Vinasse application to sugar cane fields. Effect on the unsaturated zone and groundwater at Valle del Cauca (Colombia)

Extensive application of vinasse, a subproduct from sugar cane plantations for bioethanol production, is currently taking place as a source of nutrients that forms part of agricultural management in different agroclimatic regions. Liquid vinasse composition is characterised by high variability of organic compounds and major ions, acid pH (4.7), high TDS concentration (117,416–599,400 mg L− 1) and elevated EC (14,350–64,099 μS cm− 1). A large-scale sugar cane field application is taking place in Valle del Cauca (Colombia), where monitoring of soil, unsaturated zone and the aquifer underneath has been made since 2006 to evaluate possible impacts on three experimental plots. For this assessment, monitoring wells and piezometers were installed to determine groundwater flow and water samples were collected for chemical analysis. In the unsaturated zone, tensiometers were installed at different depths to determine flow patterns, while suction lysimeters were used for water sample chemical determinations. The findings show that in the sandy loam plot (Hacienda Real), the unsaturated zone is characterised by low water retention, showing a high transport capacity, while the other two plots of silty composition presented temporal saturation due to La Niña event (2010–2011). The strong La Niña effect on aquifer recharge which would dilute the infiltrated water during the monitoring period and, on the other hand dissolution of possible precipitated salts bringing them back into solution may occur. A slight increase in the concentration of major ions was observed in groundwater (~ 5% of TDS), which can be attributed to a combination of factors: vinasse dilution produced by water input and hydrochemical processes along with nutrient removal produced by sugar cane uptake. This fact may make the aquifer vulnerable to contamination.

First steps toward harmonized human biomonitoring in Europe : demonstration project to perform human biomonitoring on a European scale

'Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives'

Caracterização física e química da pólvora

O presente trabalho consiste na caracterização física e química da pólvora. Esta caracterização foi realizada para alguns tipos de pólvora, com o objetivo de se poder empregar este tipo de material noutros âmbitos, que não seja só nas Forças Armadas, nomeadamente, no armamento. A caracterização física abrangeu, essencialmente, a caracterização morfológica das amostras tal-qual, nomeadamente, as pólvoras multi-perfurada, tubular, tubular (rocket), cilíndrica, esférica, lamelar, em fita e a pólvora negra. A técnica utilizada foi a observação através de uma lupa estereoscópica. Após a combustão, foi utilizado o microscópio eletrónico de varrimento. A caracterização química foi realizada no âmbito da análise química elementar, e também no âmbito da combustão, às condições atmosféricas. Na análise química elementar, foram estudadas a pólvora multiperfurada, tubular, tubular rocket e em fita, por intermédio da espectrometria de fluorescência de raios-X - dispersão de energia e por espectrometria de absorção atómica de chama. No âmbito da combustão, foram estudas a taxa de queima e a velocidade de propagação de chama, nas amostras de pólvora multi-perfurada e a pólvora de fita, através de técnicas de medição de massa e de visualização de chama. Na discussão de resultados constatou-se que a maioria dos tipos de pólvora estudados pertencem ao grupo dos propelentes de base dupla. Apesar da variabilidade entre amostras, verificou-se que o principal elemento comum é o chumbo. Quanto à taxa de queima, esta apresenta uma evolução aproximadamente linear em todas as amostras. Foi, ainda, apresentada uma velocidade de propagação de chama característica para os dois tipos de pólvora estudados, tendo sido estabelecida para a pólvora multi-perfurada uma velocidade SR = 1,1 mm/s, para em fita, SR = 6,0 mm/s.

Historic records of organic compounds from a high Alpine glacier: influences of biomass burning, anthropogenic emissions, and dust transport

Historic records of α-dicarbonyls (glyoxal, methylglyoxal), carboxylic acids (C6–C12 dicarboxylic acids, pinic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, phthalic acid, 4-methylphthalic acid), and ions (oxalate, formate, calcium) were determined with annual resolution in an ice core from Grenzgletscher in the southern Swiss Alps, covering the time period from 1942 to 1993. Chemical analysis of the organic compounds was conducted using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HRMS) for dicarbonyls and long-chain carboxylic acids and ion chromatography for short-chain carboxylates. Long-term records of the carboxylic acids and dicarbonyls, as well as their source apportionment, are reported for western Europe. This is the first study comprising long-term trends of dicarbonyls and long-chain dicarboxylic acids (C6–C12) in Alpine precipitation. Source assignment of the organic species present in the ice core was performed using principal component analysis. Our results suggest biomass burning, anthropogenic emissions, and transport of mineral dust to be the main parameters influencing the concentration of organic compounds. Ice core records of several highly correlated compounds (e.g., p-hydroxybenzoic acid, pinic acid, pimelic, and suberic acids) can be related to the forest fire history in southern Switzerland. P-hydroxybenzoic acid was found to be the best organic fire tracer in the study area, revealing the highest correlation with the burned area from fires. Historical records of methylglyoxal, phthalic acid, and dicarboxylic acids adipic acid, sebacic acid, and dodecanedioic acid are comparable with that of anthropogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The small organic acids, oxalic acid and formic acid, are both highly correlated with calcium, suggesting their records to be affected by changing mineral dust transport to the drilling site.

(Table 1, page 1157) DOWNWIND expedition bottom photo stations showing abundant manganese nodules

Manganese nodules were investigated during the Downwind Expedition, a part of the International Geophysical Year programme of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California. Attempts were made to collect bottom photographs, cores and dredge hauls in the same areas, to measure the distribution at the surface and in depth, and to obtain large samples for physical and chemical analysis.

