Busy Corridor Research Articles

Before & after an Oil Spill: The Arthur Kill

In January 1990, the New York Harbor suffered a major oil spill when an underwater pipe at an Exxon refinery leaked into the Arthur Kill, the fifteen-mile strait that runs between New Jersey and Staten Island. The waterway is home to herons and egrets, fiddler crabs and sea turtles, and a favorite place for recreational fishing, bird-watching, hiking, and boating. It is also lined with refineries and a busy corridor for oil tankers. Because this industrial activity posed such an imposing threat to the fragile ecosystem, biologists had been monitoring the region's water, soil, vegetation, and wildlife for some time before the oil spill. Thus, we have "before" -and-"after" data about the habitat--the only oil spill anywhere for which this is true. This unique book discusses the human consequences of the oil spill as well as providing detailed studies of its effects on the plants and animals of the Arthur Kill. Biologists, environmentalists, lawyers, and officials worldwide will find this book an essential guide to dealing with--and possibly preventing--future environmental disasters. The contributors areJohn Brzorad, Angela Christini, Keith Cooper, Lynn Frink, Michael Gochfeld, Paul Hauge, Gordon Johnson, Alan D. Maccarone, Katherine Parsons, Carolyn Summers, Robert Tucker.

Eeny, meeny, miny, mo..

The little advertisement in the BMJ was for two posts as senior house officer (junior) in obstetrics and gynaecology. After talking to someone who had worked on the unit, I decided to put in an application. Having sent off my curriculum vitae and covering letter, I was impressed to receive a postcard of acknowledgment within a week. This was followed several days later by an invitation to attend for interview. On the appointed date I arrived 10 minutes early. There were five other candidates in the waiting area, an alcove off a busy corridor. To begin with we sat in silence. Everyone was neatly turned out. The main distinguishing feature was the means used to carry the certificate of medical registration, which we had all been instructed to bring. One hopeful candidate had it protruding prominently from his breast pocket as if to signal his suitability. Another had a smart leather document holder, which looked so new that it must have been purchased for the occasion. After a few minutes somebody broke the silence and …

36—AN ASSESSMENT OF METHODS OF TEST OF CARPETS FOR FLATTENING, CHANGE OF APPEARANCE, AND LONG-TERM WEAR

The Textile Institute Carpet Testing Working Party reports that agreement between laboratories using the WIRA Dynamic Loading Machine is satisfactory and that the correlation between thickness loss during the test and that due to flattening in a busy corridor at Harrods was very high. Pooled results from several laboratories using the Tetrapod Walker (without step) showed good agreement with rankings for change of appearance in corridors, and the test is recommended for direct visual comparisons between carpets tested at the same time. The rankings for long-term durability by the Tetrapod Walker when used with the step did not correspond with the wear of a wide range of carpets in a corridor. Variation between laboratories using the WIRA Carpet-abrasion Tester was high (especially for carpets containing polyamide fibre) and the correlation with long-term wear in a corridor not satisfactory for carpets differing in construction and fibre type.