Backyard burning of household waste in rural areas: environmental impact with focus on air pollution

The paper examines the environmental threats associated with the burning of household waste in open piles across rural communities with a focus on Neamt County (Romania) as a case study of uncontrolled waste disposal practice. This option derived from the lack of efficient municipal waste collection schemes, and on the other hand, it is a traditional disposal route for agricultural wastes besides open dumping on the surroundings. This study estimates the potential amounts of household waste uncollected by formal waste management services to be burnt by rural communities related to regional waste management features and how such bad practice interacts with geographical conditions. The paper performs a quantitative analysis of waste indicators and makes estimations on consequent environmental impact focusing on inventorying air pollutants. The spatial analysis provides an appropriate cartographic representation of the analyzed phenomenon. The conclusions converge towards two main ideas: 1) open burning of mixed household waste could be a significant air pollution source at the local scale, and 2) better rural waste management practices are needed to be implemented in the study area to mitigate environmental and public health threats

Backyard burning of household waste in rural areas: environmental impact with focus on air pollution

The paper examines the environmental threats associated with the burning of household waste in open piles across rural communities with a focus on Neamt County (Romania) as a case study of uncontrolled waste disposal practice. This option derived from the lack of efficient municipal waste collection schemes, and on the other hand, it is a traditional disposal route for agricultural wastes besides open dumping on the surroundings. This study estimates the potential amounts of household waste uncollected by formal waste management services to be burnt by rural communities related to regional waste management features and how such bad practice interacts with geographical conditions. The paper performs a quantitative analysis of waste indicators and makes estimations on consequent environmental impact focusing on inventorying air pollutants. The spatial analysis provides an appropriate cartographic representation of the analyzed phenomenon. The conclusions converge towards two main ideas: 1) open burning of mixed household waste could be a significant air pollution source at the local scale, and 2) better rural waste management practices are needed to be implemented in the study area to mitigate environmental and public health threats

New catalytic methods for the derivatisation and functionalisation of electron deficient heteroaromatic compounds

Introduction The first part of Chapter 1 provides a brief review on the reactivity of pyridines and quinolines. Additionally, several well-established methods for the derivatisation and functionalisation of these electron-deficient heterocycles are highlighted. The second part of Chapter 1 introduces the general principles of Transfer Hydrogenation (TH) and highlights how TH and related processes could be used in modern catalysis. âInterrupted Transfer Hydrogenationâ (ITH) Chapter 2 introduces a novel reactivity mode for quinolinium salts. The first part of the chapter focuses on the initial reaction development. This is followed by a comprehensive substrate scope and attempts to induce enantioselectivity on privileged substrates. Finally, the focus was shifted towards mechanistic investigations that allowed us to propose a mechanism of action for this novel methodology. Chapter 3 presents how the ITH methodology was extended to encompass electron-deficient pyridines. The substrate scope for pyridiniums that bear an electron-withdrawing group at the 4- position was investigated. Additionally, preliminary attempts to extend the ITH methodology to the less reactive 4-aryl pyridiniums are also highlighted in this chapter. Mechanistic investigations revealed a similar reaction pathway to that of quinoliniums. Additionally, preliminary findings lead to the discovery and development of a new reactivity mode for 4- substituted pyridines. 3,5-Dimethylation of 4-substituted pyridines Chapter 4 introduces a rhodium catalysed 3,5-dimethylation of 4-substituted pyridines with methanol and formaldehyde. The reaction development, as well as a preliminary substrate scope and detailed mechanistic studies are presented. Additionally, the effect of the simple iodide ion on the catalytic system was also qualitatively assessed. Experimental details Chapter 5 contains detailed procedures and spectroscopic characterisation data for the compounds synthesised in this thesis.</p

Towards Urban Resilience: A Multi-Criteria Analysis of Seismic Vulnerability in Iasi City (Romania)

When relating to hazards such as earthquakes, a primary task of a resilience approach is to evaluate vulnerability in an integrative manner by taking into account the most relevant indicators. Focused on Iasi, one of the major Romanian cities which are exposed to the earthquakes originating in Vrancea area, this study aims to assess seismic vulnerability using a multi-criteria analysis of buildings infrastructure and social vulnerability. Several indicators are taken into account, such as physical (related to the characteristics of buildings and terrain) and social indicators (related to population and economic income), as well as the accessibility from/to emergency services/hospitals. The indicators were processed by standardization (Z score), processed and correlated using the principal components analysis (PCA) and integrated within an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). By summing the weighted values of the standardized indicators, a (integrated) seismic vulnerability index was obtained. It is a pre-assessment of the seismic vulnerability in Iasi City and also a prerequisite for the identification of the necessary prevention measures to be taken in compliance with the identified spatial patterns of vulnerability as a part of a resilient approach

A Flexible Strategy for the Regiocontrolled Synthesis of Pyrazolo­[1,5‑<i>a</i>]­pyrazines

A four-step protocol for the synthesis of pyrazolo­[1,5-<i>a</i>]­pyrazines has been developed. Commercially available pyrazoles were alkylated and formylated in a regiocontrolled manner to give pyrazole-5-aldehydes bearing 2,2-dialkoxyethyl substitution on <i>N</i>-1. Efficient conditions for the subsequent deprotection and cyclization of these intermediates allowed access to pyrazolo­[1,5-<i>a</i>]­pyrazines with multiple substitution patterns. The versatility of the pyrazole-5-aldehyde intermediates was further demonstrated through a deprotection and double-reductive amination sequence to give 4,5,6,7-tetra­hydro­pyrazolo­[1,5-<i>a</i>]­pyrazines