Motivating ergonomic computer workstation setup: sometimes training is not enough

Musculoskeletal disorders lead to pain and suffering and result in high costs to industry. There is evidence to suggest that whereas conventional ergonomics training programs result in knowledge gains, they may not necessarily translate to changes in behavior. There were 11 participants in an ergonomics training program, and a subsample of participants received a motivational intervention in the form of incentives for correct workstation setup. Training did not yield any changes in ergonomics measures for any participant. Incentives resulted in marked and durable changes in targeted workstation measures. The data suggest that improving worker knowledge about ergonomically correct workstation setup does not necessarily lead to correct workstation setup, and that motivational interventions may be needed to achieve lasting behavior change.     

Emission factors for PCDD/PCDF and dl-PCB from open burning of biomass

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants includes in its aims the minimisation of unintentional releases of polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) and dioxin like PCB (dl-PCB) to the environment. Development and implementation of policies to achieve this aim require accurate national inventories of releases of PCDD/PCDF/dl-PCB. To support this objective, the Conference of Parties established a process to review and update the UNEP Standardized Toolkit for Identification and Quantification of Dioxin and Furan Releases. An assessment of all emission inventories was that for many countries open burning of biomass and waste was identified as the major source of PCDD/PCDF releases. However, the experimental data underpinning the release estimates used were limited in number and, consequently, confidence in the accuracy of the emissions predictions was low. There has been significant progress in measurement technology since the last edition of the Toolkit in 2005. In this paper we reassess published emission factors for release of PCDD/PCDF and dl-PCB to land and air.In total, four types of biomass and 111 emission factors were assessed. It was found that there are no systematic differences in emission factors apparent between biomass types or fire classes. The data set is best described by a lognormal distribution. The geometric mean emission factors (EFs) for releases of PCDD/PCDF to air for the four biomass classes used in the Toolkit (sugarcane, cereal crops, forest and savannah/grass) are 1.6 μg TEQ (t fuel)⁻¹, 0.49 μg TEQ (t fuel)⁻¹, 1.0 μg TEQ (t fuel)⁻¹ and 0.4 μg TEQ (t fuel)⁻¹, respectively. Corresponding EFs for release of PCDD/PCDF to land are 3.0 ng TEQ (kg ash)⁻¹, 1.1 ng TEQ (kg ash)⁻¹, 1.1 ng TEQ (kg ash)⁻¹ and 0.67 ng TEQ (kg ash)⁻¹. There are now also sufficient published data available to evaluate EFs for dl-PCB release to air for sugarcane, forest and grass/savannah; these are 0.03 μg TEQ (t fuel)⁻¹, 0.09 μg TEQ (t fuel)⁻¹ and 0.01 μg TEQ (t fuel)⁻¹, respectively. The average EF for dl-PCB release to land is 0.19 ng TEQ (kg ash)⁻¹. Application of these EFs to national emissions of PCDD/PCDF for global estimates from open burning will lower previous estimates of PCDD/PCDF releases to air and to land by 85% and 90%, respectively. For some countries, the ranking of their major sources will be changed and open burning of biomass will become less significant than previously concluded.     

人口迁徙、汇款、生活轨迹及社会应变能力

我们认为,人口变化的方方面面,包括迁徙,都影响个人和团体的社会应变能力以及基本资源基础的可持续性.社会应变能力是应对和适应通过适当的制度调节的环境和社会变化的能力.我们调查了当今越南沿海地区人口变化、社会应变能力以及可持续发展之间关系的一个侧面:迁徙和汇款对依赖于资源的人口源区居民群的影响.利用有关生活来源的纵向运动数据,我们发现移民出境和汇款对一个逐渐形成的社会和政治范围内的应变能力有抵消作用.移民出境是与不可持续的沿海养殖业的发展同时并存的,而不是起推动作用.日益增加的经济不平等削弱了社会应变能力.同时,多种经营和收入水平的不断提高有助于应变能力的增强.     

The Importance of Process in Ecosystem Management: Lessons from the Lachlan Catchment,New South Wales,Australia

Effective river management requires integration of biophysical and human dimensions of the ecosystem, which in turn involves the development of new forms of decision-making processes and institutional frameworks. In New South Wales, institutional changes to river management have been formalized in the Water Management Act 2000. This paper presents the findings of a case study that investigated decision-making processes in the establishment of environmental flow regimes for the Lachlan River in western New South Wales. The study was based on document analysis, observation and interviews with members and support staff of a stakeholder-based river management committee. The findings of the study highlight social capital, adaptive management and consensus decision making as key components in establishing environmental flow regimes as part of a participatory approach to river management.     

Estimating digestion time in gelatinous predators: a methodological comparison with the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita

In order to quantify the trophic impact of gelatinous predators, digestion time estimates are commonly applied to counts of prey in the guts. Three primary approaches are used, the Manual-feeding, Natural-feeding and Steady-state methods; these differ in methodology and their underlying assumptions. The criteria used to define the end-point of digestion, and the resolution at which digestion progress is observed, also vary across studies. To understand the impact of such differences, we estimate digestion times of the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita fed adult females of the copepod Acartia tonsa using these various approaches. We find ~fourfold differences which can be attributed to bias towards the slowest rates of digestion by some end-point criteria, and overestimation from low observation resolution. Artificial manipulation and the degree to which swimming and feeding behaviour are natural may also influence estimates. We provide recommendations for those quantifying digestion times of Aurelia aurita medusae and gelatinous predators.     

