Statistics for Spatial Data.

We present the science and technology roadmap for graphene, related two-dimensional crystals, and hybrid systems, targeting an evolution in technology, that might lead to impacts and benefits reaching into most areas of society. This roadmap was developed within the framework of the European Graphene Flagship and outlines the main targets and research areas as best understood at the start of this ambitious project. We provide an overview of the key aspects of graphene and related materials (GRMs), ranging from fundamental research challenges to a variety of applications in a large number of sectors, highlighting the steps necessary to take GRMs from a state of raw potential to a point where they might revolutionize multiple industries. We also define an extensive list of acronyms in an effort to standardize the nomenclature in this emerging field.

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Science and technology roadmap for graphene, related two-dimensional crystals, and hybrid systems

Reactive oxygen species

https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2299/2030/901263.pdf;sequence=1

Platinum group elements in the environment and their health risk.

The popular concept of enrichment factors (EFs) as a means of identifying and quantifying human interference with global element cycles is evaluated. It is demonstrated that the concept of normalizing element concentrations to an average total crust value is of doubtful merit, for theoretical considerations alone. Serious flaws with EFs include the variable composition of the Earth's crust at any given point compared to the global average, the natural fractionation of elements during their transfer from the crust to the atmosphere through processes such as weathering and winnowing of fines, and the differential solubility of minerals in the weak chemical digestions generally used in environmental studies. Furthermore the impact of biogeochemical processes is neglected. A biomonitoring survey of atmospheric chemistry over a 1.5 million km2 area in northern Europe is used to show that EFs are governed here by completely different processes than anthropogenic activities. As a simple means to assess the maxim...

Intrinsic flaws of element enrichment factors (EFs) in environmental geochemistry

Inorganic matter from roadway dust collected in the urban area of Palermo, Italy, was analysed to identify the chemical elements introduced into the environment as a result of human activities. Metals of environmental concern exhibit very high enrichment factors, which in some cases exceed 100. Metal size distribution indicates that Pd, Pt, Au, Sb, Zn, S, Ni, V, Mo and Cr substantially accumulate in the finest particles, whereas Pb, Br, As, Cu, Ag and Ba are almost independent of the size fraction. SEM/EDS analyses revealed that some individual particles contain clusters of foreign particles (<10 μm) made up of Fe-Ni, Cr-Ni or Fe alone, typical of the abrasion of stainless steel. Others are aggregates of smaller Pb-Br-Cl particles. Lead isotope composition indicates that Pb pollution is mainly due to automobile exhausts and industrial sources. Pt and Pd concentrations reveal the increasing release of these elements into the environment from catalytic converters. Data indicate that monitoring Total Solid Particles, as generally done by the municipal agencies for the environment, is inadequate from a sanitary point of view, while there is a need for more attention to the presence of trace elements in airborne particulate matter and their distribution as a function of particle size.

/pdf/inorganic-geochemistry-of-roadway-dust-from-the-metropolitan-20iwdbcs2z.pdf

Inorganic geochemistry of roadway dust from the metropolitan area of Palermo, Italy

Occurrence of platinum, palladium and gold in pine needles of Pinus pinea L. from the city of Palermo (Italy)

Complementary studies on the inorganic chemical composition of Nerium oleander leaves collected in the town of Messina (Sicily, Italy) and seven grain-size fractions of local roadway dust have been carried out. Data and maps are presented to show that the particulate matter present in the air of Messina contains trace elements significantly in excess with respect to the average continental earth crust. The anomalies follow the outline of the urban area, the highest concentrations of trace elements being observed where traffic density is highest. Chemical and isotopic analyses of both road dust and Nerium oleander leaves indicate that Pb contamination still characterizes roads with heavy traffic. In addition to Pb, other metals such as Pt, Pd, Sb, Au, Br, Zn, Cu, Mo, and Cd are significantly enriched in roadway dust, indicating their common anthropogenic origin, especially from traffic. SEM/EDS study of some roadway dust particles has shown the presence of gypsum probably of secondary origin, mixed particles formed by coagulation or gas-to-particle conversion, and porous spherical particles apparently emanating from combustion processes.

