Article
Environmental Sciences
Sarah Pizzini, Elisa Morabito, Elena Gregoris, Marco Vecchiato, Fabiana Corami, Rossano Piazza, Andrea Gambaro
Summary: The study evaluated recent and aged inputs of organic contaminants in deep sediment cores in the Venice Lagoon, identifying ship traffic and vehicular/industrial emissions from the mainland as major pollutant sources. Significant pollution levels were detected in deeper layers, likely transported by aquifers underlying the lagoon seabed. The results emphasize the threat posed by resuspending pollutants during contaminated sediment dredging in the water column.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Enrico Marchese, Elisa Chiara Bizzotto, Elisa Giubilato, Elena Semenzin, Antonio Marcomini
Summary: This study investigated the occurrence of metals and metalloids in sediment cores from the Lagoon of Venice, Italy. The results showed that most metal concentrations were comparable to background values, except for mercury (Hg) which had significantly higher levels. These findings are important for understanding the temporal evolution of metal concentrations in the lagoon sediments.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hongling Chen, Dandan Wu, Qiao Wang, Lihu Fang, Yanan Wang, Changlin Zhan, Jiaquan Zhang, Shici Zhang, Junji Cao, Shihua Qi, Shan Liu
Summary: The sources of heavy metals in different types of fugitive dust in mining and metallurgy areas were identified using a method combining principal component analysis and a positive matrix factorization model. The results showed contributions from natural geological processes, transport pathways, mining-related activities, and traffic-related emissions to the accumulation of heavy metals. The findings can assist the government in developing targeted control strategies for heavy metal dispersion efficiency.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Pallavi Pradeep Khobragade, Ajay Vikram Ahirwar
Summary: This study investigated the seasonal variation in PM10 aerosols and associated trace metal concentrations in the urban city of Raipur, India. The study found that the PM10 concentration was higher in winter compared to summer, and identified five major sources for the pollution.
GEOCARTO INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Xixi Jia, Xiangchu Feng, Weiwei Wang, Lei Zhang
Summary: Spectral regularization is a commonly used approach for low-rank matrix recovery, but existing LRMR solvers are computationally expensive. A generalized unitarily invariant gauge function is proposed for LRMR, offering a bilinear variational problem that can be efficiently solved without SVD computation. The GUIG model is shown to be more accurate and faster than state-of-the-art algorithms, especially for large-scale problems.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL NETWORKS AND LEARNING SYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Zhi-Yong Wang, Hing Cheung So, Abdelhak M. Zoubir
Summary: The correntropy criterion or Welsch function, widely used to resist outliers, has been recently applied to robust matrix recovery. However, it affects all observations, including uncontaminated data. Additionally, its implicit regularizer cannot achieve sparsity, which is desirable in many practical scenarios. To address these issues, a novel M-estimator called hybrid ordinary-Welsch (HOW) function is developed, which only affects the outlier-contaminated data and generates a regularizer that guarantees sparsity. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of recovery accuracy and runtime.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SIGNAL PROCESSING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hanyi Li, Jiajia Wu, Qian Huang, Lujian Lin, Bo Yuan, Qiang Wang, Haoliang Lu, Jingchun Liu, Hualong Hong, Chonglin Yan
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the sources of organic matter (OM) and associated potential toxic metals (PTMs) in an estuary under urbanization. By combining C-N stable isotope analysis and positive matrix factorization, the researchers found correlations between the sources of total sediment metals and the sources of OM-related metals. The study also revealed significant relationships between OM-associated PTMs and organic matter sources. It further deepened the understanding of the coupling between PTMs and sediment organic matter (SOM).
