The feasibility of using floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) to treat runoff typical of commercial nurseries was investigated using two 8-week trials with replicated mesocosms. Plants were supported by Beemat rafts. Five monoculture treatments of Agrostis alba (red top), Canna × generalis ‘Firebird’ (canna lily), Carex stricta (tussock sedge), Iris ensata ‘Rising Sun’ (Japanese water iris), Panicum virgatum (switchgrass), two mixed species treatments, and an unplanted control were assessed. These plant species are used for ornamental, wetland, and biofuel purposes. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removals were evaluated after a 7-day hydraulic retention time (HRT). N removal (sum of ammonium-N, nitrate-N, and nitrite-N) from FTW treatments ranged from 0.255 to 0.738 g·m⁻²·d⁻¹ (38.9 to 82.4% removal) and 0.147 to 0.656 g·m⁻²·d⁻¹ (12.9 to 59.6% removal) for trials 1 and 2, respectively. P removal (phosphate-P) ranged from 0.052 to 0.128 g·m⁻²·d⁻¹ (26.1 to 64.7% removal) for trial 1, and 0.074 to 0.194 g·m⁻²·d⁻¹ (26.8 to 63.2% removal) for trial 2. Panicum virgatum removed more N and P than any other FTW treatment and the control in both trials. Results show that species selection and timing of FTW harvest impact the rate and mass of nutrient remediation. FTWs can effectively remove N and P from runoff from commercial nurseries.

The concerns regarding potential environmental release and ecological risks of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) rise with their increased production and use. As a result, there is the need for an analytical method to determine the environmental concentration of MWCNTs. Although several methods have been demonstrated for the quantification of well-characterized MWCNTs, applying these methods to field samples is still a challenge due to interferences from unknown characteristics of MWCNTs and environmental media. To bridge this gap, a recently developed microwave-induced heating method was investigated for the quantification of MWCNTs in field samples. Our results indicated that the microwave response of MWCNTs was independent of the sources, length, and diameter of MWCNTs; however, the aggregated MWCNTs were not able to convert the microwave energy to heat, making the method inapplicable. Thus, a pre-treatment process for dispersing bundled MWCNTs in field samples was crucial for the use of the microwave method. In the present paper, a two-step pre-treatment procedure was proposed: the aggregated MWCNTs loaded environmental samples were first exposed to high temperature (500 °C) and then dispersed by using an acetone-surfactant solution. A validation study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the pre-treatment process, showing that an 80–120% recovery range of true MWCNT loading successfully covered the microwave-measured MWCNT mass.

Schizophyllum commune is a filamentous basidiomycete which can degrade complex organic macromolecules like lignin by the secretion of a large repertoire of enzymes. One of these white rot enzymes, laccase, exhibits a broad substrate specificity and is able to oxidize a variety of substances including carbonaceous rocks. To investigate the role of laccase in bioweathering, laccase gene lcc2 was overexpressed, and the influence on weathering of black slate, originating from a former alum mine in Schmiedefeld, Germany, was examined. The metal release from the rock material was enhanced, associated with a partial metal accumulation into the mycelium. A sequestration of metals could be shown with fluorescent staining methods, and an accumulation of Zn, Cd, and Pb was visualized in different cell organelles. Additionally, we could show an increased metal resistance of the laccase overexpressing strain.

This study investigates the biodegradation of crude oil by a mixed culture of bacteria isolated from the Qinghai-Tibet plateau using gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and the gravimetric method. The results showed that a mixed culture has a stronger ability to degrade hydrocarbon than pure cultures. Once both Nocardia soli Y48 and Rhodococcus erythropolis YF28-1 (8) were present in a culture, the culture demonstrated the highest crude oil removal efficiency of almost 100% after 10 days of incubation at 20 °C. Moreover, further analysis of the degradation mechanisms used by the above strains, which revealed utilization of different n-alkane substrates, indicated the diversity of evolution and variations in different strains, as well as the importance of multiple metabolic mechanisms for alkane degradation. Therefore, it is concluded that a mixed culture of Y48 and YF28-1 (8) strains can provide a more effective method for bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil in permafrost regions.

Expectedly, urbanization is often associated with constant degradation of natural habitat. In most cases, as demand for housing increases, natural habitat like agricultural land, forestry, and water bodies gradually gives way to building structures. Against this backdrop, the current study investigates the asymmetric nexus of agricultural land and housing market vis-à-vis house prices. The study employed the yearly data from 1976 to 2015 for the case of Sweden and used economic policy uncertainty (EPU) as a control variable in non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) approach. The finding notes a significant and positive short- and long-run relationship between housing price and agricultural land especially when there is a negative shock on agricultural land. But when there is a negative shock on EPU, the impact on housing price is significant and negative for both short run and long run. While an asymmetric long-run relationship is significant and positive between EPU and housing price, such significant occurrence do not exist for agricultural land. Hence, in meeting housing demand and mitigating an escalated growth in house prices, implementation of effective land use policy is encouraged.

