Alternative amendment for soluble phosphorus removal from poultry litter

Background, aim, and scope  

Alum (aluminum sulfate) is the currently preferred chemical amendment for phosphorus (P) treatment in poultry litter (PL). Aluminum-based drinking-water treatment residuals (Al-WTRs) are the waste by-product of the drinking-water treatment process and have been effectively used to remove P from aqueous solutions, but their effectiveness in PL water extracts has not been studied in detail. Elevated cost associated with alum could be minimized by using the equally effective WTRs to remove soluble P from PL, and they can be obtained at a minimal cost from drinking-water treatment plants.     

Chitosan-polypropylene imine dendrimer hybrid: a new ecological biomordant for cochineal dyeing of wool

The classical use of synthetic dyes is causing issues of environmental pollution and heath risk. As a consequence natural dyes are gaining interest, but the use of natural dyes still includes toxic reagents such as metals as mordants and acids to enhance color and yield. Therefore, we designed a new chitosan-polypropylene imine dendrimer hybrid at 0–2000 mg/L to treat wool before dyeing with cochineal. We compared dye exhaustion, color depth, color characteristics, and color fastness of the new process with dyed pristine and metal mordanted wool. Results show that wool pretreatment improved dye exhaustion from 48 to 88 %, shifted saturation point toward lower dye concentration from 3000 to 1000 mg/L, and improved color depth from 13.68 for pristine wool and 15.17 for metal mordanted wool to 23.89 for the new process.     

International Environmental Agreements: Design of Optimal Transfers Under Heterogeneity

International environmental agreements (IEAs) can coordinate abatement of transboundary pollutants. This paper investigates how heterogeneous countries facing a stock pollutant might structure such an agreement. In particular, we examine how an IEA might be implemented with a set of monetary transfers. The focus is on transfers that are time invariant, linear in emissions, and consistent with budget balance. There is a range of such schemes that would induce efficient emissions. We provide a simple and intuitive characterization of these penalties and describe how specific proposals might be chosen in order to facilitate compliance and implementation. Our proposals are illustrated with a simple example. We show that heterogeneity reduces the scope for penalty schemes to jointly satisfy desirable properties.     

Markers of oxidative stress and toxicant exposure among young waterpipe smokers in the USA

Waterpipe (aka hookah) tobacco smokers are exposed to toxicants that can lead to oxidative DNA and RNA damage, a precursor to chronic disease formation. This study assessed toxicant exposure and biomarkers of DNA [8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG)] and RNA [8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoGuo)] oxidative damage during smoking of flavored and non-flavored waterpipe tobacco. Thirty waterpipe smokers completed two counterbalanced 2-h lab waterpipe smoking sessions (flavored vs. non-flavored waterpipe tobacco). Urinary concentrations of 8-oxodG and 8-oxoGuo and expired carbon monoxide (eCO) were measured before and after the smoking sessions. A significant increase in the urinary concentrations of 8-oxodG (from 2.12 ± 0.83 to 2.35 ± 0.91 ng/mg creatinine, p = 0.024) and 8-oxoGuo (from 2.96 ± 0.84 to 3.45 ± 0.76 ng/mg creatinine, p = 0.003) were observed after smoking the non-flavored and flavored waterpipe tobacco, respectively. Our results also showed that the mean ± SD of eCO increased significantly after smoking the flavored (from 1.3 ± 1.1 to 20.3 ± 23.6 ppm, p < 0.001) and non-flavored waterpipe tobacco (from 1.8 ± 1.2 to 24.5 ± 26.1 ppm, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the means of 8-oxodG (p = 0.576), 8-oxoGuo (p = 0.108), and eCO (p = 0.170) between the flavored and non-flavored tobacco sessions. Smoking non-flavored and flavored waterpipe tobacco leads to oxidative stress and toxicant exposure. Our findings add to the existing evidence about the adverse effects of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) and the need for strong policies to inform and protect young people from the risks of WTS.

     

Solar radiation prediction using boosted decision tree regression model: A case study in Malaysia

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Reliable and accurate prediction model capturing the changes in solar radiation is essential in the power generation and renewable carbon-free energy...     

The relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosures and financial performance: a mediating role of employee productivity

This study is trying to explore the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures and financial performances (FP) through mediating role of the employee productivity (EP). This study classifies the CSR performances into four contexts, for instance, environment social governance (ESG), environmental improvement activity scores of CSR, social welfare activity score, and governance structure improvement score. The banking performance is classified into three different aspects such as returns on assets (ROA), returns on equity (ROE), and nominal interest margin profit (NIMP). The study covers the data set start from 2008 to 2019 regarding thirty commercial banks of China. The study uses the linear, non-linear, and quadratic techniques to explore the association between CSR disclosures and banking performances. The linear model result shows that the governance score is significant influencing the banking performance. Moreover, the employee productivities are also positive significant affecting the baking performances. The non-linear results of model show that composite score of ESG with employee productivity has significant influence on financial performance.

     

Transcriptome analysis of Plantago major as a phytoremediator to identify some genes related to cypermethrin detoxification

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cypermethrin (CYP) is a toxic manmade chemical compound belonging to pyrethroid insecticides contaminating the environment. Plantago major (PM) has...     

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...     

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...     

Seasonal food insecurity in Bangladesh: evidences from northern areas

Seasonal food insecurity in Bangladesh is a multidimensional socioeconomic issue emanated from more than just access and availability of food. In general, it has been considered that the northern areas of Bangladesh, treated as monga-prone, is more vulnerable to seasonal food insecurity as compared to any other region of the country. The manifestation of monga is essentially food insecurity and consequent vulnerabilities. The paper investigates the seasonal food insecurity status, coping strategies along with its possible determinants linked to socioeconomic conditions of the affected households in Kurigram, one of the monga-prone districts of northern Bangladesh. A primary survey was conducted to explore the food insecurity status and diverse factors leading to food insecurity in terms of food consumption, livelihood and consequent family experiences in mitigating the severity of food insecurity during the monga (lean) period. The nature of household food insecurity seems to be an outcome of a variety of risk factors, as well as inability to manage those risks due to income and resource constraints. Moreover, a reduction in food intake during the monga period is one of the common scenarios in the study area. Marginal effects and elasticities after probit regression reveal that household’s income, share of per capita medical expenditure, safety net(s) involvement and the area of residence appear to be the leading factors affecting seasonal food insecurity during the monga period to a significant extent. Households with more medical expenditure (68 %), cultivable landholding (9 %) and households residing by the riverside (4 %) have a higher probability of food insecurity than their counterparts. On the contrary, relatively large size family (-16 %), higher income (-4 %) and safety net coverage (-19 %) have reduced the probability of food insecurity during the monga period. Finally, the paper concludes with some policy issues based on on-site observation and econometric analysis to overcome this transitory food insecurity in the monga-prone areas.