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Harmonization of Transcontinental Allometric Models of Tree and Forest Stand Biomass on the Territory of Eurasia in the New Lighting

For the first time in Russian literature the problem of harmonizing allometric models of forest biomass components (stem, branches, foliage, roots) on the levels of tree and forest stand by means of ensuring the principle of their additivity has been solved. Allometric models are designed using two unique volume of the databases on harvest biomass of two-needled pines (subgenus Pinus L. involving 86% of Pinus sylvestris L. data) on the levels of sample trees (2080 determinations) and forest stands (2450 determinations) growing within their natural habitats in Eurasia. The principle of additivity implies that the sum of biomass values obtained by component equations should be equal to the value of total biomass obtained by the general equation for total biomass. When using binary variable designating natural forests and plantations, additive systems of biomass component relations, as transcontinental three-step models of proportional weighting are designed. On their basis the corresponding taxation tables of the biomass component composition involving basic mass-determining inputs are suggested. In contrast to aggregating method of designing the additive model according to the principle “from particular - to general”, an alternative, disaggregating three-step method is applied when using another principle “from general - to particular”. The proposed models and corresponding biomass tables make it possible to estimate tree (kg) and stand (t/ha) biomass of Pinus forests on the Eurasian area as the first approximations when using traditional taxation. Because such transcontinental models and tables may have biases in local conditions for their application, in the next stage of this research more detailed, regional forest biomass models and tables through the “splitting” proposed here, common models into regional ones using the blocks of dummy variables will be developed.

V. A. Usoltsev, S. O. R. Shobairi and V.P. Chasovskikh

Distribution of Soil Water, Salt and Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) Under Two-Point-Source Trickle Irrigation with Sewage Water

Laboratory two-point-source overlap sewage trickle irrigation experiments were conducted to assess the effects of sewage irrigation rates on soil water repellency, water movement and salt transport. Four flow rates, i.e. 1.08, 2.17, 5.0 and 10.0 mL·min-1 were calibrated and applied to three typical soil types. The characteristics, including soil water repellency, wetting patterns and soil salt content distributions were analysed. The results showed that: (1) After short-term (shorter than half a day) sewage irrigation and redistribution, water drop penetration time (WDPT) increased evidently. WDPT increments were the smallest for sand, but the most significant for saline-alkali soil. The larger the flow rates, the longer the WDPTs. (2) The wetting fronts for sand and Lou soils were both smooth, but irregular for saline-alkali soil. Discharge rates of 5 to 10 mL·min-1 was suitable irrigation rates for sand and Lou soils. Low application rate (i.e., 1.08 mL·min-1 or smaller) was recommended for saline-alkali soil. Power functions were good for quantifying the relationship of horizontal and vertical wetting fronts with respect to time. (3) The distributions of soil salt content and WDPT in horizontal and vertical planes were highly consistent with those of soil water content. Saline-alkali soil with low salt content was found more hydrophobic. In conclusion, short-term sewage trickle irrigation affected distribution of soil water, soil salt and WDPT.

Yi Li and Xianze Liu

Hydrological Modelling and Climate Change Impact Assessment Using HBV Light Model: A Case Study of Narayani River Basin, Nepal

In this study, a semi-distributed conceptual hydrological model “HBV-Light” is applied to one of the snow fed basins “Narayani River Basin” in Nepal to estimate runoff at several gauging stations and to analyse the changes in catchment hydrology and future flood magnitude due to climate change. The model was calibrated for the period 1995-2005 and validated for the period 2006-2008 with satisfactory results producing values of Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient between 75.2% and 82.6% during calibration and 56.3% and 87.2% during validation for all the four sub-basins. The value of coefficient of determination (R2) during calibration is between 0.789 and 0.844 and during validation is between 0.629 and 0.893. Due to the structural complexity, the model underestimates the low flows, whereas the peaks were correctly estimated except for some sharp peaks due to isolated precipitation events. Further, the volumetric error during the calibration period is acceptable. Contribution of snowmelt to annual, summer (March-July, MAMJJ) and winter (November-February, NDJF) runoff at the final outlet gauging station (Narayani River at Narayanghat) is 15.72% (avg.), 26.22% (maximum in year 2002) and 0.42% (minimum in year 1996) respectively. Sensitivity analysis (increased temperature) indicates that global warming leading to increase in average basin temperature will significantly lead to higher contributions to runoff from snowmelt. The model simulates an overall increase in monthly stream flow from January to June (34% to 51%) and November-December (10% to 15%) with the output of HADCM3 GCM, A1B scenario.

Santosh Bhattarai, Yihong Zhou, Narendra Man Shakya and Chunju Zhao

Prevalence of Elevated Blood Lead Level in Children of India

Children are most susceptible to lead exposure. The most common lead exposure sources for children are leaded paint, leaded gasoline, lead-acid batteries, drinking water, food and toys, which should be considered for regular monitoring. Exposure to lead during pregnancy and blood lead levels (BLLs) in early childhood have also been associated with lead toxicity and lead associated adverse cognitive effects in children. Overall 47% children in India have elevated BLL (³10µg/dL) and more than half of the children residing in metropolitan cities as well as in rural areas. The discrepancy in the mean distribution of elevated BLL in children was found. Prevalence of elevated BLL in children was also discrete. The low value of BLL (<5µg/dL) showed lead toxicity and longtime accumulation effect, which are associated with impaired intelligent quotient (IQ) of children. It is an alarming stage for the policy makers and health practitioners to monitor the BLL in regional and local areas of the country and find out the risk factors which are responsible for the elevation of BLL in children. Mass screening of elevated BLL in children is required by opting lower cut-off value of BLL (³5µg/dL) to reduce its longer effect on neurobehavioural function. Awareness camps for general population regarding lead exposure and its adverse effects on children are also frequently needed to minimize the use of lead.

Afsha Parween, Mohammad Mustufa Khan†, Tarun Upadhyay and Rajya Vardhan Tripathi

Biodiesel from Non-Edible Vegetable Oils: A Review on Engine Performance and Emission Characteristics

The demand of mineral diesel is increasing day by day due to more use of diesel engines in different sectors. The exhaust emission of diesel engines is a major source of air pollution. The source of mineral diesel is also limited and will be exhausted within some years if it is used at current rate. At present, one of the alternatives of mineral diesel is biodiesel, which is obtained from renewable sources like vegetable oil, animal fat, etc., by trans-esterification process. Presently non-edible vegetable oils are preferred for biodiesel production to avoid the food crisis. There are several non-edible oil plants available in nature which contain sufficient amount of oil and can be used as feedstock for biodiesel. This paper provides an overview regarding the source of different potential non-edible vegetable oils, methods of reduction of viscosity, engine performance, combustion characteristics and emission characteristics of different types of biodiesel. The performance of blended biodiesel, salient features and challenges of biodiesel are also studied.

