Assessment of Self-Organizing Map artificial neural networks for the classification of sediment quality

The application of mathematical tools in initial steps of sediment quality assessment frameworks can be useful to provide an integrated interpretation of multiple measured variables. This study reveals that the Self-Organizing Map (SOM) artificial neural network can be an effective tool for the integration of multiple physical, chemical and ecotoxicological variables in order to classify different sites under study according to their similar sediment quality. Sediment samples from 40 sites of 3 estuaries of Cantabria (Spain) were classified with respect to 13 physical, chemical and toxicological variables using the SOM. Results obtained with the SOM, when compared to those of traditional multivariate statistical techniques commonly used in the field of sediment quality (principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA)), provided a more useful classification for further assessment steps. Especially, the powerful visualization tools of the SOM, which offer more information and in an easier way than HCA and PCA, facilitate the task of establishing an order of priority between the distinguished groups of sites depending on their need for further investigations or remediation actions in subsequent management steps.     

Model selection analysis of temporal variation in benefit for an ant-tended treehopper

Recent studies of mutualism have emphasized both that the net benefit to participants depends on the ecological context and that the density-dependent pattern of benefit is key to understanding the population dynamics of mutualism. Indeed, changes in the ecological context are likely to drive changes in both the magnitude of benefit and the density-dependent pattern of benefit. Despite the close linkage between these two areas of research, however, few studies have addressed the factors underlying variation in the density-dependent pattern of benefit. Here I use model selection to evaluate how variation in the benefits of a mutualism drives temporal variation in the density-dependent pattern of net benefit for the ant-tended treehopper Publilia concava. In the interaction between ants and treehoppers in the genus Publilia, ants collect the sugary excretions of treehoppers as a food resource, and treehoppers benefit both directly (e.g., by feeding facilitation) and indirectly (e.g., by predator protection). Results presented here show that temporal changes in the relative magnitude of direct and indirect benefit components of ant tending, especially the effectiveness of predator protection by ants, qualitatively change the overall pattern of density-dependent benefit between years with maximum benefit shifting from treehoppers in small to large aggregations. These results emphasize the need for empirical studies that evaluate the long-term dynamics of mutualism and theoretical studies that consider the population dynamics consequences of variation in the density-dependent pattern of benefit.     

Size exclusion chromatography for the removal of pigments from extracellular ligninolytic enzyme extracts from decayed wheat straw

Solid-state fermentation of wheat straw was carried out by a native white rot basidiomycete Daedaleopsis flavida strain 5A. Extract prepared from the 12-day decayed wheat straw contained extracellular ligninolytic enzymes like manganese peroxidase (MnP), manganese-independent peroxidase (MIP), lignin peroxidase (LiP) and laccase along with straw-degraded products and pigments. Sephacryl S-200 size exclusion chromatography in 16/100 column was used for the separation of these ligninolytic enzymes and straw-degraded products and pigments. Recovery of pigment-free ligninolytic enzyme activities as protein was 40% of the total proteins loaded and specific LiP activity increased 34 fold after size exclusion chromatography. Thus accurate estimation of LiP by veratryl alcohol oxidation assay was possible only after the removal of interfering pigments. The reproducibility of size exclusion chromatography is adjudged satisfactory from the consistent results obtained after seven repetitive uses of matrices.     

