scholarly journals Repurposing CO2 from Human Respiration Inside Buildings to Enhance Growth in Rooftop Gardens

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarabeth Buckley ◽  
Rebecca Sparks ◽  
Jane Marsching ◽  
Nathan Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Growth Enhancement ◽  
Surrounding Environment ◽  
Unique System ◽  
Human Respiration ◽  
Fertilization Effect ◽  
Plant Grown ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2

Abstract Cities face many environmental challenges while providing opportunities for integrating human infrastructure with the surrounding environment. One effort to improve environmental conditions in cities is to increase the amount of green space in creative ways within city limits. Here we propose a unique system taking carbon dioxide (CO2) from indoor spaces and applying it to rooftop gardens or farms through existing ventilation systems with the elevated CO2 levels leading to a fertilization effect that increases plant growth. CO2 measurements were taken inside multiple classrooms as well as at the exhaust vents on a rooftop and air from exhaust was applied to crops and biomass and leaf number were measured. High concentrations of CO2 ([CO2]) persisted inside university classrooms as well as at rooftop exhaust vents in correlation with expected human occupancy and stayed around 1070 ± 70 and 830 parts per million (ppm) CO2 reaching a max of 4470 and 1300 ppm CO2 respectively. Growth in Spinacia oleraceae L. (spinach) grown next to exhaust air increased 4-fold in comparison to plants grown next to a control fan applying atmospheric air. High wind speed decreased growth by approximately 2-fold. Zea mays (corn), a C4 plant, grown next to exhaust experienced a 2 to 3-fold increase, indicating alternative environmental factors additionally playing a part in growth enhancement. Enhancing growth in rooftop gardens using indoor air, could help rooftop plants grow larger and survive harsh conditions. This would make rooftop gardens more viable and better able to provide environmental services and connect urban areas to the surrounding environment.

scholarly journals Synergism Between Phosphine (PH3) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2): Implications for Managing PH3 Resistance in Rusty Grain Beetle (Laemophloeidae: Coleoptera)

2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 1999-2006
Author(s):  
Myrna Constantin ◽  
Rajeswaran Jagadeesan ◽  
Kerri Chandra ◽  
Paul Ebert ◽  
Manoj K Nayak
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Reference Strain ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Stored Grain ◽  
Response Data ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Mortality Response ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽  
Very High

Abstract Strong resistance to phosphine (PH3) in the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) (Laemophloeidae: Coleoptera) poses a serious risk to stored-grain biosecurity. Resistant populations hold risk of surviving in PH3 fumigation, particularly in storage structure that limits achieving very high concentrations of PH3, demanding the need for alternative fumigation strategies. Cofumigation with PH3 and carbon dioxide (CO2) is one alternative approach that has the potential to be used widely. CO2 fumigation of adults of strongly PH3-resistant reference strain of C. ferrugineus, for 48 h, showed that the effective concentration (LC50) of CO2 was 30.99%. This 30% level of CO2 in combination with PH3 decreased the LC50 of PH3 from 6.7 mg/liter to 0.84 mg/liter, an eightfold increase in PH3 efficacy relative to PH3 fumigation in normal air. The LC99.9 decreased from 16.2 mg/liter to 5.8 mg/liter, a 2.8-fold increase in PH3 efficacy. Comparison of mortality response data of PH3 alone and the PH3 + CO2 mixture confirmed that CO2 enhances the toxicity of PH3 synergistically in addition to exerting its own toxicity. These results were validated against three independently field-derived strains of strongly resistant C. ferrugineus that confirmed that observed enhancement in toxicity with the PH3 + CO2 mixture was consistent, irrespective of differences in resistance phenotypes and inherent tolerance levels. Results of the current study provide further opportunities to develop new commercially viable strategy to control strongly PH3-resistant C. ferrugineus.

Spatiotemporal Changes of Riverbed and Surrounding Environment in Yongding River (Beijing section) in the Past 40 Years

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 40407-1-40407-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Pang ◽  
He Huang ◽  
Tri Dev Acharya
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Cropland Area ◽  
The Past ◽  
Surrounding Environment ◽  
Spatiotemporal Changes ◽  
Yongding River

