Biomonitoring of heavy metals in the feathers of House crow (Corvus splendens) from some metropolitans of Asia and Africa

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Urban-dwelling birds can be useful biomonitors to assess the impact of the urbanisation on both public and wildlife health. Widely distributed urban...     

The influence of arsenic speciation (AsIII & AsV) and concentration on the growth, uptake and translocation of arsenic in vegetable crops (silverbeet and amaranth): greenhouse study

We examined arsenic (As) uptake by vegetable crops (amaranth, Amaranthus gangeticus, and silverbeet, Beta vulgaris) as affected by As speciation (As^III and As^V) and their concentrations in nutrient solution. Amaranth and silverbeet were grown in a nutrient solution containing four levels of arsenate (As^V): 0, 1, 5, and 25 mg As/l and three levels of arsenite (As^III): 0, 5, 10 mg As/l. Both As^V and As^III are phytotoxic to these crops with the latter being five times more toxic. Amaranth treated with As^III exhibited As toxicity symptoms within 48 h of exposure and was close to death within 1 week. However, As^V treatment did not show clear toxicity symptoms other than wilting and yield reduction at the highest dose rate of 25 mg As^V/l. The main mechanism used by vegetable crops to tolerate As^V is probably avoidance—limiting As transport to shoots and increasing As accumulation in the root system. When As^V was added to the nutrient solution, the uptake of As in shoots increased and, at the highest dose (25 mg As^V/l), 60 μg As/g DW (3.6 mg/kg FW) accumulated in the edible portion, which exceeds the WHO recommended limit for food stuffs (2 mg/kg FW) as the water contents of the crops were 94%. It is therefore important to determine the nature of the As species and their bio-accessibility. Iron treatment with 0.5 mg NaFe(III)EDTA/l dose decreased silverbeet As uptake by 45% given its affinity to bind As at the root surface or root rhizosphere and so restrict As translocation to the shoots.     

Community-based Disaster Management During the 1997 Red River Flood in Canada

This paper examines the relationship between community preparedness and response to natural disaster and their level and pattern of community development. This is done by investigating preparation and response to the 1997 Red River Flood by three rural communities in Manitoba, Canada. The communities were selected because of their different ethnic mix and associated level and pattern of community development. The hypothesis was supported that the level and pattern of community development affect community capacity to respond to flooding. Communities characterised by higher levels of physical, human and social capital were better prepared and more effective responders to the flood. However, where the pattern of community development was characterised by high levels of social capital, decision-making processes were complicated.     

Influences of Magnesium <Emphasis Type="Italic">tri-</Emphasis>Silicate on the Physical,Mechanical, and Degradable Properties of Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation Cured Plain Board Surface

A series of formulations were prepared with different percentages of oligomer, epoxy diacrylate (EA-1020 ), monomer, 1,6 Hexane diol diacrylate,(HDDA) and different percentages of filler (Magnesium tri-silicate, Mg₂Si₃O₈). Irgacure 369 [2-Benzyl-2-dimethyl-amine-1 (4-morpholinophenyl) butanone-1] was used in the formulations as photoinitiator. Ultraviolet (UV) cured thin polymer films were prepared from these formulating solutions on clean glass plates. Pendulum hardness (PH), gel content and macro scratch hardness (MSH) of the UV cured films were studied. One percent Mg₂Si₃O₈ containing formulation showed the premium properties. The substrates (plain board) were coated by these formulating solutions and cured under the same UV lamp at different intensities of radiation. Various properties of the coated surface such as PH, gloss, adhesion, abrasion and MSH were investigated. The base coat containing 1% Mg₂Si₃O₈ and top coat containing 48% HDDA produced the best performance among all the formulations inspected. The degradable properties in different weathering conditions on PH, gloss, adhesion, abrasion and MSH were measured. The surface cured with the optimized formulation (E) again yielded the minimum loss of the properties.     

