Aircraft Emissions: A Comparison of Methodologies Based on Different Data Availability

The impact of air traffic on the global atmosphere is characterised by a high degree of uncertainty, concerning both the physico-chemical phenomena involved and the extent of the forcing due to anthropogenic emissions. The different effects of these emissions (e.g. on climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, acidification, tropospheric ozone formation) are dealt with by different international bodies and conventions (e.g. IPCC, EMEP. . .) which are trying to define a standard methodology allowing countries to evaluate their contributions to global aircraft emissions and to report these figures in a standardised way. The paper compares different methodologies proposed by the joint EMEP/CORINAIR 'Atmospheric Emission Inventory Guidebook' for estimating aircraft emissions. Adjustments to these methodologies have been proposed, in order to integrate some additional data such as the total amount of flight hours per aircraft type or fuel consumption per trip. In case detailed information is not available, we recommend the use of a VERY SIMPLE methodology which may yield acceptable results, provided that every country makes adequate assumptions on the average aircraft type.     

一株硝基苯高效降解菌的筛选及其降解特性

自南京化工厂下水道底泥和废水处理系统曝气池活性污泥中驯化分离得到一株能快速降解硝基苯的菌株,初步鉴定其为不动杆菌属菌株。该菌株降解硝基苯的最适宜环境条件为温度25℃～35℃,pH7～8,振荡速率大于120r/m。在适宜环境条件下,该菌株能够在24h内全部降解初始浓度不超过400mg/L的硝基苯,该浓度范围内硝基苯的降解过程符合零级动力学特征;当硝基苯的初始浓度超过400mg/L时,降解菌的生长受到毒害作用,该浓度范围内硝基苯的降解在开始有一个明显的停滞期,降解过程不再符合零级或一级动力学特征。     

The relation between Acid Volatile Sulfides (AVS) and metal accumulation in aquatic invertebrates: Implications of feeding behavior and ecology

The present study evaluates the relationship between Acid Volatile Sulfides (AVS) and metal accumulation in invertebrates with different feeding behavior and ecological preferences. Natural sediments, pore water and surface water, together with benthic and epibenthic invertebrates were sampled at 28 Flemish lowland rivers. Different metals as well as metal binding sediment characteristics including AVS were measured and multiple regression was used to study their relationship with accumulated metals in the invertebrates taxa.Bioaccumulation in the benthic taxa was primarily influenced by total metal concentrations in the sediment. Regarding the epibenthic taxa metal accumulation was mostly explained by the more bioavailable metal fractions in both the sediment and the water. AVS concentrations were generally better correlated with metal accumulation in the epibenthic invertebrates, rather than with the benthic taxa. Our results indicated that the relation between AVS and metal accumulation in aquatic invertebrates is highly dependent on feeding behavior and ecology.     

Clonal variation in heavy metal accumulation and biomass production in a poplar coppice culture. II. Vertical distribution and phytoextraction potential

Short rotation coppice cultures (SRC) are intensively managed, high-density plantations of multi-shoot trees. In April 1996, an SRC field trial with 17 different poplar clones was established in Boom (Belgium) on a former waste disposal site. In December 1996 and January 2001, all shoots were cut back to a height of 5 cm to create a coppice culture. For six clones, wood and bark were sampled at the bottom, middle and top of a shoot in August and November 2002. No significant height effect of metal concentration was found, but for wood, metal concentrations generally increased toward the top of the shoot in August, and decreased toward the top of the shoot in November. Phytoextraction potential of a clone was primarily determined by metal concentration and by biomass production. Shoot size and number of shoots per stool were less important, as a high biomass production could be achieved by producing a few large shoots or many smaller shoots. Clone Fritzi Pauley accumulated 1.4 kg ha(-1) of Al over two years; Wolterson and Balsam Spire showed a relatively high accumulation of Cd and Zn, i.e. averaging, respectively 47 and 57 g ha(-1) for Cd and 2.4 and 2.0 kg ha(-1) for Zn over two years.     

Applying the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate the value of recreational ecosystem services in Sicily

This paper applies the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate recreation demand of parks in Sicily. We estimate a fixed coefficient specification and a random coefficient specification to take into account heterogeneity across visitors. Estimates suggest a diversity of preferences across the population and that parks with higher level of quality attributes are more likely to be visited. We also simulate two sets of hypothetical policy scenarios to evaluate and compare the recreational value of each park and the welfare impacts of changes in a quality attribute.     

