Effects of a catalytic converter on PCDD/F, chlorophenol and PAH emissions in residential wood combustion

Temporal variations in concentrations of perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and sulfonic acids (PFSAs), including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) structural isomers, were examined in livers of pilot whale (Globicephala melas), ringed seal (Phoca hisida), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), hooded seal (Cystophora cristata), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) and in muscle tissue of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus). The sampling spanned over 20 years (1984-2009) and covered a large geographical area of the North Atlantic and West Greenland. Liver and muscle samples were homogenized, extracted with acetonitrile, cleaned up using hexane and solid phase extraction (SPE), and analyzed by liquid chromatography with negative electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In general, the levels of the long-chained PFCAs (C9-C12) increased whereas the levels of PFOS remained steady over the studied period. The PFOS isomer pattern in pilot whale liver was relatively constant over the sampling years. However, in ringed seals there seemed to be a decrease in linear PFOS (L-PFOS) with time, going from 91% in 1984 to 83% in 2006.     

Is there a material Kuznets curve for aluminium? evidence from rich countries

The paper tests the material Kuznets Curve (MKC) hypothesis with regard to aluminium consumption for 20 high-income countries over the period 1970 to 2009. The test is based on the suggestion of Narayan and Narayan (2010). Various unit root and cointegration tests are applied. The aluminium and GDP series are found to be integrated of order one and cointegrated. Additionally, the Blundell–Bond system generalized methods-of-moments (GMM) is employed to conduct a panel causality test in a vector error-correction mechanism (VECM) setting. Unidirectional causality running from real per capita GDP to the aluminium intensity is uncovered in both the short-run and long-run. While controlling for structural shocks, the MKC hypothesis is found to hold at individual levels for Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Japan, and United Kingdom as well as for the whole panel. A 1% increase in GDP generates an increase of 0.87% in metal intensity in the short-run and a fall of 0.82% in the long-run for the panel.     

Evaluation of a healthcare safety climate measurement tool

Problem

Psychometrically validated measurement tools are needed to evaluate an organization's safety climate. In 2000, Gershon and colleagues published a new healthcare safety climate measurement tool to determine its relationship to safe work behavior (Gershon, R., Karkashian, C., Grosch, J., Murphy, L., Escamilla-Cejudo, A., Flanagan, P., et al. (2000). Hospital safety climate and its relationship with safe work practices and workplace exposure incidents. American Journal of Infection Control, 28, 211-21). The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Gershon tool when modified to address respiratory rather than bloodborne pathogen exposures.

Method

Medical practitioners, nurses, and nurse aides (n = 460) were surveyed using the modified Gershon tool. Data were analyzed by factor analysis and psychometric properties of the tool evaluated.

Results

Eight safety climate dimensions were extracted from 25 items (Cronbach's alpha range: 0.62 - 0.88). Factor extractions and psychometric properties were reasonably consistent with those of the Gershon tool.

Impact on Industry

The Gershon safety climate tool appears to have sufficient reliability and validity for use by healthcare decision makers as an indicator of employee perceptions of safety in their institution.     

生态修复工程实施后对土壤理化性质改善效益初探

通过监测和田地区生态修复项目实施后所取得生态效益的结果表明,生态修复项目实施后,由于项目区风速降低,温度和相对湿度的变化减少,提高了植被盖度,降低了风蚀量,促进了成土作用的进行,从而逐渐改善了土壤的理化性质。     

Changing Farmers' Land Management Practices in the Hills of Nepal

This paper sheds light on changing farmers' land management practices in two mountain watersheds, with and without external assistance, in the western hills of Nepal. Information used in the analysis were obtained through a survey of 300 households, group discussion, key informant interviews, and field observation conducted during April–September 1999. Confronted with ever-decreasing landholding size due to a steadily growing population and scarcity of nonfarming employment opportunities, farmers in both watersheds have increasingly adopted assorted types of structural and biological measures to control soil erosion, landslides, gully expansion, and soil nutrient loss to maintain or even enhance land productivity. Adoption of gully control measures, construction of the retention walls, alley cropping, use of vegetative measures for landslide control, mulching, and use of green manure and chemical fertilizers are found significantly high in the project area due to the provision of technical and financial support, whereas composting is found significantly high in the nonproject area. Different from the traditionally held beliefs, population pressure on a finite land resource has brought positive change in land management. However, the experience from both watersheds indicates that there is limit to the extent that resource poor farmers can respond to land degradation without any external assistance. Required is the arrangement for appropriate polices and support services and facilities enabling farmers to adopt locationally suitable and economically attractive land management technologies.     

