Environmental contamination in Antarctic ecosystems

Although the remote continent of Antarctica is perceived as the symbol of the last great wilderness, the human presence in the Southern Ocean and the continent began in the early 1900s for hunting, fishing and exploration, and many invasive plant and animal species have been deliberately introduced in several sub-Antarctic islands. Over the last 50 years, the development of research and tourism have locally affected terrestrial and marine coastal ecosystems through fuel combustion (for transportation and energy production), accidental oil spills, waste incineration and sewage. Although natural “barriers” such as oceanic and atmospheric circulation protect Antarctica from lower latitude water and air masses, available data on concentrations of metals, pesticides and other persistent pollutants in air, snow, mosses, lichens and marine organisms show that most persistent contaminants in the Antarctic environment are transported from other continents in the Southern Hemisphere. At present, levels of most contaminants in Antarctic organisms are lower than those in related species from other remote regions, except for the natural accumulation of Cd and Hg in several marine organisms and especially in albatrosses and petrels. The concentrations of organic pollutants in the eggs of an opportunistic top predator such as the south polar skua are close to those that may cause adverse health effects.Population growth and industrial development in several countries of the Southern Hemisphere are changing the global pattern of persistent anthropogenic contaminants and new classes of chemicals have already been detected in the Antarctic environment. Although the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty provides strict guidelines for the protection of the Antarctic environment and establishes obligations for all human activity in the continent and the Southern Ocean, global warming, population growth and industrial development in countries of the Southern Hemisphere will likely increase the impact of anthropogenic contaminants on Antarctic ecosystems.     

Factors affecting Poisson's ratio for concrete

The paper presents 58 experimental values of Poisson's ratio related to cylinder strength and age. Theories are developed based on idealised models of concrete and agree well with experimental values related to mix proportions from other investigations.     

日本环境建筑

本文介绍了荣获2001年日本环境建筑奖的6个环境(生态)建筑的设计理念、设计手法及其运用生态设计技术所取得的实际效果,并指出客观地评价生态建筑是一件比较复杂和漫长的过程。     

Abundance of the chemical elements in man's diet and possible relations with environmental factors

The mass of the chemical elements in samples of prepared diet from the United Kingdom together with changes in the mass of the elements in sugar with refining is described. The mass of strontium in human bone is considered in relation to the distribution of calcareous rocks to illustrate how regionally distributed elements may be used to identify various sources of diet. The significance of the chemical composition of locally produced food and the chemical composition of man are also discussed.     

Shannon's entropy concept in optimum air monitoring network design

The selection of an optimum number of stations and their optimum locations in a region are the main objectives in air monitoring network design. There are a number of approaches to the achievements of these objectives. Among these, the criterion based on the estimation performance measurements, and the identification of adversely affected subregions are the most commonly used approaches. This article introduces a new concept of air monitoring network design using Shannon's entropy concept. The multivariate discrete entropy concept is proposed with the objectives of optimum estimation performance measurements. However, this concept does not guarantee the location of stations in adversely affected subregions. A generalized entropy concept using multivariate lognormal distribution is developed to consider both criteria in optimum air monitoring network design. The methodology is then applied to design an optimally air monitoring network scheme for Al-Khobar city in Saudi Arabia.     

Environmental contamination and hospital‐acquired infection: factors that are easily overlooked

There is an ongoing debate about the reasons for and factors contributing to healthcare‐associated infection (HAI). Different solutions have been proposed over time to control the spread of HAI, with more focus on hand hygiene than on other aspects such as preventing the aerial dissemination of bacteria. Yet, it emerges that there is a need for a more pluralistic approach to infection control; one that reflects the complexity of the systems associated with HAI and involves multidisciplinary teams including hospital doctors, infection control nurses, microbiologists, architects, and engineers with expertise in building design and facilities management. This study reviews the knowledge base on the role that environmental contamination plays in the transmission of HAI, with the aim of raising awareness regarding infection control issues that are frequently overlooked. From the discussion presented in the study, it is clear that many unknowns persist regarding aerial dissemination of bacteria, and its control via cleaning and disinfection of the clinical environment. There is a paucity of good‐quality epidemiological data, making it difficult for healthcare authorities to develop evidence‐based policies. Consequently, there is a strong need for carefully designed studies to determine the impact of environmental contamination on the spread of HAI.     