Detection of Viruses in Coastal Seawater Using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mytilus Galloprovincialis</Emphasis> as an Accumulation Matrix

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that shellfish can be used to detect enteric viruses in marine waters where they are present at very low concentrations. Aqua-cultured mussels were placed in the sea just off the mouth of a drainage channel affected by human and animal faecal contamination. Samples were taken from the channel, the sea and the mussels at intervals over two 4-week periods. The samples were tested to verify the presence of both rotaviruses and E. coli. Rotaviruses were detected by Real Time-PCR, typed by multiplex PCR and subsequently sequenced. E. coli was enumerated in water matrices by a filtering method and in mussels by the MPN method. The presence of E. coli in the examined matrices demonstrates contamination of faecal origin throughout the studied environments. Rotaviruses were recorded in channel waters, but not in sea water. In both experiments, rotaviruses were detected in mussels 21 and 28 days after being placed in the sea water off the channel mouth. The use of mussels thus enabled the detection of rotaviruses in waters where the high dilution rendered direct investigation impossible. This study indicates that mussels can be used in marine virological surveillance programs.     

Incorporating Uncertainty into Management Models for Marine Mammals

Abstract: Good management models and good models for understanding biology differ in basic philosophy. Management models must facilitate management decisions despite large amounts of uncertainty about the managed populations. Such models must be based on parameters that can be estimated readily, must explicitly account for uncertainty, and should be simple to understand and implement. In contrast, biological models are designed to elucidate the workings of biology and should not be constrained by management concerns. We illustrate the need to incorporate uncertainty in management models by reviewing the inadequacy of using standard biological models to manage marine mammals in the United States. Past management was based on a simple model that, although it may have represented population dynamics adequately, failed as a management tool because the parameter that triggered management action was extremely difficult to estimate for the majority of populations. Uncertainty in parameter estimation resulted in few conservation actions. We describe a recently adopted management scheme that incorporates uncertainty and its resulting implementation. The approach used in this simple management scheme, which was tested by using simulation models, incorporates uncertainty and mandates monitoring abundance and human-caused mortality. Although the entire scheme may be suitable for application to some terrestrial and marine problems, two features are broadly applicable: the incorporation of uncertainty through simulations of management and the use of quantitative management criteria to translate verbal objectives into levels of acceptable risk.     

Physiological costs of compensatory growth in a damselfly

Little is known about physiological costs of rapid growth. We successfully generated compensatory growth to time stress and transient food stress in the damselfly Lestes viridis and studied the physiological correlates of the resulting reduced ability to cope with starvation. We found evidence for both mechanisms proposed to underlie the physiological trade-off: compensatory growth was associated with (1) a higher metabolic rate, as indicated by a higher oxygen consumption and a faster depletion of energy storage molecules (glycogen and triglycerides), and (2) a smaller investment in energy storage. The former may also explain why storage molecules after emergence were negatively affected by time stress and food stress, despite the successful compensation before emergence. These deferred physiological costs of rapid growth have the potential to couple larval stresses to adult fitness irrespective of age and size at emergence, and they may partly explain why many animals do not show their maximum achievable growth rate.     

A review of the distribution of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments and its application to considerations of risk

We review the evolution, state of the art and future lines of research on the sources, transport pathways, and sinks of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments to include the atmosphere, soils, and street and indoor dusts. Such studies reveal reductions in the emissions of some elements of historical concern such as Pb, with interest consequently focusing on other toxic trace elements such as As, Cd, Hg, Zn, and Cu. While establishment of levels of these elements is important in assessing the potential impacts of human society on the urban environment, it is also necessary to apply this knowledge in conjunction with information on the toxicity of those trace elements and the degree of exposure of human receptors to an assessment of whether such contamination represents a real risk to the city’s inhabitants and therefore how this risk can be addressed.     

Assessment of the environmental conditions of the Sarno river basin (south Italy): a stream sediment approach

The Sarno river basin covers an area of 500 km² collecting the waters of Solofrana and Cavaiola tributaries. Originally it manly represents a source of livelihood for inhabitants by fishing and transporting goods; currently, the Sarno river, still partially used for irrigation, is affected by an extreme environmental degradation as a result of uncontrolled outflow of industrial waste. Within the framework of a wider geochemical prospecting project aiming at characterizing the whole territory of the Campania region, 89 stream sediment samples with a sampling density of 1 sample per 5 km² were collected in the river basin and analyzed by means of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in order to assess the environmental conditions at a regional scale. A GIS-aided technique, based on both the actual distribution of potentially harmful elements and their regional background values, was used to generate the maps of the contamination factors and of the contamination degrees for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn. Furthermore, a factor analysis was performed to assess the nature and the extent of contamination sources for the river sediments. Results showed that the Sarno river basin could be divided in two “environmental status” units: one, low contaminated, corresponding to the hilly and mountain areas, and the second, from moderately to very highly contaminated, corresponding to the economically developed areas of the valley floor characterized by a high population density. This work was developed within a project that aims to investigate the relationships between environmental pollution and human health by analyzing environmental media (stream sediments, water, soil and vegetation) together with human hair of resident population. In this context, the spatial correlation between the extremely compromised environmental conditions of developed areas and the incidence rate of liver cancer in the same area was also explored posing the need of a careful costs/benefits analysis to assess whether the deterioration of the environment, that could adversely affect the conditions of public health, is worth the economic development.