A Bayesian approach to construct bow tie diagrams for risk evaluation

Bow tie diagrams have become a popular method for risk analysis and safety management. This tool describes the whole scenario of a given risk graphically, and proposes preventive and protective barriers to reduce, respectively, its occurrence and its severity. The weakness of bow tie diagrams is that they are restricted to a graphical representation of different scenarios exclusively designed by experts that ignore the dynamic aspect of real systems. Thus, constructing bow tie diagrams in an automatic and dynamic way remains a real challenge. This paper proposes a new Bayesian approach to construct bow tie diagrams from real data and improve them by adding a new numerical that enables us to implement the appropriate preventive and protective barriers in a dynamic manner.     

MPP协同MF@ADP阻燃低密度聚乙烯性能研究*

为提高低密度聚乙烯（LDPE）阻燃性能和阻燃LDPE复合材料的力学性能与抑烟性能,采用原位聚合法制备三聚氰胺-甲醛（MF）树脂包覆二乙基次磷酸铝（ADP）的MF@ADP微胶囊,再引入三聚氰胺聚磷酸（MPP）与MF@ADP进行协效复配,熔融共混制备阻燃LDPE复合材料。通过氧指数、热重分析、力学测试和烟密度测试等研究复合材料的阻燃、力学和抑烟性能。研究结果表明:MF@ADP微胶囊能改善阻燃剂与复合材料之间的相容性,与MPP复配构成的磷-氮膨胀阻燃体系能有效提高LDPE的抑烟性能;当MF@ADP∶MPP的质量比为2∶1时,材料的LOI达到了30.6%,垂直燃烧测试达到UL-94 V0级,拉伸强度为11.8 MPa,且形成的P/N/O高聚物炭层稳定性更高,可减少LDPE燃烧释放的烟雾量。     

A fast and accurate method for specific detection and quantification of the bloom-forming microalgae Karlodinium veneficum in the marine environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Karlodinium veneficum is a toxic benthic globally distributed dinoflagellate which has direct impacts on human health and the environment. Early and...     

Removal of pyrene from contaminated sediments by mangrove microcosms

The potential of mangrove wetland systems to remove pyrene from surface- or bottom-contaminated sediments was investigated by microcosm studies. The performance of two mangrove plant species, Kandelia candel and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza in pyrene removal was also compared. During the six-months experimental period, the growth of both species in the surface-contaminated microcosms was not significantly different from that in the bottom-contaminated ones, and was comparable to the control (without any pyrene contamination). At the end of six-months treatment, pyrene concentrations in contaminated sediments declined from an initial 3 microg g(-1) to less than 0.4 microg g(-1), indicating that pyrene was successfully removed by mangrove microcosms. Around 96.4% and 92.8% pyrene in microcosms planted with K. candel were removed from the surface- and bottom-contaminated sediments, respectively. The removal percentages were slightly lower in microcosms planted with B. gymnorrhiza. Significant accumulation of pyrene in roots was only found in microcosms having bottom-contaminated sediments, and pyrene concentrations were 3.05 microg g(-1) and 4.50 microg g(-1) in roots of K. candel and B. gymnorrhiza, respectively. These values were much higher than that in control microcosms (without pyrene contamination, root pyrene concentrations were 0.27 microg g(-1) for K. candel and 0.34 microg g(-1) for B. gymnorrhiza) and in microcosms with contaminated sediments placed at the surface layer. Nevertheless, the overall contribution of root accumulation and plant uptake to the removal of pyrene from contaminated sediments was insignificant.     

A comparative study on metal sorption by brown seaweed

This study compared the sorption of Ag, Cd, Co, Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn by a Ca-treated Sargassum biomass at pH 5.0, under low and high ionic strength (IS) conditions. The sorption isotherms of As [As(V)] and Cr [Cr(III) and Cr(VI)] were also determined at low IS. The isotherm data for the eight cationic metals and Cr(III) were well fitted by Langmuir equations. Generally, the maximum metal uptake (Umax) followed: Cr(III) > Pb approximately Cu > Ag approximately Zn approximately Cd > Ni approximately Mn approximately Co > Cr(VI) > As(V) at low IS and Pb > Cu > Co > Mn approximately Cd > Zn approximately Ag > Ni at high IS. As(V) did not bind to the seaweed at pH 5.0. The results indicated that sorption of Pb was not affected by the increasing IS, though the percentage of free Pb ions in the water was greatly reduced as predicted by the speciation model. High IS lowered Umax by 10-36% (except Co and Pb), and lowered the affinity constant of the metal by 33-91% for all cationic metals, as compared to low IS. Moreover, the removal efficiency of the cationic metals and Cr decreased exponentially with initial metal concentrations and was lower at high IS. Ion-exchange was the mechanism responsible for the cationic metal sorption onto the seaweed, and Na ion interfered with the cationic metal binding through electrostatic interaction. In conclusion, this study showed the differential binding capacity of the Sargassm biomass for different metals and oxidation states and the differential effects of IS. According to the present results, Sargassum may be considered a good biosorbent for cationic metals (especially Pb) in both low and high-salt containing wastewater.     

Bioavailability and tissue distribution of Dechloranes in wild frogs (Rana limnocharis) from an e-waste recycling area in Southeast China

Dechlorane Plus(DP), a flame retardant used as an alternative to decabromodiphenylether, has been frequently detected in organisms, indicating its bioaccumulation and biomagnification potential in aquatic and terrestrial species. However, little data is available on the bioaccumulation of DP in amphibians. Dechlorane Plus and its analogs(DPs) were detected in the liver, muscle and brain tissues of wild frogs(Rana limnocharis), which were collected from an e-waste recycling site, Southeast China. DP, Mirex, Dec 602 and a dechlorinated compound of DP(anti-Cl11-DP) varied in the range of 2.01–291, 0.650–179, 0.260–12.4, and not detected(nd)–8.67 ng/g lipid weight, respectively. No difference of tissue distribution was found for syn-DP, Mirex and Dec 602 between the liver and muscle tissue(liver/muscle concentration ratio close to 1, p 0.05). However, higher retention was observed for anti-DP and anti-Cl11-DP in the frog muscle relative to the liver tissue(liver/muscle concentration ratio 1, p 0.05). Additionally, the blood-brain barrier was found to work efficiently to suppress these compounds entering brain tissues in this species(liver/brain concentration ratio 1, p 0.05), and the molecular weight was a key factor impacting the extent of the blood-brain barrier. Compared to levels in the muscle and brain tissue, a preferential enrichment of syn-DP was observed in the liver tissue, suggesting the occurrence of stereo-selective bioaccumulation in the wild frog.     

Rapid detection of multiple class pharmaceuticals in both municipal wastewater and sludge with ultra high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

This work described the development, optimization and validation of an analytical method for rapid detection of multiple-class pharmaceuticals in both municipal wastewater and sludge samples based on ultrasonic solvent extraction, solid-phase extraction, and ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry quantification. The results indicated that the developed method could effectively extract all the target pharmaceuticals （25） in a single process and analyze them within 24 min. The recoveries of the target pharmaceuticals were in the range of 69%-131% for wastewater and 54%-130% for sludge at different spiked concentration levels. The method quantification limits in wastewater and sludge ranged from 0.02 to 0.73 ng/L and from 0.02 to 1.00μg/kg, respectively. Subsequently, this method was validated and applied for residual pharma- ceutical analysis in a wastewater treatment plant located in Beijing, China. All the target pharmaceuticals were detected in the influent samples with concentrations varying from 0.09 ng/L （tiamulin） to 15.24 μg/L （caffeine）; meanwhile, up to 23 pharmaceuticals were detected in sludge samples with concentrations varying from 60 ng/kg （sulfamethizole） to 8.55 mg/kg （ofloxacin）. The developed method demonstrated its selectivity, sensitivity, and reliability for detecting multiple-class pharmaceuticals in complex matrices such as municipal wastewater and sludge.     

Public perception, knowledge and policy support for mitigation and adaption to Climate Change in Costa Rica: Comparisons with North American and European studies

Over the past 20 years considerable efforts have been invested in exploring how the public understands climate change. However, the bulk of this research has been conducted in Europe and North America and little is known about public perceptions of climate change in developing countries. This article presents the results of the first nationally representative study (n?=?1473) of public perceptions of climate change in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, a large proportion of interviewees (i.e. over 85%) are highly concerned about climate change in general and feel, as noted in European and North American studies, that its impacts are more worrisome for people farthest away (e.g. in the developed countries or among future generations). At the local level, people feel that food (10.5%) and water (16.1%) shortages as well as poverty (11.3%) and heat waves (11.7%) are the most expected impacts of climate change. Analysis of adaptation behaviour responses suggest that individuals have a relatively lower grasp of emergency and prevention disaster plans but are relatively more proactive in preventing hydro-meteorological extremes related to water scarcity or excess. A majority of respondents engage in mitigation behaviours largely for financial or contextual reasons. Finally, support for adaptation and mitigation policy responses is generally high (i.e. above 70% of interviewee supports them) except for the case of internalizing the cost of watershed protection increasing the water tariffs (52.5%). As discussions about mitigation and adaptation become increasingly common within developing countries, questions about public perceptions in that context are more pressing than ever. Work on climate perceptions needs to be carried out in specific countries to better understand which policies are most likely to resonate with public support, and which might be most difficult to implement.