Matthiesencase0389

Geothermal or ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are among the highest growing renewable energy technologies used for heating and cooling of buildings. However, despite being a well-established technology, their geo-environmental effects such as impact of the heat on the biosphere is still not thoroughly understood. This study uses FEFLOW software, to simulate heat and mass transport of a vertical closed-loop GSHP system. Transient flow and heat transport results for a multiple borehole system are presented which indicate long-term effects on subsurface temperature. Moreover, the impact of temperature change in a contaminated granular porous subsurface during remediation applications is examined. In particular, as subsurface temperatures are elevated due to geothermal heating, sorption will decrease and biodegradation rates will increase. These effects are examined in the context of contaminant transport, to evaluate the possibility of utilizing geothermal heating as a remediation strategy. The results revealed that temperature changes caused by GSHP operation can significantly enhance biodegradation of hydrocarbon contaminants. For instance, elevated subsurface temperature resulted in 97% reduction in benzene total mass, after one year of GSHP operation for a typical office building in Toronto.Soil conservation measures (SCM) are believed to be effective in terms of wind erosion control. Currently, most studies regarding the efficacy of SCM in erosion control are based on data of individual experimental sites. A comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of SCM and related impacting factors at large scale is lacking. A synthesis was conducted in this study based on data compiled from field experiments in major eroded regions of China in order to fully evaluate the efficacy of various SCM practices in erosion reduction, and further assess how their efficacy varied under different environmental conditions. Two main SCM categories were identified, i.e. agricultural measures (AM) used for both crop production and erosion control, and vegetation measures (VM) used for erosion control only. The results showed that SCM could lead to a significant reduction of wind erosion by over a half (0.51). The reduction of wind erosion under VM (0.56) was significantly higher than AM (0.46). Specifically, most AM and all the VM investigated in this study were beneficial for wind erosion control. Multiple cropping was the only practice that significantly increased the wind erosion rate compared to the conventional treatment. We further found that the effectiveness of SCM highly dependent on precipitation, temperature, soil organic carbon concentration, soil water content, soil type, elevation, and vegetation coverage. The responses of the efficacy of AM and VM to these environmental conditions also differed. Another important finding is that the lowest efficacy of SCM in erosion control was observed in regions with the highest erosion risk, indicating the greater challenge in erosion reduction in these regions. The efficacy of SCM quantified in this study can be used as an essential reference for the adoption of SCM in China and the environmental conditions should also be considered carefully when designing a SCM application framework.Several medicinal products for human use are currently under consideration as potential treatment for COVID-19 pandemic. As proposals cover also prophylactic use, the treatment could be massive, resulting in unprecedent levels of antiviral emissions to the aquatic environment. We have adapted previous models and used available information for predicting the environmental impact of representative medicinal products, covering the main groups under consideration multitarget antiparasitic (chloroquines and ivermectin), glucocorticoids, macrolide antibiotics and antiviral drugs including their pharmacokinetic boosters. The retrieved information has been sufficient for conducting a conventional environmental risk assessment for the group of miscellaneous medicines; results suggest low concern for the chloroquines and dexamethasone while very high impact for ivermectin and azithromycin, even at use levels well below the default value of 1% of the population. The information on the ecotoxicity of the antiviral medicines is very scarce, thus we have explored an innovative pharmacodynamic-based approach, combining read-across, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR), US EPA's Toxicity Forecaster (ToxCast) in vitro data, pharmacological modes of action, and the observed adverse effects. The results highlight fish sublethal effects as the most sensitive target and identify possible concerns. These results offer guidance for minimizing the environmental risk of treatment medication for COVID-19.River systems are characterized by the existence of longitudinal processes structuring fish assemblages. However, the construction of dams, many of them built in cascades, are disrupting these processes worldwide. Here, we analyzed the fish assemblages across reservoir cascades in three Brazilian river basins (Iguaçu, Paranapanema, and São Francisco) to identify whether there is a spatial convergent pattern and to infer the mechanisms structuring metacommunities in these Neotropical rivers. Linear models were used to assess the effect of reservoir cascades, and the associated morphological, spatial and environmental variables, on the species richness and diversity along them. We analyzed if reservoir cascades produce similar species distribution patterns using the elements of metacommunity structure framework and beta diversity and its components. Finally, super-organizing maps were used to find common trends in species abundances and the environmental, morphological, and spatial variables along cascades. Thethe environmental gradient and appeared or disappeared at random. Although the cascade has an effect on fish assemblages, reservoir characteristics and operation also influence them. HPK1-IN-2 datasheet Our study highlights the impact of such structures and shows general patterns of fish assemblages that should help to mitigate the resulting ecological impacts and assist the process of infrastructure planning.