Environmetal Earth Science

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated that the 23% of the samples were containing 10–50 µg/L of As, and the 8% of the samples were containing more than 50 µg/L of As. Recent status of over 737,009 samples tested, the 7.9% and 2.3% were contaminated by 10–50 µg/L and >50 µg/L, respectively of As. The present paper examines the various techniques available for the reduction of arsenic concentrations in Nepal in combination with the main results achieved, the socio-economic status and the strategies. This paper aims to comprehensively compile all existing data sets and analyze them scientifically, by trying to suggest a common sustainable approach for identifying the As contamination in the nation, that can be easily adopted by local communities for developing a sustainable society. The paper aims also to find probable solutions to quantify and mitigate As problem without any external support. The outcome of this paper will ultimately help to identify various ways for: identify risk areas; develop awareness; adopt the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline; identify alternative safe water sources and assess their sustainability; give priorities to water supply and simple eco-friendly treatment techniques; investigate impacts of arsenic on health and agriculture; strengthen the capability of government, public, Non-governmental Organization (NGO) and research institutions.

Keywords: arsenic; arsenic contamination in groundwater of Nepal; drinking water; groundwater resources management

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Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...

The present study investigated the potential of waldorf pedagogy for environmental
education in an ecocentric perspective. Through sensory ethnography, we witnessed the
aesthetic experience in childhood related to being in the world. The affective responses of 21 children aged 4 to 6 years in a waldorf garden were analyzed. The results pointed out three aspects that contribute to environmental education: affectivity, body and movement and the imaginative potential of living and non-living beings. The need for a pedagogical proposal that privileges relationship with nature can inspire environmental education practices based on ecocentric principles.

Выдвинута гипотеза о том, что местоположение истинного полюса холода Южного полушария, а значит, и самого холодного места Земли в естественной природе, до сих пор не найдено. Используя метод аналогии, рассчитаны максимальные, среднемесячные и минимальные температуры воздуха у поверхности земли, которые могут быть зафиксированы на истинном полюсе холода в Антарктиде.

When illuminated  by ultraviolet  light, many  calcite speleothems  (stalagmites, stalactites,
flowstones)  display luminescence caused  by the presence of organic  (humic) substances  oc-
cluded  in the calcite.  The amplitude of luminescence varies  in a banded  pattern  parallel  to
growth layering. Through  laC and thermal ionization  mass spectrometry  uranium-series  dat-
ing, we show that cyclical oscillations in the luminescence  have periodicities  ranging  from a few
days to t10t yr. A well-defined  annual  cycle  is present in many vadose-zone  speleothems  and
can be used to define  the chronolory of short-term events.  This cycle is pmbably  a response to
hydrological events in the recharge  to the cave. Longer term oscillations  are inferred  to be
controlled by clirnaten  through  its effect on organic  activity  in the overlying soil

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...

The laboratory uses methods and equipment developed at the Physics Department. They are subject to three Bulgarian inventions, and one Canadian patent of our laboratory’s team. Some of the devices developed, and used by the laboratory have no analogues abroad, others are subject to numerous attempts of coping or modifing by other laboratories around the world.
The laboratory was created in 2001. In 2005 and 2006, a PhD student from the University of Bologna, Italy was trained for six months here within the European exchange program ERASMUS.

Scientific fields and experiments:

Study of global climate changes in the past.
The main activity of the laboratory is the study of global climate changes in the past, and solar influences on them. Until recently, variations of solar radiation reaching the surface of the Earth (insolation), could only be calculated theoretically from orbital variations of Earth's orbit, causing a change in the distance from any point on the Earth's surface to the Sun, resulting in a change in the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. But their calculations require many incorrect assumptions, leading to significant inaccuracies in the results (50% of the variation in the theoretical curves do not match this in the experimental records).
Therefore the team of our laboratory was developed an indirect index of insolation (Figure 10), which is obtained from measurements of the distribution of the luminescence of the organic acids in flowstone calcites along the growth axis of their crystals (Figures 10, 11,12). Absolute dating of these calcites allows measurement records of insolation (Figure 10) in the last 250,000 years. So far these are the only experimental records of insolation. They are widely used in studies of global climate change in the past.
Study of regional climate changes.
An important activity of the laboratory is the study of regional climate changes using flowstone calcites as natural climatic stations. For this purpose, the laboratory has developed indirect indices of annual temperature and annual rainfall, which are obtained from measurements of the distribution of the luminescence of the organic acids in flowstone calcites.
Using luminescence for search, field and laboratory diagnostics of minerals, oil and gas
Part of the research of our laboratory is dedicated to using luminescence for search, field and laboratory diagnostics of minerals, oil and gas. This includes:

