Nanomaterials for (Environment) Water Purification

Book Announcement

BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBLISHERS

The book “Nano Materials Induced Removal of Textile Dyes from Waste Water“ discusses the environmental issue of the nanomaterial. As the topic is extreme vast only a particular part of the environmental issue i.e. water pollution has been given a focus. The topic has been further concentrated to the removal of various dyes from water by specific nano-system.

Chapter 1 has been discussed the basic of Nano system, its synthesis approach, advantages, disadvantages, few application its commercial benefits etc.

Chapter 2 is mainly associated with the basic science behind the reason that nanomaterial behaves completely different from its bulk form.    

Chapter 3 discusses some of the basic characterization technique of nanomaterial. These include few basic techniques like STM, AFM, SEM, TEM etc. and some dedicated direct or indirect techniques for particular application this book is dedicated to.

Chapter 4 describes the classifications of dyes as well as their characteristics. 

Chapter 5 is dedicated to the interaction of nanomaterials with different dyes in broad sense. The state of art has been discussed in this consequence. At the end of this chapter the basic techniques of removal of dyes with nanomaterial will be mentioned. Emphasis will be put on mainly photo-catalysis and adsorption.  

Chapter 6 deals with the detail of photo catalysis and the mechanism how it interacts with dyes to remove it. 

Chapter 7 follows the previous one with photo-catalysis being replaced by adsorption. Different adsorption model as well reaction kinetics has been elaborated.

Chapter 8 discusses few particular nano-system that are the most popular from the point of view of this particular application. The nanosystem may be carbon based, oxide based, polymer based or nitride based system.  

This book is properly designed to solve basic queries of common academicians and technologist about fundamental nanoscience and nanomaterial induced removal of textile dyes. Its basic concepts, chronological development and applications has been thoroughly discussed with appropriate examples and comparisons. We strongly believe that this effort shall be very important and useful for the budding engineers and scientist who are interested in nanoscience. 

The efforts have been given so that the style of the writing can be kept simple and easily understanding and the essence of the subject can be fed even to a school student. Also we have tried to keep the volume of the book reasonable so that the journey into this subject from the introduction to the advanced application can be finished within a couple of hours say within certain four hour’s air journey from Kolkata to Mumbai.

The main targeted audience will be PG students and the research scholars in the field of physics, chemistry and materials Science

About the Authors:

Diptonil Banerjee is currently working as an associate professor in the department of physics, faculty of engineering, Teerthanker Mahaveer University from 2020. Dr. Banerjee, completed both his graduation and Masters in Physics from University of Calcutta in the year 2005 and 2007, respectively. He did his PhD from Jadavpur University on Materials Science and Nanotechnology in the year of 2012. Presently, Dr. Banerjee is working mainly on carbon based nanotechnology and related applications. He has also started working on some oxide based nanostructures as well. He is entrusted by the Department of Science and Technology (Gov't of India) with few projects of considerable budget. 

Besides, he is an editorial board member and a reviewer of good numbers of quality journals. Currently, he is having an h index 21 and i10 index 41 with cumulative citation over 1270.

Amit Kumar Sharma did his graduation (BSc) in 2000 and post-graduation (MSc) in Electronics & Computational Physics in 2002 from Dr. B.R.A. Univ. (Agra University), Agra. He did Ph.D. in Applied Science (Physics) from Gautam Buddh University (Formerly U.P. Technical University), Lucknow in 2012. He is currently working as Assoc. Prof. in the Dept. of Physics, Faculty of Engineering (TMU), Moradabad since 2019. Earlier, he worked as CSIR-postdoctoral fellow (Post-Doc) in Biophysics Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Department of Atomic Energy, Kolkata. His areas of research are Molecular Physics, Biophysics, Toxin and flavonoids, Sensors and Computational Physics. He has published 15 research papers in the International Journal of repute and more than 21 papers in proceedings of conferences

Nirmalya Sankar Das is presently working as assistant professor in the Department of Physics in Techno International - Batanagar (formerly known as Techno India – Batanagar), Kolkata, India. He is also the teacher –in- charge of the department. He pursued his graduation with physics honors as well as masters from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. After completing his Masters, he did his PhD from the same University in the field of Nanoscience and Technology under the supervision of Prof. Kalyan Kumar Chattopadhyay.

