The dark triad in male and female athletes and non-athletes: Group differences and psychometric properties of the short dark triad (SD3)

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Objectives: The Short Dark Triad (SD3) is a popular, brief measure of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, which are known as the Dark Triad. The present study adopted this measure and had two aims. First, to assess the psychometric properties of the SD3 with a focus on measurement invariance across gender, athletic expertise, and sport type. Second, to examine mean differences in Dark Triad scores across these groups. Design: Cross-sectional. Method: In total, 1258 participants (625 women; mean age 23.47 years) with a range of athletic experience (non-athletes, N = 408; amateur, N = 557; elite, N = 293) from team (N = 577) and individual (N = 273) sports completed the SD3. Factorial validity was assessed using exploratory structural equation modelling. Results: Analyses indicated that the three-factor model provided adequate fit, however, a bifactor model incorporating the three specific factors and a general factor, provided superior fit to the data. Moreover, invariance testing suggested some inconsistency in the observed factor structures across groups. In addition, findings indicated group differences with men scoring higher than women, athletes with greater expertise scoring higher than those with less expertise, and individual athletes scoring higher than team athletes across all factors. Conclusions: We suggest that researchers continue to use the SD3 using both composite and subscale scores, but recommend caution when interpreting subscale scores among women and team athletes until further psychometric work has been conducted within these populations. Our findings also suggest that the Dark Triad may be worth examining in future studies in sport

Post-Dieselgate : Evidence of NOx Emission Reductions Using On-Road Remote Sensing

The Dieselgate scandal which broke in September 2015 demonstrated that vehicle manufacturers, such as the Volkswagen Group (VWG), engaged in software-based manipulation which led to vehicles passing laboratory-based emission testing limits but were far more polluting while being driven on roads. Using 23 000 on-road remote sensing measurements of light-duty Euro 5 diesel vehicles in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2018, VWG vehicles with the "Dieselgate-affected" EA189 engine demonstrated anomalous NOx emission behavior between the pre- and post-Dieselgate periods which was not observed in other vehicle makes or models. These anomalous changes can be explained by voluntary VWG hardware and software fixes which have led to improved NOx emission control. The VGW 1.6 L vehicles, with a simple hardware fix and a software upgrade, resulted in a 36% reduction in NOx, whereas the 2.0 L vehicles that required a software-only fix showed a 30% reduction in NOx once controlled for ambient temperature effects. These results show that even minor changes or upgrades can considerably reduce NOx emissions, which has implications for future emission control activities and local air quality

Strong Temperature Dependence for Light-Duty Diesel Vehicle NOx Emissions

Diesel-powered road vehicles are important sources for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, and the European passenger fleet is highly dieselised, which has resulted in many European roadside environments being noncompliant with legal air quality standards for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). On the basis of vehicle emission remote sensing data for 300000 light-duty vehicles across the United Kingdom, light-duty diesel NOx emissions were found to be highly dependent on ambient temperature with low temperatures resulting in higher NOx emissions, i.e., a "low temperature NOx emission penalty" was identified. This feature was not observed for gasoline-powered vehicles. Older Euro 3 to 5 diesel vehicles emitted NOx similarly, but vehicles compliant with the latest Euro 6 emission standard emitted less NOx than older vehicles and demonstrated less of an ambient temperature dependence. This ambient temperature dependence is overlooked in current emission inventories but is of importance from an air quality perspective. Owing to Europe's climate, a predicted average of 38% more NOx emissions have burdened Europe when compared to temperatures encountered in laboratory test cycles. However, owing to the progressive elimination of vehicles demonstrating the most severe low temperature NOx penalty, light-duty diesel NOx emissions are likely to decrease more rapidly throughout Europe than currently thought

The diminishing importance of nitrogen dioxide emissions from road vehicle exhaust

The direct emission of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from road vehicle exhaust has been an important contributor to near-road ambient concentrations of NO2 in many European cities. Diesel vehicles and their use of emission control technologies such as Diesel Oxidation Catalysts, have dominated the emission of NO2 from road vehicles. In this work, we summarise findings from recent vehicle emission remote sensing measurements in the UK that provide detailed information on the emissions of NO2 and total NOx(NO2 + NO). We show that while new diesel cars and light commercial vehicles are associated with high (typically 30%) proportions of NO2/NOx, the amount of absolute NOx and NO2 emitted by most Euro 6 vehicles has decreased substantially and that absolute emissions of NO2 have been reducing since around 2007. Additionally, we find that the amount of NO2 decreases as the vehicle mileage increases. Taken together, these factors have led to substantial reductions in emissions of NO2 in recent years from light duty diesel vehicles, which has contributed to reduced roadside NO2 concentrations. There is a need however for commonly used emission factor models to account for these changes in emissions of NO2