N. Acharya, P. Nanda, S. Panda and S. Acharya

Characteristics of Bacterial Communities in Shallow and Thin Heavy Oil Reservoir

Revealing the characteristics of microorganisms that inhabit oil reservoirs is important in the effective application of microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) technique. Plenty of studies have been conducted to discover microbial communities in light oil reservoirs, but investigations on the characteristics of bacterial communities in shallow and thin heavy oil reservoirs are limited. The aim of this study is to investigate bacterial communities in shallow and thin heavy oil reservoir, an oilfield in Henan (China) was taken as an example, and the 16S rDNA clone library approach was adopted to analyze the composition, abundance, and distribution of bacterial communities. A total of 682 sequences obtained from the four clone libraries were assigned to 84 operational taxonomic units (OTU) and 11 bacterial groups were identified in the oil reservoir. Results demonstrate the following: (1) The heavy oil reservoir has low bacterial diversity. (2) Differences exist in the bacterial community structures of the clone libraries. (3) The distribution of bacterial communities is consistent with the temperature, salinity, and oil properties of the oil reservoir. The findings of this study can provide basic theoretical guidance for the application of MEOR in shallow and thin heavy oil reservoirs.

Lujun Chai, Yuehui She, Ibrahim M. Banat and Xianqing Li

Experimental Study on Tensile Properties and Reinforcement Ability of Plant Roots

Plant roots have considerable impact on the soil shear resistance. To fully understand the mechanics of how plant roots reinforce soil stability, controlled laboratory test has been conducted on five kinds of pioneer plants that are generally applied to land restoration works. It aims to improve understanding of tensile material behaviour of roots, and proposes a more accurate procedure to calculate the effect of soil reinforcement. We selected five representative species (Alfalfa, Cynodon dactylon, Vetiver grass, Ryegrass and Indigofera amblyantha) of the ecological restoration projects as the pioneer plants of gentle slope in Mount Cuiping to examine these effects. Results of tensile tests showed that the differences of root tensile strength were significant among five species, and root tensile strength was mainly affected by several factors, such as shape, diameter, moisture and age. Curves of root tensile deformation displayed the whole process root endure under tensile stress. Combined with characters of strength and deformation, an evaluation model of soil reinforcement proposed in this paper was proved to be more rational by contrast test.

Lun Zhang, ZhenyaoXia, ZhengjunZhou, DaxiangLiu, WennianXu, Mingyi Li, TianqiLi and Bingqin Zhao

Assessment of Eco-environmental Quality on Land Use and Land Cover Changes Using Remote Sensing and GIS: A Case Study of Miyun County

The eco-environment in Miyun Reservoir in Beijing city has received more attention as the main surface source of the drinking water natural ecological zone for the capital of China. Meanwhile, the changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are a major cause of eco-environmental changes and represent an important part of the global change affecting the environmental quality. Therefore, in this paper, taking the Miyun county as the evaluation unit, supported by RS (remote sensing) and GIS (geographical information system), the spatio-temporal changes of land use from 2003 to 2013 were analyzed with the Landsat TM (OLI) images, and then several synthetic evaluation indices were set up including, natural condition, environmental pollution, geologic hazard and local social economy factors. Combining AHP methods with GIS, the regional environmental evaluation model was established and eco-environmental quality was evaluated. The results showed that the areas of cropland, forestland and water body increased, with the annual change rate of 3.2%, 2.27% and 0.89% respectively. While the annual change rate of grassland, unused land, and built-up land decreased by (-) 5.35%, (-) 3.96% and (-) 1.04%, respectively. In 2003, the medium level area occupied the most, followed by the light level area, which was 899.90 and 823.73km2, respectively. However, in 2013, light level dominated the position of the study region, the potential level occupied the subordinate position, with the area ratio of 48.57% and 28.59%, respectively. The sum area of potential and the light level area increased from 46.64% in 2003 to 76.52% in 2013, which indicated that the study region maintained a better grade of the eco-environmental quality. During the past decade, the regional eco-environmental quality has been transferred from worse status to better status, especially in hilly region, due to the implementation of eco-environmental protection measures, such as the Grain for Green and Natural Forest Protection since 1998.

Xiaofeng Wang, Wenfeng Gong, Xinfeng Huang, Tao Liu, Ying Zhou and Heng Li

Laboratory and Field Evaluation of Solubility Control of Aluminium During Al-Bearing Acid Rock Discharge Treatment

Potential control of soluble aluminium in Al-bearing acidic discharge neutralization by formation of precipitates other than Al(OH)3 was studied. At pH around 5.5, precipitates formed in field and laboratory showed that Al-solids contained sulfate and silicon. Although the soluble aluminium concentration do not match each of the solubility of species of Al-precipitates, the reason that soluble aluminium concentrations were less than solubility of amorphous Al(OH)3 was due to the formation of Al-sulfate. The laboratory experiments of synthetic ARD showed that basaluminite was formed and this was the reason that soluble Al concentration became less than the solubility of amorphous Al(OH)3. The change of sulphur contents in the sludge with pH revealed that more Al-sulfate (basaluminite) was formed at high pH (~8.3). The atomic ratio of Al/OH at different pH values suggested that the sludge formed at neutral pH conditions contained the most proportion of Al(OH)3. The formation of these precipitates provides a possible mechanistic explanation for the decrease of soluble Al concentration in neutralization of ARD.

Xunchi Pu, Ran Li, Kefeng Li and Ruifeng Liang

Analysis of Heavy Metals in the Human Hair to Establish the E-waste Toxicity Among the Filipino Informal Recyclers Located at Various E-waste Dumpsites in and Around Manila, Philippines

The landfill areas of Tondo and Payatas located at the outskirts of Metro Manila are used for the dumping and dismantling of e-waste in the Philippines. The dismantling of e-waste by informal recyclers causes the leaching out of harmful substances such as heavy metals thereby contaminating the environment and the human population living in close proximity to e-waste landfills. This study was done to assess the contamination status by measuring the heavy metals in the hair of informal recyclers compared to heavy metal levels in the control group. Hair samples were collected and analysed using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Ten heavy metals were considered including essential minerals, Zn, Mg, K, Fe, Mn as well as Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb and Ni (toxic metals related to e-waste). The preliminary investigations establish the presence of heavy metals in the hair samples of e-waste recyclers, which confirms the absorption of heavy metals from e-waste into the body. The concentrations of metals (copper, lead and potassium) were significantly higher in the hair samples of the informal recyclers than the control group. Pb was significantly higher than the permissible limits in recyclers from the Payatas dumpsite and Cu, Ni and Cd were significantly higher than the permissible limits in recyclers from the Tondo dumpsite. The results prove that human scalp hair can be used as biomarker to assess the extent of heavy metal exposure to informal recyclers engaged in e-waste recycling activities.

Zeba F. Alam, Carlos Leandro J. Ang and Isabella V. Bondoc

Invasiveness and Colonizing Ability of Ipomoea carnea Jacq. and Attempts at its Management

Ipomoea carnea Jacq., also called Ipomoea fistulosa, is among the world’s 100 most invasive weeds. Its ability to grow explosively on land as well as in wetlands gives it a unique competitive advantage over other major weeds like Lantana, Prosopis and water hyacinth, which are either aquatic or terrestrial. This paper presents an overview of the invasiveness and colonizing ability of Ipomoea in the context of the its attributes that facilitate its spread. The manner in which Ipomoea infestation harms the environmental health is also described. The numerous ways that have been explored to utilize Ipomoea have been enumerated. In the context of the inadequacy of these attempts, an emerging technology, which promises to solve the Ipomoea problem, is described.