Annotated record of the detailed examination of Mn deposits from the H.M.S. Egeria, H.M.S. Fling Fish and H.M.S. Investigator expeditions in the Indian Ocean and Southern Seas

Captain Wharton, the Hydrographer of the Admiralty sent to the author a series of the deposit-samples collected in the Indian and Antarctic Oceans during the expeditions in 1887 of H.M.S. Flying Fish, H.M.S. Egeria and H.M.S. Investigator. These deposits were submitted to careful microscopical examination and chemical analysis.

Anleitung zur Ausmittelung der Gifte und zur Erkennung der Blutflecken bei gerichtlich-chemischen Untersuchungen /

Includes bibliographical references.

Evaluation of length-of-stain gas indicator tubes for measuring carbon monoxide in air. Technical note.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Vegetable materia medica of the United States; or Medical botany : containing a botanical, general, and medical history, of medicinal plants indigenous to the United States. Illustrated by coloured engravings, made after original drawings from nature /

"To subscribers" (note concerning errata in v. 1): l leaf, inserted at end of v. 2.

Study of an inorganic system for the recovery of oxygen (30-day evaluation program)

Cover title.

Chlorination for degrading saxitoxins (paralytic shellfish poisons) in water

Chlorination was investigated as a treatment option for degrading and thus removing saxitoxins (paralytic shellfish poisons, PSPs) produced by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) from water. It was found to be effective with the order of ease of degradation of the saxitoxins being GTX5 (B1) similar to dcSTX > STX > GTX3 similar to C2 > C1 > GTX2. However the effectiveness of chlorine was pH dependent. Degradation as a function of pH was not linear with the degree of degradation increasing rapidly at around pH 7.5. At pH 9 > 90% removal was possible provided a residual of 0.5 mg l(-1) free chlorine was present after 30 min contact time. The more effective degradation at higher pH was unexpected as chlorine is known to be a weaker oxidant under these conditions. The more effective degradation, then, must be due to the toxins, which are ionisable molecules, being present in a form at higher pH which is more susceptible to oxidation. The feasibility of using chlorine to remove saxitoxins during water treatment will therefore depend strongly on the pH of the water being chlorinated. Degradation may be improved by pH adjustment but may not be a practical solution. Although saxitoxins were degraded in that the parent compounds were not detected by chemical analysis, there is no indication as to the nature of the degradation products. However, acute toxicity as determined by the mouse bioassay was eliminated.

Comparison of bioassay and high performance liquid chromatographic assay of artesunate and dihydroartemisinin in plasma

The study was a comparison of bioassay and HPLC analysis of artesunate (ARTS) and dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in plasma. ARTS and DHA in plasma samples from patients treated with ARTS were quantified by HPLC and expressed as DHA. DHA-equivalents in the same plasma samples were measured using a standardised parasite culture technique. DHA concentrations estimated by both methods were highly correlated (bioassay = 0.96 x HPLC + 11.0; r(2) = 0.92). At high concentrations ( > 12 000 nmol/l) bioassay sometimes overestimated DHA. Bioassay of active drug in plasma correlates well with specific chemical analysis by HPLC. ARTS and DHA appear to account for the total antimalarial activity in plasma after ARTS administration. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Liquidus temperatures in calcium ferrite slags in equilibrium with molten copper

Experimental laboratory methods have been developed that enable phase-equilibria studies to be carried out on slags in the system Ca-Cu-Fe-O in equilibrium with metallic copper. These techniques involve equilibration at temperature, rapid quenching, and chemical analysis of the phases using electron-probe X-ray microanalysis (EPNIA). Equilibration experiments have been carried out in the temperature range of 1150 degreesC to 1250 degreesC (1423 to 1523 K) and in the composition range of 4 to 80 wt pct "Cu2O," 0 to 25 wt pct CaO, and 20 to 75 wt pct "Fe2O3" in equilibrium with metallic copper. Liquidus and solidus data are reported for the primary-phase fields of spinel (magnetite) and dicalcium ferrite. The resulting data have been used to construct liquidus isotherms of the CaO-"Cu2O"-"Fe2O3" system at metallic copper saturation.

Phase equilibria in the ZnO-rich area of the Fe-Zn-O system in air

The phase equilibria in the Fe-Zn-O system in the range 900-1580degreesC in air have been experimentally studied using equilibration and quenching techniques. The compositions of the phases at equilibrium were determined using electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPMA). The ferrous and ferric bulk iron concentrations were measured with a wet chemical analysis using the ammonium metavanadate technique. X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD) was used to characterise the phases. Iron oxide dissolved in zincite was found to be present principally in the ferric form. The XRD analysis and the composition measurements both indicate that zincite is the only phase stable in the ZnO-rich area in the range of conditions investigated. The solubility of the iron oxide in zincite rapidly increases at temperatures above 1200degreesC; the morphology of the zincite crystals also sharply changes between 1200 and 1300degreesC from rounded to plate-like crystals. The plate-like zincite forms a refractory network-the type of microstructure beneficial to the Imperial Smelting Process (ISP) sinter performance. The software program FactSage with a thermodynamically optimised database was used to predict phase equilibria in the Fe-Zn-O system.

Blanchaquinone: A new anthraquinone from an Australian Streptomyces sp.

Chemical analysis of an Australian Streptomyces species yielded a range of known anthracyclines and biosynthetically related metabolites, including daunomycin (1), E-rhodomycinone (2), 11-hydroxyauramycinone (3), 11-hydroxysulfurmycinone (4), aklavinone (5), bisanhydro-gamma-rhodomycinone (6), and the anthraquinone 7, as well as the hitherto unreported blanchaquinone (8). The structure assigned to 8 was secured by detailed spectroscopic analysis and correlation to known analogues, such as the anthraquinone 7. This account also represents the first natural occurrence of 3, 4, and 7 and the first spectroscopic characterization of 11-hydroxysulfurmycinone (4).