| 1. |
- Pirkis, Jane, et al.
(författare)
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Suicide numbers during the first 9-15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-existing trends : An interrupted time series analysis in 33 countries
- 2022
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Ingår i: eClinicalMedicine. - : Elsevier. - 2589-5370. ; 51
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Predicted increases in suicide were not generally observed in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the picture may be changing and patterns might vary across demographic groups. We aimed to provide a timely, granular picture of the pandemic's impact on suicides globally. Methods We identified suicide data from official public-sector sources for countries/areas-within-countries, searching websites and academic literature and contacting data custodians and authors as necessary. We sent our first data request on 22nd June 2021 and stopped collecting data on 31st October 2021. We used interrupted time series (ITS) analyses to model the association between the pandemic's emergence and total suicides and suicides by sex-, age-and sex-by-age in each country/area-within-country. We compared the observed and expected numbers of suicides in the pandemic's first nine and first 10-15 months and used meta-regression to explore sources of variation. Findings We sourced data from 33 countries (24 high-income, six upper-middle-income, three lower-middle-income; 25 with whole-country data, 12 with data for area(s)-within-the-country, four with both). There was no evidence of greater-than-expected numbers of suicides in the majority of countries/areas-within-countries in any analysis; more commonly, there was evidence of lower-than-expected numbers. Certain sex, age and sex-by-age groups stood out as potentially concerning, but these were not consistent across countries/areas-within-countries. In the meta-regression, different patterns were not explained by countries' COVID-19 mortality rate, stringency of public health response, economic support level, or presence of a national suicide prevention strategy. Nor were they explained by countries' income level, although the meta-regression only included data from high-income and upper-middle-income countries, and there were suggestions from the ITS analyses that lower-middle-income countries fared less well. Interpretation Although there are some countries/areas-within-countries where overall suicide numbers and numbers for certain sex- and age-based groups are greater-than-expected, these countries/areas-within-countries are in the minority. Any upward movement in suicide numbers in any place or group is concerning, and we need to remain alert to and respond to changes as the pandemic and its mental health and economic consequences continue. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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| 4. |
- Backhaus, Thomas, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Joint algal toxicity of phenylurea herbicides is equally predictable by concentration addition and independent action.
- 2004
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Ingår i: Environmental toxicology and chemistry / SETAC. - 0730-7268. ; 23:2, s. 258-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Photosynthesis-inhibiting phenylurea derivatives, such as diuron, are widely used as herbicides. Diuron concentrations clearly exceeding the predicted-no-effect concentration have been regularly measured in European freshwater systems. The frequently observed exposure to mixtures of phenylureas additionally increases the hazard to aquatic primary producers. Fluctuating numbers and concentrations of individual toxicants make experimental testing of every potential mixture unfeasible. Thus, predictive approaches to the mixture hazard assessment are needed. For this purpose, two concepts are at hand, both of which make use of known toxicities of the individual components but are based on opposite mechanistic suppositions: Concentration addition is based on the idea of similar mechanisms of action, whereas independent action assumes dissimilarly acting mixture components. On the basis of pharmacological reasoning, it was therefore anticipated that the joint algal toxicity of phenylurea mixtures would be predictable by concentration addition. Indeed, we could demonstrate a high predictive power of concentration addition for these combinations. Surprisingly, however, the opposite concept of independent action proved to be equally valid, because both concepts predicted virtually identical mixture toxicities. This exceptional case has previously been derived from theoretical considerations. Now, the tested phenylurea mixtures serve as an example for the practical relevance of this situation for multicomponent mixtures.
