Towards a spatially explicit and quantitative vulnerability assessment of environmental change in Europe

Over the next century, society will increasingly be confronted with the impacts of global change (e.g. pollution, land use changes, and climate change). Multiple scenarios provide us with a range of possible changes in socio-economic trends, land uses and climate (i.e. exposure) and allow us to assess the response of ecosystems and changes in the services they provide (i.e. potential impacts). Since vulnerability to global change is less when society is able to adapt, it is important to provide decision makers with tools that will allow them to assess and compare the vulnerability of different sectors and regions to global change, taking into account exposure and sensitivity, as well as adaptive capacity. This paper presents a method that allows quantitative spatial analyses of the vulnerability of the human-environment system on a European scale. It is a first step towards providing stakeholders and policy makers with a spatially explicit portfolio of comparable projections of ecosystem services, providing a basis for discussion on the sustainable management of Europe’s natural resources.

Investigation of the antibacterial effects of silver-modified TiO2 and ZnO plasmonic photocatalysts embedded in polymer thin films

Nanosilver-modified TiO₂ and ZnO photocatalysts were studied against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on the surface and against naturally occurring airborne microorganisms. The photocatalysts/polymer nanohybrid films were prepared by spray coating technique on the surface of glass plates and on the inner surface of the reactive light source. The photoreactive surfaces were activated with visible light emitting LED light at λ?=?405 nm. The optical properties of the prepared photocatalyst/polymer nanohybrid films were characterized by diffuse reflectance measurements. The photocatalytic properties were verified with the degradation of ethanol by gas chromatography measurements. The destruction of the bacterial cell wall component was examined with transmission electron microscope. The antibacterial effect of the photocatalyst/polymer nanohybrid films was tested with different methods and with the associated standard ISO 27447:2009. With the photoreactive coatings, an extensive disinfectant film was developed and successfully prepared. The cell wall component of S. aureus was degraded after 1 h of illumination. The antibacterial effect of the nanohybrid films has been proven by measuring the decrease of the number of methicillin-resistant S. aureus on the surface and in the air as the function of illumination time. The photocatalyst/polymer nanohybrid films could inactivate 99.9 % of the investigated bacteria on different thin films after 2 h of illumination with visible light source. The reactive light source with the inner-coated photocatalyst could kill 96 % of naturally occurring airborne microorganisms after 48 h of visible light illumination in indoor air sample. The TEM results and the microbiological measurements were completed with toxicity tests carried out with Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence bacterium.     

Degradation of industrial surfactants by photocatalysis combined with ozonation

The efficiency of titanium dioxide-mediated photocatalytic degradation of pollutants can be enhanced by combination with another advanced oxidation procedure such as ozonation. Mineralization of hydroxy- and dihydroxybenzenesulfonate based on these methods, both individually and combined, was investigated by monitoring the total organic carbon content, sulfate concentration, pH, high-performance liquid chromatography as well as the absorption spectral changes. The mineralization efficiency of the combined procedure significantly exceeded the sum of those of the individual techniques. The comparison of the disappearance of the starting material and the formation of the sulfate ions indicates that desulfonation is not the primary step of the degradation. Moreover, in the case of the combined method, ring cleavage, and thus, partial mineralization can occur without desulfonation. Efficient degradation of other, widely used industrial surfactants, such as alkylbenzene sulfonates and alkyl ether sulfates, was also achieved by heterogeneous photocatalysis combined with ozonation, offering an applicable method for the removal of these pollutants.     

Preen gland removal increases plumage bacterial load but not that of feather-degrading bacteria

The preen gland is a holocrine sebaceous gland of the avian integument which produces an oily secretion that is spread on the plumage during preening. It has been suggested that birds may defend themselves against feather-degrading bacteria (FDB) and other potential pathogens using preen gland secretions. However, besides some in vitro studies, the in vivo bacterial inhibitory effects of the preen oil on the abundance of feather-associated bacterial species has not yet been studied in passerines. Here we tested the effect of gland removal on the abundance of FDB and other-cultivable bacterial loads (OCB) of male house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Our results did not support earlier results on in vitro antibacterial activity of preen oil against FDB since the absence of the preen gland did not significantly affect their loads related to the control birds. In contrast, we found that preen gland removal led to higher loads of OCB. This result suggests that the antimicrobial spectrum of the preen oil is broader than previously thought and that, by reducing the overall feather bacterial loads, the preen gland could help birds to protect themselves against a variety of potentially harmful bacteria.     

