The potential conflict between traditional perceptions and environmental behavior: compost use by Muslim farmers

Although traditional societies often have a deep understanding of ecological relationships, traditional or religious values might be in conflict with current environmental values. According to Islamic Law, some compost sources used for agricultural purposes are impure, especially human and pig excreta. This study examined how Muslim farmers perceive the issue of impurity of compost sources and the extent to which the conflict between traditional and modern values affects compost use. Questionnaires were distributed to 77 Muslim and 11 Christian farmers in Israel, examining their personal characteristics, attitudes toward compost use, awareness of its sources and advantages, and the influence of traditional perceptions on the tendency to use compost. Interviews were conducted with agricultural consultants and Muslim clergy. Although the use of compost was limited, a higher level of awareness was found among the younger and/or more educated Muslim farmers. Varied attitudes were expressed regarding the degree of purity/impurity; 52 % of the respondents expressed willingness to use compost if derived from pure materials. The agricultural consultants were acquainted with Muslim farmers who recoiled from the use of compost. The Muslim religious leaders stated that impure substances can be purified through biochemical reactions during the composting process and noted that the use of compost is preferable if chemical fertilizers are harmful to the environment. Although Muslim farmers expressed willingness to use compost if it was proved to be pure according to Islam, this paper addresses how, in practical terms, universal environmental policies may give rise to value conflicts in traditional communities.     

Linkage of a geographical information system with the gleams model to assess nitrate leaching in agricultural areas

The GLEAMS (Groundwater Loading Effects of Agricultural Management Systems, Version 2.10) model was linked with a Geographical Information System (GIS) to evaluate the risk of nitrate pollution in an area of 230 km2 near Valencia (Spain). Under Mediterranean conditions, GLEAMS was calibrated and validated using results from field experiments on citrus orchards and vegetables grown in that area. A graphical user interface (GUI) was implemented in the GIS-model system to allow a non-specialist to run the model, and to represent simulation results as a thematic map. In order to execute the GLEAMS model, data must be grouped in five basic layers: four layers correspond to the base maps (soils, climate, land use, NO3 content in irrigation water), and the fifth layer corresponds to agricultural management practices, introduced in the system interacting to the GUI. To illustrate system capabilities. two rotations with crops in the vegetable area (potato/lettuce/onion/cauliflower, and artichoke/artichoke in 2 years rotation each), and orange trees in the citrus area, were simulated to determine the N leached in the study area. Pollution risk maps show that vegetable crops and areas irrigated with groundwater have the highest potential risk of groundwater nitrate pollution. Further analysis identified potato and artichoke (in the first year) to be the crops with the higher risk.     

Gas phase reactions of unsaturated esters with Cl atoms

Background, aim, and scope  

Acrylate and methacrylate esters are α,β-unsaturated esters that contain vinyl groups directly attached to the carbonyl carbon (CH₂=CHCOO– and CH₂=CCH₃COO–, respectively) and are widely used in the polymer plastic and resin production. Rate coefficients for Cl reactions for most of the unsaturated esters have not been previously determined, and a good understanding is needed of all the atmospheric oxidation processes of these compounds in order to determine lifetimes in the atmosphere and to evaluate the impact of these reactions on the formation of photo-oxidants and therefore on health and environment.     

Monitoring the fall of large atmospheric ice conglomerations: a multianalytical approach to the study of the Mejorada del Campo megacryometeor

Certain local atmospheric anomalies, such as the formation of unusually large ice conglomerations (megacryometeors), have been proposed to be a potential natural hazard for people and aviation, as well as geoindicators for fingerprinting larger-scale atmospheric environmental changes. On March 13th 2007, at approximately 10:15 am, an ice chunk weighing about 10 kg fell from the clear-sky and crashed through the roof (around 15 m) of an industrial storage house in Mejorada del Campo, a town located 20 km east from Madrid. The megacryometeor monitoring follow-up and the original investigation presented here includes, for the first time, both logistic and scientific collaboration between the Laboratory of the Environment, Criminalistic Service (SECRIM, the Spanish "Guardia Civil") and academic and scientific institutions (universities and the Spanish National Research Council). We propose that the management procedure of the incident, along with the detailed scientific research and combination of analytical methodologies in different laboratories, can serve as a protocol model for other similar events.     

The ultrasonic detection of an isolated craniosynostosis

The prenatal detection of scaphocephaly, an isolated form of craniosynostosis, is presented. The diagnosis was made at 34 weeks of gestation in a woman with polyhydramnios. The ultrasound appearance and postnatal follow-up are presented.     

