Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 15 of 15

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Comparison Of Fungal Spores Concentrations Measured With Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor And Hirst Methodology, S. Fernández-Rodríguez, R. Tormo-Molina, N. Lemonis, B. Clot, David O'Connor, John R. Sodeau Jan 2018

Comparison Of Fungal Spores Concentrations Measured With Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor And Hirst Methodology, S. Fernández-Rodríguez, R. Tormo-Molina, N. Lemonis, B. Clot, David O'Connor, John R. Sodeau

Articles

The aim of this work was to provide both a comparison of traditional and novel methodologies for airborne spores detection (i.e. the Hirst Burkard trap and WIBS-4) and the first quantitative study of airborne fungal concentrations in Payerne (Western Switzerland) as well as their relation to meteorological parameters. From the traditional method -Hirst trap and microscope analysis-, sixty-three propagule types (spores, sporangia and hyphae) were identified and the average spore concentrations measured over the full period amounted to 4145 ± 263.0 spores/m3. Maximum values were reached on July 19th and on August 6th. Twenty-six spore types reached average levels above …


A Conceptual Framework For Understanding The Biogeochemistry Of Dry Riverbeds Through The Lens Of Soil Science, Maria Isabel Arce, Clara Mendoza, Maria Almagro, Nuria Catalan, Anna M. Romani, Eugenia Marti, R. Gomez, Susana Bernal, Arnaud Foulquier, Michael Mutz, Rafael Marce, Annamaria Zoppini, Giulia Gionchetta, Gabriele Weigelhofer, R. Del Campo, Christopher T. Robinson, Alan Gilmer, Martin Rulik, Obrador Biel, Oleksandra Shumilova, Sanja Zlatanovic, Shai Arnon, Petr Baldrian, Gabriel Andreas Singer, Thibault Datry, Nikolaos Th Skoulikidis, Britta Tietjen, Daniel Von Schiller Jan 2018

A Conceptual Framework For Understanding The Biogeochemistry Of Dry Riverbeds Through The Lens Of Soil Science, Maria Isabel Arce, Clara Mendoza, Maria Almagro, Nuria Catalan, Anna M. Romani, Eugenia Marti, R. Gomez, Susana Bernal, Arnaud Foulquier, Michael Mutz, Rafael Marce, Annamaria Zoppini, Giulia Gionchetta, Gabriele Weigelhofer, R. Del Campo, Christopher T. Robinson, Alan Gilmer, Martin Rulik, Obrador Biel, Oleksandra Shumilova, Sanja Zlatanovic, Shai Arnon, Petr Baldrian, Gabriel Andreas Singer, Thibault Datry, Nikolaos Th Skoulikidis, Britta Tietjen, Daniel Von Schiller

Articles

Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) encompass fluvial ecosystems that eventually stop flowing and run dry at some point in space and time. During the dry phase, channels of IRES consist mainly of dry riverbeds (DRBs), prevalent yet widely unexplored ecotones between dry and wet phases that can strongly influence the biogeochemistry of fluvial networks. DRBs are often overlooked because they do not strictly belong to either domain of soil or freshwater science. Due to this dual character of DRBs, we suggest that concepts and knowledge from soil science can be used to expand the understanding of IRES biogeochemistry. Based …


Thermal Modeling And Experimental Evaluation Of Five Different Photovoltaic Modules Integrated On Prototype Test Cells With And Without Water Flow, Vivek Tomar, G.N. Tiwari, T.S. Bhatti, Brian Norton Jan 2018

Thermal Modeling And Experimental Evaluation Of Five Different Photovoltaic Modules Integrated On Prototype Test Cells With And Without Water Flow, Vivek Tomar, G.N. Tiwari, T.S. Bhatti, Brian Norton

Articles

An analytical model of temperature dependent electrical and thermal efficiency of mono-crystalline (m-Si), polycrystalline (p-Si), amorphous silicon thin film (a-Si), cadmium telluride thin film (CdTe) and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) photovoltaic modules integrated on five prototypes identical insulted test cells is developed with and without surface water flow. This model helps in ascertaining the influence of temperature on their performance of building integrated photovoltaic-thermal (BiPVT) system. The theoretically calculated results are experimentally validated in outdoor ambient environment. The electrical & thermal efficiencies are calculated for both high and low mass flow rate of water, ṁw. Daily average electrical efficiency …