Sources of non-methane hydrocarbons in surface air in Delhi, India

Rapid economic growth and development have exacerbated air quality problems across India, driven by many poorly understood pollution sources and understanding their relative importance remains critical to characterising the key drivers of air pollution. A comprehensive suite of measurements of 90 non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) (C2–C14), including 12 speciated monoterpenes and higher molecular weight monoaromatics, were made at an urban site in Old Delhi during the pre-monsoon (28-May to 05-Jun 2018) and post-monsoon (11 to 27-Oct 2018) seasons using dual-channel gas chromatography (DC-GC-FID) and two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC-FID). Significantly higher mixing ratios of NMHCs were measured during the post-monsoon campaign, with a mean night-time enhancement of around 6. Like with NOx and CO, strong diurnal profiles were observed for all NMHCs, except isoprene, with very high NMHC mixing ratios between 35–1485 ppbv. The sum of mixing ratios of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) routinely exceeded 100 ppbv at night during the post-monsoon period, with a maximum measured mixing ratio of monoaromatic species of 370 ppbv. The mixing ratio of highly reactive monoterpenes peaked at around 6 ppbv in the post-monsoon campaign and correlated strongly with anthropogenic NMHCs, suggesting a strong non-biogenic source in Delhi. A detailed source apportionment study was conducted which included regression analysis to CO, acetylene and other NMHCs, hierarchical cluster analysis, EPA UNMIX 6.0, principal component analysis/absolute principal component scores (PCA/APCS) and comparison with NMHC ratios (benzene/toluene and i-/n-pentane) in ambient samples to liquid and solid fuels. These analyses suggested the primary source of anthropogenic NMHCs in Delhi was from traffic emissions (petrol and diesel), with average mixing ratio contributions from Unmix and PCA/APCS models of 38% from petrol, 14% from diesel and 32% from liquified petroleum gas (LPG) with a smaller contribution (16%) from solid fuel combustion. Detailed consideration of the underlying meteorology during the campaigns showed that the extreme night-time mixing ratios of NMHCs during the post-monsoon campaign were the result of emissions into a very shallow and stagnant boundary layer. The results of this study suggest that despite widespread open burning in India, traffic-related petrol and diesel emissions remain the key drivers of gas-phase urban air pollution in Delhi

Generation of Alkalinity by Stimulation of Microbial Iron Reduction in Acid Rock Drainage Systems: Impact of Natural Organic Matter Types

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-04-08, accepted 2020-08-13, registration 2020-08-14, pub-electronic 2020-08-31, online 2020-08-31, pub-print 2020-09Publication status: PublishedFunder: CONACyT-Mexico; Grant(s): 308702Abstract: To determine the role of organic matter in the attenuation of acid rock drainage (ARD), microcosm-based experiments were performed using ARD stimulated with plants and manures. Initial mineralogical, organic geochemical and microbial analyses indicated a predominance of goethite, a substantial amount of organic carbon originating from local sources, and a bacterial community comparable with those detected in a range of ARD sites worldwide. After 100 days of incubation, changes in the mineralogical, organic and microbiological composition of the ARD demonstrated that the plant additions stimulate microbes with the potential to degrade this organic matter but do not necessarily cause substantial Fe(III) reduction. Conversely, the greatest observed stimulation of Fe(III) reduction, associated with an increase in pH to near-neutral values, was observed using manure additions. These results demonstrate that the use of the optimal natural carbon source is important and can promote the metabolism of microorganisms potentially fuelling a range of geomicrobial processes, including iron and sulfate reduction

Ozone deposition to a coastal sea : Comparison of eddy covariance observations with reactive air-sea exchange models

A fast-response (10 Hz) chemiluminescence detector for ozone (O3) was used to determine O3 fluxes using the eddy covariance technique at the Penlee Point Atmospheric Observatory (PPAO) on the south coast of the UK during April and May 2018. The median O3 flux was-0.132 mgm-2 h-1 (0.018 ppbvms-1), corresponding to a deposition velocity of 0.037 cm s-1 (interquartile range 0.017-0.065 cm s-1)-similar to the higher values previously reported for open-ocean flux measurements but not as high as some other coastal results. We demonstrate that a typical single flux observation was above the 2 limit of detection but had considerable uncertainty. The median 2 uncertainty of deposition velocity was 0.031 cm s-1 for each 20 min period, which reduces with the square root of the sample size. Eddy covariance footprint analysis of the site indicates that the flux footprint was predominantly over water (96 %), varying with atmospheric stability and, to a lesser extent, with the tide. At very low wind speeds when the atmosphere was typically unstable, the observed ozone deposition velocity was elevated, most likely because the footprint contracted to include a greater land contribution in these conditions. At moderate to high wind speeds when atmospheric stability was near-neutral, the ozone deposition velocity increased with wind speed and showed a linear dependence with friction velocity. This observed dependence on friction velocity (and therefore also wind speed) is consistent with the predictions from the one-layer model of Fairall et al. (2007), which parameterises the oceanic deposition of ozone from the fundamental conservation equation, accounting for both ocean turbulence and near-surface chemical destruction, while assuming that chemical O3 destruction by iodide is distributed over depth. In contrast to our observations, the deposition velocity predicted by the recently developed two-layer model of Luhar et al. (2018) (which considers iodide reactivity in both layers but with molecular diffusivity dominating over turbulent diffusivity in the first layer) shows no major dependence of deposition velocity on wind speed and underestimates the measured deposition velocities. These results call for further investigation into the mechanisms and control of oceanic O3 deposition

