Search results for "POLLUTION"

Addressing ecological effects of radiation on populations and ecosystems to improve protection of the environment against radiation: Agreed statement…

2016

AbstractThis paper reports the output of a consensus symposium organized by the International Union of Radioecology in November 2015. The symposium gathered an academically diverse group of 30 scientists to consider the still debated ecological impact of radiation on populations and ecosystems. Stimulated by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters' accidental contamination of the environment, there is increasing interest in developing environmental radiation protection frameworks. Scientific research conducted in a variety of laboratory and field settings has improved our knowledge of the effects of ionizing radiation on the environment. However, the results from such studies sometimes appear…

Use of Early Life-Stages of Zebrafish to Assess Toxicity of Sediments Contaminated by Organotin Compounds

2016

ABSTRACTThis study examined the response of early life-stages (ELS) of zebrafish to organotin-contaminated sediment from Lake Huruslahti (HL) in Central Finland. A dilution series (0, 10, 33, and 100%) of the native (HL) and the sediment spiked with tributyltin (TBT) determined a dose-response of zebrafish ELS to organotin-contaminated sediment. Sediment elutriates were assessed by bacterial bioluminescence assay and microscopical pathologies of 1–3 days post-fertilization zebrafish (1–3dpfZF). Brain aromatase (cyp19a1b) and tissue vitellogenin (vtg1) were assayed from early-juvenile zebrafish (20dpfZF) exposed to intact sediment. In vivo modulation of cyp19a1b and vtg1 transcripts in 20dpf…

Mercury, lead and cadmium concentrations in Talpa occidentalis and in their digeneans of the genus Ityogonimus

2019

Many parasites living in aquatic ecosystems are useful indicators of environmental health. On the other hand, information is scarcer with respect to the use of helminth parasites of vertebrates living in terrestrial ecosystems as monitoring tools for toxic element environmental pollution. The present study evaluates the suitability of the model Talpa occidentalis/Ityogonimus spp. as a bioindicator system for mercury (Hg), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils from Asturias (Spain). Kidney and liver samples collected from T. occidentalis specimens (n = 36) and Ityogonimus spp. samples collected from 14 infected hosts were analyzed by ICP-MS. The highest mean levels o…

Paving the way for synthetic biology-based bioremediation in Europe

2009

Synthetic biology (SB) has a dual definition. It is both the design and construction of new biological parts, devices and systems, and also the re‐design of existing, natural systems for useful purposes. The latter field is maybe one of the major challenges within this discipline, since the promising prospect that biological systems may be used as biomachines will certainly be exploited in the near future. Synthetic biology has challenging conceptual possibilities (Moya et al., 2009a) and impressive progress has already been made in biotechnology following SB approaches (de Lorenzo and Danchin, 2008). Much more is expected in the near future from current efforts aiming to make synthetic gen…

Contribution of Excited Ozone and Oxygen Molecules to the Formation of the Stratospheric Ozone Layer

2019

The absorption of UV, visible and near IR radiation by O3 produces transient, electronically excited O3. The absorption of thermal IR radiation ( = 9.065, 9.596 and 14.267 µm) produces vibrationally excited O3 molecules. Thermal absorption is likely the main factor in the self-decay of O3. Photoexcitation of ground state by IR and red light radiation produces singlet oxygens and . Chemical reactions in the stratosphere produce them as well. When reacting with ozone, singlet oxygen produces O (3P) and . By doing so, they tend to maintain the prevailing ozone concentration and are thereby important for the stability of the ozone layer. During the daytime, O(1D), and reach their maximum concen…

Living in a Toxic World, 1800–2000

2016

SOILS AND PLANTS IN AN ANTHROPOGENIC DUMP OF THE KOKDZHON PHOSPHORITE MINE (KAZAKHSTAN)

2017

Soil development is a crucial aspect in the process of mine spoil restoration and is also critical for the establishment of the vegetation. In this short paper, we present the features of mine proto-soils (i.e. soils at the early stage of development) and the natural vegetation species colonizing mine sites in a dry arid environment of Kazakhstan characterized by surface disturbance due to mine activity to access phosphorite deposit. These disturbed soils showed morphological features very different from each other (particularly horizons depth and sequence), even if the main chemical features were quite homogeneous. This is reasonably linked to the features of the Human Transported Material…

Would New Zealand adolescents cycle to school more if allowed to cycle without a helmet?

2018

Abstract Introduction The effectiveness of bicycle helmet use in preventing head injuries has been well documented. Mandatory helmet-use legislation is present in multiple countries including New Zealand. However, studies examining the correlates of adolescents' perception that they would cycle to school more often if helmet legislation was repealed are scant. This study examined these correlates in a sample of New Zealand adolescents. Methods Adolescents (n = 774; age: 13–18 years) from all 12 secondary schools in Dunedin, New Zealand, completed an online questionnaire about their cycling to school and cycling in general behaviours and perceptions and opinions about bicycle helmet use as a…

The Chinese Postman Problem with Load-Dependent Costs

2018

[EN] We introduce an interesting variant of the well-known Chinese postman problem (CPP). While in the CPP the cost of traversing an edge is a constant (equal to its length), in the variant we present here the cost of traversing an edge depends on its length and on the weight of the vehicle at the moment it is traversed. This problem is inspired by the perspective of minimizing pollution in transportation, since the amount of pollution emitted by a vehicle not only depends on the travel distance but also on its load, among other factors. We define the problem, study its computational complexity, provide two mathematical programming formulations, and propose two metaheuristics for its soluti…

From electric mobility to hydrogen mobility: current state and possible future expansions

2020

The expansion of electric vehicles in Italy, has already started a few years ago, but some aspects prevent its expansion. Currently users prefer hybrid technology, mainly due to socio-economic factors related to initial investment and anxiety about autonomy. The aim of the document is to understand if the adoption of Fuel Cell technology can be a solution to overcome the problems of environmental pollution. The possibility to be able to use fuel cells to store electricity is very advantageous, especially on charging times that are significantly reduced. Based on the current situation and analyzing the available data, this work reports the current state of electric mobility in Italy and trie…