Environmental characteristics of hotspots of alcohol-related health incidents outside of the entertainment districts of Amsterdam

While hotspots of alcohol-related incidents have been associated with alcohol outlet density, few studies have considered other environmental factors. We aimed to characterise the environment of hotspots outside of outlet density areas in Amsterdam. Using geographical information systems, we identified hotspots of alcohol-related health incidents outside of outlet density areas based on the registry of alcohol related ambulance attendances. While quantitative data and methods were used to analyse victim profiles (including age, sex and home address) and temporal profiles (time of incident), we combined quantitative and qualitative information to develop environmental profiles of these hotspots. We identified 11 hotspots with 242 incidents outside outlet density areas. Results indicate substantial differences between incidents in these hotspots and incidents in high outlet density areas. Victims in these hotspots are older, more often male and live closer to the incident location compared to victims in high outlet density hotspots. Incidents are less likely to take place during the night and at weekends. In-depth analysis of four hotspots showed different combinations of contributing environmental factors, including (a) public parks bordering deprived neighbourhoods, (b) dance event facilities close to a traffic black spot, and (c) residential services for disadvantaged groups near ‘hang-outs’. The study shows that hotspots of alcohol-related incidents can arise outside outlet density areas at locations where several other environmental factors cluster, particularly in more deprived areas. Such hotspots can be addressed in urban planning and urban design.     

Drainage water temperature as a basis for verifying drainage runoff composition on slopes

Tile drainage water temperatures and discharge rates were measured in five highland watersheds of which most are underlain by acid crystalline rock. One of them, Dehtá?e in the Bohemo‐Moravian highland (Czech Republic), was studied in greater detail. The aim was to evaluate water temperature monitoring as a means of determining the source and pathway of drainage runoff during high‐flow events. Rapid increase in drainage discharge was accompanied by rapid change in water temperature. In winter, the rising limb of the hydrograph was accompanied by a decrease in temperature, and the falling limb was associated with a corresponding temperature increase. In summer, the trends were reversed. These data suggest that the water temperature changes are caused by the fastest component of drainage runoff, water from a precipitation event or snowmelt, which can be separated from the remainder of the hydrograph. Measurements of hydraulic conductivity, soil moisture content, soil temperature, and groundwater table level indicate that the major portion of the event water causing this effect infiltrates in the watershed recharge zone where soils are permeable, enters the weathered bedrock, flows preferentially and rapidly down the slope along disjoint fissures in the bedrock, finally emerging as ascending springs, and is, for the most part, intercepted by the tile drainage systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impacts of Oyster Reef Restoration on Primary Productivity and Nutrient Dynamics in Tidal Creeks of the North Central Gulf of Mexico

The ability of oysters to remove large quantities of particulates from the water column, thereby potentially improving water quality, has been cited as one of the reasons for oyster reef restoration. However, this ability has not yet been effectively demonstrated in the field. As part of the Alabama Oyster Reef Restoration Project, this study was designed to assess impacts of restored eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs on primary production, nutrient dynamics, and water quality in shallow tidal creeks. Using a Before–After-Control–Impact (BACI) design, we monitored tidal creeks around Dauphin Island, AL, for changes induced by the introduction of oyster reefs. Reef placement resulted in increased ammonium (NH₄⁺) in two of the three experimental creeks. Interestingly, oyster reefs did not seem to reduce water column particulates or have an impact on phytoplankton or microphytobenthic biomass or productivity. We do not believe that our data discount the importance and/or usefulness of oysters in modifying the water column. Rather, we acknowledge that it is difficult to detect these impacts/environmental services in this type of system (i.e., a tidal creek system), because they seem to be very localized and short-lived (i.e., not ecologically relevant on a creek-wide scale). This study highlights the need to consider location and habitat in planning oyster restoration projects. Also, it demonstrates that the types, magnitudes, and spatial extent of changes in ecosystem services that should be expected after reef restoration might need to be re-evaluated.     

Stable isotope profiles (Ca,O, C) through modern brachiopod shells of T. septentrionalis and G. vitreus: Implications for calcium isotope paleo-ocean chemistry

