Synthesis of Chitosan@activated Carbon Beads with Abundant Amino Groups for Capture of Cu(II) and Cd(II) from Aqueous Solutions

In this study, chitosan and bio-based activated carbon obtained from sugarcane bagasse biowaste were used for the synthesis of efficient sorbent for Cu(II) and Cd(II) ion via precipitation method. The prepared material was enriched with amino groups through grafting tetraethylenepentamine and tested for heavy metal remediation from water samples. The influence of pH was investigated showing optimum sorption at pH 6 for Cu(II) and Cd(II). Sorption tests, explained by means of the most common sorption models, evidenced that the best performances were reached pointing out the promising application of the prepared sorbent for water purification treatments: Uptake kinetics are relatively fast: the equilibrium was reached within 140 min; and the kinetic profiles were preferentially fitted by the pseudo-second order rate equation. Sorption isotherms are fitted by Langmuir equation. The sorbent showed high metal ion sorption capacity with negligible influence of ion strength. The maximum sorption capacities reached 3.44 and 2.38 mmol g^??1 for Cu(II) and Cd(II), respectively at 298 K. Thermodynamic parameters were evaluated through variation of temperature. The sorption is unfavorable at elevated temperatures. Metal ions were successfully desorbed using 1 M HNO₃ solution.     

Effects of Topographic Heterogeneity on Coarse Resolution Grid-Based Runoff Simulation—Assessment for Three River Basins in Peninsular Malaysia

This paper investigates the effects of topographic heterogeneity on the runoff response simulated by a 0.05 degree (approximately 5.5 km) spatial resolution distributed hydrological model for the Pahang, Kelantan, and Muda river basins (25,600, 11,900, and 4010 km², respectively) in Peninsular Malaysia. Daily simulations were carried out and assessed against observed streamflow for the period 1999–2004. Topographic structure was characterized by means of subgrid terrain slope to guide the decomposition of hydrological parameters over the model grid. The results show improved simulation skill for all three basins compared to a traditional runoff production parameterization scheme that does not take into account the subgrid topographic variability. However, other factors related to morphological heterogeneity and variability in physical terrain conditions should be considered in future work in order to characterize the hydrological heterogeneity. The present methodology may be of potential for further development of large-scale, coarse resolution grid-based hydrological models without adding structural model complexity and without affecting parameter parsimony.     

Ecological Groups of the Daubed Shanny <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptoclinus maculatus</Emphasis> (Fries, 1838), an Arcto-boreal Species,Regarding Growth and Early Development

The patterns of growth and development have been studied in L. maculatus early life stages of different ecological groups (pelagic and demersal) from Kongsfjorden and Billefjorden (the northwestern coast of West Spitsbergen). It has been found that the growth rate of larvae markedly increases by age 2+ (stage L2), which is due to their transition to exogenous feeding. Consideration is given to changes in the length and condition of the lipid sac (a provisory organ) in the period of its formation, growth, and resorption in the course of ontogeny. The lipid sac reaches the maximum size at stage L4* and is resorbed at stage L5. Analysis of individual variation in the size and body weight of fish early life stages provides the possibility to evaluate the adaptation capacity of a species under specific conditions of the Arctic.     

Relating to nature,food and community in community gardens

This paper sheds critical light on the motivations and practices of community gardeners in relatively affluent neighbourhoods. The paper engages with community garden, alternative food and domestic garden literatures, to understand how people fit food production into their everyday lives, how they develop relationships to plants and how these in turn shape relations between people in a community group. The paper draws on participant observation and semi-structured walking interviews conducted at three community gardens in Sydney, Australia. The paper concludes that to fit community gardening into busy lives, people strategically choose plants with biophysical qualities that suit personal as well as communal circumstances and objectives. The paper shows how community is relationally constituted through the practices of growing and sharing food. Tensions might arise through the practices of growing food on communal and private plots and the taking and giving of food, but it can also encourage people to reflect on community food production and on their roles as individuals in a community group.     

