Determination of chemical warfare agents in soil and material samples

A gas Chromatographic method for the determination of phenylarsenic compounds (sternutators) and their metabolites in soil and material samples is described. The chemical warfare agents (CWA), but not their hydrolysis and oxidation products, can be detected with GC/ECD. After derivatization with thiols or dithiols, the sum of diphenylarsenic and phenylarsenic compounds can be determined with GC/ECD. The comparison of the analytical results with and without derivatization shows that the sternutators in the investigated samples are metabolized in part.     

The effects of self‐emotion,counterpart emotion,and counterpart behavior on negotiator behavior: a comparison of individual‐level and dyad‐level dynamics

This study expands the negotiation literature by examining how negotiator behavior is predicted by various emotions felt by the negotiators and their counterparts and by counterpart negotiation behavior. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we also compare individual‐ and dyad‐level processes that lead to negotiator behavior and outcomes. The results from a dyadic negotiation simulation showed that both the valence and agency of negotiator and counterpart emotions need to be considered to understand the roles of emotion in negotiator behavior. Negotiators tend to reciprocate counterparts' integrating, compromising, and dominating behaviors, but they also offer complementary (or matching) responses to the counterparts' dominating and yielding behaviors. Integrating behavior was more dependent on dyad‐level interpersonal dynamics than were the other behaviors. The comparison of negotiator‐level and dyad‐level results suggests that negotiation needs to be understood in the context of collective exchanges as well as individual‐level cognitive processes. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An IoT-based bin level monitoring system for solid waste management

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Improper disposal of solid waste that impacts human health and pollutes the environment, arising a need for successful and necessary collection of...     

Phytoremediation of zinc and cadmium: A study of arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphae

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are microscopic fungi naturally occurring in soil that form a symbiosis with plant roots, producing a highly elaborated hyphal mycelium network in soil.In vitro lab experiments were conducted to determine whether extraradical mycorrhizal hyphae are directly involved in sequestration and uptake of essential zinc and nonessential cadmium by plant roots under toxic concentrations. The research is a continuation of an initial study presented in the Spring 2005 issue of Remediation that focused on the specific role of AMF in the speciation of heavy metals. Thus, this article presents a more expanded view. Results show that zinc and cadmium heavy metals are sequestered and translocated to plant roots via extraradical AMF hyphae. Root/growth media accumulation factors reached 5:1 and 18:1 for zinc and cadmium, respectively. Phytoremediation of heavy metal–contaminated soils can be enhanced by mycorrhizal inoculation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Science, Research, Knowledge and Capacity Building

A small part of the scientific community is seeking hard to enhance the contribution of science, knowledge and capacity building to environmentally sustainable and socially fair human development around the world. Many researchers over the globe share the same commitment – anchored in concerns for the human condition. They believe that science and research can and have influenced sustainability. Therefore their main goals are to seek and build up knowledge, know-how and capacity that might help to feed, nurture, house, educate and employ the world's growing human population while conserving its basic life support systems and biodiversity. They undertake projects, that are essentially integrative, and they try to connect the natural, social and engineering sciences, environment and development of communities, multiple stakeholders, geographic and temporal scales. More generally, scientists engaged in sustainable development are bridging the worlds of knowledge and action. This pro-active, heavily ethics- and wisdom-based "science for sustainability" can be seen as the conclusion of all dialogues and discussions amongst scientists at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 2002 in Johannesburg. The "Plan of Implementation" after WSSD will be based on political will, practical steps and partnerships with time-bound actions. Several "means of implementation" are going to be proofed and initiated: finance, trade, transfer of environmentally sound technology, and, last but not least, science and capacity building.Some characteristics of working scientific sustainability initiatives are that they are regional, place-based and solution-oriented. They are focusing at intermediate scales where multiple stresses intersect, where complexity is manageable, where integration is possible, where innovation happens, and where significant transitions toward sustainability can start bottom-up. And they have a fundamental character, addressing the unity of the nature – society system, asking how that interactive system is evolving and how it can be consciously, if imperfectly, steered through the reflective mobilization and application of appropriate knowledge and know-how. The aims of such sustainability-building initiatives conducted by researchers are: first to make significant progress toward expanding and deepening the research agenda of science and knowledge-building for sustainability; secondly to strengthen the infrastructure and capacity for conducting and applying science, research and technology for sustainability – everywhere in the world where it is needed; and thirdly, to connect science, policy and decision-making more effectively in pursuit of a faster transition towards real sustainable development. The overall characteristic is, that sustainability initiatives are mainly open-ended networks and dialogues for the better future. A world society that tries to turn towards sustainable development has to work hard to refine their clumsy technologies, in "earthing" their responsibility to all creatures and resources, in establishing democratic systems in peace and by heeding human rights, in building up global solidarity through all mankind and in commit themselves to a better life for the next generations.     