The role of sponge competition on coral reef alternative steady states

Sponges constitute an abundant and functionally important component of coral reef systems. Given their demonstrated resistance to environmental stress, it might be expected that the role of sponges in reef systems under modern regimes of frequent and severe disturbance may become even more substantial. Disturbances have recently reshaped the community structure of many Caribbean coral reefs shifting them towards a state of persistent low coral cover and often a dominance of macroalgae. Using competition and growth rates recorded from Glover's Atoll in Belize, we parameterise a mathematical model used to simulate the three-way competition between sponges, macroalgae and coral. We use the model to determine the range of parameters in which each of the three species might be expected to dominate. Emergent properties arise from our simple model of this complex system, and these include a special case in which heightened competitive ability of macroalgae versus coral may counter-intuitively prove to be advantageous to the persistence of corals. Importantly, we show that even under scenarios whereby sponges fail to invade the system, inclusion of this third antagonist can qualitatively affect the likelihood of alternative stable states - generally in favour of macroalgal dominance. The interplay between multi-species competition and predation is complex, but our efforts highlight a key process that has, until now, remained unexplored: the extent to which sponges dissipate algal grazing pressure by providing generalist fish with an alternative food source. We highlight the necessity of identifying the extent by which this process takes place in tropical systems in order to improve projections of alternative stable states for Caribbean coral reefs.     

Artificial light at night (ALAN) causes variable dose-responses in a sandy beach isopod

Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) is expanding worldwide, and the study of its influence remains limited mainly to documenting impacts, overlooking the variation in key characteristics of the artificial light such as its intensity. The potential dose–response of fitness-related traits to different light intensities has not been assessed in sandy beach organisms. Hence, this study explored dose-responses to ALAN by exposing the intertidal sandy beach isopod Tylos spinulosus to a range of light intensities at night: 0 (control), 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 lx. We quantified the response of this species at the molecular (RNA:DNA ratios), physiological (absorption efficiency) and organismal (growth rate) levels. Linear and non-linear regressions were used to explore the relationship between light intensity and the isopod response. The regressions showed that increasing light intensity caused an overall?~?threefold decline in RNA:DNA ratios and a?~?threefold increase in absorption efficiency, with strong dose-dependent effects. For both response variables, non-linear regressions also identified likely thresholds at 80 lx (RNA:DNA) and 40 lx (absorption efficiency). By contrast, isopod growth rates were unrelated (unaltered) by the increase in light intensity at night. We suggest that ALAN is detrimental for the condition of the isopods, likely by reducing the activity and feeding of these nocturnal organisms, and that the isopods compensate this by absorbing nutrients more efficiently in order to maintain growth levels.

     

On the sudden disappearance of Egeria densa from a Ramsar wetland site of Southern Chile: A climatic event trigger model

Contemporary shallow lakes theory proposes that these ecosystems may experience abrupt regime shifts due to small changes in controlling variables or triggers. So far, these triggers have been related mostly to nutrients as the immediate driver. During May 2004 the río Cruces wetland, a Ramsar site located in Southern Chile, underwent a major regime shift, from a clear water state, vastly dominated by the invasive macrophyte Egeria densa, to a turbid water state. In this article we show, through the analysis of long-term meteorological data that late fall 2004 was anomalous due to the presence of a high-pressure cell that persisted most of the month of May over Southern Chile. This climatic event caused an almost complete absence of precipitations and lower temperatures during this period, including several freezing nights. Eco-physiological experiments showed that 6 h exposure to desiccation kill the macrophyte. We developed a simple-biology dynamic model, under Stella Research 9.1, to show that the climatic anomaly of May 2004, plus the increased sedimentation of the wetland's floodplains, and the associated response of E. densa, explains its sudden disappearance from río Cruces wetland.     

Discerning the factors explaining the change in energy efficiency

Due to the high rates of energy consumption and its impact on environment over the last decades, policy decision-makers are increasingly recognising the need to take actions that allow to address problems associated with the deployment of non-renewable resources and climate changes. One field of action has been the promotion of measures that contribute to improve energy efficiency of countries. The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors explaining changes in energy efficiency applying the multiplicative Log Mean Divisia Index decomposition method for a set of countries (Portugal, UK, Brazil and China) with different socio-economic background and energy mix. The results show that overall energy efficiency trends display different patterns between countries and the same happens within each country from a sectoral perspective. Major drivers of improvements of overall energy efficiency were the intensity effect and the affluence effect, whereas the driver that hampered those improvements was the energy consumption per capita. Some policy implications derived from the results achieved are: policy decision-makers should support measures that promote the adoption of energy-saving technologies resulting from new technological developments; policy measures should be directed to raise awareness of end-users regarding energy efficiency and energy conservation efforts; policy measures promoting economic growth through the development (or expansion) of sectors of activity that consume less energy can also be implemented; finally, policy instruments may also be used to reduce the costs of implementing energy efficiency and energy-saving measures to households and firms.     

