Find research datasets worth reusing

Short-term effects of sound localization training in virtual reality

This repository contains the dataset and software used in the submission to Scientific Reports entitled "Short-term effects of sound localization training in virtual reality". A README.txt file is included, which describes the contents of the repository. Please note that the authors were not granted permission to redistribute the LIMSI Spatialization Engine, which was used to spatialize the sounds described in the manuscript. Please contact the author(s) for details.

The effect of numerical aperture on quantitative use-wear studies and its implication on reproducibility [complement to Supplementary Material 3]

Raw data, and RStudio project, R markdown scripts and HTML outputs of the statistical procedures. Instructions to download all files at once are given here: <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4011952">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4011952</a>

Simulations of urban heat island effect in Paris Region during various types of heatwaves, and in different adaptation scenarios

Content - These data present air temperature, in the shade, 2m above grounds in Paris Region (projection: RGF93/Lambert 93, EPSG:2154) at different times of the day, for various heat waves conditions, and in different prospective scenarios for the built-up evolution and adaptation actions implementations. - more information can be found here : https://www.umr-cnrm.fr/ville.climat/spip.php?rubrique45 Classification of the data - the first 5 letters (e.g. "CDFFA") present the prospective scenario - the 4 following letters (e.g. "HW34") present the type of heat wave - the following 2 letters (e.g. "D8") present the length of the heat wave (number of days after the beginning of the heat wave) - the final letters (e.g. H15) represent the time (UTC : one hour should be added for French time) of the day Prospective scenarios - the first letter is always C - the second letter represents the expansion scenario. They are presented here : Lemonsu, A., Viguié, V., Daniel, M., Masson, V., 2015. Vulnerability to heat waves: Impact of urban expansion scenarios on urban heat island and heat stress in Paris (France). Urban Climate 14, 586–605.   - D stands for "dense development"   - F for business as usual scenario ("fil de l'eau" in French)   - V for a scenario with 10% more parks - the third letter represents the building evolution scenario   - F stands for business as usual scenario   - V for a scenario with more insulation and reflective roofs - the third letter represents AC use   - F stands for strong AC use   - M for moderate AC use   - N for no AC use - the fourth letter represents vegetation watering   - N stands for no watering   - A for watering Heat waves - the figure (e.g. "34" in "HW34") represents the intensity class, in °C of the heat wave. It is more precisely the maximum daily temperature observed without the impact of the urban heat island effect. (Tmax=34, 38, 42, or 46°C). Other information - see the file "aggregated data.xls" for more information and data about energy consumption for AC, and averages of temperatures in the city over the entire day.

Data from: The more you get, the more you give: Positive cascading effects shape the evolutionary potential of prenatal maternal investment

Data from 'The more you get, the more you give: Positive cascading effects shape the evolutionary potential of prenatal maternal investment'   Description of variables in CME_dat.csv egg.mass - mean offspring egg mass (grams) maternal.line - selection line of mother (H- high investment, L - low investment) paternal.line - selection lines of father (H- high investment, L - low investment) replicate - selection line replicate animal - animal id (links with data from Pick et al. 2016 on dryad) mother - mother id father - father id maternal.egg.mass - mean maternal egg mass (grams)

opencc-by-nc-sa-3.0Apr 2018View details →

Microfluidic solvent extraction of poly(vinyl alcohol) droplets: effect of polymer structure on particle and capsule formation

Raw data from the majority of figures of our 2018 Soft Matter Paper: Selected datasets from figures are excluded, owing to them being transformations of the raw data provided in the same figure.

opencc-by-4.0May 2019View details →

Sempa et al. 2019 - A Retrospective audit of treatment outcomes, side-effect profiles and default and mortality rates of HIV/AIDS patients at the antiretroviral clinic at Pretoria Academic Hospital.

