Trill performance components vary with age, season, and motivation in the banded wren

Acoustic displays with difficult-to-execute sounds are often subject to strong sexual selection because performance levels are related to the sender’s condition or genetic quality. Performance may also vary with age, breeding stage, and motivation related to social context. We focused on within-male variation in four components of trill performance in banded wren (Thryophilus pleurostictus) songs: note consistency, frequency bandwidth, note rate, and vocal deviation. The latter is a composite measure reflecting deviation from the performance limit on simultaneously maximizing both frequency bandwidth and note rate. We compared the changes in these song parameters at three time scales: over the course of years, across the breeding season, and at different times of the day with contrasting agonistic contexts. Vocal deviation decreased and note consistency increased between years, suggesting that experience may improve individual proficiency at singing trills. Consistency also increased across the season, confirming that practice is important for this parameter. Although there was no significant seasonal change in vocal deviation, one of its components, note rate, increased during the season. Neither vocal deviation nor consistency varied with agonistic context. However, note rate increased during playback experiments simulating territorial intrusions compared to dawn chorus singing. The magnitude of a male’s increase in note rate was positively correlated with his aggressive behavior during the playback experiment. Thus consistency, bandwidth, and vocal deviation indicate age, whereas trill rate flexibly indicates the singer’s aggressive motivation. We also found evidence of a within-male trade-off between vocal deviation and consistency.     

A novel additive for the reduction of acid gases and NO(x) in municipal waste incinerator flue gas.

The reduction of SO2, HCl, and NO(x) concentrations using calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) as a novel sorbent in a simulated municipal waste incinerator flue gas was investigated. The reduction of individual SO2, HCl, and NO(x) concentrations was tested at 850 degrees C and it was found that CMA could reduce the SO2 concentration by 74%, HCl concentration by 64%, or NO(x) concentration by 94%. It was observed that individual SO2 or HCl capture increased with increasing initial oxygen concentration in the reacting gas or increasing sorbent input. NO(x) reduction decreased with increasing initial oxygen concentration in the reacting gas. The simultaneous reduction of SO2, HCl, and NO(x) concentrations by CMA was also investigated. It was found that CMA could simultaneously capture 60% SO2 and 61% HCl and reduce NO(x) concentrations by 26%, when the initial oxygen concentration in the reacting gas was 4%. During the simultaneous reduction of SO2, HCl, and NO(x), it was noted that as the initial oxygen concentration in the reacting gas increased, the efficiency of SO2 capture increased too, but the efficiency of HCl capture and the efficiency of NO(x) destruction decreased.     

Evaluating effects of wind-induced pressure fluctuations on soil-atmosphere gas exchange at a landfill using stochastic modelling.

The impact of wind turbulence-induced pressure fluctuations at the soil surface on landfill gas transport and emissions to the atmosphere at an old Danish landfill site was investigated using stochastic modelling combined with soil property and gas transport data measured at the site. The impacts of soil physical properties (including air permeability and volumetric water content) and wind-induced pressure fluctuation properties (amplitude and temporal correlation) on landfill gas emissions to the atmosphere were evaluated. Soil-air permeability and pressure fluctuation amplitude were found to be the most important parameters. Wind-induced gas emissions were further compared with gas emissions caused by diffusion and by long-term pressure variations (due to passing weather systems). Here diffusion and wind-induced gas transport were found to be equally important with wind-induced gas transport becoming the most important at lower soil-air contents.     

An immunoassay for metolachlor detection in river water and soil.

An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EIA) for metolachlor (2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)acetamid e) detection in river water and soil was developed using serum obtained from rabbits immunized against the acid of metalaxyl ((N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-N-(methoxy-acetyl)-DL-alanine methyl ester) conjugated to bovine serum albumin. The assay had a linear working range from 1 to 50 ng/ml with a mean I50 value of 13.6 ng/ml and a lower detection limit of 2.0 ng/ml. Both the mean interwell and interassay coefficients of variation were less than 4% over the range of the standard curves for samples which had been prepared in phosphate buffered saline (PBS), river water, or soil extract. Assay cross-reactivity to the following four structurally related chloro-acetanilide pesticides were: propachlor (0%), metazachlor (0%), alachlor (23%), and metalaxyl (5,000%). Mean recoveries of metolachlor in spiked (2.0 to 32.0 ng/ml range) PBS, river water, and soil extract were 102%, 103%, and 110%, respectively. Soil samples were taken over a 56-d period from field plots treated with metolachlor and analyzed by GC and EIA. The correlation coefficient for comparison of the two methods was 0.96 with the slope of the linear regression line being 0.78. Furthermore, no statistical difference (P less than 0.05) was found between the dissipation curves of metolachlor derived from GC data versus EIA data.     

Application of slipstreamed air pollution control devices on waste-as-fuel processes

The recovery of energy from the combustion of municipal solid wastes is becoming an attractive alternative as landfill space becomes scarce and the availability of fossil fuels decreases. Particulate emissions from “waste-as-fuel” processes, however, may differ significantly in chemical and physical properties from particulate emissions produced by firing only coal. Such differences can affect the design and operation of air pollution control equipment. Presented in this paper are the results of a 2-month test program at Ames, Iowa, with a mobile electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and a mobile scrubber supplied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory (IERL), Research Triangle Park. PEDCo Environmental, Inc., and Acurex Corporation jointly conducted the test program to examine the effect of burning refuse-derived fuel (RDF) on particulate and heavy metal control efficiencies. The mobile ESP was used only as a primary control device, whereas the mobile scrubber was tested both upstream and downstream of the existing full-scale ESP. This paper also presents a status report on a PEDCo test program with a pilot fabric filter at Ames.     

Efficiency of energy delivery systems: II. Estimating energy costs of capital equipment

Procedures are developed and summarized that allow the calculation of the energy required to manufacture and install capital equipment, such as the material needed for a coalfired power plant. Three methods are available, each with certain strengths and weaknessess The first uses both literature value and national manufacturing statistics, the second uses a previously developed technique that disaggregates energy use according to how much each industry buys from all other industries, and the third technique is based on the average national relation between energy use and dollar flow. The most important differences between estimates of energy use by the different techniques relates to the inclusion or exclusion of labor and indirect expenditures rather than to differences in the data bases of the three techniques.     

The prediction of safe lifting behavior: an application of the theory of planned behavior

PROBLEM: Injuries resulting from lifting are costly, and create significant pain and discomfort. While engineering controls are the most effective means of reducing risks, most organizations continue to rely on manual lifting techniques. The problem, however, is that the use of safe-lifting techniques is inconsistent and managers have a difficult time motivating use of these techniques. Consequently, it is important to understand the factors driving safe-lifting behaviors. METHODS: This study used a survey to apply the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen., I., 1991. The theory of planned behavior. Organization Behavior and Human Processes, 50, 179-211) to safe-lifting among 136 materials management employees at a heavy manufacturing organization. Structural equation modeling and factor analysis were employed to analyze relationships among constructs. RESULTS: Results revealed that perceived behavioral control and intention were the strongest predictors of safe-lifting behavior. Subjective norms, to a lesser degree, were also important influences on intention. Attitudes did not surface as effective direct predictors of safe-lifting behavior, but did affect behavior and intent via mediating factors (subjective norms and perceived behavioral control). Finally, the theory of planned behavior was supported as an effective model explaining safe-lifting behavior, and had potential application for many other safety-related behaviors. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Results from this study emphasize the importance of perceived behavioral control as a factor associated with safety-related behavior.