Municipal solid waste management in Lahore City District,Pakistan

This study deals with generation, composition, collection, transportation, and disposal, as well as the present cost of the waste management on the basis of 60% collection of the total waste and the cost of proposed improved system of management on the basis of 100% waste collection using the IWM-2 LCI model. A GIS map of Data Ganj Bakhsh Town (DGBT) of Lahore City District showing communal storage facilities is also provided. DGBT has a population of 1,624,169 living in 232,024 dwellings. The total waste generated per year is 500,000 tons, or 0.84/kg/cap/day. Presently 60% of the MSW is collected and disposed in open dumps, while 40% is not collected and lies along roadsides, streets railway lines, depressions, vacant plots, drains, storm drains and open sewers. In DGBT, 129 containers of 5-m³ capacity, 120 containers of 10-m³ capacity and 380 skips of 2.5-m³ capacity are placed for waste collection. The overall collection and disposal cost of the MSW of DGBT is $3,177,900/yr, which is $10.29/ton. Modeling was conducted using the IWM-2 model for improved collection and disposal on the basis of 100% service, compared to the current 60% service. The modelled cost is $8.3/per ton, which is 20% less than the present cost, but the overall cost of 100% collection and disposal increases to $4,155,737/yr.     

Processing and characterization of a new biodegradable composite made of a PHB/V matrix and regenerated cellulosic fibers

In this study, a biodegradable composite consisting of a degradable continuous cellulosic fiber and a degradable polymer matrix—poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-co-poly(3-hydroxyvalerate (PHB/V with 19% HV)—was developed. The composite was processed by impregnating the cellulosic fibers on-line withPHB/V powder in a fluidization chamber. The impregnated roving was then filament wound on a plate and hot-pressed. The resulting unidirectional composite plates were mechanically tested and optically characterized by SEM. The fiber content was 9.9 ±0.9 vol% by volumetric determination. The fiber content predicted by the rule of mixture for unidirectional composites was 13.8 ±1.4 vol%. Optical characterization showed that the fiber distribution was homogeneous and a satisfactory wetting of the fibers by the matrix was achieved. Using a blower to remove excess matrix powder during processing increased the fiber content to 26.5 ±3.3 vol % (volumetric) or 30.0 ±0.4 vol% (rule of mixture). The tensile strength of the composite parallel to the fiber direction was 128 ±12 MPa (10 vol% fiber) up to 278 ±48 MPa (26.5 vol% fiber), compared to 20 MPa for the PHB/V matrix. The Young’s modulus was 5.8 ±0.5 GPa (10 vol% fiber) and reached 11.4 ±0.14 GPa (26.5 vol% fiber), versus 1 GPa for the matrix.     

Photometrische Bestimmung der Zytotoxizität von Chemikalien

Two test methods are presented to assess the cytotoxicity of chemicals. On one hand the protozoonTetrahymena pyriformis and on the other the bacteriumPseudomonas aeruginosa is cultured in defined media containing the test chemicals. Test parameter is the quantity of living cells surviving exposure. The conversion of the tetrazolium salt MTT into formazan is equivalent to cell viability. A mixture of detergent and isopropanol is used to dissolve the blue formazan which is not soluble in water, prior to photometric measurement. For cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, benzyldimethyldodecylammonium chloride, dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt, potassium dichromate, 4-toluenesulfonic acid sodium salt, and 4-nitrophenol the EC50-values (mol/l) in theTetrahymena pyriformis- (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) test system were: 10^?5,81 (10^?5,08); 10^?4,68) (10^?3,80; 10^?4,50 (10^?4,14); 10^?3,97 (10^?5,11); 10^?2,71 (10^?2,50) and 10^?4,00 (10^?3,64). — With the assays described here it is possible to measure a large number of samples by quick and simple means.     

