Mechanical Properties of Layered Laminated Woven Bamboo <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gigantochloa Scortechinii</Emphasis>/Epoxy Composites

This study investigated the application of bamboo as a natural composite, in which its potential as a composite material had been examined for 2–6 layers. In precise, the woven bamboo (BW) formed the culm fiber composite with an average of 0.5 mm thickness and 5.0 mm width strip. In addition, this study looked into a specific type of bamboo species known as Gigantochloa Scortechinii (Buluh Semantan), which can be found in Malaysia. This laminated plain BW, which had been reinforced with epoxy (EP), was developed by applying the hand lay-up technique. After that, the specimens were characterized via mechanical analyses, for instance, tensile, flexural, hardness, and impact tests. As a result, the 2-layer BW had displayed rather excellent results chiefly due to the incorporation of epoxy composite, although this is exceptional hardness value.     

Concentrations and profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls, -dibenzo-p-dioxins and -dibenzofurans in livers of mink from South Carolina and Louisiana,U.S.A

In South Carolina, U.S.A., mink have been reintroduced from two apparently healthy populations to areas where populations haveexisted in the past but have been extirpated. High mortality wasobserved during transport of mink from the source populations. Inorder to elucidate the potential effects of dioxin-like compoundson the survival and reproduction of mink, concentrations of totalpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p-DDE, dioxin-likePCBs, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), anddibenzofurans (PCDFs) were measured in livers of mink collectedfrom the source populations in South Carolina and Louisiana. Concentrations of total 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxinequivalents (TEQs) for the South Carolina and Louisiana mink were21 and 14 pg g^-1, wet wt., respectively. PCB and TEQ concentrations were close to the threshold values that can, under laboratory conditions, elicit toxic effects in ranchmink. Therefore, any additional exposures of these populations toTEQs might adversely affect their populations.     

Ganges River Dolphin: An Overview of Biology,Ecology, and Conservation Status in India

Ganges River dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, is one of the three obligatory freshwater dolphins in the world and is distributed in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna and Sangu–Karnaphuli River systems in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. This species is facing considerable threats to its survival, and its population has dwindled from 4000 to 5000 in the early 1980s to 3500 in 2014 in the distribution range. This article reviews current status of the sub-species, habitat use, and the potential threats that the dolphins face for their survival (details of taxonomic status and genetics, evolutionary adaptations and anatomical peculiarities, physical adaptation, primitive characteristics, biology, behavior, surfacing behavior and dive times, mating and birth, and life span/age have been placed as Electronic Supplementary Materials). Recommendations have been made for the protection and developing strategies for the conservation of this Endangered and endemic sub-species.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0534-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Physicochemical parameters aid microbial community? A case study from marine recreational beaches,Southern India

A total of 176 (water and sediment) samples from 22 stations belonging to four different (urban, semi-urban, rural, and holy places) human habitations of Tamil Nadu beaches were collected and analyzed for physiochemical and microbial parameters during 2008–2009. Bacterial counts were two- to tenfold higher in sediments than in water due to strong bacterial aggregations by dynamic flocculation and rich organic content. The elevated bacterial communities during the monsoon explain rainfalls and several other wastes from inlands. Coliform counts drastically increased at holy and urban places due to pilgrimage and other ritual activities. Higher values of the pollution index (PI) ratio (>1) reveals, human fecal pollutions affect the water quality. The averaged PI ratio shows a substantial higher microbial contamination in holy places than in urban areas and the order of decreasing PI ratios observed were: holy places?>?urban areas?>?semi-urban areas?>?rural areas. Correlation and factor analysis proves microbial communities were not related to physicochemical parameters. Principal component analysis indicates 55.32 % of the total variance resulted from human/animal fecal matters and sewage contaminants whereas 19.95 % were related to organic contents and waste materials from the rivers. More than 80 % of the samples showed a higher fecal coliform and Streptococci by crossing the World Health Organization's permissible limits.     

Environmental prevalence,fate, impacts,and mitigation of microplastics—a critical review on present understanding and future research scope

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microplastics are considered to be ubiquitous and widespread emerging contaminants. They are persistent in the nature and pose considerable harm to...     

Predicting the combustion behaviour of compression ignition engine fuelled with biodiesel from Stoechospermum marginatum,a macro algae

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Biodiesel is one among the recent developments in the field of renewable energy research. To enhance the combustion characteristics of compression...     

Assessing seasonal and spatial trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Indian agricultural regions using PUF disk passive air samplers

The first survey of persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations in air across several Indian agricultural regions was conducted in 2006-2007. Passive samplers comprising polyurethane foam (PUF) disks were deployed on a quarterly basis at seven stations in agricultural regions, one urban site and one background site. The project was conducted as a sub-project of the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) Network. In addition to revealing new information on air concentrations of several organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the study has demonstrated the feasibility of conducting regional-scale monitoring for POPs in India using PUF disk samplers. The following analytes were detected with relatively high concentrations in air (mean for 2006 and 2007, pg/m³): α- and γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) (292 and 812, respectively); endosulfan I and II (2770 and 902, respectively); p,p′-DDE and p,p′-DDT (247 and 931, respectively); and for the sum of 48 PCBs, 12,100 (including a site with extremely high air concentrations in 2007) and 972 (when excluding data for this site).     

A Long-Term Electricity Dispatch Model with the TIMES Framework

A new Swiss TIMES (The Integrated MARKAL–EFOM System) electricity model with an hourly representation of inter-temporal detail and a century-long model horizon has been developed to explore the TIMES framework’s suitability as a long-term electricity dispatch model. To understand the incremental insights from this hourly model, it is compared to an aggregated model with only two diurnal timeslices like in most MARKAL/TIMES models. Two scenarios have been analysed with both models to answer the following questions: Are there differences in model solutions? What are the benefits of having a high number of timeslices? Are there any computational limitations? The primary objective of this paper is to understand the differences between the solutions of the two models, rather than Swiss policy implication or potential uncertainties in input parameters and assumptions. The analysis reveals that the hourly model offers powerful insights into the electricity generation schedule. Nevertheless, the TIMES framework cannot substitute for a dispatch model because some features cannot be represented; however, the long model time horizon and integrated system approaches of TIMES provide features not available in conventional dispatch models. The methodology of the model development and insights from the model comparison are described.     

Hydrographic and sediment characteristics of seagrass meadows of the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, South India

The aim of the study was to examine the spatial and temporal variations in the physicochemical parameters of seagrass meadows of the Gulf of Mannar, South India using multivariate statistical techniques, namely, cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA), to explore the relationship. There were clear spatial and temporal variations in physicochemical variables of the seagrass meadow of the Gulf of Mannar, but such changes were subjected to seasonal variations especially during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The multivariate statistical techniques, viz., CA and PCA helped in the discrimination of islands according to the physicochemical parameters of the seagrass meadows. It was inferred that electrical conductivity, nitrate, particulate organic carbon, and phosphate strongly determined the discrimination of 19 islands, respectively, upon physicochemical characteristics of their seagrass meadows. These results highlight the important role of seagrasses in the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve.