Analysis of welding fumes: A short note on the comparison between two sampling techniques

It is well established that welding fumes contain toxic substances, and that its composition is dependent on multiple factors, such as nature of the welding process and chemical compositions of the welding consumables and base materials. In order to prevent accidents and, thus to contribute to the safety of protection of welders, the establishment of a database on welding fume components is considered as essential. This has led to the development and upgradation of sampling techniques of welding fumes. Up to now, few standard techniques exist in this area. This study describes the results of the analysis of welding fumes, in terms of heavy metals, for a set of welding electrodes commonly used in carbon steel manufacture. Sampling was done by two different techniques: using the one currently known as “fume box” and common techniques in workplace atmospheres.     

Alteration of photosystem II activity by atrazine on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii synchronized and asynchronized cell cycle cultures

Inhibition of photosystem II (PSII) activity by atrazine was investigated in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii during different states of the cell cycle. The algal cultures were maintained under continuous light or under light/dark cycle (16/8?h) to obtain homogenized cell cycle distribution. The cycle state of algal population was determined by the DNA content using flow cytometry and defined as newly divided cells before the initiation of DNA replication (G₀/G₁) and cells at the end of the replication cycle with fully duplicated DNA content (G₂/M). Under different synchronized states of the cell population, the photosynthetic activity was investigated after treatment at 10, 100, and 1000?µmol?L^?1 atrazine exposed for 24?h by using fluorescence parameters related to PSII activity measured with a plant efficiency analyzer and pulse-amplitude modulated methods. In this study, we found that the atrazine effect was different depending on cell cycle phases and the period of illumination. Algal cells under light–dark cycle showed inhibition of the PSII electron transport leading to an increase of heat energy dissipation by the PSII reaction center. Algal cells grown under continuous light was shown to be more resistant to atrazine than the cells grown under light–dark cycle.     

Evaluating sustainable land use for the Değirmendere valley: A case study from northeastern Turkey

Regional land-use development projects are undertaken to protect water resources necessary for agriculture, energy and sustaining human life. The De?irmendere valley, in the province of Trabzon in the Black Sea region of Turkey, provides clean water to the city of Trabzon. The valley is part of the Silk Road from Asia to the Black Sea and contains historical monasteries such as Sumela, Kustul and Vazelon. However, over the years, misuse of the valley has caused freshwater, sea and environmental pollution. In an attempt to overcome these problems, a multilateral project, De?irmendere Vadisi Çevre Düzenlemesi (DEVAÇED), was launched in the region. This paper aims to provide information necessary for engineering projects within the region. Six villages, on both sides of the valley, were selected for this research and evaluated in terms of river basin utilization, topography, cadastral survey of property and ownership, and land readjustment improvements. The study found illegal and improper urbanization, including industrial facilities within the valley causing water pollution. Current cadastral base maps are not sufficiently accurate for engineering projects, and in some places buildings have been constructed on unstable soils that are susceptible to landslides. The research results have helped to generate important recommendations for rehabilitation of the river basin.     

Ocean acidification and temperature rise: effects on calcification during early development of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis

This study investigated the effects of seawater pH (i.e., 8.10, 7.85 and 7.60) and temperature (16 and 19 °C) on (a) the abiotic conditions in the fluid surrounding the embryo (viz. the perivitelline fluid), (b) growth, development and (c) cuttlebone calcification of embryonic and juvenile stages of the cephalopod Sepia officinalis. Egg swelling increased in response to acidification or warming, leading to an increase in egg surface while the interactive effects suggested a limited plasticity of the swelling modulation. Embryos experienced elevated pCO₂ conditions in the perivitelline fluid (>3-fold higher pCO₂ than that of ambient seawater), rendering the medium under-saturated even under ambient conditions. The growth of both embryos and juveniles was unaffected by pH, whereas ⁴⁵Ca incorporation in cuttlebone increased significantly with decreasing pH at both temperatures. This phenomenon of hypercalcification is limited to only a number of animals but does not guarantee functional performance and calls for better mechanistic understanding of calcification processes.     

Significant work events and counterproductive work behavior: The role of fairness,emotions, and emotion regulation

In this diary study, we investigated multi‐level predictors of daily counterproductive work behavior (CWB) relying on the theoretical frameworks of affective events theory and the emotion‐centered model of CWB. We assessed significant work events, event‐based fairness perceptions, negative emotional reactions to work events, and employee CWB over a 10‐day period. We tested within‐person relations predicting CWB, and cross‐level moderating effects of two emotion regulation strategies (suppression and reappraisal). Results from a multi‐level path analysis revealed that significant work events had both direct and indirect effects on negative emotional reactions. Further, negative emotional reactions in turn mediated the relationships between significant work events and all forms of daily CWB as well as the relationship between event‐based fairness perceptions and daily CWB‐O. Results also supported the moderating role of reappraisal emotion regulation strategy on relations between significant work events and negative emotional reactions. Less support, however, was found for the moderating influence of suppression on the link between negative emotional reactions and CWB. Among the broad work event categories we identified, our supplemental analyses revealed that negative work events involving interactions with supervisors elicited the highest levels of employee negative emotional reactions. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal analysis of coastal erosion in Turkey: a case study Karasu coastal region

Coastal erosion may be caused by natural causes as well as human factors. Karasu town of the city of Sakarya in Turkey which is a touristic region on the Black Sea coast has been experienced a drastic coastal erosion. In recent years, this erosion reached the threatening dimensions for the structures in the settlement. According to the temporal analyses of Landsat satellite images, the maximum erosion on the coastline was detected 100 m between 1987–2013. The results of the study show that the harbour construct on the Karasu coast has the major impact on this event. The secondary factor is that the amount of the sediment carried by the Sakarya River was decreased in time due to different reasons. To prevent the coastal erosion, a series of offshore breakwaters were planned after the failed application of groins on the coastline. In this study, temporal changes of the coastline are investigated by the Landsat satellite data and land surveys, possible reasons of the erosion are discussed and the solutions are proposed regarding the coastal structures.     

Genetic diversity,clonality and connectivity in the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis: a multi-scale analysis in an insular,fragmented reef system

Clonality and genetic structure of the coral Pocillopora damicornis sensu lato were assessed using five microsatellites in 12 populations from four islands of the Society Archipelago (French Polynesia) sampled in June 2008. The 427 analysed specimens fell into 132 multilocus genotypes (MLGs), suggesting that asexual reproduction plays an important role in the maintenance of these populations. A haploweb analysis of ITS2 sequences of each MLG was consistent with all of them being conspecific. Genetic differentiation was detected both between and within islands, but when a single sample per MLG was included in the analyses, the populations turned out to be nearly panmictic. These observations provide further evidence of the marked variability in reproductive strategies and genetic structure of P. damicornis throughout its geographic range; comparison with results previously obtained for the congeneric species Pocillopora meandrina underlines the importance of life history traits in shaping the genetic structure of coral populations.     

Seasonality in reproduction of the deep-water pennatulacean coral Anthoptilum grandiflorum

The deep-sea pennatulacean coral Anthoptilum grandiflorum exhibits a cosmopolitan distribution and was recently determined to serve as habitat for other invertebrates and fish larvae in the northwest Atlantic. Colonies collected at bathyal depths between 2006 and 2010 in eastern Canada were analysed to determine their fecundity and characterize spatial and temporal trends in their reproductive cycle. Anthoptilum grandiflorum is a gonochoric broadcast spawner with a sex ratio that does not differ significantly from equality (although one hermaphrodite colony was observed). In male colonies, all the spermatocysts synthesized become mature over the annual cycle, while only ~21 % of the initial production of oocytes reaches maturity in female colonies. Female potential fecundity based on mature oocytes just before spawning was on average 13 oocytes polyp^?1; male potential fecundity was 48 spermatocysts polyp^?1. The spawning period of A. grandiflorum differs between geographic regions, from April (in southern Newfoundland) to July (in Labrador), closely following regional spring phytoplankton blooms after accounting for the deposition of planktic detritus. Release of oocytes by a live colony held in the laboratory was recorded in April 2011, coincident with field data for similar latitudes. Seawater temperatures at the time of spawning were around 3.6–4.8 °C in all regions and in the laboratory. Early stages of gametogenesis were detected in colonies collected shortly after the spawning season, and early and late growth stages occurred successively until December. Mature colonies were observed between April and July (depending on latitude). The diameter of mature oocytes (~1,100 μm maximum diameter) is consistent with lecithotrophic larval development.     

Evaluation of the Meteo-France response in ETEX release 1

During ETEX Meteo-France applied part of its emergency response system for critical events developped in the framework of the World Meteorological Organization environmental emergency response program. The atmospheric transport model used to forecast the evolution of a passive tracer is an eulerian model called MEDIA. In real time this model is driven by meteorological data from ARPEGE, the operational numerical weather prediction model available at the Meteo-France operation center. The overall evaluation of the results show that the model can reproduce the cloud displacement, but there exists a stretching in the transport direction. In the ATMES-II phase, the results are closer to the observations when meteorological data from the European Center for Medium range Weather Forecast are used. A simulation using analyzed meteorological data from ARPEGE every 6 h slightly improve the results comparing with the real-time experiment. All the simulations we performed reveal that the quality of the atmospheric transport model is strongly dependent on the quality of the driving numerical weather prediction model.