M. Rafiq Kumar, Tasneem Abbasi and S. A. Abbasi

Environmental Pollution Hazards of Urban Construction Wastes and Related Resource Recycling Measures: A Case Study in Central China

Urban construction production increases significantly in China because of the continuous speed and large scale of urbanization. Accordingly, environmental pollution caused by construction waste intensifies. With the growing significance of ecological civilization construction, urban development projects are under pressure to apply energy-saving and environmentally friendly methods. Recycling of construction waste resources can effectively reduce the environmental pollution of such wastes, thereby achieving sustainable urban development. To further analyse environmental pollution hazards caused by urban construction wastes, construction waste resource recycling measures were proposed. A case study based on central China was conducted and extensive studies on construction waste recycling in the context of developed territories (Europe and America) were reviewed. Environmental pollution damage caused by urban construction wastes was also identified. Then, the environmental pollution status generated by urban construction wastes was analysed and the causes of urban waste recycling barriers were summarized. Finally, measures for urban construction waste recycling were proposed. Results show that America, Japan, and Germany have achieved high construction waste recycling rates. Environmental pollution hazards from urban construction waste are manifested by large-scale occupation of land resources, resulting in intensifying domestic water, soil, and air pollution. High waste production and low comprehensive utilization rate of construction waste caused by urban construction scale are two aspects of current urban construction waste pollution. The main causes of the low recycling rate of urban construction wastes involve a lack of supporting laws and regulations as well as industrial policies, low market shares of construction-waste recycling products, poor coordination of key nodes in the industrial chain, and low benefits of recycling products. Research conclusions provide good references for improving the overall development level of urban construction recycling, facilitating continuous development of construction waste recycling industrialization, and formulating construction waste recycling policies and development plans in other regions in China.

Pengwei Yue

Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle Assessment of Fresh and Processed Pineapple in the Philippines

In this work, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment is conducted in order to assess the impact of pineapple production in the Philippines to the people and the environment, determine the predominant challenges of all pineapple growers and processors and identify opportunities for further improvement. The cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment includes the analysis of non-renewable energy use (NRE), carbon footprint, acidification potential, ozone creation potential, blue water and total water footprint of pineapple farming, processing, and packaging. With the use of 1 serving of fruit as a functional unit, processed pineapple has the higher NRE and carbon footprint as compared with fresh pineapple and other fruits like fresh apple and orange. Pineapple farming demands less water and the good tropical conditions of the Philippines negates the need for more irrigation. Processed pineapple demands more water than fresh pineapple because of the amount of water required in washing and other manufacturing processes involved. The current manufacturing process has the greatest environmental impact because of the use of bunker fuel. The distance from farm to processing also contribute to the increase in consumption of diesel and the inefficiency in the introduction of fertilizer can increase carbon emission.

Rocky Marius Q. de Ramos and Evelyn B. Taboada

Effects of Manganese Soaking and Gibberellins Spraying on Wheat Photosynthetic Characteristics and Yield

Manganese is required for wheat growth, as it is directly involved in several aspects of photosynthesis; however, manganese content varies widely in agricultural soil. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of varying levels of manganese in wheat, and to quantify the suitable concentration of manganese under which a high yield of wheat could be obtained. The experiment consisted of manganese seed treatments (seed soaking, with four different concentrations and seed dressing) and spraying with gibberellin (four different concentrations) during the flowering stage. During the wheat growth period, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic parameters, and output were determined. Our results revealed that seed treatment with manganese, in combination with spraying gibberellin during the flowering stage significantly enhanced the photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll content in wheat, and resulted in an increase of wheat grain yield by 168%. The seed treatment with manganese application only increased yield by 88.75%. Seed treatment can also affect the late growth of wheat, improve the photosynthetic parameters and chlorophyll content, and improve the wheat yield. In calcareous soil in the northwest of China, moderate application of manganese fertilizer or a moderate amount of manganese pollution is beneficial to wheat production. On the basis of the above results, wheat could be used as an alternative crop when some manganese pollution exists in soil.

Li Chun-xia, Meng Xiang-ping, Guo Hai-yan, Ding Rui-xia, Yang Bao-ping, Han Qing-fang and Jia Zhi-kuan

Rare Earth Element Trace Method and its Application in Study of Soil Erosion

Soil erosion continues to be one of the world’s biggest environmental problems. The information on erosion process, the spatially-distributed erosion and deposition is the key to develop soil erosion prediction models that can provide a scientific basis for soil and water conservation planning. However, conventional erosion monitoring techniques did not provide enough such information. Numerous trace materials have been applied in recent decades and been successfully utilized in soil erosion research and rare earth elements (REEs) were considered as ideal tracer materials due to their special properties. The development and improvement process of REE trace method is summarized briefly in this paper. The applications of REE trace method in studying the erosion process and the spatial distribution of erosion and deposition from slope and watershed are systematically reviewed; and its application in revealing soil erosion mechanism is also overviewed. The systematic review on REE trace method in this paper could provide scientific references for understanding the REE trace method and extending its application in wider research areas.

Li Mingyi, Xiao Hai, Xia Zhenyao, Xu Wennian, Yang Yueshu, Liu Daxiang, Xia Dong and Ding Yu

High Calorific Value Fuel from Pyrolysis of Waste De-Oiled Seed Cakes

The focus of this paper is to produce high calorific value fuel from mahua and neem de-oiled seed cakes. The proximate and ultimate analysis reveal that the high volatile matter, less sulphur and ash content makes it suitable for producing high calorific fuel. TGA analysis reveals that the operating pyrolysis temperature range is 160-530°C. The maximum yield of bio-oil was 42.6 and 38.6%, at the temperature of 450°C and 500°C, whereas the maximum biochar yield was 40.1% and 43.8% at the temperature of 350°C for mahua and neem de-oiled seed cakes respectively, with the heating rate of 20°C/min. The biochar which is made of mainly carbon also finds many applications in industries, agriculture, etc. The chemical properties of bio-oil were similar to the other bio-oils. The bio-oils find many applications due to its advantages of storage, transportation, etc.

H. V. Mulimani and M. C. Navindgi

Soil Fungal Diversity in Turfgrass Ecosystems of Northwest China Using Illumina Sequencing of the ITS Region

Many studies have been carried out to assess the effects of plants on soil microorganism communities in different environments. However, little is known about fungal diversity in turfgrass soil ecosystems. Therefore, in the present study the fungal diversity of turfgrass soil collected from northwest China was studied by high-throughput sequencing technique. A total of 215,321 high-quality 18S rRNA gene sequences were recovered from the five samples. The lengths of high-quality sequence mainly ranged from 180~240 bases. A total of 8 phyla were identified in the samples via taxonomic summary, with the following five being dominant: Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Glomeromycota, Zygomycota, and Rozellomycota. Numerous fungal genera were identified in the sample, and the dominant genera were Cryptococcus, Modicella, Alternaria, Guehomyces, Phoma and others. The results of diversity analysis showed that season and turfgrass species have more impact on soil fungal diversity, while soil depths may result in little difference of soil fungal diversity. The fungal communities differed significantly across the samples. This study provides previously unknown information regarding the impact of turfgrass establishment on microbial diversity in turfgrass soil and also lays a foundation for further investigations into microbiota in turfgrass ecosystems.