Advances In Switchable And Highly Insulating Autonomous (Self-Powered) Glazing Systems For Adaptive Low Energy Buildings, Aritra Ghosh, Brian Norton Jan 2018

Advances In Switchable And Highly Insulating Autonomous (Self-Powered) Glazing Systems For Adaptive Low Energy Buildings, Aritra Ghosh, Brian Norton

Articles

Building energy reduction requires highly advanced low heat loss, heat gain and comfortable daylight allowing glazing. Presently available glazing systems are classified mainly in two categories, controlling solar heat gain and controlling low heat loss. Low heat loss through glazing systems can be achieved by (i) suppression of convection in the air between the outer panes by use of multiple glass panes or aerogels, (ii) having an inert gas or vacuum between the panes to reduce or eliminate respectively convective heat transfer. In all these systems, low emissivity coatings are also required to reduce the radiative heat transfer. Low heat …


Development Of A Hierarchical Model For Predicting Microbiological Contamination Of Private Groundwater Supplies In A Geologically Heterogeneous Region, Jean O'Dwyer, Paul Hynds, Kenneth Byrne, Michael Ryan, Catherine Adley Jan 2018

Development Of A Hierarchical Model For Predicting Microbiological Contamination Of Private Groundwater Supplies In A Geologically Heterogeneous Region, Jean O'Dwyer, Paul Hynds, Kenneth Byrne, Michael Ryan, Catherine Adley

Articles

Private groundwater sources in the Republic of Ireland provide drinking water to an estimated 750,000 people or 16% of the national population. Consumers of untreated groundwater are at increased risk of infection from pathogenic microorganisms. However, given the volume of private wells in operation, remediation or even quantification of public risk is both costly and time consuming. In this study, a hierarchical logistic regression model was developed to ‘predict’ contamination with E. coli based on the results of groundwater quality analyses of private wells (n = 132) during the period of September 2011 to November 2012. Assessment of potential microbial …


Quantifying Excess Deaths Related To Heatwaves Under Climate Change Scenarios: A Multicountry Time Series Modelling Study, Yuming Guo, Antonio Gasparrini, Shanshan Li, Francesco Sera, Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, Micheline De Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coêlho, Paulo Hilário Nascimento Nascimento Saldiva, Éric Lavigne, Benjawan Tawatsupa, Kornwipa Punnasiri, Ala Overcenco, Patricia Matus Correa, Nicolas Valdes Ortega, Haidong Kan, Samuel Osorio, Jouni J.K. Jaakkola, Niilo R.I. Ryti, Patrick J. Goodman, Ariana Zeka, Paola Michelozzi, Matteo Scortichini, Masahiro Hashizume, Honda, Yasushi Honda, Yasushi, Xerxes T. Seposo, Ho Young Kim, Aurelio Tobías, Carmen Iñiguez Fernández, Bertil Forsberg, Daniel Oudin Åström, Guo, Yue Leon Guo, Yue Leon, Bing Yu Chen, Antonella Zanobetti, Joel D. Schwartz, Tranngoc Ngoc Dang, Dung Do Van, Michelle L. Bell, Ben G. Armstrong, Ebi, Kristie L. Ebi, Kristie L., Shilu Tong Jan 2018

Quantifying Excess Deaths Related To Heatwaves Under Climate Change Scenarios: A Multicountry Time Series Modelling Study, Yuming Guo, Antonio Gasparrini, Shanshan Li, Francesco Sera, Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, Micheline De Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coêlho, Paulo Hilário Nascimento Nascimento Saldiva, Éric Lavigne, Benjawan Tawatsupa, Kornwipa Punnasiri, Ala Overcenco, Patricia Matus Correa, Nicolas Valdes Ortega, Haidong Kan, Samuel Osorio, Jouni J.K. Jaakkola, Niilo R.I. Ryti, Patrick J. Goodman, Ariana Zeka, Paola Michelozzi, Matteo Scortichini, Masahiro Hashizume, Honda, Yasushi Honda, Yasushi, Xerxes T. Seposo, Ho Young Kim, Aurelio Tobías, Carmen Iñiguez Fernández, Bertil Forsberg, Daniel Oudin Åström, Guo, Yue Leon Guo, Yue Leon, Bing Yu Chen, Antonella Zanobetti, Joel D. Schwartz, Tranngoc Ngoc Dang, Dung Do Van, Michelle L. Bell, Ben G. Armstrong, Ebi, Kristie L. Ebi, Kristie L., Shilu Tong

