Prenatal exclusion of homocystinuria (cystathionine β-synthase deficiency) by assay of phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated fetal lymphocytes

Homocystinuria due to cystathionine β-synthase deficiency was excluded in a fetus at 23 weeks' gestation by demonstrating activity of the enzyme in fetal lymphocytes after stimulation by phytohaemagglutinin. Fetal blood sampling was carried out because two determinations of enzyme activity on cultured amniotic cells gave low, not fully diagnostic values.     

Transformation of phthalates in young landfill cells

Phthalic acid diesters are additives in a variety of materials that can end up in landfills. Leachates from a series of full-scale young landfill cells were analysed over time for dimethyl, diethyl, dibutyl, butylbenzyl, and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (respectively designated DMP, DEP, DBP, BBP, and DEHP), and their corresponding monoesters monomethyl, monoethyl, monobutyl, monobenzyl, and mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MMP, MEP, MbutP, MbenzP, and MEHP, respectively), as well as o-phthalic acid (PA). One landfill cell was created in each of three consecutive years by deposition of the same type of waste in July and August. The pH, volatile fatty acids (VFAs), and total organic carbon (TOC) were measured to characterise development of the degradation phases in three landfill cells, which revealed early acidogenic to initial methanogenic stages. Analysis of the phthalate compounds showed that observed concentrations of the degradation products were below the detection limit in the acidogenic leachates but exceeded concentrations of their corresponding diesters in leachates from cells in the initial methanogenic phase. Maximum and average concentrations of phthalic acid were 50 and 23 mg/l, respectively, and the corresponding values for the other phthalates were 430 and 27 microg/l. The concentrations of all phthalates decreased during the establishment of stable methanogenic conditions.     

Energy justice and ethical consumption: comparison,synthesis and lesson drawing

This paper takes a first step in comparing and synthesising the emerging concept of energy justice with extant ethical consumption literatures as two complementary theoretical approaches to ethics and consumption. To date, theories of ethical consumption and energy justice remain somewhat disconnected, so while they have some areas of potential comparability, these have not yet been fleshed out or developed. To address this lacuna, this paper explores areas where research into ethical consumption might be useful for furthering concepts of energy justice. More specifically the discussion draws on the philosophical foundations, the relationship between consumption and development, and the role of transparency and visibility in reconnecting consumption and production practices as the main areas of overlap in these literatures. The conclusion points to some lessons for emerging energy justice literatures that can be drawn from this task of comparison and synthesis.     

The application of pressure–impulse curves in a blast exceedance analysis

The magnitude of damage due to a vapor cloud explosion can be estimated in many ways, ranging from look-up tables to quantitative risk analysis. An explosion overpressure analysis is a routine part of compliance with the American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practice (RP) 752 when evaluating occupied buildings in a facility that processes flammable or reactive materials. In many cases, a risk-based approach is useful because consequence modeling studies often indicate major problems for buildings at existing facilities. One of the most common risk-based methods, overpressure exceedance, incorporates a wide range of potential explosion scenarios coupled with the probability of each event to develop the probability of exceeding a given overpressure at specific locations. But this and other methods that only use overpressure may not represent an accurate building response. By combining the risk-based methodology of the exceedance analysis with pressure and impulse data in the form of pressure–impulse (P–I) curves, a better measure of building damage can be generated. P–I curves for blast loading determination have been in use for decades, and allow the user to determine levels of damage based on a predicted overpressure and its corresponding impulse. Curves have been published for entire buildings, individual structural members, window breakage, and even consequences to humans. This paper will explore application of P–I curves for building damage, and will highlight some of the benefits, as well as some of the potential problems, of using P–I curves.     

Degradation and mobility of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate and nonylphenol in sludge-amended soil

Degradation and mobility of the surfactants linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) and nonylphenol (NP) were investigated in a lysimeter study using a sandy loam soil and 45-cm soil columns. Anaerobically digested sewage sludge was incorporated in the top-15-cm soil layer to an initial content of 38 mg LAS and 0.56 mg NP kg(-1) dry wt., respectively. Spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was sown onto the columns. The lysimeters were placed outdoors and therefore received natural precipitation, but were also irrigated to a total amount of water equivalent to 700 mm of precipitation. Leachate and soil samples from three soil layers were collected continuously during a growth period of 110 d. Leachate samples and soil extracts were concentrated by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The concentrations in the top-15-cm soil layer declined to 25 and 45% of the initial contents for LAS and NP, respectively, within the first 10 d of the study. At the end of the study, less than 1% LAS was left, while the NP content was below the detection limit. Assuming first-order degradation kinetics, half-lives of 20 and 37 d were estimated for LAS and NP, respectively. The surfactants were not measured in leachate samples in concentrations above the analytical detection limits of 4.0 and 0.5 microg L(-1) for LAS and NP, respectively. In addition, neither LAS nor NP were measured in concentrations above the detection limits of 150 and 50 microg kg(-1) dry wt., respectively, in soil layers below the 15 cm of sludge incorporation, indicating negligible downward transport of the surfactants in the lysimeters.     

Pesticide uses and transfers in urbanised catchments

An investigation on herbicide uses in two semi-urban catchments was performed simultaneously with sampling campaigns at six stations inside both watersheds from April to July 1998. Urban uses of herbicides exceeded agricultural uses, and transfer coefficients were also higher in urban areas. Therefore, the most used product in urban areas (diuron) was by far the most contaminating product. Householders accounted for 30% of all uses. The highest measured diuron concentration in water surface was 8.7 microg l(-1) due to its use on impervious surfaces. Compared to EEC standards for drinking water production (0.1 microg l(-1)), it is clear that suburban uses of herbicides may severely endanger drinking water production from river water.     

