Analysis and optimization on the biodegradable plate making process parameters using RSM-based Box–Behnken Design method

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The present research work focused on fabricating Biodegradable Plate (BD plate) composed of rice husk ash, bagasse and corn starch which is...     

Food Security in Complex Emergencies: Enhancing Food System Resilience

This paper explores linkages between food security and crisis in different contexts, outlining the policy and institutional conditions needed to manage food security during a crisis and to rebuild the resilience of food systems in periods of relative peace. The paper reviews experiences over the past decade of countries in protracted crisis and draws lessons for national and international policy. It assesses the different alternatives on offer in fragile countries to address, for example, the disruption of institutional mechanisms and the decreasing level of support offered by international donors with respect to longer-term expectations. It proposes a Twin Track Approach to enhance food security resilience through specific policies for protracted crises that link immediate hunger relief interventions with a long-term strategy for sustainable growth. Finally, the article analyses policy options and the implications for both short- and longer-term responses vis-à-vis the three dimensions of food security: availability; access; and stability.     

Correction to: Radical scavenging and antiproliferative effect of novel phenolic derivatives isolated from Nerium indicum against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7)—an in silico and in vitro approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The correct presentation of the Author names are shown in this paper.     

Power generation by high head water in a building using micro hydro turbine—a greener approach

Demand for green energy production is arising all over the world. A lot of emphasis is laid in making the buildings green. Even a small amount of energy savings made contribute to saving the environment. In this study, an idea is proposed and studied to extract power from the high head water in the pipelines of a building. A building of height 15 m is considered for this study. Water flowing in the pipe has sufficient energy to run a micro hydro turbine. The feasibility of producing electrical energy from the energy of pipe water is found. The motivation is to find the feasibility of generating power using a low-cost turbine. The experimental setup consists of micro turbine of 135 mm diameter coupled to a 12-V DC generator; LEDs and resistors are employed to validate the results. The theoretical calculations were presented using the fundamental equations of fluid mechanics. The theoretical results are validated using experimental and numerical results using CFD simulation. In addition, exergy analysis has been carried out to quantify the irreversibilities during the process in the system.     

Static and Dynamic Behavior of Fibrous Polymeric Composite Materials at Different Environmental Conditions

The study of static and dynamic behavior of environmentally conditioned fibre reinforced polymeric (FRP) composites is necessary and crucial to examine the durability, reliability and sustainability of these noble materials. FRP composites are being used all around the globe and substituting the conventional materials, starting from mini toys to large aerospace components. Present review has introduced to accumulate and understand the disseminate literature in concentrating the significance of understanding the static and dynamic behavior of FRPs with changing environmental conditionings (hygrothermal, low and high temperature, salt solution, freeze thaw, UV light) and with the interaction of different nano-fillers. Their stability and integrity in diverse service environments may be reformed by their reactions against different nature of loadings i.e. static or dynamic and the components such as fibre, matrix and fibre/matrix interfaces in those environments. The static and dynamic states of loading may come with a possible weaker region to encounter the durability and integrity of the composites. To understand the exact failure modes that correlates the position of environmentally conditioned interfaces and dynamic state of loadings, thus confusing the estimation of its overall performance and mechanical behavior. Interface reliability and durability is vital since in-service environments the degradation in the interfacial region leads to complete composite failure. Therefore, the study of combined effects of various in-service environmental conditions and the role of static and dynamic behavior on the interface will be a crucial part related to the multiaxial dynamic states of failures occurring in FRP’s.     

A comparison of pretreatments on release of sugars from sweet sorghum bagasse for bioethanol production

Dilute acid pretreatment and steam pretreatment were evaluated for maximum sugars release and ethanol production from sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB). The fermentation potential of the condensate and hydrolysate obtained from steam pretreatment (10 kg/cm², 10 minutes) and dilute acid hydrolysis (1% (w/w) sulphuric acid, 25% substrate loading) respectively, was checked with Pichia stipitis NCIM 3497 and Debaryomyces hansenii sp. Ethanol production and yield using acid hydrolysate was higher with Debaryomyces hansenii sp. (28.4 g/L and 0.37 g/g respectively) as compared with Pichia stipitis NCIM 3497 (21.9 g/L and 0.29 g/g respectively).     

Potential use of Caulerpa fastigiata biomass for removal of lead: kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamic, and characterization studies

The present study attempts to analyze the biosorption trend of biosorbent Caulerpa fastigiata (macroalgae) biomass for removal of toxic heavy metal ion Pb (II) from solution as a function of initial metal ion concentration, pH, temperature, sorbent dosage, and biomass particle size. The sorption data fitted with various isotherm models and Freundlich model was the best one with correlation coefficient of 0.999. Kinetic study results revealed that the sorption data on Pb (II) with correlation coefficient of 0.999 can best be represented by pseudo-second-order. The biosorption capacity (q _e ) of Pb (II) is 16.11?±?0.32 mg g^?1 on C. fastigiata biomass. Thermodynamic studies showed that the process is exothermic (ΔH° negative). Free energy change (ΔG°) with negative sign reflected the feasibility and spontaneous nature of the process. The SEM studies showed Pb (II) biosorption on selective grains of the biosorbent. The FTIR spectra indicated bands corresponding to –OH, COO^?, –CH, C?=?C, C?=?S, and –C–C– groups were involved in the biosorption process. The XRD pattern of the C. fastigiata was found to be mostly amorphous in nature.     

Development of a Methodology for Selecting Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management: A Case Study on Participatory Assessment

This paper describes an application of multiple criteria analysis (MCA) in assessing criteria and indicators adapted for a particular forest management unit. The methods include: ranking, rating, and pairwise comparisons. These methods were used in a participatory decision-making environment where a team representing various stakeholders and professionals used their expert opinions and judgements in assessing different criteria and indicators (C&I) on the one hand, and how suitable and applicable they are to a forest management unit on the other. A forest concession located in Kalimantan, Indonesia, was used as the site for the case study. Results from the study show that the multicriteria methods are effective tools that can be used as structured decision aids to evaluate, prioritize, and select sets of C&I for a particular forest management unit. Ranking and rating approaches can be used as a screening tool to develop an initial list of C&I. Pairwise comparison, on the other hand, can be used as a finer filter to further reduce the list. In addition to using these three MCA methods, the study also examines two commonly used group decision-making techniques, the Delphi method and the nominal group technique. Feedback received from the participants indicates that the methods are transparent, easy to implement, and provide a convenient environment for participatory decision-making.     

Bagasse-assisted bioremediation of ammonia from shrimp farm wastewater.

Development of new economically feasible ecofriendly products from agricultural wastes or byproducts for shrimp farm wastewater treatment is the objective of our continued research. Ammonia is a nitrogenous toxicant, which is commonly found in wastewater from shrimp farms. In the present study, we explored the possibility of the use of simply and inexpensively prepared bagasse products so that this abundant crop byproduct could be used to remove ammonia from shrimp farm wastewater. Bagasse, a natural highly fibrous lignocellulosic byproduct of sugarcane, was converted into five different products. Experimental results have shown that ammonia is efficiently removed from wastewater by four bagasse products with a dose of 1 to 6 g/L within 24 hours. The effect of bagasse products on other water quality parameters and growth kinetics of biofilm bacteria onto bagasse fiber have also been studied. Efficacies of products were compared by using statistical analysis. Products developed from bagasse are useful and economical.