A non-conformational QSAR study for plant-derived larvicides against Zika Aedes aegypti L. vector

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A set of 263 plant-derived compounds with larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae) vector is collected from the literature,...     

Open burning of household waste: Effect of experimental condition on combustion quality and emission of PCDD, PCDF and PCB

Open burning for waste disposal is, in many countries, the dominant source of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, dibenzofurans and biphenyls (PCDD/PCDF/PCB) release to the environment. To generate emission factors for open burning, experimental pile burns of about 100 kg of household waste were conducted with emissions sampling. From these experiments and others conducted by the same authors it is found that less compaction of waste or active mixing during the fire - “stirring” - promotes better combustion (as evidenced by lower CO/CO₂ ratio) and reduces emissions of PCDD/PCDF/PCB; an intuitive but previously undemonstrated result. These experiments also support previous results suggesting PCDD/PCDF/PCB generation in open burning - while still highly variable - tends to be greater in the later (smoldering) phases of burning when the CO/CO₂ ratio increases.     

A City Wide Assessment of the Financial Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting in Mexico City

We assess the potential financial benefits of rooftop rainwater harvesting (RWH) in Mexico City from the perspective of property owners and entrepreneurs. A bottom‐up approach was followed by evaluating RWH at individual buildings and aggregating the results to a borough/city level. We consider sector‐specific water demands, potable and nonpotable uses, and user‐specific water tariffs. We find that RWH is economically most beneficial for nondomestic users rather than for small domestic users, who are often the target of RWH interventions. Based on a net present value analysis, a potable RWH system is not favored for most domestic users under the current subsidized municipal water tariff structure. Our analysis only considers capital and maintenance expenses, and not other benefits related to increased access to water and reliability, or social benefits from a switch to a RWH system. If the initial capital expense for RWH is partly financed by transferring the water subsidy to an entrepreneur, then RWH becomes financially attractive for a wide range of domestic users. To improve water access in Mexico City, RWH is attractive in the most marginalized boroughs where water use is currently lower and precipitation is higher. For domestic users relying on trucked water, RWH can have great financial benefits. Our approach provides quantitative data with high spatial specificity, highlighting the places and types of users that would benefit most from RWH.     

Metal and nutrient dynamics in a eutrophic coastal lagoon (Óbidos, Portugal): the importance of observations at different time scales

Water and sediment quality was monitored at four sites of Óbidos coastal lagoon (Portugal) in February, May, July and October 2006, covering different hydrological conditions. Concentrations of nutrients and metals increased in autumn/winter, particularly in an inner branch with symptoms of eutrophication that receives a small tributary contaminated by agro-industrial activities. Moreover, concentrations of PO₄ ^3?, Si(OH)₄ and Mn (diffusive gradients of thin films (DGT)-measured) varied inversely with salinity. Additionally, that branch was monitored over 26-h in July 2006 to assess variations of water quality parameters, nutrients and metals on short timescale. During the night, O₂ in water reached a minimum of 40% saturation followed by a pronounced increase of DGT-measured metals and nutrients in water column: Fe and Mn (ten times); Cr, Co, PO₄ ^3? and Si(OH)₄ (six times). Enhancements were also registered for metal/Al ratios in suspended particulate matter: Mn, Cr and Cd (four to six times); Fe, Ni and Co (1.5 times). The metal distribution coefficients calculated along the 26-h survey showed a maximum at daylight suggesting a preferential association of metals with suspended particles. Data recorded under different hydrological conditions and over the 26-h survey allowed to address the influence of external and internal sources on water quality. The results of this study highlight the importance of day/night cycles on the availability of nutrients and metals in eutrophic environments.     

Toxicity persistence in runoff and soil from experimental soybean plots following insecticide applications

Persistence of toxicity in runoff water and soil was investigated in experimental soybean plots subjected to successive runoff events following pesticide application. Runoff events were produced by irrigation using a sprinkler system. The pesticides applied were cypermethrin and endosulfan, which are widely used in soy production in Argentina. Toxicity tests were performed on two abundant components of the regional fauna, the amphipod Hyalella curvispina and the fish Cnesterodon decemmaculatus. Runoffs from two pesticide applications were assayed at different stages of the growing season: an early application when the soil was almost bare and a late one close to harvest, when the ground was covered by vegetation and just before soy leaves fell. Toxicity to H. curvispina in runoff ceased almost one month after the early application of the two pesticides, while it persisted for over three months after the late application. Soil toxicity to H. curvispina and runoff toxicity to C. decemmaculatus followed the same pattern. Higher temperatures and solar radiation are likely to have enhanced insecticide degradation after the early application. Lower temperatures and solar radiation in combination with increased organic matter from litter probably contributed to the longer persistence of toxicity recorded after the late application, as compared with the early application. Cypermethrin caused no mortality to C. decemmaculatus after the early application, while endosulfan toxicity persisted for almost four months after the late one.     

