A study on the elimination of 137Cs in mussels under contaminated fields and laboratory conditions

The natural depuration or bioelimination of ^l37Cs was investigated in Mytilus galloprovincialis under contaminated field and laboratory conditions. The depuration result represented by a single component and biological half‐life was found to be 63 days under Chernobyl condition during 1986–1987. On the other hand, the biological half‐life of ¹³⁷Cs were found in the range 19.7–27.1 days in the laboratory experiment. The bioelimination process was also found biphasic and dependent of temperature at 5°C and 13°C under laboratory conditions. The results obtained in the contaminated field and the laboratory are not comparable in the mussels.     

Climate forecasts in disaster management: Red Cross flood operations in West Africa, 2008

In 2008, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) used a seasonal forecast for West Africa for the first time to implement an Early Warning, Early Action strategy for enhanced flood preparedness and response. Interviews with disaster managers suggest that this approach improved their capacity and response. Relief supplies reached flood victims within days, as opposed to weeks in previous years, thereby preventing further loss of life, illness, and setbacks to livelihoods, as well as augmenting the efficiency of resource use. This case demonstrates the potential benefits to be realised from the use of medium‐to‐long‐range forecasts in disaster management, especially in the context of potential increases in extreme weather and climate‐related events due to climate variability and change. However, harnessing the full potential of these forecasts will require continued effort and collaboration among disaster managers, climate service providers, and major humanitarian donors.     

Disturbance and resource availability act differently on the same suite of plant traits: revisiting assembly hypotheses

Understanding the mechanisms of trait selection at the scale of plant communities is a crucial step toward predicting community assembly. Although it is commonly assumed that disturbance and resource availability constrain separate suites of traits, representing the regenerative and established phases, respectively, a quantification and test of this accepted hypothesis is still lacking due to limitations of traditional statistical techniques. In this paper we quantify, using structural equation modeling (SEM), the relative contributions of disturbance and resource availability to the selection of suites of traits at the community scale. Our model specifies and reflects previously obtained ecological insights, taking disturbance and nutrient availability as central drivers affecting leaf, allometric, seed, and phenology traits in 156 (semi-) natural plant communities throughout The Netherlands. The common hypothesis positing that disturbance and resource availability each affect a set of mutually independent traits was not consistent with the data. Instead, our final model shows that most traits are strongly affected by both drivers. In addition, trait-trait constraints are more important in community assembly than environmental drivers in half of the cases. Both aspects of trait selection are crucial for correctly predicting ecosystem processes and community assembly, and they provide new insights into hitherto underappreciated ecological interactions.     

Beachgoers’ perceptions of sandy beach conditions: demographic and attitudinal influences,and the implications for beach ecosystem management

Sandy beaches represent typical venues for recreation and tourism worldwide, as well as part of the lifestyle and identity of coastal communities. Their overexploitation, however, threatens their survival. Especially in urban areas, beach management requires balancing needs by different users and obligations to protect beach functions, including conservation. In light of this, research about the human dimension of beach ecosystems has been advanced as a way to assist planning and decision making in beach management. This study assessed beachgoers' perceptions of sandy beach conditions in South Africa, by means of a questionnaire survey. The effects of demographic profile, travelling habits, motivations to visit, and recreational preferences on beachgoers' perceptions of beach conditions were tested. Beachgoers shared a general concern for the wellbeing of sandy beaches, with particular reference to the state of biodiversity and conservation. They also gave great importance to the values underlying beach ecosystems. Three motivations to visit groups and four recreational preferences types were identified. Demography, travelling habits, motivations to visit, and recreational preferences all influenced perceptions of beach conditions. The results from this study were used to draw management recommendations, with particular attention towards the promotion of conservation while also maintaining the recreational quality of urban sandy beaches. The results also highlighted the relevance of considering users' views as a tool in decision-making processes in Integrated Coastal Zone Management.     

Convection under internal waves in an alpine lake

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Turbulent mixing processes in deep alpine Lake Garda (I) have not extensively been observed. Knowledge about drivers of turbulent fluxes are important for insights...     

Modelling piloted ignition of wood and plastics

To gain insight in the startup of an incinerator, this article deals with piloted ignition. A newly developed model is described to predict the piloted ignition times of wood, PMMA and PVC. The model is based on the lower flammability limit and the adiabatic flame temperature at this limit. The incoming radiative heat flux, sample thickness and moisture content are some of the used variables. Not only the ignition time can be calculated with the model, but also the mass flux and surface temperature at ignition. The ignition times for softwoods and PMMA are mainly under-predicted. For hardwoods and PVC the predicted ignition times agree well with experimental results. Due to a significant scatter in the experimental data the mass flux and surface temperature calculated with the model are hard to validate. The model is applied on the startup of a municipal waste incineration plant. For this process a maximum allowable primary air flow is derived. When the primary air flow is above this maximum air flow, no ignition can be obtained.     

First-trimester prenatal diagnosis of the nijmegen breakage syndrome and ataxia telangiectasia using an assay of radioresistant dna synthesis

Prenatal diagnosis was performed in two pregnancies at risk of the Nijmegen breakage syndrome. In one pregnancy, an affected fetus was diagnosed by demonstration of radioresistant DNA synthesis, using autoradiographic detection of incorporated tritiated thymidine in cultured chorionic villus cells. The diagnosis was confirmed in fetal skin fibroblasts. In the other case, the fetus appeared unaffected. Using the same procedure, unaffected fetuses were predicted from chorionic villus cells in two pregnancies at risk of ataxia telangiectasia, which is another genetic disorder showing the feature of radioresistant DNA synthesis. The present biochemical method for prenatal detection of Nijmegen breakage syndrome and ataxia telangiectasia can be used as a simplified alternative to the cytogenetic procedures reported earlier for ataxia telangiectasia.     

Demarcating coastal vegetation buffers with multicriteria evaluation and GIS at Saldanha Bay, South Africa

The Saldanha-Langebaan coastal zone forms an integral part of the South African coastal resource base. As elsewhere in the world, an acute need exists to balance development and economic growth and conservation in the coastal zone as an exploitable resource frontier area. Vegetated buffers and greenways are conservation concepts that have been used with great success in such conservation efforts. They are applied in the study area through the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) as spatial decision-support system to legitimize the demarcation of a vegetated buffer zone. The method of multicriteria evaluation, as applied here, incorporates public decision-making in constructing an objective model for buffer zone demarcation. Representatives from interested and affected parties participated in model construction and calibration, resulting in the spatial delimitation of a multifunctional vegetated buffer. It conforms to a range of functional criteria and can serve as an environmental element in coastal conservation planning frameworks.