Biomechanics of Brain and Spinal-Cord Injury: Analysis of Neuropathologic and Neurophysiology Experiments

This study analyzes 46 brain and 48 spinal-cord impact experiments. The velocity of brain impact was 2.0-10.0 m/s and displacement, 0.75-5.0 mm (5.3-33% compression) using a controlled pneumatic impact. The velocity of spinal-cord impact was 1.5-6.0 m/s and displacement, 1.25-3.25 mm (25-65% compression). Brain injury varied from cortical contusion, diffuse axonal injury (DAI), to fatalities, and spinal-cord injury from temporary to complete loss of somatosensory-evoked potentials. Logist functions were determined for each injury severity and various biomechanical parameters, VC, C, V, and combinations. Brain and spinal-cord injury is most strongly correlated to VC, the viscous response. The goodness-of-fit was x² = 22.1, R-0.84 and p< 0.0000 for fatal brain injury, x² = 27.5, R = 0.96 and p< 0.0000 for cortical contusion, and x² = 17.7, R = 0.49 and p < 0.0001 for partial recovery of spinal-cord conduction. Neural tissue is viscoelastic, with a rate-dependent tolerance related to energy absorption. VC is a measure of energy absorption by impact deformation and is predictive of neural contusion, DAI, long-duration coma, spinal-cord dysfunction, and death. Tolerances for various severities of neural injury are presented. At the tissue level, VC is the product of strain and strain-rate, ε dε/dt. The research shows that strain is not a sufficient parameter of neural injury risk, and that the product of strain and strain-rate is a key biomechanical parameter for brain and spinal-cord injury.     

Motivations for Conserving Urban Biodiversity

Abstract: In a time of increasing urbanization, the fundamental value of conserving urban biodiversity remains controversial. How much of a fixed budget should be spent on conservation in urban versus nonurban landscapes? The answer should depend on the goals that drive our conservation actions, yet proponents of urban conservation often fail to specify the motivation for protecting urban biodiversity. This is an important shortcoming on several fronts, including a missed opportunity to make a stronger appeal to those who believe conservation biology should focus exclusively on more natural, wilder landscapes. We argue that urban areas do offer an important venue for conservation biology, but that we must become better at choosing and articulating our goals. We explored seven possible motivations for urban biodiversity conservation: preserving local biodiversity, creating stepping stones to nonurban habitat, understanding and facilitating responses to environmental change, conducting environmental education, providing ecosystem services, fulfilling ethical responsibilities, and improving human well‐being. To attain all these goals, challenges must be faced that are common to the urban environment, such as localized pollution, disruption of ecosystem structure, and limited availability of land. There are, however, also challenges specific only to particular goals, meaning that different goals will require different approaches and actions. This highlights the importance of specifying the motivations behind urban biodiversity conservation. If the goals are unknown, progress cannot be assessed.     

An Adaptive‐Management Framework for Optimal Control of Hiking Near Golden Eagle Nests in Denali National Park

Abstract: Unintended effects of recreational activities in protected areas are of growing concern. We used an adaptive‐management framework to develop guidelines for optimally managing hiking activities to maintain desired levels of territory occupancy and reproductive success of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Denali National Park (Alaska, U.S.A.). The management decision was to restrict human access (hikers) to particular nesting territories to reduce disturbance. The management objective was to minimize restrictions on hikers while maintaining reproductive performance of eagles above some specified level. We based our decision analysis on predictive models of site occupancy of eagles developed using a combination of expert opinion and data collected from 93 eagle territories over 20 years. The best predictive model showed that restricting human access to eagle territories had little effect on occupancy dynamics. However, when considering important sources of uncertainty in the models, including environmental stochasticity, imperfect detection of hares on which eagles prey, and model uncertainty, restricting access of territories to hikers improved eagle reproduction substantially. An adaptive management framework such as ours may help reduce uncertainty of the effects of hiking activities on Golden Eagles.     

The Frequency of Micronuclei among Newborns from Kragujevac, Central Serbia, after NATO Bombing in the Spring of 1999

Kragujevac, as an important industrial and economic center of the region, is now placed on the top of the list of environmentally endangered cities in our country. The aim of this biomonitoring study was to evaluate cytogenetic damage in a sample of newborns from Kragujevac after contamination of the environment entailed by the intensive bombing of the industrial zone of this city in the spring of 1999. The frequency of micronuclei (MN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes in a total of 61 phenotypically healthy newborns was analyzed before and after the NATO bombing. Analysis of micronuclei has been performed using the cytokinesis-block technique (CB MN test). Average MN frequency in lymphocytes of newborns before the bombing (N = 25) was 5.77 ± 0.85/1000 analyzed cells. After the bombing (N = 36), the average frequency of MN increased by a factor of 1.4 (8.11 ± 0.85), compared to the control frequency before the bombing. Statistical difference (p < 0.05) was established by Student's t-test. Our data suggest that such changes in genetic material were a direct consequence of contamination of the living environment.     

张家口地区生态可持续性评价研究

张家口市生态环境比较脆弱。经济上属于河北省落后地区，且近邻首都北京，因此它的发展不断引起人们的关注。本文选用了由加拿大生态学家Rees和Wackenagel等提出的生态足迹模型，对张家口地区进行可持续发展的定量测算。结果表明：张家口市自1990年到2000年一直处于不可持续状态，且人均生态赤字呈逐年增大的趋势。针对这种情况，本文提出全面发展精细农业、促进工业升级以及以“人”为本的区域发展对策。     

Uncovering the Connections Among Sustainability, Governance and GDP

This paper examines the connections among sustainability, governance and GDP, using the data from 123 countries. Sustainability is found to be related with GDP in two contradictory ways. On the one hand, growth in GDP strengthens a nation＇s ability to maintain favorable environmental conditions into the future. On the other hand, GDP growth is built on more consumption of natural resources, and therefore generates a larger ＂foot-print＂ on the Earth. Governance plays a key role in sustainable development. However, it is not helping to reduce our footprint on the Earth. In fact, good governance is linked to a larger footprint. This reflects our materialist value and human impulse. When a society prefers the comfort and wellbeing of human beings to the welfare of its environment, democratic governance might be used as an effective tool against nature.     