During his PhD, he was involved in making different oxide and sulphide thin films like pure and doped NiO, ZnO, CdS films synthesized by RF magnetron sputtering technique. Also he has extensively studied the optical and electrical properties of all those thin films. Presently his research interest focuses on the optical, electrical and electronic properties of different semiconductor oxide, sulphide and nitride nanostructures. Apart from academics Dr. Das has also engaged in different administrative activities as well. Apart from those academic aspects, he is a very good artist. His creations, both in the scientific and creative art section, have always been highly appreciated. 

Keywords:

Nanomaterials, Reaction kinetics, Material Science, Zinc oxide, Microscopy, Carbon nanotube, Quantum Mechanics, Silicon nanowire, Quantum Confinement, graphene, Dye, Graphitic carbon nitride , Catalysis, Density functional theory, Adsorption, Density of state      

Please visit for more information: https://bit.ly/3S0numO

 

New study: Methane

emissions offset

carbon uptake in

Baltic macroalgae

 habitats

Peer-Reviewed Publication

STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY

Bladderwrack in the Baltic Sea emits significant amounts of methane, which, to some extent, can offset the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide by these algae. This is shown by a new study from Askö Laboratory, where the fluxes of greenhouse gases between surface waters and the atmosphere were measured continuously over several seasons.

"It was a bit surprising that methane was emitted from the bladderwrack, since this algae grows on hard substrates and not on soft sediments, where methane is produced normally”, says Christoph Humborg, scientific director of Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre and co-author of the new study published in Nature Communications. “But what we found was that these algae form pockets of sediment where methane forming microorganisms, archaea, could be detected. We found these archaea also on floating filamentous algae and organic matter debris associated with dense stands of bladderwrack.”

Coastal ecosystems can take up and store large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so-called “blue carbon”. Restoring such ecosystems could therefore be an important nature-based solution to mitigate climate change. Well-known blue carbon ecosystems include mangrove, sea grass meadows and salt marshes. However, more recently, it has been suggested that also macroalgae, such as the bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus) – common to the Baltic Sea – can take up large amounts of atmospheric carbon. If this carbon is, for example, exported to and sequestered in the deep sea, macroalgae could be one of the most important blue carbon ecosystems globally.

Bladderwrack forests take up significant amounts of carbon dioxide
In the recently published study, with Florian Roth as first author, researchers from Stockholm University and University of Helsinki in the collaboration CoastClim* measured greenhouse gas fluxes between the water surface and atmosphere outside the Askö Laboratory in Trosa over a whole year, using the Water Equilibration Gas Analyzer System, WEGAS. The measurements confirmed that mixed vegetation and bladderwrack forests in the coastal zone do take up significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The fluxes vary over the year, but altogether the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the bladderwrack habitats added up to 0.52 tons CO2 per hectare and year, which can be compared with 0.71 ton CO2 per hectare and year for areas with mixed vegetation.

However, this uptake is offset by methane fluxes from the water to the atmosphere from the very same environments. As methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the net carbon uptake is reduced to 0.38 ton and 0.46 ton CO2-eq. (carbon dioxide equivalents, meaning the global warming potential of the gases converted to that of carbon dioxide) per hectare and year for bladderwrack and mixed vegetation sites, respectively.

Methane forming microorganisms were found both in small pockets of sediment and on fliamentous algae overgrowing the bladderwrack. Picture from the publication by Roth et al.

Marcoalgae habitats important from a climate perspective
As awareness is rising of the potential of blue carbon habitats and the possibility to include them in climate mitigation strategies, it is increasingly important to quantify the fluxes of greenhouse gases and the net carbon uptake in these environments correctly.

“Caring for and restoring macroalgae habitats could still be important from a climate perspective. Our study shows that these environments are net carbon sinks, just not as large as has sometimes been suggested”, Christoph Humborg clarifies.

From a management perspective, it is also important to know whether methane production in the macroalgae habitats is influenced by their health status, i.e., whether macroalgae habitats in eutrophic degraded systems produce more methane than healthy macroalgae stands. This hypothesis will be tested by the Swedish-Finnish researcher group in mesocosm-experiments next year.

