Field trials to assess the uptake of arsenic by vegetables from contaminated soils and soil remediation with iron oxides

The uptake of arsenic (As) by plants from contaminated soils presents a health hazard that may affect the use of agricultural and former industrial land. Methods for limiting the hazard are desirable. A proposed remediation treatment comprises the precipitation of iron (Fe) oxides in the contaminated soil by adding ferrous sulfate and lime. The effects on As bioavailability were assessed using a range of vegetable crops grown in the field. Four UK locations were used, where soil was contaminated by As from different sources. At the most contaminated site, a clay loam containing a mean of 748 mg As kg(-1) soil, beetroot, calabrese, cauliflower, lettuce, potato, radish and spinach were grown. For all crops except spinach, ferrous sulfate treatment caused a significant reduction in the bioavailability of As in some part of the crop. Application of ferrous sulfate in solution, providing 0.2% Fe oxides in the soil (0-10 cm), reduced As uptake by a mean of 22%. Solid ferrous sulfate was applied to give concentrations of 0.5% and 1% Fe oxides: the 0.5% concentration reduced As uptake by a mean of 32% and the 1% concentration gave no significant additional benefit. On a sandy loam containing 65 mg As kg(-1) soil, there was tentative evidence that ferrous sulfate treatment up to 2% Fe oxides caused a significant reduction in lettuce As, but calabrese did not respond. At the other two sites, the effects of ferrous sulfate treatment were not significant, but the uptake of soil As was low in treated and untreated soils. Differences between sites in the bioavailable fraction of soil As may be related to the soil texture or the source of As. The highest bioavailability was found on the soil which had been contaminated by aerial deposition and had a high sand content. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Estimating uncertainty in terrestrial critical loads and their exceedances at four sites in the UK

Critical loads are the basis for policies controlling emissions of acidic substances in Europe and elsewhere. They are assessed by several elaborate and ingenious models, each of which requires many parameters, and have to be applied on a spatially-distributed basis. Often the values of the input parameters are poorly known, calling into question the validity of the calculated critical loads. This paper attempts to quantify the uncertainty in the critical loads due to this "parameter uncertainty", using examples from the UK. Models used for calculating critical loads for deposition of acidity and nitrogen in forest and heathland ecosystems were tested at four contrasting sites. Uncertainty was assessed by Monte Carlo methods. Each input parameter or variable was assigned a value, range and distribution in an objective a fashion as possible. Each model was run 5000 times at each site using parameters sampled from these input distributions. Output distributions of various critical load parameters were calculated. The results were surprising. Confidence limits of the calculated critical loads were typically considerably narrower than those of most of the input parameters. This may be due to a "compensation of errors" mechanism. The range of possible critical load values at a given site is however rather wide, and the tails of the distributions are typically long. The deposition reductions required for a high level of confidence that the critical load is not exceeded are thus likely to be large. The implication for pollutant regulation is that requiring a high probability of non-exceedance is likely to carry high costs. The relative contribution of the input variables to critical load uncertainty varied from site to site: any input variable could be important, and thus it was not possible to identify variables as likely targets for research into narrowing uncertainties. Sites where a number of good measurements of input parameters were available had lower uncertainties, so use of in situ measurement could be a valuable way of reducing critical load uncertainty at particularly valuable or disputed sites. From a restricted number of samples, uncertainties in heathland critical loads appear comparable to those of coniferous forest, and nutrient nitrogen critical loads to those of acidity. It was important to include correlations between input variables in the Monte Carlo analysis, but choice of statistical distribution type was of lesser importance. Overall, the analysis provided objective support for the continued use of critical loads in policy development. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of organic materials on the mobility and toxicity of metals in contaminated soils

Organic materials such as compost are often proposed as suitable materials for the remediation of contaminated brownfield sites intended for soft end-use. In addition to vitalising the soil, they are also believed to immobilise metals thereby breaking contaminant-receptor pathways and reducing the ecotoxicity of the contaminants. However, some research has demonstrated contradictory effects between composts on metal immobilisation. In the present study, four different composts and a liming product containing organic matter (LimeX70) were tested to examine both their metal retention and toxicity reduction capabilities on three different metal contaminated soils. Leaching tests, a plant growth test with Greek cress (Lepidium sativum), an earthworm (Eisenia fetida) survival and condition test and a bacterial toxicity test using Vibrio fischeri were carried out. The leaching test results showed that spent mushroom compost caused an increase in metal concentration in the leachates, while LimeX70 caused a decrease. The variation in behaviour between different amendments for each soil was high, so a generic conclusion could not be drawn. Toxicity tests showed significant reduction of metal bioavailability and toxicity for Greek cress, earthworms and bacteria. The results also suggest that more research should be undertaken to understand the mechanisms involved in metal complexation using different types of organic matter, in order to optimise the use of organic materials like compost for soil remediation. Crown Copyright (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Field trials to assess the uptake of arsenic by vegetables from contaminated soils and soil remediation with iron oxides

