Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the dynamics of functional composition of a non flooded Amazonian forest in response to drought stress in terms of diameter growth, recruitment and mortality. The survey was carried out in the continuous forest of the Biological dynamics of forest fragments project 90 km outside the city of Manaus, state of Amazonas Brazil. All stems >10 cm dbh where identified to species level and monitored in 18 one hectare permanent sample plots from 1981 to 2004.For statistical analysis all species where aggregated in three ecological guilds. Two distinct drought events occurred in 1983 and 1997. Results showed that more early successional species performed better than later successional ones. Response was significant for both events but for the 1997 event this was more pronounced possibly because of the fact that the event was in the middle of the dry rather than the wet period as was the 1983 one.
Abstract: This study investigated the presence of polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the sediments of the Musa Bay
(around the PETZONE coastal area) from Feb 2010 to Jun 2010.
Concentrations of PAHs recorded in the Musa Bay sediments ranged
from 537.89 to 26,659.06 ng/g dry weight with a mean value of
3990.74 ng/g. the highest concentration of PAHs was observed at
station 4, which is located near the aromatic outlet of Imam
Khomeini petrochemical company (station 4: BI-PC Aromatic
effluent outlet) in which its concentration level was more than the
NOAA sediment quality guideline value (ERL= 4022 ng/g dry
weight). Owing to the concentration of PAHs in the study area, its
concentration level was still meet the NOAA sediment quality
guideline value (ERL: 4022 ng/g dry weight); however, according to
the PELq factor, slightly adverse biological effects are associated
with the exposure to PAHs levels in the study area (0.1< PELq= 0.24
> 0.5).
Abstract: The main aims in this research are to study the solid
waste generation in the Faculty of Engineering and Built
Environment in the UKM and at the same time to determine
composition and some of the waste characteristics likewise: moisture
content, density, pH and C/N ratio. For this purpose multiple
campaigns were conducted to collect the wastes produced in all
hostels, faculties, offices and so on, during 24th of February till 2nd
of March 2009, measure and investigate them with regard to both
physical and chemical characteristics leading to highlight the
necessary management policies. Research locations are Faculty of
Engineering and the Canteen nearby that. From the result gained, the
most suitable solid waste management solution will be proposed to
UKM. The average solid waste generation rate in UKM is 203.38
kg/day. The composition of solid waste generated are glass, plastic,
metal, aluminum, organic and inorganic waste and others waste.
From the laboratory result, the average moisture content, density, pH
and C/N ratio values from the solid waste generated are 49.74%,
165.1 kg/m3, 5.3, and 7:1 respectively. Since, the food waste (organic
waste) were the most dominant component, around 62% from the
total waste generated hence, the most suitable solid waste
management solution is composting.
Abstract: Environmental studies have expanded dramatically all
over the world in the past few years. Nowadays businesses interact
with society and the environment in ways that put their mark on both
sides. Efforts improving human standard living, through the control
of nature and the development of new products, have also resulted in
contamination of the environment. Consequently companies play an
important role in environmental sustainability of a region or country.
Therefore we can say that a company's sustainable development is
strictly dependent on the environment. This article presents a fuzzy
model to evaluate a company's environmental impact. Article
illustrates an example of the automotive industry in order to prove the
usefulness of using such a model.
Abstract: The pollutant removal efficiency of the Intermittently
Decanted Extended Aeration (IDEA) wastewater treatment system at
Curtin University Sarawak Campus, and conventional activated
sludge wastewater treatment system at a local resort, Resort A, is
monitored. The influent and effluent characteristics are tested during
wet and dry weather conditions, and peak and off peak periods. For
the wastewater treatment systems at Curtin Sarawak and Resort A,
during dry weather and peak season, it was found that the BOD5
concentration in the influent is 121.7mg/L and 80.0mg/L
respectively, and in the effluent, 18.7mg/L and and 18.0mg/L
respectively. Analysis of the performance of the IDEA treatment
system showed that the operational costs can be minimized by 3%, by
decreasing the number of operating cycles. As for the treatment
system in Resort A, by utilizing a smaller capacity air blower, a
saving of 12% could be made in the operational costs.
