Search results for "visual_art"
showing 10 items of 2987 documents
Data Compression Approach for Long-Term Monitoring of Pavement Structures
2019
Pavement structures are designed to withstand continuous damage during their design life. Damage starts as soon as the pavement is open to traffic and increases with time. If maintenance activities are not considered in the initial design or considered but not applied during the service life, damage will grow to a point where rehabilitation may be the only and most expensive option left. In order to monitor the evolution of damage and its severity in pavement structures, a novel data compression approach based on cumulative measurements from a piezoelectric sensor is presented in this paper. Specifically, the piezoelectric sensor uses a thin film of polyvinylidene fluoride to sense the ener…
Assigning Elephant Ivory with Stable Isotopes
2016
The international ivory trade remains one of the world’s most controversial wildlife trade issues. One of the main arguments for the trade prohibition is the fact that it is very difficult to distinguish legal from illegal ivory in the markets, so that the legal ivory trade would provide a perfect cover for smuggling. The purpose of this study was to analyze the variability of isotope ratios in ivory samples from Appendix I and II elephant populations in Africa to validate their potential for forensic purposes more quantitatively. We selected a subset of 293 data of ivory samples from the www.ivoryid.org database that stores isotopic ratios of δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, δ2H, and δ34S from more than …
Influence of metal ions on thermal aggregation of bovine serum albumin: aggregation kinetics and structural changes
2009
Metal ions are implicated in protein aggregation processes of several neurodegenerative pathologies. In this work the effects of Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions on heat-induced structural modifications of bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied, with the aim of delineating the role of these ions in the early stages of proteins aggregation kinetics. A joint application of different techniques was used. The aggregate growth was followed by dynamic light scattering measurements, whereas the conformational changes occurring in the protein structure were monitored by Raman and IR spectroscopy. Both in absence and in presence of metal ions, heating treatment gave rise to b-structures to the detriment of a…
Identification of inorganic pigments from paintings and polychromed sculptures immobilized into polymer film electrodes by stripping differential pul…
2000
Abstract Inorganic pigments in paintings and polychromed sculptures are studied by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse stripping voltammetry using micro-sample coatings in Paraloid B72-film modified electrodes. Characteristic cathodic and anodic differential pulse profiles were obtained in the +0.4 to −1.0 V vs. SCE potential range for different cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc pigments used in traditional colour palettes. Under optimized conditions, excellent reproducibility was obtained. Microsamples extracted from polychromed sculptures, wall paintings, canvas paintings, panel paintings and altarpieces from Spain, Ethiopia and Italy from the 12th to the 20th centuries have b…
Cadmium and Zinc Adsorption onto Activated Carbon: Influence of Temperature, pH and Metal/Carbon Ratio
1996
The adsorption characteristics of cadmium and zinc onto a granular activated carbon were studied. Cadmium and zinc removals increased on raising pH and temperature, and decreased on raising the molar metal/carbon ratio. The adsorption processes were modelled using the surface complex formation (SCF) Triple Layer Model (TLM) with an overall bidentate species. A dependence of the SCF constant on pH, the molar metal/carbon ratio and temperature was observed, and a correlation for log K ads was determined. The SCF model successfully predicted cadmium and zinc removals.
Mineralogy and geochemistry of Terra Rossa soils, western Sicily: insights into heavy metal fractionation and mobility
1996
Abstract The distribution of heavy metals in typical Terra Rossa soils and their partitioning in specific soil phases are estimated on the basis of the comparative evaluation of bulk contents, results from sequential chemical extraction procedure (SEP) and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray analysis ( SEM EDX ). A general natural enrichment of heavy metals with respect to average soil is observed. Cadmium proves to be remarkably high (up to 2.4 ppm). Large amounts of Fe, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn occur in the ‘residual’ fraction. The results indicate selective accumulation of the heavy metals in Fe oxides, present as hematite, goethite and maghemite. There is good evidence th…
Metal accumulation in sediments and benthic invertebrates in lakes of Latvia
1998
The concentrations of cadmium, lead, nickel and copper in waters, sediments (total metal concentrations and their speciation forms) and benthic macroinvertebrates in 11 lakes of Latvia were determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Metal concentrations in lake waters, sediments and biota were compared with water chemistry. Compared to total concentrations, metal speciation forms in sediments were better correlated with respective metal concentrations in invertebrates. Therefore, the evaluation of potential metal bioaccumulation should consider metal speciation. The mean concentrations of trace metals in benthic invertebrates in Latvia were much lower than in other countries, which ca…
Production of methylated mercury, lead, and cadmium by marine bacteria as a significant natural source for atmospheric heavy metals in polar regions
1999
Abstract Mixed and pure bacterial cultures of polar origin were incubated in model experiments under polar conditions. The releasing rates of monomethyl and dimethyl mercury (MeHg+ and Me2Hg), trimethyl lead (Me3Pb+), and monomethyl cadmium (MeCd+) were determined in dependence on the incubation time. This is the first time that methylation of cadmium by bacteria could be shown. The formation of tetramethyl and dimethyl lead (Me4Pb and Me2Pb2+) was also checked but no release of these methylated compounds was observed. The determination of methylated mercury compounds was carried out by using a purge and trap system after derivatisation of monomethyl mercury into the volatile methylethyl me…
In vivo and in vitro effects of nickel and cadmium on the plasmalemma ATPase from rice (Oryza sativa L.) shoots and roots
1992
Abstract Plasmalemma vesicles isolated from rice (Oryza sativa L.) shoots and roots were used to study the effect of different nickel and cadmium concentrations on the Mg2+-ATPase activity. In vivo application of the metals for 5 or 10 days resulted in a stimulation of the enzyme activity in shoots, while either increases or decreases were observed in roots depending on the concentration and the type of ion tested. In contrast, an inhibitory effect was always observed on shoot and root plasmalemma ATPase activity when these ions were applied in vitro. At the organ level, the content of Cd in plants treated with 0.5 mM metal was higher than that of Ni, especially in roots. No correlation bet…
Environmental cadmium, lead and nickel contamination: possible relationship between soil and vegetable content
1991
The cadmium, lead and nickel content of soils of four agricultural areas exposed to different degrees of environmental pollution and vegetables grown there were measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). In order to ascertain the possible relationship between the heavy metal content of soils (total and extractable) and of vegetables grown in them, the correlation between the two was calculated. The highest correlation values between metal content of soil and vegetables are these corresponding to nickel: the total metal content in soils and leaves-stems are linear (p<0.01). The extractable metal content of soils and leaves-stems are linear (p<0.1). Therefore, soil seems to be the…