Physico-Chemical Properties of Water at Different Depths of Radoniqi Lake of Kosovo

The aims of this study is to identify the most appropriate depths for getting water in the Lake of Radoniqi, Kosovo. We have analyzed physical and chemical indicators such as iron (Fe), aluminium (Al), manganese (Mg), ammonia, nitrites, nitrates etc. Also we have measured phosphorus ions at five levels of Radoniqi Lake. We have measured permaganat of potassium consumption, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and the bed smell aroma. Samples of water were analyzed in the physico-chemical laboratory of Filtration and Treatment Station for drinking water of Radoniqi, in Gjakova. Methods are using such as pH meters, conductivity turbidometrija, atomic absorption, classical spektrofotometrik methods, chemical analysis etc. The results obtained show that the water of the lake "Radoniqi" have a good quality in the level four and five. The removal of water bed aroma is accomplished through treatment with activated carbon in Gjakova Water Treatment and Filtration Station.Keywords: lake, water, parameters, methods, results, filter station

Adjusting Water Processing Technology in the Function Water Quality of Lake Radoniqi

In different seasons the water of the lake "Radoniqi" showed changes in the water quality, such as increased turbidity, presenting an unpleasant odor or flavor. Aeration, flocculation, filtration and disinfection with chlorine failed to completely eliminate undesirable odor or flavor. The purpose of this paper is the adjustment of water treatment technologies based on physical-chemical and bacteriological characteristics of Lake Radoniqi water. The objectives of the study are to identify the physical-chemical and organoleptic parameters of water before and after treatment of water in the treatment plant, and adjustment of technologies in the function of unprocessed water quality. In this study were analyzed following water parameters, such as turbidity, smell, taste, pH value, potassium permanganate value, dissolved oxygen, iron, manganese, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates, aluminum, etc. Water samples are tested in the physical-chemical laboratory with methods, such as jar-test method, organoleptic test, pH meters, conductivity, turbidity, spectrophotometric methods and classical methods of chemical analysis (volumetric method). Results of physical-chemical and organoleptic analysis of lake water help us to determine the water intake level of the lake as well as make a decision for the most appropriate technology for water treatment.Keywords: water, parameters, lake, methods, results

Stinkwort is rapidly expanding its range in California

Stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens) is a Mediterranean native that has become a weed in areas of Europe as well as in Australia. This strongly aromatic weed was first reported in California in 1984 in Santa Clara County, and it had spread to 36 of the 58 California counties by 2012. Stinkwort is not palatable to animals, and can be poisonous to livestock and cause contact allergic dermatitis in humans. In California, this weed is found primarily along roadsides. However, the biology of this annual plant suggests that it could also invade open riparian areas and overgrazed rangelands. Stinkwort has an unusual life cycle among annual plants: Unlike most summer or late-season winter annuals, stinkwort flowers and produces seeds from September to December. Such basic biological information is critical to developing timely and effective control strategies for this rapidly expanding weed

Heavy Metals Accumulation by Aromatic Plant Salvia Officinalis Irrigated with Treated Wastewater

The use of wastewater for the irrigation of plants will contribute to the beneficial factors of plant growth, but it can damage human health because of the high concentration of toxic elements. The main goal of this research is to assess the concentration of some toxic heavy metals in the Salvia Officinalis plants after their harvest, which is irrigated with treated wastewater. Salvia Officinalis plants leaves are used in culinary and medicine. Sage plants are cultivated in an experiment using pots, in the greenhouse for 180 days. Treatments aim to assess a number of elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn), that are accumulated in plants irrigated with treated and untreated sewage waters. The concentration of these heavy metals in both treated and untreated sewage waters are below the maximum permissible level in irrigation waters set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The development of plants and the content of heavy metal in their tissues are estimated. The results show that heavy metals content varied from spot to spot, plant to plant, and also in different parts of each plant. This study confirms that domestic sewage can effectively increase water resources for irrigation but the need for continuous monitoring of the concentration of toxic elements in soil, plants, and water, still exists. It is required that plants should be checked for contaminant before processing them for pharmaceutical purposes or for human consumption.Keywords: Treated Wastewater, Irrigation, Heavy Metals, Salvia Officinalis.

