New developments in and reflections on, the use of visual literacy and environmental evaluation for the participation of community groups in design

Involving community groups in the design processes concerning their city or neighbourhood, can play a role in creating responsive environments and achieving a high level of satisfaction for communities.Interaction between clients and professionals is essential to encourage the resolution of disputes at the design stage rather than once actions have been taken, since their different roles and expertise could enrich the process of interaction.This study supports the idea of a form of participation based on research in environmental experience. Visual literacy is trained, and a combination of environmental assessment techniques and informative activities are linked to encourage community groups and professionals to work together on the generation and development of observational and analytical skills.The aim is to generate a structure for the involvement of local communities in urban renewal actions as an informed, organised and effective activity and then, to apply this approach in praxis.     

Bioremediation of heavily hydrocarbon-contaminated drilling wastes by composting

Oil-based drilling cuttings comprise a large and hazardous waste stream generated by oil and gas wells drilling operations. Oil-based cuttings are muddy materials with high contents of salts and hydrocarbons. Composting strategies have shown to be effective in the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, and it offers numerous advantages in comparison with other bioremediation methods. In order to assess the effectiveness of drilling cuttings bioremediation by composting with food and garden wastes, an experiment was conducted in 60-L reactors for 151 days. Four treatments were carried out: only oil-based cuttings, two proportions (in a volume basis) of organic wastes to drilling cuttings (33 and 75 %) and only organic wastes (as a traditional composting reference), with pine-tree woodchips as bulking agent. High degradation percentages of total hydrocarbons (≈82 %), n-alkanes (≈96 %) and the 16 USEPA-listed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (≈93 %) were reached in the treatment with 75 % of organic wastes, and applying 33 % of organic wastes was not more effective than not applying organic wastes for the drilling cuttings hydrocarbons biodegradation. Furthermore, in the treatment with 75 % of organic wastes, alkanes half-life and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons half-life were about 10 times and four times lower, respectively, than those in the treatment with 33 % of organic wastes. Possibly, lower hydrocarbons and salts initial concentrations (i.e., lower toxicity), higher microbial counts, adequate nutrient proportions and water content supported a high biological activity with a consequent elevated biodegradation rate in the treatment with 75 % of organic wastes.     

A new method for laboratory estimation of the transverse dispersion coefficient

We introduce a method for identifying the transverse dispersion coefficient in laboratory experiments based on the analytical solution of a pulse injection of a nonreactive solute in a soil column (cylindrical geometry) packed with a homogeneous porous medium. This method takes into account the effect of boundary conditions such as no flux on the column perimeter, and it does not need a priori knowledge of the longitudinal dispersion coefficient. Numerical applications of the method show that it is stable and robust and that the results are reasonably in accordance with those found using the classical maximum likelihood method.     

Analytical Solutions of Three‐Dimensional Contaminant Transport Models with Exponential Source Decay

Despite the availability of numerical models, interest in analytical solutions of multidimensional advection‐dispersion systems remains high. Such models are commonly used for performing Tier I risk analysis and are embedded in many regulatory frameworks dealing with groundwater contamination. In this work, we develop a closed‐form solution of the three‐dimensional advection‐dispersion equation with exponential source decay, first‐order reaction, and retardation, and present an approach based on some ease of use diagrams to compare it with the integral open form solution and with earlier versions of the closed‐form solution. The comparison approach focuses on the relative differences associated with source decay and the effect of simulation time. The analysis of concentration contours, longitudinal sections, and transverse sections confirms that the closed‐form solutions studied can be used with acceptable approximation in the central area of a plume bound transversely within the source width, both behind and beyond the advective front and for concentration values up to two orders of magnitude less than the initial source concentration. As the proposed closed‐form model can be evaluated without nested numerical computations and with simple mathematical functions, it can be very useful in risk assessment procedures.     

Effect of drought and salinity stresses on morphological and physiological characteristics of canola

Environmental stresses such as salinity and drought are the most important factors affecting yield reduction and crops productivity. In order to investigate the effects of drought and salinity stresses on morphological and physiological characteristics of canola, an experimental campaign was conducted as a split plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at greenhouse of Agriculture Research Center and Natural Resources of East Azarbaijan in 2014. Main plots were including drought stress at four levels (0, ?4, ?8 and ?12 bar polyethylene glycol solution) and subplots including salinity stress at four levels of sodium chloride (0, 75, 150 and 225 mM). The results analysis of variance indicated that the interaction of drought and salinity stresses was significant on leaf area and relative water content of leaf. The most leaf area (383.03 cm^?2) was obtained at non-stress treatments. The results showed that drought stress conditions led to significant reduction in relative water content in leaf. The highest proline (0.08 µm/g fresh weight) and soluble sugars (0.12 mg/g fresh weight) contents were observed at treatments of ?12 bar polyethylene glycol. Also, the least proline (0.04 µm/g fresh weight) and soluble sugar (0.06 mg/g fresh weight) contents were achieved at treatments of drought non-stress.     

Soil properties evaluation in horticultural farms of Florencio Varela,Buenos Aires,Argentina

The south of the green belt of Buenos Aires is one of the most important producers of fresh vegetables in the province. Only few of the horticultural farmers receive professional agronomic advice. For this reason, an excess of supplies are being used, irrigation water quality is unknown and soils are not analyzed. The aim of this work was to evaluate chemical and physico-chemical characteristics of soils from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires Argentina, which have not been cultivated for over 20 years (NC), under open-Fields Cultivation systems (FC) and under Greenhouses Cultivation systems (GC). The variables analyzed were: pH in water (pH), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Nitrogen (TN), Extractable Phosphorus (EP), Total Oxidizable Carbon (TOC), Oxidizable Carbon associated to Mineral fraction (MOC) and Particulate Oxidizable Carbon (POC). The results showed excess of EP, high pH and loss of oxidizable carbon for FC and GC with respect to NC. Furthermore, an incipient salinity was found in GC. Under FC, EC and TN were lower than GC, probably associated with leaching due to rain. Overfertilization is common in horticultural farming in the green belt, where the worst-case scenario is represented by phosphorus due to its low mobility and high residuality. The problems detected show the need for chemical analysis on soils and irrigation water. This will avoid imbalances due to overfertilization and the use of unsuitable water, thereby preventing soil degradation and aquifer contamination.