Scientists Puzzle Over Acid Rain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chemical and Engineering News, 1975

1975-01-01

Reports on a growing concern over increased acidity in atmospheric percipitation. Explores possible causes of the increased acidity, identifies chemical components of precipitation in various parts of the world, and presents environmental changes that might be attributed to the acidity. (GS)

FIRST ORDER ESTIMATES OF ENERGY REQUIREMENTS FOR POLLUTION CONTROL

EPA Science Inventory

This report presents estimates of the energy demand attributable to environmental control of pollution from 'stationary point sources.' This class of pollution source includes powerplants, factories, refineries, municipal waste water treatment plants, etc., but excludes 'mobile s...

Redefining the Federal Role of Public-Funded Environmental Research: Identifying Critical Attributes for Sustainability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boyd, Gerald G.; Sink, CLaire H.; Howes, Walter S.

2000-09-25

For the past fifty years, U.S. science and technology policy has been based on Vannevar Bush s classic report, Science--The Endless Frontier. As the U.S. enters the 21st century, public funding for environmental research and development (R&D) in achieving environmental sustainability is crucial to the nation s economic and overall well being. In domestic environmental remediation, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE EM) is committed to cleaning up DOE sites contaminated with radioactive, chemical, and other hazardous wastes. To best accomplish this mission amid fiscal and regulatory regimes and to promote long-term environmental sustainability requires improvedmore » interdisciplinary collaboration among R&D performers--universities, industry, and federal laboratories--as well as advances in environmental science and technology. Public funding for interdisciplinary long-term environmental R&D is essential as no long-term approach to environmental R&D exists. With increased awareness of the rapidity of global technological change and the impact of this change on humans and the earth s ecosystem, it is timely to identify, evaluate, and establish critical attributes as characteristics of long-term environmental sustainability for facilitating a broad science and technology policy. For environmental R&D, these attributes are functionally grouped into R&D performers, operational aspects, and technology-related aspects. Individually, each attribute addresses a specific need; collectively, they create a strategy to achieve long-term sustainability. Most of the attributes are commonplace in today s R&D community; the uniqueness is their integration into an overall system as suggested. Added value for environmental R&D would address the attributes collectively to provide overall synergy. As the U.S. enters the 21st century and adapts to increased globalization, addressing the consequences of humans and environmental interactions is critical to furthering a national science and technology policy in a socio-economic context. The suggested policy vets environmental sustainability as a societal goal and incorporates attributes such as pollution prevention, cost effectiveness, merit review, safety, stable funding and accountability, priority setting, stakeholder participation, and comprehensive risk allocation into an interdisciplinary systems approach centered around communication, creative collaboration, and cooperation that collectively address a common goal.« less

Interacting psychosocial and environmental correlates of leisure-time physical activity: a three-country study.

PubMed

Van Dyck, Delfien; Cerin, Ester; Conway, Terry L; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Owen, Neville; Kerr, Jacqueline; Cardon, Greet; Sallis, James F

2014-07-01

The main study objective was to examine the moderating effects of perceived enjoyment, barriers/benefits, perceived social support and self-efficacy, on the associations of perceived environmental attributes with walking for recreation and leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and whether these potential moderating effects differed by gender and study site. Data from three observational studies in the United States (Seattle and Baltimore), Australia (Adelaide), and Belgium (Ghent) were pooled. In total, 6014 adults (20-65 years, 55.7% women) were recruited in high-/low-walkable and high-/low-income neighborhoods. All participants completed the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale, a validated questionnaire on psychosocial attributes, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. General additive mixed models were conducted in R. Enjoyment of physical activity, perceived barriers to physical activity, perceived benefits of physical activity, social support from family and friends, and self-efficacy for physical activity moderated the relationships of specific perceived environmental characteristics with walking for recreation and/or leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Overall, moderating effects were in the same direction: environmental perceptions were positively associated with leisure-time activity, but associations were strongest in adults with less positive scores on psychosocial attributes. The findings were fairly consistent across gender and study sites. The present study findings are promising, as it seems that those who might benefit most from environmental interventions to promote physical activity, may mainly be adults at risk of being insufficiently active or those difficult to reach through individual health promotion programs.

An environmental decision framework applied to marine engine control technologies.

PubMed

Corbett, James J; Chapman, David

2006-06-01

This paper develops a decision framework for considering emission control technologies on marine engines, informed by standard decision theory, with an open structure that may be adapted by operators with specific vessel and technology attributes different from those provided here. Attributes relate objectives important to choosing control technologies with specific alternatives that may meet several of the objectives differently. The transparent framework enables multiple stakeholders to understand how different subjective judgments and varying attribute properties may result in different technology choices. Standard scoring techniques ensure that attributes are not biased by subjective scoring and that weights are the primary quantitative input where subjective preferences are exercised. An expected value decision structure is adopted that considers probabilities (likelihood) that a given alternative can meet its claims; alternative decision criteria are discussed. Capital and annual costs are combined using a net present value approach. An iterative approach is advocated that allows for screening and disqualifying alternatives that do not meet minimum conditions for acceptance, such as engine warranty or U.S. Coast Guard requirements. This decision framework assists vessel operators in considering explicitly important attributes and in representing choices clearly to other stakeholders concerned about reducing air pollution from vessels. This general decision structure may also be applied similarly to other environmental controls in marine applications.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report for Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts for June, July, and August 1982

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during June, July, and August at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental for (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 10. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, February-March 1983

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This report presents the data accumulated during February and March 1983 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report for Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for November 1982. Volume 7

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The data accumulated during November 1982 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma are presented. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 9. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for January 1983

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This report presents the data accumulated during January 1983 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 8. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for December 1982

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during December 1982 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 6. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, OK for October 1982

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during October 1982 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Combining exposure and effect modeling into an integrated probabilistic environmental risk assessment for nanoparticles.

PubMed

Jacobs, Rianne; Meesters, Johannes A J; Ter Braak, Cajo J F; van de Meent, Dik; van der Voet, Hilko

2016-12-01

There is a growing need for good environmental risk assessment of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs). Environmental risk assessment of ENPs has been hampered by lack of data and knowledge about ENPs, their environmental fate, and their toxicity. This leads to uncertainty in the risk assessment. To deal with uncertainty in the risk assessment effectively, probabilistic methods are advantageous. In the present study, the authors developed a method to model both the variability and the uncertainty in environmental risk assessment of ENPs. This method is based on the concentration ratio and the ratio of the exposure concentration to the critical effect concentration, both considered to be random. In this method, variability and uncertainty are modeled separately so as to allow the user to see which part of the total variation in the concentration ratio is attributable to uncertainty and which part is attributable to variability. The authors illustrate the use of the method with a simplified aquatic risk assessment of nano-titanium dioxide. The authors' method allows a more transparent risk assessment and can also direct further environmental and toxicological research to the areas in which it is most needed. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2958-2967. © 2016 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. © 2016 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

Field survey of health perception and complaints of Pennsylvania residents in the Marcellus Shale region.

PubMed

Saberi, Pouné; Propert, Kathleen Joy; Powers, Martha; Emmett, Edward; Green-McKenzie, Judith

2014-06-01

Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale region residents have reported medical symptoms they believe are related to nearby Unconventional Natural Gas Development (UNGD). Associations between medical symptoms and UNGD have been minimally explored. The objective of this descriptive study is to explore whether shale region Pennsylvania residents perceive UNGD as a health concern and whether they attribute health symptoms to UNGD exposures. A questionnaire was administered to adult volunteers with medical complaints in a primary-care medical office in a county where UNGD was present. Participants were asked whether they were concerned about health effects from UNGD, and whether they attributed current symptoms to UNGD or to some other environmental exposure. There were 72 respondents; 22% perceived UNGD as a health concern and 13% attributed medical symptoms to UNGD exposures. Overall, 42% attributed one or more of their medical symptoms to environmental causes, of which UNGD was the most frequent. A medical record review conducted on six participants who attributed their medical symptoms to UNGD revealed that only one of these records documented both the symptoms in question and the attribution to UNGD. The results of this pilot study suggest that there is substantial concern about adverse health effects of UNGD among Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale residents, and that these concerns may not be adequately represented in medical records. Further efforts to determine the relationship between UNGD and health are recommended in order to address community concerns.

Field Survey of Health Perception and Complaints of Pennsylvania Residents in the Marcellus Shale Region

PubMed Central

Saberi, Pouné; Propert, Kathleen Joy; Powers, Martha; Emmett, Edward; Green-McKenzie, Judith

2014-01-01

Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale region residents have reported medical symptoms they believe are related to nearby Unconventional Natural Gas Development (UNGD). Associations between medical symptoms and UNGD have been minimally explored. The objective of this descriptive study is to explore whether shale region Pennsylvania residents perceive UNGD as a health concern and whether they attribute health symptoms to UNGD exposures. A questionnaire was administered to adult volunteers with medical complaints in a primary-care medical office in a county where UNGD was present. Participants were asked whether they were concerned about health effects from UNGD, and whether they attributed current symptoms to UNGD or to some other environmental exposure. There were 72 respondents; 22% perceived UNGD as a health concern and 13% attributed medical symptoms to UNGD exposures. Overall, 42% attributed one or more of their medical symptoms to environmental causes, of which UNGD was the most frequent. A medical record review conducted on six participants who attributed their medical symptoms to UNGD revealed that only one of these records documented both the symptoms in question and the attribution to UNGD. The results of this pilot study suggest that there is substantial concern about adverse health effects of UNGD among Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale residents, and that these concerns may not be adequately represented in medical records. Further efforts to determine the relationship between UNGD and health are recommended in order to address community concerns. PMID:25003172

Neighborhood Environments and Objectively Measured Physical Activity in 11 Countries

PubMed Central

Cerin, Ester; Cain, Kelli L; Conway, Terry L; Dyck, Delfien Van; Hinckson, Erica; Schipperijn, Jasper; Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse De; Owen, Neville; Davey, Rachel C; Hino, Adriano Akira Ferreira; Mitáš, Josef; Orzanco-Garralda, Rosario; Salvo, Deborah; Sarmiento, Olga L; Christiansen, Lars B; Macfarlane, Duncan J; Schofield, Grant; Sallis, James F

2014-01-01

Purpose Environmental changes are potentially effective population-level physical activity (PA) promotion strategies. However, robust multi-site evidence to guide international action for developing activity-supportive environments is lacking. We estimated pooled associations of perceived environmental attributes with objectively-measured PA outcomes; between-site differences in such associations; and, the extent to which perceived environmental attributes explain between-site differences in PA. Methods This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 16 cities located in Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and USA. Participants were 6,968 adults residing in administrative units stratified by socio-economic status and transport-related walkability. Predictors were 10 perceived neighborhood environmental attributes. Outcome measures were accelerometry-assessed weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and meeting the PA guidelines for cancer/weight gain prevention (420 min/week of MVPA). Results Most perceived neighborhood attributes were positively associated with the PA outcomes in the pooled, site-adjusted, single-predictor models. Associations were generalizable across geographical locations. Aesthetics and land use mix – access were significant predictors of both PA outcomes in the fully-adjusted models. Environmental attributes accounted for within-site variability in MVPA corresponding to a 3 min/d or 21 min/week standard deviation. Large between-site differences in PA outcomes were observed: 15.9% to 16.8% of these differences were explained by perceived environmental attributes. All neighborhood attributes were associated with between-site differences in the total effects of the perceived environment on PA outcomes. Conclusions Residents’ perceptions of neighborhood attributes that facilitate walking were positively associated with objectively-measured MVPA and meeting the guidelines for cancer/weight gain prevention at the within- and between-site levels. Associations were similar across study sites, lending support for international recommendations for designing PA-friendly built environments. PMID:24781892

Bedrock, soils, and hillslope hydrology in the Central Texas Hill Country, USA: implications on environmental management in a carbonate-rock terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woodruff, C. M.; Wilding, L. P.

2008-08-01

The Hill Country of Central Texas, USA, is undergoing rapid socioeconomic development, but environmental management of this region is hampered by misconceptions about local bedrock, soils, terrain, and hydrologic processes. The Hill Country is underlain mostly by Glen Rose Limestone (Lower Cretaceous) and exhibits a stepped terrain, which has been incorrectly attributed to alternating hard and soft bedrock strata. Other characteristics mistakenly attributed to this landscape include thin soils with scant water-retention capabilities, and rapid runoff as the dominant hydrologic process. This report presents new findings: unweathered bedrock is well indurated, but interbeds exhibit variable weathering rates. Recessive slopes (“risers”) on this stepped terrain result from rapid deterioration of strata having generally heterogeneous depositional fabrics (bioturbation and irregular clay partings) in contrast to ledge-forming strata having homogeneous fabrics. A stony regolith is thus formed beneath risers, providing porous and permeable ground that retards runoff and promotes the formation of moderately deep to deep (two-tiered) regolith/soil zones. These surficial materials on local steep slopes compose important natural environmental buffers; they support diverse biota and enhanced geochemical cycling of nutrients; they also exhibit significant water retention and enhanced erosion abatement. Proper land management demands recognition of these attributes in the siting, design, and construction of facilities.

Estimating the burden of disease attributable to four selected environmental risk factors in South Africa.

PubMed

Norman, Rosana; Bradshaw, Debbie; Lewin, Simon; Cairncross, Eugene; Nannan, Nadine; Vos, Theo

2010-01-01

The first South African National Burden of Disease study quantified the underlying causes of premature mortality and morbidity experienced in South Africa in the year 2000. This was followed by a Comparative Risk Assessment to estimate the contributions of 17 selected risk factors to burden of disease in South Africa. This paper describes the health impact of exposure to four selected environmental risk factors: unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene; indoor air pollution from household use of solid fuels; urban outdoor air pollution and lead exposure. The study followed World Health Organization comparative risk assessment methodology. Population-attributable fractions were calculated and applied to revised burden of disease estimates (deaths and disability adjusted life years, [DALYs]) from the South African Burden of Disease study to obtain the attributable burden for each selected risk factor. The burden attributable to the joint effect of the four environmental risk factors was also estimated taking into account competing risks and common pathways. Monte Carlo simulation-modeling techniques were used to quantify sampling, uncertainty. Almost 24 000 deaths were attributable to the joint effect of these four environmental risk factors, accounting for 4.6% (95% uncertainty interval 3.8-5.3%) of all deaths in South Africa in 2000. Overall the burden due to these environmental risks was equivalent to 3.7% (95% uncertainty interval 3.4-4.0%) of the total disease burden for South Africa, with unsafe water sanitation and hygiene the main contributor to joint burden. The joint attributable burden was especially high in children under 5 years of age, accounting for 10.8% of total deaths in this age group and 9.7% of burden of disease. This study highlights the public health impact of exposure to environmental risks and the significant burden of preventable disease attributable to exposure to these four major environmental risk factors in South Africa. Evidence-based policies and programs must be developed and implemented to address these risk factors at individual, household, and community levels.

Annual environmental monitoring report of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schleimer, G.E.

1989-06-01

The Environmental Monitoring Program of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) is described. Data for 1988 are presented and general trends are discussed. In order to establish whether LBL research activities produced any impact on the population surrounding the laboratory, a program of environmental air and water sampling and continuous radiation monitoring was carried on throughout the year. For 1988, as in the previous several years, dose equivalents attributable to LBL radiological operations were a small fraction of both the relevant radiation protection guidelines (RPG) and of the natural radiation background. 16 refs., 7 figs., 21 tabs.

ATTRIBUTES OF FORM IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT THAT INFLUENCE PERCEIVED WALKABILITY.

PubMed

Oreskovic, Nicolas M; Charles, Pablina Roth Suzanne Lanyi; Shepherd, Dido Tsigaridi Kathrine; Nelson, Kerrie P; Bar, Moshe

2014-01-01

A recent focus of design and building regulations, including form-based codes and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development rating system, has been on promoting pedestrian activity. This study assessed perceptions of walkability for residential and commercial streetscapes with different design attributes in order to inform form-based regulations and codes that aim to impact walkability. We scored 424 images on four design attributes purported to influence walkability: variation in building height, variation in building plane, presence of ground-floor windows, and presence of a street focal point. We then presented the images to 45 adults, who were asked to rate the images for walkability. The results showed that perceived walkability varied according to the degree to which a particular design attribute was present, with the presence of ground-floor windows and a street focal point most consistently associated with a space's perceived walkability. Understanding if and which design attributes are most related to walkability could allow planners and developers to focus on the most salient built-environment features influencing physical activity, as well as provide empirical scientific evidence for form-based regulations and zoning codes aimed at impacting walkabilit.

Cancer incidence attributable to lifestyle and environmental factors in Alberta in 2012: summary of results

PubMed Central

Grundy, Anne; Poirier, Abbey E.; Khandwala, Farah; Grevers, Xin; Friedenreich, Christine M.; Brenner, Darren R.

2017-01-01

Background: Estimates of the proportion of cancer cases that can be attributed to modifiable risk factors are not available for Canada and, more specifically, Alberta. The purpose of this study was to estimate the total proportion of cancer cases in Alberta in 2012 that could be attributed to a set of 24 modifiable lifestyle and environmental risk factors. Methods: We estimated summary population attributable risk estimates for 24 risk factors (smoking [both passive and active], overweight and obesity, inadequate physical activity, diet [inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption, inadequate fibre intake, excess red and processed meat consumption, salt consumption, inadequate calcium and vitamin D intake], alcohol, hormones [oral contraceptives and hormone therapy], infections [Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis B and C viruses, human papillomavirus, Helicobacter pylori], air pollution, natural and artificial ultraviolet radiation, radon and water disinfection by-products) by combining population attributable risk estimates for each of the 24 factors that had been previously estimated. To account for the possibility that individual cancer cases were the result of a combination of multiple risk factors, we subtracted the population attributable risk for the first factor from 100% and then applied the population attributable risk for the second factor to the remaining proportion that was not attributable to the first factor. We repeated this process in sequential order for all relevant exposures. Results: Overall, an estimated 40.8% of cancer cases in Alberta in 2012 were attributable to modifiable lifestyle and environmental risk factors. The largest proportion of cancers were estimated to be attributable to tobacco smoking, physical inactivity and excess body weight. The summary population attributable risk estimate was slightly higher among women (42.4%) than among men (38.7%). Interpretation: About 41% of cancer cases in Alberta may be attributable to known modifiable lifestyle and environmental risk factors. Reducing the prevalence of these factors in the Alberta population has the potential to substantially reduce the provincial cancer burden. PMID:28687643

Deaths and Medical Visits Attributable to Environmental Pollution in the United Arab Emirates

PubMed Central

MacDonald Gibson, Jacqueline; Thomsen, Jens; Launay, Frederic; Harder, Elizabeth; DeFelice, Nicholas

2013-01-01

Background This study estimates the potential health gains achievable in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with improved controls on environmental pollution. The UAE is an emerging economy in which population health risks have shifted rapidly from infectious diseases to chronic conditions observed in developed nations. The UAE government commissioned this work as part of an environmental health strategic planning project intended to address this shift in the nature of the country’s disease burden. Methods and Findings We assessed the burden of disease attributable to six environmental exposure routes outdoor air, indoor air, drinking water, coastal water, occupational environments, and climate change. For every exposure route, we integrated UAE environmental monitoring and public health data in a spatially resolved Monte Carlo simulation model to estimate the annual disease burden attributable to selected pollutants. The assessment included the entire UAE population (4.5 million for the year of analysis). The study found that outdoor air pollution was the leading contributor to mortality, with 651 attributable deaths (95% confidence interval [CI] 143–1,440), or 7.3% of all deaths. Indoor air pollution and occupational exposures were the second and third leading contributors to mortality, with 153 (95% CI 85–216) and 46 attributable deaths (95% CI 26–72), respectively. The leading contributor to health-care facility visits was drinking water pollution, to which 46,600 (95% CI 15,300–61,400) health-care facility visits were attributed (about 15% of the visits for all the diseases considered in this study). Major study limitations included (1) a lack of information needed to translate health-care facility visits to quality-adjusted-life-year estimates and (2) insufficient spatial coverage of environmental data. Conclusions Based on international comparisons, the UAE’s environmental disease burden is low for all factors except outdoor air pollution. From a public health perspective, reducing pollutant emissions to outdoor air should be a high priority for the UAE’s environmental agencies. PMID:23469200

Deaths and medical visits attributable to environmental pollution in the United Arab Emirates.

PubMed

MacDonald Gibson, Jacqueline; Thomsen, Jens; Launay, Frederic; Harder, Elizabeth; DeFelice, Nicholas

2013-01-01

This study estimates the potential health gains achievable in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with improved controls on environmental pollution. The UAE is an emerging economy in which population health risks have shifted rapidly from infectious diseases to chronic conditions observed in developed nations. The UAE government commissioned this work as part of an environmental health strategic planning project intended to address this shift in the nature of the country's disease burden. We assessed the burden of disease attributable to six environmental exposure routes outdoor air, indoor air, drinking water, coastal water, occupational environments, and climate change. For every exposure route, we integrated UAE environmental monitoring and public health data in a spatially resolved Monte Carlo simulation model to estimate the annual disease burden attributable to selected pollutants. The assessment included the entire UAE population (4.5 million for the year of analysis). The study found that outdoor air pollution was the leading contributor to mortality, with 651 attributable deaths (95% confidence interval [CI] 143-1,440), or 7.3% of all deaths. Indoor air pollution and occupational exposures were the second and third leading contributors to mortality, with 153 (95% CI 85-216) and 46 attributable deaths (95% CI 26-72), respectively. The leading contributor to health-care facility visits was drinking water pollution, to which 46,600 (95% CI 15,300-61,400) health-care facility visits were attributed (about 15% of the visits for all the diseases considered in this study). Major study limitations included (1) a lack of information needed to translate health-care facility visits to quality-adjusted-life-year estimates and (2) insufficient spatial coverage of environmental data. Based on international comparisons, the UAE's environmental disease burden is low for all factors except outdoor air pollution. From a public health perspective, reducing pollutant emissions to outdoor air should be a high priority for the UAE's environmental agencies.

The Piirto Pyramid of Talent Development: A Conceptual Framework for Talking about Talent.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piirto, Jane

2000-01-01

This article presents the "Piirto Pyramid" framework for identification of talent potential. It explains how the pyramid identifies influences that are significant in the development of talents, including genetics, personality attributes, cognitive ability, talent, vocational, and environmental. Examples using Roy Rogers and Michelangelo are…

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance. Executive summary for Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma city, Oklahoma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during April 1982 at the photovoltaic project site at the Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated power and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities are attributable to weather are provided. The system was inoperative all month due to a failed power conditioning unit.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report, for Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The data accumulated during April 1982 at the photovoltaic project site at the Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, are presented. Environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided. Due to a failure of the power conditioning unit, the system was down for the month.

Continent-scale global change attribution in European birds - combining annual and decadal time scales.

PubMed

Jørgensen, Peter Søgaard; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; Thorup, Kasper; Tøttrup, Anders P; Chylarecki, Przemysław; Jiguet, Frédéric; Lehikoinen, Aleksi; Noble, David G; Reif, Jiri; Schmid, Hans; van Turnhout, Chris; Burfield, Ian J; Foppen, Ruud; Voříšek, Petr; van Strien, Arco; Gregory, Richard D; Rahbek, Carsten

2016-02-01

Species attributes are commonly used to infer impacts of environmental change on multiyear species trends, e.g. decadal changes in population size. However, by themselves attributes are of limited value in global change attribution since they do not measure the changing environment. A broader foundation for attributing species responses to global change may be achieved by complementing an attributes-based approach by one estimating the relationship between repeated measures of organismal and environmental changes over short time scales. To assess the benefit of this multiscale perspective, we investigate the recent impact of multiple environmental changes on European farmland birds, here focusing on climate change and land use change. We analyze more than 800 time series from 18 countries spanning the past two decades. Analysis of long-term population growth rates documents simultaneous responses that can be attributed to both climate change and land-use change, including long-term increases in populations of hot-dwelling species and declines in long-distance migrants and farmland specialists. In contrast, analysis of annual growth rates yield novel insights into the potential mechanisms driving long-term climate induced change. In particular, we find that birds are affected by winter, spring, and summer conditions depending on the distinct breeding phenology that corresponds to their migratory strategy. Birds in general benefit from higher temperatures or higher primary productivity early on or in the peak of the breeding season with the largest effect sizes observed in cooler parts of species' climatic ranges. Our results document the potential of combining time scales and integrating both species attributes and environmental variables for global change attribution. We suggest such an approach will be of general use when high-resolution time series are available in large-scale biodiversity surveys. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Neural interface methods and apparatus to provide artificial sensory capabilities to a subject

DOEpatents

Buerger, Stephen P.; Olsson, III, Roy H.; Wojciechowski, Kenneth E.; Novick, David K.; Kholwadwala, Deepesh K.

2017-01-24

Embodiments of neural interfaces according to the present invention comprise sensor modules for sensing environmental attributes beyond the natural sensory capability of a subject, and communicating the attributes wirelessly to an external (ex-vivo) portable module attached to the subject. The ex-vivo module encodes and communicates the attributes via a transcutaneous inductively coupled link to an internal (in-vivo) module implanted within the subject. The in-vivo module converts the attribute information into electrical neural stimuli that are delivered to a peripheral nerve bundle within the subject, via an implanted electrode. Methods and apparatus according to the invention incorporate implantable batteries to power the in-vivo module allowing for transcutaneous bidirectional communication of low voltage (e.g. on the order of 5 volts) encoded signals as stimuli commands and neural responses, in a robust, low-error rate, communication channel with minimal effects to the subjects' skin.

Valuation of environmental quality and eco-cultural attributes in Northwestern Idaho: Native Americans are more concerned than Caucasians

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burger, Joanna, E-mail: burger@biology.rutgers.edu; Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8082

Valuation of features of habitats and ecosystems usually encompasses the goods and services that ecosystems provide, but rarely also examine how people value ecological resources in terms of eco-cultural and sacred activities. The social, sacred, and cultural aspects of ecosystems are particularly important to Native Americans, but western science has rarely examined the importance of eco-cultural attributes quantitatively. In this paper I explore differences in ecosystem evaluations, and compare the perceptions and evaluations of places people go for consumptive and non-consumptive resource use with evaluations of the same qualities for religious and sacred places. Qualities of ecosystems included goods (abundantmore » fish and crabs, butterflies and flowers, clean water), services (complexity of nature, lack of radionuclides that present a health risk), and eco-cultural attributes (appears unspoiled, scenic horizons, noise-free). Native Americans and Caucasians were interviewed at a Pow Wow at Post Falls, Idaho, which is in the region with the Department of Energy's Hanford Site, known for its storage of radioactive wastes and contamination. A higher percentage of Native American subjects engaged in consumptive and religious activities than did Caucasians. Native Americans engaged in higher rates of many activities than did Caucasians, including commune with nature, pray or meditate, fish or hunt, collect herbs, and conduct vision quests or other ceremonies. For nearly all attributes, there was no difference in the relative ratings given by Native Americans for characteristics of sites used for consumption/non-consumptive activities compared to religious/sacred places. However, Caucasians rated nearly all attributes lower for religious/sacred places than they did for places where they engaged in consumptive or non-consumptive activities. Native Americans were less concerned with distance from home for consumptive/non-consumptive activities, compared to religious activities. - Research Highlights: {yields} A higher percentage of Native Americans engaged in consumptive and religious activities than did Caucasians interviewed. {yields} Caucasians rated environmental attributes as more important for consumptive and non-consumptive activities than they did for places where they engaged in religious/cultural ones. {yields} Native Americans rated environmental attributes as equally important regardless of the activities performed. {yields} Eco-cultural attributes (such as 'appears unspoiled') were rated as high as ecosystem services (e.g. unpolluted water).« less

The use of Pb, Sr, and Hg isotopes in Great Lakes precipitation as a tool for pollution source attribution

EPA Science Inventory

The anthropogenic emission and subsequent deposition of heavy metals including mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) presents human health and environmental concerns. Although it is known that local and regional sources of these metals contribute to deposition in the Great Lakes region, it ...

Determining the range of acceptable forest road erosion

Treesearch

Johnny M. III Grace

2008-01-01

In recent years there has been increased awareness and societal pressure concerning environmental impacts and aesthetics of forest operations such as road management. Forest roads continue to be attributed to account for the majority of erosion from forestlands. Previous research over the past 70 years has presented many questions concerning the impact of roads on...

Relationships Between Neighbourhood Physical Environmental Attributes and Older Adults' Leisure-Time Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Van Cauwenberg, Jelle; Nathan, Andrea; Barnett, Anthony; Barnett, David W; Cerin, Ester

2018-05-02

Activity-friendly neighbourhood physical environments with access to recreational facilities are hypothesised to facilitate leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among older adults (≥ 65 years old). The aim of the current study was to systematically review and quantitatively summarise study findings on the relationships between physical environmental attributes and LTPA among older adults. An extensive search of literature, including grey literature, yielded 72 articles eligible for inclusion. The reported associations between seven categories of environmental attributes and six LTPA outcomes were extracted, weighted by sample size and study quality, and quantitatively summarised. Reported moderating effects of individual and environmental characteristics and neighbourhood definition were also examined. We observed positive associations for walkability (p = 0.01), land-use mix-access (p = 0.02) and aesthetically pleasing scenery (p < 0.001) with leisure-time walking. For leisure-time walking within the neighbourhood, evidence was found for positive associations with land-use mix-access (p = 0.03) and access to public transit (p = 0.05), and a negative association with barriers to walking/cycling (p = 0.03). Evidence for positive relationships between overall LTPA and access to recreational facilities (p = 0.01) and parks/open space (p = 0.04) was found. Several environmental attribute-LTPA outcome combinations were insufficiently studied to draw conclusions. No consistent moderating effects were observed for individual and environmental characteristics and neighbourhood definition. The observed significant relationships can be used to inform policy makers and planners on how to (re-)design neighbourhoods that promote LTPA among older adults. Many environmental attribute-LTPA outcome relationships have been studied insufficiently and several methodological issues remain to be addressed. PROSPERO 2016:CRD42016051180.

The influence of environmental hazard maps on risk beliefs, emotion, and health-related behavioral intentions.

PubMed

Severtson, Dolores J

2013-08-01

To test a theoretical explanation of how attributes of mapped environmental health hazards influence health-related behavioral intentions and how beliefs and emotion mediate the influences of attributes, 24 maps were developed that varied by four attributes of a residential drinking water hazard: level, proximity, prevalence, and density. In a factorial design, student participants (N = 446) answered questions about a subset of maps. Hazard level and proximity had the largest influences on intentions to test water and mitigate exposure. Belief in the problem's seriousness mediated attributes' influence on intention to test drinking water, and perceived susceptibility mediated the influence of attributes on intention to mitigate risk. Maps with carefully illustrated attributes of hazards may promote appropriate health-related risk beliefs, intentions, and behavior. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Marine turtles are not fussy nesters: a novel test of small-scale nest site selection using structure from motion beach terrain information

PubMed Central

Leon, Javier X.; Gilby, Ben L.; Olds, Andrew D.; Schlacher, Thomas A.

2017-01-01

Background Nest selection is widely regarded as a key process determining the fitness of individuals and viability of animal populations. For marine turtles that nest on beaches, this is particularly pivotal as the nesting environment can significantly control reproductive success.The aim of this study was to identify the environmental attributes of beaches (i.e., morphology, vegetation, urbanisation) that may be associated with successful oviposition in green and loggerhead turtle nests. Methods We quantified the proximity of turtle nests (and surrounding beach locations) to urban areas, measured their exposure to artificial light, and used ultra-high resolution (cm-scale) digital surface models derived from Structure-from-Motion (SfM) algorithms, to characterise geomorphic and vegetation features of beaches on the Sunshine Coast, eastern Australia. Results At small spatial scales (i.e., <100 m), we found no evidence that turtles selected nest sites based on a particular suite of environmental attributes (i.e., the attributes of nest sites were not consistently different from those of surrounding beach locations). Nest sites were, however, typically characterised by occurring close to vegetation, on parts of the shore where the beach- and dune-face was concave and not highly rugged, and in areas with moderate exposure to artificial light. Conclusion This study used a novel empirical approach to identify the attributes of turtle nest sites from a broader ‘envelope’ of environmental nest traits, and is the first step towards optimizing conservation actions to mitigate, at the local scale, present and emerging human impacts on turtle nesting beaches. PMID:28070454

Direct Penguin Counting Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyun, C. U.; Kim, H. C.; Kim, J. H.; Hong, S. G.

2015-12-01

This study presents an application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images to monitor penguin colony in Baton Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica. The area around Narębski Point located on the southeast coast of Barton Peninsula was designated as Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 171 (ASPA 171), and Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins inhabit in this area. The UAV images were acquired in a part of ASPA 171 from four flights in a single day, Jan 18, 2014. About 360 images were mosaicked as an image of about 3 cm spatial resolution and then a subset including representative penguin rookeries was selected. The subset image was segmented based on gradient map of pixel values, and spectral and spatial attributes were assigned to each segment. The object based image analysis (OBIA) was conducted with consideration of spectral attributes including mean and minimum values of each segment and various shape attributes such as area, length, compactness and roundness to detect individual penguin. The segments indicating individual penguin were effectively detected on rookeries with high contrasts in the spectral and shape attributes. The importance of periodic and precise monitoring of penguins has been recognized because variations of their populations reflect environmental changes and disturbance from human activities. Utilization of very high resolution imaging method shown in this study can be applied to other penguin habitats in Antarctica, and the results will be able to support establishing effective environmental management plans.

Life-Cycle Inventory Analysis of Manufacturing Redwood Decking

Treesearch

Richard D. Bergman; Han-Sup Han; Elaine Oneil; Ivan L. Eastin

2012-01-01

Green building has become increasingly important. Therefore, consumers and builders often take into account the environmental attributes of a building material. This study determined the environmental attributes associated with manufacturing 38-mm × 138-mm (nominal 2 × 6) redwood decking in northern California using the life-cycle inventory method. Primary data...

Ecological criteria, participant preferences and location models: A GIS approach toward ATV trail planning

Treesearch

Stephanie A. Snyder; Jay H. Whitmore; Ingrid E. Schneider; Dennis R. Becker

2008-01-01

This paper presents a geographic information system (GIS)-based method for recreational trail location for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) which considers environmental factors, as well as rider preferences for trail attributes. The method utilizes the Least-Cost Path algorithm within a GIS framework to optimize trail location. The trail location algorithm considered trail...

Evaluation of the social and economic burden of road traffic noise-attributed myocardial infarction in Bulgarian urban population.

PubMed

Dzhambov, Angel M; Dimitrova, Donka D

2015-03-01

Road traffic noise is a widely studied environmental risk factor for ischaemic heart disease and myocardial infarction in particular. Given that myocardial infarction is a leading disability and mortality cause in Bulgaria and that a significant proportion of the urban population is exposed to high noise levels, quantification of the burden of disease attributable to traffic noise is essential for environmental health policy making and noise control engineering. This study aimed at estimating the burden of the myocardial infarction cases attributable to road traffic noise in the Bulgarian urban population. We used the methodology for estimating the burden of disease attributable to environmental noise outlined by the World Health Organization. Risk data were extracted from a recently published meta-analysis providing updated exposure-response relationship between traffic noise and the risk for myocardial infarction. Based on these data we calculated the fraction of myocardial infarction cases attributable to traffic noise, loss of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and the economic burden, assuming € 12,000 per QALY. About 2.9 % or 101 of all myocardial infarction cases could be attributed to road traffic noise. Fifty-five of these were fatal. Nine hundred and sixty-eight QALYs were lost to these cases. The monetary value of these QALYs was about € 11.6 million. Although the measures used in this study are crude and give only an approximation of the real burden of disease from road traffic noise, they are indicative of the important social and economic aspect of noise pollution in Bulgaria. Hopefully, these results will direct the attention of epidemiologists, environmental hygienists, and health economists to this pivotal environmental issue.

A multiattribute index for assessing environmental impacts of regional development projects: a case study of Korea.

PubMed

Kwak, Seung-Jun; Yoo, Seung-Hoon; Shin, Chol-Oh

2002-02-01

Evaluating environmental impacts has become an increasingly vital part of environmental management. In the present study, a methodological procedure based on multiattribute utility theory (MAUT) has been applied to obtain a decision-maker's value index on assessment of the environmental impacts. The paper begins with an overview of MAUT. Next, we elicited strategic objectives and several important attributes, and then structured them into a hierarchy, with the aim of structuring and quantifying the basic values for the assessment. An environmental multiattribute index is constructed as a multiattribute utility function, based on value judgements provided by a decision-maker at the Korean Ministry of Environment (MOE). The implications of the results are useful for many aspects of MOE's environmental policies; identifying the strategic objectives and basic values; facilitating communication about the organization's priorities; and recognizing decision opportunities that face decision-makers of Korea.

I think, therefore I am: a twin study of attributional style in adolescents.

PubMed

Lau, Jennifer Y F; Rijsdijk, Frühling; Eley, Thalia C

2006-07-01

Parenting factors may be important to the development of attributional style in adolescence, which in turn relates to depression symptoms. These relationships have mainly been considered in terms of social risk mechanisms, and little is known about the role of genetic influences. Self-reported measures of attributional style, depression symptoms and parental disciplinary styles were administered to over 1300 adolescent twin and sibling pairs. Model-fitting techniques were used to examine the role of genetic and environmental influences. Moderate genetic influences on attributional style were demonstrated, and furthermore, its association with depression reflected considerable genetic effects. Familial factors were implicated in the association between attributional style and punitive parenting, although genetic from shared environmental causes could not be distinguished. Our results demonstrate that attributional style is influenced by genetic, as well as social factors. Implications for aetiological pathways integrating cognitive, genetic and social factors on adolescent depression are discussed.

Associations of Perceived and Objectively Measured Neighborhood Environmental Attributes With Leisure-Time Sitting for Transport.

PubMed

Liao, Yung; Sugiyama, Takemi; Shibata, Ai; Ishii, Kaori; Inoue, Shigeru; Koohsari, Mohammad Javad; Owen, Neville; Oka, Koichiro

2016-12-01

This study examined associations of perceived and objectively measured neighborhood environmental attributes with leisure-time sitting for transport among middle-to-older aged Japanese adults. Data were collected using a postal survey of 998 adults aged 40 to 69 years. Generalized linear modeling with a gamma distribution and a log link was used to examine associations of perceived (International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Environmental module) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-derived built environment attributes with self-reported leisure-time sitting for transport. Mean leisure-time sitting time for transport was 20.4 min/day. After adjusting for potential confounders, perceived higher residential density, GIS-measured higher population density, better access to destinations, better access to public transport, longer sidewalk length, and higher street connectivity, were associated significantly with lower sitting time for transport. Residents living in neighborhoods with attributes previously found to be associated with more walking tended to spend less time sitting for transport during leisure-time. The health benefits of walkability-related attributes may accrue not only through increased physical activity, but also through less sedentary time.

The Influence of Environmental Hazard Maps on Risk Beliefs, Emotion, and Health-related Behavioral Intentions

PubMed Central

Severtson, Dolores

2013-01-01

To test a theoretical explanation of how attributes of mapped environmental health hazards influence health-related behavioral intentions and how beliefs and emotion mediate the influences of attributes, 24 maps were developed that varied by four attributes of a residential drinking water hazard: level, proximity, prevalence, and density. In a factorial design, student participants (N=446) answered questions for a subset of maps. Hazard level and proximity had the largest influences on intentions to test water and mitigate exposure. Belief in the problem’s seriousness mediated attributes’ influence on intention to test drinking water, and perceived susceptibility mediated the influence of attributes on intention to mitigate risk. Maps with carefully illustrated attributes of hazards may promote appropriate health-related risk beliefs, intentions, and behavior. PMID:23533022

International study of perceived neighbourhood environmental attributes and Body Mass Index: IPEN Adult study in 12 countries.

PubMed

De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Van Dyck, Delfien; Salvo, Deborah; Davey, Rachel; Reis, Rodrigo S; Schofield, Grant; Sarmiento, Olga L; Mitas, Josef; Christiansen, Lars Breum; MacFarlane, Duncan; Sugiyama, Takemi; Aguinaga-Ontoso, Ines; Owen, Neville; Conway, Terry L; Sallis, James F; Cerin, Ester

2015-05-16

Ecological models of health behaviour are an important conceptual framework to address the multiple correlates of obesity. Several single-country studies previously examined the relationship between the built environment and obesity in adults, but results are very diverse. An important reason for these mixed results is the limited variability in built environments in these single-country studies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine associations between perceived neighbourhood built environmental attributes and BMI/weight status in a multi-country study including 12 environmentally and culturally diverse countries. A multi-site cross-sectional study was conducted in 17 cities (study sites) across 12 countries (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and USA). Participants (n = 14222, 18-66 years) self-reported perceived neighbourhood environmental attributes. Height and weight were self-reported in eight countries, and measured in person in four countries. Three environmental attributes were associated with BMI or weight status in pooled data from 12 countries. Safety from traffic was the most robust correlate, suggesting that creating safe routes for walking/cycling by reducing the speed and volume of traffic might have a positive impact upon weight status/BMI across various geographical locations. Close proximity to several local destinations was associated with BMI across all countries, suggesting compact neighbourhoods with more places to walk related to lower BMI. Safety from crime showed a curvilinear relationship with BMI, with especially poor crime safety being related to higher BMI. Environmental interventions involving these three attributes appear to have international relevance and focusing on these might have implications for tackling overweight/obesity.

Strategies for modeling habitat relationships of uncommon species: An example using the Siskiyou Mountains salamander (Plethodon stormi).

Treesearch

Hartwell H. Welsh; Howard Stauffer; David R. Clayton; Lisa M. Ollivier

2007-01-01

We analyzed environmental relationships of the Siskiyou Mountains salamander, comparing attributes at the landscape, macro- and micro-environmental scales, and the three scales combined, to determine which attributes best predicted salamander presence. Separate analyses were conducted for sites on the north and south sides of the Siskiyou Mountains which basically...

Urinary parabens and polyaromatic hydrocarbons independent of health conditions are associated with adult emotional support needs: USA NHANES, 2005-2008.

PubMed

Shiue, Ivy

2015-09-01

Everyone needs emotional support at some point in life, but the needs might not always be met. The present study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of unmet needs of emotional support in adults and to identify social, environmental and health attributes in a national and population-based setting in recent years. Data was retrieved from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 2005-2008, including demographics, blood pressure readings, self-reported emotional support needs in the last 12 months, self-reported ever health conditions and urinary environmental chemical concentrations. Statistical analyses included chi-square test, t test, survey-weighted logistic regression modeling and population attributable risk (PAR) estimation. Of 6733 American adults aged 40-80, 1273 (21.0 %) needed more emotional support in the past year. They tended to be aged 40-60, female, Mexican American, other Hispanic, education less than high school, or poverty income ratio 5+. People with higher levels of butyl paraben, ethyl paraben, methyl paraben, 1-hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydroxynaphthalene, or 9-hydroxyfluorene (but not heavy metals, arsenic, phenols, phthalates, pesticides, or phytoestrogens) or historical diabetes, asthma, arthritis, stroke, thyroid disorder, chronic bronchitis, sleep complaint/disorder, or trouble seeing needed more emotional support. Significant risk associations from environmental chemicals mentioned above have remained after adjusting for historical health conditions as potential mediators. This is the first time examining prevalence of the unmet emotional support in adults and identifying the social, environmental and health attributes. Removal of parabens and polyaromatic hydrocarbons and increasing healthcare for people with health conditions to accommodate emotional support should be considered.

Environmental agency in read-alouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, Alandeom W.; Rogers, Patterson; Quigley, Cassie F.; Samburskiy, Denis; Barss, Kimberly; Rivera, Seema

2015-06-01

Despite growing interest in helping students become agents of environmental change who can, through informed decision-making and action-taking, transform environmentally detrimental forms of human activity, science educators have reduced agency to rationality by overlooking sociocultural influences such as norms and values. We tackle this issue by examining how elementary teachers and students negotiate and attribute responsibility, credit, or blame for environmental events during three environmental read-alouds. Our verbal analysis and visual representation of meta-agentive discourse revealed varied patterns of agential attribution. First, humans were simultaneously attributed negative agentive roles (agents of endangerment and imbalance) and positive agentive roles (agents of prevention, mitigation, and balance). Second, while wolves at Yellowstone were constructed as intentional (human-like) agents when they crossed over into the human world to kill livestock in nearby farms, polar bears in the Arctic were denied any form of agential responsibility when they approached people's homes. Third, anthropogenic causation of global warming was constructed as distal and indirect chains of cause and effect (i.e., sophisticated sequences of ripple effects), whereas its mitigation and prevention assumed the form of simple and unidirectional causative links (direct and proximal causality). Fourth, the notion of balance of nature was repeatedly used as a justification for environmental conservation but its cause and dynamic nature remained unclear. And, fifth, while one teacher promoted environmental agency by encouraging students to experience positive emotions such as love of nature, freedom, and oneness with nature, the other teachers encouraged students to experience negative emotions such as self-blame and guilt. This study's main significance is that it highlights the need for environmental educators who set out to promote environmental agency to expand the focus of their instructional efforts beyond rational argumentation and reasoning. It also underscores the importance of increasing school teachers' awareness of implicit discursive messages in particular patterns of environmental agency attribution when discussing environmental issues with students and implementing pedagogical strategies centered on oral deliberation such as read-alouds.

Long-term monitoring of high-elevation white pine communities in Pacific West Region National Parks

Treesearch

Shawn T. McKinney; Tom Rodhouse; Les Chow; Penelope Latham; Daniel Sarr; Lisa Garrett; Linda Mutch

2011-01-01

National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) networks conduct long-term monitoring to provide park managers information on the status and trends in key biological and environmental attributes (Vital Signs). Here we present an overview of a collaborative approach to long-term monitoring of high-elevation white pine forest dynamics among three Pacific West...

Evidence for heritability of adult men's sexual interest in youth under age 16 from a population-based extended twin design.

PubMed

Alanko, Katarina; Salo, Benny; Mokros, Andreas; Santtila, Pekka

2013-04-01

Sexual interest in children resembles sexual gender orientation in terms of early onset and stability across the life span. Although a genetic component to sexual interest in children seems possible, no research has addressed this question to date. Prior research showing familial transmission of pedophilia remains inconclusive about shared environmental or genetic factors. Studies from the domains of sexual orientation and sexually problematic behavior among children pointed toward genetic components. Adult men's sexual interest in youthfulness-related cues may be genetically influenced. The aim of the present study was to test whether male sexual interest in children and youth under age 16 involves a heritable component. The main outcome measure was responses in a confidential survey concerning sexual interest, fantasies, or activity pertaining to children under the age of 16 years during the previous 12 months. The present study used an extended family design within behavioral genetic modeling to estimate the contributions of genetic and environmental factors in the occurrence of adult men's sexual interest in children and youth under age 16. Participants were male twins and their male siblings from a population-based Finnish cohort sample aged 21-43 years (N = 3,967). The incidence of sexual interest in children under age was 3%. Twin correlations were higher for monozygotic than for dizygotic twins. Behavioral genetic model fitting indicated that a model including genetic effects as well as nonshared environmental influences (including measurement error), but not common environmental influences, fits the data best. The amount of variance attributable to nonadditive genetic influences (heritability) was estimated at 14.6%. The present study provides the first indication that genetic influences may play a role in shaping sexual interest toward children and adolescents among adult men. Compared with the variance attributable to nonshared environmental effects (plus measurement error), the contribution of any genetic factors seems comparatively weak. Future research should address the possible interplay of genetic with environmental risk factors, such as own sexual victimization in childhood. © 2013 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Comparing Selections of Environmental Variables for Ecological Studies: A Focus on Terrain Attributes.

PubMed

Lecours, Vincent; Brown, Craig J; Devillers, Rodolphe; Lucieer, Vanessa L; Edinger, Evan N

2016-01-01

Selecting appropriate environmental variables is a key step in ecology. Terrain attributes (e.g. slope, rugosity) are routinely used as abiotic surrogates of species distribution and to produce habitat maps that can be used in decision-making for conservation or management. Selecting appropriate terrain attributes for ecological studies may be a challenging process that can lead users to select a subjective, potentially sub-optimal combination of attributes for their applications. The objective of this paper is to assess the impacts of subjectively selecting terrain attributes for ecological applications by comparing the performance of different combinations of terrain attributes in the production of habitat maps and species distribution models. Seven different selections of terrain attributes, alone or in combination with other environmental variables, were used to map benthic habitats of German Bank (off Nova Scotia, Canada). 29 maps of potential habitats based on unsupervised classifications of biophysical characteristics of German Bank were produced, and 29 species distribution models of sea scallops were generated using MaxEnt. The performances of the 58 maps were quantified and compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the various combinations of environmental variables. One of the combinations of terrain attributes-recommended in a related study and that includes a measure of relative position, slope, two measures of orientation, topographic mean and a measure of rugosity-yielded better results than the other selections for both methodologies, confirming that they together best describe terrain properties. Important differences in performance (up to 47% in accuracy measurement) and spatial outputs (up to 58% in spatial distribution of habitats) highlighted the importance of carefully selecting variables for ecological applications. This paper demonstrates that making a subjective choice of variables may reduce map accuracy and produce maps that do not adequately represent habitats and species distributions, thus having important implications when these maps are used for decision-making.

Impacts of Second Home Development on Housing Prices in the Southern Appalachian Highlands

Treesearch

Seong-Hoon Cho; David H. Newman; David N. Wear

2003-01-01

This study estimates the value of socioeconomic, spatial and environmental attributes on housing prices of both urban and rural communities in the primary and second home areas of the Southern Appalachian Highlands, using the hedonic property price model. Distance and environmental attributes are valued more heavily in the rural communities of the second home area than...

Narrative persuasion, causality, complex integration, and support for obesity policy.

PubMed

Niederdeppe, Jeff; Shapiro, Michael A; Kim, Hye Kyung; Bartolo, Danielle; Porticella, Norman

2014-01-01

Narrative messages have the potential to convey causal attribution information about complex social issues. This study examined attributions about obesity, an issue characterized by interrelated biological, behavioral, and environmental causes. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three narratives emphasizing societal causes and solutions for obesity or an unrelated story that served as the control condition. The three narratives varied in the extent to which the character in the story acknowledged personal responsibility (high, moderate, and none) for controlling her weight. Stories that featured no acknowledgment and moderate acknowledgment of personal responsibility, while emphasizing environmental causes and solutions, were successful at increasing societal cause attributions about obesity and, among conservatives, increasing support for obesity-related policies relative to the control group. The extent to which respondents were able to make connections between individual and environmental causes of obesity (complex integration) mediated the relationship between the moderate acknowledgment condition and societal cause attributions. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for narrative persuasion theory and health communication campaigns.

A revised framework for coupled human and natural systems, propagating thresholds, and managing environmental problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevenson, R. Jan

Frameworks for solving environmental problems have been presented over the past 40 years from many organizations and disciplines, often with a strong focus on their own discipline. This paper describes a modification of an existing framework that can be better applied to manage environmental problems. Human well being, environmental policy, human activities, stressors (contaminants and habitat alterations), and ecosystem services are highlighted as five elements of the coupled human and natural system in the proposed framework. Thresholds in relationships among elements in coupled human and natural systems are key attributes of couplings because of their use in development of environmental criteria by facilitating stakeholder consensus and preventing catastrophic changes. Propagation of thresholds through coupled human and natural systems is hypothesized to be a significant driver of policy development. The application of the framework is related to managing eutrophication and algal bloom problems.

Managing Dive Tourism for the Sustainable Use of Coral Reefs: Validating Diver Perceptions of Attractive Site Features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uyarra, Maria C.; Watkinson, Andrew R.; Côté, Isabelle M.

2009-01-01

It has been argued that strategies to manage natural areas important for tourism and recreation should integrate an understanding of tourist preferences for specific natural features. However, the accuracy of tourist recalled perceptions of environmental attributes, which are usually derived from post hoc surveys and used to establish management priorities, is currently unmeasured. We tested the validity of the relationship between tourist-stated preferences and actual condition of coral reefs around the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Using standardized questionnaires, we asked 200 divers to select their most and least favorite dive sites and the attributes that contributed to that selection. We also carried out ecological surveys at 76 of the 81 dives sites around the island to assess the actual conditions of the attributes indicated as important for site selection. Fish- and coral-related attributes were key features affecting dive enjoyment. In general, divers appeared to be able to perceive differences between sites in the true condition of biological attributes such as fish species richness, total number of fish schools, live coral cover, coral species richness, and reef structural complexity, although men and women divers differed in their ability to perceive/recall some of the attributes. Perceived differences in environmental attributes, such as surface conditions, underwater current, and the likelihood of encountering rare fish and sea turtles, were not empirically validated. The fact that divers perceive correctly differences in the condition of some of the key biological attributes that affect dive enjoyment reinforces the need to maintain overall reef condition at satisfactory levels. However, variation in accuracy of perceptions owing to demographic factors and attribute type suggests the need for caution when using public perceptions to develop environmental management strategies, particularly for coral reefs.

Managing dive tourism for the sustainable use of coral reefs: validating diver perceptions of attractive site features.

PubMed

Uyarra, Maria C; Watkinson, Andrew R; Côté, Isabelle M

2009-01-01

It has been argued that strategies to manage natural areas important for tourism and recreation should integrate an understanding of tourist preferences for specific natural features. However, the accuracy of tourist recalled perceptions of environmental attributes, which are usually derived from post hoc surveys and used to establish management priorities, is currently unmeasured. We tested the validity of the relationship between tourist-stated preferences and actual condition of coral reefs around the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Using standardized questionnaires, we asked 200 divers to select their most and least favorite dive sites and the attributes that contributed to that selection. We also carried out ecological surveys at 76 of the 81 dives sites around the island to assess the actual conditions of the attributes indicated as important for site selection. Fish- and coral-related attributes were key features affecting dive enjoyment. In general, divers appeared to be able to perceive differences between sites in the true condition of biological attributes such as fish species richness, total number of fish schools, live coral cover, coral species richness, and reef structural complexity, although men and women divers differed in their ability to perceive/recall some of the attributes. Perceived differences in environmental attributes, such as surface conditions, underwater current, and the likelihood of encountering rare fish and sea turtles, were not empirically validated. The fact that divers perceive correctly differences in the condition of some of the key biological attributes that affect dive enjoyment reinforces the need to maintain overall reef condition at satisfactory levels. However, variation in accuracy of perceptions owing to demographic factors and attribute type suggests the need for caution when using public perceptions to develop environmental management strategies, particularly for coral reefs.

The environmental audit. I. Concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaeffer, David J.; Kerster, Harold W.; Perry, James A.; Cox, David K.

1985-05-01

Extensive criticism of water quality monitoring programs has developed as costs are compared with the benefits produced by monitoring efforts. Collecting water quality data while developing understanding of the functional character of the environment will improve water quality monitoring data utility in environmental management. The “environmental audit” characterizes the attributes of the natural environment (that is, attribute type, intensity, and variability), providing a theoretical as well as practical foundation for data interpretation. In the view proposed here, traditional monitoring means the very narrow activity of collecting samples and perhaps analyzing them and storing the analyses. In the environmental audit, these activities are a mechanism to systematically improve environmental monitoring and assessment by improving the design and implementation of environmental programs. Major reasons why existing programs fail to meet the needs of legislators, regulators, and conservationists are identified.

Avenues of international cooperation in power plants life assessment and management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Isreb, M.

The present paper examines various attributes, sources of funding and areas of international cooperation in power plants life assessment and management. The attributes discussed in the paper are themes, strategies, benefits and mechanism. Next, the paper focuses on the Australian-American cooperation and sources of funding. In this regard, the paper concentrates on major funding organizations from Australia and the United States such as the Australian Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA), the Australian Department of Industry, Science and Tourism (DIST) and the American National Science Foundation (NSF). Finally, the paper presents the area of cooperation in linemore » with the major thrust of the Australian power industry. The paper examines possible subject areas of international cooperation, in relation to efficiency, diversification of fuels and thermal and environmental aspects.« less

Sequim Marine Research Laboratory routine environmental measurements during CY-1976

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fix, J.J.; Blumer, P.J.

1977-05-01

Beginning in 1976, a routine environmental program was established at the Marine Research Laboratory (MRL) at Sequim, Washington. The program is designed, primarily, to determine levels of radioactivity present in selected biota in Sequim Bay. The biota were selected because of their presence near the laboratory and their capacity to concentrate trace elements. Other samples were obtained to determine the radionuclides in Sequim Bay and laboratory drinking water, as well as the ambient radiation exposure levels and surface deposition of fallout radionuclides for the laboratory area. A summary of the analytical methods used is included. The present document includes datamore » obtained during CY 1976, the first year of the program. Radionuclides present in samples are attributed to fallout. Data are included on content of oil and Cu in seawater samples.« less

Plant community resistance to invasion by Bromus species: The roles of community attributes, Bromus interactions with plant communities, and Bromus traits [Chapter 10

Treesearch

Jeanne C. Chambers; Matthew J. Germino; Jayne Belnap; Cynthia S. Brown; Eugene W. Schupp; Samuel B. St. Clair

2016-01-01

The factors that determine plant community resistance to exotic annual Bromus species (Bromus hereafter) are diverse and context specific. They are influenced by the environmental characteristics and attributes of the community, the traits of Bromus species, and the direct and indirect interactions of Bromus with the plant community. Environmental factors, in...

Conditions under which Arousal Does and Does Not Elevate Height Estimates

PubMed Central

Storbeck, Justin; Stefanucci, Jeanine K.

2014-01-01

We present a series of experiments that explore the boundary conditions for how emotional arousal influences height estimates. Four experiments are presented, which investigated the influence of context, situation-relevance, intensity, and attribution of arousal on height estimates. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the environmental context to signal either danger (viewing a height from above) or safety (viewing a height from below). High arousal only increased height estimates made from above. In Experiment 2, two arousal inductions were used that contained either 1) height-relevant arousing images or 2) height-irrelevant arousing images. Regardless of theme, arousal increased height estimates compared to a neutral group. In Experiment 3, arousal intensity was manipulated by inserting an intermediate or long delay between the induction and height estimates. A brief, but not a long, delay from the arousal induction served to increase height estimates. In Experiment 4, an attribution manipulation was included, and those participants who were made aware of the source of their arousal reduced their height estimates compared to participants who received no attribution instructions. Thus, arousal that is attributed to its true source is discounted from feelings elicited by the height, thereby reducing height estimates. Overall, we suggest that misattributed, embodied arousal is used as a cue when estimating heights from above that can lead to overestimation. PMID:24699393

Solar Radiation and Tidal Exposure as Environmental Drivers of Enhalus acoroides Dominated Seagrass Meadows

PubMed Central

Unsworth, Richard K. F.; Rasheed, Michael A.; Chartrand, Kathryn M.; Roelofs, Anthony J.

2012-01-01

There is strong evidence of a global long-term decline in seagrass meadows that is widely attributed to anthropogenic activity. Yet in many regions, attributing these changes to actual activities is difficult, as there exists limited understanding of the natural processes that can influence these valuable ecosystem service providers. Being able to separate natural from anthropogenic causes of seagrass change is important for developing strategies that effectively mitigate and manage anthropogenic impacts on seagrass, and promote coastal ecosystems resilient to future environmental change. The present study investigated the influence of environmental and climate related factors on seagrass biomass in a large ≈250 ha meadow in tropical north east Australia. Annual monitoring of the intertidal Enhalus acoroides (L.f.) Royle seagrass meadow over eleven years revealed a declining trend in above-ground biomass (54% significant overall reduction from 2000 to 2010). Partial Least Squares Regression found this reduction to be significantly and negatively correlated with tidal exposure, and significantly and negatively correlated with the amount of solar radiation. This study documents how natural long-term tidal variability can influence long-term seagrass dynamics. Exposure to desiccation, high UV, and daytime temperature regimes are discussed as the likely mechanisms for the action of these factors in causing this decline. The results emphasise the importance of understanding and assessing natural environmentally-driven change when interpreting the results of seagrass monitoring programs. PMID:22479541

Methodology for National Water Savings Model and Spreadsheet Tool—Outdoor Water Use

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, Alison, A; Chen, Yuting; Dunham, Camilla

This report describes the method Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) developed to estimate national impacts of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) WaterSense labeling program for weather-based irrigation controllers (WBIC). Estimated impacts include the national water savings attributable to the program and the net present value of the lifetime water savings for consumers of irrigation controllers.

Perspectives of “Functional Failure”

PubMed Central

Sussman, Steve

2014-01-01

The present dialogue piece briefly examines six perspectives of functional failure (individual-level, societal-level, life spheres impacted, number of severe consequences, attribution of consequences to drug misuse, and socio-environmental generalizability) as they might apply to seven degrees of drug misuse (constant, dependence, heavy, binging, controlled use, “dry,” sober). Variation in judgments of failure is posited across the perspectives and across degrees of drug misuse. PMID:23186439

Ports Primer: 7.0 Environmental Impacts

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Port operations can lead to environmental impacts on air, water and land. Many communities with environmental justice concerns also experience disparities in health outcomes that they attribute to exposure to emissions from port operations.

Ports Primer: 7.1 Environmental Impacts

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Port operations can lead to environmental impacts on air, water and land. Many communities with environmental justice concerns also experience disparities in health outcomes that they attribute to exposure to emissions from port operations.

