Investigation of air pollution concentration in Kathmandu valley during winter season

The monthly concentrations of NO2, NOx, SO2 and O3 measured by a passive sampler from February 2003 to January 2004 showed that the air pollution during the winter season in Kathmandu valley was higher than the summer season. The O3 level was found the highest during April, May and June due to strong radiation. The hourly concentrations of NO2, NOx, O3 and suspended particulate matter（SPM） were also measured by automatic instruments on December 2003. Temperature at the height of 60 m and 400 m at Raniban Mountain in the northwest of Kathmandu valley was measured on February 2001 in the winter season and the average potential temperature gradient was estimated from observed temperature. Wind speed was also measured at the department of hydrology, airport section, from 18 February to 6 March 2001. It was found that the stable layer and the calm condition in the atmosphere strongly affected the appearance of the maximum concentrations of NO2 and SPM in the morning, and that the unstable layer and the windy condition in the atmosphere was considerably relevant to the decrease of air pollution concentrations at daytime. The emission amounts of NOx, HCs and total suspended particle（TSP） from transport sector in 2003 were estimated from the increasing rate of vehicles on the basis of the emission amounts in 1993 to be 3751 t/a, 30570 t/a and 1317 t/a, respectively. The diurnal concentrations in 2003 calculated by the two-layers box model reproduced the characteristics of air pollution in Kathmandu valley such as the maximum value of O3 and its time, the maximum value of NO in the morning, and the decrease of NO and NO2 at daytime. The comparison with the concentrations in 1993 calculated suggested that the main cause of air pollution was the emission from transport sector.     

Immobilization of B,F, Cr,and As in alkaline coal fly ash through an aging process with water

Fourteen different alkaline coal fly ashes (CFAs) were used for the experiment, in which each sample was mixed with water to be 28.6 % of water content (wt/wt) and aged for 1–4 weeks at 10–30 °C. This simple treatment is advantageous for decreases in water-soluble B, F, Cr, and As. Compared to non-aged CFAs, their water-soluble fractions remained 0.56–88 %, 21–85 %, 0.37–93 % and 2.6–88 %, respectively, after aging for a week at 20 °C, although the amounts of Cr and As released from some CFA samples increased. Considering the significant decrease in elution of sulfate, Ca and Al after aging, the immobilization, namely prevention of toxic element elution, could be related to formation of secondary minerals such as portlandite, gypsum and ettringite. Immobilization of B and Cr tends to proceed preferentially under colder conditions. Aging at higher temperatures enhances the leachability of Cr in some CFA samples. Contrary to the behavior of B and Cr, water-soluble F effectively decreases under warmer conditions.     

A simple method to discriminate diapause from non-diapause pupae in large and small white butterflies, Pieris brassicae and P. rapae crucivora

Differences in colour and shape have been used to discriminate diapause pupae from non-diapause pupae in butterflies. In the present study, we describe a simple discrimination method based on differences in the specific gravity of diapause and non-diapause pupae of large and small white butterflies, Pieris brassicae and Pieris rapae crucivora. When put into water, diapause pupae sink to the bottom (specific gravity is above 1.0), whereas non-diapause pupae float on the surface (specific gravity is below 1.0). Nuclear magnetic resonance microimaging revealed that this difference in specific gravity is due to a difference in the volume of an internal cavity located between the thorax and the abdomen in the pupae. The cavity appears quite early in development. We also examined the cavity in pupae of the unrelated swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus, and found a similar cavity. However, in this species, the cavity is very small and, as a consequence, non-diapause as well as diapause pupae sink in water.     

Remotely-Sensed Active Fire Data for Protected Area Management: Eight-Year Patterns in the Manas National Park, India

The Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands, which once extended along most of the Himalayan foothills, now only remain in a number of protected areas. Within these localities, grassland burning is a major issue, but data on frequency and distribution of fires are limited. Here, we analysed the incidence of active fires, which only occur during the dry season (Nov.–Mar.), within a significant area of Terai grasslands: the Manas National Park (MNP), India. We obtained locations of 781 fires during the 2000–2008 dry seasons, from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) that delivers global MODIS hotspot/fire locations using remote sensing and GIS technologies. Annual number of fires rose significantly from around 20 at the start of the study period to over 90 after 2002, with most (85%) detected between December and January. Over half of the fires occurred in tall grasslands, but fire density was highest in wetland and riverine vegetation, dry at the time. Most burning took place near rivers, roads and the park boundary, suggesting anthropogenic origins. A kernel density map of all recorded fires indicated three heavily burnt areas in the MNP, all within the tall grasslands. Our study demonstrates, despite some technical caveats linked to fire detection technology, which is improving, that remote fire data can be a practical tool in understanding fire concentration and burning temporal patterns in highly vulnerable habitats, useful in guiding management.     

