Multivariate Statistical Characterisation of Soil Quality in the Lower Danube River Riparian Areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (7) ◽  
pp. 2392-2397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violeta-Monica Radu ◽  
Alexandru Anton Ivanov ◽  
Petra Ionescu ◽  
Gyorgy Deak ◽  
Elena Diacu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Contamination ◽  
Toxic Metals ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Graphite Furnace ◽  
Humus Content ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
Potentially Toxic Metals ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Data Set

Increasing anthropogenic influences on the environment has caused negative changes in natural ecosystems and soil contamination with potentially toxic metals has become a worrying issue at global level, due to the negative impact on the environment and human health. For the purpose of assessing soil contamination in the riparian areas of the Lower Danube River, a number of 144 soil samples were collected twice a year, in the period of June 2013 � December 2016, from 9 monitoring locations, from 0.05 m and 0.3 m depths, and the following indicators: Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, including Ca, Mg, Corg, SO42- and humus content have been monitored. The soil was sampled, conserved and analysed according to the European standards in force. Metal concentrations were determined using flame (FAAS) and graphite furnace (GFAAS) atomic absorption spectrometry after �aqua regia� digestion of dried, homogenised and 0.5 mm sieved soil sub-samples. Comparing the average concentration values of the analysed potentially toxic metals, a decreasing tendency following the order Cr]Pb]Ni]Cu]Zn]Mn was observed and by reporting the average values at the normal limits, the order Zn]Cu]Mn]Ni]Pb]Cr of magnitude was obtained. To investigate possible correlations and interdependencies of potentially toxic metals content in the riparian soil, multivariate statistical methods were used. After applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA), 3 main components were identified, with a combined share of about 74 % of the original data-set variance. It was observed that during the monitoring period the average values of the all monitored elements from the studied soils were slightly below the normal reference values, according to the national legislation.

Deposition of potentially toxic metals in the soil from surrounding cement plants in a karst area of Southeastern Brazil

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago Augusto da Costa e Silva ◽  
Marcos de Paula ◽  
Washington Santos Silva ◽  
Gustavo Augusto Lacorte
Keyword(s):  
Soil Contamination ◽  
Toxic Metals ◽  
Environmental Pollutants ◽  
Carcinogenic Risk ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Karst Area ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Karst Region ◽  
Potentially Toxic Metals ◽  
Cement Production

Abstract Cement factories are the main sources of environmental pollutants among the different industrial activities, including soil contamination by potentially toxic metals and the Karst region of Southeastern Brazil is known for the implementation of large cement producing facilities. This study aims to evaluate whether there is an increase in the concentration of PTM in the soil surrounding the cement plants and to estimate their harmfulness to both local human population and environment. In total, 18 soil samples were collected from the surroundings of three cement plants as well as four soil samples from areas outside the influence of cement plants and concentration of the following potentially toxic metals (PTM) were estimated: Cd, Pb, Co, Cu, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Zn. The results revealed that all PTM concentrations from cement plant surroundings were significantly higher than PTM concentrations from control areas and no PTM concentrations from CPS or CA soil samples exceeded national and global contamination thresholds. However, Igeo Index indicated low level soil contamination by Pb, Cu and Cr and high levels for Co. We could not verify significant Non-carcinogenic risk to health for any soil sample, but carcinogenic risk analysis revealed different levels of carcinogenic risk among the sampled locations, for both adults and children. Our results indicate that exclusively evaluating the concentration of potentially toxic metals is not enough to verify the potential harmful effects of cement production for the surrounding population. Here we evidence that additional indices, based on both contamination indices and health risk assessments, should be considered for better evaluation of the impacts of cement production activity.

Assessment of agricultural soil contamination by potentially toxic metals dispersed from improperly disposed tailings, Kombat mine, Namibia

2014 ◽  
Vol 144 ◽  
pp. 409-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Mileusnić ◽  
Benjamin Siyowi Mapani ◽  
Akalemwa Fred Kamona ◽  
Stanko Ružičić ◽  
Isaac Mapaure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Contamination ◽  
Toxic Metals ◽  
Agricultural Soil ◽  
Potentially Toxic Metals

scholarly journals Deposition of Potentially Toxic Metals in the Soil from Surrounding Cement Plants in a Karst Area of Southeastern Brazil

Conservation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-150
Author(s):  
Thiago Augusto da Costa Silva ◽  
Marcos de Paula ◽  
Washington Santos Silva ◽  
Gustavo Augusto Lacorte
Keyword(s):  
Soil Contamination ◽  
Toxic Metals ◽  
Environmental Pollutants ◽  
Carcinogenic Risk ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Karst Area ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Karst Region ◽  
Potentially Toxic Metals ◽  
Cement Production

