Estimation method for national methane emission from solid waste landfills. Atmospheric Environment 38

Abstract In keeping with the global efforts on inventorisation of methane emission, municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are recognised as one of the major sources of anthropogenic emissions generated from human activities. In India, most of the solid wastes are disposed of by landfilling in low-lying areas located in and around the urban centres resulting in generation of large quantities of biogas containing a sizeable proportion of methane. After a critical review of literature on the methodology for estimation of methane emissions, the default methodology has been used in estimation following the IPCC guidelines 1996. However, as the default methodology assumes that all potential methane is emitted in the year of waste deposition, a triangular model for biogas from landfill has been proposed and the results are compared. The methodology proposed for methane emissions from landfills based on a triangular model is more realistic and can very well be used in estimation on global basis. Methane emissions from MSW landfills for the year AD 1980-1999 have been estimated which could be used in computing national inventories of methane emission.

Predictors of pediatric blunt cerebrovascular injury

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) is clinically challenging because these injuries are hard to detect and can have serious neurological consequences, and optimal screening criteria have not been established for children. This study aims to determine risk factors for BCVI in pediatric patients and to evaluate screening practices in a single institutional series. METHODS: A retrospective review of all pediatric blunt trauma patients evaluated over a 10-year period was performed. Demographic, clinical, and radiographic data were reviewed, including the presence of adult risk factors for BCVI. Logistic regression analyses were performed with statistical significance established at p<0.05. RESULTS: Of the 11,596 patients evaluated during the study period, 1018 (8.8%) had at least one adult risk factor for BCVI, but only 62 (6.1% of those with risk factors) underwent angiographic evaluation. Overall, 11 BCVIs were observed, resulting in an incidence of 0.095%. All 11 patients with BCVI had at least one risk factor. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified cervical spine fracture (OR 36.88 [8.36, 169.95]), GCS score ≤ 8 (OR 16.42 [2.16, 102.33]), male gender (OR 10.52 [1.33, 363.30]), Le Fort II or III facial fracture (OR 63.71 [2.16, 1124.68]), and ISS (unit OR 1.10 [1.04, 1.17]) as independent risk factors for BCVI. CONCLUSION: Adult screening criteria for BCVI appear appropriate for pediatric patients, but most at-risk children are not being screened. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III (retrospective case-control study)

Thermal degradation characteristic of Tetra Pak panel boards under inert atmosphere

Thermal degradation characteristics of Tetra Pak panel boards (TPPB) can be useful to improve usage of such panels as an alternative to wood-based products such as plywood, fiberboard, and particleboard. In the study, samples from the TPBBs manufactured from waste Tetra Pak packages (WTPP) were heated in a nitrogen atmosphere at different heating rates (10, 15 and 20 degrees C/min) using a thermal analysis system. The Coats-Redfern kinetic model was applied to calculate kinetic parameters. The degradation rate equations were then established. In addition, the kinetic compensation effect (KCE) was used to correlate the pre-exponential factor (k(o)) with activation energy (E-a) and the existence of the KCE was accepted. TG-FT/IR analyses were applied to the TPPB degradation and then the FT-IR stack plot was used to analyze gas products (CO2, CH4, HCOOH, and CH3OH). Infrared vibrational frequencies and the micro, crystal structure of the TPPBs were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), respectively

Networks of Waste: Informal Economic Systems and Sustainability in Bali, Indonesia

This article examines solid waste management in Badung Regency, Bali. It argues that current conventional centralised and decentralised solid waste management approaches are not proving effective and fail to cater to the needs of the majority of the population, particularly poorer communities. In contrast, it was found that informal waste networks achieved higher standards of economic efficiency, service coverage and resource recovery, contributing both to environmental protection and livelihoods. Much can be learned by planners in developing nations from these 'networks of waste', and in building upon the economic and environmental principles and behaviour around which informal waste networks function.