Abstract Yongding River is one of the five major river systems in Beijing. It is located to the west of Beijing. It has influenced culture along its basin. The river supports both rural and urban areas. Furthermore, it influences economic development, water conservation, and the natural environment. However, during the past few decades, due to the combined effect of increasing population and economic activities, a series of changes have led to problems such as the reduction in water volume and the exposure of the riverbed. In this study, remote sensing images were used to derive land cover maps and compare spatiotemporal changes during the past 40 years. As a result, the following data were found: forest changed least; cropland area increased to a large extent; bareland area was reduced by a maximum of 63%; surface water area in the study area was lower from 1989 to 1999 because of the excessive use of water in human activities, but it increased by 92% from 2010 to 2018 as awareness about protecting the environment arose; there was a small increase in the built-up area, but this was more planned. These results reveal that water conservancy construction, agroforestry activities, and increasing urbanization have a great impact on the surrounding environment of the Yongding River (Beijing section). This study discusses in detail how the current situation can be attributed to of human activities, policies, economic development, and ecological conservation Furthermore, it suggests improvement by strengthening the governance of the riverbed and the riverside. These results and discussion can be a reference and provide decision support for the management of southwest Beijing or similar river basins in peri-urban areas.

scholarly journals Analysis of Occlusion Effects for Map-Based Self-Localization in Urban Areas

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5196
Author(s):  
Yuki Endo ◽  
Ehsan Javanmardi ◽  
Shunsuke Kamijo
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Average Error ◽  
High Definition ◽  
Geometrical Structures ◽  
Real Environment ◽  
Surrounding Environment ◽  
Localization Errors ◽  
Stable Estimation ◽  
High Level

A high-definition (HD) map provides structural information for map-based self-localization, enabling stable estimation in real environments. In urban areas, there are many obstacles, such as buses, that occlude sensor observations, resulting in self-localization errors. However, most of the existing HD map-based self-localization evaluations do not consider sudden significant errors due to obstacles. Instead, they evaluate this in terms of average error over estimated trajectories in an environment with few occlusions. This study evaluated the effects of self-localization estimation on occlusion with synthetically generated obstacles in a real environment. Various patterns of synthetic occlusion enabled the analyses of the effects of self-localization error from various angles. Our experiments showed various characteristics that locations susceptible to obstacles have. For example, we found that occlusion in intersections tends to increase self-localization errors. In addition, we analyzed the geometrical structures of a surrounding environment in high-level error cases and low-level error cases with occlusions. As a result, we suggested the concept that the real environment should have to achieve robust self-localization under occlusion conditions.

scholarly journals THE RATE OF BACTERICIDAL ACTION OF PENICILLIN IN VITRO AS A FUNCTION OF ITS CONCENTRATION, AND ITS PARADOXICALLY REDUCED ACTIVITY AT HIGH CONCENTRATIONS AGAINST CERTAIN ORGANISMS

1948 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Eagle ◽  
A. D. Musselman
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Bactericidal Effect ◽  
Penicillin G ◽  
Bacterial Suspension ◽  
Maximal Effect ◽  
Maximal Rate ◽  
Effective Level ◽  
High Concentrations

1. The concentrations of penicillin G which (a) reduced the net rate of multiplication, (b) exerted a net bactericidal effect, and (c) killed the organisms at a maximal rate, have been defined for a total of 41 strains of α- and ß-hemolytic streptococci, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus albus, Diplococcus pneumoniae, and the Reiter treponoma. 2. The concentration which killed the organisms at a maximal rate was 2 to 20 times the minimal effective level ("sensitivity" as ordinarily defined). With some organisms, even a 32,000-fold increase beyond this maximally effective level did not further increase the rate of its bactericidal effect. However, with approximately half the strains here studied (all 4 strains of group B ß-hemolytic streptococci, 4 of 5 group C strains, 5 of 7 strains of Streptococcus fecalis, 2 of 4 other α-hemolytic streptococci, and 4 of 9 strains of staphylococci), when the concentration of penicillin was increased beyond that optimal level, the rate at which the organisms died was paradoxically reduced rather than increased, so that the maximal effect was obtained only within a relatively narrow optimal zone. 3. There were marked differences between bacterial species, and occasionally between different strains of the same species, not only with respect to the effective concentrations of penicillin, but also with respect to the maximal rate at which they could be killed by the drug in any concentration. Although there was a rough correlation between these two factors, there were many exceptions; individual strains affected only by high concentrations of penicillin might nevertheless be killed rapidly, while strains sensitive to minute concentrations might be killed only slowly. 4. Within the same bacterial suspension, individual organisms varied only to a minor degree with respect to the effective concentrations of penicillin. They varied strikingly, however, in their resistance to penicillin as measured by the times required to kill varying proportions of the cells.

scholarly journals Thunderstorm outflows preceding epidemics of asthma during spring and summer

Thorax ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 468-471
Author(s):  
G B Marks ◽  
J R Colquhoun ◽  
S T Girgis ◽  
M Hjelmroos Koski ◽  
A B A Treloar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Asthma Exacerbations ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
The Difference ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Thunderstorm Outflow

