A mechanically stirred anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) containing granular biomass was applied to the treatment of a wastewater simulating the effluent from a personal care industry. The ASBR was operated with cycle lengths (tC) of 8, 12 and 24 h and applied volumetric organic loads (AVOL) of 0.75, 0.50 and 0.25 gCOD/L.d, treating 2.0 L liquid medium per cycle. Stirring frequency was 150 rpm and the reactor was kept in an isothermal chamber at 30 °C. Increase in tC resulted in efficiency increase at constant AVOL, reaching 77% at tC of 24 h versus 69% at tC of 8 h. However, efficiency decreased when AVOL decreased as a function of increasing tC, due to the lack of substrate in the reaction medium. Moreover, replacing part of the wastewater by a chemically balanced synthetic one did not yield the expected effect and system efficiency dropped. 相似文献
The present study focuses on the use of solid waste generated by the steel works in Brazil for manufacturing clay-based structural products. The waste sample was characterized regarding chemical composition, X-ray diffraction, particle size, morphology, specific surface and plastic properties. The waste was added in gradual proportions to a kaolinitic clay from zero up to 3 wt.%. Ceramic bodies were formed by vacuum extrusion and fired at 950 degrees C. The physical-mechanical properties (linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent density and flexural strength) of the resulting clay/solid waste mixtures were determined. In addition, leaching tests were performed according Brazilian Standards as well as a preliminary analysis of gases evolved during the thermal process. It was found that the solid waste is formed by irregular particles, ranging in size from 1 to 500 microm. The test results indicate that solid wastes generated by steel works can be used as filler in construction materials, thereby increasing reuse in an environmentally safe manner. 相似文献
Social interactions may shape brain development. In primitively eusocial insects, the mushroom body (MB), an area of the brain associated with sensory integration and learning, is larger in queens than in workers. This may reflect a strategy of neural investment in queens or it may be a plastic response to social interactions in the nest. Here, we show that nest foundresses—the reproductive females who will become queens but are solitary until their first workers are born—have larger MBs than workers in the primitively eusocial sweat bee Augochlorella aurata. Whole brain size and optic lobe size do not differ between the two groups, but foundresses also have larger antennal lobes than workers. This shows that increased neural investment in MBs precedes social group formation. Larger MBs among foundresses may reflect the increased larval nutrition provisioned to future queens and the lack of social aggression from a dominant queen upon adult emergence.
Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects biophysical systems and human well-being. The Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force in 2016 with the objective of strengthening the global response to climate change by keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C. The agreement requires all Parties to submit their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is an important strategy for mitigating climate change, particularly in developing countries with large forests. Extensive tropical forest loss and degradation have increased awareness at the international level of the need to undertake large-scale ecological restoration, highlighting the need to identify cases in which restoration strategies can contribute to mitigation and adaptation. Here we consider Brazil as a case study to evaluate the benefits and challenges of implementing large-scale restoration programs in developing countries. The Brazilian NDC included the target of restoring and reforesting 12 million hectares of forests for multiple uses by 2030. Restoration of native vegetation is one of the foundations of sustainable rural development in Brazil and should consider multiple purposes, from biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation to social and economic development. However, ecological restoration still presents substantial challenges for tropical and mega-diverse countries, including the need to develop plans that are technically and financially feasible, as well as public policies and monitoring instruments that can assess effectiveness. The planning, execution, and monitoring of restoration efforts strongly depend on the context and the diagnosis of the area with respect to reference ecosystems (e.g., forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands). In addition, poor integration of climate change policies at the national and subnational levels and with other sectorial policies constrains the large-scale implementation of restoration programs. The case of Brazil shows that slowing deforestation is possible; however, this analysis highlights the need for increased national commitment and international support for actions that require large-scale transformations of the forest sector regarding ecosystem restoration efforts. Scaling up the ambitions and actions of the Paris Agreement implies the need for a global framework that recognizes landscape restoration as a cost-effective nature-based solution and that supports countries in addressing their remaining needs, challenges, and barriers.
In many bird species the cryptic winter plumage is due to the presence of light feather tips that conceal conspicuous colorations.
The gradual abrasion of these tips that makes sexual traits visible has been interpreted as a strategy to improve mating success
(here referred as the permanent exhibition hypothesis). However, under some circumstances, the maintenance of a full plumage
that facultatively enables the bird to exhibit or cover aggression-inducing traits has proved to be advantageous (the coverable
badge hypothesis). In a population of house sparrows where black throat patches (here called badges) are used in intrasexual
competition, the degree of abrasion of dull feather tips that conceal bright colour early in the breeding season correlated
neither with badge size nor with traits indicating morphology and body condition. These results are only in accordance with
predictions of the coverable badge hypothesis. In 1992 experimental clipping of badge feather tips, which forced permanent
exposure of badges, negatively affected birds with the largest badges in terms of nest acquisition, but an opposite trend
was indicated for birds with the smallest badges. In 1993, when more novel birds in the study area were competing for nesting
sites than in 1992, only badge size, but not the experimental manipulation, affected nesting success. These results suggest
that the loss of the ability to conceal badges was disadvantageous, and more so if most competing individuals had already
been resident in the colony in previous years and the larger their badges were. There is a striking contrast between the results
reported for this study population, where badges mainly signal fighting ability, and those reported for another house sparrow
population, where badges are mainly used in mate choice. In this last population, tip abrasion is advantageous for dominant
individuals showing the largest badges. This suggests that the trade-off between conserving versus wearing off the feathers
that conceal ornaments could have different optimal resolutions depending on the relative importance of inter and intrasexual
selection on indicator traits.
Received: 29 September 1995/Accepted after revision: 14 July 1996 相似文献
The research related here focuses on municipal situations where problems of sustainability may be defined and tackled on the basis of bottom-up management procedures with the participation of organized society. The aim is to build management models that may be implemented with reasonable administrative effort and cost. Implementation pursues the target of approaching a sustainable situation in the municipality. Environmental parameters for an ideal municipality with undefined geographical location are presented. For each parameter, a set of indicators is developed that can measure the prospect of sustainability. The indicators are defined in terms of numbers or literal concepts according to the possibility of measurement. Examples of management models are presented, which are able to approach the situation defined as sustainable by the indicators. The basic management tool is the learning curve of targeted communities, which is experimentally developed and applied. The indicators are grouped according to their range of applicability. 相似文献