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Human activity is manifested by continuous changes in space use. Adapting the space to suit ones needs and expectations, human activity is changing physiognomy but also even more often the quality changes of the space. The article presents an attempt how to define the direction and intensity of these changes using developed indicators of environmental quality. The authors attempted to determine the change in the environmental value of the Polish municipalities, taking as input the land cover CLC database. The anal...

According to Polish law, the natural concentration of sulphur (II) compounds in groundwater higher than 1 mg/L can be a base to find them as a curative water. Sulphur (II) occurs in groundwater usually as hydrogen sulphur or bisulphide ion. Their concentrations and ratios can vary dependent on prevailing conditions. Very often water stays a long way from intake to the spas. What is more in health resorts curative waters could be mixed. These processes can influence on total concentration and forms of occurrence of...

Due to the growing importance of forest changes and water management as factors influencing hydro-sedimentary dynamics and hydrological services, the analysis of the forest пїЅ water links may prove to be relevant for creating joint and adequate management schemes for these ecosystems. The main goal of this paper is to investigate the possible influences upon the hydro-sedimentary dynamics in the upper basin of Jiu River (2540 km2), induced by the changes in forest cover between 2000 and 2012. The relationship bet...

Today, the need for resources is growing based on the replacement of forest areas by areas used for economic and agricultural activities. The present study means to identify the changes in land use cover and forest areas between the changes made by the economic activities and aridity indexes, characterized by high temperatures and low quantities of precipitations in Southwestern Romania. This region is affected by high temperatures and low precipitations in July and August, growing urban areas and necessity for ag...

The land subsidence caused by underground mining results in the transformation of water relations in the Silesian Upland, which is located in southern Poland. Detailed studies were conducted in 25 water bodies formed in subsidence basins located on the Silesian Upland. The purpose of the study was to determine the temporal and spatial variability of electrolytic conductivity of the limnic waters retained in the water bodies studied. As part of field work, 12 specific electrical conductivity measurements were condu...

This paper discusses the issue of changes in average transaction prices of undeveloped land and real properties designated for agricultural and forestry purposes in Poland. The studies cover the period starting from the accession of Poland into the European Union structures in 2004. Another aim of the study is also to present the differences between average transaction prices of undeveloped real properties designated in years 2009-2015 among others, residential land, industrial land, other building land, agricultu...

The direct field observations and processing the info-graphic support (satellite images, thematic maps, profiles, digital images of the area) led to the preparation of this paper and realization of the proposal rehabilitation measures of anthropogenic landforms generated by coal mining activities in Petrosani Basin. These are exemplified by analyzing the Petrila 2 East dump (the Eastern end of the Basin) and Campu lui Neag coal pit (in the Western end of the Basin). The landscape of Petrosani Basin is transformed ...

Ploiesti is one of the major cities of Romania, which is confronting potential occurrence of high-concentration ground-level ozone events, having in view its industrial activity concentrated mainly on oil refining, oil extraction equipment and machinery, metalworking facilities, chemicals production, etc. Mobile sources (traffic and public transport system) have also a significant contribution to total air pollutants concentrations. This study aimed to analyze the concentrations of ground-level ozone (O3) and arom...

The Bajerka Stream (16 km long), besides the Vistula River, is a tributary to the Gocza?kowice reservoir. It is the main reservoir of drinking water for 3.5 million residents of the Silesian agglomeration. It is an artificial reservoir, created after the construction of the dam on the Vistula River. The Bajerka stream takes its origin in the dig from the Vistula River and enters into the southern part of the Gocza?kowice reservoir. This is a semi-natural stream, which is used to supply the numerous fish ponds, and...

Landfilling, composting and incineration represent the most common processes used for the disposal of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). One of the methods that allow to limit the amount of stored biodegradable wastes is their biological transformation. In the European Union, composting is one of the most widely promoted methods of the biological processing of biodegradable waste. Composting of wastes consists on applying microbiological processes of transformation of the matter to obtain decomposi...