BACKGROUNDA study was undertaken to assess the importance of thunderstorms as a cause of epidemics of asthma exacerbations and to investigate the underlying mechanism.METHODSA case control study was performed in six towns in south eastern Australia. Epidemic case days (n = 48) and a random sample of control days (n = 191) were identified by reference to the difference between the observed and expected number of emergency department attendances for asthma. The occurrence of thunderstorms, their associated outflows and cold fronts were ascertained, blind to case status, for each of these days. In addition, the relation of hourly pollen counts to automatic weather station data was examined in detail for the period around one severe epidemic of asthma exacerbations. The main outcome measure was the number of epidemics of asthma exacerbations.RESULTSThunderstorm outflows were detected on 33% of epidemic days and only 3% of control days (odds ratio 15.0, 95% confidence interval 6.0 to 37.6). The association was strongest in late spring and summer. Detailed examination of one severe epidemic showed that its onset coincided with the arrival of the thunderstorm outflow and a 4–12 fold increase in the ambient concentration of grass pollen grains.CONCLUSIONSThese findings are consistent with the hypothesis that some epidemics of exacerbations of asthma are caused by high concentrations of allergenic particles produced by an outflow of colder air, associated with the downdraught from a thunderstorm, sweeping up pollen grains and particles and then concentrating them in a shallow band of air at ground level. This is a common cause of exacerbations of asthma during the pollen season.

Night-time chemistry of biomass burning plumes in urban areas: A dual mobile chamber study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spiro Jorga ◽  
Kalliopi Florou ◽  
Christos Kaltsonoudis ◽  
John Kodros ◽  
Christina Vasilakopoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Photochemical Activity ◽  
Organic Nitrate ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
High Concentrations

<p>Biomass burning including residential heating, agricultural fires, prescribed burning, and wildfires is a major source of gaseous and particulate pollutants in the atmosphere. Although, important changes in the size distributions and the chemical composition of the biomass burning aerosol during daytime chemistry have been observed, the corresponding changes at nighttime or in winter where photochemistry is slow, have received relatively little attention. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that nightime chemistry in biomass burning plumes can be rapid in urban areas using a dual smog chamber system.</p><p> </p><p>Ambient urban air during winter nighttime periods with high concentrations of ambient biomass burning organic aerosol is used as the starting point. Ozone was added in the perturbed chamber to simulate mixing with background air (and subsequent NO<sub>3</sub> production and aging) while the second chamber was used as a reference. Following the injection of ozone rapid organic aerosol (OA) formation was observed in all experiments leading to increases of the OA concentration by 20-70%. The oxygen to carbon ratio of the OA increased by 50% on average and the mass spectra of the produced OA was quite similar to that of the oxidized OA mass spectra reported during winter in urban areas. Good correlation was also observed with the produced mass spectra from nocturnal aging of laboratory biomass burning emissions showing the strong contribution of biomass burning emissions in the SOA formation during cold nights with high biomass burning activities. Concentrations of NO<sub>3</sub> radicals as high as 25 ppt were measured in the perturbed chamber with an accompanying production of 0.2-1.2 μg m<sup>-3</sup> of organic nitrate. These results strongly indicate that the OA in biomass burning plumes can evolve rapidly even during wintertime periods with low photochemical activity.</p>

History and Current Situation of Night Soil Treatment Systems and Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems in Japan

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
X.M. Yang ◽  
A. Morita ◽  
I. Nakano ◽  
Y. Kushida ◽  
H. Ogawa
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Domestic Wastewater ◽  
Soil Treatment ◽  
Decentralized System ◽  
Decentralized Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Rapid Economic Growth ◽  
Unique System ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Systems

In Japan, night soil, or black water, was formerly used as fertilizer for agriculture. However, during the rapid economic growth that took place after 1960, chemical fertilizers began to be adopted for agriculture and night soil was almost abandoned. How to treat the excess of night soil then became a big challenge to tackle. From that time a variety of night soil treatment technologies have been developed and the Japanese government has actively promoted the construction of night soil treatment facilities all over the country. As measures for domestic wastewater treatment, sewerage systems were spread in high-density urban areas, while a decentralized system called johkasou was diffused in rural areas with low population density. Johkasou is a unique system that was devised in Japan and mainly treats domestic wastewater on-site. Night soil treatment systems and decentralized wastewater treatment systems used in Japan are introduced in this paper, in the hope that the experience acquired in Japan will contribute to improve the sanitation conditions in other countries.

scholarly journals The effect of copper excess on iron metabolism in sheep

1978 ◽  
Vol 170 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
E C Theil ◽  
K T Calvert
Keyword(s):  
Iron Metabolism ◽  
Iron Concentration ◽  
Transferrin Saturation ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Copper Treatment ◽  
Excess Copper ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Copper Excess ◽  
Effect Of Copper ◽  
Haemoglobin Content

