Challenges to promoting eco-industry parks in Malaysia: A case study of Rawang Integrated Industrial Park

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Malaysia is a developing country, and its economic growth has caused the increase in the generation of industrial waste in terms of its volume. The...     

Enhanced biological nutrient removal by the alliance of a heterotrophic nitrifying strain with a nitrogen removing ecosystem

Nitrogen removal from synthetic wastewater was investigated in an airlift bioreactor （ALB）, augmented with a novel heterotrophic nitrifier Pseudonocardia ammonioxydans H9^T under organic carbon to nitrogen ratios （Corg/N） ranging from 0 to 12. Effect of the inoculated strain was also determined on the settling properties and the removal of chemical oxygen demand （COD）. Two laboratory scale reactors were set up to achieve a stable nitrifying state under the same physicochemical conditions of hydraulic retention time （HRT）, temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen （DO）, and operated under the sequencing batch mode. The level of DO was kept at 0.5- 1.5 mg/L by periodic stirring and aeration. Each specific Corg/N ratio was continued for duration of 3 weeks. One of the reactors （BR2） was inoculated with P ammonioxydans H9^T periodically at the start of each Corg/N ratio. Sludge volumetric index （SVI） improved with the increasing Corg/N ratio, but no significant difference was detected between the two reactors. BR2 showed higher levels of nitrogen removal with the increasing heterotrophic conditions, and the ammonia removal reached to the level of 82%-88%, up to10% higher than that in the control reactor （BR1） at Corg/N ratios higher than 6; however, the ammonia removal level in experimental reactor was up to 8% lower than that in control reactor at Corg/N ratios lower than 2. The COD removal efficiency progressively increased with the increasing Corg/N ratios in both of the reactors. The COD removal percentage up to peak values of 88%-94% in BR2, up to 11% higher than that in BR1 at Corg/N ratio higher than 4. The peak values of ammonia and COD removal almost coincided with the highest number （18%-27% to total bacterial number） of the exogenous bacterium in the BR2, detected as colony forming units （CFU）. Furthermore, the removal of ammonia and COD in BR2 was closely related to the number of the inoculated strain with a coefficient index （R2） up to 0.82 and 0.85 for ammonia and     

Investigation of Great Egret (Casmerodius albus) breeding success in Hara Biosphere Reserve of Iran

Study of Great Egret breeding success was carried out for the first time in Hara Biosphere Reserve of Iran. Since Great Egret is considered as wading bird as well as wetland-dependent species which is located on top of the food chain in this ecosystem, its breeding study is an appropriate means for evaluating food supply fluctuations and environmental threatening factors by comparison of different years. On the other hand, Great Egret is considered a suitable indicator to examination of biological changes, impact of pollutions, and other effective human activities on Hara Biosphere Reserve. Therefore, read-ahead is required for area management planning in order to maintain the health of mangrove ecosystem and control threatening factors of the sensitive biodiversity of area. The results indicate that the average breeding success of Great Egret in different stages of hatching success, fledging success, and breeding success were equal to 0.54, 0.61, and 0.50 in 2008 and 0.61, 0.59, and 0.42 in 2009, respectively.     

Production and Characterization of Sodium Alginate/Gum Arabic Based Films Enriched with Syzygium cumini Seeds Extracts for Food Application

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Biodegradable sodium alginate/gum Arabic (SG) films were obtained. The influence of Syzygium cumini seeds extract (SCSE) incorporation in SG films on...     

Synthesis of nanoparticles using microorganisms and their applications: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Nanoparticles synthesis under green conditions has been performed using natural resources to diminish the use of toxic chemicals. For instance, microbial synthesis...     

A review of the global climate change impacts,adaptation, and sustainable mitigation measures

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Climate change is a long-lasting change in the weather arrays across tropics to polls. It is a global threat that has embarked on to put stress on...     

Economic growth,technology, and CO2 emissions in BRICS: Investigating the non-linear impacts of economic complexity

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Upgrading economic structures and producing less pollution-intensive goods are indispensable for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in...     

Geo-based model of intrinsic resilience to climate change: an approach to nature-based solution

A substantial amount of researches have been done on the understanding and assessment of resilience from multiple perspectives, e.g., ecological, social, economic, and disaster management; however, recent international approach is trending toward more systematic and comprehensive risk assessment processes. Pivotal element of such approach is to emphasizing on promoting resilience in the face of climate change impacts. Conceptualization and identification of parameters to assess climate change resilience is one of the remaining challenges that academia is facing. Reviewing the principles of the climate change resilience highlighted in the literature, the goal of this study is to introduce a theoretical model about the climate change resilience concept to facilitate and enhance future climate change resilience-related researches. The model proposed in this study is named as the climate change resilience of place (C-CROP) model, a geo-based model which is designed to assess climate change resilience for any geographic region with an approach to the incorporation of nature-based solution (NBS). C-CROP model considers vulnerability, exposure, sensitivity to climate change on one side; another side is co-benefit, climate proofing, and disservices of proposed NBS. An operational framework of the C-CROP model is also proposed, that allows spatially explicit assessment of climate change resilience in real world by developing an indicator-based framework and comprehensive mapping using the geospatial approach. Therefore, this model includes vulnerability hotspots identification; better understanding of the pathways of resilience; and solutions (i.e., NBS) to infer the impacts and effectiveness of resilience-building interventions.

     

A comprehensive review of hydrophobic silica and composite aerogels: synthesis,properties and recent progress towards environmental remediation and biomedical applications

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The hydrophobicity of silica and composite aerogels has enabled them to acquire applications in a variety of fields. With remarkable structural,...