Short-term dynamics and long-term relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth in Nigeria: an ARDL approach with breaks

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper investigates the short-term dynamics as well as the long-term relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth in Nigeria,...     

Study of the performance of thermoelectric generator for waste heat recovery from chimney: impact of nanofluid-microchannel cooling system

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A huge number of chimneys all over the world utilized in many industrial applications and applications like restaurants, homes, etc. contribute badly...     

Tensile,Thermal and Physical Properties of Washightonia Trunk Fibres/Pineapple Fibre Biophenolic Hybrid Composites

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - In this work, hybrid composites reinforced with Washightonia trunk fibres (GW)/Pineapple fibre (PALF) in bio-phenolic matrix were fabricated with...     

Connecticut nighttime safety belt use

Problem

Safety belt use in the United States, as measured over daylight hours, has risen steadily over recent years reaching 80% in 2004. Yet, using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), safety belt use among fatally injured front seat outboard occupants of passenger vehicles was only between 42% and 46% for the years 1999 to 2003. One possible contributing factor is that safety belt use at night, when crash rates are highest, is lower than during the day.

Method

A full statewide nighttime belt use observation survey was conducted in 2004. This survey was conducted simultaneously with Connecticut's annual full statewide daytime belt use survey. Night belt use observations of drivers and passengers are possible using newly available near military grade night vision goggles and handheld infrared spotlights. Both day and goggle-assisted night observations were conducted at 100 observation sites in Connecticut. Procedures for day and night observations were as nearly identical as possible.

Results

The night belt use rate was 6.4 percentage points lower than the day rate (83.0 vs. 76.6). Consistent with belt use among Connecticut fatalities, day versus night differences were greatest in urban areas. There was evidence that day versus night differences were greater before as compared to after a May 2004 belt use enforcement program.     

The first fossil fungus gardens of Isoptera: oldest evidence of symbiotic termite fungiculture (Miocene, Chad basin)

Higher termites of the subfamily Macrotermitinae (fungus-growing termites) are known to build fungus gardens where a symbiotic fungus (Termitomyces sp.) is cultivated. The fungus grows on a substrate called fungus comb, a structure built with the termites’ own faeces. Here we present the first fossil fungus combs ever found in the world. They were extracted from 7-million-year-old continental sandstone (Chad basin). Fossilized fungus combs have an ovoid morphology with a more or less flattened concave base and a characteristic general alveolar aspect. Under lens, they display a typical millimetre-scale pelletal structure. The latter, as well as the general shape and alveolar aspect, are similar to the morphology of fungus combs from extant fungus-growing termites.     

Consumer-resource body-size relationships in natural food webs

It has been suggested that differences in body size between consumer and resource species may have important implications for interaction strengths, population dynamics, and eventually food web structure, function, and evolution. Still, the general distribution of consumer-'resource body-size ratios in real ecosystems, and whether they vary systematically among habitats or broad taxonomic groups, is poorly understood. Using a unique global database on consumer and resource body sizes, we show that the mean body-size ratios of aquatic herbivorous and detritivorous consumers are several orders of magnitude larger than those of carnivorous predators. Carnivorous predator-prey body-size ratios vary across different habitats and predator and prey types (invertebrates, ectotherm, and endotherm vertebrates). Predator-prey body-size ratios are on average significantly higher (1) in freshwater habitats than in marine or terrestrial habitats, (2) for vertebrate than for invertebrate predators, and (3) for invertebrate than for ectotherm vertebrate prey. If recent studies that relate body-size ratios to interaction strengths are general, our results suggest that mean consumer-resource interaction strengths may vary systematically across different habitat categories and consumer types.     

Polychlorinated biphenyls hot and cold seasons distribution in see water,sediment, and fish samples in the Khour-e-Mousa (Mah-Shahr), Iran

The concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were assessed at four sites in Khour-e-Mousa (Mah-Shahr), Iran. Sea water, sediment and fish (cynoglossus bilineatus) samples were taken at each site and were analysed for PCB levels. To investigate the possible source of PCBs found in fish samples, sediments and waters were collected from four sites (D1, D2, D3, and D4) and studied. The relationship between PCB concentrations in sediment, water and fish is discussed. The results indicate that PCBs are detected in all fish samples and its concentration range from 3.2 to 102.7 μg kg^?1 dry weight and 5.4–149.7 μg kg^?1 dry weight in cold and warm seasons, respectively. The D2 and D4 sites were found to have the highest and lowest levels of PCB concentrations, respectively. Total congener PCB (CB, 28, 52, 44, 101, 149, 118, 153, 138, and 180) concentrations at the sediment samples for D1, D2, D3, and D4 sites ranged from 1.6 to 30.9 μg kg^?1 dry weight and 2.3–47.1 μg kg^?1 dry weight in cold and warm seasons, respectively. The total PCB concentrations for D2 site were found to be significantly higher than other three sites. Total water congener PCB (CB, 28, 52, 44, 101, 149, 118, 153, 138, and 180) concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 0.25 μg L^?1 and 0.02–0.39 μg L^?1 in cold and warm seasons, respectively.     

Biosorption characteristics of unicellular green alga Chlorella sorokiniana immobilized in loofa sponge for removal of Cr（Ⅲ）

Loofa sponge （LS） immobilized biomass of Chlorella sorokiniana （LSIBCS）, isolated from industrial wastewater, was investigated as a new biosorbent for the removal of Cr（Ⅲ） from aqueous solution. A comparison of the biosorption of Cr（Ⅲ） by LSIBCS and free biomass of C. sorokiniana （FBCS） from 10-300 mg Cr（Ⅲ）/L aqueous solutions showed an increase in uptake of 17.79% when the microalgal biomass was immobilized onto loofa sponge. Maximum biosorption capacity for LSIBCS and FBCS was found to be 69.26 and 58.80 mg Cr（Ⅲ）/g biosorbent, respectively, whereas the amount of Cr（Ⅲ） ions adsorbed onto naked LS was 4.97 mg/g. The kinetics of Cr（Ⅲ） biosorption was extremely rapid and equilibrium was established in about 15 and 20 min by LSIBCS and FBCS, respectively. The biosorption equilibrium was well defined by Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The biosorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model. The biosorption was found to be pH dependent and the maximum sorption occurred at the solution pH 4.0. Desorption studies showed that 98% of the adsorbed Cr（Ⅲ） could be desorbed with 0.1 mol/L HNO3, while other desorbing agents were less effective in the order： EDTA 〉 H2SO4 〉 CH3COOH 〉 HCl. The regenerated LSIBCS retained 92.68% of the initial Cr（Ⅲ） binding capacity up to five cycles of reuse in continuous flow-fixed bed columns. The study revealed that LSIBCS could be used as an effective biosorbent for the removal of Cr（Ⅲ） from wastewater.     

The trend analysis of neurological disorders as major causes of death and disability according to human development, 1990-2019

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aims to assess the trends in the incidence rate of neurological disorders in developed and developing countries worldwide during...     

Hybrid-based Bayesian algorithm and hydrologic indices for flash flood vulnerability assessment in coastal regions: machine learning,risk prediction,and environmental impact

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Natural hazards and severe weather events are a matter of serious threat to humans, economic activities, and the environment. Flash floods are one of...