Nitrogen fertility and abiotic stresses management in cotton crop: a review

This review outlines nitrogen (N) responses in crop production and potential management decisions to ameliorate abiotic stresses for better crop production. N is a primary constituent of the nucleotides and proteins that are essential for life. Production and application of N fertilizers consume huge amounts of energy, and excess is detrimental to the environment. Therefore, increasing plant N use efficiency (NUE) is important for the development of sustainable agriculture. NUE has a key role in crop yield and can be enhanced by controlling loss of fertilizers by application of humic acid and natural polymers (hydrogels), having high water-holding capacity which can improve plant performance under field conditions. Abiotic stresses such as waterlogging, drought, heat, and salinity are the major limitations for successful crop production. Therefore, integrated management approaches such as addition of aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG), the film antitranspirant (di-1-p-menthene and pinolene) nutrients, hydrogels, and phytohormones may provide novel approaches to improve plant tolerance against abiotic stress-induced damage. Moreover, for plant breeders and molecular biologists, it is a challenge to develop cotton cultivars that can tolerate plant abiotic stresses while having high potential NUE for the future.     

Investigation on the effect of sintering temperature on kaolin hollow fibre membrane for dye filtration

Despite its extraordinary price, ceramic membrane can still be able to surpass polymeric membrane in the applications that require high temperature and pressure conditions, as well as harsh chemical environment. In order to alleviate the high cost of ceramic material that still becomes one of the major factors that contributes to the high production cost of ceramic membrane, various attempts have been made to use low cost ceramic materials as alternatives to well-known expensive ceramic materials such as alumina, silica, and zirconia in the fabrication of ceramic membrane. Thus, local Malaysian kaolin has been chosen as the ceramic material in this study for the preparation of kaolin hollow fibre membrane since it is inexpensive and naturally abundant in Malaysia. Due to the fact that the sintering process plays a prominent role in obtaining the desired morphology, properties, and performances of prepared ceramic membrane, the aim of this work was to study the effect of different sintering temperatures applied (ranging from 1200 to 1500 °C) in the preparation of kaolin hollow fibre membrane via dry/wet phase inversion-based spinning technique and sintering process. The morphology and properties of membrane were then characterised by SEM, AFM, FTIR, XRD, and three-point bending test, while the performances of membrane were investigated by conducting water permeation and Reactive Black 5 (RB5) dye rejection tests. From the experimental results obtained, the sintering temperature of 1400 °C could be selected as the optimum sintering temperature in preparing the kaolin hollow fibre membrane with the dense sponge-like structure of separation layer that resulted in the good mechanical strength of 70 MPa with the appreciable water permeation of 75 L/h m² bar and RB5 rejection of 68%.     

Characterization of titanium oxide optical band gap produced from leachate sludge treatment with titanium tetrachloride

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study investigated the coagulation performance of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) for leachate treatment and preparation of titanium oxide (TiO2)...     

The evolving trends of landfill leachate treatment research over the past 45 years

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Landfilling is one of the most prevalent waste management strategies on a global scale. However, one major drawback of landfills is the production of...     

Role of UPP pathway in amelioration of diabetes-associated complications

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the most widely spread metabolic disorder also called as “life style” disease. Due to the alarming number...     

Identification of structural breaks in the forest product markets: how sensitive are to changes in the Nordic region?

Forests play a fundamental role in the global carbon cycle and can be managed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and conserve or sequester carbon. Global policy and environmental changes can affect regional consumption of forest products, as well as inter-regional trade of forest goods and services. This study analyzes global and regional change impacts on the production, consumption and trade of forest products in two Nordic countries, Finland and Sweden. Annual data on removal and trade (1964–2012) for roundwood and sawnwood is used to identify structural breaks based on Chow tests. According to the analysis, the time period is divided into two periods: t1 (1964–1980) and t2 (1981–2012). In the first period, breaks occurred in 1975 and 1976 in the Finnish model and no break is found in the Swedish model. In the second period, we identify breaks in 1991 and 1992 for the Finnish model and in 2004, 2005 and 2006 for the Swedish model. Although our findings have broad empirical support, we do not identify any specific incident as a direct cause of the changes in the consumption and trade patterns of the two types of wood in these countries. The models and analysis presented here can serve as methodological tools for policymakers to better understand the effects of structural changes in the production of forest goods and services in the Nordic region and globally.     

Impact of climate change: an empirical investigation of Malaysian rice production

This paper examines the possible impact of climate change on Malaysian rice production. Using the Ricardian Method and farm household data, we have examined the effects on rice producers focusing on sharecropper adaptations and ecological causes. The principle goal of this research paper is to investigate the impact of climate variables such as temperature, rainfall and precipitation on rice production during main and off seasons, in Kedah, Malaysia. The main purpose of this paper is to examine how climate change affects the net income of paddy farmers in the study area. The statistically significant results show that temperature, rainfall, farm size, educational knowledge, land area and value of labour input have an impact on rice production per hectare revealing potential impacts of climate vulnerability on Malaysian agriculture. The results showed that net revenue increased by Ringgit Malaysia (RM 1= $0.3277) 4.78 per hectare throughout the main seasons as a result of minimal increase in the temperature while there is a decrease of RM 3.02 in the net revenue per hectare during off seasons. During the off season, rainfall increased revenue per hectare by RM 1.32 and during the main season it reduced revenue per hectare by RM 1.01. The evidence from this study may be useful for Malaysian policymakers to facilitate greater preventive measures during the main and off-seasons to counteract climate uncertainty and vulnerability.     

Biomonitoring of heavy metals in the feathers of House crow (Corvus splendens) from some metropolitans of Asia and Africa

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Urban-dwelling birds can be useful biomonitors to assess the impact of the urbanisation on both public and wildlife health. Widely distributed urban...     

The influence of arsenic speciation (AsIII & AsV) and concentration on the growth, uptake and translocation of arsenic in vegetable crops (silverbeet and amaranth): greenhouse study

We examined arsenic (As) uptake by vegetable crops (amaranth, Amaranthus gangeticus, and silverbeet, Beta vulgaris) as affected by As speciation (As^III and As^V) and their concentrations in nutrient solution. Amaranth and silverbeet were grown in a nutrient solution containing four levels of arsenate (As^V): 0, 1, 5, and 25 mg As/l and three levels of arsenite (As^III): 0, 5, 10 mg As/l. Both As^V and As^III are phytotoxic to these crops with the latter being five times more toxic. Amaranth treated with As^III exhibited As toxicity symptoms within 48 h of exposure and was close to death within 1 week. However, As^V treatment did not show clear toxicity symptoms other than wilting and yield reduction at the highest dose rate of 25 mg As^V/l. The main mechanism used by vegetable crops to tolerate As^V is probably avoidance—limiting As transport to shoots and increasing As accumulation in the root system. When As^V was added to the nutrient solution, the uptake of As in shoots increased and, at the highest dose (25 mg As^V/l), 60 μg As/g DW (3.6 mg/kg FW) accumulated in the edible portion, which exceeds the WHO recommended limit for food stuffs (2 mg/kg FW) as the water contents of the crops were 94%. It is therefore important to determine the nature of the As species and their bio-accessibility. Iron treatment with 0.5 mg NaFe(III)EDTA/l dose decreased silverbeet As uptake by 45% given its affinity to bind As at the root surface or root rhizosphere and so restrict As translocation to the shoots.