Development of a multi-criteria index ranking system for urban runoff best management practices (BMPs) selection

Low impact development best management practices (LID-BMPs) are considered to be cost-effective measures for mitigating the water quantity and quality impact of urban runoff. Currently, there are many types of LID-BMPs, and each type has its own intrinsic technical and/or economical characteristics and limitations for implementation. The selection of the most appropriate BMP type(s) for a specific installation site is therefore a very important planning step. In the present study, a multi-criteria selection index system (MCIS) for LID-BMP planning was developed. The selection indexes include 12 first-level indices and 26 second-level indices which reflect the specific installation site characteristics pertaining to site suitability, runoff control performance, and economics of implementation. A mechanism for ranking the BMPs was devised. First, each individual second-level index was assigned a numeric value that was based on site characteristics and information on LID-BMPs. The quantified indices were normalized and then integrated to obtain the score for each of the first-level index. The final evaluation scores of each LID-BMP were then calculated based on the scores for the first-level indices. Finally, the appropriate BMP types for a specific installation site were determined according to the rank of the final evaluation scores. In order to facilitate the application of the MCIS BMP ranking system, the computational process has been coded into a software program, BMPSELEC. A case study demonstrating the MCIS methodology, using an LID-BMP implementation planning at a college campus in Foshan, Guangdong Province, is presented.     

Pectenotoxins--an issue for public health: a review of their comparative toxicology and metabolism.

Pectenotoxins (PTXs) are a group of toxins associated with diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) and isolated from DSP toxin-producing dinoflagellate algae. Consumption of shellfish contaminated with PTXs has been associated with incidences of severe diarrhetic illness resulting in hospitalisation. Concern has been raised for public health following the discovery that these toxins are not only hepatotoxic and can cause diarrhetic effects in mammals, but that they are potently cytotoxic to human cancer cell lines and have been found to be tumour promoters in animals. With advances in knowledge and technology, more PTXs are being identified, but little is known of their toxicology and the potential impact these toxins may have on public health in the long term. Without such information, adequate health-risk assessments for the consumption of shellfish contaminated with PTXs cannot be performed. This review gives a brief introduction to diarrhetic shellfish toxins, details the known toxicology and metabolism of PTXs in animals, and discusses known incidences of PTX poisoning in humans.     

Triad case study: Former small arms training range

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (US ACE) used the Triad approach to expedite site characterization of contaminated soil at the Former Small Arms Evergreen Infiltration Training Range in Fort Lewis, Washington. The characterization was designed to determine if surface soils contain significant concentrations of metals, with the focus on collecting sufficient data for determining appropriate future actions (i.e., risk analysis or soil remediation). A dynamic sampling and analytical strategy based on rapid field‐based analytical methods was created in order to streamline site activities and save resources while increasing confidence in remediation decisions. Concurrent analysis of soil samples during the demonstration of method applicability (DMA) used both field portable X‐ray fluorescence (FPXRF) and laboratory methodologies to establish a correlation between FPXRF and laboratory data. Immediately following the DMA, contaminated soil from the impact berm was delineated by collecting both FPXRF data and fixed laboratory confirmation samples. The combined data set provided analytical results that allowed for revisions to the conceptual site model for the range and directed additional sample collection activities to more clearly determine the extent and distribution of soil contamination. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

US army land condition-trend analysis (LCTA) program

The US Army Land Condition-Trend Analysis (LCTA) program is a standardized method of data collection, analysis, and reporting designed to meet multiple goals and objectives. The method utilizes vascular plant inventories, permanent field plot data, and wildlife inventories. Vascular plant inventories are used for environmental documentation, training of personnel, species identification during LCTA implementation, and as a survey for state and federal endangered or threatened species. The permanent field plot data documents the vegetational, edaphic, topographic, and disturbance characteristics of the installation. Inventory plots are allocated in a stratified random fashion across the installation utilizing a geographic information system that integrates satellite imagery and soil survey information. Ground cover, canopy cover, woody plant density, slope length, slope gradient, soil information, and disturbance data are collected at each plot. Plot data are used to: (1) describe plant communities, (2) characterize wildlife and threatened and endangered species habitat, (3) document amount and kind of military and nonmilitary disturbance, (4) determine the impact of military training on vegetation and soil resources, (5) estimate soil erosion potential, (6) classify land as to the kind and amount of use it can support, (7) determine allowable use estimates for tracked vehicle training, (8) document concealment resources, (9) identify lands that require restoration and evaluate the effectiveness of restorative techniques, and (10) evaluate potential acquisition property. Wildlife inventories survey small and midsize mammals, birds, bats, amphibians, and reptiles. Data from these surveys can be used for environmental documentation, to identify state and federal endangered and threatened species, and to evaluate the impact of military activities on wildlife populations. Short- and long-term monitoring of permanent field plots is used to evaluate and adjust land management decisions.     

