scholarly journals Assessing the risk of contaminant spreading through sediment production in a tropical environment

2007 ◽  
pp. 563-573
Author(s):  
Indrani Pal ◽  
Abir Al-Tabbaa

Agricultural sites have been of great concern for decades due to rainfall-induced soildetachment and transport of sediment materials, and their associated chemicals and/ornutrients, away from those sites during wet days resulting in significant environmentalproblems. The same phenomena could also be expected from bare contaminated site exposedfor a long time before remediation. Exposed topsoil material which is disturbed by variousland operations is much more prone to erosion. All of these problems are more pronouncedwhen such land is situated in a tropical environment and especially during rainy seasons. Thisis because tropical storms are quite intense in nature, frequent and variable. Hence,contaminated sites in those regions should be given the same importance as agricultural landwhen addressing problems resulting from soil erosion. This paper attempts to highlight suchproblems through studying the impact of tropical monsoon data collected from India on therisk of soil erosion which could also be relevant to assessing risk of contaminant spreadingfrom surface soil through erosion and transportation of the detached material to downstream.The most well known and most frequently used soil loss model, the Revised Universal SoilLoss Equation 2 (RUSLE2), was used for that purpose. It was found that soil erosion in thisregion is very high and does go far beyond the threshold suggested by the USDA and that theerosion process is very much sensitive to the climatological variabilities.

Author(s):  
Inna Chuhueva ◽  
Viktoriia Sakovska

The article summarizes the definition of the term “hikikomori”, analyzes the situation of quarantine restriction: its essence and features of the impact on adolescence. Peculiarities of manifestation of hikikomori markers at adolescence are determined. We consider the studied phenomenon in the system of approaches like a way to meet needs, as a set of manifestations of syndromes of a new era, as a psychological defence mechanism, as a psychological state and process. Depending on the intensity of markers, we divide hikikomori into counter-dependent, poorly adaptable and interdependent, super dependent. The parameters that determine the level of manifestations of hikikomori include antisocial solitude at home, antisocially with leaving the house, selective society. The levels of manifestation of hikikomori include physical, emotional, social. Quarantine restrictions, as unusual living conditions that require forced solitude, selfisolation can be a factor that encourages the emergence of markers of hikikomori in adolescents. Such people have a shift in activity in cyberspace and at night, inseparable stay with the gadget (during meals, in the bathroom, in the toilet, etc.). Neglect of the organization of life (do not clean the bed after sleep, do not clean the room for a long time, do not change clothes during the day and wear night pyjamas around the clock, neglect a healthy diet, eat outside the regime, mostly fast food, etc.). In communication with others, they show irritability with the desire to avoid contact and solitude in their room. Also, at such a person, disorganization of educational activity hastily is observed. It is difficult for them to organize the learning process; they show procrastination (postponement of tasks). If the classes are as videoconferencing, they do not include video and microphone. They are away from contact with the group and the teacher, even if they need contact for feedback, they ignore it. An empirical study of the susceptibility to hikikomori markers in adolescents revealed that about 40% of subjects have a high susceptibility to hikikomori markers, and almost 11% of young men – very high.


Author(s):  
W. Blommaert ◽  
K. Mannaerts ◽  
S. Pepin ◽  
B. Dehandschutter

Like in many countries, polluted industrial sites also exist in Belgium. Although the contamination is purely chemical in most cases, they may also contain a radioactive component. For chemically contaminated sites, extensive regulations and methodologies were already developed and applied by the different regional authorities. However and essentially because radioactivity is a federal competence, there was also a necessity for developing a legal federal framework (including an ER-methodology [1]) for remediation of radioactive contaminated sites. Most of the so-called radioactive contaminated sites are exhibiting a mixed contamination (chemical and radiological), and hence the development of such methodology had to be in line with the existing (regional) ones concerning chemical contamination. Each authority having their own responsibilities with regard to the type of contamination, this makes it more complicated and time-consuming finding the best solution satisfying all involved parties. To overcome these difficulties the legal framework and methodology — including the necessary involvement of the stakeholders and delineation of each party’s responsibilities — has to be transparent, clear and unambiguous. Once the methodology is developed as such and approved, the application of it is expected to be more or less easy, logic and straightforward. But is this really true? The aim of this document is to investigate as well the impact of factors such as the type of radioactive contamination — levels of contamination, related to NORM activity or not, homogeneous or heterogeneous, the differences in licensing procedures,… — on the application of the developed methodology and what could be the consequences in the long run on the remediation process. Two existing case studies in Belgium will be presented ([2]). The first case deals with a historical radium contaminated site, the second one with a phosphate processing facility still in operation, both with (very) low levels of radioactivity but containing very large volumes of contaminated materials. These case studies will demonstrate that, although the applied methodology will be the same in both cases, the impact of e.g. sampling strategy, scenario definitions, modelisations, final destination of the land, presence of chemotoxic components, dose or risk assessments, uncertainties, derivation of clean-up radionuclide guidelines, stakeholder involvement and waste treatment could be important on licensing, cost-estimate, planning and final outcome of the environmental remediation activities to be executed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-27
Author(s):  
Monika Szkultecka-Dębek ◽  
Mariola Drozd ◽  
Marta Bem

