The main objective of this study is to analyze hazardous elements in nanoparticles (NPs) (smaller than 100 nm) and ultrafine particles (smaller than 1 µm) in Porto Alegre City, southern Brazil using a self-made passive sampler and Sentinel-3B SYN satellite images in 32 collection points. The Aerosol Optical Thickness proportion (T550) identification was conducted using images of the Sentinel-3B SYN satellite at 634 points sampled in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy analyses were performed to identify chemical elements present in NPs and ultrafine particles, followed by single-stage cascade impactor to be processed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrban cemeteries are increasingly surrounded by areas of high residential density as urbanization continues world-wide. With increasing rates of mortality caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, urban vertical cemeteries are experiencing interments at an unprecedented rate. Corpses interred in the 3rd to 5th layer of vertical urban cemeteries have the potential to contaminate large adjacent regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has the potential to cause natural ventilation systems in hospital environments to be rendered inadequate, not only for workers but also for people who transit through these environments even for a limited duration. Studies in of the fields of geosciences and engineering, when combined with appropriate technologies, allow for the possibility of reducing the impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the environment, including those of hospitals which are critical centers for healthcare. In this work, we build parametric 3D models to assess the possible circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the natural ventilation system of a hospital built to care infected patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Dev Sustain
October 2021
The increasing mortality of COVID-19 can aggravate soil contamination by metals, harmful to the health of the population, requiring new projects for future cemeteries capable of mitigating these impacts to the environment, justifying the importance of studying the concentrations of metals in the soil of urban cemeteries. The paper analyzed the levels of metals in the soil of urban cemeteries in the City of Carazinho, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, located in southern Brazil, considering the increase in deaths by COVID-19, for the purpose of future projects for cemeteries aimed at mitigating the impacts generated on the environment. The soils of the three urban cemeteries in Carazinho were sampled, with 5 internal and external points, with 3 repetitions at depths of 0-20 and 20-40 cm, adding 180 samples to measure the concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cr and Pb (g kg), considering the analytical sequence: (1) analysis in triplicate with mean deviation (RDS); (2) R2 of the analytical curve; (3) traceability of the pattern of each metal; (4) quantification limit of each metal (QL), with the performance of nitroperchloric digestion of the samples and the determinations of metals by flame modality atomic absorption spectrometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMar Pollut Bull
December 2021
The analysis of marine matter using the Sentinel-3B OLCI (Ocean Land Color Instrument) satellite is the most advanced technique for evaluating: the absorption of colored detrital and dissolved material (ADG_443_NN), total suspended matter concentration (TSM_NN) and of chlorophyll-a (CHL_NN) on a global scale. The objective is to analyze ADG_443_NN, TSM_NN and CHL_NN using the Sentinel-3B OLCI satellite and the presence of Fe-nanoparticles (NPs) + hazardous elements (HEs) in suspended sediments (SSs) in the maritime estuary of the Colombian city of Barranquilla. The study used the unpublished image of the Sentinel-3B OLCI satellite in the evaluation of ADG_443_NN, TSM_NN and CHL_NN in 72 sampled points.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(pea) yields in the United States have declined significantly over the last decades, predominantly due to susceptibility to root rot diseases. One of the main causal agents of root rot is the fungus f. sp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(pea) is rapidly emerging as an inexpensive and significant contributor to the plant-derived protein market. Due to its nitrogen-fixation capability, short life cycle, and low water usage, pea is a useful cover-and-break crop that requires minimal external inputs. It is critical for sustainable agriculture and indispensable for future food security.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrban cemeteries on a global scale raise concerns due to their potential to concentrate differing levels of hazardous pollutants in their native soils due to the unnatural concentration of burials in a limited space. It is paramount for sustainability that designers of future cemeteries take this into account in order to minimize the deposition and movement of these contaminants within the soil profile. The objective of this manuscript is to identify the levels of certain hazardous element contamination, specifically heavy metals, in the soil of horizontal urban cemeteries that do not utilize herbicides for weed control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work, we investigated the suitability of performing partial least square regression (PLSR) on genotype-phenotype datasets to identify marker-trait associations. We utilized data collected on a cotton (.) recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population that was evaluated under contrasting irrigation treatments, well-watered and water-limited conditions, in a hot, arid environment in 2012.
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