Archaea play a vital role in Earth’s geochemical cycles, but the factors that drive their distribution between sediments and water-level-fluctuating zones in the East Dongting Lake (EDL) wetland are poorly understood. Here, we used Illumina MiSeq to investigate the variation in the soil archaeal community structure and diversity among sediments and four water-level-fluctuating zones (mudflat, sedge, sedge-Phragmites, and Phragmites) in the EDL wetland. Diverse archaeal assemblages were found in our study, Crenarchaeota, Euryarchaeota, and ammonia-oxidizing and methanogenic subset were the dominant groups, and all their abundances shifted from sediment to water-level-fluctuating zones. The principal coordinates analysis and cluster analysis showed that the overall archaeal community structure was separated into two clusters: cluster I contained nine samples from sediment, mudflat, and sedge zones, whereas cluster II contained six samples from sedge-Phragmites and Phragmites zones. Archaeal diversity was significantly highest in sediment and lowest in Phragmites zone soils. The Mantel test showed that the variation in archaeal community structure was significantly positively correlated with soil water content and pH. The relative abundances of Crenarchaeota and Nitrososphaerales decreased with soil water content, while Euryarchaeota and Methanomicrobiales increased with soil water content. The relative abundance of Methanomicrobiales significantly decreased with pH (R² = 0.34–0.48). Chao 1, observed operational taxonomic units, Shannon index, and Simpson index all correlated significantly positively with water content (R² = 0.40–0.60), while Shannon and Simpson indexes both correlated significantly negatively with pH (R² = 0.20–0.37). Our results demonstrated that the variations in the archaeal community structure were markedly driven by soil water content and pH in the EDL wetland. Our findings suggested that archaeal communities shifted among sediment and four water-level-fluctuating zones, highlighting that the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of greenhouse gas flux in small scale should be taken into account for accurate prediction of greenhouse gas emissions in the Dongting Lake area, especially on the background of climate change and human activities.

Two-stage channels are effective drainage facilities because they can decrease soil erosion and nutrient loss effectively. The lateral distribution of streamwise velocity in two-stage channels has been substantially studied. However, knowledge about the lateral distribution of sediment and phosphorus in two-stage channels with emergent vegetation on the floodplain are limited. In this work, flume experiments were conducted to investigate the relationship between current and transport of sediment and phosphorus. Results show that lateral distributions of total suspended sediment (TSS), particulate phosphorus (PP), and dissolved phosphorus (DP) are affected by the lateral variation of streamwise velocity, i.e., larger TSS and DP were found in the main channel, while larger PP appeared in the floodplain. Besides, theoretical models for the lateral distribution of TSS and DP were presented. Three models were adopted to predict the depth-averaged streamwise velocity, and corresponding results have been used to predict the TSS and DP. Comparisons indicated that with a high-precision velocity model, the newly presented analytical models can give satisfied predictions of the lateral distributions of TSS and DP.

China’s Loess Plateau region has a weak ecological environment, and the government has invested a considerable amount of money to repair the ecological environment. Vegetation plays an important role in the ecological environment. The Sen slope analysis and the Mann-Kendall trend test were used to analyze the trend and significance of vegetation coverage from 2000 to 2015. The vegetation coverage was analyzed to investigate the influence of land use types and conversion. The Pearson Correlation Test and qualitative analysis were utilized at the pixel and regional scales to investigate the influence of meteorological factors and topographical factors. The fluctuation of vegetation in Shaanxi was analyzed from 2000 to 2015. The impact of anthropogenic activities was investigated using residual trend analysis. Hurst exponent and H/S analysis were applied to investigate the potential future vegetation coverage trend. The vegetation coverage in Shaanxi Province improved from 2000 to 2015. In unchanged land use types, all types showed significant improvements expect for other construction land. In changed land use types, most of the land use types converted into urban land showed degradation. All the land use types converted into dry land, forest, and unused land showed improvements. Ecological protection has achieved great results. Precipitation and temperature partly affect vegetation coverage in Shaanxi. Gradients and elevation affected the distribution of vegetation coverage and human activities influenced land use type and the ecological environment. In the future, potential degradation risks still exist in the parts of Shaanxi Province.

The simultaneous wet removal performance of NO and SO₂ was studied using the oxidant absorbent NaClO₂/CaO₂. The factors were studied including NaClO₂ and CaO₂ concentrations, reaction temperature, and gaseous components, such as SO₂, NO, O₂, and CO₂. The products in liquid and solid phases were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ion chromatography to determine the mechanism of simultaneous desulfurization and denitration by NaClO₂/CaO₂. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of SO₂ was in the range of 98–99.9%, and the removal efficiencies of NO and NOₓ were 99.4% and 95.0%, respectively. The removal efficiencies of NO and NOₓ increased with the increase of NaClO₂ and CaO₂ concentration and reaction temperature. The gaseous components had a stronger effect on NOₓ removal efficiency, followed by NO removal efficiency, and SO₂ removal efficiency. As SO₂ concentration increased, the generation of sulfite species promoted the removal of NO and NOₓ. Competition for NO₂ and SO₂ absorption by absorbent inhibited the removal efficiencies of SO₂ and NOₓ. The presence of O₂ was beneficial for removing SO₂, NO, and NOₓ, while the presence of CO₂ was not. The main products in the liquid and solid phases were NO₃⁻, NO₂⁻, SO₄²⁻, and CaSO₄. The reaction mechanism for simultaneous wet removal of SO₂ and NO by NaClO₂/CaO₂ is proposed and discussed.

The presence of cacodylic acid (dimethylarsinic acid, DMA) can be an important factor in limiting the abilities of young tree seedlings to adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions. For this reason, the aim of the study was to estimate the influence of different DMA additions (from 0.01 to 0.6 mM) to modified Knop solution to arsenic (As) and selected forms of this metalloid (As(III), As(V), DMA) phytoextraction by two-year-old Acer platanoides L. and Tilia cordata Miller seedlings. Additionally, the biomass and other elements important in As transport in plants were analyzed. Seedlings of both tree species were able to grow in all experimental systems except the one with the highest DMA concentration (0.6 mM). Exposure of tree seedlings was related to a general decrease in plant biomass. Phytoextraction of As in roots, stems, and leaves increased with a rise of DMA concentration in solution to the highest content of As in A. platanoides and T. cordata roots growing under 0.3 mM (135 ± 13 and 116 ± 14 mg kg⁻¹ dry weight). Arsenic was accumulated mainly in roots, thereby confirming bioconcentration factor values BCF > 1 for all tree seedlings treated with DMA. Exposure of plants to low DMA concentrations (0.01 and 0.03 mM) was related to the transport of this element to aboveground parts, while increased DMA concentration in other experimental systems led to the limitation of As transport to stems, as confirmed by translocation factor values TF < 1. Changes in many other elements such as boron, silicon, phosphorus, or sulfur concentration indicated the possible influence of DMA on the transport of As from roots to leaves. The obtained results show that DMA can be an important factor in modulating As phytoextraction in the studied tree species.

Chitosan/Co-Fe-layered double hydroxides (CS/LDHs) were prepared by coprecipitation method, which is a kind of composite material with excellent properties. The structure of CS/LDHs was characterized by SEM, FTIR, and XRD, which proved that chitosan (CS) was successfully induced into hydrotalcite and CS/LDHs still possess the structural characteristics of hydrotalcite. The adsorption of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) was studied with CS/LDHs and LDHs as adsorbent separately. The activity of immobilized laccase (L-CS/LDHs) with CS/LDHs as carrier is significantly better than that of the one (L-LDHs) using LDHs as carrier. Under the optimum conditions (pH = 6, 55 °C, 48 h), L-CS/LDHs exhibited better removal performance for 2,4-DCP (81.53%, 100 mg/L) than LDHs (63.55%); the removal of 2,4-DCP by L-CS/LDHs is excellent, exceeding 97% as its initial concentration below 60 mg/L. It includes the catalytic action of laccase and dechlorination of Fe³⁺ and Co²⁺, and the adsorption can be ignored under the optimal conditions. After 5 cycles, it maintained 67% (L-CS/LDHs) and 54% (L-LDHs) of the original removal.