Mass-burn refuse-to-energy technology: A united states case study

Summary As landfill sites reach capacity and are under environmental regulations to close, communities across America face solid waste disposal crises. The City of Baltimore, Maryland, after initially choosing an experimental technology which failed, turned to a proven mass-burn resource recovery system for solid waste disposal. Through a process called privatization, the City shielded itself from financial risk associated with the operation of the plant. Signal Environmental Systems owns and operates the refuse-to-energy facility, which features a mass-burn technology developed in Switzerland by Von Roll, Inc., and charges the City a service fee per ton of refuse processed.The success of the partnership between the public and private sectors for the provision of efficient and reliable solid waste disposal in the City and County of Baltimore can serve as a model for developing and implementing technologies to meet the many other challenges facing the country and the world as a whole.Alfred B. DelBello was at one time Lieutenant Governor of New York and County Executive of New York's Westchester County. As President and Chief Executive Officer of Signal Environmental Systems Inc., he describes a refuse-to-energy facility established by Signal in Baltimore, Maryland. Signal Environmental Systems are currently the largest provider of resource recovery plants in the USA, other contributors are Combustion Engineering, American Ref-Fuel and Ogden; with Foster Wheeler, Blount, and Dravo, being other significant participants.     

Social face for innovation in strategic alliances in China: the mediating roles of resource exchange and reflexivity

This study proposes that partners who communicate mutual respect to each other develop integrative interaction that is a foundation for innovation. Structural equation analysis suggests that reflecting upon and improving interaction between supplier and customer organizations can contribute to resource exchange between partners that results in innovation in supply chain partnerships. Results also indicate that the confirmation of social face is an important antecedent to these useful integrative interaction patterns. These findings were interpreted as reaffirming the value of relationships for making partnerships effective and that the constructive application of the value of social face can promote open discussion and innovation in China. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of the Operational Street Pollution Model Using Data from European Cities

This paper presents a sensitivity analysis and an evaluation of the semi-empirical model known as Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM). The model is capable of calculating airborne concentrations of exhaust gases emitted by vehicles, within a street canyon. OSPM has been extensively evaluated using data collected over a two year period (1994–1995), during a monitoring campaign carried out in Jagtvej, Denmark. Further evaluation of the model was carried out using data collected in Göttinger Strasse, Hannover (1994) and Schildhorn Strasse, Berlin (1995), both in Germany. In all cases, model runs were carried out for carbon monoxide.Two sets of emission factors were used for the two street canyons in Germany; namely that available within OSPM and another separate set of emission factors derived from data collected in Germany. In the calculation of the latter set, the urban driving patterns and variations in the vehicle fleet composition according to the engine capacity were assumed accordingly. A correlation coefficient of 0.90 between the modelled and measured concentrations was obtained for all the cases considered when using the emission factors of OSPM. A correlation coefficient of about 0.85 was obtained with the newly proposed emission factors when applied to Göttinger and Schildhorn Strasse.     

Defensive chemistry of lycid beetles and of mimetic cerambycid beetles that feed on them

Summary.  Beetles of the family Lycidae have long been known to be chemically protected. We present evidence that North American species of the lycid genera Calopteron and Lycus are rejected by thrushes, wolf spiders, and orb-weaving spiders, and that they contain a systemic compound that could account, at least in part, for this unacceptability. This compound, a novel acetylenic acid that we named lycidic acid, proved actively deterrent in feeding tests with wolf spiders and coccinellid beetles. Species of Lycuscommonly figure as models of mimetic associations. Among their mimics are species of the cerambycid beetle genus Elytroleptus, remarkable because they prey upon the model lycids. We postulated that by doing so Elytroleptus might incorporate the lycidic acid from their prey for their own defense. However, judging from analytical data, the beetles practice no such sequestration, explaining why they remain relatively palatable (in tests with wolf spiders) even after having fed on lycids. Chemical analyses also showed the lycids to contain pyrazines, such as were already known from other Lycidae, potent odorants that could serve in an aposematic capacity to forestall predatory attacks. David Utterback: Deceased