The comprehensive demographic and long-term treatment data of the first, consecutive, 963 patients older than 18 years of age who presented for ART at the Tshwane District Hospital in Gauteng, South Africa during 2004 and 2005 were selected for analysis. All patients started ART after 2004 as part of the South African national HIV treatment plan and were treated according to the National Department of Health HIV guidelines (2004) operative at the time, i.e. eligibility for ART was CD4 <200 cells/µL or WHO stage 4 disease regardless of CD4 count. Treatment was initiated using a standardized triple-drug regimen consisting of two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, mostly d4T and 3TC, and one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, either NVP or EFV. CD4 and HIV-1 VL monitoring was performed at treatment initiation ‘baseline’ and then 6-monthly, according to the national protocol. Demographic, anthropometric, clinical, ART and 5-year longitudinal treatment response data were collected. Excluded all second-line ART visits for all patients who were switched to second-line therapy.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2019View details →

Data from the publication "The effect of moth trap type on size and composition in British Lepidoptera"

Data from a study looking at differences in efficiency between three kinds of Robinson type light traps for catching moths. These data are the following: 1. Counts of moths of different families from three different trap types across six trapping nights. 2. Species level counts for the subset of the above defined as macromoths. 3. 300-850nm electromagnetic spectra of all three traps made using a UV/visible spectrometer. 4. Weather data for the trapping period provided by the staff of Juniper Hall field centre.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2019View details →

The Effect of QPF on Real-time Deterministic Hydrologic Forecast Uncertainty

The use of Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF) in hydrologic forecasting is commonplace, but QPF is subject to considerable error. When QPF is included as a model forcing in the hydrological forecast process, significant error is passed to subsequent hydrologic predictions. Two questions arise: (1) are the resulting observed hydrologic forecast errors sufficiently large to suggest the use of zero QPF in the forecast process; if the use of QPF is indicated, (2) how many periods (hours) of QPF (1-, 6-, 12-,..., 72-h...) should be used? Also, do forecast conditions exist under which the use of QPF should be different? This study presents results from two real-time hydrologic forecast experiments, focused on the NOAA/NWS Ohio River Forecast Center (OHRFC). The experiments rely on forecasts from subbasins at 38 forecast point locations, ranging in drainage area, geographic location within the Ohio River Valley, and watershed response time. Results from an experiment, spanning all flow ranges, for the August 10, 2007 - August 31, 2009 period, show that non-zero QPF produces smaller hydrologic forecast error than zero QPF. A second experiment, January 23, 2009 through September 15, 2010, suggests that QPF should be limited to 6- to 12-h duration for flood forecasts. Beyond 12-h, hydrologic forecast error increases substantially across all forecast ranges, but errors are much larger for flood forecasts.  Increased durations of QPF produce smaller forecast error than shorter QPF durations only for non-flood forecasts. Experimental results are shown to be consistent with NWS, April 2001 to October 2016, forecast verification statistics for the OHRFC.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2014View details →

Confirmation Bias in Web-Based Search: A Randomized Online Study on the Effects of Expert Information and Social Tags on Information Search and Evaluation

ABSTRACT Background: The public typically believes psychotherapy to be more effective than pharmacotherapy for depression treatments. This is not consistent with current scientific evidence, which shows that both types of treatment are about equally effective. Objective: The study investigates whether this bias towards psychotherapy guides online information search and whether the bias can be reduced by explicitly providing expert information (in a blog entry) and by providing tag clouds that implicitly reveal experts’ evaluations. Methods: A total of 174 participants completed a fully automated Web-based study after we invited them via mailing lists. First, participants read two blog posts by experts that either challenged or supported the bias towards psychotherapy. Subsequently, participants searched for information about depression treatment in an online environment that provided more experts’ blog posts about the effectiveness of treatments based on alleged research findings. These blogs were organized in a tag cloud; both psychotherapy tags and pharmacotherapy tags were popular. We measured tag and blog post selection, efficacy ratings of the presented treatments, and participants’ treatment recommendation after information search. Results: Participants demonstrated a clear bias towards psychotherapy (mean 4.53, SD 1.99) compared to pharmacotherapy (mean 2.73, SD 2.41; t173=7.67, P<.001, d=0.81) when rating treatment efficacy prior to the experiment. Accordingly, participants exhibited biased information search and evaluation. This bias was significantly reduced, however, when participants were exposed to tag clouds with challenging popular tags. Participants facing popular tags challenging their bias (n=61) showed significantly less biased tag selection (F2,168=10.61, P<.001, partial eta squared=0.112), blog post selection (F2,168=6.55, P=.002, partial eta squared=0.072), and treatment efficacy ratings (F2,168=8.48, P<.001, partial eta squared=0.092), compared to bias-supporting tag clouds (n=56) and balanced tag clouds (n=57). Challenging (n=93) explicit expert information as presented in blog posts, compared to supporting expert information (n=81), decreased the bias in information search with regard to blog post selection (F1,168=4.32, P=.04, partial eta squared=0.025). No significant effects were found for treatment recommendation (Ps>.33). Conclusions: We conclude that the psychotherapy bias is most effectively attenuated—and even eliminated—when popular tags implicitly point to blog posts that challenge the widespread view. Explicit expert information (in a blog entry) was less successful in reducing biased information search and evaluation. Since tag clouds have the potential to counter biased information processing, we recommend their insertion.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2019View details →