Rodents infest urban environments, causing damage and acting as vectors for disease transmission. Currently, anticoagulants are the most widely used chemical rodenticides, and their extensive and widespread use can contaminate the environment. To ensure effectiveness and avoid accumulation of rodent baits in the environment, it is important to evaluate how long rodent baits maintain their palatability and efficacy. In rodent control programs, rodent baits are placed in locations such as sewers, but after a few days, baits appear altered, causing doubts about the control efficacy. For this reason, baits are replaced periodically, which increases costs and generation of chemical waste. The objective of this study was to evaluate the palatability and efficacy of commercial paraffin-type rodent bait blocks placed in sewers in São Paulo City over a period of 90 days. Bait blocks were placed in sewers and collected after 30, 60, and 90 days. Additionally, in a laboratory two-choice test, wild-caught urban Norway rats were offered 40–60 g of bait and an equal volume of standard rat pellets. The amount of bait and rat pellet consumed was registered, the palatability was calculated, and the efficacy was measured as the percentage mortality over 14 days. The results showed that, even when they had an altered appearance, bait blocks remained palatable to the rats and were effective after at least 90 days. Leaving bait blocks for longer periods could be an effective strategy for reducing costs and could help to ensure the control of urban rodents in an environmentally sustainable way.

A new synergistic method was developed to inactivate marine microalgae using combined longwave ultraviolet (UVA) and shortwave ultraviolet (UVC)-photocatalysis (UVA/UVC-TiO₂) technology. Five kinds of representative marine microalgae in three phyla were used as inactivating targets to examine the inactivation effect. Compared with the photocatalytic systems using UVA or UVC alone as the light source, the algae inactivation ratio in the newly developed system increased by 0.31 log or 0.19 log, and the chlorophyll a removal rate increased by 17.5% or 9.7%, respectively. Total suspended solids (TSS) of the seawater did not cause remarkable impact on the inactivation process, and the increase of UV radiation intensity improved the treatment effect significantly. Further, UVA/UVC-TiO₂ treatment causes irreversible damage to microalgae cell membrane. The content of lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) increased rapidly within a short period of time, and a large number of proteins leaked out. The results of this study indicated that UVA/UVC-TiO₂ was an effective method to solve the challenge of efficient inactivation of plankton in ballast water containing a high density of suspended matter.

The present work studies the effect of butanol in thumba (Citrullus colocynthis) biodiesel in an IDI CI engine at varying percentages of 5 and 10% in 15 and 10% thumba biodiesel respectively with 80% diesel in each blend. Another blend was introduced with 80% diesel and 20% biodiesel without any additive. The experiment was conducted in a single cylinder four-stroke IDI CI engine at 1500 rpm varying from 25% to full-load (100%) conditions. The results showed diesel with less bio diesel and higher butanol in percentage gives good performance and emission compared to diesel at higher loads. Blend containing 10% bio diesel, 10% butanol, and 80% diesel (D80B10Bu10) showed higher cylinder pressure, heat release rate, BThE, and less NOₓ. Biodiesels gave less UHC, CO emissions. In this work, multi-objective fuzzy-based genetic algorithm was introduced for the best fit result. Four parameters were used for optimization (BSFC, BThE, CO, NOₓ). The result from genetic algorithm was taken for validation and the optimized result was found adequate after validation.

TiO₂ is employed as both photocatalytic and structural materials, leading to its applications in external coatings or in interior furnishing devices, including cement mortar, tiles, floorings, and glass supports. The authors have already demonstrated the efficiency of photoactive micro-sized TiO₂ and here its industrial use is reported using the digital printing to coat porcelain grés slabs. Many advantages are immediately evident, namely rapid and precise deposition, no waste of raw materials, thus positively affecting the economy of the process. Data for the thin films deposited by digital printing were compared with those obtained for the conventional spray method. The use of metal-doped TiO₂ is also reported so that the photoactivity of these materials can be exploited even under LED light. The digital inkjet printed coatings exhibited superior photocatalytic performance owing to both higher exposed surface area and greater volume of deposited anatase, as well as the greater areal distribution density of thinly and thickly coated regions. Moreover, the presence of TiO₂ doped silver increased the efficiency of the materials in NOx degradation both under UVA and LED lights.

Drinking water containing environmental endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs) endangers human health, and researching the purification process of drinking water for the effective removal of EDCs is vitally important. Filtering plays a crucial role in the bio-adsorption of EDCs, but the adsorption mechanism that occurs between the EDCs and filters remains unclear. In this study, a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was employed to elucidate the adsorption mechanism because QCM is a label-free method that possesses high selectivity, high stability, and high sensitivity. The results indicated that a pseudo-first-order kinetic model best fits the adsorption process of four different EDCs, which included bisphenol A (BPA), estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), on silica (quartz sand), a typical filter material surface. The order of the amount of individual EDCs absorbed on the silica surface was qE₂ > qE₁ > qSMZ > qBPA and related to their molecular structure, polarity, and chargeability. As the initial EDC concentration increased, the adsorbed amount of the four EDCs on the silica surface increased; however, the initial concentration had little effect on removal efficiency. The calculated Freundlich exponent (1/n) demonstrated SMZ and BPA showed a greater tendency for adsorption than E1 and E2. The mass response time on the surface of the silica gradually increased as the pH increased (from 5.5 to 8.5), indicating the adsorption rate was inhibited by the increase in pH. The addition of electrolytes shortened the mass response time of EDCs on the QCM chip. The pH and ionic strength produced no significant effects on adsorption because hydrophobicity was the primary contributor to adsorption. This study facilitated a better understanding of the interaction between EDCs and filters in water treatment.