Spatial patterns of off-the-system traffic crashes in Miami–Dade County,Florida, during 2005–2010

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the spatial distribution of the vehicles involved in crashes in Miami–Dade County. In addition, we analyzed the role of time of day, day of the week, seasonality, drivers’ age in the distribution of traffic crashes.

Method: Off-the-system crash data acquired from the Florida Department of Transportation during 2005–2010 were divided into subcategories according to the risk factors age, time of day, day of the week, and travel season. Various spatial statistics methods, including nearest neighbor analysis, Getis-Ord hot spot analysis, and kernel density analysis revealed substantial spatial variations, depending on the subcategory in question.

Results: Downtown Miami and South Beach showed up consistently as hotspots of traffic crashes in all subcategories except fatal crashes. However, fatal crashes were concentrated in residential areas in inland areas.

Conclusion: This understanding of patterns can help the county target high-risk areas and help to reduce crash fatalities to create a safer environment for motorists and pedestrians.     

Building disaster‐resilient micro enterprises in the developing world

Family‐owned micro enterprises operating within the informal sector of most developing countries provide millions of citizens with a livelihood and are the economic backbone of many communities. Yet, the turbulence that emanates up or down respective supply chains following a disaster can cause these entities to fail. This study develops a model that recognises the relative weakness of micro enterprises to such disaster‐related shocks. The model proposes that micro enterprises can moderate the effect of such shocks by creating resilience through cognitive preparation, continuous learning, and the generation of various forms of social capital (cognitive, relational, and structural). The propositions for the model are established through an extensive literature review, coupled with examples drawn from the documents of humanitarian agencies performing disaster relief work in India. This model also serves as a preliminary basis with which to derive metrics to set benchmarks or to assess the viability of a micro enterprise's ability to survive disaster‐related shocks.     

Impact of long-term wastewater application on microbiological properties of vadose zone

Impact of wastewater irrigation on some biological properties was studied in an area where treated sewage water is being supplied to the farmers since 1979 in the western part of National Capital Territory of New Delhi under Keshopur Effluent Irrigation Scheme. Three fields were selected which had been receiving irrigation through wastewater for last 20, 10 and 5 years. Two additional fields were selected in which the source of irrigation water was tubewell. The soil bacterial and fungal population density was studied in soil layers of 0?C15, 15?C30, 30?C60 and 60?C120 cm depths. Groundwater samples were collected from the piezometers installed in the field irrigated with sewage water for last 20, 10 and 5 years. Results indicate that there was significant increase in bacterial and fungal count in sewage-irrigated soils as compared to their respective control. The population density of bacteria and fungi in waste water-irrigated soils increased with the duration of sewage water application and decreased with increasing depth. The bacterial and fungal count was also directly proportional to organic carbon, sand and silt content and negatively correlated to the clay content, electrical conductivity, pH and bulk density of the soil. Groundwater under sewage-irrigated fields had higher values of most probable number (MPN) index as compared to that of tubewell water-irrigated fields. All the shallow and deep groundwaters were found to be contaminated with faecal coliforms. The vadose zone had filtered the faecal coliform to the tune of 98?C99%, as the MPN index was reduced from ??18,000 per 100 ml of applied waste water to 310 per 100 ml of groundwater under 20 years sewage-irrigated field. The corresponding values of MPN were 250 and 130 per 100 ml of shallow groundwater under 10 and 05 years sewage-irrigated fields, respectively. Rapid detection of faecal contamination suggested that the Citrobacter freundii and Salmonella were dominant in shallow groundwater, while Escherichia coli was dominant in deep groundwater collected from sewage-irrigated field.     

Biodegradable Chitosan-g-Poly(methacrylamide) Microspheres for Controlled Release of Hypertensive Drug

Chitosan-g-poly(methacrylamide) (CS-g-PMAAm) was synthesized by redox polymerization. The synthesized graft copolymers were used to prepare microspheres (MS) by water/oil (W/O) emulsion technique and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (GA). Developed microspheres were encapsulated using enalapril maleate (ENAM) as a model drug (hypertension) and characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The physico-chemical properties of the microspheres were studied by calculating drug entrapment efficiency, and drug release kinetics. % of encapsulation efficiency (% EE) increased with increase in drug loading and methacrylamide (MAAm) content. The minimum % EE (65.2 ± 1.6) was observed in case of microsphere containing 40 % MAAm, 5 % ENAM and 10 mL glutaraldehyde. The release profiles indicate that formulation containing highest (10 mL) crosslinking agent microspheres has the slow release.     

Recent advances based on the synergetic effect of adsorption for removal of dyes from waste water using photocatalytic process

The problem of textile dye pollution has been addressed by various methods,mainly physical,chemical,biological,and acoustical.These methods mainly separate and/or remove the dye present in water.Recently,advanced oxidation processes(AOP)have been focused for removal of dye from waste water due to their advantages such as ecofriendly,economic and capable to degrade many dyes or organic pollutant present in water.Photocatalysis is one of the advance oxidation processes,mainly carried out under irradiation of light and suitable photocatalytic materials.The photocatalytic activity of the photocatalytic materials mainly depends on the band gap,surface area,and generation of electron–hole pair for degradation dyes present in water.It has been observed that the surface area plays a major role in photocatalytic degradation of dyes,by providing higher surface area,which leads to the higher adsorption of dye molecule on the surface of photocatalyst and enhances the photocatalytic activity.This present review discusses the synergic effect of adsorption of dyes on the photocatalytic efficiency of various nanostructured high surface area photocatalysts.In addition,it also provides the properties of the water polluting dyes,their mechanism and various photocatalytic materials;and their morphology used for the dye degradation under irradiation of light along with the future prospects of highly adsorptive photocatalytic material and their application in photocatalytic removal of dye from waste water.     

