Persistent locomotor rhythmicity in the prawns Penaeus indicus and P. monodon

The locomotory activity of adult Penaeus indicus Milne Edwards and P. monodon (Fabricius) collected from the Vellar estuary, South India, in 1983 was monitored continuously for a period of 40 d in the laboratory. Both species exhibited persistent circatidal and circadian rhythmicity, the former displayed peak activity during predicated times of high water in their original habitat. The latter exhibited peak activity during periods corresponding to in situ night-time, with almost no activity during the day, except at the time of high tide. The tidal and daily rhythms were evident for only 3 to 4 d and 5 to 6 d, respectively, under laboratory conditions. The amplitude of the rhythms displayed variations in each semilunar period, reflecting the synchrony and dissynchrony of the tidal and daily rhythms. Activity was correlated with phases of the moon, peaking at times of new and full moon, and showing a scattered pattern with smaller peaks during the first and third quarters.     

Dyes removal from water using polymeric nanocomposites: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Most dyes are pollutants that should be removed from waters due to their mutagenic and carcinogenic properties, requiring advanced adsorption methods. Here, we...     

Experimental investigation on the effect of liquid phase and vapor phase separation over performance of falling film evaporator

Energy, cost, and environmental concerns play a vital role in understanding governing parameters of distributor design in falling film evaporators. Distributor design is a hidden parameter in many experimental papers. The uniform distribution of liquid refrigerant over the tube bundle mostly depends on two-phase liquid refrigerant and vapor refrigerant. This work conducted experiments with two distribution systems with and without separation of liquid-vapor refrigerant after expansion valve for the same evaporator capacity with R134a as a refrigerant. Results reveal that; separating vapor refrigerant has a positive impact on the approach of the evaporator with an open system distributor arrangement. The highest delta T and lowest practice are found at a heat flux of 13.97 kW/m² with an available system distributor compared to a closed system with a heat flux of 14.25 kW/m². The open system arrangement in the distributor is the novel parameter for distributor design, ensuring uniform distribution with minimum pressure drop and dry suction. An open system distributor has an average 16.1% capacity increase over a closed system. The experimental analysis helps to understand different parameters for the design of distributors in falling film evaporators for uniform distribution.     

Linking parks and people: Nepal's experience in resolving conflicts in parks and protected areas

SUMMARY

The search for innovative methods for improving relations between parks and people has led to various conservation and development projects around the world. Nepal's almost three decades of experience in park management in a variety of institutional settings offers valuable lessons in the challenges and opportunities for enlisting local support for conservation. Citing several macro and micro-level case studies from around the country, this paper provides a comparative perspective on the significance of tourism-focused conservation and community development activities in resolving conflicts between parks and local people.     

Organochlorines in urban soils from Central India: probabilistic health hazard and risk implications to human population

This study presents distribution of organochlorines (OCs) including HCH, DDT and PCBs in urban soils, and their environmental and human health risk. Forty-eight soil samples were extracted using ultrasonication, cleaned with modified silica gel chromatography and analyzed by GC-ECD. The observed concentrations of ∑HCH, ∑DDT and ∑PCBs in soils ranged between?<?0.01–2.54, 1.30–27.41 and?<?0.01–62.8 µg kg^?1, respectively, which were lower than the recommended soil quality guidelines. Human health risk was estimated following recommended guidelines. Lifetime average daily dose (LADD), non-cancer risk or hazard quotient (HQ) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for humans due to individual and total OCs were estimated and presented. Estimated LADD were lower than acceptable daily intake and reference dose. Human health risk estimates were lower than safe limit of non-cancer risk (HQ?<?1.0) and the acceptable distribution range of ILCR (10^?6–10^?4). Therefore, this study concluded that present levels of OCs (HCH, DDT and PCBs) in studied soils were low, and subsequently posed low health risk to human population in the study area.     

Non-thermal plasmas for disease control and abiotic stress management in plants

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Climate change is predicted to cause severe loss in agricultural production by increasing disease epidemics and intensifying&nbsp;abiotic stresses. Therefore,...     

Effects of air pollution on monumental buildings in India: An overview

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Recent advancements in environmental monitoring and analysis have created public and institutional awareness on the social and health impacts of air...     

Performance assessment of single slope solar still by the incorporation of palm flower powder and micro phase change material for the augmentation of productivity

Water scarcity necessitates a cost-effective and productive solution. This study focused to enhance the productivity of single slope solar still by incorporating the better weight of palm flower powder (micro-sized) in the basin and micro phase change material heat storage bed under the basin. In this aspect, the different quantity of palm powder weights such as 10, 30, 50, 70, 100, 120 and 150 g in the basin was experimentally examined. The absorber basin containing 50 g of palm powder has better productivity of 37.25%, whereas for 10, 30, 70, 100, 120 and 150 g, they were 11.85, 24.78, 36.8, 33.05, 10.25 and ? 20.22% respectively. The influence of palm powder with different weight% impregnated in the paraffin wax was analysed. The maximum thermal conductivity of 0.33 W/m K was obtained in the sample containing palm flower powder of 20 wt%. The experimental investigation was carried out with 50 g of micro-sized palm powder in the basin and thermal storage bed under the basin containing 20 wt% of micro phase change material (PCMPFP-SS) and conventional solar still (CSS). The overall distillate output of PCMPFP-SS was 4670 and 4250 mL/m² on day 1 and day 2 respectively. On the other hand, the overall distillate output for CSS was 3030 and 2800 mL/m² on day 1 and day 2. From the economic analysis, it was found that the cost per litre (CPL) of PCMPFP-SS and CSS was $ 0.025 and $ 0.032 respectively. Moreover, the payback period of PCMPFP-SS was lowered from 5.1 to 4.1 months compared to CSS.

     

Evaluating Local Benefits from Conservation in Nepal’s Annapurna Conservation Area

Protected areas are integral to the global effort to conserve biodiversity, and, over the past two decades, protected area managers have begun to recognize that conservation objectives are next to impossible to achieve without considering the needs and concerns of local communities. Incentive-based programs (IBPs) have become a favored approach to protected area management, geared at fostering local stewardship by delivering benefits tied to conservation to local people. Effective IBPs require benefits to accrue to and be recognized by those experiencing the greatest consequences as a result of the protected area, and those likely to continue extractive activities if their livelihood needs are compromised. This research examines dispersal of IBP benefits, as perceived by local residents in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area. Results reported here are based on questionnaire interviews with 188 households conducted between September and December 2004. Results indicate that local residents primarily identify benefits from social development activities, provisions for resource extraction, and economic opportunities. Overall, benefits have been dispersed equally to households in villages on and off the main tourist route, and regardless of a household's participation in tourism. However, benefits are not effectively targeted to poorer residents, those highly dependent on natural resources, and those experiencing the most crop damage and livestock loss from protected wildlife. This article provides several suggestions for improving the delivery of conservation incentives.     

Improved photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2 by doping with tungsten and synthesizing in ionic liquid: precise kinetics-mechanism and effect of oxidizing agents

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The degradation of nitroaromatics/toxic energetic compounds contaminated water is a major cause of concern. W-doped TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were...