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| 5. |
- Backhaus, Thomas, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Proposal for environmental mixture risk assessment in the context of the biocidal product authorization in the EU
- 2013
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Ingår i: Environmental Sciences Europe. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2190-4715 .- 2190-4707. ; 25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract Background: The EU Council and Parliament recently agreed on a new regulation that will implement a new EU-wide, harmonized system for the authorization for biocidal products. Such products are in most cases multi-component mixtures of one or more active substances plus a range of co-formulants that serve different purposes, e.g. as stabilizers or preservatives. They are only allowed on the European market if their intended use does not lead to unacceptable risks for the environment. Consequently, the assessment of possible combination effects is a critically important step during the regulatory environmental risk assessment of biocidal products. However, no specific guidance is at hand on how combination effects should be accounted for during the regulatory environmental risk assessment of biocidal products. Results and Conclusions: A tiered approach was developed that accommodates different data situations, optimizes resource usage, limits biotesting as far as possible and ensures adequate protection of the environment. It mainly builds on using Concentration Addition as a component-based approach for mixture toxicity prediction, complemented by whole product tests where appropriate. Concentration Addition is either approximated by summing up PEC/PNEC ratios or as sums of toxic units. The competing concept of Independent Action was assessed as not being suitable for incorporation into a tiered approach without explicit confirmatory studies, as it might otherwise lead to an underestimation of the actual environmental risk.
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| 7. |
- Bopp, Stephanie K., et al.
(författare)
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Current EU research activities on combined exposure to multiple chemicals
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environment International. - : Elsevier. - 0160-4120 .- 1873-6750. ; 120, s. 544-562
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Humans and wildlife are exposed to an intractably large number of different combinations of chemicals via food, water, air, consumer products, and other media and sources. This raises concerns about their impact on public and environmental health. The risk assessment of chemicals for regulatory purposes mainly relies on the assessment of individual chemicals. If exposure to multiple chemicals is considered in a legislative framework, it is usually limited to chemicals falling within this framework and co-exposure to chemicals that are covered by a different regulatory framework is often neglected. Methodologies and guidance for assessing risks from combined exposure to multiple chemicals have been developed for different regulatory sectors, however, a harmonised, consistent approach for performing mixture risk assessments and management across different regulatory sectors is lacking. At the time of this publication, several EU research projects are running, funded by the current European Research and Innovation Programme Horizon 2020 or the Seventh Framework Programme. They aim at addressing knowledge gaps and developing methodologies to better assess chemical mixtures, by generating and making available internal and external exposure data, developing models for exposure assessment, developing tools for in silico and in vitro effect assessment to be applied in a tiered framework and for grouping of chemicals, as well as developing joint epidemiological-toxicological approaches for mixture risk assessment and for prioritising mixtures of concern. The projects EDC-MixRisk, EuroMix, EUToxRisk, HBM4EU and SOLUTIONS have started an exchange between the consortia, European Commission Services and EU Agencies, in order to identify where new methodologies have become available and where remaining gaps need to be further addressed. This paper maps how the different projects contribute to the data needs and assessment methodologies and identifies remaining challenges to be further addressed for the assessment of chemical mixtures.
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| 8. |
- Brack, Werner, et al.
(författare)
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The SOLUTIONS project : Challenges and responses for present and future emerging pollutants in land and water resources management
- 2015
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 503, s. 22-31
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- SOLUTIONS (2013 to 2018) is a European Union Seventh Framework Programme Project (EU-FP7). The project aims to deliver a conceptual framework to support the evidence-based development of environmental policies with regard to water quality. SOLUTIONS will develop the tools for the identification, prioritisation and assessment of those water contaminants that may pose a risk to ecosystems and human health. To this end, a new generation of chemical and effect-based monitoring tools is developed and integrated with a full set of exposure, effect and risk assessment models. SOLUTIONS attempts to address legacy, present and future contamination by integrating monitoring and modelling based approaches with scenarios on future developments in society, economy and technology and thus in contamination. The project follows a solutions-oriented approach by addressing major problems of water and chemicals management and by assessing abatement options. SOLUTIONS takes advantage of the access to the infrastructure necessary to investigate the large basins of the Danube and Rhine as well as relevant Mediterranean basins as case studies, and puts major efforts on stakeholder dialogue and support. Particularly, the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) working groups, International River Commissions, and water works associations are directly supported. with consistent guidance for the early detection, identification, prioritisation, and abatement of chemicals in the water cycle. SOLUTIONS will give a specific emphasis on concepts and tools for the impact and risk assessment of complex mixtures of emerging pollutants, their metabolites and transformation products. Analytical and effect-based screening tools will be applied together with ecological assessment tools for the identification of toxicants and their impacts. The SOLUTIONS approach is expected to provide transparent and evidence-based candidates or River Basin Specific Pollutants in the case study basins and to assist future review of priority pollutants under the WFD as well as potential abatement options.
