Behavioral pathways in bicycle-motor vehicle crashes: From contributing factors,pre-crash actions,to injury severities

Introduction: This study performed a path analysis to uncover the behavioral pathways (from contributing factors, pre-crash actions to injury severities) in bicycle-motor vehicle crashes. Method: The analysis investigated more than 7,000 bicycle-motor vehicle crashes in North Carolina between 2007 and 2014. Pre-crash actions discussed in this study are actions of cyclists and motorists prior to the event of a crash, including “bicyclist failed to yield,” “motorist failed to yield,” “bicyclist overtaking motorist,” and “motorist overtaking bicyclist.” Results: Model results show significant correlates of pre-crash actions and bicyclist injury severity. For example, young bicyclists (18 years old or younger) are 23.5% more likely to fail to yield to motor traffic prior to the event of a crash than elder bicyclists. The “bicyclist failed to yield” action is associated with increased bicyclist injury severity than other actions, as this behavior is associated with an increase of 5.88 percentage points in probability of a bicyclist being at least evidently injured. The path analysis can highlight contributing factors related to risky pre-crash actions that lead to severe injuries. For example, bicyclists traveling on regular vehicle travel lanes are found to be more likely to involve the “bicyclist failed to yield” action, which resulted in a total 44.38% (7.04% direct effect + 37.34% indirect effect) higher likelihood of evident or severe injuries. The path analysis can also identify factors (e.g., intersection) that are not directly but indirectly correlated with injury severity through pre-crash actions. Practical Applications: This study offers a methodological framework to quantify the behavioral pathways in bicycle-motor vehicle crashes. The findings are useful for cycling safety improvements from the perspective of bicyclist behavior, such as the educational program for cyclists.     

Postural assessment in pen-and-paper-based observational methods and their associated health effects: a review

Introduction. This review describes standardized ergonomics assessment based on pen-and-paper observational methods for assessing ergonomics risk factors. Objective. The three main objectives are to analyze published pen-and-paper observational methods, to extract and understand the risk levels of each method and to identify their associated health effects. Methodology. The authors searched scientific databases and the Internet for materials from 1970 to 2013 using the following keywords: ergo, posture, method, observational, postural angle, health effects, pain and diseases. Postural assessments of upper arms, lower arms, wrists, neck, back and legs in six pen-and-paper-based observational methods are highlighted, extracted in groups and linked with associated adverse health effects. Results. The literature reviewed showed strengths and limitations of published pen-and-paper-based observational methods in determining the work activities, risk levels and related postural angles to adverse health effects. This provided a better understanding of unsafe work postures and how to improve these postures. Conclusion. Many pen-and-paper-based observational methods have been developed. However, there are still many limitations of these methods. There is, therefore, a need to develop a new pen-and-paper-based observational method for assessing postural problems.     

Main particulate matter components in Saxony (Germany)

Aerosol filter samples have been collected nearby the industrialised basin of Leipzig in Saxony (Germany) at the research station Melpitz of the Institut für Troposphärenforschung e.V. (IfT). Time series (1992–1998) and a three year comparison (1995–1997) of two different aerosol filter sampling systems, the Sierra-Andersen-PM 10 high volume sampler (daily sample, PM 10 inlet) and the Rupprecht and Patashnik Co. Inc. Model Partisol 2000 (weekly sample, PM 10 and PM 2.5 inlet) are presented and discussed. The comparison of the different sampling systems and strategies yields small differences between the daily and weekly samples for mass and different ions, which may be influenced by sampling duration and flow rates. A general trend of change in aerosol composition was observed: Soot and Sulphate concentrations decreased whereas Nitrate and Ammonium concentrations increased. During summers the mass of coarse particles is higher than in other seasons. One reason could be found in the occurence of longer periods of dry ground surfaces enabling reemission of crustal and biological material. The time series have been integrated in a longer historical aerosol mass trend for Saxony and do show a good agreement. Since 1990 a significant downward trend in gravimetric mass concentration was found.     