Abstract Introduction. The term “quality of life” has been present in the literature for a long time now. It was created in the middle of the last century in Western Europe and from the societal perspective the term initially defined the level of material life, gradually being expanded to other aspects of human life, like happiness, education, broadly defined individual freedom and health. Aim. To analyze differences by gender and place of residence in perception of quality of life based on data from the assessment of thrombocytopenia impact on daily activities using TSIDAV vignette among Polish patients. Material and methods. We assessed the impact of thrombocytopenia symptoms on patients’ daily activities using TSIDAV vignette. We wanted to understand the reason for different perception of symptoms and why visible symptoms are perceived as worse by women in comparison to men. We analyzed the groups by age and place of residence. Results. Within 48 collected questionnaires, 31 were provided by women and 17 by men. As many as 29% of men declared the biggest impact on daily activities due to petechiae and easy bruising. The same symptoms were assessed as having significant impact on daily activities by 68% and 65% of women respectively. The results in relation to the two symptoms were similar in terms of impact: both men and women assessed it as high impact, however in general, a lower proportion of men identified this as an issue. As many as 53% of the pre-menopausal women declared the thrombocytopenia impact on daily activities as very high. Similar results were observed in the male group. Those before retirement age assessed disease symptoms as very high in comparison to the group of older patients. No significant differences in relation to place of residence were observed. During literature research we found that depending on patients’ gender, the perception of the impact of disease on patients quality of life may often differ. Conclusions. We found out that the perception of disease symptoms impact on quality of life is different by women and men. That may be the result of different factors such as the influence of social roles determined for each sex. At the same time, the perception of the impact of thrombocytopenia symptoms on daily activity almost does not depend on age or place of residence of neither women nor men.


The environmental impacts from production of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) in batch Hot Mix Plant (HMP) has been evaluated using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The hot mix technology has been in use since long time for production of HMA used in construction of road pavements. The functional unit adopted is 100 tonnes of HMA production and CML 2001 method is used for assessment using GaBi 10.5. The study found that the production of HMA in batch HMP had very high environmental impacts on marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential (MAETP) impact category (8,25,573 kg DCB eq.), abiotic depletion fossil (ADP fossil) (2,87,295 MJ) impact category and global warming potential (GWP) impact category (2,770 kg CO2 eq.). The raw material phase had higher environmental impacts compared to production process phase on all the impact categories. It was also concluded that the use of renewable energy and fuel and adoption of cold mix technology will reduce the environmental impacts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-151
Author(s):  
Andrea Circolo ◽  
Ondrej Hamuľák

Abstract The paper focuses on the very topical issue of conclusion of the membership of the State, namely the United Kingdom, in European integration structures. The ques­tion of termination of membership in European Communities and European Union has not been tackled for a long time in the sources of European law. With the adop­tion of the Treaty of Lisbon (2009), the institute of 'unilateral' withdrawal was intro­duced. It´s worth to say that exit clause was intended as symbolic in its nature, in fact underlining the status of Member States as sovereign entities. That is why this institute is very general and the legal regulation of the exercise of withdrawal contains many gaps. One of them is a question of absolute or relative nature of exiting from integration structures. Today’s “exit clause” (Art. 50 of Treaty on European Union) regulates only the termination of membership in the European Union and is silent on the impact of such a step on membership in the European Atomic Energy Community. The presented paper offers an analysis of different variations of the interpretation and solution of the problem. It´s based on the independent solution thesis and therefore rejects an automa­tism approach. The paper and topic is important and original especially because in the multitude of scholarly writings devoted to Brexit questions, vast majority of them deals with institutional questions, the interpretation of Art. 50 of Treaty on European Union; the constitutional matters at national UK level; future relation between EU and UK and political bargaining behind such as all that. The question of impact on withdrawal on Euratom membership is somehow underrepresented. Present paper attempts to fill this gap and accelerate the scholarly debate on this matter globally, because all consequences of Brexit already have and will definitely give rise to more world-wide effects.


