Crowdsource Approach for Mapping of Illegal Dumps in the Czech Republic

This paper describes the environmental project called www.ZmapujTo.cz which is intended to fight against illegal waste dumps in the Czech Republic with the use of geographic information systems (GIS). A smartphone/tablet GIS reporting application ZmapujTo has been developed. This freely available mobile application makes it possible to report illegal dumps and also overloaded containers of municipal waste. The project ZmapujTo is intended for public institutions, municipalities, all people who do not like illegal dumping in their cities, villages, countryside and forests, especially if they want to do something against people's bad environmental behaviour. Users of this mobile GIS application can report an illegal dump quickly and easily thanks to the use of their smartphones/tablets. Therefore, anybody can use the interactive public website form to report an illegal dump in the Czech Republic. The objective of this project is to contribute to the solution of the problem of environmental pollution by illegal dumps in the Czech Republic by making available a modern, effective and widespread GIS platform for their monitoring

The Fundamental Comparison of Zn–2Mg and Mg–4Y–3RE Alloys as a Perspective Biodegradable Materials

Biodegradable materials are of interest for temporary medical implants like stents for restoring damaged blood vessels, plates, screws, nails for fixing fractured bones. In the present paper new biodegradable Zn–2Mg alloy prepared by conventional casting and hot extrusion was tested in in vitro and in vivo conditions. Structure characterization and mechanical properties in tension and compression have been evaluated. For in vivo tests, hemispherical implants were placed into a rat cranium. Visual observation of the living animals, an inspection of implant location and computed tomography CT imaging 12 weeks after implantation were performed. Extracted implants were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on perpendicular cuts through corrosion products. The behaviour of zinc alloy both in in vitro and in vivo conditions was compared with commercially used Mg-based alloy (Mg–4Y–3RE) prepared by conventional casting and hot extrusion. Both compressive and tensile yield strengths of Zn and Mg-based alloys were similar; however, the brittleness of Mg–4Y–3RE was lower. Zn and Mg-based implants have no adverse effects on the behaviour or physical condition of rats. Moreover, gas bubbles and the inflammatory reaction of the living tissue were not detected after the 12-week period

Photosynthesis, production and growth of plants under temporal light hererogeneity

In this Ph.D. thesis I am dealing with the effect of dynamic irradiance on (i) photosynthesis, growth and bundle sheath leakiness (for CO2) of C4 plants and (ii) bryophyte photosynthesis. Part of this thesis is literature review on broader aspects of the dynamic light effects on photosynthetic and growth processes in plants

Zn-Mg Biodegradable Composite: Novel Material with Tailored Mechanical and Corrosion Properties

Zinc-based alloys represent one of the most highly developed areas regarding biodegradable materials. Despite this, some general deficiencies such as cytotoxicity and poor mechanical properties (especially elongation), are not properly solved. In this work, a Zn-5Mg (5 wt.% Mg) composite material with tailored mechanical and superior corrosion properties is prepared by powder metallurgy techniques. Pure Zn and Mg are mixed and subsequently compacted by extrusion at 200 °C and an extrusion ratio of 10. The final product possesses appropriate mechanical properties (tensile yield strength = 148 MPa, ultimate tensile strength = 183 MPa, and elongation = 16%) and decreased by four times the release of Zn in the initial stage of degradation compared to pure Zn, which can highly decrease cytotoxicity effects and therefore positively affect the initial stage of the healing process

Transmittance of young Norway spruce stand canopy for photosynthetically active radiation during the growing season

Analysis of transmittance of young Norway spruce stand canopy for photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was made at the study site of Bílý Kříž (the Moravian-Silesian Beskids Mts., the Czech Republic) at different sky conditions during the growing season in 2010. For the description of PAR transmittance different phenological phases of the spruce stand development in clear and overcast days were chosen. The mean daily PAR transmittance of the spruce canopy was significantly higher in overcast days compared with clear ones. Diffuse PAR thus penetrated into lower parts of the canopy more efficiently than direct one. PAR transmittance of young Norway spruce stand canopy was different in individual phenological phases of the spruce stand canopy which was caused by changes in the stand structure during the growing season. Thus monitoring of transmittance of young Norway spruce stand canopy for PAR can help to describe the development of spruce stand canopy

Influence of temperature of the short-period heat treatment on mechanical properties of the NiTi alloy

The equiatomic alloy of nickel and titanium, known as nitinol, possesses unique properties such as superelasticity, pseudoplasticity, shape memory, while maintaining good corrosion resistance and sufficient biocompatibility. Therefore it is used for production of various devices including surgery implants. Heat treatment of nickel-rich NiTi alloys can result in precipitation of nickel-rich phases, which strongly influence tensile and fatigue behaviour of the material.In this work we have studied influence of short-period heat treatment on tensile behaviour and fatigue life of the NiTi (50.9 at. % Ni) wire intended for fabrication of surgery stents.</p

Semantics Annotations of Ontology for Scenario: Anthropogenic Impact and Climate Change Issues

Part 4: Semantics and EnvironmentInternational audienceThe synthesis of existing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) pollution monitoring databases with epidemiological data is considered for identifying some impacts of POPs on human health. This task requires new, rich, data, services and models discovery capabilities from a multitude of monitoring networks and web resources. The FP7 project TaToo (Tagging Tool based on a Semantic Discovery Framework) is setting up a semantic web solution to close the discovery gap that prevents a full and easy access to web resources. The use of TaToo tools together with software GENASIS and SVOD is discussed as TaToo validation scenario for anthropogenic impact and global climate change influence on POPs trajectory. This paper contains the first propose of POPs and cancer domain ontology intended for TaToo framework

Light intensity-regulated stomatal development in three generations of Lepidium sativum

Stomata are of crucial importance for CO2 uptake and the water economy of terrestrial plants. They evolve during the early phases of leaf development according to genetically conserved information modulated in its expression by environmental conditions. Mature leaves experience the environment, e.g. light intensity, and signal to younger developing leaves, modifying stomatal density (SD) and probably other leaf traits as well. In addition, the parental environment can affect the offspring's phenotypes in an adaptive manner. However, the transgenerational effect of light on SD and interactions with the offspring's light environment have not been studied so far. Here we compare transgenerational (parental) and growth-light (environmental) effects on SD. We grew three generations of garden cress (Lepidiurn sativum) in two contrasting light environments in a full factorial design. Stomatal and pavement cell densities (SD, PCD), C-13 abundance as a proxy of leaf internal CO2 concentration (C-i) and leaf area were analysed in cotyledons and first true leaves of parental plants and two generations of offspring. Our results indicate that SD of offspring reflects both current and maternal light intensities. The transgenerational effect of light on SD was much smaller than the influence of current growth light and the former's manifestation was dependent on light experienced by offspring. The cotyledons' SD was unresponsive to variations in C-i but retained its light sensitivity, though it was smaller than in true leaves. High light reduced amphistomy in favour of the lower (abaxial) leaf side. SD and PCD were linearly proportional irrespective of light level, indicating invariant portions of spacing and amplifying cell divisions, and causing lower sensitivity of stomatal index at high SD. We show that light-stimulated stomatal development in garden cress differs in cotyledons and true leaves, varies between adaxial and abaxial leaf sides, and retains transgenerational information about environmental clues.Web of Science15632431