\u3ci\u3eSenecio Conrathii\u3c/i\u3e N.E.Br. (Asteraceae), a New Hyperaccumulator of Nickel from Serpentinite Outcrops of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

Five nickel hyperaccumulators belonging to the Asteraceae are known from ultramafic outcrops in South Africa. Phytoremediation applications of the known hyperaccumulators in the Asteraceae, such as the indigenous Berkheya coddii Roessler, are well reported and necessitate further exploration to find additional species with such traits. This study targeted the most frequently occurring species of the Asteraceae on eight randomly selected serpentinite outcrops of the Barberton Greenstone Belt. Twenty species were sampled, including 12 that were tested for nickel accumulation for the first time. Although the majority of the species were excluders, the known hyperaccumulators Berkheya nivea N.E.Br. and B. zeyheri (Sond. & Harv.) Oliv. & Hiern subsp. rehmannii (Thell.) Roessler var. rogersiana (Thell.) Roessler hyperaccumulated nickel in the leaves at expected levels. A new hyperaccumulator of nickel was discovered, Senecio conrathii N.E.Br., which accumulated the element in its leaves at 1695 ± 637 µg g−1 on soil with a total and exchangeable nickel content of 503 mg kg−1 and 0.095 µg g−1, respectively. This makes it the third known species in the Senecioneae of South Africa to hyperaccumulate nickel after Senecio anomalochrous Hilliard and Senecio coronatus (Thunb.) Harv., albeit it being a weak accumulator compared with the latter. Seven tribes in the Asteraceae have now been screened for hyperaccumulation in South Africa, with hyperaccumulators only recorded for the Arctoteae and Senecioneae. This suggests that further exploration for hyperaccumulators should focus on these tribes as they comprise all six species (of 68 Asteraceae taxa screened thus far) to hyperaccumulate nickel

Biogeochemistry, grain size and mineralogy of the Central and Southern Adriatic Sea sediments: a review.

Volume 26 Supplement 1, January 2010

Geochemical assessment of metal transfer from rock and soil to water in serpentine areas of Sabah (Malaysia)

The mobility of metals in ultramafic rock–soil systems and metal contamination in serpentine soils were investigated from the Ranau area in Sabah, East Malaysia. Metal concentrations were analysed after division into seven operationally defined fractions by selective sequential extraction (SSE). Geochemical studies showed that the soils are exceptionally high in Cr (95%) residing in refractory residual fractions. Metal speciation studies will shed further light on toxicities in the Malaysian ultramafic tropical environment, reconciled against elemental metal tenure, adopted by common standards

Ultramafic vegetation and soils in the circumboreal region of the Northern Hemisphere

The paper summarizes literature on climate, soil chemistry, vegetation and metal accumulation by plants found on ultramafic substrata in the circumboreal zone (sensu Takhtajan, Floristic regions of the world, 1986) of the Northern Hemisphere. We present a list of 50 endemic species and 18 ecotypes obligate to ultramafic soils from the circumboreal region of Holarctic, as well as 30 and 2 species of Ni and Zn hyperaccumulators, respectively. The number of both endemics and hyperaccumulators are markedly lower compared to that of the Mediterranean and tropical regions. The diversity of plant communities on ultramafics soils of the circumboral region is also described. The underlying causes for the differences of ultramafic flora between arctic, cold, cool temperate and Mediterranean and tropical regions are also discussed. © 2018, The Ecological Society of Japan

Intelligence Partitioning for IoT : Design Space Exploration for a Data Intensive IoT Node

The technological shift towards the Internet of Everything has resulted in an ever-increasing interest in smart sensor nodes. The required deployment of these nodes in a variety of environments, powered by constrained energy sources such as energy harvester or conventional batteries, is reflected in the significant constraints in terms of energy consumption for the smart sensor node. Furthermore, the range of applications is expanding and the processing complexity is subsequently growing, resulting in high data volume and energy constrained IoT nodes. The aim of this thesis is to address the energy efficiency of these smart sensor nodes and enhance their design process, which would inherently shorten their time-to-market. One of the key contributions of this work is the integration of the processing and communication perspectives in a design space exploration method for data intensive smart sensor nodes. This method relies on inputs that are high level estimates of the number of operations and intermediate data volume, and utilises the conflicting nature of the processing and communication as defining components of the energy consumption optimisation. One aspect covered by this method is processing exploration, where we identify areas of the design in which optimisation efforts would have a major impact on the overall node energy consumption. Another aspect is energy budgeting, where based on a set of predefined constraints, we can interpolate the processing energy available for the implementation of the additional processing tasks. This work considers the sensor node as part of the IoT environment relying not only on in-node processing, but also on fog and cloud computing. The trade-off in processing and communication energy consumption facilitates evidencing the optimal partition point for a given application and the subsequent node offloading. Considerations of node energy consumption, communication latency, and channel utilisation define the distribution of the computational load between the processing entities. To sum up, the methods presented in this thesis dissociates from IoT node optimisation related to a specific scenario, providing a generic design space exploration method that can be applied to any given data intensive IoT node. The aim of this work is to be the starting point for the design of robust tools for design space exploration in smart sensor nodes for IoT applications.Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbete opublicerat: delarbete 5 inskickat.At the time of the doctoral defence the following paper was unpublished: paper 5 submitted.</p