Brachiopod shells are widely used as an archive to reconstruct elemental and isotopic composition of seawater. Studies, focused on oxygen and carbon isotopes over the last decades, are increasingly extending to the emerging calcium isotope system. To date, only little attention has been paid to test the reliability of fossil brachiopods on their modern counterparts.In this context, the present study investigates two modern brachiopods, Terebratulina septentrionalis (eastern Canada, 5–30 m depth, 7.1 °C seasonal temperature variation, two-layer shell) and Gryphus vitreus (northern Mediterranean, 200 m depth, constant all-year round temperature, three-layer shell). Both species were sampled along the ontogenetic growth direction and calcium, oxygen, and carbon isotopes as well as elemental concentration were measured. Calcium isotopes were analyzed on TIMS. The elemental composition was analyzed by LA-ICP-MS and ICP-AES.The results indicate an intra-specimen δ^44/40Ca variation ranging from 0.16 to 0.33‰, pointing to a fairly homogenous distribution of calcium isotopes in brachiopod shells. However, in the light of the suggested 0.7‰ increase in calcium isotopes over the Phanerozoic such intra-specimen variations constrain ocean reconstruction. δ^44/40Ca values of T. septentrionalis do not seem to be affected by growth rate. Calcium isotopic values of G. vitreus are heavy in the central part of the shell and trend towards lighter values in peripheral areas approaching the maximum isotopic composition of T. septentrionalis. The maximum inter-species δ^44/40Ca difference of 0.62‰ between T. septentrionalis and G. vitreus indicates that care should be taken when using different taxa, species with different strontium content or brachiopods with specialized shell structure, such as G. vitreus, for ocean water reconstruction in terms of Ca isotopic composition. T. septentrionalis may record Ca isotopic fractionation related to seasonal seawater temperature variations in its shell but this is difficult to resolve at the current analytical precision. Average δ¹⁸O-derived temperatures of the two investigated species are close to on-site measured temperatures.     

Multiple mechanisms driving detachment folding as deduced from 3D reconstruction and geomechanical restoration: the Pico del Águila anticline (External Sierras,Southern Pyrenees)

Three‐dimensional (3D) modelling allows observation of geological features that may not be evident by classical two‐dimensional approaches. This is particularly important in the Pico del Águila anticline (Central External Sierras, Southern Pyrenees, Spain), a structure characterized by important geometrical variability in 3D. The Pico del Águila is a N–S‐trending fold, transverse to the E–W‐trending South‐Pyrenean thrust front, with well‐exposed growth strata that record the evolution of the structure and the influence of the South‐Pyrenean thrust front. Fold kinematics is complex and not precisely quantified. It is characterized by multiple folding mechanisms acting simultaneously in a heterogeneous stratigraphic sequence. To better understand the fold's structural evolution, 3D reconstruction and geomechanical restoration of the structure were performed. The restoration takes into account rock mechanical properties without assuming a specific kinematic model. Our work suggests that the growth of the structure was characterized by variable uplift/sedimentation rates through time and between fold limbs. The restoration also reveals that a combination of multiple folding mechanisms operated simultaneously in different units and structural domains during anti‐clinal growth. This has major implications in the understanding of detachment folds with associated growth strata, as such structures are described in many settings as potential traps for hydrocarbons and natural resources.     

Study of the Influence of the Indirect Effect of Ocean Tides and of the Direct Deformation Effect of the Atmosphere on the Results of GPS Observations

The geodynamic interpretation of the results of GPS observations among the permanently operating stations which establish the frame for defining and conserving the coordinate system and simultaneously for describing the fundamental tendencies of dynamics in the area represented by them, should be deprived of the effects of geodynamic phenomena, which can be either periodic or short-term (even non-periodic) so that secular changes may be found. Some of these influences are included in scientific processing software, others have to be modelled later. The purpose of this project is to determine the influences of the indirect effect of ocean tides and the direct deformational effect of the atmosphere on the results of GPS observations, performed at stations Pecný (Czech Republic), Wettzell (FRG) and Graz (Austria), and also for the GPS stations of the Central Europe Regional Geodynamic Project (CERGOP) in the region of Central and East Europe. On the basis of analyses and results it is possible to claim that at the present accuracy of GPS observations the influence of ocean loading and atmospheric pressure effects for geodynamic campaigns in the region of the Czech Republic is negligible. For campaigns in larger regions (i.e. Central Europe) atmospheric corrections will have to be applied to height differences. These corrections, however, due to their periodicity have negligible influence on secular changes.     

Design sea state assessment using genetic algorithm approach

Two major statistical issues can be distinguished in the procedure of wave extreme prediction. The first issue is that predicted extreme values must be based on data collected in a relatively short time. The second issue is extrapolation of the observed data into its extreme region, typically lying well beyond from even the most extreme available observation. The process of extrapolation plays a fundamental role in this area of analysis and therefore it is essential to fit empirically a convenient probability distribution that describes the available data as closely as possible. Determination of extreme values probability distribution parameters by genetic algorithm is applied to improve the methodology of extreme sea state prediction.Illustrative applications of the method are given for a North Atlantic sea environment. The results are presented as crest height maximum values occurring with a given probability or in a design storm that has a specified return period.