Thallium in fractions of soil formed on floodplain terraces

Two soils formed on the floodplain terrace of a rivulet flowing through the zinc-lead ore exploration area polluted with thallium and one soil from a floodplain terrace of the reference area were investigated in terms of thallium distribution between soil fractions. Such type of soil is formed on river floodplain terraces next to the main river channel and its composition records the history of river pollution. A sequential extraction of soil according to the BCR protocol was performed with an additional initial stage of extraction with water. Apart from labile thallium, thallium entrapped in the residual parent matter was also determined. Thallium was determined by flow-injection differential-pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. In all three cases, the major fraction is thallium entrapped in parent matter. Top soil from the polluted area contains 49.3% thallium entrapped in the residual parent matter, the bottom soil contains 41% while the reference soil contains 80% in this fraction. The major part of labile thallium is located in the reducible fraction (27.7% of total thallium in the top soil, 27% in the bottom soil and 12.4% of the reference soil). Second in terms of significance is the fraction of oxidizable thallium. The top soil contains 12% of total thallium concentration, the bottom soil contains 19% of total concentration, while the reference soil contains 4.1% of total concentration. The acid soluble/exchangeable fraction of thallium has almost the same significance as the oxidizable fraction. The top soil contains 10.4% of the total concentration, while the bottom soil contains 12% of the total concentration. Water soluble thallium concentration is very small. Comparison of the top and the bottom soil show that thallium has not been transported from the river channel onto the floodplain terrace over a long period.     

Intact anthracene inhibits photosynthesis in algal cells: a fluorescence induction study on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cw92 strain

Short-term (24h) experiments were performed to examine the effect of anthracene (ANT) on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cw92 grown in a batch culture system aerated with 2.5% CO(2). At concentrations ranging from 0.7 to 5.6 microM, ANT inhibited the growth of population in a concentration-dependent manner and EC(50) calculated amounted to 1.6 microM. At concentrations from 0.7 to 4.2 microM ANT stimulated respiration and inhibited the intensity of photosynthesis but did not affect chlorophyll content in the cells. ANT influenced chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters, measured by OJIP test (O, J, I and P are the different steps of fluorescence induction curve). ANT diminished the performance index (PI), the yield of primary photochemistry (phi(Po)), the yield of electron transport (phi(Epsilonomicron), the efficiency of moving the electron beyond Qa(-) (Psi(0)) and the fraction of active oxygen evolving complexes (OEC). The fraction of active PS II reaction centres in the treated samples dramatically dropped. The most pronounced changes in ANT-treated cells were observed in the stimulation of energy dissipation parameter (DI(0)/RC). The only OJIP parameter that was not influenced by ANT was energy absorption by photosynthetic antennae (ABS). The results lead to a conclusion that the inhibition of photosynthesis may be a consequence of unspecific ANT-membrane interaction, resulting from hydrophobic character of this hydrocarbon.     

Water-Soluble Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives Containing Carboxymethyl Starch with Improved Adhesion to Paper

Water-soluble pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) based on acrylic acid and carboxymethyl starch (CMS) have been prepared. The tack and peel adhesion to various paper types (newsprint, hygienic, packing, fax and art paper) as well as dynamic shear adhesion at higher temperatures (70–240?°C) have been tested with the aim of applying such PSA in a form of double-sided splicing tapes for paper industry. For all paper types tested tack and peel adhesion values increased with CMS content (0.1–10 wt% in PSA). The highest tack and peel adhesion values (for the system containing 10 wt% CMS) were noted for fax paper ca. 19.5 N/2.5 cm and 18.3 N/2.5 cm, respectively and the lowest ones for art paper: 14.7 N/2.5 cm and 13.5 N/2.5 cm, respectively. Obtained PSA were completely soluble in water, and the time of water-solubility depended on CMS content, as well as pH value, however it did not exceed 5 min.     

Proposal for an Indexical Method of Evaluating Risk of Hand Tool Operators’ Exposure to Mechanical Vibrations

The article presents proposals for an indexical evaluation of exposure of hand tool operators to vibrations. The presented indices have been developed on the basis of the results of laboratory tests. The examinations studied the effect of pressure force and grip force exerted by an operator on a hand tool as well as the amplitudes and frequencies of an exciting signal on vibrations transmitted in the hand-tool handle system.     

A Vibroacoustic Model of Selected Human Larynx Diseases

With the present development of digital registration and methods for processing speech it is possible to make effective objective acoustic diagnostics for medical purposes. These methods are useful as all pathologies and diseases of the human vocal tract influence the quality of a patient’s speech signal. Diagnostics of the voice organ can be defined as an unambiguous recognition of the current condition of a specific voice source. Such recognition is based on an evaluation of essential acoustic parameters of the speech signal. This requires creating a vibroacoustic model of selected deformations of Polish speech in relation to specific human larynx diseases. An analysis of speech and parameter mapping in 29-dimensional space is reviewed in this study. Speech parameters were extracted in time, frequency and cepstral (quefrency) domains resulting in diagrams that qualified symptoms and conditions of selected human larynx diseases. The paper presents graphically selected human larynx diseases.     

