Impact of the Jatoba shell residue amount on polyurethane foams based on castor polyol

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study proposes an alternative for Jatoba shell residues as reinforcement in castor oil-based polyurethane (PU), obtaining an eco-friendly...     

Synthesis of functionalized mesoporous material from rice husk ash and its application in the removal of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The rice husk ash (RHA) was used as an alternative source of silica for the synthesis of the functionalized mesoporous material, which was used in the...     

Trends in the Phase Separation Temperature Optimization of a Functional and Thermo-pH Responsive Terpolymer of Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl) Acrylamide-co-vanillin Acrylate)

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - To optimize the phase separation temperature of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) two monomers have been used to fabricate a series of three functional and...     

Water,sanitation, hygiene and waste disposal practices as COVID-19 response strategy: insights from Bangladesh

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global emergence, and the absence of a proven vaccine or medicine has led to the implementation of measures to...     

Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Hepatitis A Virus in Wastewaters in Tunisia

Hepatitis A causes substantial morbidity in both industrialized and non-industrialized countries and represents an important health problem in several southern Mediterranean countries. The objectives of the study were as follows: (a) to assess the occurrence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) in Tunisia through the monitoring of urban wastewaters collected at wastewater treatment plants (WTPs); (b) to characterize environmental strains; and (c) to estimate the viral load in raw and treated sewages, in order to evaluate the potential impact on superficial waters receiving discharges. A total of 150 raw and treated wastewaters were collected from three WTPs and analyzed by both qualitative (RT-PCR/nested) and quantitative (qRT-PCR) methods. Of these, 100 (66 %) were found to be positive for HAV by the qualitative assay: 68.3 % in influents and 64.7 % in effluents. The vast majority of HAV sequences belonged to sub-genotype IA, with 11 different strains detected found to be identical to clinical strains isolated from Tunisian patients with acute hepatitis. Five unique variants were also detected, not previously reported in clinical cases. Only two IB strains were found, confirming the rarity of this sub-genotype in this country. The results of the present study indicate a wide circulation of the pathogen in the population, most probably in the form of asymptomatic infections, a finding consistent with the classification of the country as having intermediate/high endemicity. Quantitative data showed high viral loads in influents (3.5E+05 genome copies/liter, mean value) as well as effluents (2.5E+05 genome copies/liter, mean value), suggesting that contaminated water could be a critical element in transmission.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of marine actinobacterial extract and its mediated titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the degradation of azo dyes

Aim of the present study was to synthesize titanium dioxide nanoparticles （YiO2 NPs） from marine actinobacteria and to develop an eco-friendly azo-dye degradation method. A total of five actinobacterial isolates were isolated from Chennai marine sediments, Tamilnadu, India and analyzed for the synthesis of TiO2 NPs using titanium hydroxide. Among these, the isolate PSV 3 showed positive results for the synthesis of TiO2 NPs, which was confirmed by UV analysis. Further characterization of the synthesized TiO2 NPs was done using XRD, AFM and FI＇-IR analysis. Actinobacterial crude extract and synthesized TiO2 NPs was found efficient in degrading azo dye such as Acid Red 79 （AR-79） and Acid Red 80 （AR-80）. Degradation percentage was found to be 81% for AR-79, 83% for AR-80 using actinobacterial crude extract and 84% for AR-79, 85% for AR-80 using TiO2 NPs. Immobilized actinobacterial ceils showed 88% for AR-79 and 81% for AR- 80, dye degrading capacity. Degraded components were characterized by FT-IR and GC-MS analysis. The phytotoxicity test with 500 μg/mL of untreated dye showed remarkable phenotypic as well as cellular damage to Tagetes erecta plant. Comparatively no such damage was observed on plants by degraded dye components. In biotoxicity assay, treated dyes showed less toxic effect as compared to the untreated dyes.     

Fuelwood assessment at the micro-watershed level:a case study in Garhwal Himalaya,India

Biomass,as fuelwood,is one of the major sources of energy in rural areas,especially in the mountainous regions of the world.As the increasing human population exerts more pressure on the forest thereby inducing an adverse effect on the sustainability of the ecosystem,which consequently causes fuelwood crisis at a local level,this crisis is spatio-temporal in nature.Thus,the major objective of this study is to assess the sustainability of fuelwood at different probable scenarios at a micro watershed level.The present study was conducted in the Phakot watershed,the Tehri Garhwal district of central Himalaya in India,during 2006-2008.Based on the vegetation composition in the study area,the net primary productivity(NPP)value of the Oak forest,and mixed oak and sal forests,was used for the quantification of fuelwood availability in evergreen and deciduous forests,respectively.The fuelwood demand was calculated on the basis of seasonal fuelwood consumption values.Nine probable permutations for availability-demand scenarios assuming the existence of high(H),low(L)and average(A)conditions were analyzed for evaluating the stress.The available annual harvestable fuelwood in the watershed is in the minimum and maximum ranges of 2283.28 to 4066.00 tons,respectively,per year whereas it has a demand of 110.76 tons as the minimum to 3659 tons as the maximum annually.This shows that in the current availabilitydemand scenario,the watershed does not have fuelwood crisis in the present situation but needs to maintain the sustainability of the system.Based on our study,it is concluded that,globally,more spatio-temporal study is required to understand the issues at the local level.