Impact of posture and upper-limb muscle activity on grip strength

Purpose. The current research was carried out to determine grip strength (GS) with change in posture and upper-limb muscle activity of manual workers and investigate the impacts of these changes. Methods. For the current research, 120 male and 80 female participants were selected and GS was assessed using a digital hand grip dynamometer in various conditions. Results. The outcomes showed that male participants had higher GS as compared to female participants. Maximum GS was found in a standing posture with the fixed forward shoulder at 45°, elbow at 90° and a neutral position of the wrist and forearm for all participants. Conclusions. Higher values of GS were attained in standing postures which may result in attainment of higher performance levels by the workers. The outcomes justify the importance of correct postures during manual work in industries employing traditional methods.     

Traditional agriculture in transition: examining the impacts of agricultural modernization on smallholder farming in Ghana under the new Green Revolution

Following the renewed effort at achieving a new green revolution for Africa, emphasis has been placed on modernizing smallholder agriculture through the deployment of improved inputs especially mechanized technologies. In Ghana, the government has in the last decade emphasized the provision of subsidized mechanized ploughing services to farmers alongside a rapidly growing private sector tractor service market. While mechanized technology adoption rates have increased rapidly, the deployment of these technologies has been without critical analysis of the impacts on production patterns and local agrarian systems. This paper examines the distributional impacts of agriculture mechanization on cropping patterns and farm sizes of smallholder farmers in northern Ghana using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, and semi-structured interviews with smallholder farmers (n=60). Specifically, comparative analysis of the field sizes and cropping patterns of participant farmers prior to and after the adoption of mechanized technologies was conducted. In-depth interviews were used to contextualize the experiences of smallholder farmers toward understanding how mechanization may be impacting traditional agriculture. Our findings reveal a mechanization paradox in which farm sizes are expanding, while cropping patterns are shifting away from traditional staple crops (pearl millet and sorghum bicolor) to market-oriented crops (maize, rice and groundnuts). This transition we argue, has adverse implications on the cultural dimension of food security, the organization of social life, and climate change adaptation. We recommend a retooling of the current agricultural policy focus to ensure context sensitivity for a more robust battle against food insecurity.     

Analysis of the Trend and Seasonal Cycle of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in an Urban Area (4 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Air quality is an field of major concern in large cities. This problem has led administrations to introduce plans and regulations to reduce pollutant emissions. The analysis of variations in the concentration of pollutants is useful when evaluating the effectiveness of these plans. However, such an analysis cannot be undertaken using standard statistical techniques, due to the fact that concentrations of atmospheric pollutants often exhibit a lack of normality and are autocorrelated. On the other hand, if long-term trends of any pollutant’s emissions are to be detected, meteorological effects must be removed from the time series analysed, due to their strong masking effects. Materials and Methods The application of statistical methods to analyse temporal variations is illustrated using monthly carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations observed at an urban site. The sampling site is located at a street intersection in central Valencia (Spain) with a high traffic density. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It is a typical Mediterranean city in terms of its urban structure and climatology. The sampling site started operation in January 1994 and monitored CO ground level concentrations until February 2002. Its geographic coordinates are W0°22′52″ N39°28′05″ and its altitude is 11 m. Two nonparametric trend tests are applied. One of these is robust against serial correlation with regards to the false rejection rate, when observations have a strong persistence or when the sample size per month is small. A nonparametric analysis of the homogeneity of trends between seasons is also discussed. A multiple linear regression model is used with the transformed data, including the effect of meteorological variables. The method of generalized least squares is applied to estimate the model parameters to take into account the serial dependence of the residuals of this model. This study also assesses temporal changes using the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter. The KZ filter has been shown to be an effective way to remove the influence of meteorological conditions on O₃ and PM to examine underlying trends. Results The nonparametric tests indicate a decreasing, significant trend in the sampled site. The application of the linear model yields a significant decrease every twelve months of 15.8% for the average monthly CO concentration. The 95% confidence interval for the trend ranges from 13.9% to 17.7%. The seasonal cycle also provides significant results. There are no differences in trends throughout the months. The percentage of CO variance explained by the linear model is 90.3%. The KZ filter separates out long, short-term and seasonal variations in the CO series. The estimated, significant, long-term trend every year results in 10.3% with this method. The 95% confidence interval ranges from 8.8% to 11.9%. This approach explains 89.9% of the CO temporal variations. Discussion The differences between the linear model and KZ filter trend estimations are due to the fact that the KZ filter performs the analysis on the smoothed data rather than the original data. In the KZ filter trend estimation, the effect of meteorological conditions has been removed. The CO short-term componentis attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in emissions. There is a significant seasonal cycle. This component is a result of changes in the traffic, the yearly meteorological cycle and the interactions between these two factors. There are peaks during the autumn and winter months, which have more traffic density in the sampled site. There is a minimum during the month of August, reflecting the very low level of vehicle emissions which is a direct consequence of the holiday period. Conclusions The significant, decreasing trend implies to a certain extent that the urban environment in the area is improving. This trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and economics. It is also due to the effect of introducing reformulated gasoline. The additives enable vehicles to burn fuel with a higher air/fuel ratio, thereby lowering the emission of CO. The KZ filter has been the most effective method to separate the CO series components and to obtain an estimate of the long-term trend due to changes in emissions, removing the effect of meteorological conditions. Recommendations and Perspectives Air quality managers and policy-makers must understand the link between climate and pollutants to select optimal pollutant reduction strategies and avoid exceeding emission directives. This paper analyses eight years of ambient CO data at a site with a high traffic density, and provides results that are useful for decision-making. The assessment of long-term changes in air pollutants to evaluate reduction strategies has to be done while taking into account meteorological variability     