Sheep were treated with large amounts of copper (20 mg of CuSO4,5H2O/kg body wt. per day) for 9 weeks to examine the effect of copper excess on iron metabolism. In addition to confirming that massive haemolysis and accumulation of copper occurs in the liver, kidney and plasma after 7 weeks of exposure to excess copper, it was observed that excess copper produced an increased plasma iron concentration and transferrin saturation within 1 week. Further, iron preferentially accumulated in the spleen between 4 and 6 weeks of copper treatment, producing 3-fold increases in the iron content of both the ferritin and non-ferritin fractions. A 3-4 fold increase was also observed in the amount of ferritin that could be isolated from the spleen. The copper treatment had little or no effect on the concentration of iron in the liver and bone marrow. The following properties of erythrocytes were also unaffected by copper treatment: size, haemoglobin content and pyruvate kinase activity, although the erythrocyte concentration of copper increased after 6 weeks. Copper accumulated in the spleen between 6 and 9 weeks, probably owing to the phagocytosis of erythrocytes containing high concentrations of copper. The data suggest that copper excess influences iron metabolism, initially by causing a compensated haemolytic anaemia, and later by interfering with re-utilization of iron from ferritin in the reticuloendothelial cells of the spleen.

scholarly journals Measurements in a highly polluted Asian mega city: observations of aerosol number size distribution, modal parameters and nucleation events

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Mönkkönen ◽  
I. K. Koponen ◽  
K. E. J. Lehtinen ◽  
K. Hämeri ◽  
R. Uma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Size Distribution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Geometric Standard Deviation ◽  
Modal Parameters ◽  
Number Size Distribution ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Rural Sites ◽  
Aitken Mode

Abstract. Diurnal variation of number size distribution (particle size 3-800nm) and modal parameters (geometric standard deviation, geometric mean diameter and modal aerosol particle concentration) in a highly polluted urban environment was investigated during October and November 2002 in New Delhi, India. Continuous monitoring for more than two weeks with the time resolution of 10min was conducted using a Differential Mobility Particle Sizer (twin DMPS). The results indicated clear increase in Aitken mode (25-100nm) particles during traffic peak hours, but towards the evenings there were more Aitken mode particles compared to the mornings. Also high concentrations of accumulation mode particles (>100nm) were detected in the evenings only. In the evenings, biomass/refuse burning and cooking are possible sources beside the traffic. We have also shown that nucleation events are possible in this kind of atmosphere even though as clear nucleation events as observed in rural sites could not be detected. The formation rate of 3nm particles (J3) of the observed events varied from 3.3 to 13.9cm-3s-1 and the growth rate varied from 11.6 to 18.1nmh-1 showing rapid growth and high formation rate, which seems to be typical in urban areas.

Abstract TP94: Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Behave Differently When Exposed to Medications Commonly Prescribed to Stroke Patients

Stroke ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikunj Satani ◽  
Bing Yang ◽  
Duyen M Nghiem ◽  
Xiaopei Xi ◽  
Adrian P Gee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ◽  
Stromal Cells ◽  
High Glucose ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Stroke Recovery ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Healthy Humans ◽  
Tnf Α ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
And Function

Background: As a promising investigational therapy for stroke recovery, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are in various stages of clinical trials. MSCs may promote recovery through cytokine release and immunomodulation. Stroke patients typically are treated with antiplatelets and medications for hypertension and hyperlipidemia. We explored the effect of commonly prescribed drugs at physiological concentrations on MSCs. Methods: Clinical grade bone marrow MSCs from healthy donor at passage 2 were thawed and re-suspended in serum free media. Monocytes (Mo) were isolated from peripheral blood of healthy humans. MSCs and Mo were cultured alone as well as in co-culture and exposed to simvastatin, atenolol, losartan, captopril, or aspirin. They were also exposed to high glucose (upto 40mM) to simulate hyperglycemia. At 24 hours of incubation, media was collected and TNF-α concentration was measured, as an index of immunomodulation of Mo by MSCs. Cell viability was also measured (using MTT assay and flow cytometry). Results: There were significant effects of all drugs on viability of MSCs but with no impact on Mo. More importantly, Losartan (dose independent), Simvastatin and Atenolol (dose-dependent) reduced the viability of MSCs even at the pharmacologically relevant concentrations (Fig 1). High glucose had no effect on viability of MSCs or Mo. TNF-α secretion from co-culture of MSCs and Mo at 24 hours showed differences at very high doses of aspirin (2-fold increase), atenolol (0.5 fold decrease), and glucose (0.5 fold decrease) (data not shown). However, these high concentrations are unlikely to be achieved pharmacologically in plasma of patients treated with these drugs. Conclusion: Exposure of MSCs to clinically relevant drugs can alter their viability and function. Our results suggest that stroke trials involving use of intravenous MSCs should consider the differential impact of commonly prescribed medications on MSCs function.

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