Due to their chemical, physical and mechanical properties, niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta) are strategically used in various technical applications. About 130 different minerals contain tantalum and niobium, of which only about 80 are found in economical deposits. The remainder contains Nb and Ta as impurities. The most commercialised source of Nb and Ta is a columbite-tantalite ore often referred to as coltan containing pyrochlorite. The Central African Mesoproterozoic Kibara belt in Katanga (Democratic Republic o...

Nowadays, an important objective for researchers is to find an alternative to build cheaper and greener, sustainable and also durable. To discover a material with better thermal and acoustic performances than conventional concrete by using natural and renewable components in its composition became also an obvious trend. The agriculture products, mainly those considered as waste in this field, fulfill all the above mentioned requirements, being also widely available and with higher thermal and acoustic properties t...

Due to its geographical location, in the atmosphere above Romania several types of aerosol particles can be present: continental, biomass burning, and mineral dust aerosols. The vast majority of industrial facilities are located near urban areas; therefore the exposure of the human population to high concentrations of particulate matter can be significant. Although local sources are the major contributor to the air pollution in Romania, the contribution of remote sources is often significant, both aloft and near t...

The properties of aluminum and its alloy make them to be the first choice as manufacturing materials for different equipments and accessories. The light weight, high strength and improved corrosion resistance recommend aluminum and its alloy to be used specially in transportation and construction industries. The native aluminum oxide film formed after exposure in air presents voids and cracks and the exposure aluminum parts to corrosive environments which lead to the degradation and reducing their lifetime. In ord...

An marinegastropod mollusk or whelk is well-known Rapana venosa with the common name the veined rapa whelk or Asian rapa whelk. It is a species of large predatory sea snail, in the family Muricidae, the rock shells. This large sea snail has become an invasive species in many different localities around the world. In the area of the Romanian seaside is also found Rapana venosa. Bivalvia is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged pa...

Corrosion is a process of spontaneous physicochemical destruction of metal, leading to irretrievable loss of metal, due to its chemical or electrochemical interaction with the environment. As a result of corrosion processes, the surface of the metal is visibly destroyed. However, the concept of corrosion includes not only visible surface fractures of the metal, but also cases of internal intergranular destructive influences, proceeding outwardly imperceptibly, but being one of the most dangerous types of destructi...

Generally, waters of Kosovo are enriched in dissolved solids, as the consequence of aquifer lithology and residence time of ground water. The main objective of this study was to perform assessment of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Fe, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Mn) content and water pollution of River Mirusha (Kosovo) using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) method. Multivariate-statistical analysis approaches were used to determine the anthropogenic and natural contribution of heavy metals. The obtained results show that values...

Surface modified superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are a kind of novel functional materials, which have been widely used in the various areas. The main requirements to magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications are the nontoxicity, biocompatibility and high-level accumulation in the target tissue or organ, chemical stability, simplicity and reproducibility of synthesis. The composition and characteristics of the SPION surface have a strong influence on their stability, distribution, and b...

Ocimum basilicum L. (Lamiaceae) is a spice plant frequently cultivated in Romania with application in food flavoring and preservation, pharmaceutical products and alternative medicine. The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition and antioxidant effectiveness of the essential oil of Ocimum basilicum grown in Romania. The basil inflorescences (fresh plant material) was used for the extraction of essential oil. The essential oil was isolated with a yield of 0.52% (v/m) by steam distillation. G...

Situated in the central part of the country, Chott El Jerid is the largest periodic lake in Tunisia. The depression is a flat plain lined with Holocene lacustrine sediments, which mostly developed in the form of alluvia and evaporites. Geochemical properties of sediments were tested using the following methods: FUS-ICP, TD-ICP, INAA, Cold Vapour FIMS. As concerns the basic composition, the following substances were identified (average levels): loss on ignition (LOI) пїЅ 24.27%, SiO2 пїЅ 21.46%, CaO пїЅ 20.54%, Na2...

