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.     

模拟氮沉降对太岳山油松林土壤呼吸的影响及其持续效应

以太岳山油松林为研究对象,对林地分别作3种凋落物处理:对照(C)、去凋(B)、去凋+切根(A),并设计了4个氮水平:对照(CK,0 kg·hm-2·a-1,以N计,下同)、低氮(LN,50 kg·hm-2·a-1)、中氮(MN,100 kg·hm-2·a-1)和高氮(HN,150 kg·hm-2·a-1),研究了土壤呼吸速率在施氮后的连续变化,以及与温度、湿度、微生物生物量C、N、土壤酶活性的关系.结果表明:去凋+切根、去凋、对照样方不同施氮水平下土壤呼吸速率基本都在施N后的第1 d处在最高峰,随即下降,切根+去凋、去凋处理样方的土壤呼吸速率在施氮后第3 d趋于稳定,而对照处理样方的土壤呼吸速率一直处于下降状态.施氮在一定程度上抑制了切根+去凋处理的土壤呼吸速率,而促进了去凋处理、对照处理的土壤呼吸速率,并且土壤微生物生物量C、N的变化与土壤呼吸速率变化一致,土壤呼吸速率与土壤酶活性、土壤湿度的拟合关系不显著(p0.05),而与土壤温度的拟合关系显著(p0.05).以土壤温度、土壤湿度构建的复合模型R s=aebTWc预测土壤呼吸的准确性高于单因子模型,施氮降低了每种凋落物处理指数关系模型(R s=aebT)的决定系数R2,并且施氮降低了切根+去凋、去凋处理的温度敏感性指数Q10,而对对照处理的Q10无明显影响.     

Complex and nonlinear climate-driven changes in freshwater insect communities over 42 years

The ongoing biodiversity crisis becomes evident in the widely observed decline in abundance and diversity of species, profound changes in community structure, and shifts in species’ phenology. Insects are among the most affected groups, with documented decreases in abundance up to 76% in the last 25–30 years in some terrestrial ecosystems. Identifying the underlying drivers is a major obstacle as most ecosystems are affected by multiple stressors simultaneously and in situ measurements of environmental variables are often missing. In our study, we investigated a headwater stream belonging to the most common stream type in Germany located in a nature reserve with no major anthropogenic impacts except climate change. We used the most comprehensive quantitative long-term data set on aquatic insects available, which includes weekly measurements of species-level insect abundance, daily water temperature and stream discharge as well as measurements of additional physicochemical variables for a 42-year period (1969–2010). Overall, water temperature increased by 1.88 °C and discharge patterns changed significantly. These changes were accompanied by an 81.6% decline in insect abundance, but an increase in richness (+8.5%), Shannon diversity (+22.7%), evenness (+22.4%), and interannual turnover (+34%). Moreover, the community's trophic structure and phenology changed: the duration of emergence increased by 15.2 days, whereas the peak of emergence moved 13.4 days earlier. Additionally, we observed short-term fluctuations (<5 years) in almost all metrics as well as complex and nonlinear responses of the community toward climate change that would have been missed by simply using snapshot data or shorter time series. Our results indicate that climate change has already altered biotic communities severely even in protected areas, where no other interacting stressors (pollution, habitat fragmentation, etc.) are present. This is a striking example of the scientific value of comprehensive long-term data in capturing the complex responses of communities toward climate change.     

Impacts of Changes in Precipitation Amount and Distribution on Water Resources Studied Using a Model Rainwater Harvesting System

Water supply reliability is expected to be affected by both precipitation amount and distribution changes under recent and future climate change. We compare historical (1951‐2010) changes in annual‐mean and annual‐maximum daily precipitation in the global set of station observations from Global Historical Climatology Network and climate models from the Inter‐Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI‐MIP), and develop the study to 2011‐2099 for model projections under high radiative forcing scenario (RCP8.5). We develop a simple rainwater harvesting system (RWHS) model and drive it with observational and modeled precipitation. We study the changes in mean and maximum precipitation along with changes in the reliability of the model RWHS as tools to assess the impact of changes in precipitation amount and distribution on reliability of precipitation‐fed water supplies. Results show faster increase in observed maximum precipitation (10.14% per K global warming) than mean precipitation (7.64% per K), and increased reliability of the model RWHS driven by observed precipitation by an average of 0.2% per decade. The ISI‐MIP models show even faster increase in maximum precipitation compared to mean precipitation. However, they imply decreases in mean reliability, for an average 0.15% per decade. Compared to observations, climate models underestimate the increasing trends in mean and maximum precipitation and show the opposite direction of change in reliability of a model water supply system.     

