Aerobic treatment of swine manure to enhance anaerobic digestion and microalgal cultivation

Aerobic treatment of swine manure was coupled with anaerobic digestion and microalgal cultivation. A 14-day aerobic treatment reduced the total solid content of swine manure by >15%. Ammonia and carbon dioxide were stripped by the air supplied, and this off-gas was further used to aerate the culture of Chlorella vulgaris. The microalgal growth rates in Bristol medium and the wastewater with the off-gas increased from 0.08 to 0.22 g/L/d and from 0.15 to 0.24 g/L/d, respectively. Meanwhile, the aerobically treated swine manure showed a higher methane yield during anaerobic digestion. The experimental results were used to establish a demonstration unit consisting of a 100 L composter, a 200 L anaerobic digester, a 60 L tubular photobioreactor, and a 300 L micro-open raceway pond.     

Increased Levels of serum Pentraxin 3 in Critical Coronavirus Disease-2019 Patients

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) and ficolin are the plasma phase of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and can activate complement through classical and lectin...     

Study of non-revenue water status and enforcement measures to reduce water loss: case study in villages of Kermanshah Province of Iran

In this study, the volume and the cash value of water loss, and reduction of water loss as a result of enforcement action during 2011–2013 in the drinking water network of villages in Kermanshah Province, Iran, have been investigated. Date collected by referring to the different parts of rural water and waste water company of Kermanshah Province and checklist were completed. The study showed the volume of produced water and sold water has increased and the water loss percentage has decreased. High cost of water production compared to revenue of sold water and water loss resulted in significant detriments in terms of the water production costs. Water loss level decreased from 33% to 30% as result of measures taken to reduce water loss but, it is still 15% higher than the world average level. Also the reduction in number of water resources and increase in the number and volume of reservoirs indicates a lack of water and a growing need. As result of high water loss, waste of costs in the contrast of water production cost and also because physical water loss accounts for most of the water loss of villages, necessary measures can be effective in reducing loss and have economic justification.     

Treatment of Basic Red 29 dye solution using iron-aluminum electrode pairs by electrocoagulation and electro-Fenton methods

The aim of this study is the treatment of Basic Red 29 (BR29) dye solution using hybrid iron-aluminum electrodes by electrocoagulation and electro-Fenton methods. The effect of current density, initial pH, supporting electrolyte, H₂O₂, and initial dye concentration on dye removal efficiency was investigated, and the best experimental conditions were obtained. Time-coarse variation of UV-Vis spectra and toxicity and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal were also examined at the best experimental conditions. Both systems were found very successful for the removal of BR29 dye. The removal efficiency of >95 % for BR29 dye solution was reached easily in a short time. At the best experimental conditions, for the initial BR29 concentration of 100 mg/L, >95 % BR29 dye and 71.43 % COD removal were obtained after 20 and 40 min of electrolysis, respectively. Additionally, toxicity results for electro-Fenton treatment of 100 mg/L BR29 were also very promising. According to the results obtained, although electro-Fenton is more effective, both systems can be used successfully to treat textile wastewater including dyes.     

Report: The assessment of hospital waste management:a case study in Tehran

Hospital waste management is an important process that must be dealt with diligently. The management of hazardous waste material requires specific knowledge and regulations and it must be carried out by specialists in the field. In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the main stages of hospital waste management including separation, containment, removal and disposal of waste materials in public hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). We selected 108 units of six hospitals (three general hospitals and three subspecialty hospitals) from those hospitals supervised by TUMS using the cluster sampling method. The measurement was conducted through a questionnaire and direct observation by researchers. Association analysis was done by statistical tests; Fisher exact test and chi-squared using SPSS software. According to the results obtained by the questionnaire, most of the studied wards scored moderately in terms of quality of their performance in all stages of waste management. About one-fifth of the wards were suffering from poor management of their medical waste and only a minority of wards obtained good scores for managing their waste materials. The findings also revealed significant associations between temporary waste storage and collection and the level of education of the managers (P = 0.040, P = 0.050, respectively). In summary, the study indicated a moderate management in all processes of separation, collection, containment, removal and disposal of waste materials in hospitals with several observed problems in the process.     

On the mitigating environmental aspects of a vertical well in underground coal gasification method

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - Underground coal gasification (UCG) is an energy production pathway in underground coal deposits with the potential advantage of decreasing...     

Effect of Acetamiprid on spatial memory and hippocampal glutamatergic system

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Acetamiprid (ACE) is one of the widely used neonicotinoid insecticides. In mammals, in spite of the low-affinity nAChRs, neurotoxic effects following...     

Risk assessment for the daily intake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the ingestion of cockle （Anadara granosa） and exposure to contaminated water and sediments along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia

The concentration of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (c-PAHs) present in the sediment and water of Peninsular Malaysia as well as in the cockle Anadara granosa was investigated. Samples were extracted and analysed with gas chromatographymass spectrometry. The concentrations of total carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (t-PAHs) were measured between 0.80 0.04 to 162.96 14.74 ng/g wet weight (ww) in sediment, between 21.85 2.18 to 76.2 10.82 ng/L in water samples and between 3.34 0.77 to 46.85 5.50 ng/g ww in the cockle tissue. The risk assessment of probable human carcinogens in the Group B2 PAHs was calculated and assessed in accordance with the standards of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Case I in the toxicity assessment analysed the cancer risk to consumers of Malaysian blood cockle. Case II assessed the risk of cancer from exposure to PAHs from multiple pathways. The average cancer risk of case I and case II were found to be classifiable as unsafe according to the US EPA standard. The cancer risk due to c-PAHs acquired by the ingestion of blood cockle was (8.82 0.54) 10??6 to (2.67 0.06) 10??2, higher than the US EPA risk management criterion. The non-cancer risks associated with multiple pathways in Kuala Gula, Kuala Juru and Kuala Perlis were higher than the US EPA safe level, but the non-cancer risk for eating blood cockle was below the level of US EPA concern.