Project manager's perception of the local communities' stakeholder in megaprojects. An empirical investigation in the UK

Based on an exploratory study conducted in the UK using thematic and cluster analysis, this paper investigates how the local communities' stakeholder is perceived, defined and categorized by project managers in major public infrastructure and construction projects (MPIC), and how their involvement could improve the performance of these projects. Due to the perceived benefits shortfall of MPIC, well organized actions from ‘secondary stakeholder’ groups have led to delays, cost overruns, and significant damage to the organization's reputation. Stakeholder management is an essential process which aims to maximize positive inputs and minimize detrimental attitudes by taking into account the needs and requirements of all project stakeholders. However, current project stakeholder management mechanisms are reactive rather than proactive, mainly offering an instrumental perspective, which aims to make the stakeholders comply with project needs. Therefore, a broader inclusiveness of secondary stakeholders who could be harmed by the organization's strategy, such as the local communities, is required to enhance the performance of MPIC.     

User's response to environmental influences affecting office design

The authors describe the concept of daylight coefficients, which are functions relating the luminance of the sky to the illuminance at a point within a room. The coefficients are presented first in the context of standard daylight calculations, and then as finite element matrices. Graphs of the functions enable the effects of sky luminance changes to be appreciated qualitatively. Use of the coefficients in a computer program gives an efficient method for calculating daylight from a number of sky brightness distributions in succession.     

Environmental antimicrobial contamination from terraccumulation and diffuse pollution pathways

The fate of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals entering the aquatic environment has become an increasing concern for researchers and regulators in the past decade, and recent research has focused on antimicrobial contamination from point sources, such as wastewater treatment facility outfalls. Terraccumulation is the concentration of pollutants in soils from land application of contaminated biosolids generated by agricultural practices and water and wastewater facilities. The terraccumulation of antimicrobials and mobility in diffuse pollution pathways should not be overlooked as a contributor to the spread of bacterial resistance and the resulting threat to human drug therapy. This review critically examines recent global trends of bacterial resistance, antimicrobial contaminant pathways from agriculture and water treatment processes, and the need to incorporate diffuse pathways into risk assessment and treatment system design. Alignment of environmental scientific and engineering research with strategies applied in clinical situations could contribute to continued efficacy of antimicrobial therapies necessary for human health and welfare.     

St. George's School Wallasey,the visual environment

This paper discusses the visual environment at St. George's School, Wallasey. A number of aspects of the visual environment related to the use of glazing are used to organise observations and measurements together with comments made previously by other authors. It is concluded what what has previously been described as a ‘solar wall’ should be assessed as a ‘solar window’ and that this is an important message for passive solar designers. The visual aspects of glazing cannot be ignored and designers of passive solar buildings should be at least as concerned with the interior visual consequences of glazing as with the interior thermal effects.     

Fluid-structure interaction in Morison's equation for the design of offshore structures

A simplified model of a steel jacket structure is used in a nonlinear time history dynamic analysis with a view to examining the influence of interaction damping. It is found that, for certain combinations of wave and structural parameters, the response amplitudes are significantly dependent on the inclusion of relative velocity and acceleration terms in Morison's equation. Thus, it is possible to estimate, from the mathematical model, values of hydrodynamic damping which are required for the dynamic analysis of an offshore structure by methods which ignore fluid-structure interaction.After a brief literature review, the theory of Morison's equation is discussed. A computer program, PLATDYN, is then described which computes the dynamic response of a structure in various sea states. The method of representing the full structure by a reduced number of members is explained before the results of the analysis are presented. Finally, a procedure is proposed which provides an economic method of including the effects of interaction damping in the design of offshore structures.     

