The role of ICT diffusion in sustainable human development: an empirical analysis from SAARC economies

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study intends to examine the impact of ICT diffusion, globalization, financial development, government effectiveness, and economic growth on...     

Antibiofouling hollow-fiber membranes for dye rejection by embedding chitosan and silver-loaded chitosan nanoparticles

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The removal of toxic dyes from the wastewater and industrial effluents is a major environmental challenge. Various techniques have been employed for the removal of...     

Spatial and Temporal Assessment of Cumulative Disturbance Impacts Due to Military Training,Burning, Haying,and Their Interactions on Land Condition of Fort Riley

The effects of military training activities on the land condition of Army installations vary spatially and temporally. Training activities observably degrade land condition while also increasing biodiversity and stabilizing ecosystems. Moreover, other anthropogenic activities regularly occur on military lands such as prescribed burns and agricultural haying—adding to the dynamics of land condition. Thus, spatially and temporally assessing the impacts of military training, prescribed burning, agricultural haying, and their interactions is critical to the management of military lands. In this study, the spatial distributions and patterns of military training-induced disturbance frequency were derived using plot observation and point observation-based method, at Fort Riley, Kansas from 1989 to 2001. Moreover, spatial and variance analysis of cumulative impacts due to military training, burning, haying, and their interactions on the land condition of Fort Riley were conducted. The results showed that: (1) low disturbance intensity dominated the majority of the study area with exception of concentrated training within centralized areas; (2) high and low values of disturbance frequency were spatially clustered and had spatial patterns that differed significantly from a random distribution; and (3) interactions between prescribed burning and agricultural haying were not significant in terms of either soil erosion or disturbance intensity although their means and variances differed significantly between the burned and non-burned areas and between the hayed and non-hayed areas.     

Biofabrication of ecofriendly copper oxide nanoparticles using Ocimum americanum aqueous leaf extract: analysis of in vitro antibacterial,anticancer, and photocatalytic activities

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Nanotechnology tends to be a swiftly growing field of research that actively influences and inhibits the growth of bacteria/cancer. Noble metal...     

Studies on the influence of natural resource utilization by humans on foraging behavior of honey bees at rural ecosystems

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Human utilization of natural resources acts as a main driver in altering the ecosystem service and functions. Apart from indirect influence, these...     

In situ conservation of endangered tree species (Elaeocarpus venustus Bedd.) habitated in Agasthiyamalai Biosphere Reserve,Southern Western Ghats,India

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Elaeocarpus venustus is an endemic as well as endangered tree species habitated in the wet evergreen forests of Southern Western Ghats (SWG), India....     

Exergy and energy analysis of a tubular solar still with and without fins: a comparative theoretical and experimental approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - One of the major challenges faced by human society is the freshwater crisis and shortage of conventional energy. Solar still is considered as one of...     

Study of specific energy and friction coefficient in minimum quantity lubrication grinding using oil-based nanolubricants

An investigation on minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) grinding was carried out with the scope of documenting the process efficiency of oil-based nanolubricants. The nanolubricants were composed of MoS₂ nanoparticles (<100 nm) over coated with organic agents, dispersed in two different base oils—mineral oil (paraffin) and vegetable oil (soybean). Surface grinding tests were carried out on cast iron and EN 24 steel under different lubrication conditions—MQL using nanolubricants (varying compositional chemistry and concentration of nanoparticles), pure base oils (without nanoparticles) and base oils containing MoS₂ microparticles (3–5 μm), and flood grinding using water-based coolant. Specific energy, friction coefficient in grinding and G-ratio were used as measurands for determining the process efficiency. Results show that MQL grinding with nanolubricants increases the process efficiency by reducing energy consumption, frictional losses at the wheel–workpiece interface and tool wear. The process efficiency is also found to increase with increasing nanoparticle concentration. Soybean and paraffin based-nanolubricant performed best for steel and cast iron, respectively, showing a possible functional relationship between the compositional chemistry of nanolubricant and the workpiece material, which will be the goal of future work.     

Developing Nutrient Criteria for Streams: An Evaluation of the Frequency Distribution Method1

Abstract: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends two statistical methods to States and Tribes for developing nutrient criteria. One establishes a criterion as the 75th percentile of a reference‐population frequency distribution, the other uses the 25th percentile of a general‐population distribution; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests either method results in similar criteria. To evaluate each method, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MT DEQ) assembled data from STORET and other sources to create a nutrient general population. MT DEQ’s reference‐stream project provided reference population data. Data were partitioned by ecoregions, and by seasons (winter, runoff, and growing) defined for the project. For each ecoregion and season, nutrient concentrations at the 75th percentile of the reference population were matched to their corresponding concentrations in the general population. Additionally, nutrient concentrations from five regional scientific studies were matched to their corresponding reference population concentrations; each study linked nutrients to impacts on water uses. Reference‐to‐general population matches were highly variable between ecoregions, as nutrients at the 75th percentile of reference corresponded to percentiles ranging from the 4th to the 97th of the general population. In contrast, case studies‐to‐reference matches were more consistent, matching on average to the 86th percentile of reference, with a coefficient of variation of 13%.