ID: 53796
Title: New analytical technique for the determination of Mercury (II) by extraction spectrophotometric method with Potassium benzyl xanthate in sewage wastes and spiked water samples
Author: B. Sreenivasa Rao
Editor: Prof K.P.Sharma
Year: 2010
Publisher: Technoscience Publications, Vol 9, No 3, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Keywords: Analytical technique, Chemical extraction, Mercury (II), Sewage wastes
Abstract: A new simple and sensitive extractive spectrophotometric method for the determination of mercury (II) with potassium benzyl xanthate (KBX) has been developed. Mercury was complexed with KBX to form light yellow colour Hg-KBX complex and was extracted in to methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK). The complex has maximum absorbance at 375 nm. The molar absorbivity and Sandell ' s sensitivity of the complex was 2.609 x 10-3 L.mole-1. cm-1 and 1.673 x 10-2 ?g/cm2 respectively. The developed method obeys Beer ' s law in the concentration range of 1.0 to 20 ppm. The composition of the complex (metal:ligand) was 1:2. The developed method was applied for the determination of mercury in sewage waste and spiked water samples.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53795
Title: Effect of different pollutants on the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) Colonization, Nodulation and growth of Five Legume Plants
Author: Pavan Kumar Pindi
Editor: Prof K.P.Sharma
Year: 2010
Publisher: Technoscience Publications, Vol 9, No 3, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Keywords: AM colonization, Nodulation, Polluted soils, Legume plants
Abstract: In the present investigation an attempt was made to investigate the influence of different polluted soils on the mycorrhizal colonization, nodulation and subsequent growth of five legume plants. Five soils polluted by different industrial effluents viz. , organic chemicals, pesticides, detergents, paper and neem seed oil cake were employed. Palamuru University Campus soil was taken as a control. Interestingly, neem seed oil cake and paper board polluted soil showed less inhibitory effect than detergents, pesticides and organic chemical pollutants.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53794
Title: Investigation on suitability of Spent Fire Bricks (SFB) in concrete
Author: R. Srinivasan and S. Keerthinarayana
Editor: Prof K.P.Sharma
Year: 2010
Publisher: Technoscience Publications, Vol 9, No 3, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Keywords: Fire bricks, Spent fire bricks (SFB), Crushed spent fire, bricks (CSFB) Natural fine aggregates, Concrete
Abstract: Concrete is the most undisputable and indispensable material being used in infrastructure development throughout the world. Umpteen varieties of concretes (FAC, HVFAC, FRC, HPC, HSC and others) were researched in several laboratories and brought ot the field tosuit the specific needs. Although natural fine aggregates i.e.river sand are so far superior to any other material in making concrete; their availability is continuously being depleted due to intentional overexploitation throughout the globe. Hence, partial or full replacement of fine aggregates by other compatible materials like sintered fly ash, crushed rock dust, quarry dust, glass powder, recycled concrete dust, and others is being researched from past two decades in view of conserving the ecological balance. In this direction, a preliminary investigation was undertaken to use " Spent Fire Bricks" (SFB) i.e., waste mateiral from foundry bed and walls and lining of chimney which is adopted in many industries, for partial replacement of sand in making good concrete. The vital objective of this investigation is to assess the utility of SFB in making good concrete by studying its physicochemical and other characteristics.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53793
Title: Depleting population of herbs and creepers used as traditional medicine by the Assamese community of Lakhimpur district, Assam
Author: S.N.Phukan and Rupa Phukan
Editor: Prof K.P.Sharma
Year: 2010
Publisher: Technoscience Publications, Vol 9, No 3, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Keywords: Herbs and creepers, Medicinal value, Lakhimpur district
Abstract: A survey of some wild herbs and creepers, used as traditional medicine by the greater Assamese community of Lakhimpur district, was conducted during 2008-2009. A total of six plant species were identified and reported by the native people to be diminishing in their population. Continuous deforestation occurring as a result of destruction of the forest areas, erosion and floods are the prime factors for the diminshing population. A need for conservation and systematic exploration in a planned manner is an immediate necessity.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53792
Title: Depleting population of herbs and creepers used as traditional medicine by the Assamese community of Lakhimpur district, Assam
Author: S.N.Phukan and Rupa Phukan
Editor: Prof K.P.Sharma
Year: 2010