The wavelength-dependent complex refractive index of hygroscopic aerosol particles and other aqueous media: an effective oscillator model

Using cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of single, optically trapped droplets, we measure both the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index of NaCl, NaNO3,  (NH4)2SO4, MgSO4, citric acid and a 1:1 molar ratio NaCl:NaNO3 aqueous solutions at a range of water activities.

What is learned in approach-avoidance tasks? On the scope and generalizability of approach-avoidance effects

Previous research has shown that approaching a stimulus makes it more positive, while avoiding a stimulus makes it more negative. The present research demonstrates that approach-avoidance behaviors have the potential to charge stimulus attributes such as color with evaluative meaning. This evaluation carries over to other stimuli with that feature. We address the latter point by assessing the influence of colors that were approached or avoided on the perceived attractiveness of persons wearing those colors. We show that wearing a certain color makes people appear more attractive when this color is associated with approach rather than avoidance. In line with a self-perception account of these effects, we obtained approach-avoidance effects on stimulus attributes only when participants carried out approach-avoidance behaviors towards these colors or imagined doing so. This set of experiments adds to the evaluative learning literature by demonstrating approach-avoidance effects on stimulus attributes and that these effects carry over to new classes of stimuli and new tasks. Moreover, we systematically investigated boundary conditions for these effects. Finally, with this research we introduce an ontogenetic perspective to research into colors and their influence on psychological functioning.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2019View details →

Examining Solvent Effects on the Ultrafast Dynamics of Catechol

The underlying data for the paper "Examining Solvent Effects on the Ultrafast Dynamics of Catechol". This includes geometry optimizations and frequency calculations of catechol in implicit acetonitrile solvent, in an explicit solvent shell, and with two solvent molecules strategically placed. Further to this, it also contains calculated S0 and S1 energies of catechol with varied COH bond angles. Also included is TEAS data for catechol in acetonitrile at 5 mM and 75 mM concentrations, at pump wavelength 267 nm. All results are in delta mOD, all timescales are in ps, and all wavelengths are in nm. The scans labelled "short_scan" only have 4 time delays whereas those labelled "large_scan" contained enough to assemble a kinetic trace. The large scans only include data averaged around 450 nm probe wavelength. The scan labelled "normalised" represents six individual sets of scans spliced together and normalised via consecutive peaks. For more information on this see main body of work.

Annexes to the external scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have acute effects on the nervous system using MCRA software - Input and output data sets