We studied the distribution of heavy metals, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and oil products in soils of industrial areas of the cities of Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd and Taganrog. By comparison with the regional background, geochemical associations, characteristic of various types of industrial landscapes and determined by the specifics of production, were identified. It was established that main pollutants of soils of Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog are zinc, lead, copper and oil products; concentrations of mercury, arsenic, nick...

The inorganic migration forms of trace elements in the lakes of Western Mongolia characterized by a high content of such trace elements as U (up to 3 mg/L), Li (up to 82), Br (up to 718), Al (up to 0.4) were calculated using HydroGeo software (Bukaty, 2002). All studied lakes have high concentration of total dissolved salinity (TDS) that ranges from 1 to 360 g/L and high pH values varies from 6.9 to 10.3. According to calculated results Br, Li, Rb, Na, K, Sr, Ca, and Mg in lake waters migrate predominantly in ioni...

In the present study, chemical speciation of heavy metals in bog water and peat deposits, collected from the territory of the Kokchetav mountain group, North Kazakhstan, is described. The purpose was to evaluate quantitatively migration, distribution, and redistribution of the elements by the example of the natural object as a basic tool for the study of geochemical cycles of elements. Studying of the chemical composition of bog and pore water has been carried out, their comparative characteristic was executed, me...

The present research is a part of the obtaining innovative medicine domain and is concerned with conceiving and developing new anti depressive medicines, endowed with a high therapeutically degree, low secondary effects and impact on the quality of life, through a research partnership. The impact of Borderline personality disorder (BPD) diseases, especially depression, is continuously growing and as a treatment, are used anorganic products based on lithium, such as lithium carbonate, lithium citrate or lithium oro...

Asphaltite derives from petroleum origin solid fossil fuel [1]. It contains valuable elements such as chromium, thallium molybdenum, uranium etc. Chromium and thallium are very important elements both environmental and health. Chromium has an important role in the metabolism. It keeps the blood sugar level in balance. It balances the level of cholesterol. Thallium and its compounds are toxic for humans even at low doses. Poisoning causes death or permanent nervous system disorders. The development of precise and e...

Screening the local flora for metal bioaccumulators is of great importance, the aim being that of finding species valuable for bioremediation (bioindicators, phytostabilizers, phytoextractors) or biomining. Chromium content was determined, through atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CSAAS, air-acetylene, 357 nm) in aboveground organs eight common species growing on the beaches and adjacent areas in Constanta, Romania: Argusia sibirica, Atriplex sagittata, Echium italicum, Conium maculatum, Malva sylvestris, Onopord...

The paper deals with city populationпїЅs behavior in public transportation in Olomouc City (Czech Republic) by integration and aggregation of individual characteristics and needs which are estimated on the base of statistical probability calibrated and validated by local survey data at municipality level. The survey data were used with current census data about mobility combined data from information systems of local/central governments or institutions. The questionnaire survey employed the probability sampling on...

Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) constitute a major component of the planktonic and benthic fauna of the high-latitude lakes. They are tolerant to extreme environmental conditions and are one of very few groups of aquatic animal that are not only able to persist in cold thermokarst lakes but to build up viable populations. Subfossil Cladocera were sampled from surface sediments of 20 thermokarst lakes along a transect crossing the tree line in the Khatanga-river basin, south of Taymyr Peninsula, north-central S...

According Act No. 157/2009 Coll., on mining waste management, the Czech Geological Survey carried out a project of the Operational Programme Environment in 2010пїЅ2012. The project was entitled пїЅInvestigation of closed and abandoned mining waste facilities posing a serious threat to the environment or human healthпїЅ. The aim was to create an inventory of hazardous mining waste facilities and to develop a methodology for their assessment. In the Czech Republic, 300 potentially hazardous mining waste sites were i...

The article presents a classification of small watersheds in the Czech Republic in terms of potential hydrological response to a set of design precipitation time series. Watershed classes as well as precipitation time series were derived as a partial result of a three-year project aimed at the design of typical soil conservation measures and small water management structures. Design precipitation scenarios were derived in an analysis of both rain gauge and radar measurements taking into consideration the precipita...

