Showing papers in "Journal of International Environmental Application and Science in 2016"

A Study on Oil Extraction from Albanian Chamomile and Characterization by IR Spectroscopy

Abstract: Albania is recognized for its natural bio-resources such as medicinal and aromatic plants. It is a considerable producer of herbs including common sage, raspberry leaf, thyme, oregano, and chamomile. The mountainous relief and Mediterranean climate are the main factors for having such an ecosystem diversity and biodiversity. Extraction of essential oil from M. recutica L. is carried out using a Soxhlet technique. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is used a solvent for the extraction under near critical conditions, since it is physiologically harmless, environmentally safe and it can be easily removed from products. Additionally, hexane is used as well for the Soxhlet extraction and the yield of the obtained extract is compared with yield of the extract obtained with liquid CO 2 . FTIR analysis indicated presence of matricine, dicycloether and α-bisabolol as organic components present in the essential oil of M. recutica L.

Organochlorine Pesticides and PCB in Meat and by-Products from Albanian Markets

Abstract: In this study were determine concentrations of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in meat and by-products samples from different markets of Tirana, Albania. Meat and by-products with origin from Albanian farms were sampling in March 2016. Organochlorine pesticides, their residues and PCBs are stable compounds, lipophilic, with toxic properties. These pollutants could found in meat and by-products because of feed, bioaccumulation process and meat treatment processes. Ultrasonic bath extraction assisted with n-Hexane/Dichloromethane (3:1) as organic solvent and two clean-up steps have been used for analytical treatment of meat and by-products samples. The quantitative analysis of organochlorine pesticides and PCBs were performed by the gas chromatography method with electron capture detector. Analytic steps were based in EN 1528 Method. The profiles of detected pesticides were: Endosulphanes > HCHs > Aldrines > Mirex > Methoxychlor > DDTs. PCB 28, the volatile PCB marker was the main congener for all analyzed samples. In a large number of samples were identified organic pollutants as a result of their previous uses, degradation processes, atmospheric deposition etc. Their levels do not exceed the rates set for them, but should serve as alert for institutions to conduct ongoing controls in foods because it is directly related to the health of consumers.

Acute and Chronic Effects of Water Soluble Fraction WSF of Diesel Fuel on Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio L. 1758)

Abstract: This study aimed to determine the acute and chronic toxicity of water soluble fraction WSF of diesel fuel on common carp Cyprinus carpio . The median lethal concentrations (LC 50 ) in C. carpio were 0.005993, 0.005972, 0.005942 and 0.005931% for exposure period of 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours respectively. Behavioural changes were studied during acute toxicity period, and were abnormal movement, swimming near to water surface of aquaria, lose of body balance and suddenly movement with jump. These changes have increased as concentration of diesel fuel and duration of exposure increased. The chronic toxic effects of water soluble fraction of diesel fuel on C. carpio were determined by using three concentrations (0.00039%, 0.00059% and 0.0011%) with eight fishes for six weeks. Histological changes in liver, gill, kidney and muscles were assessed after 2, 4 and 6 weeks of chronic exposure. Histological changes in liver were cellular swelling, degeneration of hepatocytes, necrosis, cellular atrophy and nuclear pyknosis. In gill, these changes were congestion, necrosis, cellular swelling, thickened of primary and secondary lamella. In the kidney, observed changes were glomerular degeneration, dilation of Bowman’s space , tubular degeneration and necrosis. While in skeletal muscles, the changes were atrophy and necrosis of muscle fiber and fragmented of myofibrils. These histological changes have found to be more severe when exposure time and concentration of water soluble fraction WSF of diesel fuel increased.

Earthquake Park Design and Some Examples from the World and Turkey

Abstract: Received March 11, 2016; Accepted April 17, 2016 Abstract: Earthquake parks which enhance the quality of life and ordinary cases, increase the welfare of society as well as gathering in emergency / shelter will be used as parking areas are functional and designed to meet their immediate needs. So the planning of parks has a very important place for earthquake disaster management. When we look topography structure of Turkey, because of hosting the major fault lines, also deemed necessary the existing green areas (parks, recreational areas etc.) must be capable of converting the earthquake parking in case of a disaster and have adequate equipment for this situation. In this study, emphasizing the importance of earthquake parks in the world and in our country examined some available earthquakes parks and parking issues must be considered in the earthquake planning were investigated.