Articles

Background: Heatwaves are a critical public health problem. There will be an increase in the frequency and severity of heatwaves under changing climate. However, evidence about the impacts of climate change on heatwave-related mortality at a global scale is limited. Methods and findings: We collected historical daily time series of mean temperature and mortality for all causes or nonexternal causes, in periods ranging from January 1, 1984, to December 31, 2015, in 412 communities within 20 countries/regions. We estimated heatwave–mortality associations through a two-stage time series design. Current and future daily mean temperature series were projected under four scenarios of …


Assessment Of The Disinfection Capacity And Eco-Toxicological Impact Of Atmospheric Cold Plasma For Treatment Of Food Industry Effluents, Apurva Patange, Daniela Boehm, Michelle Giltrap, Peng Lu, P.J. Cullen, Paula Bourke Jan 2018

Assessment Of The Disinfection Capacity And Eco-Toxicological Impact Of Atmospheric Cold Plasma For Treatment Of Food Industry Effluents, Apurva Patange, Daniela Boehm, Michelle Giltrap, Peng Lu, P.J. Cullen, Paula Bourke

Articles

Generation of wastewater is one of the main environmental sustainability issues across food sector industries. The constituents of food process effluents are often complex and require high energy and processing for regulatory compliance. Wastewater streams are the subject of microbiological and chemical criteria, and can have a significant eco-toxicological impact on the aquatic life. Thus, innovative treatment approaches are required to mitigate environmental impact in an energy efficient manner. Here, dielectric barrier discharge atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) was evaluated for control of key microbial indicators encountered in food industry effluent. This study also investigated the eco-toxicological impact of cold plasma …


Muddy Waters: Refining The Way Forward For The “Sustainability Science” Of Socio-Hydrogeology, Paul Hynds, Shane Regan, Luisa Andrade, Simon Mooney, Kevin O'Malley, Stephanie Dipelino, Jean O'Dwyer Jan 2018

Muddy Waters: Refining The Way Forward For The “Sustainability Science” Of Socio-Hydrogeology, Paul Hynds, Shane Regan, Luisa Andrade, Simon Mooney, Kevin O'Malley, Stephanie Dipelino, Jean O'Dwyer

Articles

The trouble with groundwater is that despite its critical importance to global water supplies, it frequently attracts insufficient management attention relative to more visible surface water sources, irrespective of regional climate, socioeconomic profile, and regulatory environment. To this end, the recently defined sub-discipline of "socio-hydrogeology", an extension of socio-hydrology, seeks to translate and exchange knowledge with and between non-expert end-users, in addition to involving non-expert opinion and experience in hydrogeological investigations, thus emphasising a "bottom-up" methodology. It is widely acknowledged that issues pertaining to groundwater quality, groundwater quantity, climate change, and a poor general awareness and understanding of groundwater occurrence …


A Comparison Of On-Line And Off-Line Bioaerosol Measurements At A Biowaste Site, Patrick Feeney, Santiago Fernández Rodríguez, Rafael Molina, Eoin Mcgillicuddy, Stig Hellebust, Michael Quirke, Shane Daly, David O'Connor, John Sodeau Jan 2018

A Comparison Of On-Line And Off-Line Bioaerosol Measurements At A Biowaste Site, Patrick Feeney, Santiago Fernández Rodríguez, Rafael Molina, Eoin Mcgillicuddy, Stig Hellebust, Michael Quirke, Shane Daly, David O'Connor, John Sodeau

