1,720,999 research outputs found
Mercury speciation in highly contaminated soils from chlor-alkali plants using chemical extractions
No full textA four-step novel sequential extraction procedure (SEP) was developed to assess Hg fractionation and mobility in three highly contaminated soils from chlor-alkali plants (CAPs). The SEP was validated using a certified reference material (CRM) and pure Hg compounds. Total, volatile, and methyl Hg concentrations were also determined using single extractions. Mercury was separated into four fractions defined as water-soluble (F1), exchangeable (F2) (0.5 M NH(4)Ac-EDTA and 1 M CaCl(2) were tested), organic (F3) (successive extractions with 0.2 M NaOH and CH(3)COOH 4% [v/v]), and residual (F4) (HNO(3) + H(2)SO(4) + HClO(4)). The soil characterization revealed extremely contaminated (295 +/- 18 to 11500 +/- 500 mg Hg kg(-1)) coarse-grained sandy soils having an alkaline pH (7.9-9.1), high chloride concentrations (5-35 ing kg(-1)), and very low organic carbon content (0.00-18.2 g kg(-1)). Methyl Hg concentrations were low (0.2-19.3 mug kg(-1)) in all soils. Sequential extractions indicated that the majority of the Hg was associated with the residual fraction (F4). In Soils I and 3, however, high percentages (88-98%) of the total Hg were present as volatile Hg. Therefore, in these two soils, a high proportion of volatile Hg was present in the residual fraction. The nonresidual fraction (F1 + F2 + F3) was most abundant in Soil 1 (14-42%), suggesting a higher availability of Hg in this soil. The developed and validated SEP was reproducible and efficient for highly contaminated samples. Recovery ranged between 93 and 98% for the CRM and 70 and 130% for the CAP-contaminated soils
Mercury fractionation, bioavailability, and ecotoxicity in highly contaminated soils from chlor-alkali plants
No full textMercury (Hg) fractionation, speciation, bioavailability, and ecotoxicity were investigated in three highly contaminated soils from chlor-alkali plants. Single extractions and a validated four-step sequential extraction scheme were used. Total, volatile, and methyl-Hg concentrations were determined. Mercury was then separated in fractions defined as water-soluble (F1), exchangeable (F2), organic (F3), and residual (F4). Germination and growth inhibition of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and mortality of earthworms (Eisenia andrei) were assessed, and tissue-Hg concentrations of exposed organisms were determined. Results revealed highly (295 +/- 18-11,500 +/- 500 mu g Hg/g) contaminated soils, but extracted fractions indicated relatively low mobility of Hg. Nevertheless, the water-soluble and the CaCl(2)-extractable fractions represented significant Hg concentrations (299 +/- 18 mu g/g in soil 3, 67.4 +/- 2.3 mu g/g in soil 1, and 9.5 +/- 0.3 mu g/g in soil 2), and volatile Hg ranged between 14 and 98% of total Hg. Overall, Hg concentrations reached 6,560 +/- 240 mu g/g in roots, 4,200 +/- 1,070 mu g/g in aerial plants, and 1,410 +/- 120 mu g/g in E. andrei. Earthworm mortality was 100% after exposure to the soil with the highest concentration of mobile Hg. In the latter soil, earthworm fragmentation and chlorotic plants were observed. Bioconcentration factors (BCFs) were higher in barley compared to earthworms, but BCFs yielded misleading values after exposure to the extremely contaminated soil. This study shows that Hg accumulated primarily in the roots, but results also indicate uptake of gaseous Hg by the aerial plants of barley. Tissue-Hg concentrations of both exposed organisms were correlated with water-soluble and CaCl(2)-extractable Hg, and growth inhibition was in agreement with Hg fractionation
Metal toxicity assessment in soils using enzymatic activity: Can water be used as a surrogate buffer?
No full textEcotoxicological tests based on soil enzyme activity are widely used to assess the terrestrial ecotoxicology of metals in soils. However, several standard enzymatic methods use buffers that may alter the chemical pseudoequilibrium of soils and affect metal speciation, and, in turn, the metal effects on enzymes and enzyme kinetics. Researchers have suggested the use of H2O as a solvent rather than chemical buffers, but opponents are concerned about pH fluctuations during incubation and the resulting difficulty in comparing enzymatic studies. Enzyme assays were conducted on 10 pairs of Zn-contaminated soils to evaluate 1) the buffer effect on Zn lability 2) the pH fluctuation during enzymatic assays conducted in water and 3) the comparison of enzymatic results obtained using chemical buffers versus water. Four standard enzymatic methods covering the major biogeochemical cycles were targeted: arylsulfatase (acetate pH 5.8), urease (borate pH 10), acid phosphatase (modified universal buffer pH 6.5) and protease (THAM pH 8.1). Furthermore, deionized water was tested in parallel as a surrogate solvent for these four methods. With the exception of the acetate buffer, the tested solvents did not significantly change the labile Zn concentration in the soil samples. The pH slightly fluctuated by +0.57 pH unit, corresponding to the intrinsic variability of soils. Enzymatic methods using buffers showed similar results compared to those using water, except for urease. These observations suggest that enzymatic methods setting alkaline conditions should be used with caution and that H2O could be used as surrogate solvent in this context
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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