scholarly journals Microbial Ecotoxicity of Biochars in Agricultural Soil and Interactions with Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonates

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 828
Author(s):  
Rasmus Nissen ◽  
Gunadhish Khanal ◽  
Lars Elsgaard
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ammonia Oxidation ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Field Application ◽  
Dose Effect ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Linear Alkylbenzene ◽  
Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonates

Large-scale application of biochar on agricultural land offers the prospect of soil improvement and carbon sequestration for climate-change mitigation. However, negative side-effects on the soil microbial ecosystem are poorly understood, notably in relation to the functions of native microbiomes under realistic routes of biochar exposure. Due to divergent properties, different biochars might interact with soil in complex ways. This might result in decreased or increased ecotoxicity from biochar contaminants, such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Using five biochars produced from straw and wood under contrasting pyrolysis conditions, we traced their ecotoxicological dose-effect using a bioassay for potential ammonia oxidation (PAO), through microorganisms that are sensitive stress indicators. Assays were made after soil/biochar interaction for up to 3 weeks, where straw biochar with the lowest PAH content (<0.5 mg kg−1) showed the most pronounced dose-effects to PAO, corresponding to a 10% effect concentration (EC10) of 4.6% (dry weight biochar/dry weight soil). In comparison, straw biochar with the highest PAH content was least ecotoxic (EC10, 15.2% after 3 weeks) and wood biochars pyrolysed at high temperature (700–725 °C) showed no ecotoxicity to PAO. Interactions between biochars and anionic surfactants, i.e., linear alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are common soil pollutants, resulted in varying effects on PAO, but the effects were small and of limited ecological importance for soil-amended biochars. In conclusion, the results showed that short-term microbial side-effects of biochar in the soil ecosystem were minor at relevant field application rates (such as <30 Mg ha−1 mixed into a plough layer of 20 cm), and that inherent PAHs in biochar were not a likely source of short-term ecotoxicity. However, there were notable differences in the effects eventually observed at very high biochar rates, stressing that individual biochars need specific ecotoxicological assessment before their safe application at large scale in agricultural soils.

scholarly journals Fate of organic pollutants after sewage sludge spreading on agricultural soils: a 30-years field-scale recording

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Patureau ◽  
Mireille Laforie ◽  
Eric Lichtfouse ◽  
Giovanni Caria ◽  
Laurence Denaix ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Maximum Level ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Control Soil ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Maize Crop ◽  
Linear Alkylbenzene ◽  
Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonates

Toxic organic compounds, such as the surfactants linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS) and nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NPE), Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and residues derived from plastics (PAE-phthalates) end up in sewage sludge. In order to evaluate and quantify the potential environmental risks associated with the xenobiotic introduction into biological life cycle, the EU BIOWASTE project (QLK5-CT-2002-01138) devotes one task to the study of the fate of xenobiotic in a sandy soil after sludge spreading on a 30-year field-scale record experiment. Experimental maize crop fields from Bordeaux (France) have been amended with 100 tons per hectare each 2 years from 1974 to 1992. From 1992 to 2004, the fields were maintained and cropped with maize. This experiment shows that the concentration fluctuations in the sludge amended soil follow the same pattern of those in the sewage sludge showing that there is a real impact of the present xenobiotics in the sewage sludge on the concentration of the xenobiotics in the soil. Nonetheless, 12 years after the last addition of sewage sludge, the residual concentrations remain from 2 to 10 times higher than the content of the control soil, even though these levels are inferior to the Predicted Non Effect Concentration (PNEC). Only LAS level went back to the level in the control soil. However, only the LAS concentration is above the PNEC during all the experiment due to the very high level of LAS in the sludge (20 g/kg dry weight). These results show that even though this compound is much more degradable than NPE and PAE, it may have a long term effect in soil if high quantities are spread. To conclude, this study underlines the importance to fix maximum level for xenobiotic compounds for sewage sludge spreading on agricultural land, and also the central role of the sewage sludge processes in reducing the xenobiotic concentrations before spreading.