Retrospective dietary exposure assessments were conducted for two groups of pesticides that have acute effects on the nervous system:  <ol> <li>brain and/or erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase inhibition (CAG-NAN);</li> <li>functional alterations of the motor division (CAG-NAM).</li> </ol> The pesticides considered in this assessment were identified and characterised in the scientific report on the establishment of cumulative assessment groups of pesticides for their effects on the nervous system (<a href="https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5800">here</a>). The exposure calculations used monitoring data collected by Member States under their official pesticide monitoring programmes in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and individual food consumption data from ten populations of consumers from different countries and from different age groups. Regarding the selection of relevant food commodities, the assessment included water, foods for infants and young children and 30 raw primary commodities of plant origin that are widely consumed within Europe. Exposure estimates were obtained with Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) software using a 2-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation, which is composed of an inner-loop execution and an outer-loop execution. Variability within the population is modelled through the inner-loop execution and is expressed as a percentile of the exposure distribution. The outer-loop execution is used to derive 95% confidence intervals around those percentiles (reflecting the sampling uncertainty of the input data). Furthermore, calculations were carried out according to a tiered approach. While the first-tier calculations (Tier I) use very conservative assumptions for an efficient screening of the exposure with low risk for underestimation, the second-tier assessment (Tier II) includes assumptions that are more refined but still conservative. For each scenario, exposure estimates were obtained for different percentiles of the exposure distribution and the total margin of exposure (MOET, i.e. the ratio of the toxicological reference dose to the estimated exposure) was calculated at each percentile. The input and output data for the exposure assessment are reported in the following annexes: <ul> <li>Annex A.1 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-NAN</li> <li>Annex A.2 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-NAM</li> <li>Annex B.1 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-NAN</li> <li>Annex B.2 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-NAM</li> </ul> Further information on the data, methodologies and interpretation of the results are provided in the external scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have acute effects on the nervous system using MCRA software (<a href="https://doi.org/10.2903/sp.efsa.2019.en-1708">here</a>). The results reported in this assessment only refer to the exposure and are not an estimation of the actual risks. These exposure estimates should therefore be considered as documentation for the final scientific report on the cumulative risk assessment of dietary exposure to pesticides for their effects on the nervous system (<a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/public-consultation-scientific-report-cumulative">here</a>). The latter combines the hazard assessment and exposure assessment into a consolidated risk characterisation, including all related uncertainties.

Annexes to the external scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid using MCRA software - Input and output data sets

Retrospective dietary exposure assessments were conducted for two groups of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid:  <ol> <li>hypertrophy, hyperplasia and neoplasia of C-cells, i.e. affecting the parafollicular cells or the calcitonin system of the thyroid (CAG-TCP);</li> <li>hypothyroidism, i.e. affecting the follicular cells and/or the hormone system of the thyroid (CAG-TCF).</li> </ol> The pesticides considered in this assessment were identified and characterised in the scientific report on the establishment of cumulative assessment groups of pesticides for their effects on the thyroid (<a href="https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5801">here</a>). The exposure calculations used monitoring data collected by Member States under their official pesticide monitoring programmes in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and individual food consumption data from ten populations of consumers from different countries and from different age groups. Regarding the selection of relevant food commodities, the assessment included water, foods for infants and young children and 30 raw primary commodities of plant origin that are widely consumed within Europe. Exposure estimates were obtained with Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) software using a 2-dimensional probabilistic method, which is composed of an inner-loop execution and an outer-loop execution. Variability within the population is modelled through the inner-loop execution and is expressed as a percentile of the exposure distribution. The outer-loop execution is used to derive 95% confidence intervals around those percentiles (reflecting the sampling uncertainty of the input data). Furthermore, calculations were carried out according to a tiered approach. While the first-tier calculations (Tier I) use very conservative assumptions for an efficient screening of the exposure with low risk for underestimation, the second-tier assessment (Tier II) includes assumptions that are more refined but still conservative. For each scenario, exposure estimates were obtained for different percentiles of the exposure distribution and the total margin of exposure (MOET, i.e. the ratio of the toxicological reference dose to the estimated exposure) was calculated at each percentile. The input and output data for the exposure assessment are reported in the following annexes: <ul> <li>Annex A.1 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-TCP</li> <li>Annex A.2 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-TCF</li> <li>Annex B.1 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-TCP</li> <li>Annex B.2 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-TCF</li> </ul> Further information on the data, methodologies and interpretation of the results are provided in the external scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid using MCRA software (<a href="https://doi.org/10.2903/sp.efsa.2019.en-1707">here</a>). The results reported in this assessment only refer to the exposure and are not an estimation of the actual risks. These exposure estimates should therefore be considered as documentation for the final scientific report on the cumulative risk assessment of dietary exposure to pesticides for their effects on the thyroid (<a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/public-consultation-scientific-report-cumulative">here</a>). The latter combines the hazard assessment and exposure assessment into a consolidated risk characterisation, including all related uncertainties.

