Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe : A Synthesis of National Perspectives

Changes in climate, land use, and land management impact the occurrence and severity of wildland fires in many parts of the world. This is particularly evident in Europe, where ongoing changes in land use have strongly modified fire patterns over the last decades. Although satellite data by the European Forest Fire Information System provide large-scale wildland fire statistics across European countries, there is still a crucial need to collect and summarize in-depth local analysis and understanding of the wildland fire condition and associated challenges across Europe. This article aims to provide a general overview of the current wildland fire patterns and challenges as perceived by national representatives, supplemented by national fire statistics (2009-2018) across Europe. For each of the 31 countries included, we present a perspective authored by scientists or practitioners from each respective country, representing a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The authors were selected from members of the COST Action "Fire and the Earth System: Science & Society" funded by the European Commission with the aim to share knowledge and improve communication about wildland fire. Where relevant, a brief overview of key studies, particular wildland fire challenges a country is facing, and an overview of notable recent fire events are also presented. Key perceived challenges included (1) the lack of consistent and detailed records for wildland fire events, within and across countries, (2) an increase in wildland fires that pose a risk to properties and human life due to high population densities and sprawl into forested regions, and (3) the view that, irrespective of changes in management, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of wildland fires in the coming decades. Addressing challenge (1) will not only be valuable in advancing national and pan-European wildland fire management strategies, but also in evaluating perceptions (2) and (3) against more robust quantitative evidence.Peer reviewe

Crystal structure of 5-[4-(diethylamino)benzylidene]-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione

The title compound, C17H21NO4, consists of substituted Meldrum's acid with a [4-(diethylamino)phenyl]methylidene fragment attached to the fifth position. The heterocycle assumes a distorted boat conformation. The planar part of heterocycle is almost coplanar with the benzene ring due to the presence of a long conjugated system in the molecule. This leads to the formation of C—H...O-type intramolecular contacts. As a result of the absence of hydrogen-bond donors in the structure, the crystal packing is controlled by van der Waals forces and weak C—H...O interactions, which associate the molecules into inversion dimers

Crystal structure of 3-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylmethyl)-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-2-enone

In the title compound, C16H20O4, a new starting compound for the synthesis of various heterocycles, the partially saturated six-membered ring adopts a sofa conformation. An intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bond is observed in the guaiacol residue. In the crystal, molecules are assembled into a sheet structure parallel to the ab plane via O—H...O hydrogen bonds. The hydrogen-bond pattern is described by an R44(28) graph-set motif. The sheets are further linked by C—H...O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network

Crystal structure of 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-[(E)-2-phenylethenyl]quinazolin-4(3H)-one

The title compound, C22H16N2O2 {systematic name: 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-[(E)-2-phenylethenyl]quinazolin-4(3H)-one}, consists of a substituted 2-[(E)-2-arylethenyl]-3-arylquinazolin-4(3H)-one skeleton. The substituents at the ethylene fragment are located in trans positions. The phenyl ring is inclined to the quinazolone ring by 26.44 (19)°, while the 4-hydroxyphenyl ring is inclined to the quinazolone ring by 81.25 (8)°. The phenyl ring and the 4-hydroxyphenyl ring are inclined to one another by 78.28 (2)°. In the crystal, molecules are connected via O—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming a helix along the a-axis direction. The helices are linked by C—H...π interactions, forming slabs parallel to (001)

Novel type of carbon-centered antioxidants arylmethyl Meldrum’s acids inhibit free radicals

art. no. 1700172Arylmethyl Meldrum’s acids should be highlighted as potential antioxidants for increasing oxidative stability of various products containing, for example, esters of poly-unsaturated fatty acids. It should be admitted that the structure of the title compounds can be widely modified by substituents in the aromatic ring without remarkable loss of antioxidant and antiradical activity, but other properties (like solubility) may be improved. In order to apply the title antioxidants into products like cosmetics additional tests regarding toxicity are required. However, these antioxidants can be recommended for increasing oxidative stability for products used in techniqueVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Sustainable Wax Coatings Made from Pine Needle Extraction Waste for Nanopaper Hydrophobization