scholarly journals Application of time to emesis data for primary triage of radiation accident victims

2021 ◽  
pp. 14-21
Author(s):  
V. Yu. Soloviev ◽  
A. S. Samoilov ◽  
A. O. Lebedev ◽  
M. K. Sedankin ◽  
E. A. Gudkov
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Radiation Injury ◽  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
Dose Effect ◽  
Separate Analysis ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Radiation Accidents ◽  
Short Term Exposure ◽  
Severity Of Injury ◽  
Primary Triage

Relevance. The relevance of the study is due to the risk of developing large-scale radiation accidents with a large number of victims, who will need primary medical triage and early prediction of the severity of injury for correct routing from the source of sanitary losses.Intention. Validation of the method of estimating dose by time-to-emesis under various exposure conditions for pre-hospital triage of victims.Methodology. The object of the study is the data from State Research Center – Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency (Moscow) database of acute radiation injuries.Results and Discussion: We have analyzed individual data for the victims of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster (114 persons) with a separate analysis of the irradiation conditions (short-term exposure for less than 20 minutes and prolonged exposure in selected groups), as well as the data from victims of other radiation accidents in the former USSR (26 persons) and 8 patients with total body radiotherapy without the use of antiemetics. It was shown that for the equal time-to-emesis intervals, predicted radiation injury is more severe in case of prolonged exposure vs short-term exposure. This may be due to varying rate of dose accumulation and so-called “unnecessary dose” effect – when the biological mechanism of vomiting has already been triggered against ongoing exposure. Results are presented as interval estimates of radiation injury severity by time-to-emesis for both short-term and prolonged exposures. We also have formulated two criteria for primary triage purposes in case of moderate or large numbers of victims due to large-scale radiation accidents.Conclusion. Recommendations for pre-hospital triage of victims are proposed.

Bipolar radiofrequency induced thermotherapy and 1064 nm Nd:Yag laser in endovenous occlusion of insufficient veins: short term follow up results

VASA ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krnic ◽  
Sucic
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Success Rate ◽  
Nd:Yag Laser ◽  
Main Stem ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Main Trunk ◽  
Bipolar Radiofrequency ◽  
Saphenous Veins ◽  
Skin Redness ◽  
Complete Failure

Background: The aim of this study is to report our results in main stem vein closure using the bipolar radiofrequency induced thermotherapy (RFITT) system and the 1064nm Nd:Yag laser. Patients and methods: 44 incompetent main stem veins (37 great saphenous veins, one lesser saphenous vein, and 6 anterior accessory saphenous veins) in 29 patients were treated using RFITT. 53 incompetent main stem veins (45 great saphenous veins, 4 lesser saphenous veins, and 4 anterior accessory saphenous veins) in 43 patients were treated endovenously with 1064 nm Nd:Yag laser. All patients underwent postoperative duplex scanning within a month after procedure, as well as a short interview regarding postoperative discomfort. Results: In main stem veins treated with RFITT, the success rate within the first month was 86,4 % (38 out of 44 veins). Complete failure rate was 13,6 % (6 out of 44 veins). In 53 main stem veins treated by 1064 nm Nd:Yag laser, the success rate was 100 %, consisting of 98,1 % complete success (52/53 veins), and 1,9 % partial success (1/53 veins). None of the patients treated with RFITT experienced postoperative adverse effects, whereas 13/43 (30,2 %) patients treated with laser had to use oral analgesics after the treatment, and 21/43 (48,8 %) patients reported transient skin changes, such as bruising or skin redness. Conclusions: RFITT system was fairly efficient in the short term for closure of main trunk veins, whereas longer term results are still scarce. Postoperative side effects of RFITT were minimal. 1064nm Nd:Yag laser, according to short term results, proved to be very effective for main stem vein closure. Postoperative side effects related to 1064 nm Nd:Yag endovenous laser treatment proved to be minor, transient, and acceptable.