Screening of environmental pressure from products in the Swedish railway infrastructure: Implications for strategic environmental management

This paper proposes a method to be used in environmental reviews as an initial tool for estimating upstream environmental pressures from material use in organisations dealing mostly with construction materials. Upstream environmental pressures are often omitted in environmental reviews from organisations and instead tend to be site specific, with a limited life-cycle perspective. This paper uses the Swedish National Rail Authority as a case to present the approach. An energy indicator is used to estimate the environmental pressure of material use.In the studied building project, a small set of products contribute to a major part of the material use and the material-related energy use. The energy use is almost exclusively of nonrenewable energy carriers. The three most important products are all homogenous and non-complex, which makes the energy indicator well suited for the analysis. The organisation can use the results to focus on the most important products and also to see which parts of the organisation contribute to the material-related energy use. Rail traffic in Sweden is almost exclusively from non-fossil-based energy carriers. This highlights the importance of the infrastructure to the overall environmental pressure of the railway. Consequently, if road transport were to shift away from fossil fuels, railways earlier environmental advantages would diminish, since research suggests that railway infrastructure is more energy intensive than road infrastructure.     

Frontal impact dummy kinematics in oblique frontal collisions: evaluation against post mortem human subject test data

OBJECTIVE: Today, a predominant percentage of vehicles involved in car crashes are exposed to oblique or frontal offset collisions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the 50th percentile male Hybrid III, THOR 99, and THOR Alpha dummies by comparing them with the corresponding kinematics of post mortem human subjects (PMHS) in this type of collision. METHODS: The PMHS data include results from oblique frontal collision tests. They include sled tests with near-side and far-side belt geometries at 15 degrees , 30 degrees , and 45 degrees angles. The test subjects were restrained with a three-point lap-shoulder belt and the Delta V was 30 km/h. RESULTS: The results from the Hybrid III and THOR 99 tests showed that, in most of the test, the head trajectories were an average of approximately 0.1 m shorter than those from equivalent PMHS. The Hybrid III and THOR 99 far-side belt geometry tests showed that the belt remained in place longer on the shoulder of the Hybrid III than on the THOR 99 and the THOR Alpha. This was probably due to a stiffer lumbar spine in the Hybrid III and to a large groove in the steel of the superior surface of the Hybrid III shoulder structure. The THOR 99 escaped from the shoulder belt about 40-50 ms earlier than the THOR Alpha. The results from the THOR Alpha tests show that the head trajectory accorded fairly well with the PMHS data, as long as the shoulder belt did not slip off the shoulder. Although the THOR Alpha shoulder escaped the shoulder belt in the 45 degrees far-side belt geometry, the PMHS did not. This may be due to the THOR Alpha shoulder design, with approximately 0.05 m smaller superior and medial shoulder range-of-motion, in combination with a relatively soft lumbar spine. CONCLUSIONS: The THOR Alpha provides head trajectories similar to those of the PMHS under these loading conditions, provided the shoulder belt remains in position on the shoulder. When the shoulder belt slipped off the dummy shoulder, the head kinematics was altered. The shoulder range-of-motion may be a contributing factor to the overall kinematics of an occupant in oblique frontal impact situations where the occupant moves in a trajectory at an angle from that of the longitudinal direction of the car.     

Socioeconomic background and road traffic injuries: a study of young car drivers in Sweden

The aim of this study is to explore the manner in which different measures of original socioeconomic position (SEP) influence road traffic injuries (RTIs) among young car drivers in Sweden. The study consists of young people age 16-23. Subjects were taken from the Swedish Population and Housing Census of 1990 (n=727,995), and followed up by a search for cases of injury to car drivers in Sweden's National Hospital Discharge Register over the years 1991-96 (n=1,599). Household SEP was measured using social class, education, and disposable income. Relative risks were estimated by Poisson regression and population attributable risks were computed for each measure of SEP. Children of unskilled workers, of the self-employed, and of farmers, as well as children of parents with compulsory education only showed an increased risk of injury as car drivers compared to children in the highest socioeconomic group and children of highly educated parents. By contrast, level of household disposable income was found not to vary with RTI among young drivers. Twenty-five percent of the injuries could be avoided if all young people had the injury rate of the highest socioeconomic group, and 29% if all young people had the injury rate of those with highly educated parents. The reduction of risk differences based on household SEP calls for consideration of factors related to both differential exposure and differential susceptibility, which may be addressed in driver education.     

Margins of agricultural fields as habitats for pollinating insects

The occurrence of pollinating insects in field margins with different vegetation was studied in field experiments. Some margins were widened and vegetation was established by sowing of leguminous plants or was allowed to invade spontaneously. The communities of pollinating insects in reclaimed field margins were compared with those of a margin with a naturally diverse flora and an adjacent pasture. A beehive was placed in the area and the collection of pollen by the honey-bees was followed over the season in order to compare the bees' preferences with the supply of flowering plants available in the different experimental field margins. The sown leguminous plants were very attractive to most insect groups, especially bees and bumble-bees, and their pollen constituted an important part of the bees' total catch. The vegetation established by spontaneous succession especially attracted Syrphidae and other groups of Diptera. Butterflies were found in all vegetation types. It is concluded that small areas with flowering plants can give highly positive effects. The key question is how to avoid weed problems and keep the most attractive plant species with a minimum of cost and effort.