Road Testing Graduate Attributes and Course Learning Outcomes of an Environmental Science Degree via a Work-Integrated Learning Placement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whelan, Michael

2017-01-01

Graduate attributes and course learning outcomes are an integral part of higher education in Australia. Testing the performance of graduates in the workplace with regard to graduate attributes and course learning outcomes is a not a common occurrence. This study has road tested the graduate attributes and course learning outcomes of a bachelor…

Educational Configurations for Teaching Environmental Socioscientific Issues Within The Perspective of Sustainability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simonneaux, Jean; Simonneaux, Laurence

2012-01-01

Education for Sustainability has become an institutional requirement in many countries. It takes many forms that can integrate the teaching of environmental Socioscientific Issues (SSIs). In this context, we present the French notion of Socially Acute Questions (SAQs). We develop a theoretical frame to analyse educational configurations applied to the teaching of SAQs within the perspective of sustainability. This frame is built with a reference to a matrix integrating attributes of knowledge (universal, plural, engaged or contextualised), teachers' epistemological postures (scientism, utilitarianism, skepticsm or relativism) and various didactic strategies (doctrinal, problematizing, critical or pragmatic). To illustrate this frame, three situations of teaching-learning are compared.

The power and value of green in promoting sustainable transport behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaker, David; Vautin, David; Vij, Akshay; Walker, Joan L.

2011-07-01

While it is increasingly popular to broadcast information regarding environmental impact, little is known regarding the effects that this information has on human behavior. This research aims to provide insight into whether, and to what extent, presenting environmental attributes of transport alternatives influences individual transport decisions. We designed and conducted three experiments in which subjects (UC Berkeley undergraduates) were presented with hypothetical scenarios of transport decisions, including auto purchase choice, mode choice, and route choice. We analyzed their decisions via a choice model to determine how they value reducing their emissions relative to other attributes. We found that our subjects are willing to adjust their behavior to reduce emissions, exhibiting an average willingness to pay for emissions reduction, or value of green (VoG), of 15 cents per pound of CO2 saved. Despite concern that people cannot meaningfully process quantities of CO2, we found evidence to the contrary in our subject pool in that the estimated VoG was consistent across context (the wide range of transport decisions that we presented) and presentation (e.g., whether the information was presented in tons or pounds, or whether a social reference point of the emissions of an average person was provided). We also found significant heterogeneity in VoG, with most of the respondents valuing green somewhere between 0 and 70 cents per pound and with women, on average, willing to pay 7 cents more per saved pound than men. While the findings are encouraging, further work is required to determine whether they hold outside of a lab environment and with a more representative pool of subjects.

An Application of Attribution Theory to Developing Self-Esteem in Learning Disabled Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tollefson, Nona; And Others

The effect of an attribution retraining program intended to teach 35 learning disabled (LD) junior high school students to attribute achievement outcomes to the internal factor of effort was examined in the study. The research was concerned with LD adolescents' perceptions of personal (internal) and environmental (external) causality as…

Regional and sediment depth differences in nematode community structure greater than between habitats on the New Zealand margin: Implications for vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosli, Norliana; Leduc, Daniel; Rowden, Ashley A.; Probert, P. Keith; Clark, Malcolm R.

2018-01-01

Deep-sea community attributes vary at a range of spatial scales. However, identifying the scale at which environmental factors affect variability in deep-sea communities remains difficult, as few studies have been designed in such a way as to allow meaningful comparisons across more than two spatial scales. In the present study, we investigated nematode diversity, community structure and trophic structure at different spatial scales (sediment depth (cm), habitat (seamount, canyon, continental slope; 1-100 km), and geographic region (100-10000 km)), while accounting for the effects of water depth, in two regions on New Zealand's continental margin. The greatest variability in community attributes was found between sediment depth layers and between regions, which explained 2-4 times more variability than habitats. The effect of habitat was consistently stronger in the Hikurangi Margin than the Bay of Plenty for all community attributes, whereas the opposite pattern was found in the Bay of Plenty where effect of sediment depth was greater in Bay of Plenty. The different patterns at each scale in each region reflect the differences in the environmental variables between regions that control nematode community attributes. Analyses suggest that nematode communities are mostly influenced by sediment characteristics and food availability, but that disturbance (fishing activity and bioturbation) also accounts for some of the observed patterns. The results provide new insight on the relative importance of processes operating at different spatial scales in regulating nematode communities in the deep-sea, and indicate potential differences in vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance.

Integrative analysis of the Lake Simcoe watershed (Ontario, Canada) as a socio-ecological system.

PubMed

Neumann, Alex; Kim, Dong-Kyun; Perhar, Gurbir; Arhonditsis, George B

2017-03-01

Striving for long-term sustainability in catchments dominated by human activities requires development of interdisciplinary research methods to account for the interplay between environmental concerns and socio-economic pressures. In this study, we present an integrative analysis of the Lake Simcoe watershed, Ontario, Canada, as viewed from the perspective of a socio-ecological system. Key features of our analysis are (i) the equally weighted consideration of environmental attributes with socioeconomic priorities and (ii) the identification of the minimal number of key socio-hydrological variables that should be included in a parsimonious watershed management framework, aiming to establish linkages between urbanization trends and nutrient export. Drawing parallels with the concept of Hydrological Response Units, we used Self-Organizing Mapping to delineate spatial organizations with similar socio-economic and environmental attributes, also referred to as Socio-Environmental Management Units (SEMUs). Our analysis provides evidence of two SEMUs with contrasting features, the "undisturbed" and "anthropogenically-influenced", within the Lake Simcoe watershed. The "undisturbed" cluster occupies approximately half of the Lake Simcoe catchment (45%) and is characterized by low landscape diversity and low average population density <0.4 humans ha -1 . By contrast, the socio-environmental functional properties of the "anthropogenically-influenced" cluster highlight the likelihood of a stability loss in the long-run, as inferred from the distinct signature of urbanization activities on the tributary nutrient export, and the loss of subwatershed sensitivity to natural mechanisms that may ameliorate the degradation patterns. Our study also examines how the SEMU concept can augment the contemporary integrated watershed management practices and provides directions in order to promote environmental programs for lake conservation and to increase public awareness and engagement in stewardship initiatives. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does race matters in consumers' stated preferences for water and carbon footprints labelled food products? Insights from black and white South Africans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owusu-Sekyere, Enoch; Jordaan, Henry

2017-04-01

In recent years, governments, policy-makers, and managers of private food companies and agribusinesses are interested in understanding how consumers will react to environmentally sustainable attributes and information on food product labels. This study examines consumers' stated preferences for water and carbon footprints labelled food products from the viewpoint of black and white South Africans. Discrete choice experimental data was collected from black and white consumers to possibly assess cross-ethnic variations in preferences for environmentally sustainable products. Two widely purchased livestock products were chosen for the choice experiment. We found that consumers' preferences for environmentally sustainable attributes vary significantly between black and white South Africans. Our findings revealed that there are profound heterogeneous consumer segments within black and white respondents. The heterogeneity within both sub-samples is better explained at the segment level, rather than at individual level. For both product categories, the findings revealed that there are more distinct consumer segments among black respondents, relative to white respondents. The black respondents consist of water sustainability advocates, carbon reduction advocates, keen environmentalist and environmental neutrals. The white respondents entail keen environmentalist, environmental cynics, and environmental neutrals. The inherent significant variations in preferences for environmentally sustainable attributes across segments and racial groups would help in formulating feasible, and segment-specific environmental sustainability policies and marketing strategies aimed at changing consumers' attitude towards environmentally sustainable products. Demographic targeting of consumer segments, sustainability awareness and segment-specific educational campaigns meant to enhance subjective and objective knowledge on environmental sustainability are important tools for food companies and agribusinesses to promote and market environmentally sustainable food products.

Landscape and environmental influences on Mycobacterium ulcerans distribution among aquatic sites in Ghana.

PubMed

Pileggi, Shannon M; Jordan, Heather; Clennon, Julie A; Whitney, Ellen; Benbow, M Eric; Merritt, Richard; McIntosh, Mollie; Kimbirauskas, Ryan; Small, Pamela; Boakye, Daniel; Quaye, Charles; Qi, Jiaguo; Campbell, Lindsay; Gronseth, Jenni; Ampadu, Edwin; Opare, William; Waller, Lance A

2017-01-01

Buruli ulcer, caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, is highly endemic in West Africa. While the mode of transmission is unknown, many studies associate Buruli ulcer with different types of water exposure. We present results from the largest study to date to test for M. ulcerans in aquatic sites and identify environmental attributes associated with its presence. Environmental samples from 98 aquatic sites in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Volta regions of Ghana were tested for the presence of M. ulcerans DNA by polymerase chain reaction. The proportion of aquatic sites positive for M. ulcerans varied by region: Ashanti 66% (N = 39), Greater Accra 34% (N = 29), and Volta 0% (N = 30). We explored the spatial distribution of M. ulcerans positive and negative water bodies and found no significant clusters. We also determined both highly localized water attributes and broad scale remotely sensed land cover and terrain environmental characteristics associated with M. ulcerans presence through logistic regression. Our results concur with published results regarding conditions suitable for M. ulcerans growth and associations with Buruli ulcer disease burden with regards to water characteristics and disturbed environments, but differ from others with regards to spatial associations and topographic effects such as elevation and wetness. While our results suggest M. ulcerans is an environmental organism existing in a specific ecological niche, they also reveal variation in the elements defining this niche across the sites considered. In addition, despite the causal association between Buruli ulcer and M. ulcerans, we observed no significant statistical association between case reports of Buruli ulcer and presence of M. ulcerans in nearby waterbodies.

Validity of Walk Score® as a measure of neighborhood walkability in Japan.

PubMed

Koohsari, Mohammad Javad; Sugiyama, Takemi; Hanibuchi, Tomoya; Shibata, Ai; Ishii, Kaori; Liao, Yung; Oka, Koichiro

2018-03-01

Objective measures of environmental attributes have been used to understand how neighborhood environments relate to physical activity. However, this method relies on detailed spatial data, which are often not easily available. Walk Score® is a free, publicly available web-based tool that shows how walkable a given location is based on objectively-derived proximity to several types of local destinations and street connectivity. To date, several studies have tested the concurrent validity of Walk Score as a measure of neighborhood walkability in the USA and Canada. However, it is unknown whether Walk Score is a valid measure in other regions. The current study examined how Walk Score is correlated with objectively-derived attributes of neighborhood walkability, for residential addresses in Japan. Walk Scores were obtained for 1072 residential addresses in urban and rural areas in Japan. Five environmental attributes (residential density, intersection density, number of local destinations, sidewalk availability, and access to public transportation) were calculated using geographic information systems for each address. Pearson's correlation coefficients between Walk Score and these environmental attributes were calculated (conducted in May 2017). Significant positive correlations were observed between Walk Score and environmental attributes relevant to walking. Walk Score was most closely associated with intersection density ( r  = 0.82) and with the number of local destinations ( r  = 0.77). Walk Score appears to be a valid measure of neighborhood walkability in Japan. Walk Score will allow urban designers and public health practitioners to identify walkability of local areas without relying on detailed geographic data.

Wind Power Finance and Investment Workshop 2004

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

anon.

2004-11-01

The workshop had 33 presentations by the leading industry experts in the wind finance and investment area. The workshop presented wind industry opportunities and advice to the financial community. The program also included two concurrent sessions, Wind 100, which offered wind energy novices a comprehensive introduction to wind energy fundamentals, and Transmission Policy and Regulations. Other workshop topics included: Bringing environmental and other issues into perspective; Policy impacts on wind financing; Technical/wind issues; Monetizing green attributes (Sale of green tags); Contractual issues; Debt issues; and Equity issues. There were approximately 230 attendees.

Designing of Multiphase Fly Ash/MWCNT/PU Composite Sheet Against Electromagnetic Environmental Pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gujral, Parth; Varshney, Swati; Dhawan, S. K.

2016-06-01

Fly ash and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) reinforced multiphase polyurethane (PU) composite sheets have been fabricated by using a solution casting technique. Utilization of fly ash was the prime objective in order to reduce environmental pollution and to enhance the shielding properties of PU polymer. Our study proves that fly ash particles with MWCNTs in a PU matrix leads to novel hybrid high performance electromagnetic shielding interference material. Scanning electron microscopy confirms the existence of fly ash particles along with MWCNTs in a PU matrix. This multiphase composite shows total shielding effectiveness of 35.8 dB (>99.99% attenuation) in the Ku-band (12.4-18 GHz) frequency range. This is attributed to high dielectric losses of reinforcement present in the polymers matrix. The Nicolson-Ross-Weir algorithm has been applied to calculate the electromagnetic attributes and dielectric parameters of the PU samples by using scattering parameters ( S 11, S 22, S 12, S 21). The synthesized multiphase composites were further characterized by using x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermo gravimetric analysis.

Association between the perceived environment and physical activity among adults in Latin America: a systematic review

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Activity friendly environments have been identified as promising strategies to increase physical activity levels in the population. Associations between perceived environmental attributes and physical activity in Latin America may vary from those observed in high income countries. The objective of this systematic review is to identify which perceived environmental attributes are associated with physical activity in Latin America. Methods Systematic literature search of articles published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish in four databases was conducted (PubMed, Virtual Health Library, EBSCO, and Web of Science). Associations with environmental attributes were analyzed separately for physical activity domains. Fifteen articles were included in the analysis. Results All studies had cross-sectional designs. The majority of associations were statistically non-significant, and only four associations were found in the unexpected direction. Leisure-time and transport-related physical activity were the domains most frequently included in the studies and had higher number of associations in the expected direction. Leisure-time physical activity showed a convincing association in the expected direction with safety during the day. Transport-related physical activity had a convincing association with presence of street lighting. Conclusions This study shows that perceived environmental attributes and their relationship with physical activity appears to be domain, and context specific. In addition, findings from this study show inconsistencies with the information gathered from high-income countries. PMID:24171897

Manipulating Sensory and Phytochemical Profiles of Greenhouse Tomatoes Using Environmentally Relevant Doses of Ultraviolet Radiation.

PubMed

Dzakovich, Michael P; Ferruzzi, Mario G; Mitchell, Cary A

2016-09-14

Fruits harvested from off-season, greenhouse-grown tomato plants have a poor reputation compared to their in-season, garden-grown counterparts. Presently, there is a gap in knowledge with regard to the role of UV-B radiation (280-315 nm) in determining greenhouse tomato quality. Knowing that UV-B is a powerful elicitor of secondary metabolism and not transmitted through greenhouse glass and some greenhouse plastics, we tested the hypothesis that supplemental UV-B radiation in the greenhouse will impart quality attributes typically associated with garden-grown tomatoes. Environmentally relevant doses of supplemental UV-B radiation did not strongly affect antioxidant compounds of fruits, although the flavonol quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (rutin) significantly increased in response to UV-B. Physicochemical metrics of fruit quality attributes and consumer sensory panels were used to determine if any such differences altered consumer perception of tomato quality. Supplemental UV-A radiation (315-400 nm) pre-harvest treatments enhanced sensory perception of aroma, acidity, and overall approval, suggesting a compelling opportunity to environmentally enhance the flavor of greenhouse-grown tomatoes. The expression of the genes COP1 and HY5 were indicative of adaptation to UV radiation, which explains the lack of marked effects reported in these studies. To our knowledge, these studies represent the first reported use of environmentally relevant doses of UV radiation throughout the reproductive portion of the tomato plant life cycle to positively enhance the sensory and chemical properties of fruits.

Are media warnings about the adverse health effects of modern life self-fulfilling? An experimental study on idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF).

PubMed

Witthöft, Michael; Rubin, G James

2013-03-01

Medically unsubstantiated 'intolerances' to foods, chemicals and environmental toxins are common and are frequently discussed in the media. Idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) is one such condition and is characterized by symptoms that are attributed to exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). In this experiment, we tested whether media reports promote the development of this condition. Participants (N=147) were randomly assigned to watch a television report about the adverse health effects of WiFi (n=76) or a control film (n=71). After watching their film, participants received a sham exposure to a WiFi signal (15 min). The principal outcome measure was symptom reports following the sham exposure. Secondary outcomes included worries about the health effects of EMF, attributing symptoms to the sham exposure and increases in perceived sensitivity to EMF. 82 (54%) of the 147 participants reported symptoms which they attributed to the sham exposure. The experimental film increased: EMF related worries (β=0.19; P=.019); post sham exposure symptoms among participants with high pre-existing anxiety (β=0.22; P=.008); the likelihood of symptoms being attributed to the sham exposure among people with high anxiety (β=.31; P=.001); and the likelihood of people who attributed their symptoms to the sham exposure believing themselves to be sensitive to EMF (β=0.16; P=.049). Media reports about the adverse effects of supposedly hazardous substances can increase the likelihood of experiencing symptoms following sham exposure and developing an apparent sensitivity to it. Greater engagement between journalists and scientists is required to counter these negative effects. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Three essays on research and development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanyal, Paroma

The impact of institutional changes and market structure on research and development (R&D) and technical progress is controversial. My dissertation investigates the determinants of R&D in the context of institutional change. The first two papers address the impact of deregulation in the US electric utility industry on R&D. The third paper investigates the linkage between patenting and different funding sources and patent office attributes. The first paper, "Deregulation, Restructuring and Changing R&D Paradigms in the US Electric Utility Industry", investigates the linkage between market structures and the conduct of R&D in the US electric utility industry. The primary finding of this paper is that institutional and competition factors interact in a way that suggest that the occurrence of full deregulation, coupled with effective retail competition in the market may mitigate the problem of declining R&D expenditures in the face of deregulation. The second paper, "Powering a Green Progress: Environmental Research in the Absence of Regulatory Oversight" analyzes the impact of changing market structure on environmental R&D expenditures by IOUs in the electric utility industry. Conventional wisdom holds that increased competition would lead firms to cut back on R&D funds directed towards social goals, such as the environment. But these arguments fail to take account the threat of future environmental regulations and its influence on disciplining firms. Theory and empirical results from this paper suggest that under certain conditions, even with high monitoring costs, an environmental regulatory agency's threat of stricter future regulations will successfully stem the decrease in environmental R&D expenditures. My third paper, "Birth of a Patent: the Role of Parents, Nursemaids and Constraints", presents an integrated theoretical and empirical approach that models the effects of different sources of R&D funding and patent office attributes on the patenting process. The primary results are: First, the source of R&D funding as well as performer (academic, federal and industry) has a differential effect on patenting. Second, federal R&D has positive spillovers for company R&D. Third, in the short run patenting is heavily influenced by patent office attributes.

Environmental manipulations alter age differences in attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired cues

PubMed Central

Anderson, Rachel I.; Bush, Peter C.; Spear, Linda P.

2013-01-01

Cues repeatedly paired with rewards often themselves become imbued with enhanced motivational value, or incentive salience. During Pavlovian conditioned approach procedures, a cue repeatedly preceding reward delivery often elicits conditioned responses at either the reward delivery location (“goal-tracking”) or the cue itself (“sign-tracking”). Sign-tracking behavior is thought to reflect the individual differences in attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired cues that may contribute to addiction vulnerability. Adolescent rats typically demonstrate less sign-tracking behavior than adult rats, a surprising finding given that adolescence is hypothesized to be a time of heightened addiction vulnerability. Given evidence that adult sign-tracking behavior can be influenced by environmental conditions, the present study compared the effects of isolate housing and food deprivation on expression of sign-tacking and goal-tracking behavior in adolescent and adult male rats across eight days of a Pavlovian conditioned approach procedure. Pair-housed adults exhibited more sign-tracking behavior than pair-housed adolescents; however, this age difference was not apparent in isolate-housed subjects. Adolescents often appeared more sensitive than adults to both food restriction- and isolate housing-induced changes in behavior, with food restriction promoting an increase in sign-tracking among isolate-housed adolescents and an increase in goal-tracking among pair-housed adolescents. For adults, food restriction resulted in a modest increase in overall expression of both sign-and goal-tracking behavior. To the extent that sign-tracking behavior reflects attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired cues, results from the present study provide evidence that reactivity to rewards during adolescence is strongly related to the nature of the surrounding environment. PMID:24050888

Environmental manipulations alter age differences in attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired cues.

PubMed

Anderson, Rachel I; Bush, Peter C; Spear, Linda P

2013-11-15

Cues repeatedly paired with rewards often themselves become imbued with enhanced motivational value, or incentive salience. During Pavlovian conditioned approach procedures, a cue repeatedly preceding reward delivery often elicits conditioned responses at either the reward delivery location ("goal-tracking") or the cue itself ("sign-tracking"). Sign-tracking behavior is thought to reflect the individual differences in attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired cues that may contribute to addiction vulnerability. Adolescent rats typically demonstrate less sign-tracking behavior than adult rats, a surprising finding given that adolescence is hypothesized to be a time of heightened addiction vulnerability. Given evidence that adult sign-tracking behavior can be influenced by environmental conditions, the present study compared the effects of isolate housing and food deprivation on expression of sign-tacking and goal-tracking behavior in adolescent and adult male rats across eight days of a Pavlovian conditioned approach procedure. Pair-housed adults exhibited more sign-tracking behavior than pair-housed adolescents; however, this age difference was not apparent in isolate-housed subjects. Adolescents often appeared more sensitive than adults to both food restriction- and isolate housing-induced changes in behavior, with food restriction promoting an increase in sign-tracking among isolate-housed adolescents and an increase in goal-tracking among pair-housed adolescents. For adults, food restriction resulted in a modest increase in overall expression of both sign- and goal-tracking behavior. To the extent that sign-tracking behavior reflects attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired cues, results from the present study provide evidence that reactivity to rewards during adolescence is strongly related to the nature of the surrounding environment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chinese green product standards: international experience and pathway for a unified system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yun, Fu; Ling, Lin; Dongfeng, Gao; Shuo, Yang

2017-11-01

The establishment of a unified green product standard system is of great importance regarding the effective supply of green products and meeting trend of the consumption upgrade. It also is helpful to reduce the cost of green information disclosure of enterprises, and facilitate the supply-side structural reform. Based on the experience of developing and implementing green product standards in the EU, Germany, America, Japan and so on, combined with current Chinese standard systems including environmental protection, energy conservation, water conservation, low carbon, recycling, regeneration and organic, with the adoption of the life cycle thinking, this paper brings forward basic requirements on organizations including pollutant emissions, establishment of management system, energy conservation and emission reduction technology and green supply chain management, and proposes indicator requirements on product including resource attributes, energy attributes, environmental attributes and quality attributes, so as to guide the establishment of green product evaluation standards in the context of China.

Nutritional Attributes, Substitutability, Scalability, and Environmental Intensity of an Illustrative Subset of Current and Future Protein Sources for Aquaculture Feeds: Joint Consideration of Potential Synergies and Trade-offs.

PubMed

Pelletier, Nathan; Klinger, Dane H; Sims, Neil A; Yoshioka, Janice-Renee; Kittinger, John N

2018-05-15

Aquaculture is anticipated to play an increasingly important role in global food security because it may represent one of the best opportunities to increase the availability of healthy animal protein in the context of resource and environmental constraints. However, the growth and sustainability of the aquaculture industry faces important bottlenecks with respect to feed resources, which may be derived from diverse sources. Here, using a small but representative subset of potential aquafeed inputs (which we selected to highlight a range of relevant attributes), we review a core suite of considerations that need to be accommodated in concert in order to overcome key bottlenecks to the continued development and expansion of the aquaculture industry. Specifically, we evaluate the nutritional attributes, substitutability, scalability, and resource and environmental intensity of each input. On this basis, we illustrate a range of potential synergies and trade-offs within and across attributes that are characteristic of ingredient types. We posit that the recognition and management of such synergies and trade-offs is imperative to satisfying the multi-objective decision-making associated with sustainable increases in future aquaculture production.

Variation in Seed Germination of 134 Common Species on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau: Phylogenetic, Life History and Environmental Correlates

PubMed Central

Xu, Jing; Li, Wenlong; Zhang, Chunhui; Liu, Wei; Du, Guozhen

2014-01-01

Seed germination is a crucial stage in the life history of a species because it represents the pathway from adult to offspring, and it can affect the distribution and abundance of species in communities. In this study, we examined the effects of phylogenetic, life history and environmental factors on seed germination of 134 common species from an alpine/subalpine meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. In one-way ANOVAs, phylogenetic groups (at or above order) explained 13.0% and 25.9% of the variance in germination percentage and mean germination time, respectively; life history attributes, such as seed size, dispersal mode, explained 3.7%, 2.1% of the variance in germination percentage and 6.3%, 8.7% of the variance in mean germination time, respectively; the environmental factors temperature and habitat explained 4.7%, 1.0% of the variance in germination percentage and 13.5%, 1.7% of the variance in mean germination time, respectively. Our results demonstrated that elevated temperature would lead to a significant increase in germination percentage and an accelerated germination. Multi-factorial ANOVAs showed that the three major factors contributing to differences in germination percentage and mean germination time in this alpine/subalpine meadow were phylogenetic attributes, temperature and seed size (explained 10.5%, 4.7% and 1.4% of the variance in germination percentage independently, respectively; and explained 14.9%, 13.5% and 2.7% of the variance in mean germination time independently, respectively). In addition, there were strong associations between phylogenetic group and life history attributes, and between life history attributes and environmental factors. Therefore, germination variation are constrained mainly by phylogenetic inertia in a community, and seed germination variation correlated with phylogeny is also associated with life history attributes, suggesting a role of niche adaptation in the conservation of germination variation within lineages. Meanwhile, selection can maintain the association between germination behavior and the environmental conditions within a lineage. PMID:24893308

Allergy and "toxic mold syndrome".

PubMed

Edmondson, David A; Nordness, Mark E; Zacharisen, Michael C; Kurup, Viswanath P; Fink, Jordan N

2005-02-01

"Toxic mold syndrome" is a controversial diagnosis associated with exposure to mold-contaminated environments. Molds are known to induce asthma and allergic rhinitis through IgE-mediated mechanisms, to cause hypersensitivity pneumonitis through other immune mechanisms, and to cause life-threatening primary and secondary infections in immunocompromised patients. Mold metabolites may be irritants and may be involved in "sick building syndrome." Patients with environmental mold exposure have presented with atypical constitutional and systemic symptoms, associating those symptoms with the contaminated environment. To characterize the clinical features and possible etiology of symptoms in patients with chief complaints related to mold exposure. Review of patients presenting to an allergy and asthma center with the chief complaint of toxic mold exposure. Symptoms were recorded, and physical examinations, skin prick/puncture tests, and intracutaneous tests were performed. A total of 65 individuals aged 1 1/2 to 52 years were studied. Symptoms included rhinitis (62%), cough (52%), headache (34%), respiratory symptoms (34%), central nervous system symptoms (25%), and fatigue (23%). Physical examination revealed pale nasal mucosa, pharyngeal "cobblestoning," and rhinorrhea. Fifty-three percent (33/62) of the patients had skin reactions to molds. Mold-exposed patients can present with a variety of IgE- and non-IgE-mediated symptoms. Mycotoxins, irritation by spores, or metabolites may be culprits in non-IgE presentations; environmental assays have not been perfected. Symptoms attributable to the toxic effects of molds and not attributable to IgE or other immune mechanisms need further evaluation as to pathogenesis. Allergic, rather than toxic, responses seemed to be the major cause of symptoms in the studied group.

Noise Effects on Health in the Context of Air Pollution Exposure

PubMed Central

Stansfeld, Stephen A.

2015-01-01

For public health policy and planning it is important to understand the relative contribution of environmental noise on health compared to other environmental stressors. Air pollution is the primary environmental stressor in relation to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This paper reports a narrative review of studies in which the associations of both environmental noise and air pollution with health have been examined. Studies of hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, mortality and cognitive outcomes were included. Results suggest independent effects of environmental noise from road traffic, aircraft and, with fewer studies, railway noise on cardiovascular outcomes after adjustment for air pollution. Comparative burden of disease studies demonstrate that air pollution is the primary environmental cause of disability adjusted life years lost (DALYs). Environmental noise is ranked second in terms of DALYs in Europe and the DALYs attributed to noise were more than those attributed to lead, ozone and dioxins. In conclusion, in planning and health impact assessment environmental noise should be considered an independent contributor to health risk which has a separate and substantial role in ill-health separate to that of air pollution. PMID:26473905

Noise Effects on Health in the Context of Air Pollution Exposure.

PubMed

Stansfeld, Stephen A

2015-10-14

For public health policy and planning it is important to understand the relative contribution of environmental noise on health compared to other environmental stressors. Air pollution is the primary environmental stressor in relation to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This paper reports a narrative review of studies in which the associations of both environmental noise and air pollution with health have been examined. Studies of hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, mortality and cognitive outcomes were included. Results suggest independent effects of environmental noise from road traffic, aircraft and, with fewer studies, railway noise on cardiovascular outcomes after adjustment for air pollution. Comparative burden of disease studies demonstrate that air pollution is the primary environmental cause of disability adjusted life years lost (DALYs). Environmental noise is ranked second in terms of DALYs in Europe and the DALYs attributed to noise were more than those attributed to lead, ozone and dioxins. In conclusion, in planning and health impact assessment environmental noise should be considered an independent contributor to health risk which has a separate and substantial role in ill-health separate to that of air pollution.

Online Game Addiction among Chinese College Students Measurement and Attribution.

PubMed

Zhou, Yuqiong; Li, Zhitian

2009-01-01

This study made an initial attempt to measure and attribute online game addiction among Chinese college students. We generated three factors of online game addiction: Control Disorder, Conflict, and Injury, as well as proposed a comprehensive model that attributed online game addiction to three groups of driving forces: environmental influences (most significant), characteristics of online games, and personal reasons.

Ecological approach to resource survey and planning for environmentally significant Areas: The ABC method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bastedo, Jamie D.; Nelson, J. Gordon; Theberge, John B.

1984-03-01

A resource survey and planning method for parks, reserves, and other environmentally significant areas (ESAs) is presented in the context of a holistic balanced approach to land use and environmental management. This method provides a framework for the acquisition, analysis, presentation, and application of diverse ecological data pertinent to land use planning and resource management within ESAs. Through the independent analysis and subsequent integration of abiotic, biotic, and cultural or ABC information, land areas within an ESA are identified in terms of their relative environmental significance and environmental constraints. The former term encompasses wildlife, historic, and other resource values, while the latter term reflects biophysical hazards and sensitivities, and land use conflicts. The method thus calls for a matching of an ESA's distinctive attributes with appropriate land use and institutional arrancements through an analysis of available acts, regulations, agencies, and other conservation and land use management mechanisms. The method culminates with a management proposal showing proposed park or reserve allocations, buffer areas, or other land use controls aimed at preserving an ESA's special ecological qualities, while providing for resource development. The authors suggest that all resource management decisions affecting ESA's should be governed by a philosophical stance that recognizes a spectrum of broad land use types, ranging from preservation to extractive use and rehabilitation.

Environmental Attributes to Respiratory Diseases of Small Ruminants

PubMed Central

Rahal, Anu; Ahmad, Abul Hasan; Prakash, Atul; Mandil, Rajesh; Kumar, Aruna T.

2014-01-01

Respiratory diseases are the major disease crisis in small ruminants. A number of pathogenic microorganisms have been implicated in the development of respiratory disease but the importance of environmental factors in the initiation and progress of disease can never be overemphasized. They irritate the respiratory tree producing stress in the microenvironment causing a decline in the immune status of the small ruminants and thereby assisting bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections to break down the tissue defense barriers. Environmental pollutants cause acute or chronic reactions as they deposit on the alveolar surface which are characterized by inflammation or fibrosis and the formation of transitory or persistent tissue manifestation. Some of the effects of exposures may be immediate, whereas others may not be evident for many decades. Although the disease development can be portrayed as three sets of two-way communications (pathogen-environment, host-environment, and host-pathogen), the interactions are highly variable. Moreover, the environmental scenario is never static; new compounds are introduced daily making a precise evaluation of the disease burden almost impossible. The present review presents a detailed overview of these interactions and the ultimate effect on the respiratory health of sheep and goat. PMID:24782941

Quantifying structural physical habitat attributes using LIDAR and hyperspectral imagery - PRK

EPA Science Inventory

Structural physical habitat attributes include indices of stream size, channel gradient, substrate size, habitat complexity, and riparian vegetation cover and structure. The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) is designed to assess the status and trends of ecol...

Quantifying Structural Physical Habitat Attributes Using Lidar and Hyperspectral Imagery (1)

EPA Science Inventory

Structural physical habitat attributes include indices of stream size, channel gradient, substrate size, habitat complexity, and riparian vegetation cover and structure. The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) is designed to assess the status and trends of eco...

Environmental and economic analyses of waste disposal options for traditional markets in Indonesia.

PubMed

Aye, Lu; Widjaya, E R

2006-01-01

Waste from traditional markets in Indonesia is the second largest stream of municipal solid waste after household waste. It has a higher organic fraction and may have greater potential to be managed on a business scale compared to household wastes. The attributed reason is that in general the wastes generated from traditional markets are more uniform, more concentrated and less hazardous than waste from other sources. This paper presents the results of environmental and economic assessments to compare the options available for traditional market waste disposal in Indonesia. The options compared were composting in labour intensive plants, composting in a centralised plant that utilised a simple wheel loader, centralised biogas production and landfill for electricity production. The current open dumping practice was included as the baseline case. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was used for environmental analysis. All options compared have lower environmental impacts than the current practice of open dumping. The biogas production option has the lowest environmental impacts. A cost-benefit analysis, which considered greenhouse gas savings, was used for the economic assessment. It was found that composting at a centralised plant is the most economically feasible option under the present Indonesian conditions. The approach reported in this study could be applied for 'a pre-feasibility first cut comparison' that includes environmental aspects in a decision-making framework for developing countries even though European emission factors were used.

Drivers of metacommunity structure diverge for common and rare Amazonian tree species.

PubMed

Bispo, Polyanna da Conceição; Balzter, Heiko; Malhi, Yadvinder; Slik, J W Ferry; Dos Santos, João Roberto; Rennó, Camilo Daleles; Espírito-Santo, Fernando D; Aragão, Luiz E O C; Ximenes, Arimatéa C; Bispo, Pitágoras da Conceição

2017-01-01

We analysed the flora of 46 forest inventory plots (25 m x 100 m) in old growth forests from the Amazonian region to identify the role of environmental (topographic) and spatial variables (obtained using PCNM, Principal Coordinates of Neighbourhood Matrix analysis) for common and rare species. For the analyses, we used multiple partial regression to partition the specific effects of the topographic and spatial variables on the univariate data (standardised richness, total abundance and total biomass) and partial RDA (Redundancy Analysis) to partition these effects on composition (multivariate data) based on incidence, abundance and biomass. The different attributes (richness, abundance, biomass and composition based on incidence, abundance and biomass) used to study this metacommunity responded differently to environmental and spatial processes. Considering standardised richness, total abundance (univariate) and composition based on biomass, the results for common species differed from those obtained for all species. On the other hand, for total biomass (univariate) and for compositions based on incidence and abundance, there was a correspondence between the data obtained for the total community and for common species. Our data also show that in general, environmental and/or spatial components are important to explain the variability in tree communities for total and common species. However, with the exception of the total abundance, the environmental and spatial variables measured were insufficient to explain the attributes of the communities of rare species. These results indicate that predicting the attributes of rare tree species communities based on environmental and spatial variables is a substantial challenge. As the spatial component was relevant for several community attributes, our results demonstrate the importance of using a metacommunities approach when attempting to understand the main ecological processes underlying the diversity of tropical forest communities.

Perceived environmental correlates of physical activity for leisure and transportation in Curitiba, Brazil.

PubMed

Parra, Diana C; Hoehner, Christine M; Hallal, Pedro C; Ribeiro, Isabela C; Reis, Rodrigo; Brownson, Ross C; Pratt, Michael; Simoes, Eduardo J

2011-01-01

Physical activity (PA) has consistently been associated with perceived environmental characteristics. To examine the association between perceived environmental attributes and various forms of PA in Curitiba, Brazil. A cross-sectional phone survey of adults was conducted in 2008 (n=2097). The questionnaire included environmental perceptions and PA. Principal components analysis was used to identify groups of perceived environmental attributes. Multivariate methods tested the associations of PA with perceived environment characteristics. Perceptions of moderate and high personal safety were positively associated with walking for transportation (53.0%, 53.1% vs. 47.3%, both adjusted ORs [aOR]=1.5). Number of destinations within a 10-minute walk (4 and >6 vs. <3) was positively associated with bicycling for transportation (7.8%, 9.9% vs.4.8%, aOR=2.5). Perception of high accessibility was positively associated with MVPA during leisure time (35.1% vs. 19.1, aOR=1.7) and meeting recommendations for total PA (58.7% vs. 45.1%, aOR=1.4). Perception of high quality of the pedestrian space (57.3% vs. 46.5%, aOR=1.4) and moderate levels of personal safety (54.3% vs. 47.6%, aOR=1.3) were also positively associated with meeting recommendations for total PA. Different environmental attributes were associated with different PA outcomes, suggesting that these relationships are complex and may differ from those in high-income countries. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Methods for evaluating and ranking transportation energy conservation programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santone, L. C.

1981-04-01

The energy conservation programs are assessed in terms of petroleum savings, incremental costs to consumers probability of technical and market success, and external impacts due to environmental, economic, and social factors. Three ranking functions and a policy matrix are used to evaluate the programs. The net present value measure which computes the present worth of petroleum savings less the present worth of costs is modified by dividing by the present value of DOE funding to obtain a net present value per program dollar. The comprehensive ranking function takes external impacts into account. Procedures are described for making computations of the ranking functions and the attributes that require computation. Computations are made for the electric vehicle, Stirling engine, gas turbine, and MPG mileage guide program.

Evolution of environmental exposure science: Using breath-borne biomarkers for “discovery” of the human exposome

EPA Science Inventory

According to recent research, 70-90% of long-term latency and chronic human disease incidence is attributable to environmental (human exposome) factors through the gene x environment interaction. Environmental exposures are complex and involve many thousands of chemicals, a mult...

A longitudinal twin and sibling study of the hopelessness theory of depression in adolescence and young adulthood.

PubMed

Waszczuk, M A; Coulson, A E; Gregory, A M; Eley, T C

2016-07-01

Maladaptive cognitive biases such as negative attributional style and hopelessness have been implicated in the development and maintenance of depression. According to the hopelessness theory of depression, hopelessness mediates the association between attributional style and depression. The aetiological processes underpinning this influential theory remain unknown. The current study investigated genetic and environmental influences on hopelessness and its concurrent and longitudinal associations with attributional style and depression across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Furthermore, given high co-morbidity between depression and anxiety, the study investigated whether these maladaptive cognitions constitute transdiagnostic cognitive content common to both internalizing symptoms. A total of 2619 twins/siblings reported attributional style (mean age 15 and 17 years), hopelessness (mean age 17 years), and depression and anxiety symptoms (mean age 17 and 20 years). Partial correlations revealed that attributional style and hopelessness were uniquely associated with depression but not anxiety symptoms. Hopelessness partially mediated the relationship between attributional style and depression. Hopelessness was moderately heritable (A = 0.37, 95% confidence interval 0.28-0.47), with remaining variance accounted for by non-shared environmental influences. Independent pathway models indicated that a set of common genetic influences largely accounted for the association between attributional style, hopelessness and depression symptoms, both concurrently and across development. The results provide novel evidence that associations between attributional style, hopelessness and depression symptoms are largely due to shared genetic liability, suggesting developmentally stable biological pathways underpinning the hopelessness theory of depression. Both attributional style and hopelessness constituted unique cognitive content in depression. The results inform molecular genetics research and cognitive treatment approaches.

Environmental and individual attributes associated with child maltreatment resulting in hospitalization or death.

PubMed

Thurston, Holly; Freisthler, Bridget; Bell, Janice; Tancredi, Daniel; Romano, Patrick S; Miyamoto, Sheridan; Joseph, Jill G

2017-05-01

Maltreatment continues to be a leading cause of death for young children. Researchers are beginning to uncover which neighborhood attributes may be associated with maltreatment outcomes. However, few studies have been able to explore these influences while controlling for individual family attributes, and none have been able to parse out the most severe outcomes-injuries resulting in hospitalization or death. This study utilizes a retrospective, case-control design on a dataset containing both individual and environmental level attributes of children who have been hospitalized or died due to maltreatment to explore the relative influence of attributes inside and outside the household walls. Binary conditional logistic regression was used to model the outcome as a function of the individual and environmental level predictors. Separate analyses also separated the outcome by manner of maltreatment: abuse or neglect. Finally, a sub-analysis included protective predictors representing access to supportive resources. Findings indicate that neighborhood attributes were similar for both cases and controls, except in the neglect only model, wherein impoverishment was associated with higher odds of serious maltreatment. Dense housing increased risk in all models except the neglect only model. In a sub-analysis, distance to Family Resource Centers was inversely related to serious maltreatment. In all models, variables representing more extreme intervention and/or removal of the victim and/or perpetrator from the home (foster care or criminal court involvement) were negatively associated with the risk of becoming a case. Medi-Cal insurance eligibility of a child was also negatively associated with becoming a case. Government interventions may be playing a critical role in child protection. More research is needed to ascertain how these interventions assert their influence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parent Attributions of Ambiguous Symptoms in Their Children: A Preliminary Measure Validation in Parents of Children with Chronic Pain.

PubMed

Heathcote, Lauren C; Williams, Sara E; Smith, Allison M; Sieberg, Christine B; Simons, Laura E

2018-06-13

How parents attribute cause to their child’s physical symptoms is likely important in understanding how the parent responds to the child, as well as the child’s health outcomes, especially within the context of chronic illness. Here, we adapt the Symptom Interpretation Questionnaire for parent report (SIQ-PR) and provide preliminary validation in a sample of parents of children with chronic pain ( N = 311). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the SIQ-PR structure is consistent with the original measure, with three distinct attribution types: psychological (emotional/affective), somatic (illness/disease), and environmental (situational/transient) causes. All three subscales demonstrated satisfactory to good internal consistency, and temporal stability. Parents typically endorsed more than one attribution for each symptom, indicating that parents of children with chronic pain have a multidimensional interpretation of physical symptoms in their children. Further, parent psychological and somatic attributions, but not environmental attributions, were significantly associated with (i) parent protective responses towards their child, and (ii) the child’s self-reported somatic and psychological symptoms, indicating convergent and divergent validity. The SIQ-PR may be a useful measure for future studies investigating intergenerational and interpersonal models of pediatric chronic pain, and more broadly, to examine parent attributions of children’s ambiguous symptoms within the context of childhood chronic illness.

Eco-Environmental Factors in Green Roof Application in Indian Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, M.

2014-09-01

Green-roof is the cost-effective environmental mitigation strategy for urban areas [1]. Its application is limited in India primarily due to inadequate understanding about its cost-benefit analysis and technicalities of its maintenance. Increasing awareness about green roof can alter conservative attitude towards its application. So, this work presents a quantified study on green-roof types, cost and environmental benefits while considering different geo-urban climate scenarios for cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi. Cost estimation for extensive and intensive green-roof with reference to commonly used roof in urban India is also worked out. Attributes considered for environmental discussion are energy savings related to thermal heat gain through roof, roof-top storm-water drainage and sound attenuation. The comparative study confirms that further focused study on individual cities would identify city-specific objectives for green-roof application; strategies like awareness, capacity building programmes, incentives, demonstration projects etc. can be worked out accordingly for wider application of green-roof in Indian cities.

The VALS: A new tool to measure people's general valued attributes of landscapes.

PubMed

Kendal, Dave; Ford, Rebecca M; Anderson, Nerida M; Farrar, Alison

2015-11-01

Research on values for natural areas has largely focussed on theoretical concerns such as distinguishing different kinds of values held by people. However practice, policymaking, planning and management is typically focused on more tangible valued attributes of the landscape such as biodiversity and recreation infrastructure that can be manipulated by management actions. There is a need for valid psychometric measures of such values that are suited to informing land management policies. A Valued Attributes of Landscape Scale (VALS) was developed, derived from a document analysis of values expressed in public land policy documents. The validity of the VALS was tested in an online survey comparing values across one of three randomly presented landscape contexts in Victoria, Australia: all publicly managed natural land, coastal areas, and large urban parks. A purposive snowball sample was used to recruit participants with a range of views and professional experience with land management, including members of the urban public. Factor analysis of responses (n = 646) separated concepts relating to natural attributes, social functions, the experience of being in natural areas, cultural attributes and productive uses. Relative importance of valued attribute factors was similar across all landscape contexts, although there were small but significant differences in the way people valued social functions (higher in urban parks) and productive uses (lower in urban parks). We conclude that the concept of valued attributes is useful for linking theoretical understandings of people's environmental values to the way values are considered by land managers, and that these attributes can be measured using the VALS instrument to produce data that should be useful for the policy and planning of natural resources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Judeo-Christian Theology and the Environment: Moving beyond Scepticism to New Sources for Environmental Education in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hitzhusen, Gregory E.

2007-01-01

In the USA, many environmental educators have paid little attention to Western Christian and Jewish ecotheology, in spite of its being a potentially rich resource for environmental education. In part, this neglect can be attributed to popular misconceptions about the influence of religious beliefs on environmental values. This essay reviews the…

40 CFR 51.305 - Monitoring for reasonably attributable visibility impairment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... visibility impairment in any mandatory Class I Federal area by visual observation or other appropriate... visibility impairment. 51.305 Section 51.305 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Protection of Visibility § 51.305 Monitoring for reasonably attributable visibility impairment. (a) For the...

Rat infestation associated with environmental deficiencies in an urban slum community with high risk of leptospirosis transmission.

PubMed

Santos, Norlan de Jesus; Sousa, Erica; Reis, Mitermayer G; Ko, Albert I; Costa, Federico

2017-03-09

We analyzed environmental factors that provide food, water and harborage to rodents and the risk of household rodent infestation in a slum community with a high risk of leptospirosis transmission. Detailed environmental surveys were performed in 221 households. Multivariate regression models evaluated the association between rodent infestation and socioeconomic status and environmental attributes obtained from Geographical Information System surveys. The general household infestation rate was 45.9%. Rattus norvegicus signs were the most prevalent, present in 74% of the infested households. The risk for rodent infestation was associated with environmental factors supporting harborage for rats, such as dilapidated fences/walls (OR: 8.95; 95%CI: 2.42-33.12) and households built on an earthen slope (OR: 4.68; 95%CI: 2.23-9.81). An increase of 1 meter from the nearest sewer was associated with a 3% (95%CI: 1%-5%) decrease in the risk of rodent infestation. A lack of sanitation where poor people live provides factors for rat infestation and could the target of educational interventions.

Multicriteria decision analysis applied to Glen Canyon Dam

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flug, M.; Seitz, H.L.H.; Scott, J.F.

2000-01-01

Conflicts in water resources exist because river-reservoir systems are managed to optimize traditional benefits (e.g., hydropower and flood control), which are historically quantified in economic terms, whereas natural and environmental resources, including in-stream and riparian resources, are more difficult or impossible to quantify in economic terms. Multicriteria decision analysis provides a quantitative approach to evaluate resources subject to river basin management alternatives. This objective quantification method includes inputs from special interest groups, the general public, and concerned individuals, as well as professionals for each resource considered in a trade-off analysis. Multicriteria decision analysis is applied to resources and flow alternatives presented in the environmental impact statement for Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. A numeric rating and priority-weighting scheme is used to evaluate 29 specific natural resource attributes, grouped into seven main resource objectives, for nine flow alternatives enumerated in the environmental impact statement.

Functional diversity of zooplankton communities in two tropical estuaries (NE Brazil) with different degrees of human-induced disturbance.

PubMed

Veríssimo, Helena; Patrício, Joana; Gonçalves, Érica; Moura, Gustavo C; Barbosa, José Etham L; Gonçalves, Ana M M

2017-08-01

This study assessed the functional diversity (FD) of copepod communities along the environmental gradient of two tropical estuaries with different intensities of human impact - the environmentally protected "Mamanguape" and the urbanised "Paraiba". Different trait-based approaches were used: functional groups identification and description, and FD indices estimation. The results showed similar functional groups and functional indices between the two estuaries with some variability attributed to seasonality. Copepods in each estuary seemed to perform similar functions. Overall, biomass was more evenly distributed among groups, and mean total biomass and FD indices were slightly higher in the Mamanguape. Nevertheless, both estuaries presented comparable FD, indicating that environmental filters may be the main driver of species coexistence within systems. Results also pointed towards anthropogenic disturbance, despite the protection status of the Mamanguape. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The application of natural science data to land management decision-making

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, D. L.; Sharpe, C. P.; Rowe, P. G.

1974-01-01

A natural environmental analysis process which allows the decision maker to know the probable consequences of a decision prior to the act is developed. Emphasis is placed on the fit between the natural environment and the social, economic, and functional attributes of man's communities and the transition from nature in its present state to various forms and intensities of development. Applications of the analysis are examined. It is concluded that the analysis is a workable system for land use management.

Advanced power assessment for Czech lignite. Task 3.6, Volume 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sondreal, E.A.; Mann, M.D.; Weber, G.W.

1995-12-01

The US has invested heavily in research, development, and demonstration of efficient and environmentally acceptable technologies for the use of coal. The US has the opportunity to use its leadership position to market a range of advanced coal-based technologies internationally. For example, coal mining output in the Czech Republic has been decreasing. This decrease in demand can be attributed mainly to the changing structure of the Czech economy and to environmental constraints. The continued production of energy from indigenous brown coals is a major concern for the Czech Republic. The strong desire to continue to use this resource is amore » challenge. The Energy and Environmental Research Center undertook two major efforts recently. One effort involved an assessment of opportunities for commercialization of US coal technologies in the Czech Republic. This report is the result of that effort. The technology assessment focused on the utilization of Czech brown coals. These coals are high in ash and sulfur, and the information presented in this report focuses on the utilization of these brown coals in an economically and environmentally friendly manner. Sections 3--5 present options for utilizing the as-mined coal, while Sections 6 and 7 present options for upgrading and generating alternative uses for the lignite. Contents include Czech Republic national energy perspectives; powering; emissions control; advanced power generation systems; assessment of lignite-upgrading technologies; and alternative markets for lignite.« less

New Mexico: Bernalillo County, Albuquerque (A Former EPA CARE Project)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Bernalillo County Office of Environmental Health (BCEH) will help the South Valley neighborhood reduce health risks attributed to benzene and heavy metal exposures by conducting an environmental assessment of gasoline stations and auto dismantlers,

Framing Lumber from Building Removal: How do We Best Utilize This Untapped Structural Resource?

Treesearch

Robert H. Falk; Steven Cramer; James Evans

2013-01-01

Compared with other construction materials, wood products are environmentally attractive because they sequester carbon, are renewable, and are low in embodied energy. Lumber salvaged from building removal possesses these same qualities but with additional environmental attributes. In spite of the environmental attractiveness of reclaimed lumber, its widespread...

Estimating the Proportion of Childhood Cancer Cases and Costs Attributable to the Environment in California.

PubMed

Nelson, Lauren; Valle, Jhaqueline; King, Galatea; Mills, Paul K; Richardson, Maxwell J; Roberts, Eric M; Smith, Daniel; English, Paul

2017-05-01

To estimate the proportion of cases and costs of the most common cancers among children aged 0 to 14 years (leukemia, lymphoma, and brain or central nervous system tumors) that were attributable to preventable environmental pollution in California in 2013. We conducted a literature review to identify preventable environmental hazards associated with childhood cancer. We combined risk estimates with California-specific exposure prevalence estimates to calculate hazard-specific environmental attributable fractions (EAFs). We combined hazard-specific EAFs to estimate EAFs for each cancer and calculated an overall EAF. Estimated economic costs included annual (indirect and direct medical) and lifetime costs. Hazards associated with childhood cancer risks included tobacco smoke, residential exposures, and parental occupational exposures. Estimated EAFs for leukemia, lymphoma, and brain or central nervous system cancer were 21.3% (range = 11.7%-30.9%), 16.1% (range = 15.0%-17.2%), and 2.0% (range = 1.7%-2.2%), respectively. The combined EAF was 15.1% (range = 9.4%-20.7%), representing $18.6 million (range = $11.6 to $25.5 million) in annual costs and $31 million in lifetime costs. Reducing environmental hazards and exposures in California could substantially reduce the human burden of childhood cancer and result in significant annual and lifetime savings.

Traits and causes of environmental loss-related chemical accidents in China based on co-word analysis.

PubMed

Wu, Desheng; Song, Yu; Xie, Kefan; Zhang, Baofeng

2018-04-25

Chemical accidents are major causes of environmental losses and have been debated due to the potential threat to human beings and environment. Compared with the single statistical analysis, co-word analysis of chemical accidents illustrates significant traits at various levels and presents data into a visual network. This study utilizes a co-word analysis of the keywords extracted from the Web crawling texts of environmental loss-related chemical accidents and uses the Pearson's correlation coefficient to examine the internal attributes. To visualize the keywords of the accidents, this study carries out a multidimensional scaling analysis applying PROXSCAL and centrality identification. The research results show that an enormous environmental cost is exacted, especially given the expected environmental loss-related chemical accidents with geographical features. Meanwhile, each event often brings more than one environmental impact. Large number of chemical substances are released in the form of solid, liquid, and gas, leading to serious results. Eight clusters that represent the traits of these accidents are formed, including "leakage," "poisoning," "explosion," "pipeline crack," "river pollution," "dust pollution," "emission," and "industrial effluent." "Explosion" and "gas" possess a strong correlation with "poisoning," located at the center of visualization map.

GIS measured environmental correlates of active school transport: A systematic review of 14 studies

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Emerging frameworks to examine active school transportation (AST) commonly emphasize the built environment (BE) as having an influence on travel mode decisions. Objective measures of BE attributes have been recommended for advancing knowledge about the influence of the BE on school travel mode choice. An updated systematic review on the relationships between GIS-measured BE attributes and AST is required to inform future research in this area. The objectives of this review are: i) to examine and summarize the relationships between objectively measured BE features and AST in children and adolescents and ii) to critically discuss GIS methodologies used in this context. Methods Six electronic databases, and websites were systematically searched, and reference lists were searched and screened to identify studies examining AST in students aged five to 18 and reporting GIS as an environmental measurement tool. Fourteen cross-sectional studies were identified. The analyses were classified in terms of density, diversity, and design and further differentiated by the measures used or environmental condition examined. Results Only distance was consistently found to be negatively associated with AST. Consistent findings of positive or negative associations were not found for land use mix, residential density, and intersection density. Potential modifiers of any relationship between these attributes and AST included age, school travel mode, route direction (e.g., to/from school), and trip-end (home or school). Methodological limitations included inconsistencies in geocoding, selection of study sites, buffer methods and the shape of zones (Modifiable Areal Unit Problem [MAUP]), the quality of road and pedestrian infrastructure data, and school route estimation. Conclusions The inconsistent use of spatial concepts limits the ability to draw conclusions about the relationship between objectively measured environmental attributes and AST. Future research should explore standardizing buffer size, assess the quality of street network datasets and, if necessary, customize existing datasets, and explore further attributes linked to safety. PMID:21545750

Counterfactual Thinking and Impact Evaluation in Environmental Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferraro, Paul J.

2009-01-01

Impact evaluations assess the degree to which changes in outcomes can be attributed to an intervention rather than to other factors. Such attribution requires knowing what outcomes would have looked like in the absence of the intervention. This counterfactual world can be inferred only indirectly through evaluation designs that control for…

Estimated Costs of Sporadic Gastrointestinal Illness Associated with Surface Water Recreation: A Combined Analysis of Data from NEEAR and CHEERS Studies

EPA Science Inventory

BACKGROUND: The ·burden of illness can be described by addressing both incidence and illness severity attributable to water recreation. Monetized as cost. attributable disease burden estimates can be useful for environmental management decisions. OBJECTIVES: We characterize the ...

Impacts of terrain attributes on economics and the environment: Costs of reducing potential nitrogen pollution in wheat production

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The economic cost of achieving desired environmental outcomes from uniform and variable rate fertilizer application technologies depends both on market forces and agronomic properties. Using spatial econometric methods, we analyze the impact of nitrogen fertilizer supply by terrain attribute on the...

Is Causal Attribution of Sexual Deviance the Source of Thinking Errors?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paulauskas, Roland

2013-01-01

Adult and juvenile offenders exhibit a number of cognitive distortions related to sexually offending behaviors. The latter may be attributed to their developmental deficiencies, the result of operant conditioning, psychological self-defense mechanisms and biases, influence of negative environmental factors or criminal subculture. A group of…

PREDICTION OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROCESSES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING BY COMPUTER

EPA Science Inventory

The major differences among behavioral profiles of molecules in the environment are attributable to their physicochemical properties. For most chemicals, only fragmentary knowledge exists about those properties that determine each compound's environmental fate. A chemical-by-ch...

Public health engineering education in India: current scenario, opportunities and challenges.

PubMed

Hussain, Mohammad Akhtar; Sharma, Kavya; Zodpey, Sanjay

2011-01-01

Public health engineering can play an important and significant role in solving environmental health issues. In order to confront public health challenges emerging out of environmental problems we need adequately trained public health engineers / environmental engineers. Considering the current burden of disease attributable to environmental factors and expansion in scope of applications of public health / environmental engineering science, it is essential to understand the present scenario of teaching, training and capacity building programs in these areas. Against this background the present research was carried out to know the current teaching and training programs in public health engineering and related disciplines in India and to understand the potential opportunities and challenges available. A systematic, predefined approach was used to collect and assemble the data related to various teaching and training programs in public health engineering / environmental engineering in India. Public health engineering / environmental engineering education and training in the country is mainly offered through engineering institutions, as pre-service and in-service training. Pre-service programs include diploma, degree (graduate) and post-graduate courses affiliated to various state technical boards, institutes and universities, whereas in-service training is mainly provided by Government of India recognized engineering and public health training institutes. Though trainees of these programs acquire skills related to engineering sciences, they significantly lack in public health skills. The teaching and training of public health engineering / environmental engineering is limited as a part of public health programs (MD Community Medicine, MPH, DPH) in India. There is need for developing teaching and training of public health engineering or environmental engineering as an interdisciplinary subject. Public health institutes can play an important and significant role in this regard by engaging themselves in initiating specialized programs in this domain.

Environmental and economic analyses of waste disposal options for traditional markets in Indonesia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aye, Lu; Widjaya, E.R.

2006-07-01

Waste from traditional markets in Indonesia is the second largest stream of municipal solid waste after household waste. It has a higher organic fraction and may have greater potential to be managed on a business scale compared to household wastes. The attributed reason is that in general the wastes generated from traditional markets are more uniform, more concentrated and less hazardous than waste from other sources. This paper presents the results of environmental and economic assessments to compare the options available for traditional market waste disposal in Indonesia. The options compared were composting in labour intensive plants, composting in amore » centralised plant that utilised a simple wheel loader, centralised biogas production and landfill for electricity production. The current open dumping practice was included as the baseline case. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was used for environmental analysis. All options compared have lower environmental impacts than the current practice of open dumping. The biogas production option has the lowest environmental impacts. A cost-benefit analysis, which considered greenhouse gas savings, was used for the economic assessment. It was found that composting at a centralised plant is the most economically feasible option under the present Indonesian conditions. The approach reported in this study could be applied for 'a pre-feasibility first cut comparison' that includes environmental aspects in a decision-making framework for developing countries even though European emission factors were used.« less

Factors affecting caregivers' ability to make environmental modifications.

PubMed

Messecar, D C

2000-12-01

This study explored factors that family caregivers described as affecting their ability to use environmental modifications. Intensive interviews and participant observation were used to collect detailed data from 24 primary family caregivers. Several factors that affect the caregivers' ability to implement modification strategies were identified in the analysis. These factors included attributes of the elderly individual, attributes of the modification, quality of the caregiver-elderly relationship, caregivers' skills, personal resources of the caregiver, and the informal and formal supports available. Of these factors, the most important were the salient skills that caregivers need to implement environmental modifications. These findings point to the importance of caregivers receiving skills training in this important dimension of caregiving. Intervention should be based on a collaborative approach that ensures the caregiver and care receiver's needs and preferences are respected.

Historical and contemporary environmental context for the Saline-Fifteen site (3BR119)

Treesearch

Don C. Bragg; Hope A. Bragg

2016-01-01

This paper summarizes the historical environmental context of the Saline-Fifteen site (3BR119) in Bradley County, Arkansas, developed from the General Land Office (GLO) public land surveys, other old documents, and an examination of current forest inventories and modern research to approximate past environmental attributes for this locality. While an imperfect source...

System and method for statistically monitoring and analyzing sensed conditions

DOEpatents

Pebay, Philippe P [Livermore, CA; Brandt, James M [Dublin, CA; Gentile, Ann C [Dublin, CA; Marzouk, Youssef M [Oakland, CA; Hale, Darrian J [San Jose, CA; Thompson, David C [Livermore, CA

2011-01-04

A system and method of monitoring and analyzing a plurality of attributes for an alarm condition is disclosed. The attributes are processed and/or unprocessed values of sensed conditions of a collection of a statistically significant number of statistically similar components subjected to varying environmental conditions. The attribute values are used to compute the normal behaviors of some of the attributes and also used to infer parameters of a set of models. Relative probabilities of some attribute values are then computed and used along with the set of models to determine whether an alarm condition is met. The alarm conditions are used to prevent or reduce the impact of impending failure.

System and method for statistically monitoring and analyzing sensed conditions

DOEpatents

Pebay, Philippe P [Livermore, CA; Brandt, James M [Dublin, CA; Gentile, Ann C [Dublin, CA; Marzouk, Youssef M [Oakland, CA; Hale, Darrian J [San Jose, CA; Thompson, David C [Livermore, CA

2011-01-25

A system and method of monitoring and analyzing a plurality of attributes for an alarm condition is disclosed. The attributes are processed and/or unprocessed values of sensed conditions of a collection of a statistically significant number of statistically similar components subjected to varying environmental conditions. The attribute values are used to compute the normal behaviors of some of the attributes and also used to infer parameters of a set of models. Relative probabilities of some attribute values are then computed and used along with the set of models to determine whether an alarm condition is met. The alarm conditions are used to prevent or reduce the impact of impending failure.

