Biodiversity impacts from salinity increase in a coastal wetland

A Life Cycle Impact Assessment method was developed to evaluate the environmental impact associated with salinity on biodiversity in a Spanish coastal wetland. The developed characterization factor consists of a fate and an effect factor and equals 3.16 × 10(-1) ± 1.84 × 10(-1) PAF · m(3) · yr · m(-3) (PAF: Potentially Affected Fraction of species) indicating a "potential loss of 0.32 m(3) ecosystem" for a water consumption rate of 1 m(3) · yr(-1). As a result of groundwater consumption with a rate of 1 m(3) · yr(-1), the PAF in the lost cubic meter of ecosystem equals 0.05, which has been proposed as the maximum tolerable effect to keep the ecosystem intact. The fate factor was calculated from seasonal water balances of the wetland Albufera de Adra. The effect factor was obtained from the fitted curve of the potentially affected fraction of native wetland species due to salinity and can be applied to other wetlands with similar species composition. In order to test the applicability of the characterization factor, an assessment of water consumption of greenhouse crops in the area was conducted as a case study. Results converted into ecosystem quality damage using the ReCiPe method were compared to other categories. While tomatoes are responsible for up to 30% of the impact of increased salinity due to water consumption on ecosystem quality in the studied area, melons have the largest impact per tonne produced.

Raman scattering boson peak and differential scanning calorimetry studies of the glass transition in tellurium-zinc oxide glasses

Raman scattering and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements have been carried out on four mixed tellurium-zinc oxide (TeO(2))(1 - x)(ZnO)(x) (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) glasses under variable temperature, with particular attention being given to the respective glass transition region. From the DSC measurements, the glass transition temperature T(g) has been determined for each glass, showing a monotonous decrease of T(g) with increasing ZnO content. The Raman study is focused on the low-frequency band of the glasses, the so-called boson peak (BP), whose frequency undergoes an abrupt decrease at a temperature T(d) very close to the respective T(g) values obtained by DSC. These results show that the BP is highly sensitive to dynamical effects over the glass transition and provides a means for an equally reliable (to DSC) determination of T(g) in tellurite glasses and other network glasses. The discontinuous temperature dependence of the BP frequency at the glass transition, along with the absence of such a behaviour by the high-frequency Raman bands (due to local atomic vibrations), indicates that marked changes of the medium range order (MRO) occur at T(g) and confirms the correlation between the BP and the MRO of glasses.

Diffusion model of radon exhalation rates

Radon migration through walls is considered using an effective diffusion model. One and two dimensional models as well as a spherical geometry are compared. It is concluded that either the 1-dimensional or spherical model, both having analytical solution, may be used for practical purposes. Application is made for typical cases in Athens, Greece.

Reduced dark-adaptation: an indication of lithium's neuronal action in humans

Although lithium plays a major role in therapy and prophylaxis of affective psychoses, no direct indication of its neuronal action in humans exists. A lithium-induced strong reduction of foveal dark-adaptation was found in healthy volunteers, and a lithium-induced reduction was also measured in patients with affective psychoses. Dark-adaptation measurements apparently offer the opportunity for in vivo monitoring of lithium's CNS effects in humans and may predict lithium's clinical efficacy.

Anticonvulsants as adjuncts for the neuroleptic treatment of schizophrenic psychoses: a clinical study with beclamide

A recent study showed an adjuvant effect of carbamazepine in the neuroleptic treatment of acute schizophrenic psychoses. Since beclamide (beta-chlorpropionamide) was reported to reduce the neuroleptic doses required, the combination haloperidol-beclamide was tested using a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 23 inpatients with an acute schizophrenic psychosis. In both groups patients received haloperidol and either beclamide or placebo. Every 7 d the treating psychiatrist could increase the haloperidol dose by 3 mg per day if clinically necessary. Chlorprothixene and biperiden were on hand as additional medication. After 28 d beclamide or placebo were discontinued under a constant dose of haloperidol and a final rating with the Inpatient Multidimensional Rating Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and Extrapyramidal Symptom Scale was carried out. Without reaching statistical significance, the beclamide group needed a lower dose of neuroleptic medication, showed fewer side effects and a more pronounced psychopathological improvement.

Effect of in vivo lithium treatment on (-)isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP accumulation in lymphocytes of healthy subjects and patients with affective psychoses

Lithium treatment inhibited (-)isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP accumulation in lymphocytes of 83% of the normal control subjects investigated. Of the normal control subjects, 17% did not show inhibition of cAMP synthesis after lithium treatment. In one single normal control subject a clear inverse correlation was found between lithium serum concentration and maximal cAMP response. The cAMP levels of six manic-depressive and of four schizoaffective patients receiving lithium treatment did not differ significantly from those of 10 lithium-treated normal subjects. The results obtained in normal subjects seem to support the hypothesis that lithium reduces postsynaptic receptor sensitivity by decreasing cAMP response to agonist stimulation. Treatment outcome, however, does not seem to be exclusively related to a blunted noradrenergic response, since the only patient who did not respond to the treatment had a very low (-)isoproterenol-induced cAMP response after lithium treatment.