Effects of applications of sewage sludge and fertilizer nitrogen on cadmium and lead contents of grass.

During 5 successive years, 0, 6, 12 or 18 t/ha yr metal-bearing sewage sludge on a DM basis was applied to permanent grassland. Each sludge application was combined with various N treatments. Cd content of the grass increased considerably with increasing amounts of sewage sludge and fertilizer N; Cd content was higher in young than in old grass. The latter also applied to Pb but the increase in Pb content was less and the relation between the supply of Pb and the Pb content of the grass was poor. During the late autumn and winter the increase in Pb content was striking and was probably caused by pollution from the atmosphere. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

Accumulation of heavy metals in the soil due to annual dressings with sewage sludge.

In a long term field experiment 0, 6, 12 or 18 tonnes/ha/yr of sewage sludge (dry matter basis) were applied to permanent grassland. Sludge application markedly increased the contents of Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Mo, to a depth of 15-25 cm, but Co, Mn and Fe contents were increased only in the surface 5 cm of soil. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

Stability of the pregnancy obsessive compulsive personality disorder symptoms checklist

Because stability over time is central to the definition of personality disorder, aim of the current study was to determine the stability of the Pregnancy Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) Symptoms Checklist (N = 199 women). Strong positive correlations between assessments at 32 weeks of pregnancy and 2 and 3–3.5 years after childbirth were found (r between .62–.72), and the group mean score did not change over time. The Pregnancy OCPD Symptoms Checklist assesses stable, trait-like symptoms of OCPD. Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, Stability, Personality, Validatio

Biodiversiteit in Breda

De gemeente Breda besteedt veel aandacht en geld aan bijvriendelijk beheer van het openbaar groen. Van de circa 1.100 ha beheert deze gemeente bijna 80% ecologisch, dus met nadrukkelijke aandacht voor plant en dier. Voor wat betreft bijen moet daarbij onder meer worden gedacht aan de aanplant van bolgewassen, het inzaaien van wilde bloemenakkers en de aanplant van wilgen, lindes, esdoorns en andere bijvriendelijke bomen en struiken

The similarity trap: Engineering the Greater-Caribbean, A perspective from the Isthmo-Colombian Area

Mesoamerican and Andean Archaeolog

Modelling fish habitat preference with a genetic algorithm-optimized Takagi-Sugeno model based on pairwise comparisons

Species-environment relationships are used for evaluating the current status of target species and the potential impact of natural or anthropogenic changes of their habitat. Recent researches reported that the results are strongly affected by the quality of a data set used. The present study attempted to apply pairwise comparisons to modelling fish habitat preference with Takagi-Sugeno-type fuzzy habitat preference models (FHPMs) optimized by a genetic algorithm (GA). The model was compared with the result obtained from the FHPM optimized based on mean squared error (MSE). Three independent data sets were used for training and testing of these models. The FHPMs based on pairwise comparison produced variable habitat preference curves from 20 different initial conditions in the GA. This could be partially ascribed to the optimization process and the regulations assigned. This case study demonstrates applicability and limitations of pairwise comparison-based optimization in an FHPM. Future research should focus on a more flexible learning process to make a good use of the advantages of pairwise comparisons

Integrating functions for a sustainable urban system

Cities pose environmental challenges but also offer possibilities to close material and energy loops and connect multiple societal and ecologic services. This article reviews and brings together the literature on two important new research directions that address urban sustainability by integrating functions or material flows: Circular Urban Metabolism (CUM) and Multifunctional Land Use (MLU). We focus on challenges to MLU and CUM and strategies to facilitate their realization. The review shows that although MLU and CUM differ in what they integrate, they face partly similar integration challenges. In both fields, the collaboration between actors related to particular functions (water safety, recreation), high investment costs and uncertainties about costs and benefits, and legislation that hampers integration are identified as challenges. In both fields, strategies are proposed to facilitate the collaboration between actors. However, other challenges and strategies are specific. W

