Effects of Zr substitution on soot combustion over cubic fluorite-structured nanoceria: Soot-ceria contact and interfacial oxygen evolution

Ceria is widely used as a catalyst for soot combustion, but effects of Zr substitution on the reaction mechanism is ambiguous. The present work elucidates effects of Zr substitution on soot combustion over cubic fluorite-structured nanoceria. The nanostructured CeO₂, Ce_0.92Zr_0.08O₂, and Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂ composed of 5–6 nm crystallites display T_m-CO2 (the temperature at maximum CO₂ yield) at 383, 355, and 375°C under 10 vol.% O₂/N₂, respectively. The size of agglomerate decreases from 165.5 to 51.9–57.3 nm, which is beneficial for the soot-ceria contact. Moreover, Zr increases the amount of surface oxygen vacancies, generating more active oxygen (O₂^? and O^?) for soot oxidation. Thus, the activities of Ce_0.92Zr_0.08O₂ and Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂ in soot combustion are better than that of CeO₂. Although oxygen vacancies promote the migration of lattice O^2?, the enriched surface Zr also inhibits the mobility of lattice O^2?. Therefore, the T_m-CO2 of Ce_0.84Zr_0.16O₂ is higher than that of Ce_0.92Zr_0.08O₂. Based on reaction kinetic study, soot in direct contact with ceria preferentially decomposes with low activation energy, while the oxidation of isolated soot occurs through diffusion with high activation energy. The obtained findings provide new understanding on the soot combustion over nanoceria.     

Assessing the Effectiveness of Winter Cover Crops for Controlling Agricultural Nutrient Losses

A nutrient loss reduction strategy is necessary to guide the efforts of improving water quality downstream of an agricultural watershed. In this study, the effectiveness of two winter cover crops, namely cereal rye and annual ryegrass, is explored as a loss reduction strategy in a watershed that ultimately drains into a water supply reservoir. Using a coupled optimization-watershed model, optimal placements of the cover crops were identified that would result in the tradeoffs between nitrate-N losses reduction and adoption levels. Analysis of the 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% adoption levels extracted from the optimal tradeoffs showed that the cover crop placements would provide annual nitrate-N loss reductions of 3.0%–3.7%, 7.8%–8.8%, 15%–17.5%, and 20.9%–24.3%, respectively. In addition, for the same adoption levels (i.e., 10%–75%), sediment (1.8%–17.7%), and total phosphorus losses (0.8%–8.6%) could be achieved. Results also indicate that implementing each cover crop on all croplands of the watershed could cause annual water yield reduction of at least 4.8%, with greater than 28% in the months of October and November. This could potentially be detrimental to the storage volume of the downstream reservoir, especially in drought years, if cover crops are adopted in most of the reservoir's drainage area. Evaluating water yield impacts, particularly in periods of low flows, is thus critical if cover crops are to be considered as best management practices in water supply watersheds.     

Increase in platinum group elements in Mexico City as revealed from growth rings of Taxodium mucronatum ten

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - Tree rings may be used as indicators of contamination events providing information on the chronology and the elemental composition of the contamination. In...     

Zearalenone screening of human breast milk from the Naples area

The mycotoxin zearalenone exhibits estrogenic and anabolic properties in several animal species, humans included. Food contamination by zearalenone is caused either by direct contamination of grains, fruits, and their based-products or by “carry-over” of mycotoxins in animal tissues, milk, and eggs after intake of contaminated feedstuff. Now, a survey on zearalenone contamination in breast milk of healthy primiparous women living in the Naples countryside was conducted. From 47 healthy primiparous women, breast milk samples were collected within the first six weeks after delivery as well as clinical data of mother–newborn pairs. Breast milk analyses were performed with both competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. At 36.9 ± 2.6 days after vaginal delivery, the mean zearalenone contents of the breast milk samples were 1.13 ± 0.34 µg/L. The zearalenone levels correlated with both mother weights before pregnancy (r = ?0.506; P < 0.001) and at delivery (r = ?0.351; P < 0.05). The present results indicate that breast milk may be contaminated with zearalenone.     

Constancy and change in marine predator diets across a shift in oceanographic conditions in the Northern California Current

Variable ocean conditions can greatly impact prey assemblages and predator foraging in marine ecosystems. Our goal was to better understand how a change in ocean conditions influenced dietary niche overlap among a suite of midtrophic-level predators. We examined the diets of three fishes and one seabird off central Oregon during two boreal summer upwelling periods with contrasting El Niño (2010) and La Niña (2011) conditions. We found greater niche specialization during El Niño and increased niche overlap during La Niña in both the nekton and micronekton diet components, especially in the larger, more offshore predators. However, only the two smaller, more nearshore predators exhibited interannual variation in diet composition. Concurrent trawl surveys confirmed that changes in components of predator diets reflected changes in the prey community. Using multiple predators across diverse taxa and life histories provided a comprehensive understanding of food-web dynamics during changing ocean conditions.     

Platinum in PM2.5 of the metropolitan area of Mexico City

The increase in platinum (Pt) in the airborne particulate matter with size ≤2.5 µm (PM_2.5) in urban environments may be interpreted as result of the abrasion and deterioration of automobile catalyst. Nowadays, about four million vehicles in Mexico City use catalytic converters, which means that their impact should be considered. In order to evaluate the contribution of Pt to environmental pollution of the metropolitan area of Mexico City (MAMC), airborne PM_2.5 was collected at five different sites in the urban area (NW, NE, C, SW, SE) in 2011 during April (dry-warm season), August (rainy season) and December (dry-cold season). Analytical determinations were carried out using a ICP-MS with a collision cell and kinetic energy discrimination. The analytical and instrument performance was evaluated with standard road dust reference material (BCR-723). Median Pt concentration in the analyzed particulate was is 38.4 pg m^?3 (minimal value 1 pg m^?3 maximal value 79 pg m^?3). Obtained Pt concentrations are higher than those reported for other urban areas. Spatial variation shows that SW had Pt concentration significantly higher than NW and C only. Seasonal variation shows that Pt median was higher in rainy season than in both dry seasons. A comparison of these results with previously reported data of PM₁₀ from 1991 and 2003 in the same studied area shows a worrying increase in the concentration of Pt in the air environment of MAMC.     

Spatio-temporal log-Gaussian Cox processes for modelling wildfire occurrence: the case of Catalonia, 1994–2008

Wildfires have become one of the principal environmental problems in the Mediterranean basin. While fire plays an important role in most terrestrial plant ecosystems, the potential hazard that it represents for human lives and property has led to the application of fire exclusion policies that, in the long term, have caused severe damage, mainly due to the increase of fuel loadings in forested areas, in some forest systems. The lack of an easy solution to forest fire management highlights the importance of preventive tasks. The observed spatio-temporal pattern of wildfire occurrences may be idealized as a realization of some stochastic process. In particular, we may use a space–time point pattern approach for the analysis and inference process. We studied wildfires in Catalonia, a region in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula, and we analyzed the spatio-temporal patterns produced by those wildfire incidences by considering the influence of covariates on trends in the intensity of wildfire locations. A total of 3,166 wildfires from 1994–2008 have been recorded. We specified spatio-temporal log-Gaussian Cox process models. Models were estimated using Bayesian inference for Gaussian Markov Random Field through the integrated nested Laplace approximation algorithm. The results of our analysis have provided statistical evidence that areas closer to humans have more human induced wildfires, areas farther have more naturally occurring wildfires. We believe the methods presented in this paper may contribute to the prevention and management of those wildfires which are not random in space or time.