Study of meteorological aspects and urban concentration of SO2 in atmospheric environment of La Plata, Argentina

This article presents and discusses SO(2) (ppbv) concentration measurements combined with meteorological data (mainly wind speed and direction) for a five-year campaign (1996 to 2000), in a site near an oil refinery plant close to the city of La Plata and surroundings (aprox. 740.000 inh.), considered one of the six most affected cities by air pollution in the country. Since there is no monitoring network in the area, the obtained results should be considered as medium term accumulated data that enables to determine trends by analyzing together gas concentrations and meteorological parameters. Preliminary characterization of the behaviour of the predominant winds of the region in relation with potential atmospheric gas pollutants from seasonal wind roses is possible to carry out from the data. These results are complemented with monthly averaged SO(2) measurements. In particular, for year 2000, pollutant roses were determined which enable predictions about contamination emission sources. As a general result we can state that there is a clear increase in annual SO(2) concentration and that the selected site should be considered as a key site for future survey monitoring network deployment. Annual SO(2) average concentration and prevailing seasonal winds determined in this work, together with the potential health impact of SO(2) reveals the need for a comprehensive and systematic study involving particulate matter an other basic pollutant gases.     

Opportunities for redistributed manufacturing and digital intelligence as enablers of a circular economy

The linear production of consumer goods is characterised by mass manufacture by multinational enterprises and globally dispersed supply chains. The current centralised model has created a distance between the manufacturer and end user, limiting the opportunity for intelligent circular approaches for production and consumption. Through a mixed method approach, opportunities of circularity are explored for the consumer goods sector. The study presents four lenses to analyse three enterprises through a multi-case study approach to explore the potential of digital intelligence and redistributed manufacturing (RDM) as enablers of circular business models. In addition, the study examines whether Discrete Event Simulation can be used to evaluate the circular scenarios identified through quantifying flows of material that determine traditional economic value (cost/tonne). The mixed method approach demonstrates that, a qualitative systemic analysis can reveal opportunities for circularity, gained through implementing ‘digital intelligence’ and distributed models of production and consumption. Furthermore, simulations can provide a quantified evaluation on the effects of introducing circular activities across a supply chain.     

Adaptive response criteria in road hazard detection among older drivers

Objectives: The majority of existing investigations on attention, aging, and driving have focused on the negative impacts of age-related declines in attention on hazard detection and driver performance. However, driving skills and behavioral compensation may accommodate for the negative effects that age-related attentional decline places on driving performance. In this study, we examined an important question that had been largely neglected in the literature linking attention, aging, and driving: can top-down factors such as behavioral compensation, specifically adaptive response criteria, accommodate the negative impacts from age-related attention declines on hazard detection during driving?

Methods: In the experiment, we used the Drive Aware Task, a task combining the driving context with well-controlled laboratory procedures measuring attention. We compared younger (n = 16, age 21–30) and older (n = 21, age 65–79) drivers on their attentional processing of hazards in driving scenes, indexed by percentage of correct responses and reaction time of hazard detection, as well as sensitivity and response criteria using signal detection analysis.

Results: Older drivers, in general, were less accurate and slower on the task than younger drivers. However, results from this experiment revealed that older, but not younger, drivers adapted their response criteria when the traffic condition changed in the driving scenes. When there was more traffic in the driving scene, older drivers became more liberal in their responses, meaning that they were more likely to report that a driving hazard was detected.

Conclusions: Older drivers adopt compensatory strategies for hazard detection during driving. Our findings showed that, in the driving context, even at an older age our attentional functions are still adaptive according to environmental conditions. This leads to considerations on potential training methods to promote adaptive strategies that may help older drivers maintain performance in road hazard detection.     

Aquaculture expansion in Brazilian freshwaters against the Aichi Biodiversity Targets

The Convention on Biological Diversity proposed the Aichi Biodiversity Targets to improve conservation policies and to balance economic development, social welfare, and the maintenance of biodiversity/ecosystem services. Brazil is a signatory of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and is the most diverse country in terms of freshwater fish, but its national policies have supported the development of unsustainable commercial and ornamental aquaculture, which has led to serious disturbances to inland ecosystems and natural resources. We analyzed the development of Brazilian aquaculture to show how current aquaculture expansion conflicts with all 20 Aichi Targets. This case suggests that Brazil and many other megadiverse developing countries will not meet international conservation targets, stressing the need for new strategies, such as the environmental management system, to improve biodiversity conservation.     

Do tailings from the Mariana,MG (Brazil), disaster affect the initial development of millet,maize, and sorghum?

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The collapse of the Fundão dam in Mariana, MG, in 2015 resulted in the overflow of more than 50 million m3 of mud containing mine tailings,...     

Land-use and land-cover effects on regional biodiversity distribution in a subtropical dry forest: a hierarchical integrative multi-taxa study

Latin American subtropical dry ecosystems have experienced significant human impact for more than a century, mainly in the form of extensive livestock grazing, forest products extraction, and agriculture expansion. We assessed the regional-scale effect of land use and land cover (LULC) on patterns of richness distribution of trees, birds, amphibians, and mammals in the Northern Argentine Dry Chaco (NADC) over c. 19 million hectares. Using species distribution models in a hierarchical framework, we modeled the distributions of 138 species. First, we trained the models for the entire Argentinean Chaco with climatic and topographic variables. Second, we modeled the same species for the NADC including the biophysical variables identified as relevant in the first step plus four LULC-related variables: woody biomass, distance to crops, density of livestock-based rural settlements (puestos), and vegetation cover. Third, we constructed species richness maps by adding the models of individual species and considering two situations, with and without LULC variables. Four, richness maps were used for assessing differences when LULC variables are added and for determining the main drivers of current patterns of species richness. We found a marked decrease in species richness of the four groups as a consequence of inclusion of LULC variables in distribution models. The main factors associated with current richness distribution patterns (both negatively) were woody biomass and density of livestock puestos. Species richness in present-day Semiarid Chaco landscapes is strongly affected by LULC patterns, even in areas not transformed to agriculture. Regional-scale biodiversity planning should consider open habitats such as grasslands and savannas in addition to woodlands.     

