Characterization and Application of Dried Plants to Remove Heavy Metals,Nitrate, and Phosphate Ions from Industrial Wastewaters

Low cost adsorbents were prepared from dried plants for the removal of heavy metals, nitrate, and phosphate ions from industrial wastewaters. The efficiency of these adsorbents was investigated using batch adsorption technique at room temperature. The dried plant particles were characterized by N₂ at 77 K adsorption, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and phytochemical screening. The adsorption experiments showed that the microparticles of the dried plants presented a good adsorption of heavy metals, phosphate, and nitrate ions from real wastewaters. This adsorption increased with increasing contact time. The equilibrium time was found to be 30 min for heavy metals and nitrate ions and 240 min for phosphate ions. After the adsorption process, the Pb(II) concentrations, as well as those of Cd(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) were below the European drinking water norms concentrations. The percentage removal of heavy metals, nitrates, and phosphates from industrial wastewaters by dried plants was ～94% for Cd²⁺, ～92% for Cu²⁺, ～99% for Pb²⁺, ～97% for Zn²⁺, ～100% for ${\rm NO}_{{\rm 3}}^{{-} } $ and ～77% for ${\rm PO}_{{\rm 4}}^{3{-} } $ ions. It is proved that dried plants can be one alternative source for low cost absorbents to remove heavy metals, nitrate, and phosphate ions from municipal and industrial wastewaters.     

Lateral stiffness estimation in frames and its implementation to continuum models for linear and nonlinear static analysis

Continuum model is a useful tool for approximate analysis of tall structures including moment-resisting frames and shear wall-frame systems. In continuum model, discrete buildings are simplified such that their overall behavior is described through the contributions of flexural and shear stiffnesses at the story levels. Therefore, accurate determination of these lateral stiffness components constitutes one of the major issues in establishing reliable continuum models even if the proposed solution is an approximation to actual structural behavior. This study first examines the previous literature on the calculation of lateral stiffness components (i.e. flexural and shear stiffnesses) through comparisons with exact results obtained from discrete models. A new methodology for adapting the heightwise variation of lateral stiffness to continuum model is presented based on these comparisons. The proposed methodology is then extended for estimating the nonlinear global capacity of moment resisting frames. The verifications that compare the nonlinear behavior of real systems with those estimated from the proposed procedure suggest its effective use for the performance assessment of large building stocks that exhibit similar structural features. This conclusion is further justified by comparing nonlinear response history analyses of single-degree-of-freedom (sdof) systems that are obtained from the global capacity curves of actual systems and their approximations computed by the proposed procedure.     

Tree-ring reconstructions of May–June precipitation for western Anatolia

In this study, we aim to examine past dry and wet events for the western Anatolia, performing local and spatial reconstructions. 17 new black pine site chronologies were developed, May–June precipitation time series were reconstructed for four localities, and the first spatial May–June precipitation reconstruction was achieved for western Anatolia. The long-term local May–June precipitation reconstructions contain mostly one-year and, less commonly, two-year drought events. The longest consecutive dry period (AD 1925–1928) in the reconstructed time series for Kütahya lasted four years. Spatial reconstructions revealed that between AD 1786 and 1930 the extreme dry years for all of western Anatolia were AD 1887, 1893, 1794 and 1740. The driest year during the 215-year-long period under consideration was 1887. The wettest years for the entire western Anatolia were determined to be AD 1835, 1876, 1881 and 1901. There is a big overlap between agricultural famine years and dry years as determined from reconstructions. In this context, our study provides a basis for understanding agricultural drought and better management of regional water resources.     

Factors controlling the adsorption of acid blue 113 dye from aqueous solution by dried <Emphasis Type="Italic">C. edulis</Emphasis> plant as natural adsorbent

Contamination of surface water and groundwater by organic pollutants is a serious problem due to their persistence, bioaccumulation and biomagnification through food webs. Since the removal of dyes from wastewater is considered an environmental challenge and government legislation requires textile wastewater to be treated, therefore there is a constant need to have an effective process that can efficiently remove these dyes. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the potentiality of dried Carpobrotus edulis plant as low-cost adsorbent for the removal of the industrial acid blue 113 dye from aqueous solutions using the batch equilibration technique. The effects of different physicochemical parameters such as adsorbent dose, contact time, initial dye concentration, solution pH and temperature on adsorption rate of anionic AB113 dye on microparticles of dried C. edulis plant were investigated. The experimental data were analyzed by using mathematical models to determine the thermodynamic parameters. The negative values of free energy change indicated the spontaneous nature of the adsorption and negative value of enthalpy change suggested the exothermic nature of the adsorption process. These results indicate that dried C. edulis plant as an environmentally friendly adsorbent could be potentially used for the removal of anionic dyes from aqueous solutions.     

