Current trends in diagnosis and treatment strategies of COVID-19 infection

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Coronaviruses are terrifically precise and adapted towards specialized respiratory epithelial cells, observed in organ culture and human volunteers...     

Association between air pollution and COVID-19 infection: evidence from data at national and municipal levels

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The impact of high concentrations of air pollution on COVID-19 has been a major air quality and life safety issue in recent studies. This study aimed...     

Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19: therapeutic promises,current status,and environmental implications

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The outbreak of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has affected the entire world with its infectious spread and...     

The impact of carbon pricing,climate financing,and financial literacy on COVID-19 cases: go-for-green healthcare policies

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Climate finance and carbon pricing are regarded as sustainable policy mechanisms for mitigating negative environmental externalities via the...     

Foliar uptake of arsenic nanoparticles by spinach: an assessment of physiological and human health risk implications

Atmospheric contamination by heavy metal(loid)–enriched particulate matter (metal-PM) is highly topical these days because of its high persistence, toxic nature, and health risks. Globally, foliar uptake of metal(loid)s occurs for vegetables/crops grown in the vicinity of industrial or urban areas with a metal-PM-contaminated atmosphere. The current study evaluated the foliar uptake of arsenic (As), accumulation of As in different plant organs, its toxicity (in terms of ROS generation, chlorophyll degradation, and lipid peroxidation), and its defensive mechanism (antioxidant enzymes) in spinach (Spinacia oleracea) after foliar application of As in the form of nanoparticles (As-NPs). The As-NPs were prepared using a chemical method. Results indicate that spinach can absorb As via foliar pathways (0.50 to 0.73 mg/kg in leaves) and can translocate it towards root tissues (0.35 to 0.68 mg/kg). However, health risk assessment parameters showed that the As level in the edible parts of spinach was below the critical limit (hazard quotient <?1). Despite low tissue level, As-NP exposure caused phytotoxicity in terms of a decrease in plant dry biomass (up to 84%) and pigment contents (up to 38%). Furthermore, several-fold higher activities of antioxidant enzymes were observed under metal stress than control. However, no significant variation was observed in the level of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), which can be its possible transformation to other forms of reactive oxygen species (ROS). It is proposed that As can be absorbed by spinach via foliar pathway and then disturbs the plant metabolism. Therefore, air quality needs to be considered and monitored continuously for the human health risk assessment and quality of vegetables cultivated on polluted soils (roadside and industrial vicinity).

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Association between population density and infection rate suggests the importance of social distancing and travel restriction in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Currently, 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the environmental factors that affect the spread of the disease COVID-19...     

Knowledge graph analysis and visualization of AI technology applied in COVID-19

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - With the global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) all over the world, artificial intelligence (AI) technology is widely used in COVID-19 and...     

Economic and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Asia

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The world is facing a COVID-19 pandemic outbreak with an unprecedented and enormous impact on the lives of humankind. The economic engine has suffered...     

Macroeconomic lockdown effects of COVID-19 on small business in China: empirical insights from SEM technique

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the China has exposed small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to a variety of challenges, some of which are potentially life-threatening to their sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the macroeconomic lockdown effects of COVID-19 on small business in China. A survey questionnaire with 313 participants was used to collect the data. In this study, the SEM technique was used to analyse model. The data have been gathered for the study from the managers and employees of Chinese SMEs. The findings of the study show that COVID-19 has a significant negative impact on financial performance, operational performance, profitability, access to finance, and customer satisfaction. According to the study's findings, external support aids have a greater impact on SMEs' ability to survive and thrive through innovation than on their actual performance. The findings of this study have a number of important practical consequences for small- and medium-sized business owners, governments, and policymakers.

     

Spatial and temporal analysis of the COVID-19 incidence pattern in Iran

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the present paper, province-level variations of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease incidence across Iran were investigated. To this end, a...     

Deciphering epigenetic(s) role in modulating susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19 infection and/or outcome: a systematic rapid review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - COVID-19 pandemic waves hitting worldwide result in drastic postinfection complications with interindividual variations, which raised the question for...     

Role of knowledge,behavior, norms,and e-guidelines in controlling the spread of COVID-19: evidence from Pakistan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The COVID-19 pandemic is straining public health systems and the global economy, triggering unprecedented measures by governments around the globe....     