The uptake of arsenic (As) by plants from contaminated soils presents a health hazard that may affect the use of agricultural and former industrial land. Methods for limiting the hazard are desirable. A proposed remediation treatment comprises the precipitation of iron (Fe) oxides in the contaminated soil by adding ferrous sulfate and lime. The effects on As bioavailability were assessed using a range of vegetable crops grown in the field. Four UK locations were used, where soil was contaminated by As from different sources. At the most contaminated site, a clay loam containing a mean of 748 mg As kg(-1) soil, beetroot, calabrese, cauliflower, lettuce, potato, radish and spinach were grown. For all crops except spinach, ferrous sulfate treatment caused a significant reduction in the bioavailability of As in some part of the crop. Application of ferrous sulfate in solution, providing 0.2% Fe oxides in the soil (0-10 cm), reduced As uptake by a mean of 22%. Solid ferrous sulfate was applied to give concentrations of 0.5% and 1% Fe oxides: the 0.5% concentration reduced As uptake by a mean of 32% and the 1% concentration gave no significant additional benefit. On a sandy loam containing 65 mg As kg(-1) soil, there was tentative evidence that ferrous sulfate treatment up to 2% Fe oxides caused a significant reduction in lettuce As, but calabrese did not respond. At the other two sites, the effects of ferrous sulfate treatment were not significant, but the uptake of soil As was low in treated and untreated soils. Differences between sites in the bioavailable fraction of soil As may be related to the soil texture or the source of As. The highest bioavailability was found on the soil which had been contaminated by aerial deposition and had a high sand content. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Nature protection in Greece: an appraisal of the factors shaping integrative conservation and policy effectiveness

The proliferation of designated areas following the implementation of Natura 2000 in Greece has initiated changes in the protected area design and conservation policy making aiming at delivering action for biodiversity and integrative planning on a wider landscape. Following the sustainability concept, an integrative approach cannot realistically take place simply by extending the protected area and designations. The paper addresses public involvement and inter-sectoral coordination as major procedural elements of integrative management and evaluates the nature and strength of their negative or positive influences on the fulfillment of an integrative vision of nature conservation. A review of the history of protected areas and administration developments in Greece provide useful input in the research. The analysis has shown that the selected network of Natura 2000 sites has been superimposed upon the existing system and resulted in duplication of administrative effort and related legislation. As a result the overall picture of protected areas in the country appears complex, confusing and fragmented. Major failures to integrated conservation perspective can be traced to structural causes rooted in politico-economic power structures of mainstream policy and in a rather limited political commitment to conservation. It is concluded that greater realisation. of integrated conservation in Greece necessitates policy reforms related mainly to sectoral legal frameworks to promote environmentalism as well as an increased effort by the managing authorities to facilitate a broader framework of public dialogue and give local communities incentives to sustainably benefit from protected areas. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative and international education: policy transfer, context sensitivity and professional development

This paper examines the intellectual and professional contribution of comparative and international studies to the field of education. It explores the nature of the challenges that are currently being faced, and assesses its potential for the advancement of future teaching, research and professional development. Attention is paid to the place of comparative and international education (CIE)-past and present-in teacher education, in postgraduate studies, and in the realms of policy and practice, theory and research. Consideration is first given to the nature and history of CIE, to its initial contributions to the field of education in the UK, and to its chief mechanisms and sites of production. Influential methodological and theoretical developments are examined, followed by an exploration of emergent questions, controversies and dilemmas that could benefit from sustained comparative analysis in the future. Conclusions consider implications for the place of CIE in the future of educational studies as a whole; for relations between and beyond the 'disciplines of education'; and for the development of sustainable research capacity in this field.

Renewable energy in the UK countryside: policy and practice

Of the technologies currently available for producing energy from renewable sources in the British climate all except one depend on a single ingredient, namely land. Therefore other than offshore wind generation, which has been slow and expensive to establish, renewables have had to be derived almost entirely from the land, whether as sites for turbines or areas on which to grow feedstocks for biomass and biofuels. Of these, only wind turbines have been developed in any number while economic conditions have until now been unfavourable for biomass and biofuel. The UK is unlikely to meet its present targets under the Kyoto agreement, due to a mixture of limited funding and problems of policy. Peter Prag examines the present position and the potential outlook.

