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 effect of weather data on the spread of COVID-19 in Jordan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aims to analyze the correlation between the daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in Jordan and metrological parameters including the average...     

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...     

Bio-indicators in cadmium toxicity: Role of HSP27 and HSP70

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a family of proteins that are expressed by cells in reply to stressors. The changes in concentration of HSPs could be...     

Development and evaluation of air pollution–linked quality of life (AP-QOL) questionnaire: insight from two different cohorts

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, the air pollution–related quality of life (AP-QOL) questionnaire was carried out in two geographically and economically different...     

Does foreign direct investments impair the ecological footprint? New evidence from the panel quantile regression

This study examines the impact of foreign direct investments on ecological footprint along with other explanatory variables of 92 countries from the year 2001 to 2016. Here, we applied the panel quantile regression model to meet the purpose of our study as it considers unobserved country heterogeneity, unlike other statistical methods. The study reveals that foreign direct investment has a positive relationship with the ecological footprint in each quantile except one, which proves the constancy of the pollution haven hypothesis. Moreover, we also tried to detect the impact of economic growth, manufacturing value-added, the percentage of world exports, and institutional quality on the ecological footprint in this study. The findings of this study also reveal that economic growth and manufacturing value-added are negatively associated with the ecological footprint. With respect to the percentage of world exports and institutional quality, we found a positive relationship with the ecological footprint. From the result of our study, different policy implications have been proposed for host countries and foreign investors on improving the economy through foreign direct investment with minimal ecological footprint.

     

Developing a SINTACS-based method to map groundwater multi-pollutant vulnerability using evolutionary algorithms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, the modified SINTACS method, a rating-based groundwater vulnerability approach, was applied to data from the Campanian Plain, southern...     

Prevalence of Norovirus Infection in Children and Adults with Acute Gastroenteritis,Tehran, Iran, 2008–2009

Noroviruses are one of important agents that cause acute viral gastroenteritis worldwide. These viruses are belonging to Caliciviridae family and are genetically diverse. To date, there is no valuable data about prevalence of norovirus infection and the dominant genogroup/genotype among Iranian population. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of norovirus infection in Iranian patients with gastroenteritis referred to three hospitals of Tehran and to specify the dominant genogroup/genotype of this virus among our study population. A total of 293 patients with acute gastroenteritis were included in the study. Detection of norovirus was performed using RT-PCR method and confirmed by direct sequencing with specific designed primers for capsid region of norovirus genome. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using the neighbor-joining method. Norovirus strains identified in our study were subsequently categorized according to previously defined genogroup/genotypes. Of these, norovirus GII was dominant genogroup. Sixty-five percent (17 of 26) of positive samples were determined as GII and 35% (9 of 26) were determined as GI, respectively, in 2008–2009. And among 8 sequenced strains of genogroup II the most frequent genotype was GII.3. The results of this study indicated that norovirus must be considered as one of the infectious causes of acute gastroenteritis among Iranian population. We also found that GII.3 is more prevalent in our study population. To the best of our knowledge there is limited data about the role of noroviruses in children and adults’ acute gastroenteritis among Iranian patients and this prevalence and genotyping report of norovirus infection could be remarkable for further studies.     

Efficacy of two chemical coagulants and three different filtration media on removal of Aspergillus flavus from surface water

Aquatic fungi are common in various aqueous environments and play potentially crucial roles in nutrient and carbon cycling as well as interacting with other organisms. Species of Aspergillus are the most common fungi that occur in water. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the efficacy of two coagulants, aluminum sulfate and ferric chloride, used at different concentrations to treat drinking water, in removing Aspergillusflavus, as well as testing three different filtration media： sand, activated carbon, and ceramic granules, for their removal of fungi from water. The results revealed that both coagulants were effective in removing fungi and decreasing the turbidity of drinking water, and turbidity decreased with increasing coagulant concentration. Also, at the highest concentration of the coagulants, A. flavus was decreased by 99.6% in the treated water. Among ceramic granules, activated carbon, and sand used as media for water filtration, the sand and activated carbon filters were more effective in removing A.flavus than ceramic granules while simultaneously decreasing the turbidity levels in the test water samples. Post-treatment total organic carbon （TOC） and total nitrogen （TN） concentrations in the experimental water did not decrease; on the contrary, TN concentrations increased with the increasing dosage of coagulants. The filtration process had no effect in reducing TOC and TN in tested water.     

Bioaccumulation of trace elements in different tissues of three commonly available fish species regarding their gender,gonadosomatic index,and condition factor in a wetland ecosystem

In the present research, accumulation of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn were determined in sediments and fillet, liver, kidney, gonads, and gills of three commonly fish species in the largest wetland ecosystem that is located in southwest of Iran; Shadegan wetland. Shadegan is one of the most important wetland that posses various fauna and flora but suffers inputs from agricultural and industrial activities. So, sediment samples and fish species including Barbus grypus, Barbus sharpeyi, and Cyprinus carpio were collected during winter 2009. Results showed that mean concentrations of trace elements (except Ni and Co) were high in liver and gills of B. grypus. Also trace elements had the most accumulation in liver of B. sharpeyi except for Cd (0.26 mg kg^− 1 d.w.) and Mn (13.45 mg kg^− 1 d.w.) that were high in gills. Beside, kidney is determined as target tissue for Ni and V in B. grypus and for Pb in C. carpio, due to their high concentration. Zn levels in all tissues of C. carpio showed the highest concentrations in comparison to other fish species. Generally, accumulations of most of the studied elements in B. grypus and B. sharpeyi were higher in females than in males, while in fillet and gonads of C. carpio, this trend was inverted. Bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) were determined for different tissues of fish species with respect to elemental concentrations in sediment. BAFs results indicated that Zn, Pb, and Cu have higher BAF than other elements. Also this investigation demonstrated that trace elements have different affinities with condition factor of studied fish species. Gonadosomatic index (GSI) and Pb showed positive correlation together in both B. sharpeyi and B. grypus, respectively, in females and males. Moreover, females of C. carpio showed significantly positive relation of GSI and all studied elements.