The Luminosities of Protostars in the Spitzer c2d and Gould Belt Legacy Clouds

Motivated by the long-standing "luminosity problem" in low-mass star formation whereby protostars are underluminous compared to theoretical expectations, we identify 230 protostars in 18 molecular clouds observed by two Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy surveys of nearby star-forming regions. We compile complete spectral energy distributions, calculate Lbol for each source, and study the protostellar luminosity distribution. This distribution extends over three orders of magnitude, from 0.01 Lsun - 69 Lsun, and has a mean and median of 4.3 Lsun and 1.3 Lsun, respectively. The distributions are very similar for Class 0 and Class I sources except for an excess of low luminosity (Lbol < 0.5 Lsun) Class I sources compared to Class 0. 100 out of the 230 protostars (43%) lack any available data in the far-infrared and submillimeter (70 um < wavelength < 850 um) and have Lbol underestimated by factors of 2.5 on average, and up to factors of 8-10 in extreme cases. Correcting these underestimates for each source individually once additional data becomes available will likely increase both the mean and median of the sample by 35% - 40%. We discuss and compare our results to several recent theoretical studies of protostellar luminosities and show that our new results do not invalidate the conclusions of any of these studies. As these studies demonstrate that there is more than one plausible accretion scenario that can match observations, future attention is clearly needed. The better statistics provided by our increased dataset should aid such future work.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ. 21 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

The Spitzer Survey of Interstellar Clouds in the Gould Belt. VI. The Auriga-California Molecular Cloud observed with IRAC and MIPS

We present observations of the Auriga-California Molecular Cloud (AMC) at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8.0, 24, 70 and 160 micron observed with the IRAC and MIPS detectors as part of the Spitzer Gould Belt Legacy Survey. The total mapped areas are 2.5 sq-deg with IRAC and 10.47 sq-deg with MIPS. This giant molecular cloud is one of two in the nearby Gould Belt of star-forming regions, the other being the Orion A Molecular Cloud (OMC). We compare source counts, colors and magnitudes in our observed region to a subset of the SWIRE data that was processed through our pipeline. Using color-magnitude and color-color diagrams, we find evidence for a substantial population of 166 young stellar objects (YSOs) in the cloud, many of which were previously unknown. Most of this population is concentrated around the LkHalpha 101 cluster and the filament extending from it. We present a quantitative description of the degree of clustering and discuss the fraction of YSOs in the region with disks relative to an estimate of the diskless YSO population. Although the AMC is similar in mass, size and distance to the OMC, it is forming about 15 - 20 times fewer stars.Comment: (30 pages, 17 figures (2 multipage figures), accepted for publication in ApJ

Young Stellar Objects in the Gould Belt

We present the full catalog of Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) identified in the 18 molecular clouds surveyed by the Spitzer Space Telescope "cores to disks" (c2d) and "Gould Belt" (GB) Legacy surveys. Using standard techniques developed by the c2d project, we identify 3239 candidate YSOs in the 18 clouds, 2966 of which survive visual inspection and form our final catalog of YSOs in the Gould Belt. We compile extinction corrected SEDs for all 2966 YSOs and calculate and tabulate the infrared spectral index, bolometric luminosity, and bolometric temperature for each object. We find that 326 (11%), 210 (7%), 1248 (42%), and 1182 (40%) are classified as Class 0+I, Flat-spectrum, Class II, and Class III, respectively, and show that the Class III sample suffers from an overall contamination rate by background AGB stars between 25% and 90%. Adopting standard assumptions, we derive durations of 0.40-0.78 Myr for Class 0+I YSOs and 0.26-0.50 Myr for Flat-spectrum YSOs, where the ranges encompass uncertainties in the adopted assumptions. Including information from (sub)millimeter wavelengths, one-third of the Class 0+I sample is classified as Class 0, leading to durations of 0.13-0.26 Myr (Class 0) and 0.27-0.52 Myr (Class I). We revisit infrared color-color diagrams used in the literature to classify YSOs and propose minor revisions to classification boundaries in these diagrams. Finally, we show that the bolometric temperature is a poor discriminator between Class II and Class III YSOs.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJS. 29 pages, 11 figures, 14 tables, 4 appendices. Full versions of data tables (to be published in machine-readable format by ApJS) available at the end of the latex source cod