Diarrhea causes 1.6 million deaths annually, including 525,000 children. Further, chronic diarrhea puts children at risk for mineral deficiencies, malnutrition, and stunting which, in turn, can ...result in cognitive deficits, poor performance in school, and decreased disease immunity in adulthood. Most diarrhea is caused by water contaminated by fecal matter. Interventions to improve clean water and sanitation can save lives; however, challenges persist in informal settlements. In this study, we explored the views of residents of informal settlements regarding water and sanitation in their communities. Focus group interviews were conducted with residents of 6 informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda (
= 165 people), and 6 key informant interviews were conducted with governmental and nongovernmental organizations that work to improve informal settlements or provide services to them. The results from this study demonstrate that, although these informal settlements had many infrastructure "upgrades" such as latrines and toilets, water taps, wells, and garbage collection and drainage systems, the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) system and its components largely failed due to point-of-use charges of water taps and toilets and the difficulty of emptying cesspits. Our results suggest that WASH must be considered a system and that multiple upgrading efforts are needed for WASH systems to work, including road construction and better oversight of fecal sludge disposal.
Many thermal processes have been developed in order to eliminate the municipal solid wastes or produce energy from them. These processes include a wide range of applications from the simplest burning ...system to plasma gasification. Plasma gasification is based on re-forming of molecules after all molecules convert to smaller molecules or atoms at high temperatures. In this work, the production of fuel gas is aimed by plasma gasification of municipal solid wastes in high temperatures. Because of this, a plasma reactor of the capacity of 10 kg h
−1
was designed which can gasify municipal solid wastes. Plasma gasification with and without steam and oxygen was performed in temperatures of 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1400 and 1600 °C in the reactor. A gas mixture containing methane, ethane, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and monoxide, whose content varies with temperature, was obtained. It was found that plasma gasification (or plasma pyrolysis, PG), plasma gasification with oxygen (PGO) and plasma gasification with steam (PGS) were more prone to CO formation. A gas product which was consisted of 95% CO between 1200 and 1400 °C was produced. It was observed that a gas with high energy capacity may be produced by feeding oxygen and steam into the entrance of the high temperature region of the reactor.
The optimization of the inlet layout in aquaculture systems is essential to ensure minimal solid waste discharge into the environment and improve fish production efficiency. In the present study, ...laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of the jetting position
d
/
a
(where
d
is the distance from the pipe axis to the tank side and
a
is the side length of the tank wall) and the jetting angle
θ
(the acute angle between the jetting direction and the nearest tank wall) on the solid waste removal efficiency in single-inlet and dual-inlet octagonal Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) tanks. To this end, three jetting positions (
d
/
a
) of 1/50, 1/8, and 1/4 and ten jetting angles (
θ
) of 0° to 80° were considered in the experiments. The Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique was applied to measure the flow characteristics in the tank and analyze the solid waste removal under different working conditions. Residual mass of the solid waste, time of complete removal of solid waste, average velocity (
v
avg
), and uniformity coefficient of velocity distribution (
DU
50
) were analyzed to evaluate the solid waste removal efficiency. The obtained results indicate that adjustments of the inlet layout significantly affect the solid waste removal efficiency. It was found that a single-inlet tank with a
d
/
a
of 1/8 and
θ
in the range 10° to 40° has a good solid wastes removal performance, and the optimal efficiency occurs at a jetting angle of 30°. Moreover, the optimal solid waste removal efficiency in a dual-inlet tank can be achieved with a
d
/
a
ratio of 1/8 and a
θ
of 20°. The performed analyses reveal that from the aspect of solid waste removal efficiency, a tank with a
d
/
a
ratio of 1/8 outperforms a tank with a
d
/
a
ratio of 1/4 or 1/50. The results of this article offer novel insights in the layout of octagonal RAS tanks and provide a guideline to improve self-cleaning features of aquaculture tanks.
