Use of the high-rate vermicomposting system and its relevant technology were successfully applied to accomplish direct vermicomposting of coral vine leaves - devoid of any pre-treatment/composting or amended with cow dung as earlier proclaimed protocols for the vermicomposting of various phytomass had necessitated. Three earthworm species tested were Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae and Perionyx excavatus, and they had shown efficient vermicast recovery with few instances of mortality and good reproduction over the 150-day experiment. In this duration, all vermireactors were run in semi-continuous mode at the solid retention time of 15 days. This process enabled us to improve process efficacy of the reactor by the required pointers and systematic process monitoring. This paper substantiates the potential of the high-rate vermicomposting system in direct and potential vermicomposting of coral vine without any pre-treatment/composting or cow dung amendments. The observations have significance for enhancing process economics and therefore, process utility.

Toxic and harmful gases, noise, industrial dust, loads, and job posture in architectural engineering construction are the different factors that influence health loss of construction workers. Among them, construction dust is a primary occupational health threat among construction workers. Accordingly, this study aims to analyze the dust pollution hazard in the architectural construction process and quantitatively estimate the health loss of construction workers. It uses a case study based on an earthwork stage in a construction site at Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China. Environmental health risks were evaluated by using the exposure parameter method, while estimating the health losses of different objects caused by earthwork in this construction site. Results demonstrated that dust in the earthwork site was caused by the cement process and moving vehicles. Cementers and road cleaners suffered the most threats from dust with dust exposure dosages of 0.48 and 0.21 mg/kg·d, respectively. The health losses of cementers and road cleaners reached CNY 19,342.74 and CNY 14,532.36, respectively. A reduction on health costs caused by dust pollution in architectural engineering construction is possible through the following proposed measures: strengthening the monitoring of the construction workers’ level of exposure to dust pollution, establishing a health management system for construction workers, focusing on the effect of environmental supervision mechanism, and standardizing the emission standards of construction dust pollution. Results could provide some references in understanding the current status and distribution law of dust pollution in construction sites, promoting the implementation of health management and protection system for construction workers, enhancing the working environment of construction workers, and quantitatively estimating the total health influences of architectural engineering.

Carrying out of indoor radon studies have been done in the 50 dwellings of Bathinda district (Punjab), India using LR-115 type II cellulose nitrate films in the bare mode. The films were exposed into four consecutive trimesters, i.e. from March 2010 to February 2011. The work has been undertaken for health risk assessment. The calibration constant of 1 track cm-2day-1 equal to 50 Bqm-3 (Becquerel/m3) was used. In the present study average radon values vary from 83.15 (BTD-7) to 124.35 (BTD-8) Bqm-3 in different villages, which are higher than the word average value of 40 Bqm-3. The inhabitants of the area of study receive average annual radiation dose varying from 1.41 (BTD-7) - 2.12 (BTD-8) mSv (millisievert). The effective dose is found to be less than lower limit of the recommended action level (3-10 mSv). The value of radon for the first floor portion of the same dwelling is lower in comparison to the ground floor. The values in the cemented floors are lower than in the dwellings with the un-cemented floors. The indoor radon values are more in very poorly ventilated dwellings in comparison to the very well-ventilated dwellings.

Chlorpyrifos is one of the toxic organophosphate insecticides that is often used by farmers in West Sumatra Province. This research was conducted with the aim to analyse the level of consumption, conversion ratio, and growth rate in fish cultivated in the twin lakes of West Sumatra. The concentration variations are 1/7 and 1/14 LC50-96h of chlorpyrifos. The study was conducted for 14 days. Research data analysis found the values of R = 0.75-1 for the relationship of oxygen level, conversion ratio, and growth of tilapia to the duration of exposure which means having a strong correlation. The results obtained were due to chlorpyrifos insecticide exposure on day 1 to day 14. At a concentration of 0.0054 mg/L, there was a decrease in the level of oxygen consumption of 0.0159 mgO2 /L, an increase in feed conversion ratio of 0.8253, and the deviation flow of 2.7048%. Whereas at a concentration of 0.0108 mg/L, there was a decrease in the oxygen level of 0.0213 mgO2 /L, increase in feed conversion ratio of 0.8201, and deviation growth by 2.7048%.

Population growth and improvement in the people’s economy have caused the need for space to grow and have changed land use in the Krueng Aceh watershed. This study on the effect of changes in land use on the Krueng Aceh watershed hydrological response as a step to anticipate water shortage in the future using the geographical information analysis and the river regime coefficient (RRC) method approach. The results of this study revealed that the functional shifts from primary forests to production forests and from brushland to ricefield and settlements increased the RRC value from 14.59 to 56.74 in the last 20 years. The hydrological response showed that 18% of the water had the potential to not infiltrate and become runoff. The effect is a reduction in groundwater supply, flooding in the rainy season, drought in the dry season, and clean water scarcity in the future. The management of the future must be based on one river, one planning, and one management system principle.