Choice of precipitant and calcination temperature of precursor for synthesis of NiCo2O4 for control of CO–CH4 emissions from CNG vehicles

Compressed natural gas(CNG)is most appropriate an alternative of conventional fuel for automobiles.However,emissions of carbon-monoxide and methane from such vehicles adversely affect human health and environment.Consequently,to abate emissions from CNG vehicles,development of highly efficient and inexpensive catalysts is necessary.Thus,the present work attempts to scan the effects of precipitants(Na_2CO_3,KOH and urea)for nickel cobaltite(Ni Co_2O_4)catalysts prepared by co-precipitation from nitrate solutions and calcined in a lean CO-air mixture at 400°C.The catalysts were used for oxidation of a mixture of CO and CH_4(1:1).The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffractometer,Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface-area,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy;temperature programmedreductionandScanningelectronmicroscopycoupledwith Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy.The Na_2CO_3was adjudged as the best precipitant for production of catalyst,which completely oxidized CO-CH_4mixture at the lowest temperature(T_(100)=350°C).Whereas,for catalyst prepared using urea,T_(100)=362°C.On the other hand the conversion of CO-CH_4mixture over the catalyst synthesized by KOH limited to 97%even beyond 400°C.Further,the effect of higher calcination temperatures of 500 and600°C was examined for the best catalyst.The total oxidation of the mixture was attained at higher temperatures of 375 and 410°C over catalysts calcined at 500 and 600°C respectively.Thus,the best precipitant established was Na_2CO_3and the optimum calcination temperature of 400°C was found to synthesize the Ni Co_2O_4catalyst for the best performance in CO-CH_4oxidation.     

Variations of physicochemical properties in Kalpakkam coastal waters, east coast of India, during southwest to northeast monsoon transition period

A significant variation in physicochemical properties of the Kalpakkam coastal waters, eastern part of India, was observed during the event of southwest to northeast monsoon transition. Increase in nitrate, total nitrogen, and silicate concentrations were noticed during post-transition period. Ammonia concentration was at peak during transition period as compared to pre- and post-transition periods. Hypo-saline condition (~23 psu) was observed during post-transition as the surface water salinity decreased by ~10 psu from the pre-transitional values. Turbidity, suspended particulate matter, phosphate and total phosphorous values decreased marginally, coinciding with northward to southward current reversal. A drastic decrease (eightfold) in chlorophyll-a concentration was observed in the coastal water during post-transition period.     

Influence of a botanical pesticide,azadirachtin, on ultimobranchial gland of the freshwater catfish Heteropneustes fossilis

Freshwater catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis, were subjected to 42 mg L^?1 of azadirachtin for short-term exposure (96 h) and to 10.5 mg L^?1 for long-term exposure (28 days). Six fishes were sacrificed on each time interval from control and experimental groups after 24, 48, 72, and 96 h in the short-term exposure and after 7, 14, 21, and 28 days in the long-term experiment. The calcium regulating endocrine gland, viz. the ultimobranchial gland, was fixed for histological studies. Up to 72 h of azadirachtin treatment, there was no histological alteration in the UBG (ultimobranchial gland) of H. fossilis. After 96 h exposure, the ultimobranchial cells stain feebly and the nuclear volume of these cells were slightly decreased. No histological alterations have been observed in the UBG cells up to 14 days following azadirachtin exposure. After 21 days, the cytoplasm of ultimobranchial cells was feebly stained and the nuclear volume exhibits a decrease. The nuclear volume of these cells was further decreased and the gland shows vacuolization and degeneration at certain places after 28 days azadirachtin treatment. Hence, it can be concluded that azadirachtin severely affects the physiology of calcium homeostasis in H. fossilis. Therefore, the botanical pesticides should be used carefully near aquatic reservoirs.     

REDD+ comes with money,not with development: an analysis of post-pilot project scenarios from the community forestry of Nepal Himalaya

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) attracts poor nations to keep their forest standing only to sequester carbon through monetary incentives. However, in countries like Nepal where forest is an integral part of social practices, communities need to keep using forests for making a living. Based on household survey, field interview, personal observation, and broad review of forestry legislations, this paper scrutinizes villagers’ experiences of changes in forest management after implementation of a REDD+ pilot project in nine Community Forestry Users Groups (CFUGs) of Nepal. Since REDD+ was not initiated by local communities but tacitly implemented by international NGOs, most villagers lacked knowledge about it and the associated benefits from the pilot project, thus fewer villagers were found to be motivated to participate in the pilot project. Consequently, it delinked villagers from their forest by implicitly tightening uses rules, which resulted in constraints to fetch forest products. In addition, REDD+ benefits were distributed to some poor households but not to all, which resulted to an antagonistic sentiment in the villages. Thus, a rigorous assessment of conditions and framework of REDD+ and an involvement of local community from the start without compromising in the uses of forest products is of the utmost importance before considering the REDD+ framework as an alternative or as similar to CFUG in Nepal. Alternatively, REDD+ can be a part or a development project under the CFUG’s framework, which could be socially as well as legally acceptable on the present situation.