We combine renewable and waste materials to produce hydrophobic membranes in the present work. Cellulose nanopaper prepared from paper waste was used as a structural component for the membrane. The pine wax was reclaimed from pine needle extraction waste and can be regarded as a byproduct. The dip-coating and spray-coating methods were comprehensively compared. In addition, the solubility of wax in different solvents is reported, and the concentration impact on coating quality is presented as the change in the contact angle value. The sensile drop method was used for wetting measurements. Spray-coating yielded the highest contact angle with an average of 114°, while dip-coating reached an average value of 107°. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used for an in-depth comparison of surface morphology. It was observed that coating methods yield significantly different microstructures on the surface of cellulose fibers. The wax is characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Pine wax has a melting temperature of around 80 °C and excellent thermal stability in oxygen, with a degradation peak above 290 °C. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to identify characteristic groups of components and show the changes on coated nanopaper. Overall, the results of this work yield important insight into wax-coated cellulose nanopapers and a comparison of spray- and dip-coating methods. The prepared materials have a potential application as membranes and packaging materials

Insights on the European Fault-Source Model (EFSM20) as input to the 2020 update of the European Seismic Hazard Model (ESHM20)

European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2020, 4-8 May 2020The H2020 Project SERA (WP25-JRA3; http://www.sera-eu.org) is committed to updating and extending the 2013 European Seismic Hazard Model (ESHM13; Woessner et al., 2015, Bull. Earthquake Eng.) to form the basis of the next revision of the European seismic design code (CEN-EC8). Following the probabilistic framework established for ESHM13, the 2020 update (ESHM20) requires a continent-wide seismogenic model based on input from earthquake catalogs, tectonic information, and active faulting. The development of the European Fault-Source Model (EFSM20) fulfills the requirements related to active faulting. EFSM20 has two main categories of seismogenic faults: crustal faults and subduction systems. Crustal faults are meant to provide the hazard model with seismicity rates in a variety of tectonic contexts, including onshore and offshore active plate margins and plate interiors. Subduction systems are meant to provide the hazard model with both slab interface and intraslab seismicity rates. The model covers an area that encompasses a buffer of 300 km around all target European countries (except for Overseas Countries and Territories, OTCs), and a maximum of 300 km depth for slabs. The compilation of EFSM20 relies heavily on publicly available datasets and voluntarily contributed datasets spanning large regions, as well as solicited local contributions in specific areas of interest. The current status of the EFSM20 compilation includes 1,256 records of crustal faults for a total length of ~92,906 km and four subduction systems, namely the Gibraltar Arc, Calabrian Arc, Hellenic Arc, and Cyprus Arc. In this contribution, we present the curation of the main datasets and their associated information, the criteria for the prioritization and harmonization across the region, and the main strategy for transferring the earthquake fault-source input to the hazard modelers. The final version of EFSM20 will be made available through standard web services published in the EFEHR (http://www.efehr.org) and EPOS (https://www.seismofaults.eu) platforms adopting FAIR data principlesThe SERA project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.730900Peer reviewe

Improvement of cold flow properties and stability of biodiesel fuel produced from fatty waste

Apie referavimą Chemical Abstracts (CAplus) nurodyta leidinyjeThe use of alternative fuels made from renewable natural resources has considerably increased during the last years, as well as the importance of biodiesel. Nevertheless, insufficient oxidative stability and unsatisfactory cold flow properties of monoalkyl esters of fatty acids limit their successful application. As both of these parameters are largely related to unsaturation degree of fatty acids, we investigated biodtesels obtained from very different fats ~ strongly unsaturated Unseed oil, animal fat mostly based on saturated fatty acids, as well as rapeseed oil. The influence of BHA and BHT additives on oxidative stability of biodiesels was evaluated by Rancimat induction period. The impact of different commercially available antifreezes, as well as acetals and ketals (synthesized from crude glycerol obtained as by-product of biodiesel production) on cold filter plugging point, pour and cloud points of methyl esters of fatty acids was studiedVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij