Particulates and Metallic Elements Monitoring at Two Sampling Sites (Harbor,Airport) in Taiwan

This study characterized the dry deposition flux and dry deposition velocity (Vd) of metallic elements attached on particulate matter. Specifically, large particles (>10 μm), coarse particles (10 μm～2.5 μm), and fine particles (<2.5 μm) were studied at the Gong Ming Junior High School (Taichung Airport) and Taichung Harbor sampling sites in central Taiwan. Ambient air samples were collected to determine total suspended particulate matter (TSP), dry deposition plate (DDP), Vd, coarse particulate matter (PM_2.5–10) and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), and metallic elements concentrations at the Airport and Taichung Harbor sites between June 17, 2013, and November 14, 2013. The results revealed that the average TSP, DDP, Vd, PM_2.5–10, and PM_2.5 particulate at the Airport were 54.55 (μg/m³), 902.25 (μg/m²-min), 17.11 (m/sec), 0.003 (μg/m³), and 0.010 (μg/m³), respectively; while these values at Taichung Harbor were 63.66 (μg/m³), 539.69 (μg/m²-min), 9.94 (m/sec), 0.003 (μg/m³), and 0.014 (μg/m³), respectively. In addition, the results showed that the average Cu and Pb concentrations were higher than Cr, Ni, and Cd for both the airport and harbor sampling sites. Furthermore, Cr, N, Cu, Cd, and Pb had the highest average concentrations versus those reported for other study areas, with one exception: The results obtained in Kacanik, Kosovo, during 2005. The average metallic elements concentrations order was Cu > Pb > Cr > Ni > Cd.     

The indecisive role of the market in China’s SO2 and COD emissions trading

Governmental intervention is essential to combat environmental pollution, a phenomenon classically explained as market failure, while market-based environmental policy instruments have provided cost-effective alternatives. By examining five pilot air pollution (sulfur dioxide) and water pollution (chemical oxygen demand) trading schemes in China through a market-based theoretical framework and extensive empirical analysis, this research analyzes where a state-market boundary is defined, whether the market is performing effectively, and, critically, what leads to underperformance. Constrained by policy design, policy conflicts, and excessive state intervention, the market has not played an effective and ‘decisive’ role, resulting in low market thickness for participants and transactions, market congestion on prices, and inadequate market safety for genuine emissions trading. Better emissions trading for conventional pollutants and CO₂ requires better market-oriented rules, improved policy coordination, and stronger implementation while minimizing state intervention.     

Reduction–melting combined with a Na2CO3 flux recycling process for lead recovery from cathode ray tube funnel glass

With large quantity of flux (Na₂CO₃), lead can be recovered from the funnel glass of waste cathode-ray tubes via reduction–melting at 1000 °C. To reduce flux cost, a technique to recover added flux from the generated oxide phase is also important in order to recycle the flux recovered from the reduction–melting process. In this study, the phase separation of sodium and the crystallization of water-soluble sodium silicates were induced after the reduction–melting process to enhance the leachability of sodium in the oxide phase and to extract the sodium from the phase for the recovery of Na₂CO₃ as flux. A reductive atmosphere promoted the phase separation and crystallization, and the leachability of sodium from the oxide phase was enhanced. The optimum temperature and treatment time for increasing the leachability were 700 °C and 2 h, respectively. After treatment, more than 90% of the sodium in the oxide phase was extracted in water. NaHCO₃ can be recovered by carbonization of the solution containing sodium ions using carbon dioxide gas, decomposed to Na₂CO₃ at 50 °C and recycled for use in the reduction–melting process.     

Detection of trisomy 21 by quantitative fluorescent–polymerase chain reaction in uncultured amniocytes

Prenatal diagnosis of fetal trisomy 21 is usually performed by cytogenetic analysis. This requires lengthy laboratory procedures, high costs and is unsuitable for large-scale screening of pregnant women. Today, trisomy 21 can be rapidly diagnosed within 24 h by molecular analysis of uncultured fetal cells using the semi-quantification of fluorescent PCR products from short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphic markers. The aim of our study was to test a chromosome quantification method on the basis of the analysis of fluorescent PCR products derived from non-polymorphic target genes. Co-amplification of a portion of DSCR1 (Down syndrome Critical Region 1) and the reference gene, CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator) enabled molecular detection of trisomy 21. Our method was successfully tested on a total of 154 amniotic fluids in a blind prospective study. Calculation of the DSCR1/CFTR ratio allowed us to distinguish between 152 normal amniotic fluids (mean ratio 0.99) and 2 amniotic fluids presenting a trisomy 21 status (DSCR1/CFTR ratio of 1.53 and 1.61, respectively). The results obtained by conventional cytogenetic analysis and our quantitative PCR method were concordant in every case. Our gene-based fluorescent PCR approach represents an alternative molecular method for rapid and reliable detection of trisomy 21, which can be helpful in the prenatal diagnosis of women at high risk of fetal trisomy 21. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

陕西省近10年自然灾害的损失规律

本文主要根据自然灾害损失资料,对陕西近10a自然灾害损失时空规律、各灾种特点、损失结构进行了较详尽讨论,并进行了损失强度分区。     

佛山市区酸雨时空分布特征及其成因分析

从致酸源、地理环境、工业状况、气候条件等因素分析了佛山市酸雨的成因，提出一些控制酸雨污染的建议。     

沈阳市突发性环境污染事故应急地理信息系统

本文简要介绍了突发性环境污染事故地理信息系统的空间数据显示方法 ,并探讨了在 VB集成环境下 ,用Map Basic语言、SQL语言及 DAO来实现 Map Info电子地图上的空间数据处理技术。     

Detection of the toughest: Pedestrian injury risk as a smooth function of age

Objective: Though it is common to refer to age-specific groups (e.g., children, adults, elderly), smooth trends conditional on age are mainly ignored in the literature. The present study examines the pedestrian injury risk in full-frontal pedestrian-to–passenger car accidents and incorporates age—in addition to collision speed and injury severity—as a plug-in parameter.

Methods: Recent work introduced a model for pedestrian injury risk functions using explicit formulae with easily interpretable model parameters. This model is expanded by pedestrian age as another model parameter. Using the German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS) to obtain age-specific risk proportions, the model parameters are fitted to the raw data and then smoothed by broken-line regression.

Results: The approach supplies explicit probabilities for pedestrian injury risk conditional on pedestrian age, collision speed, and injury severity under investigation. All results yield consistency to each other in the sense that risks for more severe injuries are less probable than those for less severe injuries. As a side product, the approach indicates specific ages at which the risk behavior fundamentally changes. These threshold values can be interpreted as the most robust ages for pedestrians.

Conclusions: The obtained age-wise risk functions can be aggregated and adapted to any population. The presented approach is formulated in such general terms that in can be directly used for other data sets or additional parameters; for example, the pedestrian's sex. Thus far, no other study using age as a plug-in parameter can be found.     

The role of drug and alcohol use and the risk of motor vehicle crashes in Shiraz,Iran, 2014: A case–crossover study

Background: Traffic accidents and traffic-related injuries and mortality have become a major public health concern in Iran. This study aimed to examine the role of drug and alcohol use in motor vehicle accidents in Iran.

Methods: This case–crossover study was conducted on 441 drivers who survived a road traffic crash and were taken to the emergency department of Shahid Rajaee trauma hospital in Shiraz, southern Iran. Data were collected using checklists that included demographic characteristics and drug and alcohol use prior to driving. Alcohol and drug use was identified through self-report, and cannabis, morphine, and methamphetamine urine tests were used to confirm drug abuse among drivers.

Results: In total 17.9% of drivers reported using drugs (cannabis, opium, or metamphetamine) and 8.84% of drivers reported consuming alcohol prior to the collision. The crude odds ratios (ORs) for having a crash for opium, cannabis, and metamphetamine were 1.94 (95% interval confidence [CI], 1.11–3.38), 2.37 (95% CI, 1.03–5.42), 5.5 (95% CI, 1.21–24.81), respectively, and for all drugs was 3.83 (95% CI, 2.28–6.43). The OR for alcohol was 3.5 (95% CI, 1.73–7.06) based on self-report.

Conclusion: Drug and alcohol use are increasing the risk of traffic crashes in Iran. Risk-reducing programs must be designed and implemented.