Pollutant Photodegradation Affected by Evaporative Water Concentration in a Climate Change Scenario.

Evaporative water concentration takes place in arid or semi-arid environments when stationary water bodies, such as lakes or ponds, prevalently lose water by evaporation, which prevails over outflow or seepage into aquifers. Absence or near-absence of precipitation and elevated temperatures are important prerequisites for the process, which has the potential to deeply affect the photochemical attenuation of pollutants, including contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Here we show that water evaporation would enhance the phototransformation of many CECs, especially those undergoing degradation mainly through direct photolysis and triplet-sensitized reactions. In contrast, processes induced by hydroxyl and carbonate radicals would be inhibited. Our model results suggest that the photochemical impact of water evaporation might increase in the future in several regions of the world, with no continent likely being unaffected, due to the effects of local precipitation decrease combined with an increase in temperature that facilitates evaporation.

The European university alliances-an examination of organizational potentials and perils.

The European Union (EU) has repeatedly underlined the importance of higher education, research and innovation as drivers in the further development of Europe-economically, socially and culturally. One of the latest policy initiatives by the European Commission (EC) intended to promote this agenda is the European Universities Initiative (EUI) where alliances between universities across national borders are to identify new approaches for boosting European scientific cooperation. It might be argued that this development represents an attempt to find an organizational solution to the European policy ambitions in higher education, research and innovation. This article presents a framework for analysing European university alliances. Based on interviews with persons occupying key leadership and management roles in ten alliances, the article analyses the potential gains and perils alliances might face along four dimensions: their internal coordination, their ways of resolving conflicts, the commitment of member universities and the cultural characteristics of the alliances.