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.     

On the subjective experience and correlates of downtime at work: A mixed‐method examination

In the current paper, we studied downtime at work. Downtime represents a unique aspect of work time, as employees have low workload and more discretion about their activities but are still paid to be at work. Despite its prevalence and potentially significant implications for productivity and well‐being, the experience of downtime has not been a focus in the literature. To study this phenomenon, we first used a qualitative method involving 15 focus groups. Results from 95 employees showed that downtime is distinct from formal breaks and withdrawal behavior and is generally a negative subjective experience. Categories of antecedents of experience and downtime activities were classified. Next, to further explore the phenomenon, and based on Study 1 and relevant literature, we proposed several hypotheses and tested them using an experience sampling method. Results from 86 employees (across 5 workdays and 689 data points) indicated that the amount of downtime was negatively related to day level job satisfaction, job performance, and subjective health. The duration of relaxation activities during downtime mitigated the negative effects of downtime on fatigue. The effects of enjoyment level of the activities, job autonomy, work engagement, and boredom proneness were also examined. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.     

Non-renewable resource prices: Deterministic or stochastic trends?

In this paper, we examine temporal properties of 11 natural resource real price series from 1870 to 1990. Recent studies by Ahrens and Sharma [Trends in natural resource commodity prices: deterministic or stochastic? J. Environ. Econom. Manage. 33(1997)59–74], Berck and Roberts [Natural resource prices: will they ever turn up? J. Environ. Econom. Manage. 31(1996)65–78], and Slade [Grade selection under uncertainty: least cost last and other anomalies, J. Environ. Econom. Manage. 15(1988)189–205], among others, find that many non-renewable resource prices have a stochastic trend. We revisit this issue by employing a Lagrangian multiplier unit root test that allows for two endogenously determined structural breaks with and without a quadratic trend. Contrary to previous research, we find evidence against the unit root hypothesis for all price series. Our findings support characterizing natural resource prices as stationary around deterministic trends with structural breaks. We additionally show that both pre-testing for unit roots with breaks and allowing for breaks in the forecast model can improve forecast accuracy. Overall, the results in this paper are important in both a positive and normative sense; without an appropriate understanding of the dynamics of a time series, empirical verification of theories, forecasting, and proper inference are potentially fruitless.     

壬基酚、五氯酚及硝基苯对端足类河蜾蠃蜚(Corophium acherusicum)的毒性效应

为检测海洋中环境激素及芳烃类化合物对端足类生物的污染危害,实验选择端足类河蜾蠃蜚(Corophium acherusicum)为受试生物,研究了其在壬基酚、五氯酚、硝基苯三种有机污染物暴露下的96 h急性致死毒性效应和7 d慢性DNA损伤毒性效应。计算获得壬基酚、五氯酚和硝基苯对河蜾蠃蜚的96 h半致死浓度(LC50)分别为70、465、25 000μg·L-1,三种有机污染物对河蜾蠃蜚的毒性强弱顺序为壬基酚五氯酚硝基苯。运用碱解旋法检测壬基酚、五氯酚和硝基苯对河蜾蠃蜚DNA损伤的程度,计算得到7 d半效应浓度(EC50)分别为30、256、11 000μg·L-1。实验结果表明:三种有机污染物浓度的不断加大,引起河蜾蠃蜚DNA损伤程度的不断增加,呈显著的剂量-效应关系。     

Uptake and genotoxicity of micromolar concentrations of cobalt chloride in mammalian cells

Literature data concerning the genotoxicity of cobalt salts have been conflicting. To establish appropriate incubation conditions, we conducted a series of uptake studies, before genotoxicity was determined by DNA strand break induction in HeLa cells and mutagenicity in V79 Chinese hamster cells. Co(II) is taken up by HeLa cells in a concentration‐dependent manner and is accumulated inside the cell. The uptake is preceded by a fast association step to the outer membrane, with no saturation up to 24 h. DNA strand breaks as determined by nucleoid sedimentation are induced at concentrations as low as 50μMCoCl₂. The induction is time‐dependent, showing the highest number of breaks after 4h incubation with no further increase up to 24h. CoCl₂ is mutagenic at the HPRT‐locus, enhancing the spontaneous mutation frequency 4.2‐fold at 100μ?. Besides direct interactions with DNA, the mutagenicity of CoCl₂ could also be due to a decrease in the Fidelity of DNA polymerisation.     

The Effects of the Level of Alertness During the Rest Period on Subsequent Performance

The aim of this study was to examine how to take an effective rest to prevent a decline in alertness at work. The relationship between alertness during the rest period and subsequent task performance were investigated. The electroencephalogram (EEG) during the rest period was classified into 3 types, and these types had a significant effect on performance after the rest period. Type 1 (increasing in theta, alpha 2, and beta 1 power) was the best one for carrying out the task, whereas performance gradually declined in Type 3 (no change in EEG activity). In the case of Type 1, the method that would relieve sleep inertia had a more positive impact on performance after the rest period.     

北京市大气细颗粒物的遗传和非遗传毒性研究

用胞质阻断微核试验与单细胞凝胶电泳法检测北京市大气PM_2.5无机提取物与有机提取物对Balb/c 3T3细胞微核形成与DNA链断裂的影响;通过划痕染料示踪技术(SL/DT)观察PM_2.5无机提取物与有机提取物对Balb/c3T3细胞间通讯的影响.发现PM_2.5有机提取物可引起双核微核细胞率显著增加(P<0.01)及导致慧星细胞率和DNA迁移长度显著增加(P<0.01);PM_2.5有机提取物引起细胞间通讯的抑制; PM_2.5无机提取物未见明显毒作用.结果表明,PM_2.5可引起染色体损伤和原发性DNA损伤,抑制细胞间通讯,其毒作用主要由其有机成分引起.     

谈"动态对等"的缺陷

美国著名翻译理论家Nida提出的"动态对等"原则是对翻译理论界的一大贡献.笔者在承认这个原则的同时,从它概念的几个关键词入手,指出这个概念中几个值得商榷的地方,认为它的理论基础不牢靠,并分析了它所忽视的翻译所涉及的几个要素,由此表明,翻译这种涉及到许多因素的复杂活动不能依靠一种理论来指导.     

Profiling of the assembly of RecA nucleofilaments implies a potential target for environmental factors to disturb DNA repair

Double-strand breaks (DSBs), one class of the most harmful DNA damage forms that bring elevated health risks, need to be repaired timely and effectively. However, an increasing number of environmental pollutants have been identified to impair DSB repair from various mechanisms. Our previous work indicated that the formation of unsaturated RecA nucleofilaments plays an essential role in homology recombination (HR) pathway which can accurately repair DSBs. In this study, by developing a benzonase cutting protection assay and combining it with traditional electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) analysis, we further investigated the assembly patterns of four RecA mutants that display differential DSB repair ability and ATPase activity. We observed that the mutants (G204S and S69G) possessing both ATP hydrolysis and DSB repair activities form unsaturated nucleofilaments similar to that formed by the wild type RecA, whereas the other two ATP hydrolysis-deficient mutants (K72R and E96D) that fail to mediate HR form more compacted nucleofilaments in the presence of ATP. These results establish a coupling of ATPase activity and effective DSB repair ability via the assembly status of RecA nucleofilaments. This linkage provides a potential target for environmental factors to disturb the essential HR pathway for DSB repair by suppressing the ATPase activity and altering the assembly pattern of nucleofilaments.