Soilless culture systems offer an environmentally friendly and resource-efficient alternative to traditional cultivation systems fitting within the scheme of a circular economy. The objective of this research was to examine the sustainable integration of recycling fertilizers in hydroponic cultivation—creating a nutrient cycling concept for horticultural cultivation. Using the nutrient film technique (NFT), three recycling-based fertilizer variants were tested against standard synthetic mineral fertilization as the control, with 11 tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Pannovy) per replicate (n = 4) and treatment: two nitrified urine-based fertilizers differing in ammonium/nitrate ratio (NH₄⁺:NO₃⁻), namely (1) “Aurin” (AUR) and (2) “Crop” (CRO); as well as (3) an organo-mineral mixture of struvite and vinasse (S+V); and (4) a control (NPK). The closed chamber method was adapted for gas fluxes (N₂O, CH₄, and CO₂) from the root zone. There was no indication in differences of the total shoot biomass fresh matter and uptake of N, P and K between recycling fertilizers and the control. Marketable fruit yield was comparable between NPK, CRO and S+V, whereas lower yields occurred in AUR. The higher NH₄⁺:NO₃⁻ of AUR was associated with an increased susceptibility of blossom-end-rot, likely due to reduced uptake and translocation of Ca. Highest sugar concentration was found in S+V, which may have been influenced by the presence of organic acids in vinasse. N₂O emissions were highest in S+V, which corresponded to our hypothesis that N₂O emissions positively correlate with organic-C input by the fertilizer amendments. Remaining treatments showed barely detectable GHG emissions. A nitrified urine with a low NH₄⁺:NO₃– (e.g., CRO) has a high potential as recycling fertilizer in NFT systems for tomato cultivation, and S+V proved to supply sufficient P and K for adequate growth and yield. Alternative cultivation strategies may complement the composition of AUR.

The unregulated discharge of untreated municipal sewage water to the natural water bodies is a major threat to the aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, the fingerlings of Labeo rohita were exposed to treated sewage water and 1/10ᵗʰ of LC₅₀ and 1/20ᵗʰ of LC₅₀ of untreated sewage water (UT) obtained from sewage water treatment plant, Ludhiana, India. After determining 96-h LC₅₀ value of UT, fingerlings were divided into four groups: control, treated, 1/10ᵗʰ of LC₅₀ UT and 1/20ᵗʰ of LC₅₀ UT and exposed for a period of 2 months. Our study revealed that 1/10ᵗʰ LC₅₀ UT and 1/20ᵗʰ LC₅₀ UT groups had significant reduction in body weight, total body length, standard body length and gills somatic index in comparison with the control and treated groups. Histopathological alterations in cellular structure of gills such as ruptured primary lamellae, broken secondary lamellae, distorted chloride cells and goblet cells, missing lamellae and disintegrated lamellar epithelium were also observed in 1/10ᵗʰ LC₅₀ UT and 1/20ᵗʰ LC₅₀ UT groups. A significantly high frequency of micronucleated (MN) cells was observed in 1/10ᵗʰ LC₅₀ UT and 1/20ᵗʰ LC₅₀ UT groups along with the presence of binucleated cells (BN), elongated nuclei (EN) and nuclear buds in gill cells. Genotoxic nature of UT was further confirmed from significantly high values of genetic damage index (GDI) and percentage (%) DNA damage in gill cells of fingerlings exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of UT. The study concluded that untreated sewage water has potential to induce anatomical and physiological defects in gills cells and the severity of toxicity increases with the increase in duration of exposure.

The accumulation of arsenic (As) in rice is one of the food security-related concerns in As-contaminated areas all over the world. Biochar, a potential green and cost-efficient amendment material, affects As mobility/phytoavailability in soil and As accumulation in rice plants to some extent, which remains unclear. Thus, three different biochars derived from rice straw, corn stalks, and bamboo were used to investigate the impacts of biochar amendments on As mobility/phytoavailability in As-contaminated soil using pot and microcosm experiments. The results showed a limited reduction (by 12–16%) in As accumulation in rice grains under a low-dose (0.5%, w/w) biochar amendment, although the three biochars displayed different physicochemical properties. In addition, the biochar amendments did not significantly decrease the As levels in the straw and roots, potentially because of the small changes in As mobility/phytoavailability in amended soil relative to the control. However, As levels in soil solution in the biochar treatment groups increased substantially, by 2.8–6.6 times, with increasing biochar doses (0.5–5%, w/w) in microcosm-based anaerobic incubation experiments, particularly at higher doses (3–5%, w/w). These results could be attributed to the biochar-enhancing activity of As(V)-/Fe(III)-reducing bacteria at a high biochar application rate. Our results suggested that applying high biochar doses may increase the release of As into the soil, resulting in As accumulation in rice plants. Therefore, to mitigate the health risk of As in As-contaminated paddy soils, the remediation technologies from biochar methods should be subjected to more evaluation.

