Der Verbleib kupferbasierter Fungizide in Weinbergböden: Eine Fallstudie der stabilen Kupfer-Isotopenverhältnisse und Elektronenspinresonanz von Calco- und Vertisolen in Soave (Italien)

Kupferbasierte Fungizide sind im Weinbau weit verbreitet und im biologischen Weinbau die einzig erlaubten Pestizide zur Bekämpfung von falschem Mehltau. Durch den intensiven, dauerhaften Gebrauch von Kupfer reichert sich dieser, mit wachsenden ökotoxikologischen Konsequenzen, in Weinbergböden an. In dieser Studie untersuchen wir den Verbleib von Kupfer in einem Calcosol und einem Vertisol aus Soave (Italien). Beide Böden werden seit über 50 Jahren mit Kupfer behandelt. Wir stellen Massenbilanzen auf und nutzen die innovative Kombination aus Messung stabiler Cu-Isotopenverhältnisse und Elektronenspinresonanzspektroskopie (ESR), um Einblicke in die biogeochemischen Mechanismen der Kupferbindung zu erlangen. Die untersuchten Böden weisen hohe exogene Kupfergehalte auf, welche eine Akkumulation der heutigen maximalen Behandlungsmenge über 50 Jahre überschreiten. Dies belegt, dass einmal sehr viel größere Mengen Cu im Weinbau verwendet wurden und dass ein Großteil dieses Kupfers in den jeweiligen Böden verbleibt. In Vertisolen fallen die Cu-Konzentrationen unter dem vertischen Horizont schnell auf die geogene Hintergrundkonzentration, wobei in Calcosolen dieser Abfall progressiver erfolgt. Isotopenverhältnisse unterscheiden sich zwischen den verschieden Bodentypen (δCu-65 zwischen 0.12 und 0.37 ‰), obwohl sie die gleiche Behandlung erfahren haben. Kupferisotope in Oberböden sind schwerer als in Unterböden und Citratextraktionen zeigen, dass mobiles Kupfer isotopisch schwerer ist als der Gesamtgehalt. Die Horizonte des Calcosols sind systematisch leichter als die des Vertisols, was auf unterschiedliche biogeochemische Bindungsmechanismen von Kupfer hinweist. Dies wird durch die ESR-Spektren bestätigt. In Oberböden zeigen sie eine Kupferbindung an organisches Material, wobei es im gesamten Bodenprofil Unterschiede in der Cu-Bindung zwischen den beiden Bodentypen gibt. Wenn jedoch Horizonte des Calcosols mit Säure entkalkt werden, nähren sich deren ESR-Spektren denen der Vertisole an, wohingegen letztere nicht auf eine Säurebehandlung reagieren. Somit wird gezeigt, dass in Calcosolen Karbonate an der Bindung von Kupfer beteiligt sind wobei in Vertisolen der vertische Horizont eine wichtige Rolle spielt. Darüber hinaus wird durch die analoge Variation von ESR-Spektren und Isotopenverhältnissen wird die Anwendbarkeit von Cu-Isotopenanalysen und ESR-Spektroskopie zur Aufklärung von biogeochemischen Prozessen in Böden demonstriert

European Cities in Globalization: A Comparative Analysis Based on the Location Strategies of Advanced Producer Services

Today there is a key question that lurks behind any consideration of Europe and its cities: is this foundation core zone of the modern world-system showing symptoms of dropping out of the contemporary core zone? It certainly appears that in the period of crises since 2008, Europe has been falling behind other major world-regions. Dubbed the “austerity region” of the world, such an interpretation sees Europe as the first part of the world-economy core to be subject to what are effectively structural adjustment programmes, largely self-imposed but still resulting in a process of peripheralization. Although uneven in impact, this is clearly a result of Europe’s states failing to adequately manage and regulate the economic activities within their territories. However it is far too soon to say whether such a monumental global economic shift is happening but we can investigate the current unevenness of economic globalization amongst European states. We compare three of these states that represent different degrees of potential peripheralization: Spain showing the stronger symptoms, Germany with least symptoms, and Britain somewhere in between. Our study is based upon an original analysis of advanced producer services that combines comparisons between countries and relations between cities

Strategic green infrastructure planning in Germany and the UK: a transnational evaluation of the evolution of urban greening policy and practice

The evolution of Green Infrastructure (GI) planning has varied dramatically between nations. Although a grounded set of principles are recognized globally, there is increasing variance in how these are implemented at a national and sub-national level. To investigate this the following paper presents an evaluation of how green infrastructure has been planned for in England and Germany illustrating how national policy structures facilitate variance in application. Adopting an evaluative framework linked to the identification of GI, its development and monitoring/ feedback the paper questions the impacts on delivery of intersecting factors including terminology, spatial distribution and functionality on effective GI investment. This process reviews how changing policy structures have influenced the framing of green infrastructure policy, and subsequent impact this has on the delivery of green infrastructure projects