Income and Price Elasticities of Bushmeat Demand in Lowland Amerindian Societies

Abstract: Consumption of bushmeat is an important component of household economies in most tropical forested regions of the world and is resulting in unsustainable levels of hunting, even in relatively isolated regions. We conducted standardized surveys of household consumption, income, wealth, and education level among Amerindian societies in Central and South America. Results suggest 1) demand for bushmeat may follow an inverted ∪ pattern with income, 2) consumers, particularly the most well-off, reduce their consumption of bushmeat as the price increases; and 3) a small decrease in the price of meat from domesticated animals is likely to lead to a large decrease in the consumption of fish but not of bushmeat. Policy makers may be able to reduce demand for bushmeat by raising the price of bushmeat, by increasing the direct and opportunity costs of hunting, and by raising household income.     

Development and application of a video-mosaic survey technology to document the status of coral reef communities

The recent decline in the condition of coral reef communities worldwide has fueled the need to develop innovative assessment tools to document coral abundance and distribution rapidly and effectively. While most monitoring programs rely primarily on data collected in situ by trained divers, digital photographs and video are used increasingly to extract ecological indicators, provide a permanent visual record of reef condition, and reduce the time that divers spend underwater. In this study, we describe the development and application of a video-based reef survey methodology based on an algorithm for image registration and the estimation of image motion and camera trajectory. This technology was used to construct two-dimensional, spatially accurate, high-resolution mosaics of the reef benthos at a scale of up to 400 m². The mosaics were analyzed to estimate the size and percent cover of reef organisms and these ecological indicators of reef condition were compared to similar measurements collected by divers to evaluate the potential of the mosaics as monitoring tools. The ecological indicators collected by trained divers compared favorably with those measured directly from the video mosaics. Five out of the eight categories chosen (hard corals, octocorals, Palythoa, algal turf, and sand) showed no significant differences in percent cover based on survey method. Moreover, no significant differences based on survey method were found in the size of coral colonies. Lastly, the capability to extract the same reef location from mosaics collected at different times proved to be an important tool for documenting change in coral abundance as the removal of even small colonies (<10 cm in diameter) was easily documented. The two-dimensional video mosaics constructed in this study can provide repeatable, accurate measurements on the reef-plot scale that can complement measurements on the colony-scale made by divers and surveys conducted at regional scales using remote sensing tools.     

Ionic species associated with PM2.5 in the City of Guadalajara, México during 2007

Atmospheric aerosol particles were collected from January to December 2007 at two sites in the City of Guadalajara. The first site (Centro) is located in the downtown, which is characterized by high vehicular traffic, and the second site (Miravalle) is in the southern part of the city, characterized by emissions from high industrial and vehicular activity. Sulfates, nitrates, and ammonium were the most abundant ions at both sites. Similar concentrations of sulfates, nitrates, and ammonium were observed throughout the year at Centro while only sulfates and nitrates were similar at Miravalle. From the balance of anions and cations at the two sites, Centro was determined to have acidic particles, while at Miravalle, the particles were alkaline. Based on the analysis of the ammonium/sulfate molar ratios, it was determined that in Centro, there was not enough ammonium to neutralize the sulfate, while at Miravalle, ammonium practically neutralized all sulfate.     

Assessment of trace metals and porphyrins in excreta of Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) in different locations of the northern coast of Chile

To add data on trace metal contamination of Humboldt penguins in the South Pacific, levels of trace metals (As, Hg, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Cd) and porphyrins (copro-, uro-, and proto-) in excreta of Humboldt penguins that inhabit some important nesting sites on the northern coast of Chile were determined. Fresh excreta were collected on Pan de Azúcar Island, Chañaral Island, and Cachagua Island, from December 2011 to January 2012. Concentration of metals was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry, whereas porphyrins levels were measured by fluorimetric analysis. Concentrations (dry weight) of Cu (199.67 μg g^?1), As (7.85 μg g^?1), and Pb (12.78 μg g^?1) were higher (p?≤?0.05) in Cachagua Island. Colonies from Pan de Azúcar Island showed the highest levels of Hg (0.76 μg g^?1), Cd (47.70 μg g^?1), and Zn (487.10 μg g^?1). Samples from Cachagua Island showed the highest (p?≤?0.05) levels of copro- (2.16 nmol g^?1), uro- (2.20 nmol g^?1), and protoporphyrins (2.23 nmol g^?1). There was a positive correlation between the metals As, Pb, and Cu with uro-, copro-, and protoporphyrins. The results indicated that penguin colonies from Cachagua Island are more exposed to metal contamination than penguin colonies from Pan de Azúcar and Chañaral Islands, thus being more likely to develop certain diseases caused by contamination with metals. Considering biomagnification, the metals detected in the excreta of Humboldt penguins can be a source of contamination from marine environments to terrestrial ecosystems, which could also affect other living organisms.