Manganese toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster: extension of the life span by resveratrol

The effect of resveratrol was studied on the life span and motor activity of Drosophila melanogaster treated with manganese (Mn). Two days after emerging from the pupa, male wild type D. melanogaster were fed for 13 days with corn media containing 15?mM Mn. Thereafter, Drosophila were divided into six groups of 300 flies each: (1) the flies remained treated with Mn; (2) began treatment with 0.43?mM resveratrol (Mn-resveratrol group); (3) received no additional treatment (Mn-no treatment group); (4) simultaneously fed with Mn and resveratrol (Mn?+?resveratrol group). In addition, a control (5) with no treatment and another group (6) fed only with resveratrol after emerging from the pupa were included. All Mn-treated flies (group 1) were dead on the 25th day. The life span in the resveratrol group was 91?±?0.33 days (mean?±?S.E.M.) and in Mn-resveratrol flies was 83?±?2 days. These two values were significantly higher than those detected in the control (5) and Mn-no treatment (group 3) flies whose life span were 68?±?0.33 and 67?±?2.31 days, respectively. The Mn?+?resveratrol-fed flies had a markedly higher life span (31?±?1.53 days) than Mn-fed flies (23?±?0.88 days). In the flies that received Mn (Mn and Mn?+?resveratrol groups), the motor activity decreased significantly with respect to control (groups 5) and the Mn–resveratrol and resveratrol groups. In conclusion, resveratrol increased significantly the life span of Mn-treated D. melanogaster.     

Are functional traits good predictors of demographic rates? Evidence from five neotropical forests

A central goal of comparative plant ecology is to understand how functional traits vary among species and to what extent this variation has adaptive value. Here we evaluate relationships between four functional traits (seed volume, specific leaf area, wood density, and adult stature) and two demographic attributes (diameter growth and tree mortality) for large trees of 240 tree species from five Neotropical forests. We evaluate how these key functional traits are related to survival and growth and whether similar relationships between traits and demography hold across different tropical forests. There was a tendency for a trade-off between growth and survival across rain forest tree species. Wood density, seed volume, and adult stature were significant predictors of growth and/or mortality. Both growth and mortality rates declined with an increase in wood density. This is consistent with greater construction costs and greater resistance to stem damage for denser wood. Growth and mortality rates also declined as seed volume increased. This is consistent with an adaptive syndrome in which species tolerant of low resource availability (in this case shade-tolerant species) have large seeds to establish successfully and low inherent growth and mortality rates. Growth increased and mortality decreased with an increase in adult stature, because taller species have a greater access to light and longer life spans. Specific leaf area was, surprisingly, only modestly informative for the performance of large trees and had ambiguous relationships with growth and survival. Single traits accounted for 9-55% of the interspecific variation in growth and mortality rates at individual sites. Significant correlations with demographic rates tended to be similar across forests and for phylogenetically independent contrasts as well as for cross-species analyses that treated each species as an independent observation. In combination, the morphological traits explained 41% of the variation in growth rate and 54% of the variation in mortality rate, with wood density being the best predictor of growth and mortality. Relationships between functional traits and demographic rates were statistically similar across a wide range of Neotropical forests. The consistency of these results strongly suggests that tropical rain forest species face similar trade-offs in different sites and converge on similar sets of solutions.     

Characterization of bacteria with phenol-oxidase activity from soil in the La Laguna area (Spain)

A total of 168 bacterial strains isolated from soil of the La Laguna area (Tenerife Island, Spain) were characterized and assayed for phenol-oxidase enzymes (as an indicator of lignolytic capability).     

Costs of the electrochemical oxidation of wastewaters: a comparison with ozonation and Fenton oxidation processes

In the work described here the technical and economic feasibilities of three Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) have been studied: Conductive-Diamond Electrochemical Oxidation (CDEO), Ozonation and Fenton oxidation. The comparison was made by assessing the three technologies with synthetic wastewaters polluted with different types of organic compounds and also with actual wastes (from olive oil mills and from a fine-chemical manufacturing plant). All three technologies were able to treat the wastes, but very different results were obtained in terms of efficiency and mineralization. Only CDEO could achieve complete mineralization of the pollutants for all the wastes. However, the efficiencies were found to depend on the concentration of pollutant (mass transfer control of the oxidation rate). Results obtained in the oxidation with ozone (at pH 12) or by Fenton's reagent were found to depend on the nature of the pollutants, and significant concentrations of oxidation-refractory compounds were usually accumulated during the treatment. Within the discharge limits that all of the technologies can reach, the economic analysis shows that the operating cost of Fenton oxidation is lower than either CDEO or ozonation, although CD\EO can compete satisfactorily with the Fenton process in the treatment of several kinds of wastes. Likewise, the investment cost for the ozonation process seems to be higher than either CDEO or Fenton oxidation, regardless of the pollutant treated.