A SUSTAINABILITY-BASED PROJECT SELECTION ALGORITHM: SOCIO-TECHNICAL-ECONOMIC PROJECT SELECTION (STEPS) ALGORITHM

Multi-dimensional aspects play a vital role in the task of project-decision making. Environmental effects are to be considered in addition to other technical and non-technical aspects in order to avoid undue environmental damage. This current work introduces a new decision-making algorithm (Socio-Technical-Economic Project Selection or STEPS) that is demonstrated with the use of RCA (recycled concrete aggregate) as riprap for slope stabilization and erosion control which leaches chemical arsenic when in contact with water. Arsenic has long been recognized for its lethal properties. The main intention of introducing this new algorithm is to use sustainability concepts of social, technical, and economic aspects to choose among several project options. The algorithm is demonstrated on three RCA scenarios to compare and select a project option considering environmental, health, life-cycle costs and benefits. The benefits of choosing a scenario are then assessed by CBA (cost-benefit analysis) through VSL (value per statistical life) and dose-response analysis. The VSL estimated by USEPA for arsenic is adjusted for inflation to be approximately $8.8 million dollars ($2016). The estimated VSL is then used for assessing benefits in terms of avoided mortality losses. It was found that the STEPS algorithm results in a more balanced selection rather than deciding on any criteria individually

Ease Of Using Payment Banks In India With Suitable Application Of Software Technology

In the current era which can be termed as a Digital epoch, the use of technology to reduce the burden of money transfers and ensuring authentic transactions enhances the mode of business operations by Mobile banking. With the advent of payment banks, the complexity of transfer and transaction of money has reduced drastically. Banking sector cut edge technology and proliferation in the number of users of the internet to their advantage by enabling customers to perform wide number of financial transactions. The main objective of payment banks is to facilitate people; especially the new users of internet and regular salaried employees utilize the facility of formal banking. Performing bank transactions through payment bank will reduce the burden on the Commercial banks and encourage digitalization. It also prevents evading of taxes. Every individual performs financial transactions several times a day in which ‘Payment’ is the main objective. For this, payment banks are very useful. Existing system of operating payment banks necessitates transfer of money through any commercial bank account into payment bank account. This is preventing the majority of population comprising of daily wage employees from using payment bank as they are not accustomed to digital bank transactions and have only currency cash in their possession. In this paper, a new model is proposed in which directly depositing cash in payment bank account of a customer is possible

Large renal calculus and ipsilateral flank (incisional) hernia: Perhaps another indication for Mini PCNL?

Introduction: The use of the Mini PCNL has been gaining momentum since its first description in 2001. The range of indications for this particular procedure may also be expanding. We describe a case of a large renal calculus in a renal collecting system, found in a patient who underwent an Anatrophic Nephro-Lithotomy [ANL] procedure a few years back. He subsequently developed a flank (incisional) hernia after the ANL. Some, twenty years later he presented with another large (22 mm) stone in the same system.Observation: Attempt at stone clearance was performed using the Mini PCNL. To avoid iatrogenic injury to the surrounding bowel loops in the hernia sac, a combined ultrasound and fluoroscopic technique was performed, with limited respiration and suspended abdominal fat at the time of renal access. The dilation was performed to accommodate the Mini PCNL sheath, thus minimizing the possibility of iatrogenic bowel injury. A serial balloon dilator was not used, in the presence of such severe fibrosis from the previous open surgery (ANL).Conclusion: The presence of a hernial sac within the ipsilateral flank may be amenable to Mini PCNL,provided the basic principles of puncture are maintained. This includes the use of adequate positioning, limited respiration and the use of ultra-sound identification of the bowel loops during access puncture and tract dilatation. A new indication for the use of Mini PCNL is thus reported.Keywords: Mini PCNL; PCNL; Hernia; Staghorn; New indication; Minimally invasive surger

A selective turn-on fluorescent chemosensor 1,1-diaminoazine for azinphos-methyl

Financiaciado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUGDetection of organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) is an important challenge in environmental chemistry, because their exposure to humans can cause severe health problems. In the current study, organic nanoparticles of (E)-(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-diamino-2,3-diazabutadiene were developed using eco-friendly approach which was found to be in the range of 15–20 nm. These synthesized species exhibited both U.V. Visible and “turn-on” fluorescence responses in aqueous media for the selective detection of the extremely hazardous pesticide azinphos-methyl. These organic nanoparticles also exhibit a good linear relationship in the range of 1–100 μM and the limit of detection (LOD) is 7.4 µM. The selective fluorescence response was also observed in RO water, tap water and orange juice. The FT-IR and DFT studies helped in identifying the specific H-bonding interactions responsible for the selective detection of Azinphos-methylDepartment of Science and Technology, New-Delhi, India | Ref. SP/YO/2021/231

