Scenario-based urban growth allocation in a rapidly developing area: a modeling approach for sustainability analysis of an urban-coastal coupled system

Being located in an urban-coastal coupled system, the Hashtpar City is one of the most attractive areas for urban construction, tourism, agricultural activities and environmental protection in northern Iran. To resolve the issues between land developers and environmental conservation agencies, we conducted a scenario-based urban growth allocation procedure through the SLEUTH model. The scenarios consisted of ‘business as usual’, ‘managed urban growth’ and ‘environmentally sound growth’ that were introduced by modification of model parameters and exclusion layer. The resultant urban growth arrangements were compared for composition and configuration attributes of landscape patterns. According to the results, the pattern of urbanized lands under managed urban growth option demonstrated better connectivity and compactness of urban patches, while the two other scenarios generated a highly fragmented pattern. The managed urban growth can be considered as a compromised solution between other scenarios since it simultaneously takes into accounts both developers and environment protectors points’ of views. On this basis, a combination of centralized and decentralized urban land use planning is a recommended strategy for our urban-coastal environment to fulfill the purposes of a sustainable development process. The findings of the present article suggest that further expansion of the major urban core in the targeted area should be prohibited since it can lead to an urban patch with considerable physical size and noticeable ecological footprint.     

Groundwater quality assessment and its correlation with gastroenteritis using GIS: a case study of Rawal Town,Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Majority of the people of Pakistan get drinking water from groundwater source. Nearly 40 % of the total ailments reported in Pakistan are the result of dirty drinking water. Every summer, thousands of patients suffer from acute gastroenteritis in the Rawal Town. Therefore, a study was designed to generate a water quality index map of the Rawal Town and identify the relationship between bacteriological water quality and socio-economic indicators with gastroenteritis in the study area. Water quality and gastroenteritis patient data were collected by surveying the 262 tubewells and the major hospitals in the Rawal Town. The collected spatial data was analyzed by using ArcGIS spatial analyst (Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation) and geostatistical analysis tools (inverse distance weighted, radial basis function, kriging, and cokriging). The water quality index (WQI) for the study area was computed using pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids, calcium, hardness, alkalinity, and chloride values of the 262 tubewells. The results of Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation showed that the groundwater physicochemical parameters were clustered. Among IDW, radial basis function, and kriging and cokriging interpolation techniques, cokriging showed the lowest root mean square error. Cokriging was used to make the spatial distribution maps of water quality parameters. The WQI results showed that more than half of the tubewells in the Rawal Town were providing “poor” to “unfit” drinking water. The Pearson’s coefficient of correlation for gastroenteritis with fecal coliform was found significant (P?P?P?相似文献   

Influence of sub-lethal crude oil concentration on growth,water relations and photosynthetic capacity of maize (Zea mays L.) plants

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Maize tolerance potential to oil pollution was assessed by growing Zea mays in soil contaminated with varying levels of crude oil (0, 2.5 and...     

Characterization of titanium oxide optical band gap produced from leachate sludge treatment with titanium tetrachloride

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study investigated the coagulation performance of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) for leachate treatment and preparation of titanium oxide (TiO2)...     

Socio-economic and environmental impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan—an integrated analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The COVID-19 pandemic has affected about 210 countries with more than 67 million confirmed cases and over 1.5 million deaths across the globe...     

Effect of Bimetallic Soybean Oil Based Polymer on Growth and Plasma Membrane H+-ATPase Activity Among Fungi

In view of bio-inorganic importance, iron and zinc incorporated soybean oil based polymer was prepared by condensation polymerization of oil based fatty amide polyole, sebacic acid, zinc acetate and ferric chloride in a process initiated by sodium ethoxide. Microwave assisted synthesis was used throughout the reaction as it is ecofriendly and requires minimal usage of solvents. Physical techniques such as FT-IR and ¹HNMR have been used to establish the structure of the polymers. Standard laboratory methods like acid value, saponification value, iodine value, specific gravity and viscosity were used to study the chemical diversity of each product. Thermo gravimetry/differential thermal analyzer was used to analyse the thermal behavior of polymer. The synthesized compounds were subjected to biological study. The observed fungicidal characteristics of synthesized compounds indicate that these compounds might be promising antifungal agents defining a new class of antimycotics. The polymers were used in preparation of films which can be used as protective packaging material of edible items.     

Control of combustion-generated nitrogen oxides by selective non-catalytic reduction

Controlling nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) emissions is becoming a daunting technical challenge as increasingly strict emission limits are being imposed. The stringent regulations have prompted the innovation and characterization of NO(x) control technologies suitable for various applications. This paper presents a review on NO(x) removal techniques with particular reference to selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technology. This includes initially how SNCR emerged as a technology along with a comparison with other relevant technologies. A review of various features related to selective non-catalytic gas phase injection of ammonia and ammonium salts (as reducing agent) is presented. The use of urea solution as a reducing agent and its performance in laboratory and pilot scale tests as well as large-scale applications is also discussed. Use of cyanuric acid as a potential reducing agent is also presented. The underlying reaction mechanisms have been reviewed for ammonia, urea and cyanuric acid for the explanation of various observations. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling as applied to SNCR is also presented. Subsequently the use of SNCR coupled with other in-combustion and post-combustion NO(x) control techniques is elaborated. Additionally, a two-stage NO(x) removal strategy to control un-reacted ammonia slip and to improve overall efficiency is discussed. At the end a summary is given which highlights various areas needing further research.     

Statistical apportionment and risk assessment of selected metals in sediments from Rawal Lake (Pakistan)

The present study was carried out in order to evaluate the statistical apportionment and risk assessment of selected metals (Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Pb, Sr, and Zn) in freshly deposited sediments in Rawal Lake, Pakistan. Composite sediment samples were collected, oven-dried, grounded, homogenized, and processed to assess the water-soluble and acid extractable concentrations of the metals in the water extract and acid extract of the sediments using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Statistical methods were used to identify the possible sources of the metals. Sediment quality guidelines and potential acute toxicity were used to evaluate the ecotoxicological sense of selected metals. Non-carcinogenic health risk assessment was also carried out to determine the potential adverse health risks to the inhabitants. Relatively higher concentration was noted for Ca, Fe, Mg, Na, K, Mn, and Sr in the sediment samples. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis revealed anthropogenic contributions of Cd, Pb, Cr, Mn, Fe, and Li in the sediments. Enrichment factors of the metals in sediments showed severe to moderate enrichment of Cd, Pb, Ca, Fe, Li, Mn, and Sr. Geoaccumulation indices and contamination factors evidenced significant contamination by Cd and Pb, although, on the whole, low degree of contamination was noted. The levels of some metals exceeded the sediment quality guidelines, which revealed frequently adverse biological effects to the dwelling biota in the aquatic ecosystem. The sediments were found to be significantly contaminated by Cd, Pb, Cr, Mn, Fe, and Li.