Optimization problems involving the first Dirichlet eigenvalue and the torsional rigidity

We present some open problems and obtain some partial results for spectral optimization problems involving measure, torsional rigidity and first Dirichlet eigenvalue.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Ecological impacts of time-variable exposure regimes to the fungicide azoxystrobin on freshwater communities in outdoor microcosms

This paper evaluates the effects of different time-varying exposure patterns of the strobilurin fungicide azoxystrobin on freshwater microsocosm communities. These exposure patterns included two treatments with a similar peak but different time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations, and two treatments with similar TWA but different peak concentrations. The experiment was carried out in outdoor microcosms under four different exposure regimes; (1) a continuous application treatment of 10 μg/L (CAT10) for 42 days (2), a continuous application treatment of 33 μg/L (CAT33) for 42 days (3), a single application treatment of 33 μg/L (SAT33) and (4) a four application treatment of 16 μg/L (FAT16), with a time interval of 10 days. Mean measured 42-d TWA concentrations in the different treatments were 9.4 μg/L (CAT10), 32.8 μg/L (CAT33), 14.9 μg/L (SAT33) and 14.7 μg/L (FAT16). Multivariate analyses demonstrated significant changes in zooplankton community structure in all but the CAT10 treated microcosms relative to that of controls. The largest adverse effects were reported for zooplankton taxa belonging to Copepoda and Cladocera. By the end of the experimental period (day 42 after treatment), community effects were of similar magnitude for the pulsed treatment regimes, although the magnitude of the initial effect was larger in the SAT33 treatment. This indicates that for long-term effects the TWA is more important for most zooplankton species in the test system than the peak concentration. Azoxystrobin only slightly affected some species of the macroinvertebrate, phytoplankton and macrophyte assemblages. The overall no observed ecologically adverse effect concentrations (NOEAEC) in this study was 10 µg/L

Threshold levels for effects of insecticides in freshwater ecosystems: a review

A literature review of freshwater (model) ecosystem studies with neurotoxic insecticides was performed to assess ecological threshold levels, to compare these levels with the first tier approach within European Union (EU) administration procedures, and to evaluate the ecological consequences of exceeding these thresholds. Studies published between 1980 and 2001 were reviewed. Most studies covered organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids in lentic waters. The most sensitive taxa were representatives of crustaceans, insects and fish. Based on toxic units, threshold values were equivalent for compounds with a similar mode of action. This also accounted for the nature and magnitude of direct effects at higher concentrations. Although laboratory single species toxicity tests may not allow predictions on precise ecological effects, some generalisations on effects and recovery can be made with respect to acute standard laboratory EC50 data. The NOECecosystem usually is a factor of 10 or more higher than first tier acceptable concentrations, particularly in the case of single applications and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Acceptable concentrations, as set by the EU first tier approach, appear to be protective. Recovery of sensitive endpoints usually occurs within 2 months of the (last) application when peak concentrations remain lower than (0.1–1) × EC50 of the most sensitive standard test species. The consistency of response patterns found in model ecosystem studies can be useful when estimating the ecological risks of pesticides. The use of an effect classification system was also helpful in evaluating effects

Atmosferische depositie van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en mogelijke risico's voor waterleven

Scenarioberekeningen geven aan dat de atmosferische depositie van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen in 2001 zodanig hoog was dat ook op ver van de toepassing verwijderde locaties effecten op waterleven niet zijn uit te sluiten. Meer dan de helft van de depositie kwam in 2001 voor rekening van een vijftal stoffen. De toxische belasting werd in 2001 voor een groot deel bepaald door stoffen die op dat moment in Nederland geen toelating meer hadden als gewasbeschermings-middel

Meervoudige stress door herhaaldelijk gebruik van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen in landbouwgebieden

