Comparison of four different methods for reliability evaluation of ecotoxicity data: a case study of non-standard test data used in environmental risk assessments of pharmaceutical substances

Part 2 presents measures at the city scale, which are distinguished into object- and area-related means. The former ones include emission reduction, energy gaining and saving, as well as the climate-improving impact of rooftop and façade greening. Area-related means refer to the reduction of radiation temperature through shading and transpiration as well as impact of urban green areas of different size on the urban climate. Furthermore the opportunities to use subsurface urban heat island as an energy-reservoir for cooling or heating are discussed.     

Development of a new hydrocarbon index for oil-in-water

A new robust method for determination of hydrocarbons in water without use of Freon^™ or other halogenated solvents has been validated and subjected to an interlaboratory exercise. The method is based on extraction with a light hydrocarbon (boiling point in the 39–69°C range), followed by cleanup for removal of polar components and detection by gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionisation (FID) detection. The performance characteristics of the method are comparable with that of the previous Freon-IR method with recoveries in the 60–80% range and reproducibility (between laboratory variations) of about 30%.

A screening method for hydrocarbons in the range 5 ppm and above based on infrared spectroscopy (IR), and a promising method for detection of low levels based on solid phase extraction (SPE) has been tested and validated.     

Dinoflagellate infections of Favella panamensis from two North American estuaries

Favella panamensis Kofoid and Campbell, 1929 is seasonally abundant in meso- to polyhaline waters of Chesapeake Bay and Indian River, Florida, USA, where it reaches densities of 10³ cells l^-1. During the summers of 1986–1992. F. panamensis populations of the two estuaries were commonly infected by the parasitic dinoflagellate Duboscquella aspida Cachon, 1964. The intracellular phase of the parasite reached maturity in 21 h (30 °C) and consumed 35% of the host's biomass. Infections were not typically lethal to F. panamensis, but sometimes forced the host from its lorica. Several D. aspida were found in the cytoplasm of many hosts, and the number of parasites infection^-1 was directly related to infection level. Parasite prevalence averaged 24.0 and 11.5% with mean number of parasites infection^-1 being 1.5 and 1.3 for Chesapeake Bay and Indian River samples, respectively. D. aspida was estimated to remove up to 68% of host standing stock d^-1 with a mean of 10% for all samples. The average impact of parasitism on F. panamensis populations was somewhat less than would be expected from copepod grazing.     

Tapping practices and SAP yields of the NIPA palm (NIPA Fruticans) in Papua New Guinea

Methods of tapping the nipa palm (Nipa fruticans Wurmb.) were developed in the course of a 3-year study conducted in seven villages in the Baimuru district of the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea. The experimental sites were located about 1.5–23 km from the sea. Their plant density varied from 4700 to 2400 palms per ha and the mean height of the plants was nearly 13 m.Five pre-treatment patterns were tested. Once-a-week treatment, maintained for 12 weeks, yielded an average of 155 ml of sap/24 h/palm for one month, whereas 3–5-times-a-week treatment, for 5–12 weeks, yielded an average of 1300 ml of sap. The duration of treatment depended on the state of development of the flower stalk. The pre-treatment pattern chosen as the standard was to bend the stalk 12 times in one direction, to pat with the hands the length of the stalk backwards and forwards 64 times, and to give the base four kicks; this was repeated four times a week.In the course of the 3-year study it was found that the average sugar content of fresh nipa sap is rather high, about 16.4% w/v, as compared with, for example, about 12% w/v of sugar cane. The results of the present study are discussed with reference to producing fuel alcohol from the Papua New Guinea nipa palm.     

Model of the Long-Term Transport and Accumulation of Radionuclides in Future Landscapes

Assessments of radiological impacts on humans and other biota from potential releases to the biosphere from a deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel are associated with several challenges. Releases, if any, will likely occur in a far future and to an environment that will have experienced substantial transformations. Such releases would occur over very long periods during which environmental conditions will vary continuously due to climate change and ecosystem succession. Assessments of radiological impacts must therefore be based on simulations using models that can describe the transport and accumulation of radionuclides for a large variety of environmental conditions. In this paper we describe such a model and show examples of its application in a safety assessment, taking into account results from sensitivity and uncertainty analyses of the model predictions.     

水中COD测量不确定度的评定

建立了用重铬酸钾法测定水中COD测定的不确定度数学模型，用“鱼刺图”方法排列出每种可能作为考源簟影冀詈案，并从标准溶液制备、样品滴定、水样移取等方面分析了COD监测结果的不确定度，计算了各不确定度分量值并给出了扩展不确定度，从中得出在标准滴定溶液制备过程中，重铬酸钾溶液的制备是最具权重的分量，其中标准物质质量的不确定度又是最大的分量，提高天平的精度对COD的不确定度会有明显改善。     

Effects of a zeolite-selective catalytic reduction system on comprehensive emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine

The effects of a zeolite urea-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system on a comprehensive spectrum of chemical species from diesel engine emissions were investigated in this study. Representative samples were collected with a newly developed source dilution sampling system after an aging process designed to simulate atmospheric dilution and cooling conditions. Samples were analyzed with established procedures and compared between the measurements taken from a baseline heavy-duty diesel engine and also from the same engine equipped with the exhaust aftertreatment system. The results have shown significant reductions for nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide, total hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and organic carbon (OC) emissions. Additionally, less significant yet notable reductions were observed for particulate matter mass and metals emissions. Furthermore, the production of new species was not observed with the addition of the zeolite urea-SCR system joined with a downstream oxidation catalyst.     

Controls on coarse wood decay in temperate tree species: birth of the LOGLIFE experiment

Dead wood provides a huge terrestrial carbon stock and a habitat to wide-ranging organisms during its decay. Our brief review highlights that, in order to understand environmental change impacts on these functions, we need to quantify the contributions of different interacting biotic and abiotic drivers to wood decomposition. LOGLIFE is a new long-term 'common-garden' experiment to disentangle the effects of species' wood traits and site-related environmental drivers on wood decomposition dynamics and its associated diversity of microbial and invertebrate communities. This experiment is firmly rooted in pioneering experiments under the directorship of Terry Callaghan at Abisko Research Station, Sweden. LOGLIFE features two contrasting forest sites in the Netherlands, each hosting a similar set of coarse logs and branches of 10 tree species. LOGLIFE welcomes other researchers to test further questions concerning coarse wood decay that will also help to optimise forest management in view of carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation.     

Controls on Coarse Wood Decay in Temperate Tree Species: Birth of the LOGLIFE Experiment

Dead wood provides a huge terrestrial carbon stock and a habitat to wide-ranging organisms during its decay. Our brief review highlights that, in order to understand environmental change impacts on these functions, we need to quantify the contributions of different interacting biotic and abiotic drivers to wood decomposition. LOGLIFE is a new long-term ‘common-garden’ experiment to disentangle the effects of species’ wood traits and site-related environmental drivers on wood decomposition dynamics and its associated diversity of microbial and invertebrate communities. This experiment is firmly rooted in pioneering experiments under the directorship of Terry Callaghan at Abisko Research Station, Sweden. LOGLIFE features two contrasting forest sites in the Netherlands, each hosting a similar set of coarse logs and branches of 10 tree species. LOGLIFE welcomes other researchers to test further questions concerning coarse wood decay that will also help to optimise forest management in view of carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation.