This work investigates the physical-chemical evolution during artificial aging in water of four commercialized sunscreens containing TiO2-based nanocomposites. Sunscreens were analyzed in terms of mineralogy and TiO2 concentration. The residues formed after aging were characterized in size, shape, chemistry and surface properties. The results showed that a significant fraction of nano-TiO2 residues was released from all sunscreens, despite their heterogeneous behaviors. A stable dispersion of submicronic aggregates of nanoparticles was generated, representing up to 38 w/w% of the amount of sunscreen, and containing up to 30% of the total nano-TiO2 initially present in the creams. The stability of the dispersion was tested as a function of salt concentration, revealing that in seawater conditions, a major part of these nano-TiO2 residues will aggregate and sediment. These results were put in perspective with consumption and life cycle of sunscreens to estimate the amount of nano-TiO2 potentially released into AQUATIC environment. 相似文献
We present climate change projections and apply indices of weather extremes for the Mediterranean island Cyprus using data
from regional climate model (RCM) simulations driven by the IPCC A1B scenario within the ENSEMBLES project. Daily time-series
of temperature and precipitation were used from six RCMs for a reference period 1976–2000 and for 2026–2050 (‘future‘) for
representative locations, applying a performance selection among neighboring model grid-boxes. The annual average temperatures
of the model ensemble have a ±1.5°C bias from the observations (negative for maximum and positive for minimum temperature),
and the models underestimate annual precipitation totals by 4–17%. The climatological annual cycles for the observations fall
within the 1σ range of the 6-model average, highlighting the strength of using multi-model output. We obtain reasonable agreement
between models and observations for the temperature-related indices of extremes for the recent past, while the comparison
is less good for the precipitation-related extremes. For the future, the RCM ensemble shows significant warming of 1°C in
winter to 2°C in the summer for both maximum and minimum temperatures. Rainfall is projected to decrease by 2–8%, although
this is not statistically significant. Our results indicate the shift of the mean climate to a warmer state, with a relatively
strong increase in the warm extremes. The precipitation frequency is projected to decrease at the inland Nicosia and at the
coastal Limassol, while the mountainous Saittas could experience more frequent 5–15 mm/day rainfall. In future, very hot days
are expected to increase by more than 2 weeks/year and tropical nights by 1 month/year. The annual number of consecutive dry
days shows a statistically significant increase (of 9 days) in Limassol. These projected changes of the Cyprus climate may
adversely affect ecosystems and the economy of the island and emphasize the need for adaptation strategies. 相似文献
Eighteen representative sites for the Austrian grain-growing and eight for the potato-growing zones (soils and crops) were
investigated. On each site, total element contents (B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, P, Sr and Zn) were determined
in 4–12 varieties of winter wheat (n = 136), 6 varieties of spring durum wheat (n = 30), 5 varieties of winter durum wheat (n = 15), 7 varieties of rye (n = 49), 5 varieties of spring barley (n = 30) and 5 varieties of potatoes (n = 40). Element accumulations in grain species and potato tubers varied significantly with site conditions, with the main
exceptions for B in potatoes and wheat as well as for Zn, Cu and Co in durum wheat. On average, across all investigated sites,
differences in varieties occurred concerning the elements Ca, Cd, Ba, Sr and Zn (except Zn in potatoes and winter durum).