Concentrations of Copper and Zinc in Benthic Invertebrates Collected from the Tigris River at Baghdad City

Abstract: The present study aims to assess the concentrations of Copper and Zinc in collected benthic invertebrates from Tigris River. Four stations were chosen on Tigris River along Baghdad City, the samples were collected every 60 days from November 2010 to September 2011. The benthic invertebrates which collected were: Bivalves: Corbiculla fluminalis , Gastropods: Melanopsis nodosa , Theodoxusis jordani and Physa gyrina, Oligocheates: aquatic worm, and dragon flies nymphs. The annual concentration of Cu in C. fluminalis soft tissue was 96.45 µg/g, while in the shell was 10.35µg/g. The Zn concentration in soft tissue was 201.7 µg/g, while in the shell was17.8 µg/g. In M. nodosa soft tissue had Cu concentration of 64.0µg/g, while the shell had 6.1µg/g. On other hand, Zn concentration in soft tissue was 297.5 µg/g, and in the shell was 21.1 µg/g., While in the T. jordani the concentration of Cu was 24.2 µg/g and the Zn concentration was 62.35 µg/g. Whereas in P. gyrina it found that the concentration of Cu was 32.4 µg/g, while the concentration of Zn was 76.2 µg/g. Aquatic worm had the concentration of Cu 127.0 µg/g and for Zn was 277.2 µg/g. The concentration of Cu and Zn were undetectable in Dragon flies nymphs that collected in spring and autumn. The benthic invertebrates, oligochaetes had the highest concentration of Cu, while M. nodosa had the highest Zn among the collected benthos, while soft tissue of bivalve C. fluminalis had the highest concentration of Cu and Zn than gastropods except soft tissue of M. nodosa . Depend on the statistical analysis results the soft tissues of bivalves and gastropods had higher concentrations of Cu and Zn than the concentration in the shell. In general, the Zn concentrations in all collected organisms were higher than Cu concentrations.

The Chorology of Genus Laurocerasus Duhamel (Rosaceae) in East Black Sea Region-Turkey

Abstract: This study was carried out between 2009-2011. The aim of the study was to determine Laurocerasus Duhamel genus grown in East Black Sea Region. With these ecological and chorological studies on Cherry laurel belonging to Laurocerasus Duhamel genus grown in East Black Sea Region was determined. In this study Cherry laurel, with local names as “ yabani, ince, kiraz, gec, vavul, yurek, karpuz, siyah, findik, beyaz, sivri ” which grown in East Black Sea Region have been used. According to our study 10 taxa of local culture and one original natural-wild was observed and first time the Laurocerasus officinalis Roemer c.v. “beyaz karayemis” was determined in Turkey. With this study, chorology of determined taxa in Turkey has been shown by the grid square system.

Cave Ecosystems of Turkey and Northern Cyprus: A Hidden World for Bats

Abstract: Cave ecosystems along with particularly its unique and fragile biota are very sensitive to degradation and destructions caused by humans. Bats are one of the considerable component of the cave biota and classified as trogloxenes. Most of the bat species mainly prefers karstic caves for forming clusters. Thirty-nine and 22 bat species are distributed in Turkey and Cyprus, respectively. Egyptian fruit bat, Greater and lesser mouse-eared bats, bent-winged bat, Kuhl’s pipistrelle and Greater horseshoe bat are the most abundant species encountered in the field trips. Two major periods are mostly important for bat life cycle; gestation along with lactating periods that formed in spring and summer months and hibernation period in winter months. Besides, many invertebrate species adapted to living in the permanent darkness are also detected from various caves in this study. Major threats to both caves and cave biota in Turkey and North Cyprus are recorded as; use of cave enterances as animal shelters, wastewater drainage and dump, marble quarrying, inappropriate guano mining, cave tourism, cure for illness, dam construction and mushroom cultivation. Studies were initiated for the conservation of caves in both countries.