Yan Zhu, Tuo Yao, Weibing Zhang, Lei Cao, Qiaoqiao Luo, Jiang Ma, Pengcheng Wen and Zhongmin Zhang

Estimation of Output of Civil Engineering Construction Wastes and Resource Utilization – Taking Henan Province in China as an Example

The large-scale construction of civil engineering buildings has brought significant development in the building industry, but increased the amount of construction waste. The enormous amount of civil engineering construction waste poses tremendous threats to the ecological environment and social development. Vigorously promoting the resource utilization of construction waste is the most fundamental and effective path to solve the construction waste problem. This study aims to further analyse civil engineering construction waste and propose corresponding effective resource utilization countermeasures. Henan Province of China was taken as an example, the deficiencies in the pollution management of civil engineering construction waste were first analysed. The total outputs of construction waste in Henan Province from 2017 to 2020 were predicted using the gray prediction model [GM (1,1)]. Results indicate that ineffective management of waste sources, difficulty in implementing the management system, and outmoded execution of management are concrete manifestations of inefficiencies in the aspect of civil engineering construction waste management. The GM (1,1) model can accurately predict the building construction area. The annual output of construction waste from 2017 to 2020 presents an overall steady growth trend with a large increase in amplitude, and the average annual growth rate is 14.45%. The resource utilization countermeasures of civil engineering construction waste include strengthening the establishment of laws, regulations, and standards, defining the responsibilities of multiple parties, such as government and enterprises, innovating policy mechanism for waste disposal, promoting the application of regenerated products, and perfecting fiscal and monetary policies. This work provides important reference values for strengthening the management of the disposal of wastes generated by civil engineering construction, promoting resource utilization, reducing construction wastes, reducing environmental pollution, saving the land, improving urban building environment and people’s living environment, and increasing the regeneration and utilization efficiency of construction wastes.

Hai Qiang Miao

Research on Water Source Security Evaluation of Dahuofang Reservoir Based on Pressure-State-Response Model, China

n accordance with the characteristics of water source, this study analysed its influencing factors. Pressure-state-response (PSR) model for drinking water source security was proposed. The security evaluation system with three levels was established based on the model; the indicator weights were determined by analytic hierarchy process. The five-grade assessment standard was adopted, and according to the choice principle of the indicator, 14 indicators were selected. Each grade range of every indicator was determined, and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method applied to evaluate the security grade of criterion layer and the whole system. The evaluation results indicated that drinking water source security grade of Dahuofang reservoir was “high” level, but very close to the “medium” level. The corresponding protective measures for water source were put forward.

Lingling Ma, Linfei Zhou, Tinging Zhang and Tieliang Wang

Disentangling the Effects of Biotic and Abiotic Factors on Leaf Functional Traits of Understory Species in a Deciduous Broad-Leaved Forest in China

Plant trait patterns contribute to understanding the process of community assembly. Using a trait-based method, recent studies have found that, both the spatial component and abiotic environment filtering drives community structuring. However, the community abiotic environment may be influenced by overstory community and species composition, and it is not enough to disentangle the environment filters only considering abiotic factors. In this paper, leaf size and SLA of 11 understory species were measured, and variation portioning was used to explore the explanation power of spatial process, three topographic variables and seven biotic factors describing the overstory community. The results indicated spatial structure, topography and overstory characters contribute to the leaf variation, and biotic environment have significant effects on leaf trait variations. We concluded that community structure and species composition play important roles in community trait patterns, and biotic filtering should be considered in future trait-based studies.

Zhigao Wang, Renyan Duan and Ganlin Wu

Using the Characteristics of River Confluence to Reduce the Negative Impact of Supersaturated Total Dissolved Gas (TDG)

Total dissolved gas (TDG) can be easily induced in high dams spilling. It will create adverse effects for fishes. Generally, the hydropower stations built on the embranchment are smaller and the supersaturation of TDG is much lower than the main stream. According to this, a separated region at the confluence, which will become the refuge for fish to survive the supersaturated TDG, can be formed with lower TDG concentration under appropriate structural measures. In this study, a numerical simulation is established to the simulation region which is 5 km downstream the river from discharge structures. Under the condition of tunnel-spillway flood discharging in a hydropower station, the study especially focuses on the hydraulic characteristics and distribution of supersaturated TDG at the confluence. Coupled with the simulation on hydrodynamics, the distribution of TDG under different structural measure conditions are simulated, including setting up longitudinal embankments and water-blocking piles. At last, considering the feeding ground hydraulic requirements of the fish, which is paid significant attention, the study analyses the effectiveness of the refuge region created before. The result shows that the case with 2 water-blocking piles and longitudinal embankments of 200 m length can effectively increase the area of the refuge for fish to avoid the adverse effects of TDG supersaturation. Besides, the simulation of adopting sturctural measures can satisfy the hydraulic conditions of the concerned fish as well. This study provides new directions and references to construct shelter for fishes against the detrimental effects of supersaturated TDG.

Mao Yingzhu, Wan Hang, Feng Jingjie and Li Ran

Low Cost Cathode Performance of Microbial Fuel Cell for Treating Food Wastewater

Aluminium mesh is a cheap option for oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), but there is a need for improving its power production and longevity. This study showed the effect of aluminium mesh as cathode in a MFC system for wastewater derived from food sources. Maximum dissolved solutes removal was around 58%, which was initially 570±20 mg/L and decreased to 360±5 mg/L within ten days of operation. Open circuit voltage (OCV) was around 520 ± 30 mV and decreased in the next five days of operation. Graphene (active surface area of 8.5 cm2) was used as the anode owing to its good conductivity; reactor housing was an inexpensive polyethylene terephthalate (PET) system. These results show that aluminium mesh can be a simple and effective material to improve cathode performance. Power density calculations have been normalized by the anode surface area, further improvement in performance would be a key to low cost MFC markets.

Debajyoti Bose, Caneon Kurien, Abhishek Sharma, Sakshi Sharma and Aakash Sharma

Hazards of Tourism-Generated Environmental Pollution and Measurement of Tourism Efficiency in Western China

Western China is home to rich tourism resources. But environmental concerns have trodden on heels due to its lack of market competition mechanism, less investment, and outdated facilities. Apart from improper planning, unscientific management, and extensive development mode, low tourism efficiency creates another serious potential baffle. To give a further analysis of the hazards of environmental pollution in Western China, and measure the tourism efficiency, this study, by reference to articles of this field across the world, summed up the types of the hazards, and figured out by DEA-Malmquist Index the tourism efficiencies of 12 provinces in western China during the years 2010-2016. After that, this study put forth detailed measures for the environmental issues. As measurement and the results show, a pile of studies have pointed out that developing countries tend to face environmental pollution because of improper tourism planning, unscientific management, and extensive development mode. Such environmental defects of tourism can be found from air and water pollution, garbage, and destroyed biodiversity. During the seven years in question, all of the 12 provinces did not reach total factor productivity growth. While technical efficiency declined by 16% with pure technical efficiency down by 14%, they also saw an average of decrease in technical progress and scale efficiency by 2.1% and 2.5% respectively. To solve these problems, this study laid down steps of reinforced establishment of tourism environmental protection supervision, publicity and education mechanisms, as well as establishment of public involvement in environmental protection, environmental protection reward and punishment compensation, and scenic spot environmental early-warning mechanisms. In a word, the obtained conclusions have positive reference value to understand environmental pollution from tourism and realize a balance of tourism growth and environmental protection in Western China.

