Search results for " Pollution"
showing 10 items of 1010 documents
Toward high performance renewable agave reinforced biocomposites: Optimization of fiber performance and fiber-matrix adhesion analysis
2017
Abstract The increasing sensitivity toward the environmental pollution and the recent laws on the environmental protection, have led to an increasing attention to the so called biocomposites, i.e. to ecofriendly or renewable composite materials, obtained from biopolymers reinforced by natural fibers. Although the contribution of various works reported in literature, focused on biocomposites reinforced by agave fibers, such materials are still exclusively used in the automotive industry for non-structural applications, and the implementation of high performance biocomposites for semi-structural and structural applications, is an expected, but not yet reached objective. Therefore, the present…
Safely Dissolvable and Healable Active Packaging Films Based on Alginate and Pectin
2019
Extensive usage of long-lasting petroleum based plastics for short-lived application such as packaging has raised concerns regarding their role in environmental pollution. In this research, we have developed active, healable, and safely dissolvable alginate-pectin based biocomposites that have potential applications in food packaging. The morphological study revealed the rough surface of these biocomposite films. Tensile properties indicated that the fabricated samples have mechanical properties in the range of commercially available packaging films while possessing excellent healing efficiency. Biocomposite films exhibited higher hydrophobicity properties compared to neat alginate films. T…
Uncertainty Propagation in Integrated Urban Water Quality Modelling
2018
Sensitivity and uncertainty assessment of integrated urban drainage water quality models are crucial steps in the evaluation of the reliability of model results. Indeed, the assessment of the reliability of the results of complex water quality models is crucial in understanding their significance. In the case of integrated urban drainage water quality models, due to the fact that integrated approaches are basically a cascade of sub-models (simulating the sewer system, wastewater treatment plant and receiving water body), uncertainty produced in one sub-model propagates to the following ones in a manner dependent on the model structure, the estimation of parameters and the availability and u…
Measurement Uncertainty of Harmonic Emission Indicators based on IEEE Std. 1459-2010
2020
The study presented in this paper is aimed at analyzing the measurement uncertainty impact on the evaluation of some power ratio parameters for harmonic emissions assessment based on IEEE Std. 1459-2010 apparent power decomposition. In addition to power factors for line utilization and harmonic pollution levels evaluation defined in the Standard, the study covers also some new parameters, which have been introduced by the authors as IEEE Std. 1459-2010 power quantities ratios. The measurement of the aforesaid parameters is implemented on a PC-based wattmeter, in order to investigate the measurement uncertainty impact on the evaluation of the power ratios. The obtained results show that, in …
Northern Hemisphere atmospheric pattern enhancing Eastern Mediterranean Transient-type events during the past 1000 years
2021
High-resolution climate model simulations for the last millennium were used to elucidate the main winter Northern Hemisphere atmospheric pattern during enhanced Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT-type) events, a situation in which an additional overturning cell is detected in the Mediterranean at the Aegean Sea. The differential upward heat flux between the Aegean Basin and the Gulf of Lion was taken as a proxy of EMT-type events and correlated with winter mean geopotential height at 500 mbar in the Northern Hemisphere (20–90∘ N and 100∘ W–80∘ E). Correlations revealed a pattern similar to the East Atlantic/Western Russian (EA/WR) mode as the main driver of EMT-type events, with the past …
Rainfall simulation and Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry for the analysis of soil water erosion in Mediterranean vineyards
2016
[EN] Soil water erosion is a serious problem, especially in agricultural lands.Among these, vineyards deserve attention, because they constitute for the Mediterranean areas a type of land use affected by high soil losses. A significant problem related to the study of soil water erosion in these areas consists in the lack of a standardized procedure of collecting data and reporting results, mainly due to a variability among the measurement methods applied. Given this issue and the seriousness of soil water erosion in Mediterranean vineyards, this works aims to quantify the soil losses caused by simulated rainstorms, and compare them with each other depending on two different methodologies: (…
Perfluoroalkyl substances in the Ebro and Guadalquivir river basins (Spain).
2015
Mediterranean rivers are characteristically irregular with changes in flow and located in high population density areas. This affects the concentration of pollutants in the aquatic environments. In this study, the occurrence and sources of 21 perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were determined in water, sediment and biota of the Ebro and Guadalquivir river basins (Spain). In water samples, of 21 analytes screened, 11 were found in Ebro and 9 in Guadalquivir. In both basins, the most frequents were PFBA, PFPeA and PFOA. Maximum concentration was detected for PFBA, up to 251.3ngL-1 in Ebro and 742.9ngL-1 in Guadalquivir. Regarding the sediments, 8 PFASs were detected in the samples from Ebro an…
Environmental Metal Pollution Considered as Noise: Effects on the Spatial Distribution of Benthic Foraminifera in two Coastal Marine Areas of Sicily …
2008
We analyze the spatial distributions of two groups of benthic foraminifera (Adelosina spp. + Quinqueloculina spp. and Elphidium spp.), along Sicilian coast, and their correlation with six different heavy metals, responsible for the pollution. Samples were collected inside the Gulf of Palermo, which has a high level of pollution due to heavy metals, and along the coast of Lampedusa island (Sicily Channel, Southern Mediterranean), which is characterized by unpolluted sea waters. Because of the environmental pollution we find: (i) an anticorrelated spatial behaviour between the two groups of benthic foraminifera analyzed; (ii) an anticorrelated (correlated) spatial behaviour between the first …
The immediate effectiveness of barley straw mulch in reducing soil erodibility and surface runoff generation in Mediterranean vineyards
2016
Soil and water loss in agriculture is a major problem throughout the world, and especially in Mediterranean areas. Non-conservation agricultural practices have further aggravated the situation, especially in vineyards, which are affected by one of the highest rates of soil loss among cultivated lands. Therefore, it is necessary to find the right soil practices for more sustainable viticulture. In this regard, straw mulching has proven to be effective in other crop and fire affected soils, but, nonetheless, little research has been carried out in vineyards. This research tests the effect of barley straw mulching on soil erosion and surface runoff on vineyards in Eastern Spain where the soil …
The growth of “black crusts” on calcareous building stones in Palermo (Sicily): a first appraisal of anthropogenic and natural sulphur sources
2008
Chemical, mineralogical and isotopic composition (34S/32S) analyses were carried out on “black crusts” developed on the old buildings of Palermo (Sicily) with the aim to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic sulphur sources. Furthermore individual samples of total suspended particulate (TSP) were collected and analysed in order to estimate the influence of air pollution on the decay process of calcareous stones in a typical southern Mediterranean coastal environment. SEM/EDS analysis, X-ray diffractometry, IR spectroscopy and liquid chromatography led to the compositional characterization of “black crusts” and airborne particulate matter in the city. Sulphur isotopic compositions of…