Search

To fully understand the potential ecological and human health risks from nanoplastics and microplastics (NMPs) in the environment, it is critical to make accurate measurements. Similar to past research on the toxicology of engineered nanomaterials, a broad range of measurement artifacts and biases are possible when testing their potential toxicity. For example, antimicrobials and surfactants may be present in commercially available NMP dispersions, and these compounds may account for toxicity observed instead of being caused by exposure to the NMP particles. Therefore, control measurements are needed to assess potential artifacts, and revisions to the protocol may be needed to eliminate or reduce the artifacts. In this paper, we comprehensively review and suggest a next generation of control experiments to identify measurement artifacts and biases that can occur while performing NMP toxicity experiments. This review covers the broad range of potential NMP toxicological experiments, such as in vitro studies with a single cell type or complex 3-D tissue constructs, in vivo mammalian studies, and ecotoxicity experiments testing pelagic, sediment, and soil organisms. Incorporation of these control experiments can reduce the likelihood of false positive and false negative results and more accurately elucidate the potential ecological and human health risks of NMPs.

Weather-related accidents contribute to general aviation fatal accidents each year. These accidents continue to occur even with advancements in weather information technology available in cockpit display technology and mobile applications. The purpose of this session is to highlight a body of on-going human factors research addressing examining interpretability of aviation weather observations, displays, and forecasts; discussion of results from the weather information latency study; use of augmented reality to enhance aviation education, training, and weather information presentation; increasing the number and detail of GA pilot reports (PIREP’s); and GA Pilot In-flight Visibility Assessments. This paper provides an abstract for each of the topic areas.

Continental orientations during the Silurian Period have been determined using paleoclimatic in addition to paleomagnetic data. The influence of climate on lithology is particularly marked during periods like the Silurian when epeiric seas were widespread and sedimentation was dominantly autochthonous (evaporites, carbonates, reefs, authigenic minerals) and therefore reflective of climate at the depositional site. During such times, with few large land areas in low latitudes, one would expect climatic patterns to have been more zonal than cellular, and also that long river systems (capable of transporting clastic sediments from wet to dry belts) would not have existed. Therefore, even allochthonous deposits, particularly thick sequences of coarse elastics can be added to the list of paleoclimatic indicators. Silurian northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation can be modeled on present patterns in the southern hemisphere because of the lack of significant land influence on climate. The wet-hot (10[deg]N--10[deg]S), dry-warm (10[deg]--30[deg]), wet-cool (30[deg]-60[deg]), dry-cold (60[deg]--pole) pattern is amply confirmed by Silurian sediment distribution on those paleocontinents whose orientations have been established from paleomagnetic measurements (Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia). Paleozoic sedimentation in these zones is as follows: 10[deg]N--10[deg]S, thick elastics and reefs associated with leading plate margins, and carbonates and reefs in the epeiric seas; 10[deg]--30[deg], evaporites, carbonates and reefs; 30[deg]--60[deg], clastics, coals and tillites; 60[deg]--pole mostly tillites. The other paleo-continents (Kazakhstania, North China, South China, Gondwana) can be oriented by using the above lithologic associations in ways consistent with their known convergent and collision patterns in the late Paleozoic. All were in relatively low latitudes with the exception of Gondwana which was over the South Pole. A large north polar ocean existed which must have had