Rückstände ausgewählter Humanarzneimittel in Oberflächenwasserkörpern im Einzugsgebiet Halle (Saale)

A method for the determination of 16 selected pharmaceuticals in surface water using LC-MS/MS has been developed Methods from literature were adapted within the scope of this study. The limit of quantification of 13 out of 16 analytes is below 10 ng/l. The analysis of samples from the Saale river and lakes around Halle demonstrated that Carbamacepin (Median 207 ng/l) and Diclofenac (Median 196 ng/l) are detectable at various sampling stations along the river. The wastewater path was identified as the most relevant source for pharmaceutical residues entering the environment. Besides, the results reveal increased levels of several substances in some smaller anabranches and brooks.     

Municipal anaerobic digesters for codigestion, energy recovery, and greenhouse gas reductions.

Codigestion of five wastes and municipal wastewater sludge was evaluated using full-scale testing. Synergistic, antagonistic, and neutral outcomes were observed depending on codigestate identity and concentration, highlighting the value of careful blending. Yeast waste resulted in notable synergism, increasing biogas production by over 50%, whereas aircraft deicing waste resulted in antagonism at high loadings and neutral outcomes at lower loadings. Restaurant waste codigestion resulted in neutral outcomes. The synergisim with yeast codigestates may have resulted from trace nutrients (i.e., iron, nickel, and cobalt) in the wastes that increased microbiological activity. Antagonist outcomes with deicing waste may have been the result of organic overload or inhibitory deicer constituents. Codigestion of wastes at the feed rates investigated was estimated to produce 0.50 ML/d of methane having an energy equivalent of 17 500 MJ/d. This was estimated to reduce net carbon dioxide emissions by 560 tonnes/y.     

盐蚀环境下微生物矿化岩土材料的冻融特性研究

基于MICP技术将松散砂粒改良成微生物矿化岩土材料,通过室内冻融循环实验,研究矿化材料在4种不同的冻融环境中的表观形貌、质量损失率、饱和含水率、无侧限抗压强度随冻融循环周期的变化规律,以及利用NMR测试手段分析材料的孔隙变化。结果表明:随着冻融周期增加,在4种冻融液中矿化材料均伴随剥落现象,无侧限抗压强度均呈逐渐减小趋势,质量的损失和饱和含水率的增加严重影响了材料的抗冻性能,且在5%Na₂SO₄溶液中矿化材料的粉化速度较快,质量损失最大,劣化速度最快,NMR图谱中弛豫时间大于200 ms的未冻水含量在冻融过程变化最大,是造成样本质量的损失和强度的破坏的主要原因;在去离子水溶液中样本的抗冻能力也较弱,次于Na₂SO₄溶液;在3%NaCl溶液和混合溶液中由于NaCl的存在降低材料的凝固点,使得材料的抗冻能力延长,此研究为微生物矿化岩土材料在寒冷地区的工程应用提供基础实验依据。     

Environmental Awareness, Economic Orientation, and Farming Practices: A Comparison of Organic and Conventional Farmers

/ This study examines similarities and differences between organic and conventional farmers. We explore the factors that underlie farmers' conservation attitudes and behaviors, including demographic and farm characteristics, awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture, economic orientation toward farming, and self-reported conservation practices. A series of intensive personal interviews was conducted with 25 farmers in Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA, using both qualitative and quantitative survey methods. The findings indicate that both groups of farmers share a concern for the economic risks associated with farming, although the organic farmers reported a significantly greater concern for long-term sustainability and a greater willingness to incur present risk to gain future benefits. Organic farmers expressed a greater awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture. Organic farmers also scored significantly higher on a multifaceted measure of conservation practices, although both groups had a fairly high adoption rate. Implications of these findings are discussed, relative to economic risks of farming, implications for new farmers, effectiveness of conservation education and government programs, and impact of farm size and crop diversity.KEY WORDS: Environmental attitudes; Conservation behaviors; Organic farming; Agricultural sustainability     