Publisher: Technoscience Publications, Vol 9, No 3, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Keywords: Herbs and creepers, Medicinal value, Lakhimpur district
Abstract: A survey of some wild herbs and creepers, used as traditional medicine by the greater Assamese community of Lakhimpur district, was conducted during 2008-2009. A total of six plant species were identified and reported by the native people to be diminishing in their population. Continuous deforestation occurring as a result of destruction of the forest areas, erosion and floods are the prime factors for the diminishing population. A need for conservation and systematic exploration in a planned manner is an immediated necessity.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53791
Title: Modulatory Action of Vitamin C on the Genotoxicity of an anti cancer drug (Etoposide) tested in the Wing spot of Drosophila
Author: Kshyama Singh and Suresh Chandra Patnaik
Editor: Prof K.P.Sharma
Year: 2010
Publisher: Technoscience Publications, Vol 9, No 3, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Keywords: Modulatory action, Vitamin C, Genotoxicity, Etoposide, Drosophila
Abstract: This work deals with genotoxicity of an antineoplastic drug, etoposide and its modulation by Vitamin C in the somatic wingspot cells of Drosophila. Four sub-lethal doses of etoposide (0.5 mM, 0.25 mM, 0.1mM, 0.05 mM) and two doses of Vitamin C (50 mM, 100 mM) were selected for the purpose. Etoposide was found to be genotoxic at all tested doses in this assay. It was found that Vitamin C (100 mM) caused significant reduction of wing spots when admitted before, along with or after treatment with any doses of etoposide. The possible causes of induction of wingspots and modulatory action of vitamin C have been discussed.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53790
Title: Adsorption of Basic Dye (Rhodamine B) by a Low Cost Activated Carbon from Agricultural Solid Waste: Leucaena leucocephala Seed Shell Waste
Author: S. Karthikeyan and A. Babu Rajendran
Editor: Prof K.P.Sharma
Year: 2010
Publisher: Technoscience Publications, Vol 9, No 3, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Keywords: Activated carbon, Leucaena leucocephala, Seed shell carbon, Rhodamine B basic dye, Adsorption
Abstract: The adsorption of Rhodamine B (Basic dye) on Leucaena leucocephala seed shell waste carbon was investigated to assess the possible use of this adsorbent for the processing of dyeing industry wastewater. The influence of various factors such as initial dye concentration, agitation time and temperature on the adsorption capacity has been studied. The percentage removal of dye is observed to decrease with the increase in initial dye concentration. With increase in temperature the adsorption of dye also increases, indicating endothermic nature of the reaction. Adsorption isothermal data could be interpreted by the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. Kinetic data have been studied using Elovich and Pseudo-second order equations for understanding the reaction mechanism.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53789
Title: A pre-screened and normalized multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis for mapping impervious suface area in Lake Kasumigaura Basin, Japan
Author: Fan Yang, Bunkei Matsushita, Takehiko Fukushima
Editor: George Vosselman
Year: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 65, issue 5, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Keywords: Impervious surface area, Spectral mixture analysis, Endmember selection, Lake Kasumigaura Basin
Abstract: The impervious surface area (ISA) has emerged not only as an indicator of the degree of urbanization, but also as a major indicator of environmental quality for drainage basin management. However, since almost all of teh methods for estimating ISA have been developed for urban environments, it is questionable whether these methods can be successfully applied to drainage basins, such as those found in Japan, which usually have more complicated vegetation components (e.g.paddy field, plowed field and dense forest). This paper presents a pre-screened and normalized multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (PNMESMA) method, which includes a new endmember selection strategry and an integration of the normalized spectral mixture analysis (NSMA) and multiple endmember spectral mixture anal;ysis (MESMA), for estimating the ISA fraction in Lake Kasumigaura Basin, Japan. This new proposed method is superior to the previous methods in that the estimation error of the proposed method is much smaller than the previous SMA -or NSMA - based methods for drainage basin environments. The overall root mean square error was reduced to 5.2%, and no obvious underestimation or overestimation occurred for high or low ISA areas. Through the assessment of environmental quality in Lake Kasumigaura Basin using the ISA fraction, the results showed that the basin has been in the impacted category since 1987, and that in the two decades since, the environmental quality has continued to decline. If this decline continues, then Lake Kasumigaura Basin will fall into the degraded category by 2017.
