Chromium (III) recovery from waste acid solution by ion exchange processing using Amberlite IR-120 resin: batch and continuous ion exchange modelling

The use of ion exchange technology was studied to remove chromium (III) from acidic waste solution by Amberlite IR-120 resin. Batch and column experimental tests were conducted to provide data for theoretical models and verify the system performance of the adsorption process. Results of batch equilibrium tests indicated that Langmuir isotherm describes well the adsorption process, whereas experimental data also provide evidence that, under the present experimental conditions, chromium (III) adsorption by Amberlite IR-120 resin is film-diffusion controlled; on the other hand, the theoretical model used in the present investigation was found to predict reasonably well the ion exchange breakthrough performance.     

Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein and fetal triploidy

Fetal triploidy is commonly found in early pregnancy. The majority of these pregnancies spontaneously abort in the first trimester. Occasionally, the pregnancy progresses to the second and third trimesters. We reviewed the maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP), amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), amniotic fluid acetylcholinesterase (ACHE), fetal pathology, and placental pathology in sex second-trimester pregnancies complicated by fetal triploidy. Four of these patients had MSAFP values greater than 7.5 multiples of the median (MoM). Five of six pregnancies had MSAFP values greater than 2.25 MoM. All five of these patients had a partial mole. Four patients had amniotic fluid AFP values greater than 2.0 MoM. Two fetuses had associated neural tube defects. These were the only patients with positive amniotic fluid ACHE. None of the other patients had fetuses with anomalies that are known to be associated with an elevated MSAFP. The elevated MSAFP appeared to be related to the presence of a partial mole. Two of the five cases with an MSAFP greater than 2.25 MoM did not have sonographic evidence of a significant anomaly. Therefore, karyotyping can be of benefit in evaluating patients with elevated MSAFP.     

Analysis of land suitability for the siting of inter-municipal landfills in the Cuitzeo Lake Basin, Mexico

This paper presents three spatial decision-support models (Boolean logic, binary evidence and overlapping index of multiple class maps) to perform a land suitability analysis for sanitary landfill siting. The study was carried out in the basin of Lake Cuitzeo, Mexico, with the objective of locating areas that comply with environmental regulations and with the inter-municipality criterion, i.e., that are accessible by at least two municipalities. Biophysical and socio-economic data were processed in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The three models differ in their complexity and restrictiveness. The Boolean logic model is easier to apply and more restrictive than the other two, because it is based on the assessment of single attributes. On the other hand, the binary data and overlapping index methods are relatively more complex because they require attribute weighting. The results showed that 23 of the 28 municipalities included in the basin have at least one area that was classified as highly suitable. The most suitable areas covered from 63.8 to 204.5 km(2) (from 1.5% to 5%), and they are not distributed homogeneously, but clustered around four main sites. The larger and most suitable of these sites is located in the central part of the basin, and it can be accessed by five of the most densely populated municipalities. The proposed approach represents a low-cost alternative to support a common spatial decision-making process in developing countries.     

Auxinic herbicides induce oxidative stress on Cnesterodon decemmaculatus (Pisces: Poeciliidae)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Pesticides might increase the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Dicamba (DIC) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) are auxinic...     

Experience,but not distance,influences the recruitment precision in the stingless bee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scaptotrigona mexicana</Emphasis>

Recruitment precision, i.e. the proportion of recruits that reach an advertised food source, is a crucial adaptation of social bees to their environment. Studies with honeybees showed that recruitment precision is not a fixed feature, but it may be enhanced by factors like experience and distance. However, little is known regarding the recruitment precision of stingless bees. Hence, in this study, we examined the effects of experience and spatial distance on the precision of the food communication system of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana. We conducted the experiments by training bees to a three-dimensional artificial patch at several distances from the colony. We recorded the choices of individual recruited foragers, either being newcomers (foragers without experience with the advertised food source) or experienced (foragers that had previously visited the feeder). We found that the average precision of newcomers (95.6 ± 2.61%) was significantly higher than that of experienced bees (80.2 ± 1.12%). While this might seem counter-intuitive on first sight, this “loss” of precision can be explained by the tendency of experienced recruits to explore nearby areas to find new rewarding food sources after they had initially learned the exact location of the food source. Increasing the distance from the colony had no significant effect on the precision of the foraging bees. Thus, our data show that experience, but not the distance of the food source, affected the patch precision of S. mexicana foragers.     

“We can keep the fire burning”: building action competence through environmental justice education in Uganda and Germany

The global dimensions of climate change necessitate a response that takes national differences – social, economic, geographic, and cultural – into account. Action-oriented education has a key role to play in advancing citizen engagement in a culture of sustainability. This paper describes research conducted with one such education programme, Youth Leading Environmental Change (YLEC), which operates in six countries and engages university-aged youth in discussion and practice related to global sustainability, systems thinking, and environmental justice. YLEC aims to advance four key competencies; this paper focuses on the goal of action competence, which involves acquiring knowledge, reflecting on experience in the context of one’s values, envisioning alternative futures, and acting individually and collectively to advance those alternatives. The present article examines the impacts of YLEC on environmental action competence in two of the countries involved in this research: Uganda and Germany. In-depth interviews were conducted with participants in both countries to examine the development of action competence during and after the programme. Findings suggest that outcomes differed in each country, reflective of participants’ different lived experiences. YLEC effectively built on the conditions faced in each country to accompany youth to a higher level of awareness and action. These findings have implications for environmental education programmes striving to work with multiple nations and diverse participants.     