Articles

An air measurement campaign was carried out at a green-waste composting site in the South of Ireland during Spring 2016. The aim was to quantify and identify the levels of Primary Biological Aerosol Particles (PBAP) that were present using the traditional off-line, impaction/optical microscopy method alongside an on-line, spectroscopic approach termed WIBS (Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor), which can provide number concentrations, sizes and “shapes” of airborne PBAP in real-time by use of Light Induced Fluorescence (LIF). The results from the two techniques were compared in order to validate the use of the spectroscopic method for determining the releases of the …


Environmental Impact Assessment Of Pinaceae Airborne Pollen And Green Infrastructure Using Bim, Santiago Fernández-Rodríguez, Juan Pedro Cortés-Pérez, Paloma Prieto Muriel, Rafael Tormo-Molina, J. M. Maya-Manzano Jan 2018

Environmental Impact Assessment Of Pinaceae Airborne Pollen And Green Infrastructure Using Bim, Santiago Fernández-Rodríguez, Juan Pedro Cortés-Pérez, Paloma Prieto Muriel, Rafael Tormo-Molina, J. M. Maya-Manzano

Articles

Urban air quality is a parameter that plays a major role in human health at the local scale. Consequently, in urban planning, the behavior and potential risk of allergenicity for some pollen grains coming from ornamental trees and green spaces surrounding newly built buildings, should be considered. This paper aims to study how pollen exposure, influenced by weather parameters, can be assessed and integrated in the designing and building of constructions as other component of air quality assessment beforehand, by using BIM. Based on a comparative aerobiological study at the height over a building (sampled by two traps at ground …


Temperature-Related Mortality Impacts Under And Beyond Paris Agreement Climate Change Scenarios, Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, Yuming Guo, Francesco Sera, Veronika Huber, Carl Friedrich Schleussner, Dann Mitchell, Shilu Tong, Micheline De Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, Paulo Hilário Nascimento Nascimento Saldiva, Éric Lavigne, Patricia Matus Correa, Nicolas Valdes Ortega, Haidong Kan, Samuel Osorio, Jan Kyselý, Aleš Urban, Jouni J.K. Jaakkola, Niilo R.I. Ryti, Mathilde Pascal, Patrick J. Goodman, Ariana Zeka, Paola Michelozzi, Matteo Scortichini, Masahiro Hashizume, Yasushi Honda, Magali Hurtado-Díaz, Julio Gonzalez Cruz, Xerxes T. Seposo, Ho Kim, Aurelio Tobías, Carmen Iñiguez Fernández, Bertil Forsberg, Daniel Oudin Åström, Martina S. Ragettli, Martin Röösli, Yueleon Guo, Chang-Fu Wu, Antonella Zanobetti, Joel D. Schwartz, Michelle L. Bell, Tranngoc Ngoc Dang, Dung Do Van, C. Heaviside, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Shakoor Hajat, Andrew Haines, London School Of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom London School Of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom, Ben G. Armstrong, Kristie L. Ebi, Antonio Gasparrini Jan 2018

Temperature-Related Mortality Impacts Under And Beyond Paris Agreement Climate Change Scenarios, Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, Yuming Guo, Francesco Sera, Veronika Huber, Carl Friedrich Schleussner, Dann Mitchell, Shilu Tong, Micheline De Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, Paulo Hilário Nascimento Nascimento Saldiva, Éric Lavigne, Patricia Matus Correa, Nicolas Valdes Ortega, Haidong Kan, Samuel Osorio, Jan Kyselý, Aleš Urban, Jouni J.K. Jaakkola, Niilo R.I. Ryti, Mathilde Pascal, Patrick J. Goodman, Ariana Zeka, Paola Michelozzi, Matteo Scortichini, Masahiro Hashizume, Yasushi Honda, Magali Hurtado-Díaz, Julio Gonzalez Cruz, Xerxes T. Seposo, Ho Kim, Aurelio Tobías, Carmen Iñiguez Fernández, Bertil Forsberg, Daniel Oudin Åström, Martina S. Ragettli, Martin Röösli, Yueleon Guo, Chang-Fu Wu, Antonella Zanobetti, Joel D. Schwartz, Michelle L. Bell, Tranngoc Ngoc Dang, Dung Do Van, C. Heaviside, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Shakoor Hajat, Andrew Haines, London School Of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom London School Of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom, Ben G. Armstrong, Kristie L. Ebi, Antonio Gasparrini

