Fresh evidence on connectedness between prominent markets during COVID-19 pandemic

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Various empirical studies have examined the nexus between financial markets, but this study focused on the comovement among prominent markets. Our...     

Effects of selective withdrawal on hydrodynamics and water quality of a thermally stratified reservoir in the southern side of the Mediterranean Sea: a simulation approach

This study uses a multidisciplinary approach to simulate the spatial and temporal patterns of hydrodynamics and water quality in a thermally stratified reservoir in the southern side of the Mediterranean Sea in response to water withdrawal elevation using the 2D water quality and laterally averaged hydrodynamic model CE-QUAL-W2. The withdrawal elevation controls largely the transfer of heat and constituents in the dam in particular during thermal stratification. Fifteen scenarios of withdrawal elevation are possible. To identify the most effective scenarios, a hierarchical clustering technique was performed and only four scenarios were clustered. Deep withdrawals deepen the hypoxia, increase the thickness of the metalimnion, and weaken the stratification stability, which facilitate the vertical transfer of heat and dissolved oxygen mainly. Surface withdrawals, however, shrink the metalimnion and tend to strengthen the stratification, resulting in less transfer of matter from the epilimnion to the hypolimnion. Most of the bottom sediment is overlaid by the hypolimnion. The oxygen depletes significantly and waters become anoxic at a few meters depth. For all scenarios, the reservoir experiences a summer hypolimnetic anoxia, which lasts from 42 to 80 days and seems to decrease as withdrawal elevation increases. At the end of stratification, waters below the withdrawal elevation showed a noticeable release of iron, nutrients, and suspended sediments that increases with depth and near-bottom turbulence. Attention should be drawn to shallower withdrawals because they accumulate nutrients and silts continuously in the reservoir, which may deteriorate water quality. Based on these results, a withdrawal elevation rule is presented. This rule may be adjusted to optimize water withdrawal elevation for dams in the region with similar geometry.     

An outlook on the development of renewable energy,policy measures to reshape the current energy mix,and how to achieve sustainable economic growth in the post COVID-19 era

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Currently, COVID-19 due to emergence of various variants shows no signs of slowing down and has affected every aspect of life with significant...     

Diversity shift in bacterial phenol hydroxylases driven by alkyl-phenols in oil refinery wastewaters

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Phenol hydroxylases (PHs) play a primary role in the bacterial degradation of phenol and alkylphenols. They are divided into two main classes,...     

Occurrence of virulence genes among Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains from treated wastewaters

Pathogenic Vibrio species are an important cause of foodborne illnesses. The aim of this study was to describe the occurrence of potentially pathogenic Vibrio species in the final effluents of a wastewater treatment plant and the risk that they may pose to public health. During the 1-year monitoring, a total of 43 Vibrio strains were isolated: 23 Vibrio alginolyticus, 1 Vibrio cholerae, 4 Vibrio vulnificus, and 15 Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The PCR investigation of V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae virulence genes (tlh, trh, tdh, toxR, toxS, toxRS, toxT, zot, ctxAB, tcp, ace, vpi, nanH) revealed the presence of some of these genes in a significant number of strains. Intraspecies variability and genetic relationships among the environmental isolates were analyzed by random amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR (RAPD-PCR). We report the results of the first isolation and characterization of an environmental V. cholerae non-O1 non-O139 and of a toxigenic V. parahaemolyticus strain in Tunisia. We suggest that non-pathogenic Vibrio might represent a marine reservoir of virulence genes that can be transmitted between strains by horizontal transfer.