Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-02-01"
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- Earth observation data validation: implementation and performance evaluation of methods for chlorophylla retrievalPublication . Khachatryan, Lilit; Goela, Priscila; Cristina, SóniaHigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) allows determining the concentrations of phytoplankton pigments and is the most used technique to validate Earth Observation (EO) data of Chlorophylla (Chla). The challenges of current HPLC methods for pigment analysis are the use of toxic solvents and the coelution of important pigment peaks (e.g. mono and divinyl forms of chlorophylls). Despite that, these methods are established in reference laboratories, and its performance metrics were already assessed in previous work conducted by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) intercalibration exercises. A more recent method Sanz et al. (2015) is referred as having several chromatographic and instrumental advantages as: a) the use of a simpler binary elution gradient; b) the complete resolution of mono and divinyl forms of chlorophylls; and c) a mobile phase with low toxicity solvents (methanol and ethanol). In the first part of the thesis, the laboratorial performance of Sanz et al. (2015) methodology for the analysis of phytoplankton pigments was assessed, according to performance metrics defined in NASA HPLC Round-Robin Experiments, such as resolution, injection precision and retention time precision. Considerations about main coelutions and the response to different injection volumes are also discussed. In the second part of the thesis, phytoplankton pigments were quantified in 12 coastal water samples. The followed methodology implemented in CIMA-UAlg laboratorial conditions showed to be easy to implement for a routine level of work and the resolution between mono and divinyl forms of Chlorophylla was achieved. Implications of the results for the pigment quantification were also discussed and are presented. This study contributes to the overall effort of providing accurate in-situ data to validate satellite EO Chla data, and to accomplish the goal of improving the estimations of phytoplankton distribution.
- Assessment of the sustainability and resilience of cork harbour against climate change using the concept of circles of coastal sustainability (CCS)Publication . Swe, Wint Mon; Newton, Alice; LeTissier, MartinCoastal areas are where many socioeconomic and ecological processes come together to provide important services that drive the economy, social and culture of the community. With climate change impacts becoming more apparent, the sustainability and the resilience of the community is crucial when these climate extremes occur. This paper discusses on the sustainability and resilience of Cork Harbour using recently established sustainability framework – Circles of Coastal Sustainability – stemming from Circles of Sustainability but tailored for coastal zones. Cork Harbour was evaluated to be in ‘good’ status in terms of sustainability, also putting it in a resilient position against climate impacts. The shortcomings encountered using the framework include difficulty in choosing locally relevant indicators and complication in scoring the chosen indicators.
- Water pollution and waste management in Spain and ArmeniaPublication . Khachaturyan, Viktoria; Lopera, Agata Egea-corbacho; Alonso, Jose Maria QuirogaDuring last years the ecological problems increasingly recognized as a crucial process for humanity in all over the world. A great number of emerging pollutants have been found in the atmosphere, the drinking water resources, wastewater and sewage system, marine ecosystems, and in human and animal organisms. To prevent this problem, it is very important to develop relevant strategies and policy for sustainable waste management providing health and clean environment. Hence, the accurate and targeted waste management will assist to overcome many of difficulties in contemporary life. Waste management is an important issue which impacts on different features of economy and society. The key attention of this thesis is focused on Spain and Armenia that gave an opportunity to study the relevant issues and problems on waste management. This thesis presents a comparative study that observes the differences of waste management accomplishment and legislative frameworks in a developed country (Spain) and a developing country (Armenia). Therefore, through analyzing of the waste-use problems in these countries it is possible to recognize the ways of proper and effective waste management.
- The role of agriculture in marine plastic pollutionPublication . Espina Sandoval, Edwin Josué; Morales-Caselles, Maria del Carmen; Montero Montero, EnriqueThe world consumption of plastics in agriculture amounts yearly to approximately 7.4 million tons and forecasts expect it to increase to 9.5 million tons in 2030, but this data is still limited. Conventional and selective polymers such as PE, PVC, EVA and nets are used to optimize crop production efficiency in the Mediterranean coast. The major drawback starts when the material has reached its useful time and is abandoned and dumped near dry river bed channels where it accumulates as it waits for runoff to wash them towards the sea. Since there is a lot of data missing on the amounts, composition and environmental fate, this research aims to fill the above mentioned substantial gap by performing a research on the Agriculture Plastic Waste life cycle and current management. Once the main issues were identified, a proposal for monitoring sources and fluxes was studied using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) imagery combined with GIS systems as a tool for plastic litter detection, and fluxes on hotspots as they represent a key source of plastic litter accumulation before it reaches the marine systems if actions are to be taken. For the latter, imagery data acquired by UAVs and combined with in situ surveillance to detect mismanaged macroplastics location due to illegal dumping on dry riverbeds in Castell de Ferro, a town located in the tropical coast of Granada in Spain which is as famous for its tourism as for the plastic greenhouses. The study area, was considered suitable for these purposes because it involves a dry riverbed constantly impacted by APW dumped or abandoned by farmers nearby. The image data acquired was then processed and validated with in situ identification of the macroplastics. As a result, the GIS tool was considered to deliver the necessary data for accurate plastic litter assessment and detection. This study was able to detect agriculture macro-plastics showing success performance over 95%. As for the management measures, producers must design and manufacture reusable and recyclable agriculture plastics. To further the process, economic and financial incentives on RDI programs on APW need to be developed in order to avoid or reduce to the extent hazardous substances use on plastic manufacture.
