US tornado fatalities in motor vehicles (1991–2015)

Motor vehicles historically have been dangerous locations to shelter in during tornado events. Throughout the twentieth century, motor vehicle design has become safer while tornado forecasting has become better understood. Despite such advances, tornado fatalities in motor vehicles still occur today, and some events periodically result in high numbers of deaths (e.g., ten motor vehicle occupants were killed by a single tornado in Garland, Texas, in 2015). We seek to examine all US tornado-induced motor vehicle fatalities documented between 1991 and 2015. Our findings indicate that motor vehicle fatalities have not significantly changed during this study period. We attribute annual fatality totals to persons lacking awareness of impending dangers coupled with numbers of significant tornado events for a given year. We find most fatalities result when vehicles are lofted or passengers are ejected, and this most typically occurs at the EF3–EF5 intensity thresholds. Fatalities that occur at weaker tornado winds (EF0–EF2) are most often attributed to collapsing debris (mostly trees) on vehicles. Spatially, motor vehicle fatalities are greatest in the Deep South and southern Great Plains regions where overall tornado and nighttime tornado frequencies are greatest. Some of the largest motor vehicle fatality events have resulted from tornadoes not being distinctly visible to motorists; such events have been characterized by tornadoes occurring at night or by tornadoes not appearing as “classic funnels.”     

Organic-walled Microfossils from the Early Middle Cambrian sediments of the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland: Possible Implications for Sedimentary Environment in the SE Margin of the Baltica

An association of organic-walled microfossils consisting of filamentous cyanobacteria, algal coenobia and acanthomorphic acritarch have been documented from non-calcareous claystones and mudstones of the Pepper Mountains Shale Formation(PMSF), located in its stratotype area in the Pepper Mountains, which are part of the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland. These sediments represent the oldest strata of the ?ysogóry Unit, deposited on the edge of the East European Craton(Baltica). Non-branched, ribbon-like and thread-like cyanobacteria trichomes exhibit morphological similarities to families Nostocaceae and Oscillatoriaceae. Cells assembled in rounded to irregular clusters of monospecific agglomerations represent multicellular algal coenobia, attributed to the family Scenedesmaceae. The co-occurrence of acritarchs belonging to species as Eliasum llaniscum, Cristallinium ovillense and Estiastra minima indicates that the studied material corresponds to the lower Middle Cambrian. Deposition of the PMSF took place in shallow marine environment, influenced by periodical freshwater inputs. The varying degree of coloration of organic-walled microfossils is interpreted in this study as factor indication of possible different source of their derivation. Dark brown walls of cells assembled in algal coenobia might have sustained previous humification in humid, terrestrial environments, which preceded their river transport into the sea together with nutrients, causing occasional blooms of cyanobacteria in the coastal environment and the final deposition of both groups of organisms in marine deposits.     

Forest structure of a maple old-growth stand: a case study on the Apennines mountains (Southern Italy)

In Europe, very small forest areas can be considered to be old-growth, and they are mainly located in Eastern Europe. The typical structures of old growth forests infrequently occur in Mediterranean mountainous environments, since they have been affected by human activities for centuries. This study focused on a remote and almost pure Italian maple stand located in southern Italy, which has not been managed for long time due to its inaccessibility. The effects of natural evolution on the forest stand were evaluated through the analysis of the spatial and chronological structure and the regeneration patterns, then estimating the amounts and quality of deadwood occurrence. Across the whole stand, all the trees with DBH (diameter at breast height) larger than 50 cm (LLT, large living trees) were measured (DBH and height) and age was also determined through a dendrochronological approach. The diameters observed ranged between 50 and 145 cm with ages of 120 to 250 years. The Latham index calculated for trees within the sample plot highlighted a multilayered canopy with a dominant layer of large living trees (age > 120 years). The size-class distribution of stems had a reverse-J shape, and basal area was 52 m² ha^-1. Deadwood was exclusively constituted by standing dead trees and CWD and its volume was on average 31 m³ ha^-1.Pure Italian maple forests are generally rare in Europe, and it was unexpected to find a forest stand characterized by a so complex structure with old growth attributes. The study of complex forest stand, even if small, could give precious information on the forest evolution, clarifying also diverse auto-ecological traits of tree species that usually are not common in our forests.     

