The adoption of a Climate Disaster Resilience Index in Chennai,India

Results derived from the Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI)—consisting of five dimensions (economic, institutional, natural, physical, and social), 25 parameters, and 125 variables—reflect the abilities of people and institutions to respond to potential climate‐related disasters in Chennai, India. The findings of this assessment, applied in the 10 administrative zones of the city, reveal that communities living in the northern and older parts of Chennai have lower overall resilience as compared to the flourishing areas (vis‐à‐vis economic growth and population) along the urban fringes. The higher resilience of communities along the urban fringes suggests that urbanisation may not necessarily lead to a deterioration of basic urban services, such as electricity, housing, and water. This indication is confirmed by a strong statistical correlation between physical resilience and population growth in Chennai. The identification of the resilience of different urban areas of Chennai has the potential to support future planning decisions on the city's scheduled expansion.     

Characteristics of the vibrating-mesh minimum ignition energy testing apparatus for dust clouds

A novel apparatus for testing the minimum ignition energies of flammable dusts is introduced. Unlike the conventional apparatus (the Hartmann tube), this new apparatus employs a vibrating mesh to produce a dust cloud. Using three kinds of powders, namely lycopodium, anthraquinone and polyacrylonitrile, which are designated as the samples for calibration by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC, 1994) standards, fundamental characteristics were experimentally investigated. Concerning the minimum ignition energies (MIEs), the new testing apparatus worked well for two samples, lycopodium and polyacrylonitrile. The MIE for anthraquinone, however, was by far larger than the expected value. We concluded that the aggregation of anthraquinone particles is the main cause of the difference and is attributable to both the tribo-charges acquired by the particles when passing through the mesh and the filamentary shape of the crystal. Other essential factors for characterizing the testing apparatus, such as the concentration of dust, the shape and spacing of the sparking electrode system, and the impedance of the sparking circuit are discussed.     

Formation of PCDF, PCDD, PCB, and PCN in de novo synthesis from PAH: mechanistic aspects and correlation to fluidized bed incinerators

The difference of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) isomer patterns between stoker type incinerators and some fluidized bed incinerators (FBI) is a key to understand the formation mechanisms in both types of incinerators. The total yield and the isomer patterns of PCDF, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN), and polychlorinated benzenes (PCBz) formed via de novo synthesis from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) indicate that chlorinated aromatics in the FBI are formed as a result of PAH breakdown. The detailed analysis of the isomer patterns of PCDF, PCB and PCN gives a first insight into the transformation mechanism of the PAHs and the sequence of degradation, chlorination and oxygen insertion. The major chlorination takes part at the position of the C-C cleavage during degradation of the PAHs. Further chlorination of the hydrogen position of the former PAH takes part preferably in ortho-position to this chlorination or is directed by incorporated oxygen. A perylene structure in soot is proposed as basis for the observed PCDF pattern in the FBI. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated phenols (PxCP) were formed in lower concentrations from the de novo experiments indicating an additional formation pathway for these compounds in the FBI.     

Feasibility study of a centralized biogas plant performance in a dairy farming area

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In this feasibility study, the anaerobic co-digestion of different organic wastes obtained from a dairy farming area in Hokkaido prefecture, Japan...     

Effects of temperature and food availability on growth and reproduction in the neustonic pedunculate barnacle Lepas anserifera

To elucidate the life history of neustonic animals, growth and reproductive patterns were investigated in the hermaphroditic pedunculate barnacle Lepas anserifera in field and laboratory experiments in Wakayama, western Japan from 2006 to 2008. The effects of temperature (19, 24 or 29°C) and food availability (once or twice a week) on growth and reproduction were also studied in the laboratory. The barnacles grew and matured rapidly, especially in the field: individuals on the average grew from 3 mm to more than 12 mm in capitulum length within 15 days and some were brooding. High temperature and high food availability resulted in greater growth. High temperature also resulted in earlier maturation of both testes and ovaries, whereas the effect of food availability was less clear. The rapid growth and maturation, together with earlier maturation at higher temperatures, may be an adaptation to ephemeral floating objects to which they attach.     

