Solid waste forecasting using modified ANFIS modeling

Solid waste prediction is crucial for sustainable solid waste management. Usually, accurate waste generation record is challenge in developing countries which complicates the modelling process. Solid waste generation is related to demographic, economic, and social factors. However, these factors are highly varied due to population and economy growths. The objective of this research is to determine the most influencing demographic and economic factors that affect solid waste generation using systematic approach, and then develop a model to forecast solid waste generation using a modified Adaptive Neural Inference System (MANFIS). The model evaluation was performed using Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and the coefficient of determination (R2). The results show that the best input variables are people age groups 0-14, 15-64, and people above 65 years, and the best model structure is 3 triangular fuzzy membership functions and 27 fuzzy rules. The model has been validated using testing data and the resulted training RMSE, MAE and R2 were 0.2678, 0.045 and 0.99, respectively, while for testing phase RMSE =3.986, MAE = 0.673 and R2 = 0.98.

Implications: To date, a few attempts have been made to predict the annual solid waste generation in developing countries. This paper presents modeling of annual solid waste generation using Modified ANFIS, it is a systematic approach to search for the most influencing factors and then modify the ANFIS structure to simplify the model. The proposed method can be used to forecast the waste generation in such developing countries where accurate reliable data is not always available. Moreover, annual solid waste prediction is essential for sustainable planning.     

Risk posed by chlorinated organic compounds in Abu Qir Bay,East Alexandria,Egypt

Introduction  

In Egypt, the picture of threats to humans and the environment from the exposure to organic pollutants is still incomplete. Thus the objectives of this study were to assess the occurrence and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, and chlorpyrifos in sediments and mussels of Abu Qir Bay and their risks for environment and human health.     

Investigation of a systematic offset in the measurement of organic carbon with a semicontinuous analyzer

Organic carbon (OC) was measured semicontinuously in laboratory experiments of steady-state secondary organic aerosol formed by hydrocarbon + nitrogen oxide irradiations. Examination of the mass of carbon measured on the filter for various sample volumes reveals a systematic offset that is not observed when performing an instrumental blank. These findings suggest that simple subtraction of instrumental blanks determined as the standard analysis without sample collection (i.e., by cycling the pump and valves yet filtering zero liters of air followed by routine chemical analysis) from measured concentrations may be inadequate. This may be especially true for samples collected through the filtration of small air volumes wherein the influence of the systematic offset is greatest. All of the experiments show that filtering a larger volume of air minimizes the influence of contributions from the systematic offset. Application of these results to measurements of ambient concentrations of carbonaceous aerosol suggests a need for collection of sufficient carbon mass to minimize the relative influence of the offset signal.     

Gasoline prices and traffic safety in Mississippi

Problem

Limited literature suggests that gasoline prices have substantial effects on reducing fatal crashes. However, the literature focuses only on fatal crashes and does not examine the effects on all traffic crashes.

Methods

Mississippi traffic crash data from April 2004–December 2008 from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and regular-grade unleaded gasoline price data from the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy were used to investigate the effects of gasoline prices on traffic safety by age, gender, and race.

Results

Gasoline prices have both short-term and intermediate-term effects on reducing total traffic crashes and crashes of females, whites, and blacks. The intermediate-term effects are generally stronger than the short-term effects. Gasoline prices also have short-term effects on reducing crashes of younger drivers and intermediate-term effects on older drivers and male drivers.

Impact on Industry

Higher gasoline taxes reduce traffic crashes and may result in additional societal benefits.     

Spatial and Seasonal Variations in Chlorophyll-Nutrient Relationships in The Shallow Hypertrophic Lake Manyas, Turkey

Regression and correlation analyses were used to predict responses of phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll) (μg L⁻¹) to nitrate (NO₃) (mg L⁻¹), phosphate (PO₄) (mg L⁻¹) and ammonium (NH₄) (mg L⁻¹) dynamics in the shallow hypertrophic Lake Manyas, Turkey. Nutrient concentrations showed a descending gradient with distance, while chlorophyll concentrations showed an ascending gradient with the distance from the Sığırcı Inlet to the Karadere Outlet. Higher nutrient concentrations did always not coincide with higher chlorophyll concentrations. The results showed that regression models developed using seasonal data were more accurate in predicting chlorophyll concentrations than those developed using the pooled data from whole year (based on R ² and the difference between the measured and predicted values). The findings also revealed that within a single large shallow lake, chlorophyll-nutrient relationships might show significant variations spatially. The objective of this study was to determine the seasonal and spatial variations in the relationships between chlorophyll, nitrate, phosphate and ammonium in the shallow hypertrophic Lake Manyas, Turkey.     

