Stability of some quality traits in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes

This study was carried out in order to determine some quality traits such as thousand grain weight (TGW), hectoliter weight (HW), grain protein content (GPC), Zeleny sedimentation volume (ZSV) and stability of quality traits of 25 bread wheat genotypes. The experiment was conducted at seven environmental conditions during 2 growing periods (2003-2004 and 2004-2005) using randomized complete block design with four replicates. The ANOVA showed that out of the total sum of squares, 48.4, 28.0 and 23.6% for TGW, 71.4, 14.9 and 13.7% for HW, 54.4, 23.0 and 22.6% for GPC, 44.7, 41.7 and 13.6% for ZSV was attributable to E, G and G x E interaction effects, respectively. Thousand grain weight, hectoliter weight, grain protein content and Zeleny sedimentasyon volume of genotypes changed from 34.5 to 41.4 g, from 76.5 to 80.4 Kg, from 11.49 to 13.37% and from 22.1 to 46.0 ml, respectively. Seven stability parameters, covering a wide range of statistical approaches, were used so as to predict the genotypes. The study of genotypic stability showed that Bezostaya and advanced lines numbered 11 and 24 had high stability for quality traits and proved to be the best within the pool of the studied genotypes. Also, 8 and 17 numbered genotypes demonstrated high stability for TGW, HW, GPC and HW, GPC and ZSV, respectively.     

Carbon dioxide sequestration of iron ore mining waste under low-reaction condition of a direct mineral carbonation process

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Mining waste that is rich in iron-, calcium- and magnesium-bearing minerals can be a potential feedstock for sequestering CO2 by mineral carbonation....     

Decision support model to select crop pattern for sustainable agricultural practices using fuzzy MCDM

The crop pattern has a significant impact on the feasibility of sustainable agricultural practices. Selected crop pattern influences environmental and economic condition and affects sustainability profoundly in agricultural practices. Hence, a careful intervention is required in the selection of an optimal crop pattern for sustainable agricultural practices. Selection of a particular set of crop pattern depends on many criteria that may vary from place to place thus pose challenges in deciding an optimum crop pattern. The present research focuses on the crop selection pattern in Indian environment that considers comprehensive criteria related to sustainable farming practices. Based on the in-depth review of the literature and experts opinion, comprehensive criteria related to sustainable farming practices for Ravi season crop are identified. Total twelve criteria covering socioeconomic conditions, soil and water conditions, environmental and climatic conditions are earmarked and taken into account for eight most commonly grown crops in Ravi season and later on modeled to determine the crop pattern for most needed sustainability. A fuzzy-based multi-criteria decision-making model has been developed considering the Indian farming system. The scarce resources availability to Indian farmers poses many challenges to practice farming with most needed sustainability. The present research will be useful in the area of Indian farming practices in particular and global farming practices in general. It will also help stakeholders in their cost effective decision making for better crop productivity leading to sustainable farming practices. Additionally, the state policy makers will be able to formulate effective state driven sustainable farming policy to enhance its stake in gross domestic product to become self-reliance.     

The effects of alginate microspheres on phytoremediation and growth of Lemna minor in the presence of Cd

Today, the removal of increased amount of contaminant concentrations in nature such as metals, nanoparticles, has become an essential issue to struggle with. In this paper, both the toxic effects of non-essential Cd on Lemna minor in presence of alginate microspheres and metal removal capacity of Cd-exposed L. minor and microspheres were investigated. Three test groups were constructed: group (L) containing Lemna, group (M) containing alginate microsphere and group (L?+?M) containing alginate microsphere and Lemna. Five different levels of Cd concentrations were added into these groups. Estimation models were constructed to estimate Cd removal capacities of L. minor and microspheres, and time-concentration-dependent growth (GRC) rates of both microsphere-containing and non-containing groups were modelled by regression analysis. It was seen that microspheres alone only had no positive or negative effects on Lemna growth. It was observed that, for all test groups the time-dependent growth rate has both increase–decrease trends in general. The toxicity effect of Cd on Lemna growth was reduced by adding microspheres into medium. Furthermore, the results stated that test groups containing only microspheres (M, 0–97.56%) and consortium groups (M?+?L, 0–98.26%) were slightly more successful in Cd removal process compared to Lemna (L) groups (L, 0–97.32%).     

Adsorption characteristics of Cu and Ni on Irish peat moss

Peat has been widely used as a low cost adsorbent to remove a variety of materials including organic compounds and heavy metals from water. Various functional groups in lignin allow such compounds to bind on active sites of peat. The adsorption of Cu(2+) and Ni(2+) from aqueous solutions on Irish peat moss was studied both as a pure ion and from their binary mixtures under both equilibrium and dynamic conditions in the concentration range of 5-100mg/L. The pH of the solutions containing either Cu(2+) or Ni(2+) was varied over a range of 2-8. The adsorption of Cu(2+) and Ni(+2) on peat was found to be pH dependent. The adsorption data could be fitted to a two-site Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity of peat was determined to be 17.6 mg/g for Cu(2+) and 14.5mg/g for Ni(2+) at 298 K when the initial concentration for both Cu(2+) and Ni(2+) was 100mg/L, and the pH of the solution was 4.0 and 4.5, respectively. Column studies were conducted to generate breakthrough data for both pure component and binary mixtures of copper and nickel. Desorption experiments showed that 2mM EDTA solution could be used to remove all of the adsorbed copper and nickel from the bed.     

