Persistent Pollutants in Audouin's Gull (Larus audouinii) in the Western Mediterranean: A Case-study with Wide Implications?

The possibility of persistent pollutants playing an adverse role in the reproductive success of Audouin's Gull in the western Mediterranean was examined through chemical analyses of 7 eggs of this species that did not hatch. Residues of organochlorine compounds and mercury were found. The conclusion has been reached that a further increase of present levels of DDE may well lead to a decline of the reproductive success of the species in the western Mediterranean, especially in the northern part. These observations, although limited, could have implications for further species as is already indicated by other work cite

Differences into HT and HTO concentrations in air into the Western Mediterranean Basin and Continental Europe and Safety Related Issues.

Real time Tritium concentrations in air in two chemical forms, HT and HTO, coming from an ITER-like fusion reactor as source were coupled the European Centre Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) numerical model with the Lagrangian Atmospheric-particle dispersion model FLEXPART. This tool was analyzed in nominal tritium discharge operational reference and selected incidental conditions affecting the Western Mediterranean Basin during 45 days during summer 2010 together with surface “wind observations” or weather data based in real hourly observations of wind direction and velocity providing a real approximation of the tritium behavior after the release to the atmosphere from a fusion reactor. From comparison with NORMTRI - a code using climatologically sequences as input - over the same area, the real time results have demonstrated an apparent overestimation of the corresponding climatologically sequence of Tritium concentrations in air outputs, at several distances from the reactor. For this purpose two development patterns were established. The first one was following a cyclonic circulation over the Mediterranean Sea and the second one was based on the plume delivered over the Interior of the Iberian Peninsula and Continental Europe by another stabilized circulation corresponding to a High Pressure System. One of the important remaining activities defined then, was the qualification tool. In order to validate the model of ECMWF/FLEXPART we have developed of a new complete data base of tritium concentrations for the months from November 2010 to March 2011 and defined a new set of four patterns of HT transport in air, in each case using real boundary conditions: stationary to the North, stationary to the South, fast and very fast displacement. Finally the differences corresponding to those four early patterns (each one in assessments 1 and 2) has been analyzed in terms of the tuning of safety related issues and taking into account the primary phase o- - f tritium modeling, from its discharge to the atmosphere to the deposition on the ground, will affect to the complete tritium environmental pathway altering the chronic dose by absorption, reemission and ingestion both from elemental tritium, HT and from the oxide of tritium, HT

Persistent Pollutants in Audouin's Gull (Larus audouinii) in the Western Mediterranean: A Case-study with Wide Implications?

The possibility of persistent pollutants playing an adverse role in the reproductive success of Audouin's Gull in the western Mediterranean was examined through chemical analyses of 7 eggs of this species that did not hatch. Residues of organochlorine compounds and mercury were found. The conclusion has been reached that a further increase of present levels of DDE may well lead to a decline of the reproductive success of the species in the western Mediterranean, especially in the northern part. These observations, although limited, could have implications for further species as is already indicated by other work cite

Improving MAV control by predicting aerodynamic effects of obstacles

Abstract — Building on our previous work [1], in this paper we demonstrate how it is possible to improve flight control of a MAV that experiences aerodynamic disturbances caused by objects on its path. Predictions based on low resolution depth images taken at a distance are incorporated into the flight control loop on the throttle channel as this is adjusted to target undisrupted level flight. We demonstrate that a statistically significant improvement (p << 0.001) is possible for some common obstacles such as boxes and steps, compared to using conventional feedback-only control. Our approach and results are encouraging toward more autonomous MAV exploration strategies. I

From nonwetting to prewetting: the asymptotic behavior of 4He drops on alkali substrates

We investigate the spreading of 4He droplets on alkali surfaces at zero temperature, within the frame of Finite Range Density Functional theory. The equilibrium configurations of several 4He_N clusters and their asymptotic trend with increasing particle number N, which can be traced to the wetting behavior of the quantum fluid, are examined for nanoscopic droplets. We discuss the size effects, inferring that the asymptotic properties of large droplets correspond to those of the prewetting film

Bound states of 3He at the edge of a 4He drop on a cesium surface

We show that small amounts of 3He atoms, added to a 4He drop deposited on a flat cesium surface at zero temperature, populate bound states localized at the contact line. These edge states show up for drops large enough to develop well defined surface and bulk regions together with a contact line, and they are structurally different from the well-known Andreev states that appear at the free surface and at the liquid-solid interface of films. We illustrate the one-body density of 3He in a drop with 1000 4He atoms, and show that for sufficiently large number of impurities, the density profiles spread beyond the edge, coating both the curved drop surface and its flat base and eventually isolating it from the substrate.Comment: 10 pages and 7 figures. Submitted to PR

