Volume 2 Issue 3

Authors: Xueran Liu; Meng Peng; Zhenqi Hu; Lei Zhang; Yang Gao

Abstract: A huge amount of soil has been used in re-vegetation projects of coal waste piles with spontaneous combustion in China. This paper focused on a new approach to reducing soil thickness in re-vegetation projects based on soil compaction. The effect of soil compaction on soil saving and Festuca arundinacea’s growth was researched. The results showed that both soil compaction and reducing soil thickness could reduce the depth of the Festuca arundinacea roots’ distribution in the soil, and Festuca arundinacea could significantly increase the total activity of SOD and POD to reduce the damage caused by soil compaction and reduction in soil thickness. At least 55% of the soil will be saved, which meant about 53.2 billion tons of soil and 162 billion dollars would be saved by using this new approach.

Keywords: Re-vegetation; Soil Compaction; Soil Thickness; Soil Bulk Density; Festuca Arundinacea; Coal Waste Piles; Spontaneous Combustion

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Authors: Jin Shu Zheng; Xiao Ling Peng; Kwok Keung Ma; Ho Man Leung; Kwai Chung Cheung

Abstract: Biodiversity, water, and sediment qualities from the remediated estuary of the Shing Mun and the Lam Tsuen rivers were assessed to identify any ecological improvement. Sediments and water were contaminated with Hg. Similar levels of sediment metals and PAHs were found in two rivers (As: 2.33-8.12 mg/kg; Cd: 0.47-3.13 mg/kg; Cu: 1.9-62.3 mg/kg; Hg: 0.52-1.53 mg/kg; Pb: 17.7-64.1 mg/kg; Zn: 4.57-296 mg/kg; lower molecular weight PAHs: 1.02-6844 μg/kg; and high molecular weight PAHs: 2.18-3599 μg/kg). The significant bioaccumulation of Hg and PAHs was found in the muscle of tilapia. A total of 558 individuals representing 22 fish species were collected in two rivers. A total of 46 species of benthic macrofauna were recorded. Cluster analysis based on the abundance of fish at 50% similarity level defined two main groups of sampling sites. Most sites appeared to have low levels of similarity in the benthic compositions.

Keywords: Metals; PAH; Biodiversity; Remediated Estuaries; Shing Mun River; Benthic Organisms

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Authors: V. Rangaswamy; G. Jaffer Mohiddin; M. Srinivasulu; A.C. Ramudu

Abstract: The effect of two fungicides, propiconazole and chlorothalonil on the protease and urease activity were studied in two groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) soils. The activity of urease, in terms of ammonia formed from urea was more pronounced in soil samples treated with 5.0 kg ha-1 of the propiconazole and chlorothalonil in both laterite and vertisol soils. Similarly, the activity of protease, (in terms of tyrosine equivalents formed from casein) was enhanced more in soil samples, treated with 5.0 kg ha-1 of the propiconazole and chlorothalonil, but higher concentrations of 7.5 and 10 kg ha-1 of these fungicides were toxic to urease and protease activity in both soils. The activity of urease and protease was decreased gradually on prolonged period of incubation up to 30 and 40 days.

Keywords: Propiconazole; Chlorothalonil; Urease; Protease; Groundnut(Arachis hypogaea L.) Soil

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Authors: Laishram Mirana Devi; Hasan Raja Naqvi; Masood Ahsan Siddiqui

Abstract: Watershed prioritization plays a key role in planning and management of sustainable development programmes. The study area, Nun Nadi watershed, is located in Doon Valley which is prone to high erosion. The present study aims to identify the soil loss estimation, to prioritize the micro watersheds on the basis of mean soil loss values and to suggest best conservation measures for the Nun Nadi watershed employing Revised Universal Soil Loss Estimation (RUSLE) model. Approximately 23 km2 area comprising 7 micro watersheds was classified as very high and high priority risk zones. These micro watersheds demand immediate attention in terms of management and planning perspective. This micro level study provides accurate results in the context of soil loss prediction.

Keywords: Watershed Management; RUSLE; Soil Loss; Sustainable Development; Prioritization; Conservation and Nun Nadi Watershed

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Authors: Badrul Hisham Bin Abd Samad; Khairulzan Bin Yahya; Rozana Binti Zakaria; Md Rajuna Bin Ahmad Shakri; Noor Aliza Binti Md Tarekh

Abstract: The Sick Building Syndrome is often related to poor indoor air quality. Healthy indoor environment is needed for a healthy hospital building. Appropriate design elements need to be implemented to accommodate the mass usage of a hospital’s various facilities. Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease most commonly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) which can spread via inhalation of infected aerosols. Therefore, Health Care Workers (HCWs) in a hospital are most vulnerable to TB infection. This paper explicates the sources and factors of TB transmission in the indoor environment of Hospital Sultanah Aminah Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia (HSAJB). The study considered the relationship between the physical layout of the TB ward and its indoor air environment quality. This study utilized the opinions from HCWs who are directly exposed to this kind of environment. The data were obtained from face-to-face questionnaire surveys. The questionnaire used the Likert Scale with five ordinal measures of agreement. From the study, it was found that the source of TB transmission is from positive MTB carriers or active TB patients. Ten factors that control the indoor air environment sustainability (IAES) of TB ward are relatively connected to space area design of TB ward.

Keywords: Health Care Workers; Healthy Building Hospital; Qualitative Data; Sustainable Indoor Air Environment; Tuberculosis

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Authors: Lo Ming Rui; Azrina Abd Aziz; Mohd Suffian Yusoff; Mohamad Anuar Kamaruddin

Abstract: Landfill leachate generated from landfill normally contains high concentrations of organic and inorganic constituents. Consequently, the disposal of untreated leachate could be hazardous to both surrounding ecosystems and human beings. In the present study, the ability of chemically modified silica sand in reducing heavy metal concentrations for ferrous and zinc ions from stabilized landfill leachate were investigated. The effects of impregnation ratio (IR) on adsorption performance were studied in terms of adsorbent dosage, contact time, and pH. Equilibrium isotherms were analyzed by using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms to describe the adsorption characteristics of the adsorbent. From the laboratory experiments, IR of 1.5 was found to be optimum for heavy metal adsorption, at the dosage of 20 g and pH 7. The adsorption isotherm data were fitted well to Freundlich isotherm with R2 value of 0.9862.

Keywords: Stabilized Landfill Leachate; Heavy Metals; Silica Sand; Adsorption

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