Facile Preparation of Chitosan Films for High Performance Removal of Reactive Blue 19 Dye from Aqueous Solution

This study aimed at finding effective strategies for high-performance removal of reactive blue 19 (RB19) dye from aqueous solution. Chitosan (CS) films had been prepared by using solvent casting with mild drying for this purpose. The CS films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The performance of RB19 removal using CS were evaluated by varying contact time, solution pH, initial dye concentration, and adsorbent dosage. Adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and desorption were investigated by batch experiments. Results showed that CS films exhibited the optimal adsorption performance for RB19 removal and high maximum adsorption capacities of RB19, which were 799 and 822.4 mg g^?1 at 20 and 40 °C, respectively. Adsorption kinetic data were well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. FTIR analyses further indicated that interactions between RB19 and the CS film occurred during adsorption. The CS films also exhibited satisfactory desorption of RB19 at about 80 % after 30 min of desorption at pH 11. Our study demonstrated that the CS films can be easily prepared and applied for effective removal of RB19 in treatment of wastewater.     

Toward reassessing data‐deficient species

One in 6 species (13,465 species) on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List is classified as data deficient due to lack of information on their taxonomy, population status, or impact of threats. Despite the chance that many are at high risk of extinction, data‐deficient species are typically excluded from global and local conservation priorities, as well as funding schemes. The number of data‐deficient species will greatly increase as the IUCN Red List becomes more inclusive of poorly known and speciose groups. A strategic approach is urgently needed to enhance the conservation value of data‐deficient assessments. To develop this, we reviewed 2879 data‐deficient assessments in 6 animal groups and identified 8 main justifications for assigning data‐deficient status (type series, few records, old records, uncertain provenance, uncertain population status or distribution, uncertain threats, taxonomic uncertainty, and new species). Assigning a consistent set of justification tags (i.e., consistent assignment to assessment justifications) to species classified as data deficient is a simple way to achieve more strategic assessments. Such tags would clarify the causes of data deficiency; facilitate the prediction of extinction risk; facilitate comparisons of data deficiency among taxonomic groups; and help prioritize species for reassessment. With renewed efforts, it could be straightforward to prevent thousands of data‐deficient species slipping unnoticed toward extinction.     

Report on the fifth meeting of INRA’s national network of ecotoxicologists,ECOTOX

The fifth meeting of INRA’s national network of ecotoxicologists took place on 25 to 27 November 2014 in Biarritz, France. The main aim of the meeting was to bring together ecotoxicologists from INRA and associated partners, providing them ample opportunity to share and discuss their latest scientific results as well as the national policy of research in ecotoxicology and to precise perspectives for the network.     

The temporal stability and developmental differences in the environmental impacts of militarism: the treadmill of destruction and consumption-based carbon emissions

This study examines the relationship between national-level militarism and consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions. We analyze panel data from 1990 to 2010 for 81 nations to determine whether the magnitude of the effects of (1) military expenditures as percent of total gross domestic product and (2) military personnel as percent of total labor force on carbon emissions change over time. Results of two-way fixed effects models highlight the temporal stability of the environmental impacts of both national-level military characteristics. The findings also reveal that the effect of military expenditures on emissions is larger in the more developed OECD nations than in the developing non-OECD nations. Overall, the results support the treadmill of destruction perspective, which suggests that the nations’ militaries are an important social institution to consider in sustainability science research on the human drivers of global environmental change.     

Carbon dioxide emissions,output, and energy consumption categories in Algeria

This study examines the relation between CO₂ emissions, income, non-renewable, and renewable energy consumption in Algeria during the period extending from 1980 to 2011. Our work gives particular attention to the validity of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) with break point method outcome demonstrates the positive effect of non-renewable type of energy on CO₂ emissions consumption. On the contrary, the results reveal an insignificant effect of renewable energy on environment improvement. Moreover, the results accept the existence of EKC hypothesis but the highest gross domestic product value in logarithm scale of our data is inferior to the estimated turning point. Consequently, policy-makers in Algeria should expand the ratio of renewable energy and should decrease the quota of non-renewable energy consumption.     

Testing for between individual correlations of personality and physiological traits in a wild bird

Recently, integration of personality traits into a ‘pace-of-life syndrome’ (POLS) context has been advocated. To be able to understand how an individual’s behavioural, physiological and life history traits may coevolve, we need to jointly quantify these traits in order to study their covariance. Few studies have established links between personality and immunity properties of an individual. We here examined covariation of a measure of skeletal size (tarsus length), three behavioural traits (activity, handling aggression and breath rate) and two immunological traits (IgG level and haematocrit), in 592 wild caught blue tits. Many individuals (201) were tested more than once, allowing quantification of individual consistency of all traits and partition of the covariances between the traits, using a multivariate mixed model, into between individual and residual covariances. We find individual consistency of all behavioural traits, indicating that these capture aspects of blue tit adult personality and also the physiological measures are repeatable. Contrary to the POLS expectation, we find no overall significant individual level correlation structure between these traits and a factor analytical approach confirmed that between individual correlations across traits were not due to a common (POLS) factor or driven by size (tarsus length). Based on a published power study, we conclude that there is no common syndrome of individual level covariance between personality and physiological traits in wild blue tits or that the effect sizes, such a syndrome generates, are too low (r?<?0.3) to detect. Future field-based work should be designed to explore low effect sizes and strive to measure specific traits whose involvement is implicated to have large effect sizes as based on, e.g. laboratory findings.     

Optimal Policy Mechanism Design for Cross-Sector and Multi-Stage Pollution Control with a Bilevel Model: Application to SO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Emission in China

In this paper, we construct a multi-stage coordinated programming model under tax system to control SO₂ emission. The model is based on an explicitly formulated SO₂ abatement cost function created under Chinese condition. Analysis of the effectiveness and impact on the economy of the model is carried out with consideration of game theory. By solving the model, theoretical results show that the volume-based multi-stage SO₂ tax system has two properties: effectiveness and equal-rate. Based on these theoretical results, empirical study is also performed using Chinese historical data. Compared with yearly single-stage programming model, the tax rate generated by the coordinated multi-stage programming model is time-invariant and rather moderate in scale. The total abatement cost among planning years in our model is 21.03 % less than the actual number and 6.68 % less than that in the single-stage situation. The tax payment suggested by our model is 10.62 % less than by the single-stage model. In general, a coordinated multi-stage programming model helps reduce the overall costs of environmental protection while achieving the same emission control target with less burden added to the economy.