Hydroxyurea (HDU), a class of antineoplastic drugs, has a powerful efficacy in the treatment of several types of malignancies. However, it has multiple adverse effects including reduced fertility, especially in males. Thus, 60 male albino rats were used to investigate the chemoprotective potentials of royal jelly on HDU-induced testicular damage. Animals were gastro-gavaged with HDU (225 or 450 mg kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹) before royal jelly (100 mg kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹) for 60 days. Blood samples and testicles were collected, and spermatozoon was obtained. In a dose-dependent manner, the sperm count, motility and liveability, and testosterone, GSH, and catalase concentrations were decreased in HDU groups, whereas MDA, FSH, LH, IL-6, and IFN-γ expression levels were increased. Germinal epithelium degeneration, germ cell sloughing, reduction in the number of luminal spermatozoa, interstitial congestion, and severe leukocyte infiltration besides no glandular secretion in most of the acini were identified. However, royal jelly intake in HDU-treated rats successfully improved sperm quality, hormonal and antioxidant status, and reproductive organ histoarchitecture. Thus, it could be concluded that royal jelly is endowed with antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities and could be, therefore, used as an adjuvant remedy to improve HDU-induced male subfertility.

Fresh produce irrigated with surface water that may contain pathogens such as enteric viruses can lead to outbreaks of foodborne viral illnesses. In the current study, we performed real-time PCR (qPCR) to monitor the presence of enteric viruses such as human adenoviruses (HAdVs), hepatitis A virus (HAV), rotavirus group A (RVA), and norovirus GI (NoV GI) in surface water and fresh produce that were grown using this surface water in Egypt. Samples were collected on four occasions from different sites located in the Delta and in Greater Cairo, Egypt. Of the 32 water samples and 128 fresh produce samples, 27/32 (84.3%) and 99/128 (77.3%), respectively, were positive for at least one virus. HAdV (30/32) with a mean viral load = 1.5 × 10⁷ genome copies/L (GC/L) was the most commonly detected virus in water, followed by RVA (16/32, with a mean viral load = 2.7 × 10⁵ GC/L), HAV (11/32, with a mean viral load = 1.2 × 10⁴ GC /L), and NoV GI (10/32, with a mean viral load = 3.5 × 10³ GC/L). Additionally, HAdV (71/128, with a mean viral load = 9.8 × 10⁵ GC/g) was also the most commonly detected virus in the fresh produce, followed by NoV GI (43/128, with a mean viral load = 4.5 × 10³ GC/g), HAV (33/128, with a mean viral load = 6.4 × 10³ GC/g), and RVA (25/128, with a mean viral load = 1.5 × 10⁴ GC/g). Our results indicate that fresh produce may be contaminated with a wide range of enteric viruses, and these viruses may originate from virus-contaminated irrigation water. Moreover, this fresh produce may serve as a potential vector for the transmission of viral foodborne illnesses. These findings are important for future risk assessment analysis related to water/foodborne viruses. Graphical abstract . Please provide caption for Graphical AbstractGraphical abstract showing sample collection and processing

The correct image of Figure 4 is shown in this paper. The original article has been corrected. Fig. 4: Scree plot of heavy metals in sediments. The graph shown in upper right corner shows the concentration of principle components variables in a loading plot.

Green behavior is an important part of the study of green development. To promote green development, it is necessary to engage in further innovation on the basis of lessons from international advancements in green behavior. To clarify the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of international researchers in the study of green behavior, the research focus, and the research frontiers, a visual analysis was performed on 22,114 articles cited in the SSCI and SCI-EXPANDED databases from 2000 to 2017. This analysis was based on bibliometrics and mapping knowledge domain (MKD) analysis with CiteSpace 5.3.R4, a scientific and technological text-mining and visualization software. The results show that international green behavior research has the following main characteristics. First, a positive correlation was found between the number of papers and time. Second, research is highly valued by researchers in the natural sciences, such as ecology. The USA is involved in major research efforts and maintains a high level of cooperation with other countries and regions. International cooperation among institutions needs to be strengthened. The co-cited journals are primarily academic journals in the natural sciences. Third, research hotspots mainly focus on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), consumers, attitudes, performance, and environment, all of which evolve according to the phase path of “germination-growth.” Fourth, the research frontier issues are largely related to management science and environmental science, and the research objects and methods will become increasingly complex and interdisciplinary over time.