Characterization of Particulates from Power Plants

The emphasis on participate control from industrial processes has been shifted recently towards fine particulates, having diameters less than 3 microns. There exists an urgent need for more scientific information of fine particle characterization.^1,2 Coal and oil fired power plants are among the largest anthropogenic point sources of particulate matter.³ Limited knowledge is available on particle size distribution and trace metal composition in power plant emissions.^4-7 The morphological properties of particle emissions have been largely neglected. In this report we present some information on particle characteristics for an oil-fired and coal-fired power plant.     

Benefits of protected areas for nonbreeding waterbirds adjusting their distributions under climate warming

Climate warming is driving changes in species distributions and community composition. Many species have a so-called climatic debt, that is, shifts in range lag behind shifts in temperature isoclines. Inside protected areas (PAs), community changes in response to climate warming can be facilitated by greater colonization rates by warm-dwelling species, but also mitigated by lowering extirpation rates of cold-dwelling species. An evaluation of the relative importance of colonization-extirpation processes is important to inform conservation strategies that aim for both climate debt reduction and species conservation. We assessed the colonization-extirpation dynamics involved in community changes in response to climate inside and outside PAs. To do so, we used 25 years of occurrence data of nonbreeding waterbirds in the western Palearctic (97 species, 7071 sites, 39 countries, 1993–2017). We used a community temperature index (CTI) framework based on species thermal affinities to investigate species turnover induced by temperature increase. We determined whether thermal community adjustment was associated with colonization by warm-dwelling species or extirpation of cold-dwelling species by modeling change in standard deviation of the CTI (CTI_SD). Using linear mixed-effects models, we investigated whether communities in PAs had lower climatic debt and different patterns of community change than communities outside PAs. For CTI and CTI_SD combined, communities inside PAs had more species, higher colonization, lower extirpation, and lower climatic debt (16%) than communities outside PAs. Thus, our results suggest that PAs facilitate 2 independent processes that shape community dynamics and maintain biodiversity. The community adjustment was, however, not sufficiently fast to keep pace with the large temperature increases in the central and northeastern western Palearctic. Our results underline the potential of combining CTI and CTI_SD metrics to improve understanding of the colonization-extirpation patterns driven by climate warming.     

Analytik von Umwandlungsprodukten des Schwefellosts (S-LOST)

The results of investigations of the aquatic ecotoxicity of sternutators and their metabolites (phenyl arsenic compounds) are presented. The standardized luminescence inhibition test (LumisTox, Dr. Lange) with the marine bacteriaVibrio fischeri was applied according to the German norm DIN 38412, part 34. All investigated organic AS(III) compounds exhibit EC₅₀-values (50 % inhibition of the luminescence) of less than 1 mg/l, whereas all investigated organic As(V) compounds and inorganic arsenic show EC₅₀-values exceeding 100 mg/l     

Parxit,the United States,and the world

<正>1.Introduction And now we have Parxit.On 1 June 2017,President Trump issued the highly unpopular announcement that the United States will withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.In this brief piece,I will try to explain the reasons for this nearly unprecedented act of foreign policy folly(Ronald Reagan did pull out of the Law of the Sea     

Wastewater disinfection by peracetic acid: assessment of models for tracking residual measurements and inactivation.

With its potential for low (if any) disinfection byproduct formation and easy retrofit for chlorine contactors, peracetic acid (PAA) or use of PAA in combination with other disinfectant technologies may be an attractive alternative to chlorine-based disinfection. Examples of systems that might benefit from use of PAA are water reuse schemes or plants discharging to sensitive receiving water bodies. Though PAA is in use in numerous wastewater treatment plants in Europe, its chemical kinetics, microbial inactivation rates, and mode of action against microorganisms are not thoroughly understood. This paper presents results from experimental studies of PAA demand, PAA decay, and microbial inactivation, with a complementary modeling analysis. Model results are used to evaluate techniques for measurement of PAA concentration and to develop hypotheses regarding the mode of action of PAA in bacterial inactivation. Kinetic and microbial inactivation rate data were collected for typical wastewaters and may be useful for engineers in evaluating whether to convert from chlorine to PAA disinfection.     

The influence of size-specific indirect interactions in predator-prey systems

Nonlethal indirect interactions between predators often lead to nonadditive effects of predator number on prey survival and growth. Previous studies have focused on systems with at least two different predator species and one prey species. However, most predators undergo extreme ontological changes in phenotype such that interactions between different-sized cohorts of a predator and its prey could lead to nonadditive effects in systems with only two species. This may be important since different-sized individuals of the same species can differ more in their ecology than similar-sized individuals of different species. This study examined trait-mediated indirect effects in a two-species system including a cannibalistic predator with different-sized cohorts and its prey. I tested for these effects using larvae of two stream salamanders, Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (predator) and Eurycea cirrigera (prey), by altering the densities and combinations of predator size classes in experimental streams. Results showed that the presence of large individuals can significantly reduce the impact of density changes of smaller conspecifics on prey survival through nonlethal means. In the absence of large conspecifics, an increase in the relative frequency of small predators significantly increased predation rates, thereby reducing prey survival. However, with large conspecifics present, increasing the density of small predators did not decrease prey survival, resulting in a 14.3% lower prey mortality than predicted from the independent effects of both predator size classes. Small predators changed their microhabitat use in the presence of larger conspecifics. Prey individuals reduced activity in response to large predators but did not respond to small predators. Both predators reduced prey growth. These results demonstrate that the impact of a predator can be significantly altered by two different types of trait-mediated indirect effects in two-species systems: between different-sized cohorts and between different cohorts and prey. This study demonstrates that predictions based on simple numerical changes that assume independent effects of different size classes or ignore size structure can be strongly misleading. We need to account for the size structure within predator populations in order to predict how changes in predator abundance will affect predator-prey dynamics.     

Chemisch-analytische Untersuchung von Arsenkampfstoffen und ihren Metaboliten

Arsenic containing chemical warfare agents (cwa) are persistent in the environment and continue to contaminte soil and ground water. In this paper the chemical rections of the cwa diphenylarsine chloride (CLARK I), phenylarsine dichloride (PFIFFIKUS), ethylarsine dichloride (DICK) and of chlorovinyl arsenic compounds (LEWISITE) are shown. The posibilities of the detection and determination of this cwa and their metabolites are presented.