SOIL ZINC CONTAMINATION FROM CORROSION OF GALVANIZED STRUCTURES

The present work relates to galvanized structures with several years of time life subjected to atmospheric corrosion, like galvanized high tension steel pylons. The mass and fate of zinc released is evaluated both via empirical and experimental procedures. The corrosion rate determination requested atmospheric condition characterization, especially for SO 2 concentration and experimental activities focused on soil sampling around pylons. The soil zinc content, total and exchangeable, is determinates by different analytical procedures. The zinc diffusion in environment and the zinc extension under the top soil is evaluated using 1-dimensional mathematical model for miscible species in porous soil.     

Oil seeds industry emissions: A case study

Summary This study assessed the contribution of an oil seed industry to the organic loadings of an urban atmosphere, so that more realistic strategies can be developed to control such pollution. Emission measurements suggest that fatty acids, aldehydes and solvent related hydrocarbons are emitted in amounts comparable to or even exceeding anthropogenic organics. Technological options for controlling emissions in the context of the local situation with the data presented are discussed.Paolo Battistoni was born in Ancona, Italy in 1951 and received a degree in chemistry in 1974 at Bologna University. He started his activity at Ancona University where he is a permanent professor of waste water treatments. His research interests have centered on monitoring of organics in ambient air and waste streams and method developments in these areas.Gabriele L. Fava was born near Bologna, Italy in 1945 and received his degree in chemistry from the University of Bologna in 1972. He started his research activity at Ancona University where he is a permanent professor of pollution and environmental control. He has spent research terms at the Iowa State University, USA in 1976 and 1979. His main interest is in the environmental behaviour of toxic substances through physicochemical profiles.     

Poliovirus and Other Enteroviruses from Environmental Surveillance in Italy, 2009–2015

Within the initiatives for poliomyelitis eradication by WHO, Italy activated an environmental surveillance (ES) in 2005. ES complements clinical Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance for possible polio cases, detects poliovirus circulation in environmental sewage, and is used to monitor transmission in communities. In addition to polioviruses, the analyses comprised: (i) the monitoring of the presence of non-polio enteroviruses in sewage samples and (ii) the temporal and geographical distribution of the detected viruses. From 2009 to 2015, 2880 sewage samples were collected from eight cities participating in the surveillance. Overall, 1479 samples resulted positive for enteroviruses. No wild-type polioviruses were found, although four Sabin-like polioviruses were detected. The low degree of mutation found in the genomes of these four isolates suggests that these viruses have had a limited circulation in the population. All non-polio enteroviruses belonged to species B and the most frequent serotype was CV-B5, followed by CV-B4, E-11, E-6, E-7, CV-B3, and CV-B2. Variations in the frequency of different serotypes were also observed in different seasons and/or Italian areas. Environmental surveillance in Italy, as part of the ‘WHO global polio eradication program’, is a powerful tool to augment the polio surveillance and to investigate the silent circulation or the re-emergence of enteroviruses in the population.     

Large-Scale Survey of Human Enteroviruses in Wastewater Treatment Plants of a Metropolitan Area of Southern Italy

Human enteroviruses (HEVs) occur in high concentrations in wastewater and can contaminate receiving environmental waters, constituting a major cause of acute waterborne disease worldwide. In this study, we investigated the relative abundance, occurrence, and seasonal distribution of polio and other enteroviruses at three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Naples, Southern Italy, from January 2010 to December 2014. Influent and effluent samples from the three WWTPs were collected monthly. One hundred and sixty-one of the 731 wastewater samples collected (22.0%) before and after water treatment were CPE positive on RD cells; while no samples were positive on L20B cells from any WWTPs. Among the 140 non-polio enterovirus isolated from inlet sewage, 69.3% were Coxsackieviruses type B and 30.7% were Echoviruses. Among these, CVB3 and CVB5 were most prevalent, followed by CVB4 and Echo6. The twenty-one samples tested after treatment contained 6 CVB4, 5 CVB3, 3 Echo11, and 2 Echo6; while other serotypes were isolated less frequently. Data on viral detection in treated effluents of WWTPs confirmed the potential environmental contamination by HEVs and could be useful to establish standards for policies on wastewater management.     

Testing kernel density reconstruction for Lagrangian photochemical modelling

In recent years, a number of pioneering works have shown as Lagrangian models can be of great interest when dealing with photochemistry, provided that special care is given in the reconstruction of chemicals concentration in the atmosphere. Density reconstruction can be performed through the so-called “box counting” method: an Eulerian grid for chemistry is introduced and density is computed counting particles in each box. In this way one of the main advantages of the Lagrangian approach, the grid independence, is lost. In this paper, a new approach to Lagrangian photochemical modelling is investigated and the chemical module of the Photochemical Lagrangian Particle Model (PLPM) is described and fully tested for stability, reliability and computational weight. Photochemical reactions are treated in PLPM by means of the complex chemical mechanism SAPRC90 and four density reconstruction methods have been developed, based on the kernel density estimator approach, in order to obtain grid-free accurate concentrations.     