Renpeng Zhu

Assessment of Reduction in Carbon Dioxide Emission with Wave Solar Hybrid Generation Along Coastal Karnataka

This article assesses reduction in carbon dioxide emission by wave solar hybrid generation of electricity, replacing the thermal generation of electricity along coastal Karnataka. Electricity generation utilizing wave energy of one kilometer of combined width of wave-fronts and 1000 m ´ 100 m of area exposed to solar radiations has been considered for calculations. Irradiance is highest in April i.e., 7.1 KWH/m2/day, but reduces to 4.6 to 4.8 KWH/m2/day in the monsoon months. It reduces electricity generation potential of solar panels by around 20 to 30 W per m2 area. The wave data collected from the wave rider buoy at Karwar (Karnataka) installed by INCOIS (Indian National Centre for ocean information studies) suggest that wave energy potential for electricity generation increases during monsoon period. It is around 3000 to 4000 Watts per meter width of wave-front which is ten times more than the non monsoon average potential of around 300 Watts per meter width of wave front. Wave energy can very well supplement deficit in solar generation during monsoon months. A wave solar hybrid generation system instead of thermal generation exploiting only 1 km coastal length can reduce carbon footprints by around 71500 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.

Prerna Goswami and S. P. Deshmukh

Assessment of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Crops near Mining Areas in Zambales, Philippines

Agricultural productivity, and food safety and security are among the pressing concerns that continue to permeate and confront an agricultural country like Philippines. This study was conducted to assess and evaluate the heavy metal content of selected rice and vegetable crops near mining areas in Sta. Cruz, Zambales. Physico-chemical characteristics of the soil samples and heavy metal content of the crops were examined and analysed by CRL Laboratory and related to the growth performance of the selected agricultural crops of the study area to ascertain the effects of excess nickel (Ni) and chromium (Cr). Results showed that Ni and Cr concentration on both pre and post-assessments were higher than the accepted standard limit of Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) and European Union Standards; additionally, the findings of the study revealed significant differences based on t-test at alpha level of 0.05. On the other hand, Pearson-r correlation showed a negative correlation between Ni concentration and growth performances of the four vegetable crops. Another statistical treatment was employed and one-way analysis of variance at alpha level of 0.05 showed a significant difference between each growth performance in relation to Ni as well as Cr concentration. Further studies are recommended to be done on reproductively mature vegetable crops and other growth indicators for rice crops, likewise the rehabilitation mechanisms in areas contaminated with heavy metals, particularly in the province.

Mary Rhovian B. Bacani and Anniebeth N. Farin

Determination of Total Selenium Content in Salty Soils in Lower Cheliff (Algeria)

This work deals with the determination of total selenium content in salty soils perimeter H’madéna located in Lower Cheliff. This work focuses on the analysis and exploitation of the data obtained on the solution of 36 samples from 7 profiles. The main results show that the salinity of soils studied is variable. It covers a wide range of salinity varying between 0.72 dS/m and 51.7 dS/m. Selenium has a specific and independent evolution of salinity and pH variation. The levels of Se are between 0.971 mg/kg to 7.08 mg/kg. These levels are considered high compared to agricultural land use. The change in selenium levels in soil is not related to land use and water stagnation areas.

Ait Mechedal Mouloud, Ouamer-Ali Karim, Djili Kaddour and Daoud Youcef

Community Characteristics of the Macrozoobenthos and River Health Assessment in Headwater Streams of the Pihe River Basin, China

The Pihe River is one of the main tributaries of the Huaihe River in Anhui Province, China. In recent years, with the socio-economic development, the ecological environment within the basin has been seriously damaged. In order to understand the community structure of macrozoobenthos and assess the river health in headwater streams of the Pihe River, field investigation was conducted in six headwater streams in April 2015. The results showed that: 1) a total of 67 species were collected from the six streams. The species number was relatively higher in Manshui Stream and Maotan Stream, and it was 49 and 47 species, respectively; the species number in the other four rivers (Banhe Stream, Shangdong Stream, Qinglong Stream and Xipihe Stream) had little difference, and they were 30, 31, 29 and 30 species, respectively. 2) The results of one-way ANOVA and similarity analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the average species number in each sample of the six streams, and there was high species similarity among the six streams. 3) The density and biomass of macrozoobenthos in the whole study area were 439 ind./m2 and 4.54 g/m2, respectively. The Qinglong Stream showed the minimum density and biomass among the six streams, which were 328 ind./m2 and 1.85 g/m2, respectively. However, the result of ANOVA showed that there were no significant difference in the density and biomass of macrozoobenthos in the six streams. 4) The results of redundant analysis (RDA) showed that the main environmental factors affecting the spatial distribution of macrozoobenthos in headwater streams of the Pihe River were the sediment type, stream order, and total nitrogen. The eigenvalues of the first two axes were 0.107 and 0.085 respectively, which contributed to 19.1% of the total variance. 5) The health of the six streams was evaluated based on the arithmetic mean values of four indexes. The results showed that the health status of the Qinglong Stream was general, while other streams were good. The results of this study are of great importance to the protection and management of the Pihe River basin.

Yunxiang Fang and Guijian Liu

Groundwater Renewal and Residence Time in Shiyang River Basin, Northwestern China

The age of groundwater is important in assessing renewability, recognizing movement and mass transport processes, and constraining model parameters of groundwater. In this study, we analysed the groundwater isotope (3H and 14C) of Shiyang River Basin, and estimated the groundwater age and its renewal rate. We found that the age of shallow groundwater in the Gobi zone was between five and ten years, and the age of groundwater in the piedmont region was about fifty years. However, the age of groundwater in the fine soil plain was more than fifty years, which was older than the groundwater in the Gobi zone and piedmont region. The renewal rate of shallow groundwater ranged from 0.0006% to 1.0% /a. In addition, the age of deep confined water shared an increased trend from the piedmont to rump. Specially, the youngest groundwater was in the piedmont with an age between 1000 and 2900 years, the groundwater age of the fine soil plain between 2920 and 3400 years, and the groundwater in rump region was more than 4000 years. The renewal rate of the deep groundwater was 0.0078-0.045‰ /a. The results suggested that shallow groundwater is younger than deep groundwater, and thus shallow groundwater is closely related to atmospheric precipitation with a shorter residence time and faster renewal rate than deep groundwater. In contrast to the shallow ratio of Zr/Mn, adsorbent dose and solution pH was investigated. The adsorption isotherm was emphatically investigated and thermodynamic parameters were calculated to better understand the adsorption mechanism.

Haixia Wu, Lishu Wang, Qingjiao Cao, YunXin Zhang, Fei Liu and Yunpu Zheng

Spatial Inequality of Haze Pollution in China’s Urban Regions and Coordinated Prevention and Control Countermeasures

The haze pollution issue in China has been widely paid attention among the social public recently. It is significant to analyse the spatial inequality of haze pollution in different urban regions of China objectively for providing corresponding efficient coordinated prevention and control countermeasures. Based on the PM2.5 data of China’s 187 urban regions with data availability, this study adopted Gini coefficient decomposition and polarization measurement to analyse the spatial inequality of haze pollution in China’s urban regions from 2013 to 2015. Results showed that the spatial inequality of haze pollution in China’s urban regions was displaying a growth trend. The changing trends of the polarization index LU and the national overall Gini coefficient are basically consistent with each other, both indicating an increasing trend. Moreover, the spatial inequality of China’s urban regions in the haze pollution level was mainly displayed as the intra-regional inequality within eastern, middle and western regions of China. The contribution of intra-regional Gini coefficient accounted for over 55% of the overall Gini coefficient, while the contribution of inequality within themselves accounted for less than 45%. There were existing five kinds of urban regions in total, by using k-means algorithm clustering, according to the haze pollution levels of them. As a result, coordinated haze pollution prevention and control countermeasures were provided in this study. The conclusions suggest that finding of this study is of certain theoretical value and practical significance for the coordinated treatment of haze pollution in different urban regions of China.

