Burnhamstallings4852

The management of knotweeds on roads and railways in the vicinity of rivers may be a major source of propagules. Hydraulic infrastructures (dikes and mill weirs) may also have served as locations of knotweed introduction since the end of the nineteenth century and may play a major role in the propagule transfer of knotweed; to date, these infrastructures have provided favourable conditions for knotweed establishment. Despite local water authorities' increasing awareness of invasive plants, local management practices for flood mitigation, low awareness of roads/railway managers, and negative representations of knotweeds have probably largely contributed to their dispersion over decades. The final model intends to integrate these biophysical and human factors by providing an operational tool to help river managers determine the sensitivity of their river basins to knotweed invasion.

Congenital malformations are considered as one of the significant causes of preterm as well as neonatal morbidity and mortality. Literature suggests the association of diverse congenital deformities with maternal exposure to air pollutants. However, the evidence is still inconclusive on the manifestation of these during pregnancy. Thus, systematic review was done on the available epidemiological studies studying the effect of air pollutants on congenital malformations. Furthermore, the meta-analysis was conducted for several combinations of air pollutants and congenital defects.

Twenty six epidemiological studies were extracted from the databases and examined for association of risk of congenital defects with air pollutant concentrations. Heparan solubility dmso Metaanalysis was done if the risk estimates of the same anomaly and pollutant group were reported in at least three studies.

Each study reported a statistically significant increased risk of congenital malformation with some air pollutant, amid the several tested combinations. Our meta-analysis reported that nitrogen dioxide and PM

were associated with the risk of pulmonary valve stenosis with OR=1.74 and OR=1.42 respectively. The risk of developing tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) was observed to be associated with PM

with OR=1.52

SO

exposure was related to a high risk of the ventricular septal defect (VSD) with OR=1.15 and orofacial defects (OR=1.27).

It is evidenced that ambient air pollutants have some effect on congenital malformations. Standard case definitions, improved methods of exposure, and better control of confounders will improve future research in this area.

It is evidenced that ambient air pollutants have some effect on congenital malformations. Standard case definitions, improved methods of exposure, and better control of confounders will improve future research in this area.The artificial sweeteners (ASs) saccharin (SAC) and neotame (NEO) are widely used across the globe and are considered as emerging contaminants in surface, ground, and drinking waters. To degrade SAC and NEO, the metal organic framework material Co-based bio-MOF-11 was prepared by hydrothermal reaction and used with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activator. The effects of the initial concentration of SAC and NEO, bio-MOF-11-Co dosage, PMS concentration, initial pH, temperature, and competitive anions were determined. The results revealed that bio-MOF-11-Co effectively catalyzed the degradation of SAC and NEO and possessed good stability and recycling efficiency. The degradation reaction was effective from pH 3.6-9.8 and followed quasi-first-order kinetics with degradation rate constants of 0.001-0.013 min-1 for SAC and 0.03-0.52 min-1 for NEO. Increased temperature was conducive to the degradation of both artificial sweeteners. The presence of Cl- inhibited the degradation of SAC and NEO, while the presence of CO32- promoted their degradation. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and free radical quenching demonstrated that the primary free radicals were sulfate radicals ( [Formula see text] ) and hydroxyl radicals (HO). The change of cobalt oxidation state and electron transfer in bio-MOF-11-Co mainly induces the production of [Formula see text] . A plausible mechanism for degradation is [Formula see text] and HO attack on CS bonds, NS bonds, and benzene rings.Eggs of terrestrial bird species have often been used to biomonitor both legacy and emerging anthropogenic contaminants, such as perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs). However, few, if any, studies have examined whether results obtained in a given model species can be generalized across bird species. Therefore, we compared potential differences in egg PFAA profile and concentrations between two widely studied passerine species, great tit (Parus major) and blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), which are similar in many aspects of their ecology and life history. Whole clutches of both species were collected from the same breeding season and at the same place (Antwerp, Belgium), enabling us to study laying order effects. Additionally, we evaluated how egg PFAA concentrations for both species changed along a distance gradient from a PFAA point source. Although the sum PFAA concentrations did not significantly differ between great tits and blue tits, large differences in PFAA profile and laying order effects were observed. Greateneralizable across bird species.River longitudinal connectivity is crucial for diadromous fish species to reproduce and grow, its fragmentation by large dams may prevent these species to complete their life cycle. This work aims to evaluate the impact of large dams on the structural longitudinal connectivity at the European scale, from a Diadromous fish species perspective, since the beginning of the 20th century until the early 21st century. Based on large dam locations and completion year, a multitude of river impairment metrics were calculated at three spatial scales for six European oceanic regions and 12 time periods. The number of basins affected by large dams is overall low (0.4%), but for large river basins, that cover 78% of Europe's area, 69.5% of all basins, 55.4% of the sub-basins and 68.4% of river length are impaired. River network connectivity impairment became increasingly significant during the second half of the 20th century and is nowadays spatially widespread across Europe. Except for the North Atlantic, all oceanic regions have over 50% of impacted river length.