Ergonomics intervention on an alternative design of a spinal board

Nurses are often obliged to work in a 12-hr shift work system. We have decided to check whether such a working system constitutes an excessive load for nurses. On the basis of a questionnaire survey among nurses working in an 8-hr daytime shift system (169 nurses) and in a 12-hr shift (536 nurses), the amount of physical workload, work stress, and after-work activities were compared. Data analysis has shown that a 12-hr shift system is characterized by less significant physical workload but greater mental load. The nurses working in a 2-shift system were more tired after work, but they could spend more time on leisure activities and do housework. The data suggest that there are no significant contraindications for nurses to work in a 2-shift system.     

Quantification of carbon dioxide and methane emissions in urban areas: source apportionment based on atmospheric observations

Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) in the atmosphere constitute an important component of the related carbon budget. The main source of anthropogenic CO₂ is burning of fossil fuels, especially in densely populated areas. Similar emissions of CH₄ are associated with the agricultural sector, coal mining, and other human activities, such as waste management and storage and natural gas networks supplying methane to large urban, industrial centers. We discuss several methods aimed at characterizing and quantifying atmospheric loads and fluxes of CO₂ and CH₄ in Krakow, the second largest city in Poland. The methods are based on atmospheric observations of mixing ratios as well as isotopic composition of the investigated gases. Atmospheric mixing ratios of CO₂ and CH₄ were measured using gas chromatography (GC) and cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS). The isotopic composition of CO₂ and CH₄ was analyzed using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), and CRDS techniques. These data, combined with auxiliary information characterizing the intensity of vertical mixing in the lower atmosphere (height of the nocturnal boundary layer [NBL] and atmospheric ²²²Rn concentration), were further used to quantify emission rates of CO₂ and CH₄ in the urban atmosphere of Krakow. These methods provide an efficient way of quantifying surface emissions of major greenhouse gases originating from distributed sources, thus complementing the widely used bottom-up methodology based on emission statistics.

     

Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - The assessment of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants emitted to and removed from the atmosphere ranks high on international...     

Concentration of heavy metals in hair and skin of silver and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes)

The structure of hair and levels of main chemical elements (C, N, O, S, Cl, Ca, P, Al, Na) in the external layer of hair of silver and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in a non-industrialised, typically agricultural region of middle-west Poland was assessed using a scanning microscope. Additionally, analysis of the accumulation of certain heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in hair (washed) and skin (non-tanned) of those foxes was conducted. Heavy metal levels were determined using a spectrophotometric method (ICP-OES), and correlations between these levels in hair and skin were calculated. The microscopic external (morphological) and internal structures (histological) of the hair of farm and wild foxes were not differentiated; however, the hair of farm foxes (external layer) contained higher amounts of C, Na, Al and P. A significantly higher Pb content was noted in non-tanned skin of wild foxes in comparison to farm ones. In the case of farm foxes, a significantly higher Zn content in hair and Zn and Cu in skin was observed in comparison to wild ones. Positive significant correlations between Cr and Ni content (r = 0.622) and Zn and Cu (r = 0.721) in fox skin were noted. A similar relationship between Cr content in hair and Ni in skin (r = 0.643) and between Zn in hair and skin (r = 0.595) was also observed.     

Assessing river flood risk and adaptation in Europe—review of projections for the future

Flood damages have exhibited a rapid upward trend, both globally and in Europe, faster than population and economic growth. Hence, vigorous attempts of attribution of changes have been made. Flood risk and vulnerability tend to change over many areas, due to a range of climatic and nonclimatic impacts whose relative importance is site-specific. Flooding is a complex phenomenon and there are several generating mechanisms, among others intense and/or long-lasting precipitation, snowmelt, ice jam. Projected climate-driven changes in future flood frequency are complex, depending on the generating mechanism, e.g., increasing flood magnitudes where floods result of heavy rainfall and possibly decreasing magnitudes where floods are generated by spring snowmelt. Climate change is likely to cause an increase of the risk of riverine flooding across much of Europe. Projections of flood hazard in Europe based on climatic and hydrological models, reviewed in this paper, illustrate possible changes of recurrence of a 100-year flood (with probability of exceedance being 1-in-100 years) in Europe. What used to be a 100-year flood in the control period is projected to become either more frequent or less frequent in the future time horizon of concern. For a large part of the continent, large flooding is projected to become more commonplace in future, warmer climate. Due to the large uncertainty of climate projections, it is currently not possible to devise a scientifically-sound procedure for redefining design floods (e.g. 100-year flood) in order to adjust flood defenses. For the time being, we recommend to adjust design floods using a “climate change factor” approach.