Dangerous student car drop-off behaviors and child pedestrian–motor vehicle collisions: An observational study

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the association between dangerous student car drop-off behaviors and historical child pedestrian–motor vehicle collisions (PMVCs) near elementary schools in Toronto, Canada.

Methods: Police-reported child PMVCs during school travel times from 2000 to 2011 were mapped within 200 m of 118 elementary schools. Observers measured dangerous student morning car drop-off behaviors and number of children walking to school during one day in 2011. A composite score of school social disadvantage was obtained from the Toronto District School Board. Built environment and traffic features were mapped and included as covariates. A multivariate Poisson regression was used to model the rates of PMVC/number of children walking and dangerous student car drop-off behaviors, adjusting for the built environment and social disadvantage.

Results: There were 45 child PMVCs, with 29 (64%) sustaining minor injuries resulting in emergency department visits. The mean collision rate was 2.9/10,000 children walking/year (SD = 6.7). Dangerous drop-off behaviors were observed in 104 schools (88%). In the multivariate analysis, each additional dangerous drop-off behavior was associated with a 45% increase in collision rates (incident rate ratio [IRR] = 1.45, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02, 2.07). Higher speed roads (IRR = 1.27, 95% CI, 1.13, 1.44) and social disadvantage (IRR = 2.99, 95% CI, 1.03, 8.68) were associated with higher collision rates.

Conclusions: Dangerous student car drop-off behaviors were associated with historical nonfatal child PMVC rates during school travel times near schools. Some caution must be taken in interpreting these results due small number of events and limitations in the data collection, because collision data were collected historically over a 12-year period, whereas driving behavior was only observed on a single day in 2011. Targeted multifaceted intervention approaches related to the built environment, enforcement, and education could address dangerous drop-off behaviors near schools to reduce child PMVCs and promote safe walking to school.     

超声萃取-高效液相色谱法测定土壤中苯并[a]芘研究

采用超声萃取-高效液相色谱荧光检测法对土壤中苯并[a]芘含量进行定性、定量分析.土壤样品用正己烷/二氯甲烷(1+1)超声萃取,萃取液经硅胶柱或佛罗里硅土柱净化浓缩定容,乙腈-水为流动相,线性梯度洗脱,流速为1.0 mL/min,荧光检测器激发波长为280 nm,发射波长为420 nm,外标法峰面积定量.结果显示:该方法检出限低,苯并[a]芘的检出限为0.15μg/kg.这种方法具有很好的精密度,相对标准偏差为3.9%~8.4%.实际水样加标回收率范围在72.5%~85.8%.能够满足土壤的监测要求.     

西安市大气环境质量评价及变化趋势预测

选用SO2、NO2、PM10作为评价因子,采用时间序列的方法对西安市2009年-2014年大气环境质量进行分析评价.结果表明:2009年-2012年西安市空气质量达到了国家二级标准,SO2和NO2的年平均含量下降,2013年都略有上升,但总体上呈下降趋势,而颗粒物的年平均含量呈上升趋势且为影响该市空气质量的主要污染物,主要污染时间为1季度和4季度;利用GM(1,1)模型,预测2015年空气质量变化趋势,提出2015年应该采取措施降低颗粒物的含量,提高本市空气质量.     

Reference gene validation for quantification of gene expression during final oocyte maturation induced by diethylstilbestrol and di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate in common carp

Final oocyte maturation is the key step to successful spawning and fertilization.Quantitative real-time PCR(q PCR) is the technique of election to quantify the abundance of functional genes in such study. Reference gene is essential for correct interpretation of q PCR data. However, an ideal universal reference gene that is stable under all experimental circumstances has not been described. Researchers should validate their reference genes while performing q PCR analysis. The expression of 6 candidate reference genes: 18 s r RNA,28 s r RNA, Cathepsin Z, Elongation factor 1-α, Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase andβ-actin were investigated during final oocyte maturation induced by different compounds(DES and DEHP) in common carp(Cyprinus carpio). Four softwares(Bestkeeper, ge Norm,Norm Finder and Ref Finder) were used to screen the most stable gene in order to evaluate their expression stability. The results revealed that EF1α was highly stable expressed when final oocyte maturation was induced by DES, while gapdh was the most stable gene when final oocyte maturation was induced by DEHP. Stable expressed reference gene selection is critical for all q PCR analysis to get accurate target gene m RNA expression information.     