Rapid assessment of historic, current and future habitat quality for biodiversity around UK Natura 2000 sites

Changes in landscape composition and structure may impact the conservation and management of protected areas. Species that depend on specific habitats are at risk of extinction when these habitats are degraded or lost. Designing robust methods to evaluate landscape composition will assist decision- and policy-making in emerging landscapes. This paper describes a rapid assessment methodology aimed at evaluating landcover quality for birds, plants, butterflies and bees around seven UK Natura 2000 sites. An expert panel assigned quality values to standard Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) landcover classes for each taxonomic group. Quality was assessed based on historical (1950, 1990), current (2000) and future (2030) land-cover data, the last projected using three alternative scenarios: a growth applied strategy (GRAS), a business-as-might-beusual (BAMBU) scenario, and sustainable European development goal (SEDG) scenario. A quantitative quality index weighted the area of each land-cover parcel with a taxa-specific quality measure. Land parcels with high quality for all taxonomic groups were evaluated for temporal changes in area, size and adjacency. For all sites and taxonomic groups, the rate of deterioration of land-cover quality was greater between 1950 and 1990 than current rates or as modelled using the alternative future scenarios (2000– 2030). Model predictions indicated land-cover quality stabilized over time under the GRAS scenario, and was close to stable for the BAMBU scenario. The SEDG scenario suggested an ongoing loss of quality, though this was lower than the historical rate of c. 1% loss per decade. None of the future scenarios showed accelerated fragmentation, but rather increases in the area, adjacency and diversity of high quality land parcels in the landscape.

Health variables and gill morphology in the tropical fish Astyanax fasciatus from a sewage-contaminated river

The relative condition factor (Kn), gonadosomatic index (GSI), selected hematological variables and gill morphology of the fish Astyanax fasciatus were analyzed in two sites (site I was unpolluted and site 2 was polluted with untreated domestic sewage) of a tropical river (Camanducaia river, São Paulo State, Brazil). The relationship between the body mass (M-B) and the standard length (L-S) of A. fasciatus from both sites was M-B = 0.00799 L-S(3.51843). Tyhe Kn values from both the males and females were significantly higher in site 2. The mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were higher in females from site 2. Gill tissue anomalies and gill parasites were rare in fish from both sites; however, the number of chloride cells was significantly higher in fish from site 1. A. fasciatus presents high capacity to live in ion-poor and soft water and is able to compensate for environmental changes caused by untreated domestic sewage discharges. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluating and classifying contaminated areas based on loss functions using annealing simulations

This paper presents a methodology based on geostatistical theory for quantifying the risks associated with heavy-metal contamination in the harbor area of Santana, Amapa State, Northern Brazil. In this area there were activities related to the commercialization of manganese ore from Serra do Navio. Manganese and arsenic concentrations at unsampled sites were estimated by postprocessing results from stochastic annealing simulations; the simulations were used to test different criteria for optimization, including average, median, and quantiles. For classifying areas as contaminated or uncontaminated, estimated quantiles based on functions of asymmetric loss showed better results than did estimates based on symmetric loss, such as the average or the median. The use of specific loss functions in the decision-making process can reduce the costs of remediation and health maintenance. The highest global health costs were observed for manganese. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Genotoxicity and mutagenicity of water contaminated with tannery effluents, as evaluated by the micronucleus test and comet assay using the fish Oreochromis niloticus and chromosome aberrations in onion root-tips

Cytotoxicity of metals is important because some metals are potential mutagens able to induce tumors in humans and experimental animals. Chromium can damage DNA in several ways, including DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) which generate chromosomal aberrations, micronucleus formation, sister chromatid exchange, formation of DNA adducts and alterations in DNA replication and transcription. In our study, water samples from three sites in the Córrego dos Bagres stream in the Franca municipality of the Brazilian state of São Paulo were subjected to the comet assay and micronucleus test using erythrocytes from the fish Oreochromis niloticus. Nuclear abnormalities of the erythrocytes included blebbed, notched and lobed nuclei, probably due to genotoxic chromium compounds. The greatest comet assay damage occurred with water from a chromium-containing tannery effluent discharge site, supporting the hypothesis that chromium residues can be genotoxic. The mutagenicity of the water samples was assessed using the onion root-tip cell assay, the most frequent chromosomal abnormalities observed being: c-metaphases, stick chromosome, chromosome breaks and losses, bridged anaphases, multipolar anaphases, and micronucleated and binucleated cells. Onion root-tip cell mutagenicity was highest for water samples containing the highest levels of chromium.