滇东南喀斯特区域石漠化时空格局演变研究——以广南县为例

石漠化给区域发展带来了一系列生态环境和社会经济问题,国家自实施生态治理工程以来,区域石漠化得到一定改善。为探讨生态治理工程实施后石漠化格局变化,研究以滇东南典型喀斯特区域广南县为例,以2000年、2010年和2018年3期遥感影像为数据源,通过人机交互式解译获得石漠化空间分布数据,运用时间变化度、转移矩阵和叠加分析等方法,分析广南县石漠化时空格局演变特征。结果表明:（1）时间变化上,广南县石漠化类型仍以重度石漠化为主,但是石漠化面积总体在不断减少。灌木林地和未利用地石漠化面积最大,其中灌木林地以潜在石漠化为主,未利用地以重度石漠化为主,是石漠化重点治理的用地类型。2000-2010年石漠化转移方向是向无石漠化和相邻等级石漠化转移,2010-2018年主要向低等级石漠化转移;（2）空间分布上,广南县喀斯特区域石漠化南多北少,呈现南重北轻的分布格局,沿篆角乡—黑支果乡—南屏镇南部—八宝镇西南部一线、珠琳镇和五珠乡相邻区域、珠街镇和曙光乡的相邻区域是石漠化集中分布区;（3）19年间,广南县喀斯特南部区域的石漠化大面积改善,而中部及北部区域的石漠化不断恶化。整体而言,退耕还林等生态治理工程的实施,能有效改善喀斯特区域的石漠化状况,使广南县石漠化总面积减少了288.98km2。      

Spatiotemporal variability of four precipitation-based drought indices in Xinjiang,China

Global increases in duration and prevalence of droughts require detailed drought characterization at various spatial and temporal scales. In this study, drought severity in Xinjiang, China was investigated between 1961 and 2012. Using meteorological data from 55 weather stations, the UNEP (1993) index (I _A), Erinç’s aridity index (I _m), and Sahin’s aridity index (I _sh) were calculated at the monthly and annual timescales and compared to the Penman-Monteith based standard precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI_PM). Drought spatiotemporal variability was analyzed for north (NX), south (SX), and entire Xinjiang (EX). I _m could not be calculated at 51 stations in winter as T _max was below 0. At the monthly timescale, I _A, I _m, and I _sh correlated poorly to SPEI_PM because of seasonality and temporal variability, but annual I _A, I _m, and I _sh correlated well with SPEI_PM. Annual I _A, I _m, and I _sh showed strong spatial variability. The 15 extreme droughts denoted by monthly SPEI_PM occurred in NX but out of phase in SX. Annual precipitation, maximum temperature, and relative and specific humidity increased, while air pressure and potential evapotranspiration decreased over 1961–2012. The resulting increases in the four drought indices indicated that drought severity in Xinjiang decreased, because the local climate became warmer and wetter.

     

A circumpolar modeling study of habitat control of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) reproductive success