Consequences of different meteorological scenarios in the environmental impact assessment of tritium in air

The environmental impact of systems managing large (kg) tritium amount represents a public scrutiny issue for the next coming fusion facilities as ITER and DEMO. Furthermore, potentially new dose limits imposed by international regulations (ICRP) shall impact next coming devices designs and the overall costs of fusion technology deployment. Refined environmental tritium dose impact assessment schemes are then overwhelming. Detailed assessments can be procured from the knowledge of the real boundary conditions of the primary tritium discharge phase into atmosphere (low levels) and into soils. Lagrangian dispersion models using real-time meteorological and topographic data provide a strong refinement. Advance simulation tools are being developed in this sense. The tool integrates a numerical model output records from European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) with a lagrangian atmospheric dispersion model (FLEXPART). The composite model ECMWF/FLEXTRA results can be coupled with tritium dose secondary phase pathway assessment tools. Nominal tritium discharge operational reference and selected incidental ITER-like plant systems tritium form source terms have been assumed. The realtime daily data and mesh-refined records together with lagrangian dispersion model approach provide accurate results for doses to population by inhalation or ingestion in the secondary phas

Valoración del estado nutricional por parámetros antropométricos en dos unidades de hemodiálisis

Objetivos. Conocer el estado nutricional de los pacientes en nuestra unidad que nos sirva de guía para preparar la metodología de intervención

Validation of real time dispersion of Tritium clouds over the Western Mediterranean Basin in different assesments

Real time Tritium concentrations in air coming from an ITER-like reactor as source were coupled the European Centre Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) numerical model with the lagrangian atmospheric dispersion model FLEXPART. This tool ECMWF/FLEXPART was analyzed in normal operating conditions in the Western Mediterranean Basin during 45 days at summer 2010. From comparison with NORMTRI plumes over Western Mediterranean Basin the real time results have demonstrated an overestimation of the corresponding climatologically sequence Tritium concentrations in air outputs, at several distances from the reactor. For these purpose two clouds development patterns were established. The first one was following a cyclonic circulation over the Mediterranean Sea and the second one was based in the cloud delivered over the Interior of the Iberian Peninsula by another stabilized circulation corresponding to a High. One of the important remaining activities defined then, was the tool qualification. The aim of this paper is to present the ECMWF/FLEXPART products confronted with Tritium concentration in air data. For this purpose a database to develop and validate ECMWF/FLEXPART tritium in both assessments has been selected from a NORMTRI run. Similarities and differences, underestimation and overestimation with NORMTRI will allowfor refinement in some features of ECMWF/FLEXPAR

Optical and physical properties of aerosols in the boundary layer and free troposphere over the Amazon Basin during the biomass burning season

As part of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia &ndash; Smoke, Aerosols, Clouds, Rainfall and Climate (LBA-SMOCC) campaign, detailed surface and airborne aerosol measurements were performed over the Amazon Basin during the dry to wet season from 16 September to 14 November 2002. Optical and physical properties of aerosols at the surface, and in the boundary layer (BL) and free troposphere (FT) during the dry season are discussed in this article. Carbon monoxide (CO) is used as a tracer for biomass burning emissions. At the surface, good correlation among the light scattering coefficient (&sigma;_<i>s</i> at 545 nm), PM2.5, and CO indicates that biomass burning is the main source of aerosols. Accumulation of haze during some of the large-scale biomass burning events led to high PM2.5 (225 &mu;g m^&minus;3), &sigma;_<i>s</i> (1435 Mm^&minus;1), aerosol optical depth at 500 nm (3.0), and CO (3000 ppb). A few rainy episodes reduced the PM2.5, number concentration (CN) and CO concentration by two orders of magnitude. The correlation analysis between &sigma;_<i>s</i> and aerosol optical thickness shows that most of the optically active aerosols are confined to a layer with a scale height of 1617 m during the burning season. This is confirmed by aircraft profiles. The average mass scattering and absorption efficiencies (545 nm) for small particles (diameter D_<i>p</i><1.5 &mu;m) at surface level are found to be 5.0 and 0.33 m² g^&minus;1, respectively, when relating the aerosol optical properties to PM2.5 aerosols. The observed mean single scattering albedo (&omega;_<i>o</i> at 545 nm) for submicron aerosols at the surface is 0.92&plusmn;0.02. The light scattering by particles (&Delta;&sigma;_<i>s</i>/&Delta; CN) increase 2&ndash;10 times from the surface to the FT, most probably due to the combined affects of coagulation and condensation