The impact of agroforestry combined with water harvesting on soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in central Chile evaluated using the ICBM/N model

Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N) stocks in an agroforestry system with water harvesting were analysed in a field experiment and the results compared with those of other crop management systems in the Mediterranean zone of central Chile. Agroforestry with water harvesting showed higher positive effects on N stocks, mainly in the upper soil layer, than the other crop management systems. However, soil analysis revealed a lack of differences between treatments, a fact that might be related mainly to the short study time (12 years) and the high spatial variability in these soil properties at the experimental site. In addition, the Introductory Carbon Balance Model that simulates N processes (ICBM/N) was evaluated for simulating trends in SOC and N stocks in the field experiment. Soil data collected between 1996 and 2008 in the field experiment and primarily literature data sets were used to test ICBM/N and its performance was evaluated by considering uncertainty in model inputs using Generalised Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) methodology. The GLUE estimates (5% and 95%) and measured SOC and N stocks were in satisfactory agreement. The observed SOC and N stocks were bracketed by the uncertainty bands in 70% and 80% of the simulations, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed the model to be most sensitive to C parameters, such as the humification coefficient (h). The results of this study show that ICBM/N can be an effective tool for estimating SOC and N stocks from agroforestry combined with water harvesting systems in the Mediterranean zone of central Chile over the medium term. However, they also indicate that additional data sets are needed to redefine the parameter distributions in the model and thus to predict trends in SOC and N stocks in the future.     

亚马孙地区开发利用型保护区的保护和发展:以Alto Juruá为例

开发利用型保护区是同时满足保护和发展目标的一项创举,在巴西,建立开发利用型保护区最初是作为森林居民进行土地斗争的一部分.虽然这个概念已普及,并且人们也在尝试把它推广到其他热带地区,但却很少有人对开发利用型保护区项目在保护和发展方面取得的成绩进行综合分析.我们对1990年在巴西建立的第一个开发利用型保护区的森林砍伐、人口和社会经济变化进行了详细分析.保护区内的森林覆盖度一直相当稳定.人口数量稍有下降,并且在保护区内发生了一些居住地迁移.现金经济收入的主要来源由原来的橡胶生产转变为多种农作物和家畜综合生产,非农业收入也大幅度增加.我们认为该开发利用型保护区代表了一种不断变化的环境,在其建立之初的10年中,开发利用型保护区对保护和发展起了积极促进作用.     

Using penalty functions to evaluate aggregation models for environmental indices

The purpose of indices is to summarize a large volume of information into a single number that is easy to understand and interpret. Environmental indices provide a composite picture of an environmental condition derived from a series of observed measurements and parameters. They are used as communication tools by regulatory agencies to characterize the state of a specific environmental system (air, water, and sediments) and to study the impact of regulatory policies on various environmental management practices. In the development of environmental indices, a few issues and problems have been encountered arising as a result of the abstraction of information and data. These problems are referred to as characteristic properties that include ambiguity, eclipsing, compensation and rigidity. These characteristic properties have long been identified and interpreted in Boolean (e.g., Yes/No) or qualitative (e.g., low, medium, high) terms. In this paper, we propose a new approach to describe the above stated characteristic properties on a continuous scale to evaluate and compare the behavior of various aggregation models. Our approach is based on developing penalty functions for each characteristic property. A water quality index example by Swamee and Tyagi (2000) is used to explain our approach. A detailed case study for a developing microbial risk index is also provided to show how the proposed approach can be extended to complex hierarchical systems. Results show that it is possible to improve aggregation models for index development. Future research directions to improve index development are also discussed.     

Photoinduced reduction of divalent mercury in ice by organic matter

Reduction of divalent mercury and subsequent emission to the atmosphere has been identified as loss process from surface snow, but its mechanism and importance are still unclear. The amount of mercury that stays in the snow pack until spring is of significance, because during snow melt it may be released to the aquatic environment and enter the food web. Better knowledge of its fate in snow might further assist the interpretation of ice core data as paleo-archive. Experiments were performed under well-controlled laboratory conditions in a coated wall flow tube at atmospheric pressure and irradiated with light between 300 nm and 420 nm. Our results show that the presence of benzophenone and of oxalic acid significantly enhances the release of mercury from the ice film during irradiation, whereas humic acid is less potent to promote the reduction. Further it was found that oxygen or chloride, and acidic conditions lowered the photolytically induced mercury release in the presence of benzophenone, while the release got larger with increasing temperatures.