Search results for "WATER"
showing 10 items of 9348 documents
A scenario-based assessment of the tsunami hazard in Palermo, northern Sicily, and the southern Tyrrhenian Sea
2020
On the reactivation of a large landslide induced by rainfall in highly fissured clays
2018
Abstract The paper discusses the field investigations, geotechnical characterization and time evolution of horizontal displacements in a wide landslide. The latter, triggered by an earthquake occurring in September 2002, is located in Sicily and involves a thick body of stiff and highly fissured clays belonging to a Varicoloured Clay formation. In order to characterise the reactivation of landslide mechanisms induced by rainfall, a three-year monitoring programme (2008–2011) was implemented to measure rain, pore water pressures, and deep and superficial displacements. The monitoring data made it possible to recognize three distinct landslides, which evolve at variable rates in different dir…
Soils from an iron and steel scrap storage yard remediated with aided phytostabilization
2018
The role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on aerobic granules formation: comparison between a case of synthetic wastewater supply and anot…
2017
The paper focused on the evolution and the comparison of the extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) content during the granulation process in two Granular Sequencing Batch Airlift Reactors (GSBAR) (3,5 L) fed with synthetic (R1) and industrial wastewater (R2). The results showed that in both the reactors the EPSs, in particular proteins (PN), were mainly produced during the feast phase because of the high substrate availability, especially under conditions of metabolic stress. Then, the EPSs content reduced during the famine period, because of biodegradation by bacteria. More in detail, during the granulation process, a greater polysaccharides (PS) consumption occurred in both reactors, …
Kick Detection and Influx Size Estimation during Offshore Drilling Operations using Deep Learning
2019
An uncontrolled or unobserved influx or kick during drilling has the potential to induce a well blowout, one of the most harmful incidences during drilling both in regards to economic and environmental cost. Since kicks during drilling are serious risks, it is important to improve kick and loss detection performance and capabilities and to develop automatic flux detection methodology. There are clear patterns during a influx incident. However, due to complex processes and sparse instrumentation it is difficult to predict the behaviour of kicks or losses based on sensor data combined with physical models alone. Emerging technologies within Deep Learning are however quite adapt at picking up …
2020
ABSTRACT The vertical structuring of methanotrophic communities and its genetic controllers remain understudied in the water columns of oxygen-stratified lakes. Therefore, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to study the vertical stratification patterns of methanotrophs in two boreal lakes, Lake Kuivajärvi and Lake Lovojärvi. Furthermore, metagenomic analyses were performed to assess the genomic characteristics of methanotrophs in Lovojärvi and the previously studied Lake Alinen Mustajärvi. The methanotroph communities were vertically structured along the oxygen gradient. Alphaproteobacterial methanotrophs preferred oxic water layers, while Methylococcales methanotrophs, consisting of putative…
Biological and physical modification of carbonate system parameters along the salinity gradient in shallow hypersaline solar salterns in Trapani, Ita…
2017
Abstract We investigated changes in the chemical characteristics of evaporating seawater under the influence of microbial activity by conducting geochemical analyses of the brines and evaporite sediments collected from solar salterns in Trapani, Italy. The microbial activity had a substantial effect on the carbonate system parameters. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) was substantially removed from the brine during the course of evaporation from the seawater to the point where calcium carbonate precipitates, with an accompanying decrease in its carbon isotopic composition (δ 13 C DIC ) to as low as −10.6‰. Although the removal of DIC was due to calcium carbonate precipitation, photosynthesis…
'Palaeoshellomics' reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
2019
The extensive use of mollusc shell as a versatile raw material is testament to its importance in prehistoric times. The consistent choice of certain species for different purposes, including the making of ornaments, is a direct representation of how humans viewed and exploited their environment. The necessary taxonomic information, however, is often impossible to obtain from objects that are small, heavily worked or degraded. Here we propose a novel biogeochemical approach to track the biological origin of prehistoric mollusc shell. We conducted an in-depth study of archaeological ornaments using microstructural, geochemical and biomolecular analyses, including ‘palaeoshellomics’, the first…
Typhoid Fever
2008
Typhoid fever continues to be a serious public health problem, with approximately 22. million cases and more than 200. 000 deaths globally. The disease is most often acquired by ingestion of food or water contaminated by the feces and less frequently by urine or vomitus of patients and carriers. Prolonged low-grade fever, headache, dry cough, alterations of bowel habits, coated tongue, and rose spots are the typical clinical features. Definitive diagnosis requires the isolation of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. Supportive serological tests are also used. First-choice antibiotic treatment includes fluoroquinolones or third-generation cephalosporins and reduces the mortality rate from 20%…
Novel Autotrophic Organisms Contribute Significantly to the Internal Carbon Cycling Potential of a Boreal Lake
2018
ABSTRACT Oxygen-stratified lakes are typical for the boreal zone and also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in the region. Due to shallow light penetration, restricting the growth of phototrophic organisms, and large allochthonous organic carbon inputs from the catchment area, the lake metabolism is expected to be dominated by heterotrophic organisms. In this study, we test this assumption and show that the potential for autotrophic carbon fixation and internal carbon cycling is high throughout the water column. Further, we show that during the summer stratification carbon fixation can exceed respiration in a boreal lake even below the euphotic zone. Metagenome-assembled genomes an…