矿物超细颗粒的形成机制、结构特征及其环境行为和效应

矿物超细颗粒在自然环境中普遍存在,具有独特的环境行为和效应,对元素地球化学循环、污染物迁移转化和生态环境演变等有重要影响.矿物超细颗粒的环境行为和效应与其形成过程和结构特征密切相关.综述了物理、化学和生物过程驱动的矿物超细颗粒的形成机制,介绍了用于表征矿物超细颗粒结构特征的显微镜、光谱、质谱和同步辐射技术,分析了矿物超细颗粒在环境中的迁移转化及其与污染物的吸附、氧化还原和催化转化作用,总结了矿物超细颗粒的食物链积累、生物和生态毒性等环境效应,并对颗粒结晶路径、风险管控和微纳界面调控等重要研究方向进行了展望.超细颗粒是连接微观物质与宏观矿物晶体之间的桥梁,全面认识复杂基质中矿物颗粒的环境属性及其与污染物的微观作用机制,有助于指导矿物超细颗粒在环境污染修复中的应用,从而优化功能材料的设计,促进绿色低碳纳米技术的发展.     

全氟化合物对水生植物的生态效应研究Ⅱ——金鱼藻对水中PFOS的生物富集及生理响应

为探究全氟化合物对水生植物的生态效应,选择金鱼藻(Ceratophyllum demersum L.)为受试生物,设定5、100、1 000、10 000、50 000、100 000μg·L-1以及对照共7个PFOS浓度梯度进行水培,分析包括超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、过氧化物酶(POD)在内的抗氧化系统酶和细胞色素含量等生理响应特征,并研究金鱼藻对PFOS的生物有效性及富集能力。结果表明:金鱼藻对PFOS的富集量最高可达3 180 mg·kg-1dw,最大富集系数高达40.7倍,可作为PFOS污染水体植物修复的遴选物种。随PFOS浓度升高,SOD活力总体上没有明显变化,但POD活力表现为双重效用,即低浓度促进酶活力积累,而高浓度抑制酶活力积累。CAT活力在低浓度组(0、5、100、1 000μg·L-1),未表现出明显异常,在高浓度组(10 000、50 000、100 000μg·L-1),出现先升高后降低的趋势。色素含量也反应较为敏感,低浓度处理后色素含量升高,高浓度处理则导致色素含量先升高后降低,最高浓度处理下一直处于较低水平,可作为评价PFOS污染水体的生理敏感性指标。     

生草栽培对三种岭南水果种植系统的生态经济影响评价

综合运用能值、经济与土壤生态学分析方法,以传统清耕模式为对照,定量研究了生草栽培对荔枝(Litchi chinensis Sonn)、龙眼(Dimocarpus longan Lour)和番荔枝(Annona squamosa Linn)三种岭南水果种植系统的生态经济影响。整合系统物质流、能量流和货币流,综合分析其自然资源基础、经济发展状况及可持续发展程度,并将土壤有机质的消耗纳入不可更新自然资源能值投入分析,为岭南水果业生草栽培与否提供科学依据。结果表明,生草栽培可以将荔枝和龙眼种植系统的能值可持续性从传统清耕模式的0.16和0.46分别提升到0.17和0.47;而使番荔枝种植系统的能值可持续性从传统清耕模式的0.59降至0.45。同时,生草栽培可提高荔枝和番荔枝种植系统的经济效益,而降低龙眼种植系统的经济效益。所有案例结果均表明,生草栽培可降低果园土壤有机质的消耗。     

Key Features and Context‐Dependence of Fishery‐Induced Trophic Cascades

Abstract: Trophic cascades triggered by fishing have profound implications for marine ecosystems and the socioeconomic systems that depend on them. With the number of reported cases quickly growing, key features and commonalities have emerged. Fishery‐induced trophic cascades often display differential response times and nonlinear trajectories among trophic levels and can be accompanied by shifts in alternative states. Furthermore, their magnitude appears to be context dependent, varying as a function of species diversity, regional oceanography, local physical disturbance, habitat complexity, and the nature of the fishery itself. To conserve and manage exploited marine ecosystems, there is a pressing need for an improved understanding of the conditions that promote or inhibit the cascading consequences of fishing. Future research should investigate how the trophic effects of fishing interact with other human disturbances, identify strongly interacting species and ecosystem features that confer resilience to exploitation, determine ranges of predator depletion that elicit trophic cascades, pinpoint antecedents that signal ecosystem state shifts, and quantify variation in trophic rates across oceanographic conditions. This information will advance predictive models designed to forecast the trophic effects of fishing and will allow managers to better anticipate and avoid fishery‐induced trophic cascades.     