氮素和水分对贝加尔针茅草原土壤酶活性和微生物量碳氮的影响

在内蒙古贝加尔针茅草原,分别设对照（N0）、1.5 g·m^-2（N15）、3.0 g·m^-2（N30）、5.0 g·m^-2（N50）、10.0 g·m^-2（N100）、15.0 g·m^-2（N150）、20.0 g·m^-2（N200）和30 g·m^-2（N300）（不包括大气沉降的氮量）8个氮素（NH4NO3）梯度和模拟夏季增加降水100 mm的水分添加交互试验,研究氮素和水分添加对草原土壤养分、酶活性及微生物量碳氮的影响。结果表明：氮素和水分添加对草原土壤理化性质和生物学特性有显著影响。随施氮量的增加土壤总有机碳、全氮、硝态氮、铵态氮含量呈增加的趋势,相反,土壤pH值呈降低的趋势。土壤脲酶和过氧化氢酶的活性随施氮量的增加而升高,多酚氧化酶则随施氮量的增加呈下降的趋势。氮素和水分添加对草原土壤微生物量碳氮含量有显著影响,高氮处理（N150、N200和N300）显著降低了微生物碳含量,微生物氮含量随施氮量的增加呈上升趋势。水分添加能够减缓氮素添加对微生物的抑制作用,提高微生物量碳、微生物量氮含量。草原土壤养分、土壤酶活性及土壤微生物量碳氮含量间关系密切,过氧化氢酶与全氮、总有机碳、硝态氮呈显著正相关,多酚氧化酶与铵态氮、硝态氮、全氮呈显著负相关。微生物量氮含量与土壤全氮、铵态氮、硝态氮含量以及过氧化氢酶和磷酸酶活性呈显著正相关,与多酚氧化酶呈负相关;微生物量碳与过氧化氢酶呈负相关,与多酚氧化酶活性呈正相关。     

公众参与环境保护制度属性及制度模块构建

民主政治是公众参与制度的出发点和归宿,通过公众的有效参与,环境执法权得到监督;有序是公众参与制度的自然属性,有序才能使参与变得顺畅;利益均衡是公众参与制度的价值准则,环境矛盾最终体现为环境利益和经济利益之争,解决环境纠纷的最佳手段是寻找利益均衡点;政府居于环境执法的主导地位,同时发挥指导、引导、疏导公众和企业的作用;多重沟通平台是公众参与制度的效率保证,政府、企业、公众在执法前后的多重沟通,才能达到参与的最终目标。与公众参与环境执法制度属性相对应的是制度模块建设,如监督制度、程序制度、纠纷调处制度、润性执法制度以及沟通制度等。这些制度既能准确反映公众参与环境执法制度属性,又能完成制度赋予的使命。     

固体厌氧消化原料流变特性研究综述

厌氧消化原料的流变特性是厌氧消化工艺设计和运行的重要参数。本文从研究对象、实验操作、研究内容和结果、影响因素以及发展方向等方面对固体厌氧消化原料,特别是污泥的流变特性研究现状进行了概述。研究表明,污泥来源广泛,成分复杂,属于非牛顿流体的范畴,其流变特性受多种因素影响,其中污泥的总悬浮固体(TSS)(或混合液悬浮固体(MLSS))和温度是最主要的影响因素。大部分研究采用层流剪切实验对物料的流变特性进行表征,研究对象范围有待于扩大。尚需针对流体本构方程的改进,共消化对于原料流变特性的影响,混合液固、液相指标与流变参数的关系等方面开展研究,为利用流变参数作为工艺控制参数提供理论依据,并解决工程放大等问题。     

Assessment of Soil Erodibility Indices for Conservation Reserve Program Lands in Southwestern Kansas Using Satellite Imagery and GIS Techniques

The soil erodibility index (EI) of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands, which was the major criterion for CRP enrollment, was assessed for six counties in southwestern Kansas using USGS seamless digital elevation model data and Geographical Informational System techniques. The proportion of land areas with EI values of 8 or lower was less than 1% of the entire study area and most of the land areas (72.5%) were concentrated on EI values between 8 and 24. Although land acreage with EI values of 24 or higher decreased dramatically, the proportion of CRP lands to the other land-use types did not change much from low to high EI levels. The soil EI and physical soil characteristics of the CRP lands were compared to those of other land-use types. In general, the mean EI values of the land-use types were strongly correlated with physical soil properties, including organic matter content, clay content, available water capacity, permeability, and texture. CRP lands were compared in detail with cropland in terms of their soil characteristics to infer the pivotal cause of the land transformation. Although there was no significant statistical difference in EI between cropland and CRP soils, soil texture, soil family, and permeability were statistically different between the two. Statistical analyses of these three variables showed that CRP soils had coarser texture and higher permeability on average than cropland soils, indicating that CRP lands in the study area are drier than cropland soils. Therefore, soil moisture characteristics, not necessarily soil erosion potential, might have been the key factor for CRP enrollment in the study area.     

军团菌及其治理方法的研究进展

现代人工设备如空调、淋浴器、冷却塔等为军团菌提供了适宜的生活场所。导致了军团菌的大量繁殖;而军团菌所引起的军团病对人类的健康有着极大危害,因此对军团菌及其防治方法进行研究具有重大意义。本文对军团菌的分布、生物学特性进行了综述。并更为详细地论述了它的治理方法。得出了一些有益的结论。