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| 12. |
- Frische, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Toxic masking and synergistic modulation of the estrogenic activity of chemical mixtures in a yeast estrogen screen (YES).
- 2009
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Ingår i: Environmental science and pollution research international. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0944-1344 .- 1614-7499. ; 16:5, s. 593-603
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND, AIM AND SCOPE: Estrogenic and non-estrogenic chemicals typically co-occur in the environment. Interference by non-estrogenic chemicals may confound the assessment of the actual estrogenic activity of complex environmental samples. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether, in which way and how seriously the estrogenic activity of single estrogens and the observed and predicted joint action of estrogenic mixtures is influenced by toxic masking and synergistic modulation caused by non-estrogenic chemical confounders. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The yeast estrogen screen (YES) was adapted so that toxicity and estrogenicity could be quantified simultaneously in one experimental run. Mercury, two organic solvents (dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 2,4-dinitroaniline), a surfactant (LAS-12) and the antibiotic cycloheximide were selected as toxic but non-estrogenic test chemicals. The confounding impact of selected concentrations of these toxicants on the estrogenic activity of the hormone 17ss-estradiol was determined by co-incubation experiments. In a second step, the impact of toxic masking and synergistic modulation on the predictability of the joint action of 17ss-estradiol, estrone and estriol mixtures by concentration addition was analysed. RESULTS: Each of the non-estrogenic chemicals reduced the apparent estrogenicity of both single estrogens and their mixtures if applied at high, toxic concentrations. Besides this common pattern, a highly substance- and concentration-dependent impact of the non-estrogenic toxicants was observable. The activity of 17ss-estradiol was still reduced in the presence of only low or non-toxic concentrations of 2,4-dinitroaniline and cycloheximide, which was not the case for mercury and DMSO. A clear synergistic modulation, i.e. an enhanced estrogenic activity, was induced by the presence of slightly toxic concentrations of LAS-12. The joint estrogenic activity of the mixture of estrogens was affected by toxic masking and synergistic modulation in direct proportion to the single estrogens, which allowed for an adequate adaptation of concentration addition and thus unaffected predictability of the joint estrogenicity in the presence of non-estrogenic confounders. DISCUSSION: The modified YES proved to be a reliable system for the simultaneous quantification of yeast toxicity and estrogen receptor activation. Experimental results substantiate the available evidence for toxic masking as a relevant phenomenon in estrogenicity assessment of complex environmental samples. Synergistic modulation of estrogenic activity by non-estrogenic confounders might be of lower importance. The concept of concentration addition is discussed as a valuable tool for estrogenicity assessment of complex mixtures, with deviations of the measured joint estrogenicity from predictions indicating the need for refined analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Two major challenges are to be considered simultaneously for a reliable analysis of the estrogenic activity of complex mixtures: the identification of known and suspected estrogenic compounds in the sample as well as the substance- and effect-level-dependent confounding impact of non-estrogenic toxicants. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: The application of screening assays such as the YES to complex mixtures should be accompanied by measures that safeguard against false negative results which may be caused by non-estrogenic but toxic confounders. Simultaneous assessments of estrogenicity and toxicity are generally advisable.
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| 13. |
- Junghans, Marion, et al.
