Occurrence of pesticides in surface water bodies: a critical analysis of the Italian national pesticide survey programs

In recent years, several monitoring programs have been established as a consequence of EU Directives which include requirements for monitoring the quality of water resources (drinking water, groundwater and surface water). Plant protection products (PPPs) are an obvious target for monitoring activities, since they are directly released into the environment. In Italy, the National Environmental Protection Agency (ISPRA ex APAT) has recently published two reports containing the results of the National Plans for Control of Environmental Effects of PPP. These documents contain the collection of monitoring data related to the presence of PPP residues in surface water and groundwater. The first objective of this work was to critically analyze the results of monitoring campaigns on pesticide residues in surface waters in Italy. In particular, the paper focuses on whether and how the Italian approach satisfies the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, whether they are representative of the whole national territory, and how the utilized approach is appropriate for the characterization of risk to surface water. Starting from this analysis, some considerations about the limits of environmental monitoring as a tool for managing risk were highlighted.     

Impact of repeated irrigation of lettuce cultures with municipal wastewater on soil bacterial community diversity and composition

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The effect of wastewater irrigation on the diversity and composition of bacterial communities of soil mesocosms planted with lettuces was studied over...     

Can we measure carrying capacity with foraging behavior?

Carrying capacity is one of the most important, yet least understood and rarely estimated, parameters in population management and modeling. A simple behavioral metric of carrying capacity would advance theory, conservation, and management of biological populations. Such a metric should be possible because behavior is finely attuned to variation in environment including population density. We connect optimal foraging theory with population dynamics and life history to develop a simple model that predicts this sort of adaptive density-dependent change in food consumption. We then confirm the model's unexpected and manifold predictions with field experiments. The theory predicts reproductive thresholds that alter the marginal value of energy as well as the value of time. Both effects cause a pronounced discontinuity in quitting-harvest rate that we revealed with foraging experiments. Red-backed voles maintained across a range of high densities foraged at a lower density-dependent rate than the same animals exposed to low-density treatments. The change in harvest rate is diagnostic of populations that exceed their carrying capacity. Ecologists, conservation biologists, and wildlife managers may thus be able to use simple and efficient foraging experiments to estimate carrying capacity and habitat quality.     

Solid waste characterization and recycling potential for a university campus

Integrated waste management systems are one of the greatest challenges for sustainable development. For these systems to be successful, the first step is to carry out waste characterization studies. In this paper are reported the results of a waste characterization study performed in the Campus Mexicali I of the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC). The aim of this study was to set the basis for implementation of a recovery, reduction and recycling waste management program at the campus. It was found that the campus Mexicali I produces 1ton of solid wastes per day; more than 65% of these wastes are recyclable or potentially recyclable. These results showed that a program for segregation and recycling is feasible on a University Campus. The study also showed that the local market for recyclable waste, under present conditions - number of recycling companies and amounts of recyclables accepted - can absorb all of these wastes. Some alternatives for the potentially recyclables wastes are discussed. Finally some strategies that could be used to reduce waste at the source are discussed as well.     

Children and the Sphere standard on mental and social aspects of health

Most of the world's children live in resource-poor countries where people are at a relatively high risk of exposure to catastrophic situations arising from conflict and natural disasters.(6) Given the potential social, psychological and psychiatric consequences of exposure to disaster, mental health and psychosocial support programmes are increasingly part of humanitarian aid. A minimum standard on mental and social aspects of health is included in the recently revised Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere Handbook) (Sphere Project, 2004). Most recommendations for mental health and psychosocial interventions in guidance documents are based on expert opinion rather than research. Consequently, interventions are being implemented without full understanding of their potential benefit or harm. This paper offers a child-focused review of the evidence for each of the interventions described as indicators for the Sphere standard on mental and social aspects of health. It suggests some, but limited, support for each of them. However, the evidence base needs substantial strengthening.     

巴西雨林自然保护区河流中杀虫剂残毒:对水生生物和人类健康的影响评价

1998年11月、1999年3月和2000年元月分别在巴西雨林自然保护区河流的水体、沉积物和鱼体中检测杀虫剂残毒,每种杀虫剂浓度与基于急性毒性测试的生态毒理基准进行了比较,并且还与规定标准进行比较,以确定它们对水生生物和人类潜在影响的程度.在所有的7个调查地点都检测出杀虫剂及其代谢产物,在水体以及沉积物样品中检测出总共27种杀虫剂及其代谢物的残毒,鱼类富集其中某些最持久稳固的残毒.水体和沉积物中检测出的杀虫剂残毒浓度表明水生生物保护的问题需要引起重视,水体中的几种杀虫剂含量超过了巴西以及欧盟当局规定的指标,表明对人类的健康也有影响.     

A revisit of trisomy 20 mosaicism in prenatal diagnosis—an overview of 103 cases

One hundred and three cases with prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 20 mosaicism through amniocentesis were reviewed. Approximately 90 per cent (90/101) of the cases were associated with grossly normal phenotype. It is likely that, in the majority of cases, cells with trisomy 20 were extraembryonic in origin or largely confined to the placenta. However, in some cases, the cells with trisomy 20 were confined to certain specific fetal organs or tissues such as kidney, skin, etc. Cytogenetic follow-up studies in liveborns should include a culture from urine sediment.     

Mating success and fidelity to territories in a fallow deer lek: a female removal experiment

A lek is a clump of male territories that females visit only for mating; it is quite a rare mating system among mammals. As we wanted to investigate the role of past male mating success on their fidelity to lek territories, we displaced fallow deer females by a lek (Lek A), i.e. we removed the resources for rutting males. They moved to a new area followed by some of the territorial males (mobile males) where they established a new lek (Lek B). Other males (faithful males) stayed on Lek A. The former had lower mating success and dominance ranking in the early, undisturbed part of the rut. After disturbance, the MS of faithful males was much reduced, while that of mobile males was higher on Lek B than it had been on Lek A. We then disturbed Lek B. Females returned to Lek A, and the mating success of faithful males reverted to its original level. Past mating success was the main factor predicting whether a male was faithful or mobile. We illustrated for the first time the importance of past experience in promoting lek fidelity; this experiment gives an insight into the mechanisms leading to the traditional use of leks.