Polymorphic color vision in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus): Is there foraging niche divergence among phenotypes?

Many species of platyrrhine primates are characterised by sex-linked color vision polymorphism. This presents an opportunity to study the biology and ecology of individuals with different phenotypes living in the same group. Several evolutionary processes could maintain polymorphic genes in populations. In this study, we evaluate the hypothesis that foraging niche divergence among monkeys explains the presence of multiple color vision phenotypes. Specifically, we test whether dichromats and trichromats differ in foraging time devoted to cryptic vs brightly colored resources. We did not find any differences in foraging time spent on different food types by dichromatic and trichromatic monkeys in two groups of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) living in a tropical dry forest. We conclude that in so far as these variables are concerned, niche divergence does not likely explain color vision polymorphism in our study population.     

Optimization of integrated water quality management for agricultural efficiency and environmental conservation

The scarcity of water resources in Egypt has necessitated the use of various types of lower quality water. Agricultural drainage water is considered a strategic reserve for meeting increasing freshwater demands. In this study, a novel model series was applied to a drainage basin in the Nile Delta to optimize integrated water quality management for agriculture and the aquatic environment. The proposed model series includes a waste load allocation model, an export coefficient model, a stream water quality model, and a genetic algorithm. This model series offers an optimized solution for determining the required removal levels of total suspended solids (TSS), the chemical oxygen demand (COD) at point and non-point pollution sources, and the source flows that require treatment to meet a given water quality target. The model series was applied during the summer and winter to the El-Qalaa basin in the western delta of the Nile River. Increased pollutant removal and treated fractions at point and non-point sources reduced violations of the TSS standards from 732.6 to 238.9 mg/L in summer and from 543.1 to 380.9 mg/L in winter. Likewise, violations of the COD standards decreased from 112.4 mg/L to 0 (no violations) in summer and from 91.7 mg/L to no violations in winter. Thus, this model is recommended as a decision support tool for determining a desirable waste load allocation solution from a trade-off curve considering costs and the degree of compliance with water quality standards.     

Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and polychlorinated biphenyls in blood and breast milk collected from pregnant women in Sapporo City, Japan

We measured the concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and non-dioxin-like PCBs in paired samples of blood and breast milk collected from 67 secundiparas in Sapporo City, Japan, and combined this data with those of the 30 secundiparas previously measured. The arithmetic mean total toxic equivalents (TEQ-WHO) concentrations of PCDDs, PCDFs, non-ortho PCBs, and mono-ortho PCBs in blood and breast milk of the 97 secundiparous subjects were 3.0-23 (mean: 13, median: 14) and 2.7-20 (mean: 8.6, median: 8.5) pg TEQ g⁻¹ lipid, respectively. The sums of the concentrations of 56 non-dioxin-like PCB congeners that were measured in the subjects’ blood and breast milk were 16-326 (mean: 107, median: 100) and 12-252 (mean: 73, median: 67) ng g⁻¹ lipid, respectively. The partitioning ratios of individual congeners of PCDDs, PCDFs, dioxin-like PCBs, and non-dioxin-like PCBs from blood to breast milk in secundiparas were almost the same as those of primiparas that have been recently reported, suggesting that the partitioning ratios of these compounds from maternal blood to breast milk in women is little affected by delivery. Furthermore, the partition of PCB congeners with chlorine at the 2-, 3-, 4′-, and 5-positions or the 2-, 4-, 4′-, and 5-positions of the biphenyl ring from the blood to the breast milk tended to occur at a higher level than that of other congeners. In particular, the levels of tetraCB-74 and hexaCB-146 in the breast milk for both primiparous and secundiparous mothers were slightly higher than those in the blood.