Gang Ding, Baixiu Zhang and Pingping Zhao

Biosorption Efficiency of Chromium (VI) from Aqueous Solution by Humicola phialophoroides Bio-filter

The adsorption of Cr6+ from aqueous solution using viable biomass, non-viable biomass, HNO3 and NaOH pretreated biomasses of Humicola phialophoroides fungus as adsorbents was studied. The biomass pretreated with NaOH showed the highest Cr6+ adsorption capabilities, while maximum Cr6+ biosorption of biomass took place in the initial solution at pH more than 8 after 90 minutes. Moreover, the Cr6+ was well adsorbed by NaOH treated biomass at high temperature, and desorption of biomass with 0.1 M HNO3 solution reached 53.74%. Fungus column packed with 15 mL alginate-fungus beads was used to treat 20 mg L-1 of Cr6+ from aqueous solution. Removal efficiency of Cr6+ was 0.99±0.03 mg L-1 for flow rate at 5 mL min-1, while it was 0.52±0.06 mg L-1 for flow rate at 10 mL min-1 with residence time at 15 minutes. Studies have shown that removal efficiency of Cr6+ decreases by increasing the residence time. The bio-filter was successfully eluted using 0.01 M HNO3, with removal efficiency of 31.31% and 32.14% for flow rate at 5 and 10 mL minute-1, respectively.

Tinnapan Netpae

Status, Fiscal and Taxation Policy Adjustment of Air Pollution in China

The air pollution, which is caused by high consumption and high emissions has been intensifying with the development of industrialization and urbanization. Fiscal and taxation policy is one of the main macroscopic regulating tools of the government and is indispensable in promoting air pollution prevention and control. Firstly, relevant literature was reviewed in this study to explore fiscal and taxation policies related to environmental pollution governance. Then, the variation trends, constitution, and sources of main air pollutants were analysed. Finally, deficiencies of fiscal and taxation policies in air pollution prevention and control were summarized. Results demonstrate that air pollution in China can be to some extent appeared in four aspects: continuously intensified air pollution in large and medium-sized cities, enlarged difficulty in air quality improvement caused by enormous energy consumption, dynamic change of industrial waste gas emission, and strengthened effect of greenhouse gas emission on the environment. Fiscal and taxation policies have obvious effect on the improvement of air pollution governance, but there are typical problems such as insufficient investment, low efficiency, unreasonable structure, and inadequate governmental spending on the governance of air pollution. Governance and improvement of air pollution can be effectively realized by fiscal and taxation policies, such as by increasing investment on air pollution governance, improving utilization efficiency of financial fund, enlarging fiscal transfer to heavily polluted regions, reforming the tax system related to air pollution prevention, optimizing existing policies of fiscal subsidies and so on. The obtained conclusions can be used as a positive reference for further understanding air pollution status in China and establishing a set of comprehensive and reasonable fiscal and taxation policy system in order to improve the atmospheric environment.

Jinling Wang and Yang Fang

Features of Arable Soil Acidity Based on GIS Data in Liaoning Province, China

In this study, soil samples were collected from typical arable lands in Liaoning Province. The location of soil samples was recorded by GIS coordinates. Soil pH was determined and compared with the record in 1980. Results showed that soil pH generally decreased with years, from 7.08 to 6.59 between 1980 and 2008. Areas with soil pH below 6.5 increased. The reduction of soil pH varied with soil types. The eolian sandy soil had the lowest soil pH, followed by brown soil, meadow soil and paddy soil. The eolian sandy soil, acidic and slightly acidic soil accounted for 90%, 91.8% and 90.7% in the corresponding soil types, respectively.

Y. Liu, Y. L. Zhang, H. Y. Li, N. Yu and S.Y. Tao

Optimization of Copper Ion Removal in Aqueous Solution by the Biochar Derived from the Modified Corncob

Copper ion in aqueous solution is an essential nutrient for humans, animals and microorganisms. However, the excess of copper ion in aqueous solution produces many toxic and harmful effects on living organisms. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the copper ions in aqueous solution prior to discharge into water bodies. The main aim of this study is to test biochars obtained from the modified corncob as adsorbent for copper ion from aqueous solution. The operating parameters, such as adsorbent dosage, initial solution pH, contact time and pyrolysis temperature of the biochars, were investigated in detail. The operation parameters have an important effect on the removal of copper ion from aqueous solution by biochars derived from the modified corncob. The biochars derived from the modified corncob exhibited an excellent adsorption performance of copper from aqueous solution and can be applied in the removal of copper ions in aqueous solution.

Muqing Qiu

Assessment of Some Existing Water Quality Models

One of the fundamental components of the environment which determine the existence of life on earth is the availability of freshwater for the use of humans and aquatic animals. However, increase in anthropogenic activities around the world have led to continuous degradation of ecosystems, which resulted into eutrophication of water bodies. Consequently, the quality of freshwater is being declined and the available water resources are getting depleted. Water quality models (WQM) are important tools used to maintain and monitor the quality of freshwater in various water bodies. This paper reviews some of the major water quality models used for different water bodies, which include AQUATOX, QUAL2E, WASP, CEQUALRIV1, MIKE11, SWAT and SIMCAT. The WQMs in the review are described based on their development, intended use, model strength, application and limitations. The selection of appropriate model and application to a specific water body is a critical task for water quality researchers and policy makers. This would ensure the availability of portable water for use. Hence, the review will help to choose appropriate water quality modelling tools for the different water quality problems.

Kayode O. Olowe and Muthukrishna vellaisamy Kumarasamy

Treatment of Dye C.I. Reactive Red 15 in Aqueous Solution Using the Activated Carbon Supported Zero Valent Iron

In recent years, the use of zero valent iron for the treatment of toxic chemicals in water has received wide attention. The zero valent iron particles with large surface area per unit mass have been found to be a highly efficient reducing agent capable of remediate contaminated land, surface and groundwater. In this paper, the treatment of dye C.I. Reactive Red 15 in aqueous solution by using the activated carbon supported zero valent iron was tested. The effect of parameters such as pH of solution, the reaction time, the initial concentration of the dye in aqueous solution and the activated carbon supported zero valent iron dosage on the treatment was also investigated. The results showed that all the parameters have a significant effect on the degradation rate of the dye. The treatment method of the activated carbon supported zero valent iron was also proved to be a universal and efficient reductant for rapid degradation of the dye C.I. Reactive Red 15 in aqueous solution.

Muqing Qiu and Chengguang Chen

Preparation of ZnO Nano-Photocatalysts and Their Performance on Photocatalytic Degradation of Coking Wastewater

ZnO photocatalysts were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis method. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photocatalytic activities of the prepared catalysts were evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of coking wastewater under a xenon lamp irradiation. The results showed that the prepared products were hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO. Photocatalytic degradation of coking wastewater reached 69.48% in 120 minutes under the irradiation of xenon lamp light (ë=365nm).

