Synthesis of Chitosan@activated Carbon Beads with Abundant Amino Groups for Capture of Cu(II) and Cd(II) from Aqueous Solutions

In this study, chitosan and bio-based activated carbon obtained from sugarcane bagasse biowaste were used for the synthesis of efficient sorbent for Cu(II) and Cd(II) ion via precipitation method. The prepared material was enriched with amino groups through grafting tetraethylenepentamine and tested for heavy metal remediation from water samples. The influence of pH was investigated showing optimum sorption at pH 6 for Cu(II) and Cd(II). Sorption tests, explained by means of the most common sorption models, evidenced that the best performances were reached pointing out the promising application of the prepared sorbent for water purification treatments: Uptake kinetics are relatively fast: the equilibrium was reached within 140 min; and the kinetic profiles were preferentially fitted by the pseudo-second order rate equation. Sorption isotherms are fitted by Langmuir equation. The sorbent showed high metal ion sorption capacity with negligible influence of ion strength. The maximum sorption capacities reached 3.44 and 2.38 mmol g^??1 for Cu(II) and Cd(II), respectively at 298 K. Thermodynamic parameters were evaluated through variation of temperature. The sorption is unfavorable at elevated temperatures. Metal ions were successfully desorbed using 1 M HNO₃ solution.     

Ecological Groups of the Daubed Shanny <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptoclinus maculatus</Emphasis> (Fries, 1838), an Arcto-boreal Species,Regarding Growth and Early Development

The patterns of growth and development have been studied in L. maculatus early life stages of different ecological groups (pelagic and demersal) from Kongsfjorden and Billefjorden (the northwestern coast of West Spitsbergen). It has been found that the growth rate of larvae markedly increases by age 2+ (stage L2), which is due to their transition to exogenous feeding. Consideration is given to changes in the length and condition of the lipid sac (a provisory organ) in the period of its formation, growth, and resorption in the course of ontogeny. The lipid sac reaches the maximum size at stage L4* and is resorbed at stage L5. Analysis of individual variation in the size and body weight of fish early life stages provides the possibility to evaluate the adaptation capacity of a species under specific conditions of the Arctic.     

Anxiety-like behavioural effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field in rats

In recent years, extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) has received considerable attention for its potential biological effects. Numerous studies have shown the role of ELF-EMF in behaviour modulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of short-term ELF-EMF (50 Hz) in the development of anxiety-like behaviour in rats through change hypothalamic oxidative stress and NO. Ten adult male rats (Wistar albino) were divided in two groups: control group—without exposure to ELF-EMF and experimental group—exposed to ELF-EMF during 7 days. After the exposure, time open field test and elevated plus maze were used to evaluate the anxiety-like behaviour of rats. Upon completion of the behavioural tests, concentrations of superoxide anion (O₂·^?), nitrite (NO₂ ^?, as an indicator of NO) and peroxynitrite (ONOO^?) were determined in the hypothalamus of the animals. Obtained results show that ELF-EMF both induces anxiety-like behaviour and increases concentrations of O₂·^? and NO, whereas it did not effect on ONOO^? concentration in hypothalamus of rats. In conclusion, the development of anxiety-like behaviour is mediated by oxidative stress and increased NO concentration in hypothalamus of rats exposed to ELF-EMF during 7 days.     

Atrazine,chlorpyrifos, and iprodione effect on the biodiversity of bacteria,actinomycetes, and fungi in a pilot biopurification system with a green cover

The use of biopurification systems can mitigate the effects of pesticide contamination on farms. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pesticide dissipation on microbial communities in a pilot biopurification system. The pesticide dissipation of atrazine, chlorpyrifos and iprodione (35 mg kg^?1 active ingredient [a.i.]) and biological activity were determined for 40 days. The microbial communities (bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi) were analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). In general, pesticide dissipation was the highest by day 5 and reached 95%. The pesticides did not affect biological activity during the experiment. The structure of the actinomycete and bacterial communities in the rhizosphere was more stable during the evaluation than that in the communities in the control without pesticides. The rhizosphere fungal communities, detected using DGGE, showed small and transitory shifts with time. To conclude, rhizosphere microbial communities were not affected during pesticide dissipation in a pilot biopurification system.     

