Comparative efficacy of mitigation techniques for the detoxification of Prunus persica (L.) from selected pesticide residues

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fruits are the valuable and important components of human diet. Among them, Prunus persica is a rich source of different minerals and dietary fibers....     

Nanocarrier-mediated co-delivery systems for lung cancer therapy: recent developments and prospects

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Research has recently focused on combinational therapy using nanocarriers to overcome the obstacles associated with conventional therapy of lung cancer. The...     

Development of geomorphologic instantaneous unit hydrograph for a large watershed

Hill torrents cause a lot of environmental and property damage in Pakistan every year. Proper assessment of direct runoff in the form of hill torrents is essential for protection of environment, property, and human life. In this paper, direct surface runoff hydrograph (DSRH) was derived for a large catchment using the geomorphologic instantaneous unit hydrograph concept. The catchment with hill torrent flows in semi-arid region of Pakistan was selected for this study. It was divided into series of linear cascades and hydrologic parameters required for Nash's conceptual model, and were estimated using geomorphology of the basin. Geomorphologic parameters were derived from satellite images of the basin and ERDAS and ArcGIS were used for data processing. Computer program was developed to systematically estimate the dynamic velocity, its related parameters by optimization and thereby to simulate the DSRH. The data regarding rainfall-runoff and satellite images were collected from Punjab Irrigation and Power Department, Pakistan. Model calibration and validation was made for 15 rainfall-runoff events. Ten events were used for calibration and five for validation. Model efficiency was found to be more than 90% and root mean square error to be about 5%. Impact of variation in model parameters (shape parameter and storage coefficient) on DSRH was investigated. For shape parameter, the number of linear cascades varied from 1 to 3 and it was found that the shaper parameter value of 3 produced the best DSRH. Various values of storage coefficient were used and it was observed that the value determined from geomorphology and the dynamic velocity produced the best results.     

Mutagenicity of chloroaniline/lignin metabolites in the salmonella/microsome assay

Abstract

Chloroanilines are constituents of many agrochemicals and have been found to be metabolized to succinic acid conjugates, e.g., succinamides and succinimides. The mutagenic potential of five chloroanilines and their succinamides and succinimide derivatives have been tested with two strains of Salmonella typhimurium (TA98 and TA100) with and without rat hepatic micro‐somal fraction. None of the compounds produced a dose response effect with a two‐fold increase in revertants indicating that these compounds are not mutagens or promutagens in these assays.     

Validation of plant based bioassays for the toxicity testing of Indian waters

Plant-based bioassays have recently gained remarkable popularity among the toxicological/eco-toxicological assessment procedures. The reasons for their wide use are comparative simplicity, sensitivity, and cost-effectiveness as well as a good correlation with other toxicity tests. The present study describes the use of two plant bioassays, Allium cepa test and seed germination test in the evaluation of the toxicity/genotoxicity of industrial waste water and river water and standardization with the commonly occurring pollutants in Indian waters namely heavy metals and phenolics. Both tests were standardized to suit the Indian conditions, and the local varieties were used. Both bioassays responded significantly with the test range of heavy metals and phenolics. The toxicity of heavy metals was in the order of Cu > Ni > Cd in both the tests whereas 2,4-dinitrophenol was the most toxic among the phenolic compounds. Cabbage, millet, and cucumber, respectively, were found to be the most sensitive in the seed germination test for the test heavy metals and phenols. Significant amounts of chromosomal abnormalities including bridges, stickiness, and fragmentations were recorded with both the industrial waste water and the XAD concentrated river water samples by A. cepa test.     

Cognitive failures, driving errors and driving accidents

INTRODUCTION: The impact of a driver's cognitive capability on traffic safety has not been adequately studied. This study examined the relationship between cognitive failures, driving errors and accident data. METHOD: Professional drivers from Iran (160 males, ages 18-65) participated in this study. The cognitive failures questionnaire (CFQ) and the driver error questionnaire were administered. The participants were also asked other questions about personal driving information. A principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed to determine the factor structure of the CFQ. Poisson regression models were developed to predict driving errors and accidents from total CFQ scores and the extracted factors. RESULTS: Total CFQ scores were associated with driving error rates, but not with accidents. However, the 2 extracted factors suggested an increased effect on accidents and were strongly associated with driving errors. DISCUSSION: Although the CFQ was not able to predict driving accidents, it could be used to identify drivers susceptible to driving errors. Further development of a driving-oriented cognitive failure scale is recommended to help identify error prone drivers. Such a scale may be beneficial to licensing authorities or for developing driver selection and training procedures for organizations.     

Do renewable energy and globalization enhance ecological footprint: an analysis of top renewable energy countries?

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper aims at estimating the dynamic impact of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, globalization, urbanization, and economic growth...     

生态学与经济学的合流

生态学家和经济学家在环境问题上各持己见，误解很深。近年来，生态学家和经济学家逐渐认识到了合作的重要性。但是，他们的合作一直磕磕碰碰。其中，最大的分歧在于如何合作才是最有效的。促进双方的沟通和理解可使经济学家更多地将环境问题纳入经济范畴，使生态学家探索运用经济手段解决环境问题的新思路。     

Abundance,spatial distribution,and physical characteristics of microplastics in stormwater detention ponds

Despite extensive research on microplastics (MP) in marine environments, little is known about MP abundance and transport in terrestrial systems. There is, therefore, still little understanding of the main mechanisms driving the substantial transport of MP across different environmental compartments. Storm events can transport MP beyond boundaries, such as from the land to groundwater or the ocean, as has already been discovered for organic carbon transport. Urban stormwater detention ponds are suitable environments to study the impact of stormwater on the environmental fate and transport of MP. Herein, we investigate the longitudinal and vertical distribution of MP within two detention ponds with different physical characteristics. Soil samples were collected at various locations and from multiple depths (surface and subsurface layers) for measuring MP concentrations using fluorescence microscopy. Our findings show that MP are retained more near the inlet of the ponds, and MP of larger sizes were found more abundantly near inlets than outlets. We also found that MP mass and sizes decrease from surface soil to subsurface soil. In the pond, where vegetation (grass root network) was more considerable, MP were found more evenly distributed along the depth. In terms of shape, the fragments were the most abundant MP shape.