Health benefits valuation of regulatory intervention for air pollution control in thermal power plants in Delhi,India

This study estimates minimum marginal health benefits (morbidity reduction only) of air pollution control and total health benefits arising from regulatory intervention regarding the adoption of the World Bank emission guidelines (WBEG) for thermal power plants (TPPs) in Delhi. The Industrial Source Complex-Short-Term Version–3 (ISCST3) model has been used to estimate the contribution to air pollution from TPPs. The household health production function (avertive behaviour) has been used to value health benefits of air pollution control. The study revealed that the ambient air pollution due to TPPs is reduced by between 62.17% to 83.45% by adopting the WBEG. Annual marginal benefit due to reduction in exposure to air pollution by 1 μg m^?3 is estimated to be US$0.353 per person. Total annual health benefits for adopting the WBEG for TPPs are estimated at US$235.19 million. This study provides a novel methodology to evaluate health benefits of regulatory intervention.     

Evaluation of existing equations for temporal scour depth around circular bridge piers

Scour is defined as the processes of removal of sediment particles from water stream bed by the erosive action of activated water, and also carries sediment away from the hydraulic structures. Scour is the main cause of pier failure. Numerous equations are available for estimating temporal and equilibrium scour depth. The present study describes the phenomenon of temporal scour depth variation at bridge piers and deals with the methods for its estimation. The accuracy of six temporal scour depth equations are also checked in this study. After graphical and statistical analysis, it was found that the relationship proposed by Oliveto and Hager (J Hydraul Eng (ASCE) 128(9):811–520, 2002) predicts temporal scour depth better than other equations. Three equations of equilibrium time of scour are also used for computing equilibrium time. Equilibrium time equation proposed by Choi and Choi (Water Environ J 30(1–2):14–21, 2016) gives better agreements with observed values.     

Plant steroid hormones produced under Ni stress are involved in the regulation of metal uptake and oxidative stress in Brassica juncea L

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are involved in the amelioration of various biotic and abiotic stresses. With an aim to explore the role of BRs under heavy metal stress, plants of Brassica juncea L. were grown in pots. The plants were subjected to various concentrations of Nickel metal (0.0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mM) and harvested on 60th day in order to observe the expression of these hormones. The isolated BRs from the leaves of Brassica plants characterized by GC-MS include 24-Epibrassinolide (24-EBL), Castasterone, Dolicholide and Typhasterole. The effect of isolated 24-EBL was studied on Ni metal uptake and antioxidative defense system in 60 d old plants of Brassica. It was observed that 24-EBL significantly increased the activities of stress ameliorating enzymes and lowered the metal uptake in plants. This is the first report in B. juncea L. plants showing the expression of BRs under metal treatments and effect of the isolated 24-EBL on metal uptake and in oxidative stress management.     

Health care industries: potential generators of genotoxic waste

Health care waste includes all the waste generated by health care establishments, research facilities, and laboratories. This constitutes a variety of chemical substances, such as pharmaceuticals, radionuclides, solvents, and disinfectants. Recently, scientists and environmentalists have discovered that wastewater produced by hospitals possesses toxic properties due to various toxic chemicals and pharmaceuticals capable of causing environmental impacts and even lethal effects to organisms in aquatic ecosystems. Many of these compounds resist normal wastewater treatment and end up in surface waters. Besides aquatic organisms, humans can be exposed through drinking water produced from contaminated surface water. Indeed, some of the substances found in wastewaters are genotoxic and are suspected to be potential contributors to certain cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic and cytotoxic potential of wastewaters from two hospitals and three clinical diagnostic centers located in Jaipur (Rajasthan State), India using the prokaryotic Salmonella mutagenicity assay (Ames assay) and the eukaryotic Saccharomyces cerevisiae respiration inhibition assay. In the Ames assay, untreated wastewaters from both of the health care sectors resulted in significantly increased numbers of revertant colonies up to 1,000–4,050 as measured by the Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 strains (with and without metabolic activation) after exposure to undiluted samples, which indicated the highly genotoxic nature of these wastewaters. Furthermore, both hospital and diagnostic samples were found to be highly cytotoxic. Effective concentrations at which 20 % (EC₂₀) and 50 % (EC₅₀) inhibition of the respiration rate of the cells occurred ranged between ～0.00 and 0.52 % and between 0.005 and 41.30 % (calculated with the help of the MS excel software XLSTAT 2012.1.01; Addinsoft), respectively, as determined by the S. cerevisiae assay. The results indicated that hospital wastewaters contain genotoxic and cytotoxic components. In addition, diagnostic centers also represent small but significant sources of genotoxic and cytotoxic wastes.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Environmental Applications of a New Bio-Composite Gelatin-Zr(IV) Phosphate

Gelatin-Zr(IV) phosphate composite (GT/ZPC) was synthesized by sol–gel method. Different techniques viz. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray powdered diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used for the characterisation of GT/ZPC composite ion exchanger. The ion exchange capacity (IEC) of GT/ZPC was observed to be better (1.04 meq g^?1) than its inorganic counterpart (0.64 meq g^?1). The pH studies revealed the monofunctional nature of GT/ZPC with one inflection point. The distribution studies showed that the GT/ZPC was highly selective for Cd²⁺ as compare to other metal ions. The environmental applicability of ion exchanger has been analysed for binary separations of metal ions using column method. Cd²⁺ was effectively removed from synthetic mixture of metal ions (Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺ and Cu²⁺).     

Optimization of extraction of oil and biodiesel from Thespesia populnea seed oil by alkali catalyst in India

Thespesia populnea oil was new source of biodiesel. Crude Thespesia populnea oil was used as feedstock for biodiesel production by alkali-catalyzed methanolysis. The reaction in the presence of NaOH as catalyst was carried out to investigate the optimum conditions and to study the effects of variables on the reaction. A methanol to oil ratio of 6:1, sodium methoxide catalyst concentration of 1.5%, mixing intensity of 250 rpm and reaction temperature of 60°C offered the best Thespesia populnea seed oil methyl esters (biodiesel) yield (92.6%). The methyl ester content under these optimum conditions was 92.6% w/w, and all of the measured properties of the Thespesia populnea biodiesel (TPME) met the international standards ASTM D 6751-02. The results reveal that all of the reaction variables in this study had positive effects on the reaction. The results of the present study indicated that TPME could be a potential alternative to petrodiesel     

Molasses-based growth and lipid production by Chlorella pyrenoidosa: A potential feedstock for biodiesel

Biodiesel provides a feasible solution to the twin crisis of energy security and environmental concerns prevalent today, and it can be extracted from conventional oil crops as well as microalgae. However, lipid productivity in case of microalgae is much higher and has several advantages as compared with crop plants, so it is a better feedstock for biodiesel. In case of Chlorella pyrenoidosa, the heterotrophic cultured cells were found to be better in terms of lipid production, and ultimately biodiesel production, but the bottleneck is that in this mode glucose is used to feed the cells, which amounts to almost 80% of the total cost of biodiesel production. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and highlight the feasibility of using the industrially cheap cane molasses as a carbon source in place of glucose for a large-scale, low-cost lipid production of Chlorella pyrenoidosa. When treated molasses was used as a carbon source instead of glucose, the biomass sharply increases from 0.89 to 1.22 g L^–1. On the other hand, the total lipid content increases from 0.27 to 0.66 g g^–1. The specific growth rate and yield was higher in treated molasses as compared with that in glucose-supplemented. A mathematical model was also developed based on logistic, Luedeking–Piret, and Luedeking-Piret-like equations. Model predictions were in satisfactory agreement with the measured data, and the mode of lipid production was growth-associated.     

Connecting the dots: mapping habitat connectivity for tigers in central India

Large connected landscapes are paramount to maintain top predator populations. Across their range, tiger (Panthera tigris) populations occur in small fragmented patches of habitat, often isolated by large distances in human-dominated landscapes. We assessed connectivity between 16 protected areas (PAs) in central India, a global priority landscape for tiger conservation, using data on land use and land cover, human population density, and transportation infrastructure. We identified and prioritized movement routes using a combination of least-cost corridor modeling and circuit theory. Our analyses suggest that there are several opportunities to maintain connectivity in this landscape. We mapped a total of thirty-five linkages in the region and calculated metrics to estimate their quality and importance. The highest quality linkages as measured by the ratio of cost-weighted distance to Euclidean distance are Kanha–Phen/Bandhavgarh–SanjayGhasidas/Melghat–Satpura, and cost-weighted distance to least-cost path length are Nawegaon–Tadoba/Achanakmar–SanjayGhasidas/Kanha–Phen. We used current flow centrality to evaluate the contribution of each PA and linkage toward facilitating animal movement. Values are highest for Kanha and Pench tiger reserves, and the linkages between Kanha–Phen, Kanha–Pench, and Pench–Satpura, suggesting that these PAs and linkages play a critical role in maintaining connectivity in central India. In addition, smaller areas such as Bor, Nawegaon, and Phen have high centrality scores relative to their areas and thus may act as important stepping stones. We mapped pinch points, which are sections of the linkages where tiger movement is restricted due to unfavorable habitat, transportation networks, human habitation, or a combination of factors. Currently, very limited data exist on tiger movement outside of PAs to validate model results. Regional-scale connectivity mapping efforts can assist managers and policy makers to develop strategic plans for balancing wildlife conservation and other land uses in the landscape.