Effects of composted sewage sludge on microbial biomass, activity and pine seedlings in nursery forest

The investigation was carried out in a 2 year experiment to evaluate the benefits and hazards of the use of composted sewage sludge as a restoration agent for the soil of the nursery forest intended for growing Pinus sylvestris seedlings. The grey forest soil (Haplic Greyzem) was amended with compost at the 25, 50, 75, 100, 150 and 175 t ha(-1) application rates on a dry matter basis. The organic matter content increased with the increase in sludge amendment as well as the metal content. However, the concentrations of individual metals were below the current limits established for Russia and European countries. Sludge amendments enhanced the germination and decreased the mortality of the seedlings. The effects were more obvious for the soil with the highest sludge treatment. The beneficial effects on the biomass of seedlings and the height of the shoots as well as on the length of the roots of the pine seedlings were greater in plots with the highest rates of composted sludge. The application of composted sludge to soil was followed by an increase in microbial biomass and to a lesser extent in basal respiration. In the absence of any detrimental effect on microorganisms, this study lends support to using composted sewage sludge as the organo-mineral fertilizer for the soil of nursery forest.     

Assessment of the spatial distribution of soil properties in a northern Everglades marsh

Florida Everglades restoration plans are aimed at maintaining and restoring characteristic landscape features such as soil, vegetation, and hydrologic patterns. This study presents the results from an exhaustive spatial sampling of key soil properties in Water Conservation Area 1 (WCA 1), which is part of the northern Everglades. Three soil strata were sampled: floc, upper 0- to 10-cm soil layer, and 10- to 20-cm soil layer. A variety of properties were measured including bulk density (BD), loss on ignition (LOI), total phosphorus (TP), total inorganic phosphorus (TIP), total nitrogen (TN), total carbon (TC), total iron (TFe), total magnesium (TMg), total aluminum (TAl), and total calcium (TCa). Interpolated maps and model prediction uncertainties of properties were generated using geostatistical methods. We found that the uncertainty associated with spatial predictions of floc, particularly floc BD, was highest, whereas spatial predictions of soil chemical properties such as soil Ca were more accurate. The resultant spatial patterns for these soil properties identified three predominant features in WCA 1: (i) a north to south gradient in soil properties associated with the predominant hydrological gradient, (ii) areas of considerable soil nutrient enrichment along the western canal of WCA 1, and (iii) areas of considerable Fe enrichment along the eastern canal. By using geostatistical techniques we were able to describe the spatial dynamics of soil variables and express these predictions with an acceptable level of uncertainty.     

The Effects of Ammonia on SO2 Emissions in a Fluidized Bed Combustor Under Pseudo-Staged Combustion

The reduction of SO₂ by ammonia gas additionduring staged combustion of bituminous coal has beenstudied in a 2 m high fluidized bed combustor of 30 cmstatic bed height and a freeboard height of 100 cm.The coal was introduced to the combustor at 42 cmabove the distributor and the ammonia gas was injectedat 52 cm above the distributor by an uncooledstainless steel injector. Experiments were carriedout to investigate effects of ammonia gas injection onSO₂ emissions of (i) air staged levels, (ii) excess air levels, (iii) primary air factor, PAF(ratio of primary to stoichiometric air), (iv) NH₃:SO₂ molar ratio, and (v) fluidizingvelocity. Experiments were carried out under a newtechnique of air staging called Pseudo-stagedCombustion, maintaining the excess air level andfluidizing velocity between 17 and 70% and between0.7 and 2.0 m sec^-1, respectively. A maximum reduction of92% was obtained at 37% excess air, at NH₃:SO₂ molar ratio of 5.5. The effective NH₃:SO₂ molar ratio was found to be between 3.0 and5.5, which is true for all staging and excess air levels.A greater removal of SO₂ with NH₃ injectionduring staged combustion is probably due to this newstaging technique. The Pseudo-staging reducestemperature through the freeboard and flue for theoccurance of as NH₃ + SO₂ reactions. Thesereactions are reported to be low temperaturereactions. The NH₃ carry over was less than 83 ppm for all operating conditions. The present studydemonstrates that staged combustion coupled withammonia injection can reduce SO₂ emissions.     

