Compostos orgânicos como substratos na formação de mudas de ipê amarelo [Tabebuia chrysotricha (Mart. ex DC) Standl.] irrigado com água residuária

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Uso de água residuária com diferentes sistemas de irrigação no desenvolvimento e na qualidade microbiológica do meloeiro

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Avaliação da vazão do microaspersor Amanco MF, antes e após o uso com água residuária

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Processo eletrolítico usado na degradação de efluentes têxteis e avaliação de seu potencial toxicológico e ecotoxicológico

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Efeito da concentração do meio suporte e relação entre áreas no desempenho de reatores aeróbios de leito fluidizado com circulação interna no tratamento de esgoto doméstico

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Avaliação microbiológica de carcaças de frango e água em um sistema de pré-resfriamento por imersão em 8 horas e 16 horas

Pós-graduação em Medicina Veterinária - FMVZ

Influência da hipóxia em respostas bioquímicas de mexilhões Perna pernaexpostos ao biodiesel B5

Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal - IBILCE

Investigação da toxicidade e da capacidade de recuperação do herbicida 2,4-D comercial (2,4-diclorofenoxiacético) empregando brânquias de tilápias, Oreochromis niloticus, como biomarcador

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

EROD activity and genotoxicity in the seabob shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri exposed to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) concentrations

Seabob shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri is a marine species that lives in shallow waters of coastal environments, often impacted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) pollution. In the present study, seabob shrimp were exposed for 96 h to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) at the nominal concentrations of 100, 200, 400 and 800 microg.L-1. Animals of the control groups were exposed either to clean water or to the BaP-carrier (DMSO). At the end of the exposures, muscle tissues were sampled for BaP uptake assessment and hepatopancreas and hemolymph for EROD enzyme activity and hemocytes DNA damage, respectively. EROD activity and DNA damage increased significantly as a function of BaP exposure concentrations. Significant correlations between BaP uptake and both EROD activity and DNA damage suggest that they can be used as suitable tools for integrated levels of study on the biomarkers of PAH exposure.

Hermit crabs as bioindicators of recent tributyltin (TBT) contamination

Evaluation of the assimilation pathway and depuration time of a given pollutant by aquatic species is important to understand the dynamics of this substance in the biota, and to search for potential ecological indicators. In the present study, the uptake pathway and depuration time and rate of the pollutant tributyltin (TBT) were investigated in the omnivorous hermit crab (Clibanarius vittatus). The assimilation and uptake pathway were investigated using hermit crabs collected in an area free of TBT. The crabs were held in the laboratory for 45 days, under one of four treatments: procedural control (PC) - water and food without TBT; T1 - water with and food without TBT; 12 - water without and food with Tiff; and 13 water and food with TBT. To determine the depuration time, the crabs were collected in a contaminated area, maintained in the laboratory with clean water, and removed every 15 days for 120 days. The concentrations of TBT and DBT (dibutyltin) were determined by chromatographic analysis. The TBT was taken up by the crabs mainly via food, and the presence of DBT in crab tissues was hypothesized to result from internal TBT degradation. TBT (as well as DBT) was depurated rapidly by C. vittatus. After approximately 30 days, the initial concentration of 111 +/- 36 ng Sn g(-1) w. w. decreased to 3 +/- 3 ng Sn g(-1) w. w., and after 75 days the TBT concentration was below the detection limit. The same pattern was recorded for DBT, which showed a higher deputation rate than TBT. The rapid TBT and DBT deputation is useful information, since C. vittatus and possibly other hermit crabs may be used as indicators of recent or recycled environmental contamination.

Síntesis y caracterización de fotocatalizadores basados en TiO2 : estudios de la degradación de los herbicidas ácido 2,4-Diclorofenoxiacético y bentazona mediante fotocatálisis heterogénea a escala de laboratorio y planta piloto solar

Programa de doctorado: Ingeniería ambiental y desalinización

Public preferences of the Great Lakes Environment : a Lake Michigan pilot study

The Great Lakes watershed is home to over 40 million people, and the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem is vital to the overall economic, societal, and environmental health of the U.S. and Canada. However, environmental issues related to them are sometimes overlooked. Policymakers and the public face the challenges of balancing economic benefits with the need to conserve and/or replenish regional natural resources to ensure long term prosperity. From the literature review, nine critical stressors of ecological services were delineated, which include pollution and contamination, agricultural erosion, non-native species, degraded recreational resources, loss of wetlands habitat, climate change, risk of clean water shortage, vanishing sand dunes, and population overcrowding; this list was validated through a series of stakeholder discussions and focus groups in Grand Rapids. Focus groups were conducted in Grand Rapids to examine the awareness of, concern with, and willingness to expend resources on these stressors. Stressors that the respondents have direct contact with tend to be the most important. The focus group results show that concern related to pollution and contamination is much higher than for any of the other stressors. Low responses to climate change result in recommendations for outreach programs.

