Review on Anti-cancer and Anti-microbial Applications of Curdlan Biomaterials

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Polysaccharides are polymers of natural origin that are formed by microorganisms, animals and plants. Polysaccharides play an important part in the...     

Public perceptions and attitudes to biological risks: Saudi Arabia and regional perspectives

Saudi Arabia has experienced frequent occurrences of biological disasters due to a wide range of generator factors, including natural disasters and epidemics. A national survey (n=1,164) was conducted across 13 regions of Saudi Arabia to examine public perceptions to the risk of a biological disaster. The primary results reveal: (a) a degree of knowledge about biological threats such as SARS and H5N1 flu, despite the lack of individual experience with disasters; (b) age, gender, education and faith are positively related to the perception of biological risk; and (c) a number of important community resilience factors exist, including faith, education and willingness. This study concludes that the development of adapted resilience strategies in disaster management can be achieved through public education and training involving cooperation with official organisations and religious authorities in the country to increase public awareness, knowledge and skills in mitigating biological threats.     

Potential of microalgae Bio-Coke as a sustainable solid fuel alternative to coal coke

Energy and environmental issues have triggered the search for new sources of green energy alternatives in recent years. Biofuel production from renewable sources is widely considered one of the most sustainable alternatives for environmental and economic sustainability. Microalgae are currently being promoted as one of the most promising liquid biofuel feedstocks due to their rapid growth, high lipid production capacity, and carbon–neutral cycle. In this study, whole microalgae cells were utilized as raw material to produce solid biofuel, i.e., Bio-Coke, and this study aimed to investigate the possibility of microalgae Bio-Coke as an alternative to coal coke. The results show that Bio-Coke can be produced from microalgae in the temperature range of 80–100 °C. The apparent density is between 1.253 and 1.261 g/cm³, comparable to the apparent density of lignocellulosic Bio-Coke. Additionally, the calorific value is higher than the calorific value of lignocellulosic Bio-Coke and within the range of the calorific value of subbituminous coal. Therefore, microalgae Bio-Coke can be utilized to replace coal coke usage in the future.

     

Piezocatalytic removal of water bacteria and organic compounds: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - In the context of climate change, freshwater shrinkage and industrialization, human diseases are increasing due to water pollution by toxic chemicals and...     

Assessment of cytotoxicity and toxicity for phosphonium-based deep eutectic solvents

In this work, the cytotoxicity and toxicity of phosphonium-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) with three hydrogen bond donors, namely glycerine, ethylene glycol, and triethylene glycol were investigated. The cytotoxicity effect was tested using brine shrimp (Artemia salina). The toxicity was investigated using the two Gram positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, and two Gram negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The cytotoxicity of tested DESs was much higher than that of their individual components, indicating their toxicological behavior was different. It was also found that there was toxic effect on the studied bacteria, indicating their potential application as anti-bacterial agents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the cytotoxicity and toxicity of phosphonium-based DESs were studied.     

The implementation of data reconciliation for evaluating a full-scale petrochemical wastewater treatment plant

Data reconciliation and mass balance analysis were conducted for the first time to improve the data obtained from a petrochemical wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and the results were applied to evaluate the performance of the plant. Daily average values for 209 days from the inlet and outlet of the plant obtained from WWTP documentation center along with the results of four sampling runs in this work were used for data reconciliation and performance evaluation of the plant. Results showed that standard deviation and relative errors in the balanced data of each measurement decreased, especially for the process wastewater from 24.5 to 8.6 % for flow and 24.5 to 1.5 % for chemical oxygen demand (COD). The errors of measured data were −137 m³/day (−4.41 %) and 281 kg/day (7.92 %) for flow and COD, respectively. According to the balanced data, the removal rates of COD and 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD₅) through the aeration unit were equal to 37 and 46 %, respectively. In addition, the COD and BOD₅ concentrations were reduced by about 61.9 % (2137 kg/day) and 78.1 % (1976 kg/day), respectively, prior to the biological process. At the same time, the removal rates of benzene, toluene, and styrene were 56, 38, and 69 %, respectively. The results revealed that about 40 % of influent benzene (75.5 kg/day) is emitted to the ambient air at the overhead of the equalization basin. It can be concluded that the volatilization of organic compounds is the basic mechanism for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and it corresponds to the main part of total COD removal from the WWTP.

     

The influence of processing and clarifier agents on the concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in pekmez (a grape molasses-like syrup)

The changes in some potentially toxic elements (PTEs) including lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) during pekmez (grape molasses-like syrup) processing and the utilization of various types of clarifiers (white soil, bentonite, and gelatin) in two levels (1.5 and 3% w/w) were analyzed. The average concentrations of Pb, Cd, As, Fe, Zn, and Cu in grape samples were measured as 0.055?±?0.005, 0.030?±?0.002, 0.044?±?0.002, 2.882?±?0.013, 2.372?±?0.088, and 1.194?±?0.01 μg g^?1. During pekmez production, the range of changes in Pb, Cd, As, Fe, Zn, and Cu was ?43.38% to 40.25%, ?55.49% to 0.23%, ?76.15% to 1.80%, ?74.15% to 58.47%, ?40.55% to ?18.12%, and ?83.16% to ?21.39%, respectively. The effect of the clarification process on the PTEs depended on the type and concentration of both PTE and clarifier agent used while the incorporation of gelatin resulted in a significant reduction in all of PT.

Graphical abstract

     

Accumulation of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) irrigated with wastewater: a systematic review and meta-analysis and probabilistic health risk assessment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Water shortage and stress around the world lead to increasing wastewater reuse for the agricultural sector. In addition to its benefits, it can be a...     

Regional disparities in Preventive measures of COVID-19 pandemic in China. A study from international students’ prior knowledge,perception and vulnerabilities

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The COVID-19 pandemic needs immediate solution before inflicting more devastation. So far, China has successfully controlled transmission of COVID-19...     

Chemically degraded soil rehabilitation process using medicinal and aromatic plants: review

In recent decades, the increasing number of degraded lands worldwide makes their rehabilitation essential and crucial. Various techniques have emerged to fulfill these needs but most of them are expensive and difficult to be applied. Revegetation is a cost effective, environmental friendly, and aesthetically pleasing approach suitable for degraded areas. However, the use of edible crops, especially for areas with heavy metals (HM) contamination, is not ecologically suitable because the HM may enter the food chain. Alternatively, non-edible, fast-growing, deep-rooting, and metal-stabilizing plants with high biomass, which can produce high-value products hold a great potential and have been regarded as potential candidates of edible crops. This current review presents the benefits of using aromatic and medicinal plants (AMPs) and their associated microorganisms for revegetation of degraded sites as they are high-value economic crops. We discussed the effect of various stress on productivity of secondary metabolites in AMPs in addition to the potential health risk with human consumption of these plants and their products. A focus was also given to the effect of HM stress on the essential oil (EO) content of certain AMPs. Reported data showed that AMPs growing on HM-contaminated soils are safe products to use as they are not significantly contaminated themselves by HM.