Location: 231
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53788
Title: Hyperspectral boundary detection based on the Busyness Multiple Correlation Edge Detector and Alternating Vector Field Convolution snakes
Author: Christian Rogab, Sibylle IIItzerott, Bernd Uwe Schneider, Hermann Kaufmann, Reinhard F. Huttl
Editor: George Vosselman
Year: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 65, issue 5, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Keywords: Snakes, Hyperspectral, Boundary detection, AVFC, Yukawa
Abstract: Active contours, or snakes, are broadly used to detect linear features such as edges. However, they are often restricted in the delineation of regions of interest within the hyperspectral domain. In this paper, a new approach is presented, referred to as "Busyness Multiple Correlation Edge Detector", that enables hyperspectral boundary detection using active contours such as "Alternating Vector Field Convolution" snakes. The combination of "Alternating Vector Field Convolution" snakes with the "Busyness Multiple Correlation Edge Detector" opens a broad set of applications by concurrent high convergence quality and speed. Furthermore, specific snake initialisation are tested. A series of examples are used to both demonstrate the approach and underline the benefits of the new methods.
Location: 231
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53787
Title: Automatic detection of residential buildings using LIDAR data and multispectral imagery
Author: Mohammad Awrangjeb, Mehdi Ravanbakhsh, Clive S. Fraser
Editor: George Vosselman
Year: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 65, issue 5, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Keywords: Building detection, LIDAR, Point cloud, Multispectral imagery, Fusion
Abstract: This paper presents an automatic building detection technique using LIDAR data and multispectral imagery. Two masks are obtained from the LIDAR data: a ' primary building mask ' and a ' secondary building mask ' . The primary building mask indicates the void areas where the laser does not reach below a certain height threshold. The secondary building mask indicates the filled areas, from where the laser reflects, above the same threshold. Line segments are extracted from around the void areas in the primary building mask. Line segments around trees are removed using the normalized difference vegetation index derived from the orthorectified multispectral images. The initial building positions are obtained based on the remaining line segments. The complete buildings are detected from their initial positions using the two masks and multispectral images in the YIQ colour system. It is experimentally shown that the proposed technique can successfully detect urban residential buildings, when assessed in terms of 15 indices including completeness, correctness and quality.
Location: 231
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53786
Title: A unified approach to self-calibration of terrestrial laser scanners
Author: Yuriy Reshetyuk
Editor: George Vosselman
Year: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 65, issue 5, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Keywords: Terrestrial laser scanning, Calibration, Correlation
Abstract: In recent years, the method of self-calibration widely used in photogrammetry has been found suitable for teh estimation of systematic errors in terrestrial laser scanners. Since high correlations can be present between the estimated parameters, ways to reduce them have to be found. This paper presents a unified approach to self-calibration of terrestrial laser scanners, where the parameters in a least-squares adjustment are treated as observations by assigning appropriate weights to them. The higher these weights are the lower the parameter correlations are expected to be. Self-calibration of a pulsed laser scanner Leica Scan Station was performed with the unified approach. The scanner position and orientation were determined durinf the measurements with the help of a total station, and the point clouds were directly georeferenced. The significant systematic errors were zero error in the laser rangefinder and vertical circle index error. Most parameter correlations were comparatively low. In part, precise knowledge of the horizontal coordinates of the scanner centre helped greatly to achieve low correlation between these parameters and the zero error. The approach was shown to be advantageous to the use of adjustment with stochastic (weighted) inner constraints where the parameter correlations were higher. At the same time, the collimation error could not be estimated reliably due to its high correlation with the scanner azimuth because of a limited vertical distribution of the targets in the calibration field. While this problem can be solved for a scanner with a nearly spherical field-of-view, it will complicate the calibration of scanners with limited vertical field-of-view. Investigations into the influence of precision of the scanner position and levelling on the adjustment results lead to two important findings. First, it is not necessary to level the scanner during the measurements when using the unified approach since the parameter correlations are relatively low anyway. Second, the scanner position has to be known with a precision of about 1 mm in order to get a reliable estimate of the zero error.