Abstract: This paper contributes to the debate on the proximate
causes of climate change. Also, it discusses the impact of the global
temperature increases since the beginning of the twentieth century
and the effectiveness of climate change models in isolating the
primary cause (anthropogenic influences or natural variability in
temperature) of the observed temperature increases that occurred
within this period. The paper argues that if climate scientist and
policymakers ignore the anthropogenic influence (greenhouse gases)
on global warming on the pretense of lack of agreement among
various climate models and their inability to account for all the
necessary factors of global warming at all levels the current efforts of
greenhouse emissions control and global warming as a whole could
be exacerbated.
Abstract: Considering the serious health hazards of air pollutants from automobiles, the present study was aimed to estimate the genotoxic/tumor inducing potential of three soil samples collected from junctions of Bus stand (BS), Crystal (CT) and Railway station (RS) of Amritsar, Punjab (India) using Allium cepa root chromosomal aberration assay (AlRCAA) and potato disc tumor assay (PDTA). The genotoxic potential in AlRCAA was 41.27% and 41.26% for BS; 37.89% and 43.38% for RS and 33.76% and 37.83% for CT during in situ and root dip treatments, respectively. The maximum number of tumors were induced in RS sample (64) followed by BS (21) and CT (9) during PDTA. The physicochemical parameters of soil sample were also studied and the concentration of lead was found to be 95.21 mg/Kg in RS, 35.30 mg/Kg in BS and 24.59 mg/Kg in CT samples.
Abstract: The use of contour strips of perennial vegetation with
bio-fuel potential can improve surface water quality by reducing
NO3-N and sediment outflow from cropland to surface water-bodies.
It also has economic benefits of producing ethanol. In this study,
The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied to
a watershed in Iowa, USA to examine the effectiveness of contour
strips of switch grass in reducing the NO3-N outflows from crop
fields to rivers or lakes. Numerical experiments were conducted to
identify potential subbasins in the watershed that have high water
quality impact, and to examine the effects of strip size on NO3-N
reduction under various meteorological conditions, i.e. dry, average
and wet years. Useful information was obtained for the evaluation of
economic feasibility of growing switch grass for bio-fuel in contour
strips. The results can assist in cost-benefit analysis and decisionmaking
in best management practices for environmental protection.
Abstract: The shelf life of fish was extended using disinfection
properties of ozone. For this purpose, Trout specimens were exposed
to ozone in the aqueous media for two hours and their microbial
growth and biochemical properties were measured over time.
Microbial growth of ozone treated fish was significantly slower than
control sample, resulting in lower counts of bacteria. According to
the biochemical tests; ozone treatment had no negative effects on fat,
protein and humidity of fish. Peroxide and TVN (Total Volatile
Nitrogen) measurements showed that treatment by ozone increased
the trout shelf life from 4 days to 6 days. According to the sensory
analysis, no changes were observed in color or flavor of the ozone
treated trout.
Abstract: The environmental performance of rapeseed oil (RO)
and rapeseed methyl ester(RME) from winter rape as fuels produced
in Romanian agroclimate is analyzed in this paper. The proposed
methodology is life cycle assessment (LCA) and takes into
consideration the influence of grain production and agroclimatic
conditions. This study shows favorable results first for RO and then
for RME. When compared to diesel fuel, both studied biofuels show
better results in the following impact categories: Abiotic depletion
potential (ADP), Ozone layer depletion (ODP) and Photochemical
ozone creation potential (POCP).Furthermore, the environmental
performance of the two biofuels studied can be improved by
changing the type of fertilizer used and also by using biofuels instead
of diesel in the field works.