“Our measurements were done in situ in the Baltic Sea, which is affected by eutrophication”, says Christoph Humborg. “A less eutrophic ecosystem with less organic matter accumulation and less filamentous algae growth could likely produce less methane. If so, taking measures to help the Baltic Sea recover from eutrophication would substantially improve the blue carbon potential of these habitats and contribute to mitigating climate change.”

Article in Nature Communications: Roth et al: Methane emissions offset atmospheric carbon dioxide uptake in coastal macroalgae, mixed vegetation and sediment ecosystems

Watch short film on Youtbe: Methane emissions offset carbon uptake in macroalgae habitats in the Baltic Sea

Contact:
Christoph Humborg, Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre, e-mail: christoph.humborg@su.se, phone: 08-674 76 68
Florian Roth, Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre and Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, e-mail: florian.roth@su.se

*The Centre for Coastal Ecosystem and Climate Change Research (CoastClim) evaluates the links between coastal biodiversity, carbon cycling, and climate feedbacks. The data will serve as a foundation for decision-support to improve the use and management of coastal ecosystems with the potential for climate change mitigation. The development of CoastClim is part of a strategic partnership between the University of Helsinki and Stockholm University that focuses on strengthening collaborative marine ecosystem and climate change research between universities. Read more about CoastClim at www.coastclim.org

---

JOURNAL

Nature Communications

ARTICLE TITLE

Methane emissions offset atmospheric carbon dioxide uptake in coastal macroalgae, mixed vegetation and sediment ecosystems

New “semi-sub” shows spy potential of sailing at waterline

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: AN UNMANNED SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE VEHICLE PROTOTYPE DEVELOPED AT WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY view more 

CREDIT: WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

PULLMAN, Wash. – An unmanned semi-submersible vehicle developed at Washington State University may prove that the best way to travel in water undetected and efficiently is not on top, or below, but in-between.

The roughly 1.5-foot-long semi-sub prototype, built with off-the-shelf and 3D-printed parts, showed its seaworthiness in water tests, moving quickly with low drag and a low profile. The researchers detailed the test results in a study published in the journal Unmanned Systems.

This vessel-type isn’t new. Authorities have discovered crudely made semi-subs being used for illicit purposes in recent years, but the WSU project aims to demonstrate how engineer-developed half-submerged vessels can efficiently serve military, commercial and research purposes.

“A semi-submersible vehicle is relatively inexpensive to build, difficult to detect, and it can go across oceans,” said Konstantin Matveev, the WSU engineering professor leading this work. “It's not so susceptible to waves in comparison to surface ships since most of the body is underwater, so there are some economic advantages as well.”

Since the semi-sub sails mostly at the water line, it does not need to be made of as strong materials as a submarine which has to withstand the pressure of being underwater for long periods of time. The semi-sub also has the advantage of having a small platform in contact with the atmosphere, making it easier to receive and transmit data. 

For this study, Matveev and co-author Pascal Spino, a recent WSU graduate and former president of the WSU RoboSub club, piloted the semi-sub in Snake River’s Wawawai Bay in Washington state. They tested its stability and ability to maneuver. The semi-sub reached a max speed of 1.5 meters per second (roughly 3.4 miles an hour), but at higher speeds, it rises above the water creating more of a wake and expending more energy. At lower speeds, it is almost fully immersed and barely makes a ripple.

The researchers also outfitted the semi-sub with sonar and mapped the bottom of a reservoir near Pullman, Washington to test its ability to collect and transmit data. 

While not yet completely autonomous, the WSU semi-sub can be pre-programmed to behave in certain ways, such as running a certain route by itself or responding to particular objects by pursuing them or running away. 

While the WSU semi-sub is relatively small at 450 mm long with a 100 mm diameter (about 1.5 foot long and 4 inches in diameter), Matveev said it is possible for larger semi-subs to be built to carry significant cargo. For instance, they could be used to help refuel ships or stations at sea. They could even be scaled up to rival container ships, and since they experience less drag in the water, they would use less fuel creating both an environmental and economic advantage.

For now, the Matveev’s lab is continuing work on optimizing the shape of semi-submersible vehicle prototypes to fit specific purposes. He is currently collaborating with the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland to work on the vehicles’ operational capabilities and compare numerical simulations with results from experiments.