Articles

The Paris Agreement binds all nations to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change, with the commitment to Bhold warming well below 2 °C in global mean temperature (GMT), relative to pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5 °C^. The 1.5 °C limit constitutes an ambitious goal for which greater evidence on its benefits for health would help guide policy and potentially increase the motivation for action. Here we contribute to this gap with an assessment on the potential health benefits, in terms of reductions in temperature-related mortality, derived from the compliance to the agreed temperature …


Catalogue Of Extreme Wave Events In Ireland: Revised And Updated For 14 680 Bp To 2017, Laura Cooke, Emiliano Renzi, John M. Dudley, Colm Clancy, FréDéRic Dias Jan 2018

Catalogue Of Extreme Wave Events In Ireland: Revised And Updated For 14 680 Bp To 2017, Laura Cooke, Emiliano Renzi, John M. Dudley, Colm Clancy, FréDéRic Dias

Articles

This paper aims to extend and update the survey of extreme wave events in Ireland that was previously carried out by O’Brien et al. (2013). The original catalogue high- lighted the frequency of such events dating back as far as the turn of the last ice age and as recent as 2012. Ireland’s marine territory extends far beyond its coastline and is one of the largest seabed territories in Europe. It is therefore not surprising that extreme waves have continued to occur reg- ularly since 2012, particularly considering the severity of weather during the winters of 2013–2014 and 2015–2016. In …


Developing A Unified Approach To Sustainable Consumption Behaviour: Opportunities For A New Environmental Paradigm, Vivienne Byers, Alan Gilmer Jan 2018

Developing A Unified Approach To Sustainable Consumption Behaviour: Opportunities For A New Environmental Paradigm, Vivienne Byers, Alan Gilmer

Articles

Politicians and national policy makers seek to encourage individuals to engage in a wide range of pro-environmental practices to address both discrete environmental problems and major global challenges such as climate change. Theoretically, the field of behavioural management in environmental consumption which seeks to change holarchic open human systems, is much contested. This paper proposes to develop a synthesized conceptual framework embracing a unified approach that addresses the systematic, structural, and institutional perspectives on how consumption, through public policy initiatives, can be developed and changed to reflect a deeper ecological foundation. This approach considers the debate regarding policy and behavioural …


Significance Of A Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment On Ldpe Biodegradation With Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Laurence Scally, Miroslav Gulan, Lars Weigang, Patrick Cullen, Vladimir Milosavljević Jan 2018

Significance Of A Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment On Ldpe Biodegradation With Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Laurence Scally, Miroslav Gulan, Lars Weigang, Patrick Cullen, Vladimir Milosavljević

Articles

The use of plastics has spanned across almost all aspects of day to day life. Although their uses are invaluable, they contribute to the generation of a lot of waste products that end up in the environment and end up polluting natural habitats such as forests and the ocean. By treating low-density polyethylene (LDPE) samples with non-thermal plasma in ambient air and with an addition of ≈4% CO2, the biodegradation of the samples can be increased due to an increase in oxidative species causing better cell adhesion and acceptance on the polymer sample surface. It was, however, found that the …


A Land Use Regression Model For Explaining Spatial Variation In Air Pollution Levels Using A Wind Sector Based Approach, Owen Naughton, Aoife Donnelly, Paul Nolan, Francesco Pilla, Bruce Misstear, Brian Broderick Jan 2018

A Land Use Regression Model For Explaining Spatial Variation In Air Pollution Levels Using A Wind Sector Based Approach, Owen Naughton, Aoife Donnelly, Paul Nolan, Francesco Pilla, Bruce Misstear, Brian Broderick

Articles

Estimating pollutant concentrations at a local and regional scale is essential for good ambient air quality information in environmental and health policy decision making. Here we present a land use regression (LUR) modelling methodology that exploits the high temporal resolution of fixed-site monitoring (FSM) to produce viable air quality maps. The methodology partitions concentration time series from a national FSM network into wind-dependent sectors or “wedges”. A LUR model is derived using predictor variables calculated within the directional wind sectors, and compared against the long-term average concentrations within each sector. This study demonstrates the value of incorporating the relative position …