Electrochemical advanced oxidation processes: today and tomorrow. A review

In recent years, new advanced oxidation processes based on the electrochemical technology, the so-called electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs), have been developed for the prevention and remediation of environmental pollution, especially focusing on water streams. These methods are based on the electrochemical generation of a very powerful oxidizing agent, such as the hydroxyl radical (^?OH) in solution, which is then able to destroy organics up to their mineralization. EAOPs include heterogeneous processes like anodic oxidation and photoelectrocatalysis methods, in which ^?OH are generated at the anode surface either electrochemically or photochemically, and homogeneous processes like electro-Fenton, photoelectro-Fenton, and sonoelectrolysis, in which ^?OH are produced in the bulk solution. This paper presents a general overview of the application of EAOPs on the removal of aqueous organic pollutants, first reviewing the most recent works and then looking to the future. A global perspective on the fundamentals and experimental setups is offered, and laboratory-scale and pilot-scale experiments are examined and discussed.     

High efficiencies in the electrochemical oxidation of an anthraquinonic dye with conductive-diamond anodes

Oxidation of anthraquinonic dye Acid Blue 62 by electrolysis with conductive-diamond electrodes is studied in this work. COD, TOC, and color have been selected to monitor the degradation of the molecule as a function of several operating inputs (current density, pH, temperature, and NaCl concentration). Results show that the electrochemical oxidation of this model of large molecules follows a first order kinetics in all the conditions assessed, and it does not depend on the pH and temperature. The occurrence of chloride ions in wastewaters increases the rate of color and COD removal as a consequence of the mediated oxidation promoted by the chlorinated oxidizing species. However, chloride occurrence does not have an influence on the mineralization rate. First-order kinetic-constants for color depletion (attack to chromophores groups), oxidation (COD removal), and mineralization (TOC removal) were found to depend on the current density and to increase significantly with its value. A single model was proposed to explain these changes in terms of the mediated oxidation processes. Rate of mineralization remained very close to that expected for a purely mass transfer-controlled process. This was explained assuming that mediated oxidation does not have a significant influence on the mineralization in spite it has some effect on intermediate oxidation stages. The efficiency of the oxidation was found to depend mainly on the concentration of COD being negligible the effect of the other inputs assessed except for the occurrence of chloride ions. Opposite, the efficiency of mineralization depends on concentration of TOC and current density and it did not depend on the chloride occurrence. This observation was found to have an important influence on the power required to remove a given percentage of the initial TOC or COD. To decrease COD efficiently, the occurrence of chloride in the solution is very important, while to remove TOC efficiently, it is more important to work at low current densities and chloride effect is negligible. Energy consumption could be decreased by folds using the proper conditions.     

Effect of ibuprofen exposure on blood,gill, liver,and brain on common carp (Cyprinus carpio) using oxidative stress biomarkers

Although trace concentrations of ibuprofen (IBP) have been detected in diverse water bodies, there is currently insufficient information on the potentially deleterious effects of this xenobiotic. The present study aimed to determine whether IBP induces oxidative stress in brain, liver, gill, and blood of the common carp Cyprinus carpio. To this end, the median lethal concentration at 96 h (96-h LC₅₀) was determined and the lowest observed adverse effect level was established. Carp were exposed to the latter concentration (17.6 mg L^?1) for 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h, and the following biomarkers were evaluated: lipid peroxidation (LPX) and activity of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Results indicated that LPX and antioxidant enzymes’ activity increased significantly (p?<?0.05) with respect to the control group in liver, gill, and blood, while no significant differences occurred in brain. In conclusion, IBP induced oxidative stress on C. carpio, the liver being the organ most affected by this damage.