Location: 231
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53785
Title: Photogrammetric modeling of underwater environments
Author: Gili Telem, Sagi Filin
Editor: George Vosselman
Year: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 65, issue 5, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Keywords: Underwater photogrammetry, Close-range, Calibration, Estimation
Abstract: Underwater photogrammetry provides an efficient nondestructive means for measurement in environments with limited accessibility. With the growing use of consumer cameras, its application is becoming easier, thus benefiting a wide variety of disciplines. However, utilizing cameras for underwater photogrammetry poses some nontrivial modeling problems due to refraction effect and the extension of the imaging system into a unit of both the camera and the protecting housing device. This paper studies the effect that the underwater environment has on the photogrammetric process, and proposes a model for describing the geometric distorations and for estimating the additional parameters involved. The proposed model accounts not only for the multimedia effect, but also for inaccuracies related to the setting of the camera and housing device. The paper shows that only a small number of additional parameters is needed to model both elements and to preserve the collinearly relation. The results show that no unique setup is needed for estimating the additional parameters and that the estimation is insensitive to noise or first approximations. Experiments show that high levles of accuracy can be achieved.
Location: 231
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53784
Title: Backscatter coefficient as an attribute for the classification of full-waveform airborne laser scanning data in urgan areas
Author: Cici ALexander, Kevin Tansey, Jorg Kaduk, David Holland, Nicholas J.Tate
Editor: George Vosselman
Year: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 65, issue 5, September 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Keywords: LIDAR, Laser scanning, Calibration, Point cloud, Classification, Comparison
Abstract: Airborne laser scanning (ALS) data are increasingly being used for land cover classification. The amplitudes of echoes from targets, available from full-waveform ALS data, have been found to be useful in the classification of land cover. However, the amplitude of an echo is dependent on various factors such as the range and incidence angle, which makes it difficult to develop a classification method which can be applied to full-waveform ALS data from different sites, scanning geometries and sensors. Additional information available from full-waveform ALS data, such as range and echo width, can be used for radiometric calibration, and to derive backscatter cross section. The backscatter cross section of a target is the physical cross sectional area of an idealised isotropic target, which has the same intensity as the selected target. The backscatter coefficient is the backscatter cross section per unit area. In this study, the amplitude, backscatter cross section and backscatter coefficient of echoes from ALS point cloud data collected from two different sites are analysed based on urban land cover classes. The application of decision tree classifies developed using data from the first study area on the second demonstrates the advantage of using the backscatter coefficient in classification methods, along with spatial attributes. It is shown that the accuracy of classification of the second study area using the backscatter coefficient (kappa coefficient 0.89) is higher than those using the amplitude (kappa coefficient 0.67) or backscatter cross section (kappa coefficient 0.68). This attribute is especially useful for separating road and grass.
Location: 231
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53783
Title: Major threats to the faunal diversity of Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in the Aravalli Hills of Rajasthan
Author: Anil Kumar Chhangani, Paul Robbins and S.M.Mohnot
Editor: Dr. V.R.R.Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 10, October 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Forestry
Keywords: Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS), Conservation, Management, Threats, Wild taxa
Abstract: Populations and diversity of major species of concern in the park has provided somewhat robust. Several species, especially antelope, chinkara and sambhar are at critical risk. Maintenance of biodiversity at the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary is made difficult by a range of forces, including forest degradation, grazing, road accidents, forest fire and diseases. Considering these numerous pressures, influences and challenges, the major predator species, continue to exist. Some species, like langur and nilgai are thriving.
These conclusions suggest that new management plans for the sanctuary be formed with specific attention to both ameliorating the impacts on the most vulnerable species, but also to capitalizing upon the relative success in protecting and maintaining other species of concern in recent decades. These efforts should be coupled with a more rigorous scientific agenda that can better untangle the relative influence of threats presented by ecogenic forces relative to anthropogenic ones (e.g. tree- cutting). Future research must also attend to teh biocomplex influences of forces like fire and grazing, which have both positive and negative effects on faunal biodiversity. Kumbhalgarh represents a heavily impacted natural area, but it is one that might yet provide a model for conservation in India more generally through reform in both management and research.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 53782
Title: Butterflies of Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India
Author: Umesh Kumar L. Tiwari, Jyotirmay Jena and N.S. Dungriyal
Editor: Dr. V.R.R.Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 10, October 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Forestry
Keywords: Butterfly fauna, Biodiversity, environmental indicators, species compositions
Abstract: Rich butterfly fauna was found in Pench Tiger Reserve (Area 757.904 Km2) which include a total of 126 butterfly species belonging to 74 genera and 5 families. Family Nymphalidae was dominant with 51 species belonging to 23 genera followed by Lycanidae with 37 species in 25 general, Hesperidae and Pieridae with 16 and 14 species respectively and Papillionidae was represented by only 8 species.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None