Annexes to the scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid using SAS® software - Input and output data sets

Retrospective dietary exposure assessments were conducted for two groups of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid:  <ol> <li>hypertrophy, hyperplasia and neoplasia of C-cells, i.e. affecting the parafollicular cells or the calcitonin system of the thyroid (CAG-TCP);</li> <li>hypothyroidism, i.e. affecting the follicular cells and/or the hormone system of the thyroid (CAG-TCF).</li> </ol> The pesticides considered in this assessment were identified and characterised in the scientific report on the establishment of cumulative assessment groups of pesticides for their effects on the thyroid (<a href="https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5801">here</a>). The exposure calculations used monitoring data collected by Member States under their official pesticide monitoring programmes in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and individual food consumption data from ten populations of consumers from different countries and from different age groups. Regarding the selection of relevant food commodities, the assessment included water, foods for infants and young children and 30 raw primary commodities of plant origin that are widely consumed within Europe. Exposure estimates were obtained with SAS® software using a 2-dimensional probabilistic method, which is composed of an inner-loop execution and an outer-loop execution. Variability within the population is modelled through the inner-loop execution and is expressed as a percentile of the exposure distribution. The outer-loop execution is used to derive 95% confidence intervals around those percentiles (reflecting the sampling uncertainty of the input data). Furthermore, calculations were carried out according to a tiered approach. While the first-tier calculations (Tier I) use very conservative assumptions for an efficient screening of the exposure with low risk for underestimation, the second-tier assessment (Tier II) includes assumptions that are more refined but still conservative. For each scenario, exposure estimates were obtained for different percentiles of the exposure distribution and the total margin of exposure (MOET, i.e. the ratio of the toxicological reference dose to the estimated exposure) was calculated at each percentile. The input and output data for the exposure assessment are reported in the following annexes: <ul> <li>Annex A.1 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-TCP</li> <li>Annex A.2 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-TCF</li> <li>Annex B.1 – Output data from the Tier I exposure assessment of CAG-TCP</li> <li>Annex B.2 – Output data from the Tier I exposure assessment of CAG-TCF</li> <li>Annex C.1 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-TCP</li> <li>Annex C.2 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-TCF</li> </ul> Further information on the data, methodologies and interpretation of the results are provided in the scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid using SAS® software (<a href="https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5763">here</a>). The results reported in this assessment only refer to the exposure and are not an estimation of the actual risks. These exposure estimates should therefore be considered as documentation for the final scientific report on the cumulative risk assessment of dietary exposure to pesticides for their effects on the thyroid (<a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/public-consultation-scientific-report-cumulative">here</a>). The latter combines the hazard assessment and exposure assessment into a consolidated risk characterisation, including all related uncertainties.

Annexes to the scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have acute effects on the nervous system using SAS® software - Input and output data sets