Sterols are secondary metabolites of plants known for their inhibitory effects on cancer cell growth, lower cholesterol and enhance immunity. b-sitosterol belongs to phytosterol which enhances antioxidant enzymes and thus reduces the oxidative stress. In present experiment, b-sitosterol was detected from Andrographis paniculata belonging to family Acanthaceae by using HPTLC. The plant is popularly known as Kalmegha having multiple pharmacological properties used for treatment of several diseases. Leaf, stem and root extracts prepared in chloroform, methanol and petroleum ether were used for detection of b-sitosterol from the plant. The chromatography was performed on TLC plates coated with Al silica gel 60 F254 and solvents used for mobile phase was toluene:ethyl acetate:formic acid (15:4.5:1.5). After development, the plates were derivatized with 10% methanolic sulphuric acid, scanned and quantified at 510 nm. The results showed the presence of b-sitosterol in all the parts with Rf value 0.62. Calibration curve was prepared and the amount of b-sitosterol was quantified in the extracts by comparing the respective peak areas with that of the standard. The correlation coefficient for b-sitosterol against reference sample was found significant (r= 99.769057%) for the concentration range of 0.5 to 4.0 µg. Leaf methanol extract showed the highest concentration of b-sitosterol, i.e., 147.6 µg/mL. The extraction efficiency of b-sitosterol was found higher in methanol followed by petroleum ether and chloroform extract. Thus, our finding shows that Andrographis paniculata has a significant concentration of b-sitosterol, which may be useful for pharmacological application against cancer, hypercholesterolemia, inflammation and for angiogenesis process.

The incineration technology of oily sludge-based briquette makes great contributions to oily sludge treatment. In order to resolve these problems, air pollutants (SO2 and organic gas) emission and low incinerating rate during the briquette incineration, the effects of additives (CaCO3, CaO; K2CO3, Na2CO3, NaCl; KMnO4, KNO3, NaNO3; Fe2O3, KClO3) on the generating gas and incinerating rate during incineration were studied. The results show that CaCO3 is more effective than CaO for fixing sulphur into residue, and K2CO3 improved the sulphation efficiency of calcium-based additives, which is more useful than NaCl and Na2CO3 did. As for the incinerating rate of briquette, KMnO4 is more effective than KNO3 and NaNO3. The maximum of incinerating rate of briquette is improved from 0.38 to 0.6 g/ min and Fe2O3 and KClO3 can apparently reduce the release of organic gas during the incineration of briquette. But KClO3 can greatly reduce the release of sulphur. When the adding amount of CaCO3, K2CO3, KMnO4 and KClO3 is 16‰, 12‰, 18‰, 6‰ respectively in the process of briquette preparation, the sulphation efficiency reached the maximum of 95.3%, and there is still an extremely small amount of organic gas in flue gas. CaCO3, K2CO3, KMnO4 and KClO3 used in emission control of air pollutants and full combustion of briquette during incineration of oily sludge based-briquette, demonstrates high efficiency and low emission compared to other additives tested in this study.

Catechol and hydroquinone are widely applied in industrial synthesis while they are typical toxic organic pollutants. Efficient adsorptive removal of catechol and hydroquinone is highly needed. In this research, activated carbon fibre (ACF) was used for the kinetic removal of the two pollutants. As catechol and hydroquinone have different pKa values, it was found that the highest uptake of catechol and hydroquinone was observed at pH 11.0 and 5.0, respectively. The adsorption kinetics for catechol and hydroquinone were compared. The removal of hydroquinone is higher than that of catechol at almost all the pH conditions. At pH 7.0, the uptake of catechol and hydroquinone on ACF were 125.8 and 200.4 mg/g, respectively. As both Elovich and pseudo-second-order kinetic models could better describe the adsorption process, the adsorption of catechol and hydroquinone onto ACF might be chemisorption. The rate determining step might be diffusive in nature for the uptake of catechol and hydroquinone. Linear pseudo-second-order kinetic model fitted the experimental data better than pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The presence of natural organic matter, humic acid, could inhibit the uptake of catechol and hydroquinone on ACF profoundly.

Continuous wavelet analysis (CWA) has been applied to leaf-scale spectral data for quantifying leaf chlorophyll content, but its application to canopy-scale spectral data for estimating the canopy chlorophyll density (CCD) of winter wheat at different growth stages requires further analysis. This study aims to estimate CCD by applying CWA to the canopy spectra of 185 samples from Guanzhong Plain, China. The five most informative wavelet features related to CCD were identified using the CWA method. Meanwhile, 10 commonly used spectral indices were selected to compare with the CWA method. Two partial least square regression (PLSR) models based on wavelet features and spectral indices were developed and compared. Results showed that the PLSR model using wavelet features (R2 = 0.64, RMSE = 0.43 g/m2) was better than that using spectral indices (R2 = 0.57, RMSE = 0.48 g/m2) and wavelet features were less sensitive to the growth stage variation than spectral indices. This result suggested that the CWA approach can derive robust wavelet features and was more effective than spectral indices for predicting CCD from canopy-scale spectral data for an agricultural ecosystem.

Ecological environment is not only the basis for human survival and development but also the carrier of tourism industry development. However, such a basis for survival and development of the tourism industry is damaged given the excessive pursuit of economic benefits and neglect of ecological environmental protection in tourist attractions. Eco-compensation measures protect the tourism ecosystem and coordinate the contradiction between tourism industry development and ecological protection. Thus, the sustainable development of the tourism industry can be facilitated. In this study, research on environmental pollution caused by the tourism industry in Chongqing City, China, and relevant eco-compensation measures were first reviewed. Second, an empirical study on the relations of total tourism revenues with waste gas emission, wastewater discharge, and industrial solid waste emission in Chongqing City was conducted using a vector autoregression model. The study findings show that tourism industry development can influence environmental pollution slightly and that an eco-compensation mechanism coordinates the relationship between tourism and ecological environment. Tourism economic growth has long-term equilibrium relations and mutual Granger causality with waste gas emission, wastewater discharge, and industrial solid waste emissions. The conclusions provide a reference to understand the dynamic relations between tourism industry development and environmental pollution, construct a guarantee system for tourism eco-compensation mechanism, and achieve sustainable development of tourism industry and environmental protection.