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AbstractBackgroundThe Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) is the largest freshwater reservoir in China. Previous studies showed that organotin pollution is present in the TGR. In June 2011, the AFS Convention went into effect in China. In order to explore the pollution evolution processes of tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPhT) before and after implementation of the AFS Convention and their variations with water level fluctuations in the TGR, the characteristic parameters of the TGR and the physicochemical parameters of TBT and TPhT were used to develop a level IV multimedia fugacity model considering water level fluctuations to simulate the fate, transfer, and transport of TBT and TPhT in the TGR. Based on the simulation results, exposure concentrations of TBT and TPhT were then used to assess the ecological and health risks in the TGR region (TGRR).ResultsThe simulation results showed that the average concentrations of both TBT and TPhT decreased in all compartments except the sediment, whereas the total content of the system continued to increase after the AFS Convention was implemented. The concentration of TBT in the sediment was higher than that in fish, while the concentration of TPhT in fish was much greater than that in the sediment. The total contents of both TBT and TPhT were highest in the sediment phase. In addition, variations in water level of the TGR significantly affected the distribution and transport of TBT and TPhT in the TGR.ConclusionsSediment is an important source and sink of TBT and TPhT, and the water level regulation of the TGR strengthened the two roles of sediment. Both TBT and TPhT in surface water, but especially TBT, carried significant chronic exposure risks to the aquatic community of the TGR. Intake of TPhT, mainly through eating fish, posed a potential health risk to the population in the TGRR.

Mestrado em Toxicologia e Ecotoxicologia ; Organotins (OTs) are organometallic compounds. Despite of the multiple applications of the OTs, the notoriety of these compounds is due to tributyltin (TBT), a potent biocide used in antifouling paints since the 60s to prevent biofouling on submerged surfaces, including the hulls of ships. Despite of the extreme effectiveness of these paints in combating biofouling, they are also extremely toxic to non-target organisms, therefore several legislative measures restricting their use were implemented in several countries worldwide. TBT causes a huge variety of adverse effects on non-target species (sublethal / lethal) of different taxonomic groups (from bacteria to mammals). The first evidence of adverse effects induced by TBT on non-target species emerged in the 70s in oysters of the species Crassostrea gigas in the Bay of Arcachon, France. Their shells have suffered thickening with consequent decrease in the volume of edible portion, reducing its commercial value. In the same decade was verified the occurrence of male sexual characteristics in female prosobranch gastropods (formation of a penis and / or development of a vas deferens), by exposure to TBT. This phenomenon was coined as "imposex" by Smith in 1971. The imposex is the best known example of endocrine disruption caused by a pollutant being used as a biomarker to monitoring the environmental pollution by TBT. The gastropods are used globally for monitoring environmental pollution by TBT. In the present work we studied how gastropods have been used to track the course of TBT pollution worldwide during the last decade (2003-2013), and the main results obtained. We searched for the number of published articles by year / continent and country regarding the bioindicator species most used in biomonitoring TBT pollution in function of their geographical location; we evaluated the efficacy of the AFS Convention in reducing TBT pollution worldwide; we evaluated the temporal evolution (2003-2013) of the levels of imposex ...

These comments introduce a partial literature review of privatization as has appeared in our journal as well as four articles that represent some of the work of social scientists, military and agency personnel, private contractors, and others who participated in a forum on privatization held at St. Mary's College in Maryland in 2008. The forum is a program of their Center for the Study of Democracy and The Patuxent Partnership. The 2008 conference was entitled ''The Privatization of National Defense.''

American military institutions importantly shaped the popular sport of college football. From support at its two oldest service academies, interest in football spread through military units across the country with military actors involved in the formation of the country's first collegiate athletic conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Subsequently, the US military functioned as an agent of authoritative diffusion, fostering interest in college football after the First World War. Furthermore, military institutions, including the draft, affected not only which team would be most successful during the Second World War but also how civilians would play the game. These effects call to mind Charles Tilly's work on state formation and security-driven resource extraction as well as Harold Lasswell's garrison state idea. [Reprinted by permission; copyright Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society/Sage Publications Inc.]