Yanjun Lu and Pingge Zhao

Turbidity Measurement System for Aquaculture Effluents Using an Open-Source Software and Hardware

The use of MyOpenLab as free software was proposed in this research as an alternative to manage the turbidity data acquisition system. A thermometrics turbidity sensor TSW-10 was adapted to the Arduino system, this platform was used for the data acquisition system. Communication with the PC was established through MyOpenLab. Measurements of samples with different known values of turbidity were taken to determine the voltage value equivalent to each NTU value, and then these measurements were compared with a commercial T-100 turbidity meter, duly calibrated. The following values were obtained for the applied regressions: Linear regression with R2 value of 0.9421, logarithmic and exponential regression with R2 values of 0.9511 and 0.8972, respectively. A non-parametric Wilcoxon test was applied, obtaining a value of P = 0.881, determining that there were no significant differences between the turbidity measurement prototype of this study and the T-100 commercial equipment. The creation of a turbidity data acquisition system, completely open-source, without losing reliability was demonstrated. The use of free software and hardware, reduced the costs compared to the use of licensed software and hardware, representing a viable economic option, to use as a tool in research studies.

Carlos Valenzuela, Cinthya Sosa, María del Refugio Castañeda, José Palomeque and Isabel Araceli Amaro

Spatial Analysis of Groundwater Quality Around MSW Landfill Site

Groundwater is the main source of water for domestic, industrial and agricultural consumption and its contamination has been recognized as one of the most severe issues in the recent times. The present study is focused on the monitoring of leachate contamination and groundwater quality around the uncontrolled MSW landfill sites located at Ramna village of Varanasi city, during pre and post-monsoon. On the basis of physico-chemical analysis of groundwater, it was found that EC, TDS, hardness, nitrate and Fe contents were higher than the standard value of drinking water quality in both pre and post-monsoon periods. Leachate pollution index (LPI) and water quality index (WQI) were used to quantify the contamination in leachate and groundwater respectively. Higher value of LPI (12.40) revealed the significant concentration of pollutants present in the landfill leachate. Water quality index (WQI) was calculated for water samples of different wells located near landfill sites and it was integrated with geographical information system (GIS) for spatial mapping to identify the status of water quality in the studied area. Groundwater modelling was done and path line and velocity vector of groundwater flow was generated. Relationship between LPI, WQI and flow path are used to predict the water contamination in groundwater due to percolation of leachate from open uncontrolled landfill site. Results were validated with field observations. The present study would be helpful for landfill strategy makers and the government authorities to safeguard the groundwater pollution risk from the landfill.

Sachin Mishra, Dhanesh Tiwary, Anurag Ohri and Ashwani Kumar Agnihotri

Study of the Toxicity of Metal Contamination in Soil Samples Collected from Abandoned E-waste Burning Sites in Moradabad, India

The present study investigates the concentration of heavy metals in the soils of Moradabad, famous for manufacturing brassware, in the vicinity of the abandoned sites of e-waste burning and industrial waste. Government of India has strengthened enforcement to impede such activity, however, heavy metal remains in the abandoned e-waste burning and industrial waste sites can still pose an ecological risk. Results indicate that the surface soil of the e-waste burning and acid leaching sites was still heavily contaminated with the heavy metals likes Pb, Cd, Cr, Zn, Ni, Cu and Fe originating from printed circuit board burning and recycling. Industrial waste has also affected the nearby areas, which have created potential threat to the environment. Samples were collected from the various contaminated sites, after the digestion process they were analysed by ICP-AAS. The excedance of metal contamination imposed negative impact to the environment and human health. Therefore, immediate remediation of the contaminated soil is necessary to prevent the dissemination of heavy metals and potential ecological disaster.

Aprajita Singh, S. P. Dwivedi and Anamika Tripathi

Isolation of Different Azo Dye Decolorizing Bacteria and Their Decolorization Mechanisms

Four strains, which can decolorize acid orange, congo red, methyl orange and amino black respectively, were isolated from anaerobic activated sludge using the enrichment, acclimation and purification methods. With 16S rDNA sequencing analysis, they were identified as Serratia nematodiphila subsp. sakuensis st, Morganella morganii subsp. morganii str, Lysinibacillus sp. BAB-5845 and Bacillus sp. NJSN49. The decolorization conditions were studied and results demonstrated that the optimal conditions for the four strains were starch of 4 g/L, peptone of 8 g/L, pH 7.5; sucrose of 2 g/L, yeast powder of 2 g/L, pH 7.5; yeast powder of 2 g/L, pH 7.0 and sucrose of 8 g/L, urea of 4 g/L, pH 6.0. UV-Vis, FTIR and GC-MS analysis showed that, with the four strains, -N=N- double bond in acid orange, congo red, methyl orange and amino amine were broken effectively and the related aromatic amino were yielded. Our research can provide efficient strains and technical parameters for azo dye wastewater treatment industry.

LinLin Quan, Jiamin Huang, Jicheng Qi and Yuling Zhu

Influence of Hydraulic Retention Time in the Treatment of Cane Alcohol Vinasse by UASB Reactor

The influence of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the removal efficiency of the organic matter in a UASB reactor was evaluated. Several tests were carried out in a continuous flow, maintaining the organic load rate (OLR) at a constant value of 6 gCOD/L.d and applying several HRTs of 24, 12, 5, 3 and 1 day. The average results show that the removal of organic matter from the applied HRT is in a range of 51 to 63% in CODsoluble. The average biogas and methane production for the HRTs of 24, 12, 5, 3 and 1 day were 3.265, 5.283, 4.196, 3.350 and 2.450 L/d and 2.905, 3.815, 3.370, 3.275 and 2.200 L/d, respectively. The yield of methane (YCH4) presented average values of 0.306 to 0.459 L/g CODremoved in the HRTs applied. The reduction of the HRT or dilution of the vinasse influenced the reduction of sulphate toxicity and increased the efficiency of its removal. These changes impede the activity of hydrolytic bacteria, reducing the total volume of biogas and indirectly the risk of an overload from an uncontrolled additional input of organic matter. Under these conditions, the OLR could still be increased, since demonstrated the ability to process more organic matter.

Cinthya Sosa-Villalobos, Elena Rustrián, E., Eric Houbron and Itzel Galaviz-Villa

Removal of Methylene Blue by Adsorption Using Fish Scale Chitin

In the present study, chitin was extracted from fish scale waste and utilized as an adsorbent to remove the toxic dye, methylene blue from aqueous solution by a batch adsorption process. The abundant source of fish scales direct the production of chitin, as a low-cost adsorbent. Dye adsorption studies were carried out to determine the effects of contact time, pH, initial concentration of adsorbate and adsorbent dosage on dye removal. The characterization of the adsorbent was done by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer. The micrograph revealed the porous structure of chitin, while XRD and FTIR confirm the crystalline and structural information of the chitin, respectively. The results of dye adsorption study revealed that the removal efficiency of dye using chitin was significant at pH 8 after 90 min of dye-adsorbent contact time. The optimum amount of adsorbent was found to be 2g/L. Hence, chitin can be used as cheap, efficient, ecofriendly adsorbent for the removal of dye from effluents.

Merina Paul Das, Renuka M., Vijaylakshmi J. V., Suguna P. R. and Karpuramprasad

Fractionation and Reduction in Bioavailability of Toxic Heavy Metals During Rotary Drum Composting of Paper Mill Sludge

Composting is the most suitable recycling option for paper mill sludge (PMS) due to high organic content. However, final compost produced from PMS contain high concentration of heavy metals, resulting in restricted land application of compost. The aim of the study was to reduce bioavailable form of heavy metals during the composting of PMS using rotary drum composter. Therefore, this study was carried out to identify the variation in distribution of different fractions (exchangeable, carbonate, reducible, oxidizable and residual fraction) of Cd, Pb and Cr during rotary drum composting of PMS. Tessier sequential extraction method was applied for speciation of heavy metals. Residual fraction of most of heavy metals was found to be dominant fraction in all treatments. The concentration of Cd was not very high; however, its bioavailable fractions were found to be high. This study shows that addition of cattle manure in appropriate quantity can influence the physico-chemical parameters, resulting in decrease in the bioavailable fraction (exchangeable and carbonate) of heavy metals during composting process. An addition of cattle manure decreased the exchangeable and carbonate fractions of metals during the composting process. A reduction in bioavailability factor was also observed in all treatments during the composting process.