Insect biodiversity: underutilized bioresource for sustainable applications in life sciences

Regional Environmental Change - Due to the growing world population and changing eating habits, there is an increasing demand in sustainable alternative protein sources, whereas the available land...     

The synthetic pyrethroid isomers I. Preparation

Abstract

Enantiomers and racemic mixtures of selected benzilic esters using resolved and raceme permethrinic or chrysanthemic acids of high purity were synthesised via improved methods based on conventional steps. Nine basic structures of selected derivatives having hydrogen, bromo or phenoxy group at meta position were prepared including the well known insecticides of phenothrin, permethrin and cypermethrin. The optical purity of these compounds were determined via an NMR method applying chiral shift reagents. The configuration of the isomers of new a‐cyano‐benzyl esters were assigned via a rule realized by comparing the characteristic 1H NMR shifts of the dimethyl groups attached to the cyclopropane ring.     

The size and function of the internal inorganic carbon pool of the foraminifer Amphistegina lobifera

The existence of an internal inorganic carbon pool in the perforate foraminifer Amphistegina lobifera, as suggested recently (ter Kuile and Erez 1987), has been established by direct measurements using a new ¹⁴C tracer method. The imperforate species Amphisorus hemprichii does not contain such a pool. The size of the pool in A. lobifera is proportional to its calcification rate and approximately equals the amount of carbon incorporated into the skeleton during 24 h. Time course experiments show that inorganic carbon (Ci) is photoassimilated at constant rates by the algal symbionts, that the pool is filled to maximum capacity in ca. 24 h, and that Ci incorporation into the skeleton starts only after the pool is filled up. During the chase phase of pulsechase experiments, all ¹⁴C initially residing in the pool is transferred to the skeleton, indicating that the pool serves for calcification and not for photosynthesis. Uptake of Ci into the pool occurs only in the light, indicating that energy may be required for this process. Furthermore, calculations of the Ci concentration inside the pool suggest that it is higher by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude compared to seawater concentration, suggesting that its accumulation is an energy dependent process.     

Palaeopathological Fish Bones from Phosphorites of the Lake Manyara Area, Northern Tanzania – Fossil Evidence of a Physiological Response to Survival in an Extreme Biocenosis

In Plio/Pleistocene phosphorites at Minjingu, 5 km east of Lake Manyara, northern Tanzania, hyperostotic fish bones (Tilly bones) are preserved, which developed in a strongly alkaline, lacustrine environment. The palaeopathological addition of bony tissue to the normal skeleton of these fishes was analysed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), in thin sections under ordinary and polarised light, in microradiographs, with epifluorescence microscopy and their fluorine content was determined. The development of these structures is probably correlated with the high content of fluorine in this exceptional environment and denotes a physiological survival strategy in this ancient biocenosis.     

Kernfusion und das Energieproblem

The present understanding of the physics and technology problems of confining a hot plasma ring by magnetic fields and of heating it to such temperatures that thermonuclear fusions between deuterium and tritium nuclei provide the energy required to maintain this temperature seems to allow to predict the possibility of a self-sustaining thermonuclear reactor. Imbedding this chance into world energy scenarios for the next fifty years, it is shown that fusion reactors of a type of which each may supply about ten slow fission reactors with fissionable material may play a critical rôle by drastically reducing the number of required fast fission breeder reactors.     

The adaptive significance of acoustic spacing in male bushcrickets Tettigonia viridissima: a perturbation experiment

Summary A perturbation experiment was carried out in which the spacing between singing male bushcrickets, Tettigonia viridissima, was artificially manipulated. The experiment entailed releasing virgin females into an area in which caged males were either spaced evenly or in which a proportion of the males were clumped. There was large variation among males in the proportion of time spent singing (range 39–91% of total singing time). Singing activity was correlated with male body weight, but was not influenced by male spacing. Out of a total of 108 females released during the experiment, the majority (N=90) moved from their release points onto the cage of one of the closest singing males. More distant signalers sometimes attracted females when one of the closest males did not sing, or sang very little, during the period in which females were moving. When clumped, males were less successful in attracting females than when regularly spaced within the experimental area. Therefore, within a homogeneous habitat in which females are randomly distributed, male mating success will be maximized when males space out as far as possible from their competitors. As predicted, a regular dispersion of signaling males is the pattern observed in the preferred microhabitats of this species in nature. Offprint requests to: T. Eiriksson