Environmental radioactive contamination in Greenland: a 35 years retrospect

Environmental studies of anthropogenic radionuclides in Greenland over four decades are reported. The studies have comprised the marine as well as the terrestrial environments and emphasis has been laid on measurements of 90Sr and 137Cs. The temporal and the spatial trends of these radionuclides are described. The radiation exposure from consumption of locally produced diets has been calculated from consumption rates and the infinite time integrated levels of 90Sr and 137Cs concentrations in the various food products. Compared with most other Arctic people, the Greenlanders have received relatively low doses from anthropogenic radionuclides. There are several reasons for this, first of all, because of the relatively high consumption of marine products compared with terrestrial products. Secondly, because winter slaughtering of reindeer is less frequent in Greenland than in other Arctic countries and Greenland reindeer consume, in general, less lichen than most other Arctic reinder, and thirdly, because the transfer from deposition to lichen in Greenland seems lower than in other Arctic areas.     

Microplastics contamination in tidelands of the Osaka Bay area in western Japan

Recently, researchers have been examining the actual state of microplastics contamination in the environment. However, pollution in high biodiversity environments such as tidelands has not been sufficiently investigated. Therefore, to assess the actual level of microplastics pollution therein, we conducted a survey of the tidelands of Osaka Bay in Japan to develop a model that included basins in urban and suburban areas. We quantified the levels of microplastics in the mud from four of Osaka Bay's tidelands and detected them based on three inhabitants of the main river estuary tideland, namely, bivalves (Corbicula japonica), crabs (Chiromantes dehaani) and a tufted duck (Aythya fuligula). Microplastics ranging in size from 300 μm to 5 mm were targeted, and the results indicated that the concentration of microplastics in the mud tended to increase with tideland proximity to an urban area where the density of the human population was the highest. Microplastics were detected in 10% of the bivalves and 6.7% of the crabs (n = 30 in both cases), and eight pieces of microplastics were detected in the stomach of one tufted duck. These results indicate that the mud in tidelands near urban areas had more microplastics. In addition, the results suggest that microplastics contamination levels may be higher in higher order predators in the food web.     

Impact of contractor's optimized financing cost on project bid price

The financing cost depends on the incoming and outgoing cash flow throughout the project, and can differ greatly from project to project. This study proposes a model that calculates the expected financing cost based on the cash flow forecast. This approach is more realistic than assuming an approximate percentage of the total cost. The proposed model calculates the bid price using an optimized financing cost that is obtained by selecting an optimum combination of available financing alternatives offered by different lenders. The proposed model minimizes financing cost, reduces the bid price, enhances the competitiveness of the bidder, increases the contractor`s negotiating power with a lender by providing an optimum financing schedule, and eliminates the risk of financing surprises during construction. This study investigates the impact of different financing considerations on bid price in three cases to prove the effectiveness of the proposed model.     

The fate of chlorine and chloramines in cooling towers Henry's law constants for flashoff

Chlorine and chloramines are volatile compounds which are stripped (“flashed off”) from recirculating cooling water systems by the large volumes of air which flow through the water in the cooling tower. The fraction of a volatile gas, such as hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is removed by stripping is determined by Henry's constant H for that gas: H = X_G/X_L, where X_G is the mole fraction of the gas in the air and X_L is the mole fraction of the gas in the water. We have measured H for HOCl, OCl^?, NH₃, NH₂Cl, NHCl₂ and NCl₃ at 20 and 40°C. We found H = 0.076 for HOCl, compared to 0.71 for NH₃, at 20°C. At 40°C, H was about 2.5-fold larger for HOCl. This means that 10–15% of the HOCl is stripped from cooling water on each passage through a typical cooling tower. The measured flashoff of free available chlorine (HOCl + OCl^?) was markedly pH-sensitive with a pK of 7.5, exactly as expected if HOCl is volatile but OCl^? is not. The data permit a quantitative understanding of the fate of chlorine in cooling systems. The values of H at 40°C for NH₂Cl, NHCl₂ and NCl₃ were 1.28, 3.76 and 1067. This means that all of the chloramines are quickly stripped in a cooling tower.     

日本聚氨酯防水徐料的环保对策和品质管理

1聚氨酯防水涂料的新规定日本聚氨酯工业会(以下简称NUK)开展了降低环境负荷的活动.2002年实行了环保型聚氨酯防水涂料系统的认定制度.