Adaptation options under climate change for multifunctional agriculture: a simulation study for western Switzerland

Besides its primary role in producing food and fiber, agriculture also has relevant effects on several other functions, such as management of renewable natural resources. Climate change (CC) may lead to new trade-offs between agricultural functions or aggravate existing ones, but suitable agricultural management may maintain or even improve the ability of agroecosystems to supply these functions. Hence, it is necessary to identify relevant drivers (e.g., cropping practices, local conditions) and their interactions, and how they affect agricultural functions in a changing climate. The goal of this study was to use a modeling framework to analyze the sensitivity of indicators of three important agricultural functions, namely crop yield (food and fiber production function), soil erosion (soil conservation function), and nutrient leaching (clean water provision function), to a wide range of agricultural practices for current and future climate conditions. In a two-step approach, cropping practices that explain high proportions of variance of the different indicators were first identified by an analysis of variance-based sensitivity analysis. Then, most suitable combinations of practices to achieve best performance with respect to each indicator were extracted, and trade-offs were analyzed. The procedure was applied to a region in western Switzerland, considering two different soil types to test the importance of local environmental constraints. Results show that the sensitivity of crop yield and soil erosion due to management is high, while nutrient leaching mostly depends on soil type. We found that the influence of most agricultural practices does not change significantly with CC; only irrigation becomes more relevant as a consequence of decreasing summer rainfall. Trade-offs were identified when focusing on best performances of each indicator separately, and these were amplified under CC. For adaptation to CC in the selected study region, conservation soil management and the use of cropped grasslands appear to be the most suitable options to avoid trade-offs.

Persistence of endocrine disruption in zebrafish (Danio rerio) after discontinued exposure to the androgen 17β-trenbolone.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the androgenic endocrine disruptor 17β-trenbolone on the sexual development of zebrafish (Danio rerio) with special emphasis on the question of whether adverse outcomes of developmental exposure are reversible or persistent. An exposure scenario including a recovery phase was chosen to assess the potential reversibility of androgenic effects. Zebrafish were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of 17β-trenbolone (1 ng/L-30 ng/L) from fertilization until completion of gonad sexual differentiation (60 d posthatch). Thereafter, exposure was either followed by 40 d of recovery in clean water or continued until 100 d posthatch, the age when zebrafish start being able to reproduce. Fish exposed for 100 d to 10 ng/L or 30 ng/L 17β-trenbolone were masculinized at different biological effect levels, as evidenced from a concentration-dependent shift of the sex ratio toward males as well as a significantly increased maturity of testes. Gonad morphological masculinization occurred in parallel with decreased vitellogenin concentrations in both sexes. Changes of brain aromatase (cyp19b) mRNA expression showed no consistent trend with respect to either exposure duration or concentration. Gonad morphological masculinization as well as the decrease of vitellogenin persisted after depuration over 40 d in clean water. This lack of recovery suggests that androgenic effects on sexual development of zebrafish are irreversible.

Reversibility of endocrine disruption in zebrafish (Danio rerio) after discontinued exposure to the estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the persistence of the feminizing effects of discontinued 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) exposure on zebrafish (Danio rerio). An exposure scenario covering the sensitive phase of sexual differentiation, as well as final gonad maturation was chosen to examine the estrogenic effects on sexual development of zebrafish. Two exposure scenarios were compared: continuous exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations (0.1-10 ng/L EE2) up to 100 days post-hatch (dph) and developmental exposure up to 60 dph, followed by 40 days of depuration in clean water. The persistence of effects was investigated at different biological organization levels from mRNA to population-relevant endpoints to cover a broad range of important parameters. EE2 had a strong feminizing and inhibiting effect on the sexual development of zebrafish. Brain aromatase (cyp19b) mRNA expression showed no clear response, but vitellogenin levels were significantly elevated, gonad maturation and body growth were inhibited in both genders, and sex ratios were skewed towards females and undifferentiated individuals. To a large extent, all of these effects were reversed after 40 days of recovery, leading to the conclusion that exposure to the estrogen EE2 results in very strong, but reversible underdevelopment and feminization of zebrafish. The present study is the first to show this reversibility at different levels of organization, which gives better insight into the mechanistic basis of estrogenic effects in zebrafish.