Child passengers and driver culpability in fatal crashes by driver gender

Objective: Studies based on accident statistics generally suggest that the presence of a passenger reduces adult drivers' accident risk. However, passengers have been reported to be a source of distraction in a remarkable portion of distraction-related crashes. Although the effect of passengers on driving performance has been studied extensively, few studies have focused on how a child passenger affects the driver.

?A child in a car is a potential distractor for parents, especially for mothers of small children, who often suffer from sleep deficit. The aim of this study was to examine how the presence of child passengers of different ages is associated with a higher driver culpability, which was expected due to child-related distraction and fatigue.

Methods: The analysis was based on the comprehensive data of fatal crashes studied in-depth by multidisciplinary road accident investigation teams in Finland during 1988–2012. Teams determine the primary party who had the most crucial effect on the origin of the event. We define the primary party as culpable and the others involved as nonculpable drivers. The culpability rate was defined as the percentage of culpable drivers and rates were compared for drivers with a child/teen passenger aged 0–17 years (N = 348), with an adult passenger without children (N = 324), and when driving alone (N = 579), grouped by child age and driver gender.

?Drivers with specific risk-related behavior (substantial speeding, driving when intoxicated, unbelted, or without a license) were excluded from the analyses, in order to make the drivers with and without children comparable. Only drivers 26–47 years old were included, representing parents with children 0–9 years of age.

Results: Male drivers were less often culpable with 0- to 17-year-old passengers in the car than alone or with adults. This was not the case with female drivers. The gender difference in culpability was most marked with small children age 0–4 years. Female drivers' culpability rate with a 0- to 4-year-old child passenger was higher and male drivers' culpability rate was lower compared to drivers without passengers or with only adult passengers.

Conclusion: The results indicate that female drivers are at higher risk of crashes than male drivers when driving with small children. Further research is needed to replicate this finding and to determine causal mechanisms.     

Regional socio-economic impacts of decentralised bioeconomy: a case of Suutela wooden village, Finland

The regional bioeconomy has a high importance for generating socio-economic impacts, especially in sparsely populated resource peripheries. The benefits include increased employment and income and improved security of supply. In this study, the modified regional input?Coutput model is applied for analysing the socio-economic impacts of Suutela wooden village construction in North Karelia, Finland. The main objective of this article is to provide an illustrative example on the regional input?Coutput modelling, applied to the investigation of the socio-economic impacts of a conventional, decentralised bioeconomy. Based on this Finnish case of a wooden village with bioenergy district heating, we demonstrate both the employment and income potentials of a decentralised bioeconomy. The results indicate good socio-economic potential of local wood construction, resulting in about 250 personnel working years and a total economic impact of 43.7 million euros on the regional economy. To maintain the sensitivity of the input?Coutput modelling, it is considered more suitable for overall regional impact estimations, rather than pointing out differences between the subsystems. When modified for research purposes, the regional input?Coutput model is well capable to efficiently describe the socio-economic impacts and providing information for local decision-makers to support new projects of a bioeconomy.     

Exposing ecological and economic costs of the research‐implementation gap and compromises in decision making

The frequently discussed gap between conservation science and practice is manifest in the gap between spatial conservation prioritization plans and their implementation. We analyzed the research‐implementation gap of one zoning case by comparing results of a spatial prioritization analysis aimed at avoiding ecological impact of peat mining in a regional zoning process with the final zoning plan. We examined the relatively complex planning process to determine the gaps among research, zoning, and decision making. We quantified the ecological costs of the differing trade‐offs between ecological and socioeconomic factors included in the different zoning suggestions by comparing the landscape‐level loss of ecological features (species occurrences, habitat area, etc.) between the different solutions for spatial allocation of peat mining. We also discussed with the scientists and planners the reasons for differing zoning suggestions. The implemented plan differed from the scientists suggestion in that its focus was individual ecological features rather than all the ecological features for which there were data; planners and decision makers considered effects of peat mining on areas not included in the prioritization analysis; zoning was not truly seen as a resource‐allocation process and not emphasized in general minimizing ecological losses while satisfying economic needs (peat‐mining potential); and decision makers based their prioritization of sites on site‐level information showing high ecological value and on single legislative factors instead of finding a cost‐effective landscape‐level solution. We believe that if the zoning and decision‐making processes are very complex, then the usefulness of science‐based prioritization tools is likely to be reduced. Nevertheless, we found that high‐end tools were useful in clearly exposing trade‐offs between conservation and resource utilization.     

The interval between sexual encounters affects male courtship tactics in a desert-dwelling fish

Courtship displays are often important in determining male mating success but can also be costly. Thus, instead of courting females indiscriminately, males might be expected to adjust their signalling effort strategically. Theory, however, predicts that such adjustments should depend on the rate with which males encounter females, a prediction that has been subject to very little empirical testing. Here, we investigate the effects of female encounter rate on male courtship intensity by manipulating the time interval between sequential presentations of large (high quality) and small (low quality) females in a fish, the Australian desert goby Chlamydogobius eremius. Males that were presented with a small female immediately after a large female reduced their courtship intensity significantly. However, males courted large and small females with equal intensity if the interval between the sequential presentations was longer. Our results suggest that mate encounter rate is an important factor shaping male reproductive decisions and, consequently, the evolutionary potential of sexual selection.     