An unmanned semi-submersible vehicle prototype developed at Washington State University

CREDIT

Washington State University

WSUSemiSubMotion1 (VIDEO)

---

JOURNAL

Unmanned Systems

DOI

10.1142/S2301385023500048 

ARTICLE TITLE

Development and testing of unmanned semi-submersible vehicle

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Jan-2023

From the road to the plate: lettuce takes up toxic additives from tyre wear

Chemicals from tyre wear could get into our vegetables via sewage sludge and waste water

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

 

IMAGE: LETTUCE PLANTS TAKE UP CHEMICALS THAT ARE RELEASED BY TYRE ABRASION: THE PICTURE SHOWS THE ACTUAL EXPERIMENTAL SETUP IN WHICH THE RESEARCHERS ADDED TYRE ABRASION TO THE NUTRIENT SOLUTIONS OF LETTUCE PLANTS. view more 

CREDIT: GABRIEL SIGMUND

Wind, sewage sludge, and waste water carry tyre wear particles from roads onto farmland. A new lab study shows: The pollutants contained in the particles could get into the vegetables grown there. Researchers at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) at the University of Vienna have investigated whether chemicals released from tyres find their way into lettuce plants and could ultimately end up on our plates. Their analyses showed: The lettuce took up all the compounds studied - some of them highly toxic. Further investigations are to show how this process actually takes place in arable soils. The study has now been published in the international journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Driving a car produces tyre wear particles, which are blown into the environment by the wind and washed into rivers and sewage by the rain – in total around 1 kg per citizen per year. Through the atmosphere and with the waste water or the sewage sludge used as fertilizer in agriculture, the tyre particles can reach agricultural soils. There, potentially harmful chemicals might be released from the tyre into the environment: Tyre wear particles and other types of microplastics contain additives, which ensure specific properties, consistencies and the durability of these plastics. In soils, the small plastic or tyre particles usually release their pollutants in the upper soil layers – this was determined in earlier studies by the research team led by environmental geoscientist Thilo Hofmann from the University of Vienna. In their current study, the researchers shed light on whether the pollutants could migrate from there into the crops. 

Lettuce plants continuously take up toxic compounds from tyre wear particles

"Tyre wear particles contain a number of organic chemicals, some of which are highly toxic," says Anya Sherman, PhD student at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) and co-first author of the newly published study. Thilo Hofmann, head of the research group, adds: "If these chemicals are released in the root zone of edible plants, they can be a health concern for consumers – provided the chemicals are taken up by the plants." This is exactly the question the research team addressed in several experiments. The environmental geoscientists added five chemicals to the hydroponic solutions of lettuce plants. Four of these chemicals are used in tyre production. Not all of them have already been confirmed to be harmful. Yet, the fifth chemical is a transformation product of one of these four, created once the tyres are in use, and it is proven to be toxic: The chemical 6PPD-quinone (originating from 6PPD) has been linked to mass deaths of salmon in the U.S. "Our measurements showed that the lettuce plants took up all the compounds we investigated through their roots, translocated them into the lettuce leaves and accumulated them there," Sherman reports. This was also evident when the lettuce plants were not exposed to the chemicals directly, but indirectly via tyre crumb. "The lettuce plants continuously take up the potentially harmful chemicals that are released from the tyre abrasion particles over the long term," reports Thilo Hofmann.

Lettuce produces metabolites with as of yet unassessed toxicity

Using high resolution mass spectrometry methods, the Viennese environmental geoscientists not only measured the extent to which the previously defined chemicals ended up in the lettuce plants. They also identified the substances to which the lettuce plants metabolised the chemicals. "The plants processed the substances and in doing so they produced compounds that have not been described before. Since we don't know the toxicity of these metabolites, they pose a health risk that cannot be assessed so far," Thorsten Hüffer, senior scientist at CMESS, emphasises. The metabolites identified by the research team are quite stable in the plant. Most likely, they would therefore be preserved until reaching our plates. "In the human body, however, such compounds are very easily broken down. Thus, if someone eats such a contaminated lettuce, the original chemicals could be released again in the body," Sherman explains.

Next step: Analysis of the described processes in soil systems and detection in environmental water 

In further studies, the Viennese research team plans to better trace the possible path of tyre-wear pollutants from the road to the plate. "The processes we have investigated probably take place differently in soil systems. In a next step, we are therefore looking at the possible uptake of tyre additives by plant roots in natural soils," reports co-author Ruoting Peng, who, in her dissertation project, traces the presence of an even wider range of additives in the environment, focusing on the pollution of water bodies. To better understand how such chemicals are entering the environment, in an ongoing project the research team is looking to obtain data on the concentration of these chemicals along the Danube in cooperation with the CleanDanube Project. 

