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The present study was performed to investigate the effect of fungicides (mancozeb, copper oxychloride, thiophanate methyl, and metalaxyl + mancozeb) on the functional response of a phytoseiid predator, Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans), to eggs of Tetranychus urticae Koch. The predatory mite females were treated with fungicides and after 48 h, progeny from live females were evaluated for the residual toxicity effect on the functional response of predatory mites. All the tested stages of N. longispinosus (protonymph, deutonymph, adult female and male) exhibited a type II functional response to eggs of T. urticae in fungicide treatments and untreated control. With an increase in prey density, the number of prey consumed increased, then levelled off and the proportion of prey consumed decreased. When compared with control, no significant differences across treatments were observed in the attack rate and handling time of the predator stages. The adult female showed maximum searching efficiency with attack rate and handling time ranging between 0.226–0.204 h−1 and 3.069–3.457 h, respectively, across fungicide treatments. This study suggests that even under the exposure of fungicides, N. longispinosus could possess a promising predatory potential against T. urticae on tomato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractLeopard moth Zeuzera multistrigata (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) is a xylophagous insect whose larval stages are cryptic woodborers in apple and many other horticultural and forestry crops. The present study was carried out to test effectiveness of some biocontrol agents along with most effective pesticide against this pest on apple (cv. Royal Delicious) in Himachal Pradesh, India, for three consecutive years by injecting biocontrol agents/chemicals directly into galleries made by pest larvae. Investigations were conducted to observe the effect of Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Steinernemma feltiae, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and azadirachtin along with a synthetic pesticide chlorpyriphos. The application of chlorpyriphos (0.04%) caused a 100%%larval mortality, whereas among the biocontrol agents H. bacteriophora (5000 IJs/gallery) exhibited the highest mortality of 66.7 to 80.0%% during these three years, which was significantly at par with application of azadirachtin (Neem baan) 1500 ppm @ 2 ml/Litre and S. feltiae @ 5000 IJs/gallery. The lowest mortality (33.3%) was observed with B. bassiana (5 g/Litre) for the first two years and with M. anisopliae (5 g/L) in the third year i.e. 40.0%. Application of entomopathogenic nematode H. bacteriophora (5000 IJs/gallery) is proven to be best among all biocontrol agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An approach towards the synthesis of aluminum modified graphene oxide (GO) has been studied in the present manuscript. Graphene oxide has been modified by the aluminum sulfate followed by alkalization to synthesized Al-GO composite. GO and Al-GO composite has been characterization by the means of different techniques i.e. XRD, FT-IR, FT-Raman, TEM, SEM, TGA and elemental mapping. Analysis confirmed the formation of GO and Al-GO composite. The prepared GO composite has been checked for the removal of fluoride from the potable water with different initial concentration of fluoride ions. Composite shows it's effectiveness for the removal of fluoride throughout the pH range. The maximum adsorption capacity and Langmuir constant determined for the adsorbent dose of 1 g L−1 are found to be 38.31 mg g−1 and 0.5252 L mg−1 respectively.GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigation reports one-pot synthetic approach to develop cation exchange membranes (CEMs) via free radical polymerization which avoids the post functionalization step that involves use of hazardous chemicals. The CEM is composed of sodium styrene sulfonate (StSO3Na), methyl methacrylate, divinyl benzene, and polyvinyl chloride which is prepared by varying relative amount of vinyl monomers. The membranes shown improved ion-exchange capacity, water uptake, ionic conductivity, and stabilities (mechanical, chemical, and thermal). Among different CEMs, CEM-1 has shown significantly improved performance with 8.54 × 10−2S.cm−1 proton conductivity and 2.71 meq. g−1 proton exchange capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript deals with graphene oxide (GO) and GO-metal oxide composite for heavy metal adsorption. Metal oxide-GO composites e.g. Fe3O4-GO and Mn3O4-GO have been prepared and explored for heavy metals e.g. lead, chromium, nickel, cadmium etc. adsorption from the water. Metal oxide-GO composites have been prepared through respective techniques. The various characterizations of the nanocomposites viz. structural and thermal have been analysed by transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analyser etc. Different concentration of heavy metal has been taken to examine the efficiency of composites towards adsorption. Furthermore, effect of time on adsorption has also been evaluated. Metal oxide-GO composites illustrate better results as compared to GO showing the usability of composites for heavy metal adsorption for the production of clean water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, the applicability of MOF-based composite ion exchange membranes have been explored. Series of membranes have been synthesized by varying Zn-MOF content in SPES matrix. Number of spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize the successful synthesis of Zn-MOF and composite membranes. Physicochemical properties of composite membranes have been evaluated and observed to be enhanced. Composite membranes have been subjected to salt removal efficiency through electrodialysis, and observed that Z-2 membrane shows best flux and salt removal efficiency than others, which were 1.72 molm−2h−1 and 1.0 kWhkg−1 respectively with superior electro-chemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the functional response ofNesidiocoris tenuisto varying densities of the two-spotted spider mite,Tetranychus urticaeand found that the data fit a Type II response, with the attack rate (a) increasing with increased predator size.N. tenuis can be considered as a potential biological control agent of this pest in tomato. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Energy efficient membranes of SGO (Sulfonated Graphene Oxide) into SPES (Sulfonated Polyethersulfone) matrix have been prepared containing different weight content of SGO. Proton conductivity and water retention capacity of membranes increases by increasing SGO while degree of swelling decreases. TEM micrograph shows the uniform distribution of SGO throughout the membrane. SGO-5 membrane shows the maximum proton conductivity (5.8 x 10−2S/cm), which is almost double to the SPES with higher stability. SGO-5 membrane shows 4.73 mole.m−2h−1ionic flux, 0.98 kWhkg−1power consumption and 93.1% current-efficiency for salt removal, which are 62% and 15.2% higher, respectively, while 16% lower power consumption is observed as compared to SPES. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A household survey was conducted to determine the number of working days lost and household medical expenditure (ME) due to six water-borne diseases in the Terai region of Nepal. Drinking water sources of each household were analysed for total coliforms (TC). The study found 61% of the household water sources were contaminated with TC at the time of sampling. Number of days lost due to water-borne diseases was 8 days for TC-negative households and 10 days for TC-positive households per year. The average annual household medical expenditure was NR 459 for TC-negative households, and NR 789 for TC-positive households (p = 0.02 at ∝ = 0.05). Regression result showed that the presence of TC in the drinking water sources, number of children in the household and income of the household significantly determined ME. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]