Effects of Antibacterial Agents on Dental Pulps of Monkeys Mechanically Exposed and Contaminated.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of antibacterial agents and mineral trioxide aggregate in the healing of bacterial contaminated primate pulps. Study Design: The experiment required four adult male primates (Cebus opella) with 48 teeth prepared with buccal penetrartions into the pulpal tissues. The preparations (Cebus opella) with 48 teeth prepared with buccal penetrations into the exposed to cotton pellets soaked in a bacterial mixture consisting of microorganisms normally found in human pulpal abscesses obtained from the Endodontic Clinic of UNESP. Following bacterial inoculation (30 minute exposure), the pulpal tissue was immediately treated with either sterile saline, Cipro HC Otic solution (12), diluted Buckley formecresol solution (12) or Otosporin otic solution (12) for 5 minutes. After removal of the pellet, hemostasis was obtained and a ZOE base applied to the DFC treated pulps and the non-treated controls (12). After hemostasis, the other exposed pulps were covered with mineral trioxide aggregate (ProRoot). The pulpal bases were all covered with a RMGI (Fuji II LC). The tissue samples were collected at one day, two days, one week and over four weeks (34 days). Results: Following perfusion fixation, the samples were demineralized, sectioned, stained and histologically graded. After histologic analysis, presence of neutrophilic infiltrate and areas of hemorrhage with hyperemia were observed . The depth of the neutrophilic infiltrate depended on the agent or material used. The pupal tissue treated with Otic suspensions demonstrated significantly less inflammation (Kruskal Wallis non parametric analysis, H=9.595 with 1 degree of freedom; P=0.0223) than the formocresol and control groups. The hard tissue bridges formed over the exposure sites were more organized in the MTA treatment groups than in the control and ZOE groups (Kruskal Wallis non parametric analysis, H=18.291 with 1 degree of freedom; P=0.0004). Conclusions: Otic suspensions and MTA are effective in treating bacterial infected pulps and stimulate the production of a hard tissue bridge over the site of the exposure.

Evaluation of the genotoxic potential due to the action of an effluent contaminated with chromium, by the comet assay in CHO-K1 cultures

The comet assay technique has been considered to be more efficient in the biomonitoring of aquatic environments that the micronucleus and sister chromatid exchange techniques. The comet assay has been used to determine breaks in the DNA strands of organisms exposed to pollutants with a genotoxic potential. The comet technique was applied to CHO-K1 cells in order to evaluate the genotoxic potential of the waters of the Sapucaizinho River (Municipality of Patrocínio Paulista, State of São Paulo, Brazil), which receive tannery effluents and therefore are contaminated with chromium. The results indicated high genotoxicity of the waters collected at sites located downstream from the emission of tannery effluents, where the concentration of chromium was found to be high.

A Internet na política brasileira: sites de deputados federais paulistas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Formula Zero: Traduzione trilingue inglese-italiano-spagnolo di un policy statement sulla sicurezza stradale della Federazione Internazionale dell'Automobile (FIA)

The aim of this dissertation is to provide a trilingual translation from English into Italian and from Italian into Spanish of a policy statement from the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) regarding road safety. The document, named “Formula Zero: a strategy for reducing fatalities and injuries on track and road”, was published in June 2000 and involves an approach about road safety inspired by another approach introduced in Sweden called ‘Vision Zero’. This work consists of six sections. The first chapter introduces the main purposes and activities of the Federation, as well as the institutions related to it and Vision Zero. The second chapter presents the main lexical, morphosyntactic and stylistic features of the institutional texts and special languages. In particular, the text contains technical nomenclature of transports and elements of sport language, especially regarding motor sport and Formula One. In the third chapter, the methodology is explained, with all the resources used during the preliminary phase and the translation, including corpora, glossaries, expert consultancy and specialised sites. The fourth chapter focuses on the morphosyntactic and terminology features contained in the text, while the fifth chapter presents the source text and the target texts. The final chapter deals with all the translation strategies that are applied, alongside with all the challenging elements detected. Therefore, the dissertation concludes with some theoretical and practical considerations about the role of inverse translation and English as Lingua Franca (ELF), by comparing the text translated into Spanish to the original in English, using Italian as a lingua franca.