System and method for statistically monitoring and analyzing sensed conditions

DOEpatents

Pebay, Philippe P [Livermore, CA; Brandt, James M. , Gentile; Ann C. , Marzouk; Youssef M. , Hale; Darrian J. , Thompson; David, C [Livermore, CA

2010-07-13

A system and method of monitoring and analyzing a plurality of attributes for an alarm condition is disclosed. The attributes are processed and/or unprocessed values of sensed conditions of a collection of a statistically significant number of statistically similar components subjected to varying environmental conditions. The attribute values are used to compute the normal behaviors of some of the attributes and also used to infer parameters of a set of models. Relative probabilities of some attribute values are then computed and used along with the set of models to determine whether an alarm condition is met. The alarm conditions are used to prevent or reduce the impact of impending failure.

Genetic and environmental influences on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) maladaptive personality traits and their connections with normative personality traits.

PubMed

Wright, Zara E; Pahlen, Shandell; Krueger, Robert F

2017-05-01

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) proposes an alternative model for personality disorders, which includes maladaptive-level personality traits. These traits can be operationalized by the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 (PID-5). Although there has been extensive research on genetic and environmental influences on normative level personality, the heritability of the DSM-5 traits remains understudied. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by assessing traits indexed by the PID-5 and the International Personality Item Pool NEO (IPIP-NEO) in adult twins (N = 1,812 individuals). Research aims include (a) replicating past findings of the heritability of normative level personality as measured by the IPIP-NEO as a benchmark for studying maladaptive level traits, (b) ascertaining univariate heritability estimates of maladaptive level traits as measured by the PID-5, (c) establishing how much variation in personality pathology can be attributed to the same genetic components affecting variation in normative level personality, and (d) determining residual variance in personality pathology domains after variance attributable to genetic and environmental components of general personality has been removed. Results revealed that PID-5 traits reflect similar levels of heritability to that of IPIP-NEO traits. Further, maladaptive and normative level traits that correlate at the phenotypic level also correlate at the genotypic level, indicating overlapping genetic components contribute to variance in both. Nevertheless, we also found evidence for genetic and environmental components unique to maladaptive level personality traits, not shared with normative level traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A verbal behavior analysis of auditory hallucinations

PubMed Central

Burns, Caleb E. S.; Heiby, Elaine M.; Tharp, Roland G.

1983-01-01

A review of recent research on the non-medical control of auditory hallucinations is presented. It is suggested that the decreases in hallucinatory behavior obtained in studies using aversive contingencies may be attributable to the disruption of the chains of behavior involved. The results of several additional studies are interpreted as indicating that methods of stimulus control and the use of incompatible behaviors may be effective in reducing the rate of auditory hallucinations. Research relating auditory hallucinations to subvocalizations is presented in support of the view that hallucinatory phenomena are sometimes related to the subject's own vocal productions. Skinner's views (1934, 1936, 1953, 1957, 1980) are then presented as possible explanations of some hallucinatory behavior. It is suggested that some auditory hallucinations consit of the mishearing of environmental and physiological stimuli as voices in a fashion similar to that which Skinner observed in his work with the verbal summator. The maintenance of long chains of such responses may be largely attributable to self-intraverbal influences (such as are present during automatic writing). With some auditory hallucinations, this progression involves first mishearing ambiguous stimuli as voices and then attributing the voices to some cause (e.g., insanity, the television, radio, or God). Later, the frequent and ongoing chains of such behavior may contaminate other verbal responses. Such verbal behavior may be parasitic on “normal verbal behavior” (and hence, not directly dependent on consquences for maintenance), may be cued by various stimuli (including respiration), and may interfere with other covert and overt behavior. Several studies to investigate this view are presented. It is hoped that such research will lead to a better understanding of the major issues involved in the etiology and treatment of auditory hallucinations in particular and perhaps of psychosis in general. PMID:22478583

[Health impact of ozone in 13 Italian cities].

PubMed

Mitis, Francesco; Iavarone, Ivano; Martuzzi, Marco

2007-01-01

to estimate the health impact of ozone in 13 Italian cities over 200,000 inhabitants and to produce basic elements to permit the reproducibility of the study in other urban locations. the following data have been used: population data (2001), health data (2001 or from scientific literature), environmental data (2002-2004), from urban background monitoring station and concentration/response risk coefficients derived from recent metanalyses. The indicators SOMO35 and SOMO0 have been used as a proxi of the average exposure to calcolate attributable deaths (and years of life lost) and several causes of morbility for ozone concentrations over 70 microg/m3. acute mortality for all causes and for cardiovascular mortality, respiratory-related hospital admissions in elderly, asthma exacerbation in children and adults, minor restricted activity days, lower respiratory symptoms in children. over 500 (1900) deaths, the 0.6% (2.1%) of total mortality, equivalent to about 6000 (22,000) years of life lost are attributable to ozone levels over 70 microg/m3 in the 13 Italian cities under study. Larger figures, in the order of thousands, are attributable to less severe morbidity outcomes. The health impact of ozone in Italian towns is relevant in terms of acute mortality and morbidity, although less severe than PM10 impact. Background ozone levels are increasing. Abatement strategies for ozone concentrations should consider the whole summer and not only "peak" days and look at policies limiting the concentration of precursors produced by traffic sources. Relevant health benefits can be obtained also under levels proposed as guidelines in the present environmental regulations.

Scale-dependency of LiDAR derived terrain attributes in quantitative soil-landscape modeling: Effects of grid resolution vs. neighborhood extent

EPA Science Inventory

Quantifying the spatial distribution of soil properties is essential for ecological and environmental modeling at the landscape scale. Terrain attributes are one of the primary covariates in soil-landscape models due to their control on energy and mass fluxes, which in turn contr...

EXPERIMENTING WITH MULTI-ATTRIBUTE UTILITY SURVEY METHODS IN A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL VALUATION PROBLEM. (R824699)

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract

The use of willingness-to-pay (WTP) survey techniques based on multi-attribute utility (MAU) approaches has been recommended by some authors as a way to deal simultaneously with two difficulties that increasingly plague environmental valuation. The first of th...

Outdoor Adventure Education: Applying Transformative Learning Theory to Understanding Instrumental Learning and Personal Growth in Environmental Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'Amato, Laura Galen; Krasny, Marianne E.

2011-01-01

We conducted a qualitative study of the experiences of 23 Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) participants to determine what participants found significant about their course and to what course elements they attributed this significance. Participants experienced personal transformations, which they attributed to spending extended time in pristine…

Attributes affecting campsite selection at two types of campgrounds in the Adirondack Park

Treesearch

Kye-Young Choi; Chad P. Dawson

2003-01-01

This study compared the important attributes affecting campers' decisions in selecting their preferred campsites at two different types of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) campgrounds in the Adirondack Park. Mail surveys were sent to campers using six NYSDEC campgrounds (three less-developed campgrounds and three more-developed...

IgE antibodies and urinary trimethylarsine oxide accounted for 1-7% population attributable risks for eczema in adults: USA NHANES 2005-2006.

PubMed

Shiue, Ivy

2015-12-01

Population attributable risks from serum IgE and dust miteallergen concentrations and environmental chemicals for eczema are unclear. Therefore, it was aimed to examine serum IgE and allergen concentrations and environmental chemicals for eczema in adults and to calculate population attributable risks in a national and population-based setting. Data retrieved from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005-2006, was analyzed. Information on demographics and self-reported ever eczema was obtained by household interview. Bloods and urines (sub-sample) were also collected during the interview. Adults aged 20-85 were included. Statistical analyses were using chi-square test, t test, survey-weighted logistic regression modeling, and population attributable risk (PAR) estimation. Of all the included American adults (n = 4979), 310 (6.2%) reported ever eczema. Moreover, more eczema cases were observed in female adults but fewer cases in people born in Mexico. There were no significant associations observed between commonly known biomarkers (including vitamin D) and eczema or between dust mite allergens and eczema. Serum D. Farinae (PAR 1.0%), D. Pteronyssinus (PAR 1.1%), cat (PAR 1.8%), dog (PAR 1.6%), and muse (PAR 3.2%) IgE antibodies were associated with eczema. Adults with ever eczema were found to have higher levels of urinary trimethylarsine oxide concentrations (PAR 7.0%) but not other speciated arsenic concentrations. There were no clear associations between other environmental chemicals including heavy metals, phthalates, phenols, parabens, pesticides, nitrate, perchlorate, polycyclic hydrocarbons and eczema as well. Elimination of environmental risks might help delay or stop eczema up to 7% in the adult population.

Cloud cover typing from environmental satellite imagery. Discriminating cloud structure with Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Logan, T. L.; Huning, J. R.; Glackin, D. L.

1983-01-01

The use of two dimensional Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) subjected to pattern recognition technology for the identification and classification of low altitude stratus cloud structure from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imagery was examined. The development of a scene independent pattern recognition methodology, unconstrained by conventional cloud morphological classifications was emphasized. A technique for extracting cloud shape, direction, and size attributes from GOES visual imagery was developed. These attributes were combined with two statistical attributes (cloud mean brightness, cloud standard deviation), and interrogated using unsupervised clustering amd maximum likelihood classification techniques. Results indicate that: (1) the key cloud discrimination attributes are mean brightness, direction, shape, and minimum size; (2) cloud structure can be differentiated at given pixel scales; (3) cloud type may be identifiable at coarser scales; (4) there are positive indications of scene independence which would permit development of a cloud signature bank; (5) edge enhancement of GOES imagery does not appreciably improve cloud classification over the use of raw data; and (6) the GOES imagery must be apodized before generation of FFTs.

Environmental, psychological, and social influences on physical activity among Japanese adults: structural equation modeling analysis.

PubMed

Ishii, Kaori; Shibata, Ai; Oka, Koichiro

2010-08-05

An understanding of the contributing factors to be considered when examining how individuals engage in physical activity is important for promoting population-based physical activity. The environment influences long-term effects on population-based health behaviors. Personal variables, such as self-efficacy and social support, can act as mediators of the predictive relationship between the environment and physical activity. The present study examines the direct and indirect effects of environmental, psychological, and social factors on walking, moderate-intensity activity excluding walking, and vigorous-intensity activity among Japanese adults. The participants included 1,928 Japanese adults aged 20-79 years. Seven sociodemographic attributes (e.g., gender, age, education level, employment status), psychological variables (self-efficacy, pros, and cons), social variables (social support), environmental variables (home fitness equipment, access to facilities, neighborhood safety, aesthetic sensibilities, and frequency of observing others exercising), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire were assessed via an Internet-based survey. Structural equation modeling was conducted to determine associations between environmental, psychological, and social factors with physical activity. Environmental factors could be seen to have indirect effects on physical activity through their influence on psychological and social variables such as self-efficacy, pros and cons, and social support. The strongest indirect effects could be observed by examining the consequences of environmental factors on physical activity through cons to self-efficacy. The total effects of environmental factors on physical activity were 0.02 on walking, 0.02 on moderate-intensity activity excluding walking, and 0.05 on vigorous-intensity activity. The present study indicates that environmental factors had indirect effects on walking, moderate-intensity activity excluding walking and vigorous-intensity activity among Japanese adults, especially through the effects on these factors of self-efficacy, social support, and pros and cons. The findings of the present study imply that intervention strategies to promote more engagement in physical activity for population-based health promotion may be necessary.

Environmental, psychological, and social influences on physical activity among Japanese adults: structural equation modeling analysis

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background An understanding of the contributing factors to be considered when examining how individuals engage in physical activity is important for promoting population-based physical activity. The environment influences long-term effects on population-based health behaviors. Personal variables, such as self-efficacy and social support, can act as mediators of the predictive relationship between the environment and physical activity. The present study examines the direct and indirect effects of environmental, psychological, and social factors on walking, moderate-intensity activity excluding walking, and vigorous-intensity activity among Japanese adults. Methods The participants included 1,928 Japanese adults aged 20-79 years. Seven sociodemographic attributes (e.g., gender, age, education level, employment status), psychological variables (self-efficacy, pros, and cons), social variables (social support), environmental variables (home fitness equipment, access to facilities, neighborhood safety, aesthetic sensibilities, and frequency of observing others exercising), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire were assessed via an Internet-based survey. Structural equation modeling was conducted to determine associations between environmental, psychological, and social factors with physical activity. Results Environmental factors could be seen to have indirect effects on physical activity through their influence on psychological and social variables such as self-efficacy, pros and cons, and social support. The strongest indirect effects could be observed by examining the consequences of environmental factors on physical activity through cons to self-efficacy. The total effects of environmental factors on physical activity were 0.02 on walking, 0.02 on moderate-intensity activity excluding walking, and 0.05 on vigorous-intensity activity. Conclusions The present study indicates that environmental factors had indirect effects on walking, moderate-intensity activity excluding walking and vigorous-intensity activity among Japanese adults, especially through the effects on these factors of self-efficacy, social support, and pros and cons. The findings of the present study imply that intervention strategies to promote more engagement in physical activity for population-based health promotion may be necessary. PMID:20684794

Postnatal Developmental Trajectories of Neural Circuits in the Primate Prefrontal Cortex: Identifying Sensitive Periods for Vulnerability to Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Hoftman, Gil D.; Lewis, David A.

2011-01-01

Schizophrenia is a disorder of cognitive neurodevelopment with characteristic abnormalities in working memory attributed, at least in part, to alterations in the circuitry of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Various environmental exposures from conception through adolescence increase risk for the illness, possibly by altering the developmental trajectories of prefrontal cortical circuits. Macaque monkeys provide an excellent model system for studying the maturation of prefrontal cortical circuits. Here, we review the development of glutamatergic and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic circuits in macaque monkey prefrontal cortex and discuss how these trajectories may help to identify sensitive periods during which environmental exposures, such as those associated with increased risk for schizophrenia, might lead to the types of abnormalities in prefrontal cortical function present in schizophrenia. PMID:21505116

First approaches to the monetary impact of environmental health disturbances in Germany.

PubMed

Haucke, Florian; Brückner, Ulrike

2010-01-01

This article aims to describe essential conditions and starting-points for the monetary evaluation of environmentally attributable diseases. Furthermore, a cost calculation within a scenario analysis is conducted for Germany. To calculate the costs of environmental health effects we chose a disease-specific perspective. The national statistics of the Federal Statistical Office and the World Health Report burden of disease estimates were used to identify the most important disease categories for Germany. Based on an extensive literature research in computerized databases and the publications of national and international institutions, available costs of illness studies for Germany as well as environmental attributable fractions (EAFs) were identified. Based on these data environmental health costs were calculated with a top-down approach. Direct and indirect environmental costs of illness add up to 15-62 billion euro(2006) per year depending on the specific scenario. From our results a tentative scheme is deduced of how the monetary environmental burden of specific diseases is composed and how it can be assigned to major environmental exposures and economic sectors which can be used in setting intervention priorities and evaluating intervention efficiency. Within this article, we were able to calculate environmental health costs for Germany based on available, easy to access data and deduce implications for environmental policy decision-making. However, there are restrictions in data quality, as the aetiology of some diseases with respect to environmental impacts is not very well documented and data has not been collected particularly for Germany.

Sex Differences in Sources of Resilience and Vulnerability to Risk for Delinquency.

PubMed

Newsome, Jamie; Vaske, Jamie C; Gehring, Krista S; Boisvert, Danielle L

2016-04-01

Research on adolescent risk factors for delinquency has suggested that, due to genetic differences, youth may respond differently to risk factors, with some youth displaying resilience and others a heightened vulnerability. Using a behavioral genetic design and data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study examines whether there are sex differences in the genetic and environmental factors that influence the ways in which adolescents respond to cumulative risk for violent, nonviolent, and overall delinquency in a sample of twins (152 MZ male, 155 MZ female, 140 DZ male, 130 DZ female, and 204 DZ opposite-sex twin pairs). The results revealed that males tended to show greater vulnerability to risk for all types of delinquency, and females exhibited greater resilience. Among males, additive genetic factors accounted for 41, 29, and 43 % of the variance in responses to risk for violent, nonviolent, and overall delinquency, respectively. The remaining proportion of variance in each model was attributed to unique environmental influences, with the exception of 11 % of the variance in nonviolent responses to risk being attributed to common environmental factors. Among females, no significant genetic influences were observed; however, common environmental contributions to differences in the ways females respond to risk for violent, nonviolent, and overall delinquency were 44, 42, and 45 %, respectively. The remaining variance was attributed to unique environmental influences. Overall, genetic factors moderately influenced males' responses to risk while environmental factors fully explain variation in females' responses to risk. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of improving the understanding of relationships between risks and outcomes, as well as informing policy and practice with adolescent offenders.

Environmental Assessment for Construction of Visiting Quarters - Phases One and Two, MacDill AFB, Florida

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-07-13

kilometers of a Class I area ; therefore, the PSD regulations do not apply. Affected Environment Environmental Assessment for Construction of...Federal agencies, to the extent permitted by law and mission, to identify and assess environmental health and safety risks that might...disproportionate risks . The order defines environmental health and safety risks as “ risks to health or to safety that are attributable to products or

Stair-Step Pattern of Soil Bacterial Diversity Mainly Driven by pH and Vegetation Types Along the Elevational Gradients of Gongga Mountain, China

PubMed Central

Li, Jiabao; Shen, Zehao; Li, Chaonan; Kou, Yongping; Wang, Yansu; Tu, Bo; Zhang, Shiheng; Li, Xiangzhen

2018-01-01

Ecological understandings of soil bacterial community succession and assembly mechanism along elevational gradients in mountains remain not well understood. Here, by employing the high-throughput sequencing technique, we systematically examined soil bacterial diversity patterns, the driving factors, and community assembly mechanisms along the elevational gradients of 1800–4100 m on Gongga Mountain in China. Soil bacterial diversity showed an extraordinary stair-step pattern along the elevational gradients. There was an abrupt decrease of bacterial diversity between 2600 and 2800 m, while no significant change at either lower (1800–2600 m) or higher (2800–4100 m) elevations, which coincided with the variation in soil pH. In addition, the community structure differed significantly between the lower and higher elevations, which could be primarily attributed to shifts in soil pH and vegetation types. Although there was no direct effect of MAP and MAT on bacterial community structure, our partial least squares path modeling analysis indicated that bacterial communities were indirectly influenced by climate via the effect on vegetation and the derived effect on soil properties. As for bacterial community assembly mechanisms, the null model analysis suggested that environmental filtering played an overwhelming role in the assembly of bacterial communities in this region. In addition, variation partition analysis indicated that, at lower elevations, environmental attributes explained much larger fraction of the β-deviation than spatial attributes, while spatial attributes increased their contributions at higher elevations. Our results highlight the importance of environmental filtering, as well as elevation-related spatial attributes in structuring soil bacterial communities in mountain ecosystems. PMID:29636740

Facile synthesis of highly efficient and recyclable magnetic solid acid from biomass waste

PubMed Central

Liu, Wu-Jun; Tian, Ke; Jiang, Hong; Yu, Han-Qing

2013-01-01

In this work, sawdust, a biomass waste, is converted into a magnetic porous carbonaceous (MPC) solid acid catalyst by an integrated fast pyrolysis–sulfonation process. The resultant magnetic solid acid has a porous structure with high surface area of 296.4 m2 g−1, which can be attributed to the catalytic effect of Fe. The catalytic activity and recyclability of the solid acid catalyst are evaluated during three typical acid-catalyzed reactions: esterification, dehydration, and hydrolysis. The favorable catalytic performance in all three reactions is attributed to the acid's high strength with 2.57 mmol g−1 of total acid sites. Moreover, the solid acid can be reused five times without a noticeable decrease in catalytic activity, indicating the stability of the porous carbon (PC)–sulfonic acid group structure. The findings in the present work offer effective alternatives for environmentally friendly utilization of abundant biomass waste. PMID:23939253

Framework for Risk Analysis in Multimedia Environmental Systems: Modeling Individual Steps of a Risk Assessment Process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shah, Anuj; Castleton, Karl J.; Hoopes, Bonnie L.

2004-06-01

The study of the release and effects of chemicals in the environment and their associated risks to humans is central to public and private decision making. FRAMES 1.X, Framework for Risk Analysis in Multimedia Environmental Systems, is a systems modeling software platform, developed by PNNL, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, that helps scientists study the release and effects of chemicals on a source to outcome basis, create environmental models for similar risk assessment and management problems. The unique aspect of FRAMES is to dynamically introduce software modules representing individual components of a risk assessment (e.g., source release of contaminants, fate andmore » transport in various environmental media, exposure, etc.) within a software framework, manipulate their attributes and run simulations to obtain results. This paper outlines the fundamental constituents of FRAMES 2.X, an enhanced version of FRAMES 1.X, that greatly improve the ability of the module developers to “plug” their self-developed software modules into the system. The basic design, the underlying principles and a discussion of the guidelines for module developers are presented.« less

A quantitative integrated assessment of pollution prevention achieved by integrated pollution prevention control licensing.

PubMed

Styles, David; O'Brien, Kieran; Jones, Michael B

2009-11-01

This paper presents an innovative, quantitative assessment of pollution avoidance attributable to environmental regulation enforced through integrated licensing, using Ireland's pharmaceutical-manufacturing sector as a case study. Emissions data reported by pharmaceutical installations were aggregated into a pollution trend using an Environmental Emissions Index (EEI) based on Lifecycle Assessment methodologies. Complete sectoral emissions data from 2001 to 2007 were extrapolated back to 1995, based on available data. Production volume data were used to derive a sectoral production index, and determine 'no-improvement' emission trends, whilst questionnaire responses from 20 industry representatives were used to quantify the contribution of integrated licensing to emission avoidance relative to these trends. Between 2001 and 2007, there was a 40% absolute reduction in direct pollution from 27 core installations, and 45% pollution avoidance relative to hypothetical 'no-improvement' pollution. It was estimated that environmental regulation avoided 20% of 'no-improvement' pollution, in addition to 25% avoidance under business-as-usual. For specific emissions, avoidance ranged from 14% and 30 kt a(-1) for CO(2) to 88% and 598 t a(-1) for SO(x). Between 1995 and 2007, there was a 59% absolute reduction in direct pollution, and 76% pollution avoidance. Pollution avoidance was dominated by reductions in emissions of VOCs, SO(x) and NO(x) to air, and emissions of heavy metals to water. Pollution avoidance of 35% was attributed to integrated licensing, ranging from between 8% and 2.9 t a(-1) for phosphorus emissions to water to 49% and 3143 t a(-1) for SO(x) emissions to air. Environmental regulation enforced through integrated licensing has been the major driver of substantial pollution avoidance achieved by Ireland's pharmaceutical sector - through emission limit values associated with Best Available Techniques, emissions monitoring and reporting requirements, and performance targets specified in environmental management plans. This compliant sector offers a positive, but not necessarily typical, case study of IPPC effectiveness.

Final Environmental assessment for the Uranium Lease Management Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1995-07-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared a programmatic environmental assessment (EA) of the proposed action to continue leasing withdrawn lands and DOE-owned patented claims for the exploration and production of uranium and vanadium ores. The Domestic Uranium Program regulation, codified at Title 10, Part 760.1, of the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), gives DOE the flexibility to continue leasing these lands under the Uranium Lease Management Program (ULMP) if the agency determines that it is in its best interest to do so. A key element in determining what is in DOE`s ``best interest`` is the assessment ofmore » the environmental impacts that may be attributable to lease tract operations and associated activities. On the basis of the information and analyses presented in the EA for the ULMP, DOE has determined that the proposed action does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, as defined in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 United States Code 4321 et seq.), as amended.Therefore, preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required for the ULMP,and DOE is issuing this Finding, of No Significant Impact (FONSI).« less

Genetic variation in insecticide tolerance in a population of southern leopard frogs (Rana sphenocephala): Implications for amphibian conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bridges, C.M.; Semlitsch, R.D.

2001-01-01

Currently, conservation efforts are devoted to determining the extent and the causes of the decline of many amphibian species worldwide. Human impacts frequently degrade amphibian habitat and have been implicated in many declines. Because genetic variance is critical in determining the persistence of a species in a changing environment, we examined the amount of genetic variability present in a single population for tolerance to an environmental stressor. We examined the amount of genetic variability among full- and half-sib families in a single population of southern leopard frogs (Rana sphenocephala) with respect to their tolerance to lethal concentrations of the agricultural chemical, carbaryl. Analysis of time-to-death data indicated significant differences among full-sib families and suggests a large amount of variability present in the responses to this environmental stressor. Significant differences in responses among half-sib families indicated that there is additive genetic variance. These data suggest that this population may have the ability to adapt to environmental stressors. It is possible that declines of amphibian populations in the western United States may be attributed to low genetic variability resulting from limited migration among populations and small population sizes.

Eco-efficiency model for evaluating feedlot rations in the Great Plains, United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Environmental impacts attributable to beef feedlot production provide an opportunity for economically-linked environmental efficiency optimization. An adaptable eco-efficiency model was developed to assess the impacts of dietary rations. The hybridized model utilized California Net Energy System m...

Idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields: a content analysis of British newspaper reports.

PubMed

Eldridge-Thomas, Buffy; Rubin, G James

2013-01-01

Idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) is a controversial condition in which people describe symptoms following exposure to electromagnetic fields from everyday electrical devices. However, double-blind experiments have found no convincing evidence that electromagnetic fields cause these symptoms. In this study, we assessed whether recent newspaper reporting in the UK reflected this scientific evidence. We searched a database of newspaper articles to identify all those that contained IEI-EMF related keywords and selected a random sample of 60 for content analysis. For our primary outcomes, we assessed how many articles mainly or wholly presented an electromagnetic cause for IEI-EMF and how many discussed unproven treatments for the condition such as strategies intended to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields or the use of complementary and alternative therapies. We also assessed whether the type of information source used by a newspaper article (e.g. scientist, person with IEI-EMF, politician) or the type of newspaper (broadsheet, tabloid, local or regional) was associated with either outcome. Of the 60 articles, 43 (71.7%) presented a mainly electromagnetic cause, compared to 13 (21.7%) which presented mainly non-electromagnetic causes and 4 (6.7%) which did not discuss a cause. 29 (48.3%) did not mention any potential treatment, while 24 (40.0%) mentioned eletromagnetic field related strategies and 12 (20.0%) mentioned complementary or alternative therapies. Articles which quoted someone with IEI-EMF were significantly more likely to report an electromagnetic cause and to present unproven treatments. Those which used a scientist as a source were more likely to present a non-electromagnetic cause for the condition. The widespread poor reporting we identified is disappointing and has the potential for to encourage more people to misattribute their symptoms to electromagnetic fields. Scientists should remain engaged with the media to counteract this effect.

Human emotions track changes in the acoustic environment.

PubMed

Ma, Weiyi; Thompson, William Forde

2015-11-24

Emotional responses to biologically significant events are essential for human survival. Do human emotions lawfully track changes in the acoustic environment? Here we report that changes in acoustic attributes that are well known to interact with human emotions in speech and music also trigger systematic emotional responses when they occur in environmental sounds, including sounds of human actions, animal calls, machinery, or natural phenomena, such as wind and rain. Three changes in acoustic attributes known to signal emotional states in speech and music were imposed upon 24 environmental sounds. Evaluations of stimuli indicated that human emotions track such changes in environmental sounds just as they do for speech and music. Such changes not only influenced evaluations of the sounds themselves, they also affected the way accompanying facial expressions were interpreted emotionally. The findings illustrate that human emotions are highly attuned to changes in the acoustic environment, and reignite a discussion of Charles Darwin's hypothesis that speech and music originated from a common emotional signal system based on the imitation and modification of environmental sounds.

Associations of Older Taiwanese Adults' Personal Attributes and Perceptions of the Neighborhood Environment Concerning Walking for Recreation and Transportation.

PubMed

Liao, Yung; Huang, Pin-Hsuan; Hsiang, Chih-Yu; Huang, Jing-Huei; Hsueh, Ming-Chun; Park, Jong-Hwan

2017-12-18

This study examines the cross-sectional associations between personal and perceived neighborhood environment attributes regarding walking for recreation and transportation among older Taiwanese adults. Data related to personal factors, perceived environmental factors, and time spent engaging in transportation-related and recreational walking were obtained from 1032 older adults aged 65 years and above. The data were analyzed by carrying out an adjusted binary logistic regression. After adjusting for potential confounders, two commonly perceived environmental factors, the presence of sidewalks (PS) and the presence of a destination (PD), were positively associated with 150 min of walking for recreation. Different personal and perceived environmental factors were associated with walking for recreation and transportation. These findings suggest that policy-makers and physical activity intervention designers should develop both common and individual environmental strategies in order to improve and increase awareness of the neighborhood environment to promote recreational and transportation walking behaviors among older adults.

Development of a Technical Basis and Guidance for Advanced SMR Function Allocation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jacques Hugo; David Gertman; Jeffrey Joe

This report presents the results from three key activities for FY13 that influence the definition of new concepts of operations for advanced Small Modular Reactors (AdvSMR: a) the development of a framework for the analysis of the functional environmental, and structural attributes, b) the effect that new technologies and operational concepts would have on the way functions are allocated to humans or machines or combinations of the two, and c) the relationship between new concepts of operations, new function allocations, and human performance requirements.

Walkability of local communities: using geographic information systems to objectively assess relevant environmental attributes.

PubMed

Leslie, Eva; Coffee, Neil; Frank, Lawrence; Owen, Neville; Bauman, Adrian; Hugo, Graeme

2007-03-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to objectively measure features of the built environment that may influence adults' physical activity, which is an important determinant of chronic disease. We describe how a previously developed index of walkability was operationalised in an Australian context, using available spatial data. The index was used to generate a stratified sampling frame for the selection of households from 32 communities for the PLACE (Physical Activity in Localities and Community Environments) study. GIS data have the potential to be used to construct measures of environmental attributes and to develop indices of walkability for cities, regions or local communities.

US hydropower resource assessment for Hawaii

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Francfort, J.E.

1996-09-01

US DOE is developing an estimate of the undeveloped hydropower potential in US. The Hydropower Evaluation Software (HES) is a computer model developed by INEL for this purpose. HES measures the undeveloped hydropower resources available in US, using uniform criteria for measurement. The software was tested using hydropower information and data provided by Southwestern Power Administration. It is a menu-driven program that allows the PC user to assign environmental attributes to potential hydropower sites, calculate development suitability factors for each site based on the environmental attributes, and generate reports. This report describes the resource assessment results for the State ofmore » Hawaii.« less

Effect of mosaic representation of vegetation in land surface schemes on simulated energy and carbon balances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, R.; Arora, V. K.

2011-06-01

Energy and carbon balance implications of representing vegetation using a composite or mosaic approach in a land surface scheme are investigated. In the composite approach the attributes of different plant functional types (PFTs) present in a grid cell are aggregated in some fashion for energy and water balance calculations. The resulting physical environmental conditions (including net radiation, soil moisture and soil temperature) are common to all PFTs and affect their ecosystem processes. In the mosaic approach energy and water balance calculations are performed separately for each PFT tile using its own vegetation attributes, so each PFT "sees" different physical environmental conditions and its carbon balance evolves somewhat differently from that in the composite approach. Simulations are performed at selected boreal, temperate and tropical locations to illustrate the differences caused by using the composite versus the mosaic approaches of representing vegetation. Differences in grid averaged primary energy fluxes are generally less than 5 % between the two approaches. Grid-averaged carbon fluxes and pool sizes can, however, differ by as much as 46 %. Simulation results suggest that differences in carbon balance between the two approaches arise primarily through differences in net radiation which directly affects net primary productivity, and thus leaf area index and vegetation biomass.

Do multiple fires interact to affect vegetation structure in temperate eucalypt forests?

PubMed

Haslem, Angie; Leonard, Steve W J; Bruce, Matthew J; Christie, Fiona; Holland, Greg J; Kelly, Luke T; MacHunter, Josephine; Bennett, Andrew F; Clarke, Michael F; York, Alan

2016-12-01

Fire plays an important role in structuring vegetation in fire-prone regions worldwide. Progress has been made towards documenting the effects of individual fire events and fire regimes on vegetation structure; less is known of how different fire history attributes (e.g., time since fire, fire frequency) interact to affect vegetation. Using the temperate eucalypt foothill forests of southeastern Australia as a case study system, we examine two hypotheses about such interactions: (1) post-fire vegetation succession (e.g., time-since-fire effects) is influenced by other fire regime attributes and (2) the severity of the most recent fire overrides the effect of preceding fires on vegetation structure. Empirical data on vegetation structure were collected from 540 sites distributed across central and eastern Victoria, Australia. Linear mixed models were used to examine these hypotheses and determine the relative influence of fire and environmental attributes on vegetation structure. Fire history measures, particularly time since fire, affected several vegetation attributes including ground and canopy strata; others such as low and sub-canopy vegetation were more strongly influenced by environmental characteristics like rainfall. There was little support for the hypothesis that post-fire succession is influenced by fire history attributes other than time since fire; only canopy regeneration was influenced by another variable (fire type, representing severity). Our capacity to detect an overriding effect of the severity of the most recent fire was limited by a consistently weak effect of preceding fires on vegetation structure. Overall, results suggest the primary way that fire affects vegetation structure in foothill forests is via attributes of the most recent fire, both its severity and time since its occurrence; other attributes of fire regimes (e.g., fire interval, frequency) have less influence. The strong effect of environmental drivers, such as rainfall and topography, on many structural features show that foothill forest vegetation is also influenced by factors outside human control. While fire is amenable to human management, results suggest that at broad scales, structural attributes of these forests are relatively resilient to the effects of current fire regimes. Nonetheless, the potential for more frequent severe fires at short intervals, associated with a changing climate and/or fire management, warrant further consideration. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

A public hedonic analysis of environmental attributes in an open space preservation program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nordman, Erik E.

The Town of Brookhaven, on Long Island, NY, has implemented an open space preservation program to protect natural areas, and the ecosystem services they provide, from suburban growth. I used a public hedonic model of Brookhaven's open space purchases to estimate implicit prices for various environmental attributes, locational variables and spatial metrics. I also measured the correlation between cost per acre and non-monetary environmental benefit scores and tested whether including cost data, as opposed to non-monetary environmental benefit score alone, would change the prioritization ranks of acquired properties. The mean acquisition cost per acre was 82,501. I identified the key on-site environmental and locational variables using stepwise regression for four functional forms. The log-log specification performed best ( R2adj= 0.727). I performed a second stepwise regression (log-log form) which included spatial metrics, calculated from a high-resolution land cover classification, in addition to the environmental and locational variables. This markedly improved the model's performance ( R2adj=0.866). Statistically significant variables included the property size, location in the Pine Barrens Compatible Growth Area, location in a FEMA flood zone, adjacency to public land, and several other environmental dummy variables. The single significant spatial metric, the fractal dimension of the tree cover class, had the largest elasticity of any variable. Of the dummy variables, location within the Compatible Growth Area had the largest implicit price (298,792 per acre). The priority rank for the two methods, non-monetary environmental benefit score alone and the ratio of non-monetary environmental benefit score to acquisition cost were significantly positively correlated. This suggests that, despite the lack of cost data in their ranking method, Brookhaven does not suffer from efficiency losses. The economics literature encourages using both environmental benefits and acquisition costs to ensure cost-effective conservation programs. I recommend that Brookhaven consider acquisition costs in addition to environmental benefits to avert potential efficiency losses in future open space purchases. This dissertation shows that the addition of spatial metrics can enhance the performance of hedonic models. It also provides a baseline valuation for the environmental attributes of Brookhaven' open spaces and shows that location is critical when dealing with open space preservation programs.

Atributos físicos do solo para a cultura do cacaueiro [Physical attributes of soil for the culture of cacao] (In Portuguese)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cacao has achieved great importance due to its globally consumed products such as chocolate. In addition to the environmental benefits, since this culture is mainly managed in agroforestry systems, contributing to climate change mitigation. However, the assessment of soils physical attributes for ef...

Modeling relationships between landscape-level attributes and snorkel counts of chinook salmon and steelhead parr in Idaho

Treesearch

William L. Thompson; Danny C. Lee

2000-01-01

Knowledge of environmental factors impacting anadromous salmonids in their freshwater habitats, particularly at large spatial scales, may be important for restoring them to previously recorded levels in the northwestern United States. Consequently, we used existing data sets and an information-theoretic approach to model landscape-level attributes and snorkel count...

Hedonic valuation with translating amenities: Mountain Pine Beetles and host trees in the Colorado Front Range

Treesearch

Jed Cohen; Christine E. Blinn; Kevin J. Boyle; Tom Holmes; Klaus Moeltner

2016-01-01

In hedonic valuation studies the policy-relevant environmental quality attribute of interest is often costly to measure, especially under pronounced spatial and temporal variability. However, in many cases this attribute affects home prices and consumer preferences solely through its impact on a readily observable, spatially delineated, and time-invariant feature of...

Preferences of processing companies for attributes of Swiss milk: a conjoint analysis in a business-to-business market.

PubMed

Boesch, I

2013-04-01

This study aimed to determine key attributes of milk that drive a processor's supply decisions and possibilities for differentiation based on these product attributes. Feedback-driven exploration was applied to derive product attributes relevant to the buying decision. Conjoint analysis with hierarchical Bayes estimation methods was used to determine the relative importance of attributes. Results show that the technical aspects of milk, as well as the price and country of origin, dominate the buying decision. Potential for differentiation was found for environmental and societal attributes as well as freedom from genetically modified products. Product and supplier criteria also provide the potential to segment the market if the price premium is held within limits. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Associations between perceived neighbourhood environmental attributes and self-reported sitting time in patients with schizophrenia: a pilot study.

PubMed

Vancampfort, Davy; De Hert, Marc; De Herdt, Amber; Soundy, Andrew; Stubbs, Brendon; Bernard, Paquito; Probst, Michel

2014-01-30

Sitting behaviours may, independent of physical activity behaviours, be a distinct risk factor for multiple adverse health outcomes in patients with schizophrenia. In order to combat sitting behaviours health care providers and policy makers require further understanding of its determinants in this population group. The aim of the present study was to investigate the variance in sitting time explained by a wide range of community design and recreational environmental variables, above and beyond the variance accounted for by demographic variables. One hundred and twenty-three patients (42♀) with schizophrenia (mean age=41.5 ± 12.6 years) were included in the final analysis. The built environment was rated using the Instruments for Assessing Levels of Physical Activity and Fitness environmental questionnaire and sitting time was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short (IPAQ) version. Regression analysis showed that environmental variables were related to sitting time. The body mass index (BMI) and disease stage explained 8.4% of the variance in sitting, while environmental correlates explained an additional 16.8%. Clinical practice guidelines should incorporate strategies targeting changes in sitting behaviours, from encouraging environmental changes to the availability of exercise equipment. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Auditory Processing Disorder and Foreign Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veselovska, Ganna

2015-01-01

This article aims at exploring various strategies for coping with the auditory processing disorder in the light of foreign language acquisition. The techniques relevant to dealing with the auditory processing disorder can be attributed to environmental and compensatory approaches. The environmental one involves actions directed at creating a…

Idiopathic environmental intolerance: Part 2: A causation analysis applying Bradford Hill's criteria to the psychogenic theory.

PubMed

Staudenmayer, Herman; Binkley, Karen E; Leznoff, Arthur; Phillips, Scott

2003-01-01

Toxicogenic and psychogenic theories have been proposed to explain idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI). Part 2 of this article is an evidence-based causality analysis of the psychogenic theory using an extended version of Bradford Hill's criteria. The psychogenic theory meets all of the criteria directly or indirectly and is characterised by a progressive research programme including double-blind, placebo-controlled provocation challenge studies. We conclude that IEI is a belief characterised by an overvalued idea of toxic attribution of symptoms and disability, fulfilling criteria for a somatoform disorder and a functional somatic syndrome. A neurobiological diathesis similar to anxiety, specifically panic disorder, is a neurobiologically plausible mechanism to explain triggered reactions to ambient doses of environmental agents, real or perceived. In addition, there is a cognitively mediated fear response mechanism characterised by vigilance for perceived exposures and bodily sensations that are subsequently amplified in the process of learned sensitivity. Implications for the assessment and treatment of patients are presented.

Genetic and environmental influences on adolescents' smoking involvement: a multi-informant twin study.

PubMed

Seglem, Karoline Brobakke; Waaktaar, Trine; Ask, Helga; Torgersen, Svenn

2015-03-01

Studying monozygotic and dizygotic adolescent twin pairs of both sexes reared together, the present study examined the extent to which the variance in smoking involvement is attributable to genetic and environmental effects, and to what extent there are sex differences in the etiology. Questionnaire data on how often the adolescent had ever smoked tobacco was collected from a population-based twin sample consisting of seven national birth cohorts (ages 12-18), their mothers, and their fathers (N = 1,394 families). The data was analyzed with multivariate genetic modeling, using a multi-informant design. The etiological structure of smoking involvement was best represented in an ACE common pathway model, with smoking defined as a latent factor loading onto all three informants' reports. Estimates could be set equal across sexes. Results showed that adolescent lifetime smoking involvement was moderately heritable (37 %). The largest influence was from the shared environment (56 %), while environmental effects unique to each twin had minimal influence (7 %).

Anthropology and decision making about chronic technological disasters: Mixed waste remediation on the Oak Ridge Reservation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wolfe, A.K.; Schweitzer, M.

This paper discusses two related case studies of decision making about the remediation of mixed (hazardous and radioactive) wastes on the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee. The three goals of the paper are to (1) place current decision-making efforts in the varied and evolving social, political, regulatory, economic, and technological contexts in which they occur; (2) present definitions and attributes of {open_quotes}successful{close_quotes} environmental decision making from the perspectives of key constituency groups that participate in decision making; and (3) discuss the role of anthropology in addressing environmental decision making. Environmental decision making about remediation is extraordinarily complex, involving human healthmore » and ecological risks; uncertainties about risks, technological ability to clean up, the financial costs of clean up; multiple and sometimes conflicting regulations; social equity and justice considerations; and decreasing budgets. Anthropological theories and methods can contribute to better understanding and, potentially, to better decision making.« less

Elaboration of the Soil Degradation Subsystem of the National Environmental Information System in Hungary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szabó, József; Pásztor, László; Dombos, Miklós; Bakacsi, Zsófia; Laborczi, Annamária; Pirkó, Béla; Szabóné Kele, Gabriella

2010-05-01

A successful proposal within the Environment and Energy Operational Programme for informatics development aimed at environmental protection in public administration (e-environmental protection) opened the feasibility of a program for the establishment of a national soil monitoring system for the follow up of the harmful changes in soil conditions and functioning. The aim of the project is to collect, manage, analyse and publish soil data related to the state of soils and the environmental stresses attributed to the pressures due to agriculture setting up an appropriate information system in order to fulfil the directives of the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection. Further objective is the web-based publication of soil data as well as information to support the related public service mission and to inform publicity. The developed information system will operate as the Soil Degradation Subsystem of the National Environmental Information System being compatible with its other elements. A suitable representative sampling method will be elaborated. The representativity is meant for soil associations, landuse, agricultural practices and typical degradation processes. Soil data will be collected on county levels led by regional representatives but altogether will be representative for the whole territory of Hungary. In our present paper the scheme and conceptual model of the system is presented in the hope of getting useful criticism and ideas from the session participants, which can be built into the system before the project starts in this summer.

Chlorine-36 in Water, Snow, and Mid-Latitude Glacial Ice of North America: Meteoric and Weapons-Tests Production in the Vicinity of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

L. DeWayne; J. R. Green; S. Vogt, P. Sharma

1999-01-01

Measurements of chlorine-36 (36Cl) were made for 64 water, snow, and glacial-ice and -runoff samples to determine the meteoric and weapons-tests-produced concentrations and fluxes of this radionuclide at mid-latitudes in North America. The results will facilitate the use of 36Cl as a hydrogeologic tracer at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). This information was used to estimate meteoric and weapons-tests contributions of this nuclide to environmental inventories at and near the INEEL. The data presented in this report suggest a meteoric source 36Cl for environmental samples collected in southeastern Idaho and western Wyoming if the concentration is lessmore » than 1 x 10 7 atoms/L. Additionally, concentrations in water, snow, or glacial ice between 1 x 10 7 and 1 x 10 8 atoms/L may be indicative of a weapons-tests component from peak 36Cl production in the late 1950s. Chlorine-36 concentrations between 1 x 10 8 and 1 x 10 9 atoms/L may be representative of re-suspension of weapons-tests fallout airborne disposal of 36Cl from the INTEC, or evapotranspiration. It was concluded from the water, snow, and glacial data presented here that concentrations of 36Cl measured in environmental samples at the INEEL larger than 1 x 10 9 atoms/L can be attributed to waste-disposal practices.« less

Higher sensory processing sensitivity, introversion and ectomorphism: New biomarkers for human creativity in developing rural areas

PubMed Central

Rizzo-Sierra, Carlos V; Leon-S, Martha E; Leon-Sarmiento, Fidias E

2012-01-01

The highly sensitive trait present in animals, has also been proposed as a human neurobiological trait. People having such trait can process larger amounts of sensory information than usual, making it an excellent attribute that allows to pick up subtle environmental details and cues. Furthermore, this trait correlates to some sort of giftedness such as higher perception, inventiveness, imagination and creativity. We present evidences that support the existance of key neural connectivity between the mentioned trait, higher sensory processing sensitivity, introversion, ectomorphism and creativity. The neurobiological and behavioral implications that these biomarkers have in people living in developing rural areas are discussed as well. PMID:22865969

Risk Factors for Campylobacteriosis of Chicken, Ruminant, and Environmental Origin: A Combined Case-Control and Source Attribution Analysis

PubMed Central

Wagenaar, Jaap A.; de Boer, Albert G.; Havelaar, Arie H.; Friesema, Ingrid H. M.; French, Nigel P.; Busani, Luca; van Pelt, Wilfrid

2012-01-01

Background Campylobacteriosis contributes strongly to the disease burden of food-borne pathogens. Case-control studies are limited in attributing human infections to the different reservoirs because they can only trace back to the points of exposure, which may not point to the original reservoirs because of cross-contamination. Human Campylobacter infections can be attributed to specific reservoirs by estimating the extent of subtype sharing between strains from humans and reservoirs using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated risk factors for human campylobacteriosis caused by Campylobacter strains attributed to different reservoirs. Sequence types (STs) were determined for 696 C. jejuni and 41 C. coli strains from endemic human cases included in a case-control study. The asymmetric island model, a population genetics approach for modeling Campylobacter evolution and transmission, attributed these cases to four putative animal reservoirs (chicken, cattle, sheep, pig) and to the environment (water, sand, wild birds) considered as a proxy for other unidentified reservoirs. Most cases were attributed to chicken (66%) and cattle (21%), identified as the main reservoirs in The Netherlands. Consuming chicken was a risk factor for campylobacteriosis caused by chicken-associated STs, whereas consuming beef and pork were protective. Risk factors for campylobacteriosis caused by ruminant-associated STs were contact with animals, barbecuing in non-urban areas, consumption of tripe, and never/seldom chicken consumption. Consuming game and swimming in a domestic swimming pool during springtime were risk factors for campylobacteriosis caused by environment-associated STs. Infections with chicken- and ruminant-associated STs were only partially explained by food-borne transmission; direct contact and environmental pathways were also important. Conclusion/Significance This is the first case-control study in which risk factors for campylobacteriosis are investigated in relation to the attributed reservoirs based on MLST profiles. Combining epidemiological and source attribution data improved campylobacteriosis risk factor identification and characterization, generated hypotheses, and showed that genotype-based source attribution is epidemiologically sensible. PMID:22880049

Disease and Health Inequalities Attributable to Air Pollutant Exposure in Detroit, Michigan

PubMed Central

Milando, Chad W.; Williams, Guy O.; Batterman, Stuart A.

2017-01-01

The environmental burden of disease is the mortality and morbidity attributable to exposures of air pollution and other stressors. The inequality metrics used in cumulative impact and environmental justice studies can be incorporated into environmental burden studies to better understand the health disparities of ambient air pollutant exposures. This study examines the diseases and health disparities attributable to air pollutants for the Detroit urban area. We apportion this burden to various groups of emission sources and pollutants, and show how the burden is distributed among demographic and socioeconomic subgroups. The analysis uses spatially-resolved estimates of exposures, baseline health rates, age-stratified populations, and demographic characteristics that serve as proxies for increased vulnerability, e.g., race/ethnicity and income. Based on current levels, exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are responsible for more than 10,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per year, causing an annual monetized health impact of $6.5 billion. This burden is mainly driven by PM2.5 and O3 exposures, which cause 660 premature deaths each year among the 945,000 individuals in the study area. NO2 exposures, largely from traffic, are important for respiratory outcomes among older adults and children with asthma, e.g., 46% of air-pollution related asthma hospitalizations are due to NO2 exposures. Based on quantitative inequality metrics, the greatest inequality of health burdens results from industrial and traffic emissions. These metrics also show disproportionate burdens among Hispanic/Latino populations due to industrial emissions, and among low income populations due to traffic emissions. Attributable health burdens are a function of exposures, susceptibility and vulnerability (e.g., baseline incidence rates), and population density. Because of these dependencies, inequality metrics should be calculated using the attributable health burden when feasible to avoid potentially underestimating inequality. Quantitative health impact and inequality analyses can inform health and environmental justice evaluations, providing important information to decision makers for prioritizing strategies to address exposures at the local level. PMID:29048385

Perceived Environmental Factors Associated with Obesity in Libyan Men and Women

PubMed Central

Papadopoulos, Chris

2018-01-01

Background: There is a lack of research pertaining to the links between built environment attributes and obesity in adults in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. In the Libyan context, no previous studies have been conducted to investigate this relationship. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine associations between perceived neighbourhood built environmental attributes and obesity among Libyan men and women. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was also assessed. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used for the population-based survey in Benghazi, Libya. A multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used to select Libyan adults from the Benghazi electoral register. The Physical Activity Neighbourhood Environment Scale (PANES) was used to measure participants’ perception of neighbourhood environmental factors. Using the Tanita BC-601 Segmental Body Composition Monitor and a portable stadiometer, anthropometric measurements were taken at a mutually agreeable place by qualified nurses. Results: Four hundred and one Libyan adults were recruited (78% response rate). Participants were aged 20–65 years, 63% were female, and all had lived in Benghazi for over 10 years. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 42.4% and 32.9% respectively. A significant association was found between BMI and 6 neighbourhood environment attributes, specifically: street connectivity, unsafe environment and committing crimes at night, and neighbourhood aesthetics. For men only, these were: access to public transport, access to recreational facilities, and unsafe environment and committing crimes during the day. The attribute ‘residential density zones’ was only significant for women. Conclusions: The study suggests that Libyan people are at risk of living in neighbourhoods with unsupportive environmental features of physical activity, which are likely to promote obesity of both genders. The findings of this study could inform Libyan health policies about interventions in the obesogenic environments that might slow the obesity epidemic and contain the public health crisis. This study suggests that further research is needed, within the Libyan context, to explore the impact of the neighbourhood environment attributes on contributing to increased obesity. PMID:29425161

Environmental Sustainability Change Management in SMEs: Learning from Sustainability Champions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chadee, Doren; Wiesner, Retha; Roxas, Banjo

2011-01-01

This study identifies the change management processes involved in undertaking environmental sustainability (ES) initiatives within Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and relate these to the main attributes of learning organisations. Using case study techniques, the study draws from the change management experiences of a sample of 12 ES…

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Educational Attainment in Australia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Paul; Mulvey, Charles; Martin, Nick

2001-01-01

Data from a large sample of Australian twins indicate that 50 to 65 percent of variance in educational attainments can be attributed to genetic endowments. Only about 25 to 40 percent may be due to environmental factors, depending on adjustments for measurement error and assortative mating. (Contains 51 references.) (MLH)

Using the index of biotic integrity (IBI) to measure environmental quality in warmwater streams of Wisconsin.

Treesearch

John Lyons

1992-01-01

Describes an index based on attributes of fish assemblages that has proven effective in assessing biotic integrity and environmental health in intermediate-sized, warmwater (i.e., too warm for salmonids) streams and rivers of Wisconsin. Provides detailed guidelines for applying this index.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND GENETIC INTERACTIONS IN HYPERTENSIVE RATS: OXIDATIVE STRESS AS A COMMON SUSCEPTABILITY ATTRIBUTE FOR NON-CANCER RISKS

EPA Science Inventory

Individuals compromised with preexisting conditions are likely to be more susceptible to environmental exposures, and the uncertainty factors employed to correct for this concern may not be adequate. Although diseases such as congestive heart failure, chronic pulmonary disease;...

Explaining individual differences in alcohol intake in adults: evidence for genetic and cultural transmission?

PubMed

van Beek, Jenny H D A; de Moor, Marleen H M; Geels, Lot M; Willemsen, Gonneke; Boomsma, Dorret I

2014-03-01

The current study aimed to describe what proportion of variation in adult alcohol intake is attributable to genetic differences among individuals and what proportion to differences in environmental experiences individuals have been exposed to. Effects of age, gender, spousal resemblance, and cultural transmission of alcohol intake from parents to offspring were taken into account. In a twin-family design, the effects of genetic and cultural transmission and shared and nonshared environment on alcohol intake were estimated with genetic structural equation models. Data originated from adult twins, their siblings, parents (n = 12,587), and spouses (n = 429) registered with the population-based Netherlands Twin Register (63.5% female; ages 18-97 years). Alcohol intake (grams per day) was higher among men than women and increased with age. Broad-sense heritability estimates were similar across sex and age (53%). Spousal resemblance was observed (r = .39) but did not significantly affect the heritability estimates. No effects of cultural transmission were detected. In total, 23% of the variation in alcohol intake was explained by additive genetic effects, 30% by dominant (nonadditive) gene action, and 47% by environmental effects that were not shared among family members. Individual differences in adult alcohol intake are explained by genetic and individual-specific environmental effects. The same genes are expressed in males and females and in younger and older participants. A substantial part of the heritability of alcohol intake is attributable to nonadditive gene action. Effects of cultural transmission that have been reported in adolescence are not present in adulthood.

New enzymes from environmental cassette arrays: Functional attributes of a phosphotransferase and an RNA-methyltransferase

PubMed Central

Nield, Blair S.; Willows, Robert D.; Torda, Andrew E.; Gillings, Michael R.; Holmes, Andrew J.; Nevalainen, K.M. Helena; Stokes, H.W.; Mabbutt, Bridget C.

2004-01-01

By targeting gene cassettes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) directly from environmentally derived DNA, we are able to amplify entire open reading frames (ORFs) independently of prior sequence knowledge. Approximately 10% of the mobile genes recovered by these means can be attributed to known protein families. Here we describe the characterization of two ORFs which show moderate homology to known proteins: (1) an aminoglycoside phosphotransferase displaying 25% sequence identity with APH(7″) from Streptomyces hygroscopicus, and (2) an RNA methyltransferase sharing 25%–28% identity with a group of recently defined bacterial RNA methyltransferases distinct from the SpoU enzyme family. Our novel genes were expressed as recombinant products and assayed for appropriate enzyme activity. The aminoglycoside phosphotransferase displayed ATPase activity, consistent with the presence of characteristic Mg2+-binding residues. Unlike related APH(4) or APH(7″) enzymes, however, this activity was not enhanced by hygromycin B or kanamycin, suggesting the normal substrate to be a different aminoglycoside. The RNA methyltransferase contains sequence motifs of the RNA methyltransferase superfamily, and our recombinant version showed methyltransferase activity with RNA. Our data confirm that gene cassettes present in the environment encode folded enzymes with novel sequence variation and demonstrable catalytic activity. Our PCR approach (cassette PCR) may be used to identify a diverse range of ORFs from any environmental sample, as well as to directly access the gene pool found in mobile gene cassettes commonly associated with integrons. This gene pool can be accessed from both cultured and uncultured microbial samples as a source of new enzymes and proteins. PMID:15152095

New enzymes from environmental cassette arrays: functional attributes of a phosphotransferase and an RNA-methyltransferase.

PubMed

Nield, Blair S; Willows, Robert D; Torda, Andrew E; Gillings, Michael R; Holmes, Andrew J; Nevalainen, K M Helena; Stokes, H W; Mabbutt, Bridget C

2004-06-01

By targeting gene cassettes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) directly from environmentally derived DNA, we are able to amplify entire open reading frames (ORFs) independently of prior sequence knowledge. Approximately 10% of the mobile genes recovered by these means can be attributed to known protein families. Here we describe the characterization of two ORFs which show moderate homology to known proteins: (1) an aminoglycoside phosphotransferase displaying 25% sequence identity with APH(7") from Streptomyces hygroscopicus, and (2) an RNA methyltransferase sharing 25%-28% identity with a group of recently defined bacterial RNA methyltransferases distinct from the SpoU enzyme family. Our novel genes were expressed as recombinant products and assayed for appropriate enzyme activity. The aminoglycoside phosphotransferase displayed ATPase activity, consistent with the presence of characteristic Mg(2+)-binding residues. Unlike related APH(4) or APH(7") enzymes, however, this activity was not enhanced by hygromycin B or kanamycin, suggesting the normal substrate to be a different aminoglycoside. The RNA methyltransferase contains sequence motifs of the RNA methyltransferase superfamily, and our recombinant version showed methyltransferase activity with RNA. Our data confirm that gene cassettes present in the environment encode folded enzymes with novel sequence variation and demonstrable catalytic activity. Our PCR approach (cassette PCR) may be used to identify a diverse range of ORFs from any environmental sample, as well as to directly access the gene pool found in mobile gene cassettes commonly associated with integrons. This gene pool can be accessed from both cultured and uncultured microbial samples as a source of new enzymes and proteins.

A strategic management model for evaluation of health, safety and environmental performance.

PubMed

Abbaspour, Majid; Toutounchian, Solmaz; Roayaei, Emad; Nassiri, Parvin

2012-05-01

Strategic health, safety, and environmental management system (HSE-MS) involves systematic and cooperative planning in each phase of the lifecycle of a project to ensure that interaction among the industry group, client, contractor, stakeholder, and host community exists with the highest level of health, safety, and environmental standard performances. Therefore, it seems necessary to assess the HSE-MS performance of contractor(s) by a comparative strategic management model with the aim of continuous improvement. The present Strategic Management Model (SMM) has been illustrated by a case study and the results show that the model is a suitable management tool for decision making in a contract environment, especially in oil and gas fields and based on accepted international standards within the framework of management deming cycle. To develop this model, a data bank has been created, which includes the statistical data calculated by converting the HSE performance qualitative data into quantitative values. Based on this fact, the structure of the model has been formed by defining HSE performance indicators according to the HSE-MS model. Therefore, 178 indicators have been selected which have been grouped into four attributes. Model output provides quantitative measures of HSE-MS performance as a percentage of an ideal level with maximum possible score for each attribute. Defining the strengths and weaknesses of the contractor(s) is another capability of this model. On the other hand, this model provides a ranking that could be used as the basis for decision making at the contractors' pre-qualification phase or during the execution of the project.

[Association between the characteristics of the neighborhood environment and physical activity].

PubMed

Rodríguez-Romo, Gabriel; Garrido-Muñoz, María; Lucía, Alejandro; Mayorga, Juan I; Ruiz, Jonatan R

2013-01-01

To assess the relationship between the physical and social attributes of the neighborhood environment and levels of total physical activity (PA), leisure time PA, and active commuting PA in adults. The present cross-sectional study comprised 1500 adults (51.1% women) aged 15-74 years from the Autonomous Region of Madrid (Spain). Data were collected through a structured telephone interview. PA was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, version 2. Neighborhood attributes were assessed with the Environmental Module of the International Physical Activity Prevalence Study. The factors associated with a higher probability of achieving moderate to high levels of total PA and active commuting PA were living in high density residential areas, the presence of shops close to the residential area, public transport stops 10-15 minutes away from the home, and the existence of sidewalks in most of the neighborhood's streets (all p <0,05). The factors associated with moderate to high leisure time PA levels were the presence of active people in the residential area and the presence of low-cost recreational facilities (both p <0,05). Our findings suggest that most of the physical and social attributes of the neighborhood environment examined in this study are associated with total and active commuting PA, whereas only certain neighborhood attributes seem to be associated with leisure time PA. Copyright © 2012 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

New Stream-reach Development: A Comprehensive Assessment of Hydropower Energy Potential in the United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kao, Shih-Chieh; McManamay, Ryan A; Stewart, Kevin M

2014-04-01

The rapid development of multiple national geospatial datasets related to topography, hydrology, and environmental characteristics in the past decade have provided new opportunities for the refinement of hydropower resource potential from undeveloped stream-reaches. Through 2011 to 2013, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was tasked by the Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Program to evaluate the new stream-reach development (NSD) resource potential for more than 3 million US streams. A methodology was designed that contains three main components: (1) identification of stream-reaches with high energy density, (2) topographical analysis of stream-reaches to estimate inundated surface area and reservoir storage,more » and (3) environmental attribution to spatially join information related to the natural ecological systems, social and cultural settings, policies, management, and legal constraints to stream-reaches of energy potential. An initial report on methodology (Hadjerioua et al., 2013) was later reviewed and revised based on the comments gathered from two peer review workshops. After implementing the assessment across the entire United States, major findings were summarized in this final report. The estimated NSD capacity and generation, including both higher-energy-density (>1 MW per reach) and lower-energy-density (<1 MW per reach) stream-reaches is 84.7 GW, around the same size as the existing US conventional hydropower nameplate capacity (79.5 GW; NHAAP, 2013). In terms of energy, the total undeveloped NSD generation is estimated to be 460 TWh/year, around 169% of average 2002 2011 net annual generation from existing conventional hydropower plants (272 TWh/year; EIA, 2013). Given the run-of-river assumption, NSD stream-reaches have higher capacity factors (53 71%), especially compared with conventional larger-storage peaking-operation projects that usually have capacity factors of around 30%. The highest potential is identified in the Pacific Northwest Region (32%), followed by Missouri Region (15%) and California Region (9%). In terms of states, the highest potential is found in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, the three states in the Pacific Northwest, followed by California, Alaska, Montana, and Colorado. In addition to the resource potential, abundant environmental attributes were also organized and attributed to the identified stream-reaches to support further hydropower market analysis. The prevalence of environmental variables and proportion of capacity from stream-reaches intersecting environmental variables varied according to hydrologic region. Detailed NSD findings are organized by hydrologic regions and presented in each chapter of this report.« less

Recreational preferences of urban teenagers: the influence of cultural and environmental attributes

Treesearch

George L. Peterson

1977-01-01

The study tests the hypothesis that the recreational preferences of urban teenagers differ with age, sex, ethnicity, and measurable attributes of activity and environment. Photos of activities are used to measure preferences, and the photos are scaled for content by a detailed appraisal. The results show that sex and ethnicity modify the preference process, and that...

