Dechlorane Plus as an emerging environmental pollutant in Asia: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Dechlorane Plus (DP) is an unregulated, highly chlorinated flame retardant. It has been manufactured from past 40 years but its presence in...     

Physicochemical properties and mineral contents of seven different date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) varieties growing from Saudi Arabia

The date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruits (Soukari, Soulag, Barhi, Khulas, Rozaiz, Soughi and Monaif) were evaluated with respect to some physical and chemical properties. While crude protein contents of fruits change between 1.51 % (Soulag) to 2.41 % (Soughi), crude fibre contents ranged between 1.91 % (Soukari) to 3.90 % (Barhi). Vitamin C contents of date samples changed between 971.82 mg/kg (Soughi) to 1,453.15 mg/kg (Barhi). Antioxidant activity of date fruits ranged from 80.07 IC₅₀ (Soukari) to 81.21 IC₅₀ (Soulag). The highest phenolic content was found in Khulas with a mean value of 198 mg GAE/100 g. Energy values of date fruits ranged from 3,725 kcal/kg (Soulag) to 3,870 kcal/kg (Soukari). Sucrose contents of date fruits changed between 1.02 % (Soulag) to 55.71 % (Soukari). Mineral contents of several date fruits were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Date samples contain potassium at a range between 7,468 mg/kg (Khulas) to 9,619 mg/kg (Soulag). Phosphorus contents of fruits were found between 1,848 mg/kg (Soulag) to 3,066 mg/kg (Rozaiz) and followed by magnesium and calcium. The highest Zn (9.33 mg/kg), Cu (4.27 mg/kg) and Mn (3.26 mg/kg) were found in Rozaiz, Soukari and Barhi samples, respectively.     

Isolation and identification of Aeromonas caviae strain KS-1 as TBTC- and lead-resistant estuarine bacteria

Tributyltin chloride (TBTC)- and lead-resistant estuarine bacterium from Mandovi estuary, Goa, India was isolated and identified as Aeromonas caviae strain KS-1 based on biochemical characteristics and FAME analysis. It tolerates TBTC and lead up to 1.0 and 1.4 mM, respectively, in the minimal salt medium (MSM) supplemented with 0.4 % glucose. Scanning electron microscopy clearly revealed a unique morphological pattern in the form of long inter-connected chains of bacterial cells on exposure to 1 mM TBTC, whereas cells remained unaltered in presence of 1.4 mM Pb(NO₃)₂ but significant biosorption of lead (8 %) on the cell surface of this isolate was clearly revealed by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. SDS-PAGE analysis of whole-cell proteins of this lead-resistant isolate interestingly demonstrated three lead-induced proteins with molecular mass of 15.7, 16.9 and 32.4 kDa, respectively, when bacterial cells were grown under the stress of 1.4 mM Pb (NO₃)₂. This clearly demonstrated their possible involvement exclusively in lead resistance. A. caviae strain KS-1 also showed tolerance to several other heavy metals, viz. zinc, cadmium, copper and mercury. Therefore, we can employ this TBTC and lead-resistant bacterial isolate for lead bioremediation and also for biomonitoring TBTC from lead and TBTC contaminated environment.     

SOIL MOISTURE PREDICTION USING SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINES1

ABSTRACT: Herein, a recently developed methodology, Support Vector Machines (SVMs), is presented and applied to the challenge of soil moisture prediction. Support Vector Machines are derived from statistical learning theory and can be used to predict a quantity forward in time based on training that uses past data, hence providing a statistically sound approach to solving inverse problems. The principal strength of SVMs lies in the fact that they employ Structural Risk Minimization (SRM) instead of Empirical Risk Minimization (ERM). The SVMs formulate a quadratic optimization problem that ensures a global optimum, which makes them superior to traditional learning algorithms such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). The resulting model is sparse and not characterized by the “curse of dimensionality.” Soil moisture distribution and variation is helpful in predicting and understanding various hydrologic processes, including weather changes, energy and moisture fluxes, drought, irrigation scheduling, and rainfall/runoff generation. Soil moisture and meteorological data are used to generate SVM predictions for four and seven days ahead. Predictions show good agreement with actual soil moisture measurements. Results from the SVM modeling are compared with predictions obtained from ANN models and show that SVM models performed better for soil moisture forecasting than ANN models.     

Recovering from disasters: a study of livelihoods in post‐quake villages in northern Pakistan

The October 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan severely affected the livelihoods of 1.5 million people. With the destruction of material assets and communications infrastructure, the quake had a devastating impact on people's way of life in this remote mountainous region. This paper explores livelihood revival interventions undertaken during the earthquake response, and considers how differentiated livelihood outcomes were achieved. In addressing this objective the paper examines livelihood rehabilitation schemes in terms of structural aspects, working strategies, key factors, strengths of interventions and the role of human agency in influencing livelihood trajectories of quake‐affected communities. Primary data for this study was gathered in northern Pakistan between October 2008 and January 2009. The study identifies structural shortcomings and strengths of the programmes attempting to revive the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable households. It identifies how households in two villages made the most of opportunities to improve their lives and move towards favourable outcomes.     

Removal of Organic and Inorganic Pollutants Using CSFe3O4@CeO2 Nanocatalyst via Adsorption–Reduction Catalysis: A Focused Analysis on Methylene Blue

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The synthesis of an efficient catalytic system with a safe catalysis approach has always been the concern of researchers to eradicate the problems arising...