A rough estimation revealed that an average Austrian consumer of wheat, rye and potatoes meets more than 50% of the needs
of daily element intake for K, P and Mg, between 36 and 72% for Fe, Zn and Cu, and more than 100% for Co, Mo and Mn. In particular,
the elements Ca and Na have to be added from other sources. 相似文献
Efficient, economical treatment of mercury-contaminated soils and industrial wastes requires a treatment process that reduces mercury content to near background levels (<1 ppm) and recovers the removed mercury in pure recyclable form without producing liquid, solid, or gaseous secondary wastes. This article reviews the results achieved using a medium-temperature thermal desorption process developed and commercialized by Mercury Recovery Services, Inc. (MRS) that has successfully achieved these goals. 相似文献
Spheroidal carbonaceous particles(SCPs) are produced only from high temperaturecombustion of fossil-fuels. In mountain lakesystems, they provide an unambiguous indicator ofatmospheric deposition. In order to comparedepositional fluxes of SCPs between mountainareas experiencing various pollutant regimes,intensive bulk deposition sampling was undertakenat five sites across Europe. Catchment soil coresand lake sediment cores were also taken at eachsite to compare SCP storage over the post-industrial period. Atmospheric, sediment and soilSCP data showed similar patterns. Highestcontamination was found in Scotland, Slovakia andSpain with the Austrian site intermediate and themid-Norwegian site least contaminated. A highproportion of accumulated SCPs were found to bestored in catchment soils at each site.Therefore, a significant increase in soilerosion, possibly as a result of future climatechange, could lead to the input of largequantities of catchment stored SCPs and, byimplication, other atmospherically depositedcontaminants to the lake ecosystem. 相似文献
Ten cattle were treated with daily doses of five PCDD/F congeners, over a 4 week period. Four control animals were not treated. They were subsequently slaughtered as three groups, at 5, 18 and 31 weeks after the first dose. All congeners showed an increase in concentration within animal tissues when sampled at 5 weeks post-dosing. Concentrations had reduced after 18 weeks and there was a further small reduction after 31 weeks. Halflives for each congener were calculated at 13-21 weeks (93-148 days). Concentrations of congeners were different in the various tissues analysed. At 5 weeks after dosing commenced, concentrations in sub-cutaneous fat and in perirenal fat were close to 40 ng/kg (a predicted level based on 50% absorption of the dosed compounds). Concentrations on a fat basis in muscle tissue and liver were, however, about 5 and 10 times higher, respectively. The concentrations found in muscle tissue and liver samples taken at 18 and 31 weeks were approximately twice that found in fat deposits, thus the differences were still apparent, but at a reduced level. It is possible that the distribution phase was incomplete and that PCDD/Fs remained predominantly in association with circulating blood lipids rather than in equilibrium with depot fat. It follows that if livestock were recently exposed to PCDD/Fs (for example, through the consumption of contaminated feed), the analysis of depot fats would not necessarily provide a reliable indicator of the concentrations of PCDD/Fs in edible tissues. 相似文献
The perceived position of a moving object can be misleading because the object has advanced while its previous retinal image has been transmitted through the visual stream, leading to a mismatch between actual location and its neural representation. It has been suggested that the human visual system compensates for neural processing delays to retrieve instantaneous position. However, such a mechanism would require a precise measure of the actual delay in order to provide a reliable position estimate. A novel illusory deformation of moving contours demonstrates that humans misjudge the spatial relationship between parts of coherently moving targets, and therefore do not perfectly account for neural delays. The size of this deformation increases with growing speed. In some subjects this illusion can be reversed by varying the luminance of individual dots; a manipulation that affects the neural delays. Our experiments agree with other evidence that the capacity of the visual system to compensate for processing delays is limited. 相似文献
Insect neuropeptides are produced in less than 1% of the cells of the central nervous system. Despite this, they are important
messenger molecules which influence nearly all physiological processes, including behaviour. They can act as transmitters,
modulators and classical hormones, and often exhibit pleiotropic functions when released into the haemolymph. The large number
of neuropeptides that has been identified from some of the model organisms among insects underlines the complexity of the
neurosecretory system; studies about the coordinated actions of these substances are in their preliminary stages. Recent advances
in insect neuropeptide research will be reviewed here, concentrating on the distribution of multiple peptide forms in the
central nervous system and adjacent neurohaemal organs, and the role of neuropeptides in eclosion behaviour. 相似文献
Catch and acoustic telemetry data were used to test three predictions of lekking behaviour in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) at a small-scale spawning ground (∼25 km2) in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland: (1) that cod form male-skewed aggregations during spawning; (2) spawning arenas occur at consistent sites; and (3) on the arenas, there will be higher proportions of spawning fish. Forty-two fishing sets from 1998 to 2003 indicated male-skewed sets early in the spawning season (April) in 5 of 6 survey years. Male-skewed sets were consistently distributed at depths < 50 m and mostly in one part of the ground. The proportions of spawning females and spent males were significantly higher in male-skewed sets, whereas sets with equal sex ratios had significantly higher proportions of immature males and spent females. In addition, cod of both sexes were significantly larger in male-skewed sets. Telemetric tracking of 25 cod in 2002 and 2003 (12 males, 13 females) indicated that both males and females were highly mobile while present on the spawning ground. Overall, our results add support to the hypothesis that cod employ a lekking mating system. 相似文献