The psychological effects of false-positive results in prenatal screening for fetal abnormality: A prospective study

The purpose of the study was to describe the impact of false-positive results from initial maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MS-AFP) screening. The analyses compared two groups of women, those receiving a negative result (n = 346) and those receiving an initial positive result (n = 26), over four time points—prior to testing, immediately after testing, later in pregnancy, and in the post-partum period. Receiving an abnormal result was associated with high levels of anxiety which were reflected in increased worry about the baby's health and a more negative attitude towards the pregnancy and the baby. Women who had an initial abnormal result were offered a variety of further tests. Those women who went on to have amniocentesis were less worried about their baby's health in the third trimester and also less anxious post-partum than those who did not have amniocentesis. In view of the increasing number of screening tests available, it is necessary to establish whether and how these levels of distress can best be reduced.     

Feeding deterrence properties of apo-fucoxanthinoids from marine diatoms. II. Physiology of production of apo-fucoxanthinoids by the marine diatoms Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira pseudonana,and their feeding deterrent effects on the copepod Tigriopus californicus

The marine diatoms Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira pseudonana have been shown to produce apo-fucoxanthinoid compounds which act as feeding deterrents against the harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus californicus. The amounts and types of apo-fucoxanthinoids produced were species specific. Th. pseudonana produced small quantities of apo-12-fucoxanthinal and apo-13-fucoxanthinone only during senescence, while P. tricornutum produced much greater quantities of these two compounds during both log and senescence phases, in addition to producing a third compound, apo-10-fucoxanthinal, only during senescence. For both species, production of apo-fucoxanthinoids increased as the cells entered senescence phase due to phosphate limitation. The amounts of apo-fucoxanthinoids necessary to reduce feeding in T. californicus by 50% ranged from 2.22 to 20.2 ppm. This range was approximately 1000 times lower than the total apo-fucoxanthinoid concentration in P. tricornutum. The amounts of apo-fucoxanthinoids necessary to cause a 50% mortality in a population of T. californicus ranged from 36.8 to 76.7 ppm. Thus, these compounds are present in concentrations which may have ecological significance in the control of bloom formation and grazing. The production of apo-fucoxanthinoids may be a phenomenon common to many diatoms, particularly as they enter senescence due to nutrient limitation.     

Accumulation,fractionation and release of oil by the intertidal clam Macoma balthica

The bivalve mollusc Macoma balthica accumulated hydrocarbons during 180 days of continuous exposure to Prudhoe Bay crude oil in seawater dispersions with nominal concentrations of 0.03, 0.3 and 3.0 mg l^-1. The mollusc's ability to concentrate oil from seawater increased with decreasing oil-in-water concentration. Decreases in oil burden began after 30 to 120 days (depending on the oil concentration) and continued for at least 60 days after exposure to oil ceased. Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons were fractionated in markedly different ways by the bivalve. Branched and cyclic aliphatics in the molecular weight-range dodecane through hexadecane were preferentially retained over straightchain and their higher homologs. Larger and more substituted aromatic compounds were selectively concentrated. There appeared to be no selective concentration of aromatic sulphur compounds.Please address requests for reprints to Dr. D. G. Shaw at the Institute of Marine Science     

Feeding deterrent and toxicity effects of apo-fucoxanthinoids and phycotoxins on a marine copepod (Tigriopus californicus)

Using the marine harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus californicus, the effects of phytoplankton feeding deterrents and toxins were differentiated and measured. Eight compounds were tested for feeding deterrence and toxicity responses: four apo-fucoxanthinoids (apo-10′-fucoxanthinal, apo-12′-fucoxanthinal, apo-12-fucoxanthinal, and apo-13′-fucoxanthinone) and four well-known phycotoxins (domoic acid, okadaic acid, microcystin-LR, and a mixture of PSP-1 toxins). Since several of these compounds exhibited both feeding deterrence and toxicity, a model was developed to deconvolute the observed toxicity response from the observed feeding deterrence response, and to classify these compounds based on the degree of toxicity and/or feeding deterrence they exhibited towards T. californicus. Microcystin-LR, the PSP-1 toxins, and the four apo-fucoxanthinoids behaved only as feeding deterrents at low concentrations. Okadaic acid exhibited both toxicity and feeding deterrence at low concentrations, with the threshold concentration for feeding deterrence at a lower level than the threshold concentration for toxicity. Domoic acid acted only as a toxin at low concentrations, with all decreases in feeding resulting from the death of the copepod. Received: 4 November 1996 / Accepted: 3 December 1996     

Comparison of models for describing measured VOC emissions from wood-based panels under dynamic chamber test condition

Measured emission factors are the experimental data used to represent emission characteristics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from testing materials under dynamic chamber test conditions. A simple empirical model that describes the measured emission factors will be very useful for practical purposes. In this study, a power law model was compared with a widely used first-order exponential decay model in their ability to describe measured emission factors of wood-based panel materials. It was demonstrated that the power law model is a better choice than the first-order model for describing emission characteristics for short-term (less than 100 h) experimental data. The power law model was also more superior in predicting long-term (up to 900 h) emission factors.