Partnerships Generate Co-Benefits in Agricultural Stream Restoration (Canterbury, New Zealand)

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Febria ◽  
Maggie Bayfield ◽  
Kathryn E. Collins ◽  
Hayley S. Devlin ◽  
Brandon C. Goeller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystem ◽  
Reduced Pressure ◽  
Ecosystem Integrity ◽  
Riparian Management ◽  
Scale Change ◽  
Large Scale Change

In Aotearoa New Zealand, agricultural land-use intensification and decline in freshwater ecosystem integrity pose complex challenges for science and society. Despite riparian management programmes across the country, there is frustration over a lack in widespread uptake, upfront financial costs, possible loss in income, obstructive legislation and delays in ecological recovery. Thus, social, economic and institutional barriers exist when implementing and assessing agricultural freshwater restoration. Partnerships are essential to overcome such barriers by identifying and promoting co-benefits that result in amplifying individual efforts among stakeholder groups into coordinated, large-scale change. Here, we describe how initial progress by a sole farming family at the Silverstream in the Canterbury region, South Island, New Zealand, was used as a catalyst for change by the Canterbury Waterway Rehabilitation Experiment, a university-led restoration research project. Partners included farmers, researchers, government, industry, treaty partners (Indigenous rights-holders) and practitioners. Local capacity and capability was strengthened with practitioner groups, schools and the wider community. With partnerships in place, co-benefits included lowered costs involved with large-scale actions (e.g., earth moving), reduced pressure on individual farmers to undertake large-scale change (e.g., increased participation and engagement), while also legitimising the social contracts for farmers, scientists, government and industry to engage in farming and freshwater management. We describe contributions and benefits generated from the project and describe iterative actions that together built trust, leveraged and aligned opportunities. These actions were scaled from a single farm to multiple catchments nationally.

Phosphorus Leaching Under Cut Grassland

1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
pp. 63-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Turner ◽  
P. M. Haygarth
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Algal Growth ◽  
Soil Types ◽  
P Fractions ◽  
Inorganic P ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
Significant Mechanism ◽  
Total P

Phosphorus (P) transfer from agricultural land to surface waters can contribute to eutrophication, excess algal growth and associated water quality problems. Grasslands have a high potential for P transfer, as they receive P inputs as mineral fertiliser and concentrates cycled through livestock manures. The transfer of P can occur through surface and subsurface pathways, although the capacity of most soils to fix inorganic P has meant that subsurface P transfer by leaching mechanisms has often been perceived as negligible. We investigated this using large-scale monolith lysimeters (135 cm deep, 80 cm diameter) to monitor leachate P under four grassland soil types. Leachate was collected during the 1997–98 drainage year and analysed for a range of P fractions. Mean concentrations of total P routinely exceeded 100 μg l−1 from all soil types and, therefore, exceeded P concentrations above which eutrophication and algal growth can occur. The majority of the leachate P was in algal-available Mo-reactive (inorganic) forms, although a large proportion occurred in unreactive (organic) forms. We suggest that subsurface transfer by leaching can represent a significant mechanism for agricultural P transfer from some soils and must be given greater consideration as a potential source of diffuse P pollution to surface waters.

“Community Interests” and the Role of International Law in the Creation of a Global Market for Agricultural Land

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen von Bernstorff
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Land Grab ◽  
Large Scale Land ◽  
The One

The chapter explores the notion of “community interests” with regard to the global “land-grab” phenomenon. Over the last decade, a dramatic increase of foreign investment in agricultural land could be observed. Bilateral investment treaties protect around 75 per cent of these large-scale land acquisitions, many of which came with associated social problems, such as displaced local populations and negative consequences for food security in Third World countries receiving these large-scale foreign investments. Hence, two potentially conflicting areas of international law are relevant in this context: Economic, social, and cultural rights and the principles of permanent sovereignty over natural resources and “food sovereignty” challenging large-scale investments on the one hand, and specific norms of international economic law stabilizing them on the other. The contribution discusses the usefulness of the concept of “community interests” in cases where the two colliding sets of norms are both considered to protect such interests.

