ISOLATION AND SCREENING OF MARINE MICROALGAE CHLORELLA SP. _PR1 FOR ANTICANCER ACTIVITY

Objective: The objective of the present study includes isolation, characterization and screening of anticancerous activity against B16F10 cell line using isolated marine microalgae Chlorella sp._PR1. Methods: In this study, marine microalgae Chlorella sp._PR1 isolated and cultured using f/2 medium and anticancerous activity was assayed using MTT assay. Results: The DMSO extract of Chlorella sp._PR1 was exhibit anticancerous activity against murine melanoma B16F10 cell line. The extract exhibit reduction of cell viability up to 56% with 2µg/ml concentration. IC50 were calculated and was found that Chlorella sp._PR1 need 5.5 μg/ml of the compounds to reduce the murine melanoma B16F10 cell viability by 50%. Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis revealed that Chlorella sp._PR1 extract (8 µg/ml) brought significant inhibition (p<0.01) of the G0-G1 and the S phase. The extract did not seem to affect the G2-M phase. Conclusion: DMSO extract of Chlorella sp._PR1 (5.5 µg/ml) was found to be potent against murine melanoma B16F10 cell line

Ensemble Based Feature Extraction and Deep Learning Classification Model with Depth Vision

It remains a challenging task to identify human activities from a video sequence or still image due to factors such as backdrop clutter, fractional occlusion, and changes in scale, point of view, appearance, and lighting. Different appliances, as well as video surveillance systems, human-computer interfaces, and robots used to study human behavior, require different activity classification systems. A four-stage framework for recognizing human activities is proposed in the paper. As part of the initial stages of pre-processing, video-to-frame conversion and adaptive histogram equalization (AHE) are performed. Additionally, watershed segmentation is performed and, from the segmented images, local texton XOR patterns (LTXOR), motion boundary scale-invariant feature transforms (MoBSIFT) and bag of visual words (BoW) based features are extracted. The Bidirectional gated recurrent unit (Bi-GRU) and the Bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) classifiers are used to detect human activity. In addition, the combined decisions of the Bi-GRU and Bi-LSTM classifiers are further fused, and their accuracy levels are determined. With this Dempster-Shafer theory (DST) technique, it is more likely that the results obtained from the analysis are accurate. Various metrics are used to assess the effectiveness of the deployed approach

The Role of Biochar Systems in the Circular Economy: Biomass Waste Valorization and Soil Remediation

The circular economy is considered as an alternative model to the unsustainable linear “take–make–waste” approach that characterizes contemporary economic systems. It aims to achieve sustainable development by promoting the responsible and cyclical use of resources to maintain their value in the economy and minimize pressures on the environment. Biochar systems offer opportunities for operationalizing the CE model. They are multifunctional systems that can be used for bioenergy and biochar production using an extensive range of biomass feedstocks, including biowaste. They can contribute to climate change mitigation, as producing biochar and mixing it with soil is a means for sequestering atmospheric CO2. Moreover, the produced biochar has a wide range of applications, including its use for agricultural soil amendment, wastewater treatment, manufacturing of cement, and remediation of contaminated soils. This versatility of biochar systems creates great opportunities for developing circular models of waste management that can valorize different waste streams. This chapter provides an overview of the CE concept and describes biochar systems, focusing on systems for the synergistic valorization of wood waste and contaminated soils. It also discusses the role of these systems in the CE indicating that they can contribute to the transition toward the CE

Industrial Ecology Approaches to Improve Metal Management : Three Modeling Experiments

A linear model of consumption − produce-use-dispose − has constantly increased the pressure on the environment in recent decades. There has been a great belief that technology will solve the problem, but in many cases it is only partly contributing to the solution. For a full solution, the root causes of problems need to be identified. The drivers-pressures-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework allows the drivers of a specific problem to be identified by structuring the causal relations between humans and the environment. A state/ impact-based approach can help identify pressures and drivers, and make what can be considered an end-of-pipe response. Rather than that mainstream approach, this thesis adopts a pressure-based driver-oriented approach, which could be considered a proactive approach to environmental resource management. In physical resource management, material flow analysis (MFA) is one of the tools used for communication and decision support for policy response on resource productivity and pollution abatement. Here, element flow analysis (EFA), a disaggre- gation of MFA for better mass balance, was applied in pollution control and resource management. The pressure-based driver-oriented approach was used to model element flows and thus identify the drivers of problems in order to improve pollution control and resource management in complex systems. In one case study, a source-storage-transport model was developed and applied in five lakes in the Stockholm region to identify the drivers of copper pollution by monitoring the state of the environment through element flow modeling linking diffuse sources and fate in the lakes. In a second case study, a system dynamics modeling approach was applied in dynamic element flow modeling of the global mobile phone product system to investigate the drivers for closing the material flow loop through a sensitivity analysis. In a third case study, causal loop diagram modeling was used for proactive resource management to identify root causes of a problem in a complex system (product systems of physical consumer goods) by qualitatively analyzing unintended environmental consequences of an improvement action. In the case study on lakes in the Stockholm region, the source-transport-storage model proved capable of predicting copper sources through monitoring the sediment copper content in the heavily copper-polluted lakes. The results also indicated how the model could help guide policy makers in controlling copper pollution. The system dynamics study proposed an eco-cycle model of the global mobile phone product system by tuning the drivers, which could lessen the pressures on resources by decreasing the resource demands for production and increasing resource recovery at product end-of- life. The causal loop diagram study showed that a broader systems approach is required to understand and identify the drivers for proactive resource management in a complex system, where improvement actions can lead to unintended consequences. QC 20150420</p

