Restoration of stormwater retention capacity at the allotment-scale through a novel economic instrument

Urbanisation results in changes to runoff behaviour which, if not addressed, inevitably degrade receiving waters. To date, most stormwater management has focussed on the streetscape and public open space. Given that much of the catchment imperviousness is located on private land, we developed and tested a novel economic instrument (a uniform price auction) for encouraging allotment-scale stormwater retention. We evaluated bids using an integrated environmental benefit index (EBI), based on the ability of the proposed works to reduce runoff frequency, pollutant loads and to reduce potable water demand. The uniform price auction resulted in 1.4 ha of impervious areas being effectively 'disconnected' from the stormwater system. The EBI provided an objective and transparent method of comparing bids, which varied in the type of works proposed (e.g. rainwater tank, rain-garden), the cost and the resulting environmental benefit. Whilst the pilot auction was a success, the public subsidy of works undertaken was around 85%, meaning that property owners a relatively small private benefit in the works. Future auction rounds will be revised to (i) test an EBI which is more focussed on the protection of streams (assessing changes to runoff frequency, baseflow volumes and water quality) and (ii) provide an auction process which is simpler to understand, and provides greater practical support for landholders who wish to undertake works.     

Divided Attention in Younger and Older Adults: Effects of Strategy and Relatedness on Memory Performance and Secondary Task Costs.

Divided attention at encoding leads to a significant decline in memory performance, whereas divided attention during retrieval has relatively little effect; nevertheless, retrieval carries significant secondary task costs, especially for older adults. The authors further investigated the effects of divided attention in younger and older adults by using a cued-recall task and by measuring retrieval accuracy, retrieval latency, and the temporal distribution of attentional costs at encoding and retrieval. An age-related memory deficit was reduced by pair relatedness, whereas strategy instructions benefited both age groups equally. Attentional costs were greater for retrieval than for encoding, especially for older adults. These findings are interpreted in light of notions of an age-related associative deficit (M. Naveh-Benjamin, 2000) and age-related differences in the use of self-initiated activities and environmental support (F. I. M. Craik, 1983, 1986). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of visual search for knowledge gathering in image decision support

This paper presents a new method of knowledge gathering for decision support in image understanding based on information extracted from the dynamics of saccadic eye movements. The framework involves the construction of a generic image feature extraction library, from which the feature extractors that are most relevant to the visual assessment by domain experts are determined automatically through factor analysis. The dynamics of the visual search are analyzed by using the Markov model for providing training information to novices on how and where to look for image features. The validity of the framework has been evaluated in a clinical scenario whereby the pulmonary vascular distribution on Computed Tomography images was assessed by experienced radiologists as a potential indicator of heart failure. The performance of the system has been demonstrated by training four novices to follow the visual assessment behavior of two experienced observers. In all cases, the accuracy of the students improved from near random decision making (33%) to accuracies ranging from 50% to 68%.     

Rhizoremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated soil using Australian native grasses

Rhizoremediation involves the breakdown of contaminants in soil resulting from microbial activity that is enhanced in the plant root zone. The objective of this study was to assess Australian native grasses for their ability to stimulate removal of aliphatic hydrocarbons from a mine site soil. Time-course pot experiments were conducted in a greenhouse with three grass species (Cymbopogon ambiguus, Brachiaria decumbens, and Microlaena stipoides) in a mine site soil experimentally contaminated with a 60:40 diesel:oil mixture at 1% (w/w) concentration. Plants were cultivated for 100 days with periodic evaluation of changes in soil total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration, soil lipase activity, and abundance of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms. Results were compared to unplanted control treatments. Significantly lower endpoint TPH concentrations were recorded in planted soil compared to unplanted soil (p = 0.01). Final TPH concentrations and rates of TPH removal varied between grass species, with total TPH removal of between 50% and 88% achieved in planted treatments. The presence of grasses significantly increased the abundance of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms and soil lipase activity relative to unplanted soil (p < 0.05). Residual TPH concentration was found to be closely (negatively) correlated with abundance of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms and to a lesser extent with soil lipase activity. Australian native grass species were identified that effectively enhance the remediation of diesel/oil contaminated soil, without any requirement for nutrient supplementation. Results may have extensive application to the nationwide problems associated with hydrocarbon contaminated sites.     