Self-reported Cognitive Biases Moderate the Associations Between Social Stress and Paranoid Ideation in a Virtual Reality Experimental Study.

PubMed

Pot-Kolder, Roos; Veling, Wim; Counotte, Jacqueline; van der Gaag, Mark

2018-06-06

Cognitive biases are associated with psychosis liability and paranoid ideation. This study investigated the moderating relationship between pre-existing self-reported cognitive biases and the occurrence of paranoid ideation in response to different levels of social stress in a virtual reality environment. This study included 170 participants with different levels of psychosis liability (55 recent onset psychosis, 20 ultrahigh risk for psychosis, 42 siblings of psychotic patients, and 53 controls). All participants were exposed to virtual environments with different levels of social stress. The level of experienced paranoia in the virtual environments was measured with the State Social Paranoia Scale. Cognitive biases were assessed with a self-report continuous measure. Also, cumulative number of cognitive biases was calculated using dichotomous measures of the separate biases, based on general population norm scores. Higher belief inflexibility bias (Z = 2.83, P < .001), attention to threat bias (Z = 3.40, P < .001), external attribution bias (Z = 2.60, P < .001), and data-gathering bias (Z = 2.07, P < .05) were all positively associated with reported paranoid ideation in the social virtual environments. Level of paranoid response increased with number of cognitive biases present (B = 1.73, P < .001). The effect of environmental stressors on paranoid ideation was moderated by attention to threat bias (Z = 2.78, P < .01) and external attribution bias (Z = 2.75, P < .01), whereas data-gathering bias and belief inflexibility did not moderate the relationship. There is an additive effect of separate cognitive biases on paranoid response to social stress. The effect of social environmental stressors on paranoid ideation is further enhanced by attention to threat bias and external attribution bias.

Linking amphibian call structure to the environment: the interplay between phenotypic flexibility and individual attributes.

PubMed

Ziegler, Lucía; Arim, Matías; Narins, Peter M

2011-05-01

The structure of the environment surrounding signal emission produces different patterns of degradation and attenuation. The expected adjustment of calls to ensure signal transmission in an environment was formalized in the acoustic adaptation hypothesis. Within this framework, most studies considered anuran calls as fixed attributes determined by local adaptations. However, variability in vocalizations as a product of phenotypic expression has also been reported. Empirical evidence supporting the association between environment and call structure has been inconsistent, particularly in anurans. Here, we identify a plausible causal structure connecting environment, individual attributes, and temporal and spectral adjustments as direct or indirect determinants of the observed variation in call attributes of the frog Hypsiboas pulchellus. For that purpose, we recorded the calls of 40 males in the field, together with vegetation density and other environmental descriptors of the calling site. Path analysis revealed a strong effect of habitat structure on the temporal parameters of the call, and an effect of site temperature conditioning the size of organisms calling at each site and thus indirectly affecting the dominant frequency of the call. Experimental habitat modification with a styrofoam enclosure yielded results consistent with field observations, highlighting the potential role of call flexibility on detected call patterns. Both, experimental and correlative results indicate the need to incorporate the so far poorly considered role of phenotypic plasticity in the complex connection between environmental structure and individual call attributes.

Patients with environment-related disorders: comprehensive results of interdisciplinary diagnostics.

PubMed

Brand, Serge; Heller, Pia; Bircher, Andreas J; Braun-Fahrleander, Charlotte; Huss, Anke; Niederer, Markus; Schwarzenbach, Simone; Waeber, Roger; Wegmann, Lukas; Kuechenhoff, Joachim

2009-03-01

Researchers dealing with environmental illnesses face complex diagnostic and methodological difficulties. Poor objective findings contrast with high subjective suffering and a firm belief that environmental exposure is the only source of complaints. The Basel pilot research project established a multi-modal assessment procedure and assessed complaints attributed to the environment. Medical, psychological and environmental findings were evaluated as to their pathogenic validity. Furthermore, patients were pooled into distinguishable subgroups in order to formulate more appropriate therapy strategies. Sixty-three patients took part in the threefold diagnostic approach (medical examination, psychiatric exploration, environmental analysis) of a mixed qualitative/quantitative study. Interdisciplinary case conferences allowed a consensus rating of the aetiological relevance of the findings to be reached. The discrepancy between self-rating and experts' judgement was exploited for subgroup formation. About 50% of the patients' symptoms could be attributed to psychiatric causes. Based on self-rating and experts' judgement, four subgroups were distinguished with differing medical, psychiatric and environmental aetiologies, personality traits and interactional competencies. Patients with environment-related disorders form a heterogeneous group. An interdisciplinary assessment and a comparison between self- and experts' judgements enable a more differentiated psychotherapeutic procedure and may enhance future treatment success.

Visual Attention Allocation Between Robotic Arm and Environmental Process Control: Validating the STOM Task Switching Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wickens, Christopher; Vieanne, Alex; Clegg, Benjamin; Sebok, Angelia; Janes, Jessica

2015-01-01

Fifty six participants time shared a spacecraft environmental control system task with a realistic space robotic arm control task in either a manual or highly automated version. The former could suffer minor failures, whose diagnosis and repair were supported by a decision aid. At the end of the experiment this decision aid unexpectedly failed. We measured visual attention allocation and switching between the two tasks, in each of the eight conditions formed by manual-automated arm X expected-unexpected failure X monitoring- failure management. We also used our multi-attribute task switching model, based on task attributes of priority interest, difficulty and salience that were self-rated by participants, to predict allocation. An un-weighted model based on attributes of difficulty, interest and salience accounted for 96 percent of the task allocation variance across the 8 different conditions. Task difficulty served as an attractor, with more difficult tasks increasing the tendency to stay on task.

Quality of Life for Diverse Older Adults in Assisted Living: The Centrality of Control.

PubMed

Koehn, Sharon D; Mahmood, Atiya N; Stott-Eveneshen, Sarah

This pilot project asked: How do ethnically diverse older adult residents of assisted living (AL) facilities in British Columbia (BC) experience quality of life? And, what role, if any, do organizational and physical environmental features play in influencing how quality of life is experienced? The study was conducted at three AL sites in BC: two ethnoculturally targeted and one nontargeted. Environmental audits at each site captured descriptive data on policies, fees, rules, staffing, meals, and activities, and the built environment of the AL building and neighborhood. Using a framework that understands the quality of life of older adults to be contingent on their capability to pursue 5 conceptual attributes-attachment, role, enjoyment, security, and control-we conducted 3 focus groups with residents (1 per site) and 6 interviews with staff (2 per site). Attributes were linked to the environmental features captured in the audits. All dimensions of the environment, especially organizational, influence tenants' capability to attain the attributes of quality of life, most importantly control. Although many tenants accept the trade-off between increased safety and diminished control that accompanies a move into AL, more could be done to minimize that loss. Social workers can advocate for the necessary multi-sectoral changes.

Gene-environment studies: any advantage over environmental studies?

PubMed

Bermejo, Justo Lorenzo; Hemminki, Kari

2007-07-01

Gene-environment studies have been motivated by the likely existence of prevalent low-risk genes that interact with common environmental exposures. The present study assessed the statistical advantage of the simultaneous consideration of genes and environment to investigate the effect of environmental risk factors on disease. In particular, we contemplated the possibility that several genes modulate the environmental effect. Environmental exposures, genotypes and phenotypes were simulated according to a wide range of parameter settings. Different models of gene-gene-environment interaction were considered. For each parameter combination, we estimated the probability of detecting the main environmental effect, the power to identify the gene-environment interaction and the frequency of environmentally affected individuals at which environmental and gene-environment studies show the same statistical power. The proportion of cases in the population attributable to the modeled risk factors was also calculated. Our data indicate that environmental exposures with weak effects may account for a significant proportion of the population prevalence of the disease. A general result was that, if the environmental effect was restricted to rare genotypes, the power to detect the gene-environment interaction was higher than the power to identify the main environmental effect. In other words, when few individuals contribute to the overall environmental effect, individual contributions are large and result in easily identifiable gene-environment interactions. Moreover, when multiple genes interacted with the environment, the statistical benefit of gene-environment studies was limited to those studies that included major contributors to the gene-environment interaction. The advantage of gene-environment over plain environmental studies also depends on the inheritance mode of the involved genes, on the study design and, to some extend, on the disease prevalence.

Auditory Task Irrelevance: A Basis for Inattentional Deafness

PubMed Central

Scheer, Menja; Bülthoff, Heinrich H.; Chuang, Lewis L.

2018-01-01

Objective This study investigates the neural basis of inattentional deafness, which could result from task irrelevance in the auditory modality. Background Humans can fail to respond to auditory alarms under high workload situations. This failure, termed inattentional deafness, is often attributed to high workload in the visual modality, which reduces one’s capacity for information processing. Besides this, our capacity for processing auditory information could also be selectively diminished if there is no obvious task relevance in the auditory channel. This could be another contributing factor given the rarity of auditory warnings. Method Forty-eight participants performed a visuomotor tracking task while auditory stimuli were presented: a frequent pure tone, an infrequent pure tone, and infrequent environmental sounds. Participants were required either to respond to the presentation of the infrequent pure tone (auditory task-relevant) or not (auditory task-irrelevant). We recorded and compared the event-related potentials (ERPs) that were generated by environmental sounds, which were always task-irrelevant for both groups. These ERPs served as an index for our participants’ awareness of the task-irrelevant auditory scene. Results Manipulation of auditory task relevance influenced the brain’s response to task-irrelevant environmental sounds. Specifically, the late novelty-P3 to irrelevant environmental sounds, which underlies working memory updating, was found to be selectively enhanced by auditory task relevance independent of visuomotor workload. Conclusion Task irrelevance in the auditory modality selectively reduces our brain’s responses to unexpected and irrelevant sounds regardless of visuomotor workload. Application Presenting relevant auditory information more often could mitigate the risk of inattentional deafness. PMID:29578754

Evaluation of the Environmentalist Dimension of Ecotourism at the Dadia Forest Reserve (Greece)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hovardas, Tasos; Poirazidis, Kostas

2006-11-01

Environmental education and financial support of nature conservation are considered among the primary components of the environmentalist dimension of ecotourism. The potential of environmental education calls for enhancing visitor environmental knowledge and prompting change of visitor behavior. The present study addressed the evaluation of the environmentalist dimension of ecotourism in the Dadia Forest Reserve. The first objective of the research was to study the influence of variables determined prior to the visit, namely, visitor and visit characteristics, visitor environmental information sources, visitor pro-environmental behavior, and visitation goals, on variables determined during the visit, that is, visitor participation in and satisfaction from ecotourism activities. The second objective was to study the effect of selected variables on visitor knowledge and behavior intentions. Visitor participation in and satisfaction from ecotourism activities were primarily controlled by visit characteristics. Levels of visitor knowledge were quite satisfactory; however, coherence among knowledge items was rather loose. On the other hand, behavior intention items revealed the highest possible degree of coherence, which should be attributed to the pervasive influence of visitor satisfaction from watching birds at the Bird Observatory within the Dadia Forest Reserve. Ecotourism activities, during which the main part of environmental knowledge was offered, exerted no effect on visitor knowledge; all the same, they significantly influenced visitor behavior intentions. Overall, visitor behavior intentions revealed a considerable potential of financing environmental protection and providing voluntary work in the frame of the environmental management of the Dadia Forest Reserve.

Evaluation of the environmentalist dimension of ecotourism at the Dadia Forest Reserve (Greece).

PubMed

Hovardas, Tasos; Poirazidis, Kostas

2006-11-01

Environmental education and financial support of nature conservation are considered among the primary components of the environmentalist dimension of ecotourism. The potential of environmental education calls for enhancing visitor environmental knowledge and prompting change of visitor behavior. The present study addressed the evaluation of the environmentalist dimension of ecotourism in the Dadia Forest Reserve. The first objective of the research was to study the influence of variables determined prior to the visit, namely, visitor and visit characteristics, visitor environmental information sources, visitor pro-environmental behavior, and visitation goals, on variables determined during the visit, that is, visitor participation in and satisfaction from ecotourism activities. The second objective was to study the effect of selected variables on visitor knowledge and behavior intentions. Visitor participation in and satisfaction from ecotourism activities were primarily controlled by visit characteristics. Levels of visitor knowledge were quite satisfactory; however, coherence among knowledge items was rather loose. On the other hand, behavior intention items revealed the highest possible degree of coherence, which should be attributed to the pervasive influence of visitor satisfaction from watching birds at the Bird Observatory within the Dadia Forest Reserve. Ecotourism activities, during which the main part of environmental knowledge was offered, exerted no effect on visitor knowledge; all the same, they significantly influenced visitor behavior intentions. Overall, visitor behavior intentions revealed a considerable potential of financing environmental protection and providing voluntary work in the frame of the environmental management of the Dadia Forest Reserve.

Individual differences in the attribution of incentive salience to reward-related cues: Implications for addiction.

PubMed

Flagel, Shelly B; Akil, Huda; Robinson, Terry E

2009-01-01

Drugs of abuse acquire different degrees of control over thoughts and actions based not only on the effects of drugs themselves, but also on predispositions of the individual. Those individuals who become addicted are unable to shift their thoughts and actions away from drugs and drug-associated stimuli. Thus in addicts, exposure to places or things (cues) that has been previously associated with drug-taking often instigates renewed drug-taking. We and others have postulated that drug-associated cues acquire the ability to maintain and instigate drug-taking behavior in part because they acquire incentive motivational properties through Pavlovian (stimulus-stimulus) learning. In the case of compulsive behavioral disorders, including addiction, such cues may be attributed with pathological incentive value ("incentive salience"). For this reason, we have recently begun to explore individual differences in the tendency to attribute incentive salience to cues that predict rewards. When discrete cues are associated with the non-contingent delivery of food or drug rewards some animals come to quickly approach and engage the cue even if it is located at a distance from where the reward will be delivered. In these animals the reward-predictive cue itself becomes attractive, eliciting approach towards it, presumably because it is attributed with incentive salience. Animals that develop this type of conditional response are called "sign-trackers". Other animals, "goal-trackers", do not approach the reward-predictive cue, but upon cue presentation they immediately go to the location where food will be delivered (the "goal"). For goal-trackers the reward-predictive cue is not attractive, presumably because it is not attributed with incentive salience. We review here preliminary data suggesting that these individual differences in the tendency to attribute incentive salience to cues predictive of reward may confer vulnerability or resistance to compulsive behavioral disorders, including addiction. It will be important, therefore, to study how environmental, neurobiological and genetic interactions determine the extent to which individuals attribute incentive value to reward-predictive stimuli.

The Most Economic, Socially Viable, and Environmentally Sustainable Alternative Energy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanderburg, Willem H.

2008-01-01

The strengths and weaknesses of current energy planning can be attributed to the limited economic, social, and environmental contexts taken into account as a result of the current intellectual and professional division of labor. A preventive approach is developed by which the ratio of desired to undesired effects can be substantially improved. It…

Educating Our Communities and Ourselves about Conservation of Aquatic Resources through Environmental Outreach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bjorkland, Ronald; Pringle, Catherine M.

2001-01-01

Highlights the inadequacy of environmental education in the United States based on the public's understanding of aquatic ecosystems. Points out the importance of scientific information in the decision making process and the importance of freshwater resources and ecosystems on the economy and cultural attributes. Discusses the workshop…

Understanding Genetic and Environmental Influences on the Development of Reading: Reaching for Higher Fruit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Richard K.

2005-01-01

The transition from first-generation to second-generation studies of genetic and environmental influences on the development of reading is underway. The first generation of quantitative genetic studies yielded an extraordinary conclusion: Fifty percent or more of the variance in most constructs, including reading, is attributable to genetic…

The Obesogenic Environment of Commercial Trucking: A Worksite Environmental Audit and Implications for Systems-Based Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apostolopoulos, Yorghos; Lemke, Michael; Sönmez, Sevil; Hege, Adam

2016-01-01

Background: Commercial trucker health is a vital public health concern. Enhanced understanding of the multiplicity, diversity, interdependence, and complexity of policies, resources, and stakeholders relevant to healthful living in trucking worksites can guide future interventions. Purpose: This article examines how the environmental attributes of…

COASTAL INVERTEBRATES AND FISHES: HOW WILL THEY BE AFFECTED BY CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS- INCORPORATING CLIMATE SCENARIOS INTO THE COASTAL BIODIVERSITY RISK ANALYSIS TOOL (CBRAT)

EPA Science Inventory

The Coastal Biodiversity Risk Analysis Tool (CBRAT) is a public website that functions as an ecoinformatics platform to synthesize biogeographical distributions, abundances, life history attributes, and environmental tolerances for near-coastal invertebrates and fishes on a broad...

Human emotions track changes in the acoustic environment

PubMed Central

Ma, Weiyi; Thompson, William Forde

2015-01-01

Emotional responses to biologically significant events are essential for human survival. Do human emotions lawfully track changes in the acoustic environment? Here we report that changes in acoustic attributes that are well known to interact with human emotions in speech and music also trigger systematic emotional responses when they occur in environmental sounds, including sounds of human actions, animal calls, machinery, or natural phenomena, such as wind and rain. Three changes in acoustic attributes known to signal emotional states in speech and music were imposed upon 24 environmental sounds. Evaluations of stimuli indicated that human emotions track such changes in environmental sounds just as they do for speech and music. Such changes not only influenced evaluations of the sounds themselves, they also affected the way accompanying facial expressions were interpreted emotionally. The findings illustrate that human emotions are highly attuned to changes in the acoustic environment, and reignite a discussion of Charles Darwin’s hypothesis that speech and music originated from a common emotional signal system based on the imitation and modification of environmental sounds. PMID:26553987

Landscape scale attributes of elk centers of activity in the central Black Hills of South Dakota

Treesearch

Cynthia H. Stubblefield; Kerri T. Vierling; Mark A. Rumble

2006-01-01

We researched the environmental attributes (n = 28) associated with elk (n = 50) summer range (1 May ­30 Sep) in the central Black Hills of South Dakota, USA, during 1998-­2001. We defined high-use areas or centers of activity as landscapes underlying large concentrations of elk locations resulting from the shared fidelity of...

Gene-Environment Interaction in Adults’ IQ Scores: Measures of Past and Present Environment

PubMed Central

Willemsen, Gonneke; de Geus, Eco J. C.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Posthuma, Danielle

2008-01-01

Gene-environment interaction was studied in a sample of young (mean age 26 years, N = 385) and older (mean age 49 years, N = 370) adult males and females. Full scale IQ scores (FSIQ) were analyzed using biometric models in which additive genetic (A), common environmental (C), and unique environmental (E) effects were allowed to depend on environmental measures. Moderators under study were parental and partner educational level, as well as urbanization level and mean real estate price of the participants’ residential area. Mean effects were observed for parental education, partner education and urbanization level. On average, FSIQ scores were roughly 5 points higher in participants with highly educated parents, compared to participants whose parents were less well educated. In older participants, IQ scores were about 2 points higher when their partners were highly educated. In younger males, higher urbanization levels were associated with slightly higher FSIQ scores. Our analyses also showed increased common environmental variation in older males whose parents were more highly educated, and increased unique environmental effects in older males living in more affluent areas. Contrary to studies in children, however, the variance attributable to additive genetic effects was stable across all levels of the moderators under study. Most results were replicated for VIQ and PIQ. PMID:18535898

'spup' - an R package for uncertainty propagation in spatial environmental modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawicka, Kasia; Heuvelink, Gerard

2016-04-01

Computer models have become a crucial tool in engineering and environmental sciences for simulating the behaviour of complex static and dynamic systems. However, while many models are deterministic, the uncertainty in their predictions needs to be estimated before they are used for decision support. Currently, advances in uncertainty propagation and assessment have been paralleled by a growing number of software tools for uncertainty analysis, but none has gained recognition for a universal applicability, including case studies with spatial models and spatial model inputs. Due to the growing popularity and applicability of the open source R programming language we undertook a project to develop an R package that facilitates uncertainty propagation analysis in spatial environmental modelling. In particular, the 'spup' package provides functions for examining the uncertainty propagation starting from input data and model parameters, via the environmental model onto model predictions. The functions include uncertainty model specification, stochastic simulation and propagation of uncertainty using Monte Carlo (MC) techniques, as well as several uncertainty visualization functions. Uncertain environmental variables are represented in the package as objects whose attribute values may be uncertain and described by probability distributions. Both numerical and categorical data types are handled. Spatial auto-correlation within an attribute and cross-correlation between attributes is also accommodated for. For uncertainty propagation the package has implemented the MC approach with efficient sampling algorithms, i.e. stratified random sampling and Latin hypercube sampling. The design includes facilitation of parallel computing to speed up MC computation. The MC realizations may be used as an input to the environmental models called from R, or externally. Selected static and interactive visualization methods that are understandable by non-experts with limited background in statistics can be used to summarize and visualize uncertainty about the measured input, model parameters and output of the uncertainty propagation. We demonstrate that the 'spup' package is an effective and easy tool to apply and can be used in multi-disciplinary research and model-based decision support.

'spup' - an R package for uncertainty propagation analysis in spatial environmental modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawicka, Kasia; Heuvelink, Gerard

2017-04-01

Computer models have become a crucial tool in engineering and environmental sciences for simulating the behaviour of complex static and dynamic systems. However, while many models are deterministic, the uncertainty in their predictions needs to be estimated before they are used for decision support. Currently, advances in uncertainty propagation and assessment have been paralleled by a growing number of software tools for uncertainty analysis, but none has gained recognition for a universal applicability and being able to deal with case studies with spatial models and spatial model inputs. Due to the growing popularity and applicability of the open source R programming language we undertook a project to develop an R package that facilitates uncertainty propagation analysis in spatial environmental modelling. In particular, the 'spup' package provides functions for examining the uncertainty propagation starting from input data and model parameters, via the environmental model onto model predictions. The functions include uncertainty model specification, stochastic simulation and propagation of uncertainty using Monte Carlo (MC) techniques, as well as several uncertainty visualization functions. Uncertain environmental variables are represented in the package as objects whose attribute values may be uncertain and described by probability distributions. Both numerical and categorical data types are handled. Spatial auto-correlation within an attribute and cross-correlation between attributes is also accommodated for. For uncertainty propagation the package has implemented the MC approach with efficient sampling algorithms, i.e. stratified random sampling and Latin hypercube sampling. The design includes facilitation of parallel computing to speed up MC computation. The MC realizations may be used as an input to the environmental models called from R, or externally. Selected visualization methods that are understandable by non-experts with limited background in statistics can be used to summarize and visualize uncertainty about the measured input, model parameters and output of the uncertainty propagation. We demonstrate that the 'spup' package is an effective and easy tool to apply and can be used in multi-disciplinary research and model-based decision support.

Faunal assemblages and multi-scale habitat patterns in headwater tributaries of the South Fork Trinity River - an unregulated river embedded within a multiple-use landscape

USGS Publications Warehouse

Welsh, H.H.; Hodgson, G.R.; Duda, J.J.; Emlen, J.M.

2010-01-01

Headwaters can represent 80% of stream kilometers in a watershed, and they also have unique physical and biological properties that have only recently been recognized for their importance in sustaining healthy functioning stream networks and their ecological services. We sampled 60 headwater tributaries in the South Fork Trinity River, a 2,430 km2, mostly forested, multiple-use watershed in northwestern California. Our objectives were: (1) to differentiate unique headwater types using 69 abiotic and vegetation variables measured at three spatial scales, and then to reduce these to informative subsets; (2) determine if distinct biota occupied the different tributary types; (3) determine the environmental attributes associated with the presence and abundance of these biotic assemblages; and (4) using niche modeling, determine key attribute thresholds to illustrate how these biota could be employed as metrics of system integrity and ecological services. Several taxa were sufficiently abundant and widespread to use as bio-indicators: the presence and abundance of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), herpetofauna (reptile and amphibian) species richness, and signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) represented different trophic positions, value as commercial resources (steelhead), sensitivity to environmental stress (amphibians), and indicators of biodiversity (herpetofauna species richness). Herpetofauna species richness did not differ, but abundances of steelhead trout, signal crayfish, and amphibian richness all differed significantly among tributary types. Niche models indicated that distribution and abundance patterns in both riparian and aquatic environments were associated with physical and structural attributes at multiple spatial scales, both within and around reaches. The bio-indicators responded to unique sets of attributes, reflecting the high environmental heterogeneity in headwater tributaries across this large watershed. These niche attributes represented a wide range of headwater environments, indicating responses to a number of natural and anthropogenic conditions, and demonstrated the value of using a suite of bio-indicators to elucidate watershed conditions, and to examine numerous disturbances that may influence ecological integrity.

'Manage and mitigate punitive regulatory measures, enhance the corporate image, influence public policy': industry efforts to shape understanding of tobacco-attributable deforestation.

PubMed

Lee, Kelley; Carrillo Botero, Natalia; Novotny, Thomas

2016-09-20

Deforestation due to tobacco farming began to raise concerns in the mid 1970s. Over the next 40 years, tobacco growing increased significantly and shifted markedly to low- and middle-income countries. The percentage of deforestation caused by tobacco farming reached 4 % globally by the early 2000s, although substantially higher in countries such as China (18 %), Zimbabwe (20 %), Malawi (26 %) and Bangladesh (>30 %). Transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) have argued that tobacco-attributable deforestation is not a serious problem, and that the industry has addressed the issue through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. After reviewing the existing scholarly literature on tobacco and deforestation, we analysed industry sources of public information to understand how the industry framed deforestation, its key causes, and policy responses. To analyse industry strategies between the 1970s and early 2000s to shape understanding of deforestation caused by tobacco farming and curing, the Truth Tobacco Documents Library was systematically searched. The above sources were compiled and triangulated, thematically and chronologically, to derive a narrative of how the industry has framed the problem of, and solutions to, tobacco-attributable deforestation. The industry sought to undermine responses to tobacco-attributable deforestation by emphasising the economic benefits of production in LMICs, blaming alternative causes, and claiming successful forestation efforts. To support these tactics, the industry lobbied at the national and international levels, commissioned research, and colluded through front groups. There was a lack of effective action to address tobacco-attributable deforestation, and indeed an escalation of the problem, during this period. The findings suggest the need for independent data on the varied environmental impacts of the tobacco industry, awareness of how the industry seeks to work with environmental researchers and groups to further its interests, and increased scrutiny of tobacco industry efforts to influence environmental policy.

2004 Environmental Mutagen Society Annual Meeting - Genes, Mutations and Disease: The Environmental Connection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Samson, Leona D.

2004-08-23

The Meeting consisted of 9 Symposia, 4 Keynote Lectures, 3 Platform Sessions and 4 Poster Sessions. In addition there were Breakfast Meetings for Special Interest Groups designed to inform attendees about the latest advances in environmental mutagenesis research. Several of the topics to be covered at this broad meeting will be of interest to the Department of Energy, Office of Science. The relevance of this meeting to the DOE derives from the fact that low dose radiation may represent one of the most significant sources of human mutations that are attributable to the environment. The EMS membership, and those whomore » attended the EMS Annual Meeting were interested in both chemical and radiation induced biological effects, such as cell death, mutation, teratogenesis, carcinogenesis and aging. These topics thate were presented at the 2004 EMS Annual meeting that were of clear interest to DOE include: human variation in cancer susceptibility, unusual mechanisms of mutation, germ and stem cell mutagenesis, recombination and the maintenance of genomic stability, multiple roles for DNA mismatch repair, DNA helicases, mutation, cancer and aging, Genome-wide transcriptional responses to environmental change, Telomeres and genomic stability: when ends don?t meet, systems biology approach to cell phenotypic decision processes, and the surprising biology of short RNAs. Poster and platform sessions addressed topics related to environmental mutagen exposure, DNA repair, mechanisms of mutagenesis, epidemiology, genomic and proteomics and bioinformatics. These sessions were designed to give student, postdocs and more junior scientists a chance to present their work.« less

Remedial investigation report on Waste Area Grouping 5 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Volume 3 -- Appendix B: Technical findings and conclusions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1995-09-01

This document provides the Environmental Restoration Program with information about the results of investigations performed at Waste Area Grouping (WAG) 5. It includes information on risk assessments that have evaluated long-term impacts to human health and the environment. Information provided in this document forms the basis for decisions regarding the need for subsequent remediation work at WAG 5. Sections B1.1 through B1.4 present an overview of the environmental setting of WAG 5, including location, population, land uses, ecology, and climate, and Sects. B1.5 through B1.7 give site-specific details (e.g., topography, soils, geology, and hydrology). The remediation investigation (RI) of WAGmore » 5 did not entail en exhaustive characterization of all physical attributes of the site; the information presented here focuses on those most relevant to the development and verification of the WAG 5 conceptual model. Most of the information presented in this appendix was derived from the RI field investigation, which was designed to complement the existing data base from earlier, site-specific studies of Solid Waste Storage Area (SWSA) 5 and related areas.« less

The multitude and diversity of environmental carcinogens.

PubMed

Belpomme, D; Irigaray, P; Hardell, L; Clapp, R; Montagnier, L; Epstein, S; Sasco, A J

2007-11-01

We have recently proposed that lifestyle-related factors, screening and aging cannot fully account for the present overall growing incidence of cancer. In order to propose the concept that in addition to lifestyle related factors, exogenous environmental factors may play a more important role in carcinogenesis than it is expected, and may therefore account for the growing incidence of cancer, we overview herein environmental factors, rated as certainly or potentially carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). We thus analyze the carcinogenic effect of microorganisms (including viruses), radiations (including radioactivity, UV and pulsed electromagnetic fields) and xenochemicals. Chemicals related to environmental pollution appear to be of critical importance, since they can induce occupational cancers as well as other cancers. Of major concerns are: outdoor air pollution by carbon particles associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; indoor air pollution by environmental tobacco smoke, formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds such as benzene and 1,3 butadiene, which may particularly affect children, and food pollution by food additives and by carcinogenic contaminants such as nitrates, pesticides, dioxins and other organochlorines. In addition, carcinogenic metals and metalloids, pharmaceutical medicines and cosmetics may be involved. Although the risk fraction attributable to environmental factors is still unknown, this long list of carcinogenic and especially mutagenic factors supports our working hypothesis according to which numerous cancers may in fact be caused by the recent modification of our environment.

The multitude and diversity of environmental carcinogens

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Belpomme, D.; Cancer Research Center, Association for Research and Treatments Against Cancer; Irigaray, P.

2007-11-15

We have recently proposed that lifestyle-related factors, screening and aging cannot fully account for the present overall growing incidence of cancer. In order to propose the concept that in addition to lifestyle related factors, exogenous environmental factors may play a more important role in carcinogenesis than it is expected, and may therefore account for the growing incidence of cancer, we overview herein environmental factors, rated as certainly or potentially carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). We thus analyze the carcinogenic effect of microorganisms (including viruses), radiations (including radioactivity, UV and pulsed electromagnetic fields) and xenochemicals. Chemicalsmore » related to environmental pollution appear to be of critical importance, since they can induce occupational cancers as well as other cancers. Of major concerns are: outdoor air pollution by carbon particles associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; indoor air pollution by environmental tobacco smoke, formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds such as benzene and 1,3 butadiene, which may particularly affect children, and food pollution by food additives and by carcinogenic contaminants such as nitrates, pesticides, dioxins and other organochlorines. In addition, carcinogenic metals and metalloids, pharmaceutical medicines and cosmetics may be involved. Although the risk fraction attributable to environmental factors is still unknown, this long list of carcinogenic and especially mutagenic factors supports our working hypothesis according to which numerous cancers may in fact be caused by the recent modification of our environment.« less

Linguistic Multi-Attribute Group Decision Making with Risk Preferences and Its Use in Low-Carbon Tourism Destination Selection.

PubMed

Lin, Hui; Wang, Zhou-Jing

2017-09-17

Low-carbon tourism plays an important role in carbon emission reduction and environmental protection. Low-carbon tourism destination selection often involves multiple conflicting and incommensurate attributes or criteria and can be modelled as a multi-attribute decision-making problem. This paper develops a framework to solve multi-attribute group decision-making problems, where attribute evaluation values are provided as linguistic terms and the attribute weight information is incomplete. In order to obtain a group risk preference captured by a linguistic term set with triangular fuzzy semantic information, a nonlinear programming model is established on the basis of individual risk preferences. We first convert individual linguistic-term-based decision matrices to their respective triangular fuzzy decision matrices, which are then aggregated into a group triangular fuzzy decision matrix. Based on this group decision matrix and the incomplete attribute weight information, a linear program is developed to find an optimal attribute weight vector. A detailed procedure is devised for tackling linguistic multi-attribute group decision making problems. A low-carbon tourism destination selection case study is offered to illustrate how to use the developed group decision-making model in practice.

Linguistic Multi-Attribute Group Decision Making with Risk Preferences and Its Use in Low-Carbon Tourism Destination Selection

PubMed Central

Lin, Hui; Wang, Zhou-Jing

2017-01-01

Low-carbon tourism plays an important role in carbon emission reduction and environmental protection. Low-carbon tourism destination selection often involves multiple conflicting and incommensurate attributes or criteria and can be modelled as a multi-attribute decision-making problem. This paper develops a framework to solve multi-attribute group decision-making problems, where attribute evaluation values are provided as linguistic terms and the attribute weight information is incomplete. In order to obtain a group risk preference captured by a linguistic term set with triangular fuzzy semantic information, a nonlinear programming model is established on the basis of individual risk preferences. We first convert individual linguistic-term-based decision matrices to their respective triangular fuzzy decision matrices, which are then aggregated into a group triangular fuzzy decision matrix. Based on this group decision matrix and the incomplete attribute weight information, a linear program is developed to find an optimal attribute weight vector. A detailed procedure is devised for tackling linguistic multi-attribute group decision making problems. A low-carbon tourism destination selection case study is offered to illustrate how to use the developed group decision-making model in practice. PMID:28926985

Toward identifying the next generation of superfund and hazardous waste site contaminants.

PubMed

Ela, Wendell P; Sedlak, David L; Barlaz, Morton A; Henry, Heather F; Muir, Derek C G; Swackhamer, Deborah L; Weber, Eric J; Arnold, Robert G; Ferguson, P Lee; Field, Jennifer A; Furlong, Edward T; Giesy, John P; Halden, Rolf U; Henry, Tala; Hites, Ronald A; Hornbuckle, Keri C; Howard, Philip H; Luthy, Richard G; Meyer, Anita K; Sáez, A Eduardo; Vom Saal, Frederick S; Vulpe, Chris D; Wiesner, Mark R

2011-01-01

This commentary evolved from a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences titled "Superfund Contaminants: The Next Generation" held in Tucson, Arizona, in August 2009. All the authors were workshop participants. Our aim was to initiate a dynamic, adaptable process for identifying contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that are likely to be found in future hazardous waste sites, and to identify the gaps in primary research that cause uncertainty in determining future hazardous waste site contaminants. Superfund-relevant CECs can be characterized by specific attributes: They are persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic, occur in large quantities, and have localized accumulation with a likelihood of exposure. Although still under development and incompletely applied, methods to quantify these attributes can assist in winnowing down the list of candidates from the universe of potential CECs. Unfortunately, significant research gaps exist in detection and quantification, environmental fate and transport, health and risk assessment, and site exploration and remediation for CECs. Addressing these gaps is prerequisite to a preventive approach to generating and managing hazardous waste sites. A need exists for a carefully considered and orchestrated expansion of programmatic and research efforts to identify, evaluate, and manage CECs of hazardous waste site relevance, including developing an evolving list of priority CECs, intensifying the identification and monitoring of likely sites of present or future accumulation of CECs, and implementing efforts that focus on a holistic approach to prevention.

Effect of mosaic representation of vegetation in land surface schemes on simulated energy and carbon balances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, R.; Arora, V. K.

2012-01-01

Energy and carbon balance implications of representing vegetation using a composite or mosaic approach in a land surface scheme are investigated. In the composite approach the attributes of different plant functional types (PFTs) present in a grid cell are aggregated in some fashion for energy and water balance calculations. The resulting physical environmental conditions (including net radiation, soil moisture and soil temperature) are common to all PFTs and affect their ecosystem processes. In the mosaic approach energy and water balance calculations are performed separately for each PFT tile using its own vegetation attributes, so each PFT "sees" different physical environmental conditions and its carbon balance evolves somewhat differently from that in the composite approach. Simulations are performed at selected boreal, temperate and tropical locations to illustrate the differences caused by using the composite versus mosaic approaches of representing vegetation. These idealized simulations use 50% fractional coverage for each of the two dominant PFTs in a grid cell. Differences in simulated grid averaged primary energy fluxes at selected sites are generally less than 5% between the two approaches. Simulated grid-averaged carbon fluxes and pool sizes at these sites can, however, differ by as much as 46%. Simulation results suggest that differences in carbon balance between the two approaches arise primarily through differences in net radiation which directly affects net primary productivity, and thus leaf area index and vegetation biomass.

A dirty word or a dirty world?: Attribute framing, political affiliation, and query theory.

PubMed

Hardisty, David J; Johnson, Eric J; Weber, Elke U

2010-01-01

We explored the effect of attribute framing on choice, labeling charges for environmental costs as either an earmarked tax or an offset. Eight hundred ninety-eight Americans chose between otherwise identical products or services, where one option included a surcharge for emitted carbon dioxide. The cost framing changed preferences for self-identified Republicans and Independents, but did not affect Democrats' preferences. We explain this interaction by means of query theory and show that attribute framing can change the order in which internal queries supporting one or another option are posed. The effect of attribute labeling on query order is shown to depend on the representations of either taxes or offsets held by people with different political affiliations.

Why Don't Smart Teens Have Sex? A Behavioral Genetic Approach

PubMed Central

Harden, K. Paige; Mendle, Jane

2011-01-01

Academic achievement and cognitive ability have been shown to predict later age at first sexual intercourse. Using a sample of 536 same-sex twin pairs who were followed longitudinally from adolescence to early adulthood, this study tested whether relations between intelligence, academic achievement and age at first sex were due to unmeasured genetic and environmental differences between families. Twins who differed in their intelligence or their academic achievement did not differ in their age at first sex. Rather, the association between intelligence and age at first sex could be attributed entirely to unmeasured environmental differences between families, whereas the association between academic achievement and age at first sex could be attributed entirely to genetic factors. PMID:21679172

Correlates of walking and cycling for transport and recreation: factor structure, reliability and behavioural associations of the perceptions of the environment in the neighbourhood scale (PENS)

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Emerging evidence suggests that walking and cycling for different purposes such as transport or recreation may be associated with different attributes of the physical environment. Few studies to date have examined these behaviour-specific associations, particularly in the UK. This paper reports on the development, factor structure and test-retest reliability of a new scale assessing perceptions of the environment in the neighbourhood (PENS) and the associations between perceptions of the environment and walking and cycling for transport and recreation. Methods A new 13-item scale was developed for assessing adults’ perceptions of the environment in the neighbourhood (PENS). Three sets of analyses were conducted using data from two sources. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to identify a set of summary environmental variables using data from the iConnect baseline survey (n = 3494); test-retest reliability of the individual and summary environmental items was established using data collected in a separate reliability study (n = 166); and multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the associations of the environmental variables with walking for transport, walking for recreation, cycling for transport and cycling for recreation, using iConnect baseline survey data (n = 2937). Results Four summary environmental variables (traffic safety, supportive infrastructure, availability of local amenities and social order), one individual environmental item (street connectivity) and a variable encapsulating general environment quality were identified for use in further analyses. Intraclass correlations of these environmental variables ranged from 0.44 to 0.77 and were comparable to those seen in other similar scales. After adjustment for demographic and other environmental factors, walking for transport was associated with supportive infrastructure, availability of local amenities and general environment quality; walking for recreation was associated with supportive infrastructure; and cycling for transport was associated only with street connectivity. There was limited evidence of any associations between environmental attributes and cycling for recreation. Conclusion PENS is acceptable as a short instrument for assessing perceptions of the urban environment. Previous findings that different attributes of the environment may be associated with different behaviours are confirmed. Policy action to create supportive environments may require a combination of environmental improvements to promote walking and cycling for different purposes. PMID:23815872

EnviroAtlas - Woodbine, IA - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1 block group in Woodbine, Iowa. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Pittsburgh, PA - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,089 block groups in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Portland, OR - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1176 block groups in Portland, Oregon. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (http:/www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Fresno, CA - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 405 block groups in Fresno, California. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - New Bedford, MA - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 128 block group in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Tampa, FL - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,833 block groups in Tampa Bay, Florida. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,772 block groups in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Cleveland, OH - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,442 block groups in Cleveland, Ohio. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas ) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Milwaukee, WI - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,175 block groups in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Portland, ME - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 146 block groups in Portland, Maine. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Memphis, TN - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 703 block groups in Memphis, Tennessee. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Green Bay, WI - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 155 block groups in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets ).

Geographic Information System Tools for Conservation Planning: User's Manual

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fox, Timothy J.; Rohweder, Jason J.; Kenow, K.P.; Korschgen, C.E.; DeHaan, H.C.

2003-01-01

Public and private land managers desire better ways to incorporate landscape, species, and habitat relations into their conservation planning processes. We present three tools, developed for the Environmental Systems Research Institute?s ArcView 3.x platform, applicable to many types of wildlife conservation management and planning efforts. These tools provide managers and planners with the ability to rapidly assess landscape attributes and link these attributes with species-habitat information. To use the tools, the user provides a detailed land cover spatial database and develops a matrix to identify species-habitat relations for the landscape of interest. The tools are applicable to any taxa or suite of taxa for which the required data are available. The user also has the ability to interactively make polygon-specific changes to the landscape and re-examine species-habitat relations. The development of these tools has given resource managers the means to evaluate the merits of proposed landscape management scenarios and to choose the scenario that best fits the goals of the managed area.

EnviroAtlas - Austin, TX - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 750 block groups in Austin, Texas. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

Human Transportation System (HTS) study: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lance, N.; Geyer, M. S.; Gaunce, M. T.

1993-01-01

Work completed under the Human Transportation System Study is summarized. This study was conducted by the New Initiatives Office at JSC with the technical support of Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas, Martin Marietta, and Rockwell. The study was designed to generate information on determining the appropriate path to follow for new system development to meet the Nation's space transportation needs. The study evaluates 18 transportation architecture options using a parametric set of mission requirements. These options include use of current systems as well as proposed systems to assess the impact of various considerations, such as the cost of alternate access, or the benefit of separating people and cargo. The architecture options are compared to each other with six measurable evaluation criteria or attributes. They are the following: funding profile, human safety, probability of mission success, architecture cost risk, launch schedule confidence, and environmental impact. Values for these attributes are presented for the architecture options, with pertinent conclusions and recommendations.

Human Transportation System (HTS) study, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lance, N.; Geyer, M. S.; Gaunce, M. T.

1993-01-01

This report summarizes work completed under the Human Transportation System Study. This study was conducted by the New Initiatives Office at JSC with the technical support of Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas, Martin Marietta, and Rockwell. The study was designed to generate information on determining the appropriate path to follow for new system development to meet the Nation's space transportation needs. The study evaluates 18 transportation architecture options using a parametric set of mission requirements. These options include use of current systems (e.g., Shuttle, Titan, etc. ) as well as proposed systems (e.g., PLS, Single-Stage-to-Orbit, etc.) to assess the impact of various considerations, such as the cost of alternate access, or the benefit of separating people and cargo. The architecture options are compared to each other with six measurable evaluation criteria or attributes. They are: funding profile, human safety, probability of mission success, architecture cost risk, launch schedule confidence, and environmental impact. Values for these attributes are presented for the architecture options, with pertinent conclusions and recommendations.

Human Transportation System (HTS) study, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lance, N.; Geyer, M. S.; Gaunce, M. T.

1993-01-01

Work completed under the Human Transportation System Study is summarized. This study was conducted by the New Initiatives Office at JSC with the technical support of Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas, Martin Marietta, and Rockwell. The study was designed to generate information on determining the appropriate path to follow for new system development to meet the Nation's space transportation needs. The study evaluates 18 transportation architecture options using a parametric set of mission requirements. These options include use of current systems as well as proposed systems to assess the impact of various considerations, such as the cost of alternate access, or the benefit of separating people and cargo. The architecture options are compared to each other with six measurable evaluation criteria or attributes. They are the following: funding profile, human safety, probability of mission success, architecture cost risk, launch schedule confidence, and environmental impact. Values for these attributes are presented for the architecture options, with pertinent conclusions and recommendations.

Adolescent precursors of adult borderline personality pathology in a high-risk community sample.

PubMed

Conway, Christopher C; Hammen, Constance; Brennan, Patricia A

2015-06-01

Longitudinal studies of the exact environmental conditions and personal attributes contributing to the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD) are rare. Furthermore, existing research typically examines risk factors in isolation, limiting our knowledge of the relative effect sizes of different risk factors and how they act in concert to bring about borderline personality pathology. The present study investigated the prospective effects of diverse acute and chronic stressors, proband psychopathology, and maternal psychopathology on BPD features in a high-risk community sample (N = 700) of youth followed from mid-adolescence to young adulthood. Multivariate analyses revealed significant effects of maternal externalizing disorder history, offspring internalizing disorder history, family stressors, and school-related stressors on BPD risk. Contrary to expectations, no interactions between chronically stressful environmental conditions and personal characteristics in predicting borderline personality features were detected. Implications of these findings for etiological theories of BPD and early screening efforts are discussed.

Listeria monocytogenes cross-contamination of cheese: risk throughout the food supply chain.

PubMed

Sauders, B D; D'Amico, D J

2016-10-01

Listeria monocytogenes has been the most common microbial cause of cheese-related recalls in both the United States and Canada in recent years. Since L. monocytogenes is inactivated by pasteurization, the majority of these cases have been linked to environmental and cross-contamination of fresh-soft, soft-ripened, and semi-soft cheeses. Cross-contamination of foods with L. monocytogenes is a continuous risk throughout the food supply chain and presents unique challenges for subsequent illness and outbreak investigations. Reports on outbreaks of listeriosis attributed to cross-contamination downstream from primary processing help highlight the critical role of epidemiological investigation coupled with coordinated molecular subtyping and surveillance in the recognition and investigation of complex foodborne outbreaks. Despite their complexity, environmental sampling throughout the supply chain coupled with improved genotyping approaches and concomitant analysis of foodborne illness epidemiological exposure data are needed to help resolve these and similar cases more rapidly and with greater confidence.

Sleep, circadian dysrhythmia, obesity and diabetes.

PubMed

Sridhar, Gumpeny Ramachandra; Sanjana, Narasimhadevara Santhi Nirmala

2016-11-15

Synchrony of biological processes with environmental cues developed over millennia to match growth, reproduction and senescence. This entails a complex interplay of genetic, metabolic, chemical, light, hormonal and hedonistic factors across life forms. Sleep is one of the most prominent rhythms where such a match is established. Over the past 100 years or so, it has been possible to disturb the synchrony between sleep-wake cycle and environmental cues. Development of electric lights, shift work and continual accessibility of the internet has disrupted this match. As a result, many non-communicable diseases such as obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease and malignancies have been attributed in part to such disruption. In this presentation a review is made of the origin and evolution of sleep studies, the pathogenic mediators for such asynchrony, clinical evidence and relevance and suggested management options to deal with the disturbances.

Executive and social-cognitive determinants of environmental dependency syndrome in behavioral frontotemporal dementia.

PubMed

Flanagan, Emma C; Lagarde, Julien; Hahn, Valérie; Guichart-Gomez, Elodie; Sarazin, Marie; Hornberger, Michael; Bertoux, Maxime

2018-05-01

Environmental dependency syndrome (EDS), including utilization (UB) and imitation (IB) behaviors, is often reported in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). These behaviors are commonly attributed to executive dysfunction. However, inconsistent associations between EDS and poor executive performance has led to an alternative "social hypothesis," instead implicating patients' misinterpretation of the examiner's intention. We investigated the possible explanatory cognitive mechanisms of EDS in bvFTD by relating UB and IB to performance on tests of executive functioning and theory of mind (ToM). This study analyzed retrospective data of 32 bvFTD patients. Data included scores of UB and IB, various executive measures, and ToM assessment using the faux pas test, from which we extracted a mental attribution score. Of the patients, 15.6% and 40.6% exhibited UB and IB, respectively. We conducted an automatic linear modeling analysis with executive and mental attribution measures as predictor variables, and UB and IB sequentially considered as target variables. ToM mental attribution score, visual abstraction and flexibility measures from the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and motor sequence performance significantly (corrected ps < .05) predicted IB. No executive or ToM measures significantly predicted UB. These findings reveal a complex interaction between executive dysfunction and mental attribution deficits influencing the prevalence of EDS in bvFTD. Further investigation is required to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying these behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Linking amphibian call structure to the environment: the interplay between phenotypic flexibility and individual attributes

PubMed Central

Arim, Matías; Narins, Peter M.

2011-01-01

The structure of the environment surrounding signal emission produces different patterns of degradation and attenuation. The expected adjustment of calls to ensure signal transmission in an environment was formalized in the acoustic adaptation hypothesis. Within this framework, most studies considered anuran calls as fixed attributes determined by local adaptations. However, variability in vocalizations as a product of phenotypic expression has also been reported. Empirical evidence supporting the association between environment and call structure has been inconsistent, particularly in anurans. Here, we identify a plausible causal structure connecting environment, individual attributes, and temporal and spectral adjustments as direct or indirect determinants of the observed variation in call attributes of the frog Hypsiboas pulchellus. For that purpose, we recorded the calls of 40 males in the field, together with vegetation density and other environmental descriptors of the calling site. Path analysis revealed a strong effect of habitat structure on the temporal parameters of the call, and an effect of site temperature conditioning the size of organisms calling at each site and thus indirectly affecting the dominant frequency of the call. Experimental habitat modification with a styrofoam enclosure yielded results consistent with field observations, highlighting the potential role of call flexibility on detected call patterns. Both, experimental and correlative results indicate the need to incorporate the so far poorly considered role of phenotypic plasticity in the complex connection between environmental structure and individual call attributes. PMID:22479134

High- and Low-Achieving Fraternity Environments at a Selective Institution: Their Influence on Members' Binge Drinking and GPA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maholchic-Nelson, Suzy

2010-01-01

This correlational study tested the efficacy of the social-ecological theory (Moos, 1979) by employing the University Residential Environmental Scale and multiple regression analysis to examine the influences of personal attributes (SAT, parents' level of education, race/ethnicity, and high school drinking) and environmental factors (high/low…

The effect of timber harvesting guidelines on felling and skidding productivity in northern Minnesota

Treesearch

Denys Goychuk; Michael A. Kilgore; Charles R. Blinn; Jay Coggins; Randall K. Kolka

2011-01-01

Substantial investment has been made in the development and application of scientifically based best management practices (i.e., guidelines) intended to protect and enhance the ecological, environmental, and aesthetic attributes of forest resources. When correctly applied, guidelines can increase environmental benefits on site and to adjacent resources, as well as...

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) Characteristics Associated with Violence and Safety in Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vagi, Kevin J.; Stevens, Mark R.; Simon, Thomas R.; Basile, Kathleen C.; Carter, Sherry P.; Carter, Stanley L.

2018-01-01

Background: This study used a new Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) assessment tool to test the associations between physical attributes of schools and violence-related behaviors and perceptions of students. Methods: Data were collected from 4717 students from 50 middle schools. Student perceptions of risk and safety, and…

"Environmental Awareness" and Rock Climbing: Changing Pedagogies to Enhance Pro-Environmental Graduate Attributes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Couper, Pauline; Porter, Su

2016-01-01

Geography has long been seen as having a central role in education for sustainable development, and yet the degree to which a geographical education translates to personal capacities for action has been questioned. Having struggled for some years to engage Outdoor Adventure Education students with physical geography science-based knowledge of the…

Outdoor experiential-based training: motivational and environmental influences affecting outcomes

Treesearch

Teresa (Birdie) High; Alan R. Graefe

2002-01-01

The purpose of this study was to go beyond the examination of the single construct of team building by measuring the impact of motivational and environmental factors on the effectiveness of an outdoor-based training (OBT) intervention. The study assessed the self-perceptions of trainee attitudes and attributes that influenced the constructs of motivation to learn,...

Cognitive Ability, Self-Assessed Intelligence and Personality: Common Genetic but Independent Environmental Aetiologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bratko, Denis; Butkovic, Ana; Vukasovic, Tena; Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas; von Stumm, Sophie

2012-01-01

Self-perceived abilities (SPA), which play an important role in academic achievement, have been recently reported to be fully attributable to genetic and non-shared environmental influences. To replicate and extend this finding, 732 Croatian twins (15-22 years old) were assessed on cognitive ability, self-assessed intelligence (SAI), and Five…

Environmental Risks to Public Health in the United Arab Emirates: A Quantitative Assessment and Strategic Plan

PubMed Central

Farah, Zeinab S.

2012-01-01

Background: Environmental risks to health in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have shifted rapidly from infectious to noninfectious diseases as the nation has developed at an unprecedented rate. In response to public concerns over newly emerging environmental risks, the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi commissioned a multidisciplinary environmental health strategic planning project. Objectives: In order to develop the environmental health strategic plan, we sought to quantify the illnesses and premature deaths in the UAE attributable to 14 environmental pollutant categories, prioritize these 14 risk factors, and identify interventions. Methods: We estimated the disease burden imposed by each risk factor using an attributable fraction approach, and we prioritized the risks using an empirically tested stakeholder engagement process. We then engaged government personnel, scientists, and other stakeholders to identify interventions. Results: The UAE’s environmental disease burden is low by global standards. Ambient air pollution is the leading contributor to premature mortality [~ 650 annual deaths; 95% confidence interval (CI): 140, 1,400]. Risk factors leading to > 10,000 annual health care facility visits included occupational exposures, indoor air pollution, drinking water contamination, seafood contamination, and ambient air pollution. Among the 14 risks considered, on average, outdoor air pollution was ranked by the stakeholders as the highest priority (mean rank, 1.4; interquartile range, 1–2) and indoor air pollution as the second-highest priority (mean rank 3.3; interquartile range, 2–4). The resulting strategic plan identified 216 potential interventions for reducing environmental risks to health. Conclusions: The strategic planning exercise described here provides a framework for systematically deciding how to invest public funds to maximize expected returns in environmental health, where returns are measured in terms of reductions in a population’s environmental burden of disease. PMID:22357098

Do individual cognitions mediate the association of socio-cultural and physical environmental factors with adolescent sports participation?

PubMed

van der Horst, Klazine; Oenema, Anke; te Velde, Saskia J; Brug, Johannes

2010-10-01

To examine the associations of perceived physical environmental factors (availability of physical activity (PA) attributes at home, PA facilities in the neighbourhood, neighbourhood pleasantness and safety) and social environmental factors (parental sports behaviour and parental rule regarding sports participation) with adolescent leisure-time sports participation, and to explore whether the associations found were mediated by individual cognitions as derived from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Cross-sectional study. In school-year 2005/2006 adolescents from seventeen schools in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, completed a questionnaire during school hours that included self-reported measures of leisure-time sports participation, perceived physical environmental factors and TPB variables. Information about parental sports behaviour and parental rule was obtained from a questionnaire that was completed by one parent of the adolescents. Data were collected from 584 adolescent-parent combinations. Data were analysed with multi-level logistic regression analyses. Availability of PA attributes at home (OR = 1·26), parents' sports behaviour (OR = 2·03) and parental rule (OR = 1·64) were associated with a higher likelihood of adolescents' leisure-time sports participation. These associations were partly mediated by attitude and intention. Adolescents were more likely to engage in leisure-time sports when PA attributes were available at home, when parents participated in sports activities and had a rule about their offspring participation in sports activities. These associations were partly mediated by attitude and intention. These results suggest that parents can importantly promote sports participation among their offspring by making sports activities accessible and a family routine.

Attitude towards littering as a mediator of the relationship between personality attributes and responsible environmental behavior

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ojedokun, Oluyinka, E-mail: yinkaoje2004@yahoo.com

Highlights: > Independently, altruism and locus of control contributed significantly toward attitude towards littering. > Altruism and locus of control jointly contributed significantly to attitude towards littering. > The results further show a significant joint influence of altruism and locus of control on REB. > The independent contributions reveal that altruism and locus of control contribute significantly to REB. > Attitude towards littering mediates the relationship between locus of control and REB. - Abstract: The study tested whether attitude towards littering mediates the relationship between personality attributes (altruism and locus of control) and responsible environmental behavior (REB) among some residentsmore » of Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Using multistage sampling technique, measures of each construct were administered to 1360 participants. Results reveal significant independent and joint influence of personality attributes on attitude towards littering and responsible environmental behavior, respectively. Attitude towards littering also mediates the relationship between personality characteristics and REB. These findings imply that individuals who possess certain desirable personality characteristics and who have unfavorable attitude towards littering have more tendencies to engage in pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, stakeholders who have waste management as their priority should incorporate this information when guidelines for public education and litter prevention programs are being developed. It is suggested that psychologists should be involved in designing of litter prevention strategies. This will ensure the inclusion of behavioral issues in such strategies. An integrated approach to litter prevention that combines empowerment, cognitive, social, and technical solutions is recommended as the most effective tool of tackling the litter problem among residents of Ibadan metropolis.« less

Consumer perception of sustainability attributes in organic and local food.

PubMed

Annunziata, Azzurra; Angela, Mariani

2017-12-14

Although sustainable food consumption is gaining growing importance on the international agenda, research on this subject is still quite fragmented and most studies analyse single aspects of sustainable food consumption with particular reference to environmental sustainability. In addition, the literature highlights the need to take account of the strong heterogeneity of consumers in studying sustainable behaviour. Identifying consumer segments with common profiles, needs and values is essential for developing effective communication strategies to promote sustainability in food consumption. Consumer segmentation based on the perception of the sustainability attributes of organic and local products was realized using descriptive data collected through a consumer online survey in southern Italy (Campania). K-means cluster analysis was performed to identify different consumer segments based on consumer perception of sustainable attributes in organic and local food. Results confirm the support of consumers for organic and local food as sustainable alternative in food choices even if occasional buying behaviour of these products still predominates. In addition, our results show that an egoistic approach prevails among consumers, who seem to attach more value to attributes related to quality and health than to environmental, social and economic sustainability. Segmentation proves the existence of three consumer segments that differ significantly in terms of perception of sustainability attributes: a large segment of individuals who seem more egocentric oriented, an environmental sustainability oriented segment and a small segment that includes sustainability oriented consumers. The existence of different levels of sensitivity to sustainability attributes in organic and local food among the identified segments could be duly considered by policy makers and other institutions in promoting sustainable consumption patterns. Consumers in the first cluster could be educated about the social and environmental benefits of organic and local consumption, beyond health and quality aspects, by promoting communication strategies aimed at creating a sense of belonging and self-identity in the change process towards sustainability. While consumers in the second cluster could be more informed about the additional social and economic benefits of organic and local consumption, that goes beyond the still perceived environmental benefits. The strategic focus should be on attracting interest on the sense of belonging to the local community, in order to further promoting the short supply chain as models based on community building relationships and processes, that hold people to place and shared responsibility. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the increasing demand for more sustainable food products needs to be coupled with the development and adoption of innovations. In this regards, several patents have been registered for biopesticides/insecticides and bioactive agricultural products. However, more scientific evidence of higher yields and other benefits and enabling measures that support farmers are required to broaden adoption of innovation for sustainable agro-food production. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Pharmaceutical metabolites in the environment: analytical challenges and ecological risks.

PubMed

Celiz, Mary D; Tso, Jerry; Aga, Diana S

2009-12-01

The occurrence of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals in the environment has been a subject of concern for the past decade because many of these emerging contaminants have been shown to persist in soil and water. Although recent studies indicate that pharmaceutical contaminants can pose long-term ecological risks, many of the investigations regarding risk assessment have only considered the ecotoxicity of the parent drug, with very little attention given to the potential contributions that metabolites may have. The scarcity of available environmental data on the human metabolites excreted into the environment or the microbial metabolites formed during environmental biodegradation of pharmaceutical residues can be attributed to the difficulty in analyzing trace amounts of previously unknown compounds in complex sample matrices. However, with the advent of highly sensitive and powerful analytical instrumentations that have become available commercially, it is likely that an increased number of pharmaceutical metabolites will be identified and included in environmental risk assessment. The present study will present a critical review of available literature on pharmaceutical metabolites, primarily focusing on their analysis and toxicological significance. It is also intended to provide an overview on the recent advances in analytical tools and strategies to facilitate metabolite identification in environmental samples. This review aims to provide insight on what future directions might be taken to help scientists in this challenging task of enhancing the available data on the fate, behavior, and ecotoxicity of pharmaceutical metabolites in the environment.

The challenge of health & environment: profiling risks & strategic priorities for now & the future.