scholarly journals BattleNet: Capturing Advantageous Battlefield in RTS Games (Student Abstract)

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 13849-13850
Author(s):  
Donghyeon Lee ◽  
Man-Je Kim ◽  
Chang Wook Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Outcome Predictor ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Rts Game

In a real-time strategy (RTS) game, StarCraft II, players need to know the consequences before making a decision in combat. We propose a combat outcome predictor which utilizes terrain information as well as squad information. For training the model, we generated a StarCraft II combat dataset by simulating diverse and large-scale combat situations. The overall accuracy of our model was 89.7%. Our predictor can be integrated into the artificial intelligence agent for RTS games as a short-term decision-making module.

Hybrid Combination of GIS,GPS,WSN and GPRS Technology in Modern Digital Agriculture Application

2010 ◽  
Vol 108-111 ◽  
pp. 1158-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Cheng Nie ◽  
Di Wu ◽  
Weiong Zhang ◽  
Yan Yang ◽  
Yong He
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Application ◽  
Wireless Sensor ◽  
Information Collection ◽  
Scale Field ◽  
Large Scale Field ◽  
Field Information ◽  
Intelligent Management ◽  
Digital Agriculture ◽  
And Control

In order to improve the information management of the modern digital agriculture, combined several modern digital agriculture technologies, namely wireless sensor network (WSN), global positioning system (GPS), geographic information system (GIS) and general packet radio service (GPRS), and applied them to the information collection and intelligent control process of the modern digital agriculture. Combining the advantage of the local multi-channel information collection and the low-power wireless transmission of WSN, the stable and low cost long-distance communication and data transmission ability of GPRS, the high-precision positioning technology of the DGPS positioning and the large-scale field information layer-management technology of GIS, such a hybrid technology combination is applied to the large-scale field information and intelligent management. In this study, wireless sensor network routing nodes are disposed in the sub-area of field. These nodes have GPS receiver modules and the electric control mechanism, and are relative positioned by GPS. They can real-time monitor the field information and control the equipment for the field application. When the GPS position information and other collected field information are measured, the information can be remotely transmitted to PC by GPRS. Then PC can upload the information to the GIS management software. All the field information can be classified into different layers in GIS and shown on the GIS map based on their GPS position. Moreover, we have developed remote control software based on GIS. It can send the control commands through GPRS to the nodes which have control modules; and then we can real-time manage and control the field application. In conclusion, the unattended automatic wireless intelligent technology for the field information collection and control can effectively utilize hardware resources, improve the field information intelligent management and reduce the information and intelligent cost.

scholarly journals Blastocyst formation, embryo transfer and breed comparison in the first reported large scale cloning of camels

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. O. Olsson ◽  
A. H. Tinson ◽  
N. Al Shamsi ◽  
K. S. Kuhad ◽  
R. Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Embryo Transfer ◽  
Nuclear Transfer ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Donor Cell ◽  
Blastocyst Formation ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Embryo Formation ◽  
Large Expansion ◽  
Breed Differences ◽  
Breed Comparison

AbstractCloning, through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), has the potential for a large expansion of genetically favorable traits in a population in a relatively short term. In the present study we aimed to produce multiple cloned camels from racing, show and dairy exemplars. We compared several parameters including oocyte source, donor cell and breed differences, transfer methods, embryo formation and pregnancy rates and maintenance following SCNT. We successfully achieved 47 pregnancies, 28 births and 19 cloned offspring who are at present healthy and have developed normally. Here we report cloned camels from surgical embryo transfer and correlate blastocyst formation rates with the ability to achieve pregnancies. We found no difference in the parameters affecting production of clones by camel breed, and show clear differences on oocyte source in cloning outcomes. Taken together we demonstrate that large scale cloning of camels is possible and that further improvements can be achieved.

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