Many contend that the citizen-soldier tradition in the United States is dead. They argue that the elimination of the draft in 1973, and the establishment of the all-volunteer force (AVF), severed the link between military service and citizenship. The author maintains that this conventional wisdom is wrong. Critics of the AVF have idealized the pre-AVF U.S. military; they have failed to recognize that the AVF was more a product of change in U.S. citizenship ideals than a cause of them; and they have asserted a homology between institutional design (military recruitment system) and a cultural phenomenon (the citizen-soldier tradition) that has little historical purchase. This article reconceptualizes the citizen-soldier tradition as a set of rhetorical conventions, and it demonstrates that these tropes continue to shape political debate in the United States. From this perspective, the AVF did not condemn the citizen-soldier to death: it gave him or her a new lease on life.

The cultural context of alcohol abuse in the USSR & its impact on the Soviet military are outlined. Analysis of data (Treml, Vladimir G., "Alcohol Underground in the U.S.S.R.," paper prepared for a convention of the American Assoc for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Sept 1981) detailing the consumption of 80% samogan (moonshine) reveals a 300% rise since the early 1960s. Factors responsible for historical alcohol abuse in the USSR, as well as the recent escalation, are suggested. Alcohol consumption in the armed forces is estimated to outpace the civilian figures, & is blamed for theft-related material losses & alcohol-related accidents. Any administrative attempt in the near future to curb the problem through primitive means is unlikely because it would imply an admission of governmental weakness to deal effectively with the problem. 5 Figures. Modified HA

The California Climate Action Registry ("Registry") was initially established in 2000 under Senate Bill 1771, and clarifying legislation (Senate Bill 527) was passed in September 2001. The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has been asked to provide technical assistance to the California Energy Commission (CEC) in establishing methods for calculating average and marginal electricity emissions factors, both historic and current, as well as statewide and for sub-regions. This study is exploratory in nature. It illustrates the use of three possible approaches and is not a rigorous estimation of actual emissions factors. While the Registry will ultimately cover emissions of all greenhouse gases (GHGs), presently it is focusing on carbon dioxide (CO2). Thus, this study only considers CO2, which is by far the largest GHG emitted in the power sector. Associating CO2 emissions with electricity consumption encounters three major complications. First, electricity can be generated from a number of different primary energy sources, many of which are large sources of CO2 emissions (e.g., coal combustion) while others result in virtually noCO2 emissions (e.g., hydro). Second, the mix of generation resources used to meet loads may vary at different times of day or in different seasons. Third, electrical energy is transported over long distances by complex transmission and distribution systems, so the generation sources related to electricity usage can be difficult to trace and may occur far from the jurisdiction in which that energy is consumed. In other words, the emissions resulting from electricity consumption vary considerably depending on when and where it is used since this affects the generation sources providing the power. There is no practical way to identify where or how all the electricity used by a certain customer was generated, but by reviewing public sources of data the total emission burden of a customer's electricity supplier can be found and an average emissions factor (AEF) calculated. These are useful for assigning a net emission burden to a facility. In addition, marginal emissions factors (MEFs) for estimating the effect of changing levels of usage can be calculated. MEFs are needed because emission rates at the margin are likely to diverge from the average. The overall objective of this task is to develop methods for estimating AEFs and MEFs that can provide an estimate of the combined net CO2 emissions from all generating facilities that provide electricity to California electricity customers. The method covers the historic period from 1990 to the present, with 1990 and 1999 used as test years. The factors derived take into account the location and time of consumption, direct contracts for power which may have certain atypical characteristics (e.g., "green" electricity from renewable resources), resource mixes of electricity providers, import and export of electricity from utility owned and other sources, and electricity from cogeneration. It is assumed that the factors developed in this way will diverge considerably from simple statewide AEF estimates based on standardized inventory estimates that use conventions inconsistent with the goals of this work. A notable example concerns the treatment of imports, which despite providing a significant share of California's electricity supply picture, are excluded from inventory estimates of emissions, which are based on geographical boundaries of the state.