PubMed

Narain, Jai P

2012-08-01

A substantial burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in the developing countries is attributable to environmental risk factors. WHO estimates that the environmental factors are responsible for an estimated 24 per cent of the global burden of disease in terms of healthy life years lost and 23 per cent of all deaths; children being the worst sufferers. Given that the environment is linked with most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), without proper attention to the environmental risk factors and their management, it will be difficult to achieve many MDGs by 2015. The impact of environmental degradation on health may continue well into the future and the situation in fact, is likely to get worse. In order to address this challenge, two facts are worth noting. First, that much of the environmental disease burden is attributable to a few critical risk factors which include unsafe water and sanitation, exposure to indoor smoke from cooking fuel, outdoor air pollution, exposure to chemicals such as arsenic, and climate change. Second, that environment and health aspects must become, as a matter of urgency, a national priority, both in terms of policy and resources allocation. To meet the challenge of health and environment now and in the future, the following strategic approaches must be considered which include conducting environmental and health impact assessments; strengthening national environmental health policy and infrastructure; fostering inter-sectoral co-ordination and partnerships; mobilizing public participation; and enhancing the leadership role of health in advocacy, stewardship and capacity building.

Association between oxytocin and receptor genetic polymorphisms and aggression in a northern Chinese Han population with alcohol dependence.

PubMed

Yang, Ling; Wang, Fan; Wang, Meiling; Han, Mei; Hu, Lufeng; Zheng, Minghua; Ma, Ji; Kang, Yimin; Wang, Pengxiang; Sun, Hongqiang; Zuo, Wei; Xie, Longteng; Wang, Aiju; Yu, Dongsheng; Liu, Yanlong

2017-01-01

Alcohol dependence (AD) is a common chronic brain disorder precipitated by complex interactions between biological, genetic, and environmental risk factors. Aggression often occurs in the context of AD. Previous studies have shown that Oxytocin (OXT) and OXT receptor (OXTR) are involved in the regulation of aggression. The present study investigated whether variations and interactions of OXT and OXTR genes were associated with AD-related aggression in a genetically homogeneous northern Chinese Han population. Three hundred and twenty-four male AD patients and 510 male healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. A Chinese version of the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire was used as a subjective measurement of aggressive behavior. Three variations, rs2254298, rs53576, and rs6133010 were genotyped using TaqMan and ligase detection reaction for all subjects. Generalized Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction was used to detect interactions between genetic attributes and environmental attributes. The frequencies of alleles and genotypes of rs6133010 were significantly different between AD patients and HCs (p<0.001). In HCs, the effect of genotype GG of rs53576 on hostility aggression was significantly stronger than that of genotype AA and AG (p=0.001 and p=0.004, respectively), and the subjects with the interaction combination of rs6133010AA×rs2254298GG×rs53576AG exhibited significant effect on physical aggression (p=0.0107). The present study found that rs6133010 in the OXT gene is associated with AD in the northern Chinese Han population. The polymorphisms of OXT/R may play a key role in the susceptibility of AD-related aggression. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environment Quality: Impact From Traffic, Power Plant and Land Morphology, a Case Study of Prishtina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bajcinovci, Bujar

2017-05-01

Environmental air pollution is a global health concern, a complex phenomenon which is directly reflected on public health, economic and human development. Environmental air pollution has been drastically multiplied, followed by the beginning of the new Millennia in Prishtina, the capital city of the Kosovo. The new millennium began as a crucial activity for the city of Prishtina in terms of demographic, human geography, social and economic phenomena. The presented study aims to determine prevalent traffic and land morphology composition attributes, which have influenced and continue to have environmental impact in the city of Prishtina. According to the conceptual findings from the empirical observations, the heavy city traffic and the land morphology structure, determine the urban air pollution level. Prishtina is generally polluted due to its geomorphic position in relation to the power plants Kosovo A, and Kosova B. The impact of the above cited factors, is even bigger when the dominant winds prevail through valley, which encompasses the city. The findings from this paper propose the necessity of careful driven urban solutions.

Heritability of Pain Catastrophizing and Associations with Experimental Pain Outcomes: A Twin Study

PubMed Central

Trost, Zina; Strachan, Eric; Sullivan, Michael; Vervoort, Tine; Avery, Ally R.; Afari, Niloofar

2014-01-01

The current study employed a twin paradigm to examine the genetic and environmental contributions to pain catastrophizing as well as the observed association between pain catastrophizing and cold pressor task (CPT) outcomes. Male and female monozygotic (n=206) and dizygotic twins (n=194) from the University of Washington Twin Registry completed a measure of pain catastrophizing and performed a CPT challenge. As expected, pain catastrophizing emerged as a significant predictor of several CPT outcomes, including cold pressor immersion tolerance, pain tolerance, and delayed pain rating. The heritability estimate for pain catastrophizing was found to be 37% with the remaining 63% of variance attributable to unique environmental influence. Additionally, the observed associations between pain catastrophizing and CPT outcomes were not found attributable to shared genetics or environmental exposure, suggesting a direct relationship between catastrophizing and experimental pain outcomes. This study is the first to examine the heritability of pain catastrophizing and potential processes by which pain catastrophizing is related to experimental pain response. PMID:25599234

Influence of energy alternatives and carbon emissions on an institution's green reputation.

PubMed

Komarek, Timothy M; Lupi, Frank; Kaplowitz, Michael D; Thorp, Laurie

2013-10-15

Institutions' reputation for being environmentally friendly or 'green' can come from many sources. This paper examines how the attributes of alternative energy management plans impact an institutions' 'green' reputation by focusing on the interaction between 'external' and 'internal' influences. Some 'external' influences on environmental reputation we studied include the institution's mix of fuels, energy conservation effort, carbon emissions targets, investment time-frame, and program cost. The 'internal' influences on institutions' green reputation we examined include altruism (respondents' concern for the welfare of others) and environmentalism (respondents' concern for the environment). Using a stated-preference conjoint survey, we empirically examine how attributes of alternative energy management plans influence a large, research university's 'green' reputation. Our results show that constituents benefit from their institution's green reputation and that the energy management choices of the institution can significantly influence its perceived green reputation. Furthermore, integrating internal and external influences on reputation can create more informative models and better decision-making. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving Ecological Response Monitoring of Environmental Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Alison J.; Gawne, Ben; Beesley, Leah; Koehn, John D.; Nielsen, Daryl L.; Price, Amina

2015-05-01

Environmental flows are now an important restoration technique in flow-degraded rivers, and with the increasing public scrutiny of their effectiveness and value, the importance of undertaking scientifically robust monitoring is now even more critical. Many existing environmental flow monitoring programs have poorly defined objectives, nonjustified indicator choices, weak experimental designs, poor statistical strength, and often focus on outcomes from a single event. These negative attributes make them difficult to learn from. We provide practical recommendations that aim to improve the performance, scientific robustness, and defensibility of environmental flow monitoring programs. We draw on the literature and knowledge gained from working with stakeholders and managers to design, implement, and monitor a range of environmental flow types. We recommend that (1) environmental flow monitoring programs should be implemented within an adaptive management framework; (2) objectives of environmental flow programs should be well defined, attainable, and based on an agreed conceptual understanding of the system; (3) program and intervention targets should be attainable, measurable, and inform program objectives; (4) intervention monitoring programs should improve our understanding of flow-ecological responses and related conceptual models; (5) indicator selection should be based on conceptual models, objectives, and prioritization approaches; (6) appropriate monitoring designs and statistical tools should be used to measure and determine ecological response; (7) responses should be measured within timeframes that are relevant to the indicator(s); (8) watering events should be treated as replicates of a larger experiment; (9) environmental flow outcomes should be reported using a standard suite of metadata. Incorporating these attributes into future monitoring programs should ensure their outcomes are transferable and measured with high scientific credibility.

Valuation of environmental quality and eco-cultural attributes in Northwestern Idaho: Native Americans are more concerned than Caucasians

PubMed Central

Burger, Joanna

2015-01-01

Valuation of features of habitats and ecosystems usually encompasses the goods and services that ecosystems provide, but rarely also examine how people value ecological resources in terms of eco-cultural and sacred activities. The social, sacred, and cultural aspects of ecosystems are particularly important to Native Americans, but western science has rarely examined the importance of eco-cultural attributes quantitatively. In this paper I explore differences in ecosystem evaluations, and compare the perceptions and evaluations of places people go for consumptive and non-consumptive resource use with evaluations of the same qualities for religious and sacred places. Qualities of ecosystems included goods (abundant fish and crabs, butterflies and flowers, clean water), services (complexity of nature, lack of radionuclides that present a health risk), and eco-cultural attributes (appears unspoiled, scenic horizons, noise-free). Native Americans and Caucasians were interviewed at a Pow Wow at Post Falls, Idaho, which is in the region with the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, known for its storage of radioactive wastes and contamination. A higher percentage of Native American subjects engaged in consumptive and religious activities than did Caucasians. Native Americans engaged in higher rates of many activities than did Caucasians, including commune with nature, pray or meditate, fish or hunt, collect herbs, and conduct vision quests or other ceremonies. For nearly all attributes, there was no difference in the relative ratings given by Native Americans for characteristics of sites used for consumption/non-consumptive activities compared to religious/sacred places. However, Caucasians rated nearly all attributes lower for religious/sacred places than they did for places where they engaged in consumptive or non-consumptive activities. Native Americans were less concerned with distance from home for consumptive/non-consumptive activities, compared to religious activities. PMID:21035796

Potential of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacterial Isolates to Contribute to Soil Fertility

PubMed Central

Chirima, George Johannes

2016-01-01

Restoration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon- (PAH-) polluted sites is presently a major challenge in agroforestry. Consequently, microorganisms with PAH-degradation ability and soil fertility improvement attributes are sought after in order to achieve sustainable remediation of polluted sites. This study isolated PAH-degrading bacteria from enriched cultures of spent automobile engine-oil polluted soil. Isolates' partial 16S rRNA genes were sequenced and taxonomically classified. Isolates were further screened for their soil fertility attributes such as phosphate solubilization, atmospheric nitrogen fixation, and indoleacetic acid (IAA) production. A total of 44 isolates were obtained and belong to the genera Acinetobacter, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Flavobacterium, Microbacterium, Ochrobactrum, Pseudomonas, Pseudoxanthomonas, Rhodococcus, and Stenotrophomonas. Data analysed by principal component analysis showed the Bacillus and Ochrobactrum isolates displayed outstanding IAA production. Generalized linear modelling statistical approaches were applied to evaluate the contribution of the four most represented genera (Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Arthrobacter, and Rhodococcus) to soil fertility. The Pseudomonas isolates were the most promising in all three soil fertility enhancement traits evaluated and all isolates showed potential for one or more of the attributes evaluated. These findings demonstrate a clear potential of the isolates to participate in restorative bioremediation of polluted soil, which will enhance sustainable agricultural production and environmental protection. PMID:27774456

Fear of cancer recurrence and psychological well-being in women with breast cancer: The role of causal cancer attributions and optimism.

PubMed

Dumalaon-Canaria, J A; Prichard, I; Hutchinson, A D; Wilson, C

2018-01-01

This study aims to examine the association between cancer causal attributions, fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) and psychological well-being and the possible moderating effect of optimism among women with a previous diagnosis of breast cancer. Participants (N = 314) completed an online self-report assessment of causal attributions for their own breast cancer, FCR, psychological well-being and optimism. Simultaneous multiple regression analyses were conducted to explore the overall contribution of causal attributions to FCR and psychological well-being separately. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were also utilised to examine the potential moderating influence of dispositional optimism on the relationship between causal attributions and FCR and psychological well-being. Causal attributions of environmental exposures, family history and stress were significantly associated with higher FCR. The attribution of stress was also significantly associated with lower psychological well-being. Optimism did not moderate the relationship between causal attributions and FCR or well-being. The observed relationships between causal attributions for breast cancer and FCR and psychological well-being suggest that the inclusion of causal attributions in screening for FCR is potentially important. Health professionals may need to provide greater psychological support to women who attribute their cancer to non-modifiable causes and consequently continue to experience distress. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Re-Designing of Existing Pharmaceuticals for Environmental Biodegradability: A Tiered Approach with β-Blocker Propranolol as an Example.

PubMed

Rastogi, Tushar; Leder, Christoph; Kümmerer, Klaus

2015-10-06

Worldwide, contamination of aquatic systems with micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals, is one of the challenges for sustainable management of water resources. Although micropollutants are present at low concentrations, many of them raise considerable toxicological concerns, particularly when present as components of complex mixtures. Recent research has shown that this problem cannot be sustainably solved with advanced effluent treatment. Therefore, an alternative that might overcome these environmental problems is the design of new pharmaceutical molecules or the redesign of existing pharmaceutical molecules that present the functionality needed for their application and have improved environmental biodegradability. Such redesigning can be performed by small molecular changes in the drug molecule with intact drug moiety which could incorporate the additional attribute such as biodegradability while retaining its pharmacological potency. This proof of concept study provides an approach for the rational redesign of a given pharmaceutical (Propranolol as an example). New derivatives with small molecular changes as compared to propranolol molecule were generated by a nontargeted photolysis process. Generated derivatives with intact drug moieties (an aromatic ring and a β-ethanolamine moiety) were further screened for aerobic biodegradability and pharmacological potency. The feasibility of the approach of redesigning an existing pharmaceutical through nontargeted generation of new derivatives with intact drug moiety and through subsequent screening was demonstrated in this study. Application of such approaches in turn might contribute to the protection of water resources in a truly sustainable manner.

Environmental pollution and kidney diseases.

PubMed

Xu, Xin; Nie, Sheng; Ding, Hanying; Hou, Fan Fan

2018-05-01

The burden of disease and death attributable to environmental pollution is becoming a public health challenge worldwide, especially in developing countries. The kidney is vulnerable to environmental pollutants because most environmental toxins are concentrated by the kidney during filtration. Given the high mortality and morbidity of kidney disease, environmental risk factors and their effect on kidney disease need to be identified. In this Review, we highlight epidemiological evidence for the association between kidney disease and environmental pollutants, including air pollution, heavy metal pollution and other environmental risk factors. We discuss the potential biological mechanisms that link exposure to environmental pollutants to kidney damage and emphasize the contribution of environmental pollution to kidney disease. Regulatory efforts should be made to control environmental pollution and limit individual exposure to preventable or avoidable environmental risk. Population studies with accurate quantification of environmental exposure in polluted regions, particularly in developing countries, might aid our understanding of the dose-response relationship between pollutants and kidney diseases.

Determinants of Young Australians' Environmental Actions: The Role of Responsibility Attributions, Locus of Control, Knowledge and Attitudes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fielding, Kelly S.; Head, Brian W.

2012-01-01

The current study investigates determinants of young Australians' pro-environmental intentions and actions. Two samples of young people took part in the research: 12-17-year-olds (N = 1529) currently in secondary schooling and 18-24-year-olds (N = 2192) in post-secondary schooling or workforce. All participants completed an online "Youth and…

Multinomial-Regression Modeling of the Environmental Attitudes of Higher Education Students Based on the Revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jowett, Tim; Harraway, John; Lovelock, Brent; Skeaff, Sheila; Slooten, Liz; Strack, Mick; Shephard, Kerry

2014-01-01

Higher education is increasingly interested in its impact on the sustainability attributes of its students, so we wanted to explore how our students' environmental concern changed during their higher education experiences. We used the Revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEP) with 505 students and developed and tested a multinomial…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Deshmukh, Ranjit; Wu, Grace

The MapRE (Multi-criteria Analysis for Planning Renewable Energy) GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Tools are a set of ArcGIS tools to a) conduct site suitability analysis for wind and solar resources using inclusion and exclusion criteria, and create resource maps, b) create project opportunity areas and compute various attributes such as cost, distances to existing and planned infrastructure. and environmental impact factors; and c) calculate and update various attributes for already processed renewable energy zones. In addition, MapRE data sets are geospatial data of renewable energy project opportunity areas and zones with pre-calculated attributes for several countries. These tools and datamore » are available at mapre.lbl.gov.« less

A comparison of protocols and observer precision for measuring physical stream attributes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Whitacre, H.W.; Roper, B.B.; Kershner, J.L.

2007-01-01

Stream monitoring programs commonly measure physical attributes to assess the effect of land management on stream habitat. Variability associated with the measurement of these attributes has been linked to a number of factors, but few studies have evaluated variability due to differences in protocols. We compared six protocols, five used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and one by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on six streams in Oregon and Idaho to determine whether differences in protocol affect values for 10 physical stream attributes. Results from Oregon and Idaho were combined for groups participating in both states, with significant differences in attribute means for 9 out of the 10 stream attributes. Significant differences occurred in 5 of 10 in Idaho, and 10 of 10 in Oregon. Coefficients of variation, signal-to-noise ratio, and root mean square error were used to evaluate measurement precision. There were differences among protocols for all attributes when states were analyzed separately and as a combined dataset. Measurement differences were influenced by choice of instruments, measurement method, measurement location, attribute definitions, and training approach. Comparison of data gathered by observers using different protocols will be difficult unless a core set of protocols for commonly measured stream attributes can be standardized among monitoring programs.

An exploration of the perception of time from the perspective of the Science of Unitary Human Beings.

PubMed

Ring, Marcia E

2009-01-01

What is time? The science of unitary human beings describes pandimensional reality as a domain without spatial or temporal attributes. As part of this pandimensional reality, unitary human beings experience time as passing, and involving the past, present, and future. The theory of accelerating evolution describes changes in human and environmental energy fields that are always accelerating and are manifested as differences in the experience of time as being slow, fast, and still. Time, be it measured or experienced, has no meaning in and of itself, but can only be understood in terms of the ever-evolving life process.

Natural Environment Corrosion Testing at the Kennedy Space Center Beachside Atmospheric Corrosion Test Site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calle, Luz M.

2017-01-01

This presentation will provide an overview of how NASA has been conducting corrosion testing in the Natural Marine Environment at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, U.S. The following questions will be addressed: What factors should be considered when selecting and constructing a test site? What are the attributes of a good test site? Is more severe always better? What environmental parameters should be monitored? How frequently? What factors should be considered when designing test specimens? Are current test standards sufficient? How do diurnal, annual and other fluctuations in corrosivity influence tests? How are test results interpreted? Can they be quantified?

Baseline ecological risk assessment Salmon Site, Lamar County, Mississippi

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1995-04-01

The Salmon Site (SS), formerly the Tatum Dome Test Site, located in Mississippi was the site of two nuclear and two gas explosion tests conducted between 1964 and 1970. A consequence of these testing activities is that radionuclides were released into the salt dome, where they are presently contained. During reentry drilling and other site activities, incidental liquid and solid wastes that contained radioactivity were generated, resulting in some soil, ground water and equipment contamination. As part of the remedial investigation effort, a Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment was conducted at the SS. The purpose is to gauge ecological and othermore » environmental impacts attributable to past activities at the former test facility. The results of this facility-specific baseline risk assessment are presented in this document.« less

Environment, cancer and inequalities-The urgent need for prevention.

PubMed

Vineis, Paolo; Fecht, Daniela

2018-06-11

The proportion of total deaths attributable to environmental factors is estimated to be 23% of global deaths and 22% of global disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) according to one review. These estimates encompass all environmental agents including infectious agents but excluding behavioural factors. The authors of the review also estimated that 16% (95% CI: 7-41%) of cancer deaths are attributable to environmental risk factors (and 36% [95% CI: 17-52%] for lung cancer). In this article, we focus on the reasons why epidemiology is often unable to account for the whole burden of environmental carcinogens. The experience of air pollution is particularly instructive. While in the 1970s and early 1980s, air pollution was considered as a relatively marginal exposure in terms of attributable risks, the most recent estimate is that it accounts for 7.6% of global deaths and 4.2% of global DALYs world-wide (with East and South Asia accounting for 59% of the total). According to a review, ambient fine particulate matter air pollution contributed to 17.1% of ischaemic heart disease, 14.2% of cerebrovascular disease, 16.5% of lung cancer, 24.7% of low respiratory infections, and 27.1% of COPD mortality in 2015. Estimates for cancer as a whole are not available. The change in appreciation of the role of air pollution has been mainly due to the refinement of exposure assessment methods and the new generations of longitudinal studies. Mechanistic evidence via omic technologies is now rapidly increasing, thus lending credibility to previous epidemiological ('black box') associations. Much less is known about other environmental contaminants, some of which are widespread and pervasive, thus suggesting the need for the same rigourous methods as those applied to air pollution. Finally, a crucial issue remains inequality across different population groups, with uneven exposure to hazards and acquired susceptibilities due to multiple concomitant exposures and poorer health status. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turner, Tom; Watson, Stuart

This paper describes how the level of environmental sustainability at the Solid Waste Processing plant at Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL) Harwell was measured and improved. It provides reasons to improve environmental performance in an organisation, states best practice on how improvement should be conducted, and gives first-hand experience on how changes were implemented. In this paper sustainability is defined as 'meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. A baseline for environmental sustainability was created, by looking at multiple attributes. From this, a matrix was created to show howmore » the baseline environmental performance compared to best practice, and a gap analysis was performed. Results from this analysis showed areas for potential systematic improvement, and actions were created. Nearly all actions were implemented within one year, and environmental sustainability improved significantly. Most improvements cost no money to implement, and the few that did had to pass criteria in a business case. Results from a company-wide survey showed that the vast majority of employees felt that environmental issues were important, and that they were willing to help improve performance. Environmental awareness training was given to everyone in the department, and individuals were given measurable improvement targets. A focus group was set up and met regularly to agree improvements and monitor results. Environmental performance was publicised regularly to highlight successes and seek further engagement and improvement. Improvement ideas were encouraged and managed in a transparent way which showed clear prioritisation and accountability. The culture of environmental improvement changed visibly and results at the end of the first year showed that electricity consumption had reduced by 12.5%, and gas consumption had reduced by 7.3%. In less than two years over UK Pound 60,000 was saved on utility bills in the Waste Processing Plant. (authors)« less

Light-Duty Diesel Vehicles: Efficiency and Emissions Attributes and Market Issues

EIA Publications

2009-01-01

This report responds to a request from Senator Jeff Sessions for an analysis of the environmental and energy efficiency attributes of light-duty diesel vehicles. Specifically, the inquiry asked for a comparison of the characteristics of diesel-fueled vehicles with those of similar gasoline-fueled, E85-fueled, and hybrid vehicles, as well as a discussion of any technical, economic, regulatory, or other obstacles to increasing the use of diesel-fueled vehicles in the United States

Geographical Gradients in Argentinean Terrestrial Mammal Species Richness and Their Environmental Correlates

PubMed Central

Márquez, Ana L.; Real, Raimundo; Kin, Marta S.; Guerrero, José Carlos; Galván, Betina; Barbosa, A. Márcia; Olivero, Jesús; Palomo, L. Javier; Vargas, J. Mario; Justo, Enrique

2012-01-01

We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR) in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables) and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM)) influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate. We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT) that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity. PMID:23028254

Human Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocytes: An Alternative ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Chemical spills and associated deaths in the US has increased 2.6-fold and 16-fold from 1983 to 2012, respectfully. In addition, the number of chemicals to which humans are exposed to in the environment has increased almost 10-fold from 2001 to 2013 within the US. Internationally, a WHO report on the global composite impact of chemicals on health reported that 16% of the total burden of cardiovascular disease was attributed to environmental chemical exposure with 2.5 million deaths per year. Clearly, the cardiovascular system, at all its various developmental and life stages, represents a critical target organ system that can be adversely affected by existing and emerging chemicals (e.g., engineered nanomaterials) in a variety of environmental media. The ability to assess chemical cardiac risk and safety is critically needed but extremely challenging due to the number and categories of chemicals in commerce, as indicated. This presentation\\session will evaluate the use of adult human stem cell derived cardiomyocytes, and existing platforms, as an alternative model to evaluate environmental chemical cardiac toxicity as well as provide key information for the development of predictive adverse outcomes pathways associated with environmental chemical exposures. (This abstract does not represent EPA policy) Rapid and translatable chemical safety screening models for cardiotoxicity current status for informing regulatory decisions, a workshop sponsored by the Society

Heritability of circulating growth factors involved in the angiogenesis in healthy human population.

PubMed

Pantsulaia, I; Trofimov, S; Kobyliansky, E; Livshits, G

2004-09-21

The present study examined the extent of genetic and environmental influences on the populational variation of circulating growth factors (VEGF, EGF) involved in angiogenesis in healthy and ethnically homogeneous Caucasian families. The plasma levels of each of the studied biochemical indices were determined by enzyme-linked immunoassay in 478 healthy individuals aged 18-75 years. Quantitative genetic analysis showed that the VEGF and EGF variation was appreciably attributable to genetic effects, with heritability estimates of 79.9% and 48.4%, respectively. Yet, common environmental factors, shared by members of the same household, also played a significant role (P < 0.01) and explained between 20.1% and 32.6% of the variation. The present study additionally examined the covariations between these molecules and either transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) or tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1), likewise relevant for angiogenesis. Bivariate analysis revealed significant phenotypic correlations (P < 0.002) between all pairs of variables, thus indicating the possible existence of common genetic and environmental factors. The analysis suggested that the pleiotropic genetic effects were consistently the primary (or even the sole) source of correlation between all pairs of studied molecules. The results of our study affirm the existence of specific and common genetic pathways that commonly determine the greater part of the circulating variation of these molecules.

Aesthetic Experiences in the Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna): Contributions to Environmental Education Practice and Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iared, Valéria Ghisloti; Torres de Oliveira, Haydée; Reid, Alan

2017-01-01

In this paper, we reflect on a study in Brazil's Cerrado that attempts to address a lack of attention to an aesthetic dimension in environmental education practice and research. We start by tracing this lack to the overvaluing of the cognitive sphere in the educational process, noting its echo in the low aesthetic value attributed to the Cerrado…

Determinants of total and available phosphorus in forested Alfisols and Ultisols of the Ozark Highlands, USA

Treesearch

Gurbir Singh; Keith W. Goyne; John M. Kabrick

2015-01-01

Phosphorus is an important nutrient limiting forest growth in many parts of world, and soil P forms and concentrations may be associated with a host of soil and environmental attributes in a complex soil landscape. The objective of this study was to identify key environmental and soil properties influencing total and available soil P concentrations in a mixed oak (

Emission & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) is an integrated source of data on environmental characteristics of electric power generation. Twelve federal databases are represented by eGRID, which provides air emission and resource mix information for thousands of power plants and generating companies. eGRID allows direct comparison of the environmental attributes of electricity from different plants, companies, States, or regions of the power grid.

Toward Identifying the Next Generation of Superfund and Hazardous Waste Site Contaminants

PubMed Central

Ela, Wendell P.; Sedlak, David L.; Barlaz, Morton A.; Henry, Heather F.; Muir, Derek C.G.; Swackhamer, Deborah L.; Weber, Eric J.; Arnold, Robert G.; Ferguson, P. Lee; Field, Jennifer A.; Furlong, Edward T.; Giesy, John P.; Halden, Rolf U.; Henry, Tala; Hites, Ronald A.; Hornbuckle, Keri C.; Howard, Philip H.; Luthy, Richard G.; Meyer, Anita K.; Sáez, A. Eduardo; vom Saal, Frederick S.; Vulpe, Chris D.; Wiesner, Mark R.

2011-01-01

Background This commentary evolved from a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences titled “Superfund Contaminants: The Next Generation” held in Tucson, Arizona, in August 2009. All the authors were workshop participants. Objectives Our aim was to initiate a dynamic, adaptable process for identifying contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that are likely to be found in future hazardous waste sites, and to identify the gaps in primary research that cause uncertainty in determining future hazardous waste site contaminants. Discussion Superfund-relevant CECs can be characterized by specific attributes: They are persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic, occur in large quantities, and have localized accumulation with a likelihood of exposure. Although still under development and incompletely applied, methods to quantify these attributes can assist in winnowing down the list of candidates from the universe of potential CECs. Unfortunately, significant research gaps exist in detection and quantification, environmental fate and transport, health and risk assessment, and site exploration and remediation for CECs. Addressing these gaps is prerequisite to a preventive approach to generating and managing hazardous waste sites. Conclusions A need exists for a carefully considered and orchestrated expansion of programmatic and research efforts to identify, evaluate, and manage CECs of hazardous waste site relevance, including developing an evolving list of priority CECs, intensifying the identification and monitoring of likely sites of present or future accumulation of CECs, and implementing efforts that focus on a holistic approach to prevention. PMID:21205582

Spatially distributed modeling of soil organic carbon across China with improved accuracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qi-quan; Zhang, Hao; Jiang, Xin-ye; Luo, Youlin; Wang, Chang-quan; Yue, Tian-xiang; Li, Bing; Gao, Xue-song

2017-06-01

There is a need for more detailed spatial information on soil organic carbon (SOC) for the accurate estimation of SOC stock and earth system models. As it is effective to use environmental factors as auxiliary variables to improve the prediction accuracy of spatially distributed modeling, a combined method (HASM_EF) was developed to predict the spatial pattern of SOC across China using high accuracy surface modeling (HASM), artificial neural network (ANN), and principal component analysis (PCA) to introduce land uses, soil types, climatic factors, topographic attributes, and vegetation cover as predictors. The performance of HASM_EF was compared with ordinary kriging (OK), OK, and HASM combined, respectively, with land uses and soil types (OK_LS and HASM_LS), and regression kriging combined with land uses and soil types (RK_LS). Results showed that HASM_EF obtained the lowest prediction errors and the ratio of performance to deviation (RPD) presented the relative improvements of 89.91%, 63.77%, 55.86%, and 42.14%, respectively, compared to the other four methods. Furthermore, HASM_EF generated more details and more realistic spatial information on SOC. The improved performance of HASM_EF can be attributed to the introduction of more environmental factors, to explicit consideration of the multicollinearity of selected factors and the spatial nonstationarity and nonlinearity of relationships between SOC and selected factors, and to the performance of HASM and ANN. This method may play a useful tool in providing more precise spatial information on soil parameters for global modeling across large areas.

Feasibility study on sensor data fusion for the CP-140 aircraft: fusion architecture analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahbazian, Elisa

1995-09-01

Loral Canada completed (May 1995) a Department of National Defense (DND) Chief of Research and Development (CRAD) contract, to study the feasibility of implementing a multi- sensor data fusion (MSDF) system onboard the CP-140 Aurora aircraft. This system is expected to fuse data from: (a) attributed measurement oriented sensors (ESM, IFF, etc.); (b) imaging sensors (FLIR, SAR, etc.); (c) tracking sensors (radar, acoustics, etc.); (d) data from remote platforms (data links); and (e) non-sensor data (intelligence reports, environmental data, visual sightings, encyclopedic data, etc.). Based on purely theoretical considerations a central-level fusion architecture will lead to a higher performance fusion system. However, there are a number of systems and fusion architecture issues involving fusion of such dissimilar data: (1) the currently existing sensors are not designed to provide the type of data required by a fusion system; (2) the different types (attribute, imaging, tracking, etc.) of data may require different degree of processing, before they can be used within a fusion system efficiently; (3) the data quality from different sensors, and more importantly from remote platforms via the data links must be taken into account before fusing; and (4) the non-sensor data may impose specific requirements on the fusion architecture (e.g. variable weight/priority for the data from different sensors). This paper presents the analyses performed for the selection of the fusion architecture for the enhanced sensor suite planned for the CP-140 aircraft in the context of the mission requirements and environmental conditions.

Combat Exposure Severity as a Moderator of Genetic and Environmental Liability to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

PubMed Central

Wolf, Erika J.; Mitchell, Karen S.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Miller, Mark W.

2014-01-01

Background Twin studies of veterans and adults suggest that approximately 30–46% of the variance in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is attributable to genetic factors. The remaining variance is attributable to the non-shared environment, which, by definition, includes combat exposure. This study used a gene by measured environment twin design to examine if the effect of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the etiology PTSD were dependent on level of combat exposure. Methods The sample was drawn from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry and included 620 male-male twin pairs who served in the U.S. Military in South East Asia during the Vietnam War era. Analyses were based on data from a clinical diagnostic interview of lifetime PTSD symptoms and a self-report measure of combat exposure. Results Biometric modeling revealed that the effect of genetic and non-shared environment factors on PTSD varied as a function of level of combat exposure such that the association between these factors and PTSD was stronger at higher levels of combat exposure. Conclusions Combat exposure may act as a catalyst that augments the impact of hereditary and environmental contributions to PTSD. Individuals with the greatest exposure to combat trauma were at increased risk for PTSD as a function of both genetic and other environmental factors. Additional work is needed to determine the biological and environmental mechanisms driving these associations. PMID:24001428

Combat exposure severity as a moderator of genetic and environmental liability to post-traumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Wolf, E J; Mitchell, K S; Koenen, K C; Miller, M W

2014-05-01

Twin studies of veterans and adults suggest that approximately 30-46% of the variance in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is attributable to genetic factors. The remaining variance is attributable to the non-shared environment, which, by definition, includes combat exposure. This study used a gene by measured environment twin design to determine whether the effects of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the etiology of PTSD are dependent on the level of combat exposure. The sample was drawn from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry (VETR) and included 620 male-male twin pairs who served in the US Military in South East Asia during the Vietnam War era. Analyses were based on data from a clinical diagnostic interview of lifetime PTSD symptoms and a self-report measure of combat exposure. Biometric modeling revealed that the effects of genetic and non-shared environment factors on PTSD varied as a function of level of combat exposure such that the association between these factors and PTSD was stronger at higher levels of combat exposure. Combat exposure may act as a catalyst that augments the impact of hereditary and environmental contributions to PTSD. Individuals with the greatest exposure to combat trauma were at increased risk for PTSD as a function of both genetic and environmental factors. Additional work is needed to determine the biological and environmental mechanisms driving these associations.

Cross-sectional associations of objectively assessed neighbourhood attributes with depressive symptoms in older adults of an ultra-dense urban environment: the Hong Kong ALECS study

PubMed Central

Zhang, Casper J P; Barnett, Anthony; Sit, Cindy H P; Lai, Poh-chin; Johnston, Janice M; Lee, Ruby S Y; Cerin, Ester

2018-01-01

Objectives This study aimed to examine the associations between objectively assessed neighbourhood environmental attributes and depressive symptoms in Hong Kong Chinese older adults and the moderating effects of neighbourhood environmental attributes on the associations between living arrangements and depressive symptoms. Design Cross-sectional observational study. Setting Hong Kong. Participants 909 Hong Kong Chinese community dwellers aged 65+ years residing in preselected areas stratified by walkability and socioeconomic status. Exposure and outcome measures Attributes of participants’ neighbourhood environment were objectively assessed using geographic information systems and environmental audits. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Geriatric Depression Scale. Results Overall, pedestrian infrastructure (OR=1.025; P=0.008), connectivity (OR=1.039; P=0.002) and prevalence of public transport stops (OR=1.056; P=0.012) were positively associated with the odds of reporting depressive symptoms. Older adults living alone were at higher risk of reporting any depressive symptoms than those living with others (OR=1.497; P=0.039). This association was moderated by neighbourhood crowdedness, perceptible pollution, access to destinations and presence of people. Residing in neighbourhoods with lower levels of these attributes was associated with increased deleterious effects of living alone. Living in neighbourhoods with lower public transport density also increased the deleterious effects of living alone on the number of depressive symptoms. Those living alone and residing in neighbourhoods with higher levels of connectivity tended to report more depressive symptoms than their counterparts. Conclusions The level of access to destinations and social networks across Hong Kong may be sufficiently high to reduce the risk of depressive symptoms in older adults. Yet, exposure to extreme levels of public transport density and associated traffic volumes may increase the risk of depressive symptoms. The provision of good access to a variety of destinations, public transport and public open spaces for socialising in the neighbourhood may help reduce the risk of depressive symptoms in older adults who live alone. PMID:29581207

Acute Gastrointestinal Illness Risks in North Carolina Community Water Systems: A Methodological Comparison.

PubMed

DeFelice, Nicholas B; Johnston, Jill E; Gibson, Jacqueline MacDonald

2015-08-18

The magnitude and spatial variability of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) cases attributable to microbial contamination of U.S. community drinking water systems are not well characterized. We compared three approaches (drinking water attributable risk, quantitative microbial risk assessment, and population intervention model) to estimate the annual number of emergency department visits for AGI attributable to microorganisms in North Carolina community water systems. All three methods used 2007-2013 water monitoring and emergency department data obtained from state agencies. The drinking water attributable risk method, which was the basis for previous U.S. Environmental Protection Agency national risk assessments, estimated that 7.9% of annual emergency department visits for AGI are attributable to microbial contamination of community water systems. However, the other methods' estimates were more than 2 orders of magnitude lower, each attributing 0.047% of annual emergency department visits for AGI to community water system contamination. The differences in results between the drinking water attributable risk method, which has been the main basis for previous national risk estimates, and the other two approaches highlight the need to improve methods for estimating endemic waterborne disease risks, in order to prioritize investments to improve community drinking water systems.

Technological variability in the Late Palaeolithic lithic industries of the Egyptian Nile Valley: The case of the Silsilian and Afian industries

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

During the Nubia Salvage Campaign and the subsequent expeditions from the 1960’s to the 1980’s, numerous sites attributed to the Late Palaeolithic (~25–15 ka) were found in the Nile Valley, particularly in Nubia and Upper Egypt. This region is one of the few to have allowed human occupations during the dry Marine Isotope Stage 2 and is therefore key to understanding how human populations adapted to environmental changes at this time. This paper focuses on two sites located in Upper Egypt, excavated by the Combined Prehistoric Expedition: E71K18, attributed to the Afian industry and E71K20, attributed to the Silsilian industry. It aims to review the geomorphological and chronological evidence of the sites, present a technological analysis of the lithic assemblages in order to provide data that can be used in detailed comparative studies, which will allow discussion of technological variability in the Late Palaeolithic of the Nile Valley and its place within the regional context. The lithic analysis relies on the chaîne opératoire concept combined with an attribute analysis to allow quantification. This study (1) casts doubts on the chronology of E71K18 and related Afian industry, which could be older or younger than previously suggested, highlights (2) distinct technological characteristics for the Afian and the Silsilian, as well as (3) similar technological characteristics which allow to group them under a same broad techno-cultural complex, distinct from those north or south of the area. PMID:29281660

Attribution-Based Nocebo Effects. Perceived Effects of a Placebo Pill and a Sham Magnetic Field on Cognitive Performance and Somatic Symptoms.

PubMed

Szemerszky, Renáta; Dömötör, Zsuzsanna; Berkes, Tímea; Köteles, Ferenc

2016-04-01

Negative non-specific (nocebo-like) effects of medications and electromagnetic fields are often described as results of mistaken attribution. The current study aimed to find empirical evidence supporting this theory. Participants completed questionnaires assessing modern health worries, health anxiety, and somatosensory amplification, were assigned to one of three conditions (placebo pill with sedative information, sham magnetic field, or control), and completed a 14-min vigilance task. Changes in physiological arousal (heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance) and reported symptoms were also measured. Finally, causal attributions concerning cognitive performance and reported symptoms were assessed. No increase in symptom reports and physiological arousal was measured in the two intervention groups. A perceived negative effect on cognitive performance was attributed to both sham conditions, and attributions were connected to modern health worries. A proportion of reported symptoms was ascribed to the placebo pill but not to the sham magnetic field. Symptom attributions were not related to any assessed psychological variables. An aroused physiological state is not necessary for the automatic causal attribution process. Negative effects attributed to medication and environmental factors can be regarded as unavoidable side effects of human cognitive-emotional functioning; they might be alleviated, but cannot be completely eradicated.

Annual environmental monitoring report of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schleimer, G.E.

1983-04-01

In order to establish whether LBL research activities produces any impact on the population surrounding the Laboratory, a program of environmental air and water sampling and continuous radiation monitoring was carried on throughout the year. For 1982, as in the previous several years, doses attributable to LBL radiological operations were a small fraction of the relevant radiation protection guidelines (RPG). The maximum perimeter dose equivalent was less than or equal to 24.0 mrem (the 1982 dose equivalent measured at the Building 88 monitoring station B-13A, about 5% of the RPG). The total population dose equivalent attributable to LBL operations duringmore » 1982 was less than or equal to 16 man-rem, about 0.002% of the RPG of 170 mrem/person to a suitable sample of the population.« less

Effects of geomorphology, habitat, and spatial location on fish assemblages in a watershed in Ohio, USA.

PubMed

D'Ambrosio, Jessica L; Williams, Lance R; Witter, Jonathan D; Ward, Andy

2009-01-01

In this paper, we evaluate relationships between in-stream habitat, water chemistry, spatial distribution within a predominantly agricultural Midwestern watershed and geomorphic features and fish assemblage attributes and abundances. Our specific objectives were to: (1) identify and quantify key environmental variables at reach and system wide (watershed) scales; and (2) evaluate the relative influence of those environmental factors in structuring and explaining fish assemblage attributes at reach scales to help prioritize stream monitoring efforts and better incorporate all factors that influence aquatic biology in watershed management programs. The original combined data set consisted of 31 variables measured at 32 sites, which was reduced to 9 variables through correlation and linear regression analysis: stream order, percent wooded riparian zone, drainage area, in-stream cover quality, substrate quality, gradient, cross-sectional area, width of the flood prone area, and average substrate size. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and variance partitioning were used to relate environmental variables to fish species abundance and assemblage attributes. Fish assemblages and abundances were explained best by stream size, gradient, substrate size and quality, and percent wooded riparian zone. Further data are needed to investigate why water chemistry variables had insignificant relationships with IBI scores. Results suggest that more quantifiable variables and consideration of spatial location of a stream reach within a watershed system should be standard data incorporated into stream monitoring programs to identify impairments that, while biologically limiting, are not fully captured or elucidated using current bioassessment methods.

Human and animal salmonellosis in Scotland associated with environmental contamination, 1973-79.

PubMed

Reilly, W J; Forbes, G I; Paterson, G M; Sharp, J C

1981-06-27

Twenty-six incidents of salmonellosis occurring in Scotland between 1973 and 1979 and attributed to environmental pollution are reviewed. The apparent sources of pollution were sewage effluent (10 incidents), septic tank effluent (eight), sewage sludge (three), seagulls (three) and abattoir effluents (two). Cattle were the species predominantly affected. Human infection was primary in three incidents and was secondary to bovine infection in another four. Thirteen salmonella serotypes were recovered from infected humans or animals and 17 during related environmental investigations. The factors causing pollutions and possible control measures are discussed.

What Women Think: Cancer Causal Attributions in a Diverse Sample of Women

PubMed Central

Rodríguez, Vivian M.; Gyure, Maria E.; Corona, Rosalie; Bodurtha, Joann N.; Bowen, Deborah J.; Quillin, John M.

2014-01-01

Women hold diverse beliefs about cancer etiology, potentially affecting their use of cancer preventive behaviors. To date, research has greatly focused on the causal attributions cancer patients and survivors hold about cancer, and studies have been conducted primarily with White participants. Less is known about causal attributions held by women with and without a family history of cancer from a diverse community sample. This study sought to identify cancer causal attributions of women with and without a family history of cancer, and explore its relation to socio-cultural factors. Diverse women (60% African-American) recruited at an urban, safety-net women's health clinic (N=471) reported factors they believed cause cancer. Responses were coded into nine attributions and analyzed using chi-squares and logistic regressions. Lifestyle-choices (63%), genetics/heredity (34%), and environmental-exposures (19%) were the top causal attributions identified. Women without a family history of cancer were more likely to identify genetics/heredity as an attribution for cancer than women with a history of cancer in their families. Women who identified as White, who had a higher educational attainment, and had commercial insurance were more likely to report genetics/heredity as a causal attribution for cancer. These findings suggest that socio-cultural factors may play a role in the causal attributions individuals make about cancer, which can, in turn, inform cancer awareness and prevention messages. PMID:25398057

Environmental behavior of benalaxyl and furalaxyl enantiomers in agricultural soils.

PubMed

Qin, Fang; Gao, Yong X; Guo, Bao Y; Xu, Peng; Li, Jian Z; Wang, Hui L

2014-01-01

The enantioselective environmental behavior of the chiral fungicides benalaxy and furalaxyl in agricultural soils in China was studied. Although sorption onto soils was non-enantioselective, the leaching of benalaxy and furalaxyl was enantioselective in soil columns. The concentrations of the S-enantiomers of both fungicides in the leachates were higher than the R-enantiomers. This can be attributed to enantioselective degradation of the two fungicides in the soil column. Enantioselective degradation of the two fungicides was verified by soil dissipation experiments, and the R-enantiomers degraded faster than the S-enantiomers in partial soils. The half-life was 27.7-57.8 days for S-benalaxyl, 20.4-53.3 days for R-benalaxyl, 19.3-49.5 days for S-furalaxyl and 11.4-34.7 days for R-furalaxyl. The degradation process of the two fungicide enantiomers followed the first-order kinetics (R(2) > 0.96). Compared to furalaxyl, benalaxyl degraded more slowly and degradation was less enantioselective. These results are attributed to the influence of soil physicochemical properties, soil microorganisms, and environmental factors.

Integrated farm sustainability assessment for the environmental management of rural activities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stachetii Rodrigues, Geraldo, E-mail: stacheti@cnpma.embrapa.b; Aparecida Rodrigues, Izilda, E-mail: isis@cnpma.embrapa.b; Almeida Buschinelli, Claudio Cesar de, E-mail: buschi@cnpma.embrapa.b

2010-07-15

Farmers have been increasingly called upon to respond to an ongoing redefinition in consumers' demands, having as a converging theme the search for sustainable production practices. In order to satisfy this objective, instruments for the environmental management of agricultural activities have been sought out. Environmental impact assessment methods are appropriate tools to address the choice of technologies and management practices to minimize negative effects of agricultural development, while maximizing productive efficiency, sound usage of natural resources, conservation of ecological assets and equitable access to wealth generation means. The 'system for weighted environmental impact assessment of rural activities' (APOIA-NovoRural) presented inmore » this paper is organized to provide integrated farm sustainability assessment according to quantitative environmental standards and defined socio-economic benchmarks. The system integrates sixty-two objective indicators in five sustainability dimensions - (i) Landscape ecology, (ii) Environmental quality (atmosphere, water and soil), (iii) Sociocultural values, (iv) Economic values, and (v) Management and administration. Impact indices are expressed in three integration levels: (i) specific indicators, that offer a diagnostic and managerial tool for farmers and rural administrators, by pointing out particular attributes of the rural activities that may be failing to comply with defined environmental performance objectives; (ii) integrated sustainability dimensions, that show decision-makers the major contributions of the rural activities toward local sustainable development, facilitating the definition of control actions and promotion measures; and (iii) aggregated sustainability index, that can be considered a yardstick for eco-certification purposes. Nine fully documented case studies carried out with the APOIA-NovoRural system, focusing on different scales, diverse rural activities/farming systems, and contrasting spatial/territorial contexts, attest to the malleability of the method and its applicability as an integrated farm environmental management tool.« less

Biofilms.

PubMed

López, Daniel; Vlamakis, Hera; Kolter, Roberto

2010-07-01

The ability to form biofilms is a universal attribute of bacteria. Biofilms are multicellular communities held together by a self-produced extracellular matrix. The mechanisms that different bacteria employ to form biofilms vary, frequently depending on environmental conditions and specific strain attributes. In this review, we emphasize four well-studied model systems to give an overview of how several organisms form biofilms: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Using these bacteria as examples, we discuss the key features of biofilms as well as mechanisms by which extracellular signals trigger biofilm formation.

Public Awareness of Remanufactured Products in Yangtze River Delta of China: Present Status, Problems and Recommendations.

PubMed

Cao, Jian; Chen, Xihui; Zhang, Xueping; Gao, Yanchen; Zhang, Xuemei; Zhao, Yunwen; Yang, Xiaoli; Xu, Jiayang; Zhou, Gengui; Schnoor, Jerald L

2018-06-07

Exponential increase of used and scrapped products has aroused worldwide attention, with various coping strategies regarding environmental protection and resource reutilization being considered and implemented. Among these, remanufacturing, processing used products environmentally and restoring them to like-new conditions, is preferred by nations around the world. China has been committed to developing and advancing the remanufacturing industry along with its products since 2013, however only a few residents are able to recognize and purchase remanufactured products at the present time. This paper aims to investigate the public awareness of Chinese residents on these emerging products by conducting a questionnaire survey and field research for data collection, and analyzing the results statistically. Results show that most Chinese residents are not familiar with remanufactured products, the superior attributes of such products, or the channels available to purchase them. This could be explained by insufficient publicity and promotion on the part of the government and business enterprises. Factors influencing the purchase intentions of customers are illuminated and potential problems are summarized, in response to which, respective recommendations are provided for both policy makers and firms to popularize remanufactured products.

Who's Responsible? Media Framing of Pediatric Environmental Health and Mothers' Perceptions of Accountability.

PubMed

Mello, Susan; Tan, Andy S L

2016-12-01

How the media frames issues of environmental health may affect mothers' views of who is responsible for addressing environmental risks to pediatric health and, ultimately, their protective behaviors. This article describes how information-oriented media sources attribute responsibility for such risks and examines associations between mothers' routine media exposure, or scanning, and perceptions of responsibility. First, a content analysis was conducted on a sample of 474 media stories (i.e., Associated Press, parenting magazines, and websites) about childhood exposure to environmental chemicals over a 6-month period (September 2012-February 2013). We found that media stories attributed responsibility most frequently to parents, though significant differences were observed across media sources, such that websites focused more on parents and general news more on government agencies and manufacturers. Next, we conducted an online survey of mothers (N = 819) and revealed that website scanning during the prior 6 months was significantly associated with perceived personal responsibility, even after we adjusted for potential confounders. Scanning general news was also significantly associated with perceived government and manufacturer responsibility. Understanding media framing of these issues highlights opportunities for health communicators to offset pressure placed on mothers by encouraging greater social and policy support in and exposure to certain media.

Who’s responsible? Media framing of pediatric environmental health and mothers’ perceptions of accountability

PubMed Central

Mello, Susan; Tan, Andy S.L.

2017-01-01

How the media frames issues of environmental health may affect mothers’ views of who is responsible for addressing environmental risks to pediatric health, and ultimately, their protective behaviors. This article describes how information-oriented media sources attribute responsibility for such risks and examines associations between mothers’ routine media exposure, or scanning, and perceptions of responsibility. First, a content analysis was conducted with a sample of 474 media stories (i.e., Associated Press (AP), parenting magazines and websites) about childhood exposures to environmental chemicals over a 6-month period (September 2012 – February 2013). We found that media stories attributed responsibility most frequently to parents, though significant differences were observed across media sources such that websites focused more on parents and general news more on government agencies and manufacturers. Next, we conducted an online survey of mothers (n = 819) and revealed website scanning during the prior 6 months was significantly associated with perceived personal responsibility, even after adjusting for potential confounders. Scanning general news was also significantly associated with perceived government and manufacturer responsibility. Understanding media framing of these issues highlights opportunities for health communicators to offset pressure placed on mothers by encouraging greater social and policy support in and exposure to certain media. PMID:27858529

Are perceptions of the local environment related to neighbourhood satisfaction and mental health in adults?

PubMed

Leslie, Eva; Cerin, Ester

2008-09-01

Perceptions of environmental attributes can influence satisfaction with where people live and mental health status. We examined the association between perceived environmental characteristics, neighbourhood satisfaction, and self-rated mental health. We report cross-sectional data from the Physical Activity in Localities and Community Environments (PLACE) study in Australia (n=2194). Self-report data included socio-demographics, perceived attributes of the environment, neighbourhood satisfaction (NS) and mental health status. Neighbourhood SES was obtained through census data. Factor analysis was used to identify dimensions of NS. Generalized linear models were used to examine associations between NS and perceived environment characteristics and whether aspects of NS were independently associated with mental health. NS factors identified were safety and walkability, access to destinations, social network, travel network, and traffic and noise. Perceived environmental characteristics of aesthetics and greenery, land use mix--diversity, street connectivity, traffic safety, infrastructure for walking, access to services and barriers to walking were found to be positively associated with these factors. Traffic load and crime were negatively associated. Three NS factors (safety and walkability, social network, and traffic and noise) were independent predictors of mental health. Neighbourhood satisfaction may mediate the association between perceived environmental characteristics and measures of mental health in adults.

EnviroAtlas - Phoenix, AZ - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 2,434 block groups in Phoenix, Arizona. Carbon attributes, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. Temperature reduction values for Phoenix will be added when they become available. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

Modelling Urban Noise in Citygml Ade: Case of the Netherlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, K.; Ledoux, H.; Commandeur, T. J. F.; Stoter, J. E.

2017-10-01

Road traffic and industrial noise has become a major source of discomfort and annoyance among the residents in urban areas. More than 44 % of the EU population is regularly exposed to road traffic noise levels over 55 dB, which is currently the maximum accepted value prescribed by the Environmental Noise Directive for road traffic noise. With continuously increasing population and number of motor vehicles and industries, it is very unlikely to hope for noise levels to diminish in the near future. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor urban noise, so as to make mitigation plans and to deal with its adverse effects. The 2002/49/EC Environmental Noise Directive aims to determine the exposure of an individual to environmental noise through noise mapping. One of the most important steps in noise mapping is the creation of input data for simulation. At present, it is done semi-automatically (and sometimes even manually) by different companies in different ways and is very time consuming and can lead to errors in the data. In this paper, we present our approach for automatically creating input data for noise simulations. Secondly, we focus on using 3D city models for presenting the results of simulation for the noise arising from road traffic and industrial activities in urban areas. We implemented a few noise modelling standards for industrial and road traffic noise in CityGML by extending the existing Noise ADE with new objects and attributes. This research is a steping stone in the direction of standardising the input and output data for noise studies and for reconstructing the 3D data accordingly.

Etiology of homosexuality and attitudes toward same-sex parenting: a randomized study.

PubMed

Frias-Navarro, Dolores; Monterde-I-Bort, Hector; Pascual-Soler, Marcos; Badenes-Ribera, Laura

2015-01-01

Attribution theory suggests the hypothesis that heterosexuals' attitudes toward homosexual sexual orientation will be more negative when homosexuality is attributed to controllable causes. Our randomized study analyzed (a) whether beliefs about the genetic or environmental etiology of the homosexual sexual orientation can be immediately modified by reading a text and (b) the causal effect of attributions about the controllability (environmental etiology) or noncontrollability (genetic etiology) of homosexual sexual orientation on the rejection of same-sex parenting and their social rights. The sample was composed of 190 Spanish university students with a mean age of 22.07 years (SD = 8.46). The results show that beliefs about the etiology of the sexual orientation could be modified by means of a written text. Furthermore, participants who believed that sexual orientation had a genetic etiology showed greater support for social rights and less rejection of same-sex parenting. However, the effects were detected only when there was a traditional opposition to the family with same-sex parenting. When the opposition was normative, the effect was not statistically significant. Our results can be useful in planning variables for intervention programs designed to foster tolerance toward and normality of sexual diversity.

Issues and framework of environmental health in Malaysia.

PubMed

Mokhtar, Mazlin Bin; Murad, Wahid

2010-04-01

Environmental health problems in Malaysia are mostly attributed to atmospheric pollution, water pollution, climate change, ozone depletion, and solid waste management, as well as toxic, chemical, and hazardous waste management. The Ministry of Health, Malaysia, has been vigorously pursuing the environmental health agenda by collaborating with other agencies at district, state, national, and international levels. This article discusses the issues and management framework of environmental health in Malaysia. Some issues requiring further investigation in order to clearly understand the trade-off between atmospheric change and environmental health are suggested. These suggestions are developed with particular reference to appraisals concerned with the development and implementation of environmental policy, programs, and practice. Research on the relevant issues is discussed and a framework is built involving a comprehensive review of the literature and existing framework of Malaysian environmental health.

Estimation of subgrade resilient modulus using the unconfined compression test.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-11-01

To facilitate pavement design, the new proposed mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide recommends the resilient : modulus to characterize subgrade soil and its use for calculating pavement responses attributable to traffic and environmental : lo...

76 FR 4113 - Federal Procurement Data System Product Service Code Manual Update

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-24

... reported in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). GSA, which maintains the PSC Manual, is in the... codes as necessary, and adding environmental/sustainability attributes required for reporting to the...

Key attributes of ecological production functions

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological production functions (EPFs) link ecosystems, stressors, and management actions to ecosystem service (ES) production. Though essential for improving environmental management, relatively little attention has been directed toward the characteristics of EPFs. EPFs may be d...

Application environmental epidemiology to vehicular air pollution and health effects research

PubMed Central

Patil, Rajan R.; Chetlapally, Satish Kumar; Bagvandas, M.

2015-01-01

Vehicular pollution is one of the major contributors to the air pollution in urban areas and perhaps and accounts for the major share of anthropogenic green-house gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides. Knowledge of human health risks related to environmental exposure to vehicular pollution is a current concern. Analyze the range health effects are attributed varied constituents of vehicular air pollution examine evidence for a causal association to specific health effect. In many instances scenario involves exposure to very low doses of putative agents for extended periods, sometimes the period could mean over a lifetime of an individual and yet may result in small increase in health risk that may be imperceptible. Secondary data analysis and literature review. In environmental exposures, traditional epidemiological approaches evaluating mortality and morbidity indicators display many limiting factors such as nonspecificity of biological effects latency time between exposure and magnitude of the effect. Long latency period between exposure and resultant disease, principally for carcinogenic effects and limitation of epidemiological studies for detecting small risk increments. The present paper discusses the methodological challenges in studying vehicular epidemiology and highlights issues that affect the validity of epidemiological studies in vehicular pollution. PMID:26023265

Altering BDNF expression by genetics and/or environment: impact for emotional and depression-like behaviour in laboratory mice.

PubMed

Chourbaji, Sabine; Brandwein, Christiane; Gass, Peter

2011-01-01

According to the "neurotrophin hypothesis", brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important candidate gene in depression. Moreover, environmental stress is known to represent a risk factor in the pathophysiology and treatment of this disease. To elucidate, whether changes of BDNF availability signify cause or consequence of depressive-like alterations, it is essential to look for endophenotypes under distinct genetic conditions (e.g. altered BDNF expression). Furthermore it is crucial to examine environment-driven BDNF regulation and its effect on depressive-linked features. Consequently, gene × environment studies investigating prospective genetic mouse models of depression in different environmental contexts become increasingly important. The present review summarizes recent findings in BDNF-mutant mice, which have been controversially discussed as models of depression and anxiety. It furthermore illustrates the potential of environment to serve as naturalistic stressor with the potential to modulate the phenotype in wildtype and mutant mice. Moreover, environment may exert protective effects by regulating BDNF levels as attributed to "environmental enrichment". The effect of this beneficial condition will also be discussed with regard to probable "curative/therapeutic" approaches. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distribution of periphytic algae in wetlands (Palm swamps, Cerrado), Brazil.

PubMed

Dunck, B; Nogueira, I S; Felisberto, S A

2013-05-01

The distribution of periphytic algae communities depends on various factors such as type of substrate, level of disturbance, nutrient availability and light. According to the prediction that impacts of anthropogenic activity provide changes in environmental characteristics, making impacted Palm swamps related to environmental changes such as deforestation and higher loads of nutrients via allochthonous, the hypothesis tested was: impacted Palm swamps have higher richness, density, biomass and biovolume of epiphytic algae. We evaluated the distribution and structure of epiphytic algae communities in 23 Palm swamps of Goiás State under different environmental impacts. The community structure attributes here analyzed were composition, richness, density, biomass and biovolume. This study revealed the importance of the environment on the distribution and structuration of algal communities, relating the higher values of richness, biomass and biovolume with impacted environments. Acidic waters and high concentration of silica were important factors in this study. Altogether 200 taxa were identified, and the zygnemaphycea was the group most representative in richness and biovolume, whereas the diatoms, in density of studied epiphyton. Impacted Palm swamps in agricultural area presented two indicator species, Gomphonema lagenula Kützing and Oedogonium sp, both related to mesotrophic to eutrophic conditions for total nitrogen concentrations of these environments.

Abstracting Attribute Space for Transfer Function Exploration and Design.

PubMed

Maciejewski, Ross; Jang, Yun; Woo, Insoo; Jänicke, Heike; Gaither, Kelly P; Ebert, David S

2013-01-01

Currently, user centered transfer function design begins with the user interacting with a one or two-dimensional histogram of the volumetric attribute space. The attribute space is visualized as a function of the number of voxels, allowing the user to explore the data in terms of the attribute size/magnitude. However, such visualizations provide the user with no information on the relationship between various attribute spaces (e.g., density, temperature, pressure, x, y, z) within the multivariate data. In this work, we propose a modification to the attribute space visualization in which the user is no longer presented with the magnitude of the attribute; instead, the user is presented with an information metric detailing the relationship between attributes of the multivariate volumetric data. In this way, the user can guide their exploration based on the relationship between the attribute magnitude and user selected attribute information as opposed to being constrained by only visualizing the magnitude of the attribute. We refer to this modification to the traditional histogram widget as an abstract attribute space representation. Our system utilizes common one and two-dimensional histogram widgets where the bins of the abstract attribute space now correspond to an attribute relationship in terms of the mean, standard deviation, entropy, or skewness. In this manner, we exploit the relationships and correlations present in the underlying data with respect to the dimension(s) under examination. These relationships are often times key to insight and allow us to guide attribute discovery as opposed to automatic extraction schemes which try to calculate and extract distinct attributes a priori. In this way, our system aids in the knowledge discovery of the interaction of properties within volumetric data.

Attribution of somatic symptoms in hypochondriasis.

PubMed

Neng, Julia M B; Weck, Florian

2015-01-01

The misinterpretation of bodily symptoms as an indicator of a serious illness is a key feature of the criteria and the cognitive-behavioural models of hypochondriasis. Previous research suggests that individuals suffering from health anxiety endorse attributions of physical disease, whereas persons with elevated general anxiety have the tendency to attribute psychological causes to their symptoms. However, whether a somatic attribution style is specific to patients with hypochondriasis, as opposed to those with anxiety disorders, has not yet been investigated and is therefore part of the present study. Fifty patients with hypochondriasis, 50 patients with a primary anxiety disorder and 50 healthy participants were presented with nine common bodily sensations and had to spontaneously attribute possible causes to the symptoms. Patients with hypochondriasis differed from patients with anxiety disorders and healthy controls in giving significantly fewer normalizing explanations, but attributing more often in terms of moderate or serious diseases. Patients with anxiety disorders also made significantly fewer normalizing attributions and more somatic attributions to a severe illness than healthy controls. There were no differences between the groups in the frequency of psychological attributions and somatic attributions concerning mild diseases. The present study demonstrates that hypochondriasis is associated with a disorder-specific attribution style connecting somatic symptoms primarily with moderate and serious diseases. By contrast, normalizing attributions are largely omitted from consideration by patients with hypochondriasis. The findings conform with the cognitive conception of hypochondriasis and support the strategy of modifying symptom attributions, as practiced in cognitive-behavioural therapy. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

When climate science became climate politics: British media representations of climate change in 1988.