The Impact of Agriculture On Dissolved Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycling in Temperate Ecosystems

Although most research has focussed on inorganic nutrient forms of nitrate (NO^-₃) and phosphorus (PO³₄) in runoff and receiving waters, nitrogen loss from agricultural land can also occur in organic and ammonium-nitrogen form; phosphorus losses, although often dominated by particulate transport, may occur in soluble organic and inorganic form. Furthermore, fluxes between different species may take place during transport from the land to the stream and as a result of in-stream, in-river or in-lake transformations. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation in all nitrogen species and phosphorus fractions in a drainage basin is therefore essential if the wider environmental significance of elevated nutrient concentrations in natural waters are to be assessed. This paper reviews recent work on N and P losses from agricultural land and presents some results from two intensive agricultural catchments: Slapton, Devon and the river Windrush catchment in the Cotswolds.     

The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Urban Environmental Management: Some Evidence from Hanoi, Vietnam

In recent years flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) to developing countries have rapidly been increasing. It is now an important contributor to the national economy and urban growth in scores of developing countries. Rapid urbanization in these countries is leading to many problems in the cities. Existing urban infrastructure and municipal services have been unable to cope with the increased demand arising from growing population and rapid economic growth. Consequently, the environment in these cities has deteriorated alarmingly. This paper assesses the role of FDI in urban environmental management (UEM) by analyzing the linkages between them for Hanoi City in Vietnam. The paper's analysis and findings are presented under three main themes: one, FDI, employment and income; two, FDI and environmental degradation; and three, potential of utilizing FDI for the provision of urban environmental infrastructure and services (UEI&S) in order to improve the urban environment. Both primary and secondary source data have been used. Policy implications of the research findings are drawn from the perspective of sustainable development.     

城市游憩空间结构优化研究——以大连市为例

鉴于我国城市化的快速发展．城市居民游憩需求与供给的矛盾日益突出。本文选择城市游憩空间结构作为研究对象．综合分析现有的城市游憩空间结构和典型游憩功能区的研究成果，探讨了城市游憩需求的空间结构特征、游憩供给的空间结构特征．分析了城市游憩需求和供给空间结构特征的形成因素,提出理想的城市游憩空间结构模式。通过调研大连市主城区游憩场所的分布情况、使用情况以及大连城市游憩者的游憩需求特征,分析了大连市游憩供给和需求之间的矛盾及城市游憩空间的等级结构和整体结构。     

Migration Pathways and Remediation of Urban Runoff for PAH Control

The migration pathways for polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and the associated active attenuating mechanisms within the urban environment are examined. The interest in developing an improved understanding of PAH migration/attenuation is focused toward quantification of the cost-effectiveness of urban runoff control strategies for mitigation of PAH inputs to receiving water bodies.A case study application to the City of Sault Ste Marie demonstrates that snow removal from sub-basins with the largest deposition rates, and relatively small wet and/or dry stormwater management ponds, are the most cost-effective remediation strategies.     