Removal of PCDDs/DFs and dl-PCBs in MWI fly ash by heating under vacuum

Temperature dependence of PCDD/DF and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl (dl-PCB) concentrations in fly ash from a municipal waste incinerator (MWI) heated under vacuum has been investigated as a function of sample temperature ranging from T(s)=425 to 800 K to find out if PCDDs/DFs in fly ash evaporate and are trapped in a liquid nitrogen-cooled trap. The results show that more than 99.98% of PCDDs/DFs in TEQ is removed from fly ash by vacuum heat treatment at T(s)>650 K for 4 h. Almost no PCDDs/DFs were detected in the liquid nitrogen-cooled trap. Homologue distributions indicate that dechlorination/hydrogenation (DCH) reactions proceed in fly ash at T(s)>450 K. Arrhenius rate parameters for the DCH reactions have been determined for each homologue assuming that only DCH reactions occur. The fly ash heated under vacuum at 650 or 800 K was reheated at 573 K (300 degrees C) in a stream of dry or humid air to see how much PCDDs/DFs and dl-PCBs are regenerated. We have found that (1) PCDDs/DFs are regenerated in both 650 K and 800 K treated fly ash, whereas dl-PCBs are regenerated in 650 K treated fly ash, (2) formation of PCDFs predominates over that of PCDDs or dl-PCBs, and (3) less chlorinated homologues are abundant for PCDDs/DFs and dl-PCBs.     

Application of remote sensing techniques toward the role of traditional water bodies with respect to vegetation conditions

Sri Lanka being an agrarian country, the role of water is important for agricultural production. In Sri Lanka, various tank cascade systems, earthen dams and distribution canals have been accepted as few of the most complex ancient traditional water systems of the world. Rainfall, surface water, groundwater and runoff are linked with each other, they have close interactions to land cover classes such as forests and agriculture. The monitoring of vegetation conditions can show subsurface manifestations of groundwater. In this study, an effort to understand the role of traditional water reservoirs and groundwater recharge was made using remote sensing techniques. We have analyzed various vegetation indices such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI-2), Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), tasselled cap transformation analysis (TCA brightness, greenness and wetness) and their relations with the existence of soil, vegetation and water. Result shows that EVI, SAVI, and TCA-based Greenness Index indicates good relationship with the vegetation conditions as compared to other indices. Therefore, these indices could play a crucial role in depicting the interaction between soil, vegetation, and water. However, multi-temporal observations can provide significant results about these interactions more accurately.     

Global-scale quantitative assessment for biodiversity on forest land use: applying the Global No Net Loss approach

Here we propose a method to quantitatively assess and examine Global No Net Loss (GNNL) of forest biodiversity on a global scale. The method produces a GNNL index of existing forest and enables future predictions of forest loss under different assumptions. The method tests the feasibility of the GNNL index and enables discussion of policy for future global scale sustainable forest management up to 2050. The GNNL index was estimated from an equation including forest areas per country per forest type (primary forest, secondary forest and plantation forest), diversity of forest ecosystem, and species density. Estimates derived from historical data revealed an approximate 7% reduction in GNNL index between 1990 and 2005. Predictions of the GNNL index until 2050 emphasize the importance of regenerating large portions of forests felled for agricultural land (or other uses) with secondary forests.     

Determination of dioxin concentrations in fish and seafood samples using a highly sensitive reporter cell line, DR-EcoScreen cells

There is a strong need for the development of relatively rapid and low-cost bioassays for the determination of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) in environmental and food samples. In this study, we applied a reporter gene assay using DR-EcoScreen cells (DR-cell assay), which is highly sensitive to dioxins, to the determination of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs in fish and seafood samples. The PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs were extracted from homogenated samples (10 g) of 30 fish and shellfish, purified by clean-up procedure using a multilayered silica gel column and an alumina column, and applied to DR-cell assay. Interestingly, the bioanalytical equivalent (BEQ) values obtained from the DR-cell assay [<0.1 ∼ 5.4 pg BEQ g⁻¹ wet weight (ww)] were closely correlated with the toxicity equivalent (TEQ) values from conventional high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC-HRMS) analysis (r² = 0.912), and the slope of regression line was 0.913. Therefore, we multiplied the BEQ values from the DR-cell assay by a conversion coefficient (1.095, the reciprocal of 0.913) to approximate the TEQ values from the HRGC-HRMS analysis. Furthermore, we used this DR-cell assay to perform a prescreening test of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs in 16 fish and seafood samples purchased from a supermarket, revealing that a sample from the fatty flesh of a bluefin tuna exceeded 8 pg TEQ g⁻¹ ww (the European Union-tolerance limit). Taken together, these results suggest that the DR-cell assay might be applicable as a rapid and low-cost prescreening method to determine dioxin levels in fish and seafood samples.