Analysis of minerals under different water stress levels in Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Wall. Ex Nees

Medicinal plants have diverse use in the society from medicine to cosmetics to herbal foods with vast potential for their curative medicinal properties. Minerals are essential nutrient for plant metabolism and over all growth of the plants.  The overall growth of the plant depends upon the availability of the water. The aim of this study was to determine the mineral content under different water stress levels in Andrographis paniculata. The homogenized leaf samples of controlled plants(Daily watered), treated T2 plants(watering 2nd day), T4 plants(watering on every 4th day), T7 plants(watering on every 7th day) were subjected to overnight HN03 digestion and analyzed for the presence of Copper, Chromium, Iron, Aluminum, Zinc, Manganese and Phosphorous.  With increase in water stress, element content deceased with varied fractions. The T2 treated plants, irrigated every second day, could withstand the water stress conditions without affecting minimum mineral content in Andrographis paniculata plants and T2 treatment has been chosen the best option to withstand water stress conditions. Keywords: Andrographis paniculata, water stress, minerals

Particle-bound reactive oxygen species (PB-ROS) emissions and formation pathways in residential wood smoke under different combustion and aging conditions

International audienceWood combustion emissions can induce oxida-tive stress in the human respiratory tract by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the aerosol particles, which are emitted either directly or formed through oxidation in the atmosphere. To improve our understanding of the particle-bound ROS (PB-ROS) generation potential of wood combustion emissions, a suite of smog chamber (SC) and potential aerosol mass (PAM) chamber experiments were conducted under well-determined conditions for different combustion devices and technologies, different fuel types, operation methods, combustion regimes, combustion phases, and aging conditions. The PB-ROS content and the chemical properties of the aerosols were quantified by a novel ROS an-alyzer using the DCFH (2 ,7-dichlorofluorescin) assay and a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS). For all eight combustion devices tested, primary PB-ROS concentrations substantially increased upon aging. The level of primary and aged PB-ROS emission factors (EF ROS) were dominated by the combustion device (within different combustion technologies) and to a greater extent by the combustion regimes: the variability within one device was much higher than the variability of EF ROS from different devices. Aged EF ROS under bad combustion conditions were ∼ 2-80 times higher than under optimum combustion conditions. EF ROS from automatically operated combustion devices were on average 1 order of magnitude lower than those from manually operated devices, which indicates that automatic combustion devices operated at optimum conditions to achieve near-complete combustion should be employed to minimize PB-ROS emissions. The use of an elec-trostatic precipitator decreased the primary and aged ROS emissions by a factor of ∼ 1.5 which is however still within the burn-to-burn variability. The parameters controlling the PB-ROS formation in secondary organic aerosol were investigated by employing a regression model, including the fractions of the mass-to-charge ratios m/z 44 and 43 in secondary organic aerosol (SOA; f 44−SOA and f 43−SOA), the OH exposure, and the total organic aerosol mass. The regression model results of the SC and PAM chamber aging experiments indicate that the PB-ROS content in SOA seems to increase with the SOA oxidation state, which initially increases with OH exposure and decreases with the additional partitioning of semi-volatile components with lower PB-ROS content at higher OA concentrations, while further aging seems to result in a decay of PB-ROS. The results and the special data analysis methods deployed in this study could provide a model for PB-ROS analysis of further wood or other combustion studies investigating different combustion conditions and aging methods

Bulk and molecular-level composition of primary organic aerosol from wood, straw, cow dung, and plastic burning