Assessment of Heavy Metals Bioavailability in Stream Sediments around A Gold Mining Environment in South-western Nigeria

Abstract: In order to estimate environmental effects and the associated health risk of some of the metals determined in stream sediment samples in the mining area, the abundance of fractions of some of these metals: Cd, Pb, Fe, Cr and Cu that are bioavailable were determined using the modified Tessier extraction scheme. X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) was used in determining the total concentration of metals in sediments while metals concentrations in extracted fractions were determined with the use of atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Results obtained revealed different metals to be partitioned in different percentages in the fractions. The bulk of the metals were retained in the residual fraction for metals like Pb, Cd, Cr and Fe while only Cu has a greater percentage of the metal retained in the fraction bound to organic matter and sulphide and this is due to the affinity of the metal to organic compounds reacting to form stable complexes. Partitioning of the metals in the labile fractions is a measure of their bioavailability in sediments to benthic organisms.

Characterization of Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria from Limestone Quarry in Cirebon Indonesia

Abstract: Limestone quarry has low available P for plant on land revegetation process. Therefore, phosphate-solubilising bacteria could be a solution to dissolve phosphate in limestone in order to add phosphate availability. The research was aimed to characterize and identify the phosphate-solubilising bacteria adapted in limestone quarry. Isolation was performed using Pikovskaya medium which obtained four isolates bacteria had halo-zone around the colony. The ability to dissolve phosphate was examined using five soil samples from different region of limestone quarry. The result showed index of P solubility between 1.63 to 3.42. Identification bacterial isolates by using 16S rRNA gene showed that the isolates have similarity with Pseudomonas mosselii QC5A.1, Pseudomonas mosselii QC5B.1, Pantoea ananatis QC5C.1, and Pseudomonas oryzihabitans QC5B.3.

Comparative study for production and charcterization of D-Xylanase produced from locally isolate Aspergillus niger by submerged and solid state fermentation

Abstract: Xylanase was pooled from Aspergillus niger that was cultivated on czepak dox with addition rice husk. Condition affecting xylanase production were assessed these included p H, temperature of cultivation, carbon source, nitrogen source, incubation period, and inoculums size for both types of culture. Results obtained were as follow ion exchange DEAD-Cellulose specific activity from solid state fermentation (І, ІІ) were (902.43,3666.6 U/mg), with yield (0.602,0.212%) and No. of fold (1.24,5.034). The specific activity from submerged fermentation ( P 1, P2) were (1861.76,910 U/mg), with yield (1.033, 0.531%) and No. of fold (5.570, 2.790). the optimum and stability p H for enzyme activity type (ІІ) produced by solid state fermentation (7.0 and 7.0) respectively. the optimum and stability temperature for enzyme type (ІІ) produced by solid state fermentation 50°C and 70 °C respectively. and the optimum and stability p H for enzyme activity type (P1) produced by submerged (7.0 and 7.0) respectively. the optimum and stability temperature for enzyme activity type (P1) produced by submerged fermentation 30 and 60 °C respectively.

Assessment of Water Quality Index of Durresi-Kavaja Basin, Albania

Abstract: Water Quality Index was applied to assess suitability of groundwater quality for drinking purposes in Durresi-Kavaja Basin, Rrogozhina Aquifer, Albania. The availability of good quality water is a necessary feature for preventing diseases and improving quality of life. Durresi-Kavaja Region experienced recently a rapid urbanization that was accompanied by the enormous increase for drinking water demand which could be provided by further using groundwater. Thirty nine water samples were collected from Mars to June 2015, to assess groundwater quality of Durresi-Kavaja Basin. Eleven chemical parameters have been considered for calculating the WQI like: pH, general hardness (GH), calcium, magnesium, alkaline cations, iron, bicarbonate, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, and total dissolved solids (TDS). The computed WQI shows that 23% of water sample falls in excellent category, 72% in good water category and 5% poor water category. Water from Durresi-Kavaja Basin is mostly suitable for drinking purposes up to depth 400-500m, but further action for salinity control is required.