Microplastics in the environment: a long-term source of pollution

There, the researchers' interest revolves equally around the release mechanisms, the quantities and the long-term behaviour of the pollutants. For a recent study also published in Environmental Science & Technology, the Environmental Geosciences team analysed for how long microplastics release pollutants into the aquatic environment. In particular, they focused on phthalates – additives used primarily in the production of PVC to provide flexibility and stability. "These plasticisers have already been detected everywhere in the environment. Yet, little is known about their release process from the microplastics and how environmental conditions can influence the release," explains the first author of this study, Charlotte Henkel. "Our analyses have shown that the PVC microplastics studied can release phthalates into aquatic systems – for example rivers, lakes or groundwater – over more than 500 years." The extent to which this happens always depends on the environmental conditions. Nevertheless, according to Thilo Hofmann, the study clearly shows: "Once microplastics have reached the aquatic environment, they remain a source of potentially polluting substances, and in the case of phthalates, for a very long time."

In a further step, the Viennese environmental geoscientists will investigate whether and how lettuce plants take up the chemicals released by tyre abrasion in soil systems.

CREDIT

Stephanie Castan & Gabriel Sigmund

---

JOURNAL

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.2c05660 

ARTICLE TITLE

Uptake, metabolism and accumulation of tire wear particle-derived compounds in lettuce

Algal Purposeful Foods and Nutraceutical

Aids, Prospects, and Experiments

Book Announcement

BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBLISHERS

Edible algae, including seaweeds, are a source of functional food, dietary supplements, metabolites and bioactive compounds. Algal-based functional foods have potential health benefits, and their commercial value depends on their applications in the food and nutraceutical industries. The book “Algal Functional Foods and Nutraceutical“ covers several aspects of algal-based functional foods. It informs the reader about algal cultivation techniques, environmental impact, habitat, nutraceutical potential, extraction of bioactive metabolites, functional-food composition, bio-prospection, culture-induced nutraceutical compounds, algae-based bio-packaging, algal-biorefinery, toxicity, trends and future prospects. The editors present the topics in a research-oriented format while citing scholarly references. This book is a comprehensive resource for anyone interested in the nutritional benefits and industrial utilization of algae as a sustainable food source.

 

About the editor:

Dr. Avinash Mishra is a Principal Scientist at CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSIR-CSMCRI), Bhavnagar, India. He is a graduate from Ewing Christian College, Allahabad (an autonomous college of Allahabad University). He did his Masters and PhD in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (first Agriculture University of India). His research area is Seaweed Metabolomics & Biotechnology, Plant Molecular Biology, Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Plants, and Plant Transgene Technology. He has published over 100 research articles in the journals of international repute with 43 h-index, so far (as per Google Scholar). Moreover, he has handled more than 10 research grants (projects) and also published about 20 book-chapters with international publishers. He has guided more than 15 PhD students (3 are currently working). He also mentored more than 15 graduate students for their dissertation or research internship. He has several years of editorial experience in several international scientific journals. Currently, he is serving as Associate Editor for the section Marine Biotechnology of Frontiers in Marine Science, and Guest Editor for Foods. He has been honored with Young Scientist Award from Council of Science and Technology (UP-CST), Govt. of UP and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India for excellent contribution in the field of Biological Sciences (Abiotic Stress Tolerance).

 

Keywords:

Marine algae, Micro algae, Seaweed, Bioactive compound, Edible Seaweed, Vegan protein, Functional Food, Human health, Nutraceuticals, Metabolomics, Algal Food, Dietary supplement, Phycology, Probiotics, Food Science,  Phyco-nutraceutical, Nutrition, Food quality, Marine biology, Algal cultivation

 

For more information please visit: http://bit.ly/3UhVBYr

Rolling in benefits: New method for effective compression of plant biomass for alternate fuel and anti-viral applications

Researchers from Okayama University have developed a novel mechanical compression method to squeeze maximum benefits from plant biomass

