Exploratory analysis in the evaluation of stress due to aluminum presence in Physalis angulata L. and multielement determination by microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (MIP OES)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present work aimed to analyze the mineral nutrition of Physalis angulata L. under stress by aluminum in the nutrient solution. The treatments...     

Energy use in Denmark

This paper reviews the evolution of energy use in Denmark since the early 1970s, in order to shed light on the future path of energy use in Denmark, with particular emphasis on the role of energy efficiency. Improvements in end-use energy efficiency reduced primary energy requirements in Denmark by 22% between 1972 and 1988. This change accounts for two-thirds of the decline in the ratio of energy use to gross domestic product that occurred during this time: the rest of the decline was caused by changes in the mix of goods and services produced and consumed by the Danes. Total energy savings achieved between 1972 and 1988 in Denmark ranked among the highest measured in any major OECD country. Overall, most of the energy savings in Denmark were brought about through improvements in technology. Short-term changes in consumer behaviour were significant in reducing energy needs for space heating and transport. An important stimulus for improved efficiency was higher energy prices, led in no small part by significant taxes imposed on small consumers of heating oil, electricity and motor fuels.     

Chromium Concentrations in Geobotanical Samples from West Pokot District, Kenya

The study analyses chromium concentration in plants growing around an area of chromite mineralisation, and proposes that the availability of chromium in plants could have adverse health effects when ingested by domestic animals and ultimately by the human population. This geoepidemiological attribute of geobotany has been observed in the form of chromium eczema in humans. The study was undertaken in the Sekerr Sub-location West Pokot District, which is located in the humid tropical region of the Republic of Kenya. As well as having natural vegetation cover, there are no sources of airborne pollutants in the area, which would vitiate trace element analysis in geobotanical research. The assay results show that the species Satureja abyssinica, Protea kilimandischarica, Ficus sycomorus, and Maerua subcordata have high chromium concentrations. These plants are generally browsed by domestic animals and are in turn eaten by humans. It is, therefore, proposed that a detailed analysis of chromium concentration in blood samples of both domestic animals and the human population be undertaken in order to assess its concentration levels in the population living in this geochemical environment.     

A Heuristic Method for Determining Changes of Source Loads to Comply with Water Quality Limits in Catchments

A common land and water management task is to determine where and by how much source loadings need to change to meet water quality limits in receiving environments. This paper addresses the problem of quantifying changes in loading when limits are specified in many locations in a large and spatially heterogeneous catchment, accounting for cumulative downstream impacts. Current approaches to this problem tend to use either scenario analysis or optimization, which suffer from difficulties of generating scenarios that meet the limits, or high complexity of optimization approaches. In contrast, we present a novel method in which simple catchment models, load limits, upstream/downstream spatial relationships and spatial allocation rules are combined to arrive at source load changes. The process iteratively establishes the critical location (river segment or lake) where the limits are most constraining, and then adjusts sources upstream of the critical location to meet the limit at that location. The method is demonstrated with application to New Zealand (268,000 km2) for nutrients and the microbial indicator E. coli, which was conducted to support policy development regarding water quality limits. The model provided useful insights, such as a source load excess (the need for source load reduction) even after mitigation measures are introduced in order to comply with E. coli limits. On the other hand, there was headroom (ability to increase source loading) for nutrients. The method enables assessment of the necessary source load reductions to achieve water quality limits over broad areas such as large catchments or whole regions.     

Serum concentrations and profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls in Taiwan Yu-cheng victims twenty years after the incident

In 1979, about 2000 people in central Taiwan were intoxicated via rice oil consumption that was contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This "Yu-cheng" incident was one of the two known major human PCB intoxication episodes. Twenty years after the intoxication, serum samples of 435 Yu-cheng victims, 414 adults and 21 children, were collected. Sixteen PCB congeners were analyzed with a gas chromatograph-electron capture detector. We found the median concentration of total PCBs in the adult serum was 1500 ng/g lipid, still substantially higher than that of the general population in Taiwan (3.7-fold) and most seafood consumers in the world. Most of analyzed PCB congeners in children were below or around the detection limits. Congener #138, however, had the highest concentrations, approximately accounting for 55% and 29% in the child and adult groups, respectively. Given that PCBs are persistent organic pollutants and endocrine disruptors, the concentrations and congener-specific profiles regarding the Yu-cheng victims provide valuable information for the investigation of such chemicals in humans.     

Five approaches to producing actionable science in conservation

The knowledge produced by conservation scientists must be actionable in order to address urgent conservation challenges. To understand the process of creating actionable science, we interviewed 71 conservation scientists who had participated in 1 of 3 fellowship programs focused on training scientists to become agents of change. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified 16 activities that these researchers employed to make their scientific products more actionable. Some activities were more common than others and, arguably, more foundational. We organized these activities into 3 nested categories (motivations, strategies, and tactics). Using a co-occurrence matrix, we found that most activities were positively correlated. These correlations allowed us to identify 5 approaches, framed as profiles, to actionable science: the discloser, focused on open access; the educator, focused on science communication; the networker, focused on user needs and building relationships; the collaborator, focused on boundary spanning; and the pluralist, focused on knowledge coproduction resulting in valuable outcomes for all parties. These profiles build on one another in a hierarchy determined by their complexity and level of engagement, their potential to support actionable science, and their proximity to ideal coproduction with knowledge users. Our results provide clear guidance for conservation scientists to generate actionable science to address the global biodiversity conservation challenge.