(författare)
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Application and validation of approaches for the predictive hazard assessment of realistic pesticide mixtures.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Aquatic toxicology (Amsterdam, Netherlands). - : Elsevier BV. - 0166-445X. ; 76:2, s. 93-110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In freshwater systems located in agricultural areas, organisms are exposed to a multitude of toxicologically and structurally different pesticides. For regulatory purposes it is of major importance whether the combined hazard of these substances can be predictively assessed from the single substance toxicity. For artificially designed multi-component mixtures, it has been shown that the mixture toxicity can be predicted by concentration addition (CA) in case of similarly acting substances and by independent action (IA), if mixtures are composed of dissimilarly acting substances. This study aimed to analyse whether these concepts may also be used to predictively assess the toxicity of environmentally realistic mixtures. For this purpose a mixture of 25 pesticides, which reflects a realistic exposure scenario in field run-off water, was studied for its effects on the reproduction of the freshwater alga Scenedesmus vacuolatus. The toxicity of the tested mixtures showed a good predictability by CA. This is consistent with the finding that the toxicity was dominated by a group of similarly acting photosystem II inhibitors, although the mixture included substances with diverse and partly unknown mechanisms of action. IA slightly underestimated the actual mixture toxicity. However, the EC(50) values that can be derived from each prediction, according to CA respectively IA, only differed by a factor of 1.3. The finding of such a small difference is partly explainable by the fact that only few components dominate the mixture scenario in terms of so-called toxic units (TUs). This connection is established by developing an equation that allows to calculate the maximum possible ratio between corresponding predictions of effect concentrations by IA and CA for any given ratio of the TUs of mixture components, irrespective of their individual concentration-response functions and independent from their mechanisms of action. To evaluate whether small quantitative differences between EC(50) values predicted by CA and IA are an exception or rather the rule for agricultural exposure scenarios, this calculation was applied on an additional set of 18 pesticide exposure scenarios that were taken from the literature. For these scenarios, EC(50) values predicted by IA can never exceed those predicted by CA by more than a factor of 2.5. The findings of this study support the view that CA provides a precautious but not overprotective approach to the predictive hazard assessment of pesticide mixtures under realistic exposure scenarios, irrespective of the similarity or dissimilarity of their mechanisms of action.
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| 15. |
- Meyer, H.F., et al.
(författare)
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Overview of physics studies on ASDEX Upgrade
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 59:11
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) programme, jointly run with the EUROfusion MST1 task force, continues to significantly enhance the physics base of ITER and DEMO. Here, the full tungsten wall is a key asset for extrapolating to future devices. The high overall heating power, flexible heating mix and comprehensive diagnostic set allows studies ranging from mimicking the scrape-off-layer and divertor conditions of ITER and DEMO at high density to fully non-inductive operation (q 95 = 5.5, ) at low density. Higher installed electron cyclotron resonance heating power 6 MW, new diagnostics and improved analysis techniques have further enhanced the capabilities of AUG. Stable high-density H-modes with MW m-1 with fully detached strike-points have been demonstrated. The ballooning instability close to the separatrix has been identified as a potential cause leading to the H-mode density limit and is also found to play an important role for the access to small edge-localized modes (ELMs). Density limit disruptions have been successfully avoided using a path-oriented approach to disruption handling and progress has been made in understanding the dissipation and avoidance of runaway electron beams. ELM suppression with resonant magnetic perturbations is now routinely achieved reaching transiently . This gives new insight into the field penetration physics, in particular with respect to plasma flows. Modelling agrees well with plasma response measurements and a helically localised ballooning structure observed prior to the ELM is evidence for the changed edge stability due to the magnetic perturbations. The impact of 3D perturbations on heat load patterns and fast-ion losses have been further elaborated. Progress has also been made in understanding the ELM cycle itself. Here, new fast measurements of and E r allow for inter ELM transport analysis confirming that E r is dominated by the diamagnetic term even for fast timescales. New analysis techniques allow detailed comparison of the ELM crash and are in good agreement with nonlinear MHD modelling. The observation of accelerated ions during the ELM crash can be seen as evidence for the reconnection during the ELM. As type-I ELMs (even mitigated) are likely not a viable operational regime in DEMO studies of 'natural' no ELM regimes have been extended. Stable I-modes up to have been characterised using -feedback. Core physics has been advanced by more detailed characterisation of the turbulence with new measurements such as the eddy tilt angle - measured for the first time - or the cross-phase angle of and fluctuations. These new data put strong constraints on gyro-kinetic turbulence modelling. In addition, carefully executed studies in different main species (H, D and He) and with different heating mixes highlight the importance of the collisional energy exchange for interpreting energy confinement. A new regime with a hollow profile now gives access to regimes mimicking aspects of burning plasma conditions and lead to nonlinear interactions of energetic particle modes despite the sub-Alfvénic beam energy. This will help to validate the fast-ion codes for predicting ITER and DEMO.