The effects of anthropogenic particulate emissions on roadway dust and Nerium oleander leaves in Messina (Sicily, Italy).

The X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure technique has been successfully applied to the study of ancient glasses fromPatti Roman Villa (Messina, Sicily). From the chemical point of view, the samples are ‘ low-magnesia’ glasses, with a compositiontypicaloftheRomanperiod.FluorescencedetectedFeandMnK-edgeXANESspectraandadetailedpre-edgeanalysisconfirmthatthe color of the glass fragments depends on the oxidation state of iron and suggest the deliberate addition of manganese oxide asdecolorant during the melting procedure. This work shows that X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy is a potentially very useful non-destructive technique that can be applied in archaeological studies on many different materials. Key-words: XANES, archaeological glasses, iron, manganese. Introduction It is well known that the color exhibited by glasses can bedeterminedbythe oxidationstateandthe electronic config-uration of the metal ions in them (Doremus, 1973; Hender-son,1985;Freestone,1991).Theseareusuallyelementsbe-longingtothetransitionrowoftheperiodictable,whichab-sorb characteristic frequencies of the visible region as a re-sult of d-d electronic transitions. In particular, ancient glas-sesoftencontainironatlevelsthatcanimpartatypicalinci-dental green coloration. To minimize this problem, fromaround the middle of the first millennium BC, substanceswere added which tended to neutralize the colorant effectsof the iron. Before the Roman period, antimony was themaindecolorant,whilefromthesecondcenturyBCmanga-nese become important(SayreSSayre,1963;Newton, 1978;Freestone,1991).Sincethecharacterizationof colorant and decolorant components is important in un-derstanding the manufacturing technique of the ancientglasses, we have applied X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy(XAS) withsynchrotronradiationtothe study of theoxida-tion state of iron and manganese in a number of glass sam-ples of archaeological interest, characterized by differentcolors (from green to pale brown to uncolored).The samples are fragments of perfume bottles of the 2

Fe and Mn K-edge XANES study of ancient Roman glasses

Despite the wide use of nanoscale materials in several fields, some aspects of the nanoparticle behavior have to be still investigated. In this work, we faced the aspect of environmental effects of increasing concentrations of TiO2NPs using the Mytilus galloprovincialis as an animal model and carrying out a multidisciplinary approach to better explain the results. Bioaccumulation suggested that the gills and digestive gland are the most sensitive organs to TiO2NP exposure. Histological observations have evidenced an altered tissue organization and a consistent infiltration of hemocytes, as a consequence of the immune system activation, even though an increase in lipid peroxidation is uncertain and DNA damage became relevant only at high exposure dose (10 mg/L) or for longer exposure time (96 h). However, the over expression of SOD1 mRNA strengthen the concept that the toxicity of TiO2NPs could occur indirectly by ROS production. TEM analysis showed the presence of multilamellar bodies, RER fragmentation, and cytoplasmic vacuolization within relevant presence of dense granules, residual bodies, and lipid inclusions. These findings support the evidence of an initial inflammatory response by the cells of the target organs leading to apoptosis. In conclusion, we can state that certainly the exposure to TiO2NPs has affected our animal model from cellular to molecular levels. Interestingly, the same responses are caused by lower TiO2NP concentration and longer exposure time as well as higher doses and shorter exposure. We do not know if some of the conditions detected are reversible, then further studies are required to clarify this aspect.

Giuseppe Sabatino

Papers

Inorganic geochemistry of roadway dust from the metropolitan area of Palermo, Italy

Occurrence of platinum, palladium and gold in pine needles of Pinus pinea L. from the city of Palermo (Italy)

The effects of anthropogenic particulate emissions on roadway dust and Nerium oleander leaves in Messina (Sicily, Italy).

Fe and Mn K-edge XANES study of ancient Roman glasses

Effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticle exposure in Mytilus galloprovincialis gills and digestive gland.