Biodegradation and speciation of residual SS-ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) in soil solution left after soil washing

This paper aims to investigate the degradation and speciation of EDDS-complexes (SS-ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid) in soil following soil washing. The changes in soil solution metal and EDDS concentrations were investigated for three polluted soils. EDDS was degraded after a lag phase of 7-11 days with a half-life of 4.18-5.60 days. No influence of EDDS-speciation on the reaction was observed. The decrease in EDDS resulted in a corresponding decrease in solubilized metals. Changes in EDDS speciation can be related to (1) initial composition of the soil, (2) temporarily anoxic conditions in the soil slurry after soil washing, (3) exchange of EDDS complexes with Cu even in soils without elevated Cu and (4) formation of NiEDDS. Dissolved organic matter is important for metal speciation at low EDDS concentrations. Our results show that even in polluted soils EDDS is degraded from a level of several hundred micromoles to below 1 microM within 50 days.     

Continuous in-line gasification/vitrification process for thermal waste treatment: process technology and current status of projects

The Thermoselect High Temperature Recycling process has been developed in order to make available a thermal waste treatment technology avoiding major problems as known from traditional techniques like landfills or ashes, filter dust and emission producing processes. It combines slow degassing with fixed bed oxygen blown gasification and mineral and metal residue melting in a closed loop system. Municipal, industrial and other kinds of waste are compacted to less than one fifth of their original volume by means of an armored hydraulic press, and then periodically pushed into an indirectly heated degasification channel. As the waste plugs are pushed down the channel in an oxygen-free environment, waste humidity is evaporated and the organic components in the refuse are partially degasified and to a certain extent converted into a carbon-like product as the temperature increases. This flaky product and the enclosed inorganic components such as metals and minerals are continuously fed into a high-temperature reactor (HTR). Pure oxygen is added in controlled quantities and reacts with the material following exothermic oxidisation reactions. Due to overall under-stoichiometric conditions, gasification products form a combustible synthesis gas. The heat of reaction leading to temperatures up to about 2000°C in the core of the lower HTR section acts to also smelt the metal and mineral components of the waste. Chlorinated hydrocarbons such as dioxins and furans are reliably destroyed along with other organic compounds in the gaseous and the liquid phase. Material conversion equilibria are assured due to high temperatures and sufficient residence times. The synthesis gas is purified before use as combustible or primary material. After long term operation of the industrial scale demonstration plant in northern Italy, recent orders of differently sized Thermoselect plants can be announced and are illustrated on the basis of three cases out of five [with Herten 225,000 Mg/a and Berlin 300,000 Mg/a] in Germany: (1) Karlsruhe plant, 3 lines, 225,000 Mg/a, under construction; (2) Ansbach plant, 1 line, 75,000 Mg/a, completely purchased in July 1997; (3) Hanau plant, 2 lines, 90,000 Mg/a, partially purchased in October 1997. The technical concepts of these projects are illustrated with special emphasis on the flexibility of tailor-made energy recovery solutions.     

An integrated environmental matrix for a social unit

An integrated network is conceived that qualitatively relates environmental actors and environmental systems within a social unit such as a town, an industrial district or the like. The resulting matrix shows the flow of decisions and information between its active vector representing the environmental objectives, and its passive vector representing the environmental achievements. By way of three additional vectors, the properties of environmental systems are determined and compared to the expectations created by provisions of the environmental actors. The result is a set of residuals that define the living comfort in the social unit. The network motivates interested parties such as administrations, schools or individuals to go through the exercise of finding the causes of the residuals. In order to eliminate them, definite responsibilities have to be assigned to community members. The study pretends to involve all citizens in the flow of information, facts and decisions, and to help them identify themselves in the matrix. It is anticipated that as a result of this educational exercise, individual and collective responsibilities become apparent and are accepted and practiced.     

Monitoring ammonia in urban, inner alpine and pre-alpine ambient air

Passive samplers were used to monitor ammonia concentrations at rural inner alpine and pre-alpine, as well as urban, sites in Austria and Bavaria. Elevated concentrations were measured both at farms (up to 36 microg NH3 m(-3)) and at urban locations (up to 28 microg NH3 m(-3)). At urban locations a linear relationship between the traffic density and the NH3 concentration was found, but there was no marked seasonal trend. The highest ammonia concentrations were measured in a traffic tunnel (up to 78 microg NH3 m(-3)). The presence of livestock breeding or small scale alpine pastures resulted in elevated concentrations at the rural sites (8.1-12 and 2.5-4.6 microg NH3 m(-3), respectively), compared to the surrounding areas (3.1 and 0.9 microg NH3 m(-3)). Agriculture related sources are usually limited either spatially or seasonally. As the emissions were moderate in our case, a rapid removal and dilution of ammonia was possible and therefore the NH3 burden was only local. Sources related to traffic are more evenly distributed both geographically and seasonally. The WHO guideline, annual average concentration of 8 microg m(-3) for the protection of vegetation, was only exceeded at farms, at the urban station with the heaviest traffic and in the Tauerntunnel.     

N2O emissions from agricultural soils in the North China Plain:the effect of chemical nitrogen fertilizer and organic manure

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Sequential female choice and the previous male effect in sticklebacks

Summary Female choice, identified as a major force in sexual selection theory, has recently been demonstrated in a number of species. These tests concentrated on simultaneous choice situations although females have to compare males sequentially in most territorial species, which is the more demanding task. Here it is shown that female three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., rate sequentially presented males according to their brightness. With increasing costs of sampling the females become less choosy. Furthermore, a male's attractiveness has a significant effect on the female's rating of the next male; a given male is rated higher when preceded by a duller male than by a brighter one and vice versa. Female sticklebacks use a stochastic decision rule in sequential mate choice that is attuned to the attractiveness of the present and previously encountered male. This demonstration of a previous male effect not only indicates an efficient mechanism for finding the best of a number of males but also extends the applicability of sexual selection theory.Offprint requests to: T.C.M. Bakker     

Bacterioplankton Community Structure and Dynamics in Enclosures During Bioremediation Experiments in an Acid Mining Lake

In an acid mining lake (pH 2.6) enclosure experiments wereperformed with the addition of different concentrations oforganic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. SSCP-communityfingerprints, based on 16S rRNA gene amplicons, were performed tomonitor changes in the structure of the total bacterialcommunity and the sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) in themesocosms. Total bacterial cell counts, as assessed byepifluorescence microscopy, were increased in the mesocosmsamended with organic carbon. The addition of carbon alsoincreased the number of abundant bacterial taxa substantiallyalong depth. Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) could be detected inall enclosures and all parts of the water column. These SRBbelonged to genus Desulfobacter as indicated bycoroborating molecular data.     

Pointing accuracy in children is dependent on age, sex and experience

We investigated the influence of age, sex and familiarity on spatial performance assessed with a pointing task in 84 children: 21 kindergartners, 21 first-graders, 21 fifth-graders and 21 sixth-graders. Spatial performance was assessed in the children's natural environment, their respective school or kindergarten. The children had to indicate the direction of prominent landmarks on the school campus while sitting in their classroom, drawing an arrow on a sheet of paper. Since the children had spent different amounts of time at their respective schools, experience with the environment was regarded as a covariate.Data analysis revealed significant effects for age, sex and experience. Fifth-graders aged around 10 years outperformed the younger children. Sex differences revealed male superiority at all ages. Experience with the environment was also shown to play a vital role. Children who had spent a longer time at the school were able to demonstrate better spatial knowledge by pointing more accurately towards unseen landmarks.