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: THIS PROCESS OF COMPRESSING WOODY AND HERBACEOUS BIOMASS GENERATES PELLETS WITH GOOD COMBUSTION PERFORMANCE AND SQUEEZED LIQUID EXTRACTS WITH WATER-SOLUBLE LIGNIN THAT SHOWS SUPERIOR ANTIVIRAL PROPERTIES view more 

CREDIT: TOSHIAKI OHARA FROM OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY

The steady rise in global energy consumption is causing a rapid depletion of fossil fuel resources. Since fossil fuels take thousands of years to replenish, there is an urgent need to determine alternate renewable energy sources. Biomass is a reliable renewable source of energy since it comprises organic matter from plants and animals. Biomass is readily available in nature and its organic composition makes it a top choice for an environment-friendly energy resource. However, plant biomass contains more than 50% moisture, which needs to be reduced by mechanical methods or through heating and natural seasoning to about 35% for increasing the power generation efficiency when used as fuel. For optimal benefits, this drying process should be fast, economic, and energy efficient. The current system of mechanical compression is inefficient as it needs a subsequent thermal drying process, which makes the operation energy- and time-consuming and may often involve cumbersome equipment of appreciable cost. Moreover, the squeezed liquid produced as a by-product by most of these methods does not contain water-soluble lignin—an important structural polymer in plant cells with myriads of applications.

 

To address these issues, researchers from Japan led by Dr. Toshiaki Ohara, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University have identified an effective mechanical compression system for drying plant biomass for power generation without the need for thermal drying. Their novel method can be applied on both woody and herbaceous plants and generates a compression liquid with water-soluble lignin that has basic antiviral properties against influenza and pig epidemic diarrhea viruses.

 

In their study, the findings of which were published on 22 October 2022 in the Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, the researchers used cedar wood board and chips as woody biomass and the ginger herb species Alpinia zerumbet as herbaceous biomass to test the novel mechanical rolling compression method. They found that cedar board and  Alpinia zerumbet were compressed more effectively than cedar chips. Explaining this observation, Dr. Ohara says, “Using our technique, all plants could be compressed; however, cedar board and Alpinia zerumbet were more effectively compressed than cedar chips, which were compressed in a random direction. This indicates that compression along plant vessels, such as straw, is essential for efficacy.” Here, it must be mentioned that plant vessels are tissues in vascular plants associated with the conduction of nutrients and water.

 

After compression, the researchers crushed and pelletized the residues to determine their combustion performance, an indicator of their potential as biomass for power generation. The liquid obtained as a byproduct of compression was filtered, its lignin content and structure determined, and its antiviral properties evaluated using cell viability assays.

 

The cedar board pellets showed a higher heat value on combustion, which matched the ISO standards, attesting to their higher energy performance. The ginger herb species yielded more water-soluble lignin, but its heat value on combustion was slightly lower, at 95% of the ISO standards. However, both cedar board and Alpinia zerumbet compression liquids significantly inhibited influenza and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus infection.  

 

Dr. Yuta Nishina from the Research Core for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Okayama University, a co-author of the study, observes, “The non-chemically extracted water soluble lignin obtained by this method can find applications in the fields of medicine, cosmetics, and livestock husbandry.” Besides, the high-carbon content water-soluble lignin may find use in carbon nanomaterial production and contribute to reducing carbon-driven pollution.

 

Summarizing the benefits of their novel technique, Dr. Ohara observes, “Our method does not require time, a stockyard, or additional thermal drying, allowing for on-site operation. This compressor can squeeze both wood and herbs allowing us to promote biomass electric power generation using locally grown plants. These characteristics are beneficial for advancing local sustainability.”

 

Here’s hoping their technique continues to roll in benefits for a greener tomorrow!

 

About Okayama University, Japan

As one of the leading universities in Japan, Okayama University aims to create and establish a new paradigm for the sustainable development of the world. Okayama University offers a wide range of academic fields, which become the basis of the integrated graduate schools. This not only allows us to conduct the most advanced and up-to-date research, but also provides an enriching educational experience.

Website: https://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html

 

About Assistant Professor Toshiaki Ohara from Okayama University, Japan

Dr. Toshiaki Ohara holds a degree as Doctor of Medicine. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pathology and Experimental Medicine, at Okayama University in Japan. He has about 110 publications and has a special interest in areas like cancer biology, animal models, flow cytometry, and surgery.