- Climate change and human migration: managing the cascade effects initiated by natural disastersPublication . Almeida, Victor; Ricci, Paolo F.The potential links between climate change, human migration and conflict have been receiving an increasing amount of attention since the turn of the century. Up-to-date reports that address the most recent understanding of climate change and environmental hazards indicate that humans have undeniably contributed to the rising global temperature and will continue to do so if lower pollution thresholds are not maintained. While this enacts a multitude of physical, biological, chemical, and societal changes, it is imperative to analyze and address the impact of climate change on human migration trends. Human migrants face several types of problems ranging from environmental issues related to climate change (sea-level rise, more frequent and intense storms and floods, drought, wildfires, etc.), to conflicts from physical migration into neighboring towns, cities, regions, or countries. These types of physical migration that are climate change driven, which can be referred to as “adaptation migration” can be capable of snowballing from a human-to-environment issue into a human-to-human conflict; usually involving some type of violence or political discrimination/persecution. The aim of this study is to analyze how climate change is impacting human migration trends, the possible percolating effects that can result from human migration, and how these factors have influenced and will continue to influence governments and governance in the coastal area. The information in this report will be able to provide a greater understanding of adaptation migration through the use of differential equations, how these trends can be modeled, and how Game Theory can be used as a strategic tool for policymakers moving forward.
- Adaptação portuguesa da movie for the assessment of social cognition (MASC)Publication . Carvalho, Eduardo Volskis de; Faísca, LuísA Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC; Dziobek, 2006) tem sido considerada uma medida para avaliar a mentalização com forte utilidade científica. Estudos anteriores têm encontrado boas propriedades psicométricas, considerando-a uma medida ecologicamente válida da cognição social. Do nosso conhecimento, em portugal, não existe nenhuma adaptação da MASC nem existem medidas alternativas para avaliar o construto de mentalização. Neste contexto, tivemos como principal objetivo analisar as propriedades psicométricas da versão portuguesa da MASC. Para o efeito, procedeu-se, num primeiro momento, à tradução da MASC, tendo-se procedido à avaliação da sua fiabilidade e validade (recorrendo à escala Mentalization Questionnaire; Hausberg et al., 2012), numa amostra de 78 universitários portugueses com ausência de doenças psiquiátricas e neurológicas. Foram obtidas pontuações médias de acerto semelhantes às encontradas em estudos anteriores assim como indicadores satisfatórios de estabilidade temporal. Foi registada, ainda que de forma modesta, uma correlação positiva com a medida de autorrelato de mentalização. Ao contrário do esperado, o indicador de consistência interna da MASC-PT não foi satisfatório (α = .55) e a estrutura fatorial extraída não foi passível de interpretação clara. Estes resultados levantam-nos questões acerca da validade desta adaptação portuguesa que serão discutidos neste trabalho. Mais estudos deverão ser conduzidos com o intuito de investigar a consistência interna da medida e estrutura fatorial em outras amostras de participantes saudáveis e em estudos diferenciais com participantes clínicos.
- Effects of environmental pharmaceuticals on physiological parameters of marine mussels Mytilus galloprovincialisPublication . Leopold, Viergine; Fabbr, Elena; Rafiq, Ayesha; Capolupo, MarcoThe increasing consumption of pharmaceutical products is of environmental concern, as excreted parent compounds and their possibly active metabolites are not completely removed by wastewater treatment plants. Several studies have confirmed the occurrence of antidepressants in coastal waters in the ng/L concentration range. This research focuses on four antidepressants e.g. fluoxetine, FLX; sertraline, SERT; and citalopram, CITA (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRIs) and venlafaxine, VEX (serotonin-norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor, SNRI) and two metabolites norfluoxetine, NF and O-desmethylvenlafaxine, ODV, chosen because: serotonin and norepinephrine are the main invertebrate neuromodulators, thus changing their levels influences animal functions; antidepressants are among the top prescribed pharmaceuticals worldwide, biologically active at low concentrations with the potential to cause neuroendocrine disruption. This work aimed to observe difference in the toxicity among parent compounds, and the relative toxicity of metabolites. The effects have been measured on early life stages of Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis analyzing different end points after exposure to environmental concentration range (0.5 - 500 ng/L). SSRIs had greater effect on fertilization rate than SNRIs, with a similar effect by parent compound and metabolites. SERT caused the highest percentage of unfertilized eggs in a wide range of concentrations, from 10 ng/L to 500ng/L. The range of effect on embryo – larval development is as follows NF (5 -500 ng/L) > SERT (25-500 ng/L) > FLX (100-500 ng/L) > CITA (500 ng/L), while VEN and ODV were ineffective. Poor effects of antidepressants were observed on larvae motility and survival. In conclusion antidepressants and their metabolites affected mussel gamete fertilization and embryo development, thus representing a threat for the formation and maintenance of populations, disrupting the ecological system and biodiversity.