Smoke-free air policies: past, present and future

Smoke-free policies have been an important tobacco control intervention. As recently as 20 years ago, few communities required workplaces and hospitality venues to be smoke-free, but today approximately 11% of the world's population live in countries with laws that require these places to be smoke-free. This paper briefly summarises important milestones in the history of indoor smoke-free policies, the role of scientific research in facilitating their adoption, a framework for smoke-free policy evaluation and industry efforts to undermine regulations. At present, smoke-free policies centre on workplaces, restaurants and pubs. In addition, many jurisdictions are now beginning to implement policies in outdoor areas and in shared multiunit housing settings. The future of smoke-free policy development depends on credible scientific data that documents the health risks of secondhand smoke exposure. Over the next 20 years smoke-free policies will very likely extend to outdoor and private areas, and changes in the types of tobacco products that are consumed may also have implications for the nature and scope of the smoke-free policies of the future.     

经济欠发达地区食品链与公共食堂实现可持续发展问题研究——以兰州市为例

食品链涵盖了原料、产供销的全过程,构建可持续性的食品链与公共食堂在经济欠发达地区显得尤为紧迫。本文以甘肃省兰州市为例,从生产、加工、贮存、餐厨废弃物、科学技术、政府监管、利益分配机制等方面查找问题,提出运用绿色化学与科学发展的理念,选择现代化的商业模式、技术手段和品牌经营,加大基础设施建设力度,完善利益分配制度,增强全民食品安全意识等途径实现食品链与公共食堂的可持续发展。     

Brassica carinata as an alternative oil crop for the production of biodiesel in Italy: engine performance and regulated and unregulated exhaust emissions

A comparison of the performance of Brassica carinata oil-derived biodiesel with a commercial rapeseed oil-derived biodiesel and petroleum diesel fuel is discussed as regards engine performance and regulated and unregulated exhaust emissions. B. carinata is an oil crop that can be cultivated in coastal areas of central-southern Italy, where it is more difficult to achieve the productivity potentials of Brassica napus (by far the most common rapeseed cultivated in continental Europe). Experimental tests were carried out on a turbocharged direct injection passenger car diesel engine fueled with 100% biodiesel. The unregulated exhaust emissions were characterized by determining the SOOT and soluble organic fraction content in the particulate matter, together with analysis of the content and speciation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some of which are potentially carcinogenic, and of carbonyl compounds (aldehydes, ketones) that act as ozone precursors. B. carinata and commercial biodiesel behaved similarly as far as engine performance and regulated and unregulated emissions were concerned. When compared with petroleum diesel fuel, the engine test bench analysis did not show any appreciable variation of output engine torque values, while there was a significant difference in specific fuel consumption data at the lowest loads for the biofuels and petroleum diesel fuel. The biofuels were observed to produce higher levels of NOx concentrations and lower levels of PM with respect to the diesel fuel. The engine heat release analysis conducted shows that there is a potential for increased thermal NOx generation when firing biodiesel with no prior modification to the injection timing. It seems that, for both the biofuels, this behavior is caused by an advanced combustion evolution, which is particularly apparent at the higher loads. When compared with petroleum diesel fuel, biodiesel emissions contain less SOOT, and a greater fraction of the particulate was soluble. The analysis and speciation of the soluble organic fraction of biodiesel particulate suggest that the carcinogenic potential of the biodiesel emissions is probably lower than that of petroleum diesel. Its better adaptivity and productivity in clay and sandy-type soils and in semiarid temperate climate and the fact that the performance of its derived biodiesel is quite similar to commercial biodiesel make B. carinata a promising oil crop that could offer the possibility of exploiting the Mediterranean marginal areas for energetic purposes.     

Smoke-free laws and secondhand smoke exposure in US non-smoking adults, 1999-2002

Objectives

To investigate the relationship between smoke‐free law coverage and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in the United States non‐smoking adult population.

Design

We used data from the 1999–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross‐sectional survey designed to monitor the health and nutritional status of the US population. Serum cotinine levels were available for 5866 non‐smoking adults from 57 survey locations. Each location was categorised into one of three groups indicating extensive, limited, and no coverage by a smoke‐free law.

Main outcome measures

The proportion of adults with SHS exposure, defined as having serum cotinine levels ⩾ 0.05 ng/ml.

Results

Among non‐smoking adults living in counties with extensive smoke‐free law coverage, 12.5% were exposed to SHS, compared with 35.1% with limited coverage, and 45.9% with no law. Adjusting for confounders, men and women residing in counties with extensive coverage had 0.10 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06 to 0.16) and 0.19 (95% CI 0.11 to 0.34) times the odds of SHS exposure compared to those residing in counties without a smoke‐free law.

Conclusions

These results support the scientific evidence suggesting that smoke‐free laws are an effective strategy for reducing SHS exposure.     