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鏍规嵁鍖哄煙鏈簳鐢熸€佽冻杩瑰拰鏃呮父鐢熸€佽冻杩圭殑璁＄畻妯″瀷,瀵瑰簮灞辩殑鐢熸€佽冻杩硅繘琛屼簡鍒嗘瀽璁＄畻,缁撴灉琛ㄦ槑(1)搴愬北鐢熸€佽冻杩归渶姹備负0.354 603 hm2,鍏朵腑鍖哄煙鏈簳鐢熸€佽冻杩逛负0.343 510 hm2,鏃呮父鐢熸€佽冻杩逛负0.011 093 hm2.(2)搴愬北鍙埄鐢ㄧ殑浜哄潎鐢熸€佹壙杞藉姏涓?.219 805 hm2,浜哄潎鐢熸€佽丹瀛楄揪O.123 543 hm2,鍏朵腑鏃呮父鐢熸€佽冻杩瑰崰鎬昏丹瀛楃殑3.13%.(3)鍦ㄩ渶姹傝冻杩圭粨鏋勪腑鍗?8.31%鐨勫寲鐭宠兘婧愬湴,澶уぇ瓒呰繃浜嗗簮灞辩殑鎵胯浇鍔涢潰绉?鑷翠娇搴愬北鐨勭敓鎬佺幆澧冧繚鎶ょ殑鍘嬪姏涓嶆柇鍔犻噸.(4)搴愬北鍗曚綅鏃呮父鐢熸€佽冻杩逛骇鍊间负33缇庡厓/hm2,鍏朵腑鍗曚綅鏃呮父娓歌銆佹梾娓镐綇瀹垮拰鏃呮父璐墿鐨勪骇鍊艰緝楂?鏃呮父浜ら€氬拰鏃呮父椁愰ギ鐨勫崟浣嶄骇鍊肩浉瀵硅緝浣?鏃呮父浜у€艰繕鏈夎緝澶х殑鍙戝睍绌洪棿.(5)鏀垮簻閮ㄩ棬鍜岀ぞ浼氬悇鐣屽繀椤绘帹杩涙洿涓虹郴缁熷寲鐨勬棤闅滅鏃呮父涓?杞彉楂樿兘鑰楃殑缁忔祹鍙戝睍閬撹矾,浠庤€岄檷浣庡崟浣嶇粡娴庢晥鐩婄殑鐢熸€佽冻杩?瀹炵幇搴愬北鐨勫彲鎸佺画鍙戝睍.     

Prenatal diagnosis of 5p deletion syndrome following abnormally low maternal serum human chorionic gonadotrophin

Prenatal diagnosis of 5p deletion syndrome, or cri du chat, following an abnormally low measurement of a screening of serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), is reported. Karyotyping following amniocentesis revealed a terminal deletion in the short arm of one chromosome 5. The pregnancy was electively terminated. 5p deletion syndrome has been described with abnormally high hCG levels and normal hCG levels. This is the first report of its association with abnormally low levels. The association between chromosomal abnormalities and hCG is discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The chemical basis for trail recognition in Lasius nipponensis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Summary. In this paper we report on the chemical basis for trail recognition in Lasius nipponensis. On and near trails in the field, workers became aggressive against conspecific intruders and succeeded in protective contests, while intruders usually avoided confrontation. Such asymmetric interactions were also observed in the laboratory when two non-nestmate workers were sequentially placed in a clean glass dish, while mutual aggression was observed when they were placed simultaneously. Asymmetric aggression was also observed when the workers were placed in a dish previously conditioned by other workers, or when the dish was treated with the hexane rinse of the conditioned dish. The rinse contained a series of hydrocarbons, in which components and proportion were almost identical to those of the cuticular hydrocarbons of the workers, except for a lack of n-alkanes. Amounts of the hydrocarbons that remained on the dish were very small when all the tarsi of the workers were incapacitated. We therefore consider that the hydrocarbons are not adhesion of the cuticular hydrocarbons but secretion from the tarsi of workers, and serve as a key signal for trail recognition in this ant.     

基于虚拟水的济南市水资源可持续利用研究

水资源问题已成为世界普遍关注的问题,其根本原因就在于它不仅影响、制约现代社会的可持续发展,而且成为本世纪全球资源环境的首要问题,直接威胁人类的生存和发展,水资源可持续利用是当前世界上研究的热门课题之一。济南市是北方严重缺水城市之一,近几年来,随着社会经济的发展,严重影响着城市的发展和人民生活质量的提高。文章将国际上前沿的水资源足迹的计算方法引入到济南市的水资源系统中,利用CROPWAT软件定量测度了济南市主要农贸产品的虚拟水含量。通过济南市水足迹的计算及分析,得出济南市为虚拟水净出口地区,直接危及济南市的水资源安全,建议在济南市水资源有限的情况下,必须在节约用水,提高水资源利用的基础上创新水资源管理思路,实施虚拟水战略,充分利用虚拟水贸易解决水资源短缺问题。