THE EFFICACY OF Micronecta polhemusi Nieser 2000 (INSECTA: HETEROPTERA: MICRONECTIDAE) AS BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF Aedes MOSQUITO IN URBAN AREAS

Stagnant clear water under tropical environment may become a balance ecosystem and free from mosquito infestation. The existence of mosquito predators in the ecosystems such as Micronectidae provides a natural control of mosquito. Micronectidae is a Family classification of aquatic insect from the Order Heteroptera. They are commonly found in pristine environment with clean water through out the world. The objective of this research was to examine the niche of Micronecta polhemusi Nieser 2000 (MpN2000) and apply such condition for mosquito control in residential areas. The first phase of the study was focused on the niche of MpN2000. It consisted of analytical measurement of the abiotic and biotic components of the ecosystems. The abiotic environment includes the sunlight intensity, water quality analysis (pH, DO, turbidity, COD, TSS, conductivity, Nitrogen Ammonia, Total Phosphorous), the humidity level, DO, BOD and temperature towards its survivability under stress conditions of low DO and various temperature levels. The taxonomy classification of MpN2000 was determined. The growth population study indicated that MpN2000 can reach a population of 30 MpN2000/L of water. An established population of MpN2000 was found to predate on mosquito larvae at the average rate of 0.31 mosquito larvae/ MpN2000/day. The second phase of the experiment involved the applications of this biological control in three residential areas (Taman Maju, Bandar Universiti and Taman Tasek Putra). The applications of 90 ME (with MpN2000) and 90 Controls (without MpN2000) in these residential areas was examined based on the observations of the presence of MpN2000 versus infestation of mosquito for three months. The results were analyzed to obtain the Infested Container index and Micronecta index of the area according to WHO procedure. In the presence of MpN2000 in MEs, MpN2000 started a new population in controls. The findings of this study suggest that mosquito in urban areas can be controlled by keeping a healthy environment with clean water that promotes the coexistence of mosquito and its predators. Keywords Micronectidae, mosquito, model ecosystem, control, aquatic stage

Pharmaceutical compounds in Malaysian urban domestic wastewater

The emerging contaminants (ECs) is detected at trace concentration in the discharge of sewage treatment plant (STP) to the water bodies indicate incomplete removal during the treatment process. The presence of the ECs in the water has a potential impact on the ecological and human health associated with long-term ingestion of the mixture ECs compounds, and this includes the development of resistance in pathogenic bacteria, aquatic toxicity, genotoxicity, and endocrine disruption. In this study, we investigate the presence of ECs and review the occurrence of mainly of four pharmaceutical active compounds belonging to the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in influent and effluent of the STP. The target analytes (ibuprofen (IBU), diclofenac (DIC), ketoprofen (KET), and naproxen (NAP)) are extracted from the wastewater using the solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by the identification and quantification using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The GC-MS detection was improved by the derivatisation technique using N-Methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) and an internal standard of Ibuprofen-D3 used as the internal standard. The targeted analytes were detected in both influent and effluent wastewater in the range 5.04±5.9 to 37.4±28.4 μg/L with removal efficiency between 11 - 86% using the current activated sludge treatment process in the STP. This concentration of compounds shows inadequate current treatment techniques to eliminate the emerging contaminants in the wastewater

Vital Conditions to Remove Pollutants from Synthetic Wastewater Using Malaysian Ganoderma lucidum

Mycoremediation, a fungal-based technology, has seen tremendous growth as an effective alternative to treat industrial wastewater due to its ability to oxidise pollutant loadings. Considering the non-toxic properties and high potential degradation performance of Ganoderma lucidum, this research aims to study the performance of a Malaysian G. lucidum strain, the effect of agitation speed, and different carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio concentrations of synthetic wastewater in degrading chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia. Different agitation speeds (25 rpm, 50 rpm and 100 rpm) and C/N ratios (C10N1, C13.3N1 and C16.7N1) were chosen as parameters to be analysed in this study. The best degradation of COD and ammonia with a percentage removal in the range of 95% to 100% within 30 h of treatment. ANOVA analysis was done using the response surface methodology to verify the obtained results, and it was found that mycoremediation using 100 rpm agitation provided the best results, removing more than 95% of COD and ammonia from synthetic wastewater. The microscopic analysis also showed that the structure of G. lucidum changed after wastewater treatment. This result proved that the Malaysian G. lucidum strain has a good potential in treating synthetic domestic wastewater, especially with high organic content, as a naturally sustainable bioremediation system