Retrieval And Monitoring of Atmospheric Trace Gas Concentrations in Nadir and Limb Geometry Using the Space-Borne Sciamachy Instrument

The Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) onboard the European Envisat spacecraft performs continuous spectral observations of reflected, scattered and transmitted sunlight in various observation geometries. A unique feature of SCIAMACHY is the capability of probing the atmosphere in three different observation geometries:The nadir, limb, and occultation measurement modes. In nadir mode, column densities of trace gases are retrieved with a spatial resolution of typically 30× 60 km using the Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) technique (Platt and Perner, 1983). Alternating with the nadir measurement, vertical profiles of absorber concentration in the stratosphere are derived in limb and occultation. In this paper we present an overview over some applications of SCIAMACHY data in space-based monitoring of atmospheric pollution. The DOAS algorithms for the retrieval of total column amounts from nadir spectra are briefly described and case studies of pollution events are presented. We also illustrate the technique used to derive stratospheric concentration profiles from limb observations and show comparisons with other remote sensing systems. Special emphasis will be given to techniques, which take advantage of SCIAMACHY's different viewing geometries. In particular, we will discuss the potential and limits of strategies to infer tropospheric abundances of O₃and NO₂.     

Biomass from phytopathogens and culture conditions improve Penicillium chrysogenum antimicrobial activity and antifungal compounds production

The present study evaluated the effect of culture conditions and phytopathogenic strain co-culture on the production of antimicrobial metabolites and antifungal activity of Penicillium chrysogenum R1, which PCR identified. Antimicrobial activity was determined using the Hunter-Hunter experimental design with three factors (pH, incubation temperature, and inoculum, at two levels each). The antifungal metabolites, β 1-3 glucanase and chitinase, produced in the presence of live and inactivated Fusarium oxysporum Fsox C11 biomass, were evaluated using HPLC-MS and GC-MS. Results showed that P. chrysogenum inhibited the growth of five phytopathogenic fungal strains, and the most significant inhibition was observed for F. oxysporum Fsox C11. The best conditions to achieve the highest antifungal activity of the cell-free extract were pH 7, 28°C, 1 × 10⁶ spores/mL, and 144 h of fermentation, observing 86% inhibition of F. oxysporum Fsox C11 growth. Production of antifungal metabolites such as 1,4-benzoquinone imine, viridicatic acid, phenol-5-methyl-2-(1-methyl ethyl), and hydrolytic enzymes β 1-3 glucanase and chitinase was detected. The results define the perspective in designing new processes and products for biocontrol phytopathogens.     

Natural radionuclide concentrations in two phosphate ores of east Algeria

Ore is considered as an important source of many elements such as the iron, phosphorus, and uranium. Concerning the natural radionuclides, their concentrations vary from an ore to other depending on the chemical composition of each site.In this work, two phosphate ores found in East of Algeria have been chosen to assess the activity concentration of natural radionuclides represented mainly by three natural radioactive series ²³⁸U, ²³⁵U and ²³²Th, and the primordial radionuclide ⁴⁰K where they were determined using ultra-low background, high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy.The measured activity concentrations of radioactive series ranged from 6.2 ± 0.4 to 733 ± 33 Bq.kg⁻¹ for the ²³²Th series, from 249 ± 16 to 547 ± 39 Bq.kg⁻¹ for the ²³⁸U series, around 24.2 ± 2.5 Bq.kg⁻¹ for the ²³⁵U series, and from 1.4 ± 0.2 to 6.7 ± 0.7 Bq.kg⁻¹ for ⁴⁰K.To assess exposure to gamma radiation in the two ores, from specific activities of ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K and ²²⁶Ra, three indexes were determined: Radium equivalent (Ra_eq), external and internal hazard indexes (H_ex and H_in), their values ranged from 831 ± 8 to 1298 ± 14 Bq.kg⁻¹ for Ra_eq, from 2.2 ± 0.4 to 3.5 ± 0.7 Bq.kg⁻¹ for H_ex, and from 4.2 ± 0.7 to 4.5 ± 0.7 Bq.kg⁻¹ for H_in.     

