Environmental impacts of urban sprawl in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

Public policies encouraging the insertion of large industrial and commercial developments near highways, associated to exclusionary housing policies, have shaped over the past decades a new urbanization phenomenon; the sprawl. This is largely characterized by discontinuous and fragmented occupation, with random population densities. This phenomenon brings environmental and social impacts to the urban and rural population, in addition to a great burden for the Government. In line with this and considering the lack of discussion about the topic, this paper discusses some of those impacts observed in Londrina - PR, Brazil. The influence of urban sprawl in this city has shown to impact traffic, waterproofing rates and green areas, in addition to underutilizing the infrastructure due to large urban voids and vacant lots. With the data presented here, it is hoped that debates emerge on the importance of rethinking the plan, so that everyone can have legal access to the city (endowed with infrastructure), as well as the importance of developing strategies to contain urban sprawl. © 2011 Journal of Urban and Environmental Engineering (JUEE). All rights reserved.

Electrochemical oxidation of wastewater containing aromatic amines using a flow electrolytic reactor

Aromatic amines are environmental pollutants and represent one of the most important classes of industrial and natural chemicals. Some types of complex effluents containing these chemical species, mainly those originated from chemicals plants are not fully efficiently treated by conventional processes. In this work, the use of electrochemical technology through an electrolytic pilot scale flow reactor is considered for treatment of wastewater of a chemical industry manufacturer of antioxidant and anti-ozonant substances used in rubber. Experimental results showed that was possible to remove between 65% and 95% of apparent colour and chemical oxygen demand removal between 30 and 90% in 60 min of treatment, with energy consumption rate from 26 kWh m-3 to 31 kWh m-3. Absorbance, total organic carbon and toxicity analyses resulted in no formation of toxic by-products. The results suggest that the presented electrochemical process is a suitable method for treating this type of wastewater, mainly when pre-treated by aeration. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Reduction of infinite dimensional systems to finite dimensions: Compact convergence approach

We consider parameter dependent semilinear evolution problems for which, at the limit value of the parameter, the problem is finite dimensional. We introduce an abstract functional analytic framework that applies to many problems in the existing literature for which the study of asymptotic dynamics can be reduced to finite dimensions via the invariant manifolds technique. Some practical models are considered to show wide applicability of the theory. © 2013 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

Integrated quality assessment of sediments from harbour areas in Santos-São Vicente Estuarine System, Southern Brazil

Santos-São Vicente Estuarine System is a highly populated coastal zone in Brazil and where it is located the major port of Latin America. Historically, port activities, industrial and domestic effluents discharges have constituted the main sources of contaminants to estuarine system. This study aimed to assess the recent status of sediment quality from 5 zones of Port of Santos by applying a lines-of-evidence approach through integrating results of: (1) acute toxicity of whole sediment and chronic toxicity of liquid phases; (2) grain size, organic matter, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, trace metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, linear alkylbenzenes and butyltins; (3) benthic community descriptors. Results revealed a gradient of increasing contamination for metals and organic compounds, alongside with their geochemical carriers. Sediment liquid phases were more toxic compared to whole sediment. Low number of species and individuals indicated the impoverishment of benthic community. The use of site-specific sediment quality guidelines was more appropriate to predict sediment toxicity. The integration of results through Sediment Quality Triad approach and principal component analysis allowed observing the effects of natural stressors and dredging on sediment quality and benthic distribution. Even with recent governmental efforts to control, pollution is still relevant in Port of Santos and a threat to local ecosystems. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Matrix Effects on Water Analysis for Alkylphenols Using Solid Phase Extraction Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Gas chromatography with mass spectrometry is frequently used for the quantification of many classes of substances, including alkylphenols. Alkylphenol polyethoxylates are nonionic surfactants used in a wide variety of industrial and consumer applications. Alkylphenol polyethoxylates can degrade to alkylphenols, which are endocrine disruptors. In analytical validation procedures, the most common parameters studied are the detection and quantification limits, linearity, and recovery; however, the matrix effects are sometimes neglected. Although some investigators have evaluated matrix effects, there is no consensus on how to evaluate them during method validation. In this study, the matrix effects of alkylphenol polyethoxylates (nonylphenol monoethoxylate, nonylphenol diethoxylate, octylphenol monoethoxylate, octylphenol diethoxylate) and alkylphenols (nonylphenol and octylphenol) were studied using solid phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. For alkylphenol polyethoxylates, the matrix effects ranged from 16 to 4692%, whereas for alkylphenols (nonylphenol and octylphenol), the effects were insignificant. Therefore, constructing an analytical curve in the matrix for alkylphenol polyethoxylates is essential. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Espécies vegetais de cobertura e resíduos industriais e urbanos na cultura da soja em sistema de semeadura direta

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Eficácia da mistura de glifosato a outros maturadores na cana-de-açúcar (Saccharum spp.)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Caracterização biofísica e estrutural da metaloproteinase não-hemorrágica do veneno de Bothrops moojeni e da endo-β-glicanase do Bacillus subtilis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Caracterização morfológica das brânquias do bivalve endêmico Diplodon expansus antes e após exposição ao herbicida atrazina

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

Puberdade retardada no rato macho: correlações entre indicadores externos e internos e repercussões sobre a qualidade espermática e fertilidade

Pós-graduação em Biologia Geral e Aplicada - IBB

Efeito da modificação ácido-metanólica nas características estruturais e fisico-químicas de amidos de milho e mandioca

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

Indução da expressão da Glicerol-3-Fosfato desidrogenase em levedura

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

Geografia de redes e da logística no transporte rodoviário de cargas: fluxos e mobilidade geográfica do capital

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