Systems Modeling Approaches to Physical Resource Management : An Industrial Ecology Perspective

Many of the present problems that we are facing arise as unanticipated side-effects of our own actions. Moreover, the solutions implemented to solve important problems often create new problems. To avoid unintended consequences, understanding complex systems is essential in devising policy instruments and in improving environmental management. Thus, this thesis investigated systems modeling approaches to under- stand complex systems and monitor the environmental performance of management actions. The overall aim of the work was to investigate the usefulness of different systems modeling approaches in supporting environmental management. A driver- based, pressure-oriented approach was adopted to investigate systems modeling tools. Material/substance flow analysis, environmental footprinting, input-output analysis, process-based dynamic modeling, and systems dynamics modeling approaches were applied in different cases to investigate strengths and weaknesses of the tools in generating an understanding of complex systems. Three modeling and accounting approaches were also tested at different systems scales to support environmental mon- itoring. Static modeling approaches were identified as fundamental to map, account, and monitor physical resource metabolism in production and consumption systems, whereas dynamic modeling showed strengths in understanding complex systems. The results suggested that dynamic modeling approaches should be conducted on top of static analysis to understand the complexity of systems when devising and testing policy instruments. To achieve proactive monitoring, a pressure-based assessment was proposed instead of the mainstream impact/state-based approach. It was also concluded that the LCA community should shift the focus of its assessments to pressures instead of impacts. Många nuvarande miljö- och utvecklingsproblem har uppstått som oförutsedda biverkningar av människans egna handlingar. De lösningar som prövats har i sin tur ofta skapat  nya problem. Det därför viktigt att förstå hur komplexa system fungerar och att utforma styrmedel och ledningssystem som minimerar risken för oönskade bieffekter. Den här avhandling har använt olika modelleringsmetoder för att öka förståelsen för komplexa system och bidra med kunskaper om hur miljöprestanda och förvaltningsåtgärder kan följas upp på ett mer effektivt sätt. Det övergripande syftet med arbetet var att undersöka användbarheten av olika modelleringsmetoder för att effektivisera den fysiska resurshanteringen i samhället. I arbetet har ett flödesbaserat och aktörsinriktat arbetssätt (pressure based and driver oriented approach) använts i modelleringen.  Material- och substansflödesanalys, miljöfotavtryck, input-output analys, processbaserad dynamisk modellering och systemdynamiska modelleringsmetoder studerades för att undersöka styrkor och svagheter hos de olika metoderna/verktygen.  Tre olika modellerings- och redovisningsmetoder för att stödja miljöövervakning testades också i olika systemskalor. Statiska modelleringsmetoder (räkenskaper) identifierades som grundläggande för att kartlägga, kontoföra och övervaka den fysiska resursmetabolismen i produktions- och konsumtionssystem, medan dynamisk modellering visade sin styrka i att skapa förståelse för komplexa system. Resultaten pekar på att dynamiska modelleringsmetoder bör användas som ett komplement till statiska analyser för att förstå komplexiteten i systemen när man utformar och testar styrmedel. För att uppnå proaktiv övervakning bör flödesbaserade räkenskaper utnyttjas i större utsträckning i stället för den vanliga tillstånds- och påverkansövervakningen (state/impact monitoring). En viktig slutsats är därför att LCA-samfundet bör flytta fokus i sina bedömningar från påverkan till flöden.QC 20160830</p

Modelling Copper Sources and Fate in Lake Råcksta Träsk, Stockholm : Sediment Copper Content as Indicator of Urban Metal Emissions