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Min Meng, Linsheng Yang, Jiangping Yu, Binggan Wei, Hairong Li, Zhiqiang Cao, Qing Chen, Guoyin Zhang
Summary: The study found that the sources and distribution patterns of heavy metals in greenhouse soils are mainly influenced by factors such as metal smelting activities, manure and chemical fertilizer application, and natural sources. Cd and Pb are mainly influenced by metal smelting activities, Cu and Zn accumulation is mainly from manure and chemical fertilizer, while Ni, Cr, and As are strongly derived from natural sources.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Patrycja Siudek
Summary: In this study, PM10-bound PAH measurements were analyzed using the PMF approach and diagnostic ratios to investigate their levels, seasonal variability, impact of primary anthropogenic sources, and human health risk. The results showed significant variations in PM10-bound PAH concentrations and were influenced by local/remote sources and meteorological conditions. The PMF analysis identified five main anthropogenic sources of PAHs. Ambient temperature and NOx were found to have a significant impact on the transformation of PM10-bound PAHs.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ankit Pratim Goswami, Ajay S. Kalamdhad
Summary: This study examined metal pollution in benthic sediments and assessed the risks to river ecosystems and human health. The results showed that river exposure poses a significant risk to human health, with dermal absorption being the most concerning pathway.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Deming Dong, Tao Qiu, Shanshan Du, Yu Gu, Anfeng Li, Xiuyi Hua, Yang Ning, Dapeng Liang
Summary: This study analyzed the chemical characteristics of PM2.5 and PM10 in a typical city of Northeast China during the heating period, including trace elements, water-soluble inorganic ions (WSII), organic carbon (OC), and element carbon (EC). The results showed that concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were 66.55 +/- 28.89 μg/m^3 and 92.99 +/- 31.00 μg/m^3, respectively. The concentrations of As and Cr in the atmosphere exceeded the current air quality standards in China. Secondary inorganic ions (NH4+, NO3-, and SO42-) dominated the WSII, accounting for a significant percentage of PM2.5 and PM10. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) identified six sources of PM2.5 and PM10, with secondary aerosol being the largest contributor.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Abdul-Salam Juhmani, Andrea A. Sfriso, Mohammad Wahsha, Alessandro Buosi, Yari Tomio, Adriano Sfriso
Summary: The study showed that the metal pollution index in the macroalgae Ulva laetevirens increased with the order of sea inlet < industrial area < Osellino River estuary in Venice Lagoon, and the level of LPO was statistically correlated with the concentration of toxic metal(loid)s (As, Pb, Hg) in the macroalgae. Seasonality affected both levels of LPO and metal bioaccumulation, with peak values during spring and summer.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Ai-Ju Shao, Tai-Yi Yu
Summary: This study compares different delineation techniques and identifies the optimal delineation of temperature hazards in Taiwan with three sub-regions. Although HCA is not as effective as PCA in regional delineation, it provides objective delineation numbers. PMF analysis lacks uniqueness and is not suitable for high-dimensional problems and non-uniform distributions of monitoring sites.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Cristian Rusu, Lorenzo Rosasco
Summary: Orthogonal projections are a common technique for dimensionality reduction in machine learning applications. This study focuses on approximating orthogonal matrices to achieve fast and accurate numerical computation. By solving an optimization problem over a set of structured matrices called extended orthogonal Givens transformations, which includes Givens rotations as a special case, an approximation is obtained. An efficient greedy algorithm is proposed to solve the problem, striking a balance between approximation accuracy and computation speed. The approach is relevant to spectral methods and is applied to PCA.
Article
Statistics & Probability
Dongbang Yuan, Irina Gaynanova
Summary: This study investigates the problem of extracting joint and individual signals from multi-view data, and proposes a double-matched matrix decomposition method. The proposed method allows simultaneous extraction of joint and individual signals across subjects and miRNAs, and demonstrates superior signal estimation performance compared to single-matching methods.
JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND GRAPHICAL STATISTICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Maria Pia Romano, Maria Giulia Lionetto, Annarosa Mangone, Anna Rita De Bartolomeo, Maria Elena Giordano, Daniele Contini, Maria Rachele Guascito
Summary: This study describes a gold nanostructured electrochemical sensor based on modified GC electrode for thiols' detection. The sensor can measure the oxidative potential of atmospheric particulate matter by measuring the consumption of thiols. The sensor exhibits low detection limits, high sensitivity, and high selectivity.
ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
J. A. Casquero-Vera, H. Lyamani, G. Titos, G. de A. Moreira, J. A. Benavent-Oltra, M. Conte, D. Contini, L. Jarvi, F. J. Olmo-Reyes, L. Alados-Arboledas
Summary: Although aerosol number flux measurements are scarce in urban areas, they are important in understanding the sources and impacts of aerosol particles on human health and climate. This study conducted long-term measurements in an urban area in Granada, Spain and found that the city acted as a net source of aerosol particles, with traffic emissions playing a significant role. Winter had higher aerosol emissions due to domestic heating and burning of agricultural waste.
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Allergy
Giovanni Traina, Ezio Bolzacchini, Maira Bonini, Daniele Contini, Paride Mantecca, Silvia Maria Elena Caimmi, Amelia Licari
Summary: Airborne particulate components from fossil fuel combustion can cause oxidative stress and airway inflammation, which can be indicated by fractionated exhaled nitric oxide. The oxidative potential of PM2.5 can be assessed using the dithiothreitol dosage, reflecting the quality indicators of the internal environment and ventilation strategies.
PEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Adelaide Dinoi, Matteo Feltracco, Daniela Chirizzi, Sara Trabucco, Marianna Conte, Elena Gregoris, Elena Barbaro, Gianfranco La Bella, Giuseppina Ciccarese, Franco Belosi, Giovanna La Salandra, Andrea Gambaro, Daniele Contini
Summary: This systematic review examines the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in different environments based on 73 published papers. The results show that hospitals and healthcare settings have higher proportions and rates of positive samples, while community indoors have lower concentrations. The concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in air are highly variable and generally lower outdoors compared to indoors.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Elena Chianese, Giuseppina Tirimberio, Adelaide Dinoi, Daniela Cesari, Daniele Contini, Paolo Bonasoni, Angela Marinoni, Virginia Andreoli, Valentino Mannarino, Sacha Moretti, Attilio Naccarato, Francesca Sprovieri, Ivano Ammoscato, Claudia R. Calidonna, Daniel Gulli, Angelo Riccio
Summary: In this study, the concentrations and distributions of water-soluble ion species and elemental components in ambient particulate matter were investigated at five measurement sites in southern Italy. The results showed that secondary ion species dominated the identifiable components, and the enrichment factors of the elements were similar between PM10 and PM2.5 fractions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Antti Joonas Koivisto, Benedetta Del Secco, Sara Trabucco, Alessia Nicosia, Fabrizio Ravegnani, Marko Altin, Joan Cabellos, Irini Furxhi, Magda Blosi, Anna Costa, Jesus Lopez de Ipina, Franco Belosi
Summary: The emissions impact of spray coatings on the environment and occupational exposure was studied in a pilot-plant. Concentrations and mass flows were measured, and emission rates and potential exposure were assessed. The results showed that exposure was adequately controlled under current conditions, but further evaluation is needed for full-scale production.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lorena Carla Giannossa, Daniela Cesari, Eva Merico, Adelaide Dinoi, Annarosa Mangone, Maria Rachele Guascito, Daniele Contini
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the inter-annual variability of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations and chemical composition in an urban background site. The study found that combustion sources have the largest impact on PM2.5 DTTV, while secondary nitrate contributes significantly to DTTV in both fine and coarse particles.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marianna Conte, Adelaide Dinoi, Fabio Massimo Grasso, Eva Merico, Maria Rachele Guascito, Daniele Contini
Summary: Many countries implemented lockdown measures to control the spread of COVID-19, resulting in a reduction in anthropogenic atmospheric pollutants. This study investigated the impact of lockdown on air quality at an urban background site near the Mediterranean coast. The results showed that lockdown led to a decrease in high-pollution events, with greater reductions observed during the post-lockdown period. However, certain factors, such as long-range dust transport, need to be considered when evaluating the effects of lockdown on air quality. Overall, there were significant reductions in quasi-ultrafine particles and eBC concentrations, as well as in PM2.5 concentration, while no change was observed in PM10-2.5 concentration.
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Monika Ogrizek, Asta Gregoric, Matic Ivancic, Daniele Contini, Ursa Skube, Kristijan Vidovic, Marjan Bele, Martin Sala, Marta Klanjsek Gunde, Martin Rigler, Eva Menart, Ana Kroflic
Summary: Particulate matter (PM) pollution is a major threat to outdoor cultural heritage. It is expected that organic aerosols will become the dominant form of pollution in the future, changing the main mechanisms of damage to calcareous heritage. Surface deposits on marble and limestone varied in amount and composition throughout the year due to different air pollution sources in different seasons. Primary traffic emissions, secondary formation of acidic inorganic aerosols, and biomass burning emissions were the main contributors to PM2.5. While biomass burning was the major source of organic aerosols, the darkening of surfaces was mainly attributed to the minor fraction of black carbon (BC) in atmospheric aerosols.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Alessandro Carlino, Maria Pia Romano, Maria Giulia Lionetto, Daniele Contini, Maria Rachele Guascito
Summary: In recent years, there has been a significant increase in scientific literature on various methods for analyzing the oxidative potential (OP) of atmospheric particulate matter (PM). The presence of different types of PM with varying chemical and physical properties, released by both human activities and natural sources, poses various health issues and is an attractive target for air quality monitoring. This article provides an overview of online and automated systems and discusses the state-of-art devices and methods developed in this field over the past two decades. Representative studies on this subject are also discussed, analyzing the advantages and drawbacks of the developed automated techniques.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Antti Joonas Koivisto, Marko Altin, Irini Furxhi, Maxime Eliat, Sara Trabucco, Magda Blosi, Jesus Lopez de Ipina, Franco Belosi, Anna Costa
Summary: This study quantified the impact of industrial nanocoating process air emissions on public health using the burden of disease concept. The results showed that the health loss was relatively low compared to accepted risk levels for air pollution. The exposure levels and soil accumulation were below the limit values, indicating that the spray coating process air emissions are adequately controlled.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Athanasios Besis, Maria Pia Romano, Eleni Serafeim, Anna Avgenikou, Athanasios Kouras, Maria Giulia Lionetto, Maria Rachele Guascito, Anna Rita De Bartolomeo, Maria Elena Giordano, Annarosa Mangone, Daniele Contini, Constantini Samara
Summary: This study characterized the chemical and toxicological properties of water-soluble particulate matter in the urban area of Thessaloniki, Greece, during different seasons. The analysis included water-soluble organic carbon, humic-like substances, and trace elements. Results showed that humic-like substances were a significant component of water-soluble organic carbon, and their concentrations varied among seasons and particle sizes. The most abundant water-soluble metals were Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn. The oxidative potential and cytotoxicity of particulate matter were positively correlated with water-soluble organic carbon and humic-like substances.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Adelaide Dinoi, Daniel Gulli, Kay Weinhold, Ivano Ammoscato, Claudia R. Calidonna, Alfred Wiedensohler, Daniele Contini
Summary: This study compares the properties of new particle formation events (NPFs) occurring at two locations in southern Italy, Lecce (ECO station) and Lamezia Terme (LMT station). The results show differences in the frequency and seasonal patterns of NPF events, which may be attributed to the different emission sources and local weather dynamics at the two sites.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)