This study included the use of palm waste such as fiber and tree leaves palm, as low cost adsorbents for removal of Cu(II) and Co(II) from sewage water via preparation of activated carbon. The ...results are showed that the adsorption equilibrium time was 35 and 45 min for both metals by tree leaves and fiber respectively. The obtained results indicated that over pH (6.5) there is an increased optimum of adsorption for both metal ions. The study showed that (0.4 g) of adsorbent is very ideal to obtain the best adsorption for both studied ions. The capacity of the adsorbents Co(II) to adsorb high than Cu(II).
A feasibility study of an underground capsule-pipe system for storing and transporting small items and waste is presented. “Hyperloop for packages” for the last/first/mile/yard all the way to and ...from the final user in apartments and establishments. In many cases, one capsule of 2 kg can do the same job as a car with 1000 times larger mass. The conclusion is that such a system is technically feasible and economically good for all stakeholders. In one scenario, 30% less traffic and CO2 and freed space was valued more than system cost. Still, society is not yet prepared and unaware of the possibility. The storybook Pipeville 2030 and a scale model of capsule-pipe logistics in LEGO were created to visualize and play around with during workshops, surveys, and story writing. Results from the first survey and Lisa's user story are presented. Finally, areas for future research are suggested.
With the continuous progress of urbanization, the discharge of municipal solid waste has profoundly affected human production/living and social ecological health, and waste disposal has become one of ...the key issues all over the world. In the context of intelligent technology, this paper innovates the way of waste disposal according to the development direction of a smart city and the requirement of sustainable development strategy. An intelligent urban waste removal system is developed using a ROS (Route Operation System) robot operating system and RRT (Rapid Exploration of Random Trees) path planning algorithm. With a background of data management, the entire process of intelligent automatic waste removal is triggered by automatic communication from individual waste bins to a waste collection vehicle (WCV) where the bin needs to be emptied, and the automatic collection and transportation by the WCV in response. In combination with the IoT (Internet of Things), the system provides scientific data support for the intelligent layout of communities and even urban waste bins to greatly enhance the development of intelligence communities and smart cities.
A well established dynamic model describing the impact of oligopolistic interaction on a renewable resource is revisited here to illustrate its dual interpretation as a waste removal differential ...game. The regulatory implications are illustrated by assuming that the public agency may control market price and possibly also access to the commons. Two different formulations of the managerial or CSR objective are envisaged, based on a combination of profits and either output or the individual share of the waste stock. It is shown that if the representative firm’s objective includes the residual waste stock, there exists a unique regulated price driving to zero the steady state stock itself. Hence, the present analysis delivers some useful indications concerning an appropriate definition of the CSR objective firms should adopt.
•The dynamic model of renewable resource extraction is reinterpreted as a waste removal differential game.•Regulatory implications are illustrated assuming the public agency controls market price and/or access.•Two different CSR objectives are considered, based either on collection rates or the residual stock.•If the CSR mandate includes the residual stock, the regulated price driving to zero the equilibrium stock is unique.•Moreover, such price is minimised in monopoly.
The study of functions, mechanisms of generation, and pathways of movement of cerebral fluids has a long history, but the last decade has been especially productive. The proposed glymphatic ...hypothesis, which suggests a mechanism of the brain waste removal system (BWRS), caused an active discussion on both the criticism of some of the perspectives and our intensive study of new experimental facts. It was especially found that the intensity of the metabolite clearance changes significantly during the transition between sleep and wakefulness. Interestingly, at the cellular level, a number of aspects of this problem have been focused on, such as astrocytes-glial cells, which, over the past two decades, have been recognized as equal partners of neurons and perform many important functions. In particular, an important role was assigned to astrocytes within the framework of the glymphatic hypothesis. In this review, we return to the "astrocytocentric" view of the BWRS function and the explanation of its activation during sleep from the viewpoint of new findings over the last decade. Our main conclusion is that the BWRS's action may be analyzed both at the systemic (whole-brain) and at the local (cellular) level. The local level means here that the neuro-glial-vascular unit can also be regarded as the smallest functional unit of sleep, and therefore, the smallest functional unit of the BWRS.
