Biological Effects of Non-ionizing Electromagnetic Fields to 27 GHz on Sperm Quality of Mytilus galloprovincialis

Recently, a rising use of wireless internet technologies has been demonstrated. The devices which use these technologies emit a considerable amount of electromagnetic radiation (EMFs) which could interact with the male reproductive system. The aim of this study was to investigate in vitro influence of electromagnetic fields a 27 GHz on sperm quality in Mytilus galloprovincialis. The experiments were conducted with a no commercial high gain pyramidal horn antenna. Sperm samples, taken from sexually mature males of M. galloprovincialis, were placed in seawater. Once evaluated the number and quality of spermatozoa, sperm cells were exposed to electromagnetic fields. The effect of exposure was evaluated after 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes with light microscope and using Eosin test. All the samples were performed in triplicate and statistical analysis was carried out by one-way ANOVA test. A significative decrease (30%) in sperm motility was ob-served after 10 minutes of exposure and after 30 minutes all sperms were immobile and not vital. The measurement of the Oxidation Reduction Potential (sORP), which evaluates the oxidative damage on spermatozoa, shows how the exposure to 27 GHz has increased the oxidant amount compared to the control groups. This study provides useful data on potential ecological impact of the EMFs on aquatic animals, that currently are poor investigated.

Applying Salutogenesis in Organisations

Organisations influence the health of society through three major paths: the health of their employees through working conditions, the health of their customers through the quality of their products or services and the population’s health at large through their socio-ecological impact. This chapter focuses on the first path of organisations’ impact on employee health through working conditions. It complements the chapter on salutogenic work by expanding the level of analysis to organisational characteristics. The chapter aims to be particularly applicable to for-profit organisations, in which it is exceptionally challenging to introduce a health agenda.

Behavior of Cementitious Materials under the Effect of an Eco-Cement Based on Dredged Sludge

This paper attempts to simulate the use of green materials from the silt in a dam, and reduce the harmful impacts of siltation on Algerian dams affected by frequent droughts and irregular rainfalls, which are resulted from climate change. These harsh weather conditions are the main cause of water erosion in Algeria, leading to a high silting level in many dams across the country. Therefore, it is necessary to dredge the considerable volumes of sludge in the dam areas. This paper treats the sludge dredged from the K’sob dam, and adds the treated sludge into cement, creating a hybrid binder that can be used in composition of cementitious materials. Specifically, the sludge extracted from the K’sob dam was characterized chemically, physically, mineralogically, and mechanically, and introduced both as a substitute of cement and a component in the mixture of ordinary concrete/mortar. The sludge was firstly activated through calcination, and added to cement at the mass dosages of 10%, 15%, and 20% separately. The mechanical behavior, especially that under compression, of cementitious materials (concrete/mortar) based on the treated sludge was studied through lab tests. The test results show that this technical innovation gives the finished product three major properties, namely, high strength, economy, and a beneficial ecological impact. The results obtained are encouraging and promise an optimal exploitation of the sludge from similar dam areas.

Electrodialysis Can Lower the Environmental Impact of Hemodialysis

The hemodialysis technique, used worldwide for patients with chronic kidney disease, is considered as a treatment with a high economic and ecological impact, especially for water consumption. Getting ultrapure water for the preparation of the dialysate to clean patient’s blood from toxins leads to high volumes of salt-enriched water that directly goes to sewage. The aim of this work is to propose operating conditions for electrodialysis to allow the reuse of reverse osmosis (RO) rejects. We first performed a parametric study to evaluate the influence of different parameters, such as flow rates, initial concentration, and applied voltage on the demineralization rate (DR) and specific energy consumption (SPC) with a NaCl model solution. The optimal conditions for desalination (i.e., a potential of 12 V, and flow rate of 20 L·h−1) were then successfully applied to real samples collected from a dialysis center with total dissolved salts concentration of about 1.4 g/L (conductivity of 2.0 mS·cm−1). We demonstrated that the choice of adequate conductivity targets allowed meeting the physico-chemical requirements to obtain water re-usable for either rehabilitation swimming pool, manual or machine washing of instruments before sterilization or irrigation. Saving this water could contribute in the reduction of the environmental impact of hemodialysis.

Talaromyces–Insect Relationships

Facing the urgent need to reduce the input of agrochemicals, in recent years, the ecological relationships between plants and their associated microorganisms have been increasingly considered as an essential tool for improving crop production. New findings and data have been accumulated showing that the application of fungi can go beyond the specific role that has been traditionally assigned to the species, employed in integrated pest management as entomopathogens or mycoparasites, and that strains combining both aptitudes can be identified and possibly used as multipurpose biocontrol agents. Mainly considered for their antagonistic relationships with plant pathogenic fungi, species in the genus Talaromyces have been more and more widely reported as insect associates in investigations carried out in various agricultural and non-agricultural contexts. Out of a total of over 170 species currently accepted in this genus, so far, 27 have been found to have an association with insects from 9 orders, with an evident increasing trend. The nature of their mutualistic and antagonistic relationships with insects, and their ability to synthesize bioactive compounds possibly involved in the expression of the latter kind of interactions, are analyzed in this paper with reference to the ecological impact and applicative perspectives in crop protection.

Environmental Profiling of Green Educational Building Using Life Cycle Assessment

Over the last twenty years, architects and designers have been working towards minimizing the impact that buildings have on the environment. In spite of the fact that many architects claim their buildings are environment-friendly, the claims cannot be justified unless a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is conducted. The two major parts of the theoretical basis of the proposed scheme are the concept of sustainability of the environment and methods of assessing the building’s environmental impacts. The objective of this report is to evaluate the possible ecological impact of an educational building through its life cycle, from extracting raw materials to the end of life. In order to accomplish the goal of the study, a single-case method of a life cycle assessment was used to determine which stage of the life cycle (manufacturing, construction, consumption, maintenance, and dismantling) made the most contribution to the overall impact. The main installation system (foundation, frame, wall, floor, roof) of a building will have an impact on the environment during its life cycle. A typical new educational building was used as a case study in Islamabad, along with an optimized LCA method based on energy consumption inventories, the material input and output, and the assessment of the environmental impact.

Energetic costs of ectoparasite infection in Atlantic salmon

Parasites are widespread in nature where they affect energy budgets of hosts, and depending on the imposed pathogenic severity, this may reduce host fitness. However, the energetic costs of parasite infections are rarely quantified. In this study, we measured metabolic rates in recently seawater adapted Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) infected with the ectoparasitic copepod Lepeophtheirus salmonis and used an aerobic scope framework to assess the potential ecological impact of this parasite-host interaction. The early chalimus stages of L. salmonis did not affect either standard or maximum metabolic rates. However, the later mobile pre-adult stages caused an increase in both standard and maximum metabolic rate yielding a preserved aerobic scope. Notably, standard metabolic rates were elevated by 26%, presumably caused by increased osmoregulatory burdens and costs of mobilizing immune responses. The positive impact on maximum metabolic rates was unexpected and suggests that fish are able to transiently overcompensate energy production to endure the burden of parasites and thus allow for continuation of normal activities. However, infected fish are known to suffer reduced growth, and this suggests that a trade-off exists in acquisition and assimilation of resources despite of an uncompromised aerobic scope. As such, when assessing impacts of environmental or biotic factors, we suggest that elevated routine costs may be a stronger predictor of reduced fitness than the available aerobic scope. Furthermore, studying effects on parasitized fish in an ecophysiological context deserves more attention, especially considering interacting effects of other stressors in the Anthropocene.