Work conditions in agriculture as risk factors of spinal pain in postmenopausal women

The aim of the study was to evaluate the risk factors for spinal pain in Polish postmenopausal women working in agriculture. The study included 1751 randomly selected postmenopausal women aged 45–65?years. The women were exposed to hazardous work conditions, in particular the use of force and heavy lifting, often more than 10?kg and with frequency of at least once a day. Two-thirds of them suffered from spinal pain, mostly in the lumbar spine and less frequently in the cervical and thoracic spine. The prevalence of spinal pain depended on exposure to health risks associated with overwork, early onset of menopause and increasing age. The prevalence of pain in the lumbar spine correlated positively with higher frequency of heavy lifting and using excessive force during agricultural work. The severity of spinal pain correlates positively with the age of pain onset and negatively with level of education.     

Effect of the C:N:P ratio on the denitrifying dephosphatation in a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR)

A series of investigations were conducted using sequencing batch biofilm reactor(SBBR) to explore the influence of C:N:P ratio on biological dephosphatation including the denitrifying dephosphatation and the denitrification process.Biomass in the reactor occurred mainly in the form of a biofilm attached to completely submerged disks.Acetic acid was used as the source of organic carbon.C:N:P ratios have had a significant effect on the profiles of phosphate release and phosphate uptake and nitrogen removal.The highest rates of phosphate release and phosphate uptake were recorded at the C:N:P ratio of 140:70:7.The C:N ratio of 2.5:1 ensured complete denitrification.The highest rate of denitrification was achieved at the C:N:P ratio of 140:35:7.The increase of nitrogen load caused an increase in phosphates removal until a ratio C:N:P of 140:140:7.Bacteria of the biofilm exposed to alternate conditions of mixing and aeration exhibited enhanced intracellular accumulation of polyphosphates.Also,the structure of the biofilm encouraged anaerobic–aerobic as well as anoxic–anaerobic and absolutely anaerobic conditions in a SBBR.These heterogeneous conditions in the presence of nitrates may be a significant factor determining the promotion of denitrifying polyphosphate accumulating organism(DNPAO) development.     

Medium scale LNG-related experiments and CFD simulation of water curtain

This work is a continuation of the experimental research on LNG releases and their consequence mitigation methods, which has been carried on by the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center (MKOPSC) at the Texas A&M University since 2004.A series of medium scale experiments to test the ability of the water curtains to hold up and disperse a vapor has been performed. Colored smoke has been used as an analog of the LNG vapor for easier tracking of the vapor path through the water curtain. The results and some analysis of the experimental data are presented. The CFD software FLACS (GexCon AS) was used to simulate the effects of the water curtains on vapor dispersion. The results of the simulations were compared with experimental data.     

Modeling the overall persistence and environmental mobility of sulfur-containing polychlorinated organic compounds

Background, aim, and scope  

Experimental data on partition coefficients and environmental half-lives of sulfur analogs of polychlorinated organic compounds are scarce. Consequently, little is known about their overall persistence and long-range transport potential, which are the most vital measures in the environmental exposure assessment. We performed Multimedia Modeling of environmental fate and transport to complement this paucity of scientific data. The main aim of our study was to investigate whether the sulfur analogs of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, -dibenzofurans, and -diphenylethers are as environmentally persistent and/or mobile as their oxygen counterparts and to propose the environmental exposure-related classification of the examined sulfur compounds.     

Treatment of high-ammonium anaerobic digester supernatant by aerobic granular sludge and ultrafiltration processes

Anaerobic sludge digester supernatant characterized by 569 mg TKN L^?1, high color and a COD/N ratio of 1.4 was treated in granular sequencing batch reactors (GSBRs) followed by post-denitrification (P-D) and ultrafiltration (UF) steps. The use of granular sludge allowed for the oxidation of ammonium in anaerobic digester supernatant at all investigated GSBR cycle lengths of 6, 8 and 12 h. The highest ammonium removal rate (15 mg N g^?1 VSS h^?1) with removal efficiency of 99% was noted at 8 h.Since the GSBR effluent was characterized by a high concentration of nitrites, slowly-degradable substances and biomass, additional purification steps were applied. In P-D stage, the microbial activity of granular biomass in the GSBR effluent was implemented. The P-D was supported by external carbon source addition and the most advantageous variant comprised dosing of half of the theoretical acetate dose for nitrite reduction in the 3-h intervals. The use of the system consisting of the GSBR with 8 h, an optimal P-D variant and a UF for the treatment of anaerobic digester supernatant allowed for the 99%, 71% and 97% reductions of TKN, COD and color, respectively.     

Economic and environmental effects of unilateral climate actions

Unilateral climate policy can be detrimental to global climate protection. Our objective is to provide insight into such a policy, to quantify the risk of carbon leakage, and to investigate the effects related to potential anti-leakage measures. We analyze existing definitions of carbon leakage and propose an alternative, rigorous one, which is different in three respects. The definition is then tested using computable general equilibrium analysis of the global economy and decomposition analysis. We identify a list of parameters that affect not only the magnitude but also the sign of the carbon leakage rate. Manipulating elasticities of substitution suggests that carbon leakage can be either positive or negative. Computable general equilibrium models, which are widely applied, including by the European Commission in this area, should be transparent, and their assumptions call for careful validation. We find that emission limits are properly distributed between sectors covered by the European Union Emissions Trading System and other sectors for the first commitment period (ended in 2012) but not for the second one (ending in 2020), where the target for the non-trading sectors should be reduced relative to the target for the trading sectors in order to equlize marginal abatement costs.     

Molecular population genetics of male and female mitochondrial genomes in subarctic Mytilus trossulus

The doubly uniparental inheritance system allows for the use of two independent mitochondrial genomes for population history investigations. Under this system, two lineages of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) exist and males are typically heteroplasmic, having the additional, usually divergent, mitochondrial genome inherited from their male parent. This additional mtDNA typically evolves faster, potentially allowing for insight into more recent events in population history. Few studies did explore this possibility in marine mussels Mytilus showing its usefulness. Recent observations of the Mytilus trossulus mussels who have retained their native mtDNA in European waters posed the question of their origin. Are they part of a population present, but previously undetected, or is this a potentially human mediated, ongoing spread of an invasive species? To tackle this question, we amplified with species-specific primers and sequenced an approximately 1,200-bp-long fragment spanning COIII and ND2 genes from both mitochondrial genomes of mussels sampled at five locations worldwide, covering the whole M. trossulus range. The overall pattern of polymorphisms is compatible with the entirely postglacial history of the whole species, indicating a very deep bottleneck at last glacial maximum, with possible retention of the whole species in a single refugium, and the effective population size of no more than a few thousands. Both analyses of molecular variance and isolation with migration (IM) models point at the West Atlantic as the source of the European M. trossulus mussels, at least the ones who retained their native mtDNA. The hypothesis that this is an ongoing, human-mediated process was considered. To this end, comparison with the well-known case: the introduction of congeneric mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, from Mediterranean Sea to Asia was used. This introduction occurred within the last 100 years. The results inferred by the IM model suggest that the timing and structure of transatlantic migration of M. trossulus differs significantly from the M. galloprovincialis case: it is more than 1,000 years old and involves a much larger fraction of the ancestral population. Therefore, most likely, this invasion is not a human-mediated process.