PubMed

Jaspal, Rusi; Nerlich, Brigitte

2014-02-01

Climate change has become a pressing environmental concern for scientists, social commentators and politicians. Previous social science research has explored media representations of climate change in various temporal and geographical contexts. Through the lens of Social Representations Theory, this article provides a detailed qualitative thematic analysis of media representations of climate change in the 1988 British broadsheet press, given that this year constitutes an important juncture in this transition of climate change from the domain of science to that of the socio-political sphere. The following themes are outlined: (i) "Climate change: a multi-faceted threat"; (ii) "Collectivisation of threat"; (iii) "Climate change and the attribution of blame"; and (iv) "Speculative solutions to a complex socio-environmental problem." The article provides detailed empirical insights into the "starting-point" for present-day disputes concerning climate change and lays the theoretical foundations for tracking the continuities and discontinuities characterising social representations of climate change in the future.

Techno-economic feasibility and life cycle assessment of dairy effluent to renewable diesel via hydrothermal liquefaction.

PubMed

Summers, Hailey M; Ledbetter, Rhesa N; McCurdy, Alex T; Morgan, Michael R; Seefeldt, Lance C; Jena, Umakanta; Hoekman, S Kent; Quinn, Jason C

2015-11-01

The economic feasibility and environmental impact is investigated for the conversion of agricultural waste, delactosed whey permeate, through yeast fermentation to a renewable diesel via hydrothermal liquefaction. Process feasibility was demonstrated at laboratory-scale with data leveraged to validate systems models used to perform industrial-scale economic and environmental impact analyses. Results show a minimum fuel selling price of $4.78 per gallon of renewable diesel, a net energy ratio of 0.81, and greenhouse gas emissions of 30.0g-CO2-eqMJ(-1). High production costs and greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to operational temperatures and durations of both fermentation and hydrothermal liquefaction. However, high lipid yields of the yeast counter these operational demands, resulting in a favorable net energy ratio. Results are presented on the optimization of the process based on economy of scale and a sensitivity analysis highlights improvements in conversion efficiency, yeast biomass productivity and hydrotreating efficiency can dramatically improve commercial feasibility. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecological Consequences of Clonal Integration in Plants

PubMed Central

Liu, Fenghong; Liu, Jian; Dong, Ming

2016-01-01

Clonal plants are widespread throughout the plant kingdom and dominate in diverse habitats. Spatiotemporal heterogeneity of environment is pervasive at multiple scales, even at scales relevant to individual plants. Clonal integration refers to resource translocation and information communication among the ramets of clonal plants. Due to clonal integration, clonal plant species possess a series of peculiar attributes: plasticity in response to local and non-local conditions, labor division with organ specialization for acquiring locally abundant resources, foraging behavior by selective placement of ramets in resource-rich microhabitats, and avoidance of intraclonal competition. Clonal integration has very profound ecological consequences for clonal plants. It allows them to efficiently cope with environmental heterogeneity, by alleviating local resource shortages, buffering environmental stresses and disturbances, influencing competitive ability, increasing invasiveness, and altering species composition and invasibility at the community level. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of research on the ecological consequences of plant clonal integration based on a large body of literature. We also attempt to propose perspectives for future research. PMID:27446093

Determining system boundaries on commercial broiler chicken production system using ISO 14040/14044 guideline: A case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sidek, ‘A. A.; Suffian, S. A.; Al-Hazza, M. H. F.; Yusof, H. M.

2018-01-01

The demand of poultry product in Malaysia market shows an escalation throughout the year and expected to increase in the future. The expansion of poultry production has led to environmental concern in relation to their operational impact to environmentAt present, assessment of waste management of poultry production in Malaysia is lacking. A case study research was conducted in a commercial broiler farm to identify and assess the system boundaries in the lifecycle supply chain of broiler chicken production using ISO 14040/44 guidelines. ISO 14040/44 standard includes Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework guidelines to evaluate environmental influence associated with a product/process throughout its life span. All attributes associated with broiler operation is defined and the system boundaries is determined to identify possible inputs and outputs in the case study. This paper discuss the initial stage in the LCA process, which set the context of the research and prepare for the stage of Life Cycle Inventory.

Genetic Variance in Homophobia: Evidence from Self- and Peer Reports.

PubMed

Zapko-Willmes, Alexandra; Kandler, Christian

2018-01-01

The present twin study combined self- and peer assessments of twins' general homophobia targeting gay men in order to replicate previous behavior genetic findings across different rater perspectives and to disentangle self-rater-specific variance from common variance in self- and peer-reported homophobia (i.e., rater-consistent variance). We hypothesized rater-consistent variance in homophobia to be attributable to genetic and nonshared environmental effects, and self-rater-specific variance to be partially accounted for by genetic influences. A sample of 869 twins and 1329 peer raters completed a seven item scale containing cognitive, affective, and discriminatory homophobic tendencies. After correction for age and sex differences, we found most of the genetic contributions (62%) and significant nonshared environmental contributions (16%) to individual differences in self-reports on homophobia to be also reflected in peer-reported homophobia. A significant genetic component, however, was self-report-specific (38%), suggesting that self-assessments alone produce inflated heritability estimates to some degree. Different explanations are discussed.

Space station needs, attributes and architectural options study. Volume 4: Architectural options, subsystems, technology and programmatics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

Space station architectural options, habitability considerations and subsystem analyses, technology, and programmatics are reviewed. The methodology employed for conceiving and defining space station concepts is presented. As a result of this approach, architectures were conceived and along with their supporting rationale are described within this portion of the report. Habitability consideration and subsystem analyses describe the human factors associated with space station operations and includes subsections covering (1) data management, (2) communications and tracking, (3) environmental control and life support, (4) manipulator systems, (5) resupply, (6) pointing, (7) thermal management and (8) interface standardization. A consolidated matrix of subsystems technology issues as related to meeting the mission needs for a 1990's era space station is presented. Within the programmatics portion, a brief description of costing and program strategies is outlined.

Raman spectroscopy of different types of Mexican copal resins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vandenabeele, Peter; Grimaldi, Dulce Maria; Edwards, Howell G. M.; Moens, Luc

2003-08-01

Dispersive Raman spectra of six copal resins, that were purchased in local markets in Mexico, are presented. The spectra were interpreted and compared with each other. For all these spectra, the relative intensity of the Raman band at approximately 1645 cm -1, attributed to the exomethylene ν(CC) stretching vibration, was rather low, especially as fresh samples are involved. In one resin, viz. Incienso, CaCO 3 was detected. Probably this inorganic pigment was added as a whitener. In the spectrum of Lágrima a starch fraction was present. Raman spectra of a sample from an Aztec figurine were recorded. It was shown that its composition was inhomogeneous at the micrometer level. Here, too, CaCO 3 was observed. It was not possible to identify the resin applied in the antique figurine due to material degradation by age and environmental exposure.

Structure and functioning of dryland ecosystems in a changing world.

PubMed

Maestre, Fernando T; Eldridge, David J; Soliveres, Santiago; Kéfi, Sonia; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Bowker, Matthew A; García-Palacios, Pablo; Gaitán, Juan; Gallardo, Antonio; Lázaro, Roberto; Berdugo, Miguel

2016-11-01

Understanding how drylands respond to ongoing environmental change is extremely important for global sustainability. Here we review how biotic attributes, climate, grazing pressure, land cover change and nitrogen deposition affect the functioning of drylands at multiple spatial scales. Our synthesis highlights the importance of biotic attributes (e.g. species richness) in maintaining fundamental ecosystem processes such as primary productivity, illustrate how N deposition and grazing pressure are impacting ecosystem functioning in drylands worldwide, and highlight the importance of the traits of woody species as drivers of their expansion in former grasslands. We also emphasize the role of attributes such as species richness and abundance in controlling the responses of ecosystem functioning to climate change. This knowledge is essential to guide conservation and restoration efforts in drylands, as biotic attributes can be actively managed at the local scale to increase ecosystem resilience to global change.

Preliminary Model of Porphyry Copper Deposits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berger, Byron R.; Ayuso, Robert A.; Wynn, Jeffrey C.; Seal, Robert R.

2008-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Program develops mineral-deposit models for application in USGS mineral-resource assessments and other mineral resource-related activities within the USGS as well as for nongovernmental applications. Periodic updates of models are published in order to incorporate new concepts and findings on the occurrence, nature, and origin of specific mineral deposit types. This update is a preliminary model of porphyry copper deposits that begins an update process of porphyry copper models published in USGS Bulletin 1693 in 1986. This update includes a greater variety of deposit attributes than were included in the 1986 model as well as more information about each attribute. It also includes an expanded discussion of geophysical and remote sensing attributes and tools useful in resource evaluations, a summary of current theoretical concepts of porphyry copper deposit genesis, and a summary of the environmental attributes of unmined and mined deposits.

Structure and functioning of dryland ecosystems in a changing world

PubMed Central

Maestre, Fernando T.; Eldridge, David J.; Soliveres, Santiago; Kéfi, Sonia; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Bowker, Matthew A.; García-Palacios, Pablo; Gaitán, Juan; Gallardo, Antonio; Lázaro, Roberto; Berdugo, Miguel

2017-01-01

Understanding how drylands respond to ongoing environmental change is extremely important for global sustainability. Here we review how biotic attributes, climate, grazing pressure, land cover change and nitrogen deposition affect the functioning of drylands at multiple spatial scales. Our synthesis highlights the importance of biotic attributes (e.g. species richness) in maintaining fundamental ecosystem processes such as primary productivity, illustrate how N deposition and grazing pressure are impacting ecosystem functioning in drylands worldwide, and highlight the importance of the traits of woody species as drivers of their expansion in former grasslands. We also emphasize the role of attributes such as species richness and abundance in controlling the responses of ecosystem functioning to climate change. This knowledge is essential to guide conservation and restoration efforts in drylands, as biotic attributes can be actively managed at the local scale to increase ecosystem resilience to global change. PMID:28239303

Parental perceived neighborhood attributes: associations with active transport and physical activity among 10-12 year old children and the mediating role of independent mobility.

PubMed

De Meester, Femke; Van Dyck, Delfien; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Cardon, Greet

2014-06-20

During the last decades, the use of active travel modes declined in all age groups. Childhood is a critical time to establish lifelong healthy patterns. To develop effective interventions in this age group, insight in the correlates of health behaviors and the possible mediating factors is necessary. Among children, the role of parents may not be overlooked. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the associations of parental perceptions of neighborhood environmental attributes with active transport and total physical activity in 10-12 year old Belgian boys and girls. Furthermore, this study examined the potential mediating effect of independent mobility on these associations. In the present study, 736 10-12 year old children and their parents from 44 elementary schools in Flanders, Belgium, participated. The children were asked to wear an activity monitor and to fill in a survey questioning demographic factors and the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire. The parents filled in a survey concerning demographic factors, the child's level of independent mobility and environmental perceptions (Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale). Overall, boys reported more active transport when parents perceived more land use mix diversity, shorter distances to school, good land use mix access, higher residential density and less pleasing neighborhood aesthetics. Higher total physical activity levels were reported when parents perceived shorter distances to school and availability of walking/cycling infrastructure. None of the associations was mediated by independent mobility in boys. Girls reported more active transport when parents perceived higher residential density, more land use mix diversity, shorter distances to school, good land use mix access, available walking/cycling infrastructure and convenient recreational facilities. Girls reported higher total physical activity levels when parents perceived high residential density, good land use mix access, well-maintained and high quality walking/cycling infrastructures and more traffic safety. Independent mobility was found to be an important mediator of these associations in girls. Neighborhood environmental interventions to increase children's active transport and physical activity can be effective when combined with awareness raising programs for parents. Furthermore, among girls encouraging independent mobility may contribute to behavior change.

Toward the definition of specific protection goals for the environmental risk assessment of chemicals: A perspective on environmental regulation in Europe.

PubMed

Brown, A Ross; Whale, Graham; Jackson, Mathew; Marshall, Stuart; Hamer, Mick; Solga, Andreas; Kabouw, Patrick; Galay-Burgos, Malyka; Woods, Richard; Nadzialek, Stephanie; Maltby, Lorraine

2017-01-01

This critical review examines the definition and implementation of environmental protection goals for chemicals in current European Union (EU) legislation, guidelines, and international agreements to which EU countries are party. The European chemical industry is highly regulated, and prospective environmental risk assessments (ERAs) are tailored for different classes of chemical, according to their specific hazards, uses, and environmental exposure profiles. However, environmental protection goals are often highly generic, requiring the prevention of "unacceptable" or "adverse" impacts on "biodiversity" and "ecosystems" or the "environment as a whole." This review aims to highlight working examples, challenges, solutions, and best practices for defining specific protection goals (SPGs), which are seen to be essential for refining and improving ERA. Specific protection goals hinge on discerning acceptable versus unacceptable adverse effects on the key attributes of relevant, sensitive ecological entities (ranging from organisms to ecosystems). Some isolated examples of SPGs for terrestrial and aquatic biota can be found in prospective ERA guidance for plant protection products (PPPs). However, SPGs are generally limited to environmental or nature legislation that requires environmental monitoring and retrospective ERA. This limitation is due mainly to the availability of baselines, which define acceptable versus unacceptable environmental effects on the key attributes of sentinel species, populations and/or communities, such as reproductive status, abundance, or diversity. Nevertheless, very few regulatory case examples exist in which SPGs incorporate effect magnitude, spatial extent, and temporal duration. We conclude that more holistic approaches are needed for defining SPGs, particularly with respect to protecting population sustainability, ecosystem function, and integrity, which are implicit in generic protection goals and explicit in the International Programme for Chemical Safety (IPCS) definition of "adverse effect." A possible solution, which the chemical industry is currently assessing, is wider application of the ecosystem services approach proposed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for the risk assessment of PPPs. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:17-37. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Extending the diffuse layer model of surface acidity behavior: I. Model development

EPA Science Inventory

Considerable disenchantment exists within the environmental research community concerning our current ability to accurately model surface-complexation-mediated low-porewater-concentration ionic contaminant partitioning with natural surfaces. Several authors attribute this unaccep...

Achieving sustainable cultivation of potatoes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Every phase of the production cycle impacts the sustainability of potato. Potato physiology determines how genetically encoded developmental attributes interact with local environmental conditions as modified through agricultural practice to produce a perishable crop. In this chapter we highlight ho...

Streamlining project delivery through risk analysis.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-08-01

Project delivery is a significant area of concern and is subject to several risks throughout Plan Development : Process (PDP). These risks are attributed to major areas of project development, such as environmental : analysis, right-of-way (ROW) acqu...

Mortality of American alligators attributed to cannibalism

USGS Publications Warehouse

Delany, Michael F.; Woodward, Allan R.; Kiltie, Richard A.; Moore, Clinton T.

2011-01-01

Mortality of juvenile (Alligator mississippiensis) attributed to cannibalism on Orange Lake, Florida was examined. Alligator web tags used in mark–recapture studies were found in 12% of 267 stomachs sampled from alligators ≥168 cm TL. Captive alligators retained 76% of force-fed tags during a 588-d tag-retention trial. Models relating the probability of tag recovery to the annual probabilities of juvenile survival, cannibalism, tag retention, adult survival, and adult harvest suggested that cannibalism may on average remove 6–7% of the juvenile alligator population annually. Vulnerability continued to 140 cm TL (age 6–8 yr). Cannibalism of juveniles may serve to regulate the alligator population on Orange Lake. Alligator cannibalism may vary widely among populations, depending on demography and environmental conditions. The role and importance of cannibalism in alligator population dynamics should be more fully assessed and environmental and population factors that influence cannibalism identified to better evaluate management programs.

Public Attitudes and Support for a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax in America's Heartland.

PubMed

Curry, Laurel E; Rogers, Todd; Williams, Pam; Homsi, Ghada; Willett, Jeff; Schmitt, Carol L

2018-05-01

Policy and environmental strategies are part of a comprehensive approach to obesity prevention. We investigated the association between public attitudes about how the environment influences health and support for a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax in Kansas. We collected data via a 2014 representative dual-frame (cellular and landline) telephone survey of 2,203 adult Kansans regarding healthy eating policy support and beliefs about obesity causes and solutions. A significant proportion of Kansas adults (40%) support an SSB tax. Support was significantly stronger among females, young people, and liberals. Causal and responsibility attributions of obesity were significantly associated with policy support. Individuals who attribute more responsibility for the solution to the obesity epidemic to environmental factors were more likely to support a tax, regardless of their political affiliation. Messaging that focuses on the role of the environment in creating opportunities for health may be useful in framing discussions around SSB taxes.

Causal attributions in parents of babies with a cleft lip and/or palate and their association with psychological well-being.

PubMed

Nelson, Jonathan; O'Leary, Catherine; Weinman, John

2009-07-01

This study aimed to assess causal attributions of parents of babies with a cleft lip and/or palate. Evidence from causal attribution theory and attribution studies in other medical conditions led to the hypothesis that parents who make internal attributions (self-blame) will have poorer psychological well-being. A cross-sectional survey. Postal questionnaires were sent to parents of children under the care of the South Thames Cleft Service at Guy's Hospital. PARTICIPANTS were recruited if they had a baby between 12 and 24 months old with a cleft lip and/or palate. Of 204 parents, 42 responded. A semistructured questionnaire about causal beliefs was completed alongside validated questionnaires measuring anxiety, depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale). Causal attributions were grouped according to type (environmental, chance, self-blame, and no belief) and loci (external or internal). The most common attribution made was to external factors (54.4%), followed by no causal attribution (38.1%). Parents making an internal (self-blaming) attribution (16.7%) had significantly (p < .05) higher scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety measure (r = .32) and Perceived Stress Scale (r = .33), but not on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale depression measure (p = .283). The high number of parents making an external attribution can be explained by causal attribution theory. However, the percentage of parents making no causal attribution was higher than seen in previous research. Surprisingly, no parents blamed others. The main hypothesis was tentatively accepted because there were significantly higher anxiety and stress scores in parents who self-blamed; although, depression scores were not significantly higher.

Integrating environmental and genetic effects to predict responses of tree populations to climate.

PubMed

Wang, Tongli; O'Neill, Gregory A; Aitken, Sally N

2010-01-01

Climate is a major environmental factor affecting the phenotype of trees and is also a critical agent of natural selection that has molded among-population genetic variation. Population response functions describe the environmental effect of planting site climates on the performance of a single population, whereas transfer functions describe among-population genetic variation molded by natural selection for climate. Although these approaches are widely used to predict the responses of trees to climate change, both have limitations. We present a novel approach that integrates both genetic and environmental effects into a single "universal response function" (URF) to better predict the influence of climate on phenotypes. Using a large lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) field transplant experiment composed of 140 populations planted on 62 sites to demonstrate the methodology, we show that the URF makes full use of data from provenance trials to: (1) improve predictions of climate change impacts on phenotypes; (2) reduce the size and cost of future provenance trials without compromising predictive power; (3) more fully exploit existing, less comprehensive provenance tests; (4) quantify and compare environmental and genetic effects of climate on population performance; and (5) predict the performance of any population growing in any climate. Finally, we discuss how the last attribute allows the URF to be used as a mechanistic model to predict population and species ranges for the future and to guide assisted migration of seed for reforestation, restoration, or afforestation and genetic conservation in a changing climate.

Changes in reference evapotranspiration and its driving factors in the middle reaches of Yellow River Basin, China.

PubMed

She, Dunxian; Xia, Jun; Zhang, Yongyong

2017-12-31

Reference evapotranspiration (ET 0 ) is important for agricultural, environmental and other studies, and understanding the attribution of its change is helpful to provide information for irrigation scheduling and water resources management. The present study investigates the attribution of the change of ET 0 at 49 meteorological stations in the middle reaches of Yellow River basin (MRYRB) of China from 1960 to 2012. Results show that annual ET 0 increases from the northwest to the southeast of MRYRB in space. We find that annual ET 0 clearly presents a zigzag change pattern rather than a monotonically change during the whole period. The detected three breakpoints at 1972, 1988 and 1997 divide the whole period into four subperiods. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the ET 0 is the most sensitive to surface solar radiation (Rs), followed by relative humidity (RH) and mean air temperature (T), and the least sensitive to wind speed (u) in our study area. Furthermore, we find that ET 0 is becoming less sensitive to RH and more sensitive to T during 1960-2012. The attributions of the change in ET 0 vary largely at different regions and subperiods. The declined wind speed is the dominant factor, followed by Rs to the ET 0 reduction during 1960-2012. Further analysis shows that Rs and u are the two major contributing factors that control the change of ET 0 at most stations and during most subperiods. Our study confirms that the change of ET 0 is influenced by the complex interactions of climatic factors, and the dominant factor to the change of ET 0 is different in various regions and time periods. The results presented here can provide a reference for agricultural production and water resources management in MRYRB as well as other semi-arid and semi-humid regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evidence for environmentally enhanced forest growth

PubMed Central

Fang, Jingyun; Kato, Tomomichi; Guo, Zhaodi; Yang, Yuanhe; Hu, Huifeng; Shen, Haihua; Zhao, Xia; Kishimoto-Mo, Ayaka W.; Tang, Yanhong; Houghton, Richard A.

2014-01-01

Forests in the middle and high latitudes of the northern hemisphere function as a significant sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). This carbon (C) sink has been attributed to two processes: age-related growth after land use change and growth enhancement due to environmental changes, such as elevated CO2, nitrogen deposition, and climate change. However, attribution between these two processes is largely controversial. Here, using a unique time series of an age-class dataset from six national forest inventories in Japan and a new approach developed in this study (i.e., examining changes in biomass density at each age class over the inventory periods), we quantify the growth enhancement due to environmental changes and its contribution to biomass C sink in Japan’s forests. We show that the growth enhancement for four major plantations was 4.0∼7.7 Mg C⋅ha−1 from 1980 to 2005, being 8.4–21.6% of biomass C sequestration per hectare and 4.1–35.5% of the country's total net biomass increase of each forest type. The growth enhancement differs among forest types, age classes, and regions. Our results provide, to our knowledge, the first ground-based evidence that global environmental changes can increase C sequestration in forests on a broad geographic scale and imply that both the traits and age of trees regulate the responses of forest growth to environmental changes. These findings should be incorporated into the prediction of forest C cycling under a changing climate. PMID:24979781

Can data science inform environmental justice and community risk screening for type 2 diabetes?

PubMed

Davis, J Allen; Burgoon, Lyle D

2015-01-01

Having the ability to scan the entire country for potential "hotspots" with increased risk of developing chronic diseases due to various environmental, demographic, and genetic susceptibility factors may inform risk management decisions and enable better environmental public health policies. Develop an approach for community-level risk screening focused on identifying potential genetic susceptibility hotpots. Our approach combines analyses of phenotype-genotype data, genetic prevalence of single nucleotide polymorphisms, and census/geographic information to estimate census tract-level population attributable risks among various ethnicities and total population for the state of California. We estimate that the rs13266634 single nucleotide polymorphism, a type 2 diabetes susceptibility genotype, has a genetic prevalence of 56.3%, 47.4% and 37.0% in Mexican Mestizo, Caucasian, and Asian populations. Looking at the top quintile for total population attributable risk, 16 California counties have greater than 25% of their population living in hotspots of genetic susceptibility for developing type 2 diabetes due to this single genotypic susceptibility factor. This study identified counties in California where large portions of the population may bear additional type 2 diabetes risk due to increased genetic prevalence of a susceptibility genotype. This type of screening can easily be extended to include information on environmental contaminants of interest and other related diseases, and potentially enables the rapid identification of potential environmental justice communities. Other potential uses of this approach include problem formulation in support of risk assessments, land use planning, and prioritization of site cleanup and remediation actions.

Environmental damage costs from airborne pollution of industrial activities in the greater Athens, Greece area and the resulting benefits from the introduction of BAT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mirasgedis, S.; Hontou, V.; Georgopoulou, E.

2008-01-15

Attributing costs to the environmental impacts associated with industrial activities can greatly assist in protecting human health and the natural environment as monetary values are capable of directly influencing technological and policy decisions without changing the rules of the market. This paper attempts to estimate the external cost attributable to the atmospheric pollution from 'medium and high environmental burden' industrial activities located in the greater Athens area and the benefits from Best Available Techniques (BAT) introduction. To this end a number of typical installations were defined to be used in conjunction with the Impact Pathway Approach developed in the contextmore » of the ExternE project to model all industrial sectors/sub-sectors located in the area of interest. Total environmental externalities due to air pollutants emitted by these industrial activities were found to reach 211 M Euro per year, associated mainly with human mortality and morbidity due to PM{sub 10} emissions, as well as with climate change impacts due to CO{sub 2} emissions for which non-metallic minerals and oil processing industries are the main sources. The results obtained can be used as the basis for an integrated evaluation of potential BAT, taking into account not only private costs and benefits but also the environmental externalities, thus leading to policy decisions that maximize social welfare in each industrial sector/sub-sector.« less

Residential radon and environmental burden of disease among Non-smokers.

PubMed

Noh, Juhwan; Sohn, Jungwoo; Cho, Jaelim; Kang, Dae Ryong; Joo, Sowon; Kim, Changsoo; Shin, Dong Chun

2016-01-01

Lung cancer was the second highest absolute cancer incidence globally and the first cause of cancer mortality in 2014. Indoor radon is the second leading risk factor of lung cancer after cigarette smoking among ever smokers and the first among non-smokers. Environmental burden of disease (EBD) attributable to residential radon among non-smokers is critical for identifying threats to population health and planning health policy. To identify and retrieve literatures describing environmental burden of lung cancer attributable to residential radon, we searched databases including Ovid-MEDLINE, -EMBASE from 1980 to 2016. Search terms included patient keywords using 'lung', 'neoplasm', exposure keywords using 'residential', 'radon', and outcomes keywords using 'years of life lost', 'years of life lost due to disability', 'burden'. Searching through literatures identified 261 documents; further 9 documents were identified using manual searching. Two researchers independently assessed 271 abstracts eligible for inclusion at the abstract level. Full text reviews were conducted for selected publications after the first assessment. Ten studies were included in the final evaluation. Global disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)(95 % uncertainty interval) for lung cancer were increased by 35.9 % from 23,850,000(18,835,000-29,845,000) in 1900 to 32,405,000(24,400,000-38,334,000) in 2000. DALYs attributable to residential radon were 2,114,000(273,000-4,660,000) DALYs in 2010. Lung cancer caused 34,732,900(33,042,600 ~ 36,328,100) DALYs in 2013. DALYs attributable to residential radon were 1,979,000(1,331,000-2,768,000) DALYs for in 2013. The number of attributable lung cancer cases was 70-900 and EBD for radon was 1,000-14,000 DALYs in Netherland. The years of life lost were 0.066 years among never-smokers and 0.198 years among ever-smoker population in Canada. In summary, estimated global EBD attributable to residential radon was 1,979,000 DALYs for both sexes in 2013. In Netherlands, EBD for radon was 1,000-14,000 DALYs. Smoking population lost three times more years than never-smokers in Canada. There was no study estimating EBD of residential radon among never smokers in Korea and Asian country. In addition, there were a few studies reflecting the age of building, though residential radon exposure level depends on the age of building. Further EBD study reflecting Korean disability weight and the age of building is required to estimate EBD precisely.

Attributional Gender Bias: Teachers' Ability and Effort Explanations for Students' Math Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Espinoza, Penelope; Arêas da Luz Fontes, Ana B.; Arms-Chavez, Clarissa J.

2014-01-01

Research is presented on the attributional gender bias: the tendency to generate different attributions (explanations) for female versus male students' performance in math. Whereas boys' successes in math are attributed to ability, girls' successes are attributed to effort; conversely, boys' failures in math are attributed to a…

A network extension of species occupancy models in a patchy environment applied to the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berlow, Eric L.; Knapp, Roland A.; Ostoja, Steven M.; Williams, Richard J.; McKenny, Heather; Matchett, John R.; Guo, Qinghau; Fellers, Gary M.; Kleeman, Patrick; Brooks, Matthew L.; Joppa, Lucas

2013-01-01

A central challenge of conservation biology is using limited data to predict rare species occurrence and identify conservation areas that play a disproportionate role in regional persistence. Where species occupy discrete patches in a landscape, such predictions require data about environmental quality of individual patches and the connectivity among high quality patches. We present a novel extension to species occupancy modeling that blends traditionalpredictions of individual patch environmental quality with network analysis to estimate connectivity characteristics using limited survey data. We demonstrate this approach using environmental and geospatial attributes to predict observed occupancy patterns of the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus (= Bufo) canorus) across >2,500 meadows in Yosemite National Park (USA). A. canorus, a Federal Proposed Species, breeds in shallow water associated with meadows. Our generalized linear model (GLM) accurately predicted ~84% of true presence-absence data on a subset of data withheld for testing. The predicted environmental quality of each meadow was iteratively ‘boosted’ by the quality of neighbors within dispersal distance. We used this park-wide meadow connectivity network to estimate the relative influence of an individual Meadow’s ‘environmental quality’ versus its ‘network quality’ to predict: a) clusters of high quality breeding meadows potentially linked by dispersal, b) breeding meadows with high environmental quality that are isolated from other such meadows, c) breeding meadows with lower environmental quality where long-term persistence may critically depend on the network neighborhood, and d) breeding meadows with the biggest impact on park-wide breeding patterns. Combined with targeted data on dispersal, genetics, disease, and other potential stressors, these results can guide designation of core conservation areas for A. canorus in Yosemite National Park.

The effect of environmental contaminants on testicular function.

PubMed

Mathur, Premendu Prakash; D'Cruz, Shereen Cynthia

2011-07-01

Male reproductive health has deteriorated considerably in the last few decades. Nutritional, socioeconomic, lifestyle and environmental factors (among others) have been attributed to compromising male reproductive health. In recent years, a large volume of evidence has accumulated that suggests that the trend of decreasing male fertility (in terms of sperm count, quality and other changes in male reproductive health) might be due to exposure to environmental toxicants. These environmental contaminants can mimic natural oestrogens and target testicular spermatogenesis, steroidogenesis, and the function of both Sertoli and Leydig cells. Most environmental toxicants have been shown to induce reactive oxygen species, thereby causing a state of oxidative stress in various compartments of the testes. However, the molecular mechanism(s) of action of the environmental toxicants on the testis have yet to be elucidated. This review discusses the effects of some of the more commonly used environmental contaminants on testicular function through the induction of oxidative stress and apoptosis.

Fugitive Emissions Attribution via Simultaneous Measurement of Ethane and Methane Isotopic Signature in Vehicle-based Surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshall, A. D.; Williams, J. P.; Baillie, J.; MacKay, K.; Risk, D. A.; Fleck, D.

2016-12-01

Detecting and attributing sub-regulatory fugitive emissions in the energy sector remains a priority for industry and environmental groups alike. Vehicle-based geochemical emission detection and attribution is seeing increasingly widespread use. In order to distinguish between biogenic and thermogenic emission sources, these techniques rely on tracer species like δ13C of methane (δ13CH4). In this study, we assessed the performance of the new Picarro G2210-i, a cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) analyzer that measures δ13CH4 and ethane (C2H6) simultaneously to provide increased thermogenic tracer power. In the lab, we assessed drift and other performance characteristics relative to a G2201-i (existing isotopic CH4 and carbon dioxide analyzer). We performed model experiments to synthetically assess the new analyzer's utility for oil and gas developments with differing levels of ethane. Lastly, we also conducted survey drives in a high-ethane oilfield using both the G2210-i and G2201-i. Results were very positive. The G2210-i showed minimal drift, as expected. Allan deviation experiments showed that the G2210-i has a precision of 0.482 ppb for CH4 and 3.15 ppb for C2H6 for 1Hz measurements. Computational experiments confirmed that the resolution of C2H6 is sufficient for detecting and attributing thermogenic CH4 at distance in oil and gas settings, which was further validated in the field where we measured simultaneous departures in δ13CH4 and C2H6 within plumes from venting infrastructure. C2:C1 ratios also proved very useful for attribution. As we move to reduce emissions from the energy industry, this analyzer presents new analytical possibilities that will be of high value to industry stakeholders.

Valuation of environmental quality and eco-cultural attributes in Northwestern Idaho: Native Americans are more concerned than Caucasians.

PubMed

Burger, Joanna

2011-01-01

Valuation of features of habitats and ecosystems usually encompasses the goods and services that ecosystems provide, but rarely also examine how people value ecological resources in terms of eco-cultural and sacred activities. The social, sacred, and cultural aspects of ecosystems are particularly important to Native Americans, but western science has rarely examined the importance of eco-cultural attributes quantitatively. In this paper I explore differences in ecosystem evaluations, and compare the perceptions and evaluations of places people go for consumptive and non-consumptive resource use with evaluations of the same qualities for religious and sacred places. Qualities of ecosystems included goods (abundant fish and crabs, butterflies and flowers, clean water), services (complexity of nature, lack of radionuclides that present a health risk), and eco-cultural attributes (appears unspoiled, scenic horizons, noise-free). Native Americans and Caucasians were interviewed at a Pow Wow at Post Falls, Idaho, which is in the region with the Department of Energy's Hanford Site, known for its storage of radioactive wastes and contamination. A higher percentage of Native American subjects engaged in consumptive and religious activities than did Caucasians. Native Americans engaged in higher rates of many activities than did Caucasians, including commune with nature, pray or meditate, fish or hunt, collect herbs, and conduct vision quests or other ceremonies. For nearly all attributes, there was no difference in the relative ratings given by Native Americans for characteristics of sites used for consumption/non-consumptive activities compared to religious/sacred places. However, Caucasians rated nearly all attributes lower for religious/sacred places than they did for places where they engaged in consumptive or non-consumptive activities. Native Americans were less concerned with distance from home for consumptive/non-consumptive activities, compared to religious activities. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of conduct disorder in the relationship between alcohol, nicotine and cannabis use disorders.

PubMed

Grant, J D; Lynskey, M T; Madden, P A F; Nelson, E C; Few, L R; Bucholz, K K; Statham, D J; Martin, N G; Heath, A C; Agrawal, A

2015-12-01

Genetic influences contribute significantly to co-morbidity between conduct disorder and substance use disorders. Estimating the extent of overlap can assist in the development of phenotypes for genomic analyses. Multivariate quantitative genetic analyses were conducted using data from 9577 individuals, including 3982 complete twin pairs and 1613 individuals whose co-twin was not interviewed (aged 24-37 years) from two Australian twin samples. Analyses examined the genetic correlation between alcohol dependence, nicotine dependence and cannabis abuse/dependence and the extent to which the correlations were attributable to genetic influences shared with conduct disorder. Additive genetic (a(2) = 0.48-0.65) and non-shared environmental factors explained variance in substance use disorders. Familial effects on conduct disorder were due to additive genetic (a(2) = 0.39) and shared environmental (c(2) = 0.15) factors. All substance use disorders were influenced by shared genetic factors (rg = 0.38-0.56), with all genetic overlap between substances attributable to genetic influences shared with conduct disorder. Genes influencing individual substance use disorders were also significant, explaining 40-73% of the genetic variance per substance. Among substance users in this sample, the well-documented clinical co-morbidity between conduct disorder and substance use disorders is primarily attributable to shared genetic liability. Interventions targeted at generally reducing deviant behaviors may address the risk posed by this shared genetic liability. However, there is also evidence for genetic and environmental influences specific to each substance. The identification of these substance-specific risk factors (as well as potential protective factors) is critical to the future development of targeted treatment protocols.

Farmers' Preferences for PES Contracts to Adopt Silvopastoral Systems in Southern Ecuador, Revealed Through a Choice Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raes, Leander; Speelman, Stijn; Aguirre, Nikolay

2017-08-01

This study investigates farmers' preferences to participate in payment contracts to adopt silvopastoral systems in Ecuador. A choice experiment was used to elicit preferences between different contract attributes, including differing payment amounts and land management requirements. The research was carried out in the buffer zone of Podocarpus National Park in Southern Ecuador, an area where most land is dedicated to cattle husbandry. A choice experiment was conducted to measure farmers' interest in different types of contracts. Based on existing incentive programs, contract choices varied with respect to the type of silvopastoral system, extra land-use requirements, payment levels and contract duration. In addition, contracts differed with regards to access by cattle to streams. Although the farmers did not show strong preferences for every contract attribute, the majority of farmers in the area showed interest in the proposed contracts. A latent class model identified three classes of respondents, based on their preferences for different contracts attributes or the "business as usual" option. The results suggest that farmland area, agricultural income, and landowners' perceptions of environmental problems provide a partial explanation for the heterogeneity observed in the choices for specific contracts. Participation might increase if contracts were targeted at specific groups of farmers, such as those identified through our latent class model. Offering flexible contracts with varying additional requirements within the same scheme, involving farmers from the start in payments for environmental services design, and combining payments for environmental services with integrated conservation and development projects may be a better way to convince more farmers to adopt silvopastoral systems.

Farmers' Preferences for PES Contracts to Adopt Silvopastoral Systems in Southern Ecuador, Revealed Through a Choice Experiment.

PubMed

Raes, Leander; Speelman, Stijn; Aguirre, Nikolay

2017-08-01

This study investigates farmers' preferences to participate in payment contracts to adopt silvopastoral systems in Ecuador. A choice experiment was used to elicit preferences between different contract attributes, including differing payment amounts and land management requirements. The research was carried out in the buffer zone of Podocarpus National Park in Southern Ecuador, an area where most land is dedicated to cattle husbandry. A choice experiment was conducted to measure farmers' interest in different types of contracts. Based on existing incentive programs, contract choices varied with respect to the type of silvopastoral system, extra land-use requirements, payment levels and contract duration. In addition, contracts differed with regards to access by cattle to streams. Although the farmers did not show strong preferences for every contract attribute, the majority of farmers in the area showed interest in the proposed contracts. A latent class model identified three classes of respondents, based on their preferences for different contracts attributes or the "business as usual" option. The results suggest that farmland area, agricultural income, and landowners' perceptions of environmental problems provide a partial explanation for the heterogeneity observed in the choices for specific contracts. Participation might increase if contracts were targeted at specific groups of farmers, such as those identified through our latent class model. Offering flexible contracts with varying additional requirements within the same scheme, involving farmers from the start in payments for environmental services design, and combining payments for environmental services with integrated conservation and development projects may be a better way to convince more farmers to adopt silvopastoral systems.

Risk as an attribute in discrete choice experiments: a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Harrison, Mark; Rigby, Dan; Vass, Caroline; Flynn, Terry; Louviere, Jordan; Payne, Katherine

2014-01-01

Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are used to elicit preferences of current and future patients and healthcare professionals about how they value different aspects of healthcare. Risk is an integral part of most healthcare decisions. Despite the use of risk attributes in DCEs consistently being highlighted as an area for further research, current methods of incorporating risk attributes in DCEs have not been reviewed explicitly. This study aimed to systematically identify published healthcare DCEs that incorporated a risk attribute, summarise and appraise methods used to present and analyse risk attributes, and recommend best practice regarding including, analysing and transparently reporting the methodology supporting risk attributes in future DCEs. The Web of Science, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Econlit databases were searched on 18 April 2013 for DCEs that included a risk attribute published since 1995, and on 23 April 2013 to identify studies assessing risk communication in the general (non-DCE) health literature. Healthcare-related DCEs with a risk attribute mentioned or suggested in the title/abstract were obtained and retained in the final review if a risk attribute meeting our definition was included. Extracted data were tabulated and critically appraised to summarise the quality of reporting, and the format, presentation and interpretation of the risk attribute were summarised. This review identified 117 healthcare DCEs that incorporated at least one risk attribute. Whilst there was some evidence of good practice incorporated into the presentation of risk attributes, little evidence was found that developing methods and recommendations from other disciplines about effective methods and validation of risk communication were systematically applied to DCEs. In general, the reviewed DCE studies did not thoroughly report the methodology supporting the explanation of risk in training materials, the impact of framing risk, or exploring the validity of risk communication. The primary limitation of this review was that the methods underlying presentation, format and analysis of risk attributes could only be appraised to the extent that they were reported. Improvements in reporting and transparency of risk presentation from conception to the analysis of DCEs are needed. To define best practice, further research is needed to test how the process of communicating risk affects the way in which people value risk attributes in DCEs.

Remote-sensing reflectance determinations in the coastal ocean environment: impact of instrumental characteristics and environmental variability.

PubMed

Toole, D A; Siegel, D A; Menzies, D W; Neumann, M J; Smith, R C

2000-01-20

Three independent ocean color sampling methodologies are compared to assess the potential impact of instrumental characteristics and environmental variability on shipboard remote-sensing reflectance observations from the Santa Barbara Channel, California. Results indicate that under typical field conditions, simultaneous determinations of incident irradiance can vary by 9-18%, upwelling radiance just above the sea surface by 8-18%, and remote-sensing reflectance by 12-24%. Variations in radiometric determinations can be attributed to a variety of environmental factors such as Sun angle, cloud cover, wind speed, and viewing geometry; however, wind speed is isolated as the major source of uncertainty. The above-water approach to estimating water-leaving radiance and remote-sensing reflectance is highly influenced by environmental factors. A model of the role of wind on the reflected sky radiance measured by an above-water sensor illustrates that, for clear-sky conditions and wind speeds greater than 5 m/s, determinations of water-leaving radiance at 490 nm are undercorrected by as much as 60%. A data merging procedure is presented to provide sky radiance correction parameters for above-water remote-sensing reflectance estimates. The merging results are consistent with statistical and model findings and highlight the importance of multiple field measurements in developing quality coastal oceanographic data sets for satellite ocean color algorithm development and validation.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY METRICS

EPA Science Inventory

If Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, pub. 1962, can be credited for the public realization of widespread environmental degradation directly or indirectly attributable to industrial enterprise, the book, Our Common Future (WCED, 1987) which is the report of the World Commission on E...

Extending Attribution Theory: Considering Students' Perceived Control of the Attribution Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fishman, Evan J.; Husman, Jenefer

2017-01-01

Research in attribution theory has shown that students' causal thinking profoundly affects their learning and motivational outcomes. Very few studies, however, have explored how students' attribution-related beliefs influence the causal thought process. The present study used the perceived control of the attribution process (PCAP) model to examine…

Perceived neighborhood environmental attributes associated with adults’ transport-related walking and cycling: Findings from the USA, Australia and Belgium

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Active transportation has the potential to contribute considerably to overall physical activity levels in adults and is likely to be influenced by neighborhood-related built environment characteristics. Previous studies that examined the associations between built environment attributes and active transportation, focused mainly on transport-related walking and were conducted within single countries, limiting environmental variability. We investigated the direction and shape of relationships of perceived neighborhood attributes with transport-related cycling and walking in three countries; and examined whether these associations differed by country and gender. Methods Data from the USA (Baltimore and Seattle), Australia (Adelaide) and Belgium (Ghent) were pooled. In total, 6,014 adults (20–65 years, 55.7% women) were recruited in high-/low-walkable and high-/low-income neighborhoods. All participants completed the Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Generalized additive mixed models were used to estimate the strength and shape of the associations. Results Proximity to destinations, good walking and cycling facilities, perceiving difficulties in parking near local shopping areas, and perceived aesthetics were included in a ‘cyclability’ index. This index was linearly positively related to transport-related cycling and no gender- or country-differences were observed. The ‘walkability’ index consisted of perceived residential density, land use mix access, proximity of destinations and aesthetics. A non-linear positive relationship with transport-related walking was found. This association was stronger in women than in men, and country-specific associations were identified: the strongest association was observed in Seattle, the weakest in Adelaide. In Ghent, the association weakened at higher levels of walkability. Conclusions For cycling, consistent correlates were found in the three countries, but associations were less straightforward for transport-related walking. Moreover, the identified neighborhood environmental correlates were different for walking compared to cycling. In order to further clarify the shape of these associations and reach more specific international guidelines for developing walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, future studies should include even more countries to maximize environmental variability. PMID:22691723

Pimp your landscape: a tool for qualitative evaluation of the effects of regional planning measures on ecosystem services.

PubMed

Fürst, Christine; Volk, Martin; Pietzsch, Katrin; Makeschin, Franz

2010-12-01

The article presents the platform "Pimp your landscape" (PYL), which aims firstly at the support of planners by simulating alternative land-use scenarios and by an evaluation of benefits or risks for regionally important ecosystem services. Second, PYL supports an integration of information on environmental and landscape conditions into impact assessment. Third, PYL supports the integration of impacts of planning measures on ecosystem services. PYL is a modified 2-D cellular automaton with GIS features. The cells have the major attribute "land-use type" and can be supplemented with additional information, such as specifics regarding geology, topography and climate. The GIS features support the delineation of non-cellular infrastructural elements, such as roads or water bodies. An evaluation matrix represents the core element of the system. In this matrix, values in a relative scale from 0 (lowest value) to 100 (highest value) are assigned to the land-use types and infrastructural elements depending on their effect on ecosystem services. The option to configure rules for describing the impact of environmental attributes and proximity effects on cell values and land-use transition probabilities is of particular importance. User interface and usage of the platform are demonstrated by an application case. Constraints and limits of the recent version are discussed, including the need to consider in the evaluation, landscape-structure aspects such as patch size, fragmentation and spatial connectivity. Regarding the further development, it is planned to include the impact of land management practices to support climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in regional planning.

Housing preferences of young adults in Indonesia: housing attributes and consequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farasa, N.; Kusuma, H. E.

2018-03-01

Nowadays, the housing demand of young adults in Indonesia is important issues for the sustainable development of the market. Facing differences of life phases, such as marriage, leaving home after graduation, and new job positioning, young adults become the main segment facing constant housing choice decisions in the housing market. In their particular phase of life, young adults have distinct preferences for housing attributes which bring a great influence on their lives in the future. Data was gathered from a survey questionnaire that was answered by 180 young adults in Indonesia, ranging from age 22-33 years. The findings suggest that the green area and view, location, simplicity, home design, and accessibility are the significant parts as housing attributes for young adults’ housing preferences in Indonesia. The effect of these attributes has many consequences such as security, personalization, mood/ambiance, maintenance, interaction, image, flexibility, environmental, economy, durability, convenience, comfort, and circulation. The biggest group of young adults who prefer comfort as their wanted consequences tend to have high preferences on housing attributes of the green area and view, and simplicity.

Developing risk hypotheses and selecting species for assessing non-target impacts of GM trees with novel traits: the case of altered-lignin pine trees.

PubMed

Malone, Louise A; Todd, Jacqui H; Burgess, Elisabeth P J; Walter, Christian; Wagner, Armin; Barratt, Barbara I P

2010-01-01

A procedure is presented for developing environmental risk hypotheses associated with the deployment of forest trees genetically modified to have altered wood properties and for selecting non-target species to test these hypotheses. Altered-lignin Pinus radiata trees intended for use in New Zealand are used as a hypothetical case study to illustrate our approach. Firstly, environmental management goals (such as wood production, flood control or preservation of biodiversity) were identified and linked to the forest attributes they require. Necessary conditions for each attribute were listed and appropriate assessment endpoints for them developed. For example, biological control of pests may be one condition necessary for a forest to have healthy trees, and the diversity and abundance of natural enemy species in the forest could be an appropriate assessment endpoint for measuring this condition. A conceptual model describing the relationships between an altered-lignin GM pine tree and potentially affected invertebrates and micro-organisms in a plantation forest was used to develop a set of risk hypotheses describing how the GM trees might affect each assessment endpoint. Because purified lignin does not represent the properties it imparts to wood, maximum hazard dose tests with non-target organisms, as are used to inform toxin risk assessment, cannot be conducted. Alternative experiments, based on current knowledge of the responses of organisms to lignin, must be designed. A screening method was adapted and applied to a database of invertebrate species known to inhabit New Zealand pine forests to identify and prioritize non-target invertebrate species that could be used as experimental subjects for examining these hypotheses. The screening model and its application are presented, along with a set of recommendations for pre-release tests with GM pines and potentially affected invertebrates and micro-organisms. © ISBR, EDP Sciences, 2011.

Effects of temporal fluctuation in population processes of intertidal Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766) aggregations on its ecosystem engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alves, Renata M. S.; Vanaverbeke, Jan; Bouma, Tjeerd J.; Guarini, Jean-Marc; Vincx, Magda; Van Colen, Carl

2017-03-01

Ecosystem engineers contribute to ecosystem functioning by regulating key environmental attributes, such as habitat availability and sediment biogeochemistry. While autogenic engineers can increase habitat complexity passively and provide physical protection to other species, allogenic engineers can regulate sediment oxygenation and biogeochemistry through bioturbation and/or bioirrigation. Their effects rely on the physical attributes of the engineer and/or its biogenic constructs, such as abundance and/or size. The present study focused on tube aggregations of a sessile, tube-building polychaete that engineers marine sediments, Lanice conchilega. Its tube aggregations modulate water flow by dissipating energy, influencing sedimentary processes and increasing particle retention. These effects can be influenced by temporal fluctuations in population demographic processes. Presently, we investigated the relationship between population processes and ecosystem engineering through an in-situ survey (1.5 years) of L. conchilega aggregations at the sandy beach of Boulogne-sur-Mer (France). We (1) evaluated temporal patterns in population structure, and (2) investigated how these are related to the ecosystem engineering of L. conchilega on marine sediments. During our survey, we assessed tube density, demographic structure, and sediment properties (surficial chl-a, EPS, TOM, median and mode grain size, sorting, and mud and water content) on a monthly basis for 12 intertidal aggregations. We found that the population was mainly composed by short-lived (6-10 months), small-medium individuals. Mass mortality severely reduced population density during winter. However the population persisted, likely due to recruits from other populations, which are associated to short- and long-term population dynamics. Two periods of recruitment were identified: spring/summer and autumn. Population density was highest during the spring recruitment and significantly affected several environmental properties (i.e. EPS, TOM, mode grain size, mud and water content), suggesting that demographic processes may be responsible for periods of pronounced ecosystem engineering with densities of approx. 30 000 ind·m-2.

Fukushima Daiichi reactor source term attribution using cesium isotope ratios from contaminated environmental samples

DOE PAGES

Snow, Mathew S.; Snyder, Darin C.; Delmore, James E.

2016-01-18

Source term attribution of environmental contamination following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) disaster is complicated by a large number of possible similar emission source terms (e.g. FDNPP reactor cores 1–3 and spent fuel ponds 1–4). Cesium isotopic analyses can be utilized to discriminate between environmental contamination from different FDNPP source terms and, if samples are sufficiently temporally resolved, potentially provide insights into the extent of reactor core damage at a given time. Rice, soil, mushroom, and soybean samples taken 100–250 km from the FDNPP site were dissolved using microwave digestion. Radiocesium was extracted and purified using two sequentialmore » ammonium molybdophosphate-polyacrylonitrile columns, following which 135Cs/ 137Cs isotope ratios were measured using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Results were compared with data reported previously from locations to the northwest of FDNPP and 30 km to the south of FDNPP. 135Cs/ 137Cs isotope ratios from samples 100–250 km to the southwest of the FDNPP site show a consistent value of 0.376 ± 0.008. 135Cs/ 137Cs versus 134Cs/ 137Cs correlation plots suggest that radiocesium to the southwest is derived from a mixture of FDNPP reactor cores 1, 2, and 3. Conclusions from the cesium isotopic data are in agreement with those derived independently based upon the event chronology combined with meteorological conditions at the time of the disaster. In conclusion, cesium isotopic analyses provide a powerful tool for source term discrimination of environmental radiocesium contamination at the FDNPP site. For higher precision source term attribution and forensic determination of the FDNPP core conditions based upon cesium, analyses of a larger number of samples from locations to the north and south of the FDNPP site (particularly time-resolved air filter samples) are needed. Published in 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.« less

Fukushima Daiichi reactor source term attribution using cesium isotope ratios from contaminated environmental samples

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Snow, Mathew S.; Snyder, Darin C.; Delmore, James E.

Source term attribution of environmental contamination following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) disaster is complicated by a large number of possible similar emission source terms (e.g. FDNPP reactor cores 1–3 and spent fuel ponds 1–4). Cesium isotopic analyses can be utilized to discriminate between environmental contamination from different FDNPP source terms and, if samples are sufficiently temporally resolved, potentially provide insights into the extent of reactor core damage at a given time. Rice, soil, mushroom, and soybean samples taken 100–250 km from the FDNPP site were dissolved using microwave digestion. Radiocesium was extracted and purified using two sequentialmore » ammonium molybdophosphate-polyacrylonitrile columns, following which 135Cs/ 137Cs isotope ratios were measured using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Results were compared with data reported previously from locations to the northwest of FDNPP and 30 km to the south of FDNPP. 135Cs/ 137Cs isotope ratios from samples 100–250 km to the southwest of the FDNPP site show a consistent value of 0.376 ± 0.008. 135Cs/ 137Cs versus 134Cs/ 137Cs correlation plots suggest that radiocesium to the southwest is derived from a mixture of FDNPP reactor cores 1, 2, and 3. Conclusions from the cesium isotopic data are in agreement with those derived independently based upon the event chronology combined with meteorological conditions at the time of the disaster. In conclusion, cesium isotopic analyses provide a powerful tool for source term discrimination of environmental radiocesium contamination at the FDNPP site. For higher precision source term attribution and forensic determination of the FDNPP core conditions based upon cesium, analyses of a larger number of samples from locations to the north and south of the FDNPP site (particularly time-resolved air filter samples) are needed. Published in 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.« less

Renewable energy for rural electrification in developing countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgenstern, Joy

The environmental destruction caused by traditional methods of generating electricity and the environmental benefits of using renewable energy technologies are well-known. In additional to the environmental benefits, small, decentralized renewable energy systems are often the most economical way to electrify the rural areas of developing countries, where most of the world's unelectrified population lives. However, diffusion of these systems is proceeding very slowly and many of these projects have failed. This dissertation examines the hypothesis that an important determinant of the success of these projects is the extent to which they are compatible with the social and cultural attributes of the communities in which they are located. The hypothesis was examined by evaluating sixteen solar, wind and hybrid electrification projects in Mexico, using a procedure which rates projects according to criteria which reflect technical, economic and financial, environmental, and sociocultural factors deemed necessary to achieve success. Reasons for poor ratings within these criteria were then used to determine six preconditions for project success. The evaluation indicates that most of the wind and hybrid projects visited had low success ratings because of technical problems. The solar home system projects experienced few technical problems, yet many were unsuccessful. Most of the projects were unsustainable due to lack of financial resources, insufficient financial mechanisms, poor user training. In none of the communities were the projects economically viable, nor were they compatible with the needs of the users. The future success of even the most successful projects seen is doubtful because of the lack of provision for any maintenance by trained technicians and the scarcity of financial resources. A direct relationship between failure at the sociocultural criteria and overall project failure was not found. In most cases, failure at particular criteria could be attributed to the project developers' inability to fulfill social and cultural aspects of the preconditions for success, thus establishing an indirect but causal relationship between sociocultural attributes of communities and project success.

Fukushima Daiichi reactor source term attribution using cesium isotope ratios from contaminated environmental samples.

PubMed

Snow, Mathew S; Snyder, Darin C; Delmore, James E

2016-02-28

Source term attribution of environmental contamination following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) disaster is complicated by a large number of possible similar emission source terms (e.g. FDNPP reactor cores 1-3 and spent fuel ponds 1-4). Cesium isotopic analyses can be utilized to discriminate between environmental contamination from different FDNPP source terms and, if samples are sufficiently temporally resolved, potentially provide insights into the extent of reactor core damage at a given time. Rice, soil, mushroom, and soybean samples taken 100-250 km from the FDNPP site were dissolved using microwave digestion. Radiocesium was extracted and purified using two sequential ammonium molybdophosphate-polyacrylonitrile columns, following which (135)Cs/(137) Cs isotope ratios were measured using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Results were compared with data reported previously from locations to the northwest of FDNPP and 30 km to the south of FDNPP. (135)Cs/(137)Cs isotope ratios from samples 100-250 km to the southwest of the FDNPP site show a consistent value of 0.376 ± 0.008. (135)Cs/(137)Cs versus (134)Cs/(137)Cs correlation plots suggest that radiocesium to the southwest is derived from a mixture of FDNPP reactor cores 1, 2, and 3. Conclusions from the cesium isotopic data are in agreement with those derived independently based upon the event chronology combined with meteorological conditions at the time of the disaster. Cesium isotopic analyses provide a powerful tool for source term discrimination of environmental radiocesium contamination at the FDNPP site. For higher precision source term attribution and forensic determination of the FDNPP core conditions based upon cesium, analyses of a larger number of samples from locations to the north and south of the FDNPP site (particularly time-resolved air filter samples) are needed. Published in 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Laboratory environmental factors and pain behavior: the relevance of unknown unknowns to reproducibility and translation.

PubMed

Mogil, Jeffrey S

2017-03-22

The poor record of basic-to-clinical translation in recent decades has led to speculation that preclinical research is "irreproducible", and this irreproducibility in turn has largely been attributed to deficiencies in reporting and statistical practices. There are, however, a number of other reasonable explanations of both poor translation and difficulties in one laboratory replicating the results of another. This article examines these explanations as they pertain to preclinical pain research. I submit that many instances of apparent irreproducibility are actually attributable to interactions between the phenomena and interventions under study and "latent" environmental factors affecting the rodent subjects. These environmental variables-often causing stress, and related to both animal husbandry and the specific testing context-differ greatly between labs, and continue to be identified, suggesting that our knowledge of their existence is far from complete. In pain research in particular, laboratory stressors can produce great variability of unpredictable direction, as stress is known to produce increases (stress-induced hyperalgesia) or decreases (stress-induced analgesia) in pain depending on its parameters. Much greater attention needs to be paid to the study of the laboratory environment if replication and translation are to be improved.

Chemical databases evaluated by order theoretical tools.

PubMed

Voigt, Kristina; Brüggemann, Rainer; Pudenz, Stefan

2004-10-01

Data on environmental chemicals are urgently needed to comply with the future chemicals policy in the European Union. The availability of data on parameters and chemicals can be evaluated by chemometrical and environmetrical methods. Different mathematical and statistical methods are taken into account in this paper. The emphasis is set on a new, discrete mathematical method called METEOR (method of evaluation by order theory). Application of the Hasse diagram technique (HDT) of the complete data-matrix comprising 12 objects (databases) x 27 attributes (parameters + chemicals) reveals that ECOTOX (ECO), environmental fate database (EFD) and extoxnet (EXT)--also called multi-database databases--are best. Most single databases which are specialised are found in a minimal position in the Hasse diagram; these are biocatalysis/biodegradation database (BID), pesticide database (PES) and UmweltInfo (UMW). The aggregation of environmental parameters and chemicals (equal weight) leads to a slimmer data-matrix on the attribute side. However, no significant differences are found in the "best" and "worst" objects. The whole approach indicates a rather bad situation in terms of the availability of data on existing chemicals and hence an alarming signal concerning the new and existing chemicals policies of the EEC.

Shared Genetics of Temporomandibular Disorder Pain and Neck Pain: Results of a Twin Study.

PubMed

Visscher, Corine M; Schouten, Maarten J; Ligthart, Lannie; van Houtem, Caroline Mhh; de Jongh, Ad; Boomsma, Dorret I

2018-03-06

(1) To examine the heritability of TMD pain and of neck pain; and (2) to estimate the potential overlap in genetic and environmental factors influencing TMD pain and neck pain. Data from 2,238 adult female twins who completed a survey on TMD pain and neck pain were analyzed. The total variance of TMD pain and neck pain was decomposed into variance attributable to additive genetic effects and nonshared environmental effects. Bivariate structural equation modeling was applied to estimate trait-specific and genetic effects shared between traits. The prevalence of TMD pain and neck pain was 8.6% and 46.8%, respectively, while 6.7% of the twins reported both TMD pain and neck pain. The phenotypic correlation between TMD pain and neck pain, based on a liability threshold model, was 0.43 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.34 to 0.51). The heritability for TMD was 0.35 (0.17 to 0.51), and for neck pain was 0.33 (0.23 to 0.43). The genetic correlation between TMD pain and neck pain was 0.64 (0.35 to 1.00), and the environmental correlation was 0.32 (0.14 to 0.48). This study shows that variation in TMD pain and neck pain can in part be attributed to genes. The comorbidity between them is partly explained by genes that influence both traits and partly by the same environmental factors.

Lack of interest in physical activity - individual and environmental attributes in adults across Europe: The SPOTLIGHT project.

PubMed

Carraça, Eliana V; Mackenbach, Joreintje D; Lakerveld, Jeroen; Rutter, Harry; Oppert, Jean-Michel; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Compernolle, Sofie; Roda, Célina; Bardos, Helga; Teixeira, Pedro J

2018-06-01

A considerable proportion of European adults report little or no interest in physical activity. Identifying individual-level and environmental-level characteristics of these individuals can help designing effective interventions and policies to promote physical activity. This cross-sectional study additionally explored associations between level of interest and physical activity, after controlling for other individual and environmental variables. Measures of objective and perceived features of the physical environment of residence, self-reported physical activity and other lifestyle behaviors, barriers towards physical activity, general health, and demographics were obtained from 5205 European adults participating in the 2014 online SPOTLIGHT survey. t-Tests, chi-square tests, and generalized estimating equations with negative binomial log-link function were conducted. Adults not interested in physical activity reported a higher BMI and a lower self-rated health, were less educated, and to a smaller extent female and less frequently employed. They were more prone to have less healthy eating habits, and to perceive more barriers towards physical activity. Only minor differences were observed in environmental attributes: the non-interested were slightly more likely to live in neighborhoods objectively characterized as less aesthetic and containing more destinations, and perceived as less functional, safe, and aesthetic. Even after controlling for other individual and environmental factors, interest in physical activity remained a significant correlate of physical activity, supporting the importance of this association. This study is among the first to describe characteristics of individuals with reduced interest in physical activity, suggesting that (lack of) interest is a robust correlate of physical activity in several personal and environmental conditions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contributions of Familial Rheumatoid Arthritis or Lupus and Environmental Factors to Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Women: a Prospective Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Sparks, Jeffrey A.; Chen, Chia-Yen; Hiraki, Linda T.; Malspeis, Susan; Costenbader, Karen H.; Karlson, Elizabeth W.