Field dissipation of acetochlor in two New Zealand soils at two application rates

The persistence of pesticides in soils has both economic and environmental significance and is often used as a key parameter in pesticide risk assessment. Persistence of acetochlor [2'-ethyl-6'-methyl-N-(ethoxymethyl)-2-chloroacetylanilide] in two New Zealand field soils was measured over two years and the data were used to identify models that adequately describe acetochlor persistence in the field. Acetochlor was sprayed onto six fallow plots (3 x 9 m each) at each site at the recommended rate (2.5 kg a.i. ha(-1)) and at twice that rate. Acetochlor concentrations were measured in soil cores. Simple first-order kinetics (Model 1) adequately described acetochlor persistence in Hamilton clay loam soil (Humic Hapludull, Illuvial Spadic) at the high application rate, but overestimated it at the low application rate. A quadratic model (Model 2), a first-order double-exponential model (Model 3), a first-order biphasic model (Model 4), or a two-compartment model (Model 5) better described acetochlor persistence at the low application rate. The time for 50% (DT50) and 90% (DT90) of initial acetochlor loss was approximately 9 and 56 d, and 18 and 63 d at low and high application rates, respectively. The more complex Models 2 through 5 also better described the biphasic dissipation of acetochlor in Horotiu sandy loam soil (Typic Orthic Allophanic) than Model 1, with Model 1 significantly underestimating acetochlor concentrations on the day of application at both application rates. The DT50 and DT90 values were 5 and 29 d and 7 and 31 d at low and high application rates, respectively. Overall, application rate significantly affected the DT50 and DT90 values in the Hamilton soil, but not in the Horotiu soil. Faster acetochlor loss in the Horotiu soil possibly resulted from the higher soil organic carbon content that retained more acetochlor near the soil surface where higher temperature and photolysis accelerated the loss.     

Radiocaesium soil-to-plant transfer in tropical environments

In this work, soil-to-plant transfer factors of radiocaesium are predicted based on soil properties such as pH, organic matter content, exchangeable K+ and clay content valid for the tropical environments in Bangladesh, China and Japan, and using a previously published model. Due to insufficient data of soil properties in the selected regions, the average values of pH, organic matter content, exchangeable K+ and clay content were taken as the input model parameters within the ranges given for Asia. Nevertheless, a complete set of soil properties of Japanese soils was used to compare the measured and calculated TF values of radiocaesium for radish. The calculated TF values for radiocaesium are comparable with the measured values especially for leafy parts of a plant. However, calculated values for rice, an important crop in Asia are found to overestimate the measured values due to an overestimate of calculated CECs in soils in the selected regions. The empirical parameters used in the model need to be re-evaluated for the specific part of a plant and/or for a variety of different plants. Alternatively, a general conversion factor for each part of a plant and/or for a variety of different plants for a specific region is suggested for tropical environments.     

Environmental impacts of modern agricultural technology diffusion in Bangladesh: an analysis of farmers' perceptions and their determinants

Farmers' perception of the environmental impacts of modern agricultural technology diffusion and factors determining such awareness were examined using survey data from 21 villages in three agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh. Results reveal that farmers are well aware of the adverse environmental impacts of modern agricultural technology, although their awareness remains confined within visible impacts such as soil fertility, fish catches, and health effects. Their perception of intangible impacts such as, toxicity in water and soils is weak. Level and duration of modern agricultural technology adoption directly influence awareness of its adverse effects. Education and extension contacts also play an important role in raising awareness. Awareness is higher among farmers in developed regions, fertile locations and those with access to off-farm income sources. Promotion of education and strengthening extension services will boost farmers' environmental awareness. Infrastructure development and measures to replenish depleting soil fertility will also play a positive role in raising awareness.     

Infant and Under-five Mortality in Bangladesh: Discriminant Analysis

Abstract

Bangladesh is on target for achieving the Millennium Development Goal 4 relating to infant and under-five mortality because of very rapid reduction in mortality in recent years. But this rate of reduction may be difficult to sustain and may hamper the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 4. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to discuss and compare the different covariates of infant and under-five mortality in the context of overall country, urban and rural levels of Bangladesh using discriminant analysis. For this, the data are taken from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2004. In discriminant analysis, the stepwise procedure has been picked up and only the significant variables are ranked according to the rank of Wilk’s Lambda values. The canonical discriminant function coefficients (unstandardized and standardized) for the predictor variables have also been calculated. Both the results show that breastfeeding is the most important variable in discriminating the two groups of mothers, i.e., mothers experiencing to infant mortality or not and mothers experiencing to under-five mortality or not. The related results of discriminant function also indicate that the discriminant function is statistically significant and discriminates well. Therefore, improvements in the health system are essential for promoting the breastfeeding practices (both inclusive and exclusive), which may be the effective strategies to reach families and communities with targeted messages and information.