Green infrastructure and planning policy: a critical assessment

Advocates of the green infrastructure (GI) concept claim it offers a progressive planning approach that facilitates synergies between economic growth, environmental conservation and social development. Although widely endorsed by both planning practitioners and academics, little academic literature exists critically evaluating what GI entails or the potential implications of its institutionalisation within planning practice. This paper addresses this deficit by critically examining the interpretation and representation of the GI concept in planning policy. The paper first critically analyses international interpretations of GI. Following this, the particular attributes of GI's interpretation in the Republic of Ireland are investigated. The paper demonstrates how the emergence of GI in Ireland relates to broader debates on attempts to reconcile environmental concerns with development aspirations in planning policy. It is deduced that GI may represent an approach to planning policy formulation wherein habitat conservation initiatives are primarily designed and justified relative to the ecosystems services they are seen to provide to society. The paper also cautions against the risks posed by confining GI debates to the deliberations of technical specialist. The paper concludes by identifying some issues that may arise in the implementation of a GI approach and suggests ways to enhance the potential benefit of the concept's use in spatial planning.     

Antifouling strategies for marine and riverine sensors

Traditionally, water quality has been monitored by sampling and lab based analysis. However, there are disadvantages associated with this method, for example, deterioration of samples with time, limited sampling points, limited temporal monitoring. This has provided impetus for the development of sensors which can be deployed from remote locations over extended deployment periods. However, a major limitation of these systems is their vulnerability to biofouling. This review outlines the research that has been carried out on strategies for the protection of marine and riverine sensors against fouling.     

The effect of triclosan on microbial community structure in three soils

The application of sewage sludge to land can expose soils to a range of associated chemical toxicants. In this paper we explore the effects of the broad spectrum anti-microbial compound triclosan on the phenotypic composition of the microbial communities of three soils of contrasting texture (loamy sand, sandy loam and clay) using phospholipid fatty-acid (PLFA) analysis. Each soil type was dosed and subsequently re-dosed 6 weeks later with triclosan at five nominal concentrations in microcosms (10, 100, 500, 1000 mg kg⁻¹ and a zero-dose control). PLFA profiles were analysed using multivariate statistics focussing on changes in the soil phenotypic community structure. Additionally, ratios of fungal:bacterial PLFA indicators and cyclo:mono-unsaturated PLFAs (a common stress indicator) were calculated. It was hypothesised that triclosan addition would alter the community structure in each soil with a particular effect on the fungal:bacterial ratio, since bacteria are likely to be more susceptible to triclosan than fungi. It was also hypothesised that the PLFA response to re-dosing would be suppressed due to acclimation. Although the microbial community structure changed over the course of the experiment, the response was complex. Soil type and time emerged as the most important explanatory factors. Principal component analysis was used to detect phenotypic responses to different doses of triclosan in each soil. As expected, there was a significant increase in the fungal:bacterial ratio with triclosan dose especially in treatments with the highest nominal concentrations. Furthermore, the PLFA response to re-dosing was negligible in all soils confirming the acclimation hypothesis.     

Place attachment and place identity: First-year undergraduates making the transition from home to university

This paper examines the issues emanating from the transition into a new social and cultural environment distant from the home, the context of which is provided by the transition from home to university. The study analyses the transitional process over a period of 5 months, using data obtained from in-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observation of ten first-year undergraduates who moved to study at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham. It explores the mediating variables that impact place attachment and place identity during the transition from home to university. Within this context consideration is given to how participants made sense of changes in their socio-spatial environment, the ensuing problems and challenges of doing so, and how these meanings affected self-perceptions and self-evaluations. The analysis demonstrates how participant's stories of the transition evince an abiding concern with the loss of place, manifest in terms of an erosion of a sense of belonging, attachment and continuity and an undermining of home's capacity to symbolise the self. The implications of such accounts for our understanding of place attachment and identity are then explored. The paper concludes by advocating a holistic approach to our conceptualisation of place, given that place meanings are constantly being evaluated and redefined in light of changing social and physical relationships with place and between people and place.     

Management issues in a Tasmanian tourist cave: potential microclimatic impacts of cave modifications

Caves can be difficult to navigate and often require physical modification to allow easy access for visitors. Single entrance caves double the access impact of each visitor. Visitors in tourist caves have direct physical effects such as the introduction of concrete and steel structures; transport of mud, dust, and nutrients; installation of lights and the exhalation of water vapour and carbon dioxide into the air. Indirect physical effects include alteration of the microclimate, both through physical modifications that change the ventilation regime and through the presence of visitors leading to changes in temperature, humidity and CO2 within the cave environment. Anthropomorphic changes to cave physical environments to aid access or to reduce backtracking can have adverse effects on the internal microclimate of cave systems with subsequent changes to the cave environment affecting the quality of decorations and cave art and the diversity of cave fauna. Although often stated that caves operate at or near a constant temperature, closer examination indicates that cave temperatures are neither static nor constant. The degree of variation depends largely on the structure and physical characteristics of the cave. Air temperature and humidity gradients between the inside and outside cave environment can result in air density differences, which create airflow, which will in turn affect the cave microclimate. As part of the development of a management framework for King Solomons Cave, Tasmania, a study of the microclimate was carried out on behalf of Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. Analysis of the variables showed significant differences in air temperature within each site and between sites. These differences range from 4 degrees C variation at one site to 0 degrees C at another site. The data were used to model potential airflow between the cave and the external environment. Results indicate that part of the cave is dominated by airflow between the chimney and the cave entrance leading to microclimatic fluctuations, while stable climatic conditions occur at the end of the cave. Future management strategies that propose a passage from the chamber to the surface via the current end zone would create a potential for airflow induced microclimatic change, leading to a change in both the temperature and moisture regimes, necessitating the construction of an airtight double door system.