2014-01-01

Objective We assessed the contributions of familial rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or lupus and environmental factors to risk of RA. Methods Among 121,700 women in the Nurses’ Health Study, 65,457 provided data on familial RA/lupus. Among these, 493 RA cases (301 seropositive and 192 seronegative) were validated. We estimated hazard ratios (HR) for RA comparing those with and without familial RA/lupus, adjusting for environmental factors (smoking, alcohol, body mass index [BMI], parity, breastfeeding, menopause, hormone use, early menarche, and menstrual regularity) using Cox proportional hazards models. Population attributable risks (PAR) for RA within this cohort were calculated for familial RA/lupus, smoking, alcohol, BMI, parity, and breastfeeding. Results Familial RA/lupus was significantly associated with RA (HR 3.67), seropositive RA (HR 3.90) and seronegative RA (HR 3.95). After adjusting for environmental factors, familial RA/lupus was significantly associated with RA (HR 3.59, 95% confidence interval 2.94–4.37). Smoking >10 pack-years, alcohol intake 5–10 g/day, overweight, breastfeeding ≥12 months, and pre-menopausal status remained significantly associated with RA after adjusting for familial RA/lupus. For RA in this cohort, the PAR for smoking, BMI, alcohol, parity, or breastfeeding collectively was 41%; the PAR due to heredity from familial RA/lupus was 21%. Conclusion In this large, prospective cohort, women with familial RA/lupus had a four-fold increased risk for RA that remained significant after adjusting for environmental factors. A large proportion of RA risk was attributable to environmental factors even among those with familial RA/lupus. PMID:25103278

Convenience food with environmentally-sustainable attributes: A consumer perspective.

PubMed

Stranieri, Stefanella; Ricci, Elena Claire; Banterle, Alessandro

2017-09-01

The use of chemicals in agriculture poses risks on both human health and the environment. Regulatory measures, both mandatory and voluntary, have been introduced to promote a reduction in the use of pesticides. The proliferation of such standards is related to the gradual shift of consumer preferences towards food with reduced negative health and environmental impacts. Beside consumer demand for sustainable food products, convenience food is also assuming an increasingly important role in developed countries. Among such products, minimally-processed vegetables are showing a growing positive trend, but their production has also negative effects on the environment. The goal of this study is to investigate the interaction between environmentally-friendly and healthy convenience food, and to investigate the determinants behind the purchase of healthy convenience food products with environmentally-sustainable attributes, focusing on minimally-processed vegetables labelled with voluntary standards related to integrated agriculture. To do so, we started from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and tested the efficacy of an extended model by considering also other variables which were found to affect significantly food choices. Data were collected by means of face-to-face interviews with 550 consumers in charge of grocery shopping in the metropolitan area of Milan, in northern Italy. Structural equation modelling was performed to analyse the relative importance of the constructs on consumer behaviour. Results confirm the relations of Ajzen's theory and reveal positive relations with consumer food shopping habits, food-related environmental behaviour, gender, income and knowledge. A negative relation with agricultural practices concern also emerges, highlighting that the most concerned consumers may prefer other more stringent environmental certifications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental pollutants and disease in American children: estimates of morbidity, mortality, and costs for lead poisoning, asthma, cancer, and developmental disabilities.

PubMed Central

Landrigan, Philip J; Schechter, Clyde B; Lipton, Jeffrey M; Fahs, Marianne C; Schwartz, Joel

2002-01-01

In this study, we aimed to estimate the contribution of environmental pollutants to the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and costs of pediatric disease in American children. We examined four categories of illness: lead poisoning, asthma, cancer, and neurobehavioral disorders. To estimate the proportion of each attributable to toxins in the environment, we used an environmentally attributable fraction (EAF) model. EAFs for lead poisoning, asthma, and cancer were developed by panels of experts through a Delphi process, whereas that for neurobehavioral disorders was based on data from the National Academy of Sciences. We define environmental pollutants as toxic chemicals of human origin in air, food, water, and communities. To develop estimates of costs, we relied on data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Health Care Financing Agency, and the Practice Management Information Corporation. EAFs were judged to be 100% for lead poisoning, 30% for asthma (range, 10-35%), 5% for cancer (range, 2-10%), and 10% for neurobehavioral disorders (range, 5-20%). Total annual costs are estimated to be $54.9 billion (range $48.8-64.8 billion): $43.4 billion for lead poisoning, $2.0 billion for asthma, $0.3 billion for childhood cancer, and $9.2 billion for neurobehavioral disorders. This sum amounts to 2.8 percent of total U.S. health care costs. This estimate is likely low because it considers only four categories of illness, incorporates conservative assumptions, ignores costs of pain and suffering, and does not include late complications for which etiologic associations are poorly quantified. The costs of pediatric environmental disease are high, in contrast with the limited resources directed to research, tracking, and prevention. PMID:12117650

User’s Guide and Metadata for the PICES Nonindigenous Species Information System

EPA Science Inventory

The database, the "PICES Nonindigenous Species Information System", was constucted to synthesize the global distributions, environmental tolerances, and natural history attributes of the nonindigenous species in the North Pacific and Hawaii. The User's Guide provides th...

IMPLICATIONS OF PARTICULATE MATTER RESEARCH PROGRAM UPON EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND APPORTIONMENT AND ATTRIBUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

EPA Science Inventory

Recent personal exposure panel studies and monitoring programs addressing fine particulate matter (PM) and associated co-pollutants have elucidated the physical and statistical relationships between personal exposures, residential indoor concentrations (and sources), concentratio...

EE2 Changes Gene Expression in Fathead Minnow Testis

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental estrogens have been implicated in altering reproductive health of aquatic animals. Early studies of sewage treatment effluents attributed the feminization of male fish to exposure to mixtures of natural and synthetic estrogens. One of the most potent estrogens kno...

Consideration of species community composition in statistical analyses of coral disease risk

EPA Science Inventory

Diseases are increasing in marine ecosystems, and these increases have been attributed to a number of environmental factors including climate change, pollution, and overfishing. However, many studies pool disease prevalence into taxonomic groups, disregarding host species compos...

Building a Global Learning Organization: Lessons from the World's Top Corporations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marquardt, Michael J.

1995-01-01

Research on 50 organizations elicited 19 attributes of learning organizations: individual learning, group learning, streamlined structure, corporate learning culture, empowerment, environmental scanning, knowledge creation/transfer, learning technology, quality, learning strategy, supportive atmosphere, teamwork/networking, vision, acculturation,…

Prenatal origins of hypertension induced by gestational undernutrition or environmental chemical exposure

EPA Science Inventory

Epidemiological studies have shown that babies of low birth weight have high blood pressure (BP) as children and adults, suggesting prenatal cardiovascular programming. This programming has been attributed to factors including undernutrition and maternal stress during pregnancy. ...

Processing companies' preferences for attributes of beef in Switzerland.

PubMed

Boesch, Irene

2014-01-01

The aim of this work was to assess processing companies' preferences for attributes of Swiss beef. To this end, qualitative interviews were used to derive product attributes that determine the buying decision. Through an adaptive-choice based conjoint analysis survey and latent class analysis of choice data, we compute class preferences. Results show that there are two distinct classes. A smaller class emphasizes traceability back to the birth farm and low producer price, a larger class focuses on environmental effects and origin. Additionally we see that larger companies are more price-sensitive and smaller companies are more sensitive to origin of the animals. The results outlined in this paper may be used to target market segments and to derive differentiation strategies based on product characteristics. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental audit: III. Improving the management of environmental information for toxic substances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolik, Stanley L.; Schaeffer, David J.

1986-05-01

Environmental programs have been commonly driven by a preoccupation with the collection of data in the mistaken belief that data is synonymous with information. The distinction between data (that is, the quantified and qualitative attributes of a particular environment) and information (specifically, data processed so as to focus upon a particular environmental problem) will become far more important to environmental managers. They will increasingly manage their information through use of what has become known as information resource management (IRM) and the attendant use of critical success factors methodology. Environmental managers will thereby move away from concerns about data and specific EDP hardware and applications toward managing information as a valuable agency resource. In applying IRM, they will find it helpful to include a number of planning elements and to resolve early a number of issues critical to its successful use.

Attribution Theory and Crisis Intervention Therapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skilbeck, William M.

It was proposed that existing therapeutic procedures may influence attributions about emotional states. Therefore an attributional analysis of crisis intervention, a model of community-based, short-term consultation, was presented. This analysis suggested that crisis intervention provides attributionally-relevant information about both the source…

The Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Internet Use and Associations With Psychopathology: A Twin Study.

PubMed

Long, Elizabeth C; Verhulst, Brad; Neale, Michael C; Lind, Penelope A; Hickie, Ian B; Martin, Nicholas G; Gillespie, Nathan A

2016-02-01

Excessive internet use has been linked to psychopathology. Therefore, understanding the genetic and environmental risks underpinning internet use and their relation to psychopathology is important. This study aims to explore the genetic and environmental etiology of internet use measures and their associations with internalizing disorders and substance use disorders. The sample included 2,059 monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) young adult twins from the Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study (BLTS). Younger participants reported more frequent internet use, while women were more likely to use the internet for interpersonal communication. Familial aggregation in 'frequency of internet use' was entirely explained by additive genetic factors accounting for 41% of the variance. Familial aggregation in 'frequency of use after 11 pm', 'using the internet to contact peers', and 'using the internet primarily to access social networking sites' was attributable to varying combinations of additive genetic and shared environmental factors. In terms of psychopathology, there were no significant associations between internet use measures and major depression (MD), but there were positive significant associations between 'frequency of internet use' and 'frequency of use after 11 pm' with social phobia (SP). 'Using the internet to contact peers' was positively associated with alcohol abuse, whereas 'using the internet to contact peers' and 'using the internet primarily to access social networking sites' were negatively associated with cannabis use disorders and nicotine symptoms. Individual differences in internet use can be attributable to varying degrees of genetic and environmental risks. Despite some significant associations of small effect, variation in internet use appears mostly unrelated to psychopathology.

Effects of social contact and zygosity on 21-y weight change in male twins.

PubMed

McCaffery, Jeanne M; Franz, Carol E; Jacobson, Kristen; Leahey, Tricia M; Xian, Hong; Wing, Rena R; Lyons, Michael J; Kremen, William S

2011-08-01

Recent evidence indicates that social contact is related to similarities in weight gain over time. However, no studies have examined this effect in a twin design, in which genetic and other environmental effects can also be estimated. We determined whether the frequency of social contact is associated with similarity in weight change from young adulthood (mean age: 20 y) to middle age (mean age: 41 y) in twins and quantified the percentage of variance in weight change attributable to social contact, genetic factors, and other environmental influences. Participants were 1966 monozygotic and 1529 dizygotic male twin pairs from the Vietnam-Era Twin Registry. Regression models tested whether frequency of social contact and zygosity predicted twin pair similarity in body mass index (BMI) change and weight change. Twin modeling was used to partition the percentage variance attributable to social contact, genetic, and other environmental effects. Twins gained an average of 3.99 BMI units, or 13.23 kg (29.11 lb), over 21 y. In regression models, both zygosity (P < 0.001) and degree of social contact (P < 0.02) significantly predicted twin pair similarity in BMI change. In twin modeling, social contact between twins contributed 16% of the variance in BMI change (P < 0.001), whereas genetic factors contributed 42%, with no effect of additional shared environmental factors (1%). Similar results were obtained for weight change. Frequency of social contact significantly predicted twin pair similarity in BMI and weight change over 21 y, independent of zygosity and other shared environmental influences.

A meta-analysis of factors affecting trust in human-robot interaction.

PubMed

Hancock, Peter A; Billings, Deborah R; Schaefer, Kristin E; Chen, Jessie Y C; de Visser, Ewart J; Parasuraman, Raja

2011-10-01

We evaluate and quantify the effects of human, robot, and environmental factors on perceived trust in human-robot interaction (HRI). To date, reviews of trust in HRI have been qualitative or descriptive. Our quantitative review provides a fundamental empirical foundation to advance both theory and practice. Meta-analytic methods were applied to the available literature on trust and HRI. A total of 29 empirical studies were collected, of which 10 met the selection criteria for correlational analysis and 11 for experimental analysis. These studies provided 69 correlational and 47 experimental effect sizes. The overall correlational effect size for trust was r = +0.26,with an experimental effect size of d = +0.71. The effects of human, robot, and environmental characteristics were examined with an especial evaluation of the robot dimensions of performance and attribute-based factors. The robot performance and attributes were the largest contributors to the development of trust in HRI. Environmental factors played only a moderate role. Factors related to the robot itself, specifically, its performance, had the greatest current association with trust, and environmental factors were moderately associated. There was little evidence for effects of human-related factors. The findings provide quantitative estimates of human, robot, and environmental factors influencing HRI trust. Specifically, the current summary provides effect size estimates that are useful in establishing design and training guidelines with reference to robot-related factors of HRI trust. Furthermore, results indicate that improper trust calibration may be mitigated by the manipulation of robot design. However, many future research needs are identified.

Genetic and environmental influences on non-specific neck pain in early adolescence: A classical twin study

PubMed Central

Ståhl, Minna K; El-Metwally, Ashraf A; Mikkelsson, Marja K; Salminen, Jouko J; Pulkkinen, Lea R; Rose, Richard J; Kaprio, Jaakko A

2012-01-01

Background Prevalence of neck pain has increased among adolescents. The origins of adult chronic neck pain may lie in late childhood, but for early prevention, more information is needed about its aetiology. We investigated the relative roles of genetic and environmental factors in early adolescent neck pain with a classic twin study. Methods Frequency of neck pain was assessed with a validated pain questionnaire in a population-based sample of nearly 1800 pairs of 11–12-year-old Finnish twins. Twin pair similarity for neck pain was quantified by polychoric correlations, and variance components were estimated with biometric structural equation modelling. Results Prevalence of neck pain reported at least once monthly was 38% and at least once weekly 16%, with no significant differences between gender or zygosity. A greater polychoric correlation in liability to neck pain was found in monozygotic (0.67) than for dizygotic pairs (0.38), suggesting strong genetic influences. Model-fitting indicated that 68% (95% CI 62 to 74) of the variation in liability to neck pain could be attributed to genetic effects, with the remainder attributed to unshared environmental effects. No evidence for sex-specific genetic effects or for sex differences in the magnitude of genetic effects was found. Conclusions Genetic and unique environmental factors seem to play the most important roles in liability to neck pain in early adolescence. Future research should be directed to identifying pathways for genetic influences on neck pain and in exploring effectiveness of interventions that target already identified environmental risk factors. PMID:23139100

Molecular Evolution of Grass Stomata.

PubMed

Chen, Zhong-Hua; Chen, Guang; Dai, Fei; Wang, Yizhou; Hills, Adrian; Ruan, Yong-Ling; Zhang, Guoping; Franks, Peter J; Nevo, Eviatar; Blatt, Michael R

2017-02-01

Grasses began to diversify in the late Cretaceous Period and now dominate more than one third of global land area, including three-quarters of agricultural land. We hypothesize that their success is likely attributed to the evolution of highly responsive stomata capable of maximizing productivity in rapidly changing environments. Grass stomata harness the active turgor control mechanisms present in stomata of more ancient plant lineages, maximizing several morphological and developmental features to ensure rapid responses to environmental inputs. The evolutionary development of grass stomata appears to have been a gradual progression. Therefore, understanding the complex structures, developmental events, regulatory networks, and combinations of ion transporters necessary to drive rapid stomatal movement may inform future efforts towards breeding new crop varieties. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low G accelerometer testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vaughan, M. S.

1972-01-01

Eight different types of low-g accelerometer tests are covered on the Bell miniature electrostatically suspended accelerometer (MESA) which is known to be sensitive to less than 10 to the minus 7th power earth's gravity. These tests include a mass attracting scheme, Leitz dividing head, Wild theodolite, precision gage blocks, precision tiltmeters, Hilger Watts autocollimator, Razdow Mark 2 autocollimator, and laser interferometer measuring system. Each test is described and a comparison of the results is presented. The output of the MESA was as linear and consistent as any of the available devices were capable of measuring. Although the extent of agreement varied with the test equipment used, it can only be concluded that the indicated errors were attributable to the test equipment coupled with the environmental conditions.

The sociocultural dynamics of mass hysteria: a case study of social conflict in West Malaysia.

PubMed

Lee, R L; Ackerman, S E

1980-02-01

This discussion of an episode of mass hysteria in a Malay college in West Malaysia examines stress and conflict in relation to the interpretive process within a specific social setting. Unlike previous studies, which conceptualize mass hysteria as a cathartic response to accumulated stress, the present study treats stress as a matter of definition in a specific sociocultural context rather than as an objective given from which predictions can be made. Objections are raised to the logic of explanations that attribute mass hysteria to environmental stress. What is of concern is how meanings are assigned to events that are experienced as stressful, how participants and observers explain these events, and the consequences that follow from their interpretations.

Sensor Systems for Prognostics and Health Management

PubMed Central

Cheng, Shunfeng; Azarian, Michael H.; Pecht, Michael G.

2010-01-01

Prognostics and health management (PHM) is an enabling discipline consisting of technologies and methods to assess the reliability of a product in its actual life cycle conditions to determine the advent of failure and mitigate system risk. Sensor systems are needed for PHM to monitor environmental, operational, and performance-related characteristics. The gathered data can be analyzed to assess product health and predict remaining life. In this paper, the considerations for sensor system selection for PHM applications, including the parameters to be measured, the performance needs, the electrical and physical attributes, reliability, and cost of the sensor system, are discussed. The state-of-the-art sensor systems for PHM and the emerging trends in technologies of sensor systems for PHM are presented. PMID:22219686

Sensor systems for prognostics and health management.

PubMed

Cheng, Shunfeng; Azarian, Michael H; Pecht, Michael G

2010-01-01

Prognostics and health management (PHM) is an enabling discipline consisting of technologies and methods to assess the reliability of a product in its actual life cycle conditions to determine the advent of failure and mitigate system risk. Sensor systems are needed for PHM to monitor environmental, operational, and performance-related characteristics. The gathered data can be analyzed to assess product health and predict remaining life. In this paper, the considerations for sensor system selection for PHM applications, including the parameters to be measured, the performance needs, the electrical and physical attributes, reliability, and cost of the sensor system, are discussed. The state-of-the-art sensor systems for PHM and the emerging trends in technologies of sensor systems for PHM are presented.

Individuals versus organisms versus populations in the definition of ecological assessment endpoints.

PubMed

Suter, Glenn W; Norton, Susan B; Fairbrother, Anne

2005-11-01

Discussions and applications of the policies and practices of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in ecological risk assessment will benefit from continued clarification of the concepts of assessment endpoints and of levels of biological organization. First, assessment endpoint entities and attributes can be defined at different levels of organization. Hence, an organism-level attribute, such as growth or survival, can be applied collectively to a population-level entity such as the brook trout in a stream. Second, assessment endpoints for ecological risk assessment are often mistakenly described as "individual level," which leads to the idea that such assessments are intended to protect individuals. Finally, populations play a more important role in risk assessments than is generally recognized. Organism-level attributes are used primarily for population-level assessments. In addition, the USEPA and other agencies already are basing management decisions on population or community entities and attributes such as production of fisheries, abundance of migratory bird populations, and aquatic community composition.

The double-edged sword of genetic accounts of criminality: causal attributions from genetic ascriptions affect legal decision making.

PubMed

Cheung, Benjamin Y; Heine, Steven J

2015-12-01

Much debate exists surrounding the applicability of genetic information in the courtroom, making the psychological processes underlying how people consider this information important to explore. This article addresses how people think about different kinds of causal explanations in legal decision-making contexts. Three studies involving a total of 600 Mechanical Turk and university participants found that genetic, versus environmental, explanations of criminal behavior lead people to view the applicability of various defense claims differently, perceive the perpetrator's mental state differently, and draw different causal attributions. Moreover, mediation and path analyses highlight the double-edged nature of genetic attributions-they simultaneously reduce people's perception of the perpetrator's sense of control while increasing people's tendencies to attribute the cause to internal factors and to expect the perpetrator to reoffend. These countervailing relations, in turn, predict sentencing in opposite directions, although no overall differences in sentencing or ultimate verdicts were found. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Alternate-Fuel Vehicles and Their Application in Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taggart, Chip

1991-01-01

Alternative fuels are becoming increasingly attractive from environmental, energy independence, and economic perspectives. Addresses the following topics: (1) federal and state legislation; (2) alternative fuels and their attributes; (3) practical experience with alternative-fuel vehicles in pupil transportation; and (4) options for school…

THE EFFECTS OF ETHINYL ESTRADIOL ON SPERMATOGENESIS IN THE ADULT MALE RAT

EPA Science Inventory

Recently, increases in male infertility have been attributed to exposure to environmental estrogens. Decreased sperm concentrations and increased infertility have been reported in the human, while many reports have documented reproductive effects due to estrogenic exposure in ani...

EPA (ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY) DESIGN INFORMATION REPORT: SIDESTREAMS IN WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS

EPA Science Inventory

Performance problems at publicly-owned treatment works are often attributed to the recycling of sidestreams generated in the wastewater treatment and sludge handling systems. Although the volumes of these sidestreams are generally small compared to plant influent flows, sidestrea...

75 FR 54177 - Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Tonopah Solar Energy...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-03

... following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/battle_mountain_field.html . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... criteria pollutant and ``Dark Sky'' attributes on the effects of the viewshed, and the availability of...

Material Property Database and Environmental Attribute Models for NM Science Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-28

3 Goals 1. Provide place "to go " for initial information 2. Basic understanding of what types of information you might need to... MWCNT , SWCNT, Fullerene, Waste • Aluminum ...,. Explosive, propellant • Silver ...,. Coatings, textiles, polymers • Titanium dioxide

Equine grass sickness in Scotland: A case-control study of environmental geochemical risk factors.

PubMed

Wylie, C E; Shaw, D J; Fordyce, F M; Lilly, A; Pirie, R S; McGorum, B C

2016-11-01

We hypothesised that the apparent geographical distribution of equine grass sickness (EGS) is partly attributable to suboptimal levels of soil macro- and trace elements in fields where EGS occurs. If proven, altering levels of particular elements could be used to reduce the risk of EGS. To determine whether the geographical distribution of EGS cases in eastern Scotland is associated with the presence or absence of particular environmental chemical elements. Retrospective time-matched case-control study. This study used data for 455 geo-referenced EGS cases and 910 time-matched controls in eastern Scotland, and geo-referenced environmental geochemical data from the British Geological Survey Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment stream sediment (G-BASE) and the James Hutton Institute, National Soil Inventory of Scotland (NSIS) datasets. Multivariable statistical analyses identified clusters of three main elements associated with cases from (i) the G-BASE dataset - higher environmental Ti and lower Zn, and (ii) the NSIS dataset - higher environmental Ti and lower Cr. There was also some evidence from univariable analyses for lower Al, Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb and higher Ca, K, Mo, Na and Se environmental concentrations being associated with a case. Results were complicated by a high degree of correlation between most geochemical elements. The work presented here would appear to reflect soil- not horse-level risk factors for EGS, but due to the complexity of the correlations between elements, further work is required to determine whether these associations reflect causality, and consequently whether interventions to alter concentrations of particular elements in soil, or in grazing horses, could potentially reduce the risk of EGS. The effect of chemical elements on the growth of those soil microorganisms implicated in EGS aetiology also warrants further study. © 2015 The The Authors Equine Veterinary Journal © 2015 EVJ Ltd.

Environmental Detection of Clandestine Nuclear Weapon Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kemp, R. Scott

2016-06-01

Environmental sensing of nuclear activities has the potential to detect nuclear weapon programs at early stages, deter nuclear proliferation, and help verify nuclear accords. However, no robust system of detection has been deployed to date. This can be variously attributed to high costs, technical limitations in detector technology, simple countermeasures, and uncertainty about the magnitude or behavior of potential signals. In this article, current capabilities and promising opportunities are reviewed. Systematic research in a variety of areas could improve prospects for detecting covert nuclear programs, although the potential for countermeasures suggests long-term verification of nuclear agreements will need to rely on methods other than environmental sensing.

Estimated Costs of Sporadic Gastrointestinal Illness ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

BACKGROUND: The ·burden of illness can be described by addressing both incidence and illness severity attributable to water recreation. Monetized as cost. attributable disease burden estimates can be useful for environmental management decisions. OBJECTIVES: We characterize the disease burden attributable to water recreation using data from two cohort studies using a cost of illness (COI) approach and estimate the largest drivers of the disease burden of water recreation. METHODS: Data from the NEEAR study, which evaluated swimming and wading in marine and freshwater beaches in six U.S. states, and CHEERS, which evaluated illness after incidental-contact recreation (boating, canoeing, fishing, kayaking, and rowing) on waterways in the Chicago area, were used to estimate the cost per case of gastrointestinal illness and costs attributable to water recreation. Data on health care and medication utilization and missed days of work or leisure were collected and combined with cost data to construct measures of COI. RESULTS: Depending on different assumptions, the cost of gastrointestinal symptoms attributable to water recreation are estimated to be $1,220 for incidental-contact recreation (range $338-$1,681) and $1,676 for swimming/wading (range $425-2,743) per 1,000 recreators. Lost productivity is a major driver of the estimated COI, accounting for up to 90% of total costs. CONCLUSIONS: Our estimates suggest gastrointestinal illness attributed to surface water rec

The interaction between specific and general information in category learning and representation: unitization and parallel interactive processing.

PubMed

Nahinsky, Irwin D; Harbison, J Isaiah

2011-01-01

We investigated the effects of specific stimulus information on the use of rule information in a category learning task in 2 experiments, one presented here and an intercategory transfer task reported in an earlier article. In the present experiment photograph--name combinations, called identifiers, were associated with 4 demographic attributes. The same attribute information was shown to all participants. However, for one group of participants, half of the identifiers were paired with attribute values repeated over presentation blocks. For the other group the identifier information was new for each presentation block. The first group performed less well than the second group on stimuli with nonrepeated identifiers, indicating a negative effect of specific stimulus information on processing rule information. Application of a network model to the 2 experiments, which provided for the growth of connections between attribute values in learning, indicated that repetition of identifiers produced a unitizing effect on stimuli. Results suggested that unitization produced interference through connections between irrelevant attribute values.

Research on the Environmental Performance Evaluation of Electronic Waste Reverse Logistics Enterprise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yu-Xiang; Chen, Fei-Yang; Tong, Tong

According to the characteristic of e-waste reverse logistics, environmental performance evaluation system of electronic waste reverse logistics enterprise is proposed. We use fuzzy analytic hierarchy process method to evaluate the system. In addition, this paper analyzes the enterprise X, as an example, to discuss the evaluation method. It's important to point out attributes and indexes which should be strengthen during the process of ewaste reverse logistics and provide guidance suggestions to domestic e-waste reverse logistics enterprises.

Romantic Relationship Satisfaction Moderates the Etiology of Adult Personality.

PubMed

South, Susan C; Krueger, Robert F; Elkins, Irene J; Iacono, William G; McGue, Matt

2016-01-01

The heritability of major normative domains of personality is well-established, with approximately half the proportion of variance attributed to genetic differences. In the current study, we examine the possibility of gene × environment interaction (G×E) for adult personality using the environmental context of intimate romantic relationship functioning. Personality and relationship satisfaction are significantly correlated phenotypically, but to date no research has examined how the genetic and environmental components of variance for personality differ as a function of romantic relationship satisfaction. Given the importance of personality for myriad outcomes from work productivity to psychopathology, it is vital to identify variables present in adulthood that may affect the etiology of personality. In the current study, quantitative models of G×E were used to determine whether the genetic and environmental influences on personality differ as a function of relationship satisfaction. We drew from a sample of now-adult twins followed longitudinally from adolescence through age 29. All participants completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) and an abbreviated version of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Biometric moderation was found for eight of the eleven MPQ scales examined: well-being, social potency, negative emotionality, alienation, aggression, constraint, traditionalism, and absorption. The pattern of findings differed, suggesting that the ways in which relationship quality moderates the etiology of personality may depend on the personality trait.

Hepatic Lipidosis in a Research Colony of Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus).

PubMed

Snyder, Jessica M; Treuting, Piper M; Brabb, Thea; Miller, Kimberly E; Covey, Ellen; Lencioni, Karen L

2015-04-01

During a nearby construction project, a sudden decrease in food intake and guano production occurred in an outdoor colony of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), and one animal was found dead. Investigation revealed that the project was generating a large amount of noise and vibration, which disturbed the bats' feeding. Consequently the bats were moved into an indoor enclosure away from the construction noises, and the colony resumed eating. Over the next 3 wk, additional animals presented with clinical signs of lethargy, weight loss, ecchymoses, and icterus and were necropsied. Gross necropsy of the affected bats revealed large, pale yellow to tan, friable livers with rounded edges that floated when placed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin. Some bats had ecchymoses on the webbing and skin and gross perirenal hemorrhage. Histologic examination showed hepatic and renal tubular lipidosis. The clinical and pathologic signs of hemorrhage and icterus were suggestive of hepatic failure. Hepatic lipidosis was attributed to stress and inappetence associated with environmental perturbations. Once the environmental stressor was removed, the colony morbidity and mortality decreased. However, 2 y later, a series of new environmental stressors triggered additional deaths associated with hepatic lipidosis. Over a 9-y period, 21 cases of hepatic lipidosis were diagnosed in this bat colony.

Hepatic Lipidosis in a Research Colony of Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus)

PubMed Central

Snyder, Jessica M; Treuting, Piper M; Brabb, Thea; Miller, Kimberly E; Covey, Ellen; Lencioni, Karen L

2015-01-01

During a nearby construction project, a sudden decrease in food intake and guano production occurred in an outdoor colony of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), and one animal was found dead. Investigation revealed that the project was generating a large amount of noise and vibration, which disturbed the bats’ feeding. Consequently the bats were moved into an indoor enclosure away from the construction noises, and the colony resumed eating. Over the next 3 wk, additional animals presented with clinical signs of lethargy, weight loss, ecchymoses, and icterus and were necropsied. Gross necropsy of the affected bats revealed large, pale yellow to tan, friable livers with rounded edges that floated when placed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin. Some bats had ecchymoses on the webbing and skin and gross perirenal hemorrhage. Histologic examination showed hepatic and renal tubular lipidosis. The clinical and pathologic signs of hemorrhage and icterus were suggestive of hepatic failure. Hepatic lipidosis was attributed to stress and inappetence associated with environmental perturbations. Once the environmental stressor was removed, the colony morbidity and mortality decreased. However, 2 y later, a series of new environmental stressors triggered additional deaths associated with hepatic lipidosis. Over a 9-y period, 21 cases of hepatic lipidosis were diagnosed in this bat colony. PMID:25926399

Taxonomic overview and tusk growth analyses of Ziegler Reservoir proboscideans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Daniel C.; Cherney, Michael D.; Newton, Cody; Rountrey, Adam N.; Calamari, Zachary T.; Stucky, Richard K.; Lucking, Carol; Petrie, Lesley

2014-11-01

At an altitude of 2705 m in the Colorado Rockies (USA), the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site gives a rare look at a high-elevation ecosystem from the late Pleistocene (especially MIS 5) of North America. Remains of more than four mammoths and about 35 mastodons dominate the macrofossil assemblage. Mammoth remains are attributed to Mammuthus columbi, and mastodon remains are referred to the well-known, continent-wide Mammut americanum. Mastodon remains occur within and between several lake-margin slump deposits. Their deposition must therefore have occurred as events that were to some degree separate in time. We treat the mastodon assemblage in each stratigraphic unit as a source of information on environmental conditions during the lives of these individuals. Mastodon mandibular tusks are abundant at the site and represent both males and females, from calves to full-grown adults. This study presents the first attempt to use microCT, thin-section, and isotope records from mandibular tusks to reconstruct features of life-history. We recognize an up-section trend in δ18O profiles toward higher values, suggestive of warmer temperatures. Throughout this sequence, mastodon growth histories show low mean sensitivities suggestive of low levels of environmental stress. This work helps frame expectations for assessing environmental pressures on terminal Pleistocene populations.

Circadian clocks in the cnidaria: environmental entrainment, molecular regulation, and organismal outputs.

PubMed

Reitzel, Adam M; Tarrant, Ann M; Levy, Oren

2013-07-01

The circadian clock is a molecular network that translates predictable environmental signals, such as light levels, into organismal responses, including behavior and physiology. Regular oscillations of the molecular components of the clock enable individuals to anticipate regularly fluctuating environmental conditions. Cnidarians play important roles in benthic and pelagic marine environments and also occupy a key evolutionary position as the likely sister group to the bilaterians. Together, these attributes make members of this phylum attractive as models for testing hypotheses on roles for circadian clocks in regulating behavior, physiology, and reproduction as well as those regarding the deep evolutionary conservation of circadian regulatory pathways in animal evolution. Here, we review and synthesize the field of cnidarian circadian biology by discussing the diverse effects of daily light cycles on cnidarians, summarizing the molecular evidence for the conservation of a bilaterian-like circadian clock in anthozoan cnidarians, and presenting new empirical data supporting the presence of a conserved feed-forward loop in the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. Furthermore, we discuss critical gaps in our current knowledge about the cnidarian clock, including the functions directly regulated by the clock and the precise molecular interactions that drive the oscillating gene-expression patterns. We conclude that the field of cnidarian circadian biology is moving rapidly toward linking molecular mechanisms with physiology and behavior.

Distribution of aquatic macrophytes in contrasting river systems: a critique of compositional-based assessment of water quality.

PubMed

Demars, Benoît O L; Edwards, Anthony C

2009-01-01

A brief summary of the historical developments relating to plant distribution and aquatic macrophyte-nutrient indices provided a means of assessing the general context and validity of previous assumptions. This has particular current relevance because of the prominent use of bioindicators for defining nutrient enrichment. A survey of 161 sites distributed across two broadly contrasting groups of rivers (circum-neutral versus alkaline) recorded 110 species of aquatic macrophytes and these have been statistically analyzed to (i) rank and separate the individual effects of local environmental conditions and spatial isolation on species distribution in the two contrasting groups of sites; (ii) calculate a macrophyte index based on plant cover and species indicator values (Mean Trophic Rank, MTR); and finally (iii) investigate the implications for biomonitoring. Chemical, physical and hydrological site attributes together with spatial isolation, each explained a significant and at least partially independent influence over plant species distribution. It was extremely difficult, however, to separate the single effects of different site attributes on plant distribution. While some plant species are more restricted to certain environmental conditions, many appeared indifferent to the range of those being tested. The role played by nutrients (nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) were either mostly indistinguishable from other site attributes (e.g., nitrate from conductivity) or subordinate (e.g., soluble reactive phosphorus, ammonium). It is therefore very unlikely that macrophyte species composition could provide a reliable bioindicator of the surrounding nutrient (N, P) status. The calculation of the plant index illustrated this unreliability by showing that strong correlations existed with many environmental variables, not just inorganic N and P.

Disentangling the relationships between maternal smoking during pregnancy and co-occurring risk factors

PubMed Central

Ellingson, Jarrod M.; Rickert, Martin E.; Lichtenstein, Paul; Långström, Niklas; D’Onofrio, Brian M.

2013-01-01

Background Maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP) has been extensively studied as a risk factor for adverse offspring outcomes and is known to co-occur with other familial risk factors. Accounting for general familial risk factors has attenuated associations between SDP and adverse offspring outcomes, and identifying these confounds will be critical to elucidating the relationship between SDP and its psychological correlates. Methods The current study aimed to disentangle the relationship between maternal SDP and co-occurring risk factors (maternal criminal activity, drug problems, teen pregnancy, educational attainment, and cohabitation at childbirth) using a population-based sample of full- (n=206,313) and half-sister pairs (n=19,363) from Sweden. Logistic regression models estimated the strength of association between SDP and co-occurring risk factors. Bivariate behavioral genetic models estimated the degree to which associations between SDP and co-occurring risk factors are attributable to genetic and environmental factors. Results Maternal SDP was associated with an increase in all co-occurring risk factors. Of the variance associated with SDP, 45% was attributed to genetic factors and 53% was attributed to unshared environmental factors. In bivariate models, genetic factors accounted for 21% (non- drug-, non-violence-related crimes) to 35% (drug-related crimes) of the covariance between SDP and co-occurring risk factors. Unshared environmental factors accounted for the remaining covariance. Conclusions The genetic factors that influence a woman’s criminal behavior, substance abuse, and her offspring’s rearing environment also influence SDP. Therefore, the intergenerational transmission of genes conferring risk for antisocial behavior and substance misuse may influence the associations between maternal SDP and adverse offspring outcomes. PMID:22115276

Habitat and indigenous gut microbes contribute to the plasticity of gut microbiome in oriental river prawn during rapid environmental change

PubMed Central

Chen, Po-Cheng; Weng, Francis Cheng-Hsuan; Shaw, Grace Tzun-Wen

2017-01-01

Growing evidence points out that the capacity of organisms to acclimate or adapt to new habitat conditions basically depends on their phenomic plasticity attributes, of which their gut commensal microbiota might be an essential impact factor. Especially in aquatic organisms, which are in direct and continual contact with the aquatic environment, the complex and dynamic microbiota have significant effects on health and development. However, an understanding of the relative contribution of internal sorting (host genetic) and colonization (environmental) processes is still unclear. To understand how microbial communities differ in response to rapid environmental change, we surveyed and studied the environmental and gut microbiota of native and habitat-exchanged shrimp (Macrobrachium nipponense) using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Corresponding with microbial diversity of their living water areas, the divergence in gut microbes of lake-to-river shrimp (CK) increased, while that of river-to-lake shrimp (KC) decreased. Importantly, among the candidate environment specific gut microbes in habitat-exchanged shrimp, over half of reads were associated with the indigenous bacteria in native shrimp gut, yet more candidates presented in CK may reflect the complexity of new environment. Our results suggest that shrimp gut microbiota has high plasticity when its host faces environmental changes, even over short timescales. Further, the changes in external environment might influence the gut microbiome not just by providing environment-associated microbes directly, but also by interfering with the composition of indigenous gut bacteria indirectly. PMID:28715471

Evaluating disturbance on mediterranean karst areas: the example of Sardinia (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Waele, Jo

2009-07-01

Evaluating the human disturbance on karst areas is a difficult task because of the complexity of these peculiar and unique environments. The human impact on karstic geo-ecosystems is increasingly important and there is an increasing need for multidisciplinary tools to assess the environmental changes in karst areas. Many disciplines, such as biology, geomorphology, hydrology and social-economical sciences are to be considered to sufficiently evaluate the impact on these intrinsically vulnerable areas. This article gives an overview of the evolution of environmental impact on karst areas of the island Sardinia (Italy). For this particular case, the most important impacts in the past 50 years are derived from the following activities, in decreasing importance: (1) mining and quarrying; (2) deforestation, agriculture and grazing; (3) building (widespread urbanisation, isolated homes, etc.) and related infrastructures (roads, sewer systems, aqueducts, waste dumps, etc.); (4) tourism; (5) military activities. To evaluate the present environmental state of these areas the Disturbance Index for Karst environments [Van Beynen and Townsend (Environ Manage 36:101-116)] is applied in a slightly modified version. Instead of considering the indicators of environmental disturbances used in the original method, this slightly modified index evaluates the disturbances causing the deterioration of the environmental attributes. In the Sardinian case study, 27 disturbances have been evaluated, giving rise to the definition of a Disturbance Index ranging between 0 (Pristine) and 1 (highly disturbed). This Disturbance Index simplifies the original KDI method, appears to adequately measure disturbance on Mediterranean karst areas and could be applied with success to other similar regions.

Identifying factors perceived to influence the development of elite youth football academy players.

PubMed

Mills, Andrew; Butt, Joanne; Maynard, Ian; Harwood, Chris

2012-01-01

Based on the developmental theory presented by Gagné (2009), we examined the factors perceived to influence the development of elite youth football players at a critical stage in their progression to the professional level. Transcribed interviews with ten expert development coaches were inductively and deductively content analysed. Conceptualisation of the data revealed six interrelated higher-order categories that represented the factors perceived to either positively or negatively influence player development. These were: awareness (e.g. self-awareness, awareness of others); resilience (e.g. coping with setbacks, optimistic attitude); goal-directed attributes (e.g. passion, professional attitude); intelligence (e.g. sport intelligence, emotional competence); sport-specific attributes (e.g. coachability, competitiveness); and environmental factors (e.g. significant others, culture of game). In this investigation, awareness emerged as a fundamental and mediating element for understanding how young players are able to transition to the professional level. Collectively, the findings underline the multidimensional nature of talent development and suggest that an intricate combination of stage-specific factors must manifest for gifted young players to translate their potential into excellence. Mechanisms by which academies could be helped to shape the characteristics and conditions associated with effective development are discussed.

Physicochemical properties of protein-modified silver nanoparticles in seawater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Hangyue

2013-10-01

This study investigated the physicochemical properties of silver nanoparticles stabilized with casein protein in seawater. UV?vis spectrometry, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied to measure the stability of silver nanoparticles in seawater samples. The obtained results show an increased aggregation tendency of silver nanoparticles in seawater, which could be attributed its relatively high cation concentration that could neutralize the negatively charges adsorbed on the surface of silver nanoparticles and reduce the electrostatic repulsion forces between nanoparticles. Similarly, due to the surface charge screening process, the zeta potential of silver nanoparticles in seawater decreased. This observation further supported the aggregation behavior of silver nanoparticles. This study also investigated the dissolution of silver nanoparticles in seawater. Result shows that the silver nanoparticle dissolution in DI water is lower than in seawater, which is attributed to the high Cl? concentration present in seawater. As Cl? can react with silver and form soluble AgCl complex, dissolution of silver nanoparticles was enhanced. Finally, this study demonstrated that silver nanoparticles are destabilized in seawater condition. These results may be helpful in understanding the environmental risk of discharged silver nanoparticles in seawater conditions.

Camx Ozone Source Attribution in the Eastern United States Using Guidance from Observations During DISCOVER-AQ Maryland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldberg, Daniel L.; Vinciguerra, Timothy P.; Anderson, Daniel C.; Hembeck, Linda; Canty, Timothy P.; Ehrman, Sheryl H.; Martins, Douglas K.; Stauffer, Ryan M.; Thompson, Anne M.; Salawitch, Ross J.;

Particulate Matter Exposure and Preterm Birth: Estimates of U.S. Attributable Burden and Economic Costs

PubMed Central

Trasande, Leonardo; Malecha, Patrick; Attina, Teresa M.

2016-01-01

Background: Preterm birth (PTB) rates (11.4% in 2013) in the United States remain high and are a substantial cause of morbidity. Studies of prenatal exposure have associated particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) and other ambient air pollutants with adverse birth outcomes; yet, to our knowledge, burden and costs of PM2.5-attributable PTB have not been estimated in the United States. Objectives: We aimed to estimate burden of PTB in the United States and economic costs attributable to PM2.5 exposure in 2010. Methods: Annual deciles of PM2.5 were obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We converted PTB odds ratio (OR), identified in a previous meta-analysis (1.15 per 10 μg/m3 for our base case, 1.07–1.16 for low- and high-end scenarios) to relative risk (RRs), to obtain an estimate that better represents the true relative risk. A reference level (RL) of 8.8 μg/m3 was applied. We then used the RR estimates and county-level PTB prevalence to quantify PM2.5-attributable PTB. Direct medical costs were obtained from the 2007 Institute of Medicine report, and lost economic productivity (LEP) was estimated using a meta-analysis of PTB-associated IQ loss, and well-established relationships of IQ loss with LEP. All costs were calculated using 2010 dollars. Results: An estimated 3.32% of PTBs nationally (corresponding to 15,808 PTBs) in 2010 could be attributed to PM2.5 (PM2.5 > 8.8 μg/m3). Attributable PTBs cost were estimated at $5.09 billion [sensitivity analysis (SA): $2.43–9.66 B], of which $760 million were spent for medical care (SA: $362 M–1.44 B). The estimated PM2.5 attributable fraction (AF) of PTB was highest in urban counties, with highest AFs in the Ohio Valley and the southern United States. Conclusions: PM2.5 may contribute substantially to burden and costs of PTB in the United States, and considerable health and economic benefits could be achieved through environmental regulatory interventions that reduce PM2.5 exposure in pregnancy. Citation: Trasande L, Malecha P, Attina TM. 2016. Particulate matter exposure and preterm birth: estimates of U.S. attributable burden and economic costs. Environ Health Perspect 124:1913–1918; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510810 PMID:27022947

Particulate Matter Exposure and Preterm Birth: Estimates of U.S. Attributable Burden and Economic Costs.

PubMed

Trasande, Leonardo; Malecha, Patrick; Attina, Teresa M

2016-12-01

Preterm birth (PTB) rates (11.4% in 2013) in the United States remain high and are a substantial cause of morbidity. Studies of prenatal exposure have associated particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) and other ambient air pollutants with adverse birth outcomes; yet, to our knowledge, burden and costs of PM2.5-attributable PTB have not been estimated in the United States. We aimed to estimate burden of PTB in the United States and economic costs attributable to PM2.5 exposure in 2010. Annual deciles of PM2.5 were obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We converted PTB odds ratio (OR), identified in a previous meta-analysis (1.15 per 10 μg/m3 for our base case, 1.07-1.16 for low- and high-end scenarios) to relative risk (RRs), to obtain an estimate that better represents the true relative risk. A reference level (RL) of 8.8 μg/m3 was applied. We then used the RR estimates and county-level PTB prevalence to quantify PM2.5-attributable PTB. Direct medical costs were obtained from the 2007 Institute of Medicine report, and lost economic productivity (LEP) was estimated using a meta-analysis of PTB-associated IQ loss, and well-established relationships of IQ loss with LEP. All costs were calculated using 2010 dollars. An estimated 3.32% of PTBs nationally (corresponding to 15,808 PTBs) in 2010 could be attributed to PM2.5 (PM2.5 > 8.8 μg/m3). Attributable PTBs cost were estimated at $5.09 billion [sensitivity analysis (SA): $2.43-9.66 B], of which $760 million were spent for medical care (SA: $362 M-1.44 B). The estimated PM2.5 attributable fraction (AF) of PTB was highest in urban counties, with highest AFs in the Ohio Valley and the southern United States. PM2.5 may contribute substantially to burden and costs of PTB in the United States, and considerable health and economic benefits could be achieved through environmental regulatory interventions that reduce PM2.5 exposure in pregnancy. Citation: Trasande L, Malecha P, Attina TM. 2016. Particulate matter exposure and preterm birth: estimates of U.S. attributable burden and economic costs. Environ Health Perspect 124:1913-1918; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510810.

Applications of fuzzy ranking methods to risk-management decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, Harold A.; Carter, James C., III

1993-12-01

The Department of Energy is making significant improvements to its nuclear facilities as a result of more stringent regulation, internal audits, and recommendations from external review groups. A large backlog of upgrades has resulted. Currently, a prioritization method is being utilized which relies on a matrix of potential consequence and probability of occurrence. The attributes of the potential consequences considered include likelihood, exposure, public health and safety, environmental impact, site personnel safety, public relations, legal liability, and business loss. This paper describes an improved method which utilizes fuzzy multiple attribute decision methods to rank proposed improvement projects.

Environmental reporting and accounting in Australia: progress, prospects and research priorities.

PubMed

van Dijk, Albert; Mount, Richard; Gibbons, Philip; Vardon, Michael; Canadell, Pep

2014-03-01

Despite strong demand for information to support the sustainable use of Australia's natural resources and conserve environmental values and despite considerable effort and investment, nation-wide environmental data collection and analysis remains a substantially unmet challenge. We review progress in producing national environmental reports and accounts, identify challenges and opportunities, and analyse the potential role of research in addressing these. Australia's low and concentrated population density and the short history since European settlement contribute to the lack of environmental data. There are additional factors: highly diverse data requirements and standards, disagreement on information priorities, poorly measurable management objectives, lack of coordination, over-reliance on researchers and businesses for data collection, lack of business engagement, and short-term, project-based activities. New opportunities have arisen to overcome some of these challenges: enhanced monitoring networks, standardisation, data management and modelling, greater commitment to share and integrate data, community monitoring, increasing acceptance of environmental and sustainability indicators, and progress in environmental accounting practices. Successes in generating climate, water and greenhouse gas information appear to be attributable to an unambiguous data requirement, considerable investment, and legislative instruments that enhance data sharing and create a clearly defined role for operational agencies. Based on the analysis presented, we suggest six priorities for research: (1) common definitions and standards for information that address management objectives, (2) ecological measures that are scalable from local to national level, (3) promotion of long-term data collection and reporting by researchers, (4) efficient satellite and sensor network technologies and data analysis methods, (5) environmental modelling approaches that can reconcile multiple data sources, and (6) experimental accounting to pursue consistent, credible and relevant information structures and to identify new data requirements. Opportunities exist to make progress in each of these areas and help secure a more sustainable future. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Anerobic soil disinfestation efficacy associated with altered soil microbiome and metabolome

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) has demonstrated potential to control numerous soil-borne pathogens in a diversity of production systems. A variety of environmental, biological and application attributes have potential to determine the overall capacity of ASD to provide effective disease control...

Best practices: Product category rule creation and use

EPA Science Inventory

Benefits of life cycle-based claims For most products, the majority of impact occurs upstream or downstream of product use . Single-stage claims for products (e.g., recycled content; energy efficient) don’t capture the relevance of that attribute in life-cycle environmental per...

Using Attributes of Natural Systems to Plan the Built Environment

EPA Science Inventory

The concept of 'protection' is possible only before something is lost, however, development of the built environment to meet human needs also compromises the environmental systems that sustain human life. Because maintaining an environment that is able to sustain human life requi...

Epigenetics, Darwin, and Lamarck

PubMed Central

Penny, David

2015-01-01

It is not really helpful to consider modern environmental epigenetics as neo-Lamarckian; and there is no evidence that Lamarck considered the idea original to himself. We must all keep learning about inheritance, but attributing modern ideas to early researchers is not helpful, and can be misleading. PMID:26026157

Neonicotinoid-contaminated pollinator strips adjacent to cropland reduce honey bee nutritional status

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Worldwide pollinator declines are attributed to a number of factors, including pesticide exposures. Neonicotinoid insecticides specifically have been detected in surface waters, non-target vegetation, and bee products, but the risks posed by environmental exposures are still not well understood. Pol...

Role of Environmental Contaminants in the Etiology of Alzheimer's Disease: A Review

PubMed Central

Manivannan, Yegambaram; Manivannan, Bhagyashree; Beach, Thomas G.; Halden, Rolf U.

2015-01-01

Alzheimer's dis ease (AD) is a leading cause of mortality in the developed world with 70% risk attributable to genetics. The remaining 30% of AD risk is hypothesized to include environmental factors and human lifestyle patterns. Environmental factors possibly include inorganic and organic hazards, exposure to toxic metals (aluminium, copper), pesticides (organochlorine and organophosphate insecticides), industrial chemicals (flame retardants) and air pollutants (particulate matter). Long term exposures to these environmental contaminants together with bioaccumulation over an individual's life-time are speculated to induce neuroinflammation and neuropathology paving the way for developing AD. Epidemiologic associations between environmental contaminant exposures and AD are still limited. However, many in vitro and animal studies have identified toxic effects of environmental contaminants at the cellular level, revealing alterations of pathways and metabolisms associated with AD that warrant further investigations. This review provides an overview of in vitro, animal and epidemiological studies on the etiology of AD, highlighting available data supportive of the long hypothesized link between toxic environmental exposures and development of AD pathology. PMID:25654508

Neighbourhood environment, sitting time and motorised transport in older adults: a cross-sectional study in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Barnett, Anthony; Cerin, Ester; Ching, Claudia S-K; Johnston, Janice M; Lee, Ruby S Y

2015-05-03

Sitting time is a public health concern. This study examined associations of objectively measured neighbourhood environmental attributes with non-transport sitting time and motorised transport in 484 Hong Kong older adults. Neighbourhood attributes encouraging walking may help older adults replace some sitting time at home and on motorised transport with light-to-moderate-intensity activities such as strolling around the neighbourhood or walking to/from neighbourhood destinations. Thus, we hypothesised environmental attributes found to be related to walking would show associations with non-transport sitting time and motorised transport opposite to those seen for walking. Cross-sectional. Hong Kong, an ultradense urban environment. 484 ethnic Chinese Hong Kong residents aged 65+ recruited from membership lists of four Hong Kong Elderly Health Centres representing catchment areas of low and high transport-related walkability stratified by socioeconomic status (response rate: 78%). Attributes of participants' neighbourhood environments were assessed by environmental audits, while non-transport sitting time and motorised transport were ascertained using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Long Form (Chinese version). Daily non-transport sitting minutes were 283 (SD=128) and motorised transport 23 (SD=28). Prevalence of signs of crime/disorder, streetlights, public facilities (toilets and benches) and pedestrian safety were independently negatively related, and sloping streets positively related, to sitting outcomes. Places of worship in the neighbourhood were predictive of more, and prevalence of public transit points of less, non-transport sitting. Associations of either or both sitting outcomes with prevalence of food/grocery stores and presence of parks were moderated by path obstructions and signs of crime/disorder. The findings suggest that access to specific destinations and relatively low-cost, minimal impact modifications to the urban form, such as street lighting, public toilets, benches and public transit points, could potentially reduce sitting time and associated negative health outcomes in Hong Kong older adults. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Perceived Neighborhood Environmental Attributes Associated with Walking and Cycling for Transport among Adult Residents of 17 Cities in 12 Countries: The IPEN Study

PubMed Central

Kerr, Jacqueline; Emond, Jennifer A.; Badland, Hannah; Reis, Rodrigo; Sarmiento, Olga; Carlson, Jordan; Sallis, James F.; Cerin, Ester; Cain, Kelli; Conway, Terry; Schofield, Grant; Macfarlane, Duncan J.; Christiansen, Lars B.; Van Dyck, Delfien; Davey, Rachel; Aguinaga-Ontoso, Ines; Salvo, Deborah; Sugiyama, Takemi; Owen, Neville; Mitáš, Josef; Natarajan, Loki

2015-01-01

Introduction Prevalence of walking and cycling for transport is low and varies greatly across countries. Few studies have examined neighborhood perceptions related to walking and cycling for transport in different countries. Therefore, it is challenging to prioritize appropriate built-environment interventions. Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the strength and shape of the relationship between adults’ neighborhood perceptions and walking and cycling for transport across diverse environments. Methods As part of the International Physical activity and Environment Network (IPEN) adult project, self-reported data were taken from 13,745 adults (18–65 years) living in physically and socially diverse neighborhoods in 17 cities across 12 countries. Neighborhood perceptions were measured using the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale, and walking and cycling for transport were measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Long Form. Generalized additive mixed models were used to model walking or cycling for transport during the last seven days with neighborhood perceptions. Interactions by city were explored. Results Walking-for-transport outcomes were significantly associated with perceived residential density, land use mix–access, street connectivity, aesthetics, and safety. Any cycling for transport was significantly related to perceived land use mix–access, street connectivity, infrastructure, aesthetics, safety, and perceived distance to destinations. Between-city differences existed for some attributes in relation to walking or cycling for transport. Conclusions Many perceived environmental attributes supported both cycling and walking; however, highly walkable environments may not support cycling for transport. People appear to walk for transport despite safety concerns. These findings can guide the implementation of global health strategies. Citation Kerr J, Emond JA, Badland H, Reis R, Sarmiento O, Carlson J, Sallis JF, Cerin E, Cain K, Conway T, Schofield G, Macfarlane DJ, Christiansen LB, Van Dyck D, Davey R, Aguinaga-Ontoso I, Salvo D, Sugiyama T, Owen N, Mitáš J, Natarajan L. 2016. Perceived neighborhood environmental attributes associated with walking and cycling for transport among adult residents of 17 cities in 12 countries: the IPEN study. Environ Health Perspect 124:290–298; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409466 PMID:26186801

High School Students' Attributions of Success in English Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouchaib, Benzehaf; Ahmadou, Bouylmani; Abdelkader, Sabil

2018-01-01

Research into students' attributional causes for success in language acquisition is currently receiving considerable attention. Situated within Weiner's attribution theory (1992), the present study aims to research factors contributing to success in foreign language learning with specific focus on the role of perceived causal attributions. The…

The Effect of the Small Indian Mongoose (Urva auropunctatus), Island Quality and Habitat on the Distribution of Native and Endemic Birds on Small Islands within Fiji

PubMed Central

Morley, Craig G.; Winder, Linton

2013-01-01

This study investigated the effect of the presence of introduced mongoose, environmental quality and habitat on the distribution of native and endemic birds on 16 small islands within Fiji. In total, 9055 birds representing 45 species were observed within four key habitats (forest, villages, crop land and coastal vegetation) on the 16 islands, half of which had mongoose present. Previous studies attribute bird declines and extirpation anecdotally to the mongoose. The presence of mongoose, environmental quality and habitat type had a measurable influence on observed extant native and endemic bird communities. We conclude that three ground birds; Gallirallus phillipensis, Anas supericiliosa and Porphyrio porhyrio were negatively influenced by the presence of mongoose and that Ptilinopus perousii, Phigys solitarius, Chrysoenas victor, Ducula latrans, Clytorhyrchus vitiensis, Pachycephala pectoralis, Prospeia tabunesis, and Foulehaio carunculata were particularly dependent on good quality forest habitat. Conservation priorities in relation to protecting Fiji's endemic birds from the effect of mongoose are discussed and preventative measures suggested. PMID:23349751

The effect of the small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctatus), island quality and habitat on the distribution of native and endemic birds on small islands within Fiji.

PubMed

Morley, Craig G; Winder, Linton

2013-01-01

This study investigated the effect of the presence of introduced mongoose, environmental quality and habitat on the distribution of native and endemic birds on 16 small islands within Fiji. In total, 9055 birds representing 45 species were observed within four key habitats (forest, villages, crop land and coastal vegetation) on the 16 islands, half of which had mongoose present. Previous studies attribute bird declines and extirpation anecdotally to the mongoose. The presence of mongoose, environmental quality and habitat type had a measurable influence on observed extant native and endemic bird communities. We conclude that three ground birds; Gallirallus phillipensis, Anas supericiliosa and Porphyrio porhyrio were negatively influenced by the presence of mongoose and that Ptilinopus perousii, Phigys solitarius, Chrysoenas victor, Ducula latrans, Clytorhyrchus vitiensis, Pachycephala pectoralis, Prospeia tabunesis, and Foulehaio carunculata were particularly dependent on good quality forest habitat. Conservation priorities in relation to protecting Fiji's endemic birds from the effect of mongoose are discussed and preventative measures suggested.

[Research advances in mathematical model of coniferous trees cold hardiness].

PubMed

Zhang, Gang; Wang, Ai-Fang

2007-07-01

Plant cold hardiness has complicated attributes. This paper introduced the research advances in establishing the dynamic models of coniferous trees cold hardiness, with the advantages and disadvantages of the models presented and the further studies suggested. In the models established initially, temperature was concerned as the only environmental factor affecting the cold hardiness, and the concept of stationary level of cold hardiness was introduced. Due to the obvious prediction errors of these models, the stationary level of cold hardiness was modeled later by assuming the existence of an additive effect of temperature and photoperiod on the increase of cold hardiness. Furthermore, the responses of the annual development phases for cold hardiness to environment were considered. The model researchers have paid more attention to the additive effect models, and run some experiments to test the additivity principle. However, the research results on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) indicated that its organs did not support the presumption of an additive response of cold hardiness by temperature and photoperiod, and the interaction between environmental factors should be taken into account. The mathematical models of cold hardiness need to be developed and improved.

Mind the Costs: Rescaling and Multi-Level Environmental Governance in Venice Lagoon

PubMed Central

Fritsch, Oliver

2010-01-01

Competences over environmental matters are distributed across agencies at different scales on a national-to-local continuum. This article adopts a transaction costs economics perspective in order to explore the question whether, in the light of a particular problem, the scale at which a certain competence is attributed can be reconsidered. Specifically, it tests whether a presumption of least-cost operation concerning an agency at a given scale can hold. By doing so, it investigates whether the rescaling of certain tasks, aiming at solving a scale-related problem, is likely to produce an increase in costs for day-to-day agency operations as compared to the status quo. The article explores such a perspective for the case of Venice Lagoon. The negative aspects of the present arrangement concerning fishery management and morphological remediation are directly linked to the scale of the agencies involved. The analysis suggests that scales have been chosen correctly, at least from the point of view of the costs incurred to the agencies involved. Consequently, a rescaling of those agencies does not represent a viable option. PMID:20162274

Long-term efficiency of soil stabilization with apatite and Slovakite: the impact of two earthworm species (Lumbricus terrestris and Dendrobaena veneta) on lead bioaccessibility and soil functioning.