Assessment of the Water Quality of Troia for the Multipurpose Usages

The aim of this study was to determine the origin and quality of waters in Troia. For this purpose total of 25 water samples including 2 springs, 14 surfaces and 9 groundwaters, were collected at eight different times. Global positioning system (GPS) was used to determine to coordinates of sampling points. The concentration of 6 minor elements (B, Cu, F, Fe, Pb and Zn), 9 major anions and cations (Na(+), Ca(2+), K(+), Mg(2+), SO(4)(2-), PO(4)(3-), HCO(3)(-), Cl(-) and, CO(3)(2-)) were determined by spectrometric, colorimetric and volumetric methods. Water pH, EC, DO, ORP and TDS were measured in situ using probes. The data showed that the concentrations of most of minor elements were below the EPA and TSE limits except Pb which ranged between 0.001 and 4.832 mg L(-1). Statistically significant relationships (P<0.01 and r>0.70) were observed between Fe and Cu, Cu and K(+), Cu and Ca(2+), B and Na(+), Na(+) and K(+). Assessing the water based on irrigation using Wilcox model showed that some well waters were not suitable for irrigation. Troia water was found to be highly corrosive and the average corrosion coefficients varied from 0.5 to 4.6. According to the Piper and Schoeller diagrams results, the water in Troia was classified as mixed water type.     

Seasonal and spatial variation of Yamuna River water quality in Delhi, India

Street dust was collected from five roads with different traffic volumes in the metropolitan area of Beijing and separated into five size fractions. Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) adsorbed on street dust in different size ranges and their correlation with specific surface area and total organic carbon (TOC) were investigated. Results show that the concentration of 16-PAHs of sieved samples ranges from 0.27 to 1.30 mg/kg for all the sampling sites. Particles smaller than 40 μm in diameter have the highest 16-PAHs concentration among all of the size ranges for street dust from the four sampling sites with vehicles running on. PAHs with three or four rings account for 68% of the overall 16-PAHs on average. Remarkable positive correlation exists between 16-PAHs concentration and specific surface area with R ² values from 0.7 to 0.96 for the four sampling sites with vehicles running on. The relationship between the concentration of 16-PAHs and TOC is less clear.     

Trihalomethane formation potential in treated water supplies in urban metro city

Trihalomethane (THM) formation potential (TFP) is very useful test to assess the level of the formation of trihalomethanes in worst case scenario. Organics in water have the potential to generate harmful disinfection by-products (DBPs) such as THMs, as a result of their reaction with disinfectant chlorine used in drinking water. DBPs are increasingly recognized as cancerous agents. TFP of postchlorinated treated water were investigated at six water treatment plants (WTPs) in Delhi City (India). The present paper presents the current trends of TFP so that prevention and control measures can be initiated by the regulating agencies responsible for drinking water supply. Liquid–liquid extraction method, followed by qualitative and quantitative estimation by gas chromatograph equipped with electron capture detector, had been used for the determination of THMs in water samples collected at the outlet just before supplying to the consumers during 2000–2007. The TFP values from 2004 onward of all WTPs did not exceed the WHO guideline value of ≤1.     

Spatial distribution and source identification of trace elements in topsoil from heavily industrialized region,Aliaga, Turkey

Topsoil samples (n?=?40) were collected from a heavily industrialized region in Turkey. The region includes several scrap processing iron–steel plants with electric arc furnaces (EAFs), a petroleum refinery, a petrochemical complex, steel rolling mills, a natural gas-fired power plant, ship-breaking yards and very dense transportation activities. The region has undergone a rapid transition from an agricultural region to a heavily industrialized region in the last three decades. Collected soil samples were analyzed for 48 trace elements using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The elemental distribution pattern in the region indicated that Nemrut area with dense iron–steel production activities was a hotspot for elemental pollution. In addition to crustal elements, concentrations of anthropogenic trace elements (i.e., Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn, Cu, Cd, Cr and Mo) were very high in the area influencing many parts of the region. Elemental compositions of fugitive sources polluting the soil (i.e., paved and unpaved roads, slag piles, EAFs filter dust piles and coal piles) were also determined. The methods (enrichment factors [EFs] and the index of geoaccumulation [I _geo]) used for determination of pollution status of soil showed that Cr, Ag, Zn, As and Pb were the strongly contaminating elements for the region. Principal component analysis (PCA) clearly indicated that anthropogenic sources (steel production, refinery and petrochemical processes and traffic) were important sources in this region.     

Assessment of ozone variations and meteorological influences in a tourist and health resort area on the island of Mali Lošinj (Croatia)

The purpose of this study was to investigate ozone, variations, and its correlation with meteorological parameters at a remote location on the Mali Lo?inj Island, which has been a tourist and health resort area in the northern Adriatic. The measured data are discussed in relation to the EU guidelines (Directive 2002/3/EC; Directive 2008/50/EC). In order to characterize ambient air with respect to ozone vegetation injury and photochemical pollution, we calculated accumulated dose over a threshold of 40 parts per billion index and two photochemical pollution indicators. The influence of local meteorological parameters on the measured ozone volume fractions was also investigated. We used the multivariate technique principal component analysis to trace correlations between measured ozone concentration and meteorological parameters.