Sustainability assessment of a giant bamboo plantation in Brazil: exploring the influence of labour,time and space

Bamboo presents physical and mechanical characteristics, which turn it an alternative option for product development, replacing native or reforested wood. The sustainability assessment of a Dendrocalamus Giganteus species plantation in Brazil through the emergy methodology evidences a great weight of renewable (30% sej/sej) and human labour contributions (33% sej/sej). These contributions account for the great interface with environment and to the intensive work, respectively. The transformity value of bamboo production is 2.42E + 04 sej/J. The influence human labour has on the total emergy flow and on indicators is evaluated by taking into account different country locations (Brazil, Australia and China). Thus, a different transformity value for labour is assumed for each country. A ranking based on emergy sustainability index (ESI) values shows that bamboo production in China was the first placed, followed by Brazil and Australia (values of 1.18, 0.50 and 0.09, respectively). The insertion of indirect renewability embedded in labour results in the ranking modification, leading to plantation in Brazil in the first place, followed by the Australian and Chinese ones. The relative position of the bamboo systems is visualized in the ternary diagram expressed in terms of emergy. In an attempt to explore the relationship between sustainability and time, a graphic of ESI vs. global productivity is discussed in terms of a prospective evaluation. Indirect support areas of the bamboo production are calculated as a way to evaluate the sustainability-space relationship.     

Interactions between algae (Selenastrum capricornutum) and pesticides: implications for managing constructed wetlands for pesticide removal

This laboratory study examined the interactions between an algal species found in wetlands (Selenastrum capricornutum) and two agricultural pesticides (atrazine and lindane). Pesticide additions had a positive effect on the chlorophyll a concentrations of the treatments. The presence of algae decreased the aqueous persistence of both pesticides. It is speculated that the algae either provided sites for pesticide sorption or facilitated pesticide degradation.     

Chemical composition of rainwater in the northeastern Romania, Iasi region (2003–2006)

Chemical composition of rainwater was studied in the northeastern Romania, Iasi region, and the concentrations of major inorganic and organic ions were measured in samples collected between April 2003 and December 2006. The pH of the rainwater is 5.92 (volume weighted mean average, VWM) suggesting a sufficient load of alkaline components neutralizing its acidity. On average, 97% of the acidity in the collected samples is neutralized by CaCO₃ and NH₃. Clear seasonal variations were observed for some of the identified ions (e.g., SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻, Ca²⁺, NH₄⁺). The data obtained during this work revealed that both concentrations and fluxes of anthropogenic source-related ions (e.g., SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺) are among the highest reported for European sites. It is shown that meteorology and long-range transport processes may concur to their high levels.     

Occupational exposure

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), hexachlorobenzene and methylsulphonyl metabolites of PCB were determined in blood plasma from potentially exposed workers and controls. Three of the potentially exposed subjects had worked with cable incineration and two were electricians. Extraction of the organochlorine compounds and lipids were performed using the lipophilic gel Lipidex. Different adsorbents and gel permeation chromatography were applied for further purification of the samples and separation of analytes. Determinations of the chlorinated compounds were made by using gas chromatography with electron-capture detection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Only small differences in the concentrations of organochlorine compounds were found in the plasma from the three subject groups. Thus, specific exposure of the workers could not be confirmed.     

Keeping the blood flowing—plasminogen activator genes and feeding behavior in vampire bats

The blood feeding vampire bats emerged from New World leaf-nosed bats that fed on fruit and insects. Plasminogen activator, a serine protease that regulates blood coagulation, is known to be expressed in the saliva of Desmodus rotundus (common vampire bat) and is thought to be a key enzyme for the emergence of blood feeding in vampire bats. To better understand the evolution of this biological function, we studied the plasminogen activator (PA) genes from all vampire bat species in light of their feeding transition to bird and subsequently mammalian blood. We include the rare species Diphylla ecaudata and Diaemus youngi, where plasminogen activator had not previously been studied and demonstrate that PA gene duplication observed in Desmodus is not essential to the vampire phenotype, but relates to the emergence of predominant mammalian blood feeding in this species. Plasminogen activator has evolved through gene duplication, domain loss, and sequence evolution leading to change in fibrin-specificity and susceptibility to plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Before undertaking this study, only the four plasminogen activator isoforms from Desmodus were known. The evolution of vampire bat plasminogen activators can now be linked phylogenetically to the transition in feeding behavior among vampire bat species from bird to mammalian blood. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.