施用沼渣和接种丛枝菌根真菌对甘草生长及矿质营养的影响

沼渣是厌氧发酵的残余物,可作为肥料施用,但因其含有一定量的重金属等有害物质可能导致环境污染风险.丛枝菌根(Arbuscular mycorrhiza,AM)真菌作为植物共生真菌,可以促进植物对矿质养分的吸收,同时能够通过不同途径减轻重金属对植物的毒害.本文采用甘草(Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.)为供试植物开展盆栽试验,考察施用沼渣结合接种AM真菌对甘草生长和矿质营养的影响.试验结果表明,施用沼渣显著促进了植物生长,提高了植物生物量、磷含量和叶片叶绿素含量,与此同时提高了土壤有机质和磷、铬、铜、铅含量,并导致植物重金属含量显著升高.另一方面,AM真菌能够和甘草根系形成良好共生关系,但施用沼渣对菌根侵染表现出显著抑制作用.接种AM真菌促进了甘草生长、提高了根系磷含量及叶片叶绿素含量,同时显著降低了植株重金属含量至安全阈值以内.本试验表明,施用沼渣同时接种AM真菌可在促进甘草生长的同时阻控重金属污染风险,因而可作为沼渣安全利用的一种可行技术途径.     

Challenges and Opportunities for Creating Intelligent Hazard Alerts: The “FloodHippo” Prototype

Disasters evolving from hazards are a persistent and deadly occurrence in the United States. Despite this, hazard alerts have remained spatially vague, temporally imprecise, and lack actionable information. These deficiencies indicate a divide between the status quo and what is possible given modern environmental models, geographic information systems (GIS), and smartphone capabilities. This work describes an alternative, prototype system, “FloodHippo,” which integrates operational model outputs, cloud‐based GIS, and expanded communication channels to provide personal and interactive disaster alerts for floods. The precepts and methods underpinning FloodHippo apply equally to other disasters that evolve over space and time, presenting the opportunity for a more intelligent disaster response system. The development of such a system would not only minimize current shortcomings in disaster alerts but also improve resilience through individual action, along with community, academic, and federal cooperation.     

Ensuring social acceptance of the energy transition. The German government’s ‘consensus management’ strategy

This study deals with the German Federal Government’s approach of ensuring public support for its ‘Energiewende’, the swift and complete transition to an energy system based on renewable sources. First, the government’s ‘consensus management’ strategy is described as consisting of four elements: the setup of stakeholder deliberation fora; the funding of organisations dedicated to the public promotion of the energy transition; public campaigns that appeal to people’s commitment and the support of research on energy technologies. The study then traces the need for a strong social mandate of the energy transition back to the scope of the regulatory challenge and the recently growing conflicts around implementation, to institutional constraints of a consensus democracy and to the narrative of ‘Energiewende’ as the ‘grand national task’.     

A responsibility–accountability framework for private sector use of a World Heritage Area

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a natural asset of global significance, spanning 2600?km’s along the Australian coastline. On the southern tip of the GBR is the Gladstone region, where high levels of industrial activity have been juxtaposed with the natural wonder, and World Heritage Listed, GBR. Given these competing local priorities, this research explores local perceptions of the GBR and its management. Exploratory analysis of 38 interviews with residents and stakeholders from Gladstone revealed a potential incongruence between environmental concern and support for more stringent management of the tourism and resources sectors on the GBR. A responsibility–accountability framework (RAF) for managing the use and protection of the GBR is developed by drawing on current theoretical frameworks and the results of the interviews. Importantly the framework highlights the importance of business responsibility combined with monitoring and control mechanisms to ensure accountability and to deliver transparency, education and partnership. Future research should apply the RAF for testing and application in other marine World Heritage Area contexts.     

基于微信公众平台的地震信息发布研究

随着智能手机的普及、移动互联网的高速发展,微信公众平台依托多媒体图文推送、及时性、互动方便快捷等优势,在地震信息发布中扮演越来越重要的角色。为了提高地震政务微信服务的针对性和有效性,统计了57个已认证地震微信公众号,采用定性与定量相结合的方法,对于其发布信息的特点进行分析与归纳。给出了当前地震政务微信在内容上、发布形式上、互动性等多方面存在的问题。最后,针对地震微信公众平台的信息发布特点提出了对策建议。