Current risk assessment of plant protection products is performed on a formulated-product-by-formulated-product basis and does not take into account the fact that products may be mixed and/or that different products are used sequentially within a growing season. This report evaluates three possibilities for taking these aspects into account in the future that target the risks for surface water. The investigated methods have been shown to be able to take 'multiple stresses' into consideration. Further investigation is needed to check if these methods are sufficient. In this report, three different methods were used to assess the multiple stresses caused by parallel and sequential applications of plant protection products according to realistic application scenarios during the growing season of a tuber crop and an orchard crop. The methods show the effects of the different products on the organisms living in a ditch at the edge of a field. The first method used is the so-called Toxic Unit method, in which the contributions of the individual substances to the overall toxicity are summed and the maximum in time is calculated. The second method, the mixture toxic pressure method (msPAF), calculates the potentially affected fraction of aquatic organisms, taking into account differences in the sensitivity of the organisms to the various substances. The third method, the MASTEP population model, calculates the time necessary for a sensitive aquatic organism (an aquatic isopod) to recover from its exposure to the various substances. The Toxic Unit method (TU) is the one most comparable to the current authorization assessment. All three methods show that a few substances determine a large part of the calculated total effect. The TU-method and the mixture toxic pressure (msPAF) method are useful in identifying these active substances. These selected substances were then used in the MASTEP calculations. The MASTEP method, using Asellus aquaticus as indicator species, did indicate no or hardly any longer recovery times for the multiple applications in comparison with those calculated for the individual pesticide applications. This result applies to species with a high number of offspring. It is recommended that the MASTEP method is used with water organisms that have other survival strategies. At the moment, EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) undertakes activities to develop tools and guidance to assess the human and ecological risks of combined exposure to multiple active substances. This report can contribute to these activities.In de huidige toelatingsbeoordeling van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen worden effecten beoordeeld op basis van de werkzame stoffen die er in zitten. Er wordt daarbij geen rekening mee gehouden dat er meerdere gewasbeschermingsmiddelen, met andere werkzame stoffen, bij dezelfde teelt worden gebruikt. Dit onderzoek verkent drie mogelijkheden om hier in de toekomst wel rekening mee te houden, gericht op de risico's voor oppervlaktewater. De onderzochte methoden blijken deze 'meervoudige stress' te kunnen meenemen. Wel is meer onderzoek nodig om na te gaan of deze methoden toereikend zijn. Voor dit onderzoek zijn met de drie methoden realistische scenario's van het gebruik van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen binnen een groeiseizoen voor een knolgewas en een fruitteeltgewas doorgerekend. De methoden nemen de effecten mee die de verschillende middelen hebben op de organismen in de nabijgelegen sloot. Een van de methoden telt toxiciteitsindexen bij elkaar op (de Toxic Unit-methode, TU), een andere houdt rekening met verschillen in gevoeligheid van soorten organismen voor het bestrijdingsmiddel (de toxisch druk-methode, msPAF) en de derde methode berekent effecten op en het herstel van een gevoelig waterorganisme (het MASTEP-populatiemodel voor de waterpissebed). De TU-methode is het meest vergelijkbaar met de huidige toelatingsbeoordeling. Bij alle drie de methoden blijkt dat enkele stoffen een groot deel van het totaal berekende effect bepalen. De TU-methode en de toxische druk- methode (msPAF) blijken nuttig om deze werkzame stoffen te bepalen. Met deze werkzame stoffen zijn vervolgens de MASTEP-berekeningen uitgevoerd. Uit de MASTEP-berekeningen blijkt dat de periode die de waterpissebed nodig heeft om te herstellen van het effect van de middelen niet of nauwelijks langer duurt als meerdere middelen tegelijk worden gebruikt. Dit resultaat geldt voor waterorganismen die als overlevingsstrategie hebben dat ze veel nakomelingen produceren. Het verdient aanbeveling de MASTEP- berekeningen ook uit te voeren voor organismen met andere overlevingsstrategieën. EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) zoekt momenteel naar mogelijkheden om richtlijnen en instrumenten te ontwikkelen voor het beoordelen van de risico's van gecombineerde blootstelling van mens en milieu aan meerdere werkzame stoffen. Dit rapport kan hieraan bijdragen.Ministerie van I&

Особливості управлінння персоналом в сучасних організаціях

Головним ресурсом підприємства є люди. Саме від персоналу залежить якість продукції, рівень обслуговування, загальний ріст і розвиток компанії. Система управління персоналом підприємства представляє собою сукупність прийомів, методів, управлінських дій спрямованих на організації роботи з персоналом. При формуванні системи управління персоналом організації необхідно враховувати такі моменти: організація є відкритою системою і на її діяльність впливають фактори зовнішнього середовища, такі, як ринкова кон’юнктура, ринок праці, правові норми, потреби споживачів, конкуренти; внутрішнє середовище організації характеризується такими складовими, як: місія організації, ціль діяльності, задачі, люди, організаційна структура та корпоративна культура; результат діяльності організації залежить від кваліфікації, досвіду, компетенцій персоналу організації; конкурентоздатність організації залежить не лише від конкурентоздатності продукції чи послуг, а і від конкурентоздатності персоналу організації

