Henry's law constants for hexachlorobenzene, p,p'-DDE and components of technical chlordane and estimates of gas exchange for Lake Ontario

The Henry's law constants (HLC) for trans- and cis-chlordane (TC, CC), trans-nonachlor (TN), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and p,p'-DDE were determined by the gas-stripping method over a temperature range of 5-35 degrees C. The HLC variation versus temperature (K) was described by logH=m/T+b. Parameters of this equation were (with standard deviations) TC: m=-1524+/-158, b=6.58+/-0.54; CC: m=-1786+/-209, b=7.42+/-0.71; TN m=-2068+/-284, b=8.44+/-0.97; HCB: m=-3013+/-174, b=11.60+/-0.59 and p,p'-DDE: m=-2043+/-240, b=8.37+/-0.82. The HLCs (Pa m3 mol(-1)) at 25 degrees C (298.15 K) were: TC=29; CC=27; TN=32; p,p'-DDE=33 and HCB=35. These HLCs values were used to calculate fugacity ratios from paired air and water data from Lake Ontario, July 1998. The resulting fugacity ratios predict that volatilization was occurring for all compounds during that month.     

Relationship between carbonaceous materials and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the sediments of the Danshui River and adjacent coastal areas, Taiwan

Persistent organic pollutants, POPs (e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls) can seriously and deleteriously affect environmental quality and human health. These organic pollutants are exhibiting high affinities to solid phases and thus, quickly end up in sediments. To better understand the role of carbonaceous materials in the transport and distributions of POPs in terrestrial and near-shore environments, concentrations of PCBs and carbonaceous materials (including total organic carbon, black carbon and total carbohydrates), were determined in surface sediments of the Danshui River and nearby coastal areas, Taiwan. Total concentrations of PCBs in the sediments ranged from non-detectable to 83.9 ngg(-1), dry weight, with the maximum value detected near the discharge point of the marine outfall from the Pali Sewage Treatment Plant. These results suggest that the sewage treatment plant has discharged PCBs in the past and the concentrations are still high due to their persistence; alternatively, PCBs are still being discharged in the estuarine and near-shore environment of the Danshui River. Organic carbon and black carbon concentrations correlated well with those of total PCBs in the sediments, suggesting that both organic carbon and black carbon significantly affect the distribution of trace organic pollutants through either post-depositional adsorption, or by co-transport of similar source materials. The field results demonstrate that black carbon and plays an important role in the general distribution of PCBs, while concentrations of some specific PCBs are affected by both black carbon and organic carbon concentrations.     

Enhancing Plan Quality: Evaluating the Role of State Planning Mandates for Natural Hazard Mitigation

Traditionally, responsibility for land planning in the United States lies with local governments. However, a growing number of states over the past several decades have attempted to exert more influence on how local governments plan for development. This paper uses empirical data from natural hazard elements of 139 community plans in five states to assess whether such state mandates actually result in better local plans. We find that a state mandate not only achieves plans from communities that otherwise would not make a plan, but in addition those plans are of higher quality than plans made voluntarily in communities not under a mandate to plan. W e find that a state mandate substitutes for the absence of any positive political forces for planning and overcomes local political, economic and physical obstacles to planning. Further, the form of the mandate and the state level implementation effort makes a difference, so that some states' mandates achieve local plans of higher quality than those created in other mandating states. Because the data on which these conclusions are based are limited to natural hazards elements of general plans, we feel most confident about their generalization to all elements of local plans.     

Translation of falls prevention knowledge into action in hospitals: what should be translated and how should it be done?

Introduction

Falls prevention evidence has changed and evolved over time with positive and negative studies revealing that a “one-size fits all” approach is not the solution. Care must be taken to critically appraise the evidence and the potential applicability of that evidence to the specific hospital setting.

Method

A narrative account of the evolution of research evidence in this field is first presented. How this evidence should be applied in clinical practice is challenging, with a lack of translational evidence for the hospital setting we draw on broader theory of translating knowledge to action.

Conclusions

The journey should begin with formation of a management and engagement committee. A review of existing practices and the difference between existing practice and evidence-based practice should be undertaken to identify the “evidence-practice gap.” Engagement with staff is recommended to inform a plan for practice change. Plans for resourcing, targeting, and evaluating these strategies should also be undertaken.

Impact on Industry

This paper will assist hospitals to identify and implement evidence based falls prevention strategies leading to an improvement in patient safety.     

Becoming an undercover police officer: a note on fairness perceptions,behavior, and attitudes

Reactions to an undercover police officer selection system were analyzed for 271 officers. Officers given undercover assignments had higher procedural justice perceptions and outcome satisfaction than others awaiting assignment in a qualified applicant pool. Procedural and distributive justice perceptions were subsequently related to the undercover officer's job performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

South-Siberian mountain mires: Perspectives on a potentially vulnerable remote source of biodiversity

Changes in climate, land-use and pollution are having disproportionate impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity of arctic and mountain ecosystems. While these impacts are well-documented for many areas of the Arctic and alpine regions, some isolated and inaccessible mountain areas are poorly studied. Furthermore, even in well-studied regions, assessments of biodiversity and species responses to environmental change are biased towards vascular plants and cryptogams, particularly bryophytes are far less represented. This paper aims to document the environments of the remote and inaccessible Altai-Sayan mountain mires and particularly their bryofloras where threatened species exist and species new to the regional flora are still being found. As these mountain mires are relatively inaccessible, changes in drivers of change and their ecosystem and biodiversity impacts have not been monitored. However, the remoteness of the mires has so far protected them and their species. In this study, we describe the mires, their bryophyte species and the expected impacts of environmental stressors to bring attention to the urgency of documenting change and conserving these pristine ecosystems.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01596-w.     

A rapid,simple screening toxicity test using desiccated bdelloid rotifers: Rotifer Activity Inhibition Test (RAIT)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A protocol for an ultra-rapid screening toxicity test is described using the rotifer Philodina acuticornis/roseola. The test can be executed in 30 min...