Facile and Sensitive Spectrophotometric Determination of Carbosulfan in Formulations and Environmental Samples

Facile, selective and sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of carbosulfan in insecticidal formulations, fortified water, food grains, agriculture wastewater and soil samples with newly synthesized reagents. The method was based on acid and alkaline hydrolysis of the carbosulfan pesticide, and the resultant hydrolysis product of carbosulfan was coupled with 2,6-dibromo-4-methylaniline to give a yellow color product with λ _max of 464 nm or interaction with 2,6-dibromo-4-nitroaniline to produce yellow colored product with λ _max of 408 nm or coupling with 2,4,6-tribromoaniline to form red colored product has a λ _max of 471 nm. Under optimal conditions, Beer’s law range for 2,6-dibromo-4-methylaniline (DBMA) was found to be 0.2–12.0 μg ml⁻¹, 0.6–16.0 μg ml⁻¹ for 2,6-dibromo-4-nitroaniline (DBNA) and 0.4–15.0 μg ml⁻¹ for 2,4,6-tribromoaniline (TBA). The molar absorptivity of the color systems were found to be 3.112 × 10⁴ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ for DBMA, 3.214 × 10⁴ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ for DBNA and 3.881 × 10⁴ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ for TBA. Sandell’s of the color reactions are 0.013 μg cm⁻² (DBMA), 0.012 μg cm⁻² (DBNA) and 0.011 μg cm⁻² (TBA) respectively. The effect of the non-target species on the determination of carbosulfan was studied to enhance the selectivity of the proposed methods. The formation of colored derivatives with the coupling agents is instantaneous and stable for 28, 30, and 26 h. Performance of the proposed methods were compared statistically in terms Student’s F and t-tests with the reported methods. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Biodegradability of leathers through anaerobic pathway

Leather processing generates huge amounts of both solid and liquid wastes. The management of solid wastes, especially tanned leather waste, is a challenging problem faced by tanners. Hence, studies on biodegradability of leather become imperative. In this present work, biodegradability of untanned, chrome tanned and vegetable tanned leather under anaerobic conditions has been addressed. Two different sources of anaerobes have been used for this purpose. The effect of detanning as a pretreatment method before subjecting the leather to biodegradation has also been studied. It has been found that vegetable tanned leather leads to more gas production than chrome tanned leather. Mixed anaerobic isolates when employed as an inoculum are able to degrade the soluble organics of vegetable tanned material and thus exhibit an increased level of gas production during the initial days, compared to the results of the treatments that received the anaerobic sludge. With chrome tanned materials, there was not much change in the volume of the gas produced from the two different sources. It has been found that detanning tends to improve the biodegradability of both types of leathers.     

Impacts of hunting on tropical forests in Southeast Asia

Although deforestation and forest degradation have long been considered the most significant threats to tropical biodiversity, across Southeast Asia (Northeast India, Indochina, Sundaland, Philippines) substantial areas of natural habitat have few wild animals (>1 kg), bar a few hunting‐tolerant species. To document hunting impacts on vertebrate populations regionally, we conducted an extensive literature review, including papers in local journals and reports of governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Evidence from multiple sites indicated animal populations declined precipitously across the region since approximately 1980, and many species are now extirpated from substantial portions of their former ranges. Hunting is by far the greatest immediate threat to the survival of most of the region's endangered vertebrates. Causes of recent overhunting include improved access to forests and markets, improved hunting technology, and escalating demand for wild meat, wildlife‐derived medicinal products, and wild animals as pets. Although hunters often take common species, such as pigs or rats, for their own consumption, they take rarer species opportunistically and sell surplus meat and commercially valuable products. There is also widespread targeted hunting of high‐value species. Consequently, as currently practiced, hunting cannot be considered sustainable anywhere in the region, and in most places enforcement of protected‐area and protected‐species legislation is weak. The international community's focus on cross‐border trade fails to address overexploitation of wildlife because hunting and the sale of wild meat is largely a local issue and most of the harvest is consumed in villages, rural towns, and nearby cities. In addition to improved enforcement, efforts to engage hunters and manage wildlife populations through sustainable hunting practices are urgently needed. Unless there is a step change in efforts to reduce wildlife exploitation to sustainable levels, the region will likely lose most of its iconic species, and many others besides, within the next few years.     

高原山地农户旱灾应灾行为研究——以云南省南涧县为例

旱灾作为云南省的第一大农业气象灾害,给农业生产造成了巨大的损失。在旱灾面前,人类既是旱灾承灾体,又是减灾政策、措施以及直接抗旱减灾响应行为的具体执行者。在灾害的发生过程中,人类应灾行为对提高旱灾应对能力、减少旱灾损失有着更为实际的效果。该文以云南省南涧县为例,通过问卷调查和入户访谈获取数据,使用主成分分析和系统聚类分析方法对数据进行处理,并将收集到的11种应灾行为分为三大类进行多维尺度分析;根据175名农户对11种应灾行为的评价特点,将这些农户进行判别分析并划分为三类应灾人群,针对不同应灾人群中的典型农户分析其应灾行为特征。     

Evaluation of toxic effects induced by arsenic trioxide or/and antimony on autophagy and apoptosis in testis of adult mice

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Arsenic trioxide (ATO) and antimony (Sb) are well-known ubiquitous environmental contaminants and cause unpromising male reproductive effects in...     

美丽城市内涵与美丽杭州建设战略研究

城市是环境、经济、社会的复合体与基本单元,美丽城市建设是美丽中国的重要基础和途径。本文在城市系统、城市形象、城市美学和生态文明建设理论的基础上,研究提出美丽城市建设的自然、环境、人居、经济、人文、生活等六大系统框架,提出评价指标体系构建思路原则。结合美丽杭州建设战略研究,提出了三大战略重点、四大战略途径和六大战略任务的总体框架。提出美丽城市建设需要重视格局、结构、质量的内在约束引导机制、区域分类指导机制以及差异化的评价指标体系建设的建议．为姜丽城市建设提供券者．     

Removal of Cr6 + and Ni2+ from aqueous solution using bagasse and fly ash

Raw bagasse and fly ash, the waste generated in sugar mills and boilers respectively have been used as low-cost potential adsorbents. Raw bagasse was pretreated with 0.1N NaOH followed by 0.1N CH3COOH before its application. These low-cost adsorbents were used for the removal of chromium and nickel from an aqueous solution. The kinetics of adsorption and extent of adsorption at equilibrium are dependent on the physical and chemical characteristics of the adsorbent, adsorbate and experimental system. The effect of hydrogen ion concentration, contact time, sorbent dose, initial concentrations of adsorbate and adsorbent and particle size on the uptake of chromium and nickel were studied in batch experiments. The Sorption data has been correlated with Langmuir, Freundlich and Bhattacharya and Venkobachar adsorption models. The efficiencies of adsorbent materials for the removal of Cr(VI) and Ni(II) were found to be between 56.2 and 96.2% and 83.6 and 100%, respectively. These results were obtained at the optimized conditions of pH, contact time, sorbent dose, sorbate concentration of 100 mg/l and with the variation of adsorbent particles size between 0.075 and 4.75 mm. The order of selectivity is powdered activated carbon > bagasse > fly ash for Cr(VI) removal and powdered activated carbon > fly ash > bagasse for Ni(II) removal.