Cement factories are the main sources of environmental pollutants among the different industrial activities, including soil contamination by potentially toxic metals. The karst region of Southeastern Brazil is known for the implementation of large cement producing facilities. This study aims to evaluate whether there is an increase in the concentration of PTM in the soil surrounding the cement plants and to estimate their harmfulness to both local human population and environment. In total, 18 soil samples were collected from the surroundings of three cement plants as well as four soil samples from areas outside the influence of cement plants and concentration of the following potentially toxic metals (PTM) were estimated: Cd, Pb, Co, Cu, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Zn. The results revealed that all PTM concentrations from cement plant surroundings were significantly higher than PTM concentrations from control areas and no PTM concentrations from CPS or CA soil samples exceeded national and global contamination thresholds. However, Igeo Index indicated low level soil contamination by Pb, Cu, and Cr, as well as high levels for Co. We could not verify significant non-carcinogenic risk to health for any soil sample, but carcinogenic risk analysis revealed different levels of carcinogenic risk among the sampled locations, for both adults and children. Our results indicate that exclusively evaluating the concentration of potentially toxic metals is not enough to verify the potential harmful effects of cement production for the surrounding population. Here we evidence that additional indices, based on both contamination indices and health risk assessments, should be considered for better evaluation of the impacts of cement production activity.

Molecular Views of Ice-Embedded Lumbricus Terrestris Erythrocruorin Obtained By Invariant Classification

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 450-451
Author(s):  
Michael schatz ◽  
Joachim Jäger ◽  
Marin van Heel
Keyword(s):  
Image Interpretation ◽  
Lumbricus Terrestris ◽  
Reference Image ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Low Contrast ◽  
Negative Stain ◽  
Reference Images ◽  
Statistical Resolution

Lumbricus terrestris erythrocruorin is a giant oxygen-transporting macromolecule in the blood of the common earth worm (worm "hemoglobin"). In our current study, we use specimens (kindly provided by Drs W.E. Royer and W.A. Hendrickson) embedded in vitreous ice (1) to avoid artefacts encountered with the negative stain preparation technigue used in previous studies (2-4).Although the molecular structure is well preserved in vitreous ice, the low contrast and high noise level in the micrographs represent a serious problem in image interpretation. Moreover, the molecules can exhibit many different orientations relative to the object plane of the microscope in this type of preparation. Existing techniques of analysis requiring alignment of the molecular views relative to one or more reference images often thus yield unsatisfactory results.We use a new method in which first rotation-, translation- and mirror invariant functions (5) are derived from the large set of input images, which functions are subsequently classified automatically using multivariate statistical techniques (6). The different molecular views in the data set can therewith be found unbiasedly (5). Within each class, all images are aligned relative to that member of the class which contributes least to the classes′ internal variance (6). This reference image is thus the most typical member of the class. Finally the aligned images from each class are averaged resulting in molecular views with enhanced statistical resolution.

Engagement Through the Diaspora Channel

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Danielson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Municipal Level

The first empirical task is to identify the characteristics of municipalities which US-based migrants have come together to support financially. Using a nationwide, municipal-level data set compiled by the author, the chapter estimates several multivariate statistical models to compare municipalities that did not benefit from the 3x1 Program for Migrants with those that did, and seeks to explain variation in the number and value of 3x1 projects. The analysis shows that migrants are more likely to contribute where migrant civil society has become more deeply institutionalized at the state level and in places with longer histories as migrant-sending places. Furthermore, the results suggest that political factors are at play, as projects have disproportionately benefited states and municipalities where the PAN had a stronger presence, with fewer occurring elsewhere.

scholarly journals An Algorithm for the Removal of Cosmic Ray Artifacts in Spectral Data Sets

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 893-901
Author(s):  
Sinead J. Barton ◽  
Bryan M. Hennelly
Keyword(s):  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Biological Cells ◽  
Statistical Classification ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Artefact Removal ◽  
Single Capture ◽  
Acquisition Method

Cosmic ray artifacts may be present in all photo-electric readout systems. In spectroscopy, they present as random unidirectional sharp spikes that distort spectra and may have an affect on post-processing, possibly affecting the results of multivariate statistical classification. A number of methods have previously been proposed to remove cosmic ray artifacts from spectra but the goal of removing the artifacts while making no other change to the underlying spectrum is challenging. One of the most successful and commonly applied methods for the removal of comic ray artifacts involves the capture of two sequential spectra that are compared in order to identify spikes. The disadvantage of this approach is that at least two recordings are necessary, which may be problematic for dynamically changing spectra, and which can reduce the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio when compared with a single recording of equivalent duration due to the inclusion of two instances of read noise. In this paper, a cosmic ray artefact removal algorithm is proposed that works in a similar way to the double acquisition method but requires only a single capture, so long as a data set of similar spectra is available. The method employs normalized covariance in order to identify a similar spectrum in the data set, from which a direct comparison reveals the presence of cosmic ray artifacts, which are then replaced with the corresponding values from the matching spectrum. The advantage of the proposed method over the double acquisition method is investigated in the context of the S/N ratio and is applied to various data sets of Raman spectra recorded from biological cells.

