Surface functionalized amorphous nanosilica and microsilica with nanopores as promising tools in biomedicine

Cellular interactions with engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are dependent on many properties, inherent to the nanoparticle (viz. size, shape, surface characteristics, degradation, agglomeration/dispersal, and charge, etc.). Modification of the surface reactivity via surface functionalization of the nanoparticles to be targeted seems to be important. Utilization of different surface functionalization methods of nanoparticles is an emerging field of basic and applied nanotechnology. It is well known that many disease-causing organisms induce host lipids and if deprived, their growth is inhibited in vivo. Amorphous nanosilica (ANS) and amorphous microsilica with nanopores (AMS) were prepared by a combination of wet chemistry and high-energy ball milling. Lipophilic moieties were attached to both ANS and AMS via chemical surface functionalization method. Lipophilic ANS and AMS were found to inhibit the growth of Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) and chicken malarial parasites via absorption of silkworm hemolymph and chicken serum lipids/lipoproteins, respectively, in vivo. Therefore, intelligent surface functionalization of NP is an important concept, and its application in curing chicken malaria and BmNPV is presented here. Surface functionalization method reported in this paper might serve as a valuable technology for treating many diseases where pathogens induce host lipid.     

Indigenous economic institutions and ecological knowledge: A Ghanaian case study

Increasingly, the urgency of reorienting conventional development paradigms to take into account indigenous institutions and their ecological knowledge base is being recognized in both developed and developing countries. Based on a field research in Ghana, this paper discusses the nature and operation of indigenous economic institutions, their ecological knowledge, norms, beliefs, and practices pertaining to sustainable utilization of natural resources and environmental management. The institutions provide a framework of ideas, guiding principles, and practices that could serve as a foundation for endogenous options and broad-based efforts to solving resource and environmental management problems in the developing world. The paper also discusses limitations of indigenous ecological knowledge and practices.     

Emissions of organic compounds from produced water ponds II: Evaluation of flux chamber measurements with inverse-modeling techniques

In this study, the authors apply two different dispersion models to evaluate flux chamber measurements of emissions of 58 organic compounds, including C2–C11 hydrocarbons and methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol from oil- and gas-produced water ponds in the Uintah Basin. Field measurement campaigns using the flux chamber technique were performed at a limited number of produced water ponds in the basin throughout 2013–2016. Inverse-modeling results showed significantly higher emissions than were measured by the flux chamber. Discrepancies between the two methods vary across hydrocarbon compounds and are largest in alcohols due to their physical chemistries. This finding, in combination with findings in a related study using the WATER9 wastewater emission model, suggests that the flux chamber technique may underestimate organic compound emissions, especially alcohols, due to its limited coverage of the pond area and alteration of environmental conditions, especially wind speed. Comparisons of inverse-model estimations with flux chamber measurements varied significantly with the complexity of pond facilities and geometries. Both model results and flux chamber measurements suggest significant contributions from produced water ponds to total organic compound emission from oil and gas productions in the basin.

Implications: This research is a component of an extensive study that showed significant amount of hydrocarbon emissions from produced water ponds in the Uintah Basin, Utah. Such findings have important meanings to air quality management agencies in developing control strategies for air pollution in oil and gas fields, especially for the Uintah Basin in which ozone pollutions frequently occurred in winter seasons.     

Dechlorination comparison of mono-substituted PCBs with Mg/Pd in different solvent systems

It is widely recognized that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a dangerous environmental pollutant. Even though the use and production of PCBs have been restricted, heavy industrial use has made them a wide-spread environmental issue today. Dehalogenation using zero-valent metals has been a promising avenue of research for the remediation of chlorinated compounds and other contaminants that are present in the environment. However, zero-valent metals by themselves have shown little capability of dechlorinating polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Mechanically alloying the metal with a catalyst, such as palladium, creates a bimetallic system capable of dechlorinating PCBs very rapidly to biphenyl. This study primarily aims to evaluate the effects of solvent specificity on the kinetics of mono-substituted PCBs, in an attempt to determine the mechanism of degradation. Rate constants and final byproducts were determined for the contaminant systems in both water and methanol, and significant differences in the relative rates of reaction were observed between the two solvents.     