METEOROLOGICAL EXPERIMENTS FOR AUTOMATED SATELLITES

Four satellites have been used in meteorology. They are TIROS, ESSA, Nimbus, and Applications Technology Satellite (ATS). The first three operate in the orbital altitudes of about 1000 to 1200 km while the fourth, ATS, is at geosynchronous altitude of 36,000 km. Cloud cover is being observed operationally from low orbit and experimentally from synchronous altitude. Wind velocity has been inferred from the frequent cloud cover pictures taken by ATS and satellite-balloon systems are being developed which will locate and track constant-density level balloons for determining wind flow. Spectrometers and radiometers operating in the electromagnetic spectral region from the ultraviolet to the microwave region are being developed to quantitatively measure temperature, water vapor, density, and wind profiles. These will furnish data for the development and testing of atmospheric models for numerical prediction. In addition, experiments are being developed to measure ozone and other constituents of the air, solar energy, surface conditions, heat balance and other atmospheric attributes which affect the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere.     

地质工程建设与环境的协调发展

人类为自身的发展而进行的各种工程地质建设与环境相互依存,相互影响。本文首先提出人与自然是工程地质工作的两个基本点,并且认为人类活动应与自然环境相协调。人类的各种工程活动必然影响到周边环境。建立整体性思维是解决工程建设与环境协调发展问题的有效方法。我国近年来表现最突出的工程地质建设与环境问题包括:(1)为西部大开发而进行的各种配套的工程建设将要遇到的工程地质及环境问题;(2)南水北调工程建设及环境问题;(3)东部及沿海地区工程建设及环境问题;(4)水土流失与我国北方大规模荒漠化问题及城市的环境破坏与污染控制问题等等。最后作者详细论述三峡库区地质工程建设与环境的相互影响。为实现可持续发展战略,工程地质建设必须与环境相协调。     

Distribution characteristics of dissolved organic carbon in annular wetland soil-water solutions through soil profiles in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China

Overwhelming evidence reveals that concentrations of dissolved organic carbon （DOC） have increased in streams which brings negative environmental impacts. DOC in stream flow is mainly originated from soil-water solutions of watershed. Wetlands prove to be the most sensitive areas as an important DOC reserve between terrestrial and fluvial biogeosystems. This reported study was focused on the distribution characteristics and the controlling factors of DOC in soil-water solutions of annular wetland, i.e., a dishing wetland and a forest wetland together, in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. The results indicate that DOC concentrations in soilwater solutions decreased and then increased with increasing soil depth in the annular wetland. In the upper soil layers of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm, DOC concentrations in soil-water solutions linearly increased from edge to center of the annular wetland （R^2 = 0.3122 and R^2 = 0.443）. The distribution variations were intimately linked to DOC production and utilization and DOC transport processes in annular wetland soil-water solutions. The concentrations of total organic carbon （TOC）, total carbon （TC） and Fe（II）, DOC mobility and continuous vertical and lateral flow affectext the distribution variations of DOC in soil-water solutions. The correlation coefficients between DOC concentrations and TOC, TC and Fe（II） were 0.974, 0.813 and 0.753 respectively. These distribution characteristics suggested a systematic response of the distribution variations of DOC in annular wetland soil-water solutions to the geometry of closed depressions on a scale of small catchments. However, the DOC in soil pore water of the annular wetland may be the potential source of DOC to stream flow on watershed scale. These observations also implied the fragmentation of wetland landscape could bring the spatial-temporal variations of DOC distribution and exports, which would bring negative environmental impacts in watersheds of the Sanjiang Plain.     

县域生态农业建设与持续发展途径探讨──以四川省绵竹县为例

县域是具有比较完整的社会经济结构与功能的基层单元,有较强的自找发展和自我调控能力,进行其生态农业建设研究具有较普遍的意义。本文以绵竹县为例,根据其区域资源生态特点,在三年调查和试验研究基础上提出了持续发展总体构想和不同生态经济小区持续发展的结构优化模式。