The structure, porosity, and functionality of synthesized chitosan-clay nanocomposites (NCs) are examined throughout this work in relation to the initial stoichiometry and octahedral cavity ...occupation of the clay fraction. Dioctahedral and trioctahedral smectite are selected as starting materials. X-Ray Diffraction analysis (XRD) confirms the accomplishment of the NCs synthesis process. The stoichiometry fluctuation implies a crystallite exfoliation process provided that the clay fraction contribution must not reach twice the organic ones. From 1:3 stoichiometry ratio, The intercalation process is enhanced by the interlamellar space (IS) closures, and crystallite size increases with crystallinity degree. According to transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (TEM-EDX) investigations, the exfoliation of "clay-particles" wrapping the organic fraction and the intercalation process occurred as the clay fraction abundance increased. Despite the low proportion approved from the synthesis beginning process, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) reveals the polymer fraction characteristics absorption bands. The Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) analysis of specific surface area and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) Analysis of pore size distribution (PSD) supports the findings from TEM/EDX. For slightly saturated soil solution with Pb2+ or Cd2+ cation, Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) evaluate the NCs adsorption capacity. The outcomes are extremely positive for dioctahedral smectite.
Display omitted
Astrocytes, the most heterogeneous glial cells in the central nervous system, contribute to brain homeostasis, by regulating a myriad of functions, including the clearance of extracellular debris. ...When cells are damaged, cytoplasmic proteins may exit into the extracellular space. One such protein is S100B, which may exert toxic effects on neighboring cells unless it is removed from the extracellular space, but the mechanisms of this clearance are poorly understood. By using time‐lapse confocal microscopy and fluorescently labeled S100B (S100B‐Alexa488) and fluorescent dextran (Dextran546), a fluid phase uptake marker, we examined the uptake of fluorescently labeled S100B‐Alexa488 from extracellular space and monitored trafficking of vesicles that internalized S100B‐Alexa488. Initially, S100B‐Alexa488 and Dextran546 internalized with distinct rates into different endocytotic vesicles; S100B‐Alexa488 internalized into smaller vesicles than Dextran546. At a later stage, S100B‐Alexa488‐positive vesicles substantially co‐localized with Dextran546‐positive endolysosomes and with acidic LysoTracker‐positive vesicles. Cell treatment with anti‐receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) antibody, which binds to RAGE, a ‘scavenger receptor’, partially inhibited uptake of S100B‐Alexa488, but not of Dextran546. The dynamin inhibitor dynole 34‐2 inhibited internalization of both fluorescent probes. Directional mobility of S100B‐Alexa488‐positive vesicles increased over time and was inhibited by ATP stimulation, an agent that increases cytosolic free calcium concentration (Ca2+i). We conclude that astrocytes exhibit RAGE‐ and dynamin‐dependent vesicular mechanism to efficiently remove S100B from the extracellular space. If a similar process occurs in vivo, astroglia may mitigate the toxic effects of extracellular S100B by this process under pathophysiologic conditions.
This study reveals the vesicular clearance mechanism of extracellular S100B in astrocytes. Initially, fluorescent S100B internalizes into smaller endocytotic vesicles than dextran molecules. At a later stage, both probes co‐localize within endolysosomes. S100B internalization is both dynamin‐ and RAGE‐dependent, whereas dextran internalization is dependent on dynamin. Vesicle internalization likely mitigates the toxic effects of extracellular S100B and other waste products.
This study reveals the vesicular clearance mechanism of extracellular S100B in astrocytes. Initially, fluorescent S100B internalizes into smaller endocytotic vesicles than dextran molecules. At a later stage, both probes co‐localize within endolysosomes. S100B internalization is both dynamin‐ and RAGE‐dependent, whereas dextran internalization is dependent on dynamin. Vesicle internalization likely mitigates the toxic effects of extracellular S100B and other waste products.
PDF
