Global trends and characteristics of vermicompost research over the past 24 years

This study aims to investigate a practical bibliometric analysis and discuss its trends to evaluate the global scientific production of vermicompost research from 1993 to 2017 and explain its several advantages to our environment and waste management. The data were from the database of the Science Citation Index (SCI) published by the ISI Web of Science and illustrated by Excel and VOS viewer. According to the 2174 publications, this article was conducted based on four significant aspects, including publications growth trends, countries/territories, categories and journals, and keywords co-occurrence network analysis. This study revealed remarkable positive growth trends of the research and the number of articles related to vermicompost over the last 24 years with more countries participating in this field. Although the USA has the most collaboration with other countries, developing countries such as India, which was the most productive one, made significant progress in sharing articles within the study period. Based on analyses of dominant categories, the most common subject category was Environmental Science, and the most productive journal was Bioresource Technology. Finally, we analyzed author keywords to the extracted research article emphasis. The results showed that mainstream research claim vermicomposting with the help of Eisenia fetida earthworms which converts several wastes such as sewage sludge to a soil improvement fertilizer. It is an essential approach to eliminate heavy metals from the wastes and provide essential nutrients to improve the growth and yield of plants.

     

Rapid photodegradation and detection of zolpidem over β-SnWO4 and α-SnWO4 nanoparticles: optimization and mechanism

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We reported the tin (II) tungstate nanoparticles as the photocatalyst and sensor modifier that were synthesized via chemical precipitation reaction...     

Evaluation of the available strategies to control the emission of microplastics into the aquatic environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - No effective strategy has been found so far to control the emission of microplastics. The purpose of this article is to review the available control...     

Performance enhancement of a solar still using a V-groove solar air collector—experimental study with energy,exergy, enviroeconomic,and exergoeconomic analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper intended to evaluate the performance of a new design of solar still integrated with a V-groove solar air collector. In this system, an air...     

Ultrasensitive and selective 4-aminophenol chemical sensor development based on nickel oxide nanoparticles decorated carbon nanotube nanocomposites for green environment

Nickel oxide nanoparticles decorated carbon nanotube nanocomposites(Ni O·CNT NCs)were prepared in a basic medium by using facile wet-chemical routes. The optical,morphological, and structural properties of Ni O·CNT NCs were characterized using Fourier transformed infra-red(FT-IR), Ultra-violet visible(UV/Vis) spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM), X-ray energy dispersed spectroscopy(XEDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), and powder X-ray diffraction(XRD) methods. Selective4-aminophenol(4-AP) chemical sensor was developed by a flat glassy carbon electrode(GCE, surface area: 0.0316 cm~2) fabricated with a thin-layer of NCs. Electrochemical responses including higher sensitivity, large dynamic range(LDR), limit of detection(LOD), and long-term stability towards 4-AP were obtained using the fabricated chemical sensors. The calibration curve was found linear(R~2= 0.914) over a wide range of 4-AP concentration(0.1 nmol/L–0.1 mol/L). In perspective of slope(2 × 10~(-5)μA/μM), LOD and sensitivity were calculated as 15.0 ± 0.1 pM and ~ 6.33 × 10~(-4)μA/(μM·cm) respectively. The synthesized Ni O·CNT NCs using a wet-chemical method is a significant route for the development of ultrasensitive and selective phenolic sensor based on nano-materials for environmental toxic substances. It is suggested that a pioneer and selective development of 4-AP sensitive sensor using Ni O·CNT NCs by a facile and reliable current vs voltage(I–V)method for the major application of toxic agents in biological, green environmental, and health-care fields in near future.     