Biomonitoring of organochlorine compounds and trace metals along the Eastern Adriatic coast (Croatia) using Mytilus galloprovincialis

The paper presents the results of monitoring trace organic contaminants (17 PCBs and 7 OCPs) and 6 trace metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn) in the coastal waters of the eastern Adriatic in 2006 using Mytilus galloprovincialis as indicator species. OCPs were found in all samples (0.07-14.3 ng g⁻¹ d.wt.), while in positive samples concentrations of PCBs ranged between 0.16 and 20.5 ng g⁻¹ d.wt. The α-HCH/γ-HCH and DDE/DDT ratios indicated recent input of γ-HCH and DDT. Spatial distributions of HCB, PCBs, DDTs and Hg were significantly correlated with population density. Although elevated concentrations of all trace metals and organic contaminants were recorded in the densely populated and industrialized areas, overall data point to relatively low level of contamination of the eastern Adriatic coast. Evaluation of the risks to human health associated with consumption of the mussels suggested that there is no health risk for moderate shellfish consumers.     

Urban environments as habitats for rare aquatic species: The case of leeches (Euhirudinea, Clitellata) in Warsaw freshwaters

Reduced biological diversity in freshwater habitats situated in urban areas has been discussed in numerous studies. Certain municipal areas, however, can help save animal diversity of freshwater invertebrates. In the present study animals were collected or observed alive in 13 freshwater environments localized in Warsaw - the second largest city of Central Europe - in a densely populated, urban building complex close to the city, and also in suburban areas. Leech assemblages in all the environments under observation were numerically dominated by a few common species, but on the whole 19 species were collected or observed. The populations of six rare leech species inhabit both flowing and standing waters in Warsaw. Five of these species are on the Polish Red List of Species and one is strictly protected. The shallow Lake Powsinkowskie is the richest freshwater environment in the studied area in terms of species richness and rarity and also one of the richest lakes in Poland. Taxonomic diversity in the environments under study seems not to be directly related to the size of the water body or the level of degradation but rather to the habitat complexity, especially the diversity of the bottom in littoral zone. Certain freshwater habitats located inside this great urban complex still create good conditions for rare, highly specialized species.     

Equivalent Monopole Source of the Geomagnetic South Atlantic Anomaly

The South Atlantic magnetic Anomaly (SAA) is an important feature of the present geomagnetic field. In this paper we model the space–time evolution of this anomaly over the past 400 years in terms of the resultant between a decrease of a global axial dipole and an increase of a virtual local monopole source. Certain characteristics of this evolution are investigated and some considerations are made in the light of a possible special state of the global geomagnetic field dynamical regime. Among the possible speculations, one is made regarding the topography of the core-mantle boundary (CMB) and its possible aspect beneath the SAA region in terms of simple sinusoidal undulations met by the monopole source during its centennial motion.     

地震废墟中人体心脏电场信号的提取

基于人体心脏电场信号的生命探测仪是目前最先进的生命探测仪,其困难之处在于从地震废墟中提取微弱的心脏电场信号。本文主要分析地震废墟中可能出现的对人体电场有干扰的信号情况,提出如何接收废墟中微弱的超低频心脏电场信号,并根据人体心脏电场的特征设计特殊滤波器滤除干扰信号,只保留因人体心脏跳动而产生的360度扩展的超低频非均匀电场。     

汶川8.0级地震前地震空间相关长度变化特征

分析了汶川8.0级地震前的地震空间长度的时空演变。在计算空间相关长度过程中采用长轴与孕震区主要断裂走向一致的椭圆型空间窗,并设计了优化程序。在本次特大地震前观测到了增长的地震空间相关长度。利用合成地震目录对结果进行了显著性检验,结果否定了零假设,表明观察到的模型不是由随机数据干扰造成的,这一观点的置信水平被证实为93.9%。