 

---

JOURNAL

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management

DOI

10.1007/s10163-022-01531-5 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

A novel mechanical plant compression system for biomass fuel and acquisition of squeezed liquid with water soluble lignin as anti virus materials

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Oct-2022

COI STATEMENT

This work was supported by Takasago Thermal Engineering Co. Ltd., who provided the first author with research grants. The second and third authors are associated with this organization.

Tweets, news offer insights on invasive insect spread

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

A new North Carolina State University study shows the potential for using Twitter and online news articles to track the timing and location of invasive insect spread in the United States and around the globe. Researchers say these sources are promising for filling in gaps when official data are not widely available.

“The idea was to explore if we could use this data to fill in some of the information gaps about pest spread, and ultimately, to support the development of better predictive models of where pest spread is happening, and when to use costly control measures,” said Laura Tateosian, associate teaching professor in the NC State Center for Geospatial Analytics. “Even though these are not formal scientific sources, we found that we could clearly see some of the major events that were occurring about two invasive pests in the news, and on Twitter.”

In the study, the researchers tracked past Tweets about two insects – spotted lanternfly and Tuta absoluta – compiled by a Web-based subscription service, Brandwatch, as well as online news articles aggregated by Google News and GDELT, or the Global Database of Events, Language and Tone Project.

Spotted lanternfly, which was first reported in the United States in Pennsylvania in 2014, is an insect native to Asia that can damage or destroy grapes, cherries, hops, certain lumber trees and other plants. The research team tracked historical posts about spotted lanternfly in Pennsylvania in a single year in 2017, and then globally between 2011 and 2021.

Tuta absoluta, an insect also known as the tomato leaf miner, is native to South America. It was discovered in Spain in 2006, and has spread into parts of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It has been nicknamed the “tomato Ebola” because of the devastation it can cause to tomato crops. The researchers tracked posts about Tuta absoluta between 2011 and 2021.

“While some invasive insects have reached their global range, in both of these cases, the pests are actively spreading,” said Ariel Saffer, graduate student in geospatial analytics at NC State. “We launched this as a proof-of-concept study to see if it would be scientifically reasonable to use these sources to track pest spread. We compared information in places where the insects were known to be present to see if these sources accurately captured existing knowledge.”

The researchers found that activity on Twitter and in news stories tracked some of the patterns in official surveys. For example, the volume of Twitter posts and news activity about spotted lanternfly tracked the seasonal pest cycle, with more activity in the summer and fall. In terms of location, they saw a high volume of Tweets and news articles in areas located at the epicenter of outbreaks. In Pennsylvania, news articles captured a subset of counties confirmed in 2017 by USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service survey data, but also uncovered one county not listed in official records.

For Tuta absoluta, the team found posts on Twitter and in news stories often coincided with global pest spread, as compared to reports gathered by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). Information in news and Twitter posts also aligned with survey data for this pest in Nigeria, and sometimes before that information was widely available in scientific sources.

The researchers say the findings suggest Twitter and news information could be useful to supplement official data sources, but more work is needed.

“News media and social media have the potential to give you more immediate insight into what’s going on, especially if scientific information on insect spread is not immediately published in scientific literature, or not widely available to other scientists,” Saffer said. “Also, relying on data from scientific publications can sometimes offer a patchwork coverage of space and time, depending on when that study happened. It can be hard to get aggregated information in continuous time, especially at the global scale, as that information can be managed by multiple agencies.”

The study, “Plant pest invasions, as seen through news and social media,” appears online in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems. Co-authors included Chelsey Walden-Schreiner and Makiko Shukunobe.

-oleniacz-

Note to Editors: The study abstract follows.