Control of ammonia and urea emissions from urea manufacturing facilities of Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), Kuwait

Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) in Kuwait has mitigated the pollution problem of ammonia and urea dust by replacing the melting and prilling units of finished-product urea prills with an environmentally friendly granulation process. PIC has financed a research project conducted by the Coastal and Air Pollution Program’s research staff at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to assess the impact of pollution control strategies implemented to maintain a healthy productive environment in and around the manufacturing premises. The project was completed in three phases: the first phase included the pollution monitoring of the melting and prilling units in full operation, the second phase covered the complete shutdown period where production was halted completely and granulation units were installed, and the last phase encompassed the current modified status with granulation units in full operation. There was substantial decrease in ammonia emissions, about 72%, and a 52.7% decrease in urea emissions with the present upgrading of old melting and prilling units to a state-of-the-art technology “granulation process” for a final finished product. The other pollutants, sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), have not shown any significant change, as the present modification has not affected the sources of these pollutants.

Implications: Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) in Kuwait has ammonia urea industries, and there were complaints about ammonia and urea dust pollution. PIC has resolved this problem by replacing “melting and prilling unit” of final product urea prills by more environmentally friendly “granulation unit.” Environmental Pollution and Climate Program has been assigned the duty of assessing the outcome of this change and how that influenced ammonia and urea dust emissions from the urea manufacturing plant.     

Response of atmospheric deposition and surface water chemistry to the COVID-19 lockdown in an alpine area

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on deposition and surface water chemistry were investigated in an area south of the Alps. Long-term data provided...     

唐山新冠肺炎防疫期间空气质量变化特征及污染成因分析

为研究唐山市新冠肺炎防疫期间环境空气质量变化特征以及形成重污染的成因,分析了2020年1月1日至2月29日的PM_(10)、PM_(2.5)、SO_2、NO、NO_2、CO、PM_(2.5)组分(有机碳(OC)、元素碳(EC)、重金属等)和气象数据。结果表明,防疫期间空气质量整体改善,相比正常生产期间除CO浓度均值未变化,其他参数均呈下降趋势,其中NO、NO_2浓度降幅最大,分别降低73%和41%,受车流量减少影响显著。防疫期间的2月9—13日出现1次连续5天的重污染过程,相比正常生产期间PM_(10)、PM_(2.5)和CO浓度分别增长了69%、104%和95%,Fe浓度增加57%,呈钢铁型污染特征;该时段相对湿度和风速分别为80.2%、0.7m/s,为高湿低风速气象条件,二次无机盐(SNA,包括NH_4~+、NO_3~-、SO_4~(2-))在PM_(2.5)中占比为64%,比正常生产期间高31%,此次污染过程受本地工业大气污染物排放累积以及二次生成共同影响。     

Consumer usage behavior of internet-based services (IBS) in Pakistan during COVID-19 crisis from the perspective of technology acceptance model

This study aims to explore the factors that affect consumers’ behavior in adaptation and use of internet-based services (IBS) during the COVID-19 crisis. In this study, technology acceptance model (TAM) was applied to predict the behavioral intention of active social media users among the Pakistan population based on the revised model of the TAM model. And the data of external factors facilitating conditions (FC), social impact (SI), and task technology fit (TTF) were collected from active social media users of Pakistan by using structured questionnaires. After performing Pearson’s correlation and linear regression on the collected data, findings have shown that the outcome variable, i.e., behavioral intention, exhibited significant correlation with all variables except for perceived ease of use (PEoU). Further analysis revealed mixed results wherein FC and TTF can make a significant influence on perceived usefulness (PU) and PEoU, respectively. In addition, PU can significantly affect attitude (ATT) towards the use of IBS while the use of IBS has been affected by behavioral INT during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Pakistan.

     

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on small-scale fishers (SSF) engaged in floodplain wetland fisheries: evidences from three states in India

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented human health crisis in recent global history with rippling social and economic effects. The outbreak...     

Mycotoxins of Aspergillus fumigatus in pure culture and in native bioaerosols from compost facilities

Exposure to secondary metabolites of airborne fungi in waste handling facilities is discussed in regard to potential toxic impacts on human health. The relevance of mycotoxins has been intensely studied in connection with contamination of food and feed. Toxic secondary metabolites are expected to be present in airborne spores, but exposure to mycotoxins in bioaerosols has not been studied sufficiently. Aspergillus fumigatus is one of the most frequent species in the air of compost plants. A wide range of secondary metabolites was found in pure cultures of freshly isolated strains of A. fumigatus. Tryptoquivaline, a compound with tremorgenic properties, and trypacidin, for which no toxic properties are described, were found in native bioaerosols in a compost facility. The highly toxic metabolites gliotoxin and verruculogen were not found in the bioaerosols.     

Impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals and effective approaches to maneuver them in the post-pandemic environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the pursuit of constructing a sustainable world for all through the instrumental seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, the COVID-19 pandemic...