The Use of Meteorological Modeling and Biological Indicators to Identify Sources of Phytotoxic Pollutants

Meteorological dispersion modeling and pine trees used as "integrating monitors" were used to consider the probable source of a phytotoxic pollutant producing symptoms previously un-reported in the literature. Two sources, a chemical plant (A) and a fabric finishing plant (B) north of Raleigh, NC, were considered using the Air Quality Display Model (AQDM). Using the ability of this model to accommodate extra receptors corresponding to "monitoring" sites, we found good correlation between observed injury and predicted relative concentrations due to assumed emissions from source A. The poor agreement between predicted and observed injury if source B alone were modeled (or both sources together) suggested that source A alone emitted the causal agent.     

Air quality impact assessment

Air quality impact assessment (AQIA) is an important technique for determining the relative contribution to ground level pollutant concentrations of specific current or future source emissions at receptor sites. The principal activities in AQIA are air quality modelling and monitoring techniques. The choice of techniques which are applicable to a particular situation is intimately related to the problem to be assessed. A review of relevant modelling techniques has been presented, with emphasis placed on Gaussian plume models because of their ease of use and broad applicability. Alternative modelling techniques have been suggested when departures from the Gaussian form in the atmosphere occurs or when more detailed information on atmospheric chemistry, deposition or long range transport is required. The objectives and techniques of ambient air quality monitoring have been examined and the siting of instruments, duration and frequency of sampling, choice of monitoring rationale (fixed or mobile), minimization of sampling errors, data storage and analysis are discussed. Modelling and monitoring are essential to successful AQIA. An orderly approach to the principles and procedures involved in performing AQIA studies, using these two techniques in conjunction, has been presented.     

Field-scale roles of density, temperature, nitrogen, and predation on aphid population dynamics

Robust analyses of noisy, stage-structured, irregularly spaced, field-scale data incorporating multiple sources of variability and nonlinear dynamics remain very limited, hindering understanding of how small-scale studies relate to large-scale population dynamics. We used a novel, complementary Bayesian and frequentist state-space model analysis to ask how density, temperature, plant nitrogen, and predators affect cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii) population dynamics in weekly data from 18 field-years and whether estimated effects are consistent with small-scale studies. We found clear roles of density and temperature but not of plant nitrogen or predators, for which Bayesian and frequentist evidence differed. However, overall predictability of field-scale dynamics remained low. This study demonstrates stage-structured state-space model analysis incorporating bottom-up, top-down, and density-dependent effects for within-season (nearly continuous time), nonlinear population dynamics. The analysis combines Bayesian posterior evidence with maximum-likelihood estimation and frequentist hypothesis testing using average one-step-ahead residuals.     

DNA fingerprints of orange roughy,Hoplostethus atlanticus: a population comparison

Genetic variability among Hoplostethus atlanticus collected from two spawning grounds east and west of New Zealand was examined using DNA fingerprints as revealed by hybridization with three clonal probes: 33.15, M13 and 3HVR. The 33.15 and 3HVR fingerprints revealed a complex pattern of restriction fragments, apparently refecting a multi-locus system of highly variable minisatellite alleles similar to the pattern of alleles reported in other vertebrates. The M13 fingerprints revealed a distinct pattern of restriction fragments of high molecular weight, reflecting a single-locus system that overlapped with the family of minisatellite alleles observed in 33.15 fingerprints. In a sample of 12 orange roughy collected on a single regional spawning site, the average percent similarity of 33.15 fingerprints was 21.15% (SD=17.75), the average percent similarity of 3HVR fingerprints was 14.32% (SD=14.45) and the inferred average allelic frequency of the M13 single-locus system was 0.071. A comparison of 33.15 and M13 fingerprints from two distant spawning sites ground New Zealand revealed no obvious regional differences. The variability of orange roughy fingerprints was so great, however, that regional comparisons could not be considered conclusive indicators of genetic identity. Our results provide a preliminary assessment of the power and pitfalls of using DNA-level markers for the population analysis of marine fish.     

Improving Objectives for Cleanup Sites

In 1976, the discovery of the Love Canal Superfund Site in New York thrust environmental cleanups into the forefront of the national conscience and essentially launched the remediation industry. Since then, vast efforts have been devoted to improving site remediation. Despite the attention given to key subject areas, such as site characterization, risk assessment, and remediation technologies, relatively little attention has been given to the objectives set forth for conducting cleanups, and they have generally not been rigorously evaluated in the literature. Several of the more common objectives for remediation projects are discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The moist tropical forest: Its conversion and protection

Summary Though strong concern over the rapid conversion of moist tropical forests may justifiably arise from any discipline, a growing interdisciplinary tide of voices is expressing its alarm over a particularly disturbing consequence of forest alteration and destruction: the reduction of species diversity through the extinction of numerous plant and animal species. Consequently, an array of ecologists land-use planners, botanists, zoologists and conservationsts are searching for means to enhance the protection and preservation of tropical forests' biotic diversity. Management schemes aimed at achieving this particular end are being investigated, particularly by UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) Project 8 of Biosphere Reserves Projects, by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) tropical forests conservation program (UNEP, 1980) and by the World Wildlife Fund. In addition, many countries with a significant area of moist tropical forest (MTF) are beginning to pursue some form of conservation strategy. Currently Robert T. Perry is a full-time teacher of biology at a private school for a cademically gifted students in the Brooklyn area. In addition he has designed and is teaching courses in environmental chemistry and ethology to advanced high-schoolers. He is also an adjunct instructor for the City College of the City University of New York, where he is teaching graduate students in the Environmental Studies Programme. He graduated in Environmental Conservation from Cornell University, and has a Masters Degree in Environmental Biology from City University, New York.     

Job and industry fit: the effects of age and gender matches on career progress outcomes

Using a sample of 232 MBA alumni, we tested the impact of respondent age, gender, and their interaction on career progress outcomes (managerial level, number of promotions, and salary) and whether age‐ and gender‐type of contexts moderated these relationships. Women's salaries did not increase much with age, whereas men's salaries showed a marked increase with age. We also found a gender × job gender‐type effect on salary, such that women earned somewhat higher salaries in masculine‐typed jobs, while men earned considerably higher salaries in feminine‐typed jobs. In addition, we observed a three‐way interaction between gender, age, and age‐type of industry indicating that younger men received more promotions in old‐typed industries, while younger women received more promotions in young‐typed ones. Results are discussed in light of cognitive matching approaches and status characteristics theory. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.