Modeling traffic air pollution in street canyons in New York City for intra-urban exposure assessment in the US Multi-Ethnic Study of atherosclerosis and air pollution

We evaluated the Danish AirGIS air quality and exposure model system using air quality measurement data from New York City in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air). Measurements were used from three US EPA Air Quality System (AQS) monitoring stations and a comprehensive MESA Air measurement campaign including about 150 different locations and about 650 samples of about 2 week measurements of NO_x, NO₂ and PM_2.5. AirGIS is a deterministic exposure model system based on the dispersion models Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM) and the Urban Background Model (UBM). The UBM model reproduced the annual levels within 1–26% depending on station and pollutant at the three urban background EPA monitor stations, and generally reproduced well the seasonal and diurnal variation. The full model with OSPM and UBM reproduced the MESA Air measurements with a correlation coefficient of r² = 0.51 for NO_x, r² = 0.28 for NO₂ and r² = 0.73 for PM_2.5.     

Absence behavior as traffic crash predictor in bus drivers

Problem

Various indicators of health have been shown to be associated with traffic crash involvement. As general health is also related to absence from work, the latter variable may be more strongly related to crashes, especially for professional drivers.

Method

Bus driver absence from work was analyzed in association with their crash records. Two British samples and one Swedish sample were used.

Results

One of the British samples yielded fair correlations between crash record and absence, while for the other the effect was restricted to the first three months of driving. The Swedish data had effects in the expected direction but these were not significant.

Discussion

The use of an indirect, overall measurement of health, may be a viable method for predicting the traffic crash involvement for professional drivers, although replications are needed in larger samples and other populations.

Impact on industry

The use of absence records for the identification of at risk drivers would seem to be a simple and useful method for companies with major fleets, and it also shows the importance of promoting employee health and well being at work as a potential method of reducing the cost, not only of absenteeism, but also of crashes in company vehicles.     

Committing driving violations: An observational study comparing city, town and village

Introduction

This article compares observed driving behavior in a city, a town, and a village.

Method

Unobtrusive observations were made at intersections in each residential type. Five violation types were observed: (a) not wearing a seat belt (seat belt violation); (b) not using a safety seat for a child (safety seat violation for children); (c) not using a speaker while speaking on the phone (on-phone violation); (d) failing to comply with a ‘give way’ sign (‘give way’ sign violation); and (e) stopping in an undesignated area (undesignated stop violation). It was expected that in accordance with the anonymity hypothesis that the bigger residential areas' rate of traffic violations would be higher. The effects of the residential type, drivers' gender, and age were assessed using the multiple regression model. The stepwise method of evaluation was employed. The model converged on step 3 (Adjusted R square = 0.039). Residential type and gender contributed significantly to the model. Results: Consistent with prior research, male drivers committed more violations than female drivers. Chi-square analyses were used to test the distribution of violations by the settlement types. Overall, more drivers committed violations in the two small residential areas than in the city, with 30% of city drivers, 43% of town drivers, and 51% of village drivers committing at least one violation (χ2 (2) = 37.65, p < 0.001). Moreover, in the town and the village, a combination of one or more violations was committed more often than in the city (χ2 (1) = 34.645, p < 0.001). Accordingly, more drivers committed violations in the two small settlements (48.4%) than in the city (30.6%). Possible explanations for the observed results were provided in the Discussion section.

Impact on Industry

The conclusions of this paper are that drivers in small villages tend to disobey traffic laws. Therefore, efforts have to be made in companies to take this issue in consideration while running fleets in companies located in small places far from the center.     

