Correction to: Evaluating recycling fertilizers for tomato cultivation in hydroponics,and their impact on greenhouse gas emissions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The average nutrient concentrations values presented in Table 1 on page 4 in the publication have the unit mg L?1 for the mineral nutrients Fe,...     

Institutional quality,financial development and sustainable economic growth among lower income countries

This article postulates strong endogenous relationships in lower income countries between institutional quality, financial development and sustained economic growth. These associations were investigated using the vector-error correction model (VECM) and Granger causality method for a sample of 79 countries from 2005 to 2022. The findings show that (1) these variables reinforce each other in the short run. (2) In the long run, both institutional quality and financial development can fuel economic growth. (3) The positive effect of institutional quality on economic growth is greater than that of financial development. Policy implications of these findings are that careful attention should be paid to co-development policies to enhance the institutional quality and the financial system in these economies. Policies should also consider economic growth strategies to enable sustainable economic growth rates.     

Characterization of the incipient smoke point for steam-/air-assisted and nonassisted flares

Flares are important safety devices for pressure relief; at the same time, flares are a significant point source for soot and highly reactive volatile organic compounds (HRVOCs). Currently, simple guidelines for flare operations to maintain high combustion efficiency (CE) remain elusive. This paper fills the gap by investigating the characteristics of the incipient smoke point (ISP), which is widely recognized as the condition for good combustion. This study characterizes the ISP in terms of 100–% combustion inefficiency (CE), percent opacity, absorbance, air assist, steam assist, air equivalence ratio, steam equivalence ratio, exit velocity, vent gas net heating value, and combustion zone net heating value. Flame lengths were calculated for buoyant and momentum-dominated plumes under calm and windy conditions at stable and neutral atmosphere. Opacity was calculated using the Beer–Lambert law based on soot concentration, flame diameter, and mass-specific extinction cross section of soot. The calculated opacity and absorbance were found to be lognormally distributed. Linear relations were established for soot yield versus absorptivity with R² > 0.99 and power-law relations for opacity versus soot emission rate with R² ≥ 0.97 for steam-assisted, air-assisted, and nonassisted flares. The characterized steam/air assists, combustion zone/vent gas heating values, exit velocity, steam, and air equivalence ratios for the incipient smoke point will serve as a useful guideline for efficient flare operations.

Implications: A Recent EPA rule requires an evaluation of visible emissions in terms of opacity in compliance with the standards. In this paper, visible emissions such as soot particles are characterized in terms of opacity at ISP. Since ISP is widely recognized as most efficient flare operation for high combustion efficiency (CE)/destruction efficiency (DE) with initial soot particles formed in the flame, this characterization provides a useful guideline for flare operators in the refinery, oil and gas, and chemical industries to sustain smokeless and high combustion efficiency flaring in compliance with recent EPA regulations, in addition to protecting the environment.     

Effects of intercropping with floricultural accumulator plants on cadmium accumulation in grapevine

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) intercropping with floricultural cadmium (Cd) accumulator plants (Helianthus annuus L., Cosmos sulphureus Cav., Cosmos...     

Effects of T-2 toxin on histopathology,fatty acid and water distribution of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) muscle

T-2 toxin (T-2), one of the naturally occurring mycotoxins, often accumulates in aquatic animals from contaminated feed. Shrimp (n?=?30 per group) were fed with different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.5, 4.5 and 13.5?mg kg^?1) of T-2 for 20?days. Changes in histopathology, fatty acid and water distribution of shrimp muscle were analyzed. Histopathology of shrimp muscle showed dose-dependent marked degenerative and necrotic changes on exposure to dietary T-2. The T-2 significantly (P?<?0.05) affected the muscle fatty acid composition. ∑SFA, ∑MUFA and ∑PUFA initially decreased and then increased slowly in the high-dosed groups. C16:0, C18:1n-9 and C18:2n-6 were the main saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), respectively. Also, T-2 significantly affected water distribution in shrimp muscle. High doses of T-2 reduced free water content, resulting in a reduction in the water holding capacity and hence changes to the shrimp muscle quality. Collectively, these results illustrated that T-2 significantly affects the fatty acid and water distribution, and also muscle histopathology, all of which would result in a reduction in the quality and nutritional value of shrimp.     

Synthesis of branched allylic sulfones by regioselective boron-catalysed hydrosulfonylation

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Branched allylic sulfones are scaffolds widely distributed in bioactive molecules and organic functional materials. The synthesis of allylic sulfones has been...     

