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Abstract An alkaline earth boro-aluminosilicate glass (Eagle XG), a soda-lime glass, and a light-weight polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) foil, used as typical substrates for photovoltaics, were treated by an energetic proton beam (3 MeV, dose 106–107 Gy) corresponding to approx. 30 years of operation at low Earth orbit. Properties of the irradiated substrates were characterized by atomic force microscopy, optical absorption, optical diffuse reflectance, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. Minimal changes of optical and morphological properties are detected on the bare Eagle XG glass, whereas the bare PET foil exhibits pronounced increase in optical absorption, generation of photoluminescence, as well as mechanical bending. On the other hand, the identical substrates coated with Indium-tin-oxide (ITO), which is a typical material for transparent electrodes in photovoltaics, exhibit significantly higher resistance to the modifications by protons while ITO structural and electronic properties remain unchanged. The experimental results are discussed considering a potential application of these materials for missions in space.

In this work we assess the pathways for environmental improvement by the coal utilization industry for power generation in Australia. In terms of resources, our findings show that coal is a long term resource of concern as coal reserves are likely to last for the next 500 years or more. However, our analysis indicates that evaporation losses of water in power generation will approach 1000 Gl (gigalitres) per year, equivalent to a consumption of half of the Australian residential population. As Australia is the second driest continent on earth, water consumption by power generators is a resource of immediate concern with regards to sustainability. We also show that coal will continue to play a major role in energy generation in Australia and, hence, there is a need to employ new technologies that can minimize environmental impacts. The major technologies to reduce impacts to air, water and soils are addressed. Of major interest, there is a major potential for developing sequestration processes in Australia, in particular by enhanced coal bed methane (ECBM) recovery at the Bowen Basin, South Sydney Basin and Gunnedah Basin. Having said that, CO2 capture technologies require further development to support any sequestration processes in order to comply with the Kyoto Protocol. Current power generation cycles are thermodynamic limited, with 35-40% efficiencies. To move to a high efficiency cycle, it is required to change technologies of which integrated gasification combined cycle plus fuel cell is the most promising, with efficiencies expected to reach 60-65%. However, risks of moving towards an unproven technology means that power generators are likely to continue to use pulverized fuel technologies, aiming at incremental efficiency improvements (business as usual). As a big picture pathway, power generators are likely to play an increasing role in regional development; in particular EcoParks and reclaiming saline water for treatment as pressures to access fresh water supplies will significantly increase.

This review covers the main examples of fuel-free light-driven micro/nanomotors and their different swimming styles, highlighting the most important parameters to consider when designing photocatalytic-based devices with a high propulsion efficiency.

Abstract Arsenic determination was carried out on hair, urine, and blood samples taken from groups of 10-year old boys, each numbering 20 to 25 individuals, residing in a region polluted by arsenic. The source of arsenic emissions ( 1 2 to 1 ton per day) is a power plant burning local coal of high arsenic content. In all the materials examined, considerably elevated concentrations of arsenic were found. The relation of the observed levels of arsenic to the distance of the place of residence up to a distance of more than 30 km from the source of the emissions was studied. On the basis of the results obtained, the most advantageous material for estimation of nonoccupational exposure to this toxic agent seems to be hair, in spite of some problems with the decontamination procedure involved. The results corresponded to the theoretical ideas on spreading of emissions from elevated sources in the open air and tend to establish the applicability of arsenic determination in the hair as a direct exposure test of contamination of the environment by arsenic. Considerable variablility among individual arsenic values in the hair makes group examination a necessity. The same applies to the urine and blood sampling, which is complicated by several technical difficulties. Levels in urine reflect the quantities of arsenic inhaled or ingested after their absorption into the blood, and give a more realistic picture of possible daily intake.

AbstractChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

Open forests are among the world’s most species-rich ecosystems but these are now suffering from strong environmental pressure. With the increasing frequency of drought events accompanying climate change, open forests are now at high risk of canopy openness, an associated increase in nutrient load, and a consequent reordering of the plant community. Based on an 11-year field manipulative experiment, we examined whether the reintroduction of traditional forest uses, in particular the regular removal of litter which has been practiced for many centuries in Europe, may mitigate eutrophication and protect the ancient plant diversity of open forests. We examined vascular plant composition in 64, 3 × 3 m plots in 32 randomized blocks, each consisted of one litter-removal and one control plot in a subcontinental thermophilous oak forest dominated by Quercus petraea (Czech Republic, Central Europe). We analyzed how regular litter removal influenced the changes in topsoil nutrients and diversity and abundances of perennial, short-lived monocarpic and open oak forest plant species after eleven years of the annual application of this management. The regular litter removal significantly mitigated eutrophication by a reducing total nitrogen, and significantly decreased the amounts of base cations Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the topsoil. The studied plant species groups responded differently. Perennial and open oak forest species significantly increased their richness and abundances in the litter-removal plots and at the same time their diversity did not change significantly depending on inter-annual weather conditions. In contrast, litter removal negatively affected abundances of short-lived monocarpic species, whose richness was also considerably influenced by weather conditions (decreased the most in years with spring droughts). Moreover, we have found a protective effect of regular litter removal on drought-sensitive open oak forest species that survived in the litter-removal plots, whereas some completely disappeared from control sites during the period of repeated drought events. Our study thus demonstrates that litter removal is a tool with high potential in maintaining biodiversity in open forests affected by climate change.

The inhibition of undesirable nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and desirable ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) by free ammonia (FA) and free nitrous acid (FNA) in partial nitritation (PN) is crucially affected by the biomass growth mode (suspended sludge, biofilm, encapsulation). But, the limitations of these modes towards less concentrated reject waters (≤600 mg-N L-1) are unclear. Therefore, this work compares the start-up and stability of three PN sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) with biomass grown in one of the three modes: suspended sludge, biofilm and biomass encapsulated in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) pellets. The SBRs were operated at 15°C with influent total ammonium nitrogen (TAN) concentrations of 75-600 mg-TAN L-1. PN start-up was twice as fast in the biofilm and encapsulated biomass SBRs than in the suspended sludge SBR. After start-up, PN in the biofilm and suspended sludge SBRs was stable at 150-600 mg-TAN L-1. But, at 75 mg-TAN L-1, full nitrification gradually developed. In the encapsulated biomass SBR, full nitrification occurred even at 600 mg-TAN L-1, showing that NOB in this set-up can adapt even to 4.3 mg-FA L-1 and 0.27 mg-FNA L-1. Thus, PN in the biofilm was best for the treatment of an influent containing 150-600 mg-TAN L-1.

The life cycle operation phase of John Deere 1490D energy wood harvester from the aspect of energy audit and environmentally negative influence caused by emissions were evaluated. Energy audit quantifies energy used in the form of fuels and oils as well as energy expended for manufacture, transport and distribution of these fuels and oils. Emissions produced by operation are determined according to the consumption of fuels and oils based on emission factors. We also made a comparison of the general calculation of costs based on data provided by the manufacturer with costs ascertained in real operating conditions. The costs are divided into purchase, operating and other costs. Total costs are subsequently converted into unit costs according to the assumed productivity of the machine, its estimated lifetime, and the mean real throughput of the machine. The machine throughput, and thus also its operating economics, is greatly dependent on the character of the processed material, its stem volume, moisture, way of dendromass preparation, and operator's skills. Energy use was calculated at 74.4 MJ.FU-1 (functional unit) related to fuel consumption and 13.4 MJ.FU-1 related to the consumption of oils. The total energy use of the life cycle operation phase of the slash bundler was determined as 87.8 MJ per each bundle produced. The real productivity of the machine in the given operating conditions was several times lower than the productivity indicated by the manufacturer.