Evaluation of Human-impacted Soils in Szeged (SE Hungary) with Special Emphasis on Physical, Chemical and Biological Properties

The main differences between urban and natural soils result from the accumulation of anthropogenic materials, which form a cultural layer with specific properties and composition. Szeged is an ideal sampling area for researching urban soils due to intensive artificial infill following the 1879 Great Flood as well as other anthropogenic activities owing to the expansion of urban functions that define the morphology of soils here. We took samples at 25 sites in 2005 and 2006 from horizons of soil profiles located in city areas and peripheral profiles of the original genetic soil type for physical and chemical analysis. Average topsoil samples (0-10 cm depth, 2-4 m2) were taken near the profiles in order to determine the concentrations of heavy metals (Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd) in these soils so as to classify them according to the toxic properties described in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources and to identify the origins of these elements (anthropogenic vs. geogenic). Topsoil samples were also collected in October 2006 at 10 sites representing three zones (city, suburban, peripheral zone) to survey some basic biological properties of mesofaunal elements and their community structure. We claim that all the soil parameters except total salt content are excellent markers of human influence. This is well supported by a discriminant analysis of the above-mentioned parameters. In our analysis of heavy metals, we distinguished elements of anthropogenic (Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) and natural or lithogenic (Co, Cr, Cd) origin. Following a quantitative evaluation of elements, according to the proposal of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources, profiles where the concentration of any metal element exceeded the limit values in the topsoil were marked with the suffix Toxic. According to a mezofauna (oribatid mites, collembolans) investigation, it seems that the intermediate suburban zone has a more heterogeneous and stable mezofaunal community structure than the other two zones. The lowest abundance values were found in the city zone. Based on our evaluation of diagnostic properties and the results of our discriminant analysis, four main soil types can be identified in Szeged related to the degree of human influence

Nehézfémek eredetének és feldúsulásának vizsgálata egy külvárosi kertes övezet talajában

Concentrations of heavy metals, which have well-known toxic character, are often higher in urban soils than those in agricultural soils, reflecting several metal inputs arising from human activities. Among urban soils, garden soils have a specific function and significance. Gardens are traditionally devoted to cultivation of vegetables and fruits. Therefore, the urban hobby gardens and the urban vegetable gardens can be potential risky for people since unknown amount of heavy metals can be accumulated into organism of local residents due to consumption of home-produced vegetables and fruits. Our aim is to evaluate degree of heavy metal contamination in the garden soils and to determine metals enriching in the topsoils and their potential sources. Thus, the garden soils in detached houses (43 pieces) on the outskirts were studied. The studied gardens can be categorized into vegetable, fruit, flower ones. The total metal content (As, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) was measured using an ICP-OES technique following a full digestion with aqua regia. Our results demonstrate that the increased metal concentration are typical of the urban garden soils but metal concentrations exceeding the limit value can be observed only in the case of As, Cd, Cu. In accordance with the enrichment factors, it can be established that Cu, Zn, Pb have accumulated in more significant amount in the garden soils, whereas As, Co, Ni and Cr can be considered to be geogenic since they have not accumulated in the garden topsoils

Role of steady state data reconciliation in process model development

In chemical and hydrocarbon industry operational efficiency is improved by model-based solutions. Historical process data plays an important role in the identification and verification of models utilized by these tools. Since most of the used information are measured values, they are affected by errors influencing the quality of these models. Data reconciliaton aims the reduction of random errors to enhance the quality of data used for model development resulting in more reliable process simulators. This concept is applied to the development and validation of the complex process model and simulator of an industrial hydrogenation system. The results show the applicability of the proposed scheme in industrial environment

Talaj tápanyag- és toxikus elemtartalom horizontális átrendeződési törvényszerűségeinek vizsgálata mintavízgyűjtőn = Study of horizontal migration tendencies of fertilizer and toxic elements in soils of a catchment area