scholarly journals Decreased cortisol among hikers who preferentially visit and value biodiverse riparian zones

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellie Opdahl ◽  
Kathryn Demps ◽  
Julie A. Heath
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Salivary Cortisol ◽  
Hot Spots ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
Indirect Pathway ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Gps Tracks

AbstractWhile outdoor recreationists often report increases to their well-being for time spent in nature, the mechanisms through which local ecologies affect human health have been difficult to quantify, and thus to manage. We combine data from pre-post salivary cortisol measures, GPS tracks, visitor photos, and surveys from 88 hikers traversing several types of landscape within peri-urban public lands in southwest Idaho, USA. We find that time in biodiverse riparian areas and areas of perceived aesthetic value correlates with decreases in salivary cortisol and improved well-being for hikers. Wildlife sightings were not associated with changes in salivary cortisol, but were associated with riparian travel and aesthetic preferences, indicating an indirect pathway for ecosystem services. Additionally, wildlife sightings decreased on high-use days, even though hikers did not perceive a negative impact of their recreational activity. These results suggest that cultural and physiological ecosystem services of nature depend on the ecological community of the area. Preferential visitation and high service value of riparian areas by hikers and wildlife alike target shared riparian areas as hot spots for management efforts to promote both ecological and human health within an increasingly urbanizing world.

The Psychological and Financial Impact of Cybercrime Victimization: A Novel Application of the Shattered Assumptions Theory

2021 ◽  
pp. 089443932098382
Author(s):  
Jildau Borwell ◽  
Jurjen Jansen ◽  
Wouter Stol
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Financial Impact ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Loss Compensation ◽  
Shattered Assumptions ◽  
The Impact

While criminality is digitizing, a theory-based understanding of the impact of cybercrime on victims is lacking. Therefore, this study addresses the psychological and financial impact of cybercrime on victims, applying the shattered assumptions theory (SAT) to predict that impact. A secondary analysis was performed on a representative data set of Dutch citizens ( N = 33,702), exploring the psychological and financial impact for different groups of cybercrime victims. The results showed a higher negative impact on emotional well-being for victims of person-centered cybercrime, victims for whom the offender was an acquaintance, and victims whose financial loss was not compensated and a lower negative impact on emotional well-being for victims with a higher income. The study led to novel scientific insights and showed the applicability of the SAT for developing hypotheses about cybercrime victimization impact. In this study, most hypotheses had to be rejected, leading to the conclusion that more work has to be done to test the applicability of the SAT in the field of cybercrime. Furthermore, policy implications were identified considering the prioritization of and approach to specific cybercrimes, treatment of victims, and financial loss compensation.

scholarly journals Sewage Sludge as a Tool in Limiting the Content of Trace Elements in Avena sativa L. on the Soil Polluted with Diesel Oil

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4003
Author(s):  
Mirosław Wyszkowski ◽  
Jadwiga Wyszkowska ◽  
Agata Borowik ◽  
Natalia Kordala
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Soil Contamination ◽  
Avena Sativa ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Diesel Oil ◽  
Average Content ◽  
Nickel Copper ◽  
Copper Manganese ◽  
Positive Effect

The aim of the research was to determine the effect of soil contamination with diesel oil (0; 5; 10 and 15 cm3 kg−1 of soil) on the content of trace elements in the aboveground parts of oat (Avena sativa L.). Stabilised sewage sludge was used to mitigate the likely negative impact of diesel oil on the plant. Growing soil contamination with diesel oil had a significant impact on the content of trace elements in the aboveground biomass of oat. In the series without sewage sludge, the contents of the analysed elements, except for chromium, zinc, copper and cobalt, were positively correlated with the increasing doses of diesel oil. The largest increase in the content was recorded in the case of manganese. The sewage sludge used to reduce the influence of diesel oil on the chemical composition of oat had a positive effect on the content of the analysed trace elements. Compared to the series without the addition of a stabilised sewage sludge, it contributed to a reduction in the average content of chromium, nickel, copper, manganese and cobalt in the aboveground parts of oat plants. No significant effect of the applied remediation treatment was noted for cadmium, and the results were equivocal for iron.

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