Emerging contaminant exposure to aquatic systems in the Southern African Development Community

The growing production and use of chemicals and the resultant increase in environmental exposure is of particular concern in developing countries where there is rapid industrialization and population growth but limited information on the occurrence of emerging contaminants. Advances in analytical techniques now allow for the monitoring of emerging contaminants at very low concentrations with the potential to cause harmful ecotoxicological effects. Therefore, we provide the first critical assessment of the current state of knowledge about chemical exposure in waters of the Southern African Developmental Community (SADC). We achieved this through a comprehensive literature review and the creation of a database of chemical monitoring data. Of the 59 articles reviewed, most (n = 36; 61.0%) were from South Africa, and the rest were from Botswana (n = 6; 10.2%), Zimbabwe (n = 6; 10.2%), Malawi (n = 3; 5.1%), Mozambique (n = 3; 5.1%), Zambia (n = 2; 3.4%), Angola (n = 1; 1.7%), Madagascar (n = 1; 1.7%), and Tanzania (n = 1; 1.7%). No publications were found from the remaining seven SADC countries. Emerging contaminants have only been studied in South Africa and Botswana. The antiretroviral drug ritonavir (64.52 µg/L) was detected at the highest average concentration, and ibuprofen (17 times) was detected most frequently. Despite being the primary water source in the region, groundwater was understudied (only 13 studies). High emerging contaminant concentrations in surface waters indicate the presence of secondary sources of pollution such as sewage leakage. We identify research gaps and propose actions to assess and reduce chemical pollution to enable the SADC to address the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 3.9, to reduce the deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and contamination. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:382–395

ECORISK2050: An Innovative Training Network for predicting the effects of global change on the emission, fate, effects, and risks of chemicals in aquatic ecosystems

By 2050, the global population is predicted to reach nine billion, with almost three quarters living in cities. The road to 2050 will be marked by changes in land use, climate, and the management of water and food across the world. These global changes (GCs) will likely affect the emissions, transport, and fate of chemicals, and thus the exposure of the natural environment to chemicals. ECORISK2050 is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network that brings together an interdisciplinary consortium of academic, industry and governmental partners to deliver a new generation of scientists, with the skills required to study and manage the effects of GCs on chemical risks to the aquatic environment. The research and training goals are to: (1) assess how inputs and behaviour of chemicals from agriculture and urban environments are affected by different environmental conditions, and how different GC scenarios will drive changes in chemical risks to human and ecosystem health; (2) identify short-to-medium term adaptation and mitigation strategies, to abate unacceptable increases to risks, and (3) develop tools for use by industry and policymakers for the assessment and management of the impacts of GC-related drivers on chemical risks. This project will deliver the next generation of scientists, consultants, and industry and governmental decision-makers who have the knowledge and skillsets required to address the changing pressures associated with chemicals emitted by agricultural and urban activities, on aquatic systems on the path to 2050 and beyond

Compact ECL gate design for double mesa HBT process

Emitter Coupled Logic (ECL) gate is a good candidate for gigabit logic when one uses GaAs/GaAlAs Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT). With the double mesa process, intercon­nections between the 5 transistors of the elemental gate have to climb the emitter and base mesas, leading to lack of density. A more compact design of the ECL gate has been achieved, in which the transistors are directly connected on the top of the base mesa. The DC characteristics of this gate are similar to these obtained with conventional gate design and the surface is reduced by a factor 1.6

Краiны-асноўныя знешнегандлёвыя партнёры Рэспублiкi Беларусь

Секция II. Современные тенденции и проблемы в мировой экономике. Внешнеэкономическое сотрудничество Республики Беларус

Decoding and decision circuits for high speed multi-level transmission

High speed decoding and decision ICs for 4-level ETDM fibre optic transmission systems are presented. The circuits were fabricated in a InP/lnGaAs HBT technology with Ft = 53 GHz and Fmax = 40 GHz. A 4-level decoding circuit using a mux core architecture and a binary decision circuit were designed and measured. The potential performance of the decoder were experimentally assessed up to 16 GBaud (32 Gbit/s) (input data). The decision circuit is a D MSFF which was tested up to 22 Gbit/s

Design of new fluorinated bridged push-pull stilbenes and preparation of LB films for second harmonic generation in the blue domain

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