a. Development of a new method, techniques, and apparatus for registration of luminescence of minerals and its spectrum in the field conditions.
The known method for the search of minerals by their luminescence in field conditions uses portable continuous UV sources to observe only fluorescence of minerals. The disadvantage of this method is the low brightness of the sources and the inability to observe phosphorescence of minerals and its attenuation. For observing and registration of these phenomena we developed a new method "Impulse photography luminescence". For the use of this method in field conditions we developed and patented a fundamentally new equipment, that can record images of fluorescence or phosphorescence separately or together. We proposed a new system for field diagnostic of minerals using luminescence which led to finding deposits of many new minerals for Bulgaria.
With the development of the new technique "Time-resolved photography of phosphorescence", field studies and registration of phosphorescence attenuation and the color change of phosphorescence with time in the presence of several luminescent centers in the sample became possible. This appeared to be particularly useful to distinguish phosphorescence of inclusions of oil and natural gas (Figure 15) from that of humic and fulvic acids (Figure 11) in calcite under field conditions, which can be used for oil survey.

b. Research on the spectra of the luminescence of the minerals in the laboratory
The diagnostics of minerals by their luminescence sometimes requires a detailed study of the spectra, the nature and properties of their luminescence by selective excitation with laser emission with different wavelengths. This is achievable only in laboratory conditions. At such measurements Raman spectra of the samples are obtained as well, which are very effective for diagnostics of microscopic mineral agregates and inclusions.

Studies of records of contamination and migration of toxic metals and of groundwater acidity.

The luminescence of some samples flowstone calcite is induced by toxic elements. Some of them even have annual zonality (Figure 15) due to variations in the acidity of the groundwater, which causes variations in the solubility of some toxic elements such as uranium, lead, etc.

On Figure 16 is shown fine zonality of the fluorescence in a flowstone calcite upon irradiation with short-wave UV (left) due to uranium impurities. Fine fluorescent zonality upon irradiation with long-wave UV (right) is due to impurities of rare earth elements in the same sample.
Dating of fluorescent records
Luminescent records required development of a new dating method due to lack of any dating method with the precision corresponding to their high resolution and precision. The apparent annual cyclicity of records allows calculating the average annual growth rate of the flowstone by determining the average annual period (in pixels) using time series analysis. This procedure was set at the base of a fundamentally new dating method called "Autocalibration dating."
Autocalibration dating of time series with unknown uneven time step uses time- frequency mathematical spectral analysis or Fourier transformation to determine the mean time step of the time series and to determine the time interval from the beginning to the end of the time series. If the beginning of the time series is known it can be dated using its thus obtained duration. The method is applicable to the dating of any natural materials with cyclic structure and was recognized for invention. So far this is the only dating method based entirely on a numerical method.

The upper Miocene of Karlovassi Basin, Samos Island, Greece, contain continental evaporites such as colemanite, ulexite, celestite, gypsum and thenardite. These evaporites are related with volcanic tuffs, diagenetically altered in a saline-alkaline lake environment. The aim of the present paper is to: a) define the impact of the already known and possible buried borates and other evaporites to the geochemistry of the hydrogeological system of Karlovassi Basin, and; b) to assess the correlation between surface and underground evaporite deposits considering the spatial changes in the concentrations of the examined physicochemical parameters. Fieldwork, laboratory measurements and literature data revealed elevated boron values (2136-33012 μg/L) in the central part of Karlovassi Basin. In the same area, high amounts of strontium, sodium, lithium and sulfates also occur. It is proposed that these ions originate from the leaching of evaporites and authigenic minerals such as the Sr-rich clinoptilolite and the boron-bearing potassium feldspar. Boron values are abnormally high for freshwater aquifers, and are indicative of the presence of buried evaporites in the basin with unknown significance.