Using multistate mark-recapture methods to model adult salmonid migration in an industrialized river

A multistate mark-recapture (MSMR) model of the adult salmonid migration through the lower Columbia River and into the Snake River was developed, designed for radiotelemetry detections at dams and tributary mouths. The model focuses on upstream-directed travel, with states determined from observed fish movement patterns indicating directed upstream travel, downstream travel (fallback), and use of non-natal tributaries. The model was used to analyze telemetry data from 846 migrating adult spring-summer Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) tagged in 1996 at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. We used the model to test competing hypotheses regarding delayed effects of fallback at dams and visits to tributaries, and to define and estimate migration summary measures. Tagged fish had an average probability of 0.755 () of ending migration at a tributary or upstream of Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River, and a probability of 0.245 () of unaccountable loss (i.e., mortality or mainstem spawning) between the release site downstream of Bonneville Dam and Lower Granite Dam. The highest probability of unaccountable loss (0.092; ) was in the reach between Bonneville Dam and The Dalles Dam. Study fish used the tributaries primarily as exits from the hydrosystem, and visits to non-natal tributaries had no significant effect on subsequent movement upriver (P = 0.4245). However, fallback behavior had a small effect on subsequent tributary entry and exit (P = 0.0530), with fish using tributaries as resting areas after reascending Bonneville Dam after fallback. The spatial MSMR model developed here can be adapted to address additional questions about the interaction of migrating organisms with their environment, or for the study of migrations in other river systems.     

Evaluating the ecological benefits of wildfire by integrating fire and ecosystem simulation models

Fire managers are now realizing that wildfires can be beneficial because they can reduce hazardous fuels and restore fire-dominated ecosystems. A software tool that assesses potential beneficial and detrimental ecological effects from wildfire would be helpful to fire management. This paper presents a simulation platform called FLEAT (Fire and Landscape Ecology Assessment Tool) that integrates several existing landscape- and stand-level simulation models to compute an ecologically based measure that describes if a wildfire is moving the burning landscape towards or away from the historical range and variation of vegetation composition. FLEAT uses a fire effects model to simulate fire severity, which is then used to predict vegetation development for 1, 10, and 100 years into the future using a landscape simulation model. The landscape is then simulated for 5000 years using parameters derived from historical data to create an historical time series that is compared to the predicted landscape composition at year 1, 10, and 100 to compute a metric that describes their similarity to the simulated historical conditions. This tool is designed to be used in operational wildfire management using the LANDFIRE spatial database so that fire managers can decide how aggressively to suppress wildfires. Validation of fire severity predictions using field data from six wildfires revealed that while accuracy is moderate (30-60%), it is mostly dictated by the quality of GIS layers input to FLEAT. Predicted 1-year landscape compositions were only 8% accurate but this was because the LANDFIRE mapped pre-fire composition accuracy was low (21%). This platform can be integrated into current readily available software products to produce an operational tool for balancing benefits of wildfire with potential dangers.     

毒性鉴别评价方法对城镇污水处理厂去除水中有毒物质的分析实例

以江苏省常州市城北污水算处理厂的进水、活性污泥处理系统的出水以及A^2O处理工艺的出水为研究对象,对进出水进行Daphnia magna急性毒性试验。结果表明,进水对Daphnia magna具有24h急性毒性,经过活性污泥处理工艺处理及A^2O处理工艺处理,两股出水均不显示24h急性毒性,采用毒性鉴别评价（Toxicity Identification Evaluation,TE）方法对进水进行监测和评价,发现曝气可去除进水的毒性,C18固相提取亦可去除进水毒性,进水中存在的主要毒物为易挥发的非极性有机化合物,进一步检测可知,进水中的关键毒物主要为邻丙基甲醛肟、1,1－甲基乙基－2－甲氧基苯酚、2－氮,氮二甲基苯甲醇等,此外,对2个处理系统出水进行GC／MS分析,可知出水中关键毒物基本被去除。