Elucidation of phosphorous sorption by calcareous soils using principal component analysis

This study was conducted to understand the mechanisms governing P-sorption and desorption by calcareous soils (up to 48% CaCO ₃). Batch experiments with KCl as background were carried out by adding varying amount of P up to 100 mgP.L^?1. The desorption percentage (%DES) results show that little P was released from the adsorbed phase. Principal component analysis was applied to evaluate the combined influence of soil components on P sorption. The complex P sorption process can be related to specific soil components by the following equation: P? sorption=?2.20 (CaCO ₃% )?0.04 (Fe? oxide)+0.04 (pHe)+11.02 (sand % )+3.35 (silt)?10.73 (clay)?1.24 (EC)?0.22 (OM)?0.81 (CEC)?1.93 (P? Olsen) (R²=0.9941, SSE=380). Sand% and clay% are the most significant variables for modelling P sorption data. The derived equation could be applied to predict P sorption in other soils that have similar compositions to those investigated herein. The degree of P saturation (DPS) threshold level for all soils was less than 3% except in the soil with the lowest iron oxide. All of the studied soils have exceeded the environmentally unacceptable P concentration except the soil with the lowest iron oxide content.     

Chlorpyrifos insecticide uptake by plantain from polluted water and soil

Chlorpyrifos is a common organophosphorus insecticide used for crop protection. Chlorpyrifos use has induced heath issues and water pollution. Such issues may be solved by phytoremediation, which is the use of plants for the cleanup of pollutants. Here, we tested Plantago major L. to clean water and soils under laboratory conditions. Results show that the concentration of chlorpyrifos residues after 5 days exposure reached 36.86 μg/g in roots and 13.93 μg/g in upper plant tissues. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis of chlorpyrifos metabolites suggests the formation of 3, 5, 6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) and diethyl 3,5,6-trichloropyridin-2-yl phosphate (chlorpyrifos-oxon). Chlorpyrifos-oxon was detected in the roots and the leaves after 2 h of testing. After 24 h of testing, the degradation product chlorpyrifos-oxon increased in the roots and the leaves then decreased gradually until the end of testing. TCP levels increased gradually to 192 h then decreased until the end of testing.     

Environmental assessment of Kuwait Bay: an integrated approach

Kuwait Bay is an imperative characteristic of the State of Kuwait. It has a number of major activities existing around it, including, business, industrial and recreational ones. The phase of construction and development of projects, and their resulting pollution have led to major change in the features of the area. The purpose of this research is to serve as a managing tool for decision-making through the environmental assessment of Kuwait Bay. Due to the multiplicities and diversities of the man-made activities and the natural environmental setting of the bay, the impacts are out looked on a holistic approach rather than on a single approach. The methodology of assessment including, sampling and analysis of water and sediment, statistical analysis, as well as application of the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RAIM) in order to analysis the impacts in an integrated approach. The southern areas of the bay are the main sources of pollution that distributed northward to cover the central region of the bay. Sulaibikhat Bay (South-West sector of the bay) is the most vulnerable area due to its exposure to anthropogenic activities such as reclamations, sewage inflow and other activities. The area near Shuwaikh Port is suffering due to reclamation processes. The northern and north-west sectors suffer from coastal erosion as well as from pollutants arriving via Shatt Al Arab.     

Abundant ketone isolated from oily Plakortis sponge demonstrates antifouling properties

Marine sponges of the Genus Plakortis are typically unfouled; they can have a distinctive pleasant smell and an oily surface. A significant quantity of fragrant oil was obtained from a Jamaican Plakortis sp. by cryo-trap. The oil was determined to be exclusively 2-decanone. The antifouling character of the oil was evaluated by its effects on surface attachment of a gram negative bacterial model using confocal fluorescence microscopy as well as its effects on the attachment of Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel). The ketone dramatically inhibited attachment of the bacteria and zebra mussels. The results suggest that the oil impacts establishment of related epifauna on the Plakortis sponge in nature. Although the aliphatic ketone alone is not a potential commercial alternative for antifouling coatings, incorporating the functionality into coating design should be considered in future studies.     

Feasibility of the hydrogen sulfide test for the assessment of drinking water quality in post-earthquake Haiti

In 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, severely damaging the drinking and wastewater infrastructure and leaving millions homeless. Compounding this problem, the introduction of Vibrio cholerae resulted in a massive cholera outbreak that infected over 700,000 people and threatened the safety of Haiti’s drinking water. To mitigate this public health crisis, non-government organizations installed thousands of wells to provide communities with safe drinking water. However, despite increased access, Haiti currently lacks the monitoring capacity to assure the microbial safety of any of its water resources. For these reasons, this study was designed to assess the feasibility of using a simple, low-cost method to detect indicators of fecal contamination of drinking water that could be implemented at the community level. Water samples from 358 sources of drinking water in the Léogâne flood basin were screened with a commercially available hydrogen sulfide test and a standard membrane method for the enumeration of thermotolerant coliforms. When compared with the gold standard method, the hydrogen sulfide test had a sensitivity of 65 % and a specificity of 93 %. While the sensitivity of the assay increased at higher fecal coliform concentrations, it never exceeded 88 %, even with fecal coliform concentrations greater than 100 colony-forming units per 100 ml. While its simplicity makes the hydrogen sulfide test attractive for assessing water quality in low-resource settings, the low sensitivity raises concerns about its use as the sole indicator of the presence or absence of fecal coliforms in individual or community water sources.