Imagine that the birth of the planet until now represented twenty-four hours. The industrial revolution accounts for merely two minutes before midnight. It took many thousands of years of propagation for modern civilization to reach a population of 700 million. However, once we were able to tap into fossil fuels, the human population and consumption have increased at least tenfold within the past 200 years. The impact of humans is now 100 times greater than it 1 was in 1820. The old oil economy is attempting to maintain itself by engaging in the installation of policies that allow "loopholes." The offset of carbon emissions from replanted trees will occur sometime in the future, but we have run out of time. We must act now! We must act together, uniting with every country in the world. We need to stop the misuse of carbon and ensure that the Earth survives our abuse and misunderstanding about what is at stake. We need to ensure temperatures do not rise any further than 1.5 degrees Celsius, based on the requirements outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This change must occur quickly (within the next 10-12 years). The IPCC has 2

This study examined long-term stability in water quality of Lake Okataina, North Island, New Zealand, inferred from sediments deposited from 1836 to 2009, during which time there was a pyroclastic volcanic eruption (Tarawera 1886) and successive introductions of invasive mammals. Multiple geochemical proxies were analysed stratigraphically for organic matter loading, primary productivity, redox potential and phosphorus retention capacity. Organic matter loading to the lake is mostly authochthonous (algae) although there was increased allochthonous (terrestrial) loading immediately after the Tarawera eruption. After 1920, there was a sustained increase in inorganic erosion flux. Primary productivity appeared to increase considerably about 1960, but has remained relatively unchanged more recently. Our results suggest that the lake could recover from the impact of the volcanic eruption within a few decades, but the introduction of mammals may affect its resilience and lead to more pervasive impacts on the biogeochemistry.

Humanity finds itself in a perpetual state of adolescence—a juggernaut, burning rubber on now melting asphalt.  Exemplifying the qualities of this developmental stage, we have differentiated from the living planet and plunged into the mysteries of Self and Other—an engagement that, among other things, has led to the relational shift of Earth as Mother and provider to a planet of resources primed for extraction and production.  And while as writer Bill Plotkin (2008), author of Nature and the Human Soul, defines this stage as holding “the key to our becoming fully human” (p. 11), the ramifications resulting from the majority of our species entering such a volatile psychological state were massive.  Our separation from the natural cycles of Earth resulted in a systemic compartmentalization and linear structuring of nearly all human domains—a phenomena that continues with us still today.

This paper describes the cooperative interpretation of data from a global network of seismic stations in the context of nuclear test ban treaty verification. The problem, as solved by humans, involves the cooperation of a community of seismologists and the intellectual mechanism of assumption-based reasoning. Our computational agents cooperate by exchanging partial results that act as clues or heuristics about what assumptions to make and where to apply computationally expensive signal-processing algorithms, thus improving the quality of the global solution.

ABSTRACT This study aims to evaluate various well-known spatial interpolation methods used in identifying hot-spots during site investigations on brownfields. Before any reclamation is carried out zones within a site with contaminant levels above the threshold limits should be identified correctly with minimum reclamation costs. The latter implies that all contaminated areas are to be determined while minimizing the space claimed for reclamation. In other words, clean areas should not be declared as contaminated. This issue is crucial both with respect to minimizing health hazards in human use after reclamation and also with respect to minimizing reclamation costs. Here, we conduct a numerical survey on the performance of spatial interpolation techniques on 360 hypothetical sites which are generated according to a given experimental design. The effects of the number of non-overlapping hot-spots in a site, the percentage of the area contaminated, and the effects of the sampling pattern are observed during the experimentation. Furthermore, as an alternative site evaluation scheme, we propose a new fuzzy areal site assessment scheme (FASA) which is independent of the assumptions implied by spatial statistics and compare its performance with those of spatial interpolation methods.

Islamabad was built in 1960 as a capital of Pakistan. It is a city famous for its beauty, greenery, and beautiful trees. The total area of Islamabad is 906 km2. With increasing population, a lot of development projects have been initiated within the city, which had a huge impact on the vegetation. Awareness of urban vegetation, environmental quality and knowledge is really important for conservation of natural resource, management and improvement of ecosystem of urban resources. The impact of these development activities on vegetation was assessed for the last twenty years within Islamabad using remote sensing techniques. For this purpose, satellite images of Landsat were acquired for 1992, 2000, and 2013. Supervised classification and NDVI analysis were done to calculate the area under vegetation and other classes of all the images. Analysis of these satellite images revealed that vegetation was very dense in the past, but with the passage of time the vegetation loss became signifi...