Water supply,waste assimilation,and low-flow issues facing the Southeast Piedmont Interstate-85 urban archipelago

Rapidly growing cities along the Interstate-85 corridor from Atlanta, GA, to Raleigh, NC, rely on small rivers for water supply and waste assimilation. These rivers share commonalities including water supply stress during droughts, seasonally low flows for wastewater dilution, increasing drought and precipitation extremes, downstream eutrophication issues, and high regional aquatic diversity. Further challenges include rapid growth; sprawl that exacerbates water quality and infrastructure issues; water infrastructure that spans numerous counties and municipalities; and large numbers of septic systems. Holistic multi-jurisdiction cooperative water resource planning along with policy and infrastructure modifications is necessary to adapt to population growth and climate. We propose six actions to improve water infrastructure resilience: increase water-use efficiency by municipal, industrial, agricultural, and thermoelectric power sectors; adopt indirect potable reuse or closed loop systems; allow for water sharing during droughts but regulate inter-basin transfers to protect aquatic ecosystems; increase nutrient recovery and reduce discharges of carbon and nutrients in effluents; employ green infrastructure and better stormwater management to reduce nonpoint pollutant loadings and mitigate urban heat island effects; and apply the CRIDA framework to incorporate climate and hydrologic uncertainty into water planning.     

Recent Ogallala Aquifer Region Drought Conditions as Observed by Terrestrial Water Storage Anomalies from GRACE

Recent severe drought events have occurred over the Ogallala Aquifer region (OAR) during the period 2011–2015, creating significant impacts on water resources and their use in regional environmental and economic systems. The changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS), as indicated by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), reveals a detailed picture of the temporal and spatial evolution of drought events. The observations by GRACE indicate the worst drought conditions occurred in September 2012, with an average TWS deficit of ~8 cm in the northern OAR and ~11 cm in the southern OAR, consistent with precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project. Comparing changes in TWS with precipitation shows the TWS changes can be predominantly attributable to variations in precipitation. Power spectrum and squared wavelet coherence analysis indicate a significant correlation between TWS change and the El Nino‐Southern Oscillation, and the influence of equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures on TWS change is much stronger in the southern OAR than the northern OAR. The results of this study illustrate the value of GRACE in not just the diagnosis of significant drought events, but also in possibly improving the predictive power of remote signals that are impacted by nonregional climatic events (El Nino), ultimately leading to improved water resource management applications on a regional scale. Editor’s note : This paper is part of the featured series on Optimizing Ogallala Aquifer Water Use to Sustain Food Systems. See the February 2019 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

Atmospheric mercury concentrations and speciation measured from 2004 to 2007 in Reno, Nevada, USA

Atmospheric elemental, reactive and particulate mercury (Hg) concentrations were measured north of downtown Reno, Nevada, USA from November 2004 to November 2007. Three-year mean and median concentrations for gaseous elemental Hg (Hg⁰) were 1.6 and 1.5 ng m⁻³ (respectively), similar to global mean Hg⁰ concentrations. The three-year mean reactive gaseous Hg (RGM) concentration (26 pg m⁻³) was higher than values reported for rural sites across the western United States. Well defined seasonal and daily patterns in Hg⁰ and RGM concentrations were observed, with the highest Hg⁰ concentrations measured in winter and early morning, and RGM concentrations being greatest in the summer and mid-afternoon. Elevated Hg⁰ concentrations in winter were associated with periods of cold, stagnant air; while a regularly observed early morning increase in concentration was due to local source and surface emissions. The observed afternoon increase and high summer values of RGM can be explained by in situ oxidation of gaseous Hg⁰ or mixing of RGM derived from the free troposphere to the surface. Because both of these processes are correlated with the same environmental conditions it is difficult to assess their overall contribution to the observed trends.     

Relative Effects of Climate and Water Use on Base‐Flow Trends in the Lower Klamath Basin1

Abstract: Since the 1940s, snow water equivalent (SWE) has decreased throughout the Pacific Northwest, while water use has increased. Climate has been proposed as the primary cause of base‐flow decline in the Scott River, an important coho salmon rearing tributary in the Klamath Basin. We took a comparative‐basin approach to estimating the relative contributions of climatic and non‐climatic factors to this decline. We used permutation tests to compare discharge in 5 streams and 16 snow courses between “historic” (1942‐1976) and “modern” (1977‐2005) time periods, defined by cool and warm phases, respectively, of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. April 1 SWE decreased significantly at most snow courses lower than 1,800 m in elevation and increased slightly at higher elevations. Correspondingly, base flow decreased significantly in the two streams with the lowest latitude‐adjusted elevation and increased slightly in two higher‐elevation streams. Base‐flow decline in the Scott River, the only study stream heavily utilized for irrigation, was larger than that in all other streams and larger than predicted by elevation. Based on comparison with a neighboring stream draining wilderness, we estimate that 39% of the observed 10 Mm³ decline in July 1‐October 22 discharge in the Scott River is explained by regional‐scale climatic factors. The remainder of the decline is attributable to local factors, which include an increase in irrigation withdrawal from 48 to 103 Mm³/year since the 1950s.