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| 16. |
- Rudén, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Framtidens kemikaliekontroll - Hantering av kombinationseffekter och gruppvis bedömning av ämnen : SOU 2019:45
- 2019
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Det är mer än 50 år sedan den första kemikalielagstiftningen på EUnivå infördes; 1967 trädde direktivet om farliga ämnen i kraft. Direktivet fastlade regler för klassificering och märkning av kemikalier baserade på deras inneboende farlighet. Under de följande decennierna tillkom fler riskbaserade regler, som också blev föregångarna till REACH-förordningen. Införandet, tillämpningen och utvecklingen av dessa nya regelverk har över tid bidragit till att minska koncentrationerna av många klassiska gifter i människor och ekosystem i Europa, vilket måste ses som en betydande framgång, och som också bekräftar nyttan av att ha en adekvat kemikalielagstiftning för att långsiktigt skydda människors hälsa och ekosystemen. Men parallellt med lagstiftningens tillkomst och utveckling har även kemikalieindustrins och samhällets användande av kemikalier utvecklats och växt i snabb takt. Enligt Eurostat används i dag mer än 200 miljoner ton farliga kemikalier per år i Europa, och fler än 22 000 olika kemikalier är registrerade bara i REACH. Föga överraskande hittar miljöövervakningen fortfarande en blandning av kemikalier i så gott som alla prover som tas från människor eller miljön. Det beror på att det typiska exponeringsscenariot har ändrats under de senaste decennierna – från lokala punktkällor med utsläpp av höga koncentrationer av ett fåtal ämnen, till en diffus exponering för en mängd komplexa och variabla blandningar av olika miljögifter. Var och en ofta i relativt låga koncentrationer. I denna rapport presenteras elva rekommendationer om hur europeisk kemikaliekontroll kan utvecklas för att bättre hantera denna komplexitet. Förslagen fokuserar på två centrala områden: 1. Riskbedömning och hantering av kemiska blandningar, i syfte att göra kemisk riskbedömning och riskhantering mer relevant för målet att skydda människors hälsa och ekosystemen. 2. Gruppvis utvärdering av kemikalier, för att underlätta identifiering av problematiska ämnen och stödja processen att byta ut farliga kemikalier mot säkrare alternativ. Kapitel 1 sammanfattar utredningens uppdrag och hur vi arbetat. Kapitel 2 innehåller en bred överblick av frågeställningarna samt förklaringar till centrala begrepp och definitioner. I kapitel 3 sammanfattas relevanta delar av svensk och europeisk kemikalielagstiftning och internationella konventioner. Den vetenskapliga bakgrunden till våra förslag beskrivs därefter i kapitlen 4 och 5. Kapitel 6 innehåller våra elva rekommendationer. Varje rekommendation inleds med en introducerande problembeskrivning. Syftet med detta är att kapitlet ska kunna läsas separat. Kapitel 7 innehåller en konsekvensanalys, och i kapitel 8 ges en översikt över våra interaktioner med avnämare. Sist i rapporten finns referenser och först en lista som förklarar de akronymer och förkortningar som förekommer i texten. Sammanfattningsvis visar vår analys att det behövs betydande förändringar och förbättringar av det nuvarande systemet för kemikaliekontroll om det ska hålla jämna steg med innovationer i kemikalieanvändningen och utvecklingen inom vetenskapen. Att regelverket utvecklas parallellt med dessa är en förutsättning för att uppnå det övergripande målet med EU:s kemikalielagstiftning att säkerställa en hög skyddsnivå för hälsa och miljö, och det svenska miljömålet att den totala exponeringen för kemiska ämnen via alla exponeringskällor inte ska vara skadlig för människor eller biologisk mångfald.
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| 17. |
- Schaetzl, Randall J., et al.
(författare)
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Approaches and challenges to the study of loess : Introduction to the Loess-Fest Special Issue
- 2018
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Ingår i: Quaternary Research. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0033-5894 .- 1096-0287. ; 89:3, s. 563-618
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In September 2016, the annual meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research's Loess and Pedostratigraphy Focus Group, traditionally referred to as a LoessFest, met in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. The 2016 LoessFest focused on thin loess deposits and loess transportation surfaces. This LoessFest included 75 registered participants from 10 countries. Almost half of the participants were from outside the United States, and 18 of the participants were students. This review is the introduction to the special issue for Quaternary Research that originated from presentations and discussions at the 2016 LoessFest. This introduction highlights current understanding and ongoing work on loess in various regions of the world and provides brief summaries of some of the current approaches/strategies used to study loess deposits.
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