Printed in great Britain Cr(VI) and other metallic mutagens in fly ash and welding fumes†

Particulate samples taken from both the indoor (working) and outdoor (community) environments contain a wide range of metallic trace elements most of which are mutagenic in at least one of the short term tests for genotoxicity currently in use. Because of the demonstrated presence of a short lived biologically active species (Cr(VI)), and the uncertainty with which the results of the screening of metallic compounds in short term tests can be interpreted in terms of human risk, great care must be taken to assure the appropriate collection, storage, and chemical and biological assay of such material. The sensitivity of the results for fly ash and welding fumes to variations in these protocols is demonstrated and discussed.     

The meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act within the U.S. Forest Service

We conducted a survey of 3321 Forest Service employees involved in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) followed by five focus groups to investigate agency views of the purpose of agency NEPA processes and their appropriate measures of success. Results suggest the lack of a unified critical task for Forest Service NEPA processes and that employees' functions relevant to NEPA influence their views of its meaning. Compared to other agency personnel, members of interdisciplinary teams who carry out most day-to-day NEPA-related tasks placed greater emphasis on minimizing negative environmental and social impacts, satisfying multiple stakeholders and avoiding litigation and appeals. Line officers, who typically serve as the decision makers following NEPA processes, placed greatest emphasis on efficient implementation and least emphasis on minimizing impacts. Advisory personnel placed greatest emphasis on effective disclosure of analyses and decision-making. We discuss the structural origins of these differences as well as their implications.     

太湖内源营养盐负荷状况及其对上覆水水质的影响

以太湖沉积物-上覆水界面为研究对象,于2013年夏季采集46个样点的沉积物柱状样,分析表层沉积物孔隙水中营养盐(正磷酸盐、氨氮、硝氮)的浓度空间分布,估算表层沉积物中磷、氮的扩散通量,明确营养盐在沉积物-水界面的分布规律,以探明内源营养盐负荷对太湖上覆水的污染贡献,并为沉积物-水界面氮磷的转移过程理论补充证据.结果表明:太湖西北部区域的表层沉积物孔隙水中正磷酸盐和硝氮浓度较高,分别达到1.11 mg·L~(-1)和1.25 mg·L~(-1)以上;大部分湖区的氨氮浓度超过2 mg·L~(-1).全湖区范围内,从表层沉积物的上覆水到孔隙水,氨氮含量呈现升高趋势而硝氮含量呈现降低趋势.北部3个湖湾区的沉积物营养盐扩散通量最高,正磷酸盐为2.69~4.60 mg·m~(-2)·d~~(-1),氨氮为17.8~45.7 mg·m-2·d~(-1),而湖岸河口区是沉积物硝氮内源释放显著的区域.沉积物向上覆水释放正磷酸盐和氨氮的年内源污染负荷分别为64.6 t·a~(-1)和1756 t·a~(-1);而上覆水向沉积物汇入硝氮的年负荷为1102 t·a~(-1).氨氮的内源污染负荷与外源污染负荷之比高达18.7%,氨氮、总磷和总氮内源污染为上覆水贡献的浓度分别为0.361、0.013和0.134 mg·L~(-1),表明自由扩散带来的内源负荷会使太湖水中营养盐污染恶化,需引起重视.     

Active learning climate and employee errors: The moderating effects of personality traits

This study developed and tested a cross‐level model of the relationship between two components of active learning climate—enactive exploration and guided learning—and employee errors, and the moderating roles of the individual's traits of openness to experience and conscientiousness. The study examined the medical errors made by 142 resident physicians in 22 hospital departments. Results demonstrated significant interactions between climate and traits: when an individual had a low level of the trait of openness to experience, there was a curvilinear relationship between enactive exploration climate and number of errors. With a high level of openness to experience, the enactive exploration climate was positively associated with the number of errors up to a certain point. In addition, when an individual had a low level of conscientiousness, there was a negative association between guided learning climate and number of errors; with a high level of conscientiousness, there was a positive association between guided learning climate and number of errors. Thus, individual performance was better when the climate complemented the individual's lack of a trait. When the level of the individual's trait was high, the climate intensified the already pronounced trait up to an extent that impaired the individual's performance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

江苏茅山断裂带中段重力异常多尺度分析及其构造识别

采用小波变换多尺度分析,将茅山断裂带中段的重力数据分解为不同尺度的重力异常,用于研究该区的地质构造特征。小波变换多尺度分析可以将重力数据分解为不同深度的局部异常和区域异常,局部异常解释为浅部地质体引起,区域异常解释为深部地质体引起。基于此种地质解释,分析了不同深度地质体与重力异常的对应关系,并对产生异常的原因进行解释,推断出该区的主要断裂构造,并对已有研究成果进行修正。研究结果表明,断裂带中段的构造形式与重力异常之间有较好的对应关系。     