Storm runoff quality and pollutant loading from commercial, residential, and industrial catchments in the tropic

Information on the pollution level and the influence of hydrologic regime on the stormwater pollutant loading in tropical urban areas are still scarce. More local data are still required because rainfall and runoff generation processes in tropical environment are very different from the temperate regions. This study investigated the extent of urban runoff pollution in residential, commercial, and industrial catchments in the south of Peninsular Malaysia. Stormwater samples and flow rate data were collected from 51 storm events. Samples were analyzed for total suspended solids, 5-day biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, oil and grease (O&G), nitrate nitrogen (NO₃-N), nitrite nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphorus, total phosphorus (TP), and zinc (Zn). It was found that the event mean concentrations (EMCs) of pollutants varied greatly between storm characteristics and land uses. The results revealed that site EMCs for residential catchment were lower than the published data but higher for the commercial and industrial catchments. All rainfall variables were negatively correlated with EMCs of most pollutants except for antecedent dry days (ADD). This study reinforced the earlier findings on the importance of ADD for causing greater EMC values with exceptions for O&G, NO₃-N, TP, and Zn. In contrast, the pollutant loadings are influenced primarily by rainfall depth, mean intensity, and max 5-min intensity in all the three catchments. Overall, ADD is an important variable in multiple linear regression models for predicting the EMC values in the tropical urban catchments.     

Forecasting of daily total atmospheric ozone in Isfahan

A neural network combined to an artificial neural network model is used to forecast daily total atmospheric ozone over Isfahan city in Iran. In this work, in order to forecast the total column ozone over Isfahan, we have examined several neural networks algorithms with different meteorological predictors based on the ozone-meteorological relationships with previous day's ozone value. The meteorological predictors consist of temperatures (dry and dew point) and geopotential heights at standard levels of 100, 50, 30, 20 and 10 hPa with their wind speed and direction. These data together with previous day total ozone forms the input matrix of the neural model that is based on the back propagation algorithm (BPA) structure. The output matrix is the daily total atmospheric ozone. The model was build based on daily data from 1997 to 2004 obtained from Isfahan ozonometric station data. After modeling these data we used 3 year (from 2001 to 2003) of daily total ozone for testing the accuracy of model. In this experiment, with the final neural network, the total ozone are fairly well predicted, with an Agreement Index 76%.     

Chemical characteristics of aerosols and trace gas distribution over North and Central India

A field campaign on aerosol chemical properties and trace gases measurements was carried out along the Delhi-Hyderabad-Delhi road corridor (spanning about 3,200 km) in India, during February 1-29, 2004. Aerosol particles were collected on quartz and cellulose filters using high volume (PM(10)) sampler at various locations along the route (i.e., urban, semi-urban, rural, and forest areas) and have been characterized for major cations (Na(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), K(+), and NH (4) (+)), anions (Cl(-), NO (3)(-), and SO (4)(2-)), and heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Fe, Zn, Mn, and Pb). Simultaneously, we measured NO(2) and SO(2) gases. These species show large spatial and temporal variations. The ambient PM(10) concentration has been observed to be the highest (55 ± 4 μg m(-3)) near semi-urban areas followed by forest areas (48 ± 2 μg m(-3)) and in rural areas (44 ± 22 μg m(-3)). The concentrations of NO( x ) (NO(2)+NO) and SO(2) ranged from 16 to 69 μg m(-3) and 4 to 11 μg m(-3), respectively. Among anions, NO(3)(-) and SO(4) (2-) are the major constituents of PM(10). The urban and semi-urban sites showed enhanced concentrations of Fe, Zn, Mn, Cd, and Pb. This study provide information about atmospheric concentrations of various species in the northern to central India, which may be important for policy makers to better understand the air quality of the region.