Abstract: Anaerobic digestion process is one of the alternative
methods to convert organic waste into methane gas which is a fuel
and energy source. Activities of various kinds of microorganisms are
the main factor for anaerobic digestion which produces methane gas.
Therefore, in this study a modified Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR)
with working volume of 50 liters was designed to identify the
microorganisms through biogas production. The mixture of 75%
kitchen waste and 25% sewage sludge was used as substrate.
Observations on microorganisms in the ABR showed that there exists
a small amount of protozoa (5%) and fungi (2%) in the system, but
almost 93% of the microorganism population consists of bacteria. It
is definitely clear that bacteria are responsible for anaerobic
biodegradation of kitchen waste. Results show that in the
acidification zone of the ABR (front compartments of reactor) fast
growing bacteria capable of growth at high substrate levels and
reduced pH was dominant. A shift to slower growing scavenging
bacteria that grow better at higher pH was occurring towards the end
of the reactor. Due to the ability of activity in acetate environment the
percentages of Methanococcus, Methanosarcina and Methanotrix
were higher than other kinds of methane former in the system.
Abstract: Shirvan is located in plain in Northern Khorasan province north east of Iran and has semiarid to temperate climate. To investigate the annual changes in some qualitative parameters such as electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids and chloride concentrations which have increased during ten continuous years. Fourteen groundwater sources including deep as well as semi-deep wells were sampled and were analyzed using standard methods. The trends of obtained data were analyzed during these years and the effects of different factors on the changes in electrical conductivity, concentration of chloride and total dissolved solids were clarified. The results showed that the amounts of some qualitative parameters have been increased during 10 years time which has led to decrease in water quality. The results also showed that increased in urban populations as well as extensive industrialization in the studied area are the most important reasons to influence underground water quality. Furthermore decrease in water quantity is also evident due to more water utilization and occurrence of recent droughts in the region during recent years.
Abstract: The present research focus on the processing of mullite-based ceramics from oil refinery industrial wastes and byproducts of agricultural industry and on the investigating of silane modified surface of ceramics. Two waste products were used as initial material – waste aluminum oxide and waste rice husk. The burning - out additives used were waste rise husk. It is known that the oxide ceramics surface is hydrophilic due to the presence of – OH groups in it. The nature of ceramic surface regarding permeation of water and hydrocarbons can be changed by further treatment with silanes. The samples were studied mainly by X-ray analysis, FT-IR absorbance measurements and microscopic analysis. The X-ray analyses showed the phase composition depends on the firing temperature and on the purity of the starting alumina. Two kind of silanes were used for the transformation of surface from hydrophilic to hydrophobic – trimethoxymethylsilane (TMMS) and trimethylclorsilane (TMCS).
Abstract: Taking the provincial capital, labor and energy as
inputs, regional GDP as output from 1995 to 2007, the paper
quantifies the vertical and lateral energy saving potential by
introducing the radial adjustment and slack adjustment of DEA. The
results show that by the vertical, the achievement of energy saving in
2007 is better than their respective historical performances. By
horizontal, in 2007 it can be found that Tianjin, Liaoning, Shanghai
and Yunnan do better in energy saving than other provinces. In
national wide, the higher of energy efficiency, the larger of per capita
GDP and the proportion of the tertiary industry in the national
economy, the more open to the outside, the lower the energy saving
potential demonstrates, while the energy endowment has negative
effect on energy saving potential.
Abstract: Addis Ababa is a seat of African Union (AU), United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) and hundreds of
embassies and consular representatives. Addis Ababa is one of the
highest capitals in the world with an average 2400 meters above sea
level. It is dichotomous city with a blend of modern high-rise and
deteriorating slum quarters. Water supply and sanitation, waste
management and housing are continuing to be serious problems.
Forest wood based domestic energy use as well as uncontrolled
emissions from mobile and fixed sources has endangered the state of
the urban environment. Analysis based on satellite imagery has
revealed the deteriorating urban environment within the last three
decades. The recently restructured city administration has brought
improvements in the condition of the urban environment. However,
the overwhelming size of the challenges faced by the city dwarfed
their fairly good results.