Jayeeta Hazarika, Utpal Ghosh, Ajay S. Kalamdhad, Meena Khwairakpam and Jiwan Singh

Air Pollution Tolerance Index of Selected Trees in Major Roadsides of Metro Manila, Philippines

This study aims to assess the air pollution tolerance index of selected trees in major roadsides of Metro Manila. The air pollution tolerance index (APTI) of trees was assessed using the parameters: total chlorophyll, ascorbic acid, pH and relative water content. A total of 47 tree species were assessed in all major roadsides of Metro Manila. A number of trees observed were categorized as intermediate tolerant to air pollution. Significant differences on the APTI of the trees were evident depending on the species examined and had significant correlation to the locations of the major roadsides where they were collected (P < 0.05). Planting of trees, which are either tolerant or intermediate tolerant to air pollution, is necessary as these mitigate the effects of air pollution in the metropolis.

Glenn L. Sia Su, Neil Francis R. Solomon and Elena M. Ragragio

Sulphuric Acid Modification of Fly Ash for Enhanced Phosphate Removal from Wastewater

The modification of fly ash with sulphuric acid for the enhanced phosphate removal was investigated. In the modification process the fly ash was slurried with water and blended with concentrated sulphuric acid, followed by curing. It was found that modification of fly ash with sulphuric acid could significantly enhance the phosphate immobilization ability of the fly ash. The optimum modification conditions were determined as follows: the proportion of water : concentrated sulphuric acid : fly ash was 1.5 mL : 0.3 mL : 5 g, reaction temperature and time was 100°C and 1.5 h. In the phosphate immobilization process it was found that the optimum pH for phosphate removal was 7.0. The removal percentage of phosphate increased with the increase of adsorbent dosage. Adsorption of phosphate by the modified fly ash was rapid, the removal percentage of phosphate could reach the maximum in 10 minutes. The optimum temperature for phosphate removal was between 20°C and 30°C. The adsorption of phosphate by the modified fly ash could be described well by Langmuir isotherm equation, the Langmuir constant Q0 was 4.37 mg/g.

Ke Xu, Jianyun Li, Tong Deng and Juntan Liu

Study on Modelling and Neural Network Control Algorithm in Sewage Treatment Process

With the development of industries, the problem of environmental pollution caused by the massive discharge of sewage is becoming more and more serious, which has gained increasing attention of people. In order to solve the problem of drastic change of water quality and dissolved oxygen concentration in wastewater discharge, activated sludge method was used to deal with the discharge of wastewater and the neural network control algorithm was used to model and control the wastewater treatment process in this study. Besides, the neural network predictive control algorithm was proposed to control the concentration of nitrate nitrogen. Through the simulation of the sewage treatment process, it is found that the method can quickly and accurately achieve the desired requirements of the nitrate nitrogen and realize the effective sewage treatment.

Min Qiu

Ensuring Drinking Water Safety in Nirmal Gram Panchayats In Rajasthan, India - A Major Challenge

A research was undertaken to assess the key parameters which impact the drinking water quality at household and community level in Nirmal Gram Panchayats (fully sanitized and open defecation free village councils) in ten districts of Rajasthan, the largest State by area in India. Five key parameters of water safety were rapidly assessed utilizing household survey questionnaire, structured-observations, visual inspections and testing bacteriological quality of water. The results of the research reveal that three out of five key parameters scored between 50 and 60 percent and two parameters scored between 60 and 70 percent. The State water safety index is 60.26 percent. All the Nirmal Gram Panchayats in Rajasthan needs to develop and implement the water quality surveillance and monitoring plan of actions with the technical and financial support from the state water and sanitation mission and respective district water and sanitation missions to ensure hundred percent water safety in all the Nirmal Gram Panchayats.

Satish Raj Mendiratta, Mahender Choudhary and Sudhir Kumar

Landuse and Landcover Analysis Using Remote Sensing and GIS: A Case Study in Somavathi River, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Land use/land cover (LULC) pattern of a region is an outcome of natural and socio-economic factors and their utilization by man in time and space. The increase in density of population is directly proportional to the land use/land cover. The present study shows the spatio-temporal dynamics of land use/cover of Somavathi river, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh India. Land use/land cover map was prepared in ArcGIS, ERDAS Imagine 9.3 through visual interpretation of IRS P6 LISS-III data and multitemporal of the area. The area in terms of LULC can be divided into following classes: Barren land, fallow land, forest, built-up land, agriculture land and water bodies. Landsat satellite imageries of two special time intervals, landsat thematic mapper (TM) of 2005-2006 and 2010-2011 have been obtained via global land cover facility site (GLCF) and earth explorer website and quantified the changes in the years 2005-2006 to 2010-11 over a length of 5 years. Supervised and unsupervised type methods have been employed using most chance techniques in ERDAS Imagine 9.3. The images of the area have been categorized into six exceptional classes, specifically forest, barren/wastelands, built-up, water bodies, agriculture and fallow land. The outcomes indicate that over the past 5 years, barren/wasteland, built-up land and fallow land have been changed by 1.22% (5.54 sq.km), 1.24% (5.54 sq.km) and 0.61% (2.77 sq.km) respectively, while agriculture and water bodies have decreased by 3.04% (13.86 sq.km) and 0.06% (0.28 sq.km) respectively of the total geographical area.

U. Imran Basha, U. Suresh, G. Sudarsana Raju, M. Rajasekhar, G. Veeraswamy and E. Balaji

Types of Environmental Pollution Caused by Real Estate Construction Projects and their Control Measures

China’s increasing urbanization rate and urban population, and the pace of renewal methods for old cities, have increased the demand for real estate construction projects. However, during construction, real estate constructions inevitably produce considerable amounts of waste gas, wastewater, solid waste, dust, and noise, which causes pollution and damages the environment. To further analyze the types of environmental pollution caused by real estate construction projects and their corresponding control measures, this study conducts a literature review on the differences between the environmental management schemes of developed and developing countries. Then, the types are summarized and their causes are analyzed. Results show that the real estate industry players in developed countries are relatively mature because they value environmental protection and assessment of real estate construction projects. Real estate construction projects cause four aspects pollution, namely, water, air, noise, and solid waste pollution. Polluted water is discharged without disposal, construction dust freely spread, and noise pollution is not effectively controlled, and they collectively result in environmental pollution. This paper also proposes effective measures to reduce noise pollution, strengthen air pollution monitoring, treat wastewater and solid waste generated by real estate projects, and improve environmental awareness and civilized construction awareness among workers. Our research results have important reference value in terms of the following: uniqueness of the environmental pollution caused by real estate construction projects; control measures on the energy consumption of the real estate industry; and environmental burdens and corresponding prevention mechanisms in the construction industry and promote the coordinated development of real estate construction and environmental protection.

Guihong Liu