Life after Regions? The Evolution of City-regionalism in England

This item was accepted for publication in the journal, Regional Studies [© Regional Studies Association]. The definitive version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2010.521148].This paper examines the evolving pattern of city-regional governance in England. Following the demise of English regional policy in 2004, city-regions have come to represent the in vogue spatial scale amongst policy elites. The result has been a proliferation of actual and proposed policies and institutions designed to operate at a, variously defined, city-regional scale in England. Nevertheless, attempts to build a city-regional tier of governance have been tentative and lacking coherence. Alongside this city-regions are to be found emerging alongside existing tiers of economic governance and spatial planning. Arguing that what we are witnessing is not ‘life after regions’ but life with (or alongside) regions, the analysis presented argues that to understand why contemporary state reorganisation results in a multiplication of the scales economic governance and spatial planning we must recognise how the state shapes policies in such a way as to protect its legitimacy for maintain regulatory control and management of the economy. The final section relates these findings to wider debates on state rescaling and speculates on the future role of transition models in sociospatial theory

Trimethoprim removal from wastewater: Adsorption and electro-oxidation comparative case study

Trimethoprim (TMP) is among the emerging pollutants that cause harmful effects on the aquatic environment and human health if not accurately controlled. This antibiotic is one of the most regularly administered drugs, thus, its contamination of water bodies has received much concern in recent years. In this case study, a comparison between adsorption and electrochemical oxidation was carefully performed to identify the best treatment for removing TMP from impacted water. Adsorption with commercial activated carbon F400 as an adsorbent showed higher TMP removal efficiencies (70.6%) than natural zeolites (17.6%). The experimental data for TMP adsorption onto F400 were well-fitted by the linear form of the Langmuir isotherm (R2 = 0.986). The values of qmax and KL were 18.40 mg g−1 and 1.40 L mg−1, respectively. The pseudo-second order model provided the best correlation with the experimental data. Electrochemical oxidation over two platinum-coated titanium electrodes led to 70.1% TMP removal after 330 min of treatment. The optimal operative conditions were achieved at a concentration of NaCl of 0.04 M and an applied current density of 120 A m−2. Cost estimates for both technologies indicated that electrochemical oxidation of TMP is comparable to adsorption if operating at low current density. Each process presents several advantages and limitations, and the choice of the right approach needs to consider different factors, including the composition of the wastewater and the cost and availability of resources

An innovative approach for atrazine electrochemical oxidation modelling: Process parameter effect, intermediate formation and kinetic constant assessment

Water reuse for irrigation activities is becoming a crucial worldwide challenge due to the depletion of water sources. Anyway, agricultural drainage can potentially contain dangerous contaminants such as metals, pesticides, and herbicides, including atrazine. To address the need for agriculture wastewater purification, we investigated atrazine removal from simulated wastewater by electro-oxidation using platinum-coated titanium electrodes on a lab-scale experimental apparatus. The effects of electrolyte composition and concentration, i.e. ionic strength and applied current density on atrazine removal, were investigated. The results demonstrated that the electrochemical oxidation of the herbicide occurred through two routes, depending on the presence or absence of oxidizing chlorine species. The generation of intermediates during the treatment was monitored and quantified by evaluating the effect of an inert electrolyte (NaClO4) versus an oxidizable chlorine species (NaCl). In both experimental conditions, five intermediates were identified, including desethyl-atrazine (DEA), hydroxyatrazine (ATZ-OH), desisopropyl-atrazine (DIA) and desethyl-desisopropyl-atrazine (DEDIA). A degradation mechanism and a model for describing hydroxyl radicals and active chlorine species contributions at ATZ oxidation were also proposed. Intermediate evolution profiles suggest that ATZ degradation can be considered as a series–parallel reaction system. Finally, the energy requirement assessment for ATZ removal was carried out. The highest ATZ removal (≅98%) was achieved with NaCl = 0.08 M, J = 60 A/m−2, and EC = 5.83 kWh m−3. Results highlight that atrazine removal was improved when an active chlorine species (NaCl) was present in the water solution. Moreover, the addition of chlorine species during electro-oxidation is an energy-saving strategy. Collectively, electro-oxidation technique can be efficiently applied to treat polluted water in order to meet the needs of recycling water quality and reduce resource consumption

ACTISLAG -NEW ACTIVATION ROUTES FOR EARLY STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT OF GRANULATED BLAST FURNACE SLAG

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