Retrospective dietary exposure assessments were conducted for two groups of pesticides that have acute effects on the nervous system:  <ol> <li>brain and/or erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase inhibition (CAG-NAN);</li> <li>functional alterations of the motor division (CAG-NAM).</li> </ol> The pesticides considered in this assessment were identified and characterised in the scientific report on the establishment of cumulative assessment groups of pesticides for their effects on the nervous system (<a href="https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5800">here</a>). The exposure calculations used monitoring data collected by Member States under their official pesticide monitoring programmes in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and individual food consumption data from ten populations of consumers from different countries and from different age groups. Regarding the selection of relevant food commodities, the assessment included water, foods for infants and young children and 30 raw primary commodities of plant origin that are widely consumed within Europe. Exposure estimates were obtained with SAS® software using a 2-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation, which is composed of an inner-loop execution and an outer-loop execution. Variability within the population is modelled through the inner-loop execution and is expressed as a percentile of the exposure distribution. The outer-loop execution is used to derive 95% confidence intervals around those percentiles (reflecting the sampling uncertainty of the input data). Furthermore, calculations were carried out according to a tiered approach. While the first-tier calculations (Tier I) use very conservative assumptions for an efficient screening of the exposure with low risk for underestimation, the second-tier assessment (Tier II) includes assumptions that are more refined but still conservative. For each scenario, exposure estimates were obtained for different percentiles of the exposure distribution and the total margin of exposure (MOET, i.e. the ratio of the toxicological reference dose to the estimated exposure) was calculated at each percentile. The input and output data for the exposure assessment are reported in the following annexes: <ul> <li>Annex A.1 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-NAN</li> <li>Annex A.2 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-NAM</li> <li>Annex B.1 – Output data from the Tier I exposure assessment of CAG-NAN</li> <li>Annex B.2 – Output data from the Tier I exposure assessment of CAG-NAM</li> <li>Annex C.1 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-NAN</li> <li>Annex C.2 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-NAM</li> </ul> Further information on the data, methodologies and interpretation of the results are provided in the scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have acute effects on the nervous system using SAS® software (<a href="https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5764">here</a>). The results reported in this assessment only refer to the exposure and are not an estimation of the actual risks. These exposure estimates should therefore be considered as documentation for the final scientific report on the cumulative risk assessment of dietary exposure to pesticides for their effects on the nervous system (<a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/public-consultation-scientific-report-cumulative">here</a>). The latter combines the hazard assessment and exposure assessment into a consolidated risk characterisation, including all related uncertainties.

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2019View details →

PERCEIVE. WP3_ T3-1_ Communication strategies effectiveness in the context of EU Cohesion Policy - Romanian case study – Sud Est NUTS II region

This dataset contains data related to the papers: Tudor MM, Florian V, (2018) "Impactul și eficacitatea strategiilor de comunicare în contextul politicii de coeziune a Uniunii Europene. Studiu de caz - România", published in proceedings of "Economia agroalimentară și dezvoltarea rurală din perspectiva integrării europene". The dataset was built collecting data from the dataset “PERCEIVE. WP1. Framework for comparative analysis of the perception of Cohesion Policy and identification with the European Union at citizen level in different European countries. Task1.2. Focus group with Cohesion Policy practitioners” (focus groups and other interviews) (<a href="http://amsacta.unibo.it/6215/">http://amsacta.unibo.it/6215/</a>). Data used in the above-mentioned paper regarding the Section II from the Focus Group protocol and is related with Romanian PERCEIVE case-study region – Sud EST (RO22).

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2019View details →

Data for the publication "Rare Earth Elements in oyster shells: provenance discrimination and potential vital effects"

Rare Earth Elements (REE) and yttrium measurements from modern and archaeological oyster shells collected by LA-ICP-MS. This dataset is used in the publication 'Rare Earth Elements in oyster shells: provenance discrimination and potential vital effects'.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2019View details →

Effect of biological colonization on ceramic roofing tiles by lichens and a combined laser and biocide procedure for its removal

Biodeterioration damage is an important issue in conservation and restoration of built heritage, especially when ceramic materials are used. Biological colonization of ceramic roofing tiles by lichens is a common phenomenon. However, there are no reports to date of lichens removal from unglazed roofing tiles for conservation purposes. This paper for the first time reveals the results of a combined procedure undertaken to assess the removal of lichens on different kinds of unglazed ceramic roofing tiles by treatments based on both dual sequential laser irradiation and treatment using Acticide® CF biocide. Three species of lichens were identified: Verrucaria nigrescens, Calogaya decipiens and Pyrenodesmia teicholyta. The chemical and mineralogical composition of roofing tiles were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, optical polarized petrographic microscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Laser irradiation was accomplished by applying sequences of nanosecond laser pulses at two wavelengths (1064 and 266 nm). After dual sequential laser irradiation a biocide was applied. To assess the combined effect of both treatments several techniques were used, including stereo and fluorescence (FM) microscopies, scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopies, and FT-Raman spectroscopy. Chemical composition of the analyzed roofing tiles was shown as a relevant factor regarding the degree of interaction between the biological colonization and the substrate, and hence, the bioweathering effect. The combined procedure has proved to be very effective in damaging and mostly collapsing the lichen thalli without altering the substrate.