Dual Loop Line-Focusing Solar Power Plants with Supercritical Brayton Power cycles

Most of the deployed commercial line-focusing solar power plants with Parabolic Troughs (PTC) or Linear Fresnel (LF) solar collectors and Rankine power cycles use a Single Loop Solar Field (SF), Configuration 1 illustrated in Fig. 2, with synthetic oil as Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) [1, 2]. However, thermal oils maximum operating temperature should be below ~400ºC for assuring no oil degradation, hence limiting the power cycle gross efficiency up to ~38%. For overcoming this limitation Molten Salts (MS) as HTF in linear solar collectors (PTC and LF) were recently experimented in pilot facilities [3, 4]. Direct MS main drawbacks are the equipments and components material corrosion and the salts freezing temperature, requiring heat tracing to avoid any sald solidification, hence increasing the Solar Field (SF) capital investment cost and parasitic energy looses. Concentrated Solar Power plants (CSP) with Dual Loop SF are being studied since 2012 [5] for gaining the synergies between thermal oils and MS properties. In the Dual Loop SF the HTF in the primary loop is thermal oil (Dowtherm A) [6] for heating the Balance Of Plant (BOP) working fluid from ~300ºC up to ~400ºC, and a secondary loop with Solar Salt (60% NaNO3, 40% KNO3) as HTF, for boosting the working fluid temperature from ~400ºC up to 550ºC [7, 8, 9]. The CSP Dual Loop state of the art technology includes Rankine power cycles, the main innovation of this paper is the integration between Dual Loop SF and the supercritical Carbon Dioxide (s-CO2) Brayton power cycles [10], see Configurations 2 and 3 illustrated in Fig. 3a, Fig 3b. A secondary innovation studied in this paper is the integration between thermal oil HTF (Dowtherm A) in linear solar collectors, a widely validated and mature technology, with the s-CO2 Brayton power cycles. This technical solution is very cost competitive with carbon steel receiver pipes, low SF operating pressure, and no requiring any heat tracing. Two main conclusions are deducted from this researching study. Firstly we demonstrated the higher gross plant efficiency ~44.4%, with 550ºC Turbine Inlet Temperature (TIT), provided by the Dual Loop with the Simple recuperated s-CO2 Brayton cycle with reheating, in comparison with 41.8% obtained from the Dual Loop SF and subcritical water Rankine power cycle. And finally the second conclusion obtained is the selection of the most cost competitive plant configuration with a Single loop SF with Dowtherma A and a s-CO2 Brayton power cycle due to the receiver material low cost and no heat tracing for the thermal oil

Effects of the fungicide metiram in outdoor freshwater microcosms: responses of invertebrates, primary producers and microbes

The ecological impact of the dithiocarbamate fungicide metiram was studied in outdoor freshwater microcosms, consisting of 14 enclosures placed in an experimental ditch. The microcosms were treated three times (interval 7 days) with the formulated product BAS 222 28F (Polyram®). Intended metiram concentrations in the overlying water were 0, 4, 12, 36, 108 and 324 μg a.i./L. Responses of zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, phytoplankton, macrophytes, microbes and community metabolism endpoints were investigated. Dissipation half-life (DT50) of metiram was approximately 1–6 h in the water column of the microcosm test system and the metabolites formed were not persistent. Multivariate analysis indicated treatment-related effects on the zooplankton (NOECcommunity = 36 μg a.i./L). Consistent treatment-related effects on the phytoplankton and macroinvertebrate communities and on the sediment microbial community could not be demonstrated or were minor. There was no evidence that metiram affected the biomass, abundance or functioning of aquatic hyphomycetes on decomposing alder leaves. The most sensitive populations in the microcosms comprised representatives of Rotifera with a NOEC of 12 μg a.i./L on isolated sampling days and a NOEC of 36 μg a.i./L on consecutive samplings. At the highest treatment-level populations of Copepoda (zooplankton) and the blue-green alga Anabaena (phytoplankton) also showed a short-term decline on consecutive sampling days (NOEC = 108 μg a.i./L). Indirect effects in the form of short-term increases in the abundance of a few macroinvertebrate and several phytoplankton taxa were also observed. The overall community and population level no-observed-effect concentration (NOECmicrocosm) was 12–36 μg a.i./L. At higher treatment levels, including the test systems that received the highest dose, ecological recovery of affected measurement endpoints was fast (effect period < 8 weeks)