The contribution of policy,law, management,research, and advocacy failings to the recent extinctions of three Australian vertebrate species

Extinctions typically have ecological drivers, such as habitat loss. However, extinction events are also influenced by policy and management settings that may be antithetical to biodiversity conservation, inadequate to prevent extinction, insufficiently resourced, or poorly implemented. Three endemic Australian vertebrate species—the Christmas Island pipistrelle (Pipistrellus murrayi), Bramble Cay melomys (Melomys rubicola), and Christmas Island forest skink (Emoia nativitatis)—became extinct from 2009 to 2014. All 3 extinctions were predictable and probably preventable. We sought to identify the policy, management, research, and other shortcomings that contributed to their extinctions or failed to prevent them. These included a lack within national environmental legislation and policy of explicit commitment to the prevention of avoidable extinctions, lack of explicit accountability, inadequate resources for conservation (particularly for species not considered charismatic or not of high taxonomic distinctiveness), inadequate biosecurity, a slow and inadequate process for listing species as threatened, recovery planning that failed to consider the need for emergency response, inability of researchers to identify major threatening factors, lack of public engagement and involvement in conservation decisions, and limited advocacy. From these 3 cases, we recommend: environmental policy explicitly seeks to prevent extinction of any species and provides a clear chain of accountability and an explicit requirement for public inquiry following any extinction; implementation of a timely and comprehensive process for listing species as threatened and for recovery planning; reservation alone not be assumed sufficient to maintain species; enhancement of biosecurity measures; allocation of sufficient resources to undertake actions necessary to prevent extinction; monitoring be considered a pivotal component of the conservation response; research provides timely identification of factors responsible for decline and of the risk of extinction; effective dissemination of research results; advocacy by an informed public for the recovery of threatened species; and public involvement in governance of the recovery process. These recommendations should be applicable broadly to reduce the likelihood and incidence of extinctions.     

Mother gestational exposure to organophosphorus pesticide induces neuron and glia loss in daughter adult brain

Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is a widely used organophosphorus pesticide with developmental neurotoxicity such as morphogenesis toxicity. In the present study, we assessed the effects of prenatal CPF exposure on systemic parameters and cytoarchitecture of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in adulthood. Gestational dams were exposed to 5mg/kg/d of CPF during gestational days 13–17, while body weight, organ coefficient, and neuron and glia counts of offspring were determined on postnatal day 60. Our results showed that CPF treatment induced little or no effects on body weight and organ coefficients. There were also no significant pathological changes in mPFC. However, neuron and glia count analysis showed that CPF treatment reduced neuron and glia counts in anterior cingulate, prelimbic, and infralimbic areas of mPFC. The CPF react pattern was similar in both sexes, and there was no statistical difference in most of the sub-regions. Thus, our results revealed an embryonic origin brain deficit induced by gestational mother pesticide exposure.     

The Water Regime of Black Saxaul in Various Environmental Conditions of the Central Asian Desert

A water regime, estimated based on transpiration rate, water content of shoots, concentration of cell sap, and water consumption per unit area, was studied for black saxaul. The seasonal course of black saxaul transpiration during the growing season increased by the middle of summer (July) and decreased towards autumn. The highest transpiration rate of black saxaul was found in Karnabchul, where ground waters poorly mineralized, located at a depth of 14–20 m in nonsaline soils. The lowest transpiration rate was detected in the Nishan “steppe,” where ground waters were also located at 14–20 m, however they were highly mineralized, and the soil profile was highly salinated. The Southwestern Kyzylkum, characterized by ground waters at a very deep location (more than 100 m) and low soil salinity, occupied an intermediate position in terms of transpiration rate. The maximal water consumption for transpiration during the vegetation period was observed in Karnabchulat 642.5 mm/ha, then in the Nishan “steppe” at 352.5. The minimal value was detected in the Southwestern Kyzylkum at 171.0.