Source identification of PCDD/Fs for various atmospheric environments in a highly industrialized city

This study set out to identify possible PCDD/F emission sources for different atmospheric environments in a highly industrialized city located in southern Taiwan. We collected stack flue gas samples from five main stationary emission sources of the municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs), medical waste incinerators (MWIs), electric arc furnaces (EAFs), secondary aluminum smelters (ALSs), and sinter plants to assess the characteristics of their PCDD/F emissions. For mobile sources, congener profiles reported in U.S. EPA's database for unleaded gas-fueled vehicles (UGFV) and diesel-fueled vehicles (DFV) were directly adopted owing to lack of local data. The congener profiles of the 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs were selected as the signatures of these PCDD/F emission sources. We conducted PCDD/F samplings on atmospheric environments of four categories, including background, residential area, traffic area, and industrial area. Through PCA and cluster analyses, we found that traffic areas were most influenced by PCDD/F emissions from UGFV and DFV, while those of industrial areas were mainly influenced by metallurgical facilities and MWIs. The above results were further examined by using the methodology of the indicatory PCDD/Fs. We confirmed that traffic areas were contributed by traffic sources, but industrial areas were simply affected by metallurgical facilities rather than MWIs. In conclusion, besides the use of PCA and cluster analyses, the methodology of the indicatory PCDD/Fs should be conducted for further validation in order to prevent misjudgment.     

A 100-Year Review: Identification and genetic selection of economically important traits in dairy cattle

Over the past 100 yr, the range of traits considered for genetic selection in dairy cattle populations has progressed to meet the demands of both industry and society. At the turn of the 20th century, dairy farmers were interested in increasing milk production; however, a systematic strategy for selection was not available. Organized milk performance recording took shape, followed quickly by conformation scoring. Methodological advances in both genetic theory and statistics around the middle of the century, together with technological innovations in computing, paved the way for powerful multitrait analyses. As more sophisticated analytical techniques for traits were developed and incorporated into selection programs, production began to increase rapidly, and the wheels of genetic progress began to turn. By the end of the century, the focus of selection had moved away from being purely production oriented toward a more balanced breeding goal. This shift occurred partly due to increasing health and fertility issues and partly due to societal pressure and welfare concerns. Traits encompassing longevity, fertility, calving, health, and workability have now been integrated into selection indices. Current research focuses on fitness, health, welfare, milk quality, and environmental sustainability, underlying the concentrated emphasis on a more comprehensive breeding goal. In the future, on-farm sensors, data loggers, precision measurement techniques, and other technological aids will provide even more data for use in selection, and the difficulty will lie not in measuring phenotypes but rather in choosing which traits to select for.     

伦敦:2012年的垂直城市

<正>2009年5月,伦敦第一高楼SHARD顶层观景廊开放,这是第一组在SHARD上拍摄的伦敦城区鸟瞰图片。位于英国伦敦桥区,泰晤士河南岸的SHARD大楼由LBQ公司投资     

欧洲某厂废弃物与废水处理的经验

20世纪70年代，欧洲制浆造纸业的废水污染使得生态环境受到严重威胁，迫使造纸业重视废水处理，开发新的技术，尽量减少清水用量。通过采用各种废水处理设施，使生产过程的水循环回用，达到每生产1t产品(纸和纸板)其清水用量从1975年的100m^3降低到2000年的40m^3。清水用量只及过去的40％，而其中大约40％是用于纸机的冲洗水。同时通过回用处理后的废水降低了废水排放量，北欧20世纪60年代实际上已成死水的河流近年又重新变清，水生生物又开始在其中生存。     

Food Forum: a research forum for an innovative and globally competitive European Food Industry

This contribution describes the rationale, origin, specific objectives, current activities and anticipated outcomes of the EU Concerted Action — “Food Forum: a research forum for an innovative and globally competitive European Food Industry”     

Diastereoisomer- and enantiomer-specific profiles of hexabromocyclododecane in the atmosphere of an urban city in South China

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) are ubiquitous contaminants in the environment, but little is known on the occurrence and distribution of HBCDs in the background atmosphere of urban environments. In this study, air samples were collected from four sites in the city of Guangzhou, a typical fast developing metropolitan of South China, for quantifying the concentration levels, diasteroisomer profiles, gas-particle distribution and enantiomeric fractions of HBCDs. The results showed that the measured mean atmospheric HBCD concentrations ranged from 0.69 to 3.09 pg/m3, which were similar to those reported from remote or urban sites of the U.S., but were significantly lower than those of Europe. The analysis on diastereoisomer profiles indicated that alpha-HBCD (59--68%) was the dominant isomer and beta-HBCD was a minor isomer in all air samples, which appeared to be different from commercial products. A large variable percentage of HBCDs (69.1--97.3%) are existed in the particle phase, suggesting that long-range tansport of HBCDs might be occur in some environmental conditions. The results of enantiomeric fractions indicated that beta- and gamma-HBCD were racemic mixtures in the tested air samples and that (--)-alpha-HBCD was slightly enriched in the typical urban site, implying that the HBCDs in these studied sites might be a mixture of emissions from both local sources and soil-air exchange.     

Thermal characterization of wood of nine European tree species: thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry in an air atmosphere

European Journal of Wood and Wood Products - This paper presents a thermal characterization of hardwoods of Hungarian origin. The study covers the wood of the following tree species: sessile oak...