A one-dimensional, temperature-dependent model is implemented to simulate the descent–ascent cycle of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) embryos and larvae. Inputs to the model are monthly mean climatologies of ambient temperature and density fields obtained from the World Ocean Atlas Database for Southern Ocean waters. Simulations are done with a 1° resolution at a circumpolar scale, south of 60°S, and the results are interpolated to a 5′ grid to match the resolution of the bottom bathymetry data. Simulations of the descent–ascent cycle using environmental conditions corresponding to the Antarctic krill spawning season (December–March) resulted in unconstrained success in completion of the cycle in water deeper than 1000 m. Continental shelf regions favorable to successful hatching of Antarctic krill embryos are limited to areas along the west Antarctic Peninsula, large areas in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas, offshore of Wilkes Land, and to the east and west of Prydz Bay. These are regions where the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front is along the shelf slope, the Antarctic Slope Front is absent, and Circumpolar Deep Water is present. The effect of seasonal variability in temperature on the descent–ascent cycle tends to enhance the probability of success in regions offshore of Wilkes Land, Queen Maud Land, and the eastern shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula later in the spawning season. The simulations show that success of the descent–ascent cycle is sensitive to initial embryo diameter and larval ascent rate. Initial embryo diameter may provide an additional constraint on success of the descent–ascent cycle, especially in continental shelf waters, where small embryos tend to encounter the bottom before hatching. The circumpolar distributions of simulated embryo hatching depth and larval success show that all regions of the Antarctic are not equal in the ability to support successful completion of the Antarctic krill descent–ascent cycle, which has implications for the overall circum-Antarctic krill distribution and for the development of nutrient and material budgets, especially for Antarctic continental shelf areas.     

Proximity-based grouping of buildings in urban blocks: a comparison of four algorithms

Grouping of buildings based on proximity is a pre-processing step of urban pattern (structure) recognition for contextual cartographic generalization. This paper presents a comparison of grouping algorithms for polygonal buildings in urban blocks. Four clustering algorithms, Minimum Spanning Tree (MST), Density-Based Spatial Clustering Application with Noise (DBSCAN), CHAMELEON and Adaptive Spatial Clustering based on Delaunay Triangulation (ASCDT) are reviewed and analysed to detect building groups. The success of the algorithms is evaluated based on group distribution characteristics (i.e. distribution of the buildings in groups) with two methods: S_Dbw and newly proposed Cluster Assessment Circles. A proximity matrix of the nearest distances between the building polygons, and Delaunay triangulation of building vertices are created as an input for the algorithms. A topographic data-set at 1:25,000 scale is used for the experiments. Urban block polygons are created to constrain the clustering processes from topological aspect. Findings of the experiment demonstrate that DBSCAN and ASCDT are superior to CHAMELEON and MST. Among them, MST has exhibited the worst performance for finding meaningful building groups in urban blocks.     

Homogeneity analysis of Turkish meteorological data set

The missing value interpolation and homogeneity analysis were performed on the meteorological data of Turkey. The data set has the observations of six variables: the maximum air temperature, the minimum air temperature, the mean air temperature, the total precipitation, the relative humidity and the local pressure of 232 stations for the period 1974–2002. The missing values on the monthly data set were estimated using two methods: the linear regression (LR) and the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. Because of higher correlations between test and reference series, EM algorithm results were preferred. The homogeneity analysis was performed on the annual data using a relative test and four absolute homogeneity tests were used for the stations where non‐testable series were found due to the low correlation coefficients between the test and the reference series. A comparison was accomplished by the graphics where relative and absolute tests provided different outcomes. Absolute tests failed to detect the inhomogeneities in the precipitation series at the significance level 1%. Interestingly, most of the inhomogeneities detected on the temperature variables existed in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is considered that theseinhomogeneities were mostly caused by non‐natural effects such as relocation. Because of changes at topography at short distance in this region intensify non‐random characteristics of the temperature series when relocation occurs even in small distances. The marine effect, which causes artifical cooling effect due to sea breezes has important impact on temperature series and the orograhpy allows this impact go through the inner parts in this region. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetic activity and evolution of Algol-type stars – II

We examine the possibility of probing dynamo action in mass-losing stars, components of Algol-type binaries. Our analysis is based on the calculation of non-conservative evolution of these systems. We model the systems U Sge and β Per where the more massive companion fills its Roche lobe at the main sequence (case AB) and where it has a small helium core (early case B) respectively. We show that to maintain evolution of these systems at the late stages which are presumably driven by stellar 'magnetic braking', an efficient mechanism for producing large-scale surface magnetic fields in the donor star is needed. We discuss the relevance of dynamo operation in the donor star to the accelerated mass transfer during the late stages of evolution of Algol-type binaries. We suggest that the observed X-ray activity in Algol-type systems may be a good indicator of their evolutionary status and internal structure of the mass-losing stellar components.