Author(s):  
Madara Eversone

The article aims to highlight the role of Arvīds Grigulis’ (1906–1989) personality in the Latvian Soviet literary process in the context of the Latvian Soviet Writers’ Union, attempting to discover the contradictions and significance of Arvīds Grigulis’ personality. Arvīds Grigulis was a long-time member of the Writers’ Union, a member of the Soviet nomenklatura, and an authority of the soviet literary process. His evaluations of pre-soviet literary heritage and writings of his contemporaries were often harsh and ruthless, and also influenced the development of the further literary process. The article is based on the documents of the Central Committee of the Latvian Communist Party, the Latvian Soviet Writers’ Union and the Communist Party local organization of the Latvian Soviet Writers’ Union that are available at the Latvian State Archive of the National Archives of Latvia, as well as memories of Grigulis’ contemporaries. It is concluded that the personality of the writer Arvīds Grigulis, although unfolding less in the context of the Writers’ Union, is essential for the exploration of the soviet literary process and events behind the scenes. The article mainly describes events and episodes taking place until 1965, when Arvīds Grigulis’ influence in the Writers’ Union was more remarkable. Individual and further studies should analyse changes and the impact of his decisions in the cultural process of the 70s and 80s of the 20th century.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Ioannidou ◽  
Despoina Georgiou ◽  
Andreas Obersteiner ◽  
Nilufer Deniz Bas ◽  
Christine Mieslinger

The results of international comparison studies such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) have initiated intense discussions about educational reforms in Germany. Although in-service and pre-service teachers are an essential part of such reforms, little is known about their attitudes towards PISA studies. The present study aims to fill this gap through the investigation of pre-service teachers’ awareness, interest, perception, and attitudes towards PISA. A questionnaire was used to survey a sample of 107 university students who were participating in a teacher education program. The results reveal that 100% of the participants are aware of PISA. Nearly 69% of the participants think that the impact of PISA is rather high or very high, while 41% of them believe that PISA results are reliable. Accordingly, half of the participants seem to be interested in PISA results for their country. The present study discusses these findings in the light of the expected outcomes as proposed in standards for teacher education.


Author(s):  
DB Heyner ◽  
G Piazza ◽  
E Beeh ◽  
G Seidel ◽  
HE Friedrich ◽  
...  

A promising approach for the development of sustainable and resource-saving alternatives to conventional material solutions in vehicle structures is the use of renewable raw materials. One group of materials that has particular potential for this application is wood. The specific material properties of wood in the longitudinal fiber direction are comparable to typical construction materials such as steel or aluminum. Due to its comparatively low density, there is a very high lightweight construction potential especially for bending load cases. Structural components of the vehicle body are exposed to very high mechanical loads in the case of crash impact. Depending on the component under consideration, energy has to be absorbed and the structural integrity of the body has to be ensured in order to protect the occupants. The use of natural materials such as wood poses particular challenges for such applications. The material characteristics of wood are dispersed, and depend on environmental factors such as humidity. The aim of the following considerations was to develop a material system to ensure the functional reliability of the component. The test boundary conditions for validation also play a key role in this context. The potential of wood–steel hybrid design based on laminated veneer lumber and steel was investigated for use in a component subjected to crash loads such as the door impact beam. The chosen solution involves a separation of functions. A laminated veneer lumber-based beam was hybridized with a steel strip on the tension side. The steel strip was designed to compensate the comparatively low elongation at fracture of the wood and to ensure the integrity of the beam. The wooden component was designed for high energy absorption due to delamination and controlled failure during the impact, while maintaining the surface moment of inertia, i.e. the bending stiffness of the entire component. This approach was chosen to ensure the functional safety of the component, avoid sudden component failure and utilize the high potential of both materials. The tests carried out provided initial functional proof of the chosen solution. The hybridization achieved significantly higher deformations without sudden failure of the beam. In addition, bending capabilities were increased significantly compared to a beam without hybridization. In comparison with a state-of-the-art steel beam, the hybrid beam was not able to achieve the maximum deformation and the target weight of the hybrid beam. Further optimization of the hybrid beam is therefore necessary.


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