Post-fire vegetation regrowth detection in the Deiva Marina region (Liguria-Italy) using Landsat TM and ETM+ data

Obtaining quantitative information about the recovery of fire-affected ecosystems is of utmost importance from the management and decision-making point of view. Nowadays the concern about natural environment protection and recovery is much greater than in the past. However, the resources and tools available for its management are still not sufficient. Thus, attention and precision is needed when decisions must be taken. Quantitative estimates on how the vegetation is recovering after a fire can be of help for evaluating the necessity of human intervention on the fire-affected ecosystem, and their importance will grow as the problem of forest fires, climate change and desertification increases.This article performs a comparison of methods to extract quantitative estimates of vegetation cover regrowth with Landsat TM and ETM+ data in an area that burned during the summer of 1998 in the Liguria region (Italy). In order to eliminate possible sources of error, a thorough pre-processing was carried out, including a careful geometric correction (reaching RMSE lower than 0.3 pixels), a topographic correction by means of a constrained Minnaert model and a combination of absolute and relative atmospheric correction methods. Pseudo Invariant Features (PIF) were identified by implementing an automated selection method based in temporal Principal Component Analysis (PCA), which has been called multi-Temporal n-Dimensional Principal Component Analysis (mT-nD-PCA).Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) was compared against quantitative vegetation indices which are based on well known traditional vegetation indices like Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI). Accuracy assessment was performed by regressing vegetation cover results obtained with each method against field data gathered during the fieldwork campaign carried out in the study area. Results obtained showed how vegetation cover fractions extracted from the NDVI based quantitative index were the most accurate, being superior to the rest of the techniques applied, including SMA.     

Mental health and media links based on five essential elements to promote psychosocial support for victims: the case of the earthquake in Chile in 2010

This paper reviews the role of news with respect to the mental health of a population exposed to a disaster. It is based on the five essential elements of psychosocial care presented by Stevan E. Hobfoll et al. (2007) that can be introduced after a potentially traumatic event: promoting a sense of safety, calming, self and collective efficacy, connectedness, and hope. This study developed a method to relate these elements to television coverage and applied it to the stories (n=1,169) aired by the main networks in Chile in the 72 hours after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck on 27 February 2010. Of the five elements, promoting a sense of safety occurred most often (82.72 per cent), whereas the others were barely present (less than 10 per cent). The study argues that these elements can increase the possibility of framing the news, given that the audience watching can also be affected by a disaster.     

A schematic sampling protocol for contaminant monitoring in raptors

Birds of prey, owls and falcons are widely used as sentinel species in raptor biomonitoring programmes. A major current challenge is to facilitate large-scale biomonitoring by coordinating contaminant monitoring activities and by building capacity across countries. This requires sharing, dissemination and adoption of best practices addressed by the Networking Programme Research and Monitoring for and with Raptors in Europe (EURAPMON) and now being advanced by the ongoing international COST Action European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility. The present perspective introduces a schematic sampling protocol for contaminant monitoring in raptors. We provide guidance on sample collection with a view to increasing sampling capacity across countries, ensuring appropriate quality of samples and facilitating harmonization of procedures to maximize the reliability, comparability and interoperability of data. The here presented protocol can be used by professionals and volunteers as a standard guide to ensure harmonised sampling methods for contaminant monitoring in raptors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01341-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Forward collision warning based on a driver model to increase drivers’ acceptance

Abstract

Objective: Systems that can warn the driver of a possible collision with a vulnerable road user (VRU) have significant safety benefits. However, incorrect warning times can have adverse effects on the driver. If the warning is too late, drivers might not be able to react; if the warning is too early, drivers can become annoyed and might turn off the system. Currently, there are no methods to determine the right timing for a warning to achieve high effectiveness and acceptance by the driver. This study aims to validate a driver model as the basis for selecting appropriate warning times. The timing of the forward collision warnings (FCWs) selected for the current study was based on the comfort boundary (CB) model developed during a previous project, which describes the moment a driver would brake. Drivers’ acceptance toward these warnings was analyzed. The present study was conducted as part of the European research project PROSPECT (“Proactive Safety for Pedestrians and Cyclists”).

Methods: Two warnings were selected: One inside the CB and one outside the CB. The scenario tested was a cyclist crossing scenario with time to arrival (TTA) of 4?s (it takes the cyclist 4?s to reach the intersection). The timing of the warning inside the CB was at a time to collision (TTC) of 2.6?s (asymptotic value of the model at TTA = 4?s) and the warning outside the CB was at TTC = 1.7?s (below the lower 95% value at TTA = 4?s). Thirty-one participants took part in the test track study (between-subjects design where warning time was the independent variable). Participants were informed that they could brake any moment after the warning was issued. After the experiment, participants completed an acceptance survey.

Results: Participants reacted faster to the warning outside the CB compared to the warning inside the CB. This confirms that the CB model represents the criticality felt by the driver. Participants also rated the warning inside the CB as more disturbing, and they had a higher acceptance of the system with the warning outside the CB. The above results confirm the possibility of developing wellsaccepted warnings based on driver models.

Conclusions: Similar to other studies’ results, drivers prefer warning times that compare with their driving behavior. It is important to consider that the study tested only one scenario. In addition, in this study, participants were aware of the appearance of the cyclist and the warning. A further investigation should be conducted to determine the acceptance of distracted drivers.