Source, distribution and emerging threat of micro- and nanoplastics to marine organism and human health : socio-economic impact and management strategies
- Authors: Mofijur, M. , Ahmed, Shams , Ashrafur Rahman, S. , Arafat Siddiki, Sk , Islam, A. , Shahabuddin, M. , Ong, Hwai , Mahlia, Teuku , Djavanroodi, Faramarz , Show, Pau
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Environmental Research Vol. 195, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The nature of micro- and nanoplastics and their harmful consequences has drawn significant attention in recent years in the context of environmental protection. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an overview of the existing literature related to this evolving subject, focusing on the documented human health and marine environment impacts of micro- and nanoplastics and including a discussion of the economic challenges and strategies to mitigate this waste problem. The study highlights the micro- and nanoplastics distribution across various trophic levels of the food web, and in different organs in infected animals which is possible due to their reduced size and their lightweight, multi-coloured and abundant features. Consequently, micro- and nanoplastics pose significant risks to marine organisms and human health in the form of cytotoxicity, acute reactions, and undesirable immune responses. They affect several sectors including aquaculture, agriculture, fisheries, transportation, industrial sectors, power generation, tourism, and local authorities causing considerable economic losses. This can be minimised by identifying key sources of environmental plastic contamination and educating the public, thus reducing the transfer of micro- and nanoplastics into the environment. Furthermore, the exploitation of the potential of microorganisms, particularly those from marine origins that can degrade plastics, could offer an enhanced and environmentally sound approach to mitigate micro- and nanoplastics pollution. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.
Minimization of pumping costs in water distribution systems using explicit and implicit pump scheduling
- Authors: Barton, Andrew , Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Nuamat, Alia Mari Al , Bagirov, Adil , Sultanova, Nargiz , Ahmed, Shams
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2012; Sydney, Australia; 19th-22nd November 2012; p. 1298-1305
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990908
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The operation of a water distribution system is a complex task which involves scheduling of pumps, regulating water levels of storages, and providing satisfactory water quality to customers at required flow and pressure. Pump scheduling is one of the most important tasks of the operation of a water distribution system as it represents the major part of its operating costs. In this paper, a novel approach for modeling of pump scheduling to minimize energy consumption by pumps is introduced which uses pump's start/end run times. We separate two types of pumps, one is operated based on the water level in a storage and another one is operated based on downstream pressure. For the first type of pumps both the explicit and implicit pump scheduling can be used, whereas the second type pumps can be optimized only using implicit pump scheduling. The problem is formulated as an optimization problem and an algorithm is developed for its solution. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using a literature test problem applying the hydraulic simulation model EPANet.