Kutatásunk során a Velencei-tó 14 km2 nagyságú vízgyűjtőjén végeztünk vizsgálatokat. Mikro szinten parcellákon lejtő menti talajerózió modellezést végeztünk az E2D szoftver segítségével, térképezéssel feltártuk a csapadék eseményhez kötődő térbeli elemátrendeződési tendenciákat, üledékcsapdák kihelyezésével vizsgáltuk az egyes csapadékeseményekhez kötődően az elemfeldúsulást (ER) az erózióval mozgó szedimentben. Mezo szinten a vízgyűjtő egészén modelleztük a talajeróziót E3D szoftverrel, megszerkesztettük a kiindulási tápanyag térképeket, majd modelleztük a vízgyűjtőre a csapadék események hatására bekövetkező tápanyagmozgást. Üledékcsapdás elemzéseink azt mutatják, hogy minden vizsgált paraméter tekintetében a talajban mért koncentrációt meghaladó a lemosódó szedimentben mért elemkoncentráció. A szervesanyag tartalom esetében ER=2.1-szeres, míg a leiszapolható rész esetében csupán átlagosan ER=1,2-szoros feldúsulás jellemző. A mikroelemek közül a leginkább a Ni (ER=2,1), Zn (ER=1,2) és a Cu (ER=1,15) dúsul. A tápanyag veszteség térképeket vizsgálva megállapítható, hogy annak térbeli alakulását nem a kiindulási tápanyag térképben fellelhető különbségek határozzák meg, azt felül rajzolják a jellemző eróziós viszonyok. A területre jellemző átlagos Zn elmozdulás 14,26 mg/m2. Az AL-P2O5 lemosódás főként a környező területeknél magasabb P tartalommal rendelkező szántókon jelentős. Az átlagos AL-P2O5 kimosódás a vizsgált két csapadék eseménynél 5,5 - 15,05 mg/m2. | During our research we carried out examinations on two scales in the catchment area of a Lake Velence. We carried out soil erosion modelling along the slopes with the help of the E2D software, and examined enrichment ratios (ER) in the erosive sediment due to rainfall events by setting up sediment collectors. Taken the whole catchment area into consideration we modelled soil erosion with E3D software, we constructed the initial nutrient maps, and we modelled nutrient transport in the catchment area due to rainfall events. Our analyses of the sediment collectors show that the element concentration measured in the washed-off sediment exceeds the concentration in the soil in case of every studied parameter. The enrichment ratio of the organic matter is ER=2.1, while that of the silt+clay content is ER=1,2 on average. Microelements Ni (ER=2,1), Zn (ER=1,2) and Cu (ER=1,15) enrich most. Studying the nutrient loss maps it can be stated that its spatial change is determined not by the differences in the initial nutrient map, but by erosional conditions. The average Zn change characteristic of the area is 14,26 mg/m2. AL-P2O5 wash-off is significant mainly in arable lands with higher phosphorus content than the surrounding areas. The average AL-P2O5 wash-out during the two studied rainfall events was 5,5 - 15,05 mg/m2

Comparative in vivo analysis of recombinant type II feline coronaviruses with truncated and completed ORF3 region.

Our previous in vitro comparative study on a feline coronavirus (FCoV) pair, differing only in the intactness of their ORF3abc regions, showed that the truncated ORF3abc plays an important role in the efficient macrophage/monocyte tropism of type II feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV). In the present study, we describe a challenge experiment with the same recombinant FCoVs in order to gain data on the in vivo characteristics on these viruses. While parent virus FIPV DF-2 developed feline infectious peritonitis in all the infected cats, its recombinant virus PBFIPV-DF-2, differing only in seven nucleotides, proved to be surprisingly low virulent, although caused an acute febrile episode similarly to the original FIPV DF-2. PBFIPV-DF-2 infection induced significantly lower virus neutralization titers than its parent virus, and lacked the second phase of viremia and development of fatal course of the disease. The recombinant PBFIPV-DF-2-R3i with completed ORF3abc gained biological properties that differentiate between the feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) and FIPV biotypes such as intensive replication in the gut, absence of viremia and weak or no serological response. Using reverse genetic approaches our study is the first experimental proof that ORF3abc is indeed responsible for the restriction of FECV replication to the intestine in vivo