Comparative performance of flat sheet and spiral wound modules in the nanofiltration of reactive dye solution

Background and purpose

Besides the opportunities for reuse, stringent regulations and growing public awareness demand an enhanced quality of effluent from dye industries. Treatment of an aqueous solution of dye (reactive red 198) was carried out in a nanofiltration unit using both flat sheet and spiral wound modules to obtain a comparative performance evaluation in terms of permeate flux and quality.

Methods

Hydrophilized polyamide membrane with molecular weight cutoff of 150 was used for the experiments. Effects of trans-membrane pressure (TMP), feed concentration and addition of salt on permeate flux were investigated. Percent reduction of color, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solid (TDS), and conductivity were determined to assess performance of the membrane.

Results

The maximum flux decline was 16.1% of its initial value at 490 kPa TMP with 50 ppm feed concentration in spiral wound module, whereas the same in flat sheet under same conditions was 7.2%. The effect of TMP showed a quasi-linear increase in flux with increasing pressure. Increased permeate concentration led to the reduction in observed retention of dye in the membrane. The average reduction in color, COD, and TDS were 96.88%, 97.38%, and 89.24%, respectively. The decline in permeate flux was more in case of spiral wound module compared to flat sheet. However, spiral wound module performed better in terms of color removal, COD reduction, and TDS removal.

Conclusion

Substantial removal of color was achieved in the nanofiltration experiments with a marked reduction in COD and TDS. The process allowed the production of permeate stream with great reutilization possibilities.     

Size exclusion chromatography for the removal of pigments from extracellular ligninolytic enzyme extracts from decayed wheat straw

Solid-state fermentation of wheat straw was carried out by a native white rot basidiomycete Daedaleopsis flavida strain 5A. Extract prepared from the 12-day decayed wheat straw contained extracellular ligninolytic enzymes like manganese peroxidase (MnP), manganese-independent peroxidase (MIP), lignin peroxidase (LiP) and laccase along with straw-degraded products and pigments. Sephacryl S-200 size exclusion chromatography in 16/100 column was used for the separation of these ligninolytic enzymes and straw-degraded products and pigments. Recovery of pigment-free ligninolytic enzyme activities as protein was 40% of the total proteins loaded and specific LiP activity increased 34 fold after size exclusion chromatography. Thus accurate estimation of LiP by veratryl alcohol oxidation assay was possible only after the removal of interfering pigments. The reproducibility of size exclusion chromatography is adjudged satisfactory from the consistent results obtained after seven repetitive uses of matrices.     

Studies on oxidative stress induced nerve conduction deficits in cigarette smokers

An important role of oxidative stress for the development of vascular and neurological complications has encouraged us to undertake a study to assess the oxidative stress induced nerve conduction deficits among cigarette smokers. Eighteen regular male cigarette smokers and twenty nine male non-smokers were diagnosed for clinical neuro-physiological tests viz., motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity (MNCV and SNCV) and redox status. Significant depletion of reduced glutathione (GSH) level (p < 0.05) and significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) level (p < 0.01) was found in smokers compared to non-smokers. Motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity showed no significant difference among smokers compared to non-smokers. The present study shows that smoking can induce oxidative stress among smokers but could not exacerbate to nerve conduction deficits.     

Physiological and biochemical responses of several freshwater algae to a mixture of metals

A mixture of ten metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, Ni, Se and Zn) at the Great Lakes Water Quality Objective levels was found to reduce the primary productivity of four cultured freshwater algae ($\text{Scenedesmus}$, $\text{Chlorella}$, $\text{Anabaena}$ and $\text{Navicula}$) as well as natural phytoplankton from Lake Ontario water. The metal mixture also caused a reduction in the reproduction and transport of an amino acid analogue (α-aminoisobutyric acid) by $\text{Ankistrodesmus}$. The depuration and exchange of the amino acid analogue were not affected by the metal mixture. The nitrogenase activity of $\text{Anabaena}$ was, however, reduced in the presence of the metal mixture.     

