Observed LATCH use and misuse characteristics of child restraint systems in seven states

INTRODUCTION: Although the LATCH System (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) holds the promise of simplifying the installation of a child restraint system (CRS) to the vehicle's seat, many drivers transporting young children have difficulties using this technology. This paper reports on an observation study of LATCH use and misuse. METHOD: Observations of approximately 1,000 children less than 5 years of age in CRSs, in the back seats of vehicles that were equipped with tether and lower anchors, in seven states. RESULTS: Tethers were used for 51% of the children when the forward-facing CRS had tether straps and the vehicle had tether anchors. Lower anchors were used for 58% of the children when the CRS had lower attachments and the vehicle had lower anchors. The most common tether and lower attachment misuses were loose tether straps (18% of cases) and loose lower attachment installation (30% of the cases), respectively. Vehicle safety belts were used in combination with lower attachments in 20% of all lower anchor installations. CONCLUSION: As more caregivers of young children drive vehicles equipped with LATCH, it will be important to promote the proper installation of CRSs using this technology. LATCH education messages must also emphasize that the lower anchors may not always be the safest choice for CRS attachment -- the safest attachment is the one that results in a tight fit and will be used correctly consistently.     

Experience,but not distance,influences the recruitment precision in the stingless bee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scaptotrigona mexicana</Emphasis>

Recruitment precision, i.e. the proportion of recruits that reach an advertised food source, is a crucial adaptation of social bees to their environment. Studies with honeybees showed that recruitment precision is not a fixed feature, but it may be enhanced by factors like experience and distance. However, little is known regarding the recruitment precision of stingless bees. Hence, in this study, we examined the effects of experience and spatial distance on the precision of the food communication system of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana. We conducted the experiments by training bees to a three-dimensional artificial patch at several distances from the colony. We recorded the choices of individual recruited foragers, either being newcomers (foragers without experience with the advertised food source) or experienced (foragers that had previously visited the feeder). We found that the average precision of newcomers (95.6 ± 2.61%) was significantly higher than that of experienced bees (80.2 ± 1.12%). While this might seem counter-intuitive on first sight, this “loss” of precision can be explained by the tendency of experienced recruits to explore nearby areas to find new rewarding food sources after they had initially learned the exact location of the food source. Increasing the distance from the colony had no significant effect on the precision of the foraging bees. Thus, our data show that experience, but not the distance of the food source, affected the patch precision of S. mexicana foragers.     

环境友好城市建设初探——以上海为例

文章试图在可持续发展思想的引导下,运用"环境友好"的理念,研究和阐述了"环境友好城市"的内涵。并以上海为例,提出了环境友好城市的发展目标和建设方向,选用构建指标体系的方式,对城市的环境友好程度进行评估,提出了推进和实施环境友好城市建设的保障措施体系。     

气体脱硫胺液系统的清洁生产

分析了气体脱硫装置胺液系统污染物的主要来源和危害,通过采取清洁生产工艺、材质升级、在线净化复活、停工清扫塔器和新脱硫剂补充置换等措施,取得了较好的效果.     

城市工业区环境系统中的Cd污染循环及其健康风险——以杭州市半山工业区为例

为揭示重金属元素Cd在城市环境系统多种介质中的迁移途径及其潜在危害性,系统分析了杭州市半山工业区主要环境介质（土壤-尘埃-水-底泥-生物）样品中Cd的指标含量,并用连续提取法分析了土壤、尘埃、底泥中Cd的化学形态特征.结果表明,Cd的迁移途径主要有两种,一是以尘埃为媒介在地表环境中迁移,二是通过水介质进入水体环境（水和...     

Minimizing leakage from a smelter off-gas system by enhanced control

The off-gas handling system is a vital component of a smelter and it is essential that it operates in accordance with environmental regulations. A key feature of the off-gas management system is maintaining a slightly negative system pressure to prevent gas leakage, such as SO₂, out into the work and external environments. To enhance sustainable development, there is also growing interest in capturing and reusing the significant amount of heat and CO₂ contained within off-gas. The potential incorporation of heat and CO₂ recovery systems places importance on enhancing control to minimize the risk of both gas leakage and disturbance of the smelting process. With these requirements in mind, an easily implementable feedforward control enhancement to existing control schemes is proposed to help provide improved performance.     

Carbon footprint of food - approaches from national input-output statistics and a LCA of a food portion

The aim of the study, on which this paper is based, was to provide guidance to consumers to make environmentally responsible choices in their food consumption, to assist food supply chain stakeholders to identify the key areas for environmental improvements, and to provide policy makers with a tool for monitoring the potential impacts on climate change resulting from developments within the food sector. At the macro level, the EIO-LCA model was developed specifically for the Finnish food chain; at the micro level, LCAs were performed on 30 lunch portions. The contribution of the Finnish food chain to climate change was 14%, which comprised 40% CO₂ emissions, 25% CH₄ emissions, and 34% N₂O emissions. The share of impacts from domestic agricultural processes was the highest, at 69%. The impact of a single lunch portion ranged between 0.65 and 3.80 kg of equivalent CO₂. According to the EIO-LCA model, the average impact was 7.7 kg CO₂ eq/person daily. The consumer phase accounted for between 8 and 47% of the climate change impacts for homemade portions. In ready-to-eat portions industry and retail phases were emphasized, representing 25-38% of climate change impacts. We present an approach to steer the Finnish food sector onto an environmentally sustainable path; practical tools for consumers and farmers will especially need to be developed further.     

Designing the sustainable product-service integration: a product-service blueprint approach

As a means for providing the sustainable production and consumption, the concept of product-service system (PSS) has received increasing attention. What is at the core in the PSS is the design, since it determines the distinctive characteristics and quality of PSS. Even though some tools have been suggested for PSS design, previous tools mainly focus on identifying the relationship between actors in a conceptual level. Despite the fact that it is significant and cannot be neglected, what is more important in a practical situation is to represent the detailed flow or relationship of PSS elements, with the consideration of products and services. In response, this paper proposes a ‘‘product-service blueprint’ which is a new and systematic way to elucidate the relationship between products and services, providing the implication of how PSS can provide the sustainable production and consumption. Employing the service blueprint as a starting point, new areas, lines, and symbols are introduced to represent the distinctive features of PSS. The proposed product-service blueprint represents the product use throughout the life cycle, service flow from the management to the customer, and the relationship between products and services. Taken together, the product-service blueprint will help both managers and researchers to promote the product-service integration under the concrete framework.     

国外水电环境认证制度对我国的借鉴意义

水电工程建设和运行对生态环境系统的影响是世界范围内十分关注的问题,中国水电事业的发展也开始进入生态制约阶段。建立水电工程的生态环境保护标准,推行生态环境认证制度,是降低水电工程不利生态影响的重要措施之一,国际上在这方面已经进行的实践对我国具有重要的借鉴意义。概要介绍了瑞士“绿色水电认证”和美国“低影响水电认证”的主要内容、技术标准和运行机制,并且对两者进行了比较和分析。在此基础上,分析了我国建立水电环境认证程序和推行水电生态环境保护标准的必要性及可行性,并且讨论了推行水电环境认证中可能存在的问题。     

促进江湖联系的闸口调度对策及影响区管理机制

我国传统的修堤建闸、抵御洪水的治河理念,阻断了江湖联系,造成湿地的生态萎缩。为改善湿地的生态环境,保护湿地的生物多样性,提出了新的多目标闸口调度机制,替代传统的、以防洪抗旱为目的的调度机制,力求促进江湖联系,增加湿地活力;为保障该机制的运行和实施,提出了闸口调度影响区的管理办法;并以涨渡湖为例进行了讨论。