户外测试检验加速测试

探讨了加速老化测试存在的问题,阐述了户外暴露测试的重要性,指出应该利用户外暴露测试来检验加速老化。使用正确的测试程序,户外暴露测试．-j-~在较短的时间内获得较好的测试结果。采用正确的测试设计、恰当的评估方法、可靠的统计分析及应用参照样品等,可使测试者确定加速程度及加速测试与户外暴露测试的相关系数,以确保加速测试结果的正确性。     

Self-reported driving under the influence of alcohol and cannabis among Ontario students: Associations with graduated licensing,risk taking,and substance abuse

Objective: This article describes the patterns of self-reported driving under the influence of alcohol (DUIA) and driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) among licensed Ontario students in 2009 and examines their associations with graduated licensing, risk taking, and substance use problems for understanding DUIA and DUIC behaviors. Ontario's graduated licensing system requires new drivers to hold a G1 license for a minimum of 8 months and a G2 license for a minimum of 12 months before a full and unrestricted G license can be obtained. Among other restrictions, G1 drivers must maintain a 0 blood alcohol content (BAC), have an experienced driver in the passenger seat, not drive on any high-speed expressways, and not drive between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. A G2 license is more similar to a G license, with fewer restrictions.

Method: This study analyzed data from the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS). The OSDUHS is a biennial population-based survey of students (grades 7 to 12) in Ontario, Canada.

Results: The results showed that 16.3% of licensed students in Ontario reported DUIC and 11.5% reported DUIA during the past year. After controlling for the effect of age, type of license emerged as a robust predictor for both DUIA and DUIC behavior, because students with a G2 and full license were significantly more likely to report DUIA and DUIC than drivers with a G1 license. Multivariate analyses suggested that risk-seeking behaviors were more important for understanding DUIA behavior than for DUIC behavior. Elevated problem indicators for alcohol and for cannabis were associated with DUIA and DUIC, respectively.

Conclusions: Though much attention has been paid to drinking and driving among adolescents, this research shows that more Ontario students now report driving after cannabis use than after drinking alcohol. The results identify important correlates of both behaviors that may be useful for prevention purposes.     

Overview of the impact of noninvasive prenatal testing on diagnostic procedures

Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has had a profound influence in the field of prenatal diagnosis since the 1997 discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal blood. Research has progressed rapidly, with clinical data supporting laboratory studies showing that NIPT is highly sensitive and specific for fetal aneuploidy, resulting in marked uptake in the high-risk patient population. The superior accuracy of NIPT compared with conventional screening methods has led to significant decreases in the number of invasive diagnostic procedures, in addition to a concomitant decrease in the number of procedure-related fetal losses. Yet, NIPT has been described as a ‘disruptive innovation’ due to the considerable changes the technology has commanded on current prenatal screening and diagnostic practices. This review summarizes both institutional and global experience with NIPT uptake, its effect on reducing diagnostic invasive procedures, and the unique challenges that reduced procedural volume may have on physician and trainee proficiency, cytogenetic laboratories, and neonatal outcome. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Congenital cystic hygroma of the neck diagnosed prenatally: Outcome with normal and abnormal karyotype

Twenty-two cases of cystic hygromas were diagnosed prenatally at Eastern Virginia Medical School and followed through the neonatal period. Our series was combined with 131 cases which have been described in the literature. Karyotypes were obtained in 110 fetuses and 80 (72·7 per cent) were abnormal. Fifty-one were not terminated: 30 with abnormal and 21 with normal karyotypes. There were no neonatal survivors in the group with abnormal karyotypes. There were five survivors in the 21 with normal karyotypes but only 2/21 without severe medical complications. Combining our series with those previously reported in the literature would suggest only a 2–3 per cent rate of intact survivors when fetal cystic hygromas are diagnosed in utero. This information should be helpful when counselling patients whose pregnancies carry this diagnosis.     