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...

The paper concerns GMT application for studies of the geophysical and geomorphological settings of the Weddell Sea. Its western part is occupied by the back-arc basin developed during geologic evolution of the Antarctic. The mapping presents geophysical settings reflecting tectonic formation of the region, glaciomarine sediment distribution and the bathymetry. The GlobSed grid highlighted the abnormally large thickness of sedimentary strata resulted from the long lasting sedimentation and great subsidence ratio. The sediment thickness indicated significant influx (>13,000m) in the southern segment. Values of 6,000-7,000 m along the peninsula indicate stability of the sediments influx. The northern end of the Filchner Trough shows increased sediment supply. The topography shows variability-7,160-4,763 m. The ridges in the northern segment and gravity anomalies (>75 mGal) show parallel lines stretching NW-SE (10°-45°W, 60°-67°S) which points at the effects of regional topography. The basin is dominated by the slightly negative gravity >-30 mGal. The geoid model shows a SW-NE trend with the lowest values <18 m in the south, the highest values >20m in the NE and along the Coats Land. The ripples in the north follow the geometry of the submarine ridges and channels proving correlation with topography and gravitational equipotential surface.

Ozone (O3)‑induced cell death in two suspension‑cultured cell lines of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) derived from Bel‑W3 (hyper‑sensitive to O3) and Bel‑B (highly tolerant to O3) varieties were studied. By exposing the newly prepared cell lines to the pulse of ozonized air, we could reproduce the conditions demonstrating the difference in O3 sensitivity as observed in their original plants, depending on the exposure time. Since O3‑induced acute cell death was observed in the dark, the requirement for photochemical reactions could be eliminated. Addition of several ROS scavengers and chelators inhibited the cell death induced by O3, indicating that singlet oxygen (1O2), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical and redox‑active metals such as Fe2+ play central roles in O3‑induced acute damages to the cells. As expected, we observed the generation of 1O2 and H2O2 in the O3‑treated cells using chemiluminescent probes. On the other hand, an NADPH oxidase inhibitor, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and some SOD mimics showed no inhibitory effect. Thiols added as antioxidants unexpectedly behaved as prooxidants drastically enhancing the O3‑induced cell death. It is noteworthy that some ROS scavengers effectively rescued the cells from dying even treated after the pulse of O3 exposure, confirming the post‑ozone progress of ROS‑dependent cell death mechanism. Since one of the key differences between Bel‑B and Bel‑W3 was suggested to be the capacity for ROS detoxification by catalase, the endogenous catalase activities were compared in vivo in two cell lines. As expected, catalase activity in Bel‑B cells was ca. 7‑fold greater than that in Bel‑W3 cells. Interestingly, Ca2+ chelators added prior to (not after) the pulse of O3 effectively inhibited the induction of cell death. In addition, increases in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration sensitive to Ca2+ chelators, ion channel blockers, and ROS scavengers were observed in the transgenic Bel‑W3 cells expressing aequorin, suggesting the action of Ca2+ as a secondary messenger initiating the oxidative cell death. The O3 ‑induced calcium response in Bel‑W3 cells was much greater than Bel‑B cells. Based on the results, possible pathways for O3 ‑dependent generation of the lethal level of ROS and corresponding signaling mechanism for induction of cell death were discussed.

