Search results for " elements"

Beyond the mean: A comparison of trace- and macroelement correlation profiles of two lacustrine populations of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii

2018

In invertebrate biomonitors of chemical pollution, emphasis has been generally given to mean accumulation patterns and how they reflect varying environmental levels of contamination. Intra-population variability, and how it relates with individual phenotypic traits, has received less attention. Here, a set of analytes including trace elements (B, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, and Zn), macroelements (C, Ca, K, Mg, N, Na), and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) was measured in two populations of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii from Lake Trasimeno and Lake Bolsena (Central Italy). The influence of location, sex, body size, and condition factor was assessed; in ad…

Horizontal and vertical food web structure drives trace element trophic transfer in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica

2019

Abstract Despite a vast amount of literature has focused on trace element (TE) contamination in Antarctica during the last decades, the assessment of the main pathways driving TE transfer to the biota is still an overlooked issue. This limits the ability to predict how variations in sea-ice dynamics and productivity due to climate change will affect TE allocation in the food web. Here, food web structure of Tethys Bay (Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea, Antarctica) was first characterised by analysing carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) in organic matter sources (sediment and planktonic, benthic and sympagic primary producers) and consumers (zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, fish and …

Trace elements and stable isotopes in penguin chicks and eggs: A baseline for monitoring the Ross Sea MPA and trophic transfer studies.

2021

Multi-tissue trace elements (TEs), C, N concentrations and stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) of chick carcasses and eggs of Adelie and Emperor penguins were studied to i) provide reference data before the recent institution of the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (Antarctica), and ii) provide conversion factors that allow estimating C, N, δ13C and δ15N in edible tissues from non-edible ones, thus improving the use of stable isotopes in contamination and trophic transfer studies. Higher concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn and Pb were found in chick carcasses than in eggs, suggesting increasing contamination in recent decades and high toxicity risks for penguin consumers. Isotopic conversion fa…

Highly contaminated areas as sources of pollution for adjoining ecosystems: The case of Augusta Bay (Central Mediterranean).

2014

An assessment of trace element and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination based on surface sediments collected in summer 2012 was carried out in Priolo Bay adjoining one of the most polluted areas of the Mediterranean Sea, the industrial Augusta harbour (Italy, Central Mediterranean). Inorganic and organic contaminants were generally not remarkable. Occasional elevated concentrations of Hg, Cd, Ni and PAHs exceeding sediment quality guidelines were detected in the northern sector of Priolo Bay, close to Augusta harbour, possibly as a result of water drainage of industrialised and urbanised areas and/or potential direct export of contaminated material from Augusta harbour, whose…

Analysis and assessment of trace element contamination in offshore sediments of the Augusta Bay (SE Sicily): A multivariate statistical approach base…

2014

Abstract An application of multivariate statistical methods is provided to identify anthropogenic contaminants and lithogenic elements in offshore sediments collected near the heavily industrialized Augusta Bay, Sicily. An exploratory statistical technique, based on canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and mixture density estimation approach, is used for distinguishing between natural and anthropogenic contributions of trace elements in the investigated sediments. Following the intensive industrialization of Augusta area, marine sediments reveal the severe impact of local anthropogenic activities for many elements (e.g. As, Cd, Hg, Pb, and Sb), which are considered very dangerous for the en…

Trace elements and PAHs in surface sediments and biota from a contamination hot spot (Augusta Bay, Italy): potential export to the adjoining coastal …

2013

A compact cis-regulatory module defines the exclusive expression of the Hbox12 homeobox-containing gene in the presumptive aboral ectoderm

2009

In the sea urchin embryo, a number of genes encoding transcription factors display territorial restricted expression. Among these, the zygotic Hbox12 homeobox gene is transiently transcribed in a limited number of cells of the animal-lateral half of the early Paracentrotus lividus embryo, whose descendants will constitute part of the ectoderm territory. We have explored the cis-regulatory apparatus of the gene and found that the intergenic region of the tandem Hbox12 repeats drives GFP expression in the presumptive aboral ectoderm and that a 234 bp fragment, defined Aboral Ectoderm Module, accounts for the restricted expression of the transgene. Within this module, a consensus sequence for …

Role of Ce3+ as sensitizer for the infrared luminescence of phosphosilicate Er/Yb doped glasses

2012

The luminescence properties of the Yb/Er-doped phosphosilicate preforms used for the design of active optical fibers were investigated under a tunable laser excitation from ultraviolet to infrared domain. We demonstrated that codoping the glass matrix with Ce3+ ions strongly influences the infrared emission associated with Er3+ ions, it enhances the energy transfer from Yb3+ to Er3+ ions, and it provides an additional ultraviolet excitation channel for the emission of both Yb3+ and Er3+ ions. The excitation/emission pathways are discussed on the basis of models proposed in literature for other systems.

Carbonate stromatolites from a Messinian hypersaline setting in the Caltanissetta Basin, Sicily: petrographic evidence of microbial activity and rela…

2010

Lower Messinian stromatolites of the Calcare di Base Formation at Sutera in Sicily record periods of low sea-level, strong evaporation and elevated salinity, thought to be associated with the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Overlying aragonitic limestones were precipitated in normal to slightly evaporative conditions, occasionally influenced by an influx of meteoric water. Evidence of bacterial involvement in carbonate formation is recorded in three dolomite-rich stromatolite beds in the lower portion of the section that contain low domes with irregular crinkly millimetre-scale lamination and small fenestrae. The dominant microfabrics are: (i) peloidal and clotted dolomicrite with c…

Procesos hidrotermales con enriquecimiento en REE en las carbonatitas de Fuerteventura: evidencias en minerales accesorios

2021

Carbonatitic dykes that crop out in the central western part of Fuerteventura Basal Complex (Ajuy, Punta de la Nao), were affected by the Miocene intrusive event responsible for contact metamorphism and partial melting of part of the alkaline-carbonatitic complex. Textural characteristics, monazite enriched in LREE (La, Ce, Nd) formation processes in microfractures that affect zircon crystals, show carbonatite interactions with hydrothermal fluids and partial REE remobilization. Pyrochlore is the main mineral carrier of rare earth elements (sum REE=216694 ppm), with high LREE (LaN=185816 and CeN=165209) with respect to HREE (YbN=2589 and LuN=1814) with a rather steep pattern (La/Yb)N=72 in …