长江三角洲城市群人为热排放特征研究

基于常规可获取的能源、交通、人口等统计资料,利用“自上而下”的能源清单法,研究了2010年长江三角洲(以下简称“长三角”)城市群地区各类人为热排放量及其时空分布特征.结果表明:该地区人为热排放总量为1.4′1019J/a,其中工业、交通、建筑、新陈代谢分别占75.1%、12.5%、9.9%和2.5%.上海、苏州、无锡、杭州和南京五个城市的人为热排放总量约占研究区域总量的71%.长三角城市群的人为热年平均排放通量为5.3W/m2,大部分地区介于5~30W/m2,城市高值区一般介于20~70W/m2,上海明显高于其他城市.为方便有关环境气候模式的输入,本文提供了人为热排放的网格化空间分布和简单的时间变化廓线.     

我国地热资源的开发战略

总结了我国地热资源的利用和管理状况,提出了"政策统一、市场运作、合理利用、可持续发展"的地热资源开发战略,并对战略内容进行了具体阐述.     

Levels and trends of polybrominated diphenylethers and other brominated flame retardants in wildlife

In this paper, we review the available data for polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) and other flame retardants in wildlife, with the exception of fishes from Europe and North America which are covered in more detail elsewhere. More data are available for PBDEs than for other compounds, and these show that some of these compounds have become widely distributed in the environment, being found in samples from Europe, Australia, Azerbaijan, North America and the Arctic. Most available data relate to birds and their eggs and marine mammals, but the results of two food web studies are also included. The detection of PBDEs in pelagic marine mammals which feed in deep offshore waters, including baleen whales, indicate that these compounds have found their way into deep-water, oceanic food webs as well as the coastal/shallow sea examples described in detail. In the North Sea study, the most marked increase in lipid-normalised concentrations of six BDE congeners occurred during transfer from predatory fish to marine mammals. In the St. Lawrence Estuary study, marked differences in the ratios observed between species suggested that some fish species may be able to metabolise BDE99.A number of time trend studies have also been conducted, notably in guillemot eggs from Sweden (1969-2000), beluga whales from the Canadian Arctic (1982-1997 and 1989-2001) and from the St. Lawrence Estuary (1988-1999), and ringed seals from the Canadian Arctic (1981-2000). In the temperate latitudes, from these and other studies (e.g. in dated sediment cores), PBDE concentrations began to rise earlier than in those from high latitudes, in line with data for production and use. These trends have now slowed in many cases. Declines could be expected in Europe for many congeners following the cessation of manufacture and use of the penta-mix formulation in the EU, though these are not yet apparent in environmental samples. In Arctic biota, however, the rapidly rising concentrations seen currently in Canada could be expected to continue for some time, reflecting continued production and use of the penta-mix formulation in North America (>95% of the world total) and the impact of long-range atmospheric transport.     

Local Capacity for Groundwater Protection in Ontario

Preventing groundwater contamination is vastly cheaper than remediation. Recognizing this, attention in water and land management agencies in North America increasingly turn to groundwater protection. Local agencies, such as municipalities and watershed management districts, are vital to successful groundwater protection, but they face daunting challenges. In the United States, senior governments have recognized these challenges and provide considerable support for local agencies. In Ontario, Canada, local agencies are, to a much greater extent, on their own. The aims in this paper are to analyze factors that shape local capacity for groundwater protection, focusing on Ontario, and to recommend avenues for capacity building. Interrelationships among five dimensions of capacity (technical, financial, institutional, social, and political) are explored through an analysis of three smaller Ontario communities: City of Guelph (population 93,400), Town of Orangeville (population 22,188), and Town of Erin (population 11,000). Size clearly influences capacity for groundwater protection. However, other considerations unrelated to size appear to be as important. These other factors include the ability to form horizontal and vertical linkages with external agencies, political leadership and commitment, and citizen involvement. Thus, smaller communities in Ontario (and other jurisdictions with limited senior government support) would do well to focus on these areas at the same time as they develop their technical, financial, and institutional capacity.     

Commercialization of Dredged-Material Decontamination Technologies

This article describe a unique federal project aimed at the commercialization of different technologies for the decontamination of dredged material. The project is organized so that commercialization is achieved in a seamless way, starting with validation at the bench- and pilot-scale levels, and ending with the actual construction of operational facilities. This is the first integrated sediment decontamination program in which a step-wise bench-scale validation process of innovative/emerging technologies will scale-up to a production-scale facility capable of processing up to 375,000 m³ of dredged material per year. The need to develop public-private partnerships for the facility construction is emphasized as a way of obtaining adequate finding for capital and operating costs during the startup time of the commercialization process. It is expected that the end result of the project work will be the creation of economically-viable, self-sustaining decontamination technology companies.