Active capping technology—New approaches for in situ remediation of contaminated sediments

This study evaluated pilot‐scale active caps composed of apatite, organoclay, biopolymers, and sand for the remediation of metal‐contaminated sediments. The active caps were constructed in Steel Creek, at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. Monitoring was conducted for 12 months. Effectiveness of the caps was based on an evaluation of contaminant bioavailability, resistance to erosion, and impacts on benthic organisms. Active caps lowered metal bioavailability in the sediment during the one‐year test period. Biopolymers reduced sediment suspension during cap construction, increased the pool of carbon, and lowered the release of metals. This field validation showed that active caps can effectively treat contaminants by changing their speciation, and that caps can be constructed to include more than one type of amendment to achieve multiple goals. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Multiphase extraction radius of influence: Evaluation of design and operational parameters

A common remedial technology for properties with subsurface soil and groundwater contamination is multiphase extraction (MPE). MPE involves the extraction of contaminated groundwater, free‐floating product, and contaminated soil vapor from the subsurface. A network of recovery wells conveys fluids to a vacuum pump and to the treatment system for the contaminated groundwater and soil vapor. This article describes a study of MPE operational data from nine similar remediation projects to determine the most important design parameters. Design equations from guidance manuals were used to estimate the expected radius of influence (ROI) based on measured field data. ROIs were calculated for the vapor flow rate through the subsurface and for the groundwater drawdown caused by the MPE remediation activities. The calculated ROIs were compared to the measured ROIs to corroborate the assumptions made in the calculations. Once it was established that the calculated and field‐measured ROIs were comparable, a sensitivity analysis determined ranges of different design and operational parameters that most affected the ROIs. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Detecting and Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dependence in Conservation Biology

Abstract: Due to the structuring forces and large-scale physical processes that shape our biosphere, we often find that environmental and ecological data are either spatially or temporally—or both spatially and temporally—dependent. When these data are analyzed, statistical techniques and models are frequently applied that were developed for independent data. We describe some of the detrimental consequences, such as inefficient parameter estimators, biased hypothesis test results, and inaccurate predictions, of ignoring spatial and temporal data dependencies, and we cite an example of adverse statistical results occurring when spatial dependencies were disregarded. We also discuss and recommend available techniques used to detect and model spatial and temporal dependence, including variograms, covariograms, autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation plots, geostatistical techniques, Gaussian autoregressive models, K functions, and ARIMA models, in environmental and ecological research to avoid the aforementioned difficulties.     

Optimizing contract allocation for risky conservation tenders

In the face of a shrinking budget for environmental activities, conservation agencies must design and implement agri-environmental policies that cost-effectively meet the environmental objectives. However, designing such programs is often challenging due to different uncertainties. For example, landholders may be exposed to risks when carrying out conservation projects. To minimise the negative impact of unexpected losses, landholders may require additional financial incentives as compensation for undertaking “risky” conservation projects. In such situations, the conservation agency risks over-spending public funds because of prohibitively high opportunity costs from landholders or failing to meet the environmental target. We used analytical and simulation approaches to explore optimal budget allocation in a target-constrained conservation tender. We also compared the performance of the tender with and without own-cost uncertainty. Results showed that as landholders’ own-cost uncertainty rises, the conservation agency is forced to allocate more funding to secure the same level of the environmental target. We found that the optimal funding level is sensitive to landholders’ competition uncertainty and the magnitude of expected losses.

     

The relative importance of COVID-19 pandemic impacts on biodiversity conservation globally

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on almost all aspects of human society and endeavor; the natural world and its conservation have not been spared. Through a process of expert consultation, we identified and categorized, into 19 themes and 70 subthemes, the ways in which biodiversity and its conservation have been or could be affected by the pandemic globally. Nearly 60% of the effects have been broadly negative. Subsequently, we created a compendium of all themes and subthemes, each with explanatory text, and in August 2020 a diverse group of experienced conservationists with expertise from across sectors and geographies assessed each subtheme for its likely impact on biodiversity conservation globally. The 9 subthemes ranked highest all have a negative impact. These were, in rank order, governments sidelining the environment during their economic recovery, reduced wildlife-based tourism income, increased habitat destruction, reduced government funding, increased plastic and other solid waste pollution, weakening of nature-friendly regulations and their enforcement, increased illegal harvest of wild animals, reduced philanthropy, and threats to survival of conservation organizations. In combination, these impacts present a worrying future of increased threats to biodiversity conservation but reduced capacity to counter them. The highest ranking positive impact, at 10, was the beneficial impact of wildlife-trade restrictions. More optimistically, among impacts ranked 11-20, 6 were positive and 4 were negative. We hope our assessment will draw attention to the impacts of the pandemic and, thus, improve the conservation community's ability to respond to such threats in the future.