In Stockholm, Sweden, diffuse emissions of metals have become the dominating source of copper towater. This thesis work made an attempt to link the source of copper emission and the fate of the copper in a lake. These models have been applied in the case study of Lake Råcksta Träsk and its urban drainage area in Stockholm, Sweden. The source analysis model has been adopted and modified from Cui et al (2008) and Sörme and Lagerkvist (2002) and the basic fate model has been taken and modified from Håkanson (2006) and Lindström and Håkanson (2001). For better understanding and improving the modelling, a second type of modelling approach both for source(i.e. StormTac model) and fate analyses (i.e. QWASI model) have been included in this study. The results from the different modelling approaches are compared. Models were presented in an as transparent as possible way and were connected through the urban copper load to the lake. All models were tested against previously published monitoring data. In the source analysis, the traffic and road sections emit the most of copper especially through brake linings of the vehicles. The lakemodel was evaluated using monitoring data from the 15-year period, 1991-2006. Both the water and sediment copper contents respond to a change in the copper load to the lake, but the response is slower for the sediments. Thus it is proposed that the sediment copper contents can be used to follow urban copper emissions.www.ima.kth.se</p

Modelling Copper Sources and Fate in Lake Råcksta Träsk, Stockholm : Sediment Copper Content as Indicator of Urban Metal Emissions

In Stockholm, Sweden, diffuse emissions of metals have become the dominating source of copper towater. This thesis work made an attempt to link the source of copper emission and the fate of the copper in a lake. These models have been applied in the case study of Lake Råcksta Träsk and its urban drainage area in Stockholm, Sweden. The source analysis model has been adopted and modified from Cui et al (2008) and Sörme and Lagerkvist (2002) and the basic fate model has been taken and modified from Håkanson (2006) and Lindström and Håkanson (2001). For better understanding and improving the modelling, a second type of modelling approach both for source(i.e. StormTac model) and fate analyses (i.e. QWASI model) have been included in this study. The results from the different modelling approaches are compared. Models were presented in an as transparent as possible way and were connected through the urban copper load to the lake. All models were tested against previously published monitoring data. In the source analysis, the traffic and road sections emit the most of copper especially through brake linings of the vehicles. The lakemodel was evaluated using monitoring data from the 15-year period, 1991-2006. Both the water and sediment copper contents respond to a change in the copper load to the lake, but the response is slower for the sediments. Thus it is proposed that the sediment copper contents can be used to follow urban copper emissions.www.ima.kth.se</p

Sustainable Personal Transport Modes in a Life Cycle Perspective—Public or Private?

Life cycle-based studies endorse public transport to cause lower environmental pressures compared to a private car. However, a private car can cause lower environmental pressure when a public vehicle (bus or train) runs on a lower occupancy during an off-peak hour. This fact should be the basis for a more profound debate regarding public versus private transport. Many transport interventions are striving to reduce the number of car transports. To reach this goal, passengers need attractive alternatives to their reduced number of car travels (i.e., attractive public transport). This study aimed to develop a model allowing us to estimate potential environmental gains by changing travel behavior. A passenger travel model was developed based on life cycle inventories (LCI) of different travel modes to calculate environmental footprints. The model was applied in an intervention of public transport through temporary free public transport. The intervention was successful in significantly reducing the number of car transports (12%). However, total passenger kilometer travelled (PKT) increased substantially more, mainly by bus, but also train, bicycle and walking. The total energy, carbon and nitrogen oxide footprints were slightly increased after the intervention. If the commuters were assumed to travel during peak hours or the number of public transports were not affected by the increased number of commuters, the overall environmental footprints decreased. Our conclusions are that transport interventions are very complex. They may result in desired changes, but also in altered travel behavior, increasing overall impact. Thus, a very broad evaluation of all transport modes as well as potential positive social influences of the transport intervention will be necessary

Life Cycle Assessment of Different Prefabricated Rates for Building Construction

In recent years, Sweden has promoted prefabricated buildings supporting the increasing of prefabricated rates in buildings with precast components, in order to reduce the environmental problems caused by the construction sector. This study, focusing on the construction activities, examines how the increasing prefabricated rate could influence the environmental impacts of the construction sector. This study conducts a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of a reference building with a prefabricated rate of 26% in the Stockholm Royal Seaport, and compares nine scenarios with prefabricated rates, ranging from 6% to 96%. The results indicate the water footprint decreases, but the total energy footprint and carbon footprint increase as the prefabricated rate increases. Among other impacts, terrestrial ecotoxicity shows the biggest increase with an increase of the prefabricated rate. This study reveals that material extraction is the largest influencing factor, causing a water footprint when the prefabricated rate increases. The impact changes in the energy footprint, carbon footprint, and terrestrial ecotoxicity, and are primarily determined by transport and are sensitive to transport distance and vehicle types