SOIL SALINITY PREDICTION USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS1

ABSTRACT: This study explores the applicability of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for predicting salt build‐up in the crop root zone. ANN models were developed with salinity data from field lysimeters subirrigated with brackish water. Different ANN architectures were explored by varying the number of processing elements (PEs) (from 1 to 30) for replicate data from a 0.4 m water table, 0.8 m water table, and both 0.4 and 0.8 m water table lysimeters. Different ANN models were developed by using individual replicate treatment values as well as the mean value for each treatment. For replicate data, the models with twenty, seven, and six PEs were found to be the best for the water tables at 0.4 m, 0.8 m and both water tables combined, respectively. The correlation coefficients between observed salinity and ANN predicted salinity of the test data with these models were 0.89, 0.91, and 0.89, respectively. The performance of the ANNs developed using mean salinity values of the replicates was found to be similar to those with replicate data. Not only was there agreement between observed and ANN predicted salinity values, the results clearly indicated the potential use of ANN models for predicting salt build‐up in soil profile at a specific site.     

Hematological and biochemical alterations in sprayers occupationally exposed to mixture of pesticides at a mango plantation in Lucknow,India

The aim of this study was to examine the hematological and cholinesterase (ChE) activity levels of pesticide sprayers employed in mango plantations at Lucknow. Fifty-two sprayers from mango plantations who regularly spray mixtures of pesticides including organochlorines (OC), organophosphates (OP), and carbamates were included as exposed group. Twenty residents living close to mango plantations, but not involved in pesticide spraying were taken as controls. Pesticide residues for OC were analyzed in blood by gas chromatography with electron capture detector. There was a significant decrease in acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase activities in pesticide sprayers (n?=?52) relative to the control group (n?=?20). A significant difference in the frequency distribution of hematological variations in red blood cell, white blood cell, monocytes, neutrophils, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and platelet count was observed. Residues of OC pesticides including α-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and total HCH were found to be significantly higher in the blood of sprayers compared to controls. Hematological variations were quantitatively more frequent among the sprayers with 5 years of pesticide exposure compared to the controls and to subjects with less than 5 years of exposure group. Hematological abnormalities in sprayers were correlated with pesticide exposure as evidenced by lower ChE activity as well as the presence of OC pesticides in blood. The poorly controlled use of pesticides in the plantation appeared to have produced sub-clinical intoxication in the sprayers and indicated the need for training and implementation of proper, safer hygiene practices.     

Assessing the relative impacts of the factors affecting MIS adoption process

Micro-irrigation systems (MIS) have been at the forefront of policy-making and social research in exploring determinants that could potentially impact the adoption of MIS technologies in the field to fulfil the basic aim of enhanced agricultural productivity and enriched nutritional quality of the produce with optimal adoption of natural resources. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine why MIS technologies have not been adopted to the extent anticipated, so that suitable policy schemes, promotional schemes and socio-technical frameworks could be formulated for their enhanced adoption to enhance the socio-economic status of the farming community in the Dahod district of Gujarat State, India. A study of 350 non-MIS (NMIS) and 350 MIS farmers was conducted to identify factors affecting the MIS adoption process. The logit model was fitted using XLSTAT software (XLSTAT 2014.1.04) to the explanatory variables (determinants) of the MIS adoption process. Type III analysis and ANOVA were conducted to test the relative significance of the explanatory variables adopted. It was found that total income had the highest weight (or beta coefficient, i.e. 0.625) followed by total land area (0.546), motor horsepower (0.499), dependency ratio (0.397), and education (0.295) and age of household head (0.207). Furthermore, to assess the efficacy of the logit model, the ROC curve was also developed and the AUC was found to be 0.881, and therefore the model was considered to discriminate well in identifying the factors affecting the MIS adoption process. The study found that higher total income and education level increase the likelihood of MIS adoption and agricultural water management, and therefore special training programmes on installation, as well as repair and maintenance, of MIS systems and agricultural water management can be planned at the institutional/organisation level. The total cultivable area is also one of the important determinants in MIS adoption, and therefore the adoption of MIS schemes should not be restricted to large farmers only, but rather should be extended to both small and marginal farmers.     