Adjustment in aging: The roles of life stress, hassles, and self-efficacy.

Examined the relationship of life stress, daily hassles, and perceived self-efficacy to adjustment in a community sample of 32 men and 32 women (aged 65–75 yrs). In a structured interview, negative life change events, daily hassles, self-efficacy, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and negative well-being were assessed. Both negative life events and daily hassles were related to psychological distress and physical symptoms for men, and hassles were associated with psychological distress and physical symptoms for women. An inverse relationship between self-efficacy and maladjustment was also found. Hassles showed the most powerful relationship to distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of bilingualism, aging, and semantic relatedness on memory under divided attention.

We examined how encoding and retrieval processes were affected by manipulations of attention, and whether the degree of semantic relatedness between words in the memory and distracting task modulated these effects. We also considered age and bilingual status as mediating factors. Monolingual and bilingual younger and older adults studied a list of words from a single semantic category presented auditorily, and later free recalled them aloud. During either study or retrieval, participants concurrently performed a distracting task requiring size decisions to words from either the same or a different semantic category as the words in the memory task. The greatest disruptions of memory from divided attention (DA) were for encoding rather than retrieval. The effect of semantic relatedness was significant only for DA at encoding. Older age and bilingualism were associated with lower recall scores in all conditions, but these factors did not influence the magnitude of memory interference. The results suggest that encoding is more sensitive to semantic similarity in a distracting task than is retrieval. The role of attention at encoding and retrieval is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Saving a creek one bid at a time: A uniform price auction for urban stormwater retention

Urban stormwater runoff degrades waterway health. We describe a market-based approach to identify the most efficient investments to reduce urban stormwater impacts at minimum cost. The framework involves the joint consideration of public and private supply of environmental services across scales; a metric to compare the benefits of interventions across and within scales; an environmental procurement auction to reveal and minimise the cost of private interventions; and an endogenous reserve price to select the optimal portfolio of investments. The paper discusses the economic and environmental rationale for the proposed approach, along with the results of Stormwater Tender, a field trial in Melbourne, Australia. To conceptualize the optimal portfolio of investments we draw the aggregate supply curve and the production possibility frontier (PPF) using data from the field trial. We find considerable heterogeneity in both the private and public cost of providing environmental benefits, highlighting the need to consider interventions across a range of scales. We also find that existing theory is limited in its ability to predict bidders' behaviour. Despite this, it is evident that using the PPF to select projects considerably improves the cost effectiveness of the investment. We therefore conclude that the approach is an effective way of maximising the benefits of policy interventions to reduce the impacts of stormwater on urban waterways.     

The impact of interpersonal violence in adulthood on women's job satisfaction and productivity: The mediating roles of mental and physical health.

Objective: With growing awareness of the prevalence of interpersonal violence victimization among women, research has begun to examine the impact of these experiences on employment. To date, much of this work in the United States has centered on low-income women moving from public assistance to paid employment and research gaps in our understanding of a broader range of working women's experiences still exist. The present study explored the impact of multiple types of victimization (sexual violence, physical intimate partner violence, psychological abuse, and stalking) on a range of work outcomes (job satisfaction, job benefits, job interference). Method: A random-digit-dial telephone survey of 1,079 women living in New Hampshire was conducted. Measures included questions about victimization in adulthood and current perceptions of employment. Results: A multivariate analysis of variance and regression analyses showed clear links between victimization experiences and negative work outcomes. Mental and physical health symptoms represent important mediators explaining these links. Conclusion: Results support the need for workplace policies and supports that provide safety nets for survivors and encourages the development of community norms that assist survivors in accessing such supports. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of preservation by gamma-irradiation on the nutritional quality of Australian fish

Gamma-irradiation preservation of two species of Australian marine fish (Black Bream and Redfish) resulted in no significant changes in their fatty-acid compositions, even when performed at up to three times the commonly recommended maximum dose for fish. Vitamin E loss was evident in some fillets but could not be correlated with the treatment dosage. All irradiated fillets were found to have vitamin E contents above the levels believed to be desirable for human consumption, relative to the amounts of accompanying polyunsaturated fatty acids.