The aim of the study was the analysis of subfossil Cladocera community of the Kotovo lake (Kharbey lakes' system, Bolshezemelskaya tundra) and the qualitative rating of the changes in it and in the region of study. The relevance of the work is associated with the increasing interest to the study of the climate change on the example of the North intact territories, along with the insufficient knowledge of the biota of the area being studied. The predominance of some species, zoogeography and biotopic attachments of...

Last winter, with respect to the most recent ones, was marked by severe cold spells and uncommon accumulation and persistence of snow cover in the non-mountainous areas of the country in January. These weather events provoked an intense media interest and raised up the debate about global warming. Actually, what type was the winter season of 2016-2017 compared to the previous years пїЅ normal, severe or extreme? In the presented climate assessment, a set of indicative climatic characteristics is explored on the ba...

Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. The increasing impact of natural disasters over recent decades has been well documented. This paper explores the possibilities of architectural design to benefit human condition, which encompasses physical environment of a safe life during the climate change era and predicted disasters. The first part deals with the problem of natural disasters and hazards during the climate change era and as a results human beings reacting to them. The s...

According to research, global climate change is largely caused by excessive economic development and a consequence of CO2 emission and other gases as well as the production of heat caused by the urbanization of the world. It is estimated that 30% of the blame for causing global warming bears the building sector. The architecture has therefore in this respect unusual tasks to perform. Firstly, it is the task of creating new buildings and conversion of existing buildings in a way to maximize reduction of CO2 emissio...

The study of the soils buried beneath the Bronze Age kurgan mounds in the desert steppe zone of the southeastern part of the Russian Plain allowed establishing the features of the soil evolution and climate dynamics in the 3rd millennium BC. According to calibrated 14C data, the kurgans were constructed during period 2800-2100 cal yr BC: (Catacomb and Lola archaeological cultures). Morphological and chemical properties of buried soils and modern surface soils indicate that during the previous period (the end of Ea...

Rhythmic climate changes determine the necessity to refer to long time series to detect low-frequency vibrations of climatic parameters and their influence on the growth processes in ecosystems. Dendrochronological research of pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens Willd) in forest communities of the foothill forest-steppe (250-350 m a.s.l.) and core samples of buried wood in comparison with modern and reconstructed climatic conditions was carried out. The purpose of work was to develop regional tree-ring chronologies f...

Cultural heritage represent the way of living developed by humans and it is passed through time to a generation from another. It will always be a part from our history, and if we lose it we will lose our identity, that is why its preservation is very important. Preserving the cultural heritage is always a hard task which implies a lot of people, starting with archaeologists, architects, geodesic engineers and builders. Each of these people have to work together in order to achieve an optimum result. Photogrammetry...

The CO2 removal from N2 using unconventional techniques based on different (various) membranes has known a significant interest in industry. Mixed matrix membranes combine the advantages of organic (easily processable and low cost) and inorganic phases (high selectivity, mechanical resistance, chemical and thermal stability). In this study, membranes with polysulfone matrix and MCM-41 (silica) as filler were obtained, characterized and tested. The mixed matrix membranes were prepared by casting method. The effects...

Development of new nanostructured carbon sorbents with desired properties is an important task. This corresponds to the carbon-containing sorbents, i.e. active alternative coals, because their usage puts forward increasingly stringent requirements to their strength and structural characteristics. Determination of active centers in sorbents, understanding of mechanisms, which form coal-mineral sorbents, allow to make process of synthesis controlled, and thus provides obtaining of carbon-containing sorbents with cer...

The area of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin is covered by many coal-waste dumps, which are the side effect of long-term coal mining on this territory. Unfortunately coal-waste dumps have negative influence on the landscape and they pose a threat to the environment and public health. The control of hazard is very difficult, because it is often underestimated by officials of local and regional administration. Many geoenvironmental databases are incomplete and the credibility of some of their sources is sometimes quest...