Photocatalytic degradation of NOx in a pilot street canyon configuration using TiO2-mortar panels

Titanium dioxide is the most important photocatalysts used for purifying applications. If a TiO₂- containing material is left outdoors as a form of flat panels, it is activated by sunlight to remove harmful NOx gases during the day. The photocatalytic efficiency of a TiO₂-treated mortar for removal of NOx was investigated in the frame of this work. For this purpose a fully equipped monitoring system was designed at a pilot site. This system allows the in situ evaluation of the de-polluting properties of a photocatalytic material by taking into account the climatologic phenomena in street canyons, accurate measurements of pollution level and full registration of meteorological data The pilot site involved three artificial canyon streets, a pollution source, continuous NOx measurements inside the canyons and the source as well as background and meteorological measurements. Significant differences on the NOx concentration level were observed between the TiO₂ treated and the reference canyon. NOx values in TiO₂ canyon were 36.7 to 82.0% lower than the ones observed in the reference one. Data arising from this study could be used to assess the impact of the photocatalytic material on the purification of the urban environment.     

Spatial and temporal estimation of soil loss for the sustainable management of a wet semi-arid watershed cluster

The ungauged wet semi-arid watershed cluster, Seethagondi, lies in the Adilabad district of Telangana in India and is prone to severe erosion and water scarcity. The runoff and soil loss data at watershed, catchment, and field level are necessary for planning soil and water conservation interventions. In this study, an attempt was made to develop a spatial soil loss estimation model for Seethagondi cluster using RUSLE coupled with ARCGIS and was used to estimate the soil loss spatially and temporally. The daily rainfall data of Aphrodite for the period from 1951 to 2007 was used, and the annual rainfall varied from 508 to 1351 mm with a mean annual rainfall of 950 mm and a mean erosivity of 6789 MJ mm ha^?1 h^?1 year^?1. Considerable variation in land use land cover especially in crop land and fallow land was observed during normal and drought years, and corresponding variation in the erosivity, C factor, and soil loss was also noted. The mean value of C factor derived from NDVI for crop land was 0.42 and 0.22 in normal year and drought years, respectively. The topography is undulating and major portion of the cluster has slope less than 10°, and 85.3 % of the cluster has soil loss below 20 t ha^?1 year^?1. The soil loss from crop land varied from 2.9 to 3.6 t ha^?1 year^?1 in low rainfall years to 31.8 to 34.7 t ha^?1 year^?1 in high rainfall years with a mean annual soil loss of 12.2 t ha^?1 year^?1. The soil loss from crop land was higher in the month of August with an annual soil loss of 13.1 and 2.9 t ha^?1 year^?1 in normal and drought year, respectively. Based on the soil loss in a normal year, the interventions recommended for 85.3 % of area of the watershed includes agronomic measures such as contour cultivation, graded bunds, strip cropping, mixed cropping, crop rotations, mulching, summer plowing, vegetative bunds, agri-horticultural system, and management practices such as broad bed furrow, raised sunken beds, and harvesting available water using farm ponds and percolation tanks. This methodology can be adopted for estimating the soil loss from similar ungauged watersheds with deficient data and for planning suitable soil and water conservation interventions for the sustainable management of the watersheds.     

Habitat-specific bioaccumulation of methylmercury in invertebrates of small mid-latitude lakes in North America

We examined habitat-specific bioaccumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic food webs by comparing concentrations in pelagic zooplankton to those in littoral macroinvertebrates from 52 mid-latitude lakes in North America. Invertebrate MeHg concentrations were primarily correlated with water pH, and after controlling for this influence, pelagic zooplankton had significantly higher MeHg concentrations than littoral primary consumers but lower MeHg than littoral secondary consumers. Littoral primary consumers and pelagic zooplankton are two dominant prey for fish, and greater MeHg in zooplankton is likely sufficient to increase bioaccumulation in pelagic feeders. Intensive sampling of 8 lakes indicated that habitat-specific bioaccumulation in invertebrates (of similar trophic level) may result from spatial variation in aqueous MeHg concentration or from more efficient uptake of aqueous MeHg into the pelagic food web. Our findings demonstrate that littoral-pelagic differences in MeHg bioaccumulation are widespread in small mid-latitude lakes.