PubMed

Tica, D; Udovic, M; Lestan, D

2013-03-01

Remediation soil is exposed to various environmental factors over time that can affect the final success of the operation. In the present study, we assessed Pb bioaccessibility and microbial activity in industrially polluted soil (Arnoldstein, Austria) stabilized with 5% (w/w) of Slovakite and 5% (w/w) of apatite soil after exposure to two earthworm species, Lumbricus terrestris and Dendrobaena veneta, used as model environmental biotic soil factors. Stabilization resulted in reduced Pb bioaccessibility, as assessed with one-step extraction tests and six-step sequential extraction, and improved soil functioning, mirrored in reduced β-glucosidase activity in soil. Both earthworm species increased Pb bioaccessibility, thus decreasing the initial stabilization efficacy and indicating the importance of considering the long-term fate of remediated soil. The earthworm species had different effects on soil enzyme activity, which can be attributed to species-specific microbial populations in earthworm gut acting on the ingested soil. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mind the Costs: Rescaling and Multi-Level Environmental Governance in Venice Lagoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roggero, Matteo; Fritsch, Oliver

2010-07-01

Competences over environmental matters are distributed across agencies at different scales on a national-to-local continuum. This article adopts a transaction costs economics perspective in order to explore the question whether, in the light of a particular problem, the scale at which a certain competence is attributed can be reconsidered. Specifically, it tests whether a presumption of least-cost operation concerning an agency at a given scale can hold. By doing so, it investigates whether the rescaling of certain tasks, aiming at solving a scale-related problem, is likely to produce an increase in costs for day-to-day agency operations as compared to the status quo. The article explores such a perspective for the case of Venice Lagoon. The negative aspects of the present arrangement concerning fishery management and morphological remediation are directly linked to the scale of the agencies involved. The analysis suggests that scales have been chosen correctly, at least from the point of view of the costs incurred to the agencies involved. Consequently, a rescaling of those agencies does not represent a viable option.

Mind the costs: rescaling and multi-level environmental governance in Venice lagoon.

PubMed

Roggero, Matteo; Fritsch, Oliver

2010-07-01

Competences over environmental matters are distributed across agencies at different scales on a national-to-local continuum. This article adopts a transaction costs economics perspective in order to explore the question whether, in the light of a particular problem, the scale at which a certain competence is attributed can be reconsidered. Specifically, it tests whether a presumption of least-cost operation concerning an agency at a given scale can hold. By doing so, it investigates whether the rescaling of certain tasks, aiming at solving a scale-related problem, is likely to produce an increase in costs for day-to-day agency operations as compared to the status quo. The article explores such a perspective for the case of Venice Lagoon. The negative aspects of the present arrangement concerning fishery management and morphological remediation are directly linked to the scale of the agencies involved. The analysis suggests that scales have been chosen correctly, at least from the point of view of the costs incurred to the agencies involved. Consequently, a rescaling of those agencies does not represent a viable option.

USA-France: Confronting two perspectives on shale gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gautier, C.; Fellous, J.

2013-12-01

Exploiting shale gas and oil can be seen from very different perspectives, whether you live in the US where it is a decade long reality shaping the country's energy landscape or in France, where it is banned by law since 2011. Beyond this situation, the overall legal framework that regulates (or not) environmental and water protection, the use of chemicals, land ownership and the exploitation of underground mineral resources, the attribution of licenses for exploration and exploitation, etc. in Europe (and particularly in France, the only European country with Bulgaria where hydraulic fracturation is strictly forbidden) and in the US is at complete variance. This presentation will discuss subsequent attitudes vis-à-vis exploration, exploitation, scientific research on shale gas and fracking, and public activism that has arisen as a result of environmental, socioeconomic and human concerns. It will compare and contrast the different views and look at lessons that can be learned from those differences. This work is building upon the experience of the authors who have studied the issues relating to energy, water, population and climate and their connections, as seen from both sides of the Atlantic.

Comparison of environmental risk factors for esophageal atresia, anorectal malformations, and the combined phenotype in 263 German families.

PubMed

Zwink, N; Choinitzki, V; Baudisch, F; Hölscher, A; Boemers, T M; Turial, S; Kurz, R; Heydweiller, A; Keppler, K; Müller, A; Bagci, S; Pauly, M; Brokmeier, U; Leutner, A; Degenhardt, P; Schmiedeke, E; Märzheuser, S; Grasshoff-Derr, S; Holland-Cunz, S; Palta, M; Schäfer, M; Ure, B M; Lacher, M; Nöthen, M M; Schumacher, J; Jenetzky, E; Reutter, H

2016-11-01

Esophageal atresia with or without tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) and anorectal malformations (ARM) represent the severe ends of the fore- and hindgut malformation spectra. Previous research suggests that environmental factors are implicated in their etiology. These risk factors might indicate the influence of specific etiological mechanisms on distinct developmental processes (e.g. fore- vs. hindgut malformation). The present study compared environmental factors in patients with isolated EA/TEF, isolated ARM, and the combined phenotype during the periconceptional period and the first trimester of pregnancy in order to investigate the hypothesis that fore- and hindgut malformations involve differing environmental factors. Patients with isolated EA/TEF (n = 98), isolated ARM (n = 123), and the combined phenotype (n = 42) were included. Families were recruited within the context of two German multicenter studies of the genetic and environmental causes of EA/TEF (great consortium) and ARM (CURE-Net). Exposures of interest were ascertained using an epidemiological questionnaire. Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to assess differences between the three phenotypes. Newborns with isolated EA/TEF and the combined phenotype had significantly lower birth weights than newborns with isolated ARM (P = 0.001 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Mothers of isolated EA/TEF consumed more alcohol periconceptional (80%) than mothers of isolated ARM or the combined phenotype (each 67%). Parental smoking (P = 0.003) and artificial reproductive techniques (P = 0.03) were associated with isolated ARM. Unexpectedly, maternal periconceptional multivitamin supplementation was most frequent among patients with the most severe form of disorder, i.e. the combined phenotype (19%). Significant differences in birth weight were apparent between the three phenotype groups. This might be attributable to the limited ability of EA/TEF fetuses to swallow amniotic fluid, thus depriving them of its nutritive properties. Furthermore, the present data suggest that fore- and hindgut malformations involve differing environmental factors. Maternal periconceptional multivitamin supplementation was highest among patients with the combined phenotype. This latter finding is contrary to expectation, and warrants further analysis in large prospective epidemiological studies. © 2015 International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus.

Speleothem records of acid sulphate deposition and organic carbon mobilisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wynn, Peter; Fairchild, Ian; Bourdin, Clement; Baldini, James; Muller, Wolfgang; Hartland, Adam; Bartlett, Rebecca

2017-04-01

Dramatic increases in measured surface water DOC in recent decades have been variously attributed to either temperature rise, or destabilisation of long-term soil carbon pools following sulphur peak emissions status. However, whilst both drivers of DOC dynamics are plausible, they remain difficult to test due to the restricted nature of the available records of riverine DOC flux (1978 to present), and the limited availability of SO2 emissions inventory data at the regional scale. Speleothems offer long term records of both sulphur and carbon. New techniques to extract sulphur concentrations and isotopes from speleothem calcite have enabled archives of pollution history and environmental acidification to be reconstructed. Due to the large dynamic range in sulphur isotopic values from end member sources (marine aerosol +21 ‰ to continental biogenic emissions -30 ‰) and limited environmental fractionation under oxidising conditions, sulphur isotopes form an ideal tracer of industrial pollution and environmental acidification in the palaeo-record. We couple this acidification history to the carbon record, using organic matter fluorescence and trace metals. Trace metal ratios and abundance can be used to infer the type and size of organic ligand and are therefore sensitive to changes in temperature as a driver of organic carbon processing and biodegradation. This allows fluorescent properties and ratios of trace metals in speleothem carbonate to be used to represent both the flux of organic carbon into the cave as well as the degradation pathway. Here we present some of the first results of this work, exploring sulphur acidification as a mechanistic control on carbon solubility and export throughout the twentieth century.

Eco-environmental degradation in the source region of the Yellow River, Northeast Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

PubMed

Feng, Jianmin; Wang, Tao; Xie, Changwei

2006-11-01

The Yellow River is the second longest river in China and the cradle of the Chinese civilization. The source region of the Yellow River is the most important water holding area for the Yellow River, about 49.2% of the whole runoff comes from this region. However, for the special location, it is a region with most fragile eco-environment in China as well. Eco-environmental degradation in the source region of the Yellow River has been a very serious ecological and socially economic problem. According to census data, historical documents and climatic information, during the last half century, especially the last 30 years, great changes have taken place in the eco-environment of this region. Such changes are mainly manifested in the temporal-spatial changes of water environment, deglaciation, permafrost reduction, vegetation degeneracy and desertification extent, which led to land capacity decreasing and river disconnecting. At present, desertification of the region is showing an accelerating tendency. This paper analyzes the present status of eco-environment degradation in this region supported by GIS and RS, as well as field investigation and indoor analysis, based on knowledge, multi-source data is gathered and the classification is worked out, deals with their natural and anthropogenic causes, and points out that in the last half century the desertification and environmental degradation of this region are mainly attributed to human activities under the background of regional climate changes. To halt further degradation of the environment of this region, great efforts should be made to use land resources rationally, develop advantages animal agriculture and protect the natural grassland.

Assessment of risk to human health from simultaneous exposure to multiple contaminants in an artisanal gold mine in Serra Pelada, Pará, Brazil.

PubMed

de Souza, Edna Santos; Texeira, Renato Alves; da Costa, Hercília Samara Cardoso; Oliveira, Fábio Júnior; Melo, Leônidas Carrijo Azevedo; do Carmo Freitas Faial, Kelson; Fernandes, Antonio Rodrigues

2017-01-15

Contamination of soil, water and plants caused by gold mining is of great societal concern because of the risk of environmental pollution and risk to human health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the risk to human health from ingestion of As, Ba, Co, Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Se and Ni present in soil, sterile and mineralized waste, and water and plants at a gold mine in Serra Pelada, Pará, Brazil. Samples of soil, sterile and mineralized waste, water and plants were collected around an artisanal gold mine located in Serra Pelada. The mean concentrations of potentially toxic elements in the soil were higher than the soil quality reference values as defined in the legislation, which may be attributeable to past mining activities. Water from the area close to the mine exhibited As, Ba and Pb concentrations exceeding the reference values established by the World Health Organization, deemed unfit for human consumption. Plants exhibited high Pb concentrations, representing a food safety risk to the population. The mean hazard index (HI) values were below the acceptable limit (1.0) established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, although the highest HI values observed for adults and children were higher than the respective acceptable limits. Environmental contamination and risk to human health were heterogeneous in the surroundings of the mine. Mitigation strategies need to be adopted to decrease the risks of contamination to the environment and to the local population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Endocrine disruptors found in food contaminants enhance allergic sensitization through an oxidative stress that promotes the development of allergic airway inflammation.

PubMed

Kato, Takuma; Tada-Oikawa, Saeko; Wang, Linan; Murata, Mariko; Kuribayashi, Kagemasa

2013-11-15

In the past few decades, there has been a significant increase in incidence of allergic diseases. The hygiene hypothesis may provide some clues to explain this rising trend, but it may also be attributable to other environmental factors that exert a proallergic adjuvant effects. However, there is limited information on the risks of developing allergic asthma and related diseases through the ingestion of environmental chemicals found in food contaminants. In the present study, we have shown that oral administration of tributyltin, used as a model environmental chemical, induced oxidative-stress status in the bronchial lymph node, mesenteric lymph node and spleen, but not in the lung, where the initial step of allergic asthma pathogenesis takes place. Mice exposed to tributyltin exhibited heightened Th2 immunity to the allergen with more severe airway inflammation. Tributyltin also induced Treg cells apoptosis preferentially over non-Treg cells. All these effects of tributyltin exposure were canceled by the administration of glutathione monoethyl ester. Meanwhile, tributyltin did not affect airway inflammation of mice transferred with allergen-specific Th2 cells. Collectively, these results suggest that tributyltin exerts its pathological effect during the sensitization phase through oxidative stress that enhances the development of allergic diseases. The current study dissects the pathogenic role of oxidative stress induced by oral exposure to an environmental chemical during the sensitization phase of allergic airway inflammation and would be important for developing therapeutics for prevention of allergic diseases. © 2013.

Resilience to stress and disturbance, and resistance to Bromus tectorum L. invasion in cold desert shrublands of western North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chambers, Jeanne C.; Bradley, Bethany A.; Brown, Cynthia S.; D'Antonio, Carla; Germino, Matthew J.; Grace, James B.; Hardegree, Stuart P.; Miller, Richard F.; Pyke, David A.

2013-01-01

Alien grass invasions in arid and semi-arid ecosystems are resulting in grass–fire cycles and ecosystem-level transformations that severely diminish ecosystem services. Our capacity to address the rapid and complex changes occurring in these ecosystems can be enhanced by developing an understanding of the environmental factors and ecosystem attributes that determine resilience of native ecosystems to stress and disturbance, and resistance to invasion. Cold desert shrublands occur over strong environmental gradients and exhibit significant differences in resilience and resistance. They provide an excellent opportunity to increase our understanding of these concepts. Herein, we examine a series of linked questions about (a) ecosystem attributes that determine resilience and resistance along environmental gradients, (b) effects of disturbances like livestock grazing and altered fire regimes and of stressors like rapid climate change, rising CO2, and N deposition on resilience and resistance, and (c) interacting effects of resilience and resistance on ecosystems with different environmental conditions. We conclude by providing strategies for the use of resilience and resistance concepts in a management context. At ecological site scales, state and transition models are used to illustrate how differences in resilience and resistance influence potential alternative vegetation states, transitions among states, and thresholds. At landscape scales management strategies based on resilience and resistance—protection, prevention, restoration, and monitoring and adaptive management—are used to determine priority management areas and appropriate actions.

Ecological Information Needs for Environmental Justice

PubMed Central

Burger, Joanna; Harris, Stuart; Harper, Barbara; Gochfeld, Michael

2014-01-01

The concept that all peoples should have their voices heard on matters that affect their well-being is at the core of environmental justice (EJ). The inability of some people of small towns, rural areas, minority, and low-income communities, to become involved in environmental decisions is sometimes due to a lack of information. We provide a template for the ecological information that is essential to examine environmental risks to EJ populations within average communities, using case studies from South Carolina (Savannah River, a DOE site with minority impacts), Washington (Hanford, a DOE site with Native American impacts), and New Jersey (nonpoint, urbanized community pollution). While the basic ecological and public health information needs for risk evaluations and assessments are well described, less attention has been focused on standardizing information about EJ communities or EJ populations within larger communities. We suggest that information needed about EJ communities and populations includes demographics, consumptive and nonconsumptive uses of their regional environment (for example, maintenance and cosmetic, medicinal/religious/cultural uses), eco-dependency webs, and eco-cultural attributes. A purely demographics approach might not even identify EJ populations or neighborhoods, much less their spatial relation to the impact source or to each other. Using information from three case studies, we illustrate that some information is readily available (e.g., consumption rates for standard items such as fish), but there is less information about medicinal, cultural, religious, eco-cultural dependency webs, and eco-cultural attributes, all of which depend in some way on intact, functioning, and healthy ecosystems. PMID:20409031

Recommendations for Nanomedicine Human Subjects Research Oversight: An Evolutionary Approach for an Emerging Field

PubMed Central

Fatehi, Leili; Wolf, Susan M.; McCullough, Jeffrey; Hall, Ralph; Lawrenz, Frances; Kahn, Jeffrey P.; Jones, Cortney; Campbell, Stephen A.; Dresser, Rebecca S.; Erdman, Arthur G.; Haynes, Christy L.; Hoerr, Robert A.; Hogle, Linda F.; Keane, Moira A.; Khushf, George; King, Nancy M.P.; Kokkoli, Efrosini; Marchant, Gary; Maynard, Andrew D.; Philbert, Martin; Ramachandran, Gurumurthy; Siegel, Ronald A.; Wickline, Samuel

2015-01-01

The nanomedicine field is fast evolving toward complex, “active,” and interactive formulations. Like many emerging technologies, nanomedicine raises questions of how human subjects research (HSR) should be conducted and the adequacy of current oversight, as well as how to integrate concerns over occupational, bystander, and environmental exposures. The history of oversight for HSR investigating emerging technologies is a patchwork quilt without systematic justification of when ordinary oversight for HSR is enough versus when added oversight is warranted. Nanomedicine HSR provides an occasion to think systematically about appropriate oversight, especially early in the evolution of a technology, when hazard and risk information may remain incomplete. This paper presents the consensus recommendations of a multidisciplinary, NIH-funded project group, to ensure a science-based and ethically informed approach to HSR issues in nanomedicine, and integrate HSR analysis with analysis of occupational, bystander, and environmental concerns. We recommend creating two bodies, an interagency Human Subjects Research in Nanomedicine (HSR/N) Working Group and a Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Nanomedicine (SAC/N). HSR/N and SAC/N should perform 3 primary functions: (1) analysis of the attributes and subsets of nanomedicine interventions that raise HSR challenges and current gaps in oversight; (2) providing advice to relevant agencies and institutional bodies on the HSR issues, as well as federal and federal-institutional coordination; and (3) gathering and analyzing information on HSR issues as they emerge in nanomedicine. HSR/N and SAC/N will create a home for HSR analysis and coordination in DHHS (the key agency for relevant HSR oversight), optimize federal and institutional approaches, and allow HSR review to evolve with greater knowledge about nanomedicine interventions and greater clarity about attributes of concern. PMID:23289677

Weed species composition and distribution pattern in the maize crop under the influence of edaphic factors and farming practices: A case study from Mardan, Pakistan.

PubMed

Ahmad, Zeeshan; Khan, Shujaul Mulk; Abd Allah, Elsayed Fathi; Alqarawi, Abdulaziz Abdullah; Hashem, Abeer

2016-11-01

Weeds are unwanted plant species growing in ordinary environment. In nature there are a total of 8000 weed species out of which 250 are important for agriculture world. The present study was carried out on weed species composition and distribution pattern with special reference to edaphic factor and farming practices in maize crop of District Mardan during the months of August and September, 2014. Quadrates methods were used to assess weed species distribution in relation to edaphic factor and farming practices. Phytosociological attributes such as frequency, relative frequency, density, relative density and Importance Values were measured by placing 9 quadrates (1 × 1 m 2 ) randomly in each field. Initial results showed that the study area has 29 diverse weed species belonging to 27 genera and 15 families distributed in 585 quadrats. Presence and absence data sheet of 29 weed species and 65 fields were analyzed through PC-ORD version 5. Cluster and Two Way Cluster Analyses initiated four different weed communities with significant indicator species and with respect to underlying environmental variables using data attribute plots. Canonical Correspondence Analyses (CCA) of CANOCO software version 4.5 was used to assess the environmental gradients of weed species. It is concluded that among all the edaphic factors the strongest variables were higher concentration of potassium, organic matter and sandy nature of soil. CCA plots of both weed species and sampled fields based on questionnaire data concluded the farming practices such as application of fertilizers, irrigation and chemical spray were the main factors in determination of weed communities.

Climate and landscape explain richness patterns depending on the type of species' distribution data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsianou, Mariana A.; Koutsias, Nikolaos; Mazaris, Antonios D.; Kallimanis, Athanasios S.

2016-07-01

Understanding the patterns of species richness and their environmental drivers, remains a central theme in ecological research and especially in the continental scales where many conservation decisions are made. Here, we analyzed the patterns of species richness from amphibians, reptiles and mammals at the EU level. We used two different data sources for each taxon: expert-drawn species range maps, and presence/absence atlases. As environmental drivers, we considered climate and land cover. Land cover is increasingly the focus of research, but there still is no consensus on how to classify land cover to distinct habitat classes, so we analyzed the CORINE land cover data with three different levels of thematic resolution (resolution of classification scheme ˗ less to more detailed). We found that the two types of species richness data explored in this study yielded different richness maps. Although, we expected expert-drawn range based estimates of species richness to exceed those from atlas data (due to the assumption that species are present in all locations throughout their region), we found that in many cases the opposite is true (the extreme case is the reptiles where more than half of the atlas based estimates were greater than the expert-drawn range based estimates). Also, we detected contrasting information on the richness drivers of biodiversity patterns depending on the dataset used. For atlas based richness estimates, landscape attributes played more important role than climate while for expert-drawn range based richness estimates climatic variables were more important (for the ectothermic amphibians and reptiles). Finally we found that the thematic resolution of the land cover classification scheme, also played a role in quantifying the effect of land cover diversity, with more detailed thematic resolution increasing the relative contribution of landscape attributes in predicting species richness.

Physical activity in relation to urban environments in 14 cities worldwide: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Sallis, James F; Cerin, Ester; Conway, Terry L; Adams, Marc A; Frank, Lawrence D; Pratt, Michael; Salvo, Deborah; Schipperijn, Jasper; Smith, Graham; Cain, Kelli L; Davey, Rachel; Kerr, Jacqueline; Lai, Poh-Chin; Mitáš, Josef; Reis, Rodrigo; Sarmiento, Olga L; Schofield, Grant; Troelsen, Jens; Van Dyck, Delfien; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Owen, Neville

2016-05-28

Physical inactivity is a global pandemic responsible for over 5 million deaths annually through its effects on multiple non-communicable diseases. We aimed to document how objectively measured attributes of the urban environment are related to objectively measured physical activity, in an international sample of adults. We based our analyses on the International Physical activity and Environment Network (IPEN) adult study, which was a coordinated, international, cross-sectional study. Participants were sampled from neighbourhoods with varied levels of walkability and socioeconomic status. The present analyses of data from the IPEN adult study included 6822 adults aged 18-66 years from 14 cities in ten countries on five continents. Indicators of walkability, public transport access, and park access were assessed in 1·0 km and 0·5 km street network buffers around each participant's residential address with geographic information systems. Mean daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity were measured with 4-7 days of accelerometer monitoring. Associations between environmental attributes and physical activity were estimated using generalised additive mixed models with gamma variance and logarithmic link functions. Four of six environmental attributes were significantly, positively, and linearly related to physical activity in the single variable models: net residential density (exp[b] 1·006 [95% CI 1·003-1·009]; p=0·001), intersection density (1·069 [1·011-1·130]; p=0·019), public transport density (1·037 [1·018-1·056]; p=0·0007), and number of parks (1·146 [1·033-1·272]; p=0·010). Mixed land use and distance to nearest public transport point were not related to physical activity. The difference in physical activity between participants living in the most and least activity-friendly neighbourhoods ranged from 68 min/week to 89 min/week, which represents 45-59% of the 150 min/week recommended by guidelines. Design of urban environments has the potential to contribute substantially to physical activity. Similarity of findings across cities suggests the promise of engaging urban planning, transportation, and parks sectors in efforts to reduce the health burden of the global physical inactivity pandemic. Funding for coordination of the IPEN adult study, including the present analysis, was provided by the National Cancer Institute of National Institutes of Health (CA127296) with studies in each country funded by different sources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of static habitat attributes on local and regional Rocky intertidal community structure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Konar, B.; Iken, K.; Coletti, H.; Monson, Daniel H.; Weitzman, Ben P.

2016-01-01

Rocky intertidal communities are structured by local environmental drivers, which can be dynamic, fluctuating on various temporal scales, or static and not greatly varying across years. We examined the role of six static drivers (distance to freshwater, tidewater glacial presence, wave exposure, fetch, beach slope, and substrate composition) on intertidal community structure across the northern Gulf of Alaska. We hypothesized that community structure is less similar at the local scale compared with the regional scale, coinciding with static drivers being less similar on smaller than larger scales. We also hypothesized that static attributes mainly drive local biological community structure. For this, we surveyed five to six sites in each of the six regions in the mid and low intertidal strata. Across regions, static attributes were not consistently different and only small clusters of sites had similar attributes. Additionally, intertidal communities were less similar on the site compared with the region level. These results suggest that these biological communities are not strongly influenced by the local static attributes measured in this study. An alternative explanation is that static attributes among our regions are not different enough to influence the biological communities. This lack of evidence for a strong static driver may be a result of our site selection, which targeted rocky sheltered communities. This suggests that this habitat may be ideal to examine the influence of dynamic drivers. We recommend that future analyses of dynamic attributes may best be performed after analyses have demonstrated that sites do not differ in static attributes.

Marine vessels as substitutes for heavy-duty trucks in Great Lakes freight transportation.

PubMed

Comer, Bryan; Corbett, James J; Hawker, J Scott; Korfmacher, Karl; Lee, Earl E; Prokop, Chris; Winebrake, James J

2010-07-01

This paper applies a geospatial network optimization model to explore environmental, economic, and time-of-delivery tradeoffs associated with the application of marine vessels as substitutes for heavy-duty trucks operating in the Great Lakes region. The geospatial model integrates U.S. and Canadian highway, rail, and waterway networks to create an intermodal network and characterizes this network using temporal, economic, and environmental attributes (including emissions of carbon dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides). A case study evaluates tradeoffs associated with containerized traffic flow in the Great Lakes region, demonstrating how choice of freight mode affects the environmental performance of movement of goods. These results suggest opportunities to improve the environmental performance of freight transport through infrastructure development, technology implementation, and economic incentives.

An overall index of environmental quality in coal mining areas and energy facilities.

PubMed

Vatalis, Konstantinos I; Kaliampakos, Demetrios C

2006-12-01

An approach to measuring environmental quality and trends in coal mining and industrial areas was attempted in this work. For this purpose, the establishment of a reference scale characterizing the status of environmental quality is proposed by developing an Environmental Quality Index (EQI). The methodology involves three main components: social research, the opinion of environmental experts, and the combination of new or existing indices. A survey of public opinion was carried out to identify the main environmental problems in the region of interest. Environmental experts carried out a survey, and the weights of specific environmental problems were obtained through a fuzzy Delphi method and pairwise comparison. The weight attributed to each environmental problem was computed, using new or existing indices (subindices) in the relevant literature. The EQI comprises a combination of the subindices with their own weights. The methodology was applied to a heavily industrialized coal basin in northwestern Macedonia, Greece. The results show that the new index may be used as a reliable tool for evaluating environmental quality in different areas. In addition, the study of EQI trends on an interannual basis can provide useful information on the efficiency of environmental policies already implemented by the responsible authorities.

A synoptic survey of ecosystem services from headwater catchments in the United States

EPA Science Inventory

We combined data collected from 568 headwater streams as a part of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA) with catchment attributes related to the production of the ecosystem services of water supply, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphoru...

Choice experiments

Treesearch

Thomas P Holmes; Wiktor L Adamawicz; Fredrik Carlsson

2017-01-01

There has been an explosion of interest during the past two decades in a class of nonmarket stated-preference valuation methods known as choice experiments. The overall objective of a choice experiment is to estimate economic values for characteristics (or attributes) of an environmental good that is the subject of policy analysis, where...

Attribute-Based Methods

Treesearch

Thomas P. Holmes; Wiktor L. Adamowicz

2003-01-01

Stated preference methods of environmental valuation have been used by economists for decades where behavioral data have limitations. The contingent valuation method (Chapter 5) is the oldest stated preference approach, and hundreds of contingent valuation studies have been conducted. More recently, and especially over the last decade, a class of stated preference...

16 CFR 260.2 - Scope of guides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... directly or by implication, through words, symbols, emblems, logos, depictions, product brand names, or... electronic mail. The guides apply to any claim about the environmental attributes of a product, package or service in connection with the sale, offering for sale, or marketing of such product, package or service...

Recent advances in molecular genetic linkage maps of cultivated peanut

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The competitiveness of peanuts in domestic and global markets has been threatened by losses in productivity and quality that are attributed to diseases, pests, environmental stresses and allergy or food safety issues. Narrow genetic diversity and deficiency of polymorphic DNA markers had severely hi...

Longitudinal Analysis of the Environmental Attitudes of University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shephard, Kerry; Harraway, John; Jowett, Tim; Lovelock, Brent; Skeaff, Sheila; Slooten, Liz; Strack, Mick; Furnari, Mary

2015-01-01

This article addresses the important questions that higher education institutions ask concerning their impact on their students' sustainability-related attributes "How do our students" worldviews change as they experience higher education with us?" The process of monitoring such a dynamic entity is fraught with statistical…

EMISSION OF VOLATILE COMPOUNDS BY SEEDS UNDER DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Small mammals locate buried wet seeds more efficiently than buried dry seeds. This may be attributable to emission of volatile compounds by the seeds. To test this hypothesis I measured emission of volatile compounds from seeds of three plant species (Pinus contorta, Purshia tr...

Restoring Wyoming big sagebrush

Treesearch

Cindy R. Lysne

2005-01-01

The widespread occurrence of big sagebrush can be attributed to many adaptive features. Big sagebrush plays an essential role in its communities by providing wildlife habitat, modifying local environmental conditions, and facilitating the reestablishment of native herbs. Currently, however, many sagebrush steppe communities are highly fragmented. As a result, restoring...

A Perspective on Quercus Life History Characteristics and Forest Diturbance

Treesearch

Richard P. Guyette; Rose-Marie Muzika; John Kabrick; Michael C. Stambaugh

2004-01-01

Plant strategy theory suggests that life history characteristics reflect growth and reproductive adaptations to environmental disturbance. Species characteristics and abundance should correspond to predictions based on competitive ability and maximizing fitness in a given disturbance environment. A significant canonical correlation between oak growth attributes (height...

REVIEW OF THE ATTRIBUTES AND PERFORMANCE OF SIX URBAN DIFFUSION MODELS

EPA Science Inventory

The American Meteorological Society conducted a scientific review of a set of six urban diffusion models. TRC Environmental Consultants, Inc. calculated and tabulated a uniform set of statistics for all the models. The report consists of a summary and copies of the three independ...

Designing herbicide formulation characteristics to maximize efficacy and minimize rice injury in paddy environments.

PubMed

Cryer, S A; Mann, R K; Erhardt-Zabik, S; Keeney, F N; Handy, P R

2001-06-01

Mathematical descriptors, coupled with experimental observations, are used to quantify differential uptake of an experimental herbicide in Japonica and Indica rice (Oryza sativa, non-target) and barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli, target). Partitioning, degradation, plant uptake and metabolism are described using mass-balance conservation equations in the form of kinetic approximations. Estimated environmental concentrations, governed by the pesticide formulation, are described using superimposed analytical solutions for the one-dimensional diffusion equation in spherical coordinates and by a finite difference representation of the two-dimensional diffusion equation in Cartesian coordinates. Formulation attributes from granules include active ingredient release rates, particle sizes, pesticide loading, and granule spacing. The diffusion model for pesticide transport is coupled with the compartment model to follow the fate and transport of a pesticide from its initial application location to various environmental matrices of interest. Formulation effects, partitioning and degradation in the various environmental matrices, differential plant uptake and metabolism, and dose-response information for plants are accounted for. This novel model provides a mechanism for selecting formulation delivery systems that optimize specific attributes (such as weed control or the therapeutic index) for risk-assessment procedures. In this report we describe how this methodology was used to explore the factors affecting herbicide efficacy and to define an optimal release rate for a granule formulation.

Environmental Intolerance, Symptoms and Disability Among Fertile-Aged Women

PubMed Central

Vuokko, Aki; Karvala, Kirsi; Lampi, Jussi; Keski-Nisula, Leea; Pasanen, Markku; Voutilainen, Raimo; Pekkanen, Juha; Sainio, Markku

2018-01-01

The purpose was to study the prevalence of environmental intolerance (EI) and its different manifestations, including behavioral changes and disability. Fertile-aged women (n = 680) of the Kuopio Birth Cohort Study were asked about annoyance to 12 environmental factors, symptoms and behavioral changes. We asked how much the intolerance had disrupted their work, household responsibilities or social life. We chose intolerance attributed to chemicals, indoor molds, and electromagnetic fields to represent typical intolerance entities. Of the respondents, 46% reported annoyance to chemicals, molds, or electromagnetic fields. Thirty-three percent reported symptoms relating to at least one of these three EIs, 18% reported symptoms that included central nervous system symptoms, and 15% reported behavioral changes. Indicating disability, 8.4% reported their experience relating to any of the three EIs as at least “somewhat difficult”, 2.2% “very difficult” or “extremely difficult”, and 0.9% “extremely difficult”. Of the latter 2.2%, all attributed their intolerance to indoor molds, and two thirds also to chemicals. As the number of difficulties increased, the number of organ systems, behavioral changes and overlaps of the three EIs also grew. EI is a heterogeneous phenomenon and its prevalence depends on its definition. The manifestations of EI form a continuum, ranging from annoyance to severe disability. PMID:29419757

Environmental Asthma Reduction Potential Estimates for Selected Mitigation Actions in Finland Using a Life Table Approach

PubMed Central

Rumrich, Isabell Katharina; Hänninen, Otto

2015-01-01

Aims: To quantify the reduction potential of asthma in Finland achievable by adjusting exposures to selected environmental factors. Methods: A life table model for the Finnish population for 1986–2040 was developed and Years Lived with Disability caused by asthma and attributable to the following selected exposures were estimated: tobacco smoke (smoking and second hand tobacco smoke), ambient fine particles, indoor dampness and mould, and pets. Results: At baseline (2011) about 25% of the total asthma burden was attributable to the selected exposures. Banning tobacco was the most efficient mitigation action, leading to 6% reduction of the asthma burden. A 50% reduction in exposure to dampness and mould as well as a doubling in exposure to pets lead each to a 2% reduction. Ban of urban small scale wood combustion, chosen as a mitigation action to reduce exposure to fine particles, leads to a reduction of less than 1% of the total asthma burden. Combination of the most efficient mitigation actions reduces the total asthma burden by 10%. A more feasible combination of mitigation actions leads to 6% reduction of the asthma burden. Conclusions: The adjustment of environmental exposures can reduce the asthma burden in Finland by up to 10%. PMID:26067987

Reliability and One-Year Stability of the PIN3 Neighborhood Environmental Audit in Urban and Rural Neighborhoods.

PubMed

Porter, Anna K; Wen, Fang; Herring, Amy H; Rodríguez, Daniel A; Messer, Lynne C; Laraia, Barbara A; Evenson, Kelly R

2018-06-01

Reliable and stable environmental audit instruments are needed to successfully identify the physical and social attributes that may influence physical activity. This study described the reliability and stability of the PIN3 environmental audit instrument in both urban and rural neighborhoods. Four randomly sampled road segments in and around a one-quarter mile buffer of participants' residences from the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition (PIN3) study were rated twice, approximately 2 weeks apart. One year later, 253 of the year 1 sampled roads were re-audited. The instrument included 43 measures that resulted in 73 item scores for calculation of percent overall agreement, kappa statistics, and log-linear models. For same-day reliability, 81% of items had moderate to outstanding kappa statistics (kappas ≥ 0.4). Two-week reliability was slightly lower, with 77% of items having moderate to outstanding agreement using kappa statistics. One-year stability had 68% of items showing moderate to outstanding agreement using kappa statistics. The reliability of the audit measures was largely consistent when comparing urban to rural locations, with only 8% of items exhibiting significant differences (α < 0.05) by urbanicity. The PIN3 instrument is a reliable and stable audit tool for studies assessing neighborhood attributes in urban and rural environments.

Environmental Justice Aspects of Exposure to PM2.5 Emissions from Electric Vehicle Use in China.

PubMed

Ji, Shuguang; Cherry, Christopher R; Zhou, Wenjun; Sawhney, Rapinder; Wu, Ye; Cai, Siyi; Wang, Shuxiao; Marshall, Julian D

2015-12-15

Plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) in China aim to improve sustainability and reduce environmental health impacts of transport emissions. Urban use of EVs rather than conventional vehicles shifts transportation's air pollutant emissions from urban areas (tailpipes) to predominantly rural areas (power plants), changing the geographic distribution of health impacts. We model PM2.5-related health impacts attributable to urban EV use for 34 major cities. Our investigation focuses on environmental justice (EJ) by comparing pollutant inhalation versus income among impacted counties. We find that EVs could increase EJ challenge in China: most (~77%, range: 41-96%) emission inhalation attributable to urban EVs use is distributed to predominately rural communities whose incomes are on average lower than the cities where EVs are used. Results vary dramatically across cities depending on urban income and geography. Discriminant analysis reveals that counties with low income and high inhalation of urban EV emissions have comparatively higher agricultural employment rates, higher mortality rates, more children in the population, and lower education levels. We find that low-emission electricity sources such as renewable energy can help mitigate EJ issues raised here. Findings here are not unique to EVs, but instead are relevant for nearly all electricity-consuming technologies in urban areas.

A systematic review of ecological attributes that confer resilience to climate change in environmental restoration

PubMed Central

Timpane-Padgham, Britta L.

2017-01-01

Ecological restoration is widely practiced as a means of rehabilitating ecosystems and habitats that have been degraded or impaired through human use or other causes. Restoration practices now are confronted by climate change, which has the potential to influence long-term restoration outcomes. Concepts and attributes from the resilience literature can help improve restoration and monitoring efforts under changing climate conditions. We systematically examined the published literature on ecological resilience to identify biological, chemical, and physical attributes that confer resilience to climate change. We identified 45 attributes explicitly related to climate change and classified them as individual- (9), population- (6), community- (7), ecosystem- (7), or process-level attributes (16). Individual studies defined resilience as resistance to change or recovery from disturbance, and only a few studies explicitly included both concepts in their definition of resilience. We found that individual and population attributes generally are suited to species- or habitat-specific restoration actions and applicable at the population scale. Community attributes are better suited to habitat-specific restoration at the site scale, or system-wide restoration at the ecosystem scale. Ecosystem and process attributes vary considerably in their type and applicability. We summarize these relationships in a decision support table and provide three example applications to illustrate how these classifications can be used to prioritize climate change resilience attributes for specific restoration actions. We suggest that (1) including resilience as an explicit planning objective could increase the success of restoration projects, (2) considering the ecological context and focal scale of a restoration action is essential in choosing appropriate resilience attributes, and (3) certain ecological attributes, such as diversity and connectivity, are more commonly considered to confer resilience because they apply to a wide variety of species and ecosystems. We propose that identifying sources of ecological resilience is a critical step in restoring ecosystems in a changing climate. PMID:28301560

A systematic review of ecological attributes that confer resilience to climate change in environmental restoration.

PubMed

Timpane-Padgham, Britta L; Beechie, Tim; Klinger, Terrie

2017-01-01

Ecological restoration is widely practiced as a means of rehabilitating ecosystems and habitats that have been degraded or impaired through human use or other causes. Restoration practices now are confronted by climate change, which has the potential to influence long-term restoration outcomes. Concepts and attributes from the resilience literature can help improve restoration and monitoring efforts under changing climate conditions. We systematically examined the published literature on ecological resilience to identify biological, chemical, and physical attributes that confer resilience to climate change. We identified 45 attributes explicitly related to climate change and classified them as individual- (9), population- (6), community- (7), ecosystem- (7), or process-level attributes (16). Individual studies defined resilience as resistance to change or recovery from disturbance, and only a few studies explicitly included both concepts in their definition of resilience. We found that individual and population attributes generally are suited to species- or habitat-specific restoration actions and applicable at the population scale. Community attributes are better suited to habitat-specific restoration at the site scale, or system-wide restoration at the ecosystem scale. Ecosystem and process attributes vary considerably in their type and applicability. We summarize these relationships in a decision support table and provide three example applications to illustrate how these classifications can be used to prioritize climate change resilience attributes for specific restoration actions. We suggest that (1) including resilience as an explicit planning objective could increase the success of restoration projects, (2) considering the ecological context and focal scale of a restoration action is essential in choosing appropriate resilience attributes, and (3) certain ecological attributes, such as diversity and connectivity, are more commonly considered to confer resilience because they apply to a wide variety of species and ecosystems. We propose that identifying sources of ecological resilience is a critical step in restoring ecosystems in a changing climate.

Blame Attribution as a Moderator of Perceptions of Sexual Orientation-Based Hate Crimes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cramer, Robert J.; Chandler, Joseph F.; Wakeman, Emily E.

2010-01-01

Blame attribution is a valuable mechanism explaining decision making. However, present literature mainly employs blame attribution as a dependent variable. The shortcoming of this fact is that blame attribution offers a potentially valuable explanatory mechanism for decision making. The authors designed two studies to investigate blame attribution…

Creativity as a Desirable Graduate Attribute: Implications for Curriculum Design and Employability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rampersad, Giselle; Patel, Fay

2014-01-01

A wide range of graduate attributes are listed, categorized and prioritized by different higher education institutions. However, one attribute that is less visible in the literature is creativity. In the current study, creativity has emerged as a desirable graduate attribute among students and employers. This paper presents an exploratory…

Leaf habit and woodiness regulate different leaf economy traits at a given nutrient supply.

PubMed

Ordoñez, Jenny C; van Bodegom, Peter M; Witte, Jan-Philip M; Bartholomeus, Ruud P; van Dobben, Han F; Aerts, Rien

2010-11-01

The large variation in the relationships between environmental factors and plant traits observed in natural communities exemplifies the alternative solutions that plants have developed in response to the same environmental limitations. Qualitative attributes, such as growth form, woodiness, and leaf habit can be used to approximate these alternative solutions. Here, we quantified the extent to which these attributes affect leaf trait values at a given resource supply level, using measured plant traits from 105 different species (254 observations) distributed across 50 sites in mesic to wet plant communities in The Netherlands. For each site, soil total N, soil total P, and water supply estimates were obtained by field measurements and modeling. Effects of growth forms, woodiness, and leaf habit on relations between leaf traits (SLA, specific leaf area; LNC, leaf nitrogen concentration; and LPC, leaf phosphorus concentration) vs. nutrient and water supply were quantified using maximum-likelihood methods and Bonferroni post hoc tests. The qualitative attributes explained 8-23% of the variance within sites in leaf traits vs. soil fertility relationships, and therefore they can potentially be used to make better predictions of global patterns of leaf traits in relation to nutrient supply. However, at a given soil fertility, the strength of the effect of each qualitative attribute was not the same for all leaf traits. These differences may imply a differential regulation of the leaf economy traits at a given nutrient supply, in which SLA and LPC seem to be regulated in accordance to changes in plant size and architecture while LNC seems to be primarily regulated at the leaf level by factors related to leaf longevity.

Assessing the underlying breast cancer risk of Chinese females contributed by dietary intake of residual DDT from agricultural soils.

PubMed

Tang, Mengling; Zhao, Meirong; Zhou, Shanshan; Chen, Kun; Zhang, Chunlong; Liu, Weiping

2014-12-01

The greatest concern over DDT exposure in China arose since the early 1990s for the rising breast cancer incidence, and the cause still remains to be elucidated. An extensive survey of DDT background in agricultural soils, covered the entire region of China, was conducted. DDT at concentrations greater than 100 ng/g (the China's Farmland Environmental Quality Evaluation Standards for Edible Agricultural Products) was found to impact 42.3 million Chinese population. Considering the geographical differences with diverse DDT contributions and different diet products and habits, the average daily dietary intake was modeled and estimated to be 0.34 μg/kg p,p'-DDE (the main bioactive constituent in DDT). Population attributable fraction derived from a case-control study from 78 women with breast cancer and 72 controls was used to assess the DDT exposure risk to breast cancer. Based on the estimated population attributable fraction with a median value of 0.6% (IQR 0.23-2.11%), the excess annual breast cancer incidence rate attributable to p,p'-DDE exposure averaged 0.06×10(-5) with significant spatial variations varying from 0.00021×10(-5) to 11.05×10(-5) in Chinese females. Exposure to DDT is a contributor to breast cancer, but the overall limited relative risk and population attributable fraction imply confounding factors for breast cancer in Chinese females. Exposure risk in a regional scale helps understand the cause and prevention of breast cancer. Our mapping and modeling method could be used to assess other environmental carcinogens and related cancer diseases. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Internet Use and Associations With Psychopathology: A Twin Study

PubMed Central

Long, Elizabeth C.; Verhulst, Brad; Neale, Michael C.; Lind, Penelope A.; Hickie, Ian B.; Martin, Nicholas G.; Gillespie, Nathan A.

2016-01-01

Excessive internet use has been linked to psychopathology. Therefore, understanding the genetic and environmental risks underpinning internet use and their relation to psychopathology is important. This study aims to explore the genetic and environmental etiology of internet use measures and their associations with internalizing disorders and substance use disorders. The sample included 2,059 monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) young adult twins from the Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study (BLTS). Younger participants reported more frequent internet use, while women were more likely to use the internet for interpersonal communication. Familial aggregation in ‘frequency of internet use’ was entirely explained by additive genetic factors accounting for 41% of the variance. Familial aggregation in ‘frequency of use after 11 pm’, ‘using the internet to contact peers’, and ‘using the internet primarily to access social networking sites’ was attributable to varying combinations of additive genetic and shared environmental factors. In terms of psychopathology, there were no significant associations between internet use measures and major depression (MD), but there were positive significant associations between ‘frequency of internet use’ and ‘frequency of use after 11 pm’ with social phobia (SP). ‘Using the internet to contact peers’ was positively associated with alcohol abuse, whereas ‘using the internet to contact peers’ and ‘using the internet primarily to access social networking sites’ were negatively associated with cannabis use disorders and nicotine symptoms. Individual differences in internet use can be attributable to varying degrees of genetic and environmental risks. Despite some significant associations of small effect, variation in internet use appears mostly unrelated to psychopathology. PMID:26693596

The conceptual foundation of environmental decision support.

PubMed

Reichert, Peter; Langhans, Simone D; Lienert, Judit; Schuwirth, Nele

2015-05-01

Environmental decision support intends to use the best available scientific knowledge to help decision makers find and evaluate management alternatives. The goal of this process is to achieve the best fulfillment of societal objectives. This requires a careful analysis of (i) how scientific knowledge can be represented and quantified, (ii) how societal preferences can be described and elicited, and (iii) how these concepts can best be used to support communication with authorities, politicians, and the public in environmental management. The goal of this paper is to discuss key requirements for a conceptual framework to address these issues and to suggest how these can best be met. We argue that a combination of probability theory and scenario planning with multi-attribute utility theory fulfills these requirements, and discuss adaptations and extensions of these theories to improve their application for supporting environmental decision making. With respect to (i) we suggest the use of intersubjective probabilities, if required extended to imprecise probabilities, to describe the current state of scientific knowledge. To address (ii), we emphasize the importance of value functions, in addition to utilities, to support decisions under risk. We discuss the need for testing "non-standard" value aggregation techniques, the usefulness of flexibility of value functions regarding attribute data availability, the elicitation of value functions for sub-objectives from experts, and the consideration of uncertainty in value and utility elicitation. With respect to (iii), we outline a well-structured procedure for transparent environmental decision support that is based on a clear separation of scientific prediction and societal valuation. We illustrate aspects of the suggested methodology by its application to river management in general and with a small, didactical case study on spatial river rehabilitation prioritization. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A fish-based index of biotic integrity to assess intermittent headwater streams in Wisconsin, USA.

PubMed

Lyons, John

2006-11-01

I developed a fish-based index of biotic integrity (IBI) to assess environmental quality in intermittent headwater streams in Wisconsin, USA. Backpack electrofishing and habitat surveys were conducted four times on 102 small (watershed area 1.7-41.5 km(2)), cool or warmwater (maximum daily mean water temperature > or = 22 C), headwater streams in spring and late summer/fall 2000 and 2001. Despite seasonal and annual changes in stream flow and habitat volume, there were few significant temporal trends in fish attributes. Analysis of 36 least-impacted streams indicated that fish were too scarce to calculate an IBI at stations with watershed areas less than 4 km(2) or at stations with watershed areas from 4-10 km(2) if stream gradient exceeded 10 m/km (1% slope). For streams with sufficient fish, potential fish attributes (metrics) were not related to watershed size or gradient. Seven metrics distinguished among streams with low, agricultural, and urban human impacts: numbers of native, minnow (Cyprinidae), headwater-specialist, and intolerant (to environmental degradation) species; catches of all fish excluding species tolerant of environmental degradation and of brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) per 100 m stream length; and percentage of total individuals with deformities, eroded fins, lesions, or tumors. These metrics were used in the final IBI, which ranged from 0 (worst) to 100 (best). The IBI accurately assessed the environmental quality of 16 randomly chosen streams not used in index development. Temporal variation in IBI scores in the absence of changes in environmental quality was not related to season, year, or type of human impact and was similar in magnitude to variation reported for other IBI's.

Emergent Imaging and Geospatial Technologies for Soil Investigations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeGloria, Stephen D.; Beaudette, Dylan E.; Irons, James R.; Libohova, Zamir; O'Neill, Peggy E.; Owens, Phillip R.; Schoeneberger, Philip J.; West, Larry T.; Wysocki, Douglas A.

2014-01-01

Soil survey investigations and inventories form the scientific basis for a wide spectrum of agronomic and environmental management programs. Soil data and information help formulate resource conservation policies of federal, state, and local governments that seek to sustain our agricultural production system while enhancing environmental quality on both public and private lands. The dual challenges of increasing agricultural production and ensuring environmental integrity require electronically available soil inventory data with both spatial and attribute quality. Meeting this societal need in part depends on development and evaluation of new methods for updating and maintaining soil inventories for sophisticated applications, and implementing an effective framework to conceptualize and communicate tacit knowledge from soil scientists to numerous stakeholders.

A continuation of base-line studies for environmentally monitoring space transportation systems at John F. Kennedy Space Center. Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stout, I. J.

1980-01-01

Studies conducted in and around John F. Kennedy Space Center, Merrit Island, Florida were designed to establish baseline conditions for various attributes of the biotic and abiotic environment. Features were described and quantitatively measured. Certain condition were found to be appropriate for the detection and assessment of possible environmental perturbations caused by future NASA activities. These include plant communities, mammal populations, rainfall chemistry, fish populations, and the status of rare and endangered species. On the basis of statistical analysis of quantitative data and logistic considerations, it was possible to refine the kinds and amounts of measurements needed to evaluate perturbations in selected environmental components.

Associative false consumer memory: effects of need for cognition and encoding task.

PubMed

Parker, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil

2018-04-01

Two experiments investigated the effects of product-attribute associations on false consumer memory. In both experiments, subjects were presented with sets of related product attributes under incidental encoding conditions. Later, recognition memory was tested with studied attributes, non-studied but associated attributes (critical lures) and non-studied unrelated attributes. In Experiment 1, the effect of Need for Cognition (NFC) was assessed. It was found that individuals high in NFC recognised more presented attributes and falsely recognised more associative critical lures. The increase in both true and associative false memory was accompanied by a greater number of responses that index the retrieval of detailed episodic-like information. Experiment 2, replicated the main findings through an experimental manipulation of the encoding task that required subjects to consider purchase likelihood. Explanations for these findings are considered from the perspective of activation processes and knowledge structures in the form of gist-based representations.

What is the source of cultural differences? -- Examining the influence of thinking style on the attribution process.

PubMed

Jen, Chun-Hui; Lien, Yunn-Wen

2010-02-01

The present research is intended to find out whether individuals with analytic or holistic thought have different attribution processes. Cross-cultural research has suggested that East Asians, who tend to have a holistic thought pattern, differ in cognitive process from Westerners, who tend to engage in analytic thought. However, studies that found cultural difference in attribution process may have non-equivalence problems that make it hard to interpret the causal relationship between thinking style and attribution process. The present research extends this by measuring participants' thinking style within a single culture in order to ensure equivalence on potentially confounding variables such as prior knowledge and cognitive capacity. Two experiments demonstrate that both types of thinkers have identical attribution processes and suggest different thinking styles might relate to different tendencies toward situational information, but not to the attribution process itself. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Testing an Attribution Model of Caregiving in a Latino Sample: The Roles of Familismo and the Caregiver-Care Recipient Relationship.

PubMed

Villalobos, Bianca T; Bridges, Ana J

2016-07-01

This study tests the parameters of Weiner's attribution model of caregiving, which describes how attributions of controllability relate to emotional reactions, which in turn influence willingness to provide support to stigmatized individuals. To date, the model has not been explored in the context of cultural variables, the caregiver-recipient relationship, or types of support. The present study examined the attribution model using a Latino community sample (N = 96) that was presented with vignettes describing an individual with depression. Support was found for the basic attribution model. Familismo was predictive of attributions of controllability and the basic model was predictive of emotional support, but not instrumental support. Participants were more willing to provide instrumental support to a partner, but had more positive affective reactions toward a sibling. The findings provide important information about contextual factors that may motivate Latino caregivers to provide support. © The Author(s) 2015.

Landscape characteristics of fragmented shrubsteppe habitats and breeding passerine birds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Knick, Steven T.; Rotenberry, J.T.

1995-01-01

We examined the influence of local and landscape-level attributes of fragmented habitats in shrubsteppe habitats on the breeding distributions of Sage (Amphispiza belli) and Brewer's (Spizella breweri) Sparrows, Sage Thrashers (Oreoscoptes montanus), Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris), and Western Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta) in the Snake River Plains of southwestern Idaho. We developed habitat (resource) selection models for each species by combining bird counts conducted from 1991 through 1933 with local vegetation characteristics and landscape attributes derived from satellite imagery. Site selection by shrubsteppe species (Sage and Brewer's Sparrows, and Sage Thrashers) depended on local vegetation cover and landscape features, such as the patch size of shrub habitats or the spatial similarity of sites. Marginal sites for these species (with species present in one of three years) were intermediate between unoccupied (never present) and occupied sites along environmental gradients characterized by increasing size of shrub habitat patches and total shrub cover and by decreasing disturbance. Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks, typical grassland species, were not sensitive to landscape features, and their occupancy depended on the amount of grassland or shrub cover. In contrast to shrubsteppe species, sites that varied by occupancy rates of Western Meadowlarks did not significantly differ in vegetation or landscape components. Our results demonstrate that fragmentation of shrubsteppe significantly influenced the presence of shrub-obligate species. Because of restoration difficulties, the disturbance of semiarid shrubsteppe may cause irreversible loss of habitat and significant long-term consequences for the conservation of shrub-obligate birds.

Environmental conditions and Puumala virus transmission in Belgium

PubMed Central

Linard, Catherine; Tersago, Katrien; Leirs, Herwig; Lambin, Eric F

2007-01-01

Background Non-vector-borne zoonoses such as Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) can be transmitted directly, by physical contact between infected and susceptible hosts, or indirectly, with the environment as an intermediate. The objective of this study is to better understand the causal link between environmental features and PUUV prevalence in bank vole population in Belgium, and hence with transmission risk to humans. Our hypothesis was that environmental conditions controlling the direct and indirect transmission paths differ, such that the risk of transmission to humans is not only determined by host abundance. We explored the relationship between, on one hand, environmental variables and, on the other hand, host abundance, PUUV prevalence in the host, and human cases of nephropathia epidemica (NE). Statistical analyses were carried out on 17 field sites situated in Belgian broadleaf forests. Results Linear regressions showed that landscape attributes, particularly landscape configuration, influence the abundance of hosts in broadleaf forests. Based on logistic regressions, we show that PUUV prevalence among bank voles is more linked to variables favouring the survival of the virus in the environment, and thus the indirect transmission: low winter temperatures are strongly linked to prevalence among bank voles, and high soil moisture is linked to the number of NE cases among humans. The transmission risk to humans therefore depends on the efficiency of the indirect transmission path. Human risk behaviours, such as the propensity for people to go in forest areas that best support the virus, also influence the number of human cases. Conclusion The transmission risk to humans of non-vector-borne zoonoses such as PUUV depends on a combination of various environmental factors. To understand the complex causal pathways between the environment and disease risk, one should distinguish between environmental factors related to the abundance of hosts such as land-surface attributes, landscape configuration, and climate – i.e., host ecology, – and environmental factors related to PUUV prevalence, mainly winter temperatures and soil moisture – i.e., virus ecology. Beyond a threshold abundance of hosts, environmental factors favouring the indirect transmission path (soil and climate) can better predict the number of NE cases among humans than factors influencing the abundance of hosts. PMID:18078526

Which physical and social environmental factors are most important for adolescents' cycling for transport? An experimental study using manipulated photographs.

PubMed

Verhoeven, Hannah; Ghekiere, Ariane; Van Cauwenberg, Jelle; Van Dyck, Delfien; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Clarys, Peter; Deforche, Benedicte

2017-08-17

Ecological models emphasize that cycling for transport is determined by an interplay between individual, physical and social environmental factors. The current study investigated (a) which physical and social environmental factors determine adolescents' preferences towards cycling for transport and (b) which individual, physical and social environmental factors are associated with their intention to actually cycle for transport. An online questionnaire consisting of questions on individual and social environmental variables, and 15 choice-based conjoint tasks with manipulated photographs was completed by 882 adolescents (55.3% male; 13.9 ± 1.6 years). Within the choice tasks, participants were asked to indicate which of two situations they would prefer to cycle to a friend's house. The manipulated photographs were all modified versions of one semi-urban street which differed in the following physical micro-environmental attributes (separation of cycle path, evenness of cycle path, speed limit, speed bump, traffic density, amount of vegetation and maintenance). In addition, each photograph was accompanied by two sentences which described varying cycling distances and co-participation in cycling (i.e. cycling alone or with a friend). After each choice task participants were also asked if they would actually cycle in that situation in real life (i.e. intention). Hierarchical Bayes analyses were performed to calculate relative importances and part-worth utilities of environmental attributes. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate which individual, physical and social environmental factors were associated with adolescents' intention to actually cycle for transport. Adolescents' preference to cycle for transport was predominantly determined by separation of cycle path, followed by shorter cycling distance and co-participation in cycling. Higher preferences were observed for a separation between the cycle path and motorized traffic by means of a hedge versus a curb, versus a marked line. Similar findings were observed for intention to cycle. Furthermore, evenness of the cycle path and general maintenance of the street were also of considerable importance among adolescents, but to a lesser extent. Results of this experimental study justify investment by local governments in well-separated cycling infrastructure, which seemed to be more important than cycling distance and the social environment.

Assessing the attributable risks, relative risks, and regional extents of aquatic stressors

EPA Science Inventory

A major goal of the national aquatic surveys being conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with the states and tribes is to assess the relative importance, at a regional scale, of stressors that impact aquatic biota. The Wadeable Streams Assessment (WSA) w...

Planning for Success: Integrating Analysis with Decision Making.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goho, James; Webb, Ken

2003-01-01

Describes a successful strategic planning process at a large community college, which linked the analytic inputs of research with the authority and intuition of leaders. Reports key factors attributed to the process' success, including a collegial and organized structure, detailed project management plans, and confidence in the environmental scan.…

Species comparisons in molecular and functional attributes of the androgen and estrogen receptor

EPA Science Inventory

While endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) have the potential to act via several mechanisms of action, one of the most widely studied is the ability of environmental chemicals to interact directly with either the estrogen (ER) or androgen receptor (AR). In vitro screening assay...

SOURCES AND ESTIMATED LOAD OF BIOAVAILABLE NITROGEN ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHRONIC NITROGEN EXPOSURE AND CHANGED ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

EPA Science Inventory

Bioavailable nitrogen is a limiting nutrient throughout the Eastern United States. Research demonstrates that exposure to large doses of nitrogen leads to deleterious environmental impacts. However, effects of chronic exposure to lower doses of nitrogen are not well known. Since...

SOURCES AND ESTIMATED LOAD OF BIOAVAILABLE NITROGEN ATTRIBUTED TO CHRONIC NITROGEN EXPOSURE AND CHANGED ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

EPA Science Inventory

Bioavailable nitrogen is a limiting nutrient throughout the Eastern United States. Research demonstrates that exposure to large doses of nitrogen leads to deleterious environmental impacts. However, effects of chronic exposure to lower doses of nitrogen are under-appreciated. ...

Assessing the Exposure and Relative Sensitivity of Native Freshwater Mussels to Environmental Stressors and Laboratory Conditions

EPA Science Inventory

1. Expands the database for pesticide toxicity on native freshwater mussels. 2. Aids in determining any potential differences in toxic sensitivity of gravid female mussel attributed to age and laboratory holding times. 3. Aids in determining potential differences in juvenile ...

48 CFR 552.238-72 - Identification of Products That Have Environmental Attributes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

.... Several examples of these characteristics are biodegradable, recyclable, reduced pollutants, ozone safe, and low volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Post-consumer material means a material or finished product... life as a consumer item. Post-consumer material is part of the broader category of “recovered material...

Randomized branch sampling

Treesearch

Harry T. Valentine

2002-01-01

Randomized branch sampling (RBS) is a special application of multistage probability sampling (see Sampling, environmental), which was developed originally by Jessen [3] to estimate fruit counts on individual orchard trees. In general, the method can be used to obtain estimates of many different attributes of trees or other branched plants. The usual objective of RBS is...

Photovoltaic module electrical termination design requirement study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mosna, F. J., Jr.; Donlinger, J.

1980-01-01

Pertinent electrical termination attributes were identified and used in the development of selection criteria which included function, environmental durability, utility, manufacturing, code, and cost. Significant aspects of each criteria are discussed, and eight different types of terminations are ranked according to their performance in remote, residential, intermediate, and industrial applications.

INTER-ANNUAL AND SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF METEOROLOGICALLY-INFLUENCED EMISSIONS

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a participant in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (CGRP). The air quality portion of the GCRP addresses the effect on air quality attributable to climate change in the intermediate future (e.g., 2050). The first phase of ...

75 FR 29399 - Improving Energy Security, American Competitiveness and Job Creation, and Environmental...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-26

... of Our Nation's Fleet of Cars And Trucks Memorandum for the Secretary of Transportation[,] the... the development of a new generation of clean cars and trucks through innovative technologies and..., 2010, which regulates these attributes of passenger cars and light-duty trucks for model years 2012...

Spatially explicit animal response to composition of habitat

Treesearch

Benjamin P. Pauli; Nicholas P. McCann; Patrick A. Zollner; Robert Cummings; Jonathan H. Gilbert; Eric J. Gustafson

2013-01-01

Complex decisions dramatically affect animal dispersal and space use. Dispersing individuals respond to a combination of fine-scale environmental stimuli and internal attributes. Individual-based modeling offers a valuable approach for the investigation of such interactions because it combines the heterogeneity of animal behaviors with spatial detail. Most individual-...