The design of the new protection scheme in the EforieпїЅs area was done based on yearly averaged incident waves from the dominant NE wave energy direction, with associated preferred coastline, which agrees well with a natural behavior of the present shoreline. The sand nourishments were constructing the new overall orientation of the computed shoreline, now in post-construction period corresponding to a new orientation of the coastline. The present work presents the functional effectiveness of the model simulation...

The objective of this research is to study in laboratoryпїЅs materials such as: cationic bituminous emulsions, aggregates, fly ash, etc., in order to develop optimal and appropriate mix formula for "cold" waste asphalt recycling with the addition of slow breaking cationic bituminous emulsions, fly ash, cement and natural aggregates. The purpose of this approach is to obtain an "optimal combination" comprising the above-mentioned materials as well as the mixing of the wear layer on the surface of the road on which ...

Groundwater is one of the main resources for drinking- and industrial water supply in Bulgaria. Investigations of a number of groundwater sources indicate concentrations of toxic elements or metal ions, considerably exceeding the maximum contaminant values. Pollution with arsenic has been found in the region of Dimitrovgrad, Merichleri, Haskovo, Kyustendil. Increased content of manganese, iron and sulphates is available in some districts of Sofia, Dimitrovgrad, Haskovo, Svishtov. Presence of excessive concentratio...

Starting from the great potential of renewable resources existing in Romania, in order to harness and use these renewable resources, the current paper presents some research conducted at the Institute INOE 2000-IHP aiming at creating combined/hybrid systems for generating electrical and heat energy, and also targeting the development of energy storage technologies so that they can be used in any conditions regardless of their fluctuation, especially in isolated places. To do this, on the basis of extensive documen...

Due to climate change, the urban heat island effect and associated change in the microclimate becomes more and more of an issue in our cities. As the density of the built environment increases, green spaces are often reduced or altogether neglected, even though it is well known, that these green spaces are an effective way to improve the microclimate in urban areas. Adding green facades and rooftops thus represent viable ways to actively integrate plants into the building skin. At the same time the share of renewa...

Increasing the possibilities to utilize fly ashes from power stations is one of the major strategic directions involved in the implementation of the waste directive imposed by the European Parliament, enabling the protection of natural resources and a reduction of the amount of waste stored. Investigations into fly ashes from power stations indicate such waste contains rare earth elements (REEs) in much higher amounts than their average content in earthпїЅs crust. It has resulted in an increased interest in the ut...

Recent years have brought rapid development of GNSS and supplementary SBAS and GBAS systems. Depending on the needs of a given real-time positioning domain, users can obtain several meters (GNSS + SBAS) or several centimeters (GNSS + GBAS) accuracies. Active (local) geodetic networks belonging to GBAS, through the permanent nature of the work and constant satellite observations recording, allow achieving even greater accuracies through post-processing elaboration. The paper presents in a uniform manner the charact...

Starting to elaborate complex activities as projects or recurrent work requires taking into consideration the relationship between effort and benefits which may gain different forms depending on the field of intervention. The most widely used and measurable context is referring to the effort, qualified as costs, and the benefits, viewed as added value gained by stakeholders regardless of the form: tangible and/or intangible elements. The analysis of efforts and benefits calls for a holistic approach for evaluating...

After assessment of supply of ecological (EKO) and Premium quality products (PQP) of bee-keeping in Lithuania in 2012-2014 it can be seen that the number of ecological bee-keeping farms sequentially decreased by 2 farms from 2012 to 2014. Amounts of honey (34.66 t), (32.14 t), (33.56 t) collected during the research period were similar; quantities of all bee-keeping products decreased, except for pollen: in 2014 their quantity increased by 1.8 times, comparing with the quantity at the beginning of the research per...

A complex ecological analysis of the building sector includes different aspects. When building constructions are scrutinized from the point of view of nature protection, it is advisable to consider the entire life cycle of a building structure. Among the most essential elements of an assessment is the possible recyclability of materials recovered after the demolition of a building. Striving towards a global reduction of the volume of waste, we are forced to implement such construction and technological solutions t...