Sensitive and selective determination of phenylhydrazine in the presence of hydrazine at a ferrocene-modified carbon nanotube paste electrode

The determination of hydrazine derivatives is of special interest because they are toxic and widely used in industry, agriculture and explosives. Electrochemical analysis has become of growing importance in industrial process control, environmental monitoring, and different applications in medicine and biotechnology. In the present work, we used a carbon paste electrode modified by ferrocene and carbon nanotubes for simultaneous determination of phenylhydrazine and hydrazine. The modified electrode showed an excellent character for electrocatalytic oxidization of phenylhydrazine and hydrazine with a 310 mV separation of both peaks. Differential pulse voltammetric peak currents of phenylhydrazine and hydrazine increased linearly with their concentrations at the range of 0.85–700 and 16–800 μM, and the detection limits (3σ) were determined to be 0.6 and 14 μM, respectively. Here, we show that this electrode could be used as an electrochemical sensor for determination of phenylhydrazine and hydrazine in real samples (water and urine) with advantages such as short time of analysis, lack of pretreatment procedures and more cheaper in comparison with some routine analysis methods such as chromatography or spectroscopy. The modified electrode showed good reproducibility, remarkable long-term stability, and especially good surface renewability by simple mechanical polishing.     

Evaluation of exposure to the airborne asbestos in an asbestos cement sheet manufacturing industry in Iran

Iran imports nearly 55,000 tons of Chrysotile asbestos per year and asbestos cement (AC) plants contribute nearly 94% of the total national usage. In the present study, airborne asbestos concentrations during AC sheet manufacturing were measured. The fiber type and its chemical composition were also evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Airborne total fiber concentrations of 45 personal samples were analyzed by phase contrast microscopy. The results have highlighted that 15.5% of samples exceed the threshold limit value (TLV) established the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, which is 0.1 fiber per milliliter (f/ml). Personal monitoring of asbestos fiber levels indicated a ranged from 0.02?±?0.01 to 0.16?±?0.03 f/ml. The geometrical mean was 0.05?±?1.36 f/ml, which is considerably lower than the TLV. SEM data demonstrate that the fibrous particles consisted, approximately, of Chrysotile (55.89%) and amphiboles (44.11%). We conclude that the industrial consumption of imported Chrysotile asbestos is responsible for the high airborne amphibole asbestos levels in the AC sheet industry. More research is needed to improve characterization of occupational exposures by fiber size and concentration in a variety of industries.     

Safety Climate and Prediction of Ergonomic Behavior

One of the most important ways to prevent accidents is to consider safety climate or culture. Moreover, some studies suggest that behavior contributes to 86%-96% of all injuries. This cross-sectional study took place in an Iranian petrochemical company in 2010. Vinodkumar and Bhasi’s safety climate questionnaire and an ergonomic behavior sampling checklist were the data collection tools. Cronbach’s a for questionnaire reliability was .928. With reference to the results of a pilot study, a sample of 1755 was determined for behavior sampling. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to derive the coefficient of paths in the path model and the Anderson-Rabin method to calculate factor scores. The results showed that safety climate was an effective predictor of ergonomic behavior (p < .01). They also showed the importance of decreasing the number of workers with negative safety climate. Moreover, it is necessary to promote workers’ ergonomic behaviors in the workplace.     

Effects of Logged and Unlogged Forest Patches on Avifaunal Diversity

In the Hyrcanian forests of northern Iran, reduced-impact silviculture systems, (single-tree and group-tree selection) were applied over a large area, which generated different local habitat structures. The aim of this study was to assess the differences between treated and untreated areas of forest and their effect on avian richness, abundance and diversity (R.A.D). Birds were surveyed during the breeding season in 2009 by 100-point counts, equally distributed in the treated and untreated area. Avian R.A.D was significantly different and higher in the untreated area. Generally, forestry practices cause noticeable changes in canopy percentage, tree composition, snags and shrub number. Treated forest habitats in the area of study had a much more developed understory, fewer snags and fewer large diameter trees. The results highlighted the importance of forest maturity and showed that preventing silvicultural disturbances may not be the best solution for conserving and enhancing biodiversity. Rather, methods such as selective cutting seem an appropriate and sustainable way of forest management. It is suggested that forests should be managed to conserve structural elements which create favorable habitat for bird species, preventing future species losses due to logging practices.