Modeling of cu(ii) adsorption from an aqueous solution using an artificial neural network (ann)

This research optimized the adsorption performance of rice husk char (RHC4) for copper (Cu(II)) from an aqueous solution. Various physicochemical analyses such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur (CHNS) analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis, bulk density (g/mL), ash content (%), pH, and pHZPC were performed to determine the characteristics of RHC4. The effects of operating variables such as the influences of aqueous pH, contact time, Cu(II) concentration, and doses of RHC4 on adsorption were studied. The maximum adsorption was achieved at 120 min of contact time, pH 6, and at 8 g/L of RHC4 dose. The prediction of percentage Cu(II) adsorption was investigated via an artificial neural network (ANN). The Fletcher–Reeves conjugate gradient backpropagation (BP) algorithm was the best fit among all of the tested algorithms (mean squared error (MSE) of 3.84 and R2 of 0.989). The pseudo-second-order kinetic model fitted well with the experimental data, thus indicating chemical adsorption. The intraparticle analysis showed that the adsorption process proceeded by boundary layer adsorption initially and by intraparticle diffusion at the later stage. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models interpreted well the adsorption capacity and intensity. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption of Cu(II) by RHC4 was spontaneous. The RHC4 adsorption capacity is comparable to other agricultural material-based adsorbents, making RHC4 competent for Cu(II) removal from wastewater

Characterization of cenospheres from Malaysian coal generated power plants: Jimah, Kapar and Manjung

Cenosphere is a component of fly ash (FA) and has been used as part of sustainable material in wastewater treatment, automotive, ceramic, and construction industries due to its properties. This research presents the first study on characterization of cenospheres from Malaysian power plants namely Jimah, Kapar and Manjung. The characterization was conducted via X-ray fluorescence (XRF), particle size analyzer (PSA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRF analysis consisted of oxides elements ranged from 14.70 to 22.63% (aluminum oxide, Al2 O3 ), 3.78 to 13.44% (calcium oxide, CaO), 34.73 to 57.67% (silicon dioxide, SiO2 ), 0.42 to 1.07% (sulphur trioxide, SO3 ), 9.09 to 24.92% (iron oxide, Fe2 O3 ), 3.62 to 3.67% (potassium oxide, K2 O), 1.76 to 4.24% (titanium oxide, TiO2 ) and 0.16 to 0.93% (magnesium oxide, MgO). The classifications of cementitious materials by American Standard of Testing Materials were Class F (Jimah, Kapar) and Class C (Manjung). The classification represents the quality and capability of cementitious materials as cement replacement material, additive, and filler in concrete mix. The sizes of cenospheres were Kapar > Jimah > Manjung. The sizes of cenosphere were found to be larger than FA (Jimah: 2.720-49.21 µm, Kapar: 5.069-98.29 µm, Manjung: 1.084-3.986 µm). Cenospheres contained quarts (Jimah, Kapar, Manjung: 26°) and silicates (Kapar, Manjung: 45°). Ferrospheres, cenospheres, aluminosilicate-spheres, plerospheres and carbon fragments were observed. The cenosphere from Manjung showed high quality as cement replacement material, additive, and filler with 13.44% of CaO

POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHS) INVENTORIES AND TREATMENT IN WATER TREATMENT PLANTS IN PERAK TENGAH

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic compounds composed of two or more fused benzene rings and abundantly found in mixed use area. Therefore, the general field of interest in this thesis was PAHs contamination in Sungai Perak at Perak Tengah. The objectives of this research were (1) to determine PAHs inventories in Sungai Perak via genotoxicity evaluation of raw and treated water samples at water treatment plants in Perak Tengah and (2) to detect of PAHs using specific UV absorbances and gas chromatography mass spectrometry analyses and (3) to identify the optimum conditions for the degradation of PAHs contaminated water using UV/H2O2 (T1), photo-Fenton (T2) and combined photo-Fenton-like membrane catalyst reactor (T3) of both simulated solution and actual water samples. Allium cepa toxicity assay and detection of PAHs in water samples were conducted in the pollution inventories

POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHS) INVENTORIES AND TREATMENT IN WATER TREATMENT PLANTS IN PERAK TENGAH

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic compounds composed of two or more fused benzene rings and abundantly found in mixed use area. Therefore, the general field of interest in this thesis was PAHs contamination in Sungai Perak at Perak Tengah. The objectives of this research were (1) to determine PAHs inventories in Sungai Perak via genotoxicity evaluation of raw and treated water samples at water treatment plants in Perak Tengah and (2) to detect of PAHs using specific UV absorbances and gas chromatography mass spectrometry analyses and (3) to identify the optimum conditions for the degradation of PAHs contaminated water using UV/H2O2 (T1), photo-Fenton (T2) and combined photo-Fenton-like membrane catalyst reactor (T3) of both simulated solution and actual water samples. Allium cepa toxicity assay and detection of PAHs in water samples were conducted in the pollution inventories

Microplastics in manure: Sources, analytical methods, toxicodynamic, and toxicokinetic endpoints in livestock and poultry

Microplastics are pollutants of serious environmental and public health concern. Although predominantly known to occur in environmental and biological matrices, emerging scientific evidence has indicated that they can also occur in fecal matter. Animal manure, both raw and treated, is usually applied on farmlands as organic fertilizer, serving as an entry point of microplastic particles into agricultural soil. The present study analyzes the literature on the occurrence of microplastics (sources and analytical methods of detection in livestock and poultry manure), their toxicodynamic, and toxicokinetics endpoints in farm animals. Based on the studies examined herein, there is a lack of harmonization in the sampling, digestion, and extraction procedures for microplastics in animal manure. Microplastics abundance was 9.02 × 102 ± 1.29 × 103 particles/kg-1 in pig, 7.40 × 101 ± 1.29 × 102 particles/kg-1 in cow, 0 to 5000 particles/kg−1 in sheep, and 129.8 ± 82.3 particles/g−1 (0.1298 particles/kg) in chicken manure. Microplastics that have been found in farm animal manure were primarily ingested from microplastics-contaminated feed and plastic mulching film attached to crop residues. However, there are other likely sources (e.g., water, soil, and air) that need to be studied carefully. Despite the limited studies on the fate of microplastics in raw manure, the weight of the currently available scientific evidence shows that they exhibit different characteristics during the treatment of manure. The previous studies were all based on composting experiments. Therefore, research on different treatment methods is required to have a profound sense and a better understanding of the influence of physicochemical properties (shape, size, type, and composition) of microplastics on their fate during manure treatment. Moreover, exposure of animals to microplastics revealed several toxicological effects but more research is needed to clearly understand the dose-response relationship, and absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination mechanisms with respect to other factors (microplastic sizes, shapes, polymers, types of additive, and co-contaminants)

Flight Trajectories Optimization of Fixed-Wing UAV by Bank-Turn Mechanism

This paper addresses an optimization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flight trajectories by bank-turn mechanism for a fixed-wing UAV at a constant altitude. The flight trajectories should be optimal and stay in the UAV flight operational area. The maneuver planning is conducted in two steps, which are UAV path planning and UAV flight trajectory planning. For the first step, the Bezier curve is employed as a maneuvering path. The path planning optimization objective is to minimize the path length while satisfying maximum curvature and collision avoidance constraints. The flight trajectories optimization objective is to minimize maneuvering time and load factor considering, minimum/maximum speed, minimum/maximum acceleration, maximum roll angle, maximum turn rate, and aerodynamics constraints. The variable speed trajectory generation is developed within allowable speed zone considering these UAV flight constraints by employing meta-heuristic optimizations. Results show that the PSO have outperformed the GA and the GWO for both steps of path planning and trajectory planning. The variable speed has succeeded in reducing the load factor during the bank-turn mechanism using the Bezier curve. The variable speed is recommended to be conducted when the result of the maneuvering path involve the lower turning radius. A simultaneous on arrival target mission has also succeeded to be conducted using the combination of the variable speed and constant speed strategies