Benchmark Criteria: A Tool for Selecting Appropriate Models in the Field of Water Management

A milestone in the field of European water protection policy is the European Union’s Water Framework Directive (WFD), which came into force in December 2000 and which integrates the management of European waters in many ways. In this study, we start by focusing on management issues connected to the implementation of the WFD and pose a question: “what type of models would be the most suitable for use in the context of the WFD?” With this question in mind, we aim to establish a set of operational and functional selection criteria for (computer) models whose application is intended to support decision-making related to a particular water management issue. These so-called “benchmark criteria” should help water managers and other model users in choosing appropriate models, e.g., for the WFD implementation purposes. We first describe models and their use in general and then propose an approach for setting the benchmark criteria for models, basing it on the concept of uncertainty management, while keeping firmly in mind the important role of citizens and citizen organizations in water management. The suggested benchmark criteria are in the form of 14 questions through which each model can be evaluated. Finally, the process for testing and refining the benchmark criteria is highlighted.     

A potential sanitary sewer overflow treatment technology: fixed-media bioreactors

Under certain conditions, sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) containing raw wastewater may be discharged to public land and can contribute to environmental and public health issues. Although this problem has attracted the attention of local, state, and federal government and regulators, relatively little SSO abatement research has been published. This study used fixed-media bioreactors, a proven onsite technology in rural areas, to treat wet weather SSO wastewater and reduce its effects on the receiving water environment. The results of this 32-month laboratory study showed that fixed-media bioreactors, especially sand bioreactors, efficiently removed organic matter, solids, and nutrients during six-hour simulated SSO peak flows. Five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BODs) of the simulated SSO varied between 40 and 125 mg/L. The average effluent concentration of BOD5 was 13 mg/L in sand bioreactors at a hydraulic loading rate of 20.4 cm/h. In addition to having high hydraulic loadings, SSO events occur infrequently. This irregularity requires that treatment systems quickly start up and effectively treat wastewater after a period of no flow. This research found that an interval up to six months between two SSO peak flows did not affect the bioreactor performance. Based on this work, fixed-media bioreactors have the potential to reduce the effects of SSOs on the water environment by following proper design parameters and operation strategies. The pollution loading of approximately 18 g BODs/m2 x h is recommended for the efficient performance of sand bioreactors in the SSO treatment.     

Comparison of particle emissions from small heavy fuel oil and wood-fired boilers

Flue gas emissions of wood and heavy fuel oil (HFO) fired district heating units of size range 4–15 MW were studied. The emission measurements included analyses of particle mass, number and size distributions, particle chemical compositions and gaseous emissions. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations were carried out to interpret the experimental findings.In wood combustion, PM1 (fine particle emission) was mainly formed of K, S and Cl, released from the fuel. In addition PM1 contained small amounts of organic material, CO₃, Na and different metals of which Zn was the most abundant. The fine particles from HFO combustion contained varying transient metals and Na that originate from the fuel, sulphuric acid, elemental carbon (soot) and organic material. The majority of particles were formed at high temperature (>800 °C) from V, Ni, Fe and Na. At the flue gas dew point (125 °C in undiluted flue gas) sulphuric acid condensed forming a liquid layer on the particles. This increases the PM1 substantially and may lead to partial dissolution of the metallic cores.Wood-fired grate boilers had 6–21-fold PM1 and 2–23-fold total suspended particle (TSP) concentrations upstream of the particle filters when compared to those of HFO-fired boilers. However, the use of single field electrostatic precipitators (ESP) in wood-fired grate boilers decreased particle emissions to same level or even lower as in HFO combustion. On the other hand, particles released from the HFO boilers were clearly smaller and higher in number concentration than those of wood boilers with ESPs. In addition, in contrast to wood combustion, HFO boilers produce notable SO₂ emissions that contribute to secondary particle formation in the atmosphere. Due to vast differences in concentrations of gaseous and particle emissions and in the physical and chemical properties of the particles, HFO and wood fuel based energy production units are likely to have very different effects on health and climate.     

Development of Tools for Integrated Monitoring and Assessment of Hazardous Substances and Their Biological Effects in the Baltic Sea

The need to develop biological effects monitoring to facilitate a reliable assessment of hazardous substances has been emphasized in the Baltic Sea Action Plan of the Helsinki Commission. An integrated chemical–biological approach is vitally important for the understanding and proper assessment of anthropogenic pressures and their effects on the Baltic Sea. Such an approach is also necessary for prudent management aiming at safeguarding the sustainable use of ecosystem goods and Services. The BEAST project (Biological Effects of Anthropogenic Chemical Stress: Tools for the Assessment of Ecosystem Health) set out to address this topic within the BONUS Programme. BEAST generated a large amount of quality-assured data on several biological effects parameters (biomarkers) in various marine species in different sub-regions of the Baltic Sea. New indicators (biological response measurement methods) and management tools (integrated indices) with regard to the integrated monitoring approach were suggested.