During the past decades, the source apportionment of organic aerosol (OA) in ambient air has been improving substantially. The database of source retrieval model-resolved mass spectral profiles for different sources has been built with the aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). However, distinguishing similar sources (such as wildfires and residential wood burning) remains challenging, as the hard ionization of the AMS mostly fragments compounds and therefore cannot capture detailed molecular information. Recent mass spectrometer technologies of soft ionization and high mass resolution have allowed for aerosol characterization at the molecular formula level. In this study, we systematically estimated the emission factors and characterized the primary OA (POA) chemical composition with the AMS and the extractive electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (EESI-TOF) for the first time from a variety of solid fuels, including beech logs, spruce and pine logs, spruce and pine branches and needles, straw, cow dung, and plastic bags. The emission factors of organic matter estimated by the AMS and hydrocarbon gases estimated by the total hydrocarbon analyzer are 16.2 ± 10.8 g kg−1 and 30.3 ± 8.5 g kg−1 for cow dung burning, which is generally higher than that of wood (beech, spruce, and pine), straw, and plastic bag burning (in the range from 1.1 to 6.2 g kg−1 and 14.1 to 19.3 g kg−1). The POA measured by the AMS shows that the f60 (mass fraction of m/z 60) varies from 0.003 to 0.04 based on fuel types and combustion efficiency for wood (beech, spruce, and pine) and cow dung burning. On a molecular level, the dominant compound of POA from wood, straw, and cow dung is C6H10O5 (mainly levoglucosan), contributing ∼ 7 % to ∼ 30 % of the total intensity, followed by C8H12O6 with fractions of ∼ 2 % to ∼ 9 %. However, as they are prevalent in all burning of biomass material, they cannot act as tracers for the specific sources. By using the Mann–Whitney U test among the studied fuels, we find specific potential new markers for these fuels from the measurement of the AMS and EESI-TOF. Markers from spruce and pine burning are likely related to resin acids (e.g., compounds with 20–21 carbon atoms). The product from the pyrolysis of hardwood lignins is found especially in beech log burning. Nitrogen-containing species are selected markers primarily for cow dung open burning. These markers in the future will provide support for the source apportionment.</p

Highly time-resolved chemical speciation and source apportionment of organic aerosol components in Delhi, India, using extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

In recent years, the Indian capital city of Delhi has been impacted by very high levels of air pollution, especially during winter. Comprehensive knowledge of the composition and sources of the organic aerosol (OA), which constitutes a substantial fraction of total particulate mass (PM) in Delhi, is central to formulating effective public health policies. Previous source apportionment studies in Delhi identified key sources of primary OA (POA) and showed that secondary OA (SOA) played a major role but were unable to resolve specific SOA sources. We address the latter through the first field deployment of an extractive electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (EESI-TOF) in Delhi, together with a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). Measurements were conducted during the winter of 2018/19, and positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used separately on AMS and EESI-TOF datasets to apportion the sources of OA. AMS PMF analysis yielded three primary and two secondary factors which were attributed to hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA), biomass burning OA (BBOA-1 and BBOA-2), more oxidized oxygenated OA (MO-OOA), and less oxidized oxygenated OA (LO-OOA). On average, 40 % of the total OA mass was apportioned to the secondary factors. The SOA contribution to total OA mass varied greatly between the daytime (76.8 %, 10:00–16:00 local time (LT)) and nighttime (31.0 %, 21:00–04:00 LT). The higher chemical resolution of EESI-TOF data allowed identification of individual SOA sources. The EESI-TOF PMF analysis in total yielded six factors, two of which were primary factors (primary biomass burning and cooking-related OA). The remaining four factors were predominantly of secondary origin: aromatic SOA, biogenic SOA, aged biomass burning SOA, and mixed urban SOA. Due to the uncertainties in the EESI-TOF ion sensitivities, mass concentrations of EESI-TOF SOA-dominated factors were related to the total AMS SOA (i.e. MO-OOA + LO-OOA) by multiple linear regression (MLR). Aromatic SOA was the major SOA component during the daytime, with a 55.2 % contribution to total SOA mass (42.4 % contribution to total OA). Its contribution to total SOA, however, decreased to 25.4 % (7.9 % of total OA) during the nighttime. This factor was attributed to the oxidation of light aromatic compounds emitted mostly from traffic. Biogenic SOA accounted for 18.4 % of total SOA mass (14.2 % of total OA) during the daytime and 36.1 % of total SOA mass (11.2 % of total OA) during the nighttime. Aged biomass burning and mixed urban SOA accounted for 15.2 % and 11.0 % of total SOA mass (11.7 % and 8.5 % of total OA mass), respectively, during the daytime and 15.4 % and 22.9 % of total SOA mass (4.8 % and 7.1 % of total OA mass), respectively, during the nighttime. A simple dilution–partitioning model was applied on all EESI-TOF factors to estimate the fraction of observed daytime concentrations resulting from local photochemical production (SOA) or emissions (POA). Aromatic SOA, aged biomass burning, and mixed urban SOA were all found to be dominated by local photochemical production, likely from the oxidation of locally emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In contrast, biogenic SOA was related to the oxidation of diffuse regional emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes. The findings of this study show that in Delhi, the nighttime high concentrations are caused by POA emissions led by traffic and biomass burning and the daytime OA is dominated by SOA, with aromatic SOA accounting for the largest fraction. Because aromatic SOA is possibly more toxic than biogenic SOA and primary OA, its dominance during the daytime suggests an increased OA toxicity and health-related consequences for the general public.</p