The influence of Geological Field Structure on Water Quality in the Selected Source of the Ljubija Area, B&H

Abstract: Underground waters have very important role as sources for settlements' water supply. Pollution of underground waters from one side depends on the environment's burden with pollutants substances of anthropogenic origin, and from the other side, on physical-geographic conditions, of which geologic factors have the greatest role. Geological field structure, besides, affects determining of conditions on underground water's forming, as well as its chemical composition. In this work, the influence of geological structure was presented on the quality of underground waters in the area of Ljubija, the specific large deposits of iron ore. During researches for this paper's needs, analyses were carried out of the general physical-chemical parameters of underground waters' quality.

Calibration of Hydraulic Model for Buna River

Abstract: River flooding is one of the most frequent natural hazards in Albania. The area which is more vulnerable from river flooding is the area located in the county of Shkodra, in the northern part. This area has been significantly affected from flooding of Buna River in the recent years. Buna River, with a total length of around 44 km, collects the water from an important water system in Albania, composed of Shkodra Lake and Drini River, for which a flood model has been set-up using the HEC-RAS hydraulic software, based on the digital terrain model in WGS-84 coordinate system developed from the topographic survey made from both countries Albania and Montenegro. The hydraulic model built for Buna River have been calibrated using the trial and error method, reducing the difference between computed and observed water levels, by manually changing hydraulic roughness coefficients, M anning’s “ n” values for the main channel and the overbank area. Model performance during the calibration phase it is evaluated through both qualitative and quantitative measures, including both graphical comparisons of calculated and measured water levels and statistical tests. For the Buna River, the water levels modelled by HEC-RAS are in fairly good agreement with the observed data from online station . The values of the model error chosen to evaluate the performance of the hydraulic model after calibration process for low-flow and high- flow are quite satisfactory.

Characterization of Crude Oil from Various oilfields in Albania through the Instrumental Analysis

Abstract: The characterization of the crude oils is depended on the evaluation of chemical and physical properties of pure oil by-products. Characteristics of crude oil are very important in the designing and operation of the almost every equipment in the refining petroleum industry. A petroleum fluid is defined by its thermodynamic and volumetric properties as well as by its physicochemical properties. Their behavior is modeled from experimental data in order to properly simulate the processing of these fluids during their industrial production. To achieve optimal crude selection and processing decisions is very important to have information refer to crude oil quality. This includes: the characteristics of crude oil fractions, density, the octane number, sulfur content, viscosity, etc . The aim of this study was quality evaluation of some specific crude oils extracted in Albania, by the classification range of obtained fractions during the crude oil distillation. It was indicated from our experiments that main physical properties of crude oils has been found in a close range, except the water content which has shown a fluctuation for different oilfields included in our study.

Using Beautiful Flowering Bulbous (Geophytes) Plants in the Cemetery Gardens in the City of Tokat

Abstract: The importance of public green areas in urban environment, which is a sign of living standards and civilization, increase steadily. Because of the green areas they exhibit and their spiritual atmosphere, graveyards have importance. With increasing urbanization come the important duties of municipalities to arrange and maintain cemeteries. In recent years, organizations independent from municipalities have become interested in cemetery paysage. This situation has made cemetery paysage an important sector. The bulbous plants have a distinctive role in terms of cemetery paysage because of their nice odours, decorative flowers and the ease of maintenance. The field under study is the city of Tokat which is an old city in Turkey. This study has been carried out in various cemeteries in Tokat, namely, the Cemetery of Seyhi-Sirvani, the Cemetery of Erenler, the Cemetery of Geyras, the Cemetery of Ali, and the Armenian Cemetery. Field observation have been carried out in terms of the leafing and flowering times of bulbous plants. At the end of the study, in designated regions in the before-mentioned cemeteries bulbous plants that naturally grow in these regions have been evaluated. In the urban cemeteries, these flowers are used the most: tulip, irises, hyacinth, daffodil and day lily (in decreasing order of use). Various suggestions have been put forward in order to develop the cemetery paysage in the city of Tokat.

Enterotoxemia in Albanian Zoo-Park Llama (Lama glama): Clostridium perfringens-type C was the Causative Agent

Abstract: Clostridium perfringens causes enteric diseases in mammals, usually called enterotoxemia. C. perfringens was isolated from ileum and jejunum of dead llamas in one of zoo-parks in Tirana. Diagnosis of the disease was based on clinical sings, pathologically and also in isolation of the causes. Isolates colonies in agar blood were like dewdrops, smooth, gray, shiny and convex. In microscopic preparations colored and prepared with Gram technique were visible small bacillus, in sticks shape and Gram positive. Biochemical identification with API 20A kit valued isolates catalase and lecithinase positive, with hemolytic activity in agarblood from sheep with a dual zone of hemolysis. Isolates fermented producing gas and acid toward glucose, fructose lactose, sucrose and mannitol. Biological test of neutralization in white mice with antitoxins α and β, determined type C of C. perfringens as cause of llamas death, a result that was confirmed by ELISA kit. Besides treatment with drugs for pre-protection of llamas was used bivalent killed vaccine with types C and D of Clostridium perfringens .

The Assessment of Pollution in Zeza River Water through Microbiological Parameters

Abstract: The environment pollution is the main problem in Albania and for Zeza River water as well . Zeza River flows through the Fushe - Kruja town and joins the Gjola River near Koder – Thumane and together go to Ishmi River (Saraci. R 2002). During September 2014- September 2015 the river has been monitored periodically in two stations. 1: Before Zeza River passes through the town of Fushe-Kruja (500-600m). 2: After the river passes the town. Stations of taking samples are presented by tables and graphics. It is made a specific and detailed study with the focus of microbiological monitoring, in order to evaluate the real conditions of water in Zeza River. There are assessed Faecal coliforms and Total coliforms, that are the most fundamental indicators for the fecal pollution by waste waters. It is made also the statistical elaboration of data and their presentation with graphics and tables. Samplings transport and water testing is done according to the rules of International Standards. Faecal coliforms are tested by plating methods and Total coliforms by MPN test. This research assesses the quality of water in Zeza River, based on the microbiological analysis. The maximal values of Total coliforms for the two station of Zeza River are taking during spring-summer 2015 and the maximal values of Faecal coliforms are taking during spring 2015. Zeza River water was grossly polluted by Total and Faecal coliforms organisms during 2014-2015. The discharge of industrial and urban wastes into the river and mismanagement of agricultural practices are causing high water pollution and river conservation is threatened.

Effects of lead contamination on nutrient contents of hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis L. c.v. "Blue Star").

Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of lead on nutrient contents of hyacinth ( Hyacinthus orientalis L. c.v. \" Blue Star \") in lead contaminated media. This research was conducted in a completely randomized experimental design with three replications in green house conditions. Four doses of lead as control, 20 mg kg -1 , 40 mg kg -1 , 80 mg kg -1 were applied to each pot having 500 g soil:sand mixture in 2:1 ratio. The irrigation was made by distillate water and hoagland solution was applied for fertilization. At the end of the experiment the highest Mg, Fe and Cu contents of hyacinth bulbs were obtained as 0.59 %, 36.00 mg kg -1 and 3.40 mg kg -1 in control while the highest K (9.72 %), Zn (32.27 mg kg -1 ) and Ca (2.69 %) were in 40 mg kg -1 and 80 mg kg -1 lead applications respectively. On the other hand the highest Mg (1.46 %) and Cu (13.75 mg kg -1 ) contents of hyacinth leaves were obtained in control. The highest K (2.41 %), Ca (4.82 %), Fe (129.86 mg kg -1 ) and Zn (50.14 mg kg -1 ) contents of leaves were obtained in lead contaminated media. Lead applications generally increased Fe and Zn contents and decreased of Cu content of hyacinth leaves.