Effects of methamidophos on the community structure,antagonism towards Rhizoctonia solani,and phlD diversity of soil Pseudomonas

A microcosm incubation study using an aquic brown soil from northeast China (a Cambisol in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Soil Taxonomy) was conducted to examine the effects of different concentrations (0, 50, 150, and 250 mg kg^?1) of methamidophos (O,S-dimethyl phosphoramidothioato) on Pseudomonas, one of the most important gram-negative bacteria in soil. Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) was performed to study the Pseudomonas community structure, an in vitro assay was made to test the antagonistic activity of isolated Pseudomonas strains against soil-borne Rhizoctonia solani, a major member of the pathogens highly related to soil-borne plant diseases, and special primer amplification and sequencing were performed to investigate the diversity of phlD, an essential gene in the biosynthesis of 2, 4-diacetylphloroglucinol (2, 4-DAPG), which has biocontrol activity in phlD ⁺isolates. With exposure to increasing methamidophos concentrations, the total number of soil Pseudomonas ARDRA patterns decreased significantly, but with less change in the same treatments over 1, 3, and 5 weeks of incubation. The number of isolated Pseudomonas strains with antagonistic activity against R. solani as well as the diversity and appearance frequency of the strains' phlD gene also decreased with increasing concentrations of methamidophos, especially at high methamidophos concentrations. Applying methamidophos could increase the risk of soil-borne plant diseases by decreasing the diversity of the soil Pseudomonas community and the amount of R. solani antagonists, particularly those with the phlD gene.     

城市居民交通方式选择及其影响因素分析——以南京市为例

随着我国城市化水平的提高,城市交通能源消费占总能源消费的比重逐渐增大,交通方式选择及其影响因素研究引起广泛关注。本研究通过调查南京居民出行交通方式,并通过多项logit模型(multinomial logit model),探究影响居民交通选择的关键因素,为城市交通政策的制定提供科学依据,并根据估算结果分析不同政策下交通方式改变带来的节能减排效应。结果显示:出行特性(如出行距离)、出行者的个人特征(如性别、年龄、职业)与出行者的家庭特征(如是否有私家车,是否有小孩)都对交通方式选择有显著影响。如果通过有效的交通政策引导,使私家车出行转变为轨道交通出行,南京每天大约可减少1573.5吨碳排放。     

基于BP模型对城市交通噪声的数据处理和预测

城市交通噪声的预测和评价技术是城市交通可持续发展的重要研究内容,直接为城市交通规划中环境容量分析和环境影响评价服务。本文通过实测的大量数据,运用神经网络中的BP模型及其算法建立车辆数、道路宽度和交通噪声之间的关系,对城市道路交通噪声数据进行处理和预测。     

道路交通噪声自动监测应用探讨

结合城市道路路网状况及实际噪声监测数据和历史实验数据,对道路交通噪声自动监测数据的有效性、监测点位布设进行了研究,对道路交通噪声监测点位优化提出建议。     

高速公路交通噪声预测模型探讨

针对我国当前广泛使用的2种高速公路噪声预测模型《06规范》预测模型与《09导则》预测模型在预测时比较研究,重点利用环境现状监测数据分别对2种模型验证与对比分析.结果表明,2种模型预测值与实测值相差3dB ～5dB,车流量＞ 300辆/h,《09导则》更接近实测值;在夜间车流量＜300辆/h,《06规范》更接近实测值,2种模型结合采用《06规范》计算的车速,距离衰减考虑车流量的大小,在此基础上应用《09导则》,预测结果与实测值更为接近.     

提高交通安全——实现智能汽车的研究

主要介绍了通过智能汽车的研究 ,提高城市交通安全的必要性 ;综述了发达国家关于智能汽车研究的现状与趋势 ,并通过国外智能汽车发展的趋势 ;进一步论证智能汽车的研究是汽车工业发展的方向 ,也是提高交通安全的重要手段之一。此外 ,论文提出利用模式识别技术的智能汽车的结构框架 ;指出神经网络方法应用与模式识别技术结合的优势。最后 ,论文在阐述我国需要发展智能汽车的同时 ,提出应结合中国国情相应研究相关理论 ,为今后的实施奠定基础的近期目标 ,并提出展望     

对灾害研究中几个问题的思考

对灾害研究中有关的几个问题进行了探讨。认为： 灾害学是最重要的自然社会科学; 人文灾害比自然灾害更具毁灭性; 研究人文灾害中的公路交通事故、核战争问题、人口问题、环境污染问题等具有重要的现实意义和深远的历史意义。