Nitrogen mineralization in O horizon soils during 27 years of nitrogen enrichment at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine,USA

Chronic elevated nitrogen (N) deposition has altered the N status of temperate forests, with significant implications for ecosystem function. The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) is a whole paired watershed manipulation experiment established to study the effects of N and sulfur (S) deposition on ecosystem function. N was added bimonthly as (NH₄)₂SO₄ to one watershed from 1989 to 2016, and research at the site has studied the evolution of ecosystem response to the treatment through time. Here, we synthesize results from 27 years of research at the site and describe the temporal trend of N availability and N mineralization at BBWM in response to chronic N deposition. Our findings suggest that there was a delayed response in soil N dynamics, since labile soil N concentrations did not show increases in the treated watershed (West Bear, WB) compared to the reference watershed (East Bear, EB) until after the first 4 years of treatment. Labile N became increasingly available in WB through time, and after 25 years of manipulations, treated soils had 10× more extractable ammonium than EB soils. The WB soils had 200× more extractable nitrate than EB soils, driven by both, high nitrate concentrations in WB and low nitrate concentrations in EB. Nitrification rates increased in WB soils and accounted for ~?50% of net N mineralization, compared to ~?5% in EB soils. The study provides evidence of the decadal evolution in soil function at BBWM and illustrates the importance of long-term data to capture ecosystem response to chronic disturbance.     

Water pollution of Sabarmati River—a Harbinger to potential disaster

River Sabarmati is one of the biggest and major river of Gujarat that runs through two major cities of Gujarat, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad and finally meets the Gulf of Khambhat (GoK) in the Arabian Sea. A study was conducted to evaluate the water quality of this river, as it could possibly be one of the major sources for filling up Kalpasar, the proposed man-made freshwater reservoir supposed to be the biggest one in the world. A total of nine sampling stations were established covering 163 km stretch of the river from upstream of Gandhinagar city to Vataman near Sabarmati estuary. Physicochemical (temprature, pH, salinity, chloride, total dissolved solids, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, phenol, and petroleum hydrocarbons), biological (phytoplankton), and microbiological (total and selective bacterial count) analyses indicated that the river stretch from Ahmedabad-Vasana barriage to Vataman was highly polluted due to perennial waste discharges mainly from municipal drainage and industries. An implementation of sustainable management plan with proper treatment of both municipal and industrial effluents is essential to prevent further deterioration of the water quality of this river.     

Sorption and desorption of salinomycin sodium in clay, loamy sand, and sandy soils

Salinomycin sodium (BIO-COX) is polyether ionophore, commonly used in the poultry industries for the prevention of coccidial infections and promotion of growth. Salinomycin sodium (SAL-Na) is very toxic, and may be fatal, if swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin than many other antibiotics, thus evaluating their fate in the soil environment is of importance. Sorption of SAL-Na was measured in clay, loamy sand, and sandy soil at different pH 4, 7, and 9, and desorption with phosphate buffer (pH 7) using batch equilibration technique. SAL-Na was sorbed by all the soils studied, the sorption of SAL-Na by the sandy soil increased as the pH decreased, while the sorption of salinomycin in clay and loamy sand soil increased as the pH increased. Desorption of salinomycin from the soil with phosphate buffer (pH 7) over the 24 h period was 80-95% of the amount added. The similar trend was observed in desorption with pH 4, 7 and at different concentrations and slight less desorption was observed in pH 9. When compared to clay and loamy sand soil, sandy soil was recorded maximum (95%) desorption.