associated meio- and macrofauna. We hypothesised that mobile species would show small variation in food preferences among decomposition stages, while high variation was expected in stationary species, as reflected in their stable isotope signatures. The assemblage structure of the fauna differed between the 3 studied algal degradation stages, Green (attached, healthy), Degraded (attached, but starting to decay), and Drift (detached, decaying). C/N ratios were highest in green algae and decreased in decaying algal stages. Variation in stable isotope ratios of stationary and mobile species supported our resource use hypothesis. The decomposition stage of C. glomerata significantly affected the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of both the alga and its main grazer species. Higher invertebrate diversity in the more decaying stages was probably facilitated by decomposer microbes adding resource types and by the proximity of the detached algal mats to the sediment.     

Differential effect of ultraviolet exposure (UVR) in the stress response of the Dinophycea Gymnodinium sp. and the Chlorophyta Dunaliella tertiolecta: mortality versus survival

Dunaliella tertiolecta (Chlorophyta) and Gymnodinium sp. (Dinophyceae) cells were exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) (PAR, UVA and UVB: PAB) for 6 days either continuously or during a photoperiod. Both UVR treatments were harmful to Gymnodinium but exposure to continuous PAB had the most dramatic effects. Although a number of lesions/damage could have happened during the first few hours of exposure to UVR, in less than 24 h, Gymnodinium lost its ability to detoxify ROS efficiently, photoinhibition occurred, thymine dimers formed in the DNA, caspase-like enzymatic activities DEVDase sharply increased and cells died as determined by SYTOX-green staining. Superoxide dismutase activity did not significantly change with time, and although the catalase activity augmented in both treatments, cells still suffered from the UVR stress. Clearly, UVR was fatal to the dinoflagellate. For the chlorophyte, however, cell numbers increased regardless of the UVR treatment and mortality remained low (<20 %). F _v/F _m showed an initial decrease but then remained constant for both light treatments. After 6 days of continuous PAB exposure, however, signs of stress (thymine dimers, oxidative stress) paralleled a drop in catalase activity. Results obtained here demonstrate that the dinoflagellate Gymnodinium was much more sensitive and was harmed more rapidly by UVR exposure than the chlorophyte D. tertiolecta. The increased tolerance to UVR exposure of the chlorophyte may provide advantages over other more sensitive phytoplankton species within the photic zone. We provide strong support in the present study for repair being an important component of UV resistance in this species.     

A comparison of three empirically based, spatially explicit predictive models of residential soil Pb concentrations in Baltimore, Maryland, USA: understanding the variability within cities

In many older US cities, lead (Pb) contamination of residential soil is widespread; however, contamination is not uniform. Empirically based, spatially explicit models can assist city agencies in addressing this important public health concern by identifying areas predicted to exceed public health targets for soil Pb contamination. Sampling of 61 residential properties in Baltimore City using field portable X-ray fluorescence revealed that 53 % had soil Pb that exceeded the USEPA reportable limit of 400 ppm. These data were used as the input to three different spatially explicit models: a traditional general linear model (GLM), and two machine learning techniques: classification and regression trees (CART) and Random Forests (RF). The GLM revealed that housing age, distance to road, distance to building, and the interactions between variables explained 38 % of the variation in the data. The CART model confirmed the importance of these variables, with housing age, distance to building, and distance to major road networks determining the terminal nodes of the CART model. Using the same three predictor variables, the RF model explained 42 % of the variation in the data. The overall accuracy, which is a measure of agreement between the model and an independent dataset, was 90 % for the GLM, 83 % for the CART model, and 72 % for the RF model. A range of spatially explicit models that can be adapted to changing soil Pb guidelines allows managers to select the most appropriate model based on public health targets.     

UV-B辐射对设施桃结果枝同化物转运和分配的影响

以6年生设施栽培‘春捷’毛桃(Prunus persica cv.Chunjie)为试材,设对照和补充UV-B辐射的低、中、高剂量3个处理,在果实成熟后对果实单果重、可溶性固形物含量和可溶性糖含量进行测定;在果实发育不同时期饲喂14C标记的CO2,并采样由中国科学院原子能利用研究所对样品14C放射性活度(cpm值)进行测定;研究了不同剂量UV-B辐射对设施桃树果实不同发育时期光合碳同化产物转运和分配特性的影响.结果表明:(1)果实膨大期,碳同化物向果实中分配比例最高的是低强度辐射处理,达到54.67%,向营养器官中分配比例最高的是中强度处理,为58.98%;硬核期,果肉对碳同化物的竞争能力最强的是高强度处理,分配比例为31.73%;果实着色期促进碳同化物向果肉中转运的效果最显著的则是中强度处理,分配比例达到87.88%.(2)通过补充外源UV-B辐射,设施桃果实单果重、可溶性固形物含量及可溶性糖含量均有显著提高.综上,光合碳同化物在设施桃树各器官中的转运和分配受果实发育时期影响;补充UV-B辐射可以增强果实对光合碳同化物的竞争能力,从而导致光合碳同化物在果实中的分配比例增加.     

Workaholism and mental health among Polish academic workers

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between workaholism and mental health among 126 Polish academic workers. The participants' mean age was 45.9 years, 51.6% of them were women. The participants completed 2 questionnaires: the work addiction risk test and the general health questionnaire. Even though 66% of the subjects were classified in the group of moderate-to-high risk of workaholism, the overall state of mental health was categorized as average. The results revealed that workaholism was associated with poorer mental health. Employees with higher levels of workaholism had worse state of health, i.e., more somatic symptoms, higher levels of anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction and symptoms of depression. Emotional arousal/perfectionism was the strongest predictor of the state of general health and was mostly responsible for harmful effects on mental health. However, the general effect of workaholism on health was not as strong as expected.