Groundwater quality assessment and its correlation with gastroenteritis using GIS: a case study of Rawal Town,Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Majority of the people of Pakistan get drinking water from groundwater source. Nearly 40 % of the total ailments reported in Pakistan are the result of dirty drinking water. Every summer, thousands of patients suffer from acute gastroenteritis in the Rawal Town. Therefore, a study was designed to generate a water quality index map of the Rawal Town and identify the relationship between bacteriological water quality and socio-economic indicators with gastroenteritis in the study area. Water quality and gastroenteritis patient data were collected by surveying the 262 tubewells and the major hospitals in the Rawal Town. The collected spatial data was analyzed by using ArcGIS spatial analyst (Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation) and geostatistical analysis tools (inverse distance weighted, radial basis function, kriging, and cokriging). The water quality index (WQI) for the study area was computed using pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids, calcium, hardness, alkalinity, and chloride values of the 262 tubewells. The results of Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation showed that the groundwater physicochemical parameters were clustered. Among IDW, radial basis function, and kriging and cokriging interpolation techniques, cokriging showed the lowest root mean square error. Cokriging was used to make the spatial distribution maps of water quality parameters. The WQI results showed that more than half of the tubewells in the Rawal Town were providing “poor” to “unfit” drinking water. The Pearson’s coefficient of correlation for gastroenteritis with fecal coliform was found significant (P?P?P?相似文献   

Correction to: Ecotoxicological assessment of oil-based paint using three-dimensional multi-species bio-testing model: pre- and post-bioremediation analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The original publication of this paper contains a mistake.     

Survival of the cleanest? Evidence from a plant-level analysis of pollutant emissions in Canadian pulp and paper industry, 2005–2013

Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - We capitalize on access to plant-level data in examining the changes in emissions of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), and...     

Violence breeds violence: burnout as a mediator between patient violence and nurse violence

The present study examines whether patient-perpetrated violence triggers anger, hatred and other negative emotions that, under certain circumstances, might motivate nurses to behave violently with patients. In doing so, this study considers burnout as a mediator in the patient violence–nurse violence relationship. To test the causal paths, data were collected from 182 nurses working in two government-sector teaching hospitals of Pakistan's Punjab province. Results confirm that patient violence toward nurses leads to nurse violence toward patients through the mediating effect of burnout. The study advises hospitals to provide wellness and stress management programs to nurses who regularly experience events involving patient violence. Hospitals may consider allowing nurses to take short breaks after an encounter with violently behaving patients. In addition, hospitals should conduct empathy-promoting training, emotional intelligence training and ‘lens of the patient’ training programs to sensitize their nursing staff.     

Association between meteorological indicators and COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study was designed to investigate the impact of meteorological indicators (temperature, rainfall, and humidity) on total COVID-19 cases in...     

Synthesis of [13C]- and [14C]-labeled phenolic humus and lignin monomers

Natural phenolic monomers are ubiquitous in the environment and are involved in the stabilization of atmospheric carbon and the transformation of xenobiotics. Investigations on the stabilization of phenolic carbons and their environmental fate are hampered by the unavailability of commercial [13C]- and [14C]-labeled phenols. Here we report the complete chemical synthesis of the lignin and humus structural monomers p-coumaric, ferulic, and caffeic acids, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, protocatechualdehyde, vanillin, catechol, and guaiacol, uniformly [13C]- or [14C]-labeled in the aromatic ring, starting from commercially available [U-ring-13C]- or [U-ring-14C]-labeled phenol. The synthesis of these compounds involved selective ortho-hydroxylation of the aromatic ring, Friedel-Crafts alkylation, and Knoevenagel condensation. [U-ring-13C]- or [U-ring-14C]-p-coumaric acid was synthesized via p-hydroxybenzaldehyde with a 75% yield with respect to phenol. Synthesis of [U-ring-13C]- or [U-ring-14C]-ferulic acid, consisting of six single steps via guaiacol and vanillin, had an overall yield of up to 45%. Uniformly ring-labeled caffeic acid was synthesized either via catechol and protocatechualdehyde in five single steps, yielding [U-ring-14C]-caffeic acid with a 37% yield, or via guaiacol, vanillin, and ferulic acid in seven steps, yielding [U-ring-13C]-caffeic acid with an 18% yield. Ferulic acid, [14C]-labeled at beta-C of the propenoic side chain, was synthesized from [2-14C]-malonic acid under Knoevenagel conditions with a 67% yield with respect to malonic acid. Demethylation of the [beta-14C]-ferulic acid with BBr3 in CH3CN resulted in [beta-14C]-caffeic acid with a 62% yield. All [U-ring-13C]-labeled phenolic products were analyzed by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C-NMR) spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).     