Toxicity of the nerve agent tabun to Daphnia magna, a new experimental species in military toxicology

Daphnia magna, a freshwater microcrustacean, is currently tested as an alternative experimental species in research dealing with nerve agents poisonings treatment. Because of this, the toxicity of the nerve agent tabun (a cyanide-group containing organophosphate) to Daphnia had to be examined by estimating the EC₅₀ values. The immobilization of daphnids was chosen as the end-point. It was found that D. magna is sensitive to small amounts of tabun, even after 15 min exposure, and tabun toxicity increases with time. The estimated EC₅₀ values for 15, 30, 45, and 60 min exposure were as follows: 67.39, 38.10, 26.95, and 21.9 μg l^-1. In addition, the toxicity of media to which tabun was added 24 h before the start of experiments was examined. The results obtained indicate that daphnids can be used in experiments with nerve-agent intoxication treatment.     

Catalyst-free synthesis of α-acyloxycarboxamides in aqueous media

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Organic syntheses in aqueous solutions are being developed because water is an environmentally friendly, inexpensive, non-toxic and non-flammable solvent....     

Spray mechanism of crepidogastrine bombardier beetles (Carabidae; Crepidogastrini)

Summary.   The defensive glandular apparatus of primitive bombardier beetles of the tribe Crepidogastrini (Carabidae) is described for the first time. As exemplified by two African species (Crepidogaster ambreana and C. atrata), the apparatus conforms to the basic bombardier plan, in that the glands are bicompartmented and the secretion is quinonoid (it contains 1,4-benzoquinones and hydrocarbons), hot, and discharged audibly. In a number of morphological respects the crepidogastrine apparatus resembles that of the classical bombardiers of the tribe Brachinini (rather than that of bombardiers of the paussoid lineage), reinforcing the view, already held on taxonomic grounds, that the Crepidogastrini and Brachinini are closely related. That the Crepidogastrini may be primitive relative to Brachinini is underscored by the finding that, unlike brachinines, crepidogastrines do not pulse their secretory emissions. Moreover, they discharge their secretion as a mist, rather than forcibly in the form of jets. Received 22 May 2001; accepted 29 May 2001.     

Estimation of the spatial covariance in Universal Kriging: Application to forest inventory

This paper presents a simple least squares procedure for estimating the spatial covariance and compares it with the numerically more difficult restricted maximum likelihood procedure. Thereafter, it compares design-based and kriging techniques for the estimation of spatial averages in the context of double sampling, as used in forest inventory, where terrestrial sample plots are combined with auxiliary information based on aerial photographs. A case study illustrates the theory.     

Public opinion and awareness towards MSW and separate collection programmes: A sociological procedure for selecting areas and citizens with a low level of knowledge

The principal aim of this study was to define and apply a procedure based on a structured questionnaire survey useful to analyze the people’s environmental knowledge in order to select the areas and age groups with a low level of knowledge in a municipality (in Southern Italy) and, therefore, suggest a specific educational campaign for each. The detailed sampling procedure made it possible to carry out a meticulous statistical analysis of the results. The youngest and oldest people showed the lowest level of awareness for each district. A high level of education did not necessarily imply a high level of environmental awareness as well as a greater acceptance of MSW facilities. The satisfaction level of the recycling program was higher amongst the oldest age group. All the citizens in the several areas were unanimous in pointing out the presence of dirt in the street as the main shortcoming of the bring separate collection program. Only the youngest age group self-criticised, considering that they revealed a low level of participation to the separate collection program. While, the oldest people retaining them less influential, claimed that the citizens were not responsible for the failure of the separate collection program. The prevailing opinion of the sample was that people protested against the construction of waste facilities because they were not well-informed, with the most significant opinion of all the age subdivisions being that incineration is a hazardous treatment. The presence of criminal organizations was indicated as the main reason why the Campania Region suffers a serious solid waste emergency. While, the percentage of people pointing their finger at politicians increases with the average age of the respondents with there being a very strong correlation (r² = 0.9903).