Biohythane production from pineapple peel using Methanosarcina mazei enhanced with palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge in single-stage anaerobic digestion

Biohythane production via single-stage anaerobic digestion (AD) is an effective way for sustainable energy recovery from lignocellulosic biomass. In this paper, biohythane was produced through the AD process from pineapple peel waste substrate using purely cultured Methanosarcina mazei with the enhancement of palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge as the inoculum. This study focuses on the effects of the lignocellulosic pre-treatment method, the addition of POME sludge into M. mazei culture medium as inoculum, and various operational conditions (food to microorganisms (F/M) ratios, temperature, pH) on gas production performances. The experimental results indicate that these parameters influenced the efficiency of biohythane production by producing the peak maximum biohythane production rate values (HPR_max) and (MPR_max), H₂:CH₄ = 1.93:0.67 L/L-d, and biohythane yield (HY) and (MY), H₂:CH₄ = 1.18:0.55 mL/L-substrate. This study demonstrates that biohythane gas (H₂ + CH₄ + CO₂) production from pineapple waste can be accelerated by M. mazei only with the enhancement of POME sludge through single-stage AD system under mesophilic batch process conditions.     

Effects of exogenous acylated homoserine lactones on biofilms in biofilters for gaseous toluene treatment

● Biofilm formation was enhanced by exogenous AHLs. ● EPS production and microbial adhesive strength of biofilm were promoted. ● Exogenous AHLs improved the performance of biofilters treating toluene. Biofilters are typical biofilm reactors, and they usually have poor biofilm formation resulting in limited reactor performance. Exogenous acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs) can enhance biofilm formation in many bioreactors based on quorum sensing regulation. However, their effect on biofilm in biofilters utilized for volatile organic compound (VOC) removal is unknown and needs to be investigated. In this study, the effects of the exogenous AHLs on biofilters for gaseous toluene removal were investigated. Analysis of biofilms in biofilters showed that the addition of exogenous AHLs considerably enhanced biofilm growth; the average biofilm concentration increased by 18%. Furthermore, the average biofilm coverage proportions in biofilters with and without exogenous AHLs were 17 % and 13 %, respectively, demonstrating the positive effect of exogenous AHLs on biofilm coverage. In particular, exogenous AHLs promoted the production of extracellular polymeric substances and the microbial adhesive strength of the biofilm. In addition, the exogenous AHLs showed no significant effect on the gaseous toluene removal efficiency of the biofilter. These results show that exogenous AHLs can enhance biofilm formation and can guide the application of exogenous AHLs in VOC biofilters.     

Towards saving freshwater: halophytes as unconventional feedstuffs in livestock feed: a review

Water represents 71% of all earth area and about 97% of this water is salty water. So, only 3% of the overall world water quantity is freshwater. Human can benefit only from 1% of this water and the remaining 2% freeze at both poles of earth. Therefore, it is important to preserve the freshwater through increasing the plants consuming salty water. The future prosperity of feed resources in arid and semi-arid countries depends on economic use of alternative resources that have been marginalized for long periods of time, such as halophytic plants, which are one such potential future resource. Halophyte plants can grow in high salinity water and soil and to some extent during drought. The growth of these plants depends on the contact of the salted water with plant roots as in semi-desert saline water, mangrove swamps, marshes, and seashores. Halophyte plants need high levels of sodium chloride in the soil water for growth, and the soil water must also contain high levels of salts, as sodium hydroxide or magnesium sulfate. There are many uses for halophyte plants, including feed for animals, vegetables, drugs, sand dune stabilizers, wind shelter, soil cover, wetland cultivation, laundry detergents, and paper production. This paper will focus on the use of halophytes as a feed additive for animals. In spite of the good nutritional value of halophytes, some anti-nutritional factors as nitrates, nitrite complexes, tannins, glycosides, phenolic compounds, saponins, oxalates, and alkaloids may be present in some of them. The presence of such anti-nutritional agents makes halophytes unpalatable to animals, which tends to reduce feed intake and nutrient use. Therefore, the negative effects of these plants on animal performance are the only objection against using halophytes in animal feed diets. This review article highlights the beneficial impact of considering halophytes in animal feeding on saving freshwater and illustrates its nutritive value for livestock from different aspects.     

Are older drivers’ driving patterns during an on-road driving task representative of their real-world driving patterns?

Abstract

Objective: The current study investigated whether older drivers’ driving patterns during a customized on-road driving task were representative of their real-world driving patterns.

Methods: Two hundred and eight participants (male: 68.80%; mean age?=?81.52 years, SD?=?3.37 years, range?=?76.00–96.00 years) completed a customized on-road driving task that commenced from their home and was conducted in their own vehicle. Participants’ real-world driving patterns for the preceding 4-month period were also collected via an in-car recording device (ICRD) that was installed in each participant’s vehicle.

Results: During the 4-month period prior to completing the on-road driving task, participants’ median real-world driving trip distance was 2.66?km (interquartile range [IQR]?=?1.14–5.79?km) and their median on-road driving task trip distance was 4.41?km (IQR?=?2.83–6.35?km). Most participants’ on-road driving task trip distances were classified as representative of their real-world driving trip distances (95.2%, n?=?198).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that most older drivers were able to devise a driving route that was representative of their real-world driving trip distance. Future research will examine whether additional aspects of the on-road driving task (e.g., average speed, proportion of trips in different speed zones) are representative of participants’ real-world driving patterns.