Release of substituents from phenolic compounds during oxidative coupling reactions

Phenolic compounds originating from plant residue decomposition or microbial metabolism form humic-like polymers during oxidative coupling reactions mediated by various phenoloxidases or metal oxides. Xenobiotic phenols participating in these reactions undergo either polymerization or binding to soil organic matter. Another effect of oxidative coupling is dehalogenation, decarboxylation or demethoxylation of the substrates. To investigate these phenomena, several naturally occurring and xenobiotic phenols were incubated with various phenoloxidases (peroxidase, laccase, tyrosinase) or with birnessite (delta-MnO(2)), and monitored for chloride release, CO(2) evolution, and methanol or methane production. The release of chloride ions during polymerization and binding ranged between 0.2% and 41.4%. Using the test compounds labeled with 14C in three different locations (carboxyl group, aromatic ring, or aliphatic chain), it was demonstrated that 14CO(2) evolution was mainly associated with the release of carboxyl groups (17.8-54.8% of the initial radioactivity). Little mineralization of 14C-labeled aromatic rings or aliphatic carbons occurred in catechol, ferulic or p-coumaric acids (0.1-0.7%). Demethoxylation ranged from 0.5% to 13.9% for 2,6-dimethoxyphenol and syringic acid, respectively. Methylphenols showed no demethylation. In conclusion, dehalogenation, decarboxylation and demethoxylation of phenolic substrates appear to be controlled by a common mechanism, in which various substituents are released if they are attached to carbon atoms involved in coupling. Electron-withdrawing substituents, such as -COOH and -Cl, are more susceptible to release than electron-donating ones, such as -OCH(3) and -CH(3). The release of organic substituents during polymerization and binding of phenols may add to CO(2) production in soil.     

Studies on the toxicity, metabolism, and anticholinesterase properties of acephate and methamidophos

The toxicity of acephate to four species of aquatic insects, as well as the metabolism and cholinesterase-inhibiting properties of the chemical in the rat were studied. The results indicated that mayfly larvae were very sensitive to the toxic effects of acephate, whereas larvae of the stonefly, damselfly and mosquito were much less sensitive. In the rat, orally-administered acephate was rapidly absorbed from the intestines and severely inhibited the cholinesterases in the blood and brain. The enzymes began to recover after 24 hours, while the chemical was completely eliminated within three days. The amount of methamidophos observed in the liver was extremely low. The cholinesterase-inhibiting properties of acephate and methamidophos were compared in vitro to that of paraoxon, a known strong anticholinesterase. Enzymes from four vertebrates were used. In all cases, except one, acephate was found to be six orders of magnitude weaker than paraoxon, whereas methamidophos was three orders weaker. Trout brain cholinesterase was the exception; it was as sensitive to paraoxon as it was to methamidophos. Finally, four cholinesterases were inhibited with methamidophos, and their ability to reactivate spontaneously or to recover by induction with pyridine aldoxime methiodide (PAM) in vitro were determined. The results suggested that methamidophos-inhibited cholinesterases did not reactivate spontaneously; instead the enzymes remained inhibited either in a phosphorylated or an aged state. The significance of these results are discussed in relation to the use of acephate for forest insect pests.     

Ca and OH release of ceramsites containing anorthite and gehlenite prepared from waste lime mud

Lime mud is a kind of solid waste in the papermaking industry, which has been a source of serious environmental pollution. Ceramsites containing anorthite and gehlenite were prepared from lime mud and fly ash through the solid state reaction method at 1050°C. The objective of this study was to explore the efficiency of Ca^2 + and OH⁻ release and assess the phosphorus and copper ion removal performance of the ceramsites via batch experiments, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that Ca^2 + and OH⁻ were released from the ceramsites due to the dissolution of anorthite, gehlenite and available lime. It is also concluded that gehlenite had stronger capacity for Ca^2 + and OH⁻ release compared with anorthite. The Ca^2 + release could be fit well by the Avrami kinetic model. Increases of porosity, dosage and temperature were associated with increases in the concentrations of Ca^2 + and OH⁻ released. Under different conditions, the ceramsites could maintain aqueous solutions in alkaline conditions (pH = 9.3–10.9) and the release of Ca^2 + was not affected. The removal rates of phosphorus and copper ions were as high as 96.88% and 96.81%, respectively. The final pH values of both phosphorus and copper ions solutions changed slightly. The reuse of lime mud in the form of ceramsites is an effective strategy.     

Paper electrophoretic separations of some common pesticides : Determination of monocrotophos,rogor and malathion in soil samples

Abstract

Paper electrophoretic movements of a number of pesticides belonging to organophosphorus, organochlorine and pyethroid groups in various acid background electrolytes have been studied. The effect of pH and pKa of the acids on the movement of these pesticides have also been studied. It has been observed that the movement of most of the pesticides is enhanced with increase in the degree of ionisation of the acids (pKa) studied as background electrolytes. The movement also increases with increase in the pH of acids. On the basis of differential movement of pesticides towards cathode and anode, a number of separations have been achieved from binary mixtures. Monocrotophos, rogor and malathion have been determined quantitatively (28.6 ‐ 29.2 μg) in alcoholic extracts of soil samples.