The scope of activities of University Center for Space Research and Technologies (UCSRT) includes fundamental and applied research in the field of theoretical and experimental physics, space physics, geophysics, atmospheric physics, space, astrophysics, cosmology, space- materials science, development of mathematical models of processes in the near and distant space. At the Center, research and educational activities are performed in the field of space research and technologies, which have applications in electronics, telecommunications, geophysics, meteorology, ecology, archeology and other fields. The Center performs also research on properties of materials for space technologies.
Main educational activities of the Center are master's Program on “Space research” and Module 1 “Aerospace engineering” (small aero-spacecraft) of the master’s Program “Aerospace engineering and communications”, but its members lead also many courses of undergraduate programs in physics and engineering physics.
University Center for Space Research and Technologies is an independent research and educational unit of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", founded in 1987 and reorganized in 1992 into Unit of the Faculty of Physics. University Centre for Space Research and Technology has its own Rules of Operation, which is approved by decision of the Academic Council of Sofia University. According to the Council, UCSRT represents Sofia University and the Physics Faculty before the national and international bodies and organizations for Space Research.
UCSRT coordinates and manages the efforts of scientists from various departments of Sofia University and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in temporary research teams, which accomplish scientific tasks related to Space Research and Technologies. Therefore, the Center has associated one internationally recognized observatory (IAU - А79), companies (such as O&K), active student workshop on astronomy, as well as individual professionals. The Center forms temporary laboratories on different scientific high-priority hot topics.
Applied research fields of the Centre include development of IR, UV and visible imaging systems and photometry for remote sensing observations from aircrafts, UAVs and satellites, research of Solar and Space Impacts on the Environment and applications of Space Research and Technologies in Archaeological research and prospecting. It includes also research and location of asteroids and dangerous Near- Earth Objects (NEO) and assessment of the damage which they can produce in result of potential collisions.
The Center has a highly qualified teaching staff, and its scientific production is published in journals, monographs and encyclopedias, some of which are issued by world-known academic publishers such as Elsevier and Thompson company issuing also ISI Citation index. Two of these monographs are awarded by an International Union of UNESCO Prize for the best publication in the relevant scientific field during the year.
The scientific outcome of the Center is significantly higher than the average production of the departments in the Faculty of Physics, despite its smaller staff: the results of the research activities of the members of the Center are published in 750 publications in scientific journals, monographs (mostly international), and conference proceedings, from which 560 publications in journals with impact factor.
Their results are presented in 167 reports at international congresses, conferences, symposia and schools, as 23 of them are invited or plenary talks.
They are cited worldwide 31290 times from foreign scientists, and research teams. 89 from the papers are cited more than 89 times, each (h-factor 89).
Specialists of the Center lead national and international research projects and programs. They have participated in one European, 10 international, 3 Italian and two Canadian research projects. At the moment they are leading two international research programs of one international scientific union. They review articles in prestigious international journals; are members of the editorial boards of international journals, editors of foreign monographs; evaluate Italian research projects in the fields of physics, astrophysics and Earth sciences; and participate in the appraisal of Italian universities. They chaired scientific organizing committees of five international scientific schools and conferences, and 6 sessions of other international conferences.
Specialists from UCSRT participate in large international collaborations and experiments in elementary particle physics, such as ATLAS, CHORUS, DELPHI, HARP, OPERA and H1.
The only Archaeo-geophysics laboratory in Bulgaria operates at the UCSRT.
The Center has intensive international collaborations with Universities and scientific institutions in Australia,  Austria,  Belgium,  Brazil,  Canada, China,  Croatia,  Czech  republic,  Egypt,  France,  Germany,  Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Serbia, Spain, Swisszerland, UK, USA and other countries.

University Center for Space Research and Technologies has YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyH3fFqMfKjLLI9jS4xnWHw

Resumo: O manuscrito apresenta contribuições da sensibilidade na criação de vínculos afetivos e engajamento nas temáticas ambientais. Os argumentos foram construídos a partir da análise de conteúdo de três pesquisas de doutorado, nas quais os resultados apresentaram dados que permitiram reflexões convergentes: I) vivências na natureza durante a infância, II) vivências e vinculações afetivas aos lugares e momentos, III) experiência estética/sensorial no meio ambiente. Concluímos argumentando pela relevância de uma virada ontológica na pesquisa e no aprofundamento de estudos que investiguem a interface entre as novas epistemologias ecológicas e a educação ambiental.

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...

Abstract: In Nepal, arsenic (As) contamination is a major issue of current drinking water supply systems using groundwater and has recently been one of the major environmental health management issues especially in the plain region, i.e., in the Terai districts, where the population density is very high. The Terai inhabitants still use hand tube and dug wells (with hand held pumps that are bored at shallow to medium depth) for their daily water requirements, including drinking water. The National Sanitation Steering Committee (NSSC), with the help of many other organizations, has completed arsenic blanket test in 25 districts of Nepal by analysing 737,009 groundwater samples. Several organizations, including academic institutions, made an effort to determine the levels of arsenic concentrations in groundwater and their consequences in Nepal. The results of the analyses on 25,058 samples tested in 20 districts, published in the status report of arsenic in Nepal (2003), demonstrated t...