Abstract: The value of emission factor was calculated in the
older type of Diesel engine operating on an engine testing bench and
then compared with the parameters monitored under similar
conditions when the EnviroxTM additive was applied. It has been
found out that the additive based on CeO2 nanoparticles reduces
emission of NOx. The dependencies of NOx emissions on reduced
torque, engine power and revolutions have been observed as well.
Abstract: The problems associated with wind predictions of
WAsP model in complex terrain are already the target of several
studies in the last decade. In this paper, the influence of surrounding
orography on accuracy of wind data analysis of a train is
investigated. For the case study, a site with complex surrounding
orography is considered. This site is located in Manjil, one of the
windiest cities of Iran. For having precise evaluation of wind regime
in the site, one-year wind data measurements from two metrological
masts are used. To validate the obtained results from WAsP, the
cross prediction between each mast is performed. The analysis
reveals that WAsP model can estimate the wind speed behavior
accurately. In addition, results show that this software can be used
for predicting the wind regime in flat sites with complex surrounding
orography.
Abstract: Extensive rainfall disaggregation approaches have been developed and applied in climate change impact studies such as flood risk assessment and urban storm water management.In this study, five rainfall models that were capable ofdisaggregating daily rainfall data into hourly one were investigated for the rainfall record in theChangi Airport, Singapore. The objectives of this study were (i) to study the temporal characteristics of hourly rainfall in Singapore, and (ii) to evaluate the performance of variousdisaggregation models. The used models included: (i) Rectangular pulse Poisson model (RPPM), (ii) Bartlett-Lewis Rectangular pulse model (BLRPM), (iii) Bartlett-Lewis model with 2 cell types (BL2C), (iv) Bartlett-Lewis Rectangular with cell depth distribution dependent on duration (BLRD), and (v) Neyman-Scott Rectangular pulse model (NSRPM). All of these models werefitted using hourly rainfall data ranging from 1980 to 2005 (which was obtained from Changimeteorological station).The study results indicated that the weight scheme of inversely proportional variance could deliver more accurateoutputs for fitting rainfall patterns in tropical areas, and BLRPM performedrelatively better than other disaggregation models.
Abstract: Surface currents play a major role in the distribution
of contaminants, the connectivity of marine populations, and can
influence the vertical and horizontal distribution of nutrients within
the water column. This paper aims to determine the effects of sea
breeze-wind patterns on the climatology of the surface currents on the
continental shelf surrounding Rottnest Island, WA Australia. The
alternating wind patterns allow for full cyclic rotations of wind
direction, permitting the interpretation of the effect of the wind on the
surface currents. It was found that the surface currents only clearly
follow the northbound Capes Current in times when the Fremantle
Doctor sets in. Surface currents react within an hour to a change of
direction of the wind, allowing southerly currents to dominate during
strong northerly sea breezes, often followed by mixed currents
dominated by eddies in the inter-lying times.
Abstract: Drought is one of the most damaging climate-related
hazards, it is generally considered as a prolonged absence of
precipitation. This normal and recurring climate phenomenon had
plagued civilization throughout history because of the negative
impacts on economical, environmental and social sectors. Drought
characteristics are thus recognized as important factors in water
resources planning and management. The purpose of this study is to
detect the changes in drought frequency, persistence and severity
in the Ruhr river basin. The frequency of drought events was
calculated using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). Used
data are daily precipitation records from seven meteorological
stations covering the period 1961-2007. The main benefit of the
application of this index is its versatility, only rainfall data is required
to deliver five major dimensions of a drought : duration, intensity,
severity, magnitude, and frequency. Furthermore, drought can be
calculated in different time steps. In this study SPI was calculated for
1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 months. Several drought events were detected
in the covered period, these events contain mild, moderate and severe
droughts. Also positive and negative trends in the SPI values were
observed.