Equal abundance of summertime natural and wintertime anthropogenic Arctic organic aerosols

Organic aerosols in the Arctic are predominantly fuelled by anthropogenic sources in winter and natural sources in summer, according to observations from eight sites across the Arctic Aerosols play an important yet uncertain role in modulating the radiation balance of the sensitive Arctic atmosphere. Organic aerosol is one of the most abundant, yet least understood, fractions of the Arctic aerosol mass. Here we use data from eight observatories that represent the entire Arctic to reveal the annual cycles in anthropogenic and biogenic sources of organic aerosol. We show that during winter, the organic aerosol in the Arctic is dominated by anthropogenic emissions, mainly from Eurasia, which consist of both direct combustion emissions and long-range transported, aged pollution. In summer, the decreasing anthropogenic pollution is replaced by natural emissions. These include marine secondary, biogenic secondary and primary biological emissions, which have the potential to be important to Arctic climate by modifying the cloud condensation nuclei properties and acting as ice-nucleating particles. Their source strength or atmospheric processing is sensitive to nutrient availability, solar radiation, temperature and snow cover. Our results provide a comprehensive understanding of the current pan-Arctic organic aerosol, which can be used to support modelling efforts that aim to quantify the climate impacts of emissions in this sensitive region.Peer reviewe

Gas-phase composition and secondary organic aerosol formation from standard and particle filter-retrofitted gasoline direct injection vehicles investigated in a batch and flow reactor

Gasoline direct injection (GDI) vehicles have recently been identified as a significant source of carbonaceous aerosol, of both primary and secondary origin. Here we investigated primary emissions and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from four GDI vehicles, two of which were also retrofitted with a prototype gasoline particulate filter (GPF). We studied two driving test cycles under cold- and hot-engine conditions. Emissions were characterized by proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (gaseous non-methane organic compounds, NMOCs), aerosol mass spectrometry (sub-micron non-refractory particles) and light attenuation measurements (equivalent black carbon (eBC) determination using Aethalometers) together with supporting instrumentation. Atmospheric processing was simulated using the PSI mobile smog chamber (SC) and the potential aerosol mass oxidation flow reactor (OFR). Overall, primary and secondary particulate matter (PM) and NMOC emissions were dominated by the engine cold start, i.e., before thermal activation of the catalytic after-treatment system. Trends in the SOA oxygen to carbon ratio (O&thinsp;:&thinsp;C) for OFR and SC were related to different OH exposures, but divergences in the H&thinsp;:&thinsp;C remained unexplained. SOA yields agreed within experimental variability between the two systems, with a tendency for higher values in the OFR than in the SC (or, vice versa, lower values in the SC). A few aromatic compounds dominated the NMOC emissions, primarily benzene, toluene, xylene isomers/ethylbenzene and C3-benzene. A significant fraction of the SOA was explained by those compounds, based on comparison of effective SOA yield curves with those of toluene, o-xylene and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene determined in our OFR, as well as others from literature. Remaining discrepancies, which were smaller in the SC and larger in the OFR, were up to a factor of 2 and may have resulted from diverse reasons including unaccounted precursors and matrix effects. GPF retrofitting significantly reduced primary PM through removal of refractory eBC and partially removed the minor POA fraction. At cold-started conditions it did not affect hydrocarbon emission factors, relative chemical composition of NMOCs or SOA formation, and likewise SOA yields and bulk composition remained unaffected. GPF-induced effects at hot-engine conditions deserve attention in further studies.</p