Measurements of traffic-dominated pollutant emissions in a Chinese megacity

Direct measurements of NOx, CO and aromatic volatile organic compound (VOC) (benzene, toluene, C2-benzenes and C3-benzenes) flux were made for a central area of Beijing using the eddy-covariance technique. Measurements were made during two intensive field campaigns in central Beijing as part of the Air Pollution and Human Health (APHH) project, the first in November–December 2016 and the second during May–June 2017, to contrast wintertime and summertime emission rates. There was little difference in the magnitude of NOx flux between the two seasons (mean NOx flux was 4.41 mg m−2 h−1 in the winter compared to 3.55 mg m−2 h−1in the summer). CO showed greater seasonal variation, with mean CO flux in the winter campaign (34.7 mg m−2 h−1) being over twice that of the summer campaign (15.2 mg m−2 h−1). Larger emissions of aromatic VOCs in summer were attributed to increased evaporation due to higher temperatures. The largest fluxes in NOx and CO generally occurred during the morning and evening rush hour periods, indicating a major traffic source with high midday emissions of CO, indicating an additional influence from cooking fuel. Measured NOx and CO fluxes were then compared to the MEIC 2013 emissions inventory, which was found to significantly overestimate emissions for this region,providing evidence that proxy-based emissions inventories have positive biases in urban centres. This first set of pollutant fluxes measured in Beijing provides an important benchmark of emissions from the city which can help to inform and evaluate current emissions inventories

Aerosol influences on low-level clouds in the West African monsoon

Low-level clouds (LLC) cover a wide area of southern West Africa (SWA) during the summer monsoon months, and have an important cooling effect on the regional climate. Previous studies of these clouds have focused on modelling and remote sensing via satellite. We present the first comprehensive set of regional, in situ measurements of cloud microphysics, taken during June – July 2016, as part of the DACCIWA (Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Clouds Interactions in West Africa) campaign, assessing spatial and temporal variation in the properties of these clouds. LLC developed overnight and mean cloud cover peaked a few hundred kilometres inland around 10:00 local solar time (LST), before clouds began to dissipate and convection intensified in the afternoon. Additional sea breeze clouds developed near the coast in the late morning, reaching a maximum extent around 12:00 LST. Regional variation in LLC cover was largely determined by the modulation of the cool maritime inflow by the local orography, with peaks on the upwind side of hills and minima on the leeward sides. In the broad-scale cloud field, no lasting impacts related to anthropogenic aerosol were observed downwind of major population centres. The boundary layer cloud drop number concentration (CDNC) was locally variable inland, ranging from 200 to 840 cm−3 (10th and 90th percentiles at standard temperature and pressure), but showed no systematic regional variations. Enhancements were seen in pollution plumes from the coastal cities, but were not statistically significant across the region. The majority of accumulation mode aerosols, and therefore cloud condensation nuclei, were from ubiquitous biomass burning smoke transported from the southern hemisphere. Consequently, all clouds measured (inland and offshore) had significantly higher CDNC and lower effective radius than clouds over the remote south Atlantic from literature. A parcel model sensitivity analysis showed that doubling or halving local emissions only changed the calculated CDNC by 13–22 %, as the high background meant local emissions were a small fraction of total aerosol. As the population of SWA grows, local emissions are expected to rise. Biomass burning smoke transported from the southern hemisphere is likely to dampen any effect of these increased local emissions on cloud-aerosol interactions. An integrative analysis between local pollution and Central African biomass burning emissions must be considered when predicting anthropogenic impacts on the regional cloud field during the West African monsoon

Garden and landscape-scale correlates of moths of differing conservation status: significant effects of urbanization and habitat diversity

Moths are abundant and ubiquitous in vegetated terrestrial environments and are pollinators, important herbivores of wild plants, and food for birds, bats and rodents. In recent years, many once abundant and widespread species have shown sharp declines that have been cited by some as indicative of a widespread insect biodiversity crisis. Likely causes of these declines include agricultural intensification, light pollution, climate change, and urbanization; however, the real underlying cause(s) is still open to conjecture. We used data collected from the citizen science Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to explore the spatial association between the abundance of 195 widespread British species of moth, and garden habitat and landscape features, to see if spatial habitat and landscape associations varied for species of differing conservation status. We found that associations with habitat and landscape composition were species-specific, but that there were consistent trends in species richness and total moth abundance. Gardens with more diverse and extensive microhabitats were associated with higher species richness and moth abundance; gardens near to the coast were associated with higher richness and moth abundance; and gardens in more urbanized locations were associated with lower species richness and moth abundance. The same trends were also found for species classified as increasing, declining and vulnerable under IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria