An investigation on biological stability of product water generated by lab-scale and pilot-scale distillation systems

Material Disposal Area G is the primary low-levelradioactive waste disposal site at Los Alamos NationalLaboratory, New Mexico, and is adjacent to Pueblo of SanIldefonso lands. Pueblo residents and Los Alamos scientists areconcerned about radiological doses resulting from uptake of AreaG radionuclides by mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) andRocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus), then consumption ofdeer and elk meat by humans. Tissue samples were collected fromdeer and elk accidentally killed near Area G and were analyzedfor ³H, ⁹⁰Sr, total U, ²³⁸Pu, ^{239, 240}Pu,²⁴¹Am, and ¹³⁷Cs. These data were used to estimatehuman doses based on meat consumption of 23 kg y^-1. Humandoses were also modeled using RESRAD, and dose rates to deer andelk were estimated with a screening model. Dose estimates tohumans from tissue consumption were 2.9 × 10^-3 mSv y^-1and 1.6 × 10^-3 mSv y^-1 from deer and elk, respectively,and RESRAD dose estimates were of the same order of magnitude. Estimated dose rates to deer and elk were 2.1 × 10^-4 mGyd^-1 and 4.7 × 10^-4 mGy d^-1, respectively. Allestimated doses were significantly less than established exposurelimits or guidelines.     

Status of Aquatic Bioassessment in U.S. EPA Region IX

U.S. EPA Region IX is supporting bioassessment programs in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada using biocriteria program and Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (R-EMAP) resources. These programs are designed to improve the state, tribal and regional ability to determine the status of water quality. Biocriteria program funds were used to coordinate with Arizona, California and Hawaii which resulted in these states establishing reference conditions and in developing biological indices. U.S. EPA Region IX has initiated R-EMAP projects in California and Nevada. These U.S. EPA Region IX sponsored programs have provided an opportunity to interact with the States and provide them with technical and management support. In Arizona, several projects are being conducted to develop the State's bioassessment program. These include the development of a rotational random monitoring program; a regional reference approach for macroinvertebrate bioassessments; ecoregion approach to testing and adoption of an alternate regional classification system; and development of warm-water and cold-water indices of biological integrity. The indices are projected to be used in the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) 2000 water quality assessment report. In California, an Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) has been developed for the Russian River Watershed using resources from U.S. EPA's Non-point Source (NPS) Program grants. A regional IBI is under development for certain water bodies in the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. Resources from the U.S. EPA Biocriteria program are being used to support the California Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup (CABW) in conjunction with the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG), and to support the Hawaii Department of Health (DoH) Bioassessment Program to refine biological metrics. In Nevada, R-EMAP resources are being used to create a baseline of aquatic information for the Humboldt River watershed. U.S. EPA Region IX is presently working with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) to establish a Nevada Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup. Future R-EMAP studies will occur in the Calleguas Creek watershed in Southern California, and in the Muddy and Virgin River watersheds in southern Nevada, and the Walker River watershed in eastern California and west-central Nevada.     

美国杏李园主要害虫与天敌类群间相关性分析

应用典范相关分析方法研究了美国杏李园丰要害虫与天敌间的相互关系,在未受干扰的自生园中.害虫亚系统与天敌亚系统间第一典范相关系数达到显著水平,天敌亚系统中瓢虫类、草蛉类与主要害虫蚜虫类,螨类的数量变动规律一致.而蜘蛛类与主要害虫的数最关系不密切,化防园内主要害虫与天敌间的典范相关系数均未达显著永平,这表明未受干扰的自生园和生防园内,害虫与天敌亚系统间存在着有效的数量反馈机制,天敌对害虫具有一定的自然抑制作用,而化防园内,害虫与天敌间的数量反馈机制因农药干扰而失调,生态平衡受破坏.自生园和生防园害虫与天敌主要类群间具正相关关系.害虫亚系统中,蚜虫类贡献最大,其次为山楂叶螨和李小食心虫:天敌亚系统中蜘蛛和瓢虫贡献最大,其次为瓢虫类和草蛉类,草蛉类贡献最小.说明蜘蛛类、瓢虫类与主要害虫的数量变动规律一致.而草蛉类与美国杏李园主要害虫的数量关系不密切.     

铅暴露U251细胞差异表达基因分析(Analysis of Differentiation Expressed Genes of Human U251 Glioma Cells Exposed to Lead)

为研究体外培养的人神经胶质瘤U251细胞(human U251glioma cells)铅暴露后基因表达的改变,分析脑中差异表达基因,探讨铅暴露与神经毒性之间的关系,使用浓度为400μg·mL-1乙酸铅暴露U251细胞8h和24h,设置空白对照,提取RNA.应用基因芯片方法寻找差异表达基因,芯片扫描结果经归一化处理,设定Ratio值<0.5或≥2.0为表达有差异基因.结果表明铅暴露U251细胞导致2840条基因差异表达,暴露8h和24h皆上调表达的基因有92条,皆下调表达的基因有85条,其中132条基因在脑中表达;通过与数据库资料比对,109条基因与其在脑表达情况一致,23条基因不一致(15条基因高表达,8条基因低表达).从实验结果可以看出铅暴露能够导致U251细胞基因表达改变,抑制细胞增殖和迁移,促进细胞凋亡,负调控T细胞免疫活性.导致与神经发生、细胞骨架形成相关基因表达下调,神经保护能力下降,铅暴露可能与神经变性疾病及退行性疾病发生有关.     

Employee reactivity and adaptation to observation on the job

In the course of studying police dispatchers, five observers recorded the reactions of the employees (N = 37) to their presence throughout the work shift on three separate occasions. Four major research questions were considered: (a) extent of reaction, (b) relationship between interactions with the observer and changes in employees' work activities, (c) independence of verbal and nonverbal behavioral reactions, and (d) adaptation. On average, subjects or other employees initiated 10 interactions per hour with observers. These interactions were classified as subject-initiated (a) verbal, content related to research procedures; (b) verbal, non-research-related in content; (c) nonverbal only or (d) other employee-initiated verbal comment. Interaction with the observer was not related to the amount of work the subject did. Subjects' nonverbal and verbal responses were unrelated to each other as well as to the verbal responses of other employees. A priori expectations concerning adaptation to observation were tested with a 3 × 3 (segment by day) repeated-measures factorial design. Significant adaptation (P < 0·01) occurred within and between days in subjects' comments about research procedures and all comments from other employees. However, other behaviors showed with no evidence of adaptation or actual increases. The implications of these findings for measuring reactivity and deciding when adaptation has occurred are discussed.     

What kinds of injuries do OSHA inspections prevent?

Objective

OSHA's enforcement program is one of the major public efforts to protect American workers. We examine both the scope of injury prevention that inspections can contribute and the types of standards that contribute the most.

Methods

We linked Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry files for lost-time injuries and employment to calculate injury rates for 1998-2005 for all single-establishment manufacturing firms. We linked these to OSHA inspection records.

Results

Inspections with penalties did affect injury types unrelated to standards as well as those related. We also found again that citations for violations of the standard requiring personal protective equipment had the largest impact on preventing injuries.

Impact on Industry

Programs requiring protective equipment use deserve added attention from consultants and inspectors. In addition, some inspections spur managers to undertake safety measures that go beyond compliance with standards.     

Situating Hazard Vulnerability: People’s Negotiations with Wildfire Environments in the U.S. Southwest

This article is based on a multimethod study designed to clarify influences on wildfire hazard vulnerability in Arizona’s White Mountains, USA. Findings reveal that multiple factors operating across scales generate socially unequal wildfire risks. At the household scale, conflicting environmental values, reliance on fire insurance and firefighting institutions, a lack of place dependency, and social vulnerability (e.g., a lack of financial, physical, and/or legal capacity to reduce risks) were found to be important influences on wildfire risk. At the regional-scale, the shift from a resource extraction to environmental amenity-based economy has transformed ecological communities, produced unequal social distributions of risks and resources, and shaped people’s social and environmental interactions in everyday life. While working-class locals are more socially vulnerable than amenity migrants to wildfire hazards, they have also been more active in attempting to reduce risks in the aftermath of the disastrous 2002 Rodeo-Chediski fire. Social tensions between locals and amenity migrants temporarily dissolved immediately following the disaster, only to be exacerbated by the heightened perception of risk and the differential commitment to hazard mitigation displayed by these groups over a 2-year study period. Findings suggest that to enhance wildfire safety, environmental managers should acknowledge the environmental benefits associated with hazardous landscapes, the incentives created by risk management programs, and the specific constraints to action for relevant social groups in changing human-environmental context.     

A model of radiocesium cycling in a sand hills—Turkey Oak (Quercus laevis) ecosystem

Digital simulation models of radiocesium cycling in Turkey Oaks were developed from in situ ¹³⁴Cs tagging studies. Predictions of ¹³⁴Cs steady-state distribution for 3-, 4- and 5-compartment, donor-controlled models were compared with the estimated fallout ¹³⁷Cs distribution as a measure of model validation; output from the 5-compartment model compared best. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that Turkey Oak burden of ¹³⁴Cs was equally sensitive to the output rate from the tree compartment and the availability of ¹³⁴Cs for uptake (i.e., presence in the root zone) but not the rate of uptake by Turkey Oaks. Observed distribution and model predictions indicate that radiocesium is readily bioaccumulated by Turkey Oaks (～13% of the ecosystem burden) from the soil and is cycled within the sand hills—Turkey Oak ecosystem.     

Removal of uranium (VI) from aqueous solution by adsorption of hematite

Hematite, a type of inorganic-sorptive medium, was used for the removal of U (VI) from aqueous solutions. Variables of the batch experiments including solution pH, contact time, initial concentration, temperature, calcium and magnesium ions were studied. The results indicated that the adsorption capacities are strongly affected by the solution pH, contact time and initial concentration. A higher pH favors higher U (VI) removal. The adsorption was also affected by temperature and calcium and magnesium ions, but the effect is very weak. The maximum adsorption capacity (q_m) only increased from 3.36 mg g⁻¹ to 3.54 mg g⁻¹ when the temperature was increased from 293 K to 318 K. A two-stage kinetic behavior was observed in the adsorption of uranium (VI): very rapid initial adsorption in a few minutes, followed by a long period of slower uptake. It was found that an increase in temperature resulted in a higher uranium (VI) loading per unit weight of the sorbent. The adsorption of uranium by hematite had good efficiency, and the equilibrium time of adsorbing uranium (VI) was about 6 h. The isothermal data were fitted with both Langmuir and Freundlich equations, but the data fitted the former better than the latter. The pseudo-first-order kinetic model, pseudo-second-order kinetic model and intraparticle diffusion model were used to describe the kinetic data, but the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was the best. The thermodynamic parameter ΔG⁰ were calculated, the negative ΔG⁰ values of uranium (VI) at different temperatures confirmed the adsorption processes were spontaneous.