Structural Adjustment of Oasis Agriculture in Xinjiang

As a special basic economic region in China, Xinjiang is situated in the arid area in the Northwest China. Oasis agriculture is the basis of the national economy. The development of oasis agriculture helps to accelerate the development of economy, social and environment. After 50 years of practice, from 1949 to 2002, oasis agriculture in Xinjiang enhanced rapidly the scale of agricultural industry and had great changes in its structure. The amount of cultivated area rose from 120.97*102 ha t…     

海绵城市地块汇水区颗粒污染物的传输

目前我国海绵工程建设多集中在地块汇水区单元内开展,通过多个低影响开发(LID)设施协同完成地表径流水质水量的调控,但基于地块汇水区尺度下城市面源污染的产生和控制效果鲜有报道.本研究比较分析了不同硬化率地块汇水单元内的面源颗粒污染物晴天累积、降雨冲刷、地表径流及径流输出负荷状况.结果表明,地块汇水单元内硬质路面是面源颗粒污染物贡献的最主要的下垫面类型,中硬化率(61.1%)地块和高硬化率(73.6%)地块路面街尘累积量分别约占汇水区单元的88.4%(2.22～12.51 g·m~(-2))和90.1%(4.99～33.43 g·m~(-2)),对径流SS的输出贡献比率分别约为91.7%(0.97～7.34 g·m~(-2))和90.5%(0.92～18.77 g·m~(-2)),降雨径流SS污染负荷占比分别约为95.2%和83.1%,经LID设施处理后输出径流污染负荷约为地表径流的24.0%和40.2%.硬质路面的街尘晴天累积及降雨冲刷以150μm为主,地表径流及输出径流则以50μm粒径段为主,同时地块不透水比例的增加,细粒径(105μm)颗粒物的累积及冲刷分布增大(24.4%和106.4%),而粒径50μm的颗粒物在路面径流中的分布减小(12.4%).屋面的街尘累积、冲刷及降雨径流的粒径分布状况与硬质路面大致相似,但中硬化率地块(1 000μm)和高硬化率地块(250～450μm、45μm)在3个粒径段范围的颗粒物累积和冲刷相较于路面街尘粒径分布明显增加(1 000μm:58.1%和108.5%; 250～450μm:72.9%和41.8%;45μm:59.2%和64.8%).以上结果揭示了颗粒污染物在地块汇水区尺度下的污染全过程(累积-冲刷-输出)分布及LID设施对地块整体SS污染负荷的控制效果,可为地块汇水单元内LID设施工程绩效的科学评估提供重要参考.     

张家界城镇居民幸福水平对旅游城镇化集聚的响应识别及测度

以欠发达地区城镇居民幸福水平对旅游城镇化集聚的响应为研究目标,构建二者的响应模型,识别和测度了城镇居民幸福水平对旅游城镇化集聚的响应强度。结果表明:（1）通过对张家界旅游城镇化集聚水平与城镇居民幸福水平进行格兰杰因果检验发现:旅游城镇化集聚是城镇居民幸福水平的单向格兰杰因果关系,即旅游城镇化集聚对城镇居民幸福水平具有正向促进作用。（2）由于受旅游城镇化集聚水平的影响,幸福水平在不同时期也受不同幸福外在因素的影响,关联度从精神文化环境、自然生态环境等非经济因素向社会安全环境、生活质量环境等经济因素转变。（3）旅游城镇化集聚对城镇居民幸福水平的作用路径区别于满足人们物质需求后,再满足非物质需求的传统幸福水平提升路径,而是先被动地改善“非物质”需求后继而带动“物质”需求改善以提升幸福水平。研究成果可为同类欠发达地区通过发展旅游城镇化提升居民幸福水平提供理论支撑及借鉴。