Sperm allocation in relation to male traits, female size, and copulation behaviour in freshwater crayfish species

Sperm competition is a well-recognised agent in the evolution of sperm and ejaculate structure, as well as variation in female quality. Models of the evolution of ejaculate expenditure predict that male body condition, female fecundity and the risk and intensity of sperm competition may be the ultimate factors shaping optimal ejaculate size. We investigated sperm allocation in Austropotamobius italicus, a freshwater crayfish exhibiting a coercive mating system and external fertilisation, in relation to male and female traits and copulation behaviour under laboratory conditions. We found that mating males were sensitive to female size and produced larger ejaculates when mating with larger females, which were more fecund in terms of number of eggs produced. We found no evidence for female egg production being sperm-limited, as the number of eggs was not dependent on male sperm expenditure. Copulation duration and number of ejaculations reliably predicted the amount of sperm transferred, and both these behavioural measures positively covaried with female body size. These results indicate that male freshwater crayfish can modulate their sperm expenditure in accordance with cues that indicate female fecundity. In addition, a novel finding that emerged from this study is the decrease in sperm expenditure with male body size, which may either suggest that large, old male crayfish are better able than small males to economise sperm at a given mating to perform multiple matings during a reproductive season, or that they experience senescence of their reproductive performance.     

Positive correlation between helpers at nest and nestling immune response in a cooperative breeding bird

In cooperatively breeding species, helpers may contribute to the success of the brood by increasing the number of independent offspring, but also, they may affect offspring condition and, hence, their survival and recruitment into the breeding population. This second type of benefits is rarely included in theoretical models or assessed in field studies. Immune response is a good proxy of individual quality and fitness, and there is good evidence that the performance of the immune system of chicks during the nestling phase is related to their chances of survival and future reproduction. However, no study has so far explored whether helpers at the nest might contribute to enhance immune functioning of nestlings in species with a cooperative breeding system. Here we investigate this issue in the azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) and found for the first time a positive correlation between the number of helpers at nest and the cell-mediated immune response of nestlings. This effect was not explained by a general improvement of body condition of chicks because it was independent of individual variation in body mass or tarsus length. Our results suggest that helping can have subtle effects on the quality of offspring that may influence their survival and future reproduction.     

Isolation and structure elucidation of azoricasterol,a new sterol of the deepwater sponge<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Macandrewia azorica</Emphasis>

Chemical investigation of the deepwater sponge Macandrewia azorica, collected from the flanks of the Gettysburg and Ormonde Sea Mount, North Atlantic, from a depth of 600 m, has led to the isolation of a new sterol with an unusual side chain (1), along with S-methylergothioneine (2). The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were established by employing spectroscopic techniques (NMR, MS, UV, IR and polarimetry). This is the first report of metabolites of a sponge belonging to the genus Macandrewia.     

Male sexual attractiveness affects the investment of maternal resources into the eggs in peafowl (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pavo cristatus</Emphasis>)

According to the differential investment hypothesis, females paired with attractive mates are expected to invest more in the current reproduction relative to females paired with unattractive males. We experimentally tested this hypothesis in the peafowl (Pavo cristatus) by providing females with males that differed in sexual attractiveness. In agreement with the differential allocation hypothesis, females paired with more ornamented males laid larger eggs, and deposited higher amounts of testosterone into the egg yolk, independently of the sex of the embryo. These results show that the association between paternal phenotype and offspring quality could arise via a differential maternal investment. They also suggest that, if ornamented males do transmit good genes to the progeny, the maternal differential investment can amplify the effect of such good genes on the offspring fitness.     

Fitness consequences of sexual cannibalism in female<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Argiope bruennichi</Emphasis>

The evolution of sexual cannibalism as the most extreme form of nuptial feeding is still poorly understood. Although increasing evidence suggests that female aggressiveness is related to other aspects of foraging behaviour, it is not clear whether the nutritional value of a male is sufficient to provide an adaptive significance for sexual cannibalism. A widely cited though rarely tested explanation is based on a paternal investment model, and predicts that consumption of a male results in increased female fecundity. The available evidence is either correlational or restricted to species with relatively large and potentially nutritious males, and different studies have come to different conclusions. Here we present a test of the paternal investment hypothesis using the very cannibalistic and highly size-dimorphic spider Argiope bruennichi. After a preset schedule, we had females consume none, one or two males independent of the female's cannibalistic behaviour. Consumption of male bodies did not result in any detectable fitness benefit for the female: neither the number of clutches, nor clutch size or hatching success were affected by consumption of males. The frequency of cannibalism was around 80%, independent of the female mating status. We did not observe male complicity, but cannibalism was associated with prolonged copulation. This suggests a sexually selected benefit of cannibalism for males. We conclude that the paternal investment hypothesis does not explain the existence of sexual cannibalism in A. bruennichi and probably not in other spider species with a pronounced sexual size dimorphism.Communicated by L. Simmons