Plant pest invasions, as seen through news and social media

Authors: Laura G. Tateosian, Ariel Saffer, Chelsey Walden-Schreiner, Makiko Shukunobe

Published: Computers, Environment and Urban Systems

DOI: 10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2022.101922

Abstract: Invasion by exotic pests into new geographic areas can cause major disturbances in forest and agricultural systems. Early response can greatly improve containment efforts, underscoring the importance of collecting up-to-date information about the locations where pest species are being observed. However, existing invasive species databases have limitations in both extent and rapidity. The spatial extent is limited by costs and there are delays between species establishment, official recording, and consolidation. Local online news outlets have the potential to provide supplemental spatial coverage worldwide and social media has the potential to provide direct observations and denser historical data for modeling. Gathering data from these online sources presents its own challenges and their potential contribution to historical tracking of pest invasions has not previously been tested. To this end, we examine the practical considerations for using three online aggregators, the Global Database of Events, Language and Tone (GDELT), Google News, and a commercial media listening platform, Brandwatch, to support pest biosurveillance. Using these tools, we investigate the presence and nature of cogent mentions of invasive species in these sources by conducting case studies of online news and Twitter excerpts regarding two invasive plant pests, Spotted Lanternfly and Tuta absoluta. Our results using past data demonstrate that online news and social media may provide valuable data streams to supplement official sources describing pest invasions.

---

JOURNAL

Computers Environment and Urban Systems

DOI

10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2022.101922 

ARTICLE TITLE

Plant pest invasions, as seen through news and social media

Climate risk insurance can effectively mitigate economic losses

Peer-Reviewed Publication

POTSDAM INSTITUTE FOR CLIMATE IMPACT RESEARCH (PIK)

In the US, hurricanes caused more than $400 billion in direct economic losses over the historical period 1980–2014, with losses peaking at more than $150 billion in 2005, the year when hurricane Katrina made landfall. "After intense storms with high direct economic losses, the economy may need several years to recover, such that a complete recovery may not always be possible between subsequent intense storms. Our model accounts for these long-term effects of tropical cyclones on economic development that can be much larger than the immediate effects," explains Christian Otto, scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and one of the lead authors of the study, which will be published in the renowned scientific journal Science Advances.

Economic growth losses from hurricanes could more than double in the US

"There is good scientific agreement that with ongoing global warming, the proportion of the most intense hurricanes will increase. Our computer simulations show that hurricane-induced economic growth losses could more than double in the US compared to the historical period even if global warming can be limited to below 2° Celsius in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement. Without stringent reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, this warming level could be reached as early as in the middle of this century," emphasizes PIK-scientist Kilian Kuhla, the other lead author of the study.

In their study, the authors also assess the effectiveness and limitations of insurance as an adaptation strategy: "Our results show that a comprehensive, tax-financed climate risk insurance accelerates economic recovery, and is thus an effective tool to mitigate climate-change induced increases in economic losses. In the US, the implementation of such an insurance scheme could compensate for the expected increase in hurricane-induced growth losses, at least if global warming can be limited to 2° Celsius," explains co-author Tobias Geiger, scientist at the the German Weather Service and PIK.

This finding could also stimulate the ongoing discussion in Germany on whether natural hazards insurance should become mandatory to counteract the intensification of extreme weather events under global warming.

National insurance mechanisms insufficient in strongly affected developing countries

However, the study also finds that already in the present climate, national insurance solutions may be insufficient to effectively mitigate the economic losses caused by extreme weather events in strongly affected developing countries. For Haiti, as an example of a small island developing state strongly affected by hurricanes, the study shows that even if climate risk insurance were as well developed as in the US, growth losses would still be six times higher. "Our findings demonstrate the importance of international climate finance to help strongly affected developing countries to cope with climate change impacts. Further, climate risk insurance should be complemented by a broad portfolio of other adaptation measures such as investments in better building standards and resilient infrastructure," explains Christian Otto.

The authors stress that in addition to climate adaptation, a rapid and massive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is key to mitigate climate change-induced losses in the long-run: "Current climate protection policies are insufficient to meet the agreed ‘well below 2°C’ warming limit but may rather lead to 2.7°C of warming. In consequence, US growth losses could more than double compared to a Paris-compatible 2°C scenario and increase more than sixfold compared to the historical period," says Katja Frieler, head of the research department Transformation Pathways at PIK and co-author of the study.

 

Article: Christian Otto, Kilian Kuhla, Tobias Geiger, Jacob Schewe, Katja Frieler (2023): Better insurance could effectively mitigate the increase in economic growth losses from US hurricanes under global warming. Science Advances. [DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add6616]

Weblink to the article once it is published: http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add6616

---

JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.add6616 

ARTICLE TITLE

Better insurance could effectively mitigate the increase in economic growth losses from US hurricanes under global warming

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

4-Jan-2023