Groundwater is a key resource in the world. Its importance is often undermined, despite the various applications which include irrigation, drinking, sanitation, and industrial uses. One of the contaminants of groundwater is fluoride or the fluorine ion. Fluoride is a common pollutant of water, carrying potential benefits and costs to various sectors. Fluoride contamination of groundwater can impact humans, animals, healthcare, and the agricultural sector in direct or indirect ways. This paper aims to establish the definition of fluoride contamination of groundwater and simultaneously provide an outline of a few common sources that may cause fluoride contamination. Furthermore, this study will lay out the impacts of fluoride-contaminated groundwater on two sectors: healthcare and agriculture/irrigation. This study will also summarize various other research projects conducted across the world, which deliver promising evidence to support the points made throughout the paper. In addition to a detailed analysis of the impacts of fluoride on the healthcare and agricultural sector, this study also evaluates few other challenges which this issue poses and how to overcome them in the near future. A summation of deflouridation techniques is included, along with the future scope pertaining to the field of fluoride contamination. Another objective of the study is to spread awareness about the various health impacts that fluoride contamination poses and encourages consumption of fluoride in accordance with the set limit of 0.5–1.5 mg/L. The motivation behind writing this review is to compile and document various researches, along with an address on this prevalent issue to minimize the detrimental impacts and potential health risks on the society. The results of this study help to minimize risks in the future and encourage scientists to come up with mitigation strategies to ensure a safer environment.

The significance of opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients and the enigmatic pathogenicity of Blastocystis directed us to conduct the first global systematic review and meta-analysis on Blastocystis prevalence, odds ratios (ORs), and subtypes distribution in various immunocompromised patients (HIV/AIDS, cancer and hemodialysis patients, as well as transplant recipients). The systematic searching procedure was done in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases for relevant published literature until November 11, 2020. Random-effects model was utilized to calculate the weighted estimates and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The computed pooled prevalence of Blastocystis inferred from 118 papers (128 datasets) on immunocompromised patients was 10.3% (95% CI: 8.7–12.2%), with 16.1% (95% CI: 11.3–22.2%), 12.5% (95% CI: 8.5–18%), 8.4% (95 % CI: 6.6–10.6%), and 6% (95% CI: 2.6–13.3%) for hemodialysis patients, cancer patients, HIV/AIDS patients, and transplant recipients, respectively. Based on 50 case-control studies (54 datasets), the highest ORs were associated with cancer [2.81 (95% CI: 1.24–6.38, P = 0.013)] and hemodialysis patients [2.78 (95% CI: 1.19–6.48, P = 0.018)]. The most frequent subtype being found in immunocompromised patients was ST3 [41.7% (95% CI: 31.4–52.7%)], followed by ST1 [31.7% (95% CI: 23.2–41.8%)] and ST2 [23.1% (95% CI: 14.8–34.1%)]. Also, the weighted frequency of Blastocystis in various subgroups (publication year, WHO regions, geographical distribution, continents, and country income) was analyzed separately. In total, the results of the present meta-analysis highlighted that one’s immunodeficiency status is probably associated with an increased Blastocystis infection, underpinning strict preventive measures to be taken.

We have reported the removal performance from the synthetic aqueous solution of copper of a low-cost and eco-friendly biochar (WHC) produced by facile thermal pyrolysis of wild herbs (WH), a new feedstock, at 550 °C under anoxic conditions. The characteristics of WHC were determined by physicochemical techniques. It exhibited a low BET surface area, total pore volume, and mean pore size of 16.45 m²/g, 0.01 cm³/g, and, 2.34 nm respectively. Batch sorption studies were performed by examining the effects of varying pH, WHC dosage, initial Cu(II) concentrations, interaction time, and temperature to determine optimum removal conditions. In modeling of sorption, data were used the pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The maximum Cu(II) sorption capacity of WHC was 24.21 mg/g. Thermodynamic parameters were computed for predicting the nature of WHC-Cu(II) sorption system.

Tungsten trioxide nanoparticles (WO₃ NPs) have shown increasing promise in biological and biomedical fields in recent years. However, their possible hazards, especially the adverse effects related to their sizes on human health and environment, are still yet poorly understood. In this study, we compared the hepatotoxicity in mice induced by WO₃ nanorods of two different lengths (125−200 nm and 0.8−2 μm) via intraperitoneal injection, and explored the protective role of melatonin, an antioxidant, against the hepatotoxicity. The results showed that 10 mg/kg/day of shorter WO₃ nanorods could cause obvious hepatic function impairment, histopathological lesions, and significant enhancement in levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in mouse liver. However, similar effects were found only in the 20 mg/kg/day longer WO₃ nanorods–treated mice, and these adverse effects were attenuated by pretreatment with melatonin. These findings indicate that WO₃ nanorods can exert hepatotoxicity in mice in a dose- and length-dependent manner, and that shorter WO₃ nanorods cause more severe hepatotoxicity than their longer counterparts. Melatonin could serve as an effective protective agent against the longer WO₃ nanorods–induced hepatotoxicity by decreasing the oxidative stress level. This study is important for determining the environmental and human health risks of exposure to WO₃ NPs and their size-dependent toxicity, and provides an appealing strategy to avoid the adverse effects. WO₃ nanorods with different lengths can exert hepatotoxicity in mice, in a dose- and length-dependent manner. Short WO₃ nanorods causes more severe hepatic injury than long ones. Melatonin exhibits an effectively protective effects against WO₃ nanorods–induced hepatic injury through reducing the oxidative stress level

In this editorial trend, we aim to collect and present recently available data about the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus, severity, infection, replication, diagnosis, and current medications. In addition, we propose the role of nanomaterials in controlling and treating COVID-19 through their antiviral and antibacterial potential with suggested action mechanisms indicating the capability of interaction between these nanomaterials and SARS-CoV-2. These nanomaterials might be among the possible and most effective cures against coronavirus.

Technostress during the COVID-19 pandemic has become more prevalent as a result of the global preventive measures applied to limit the spread of infection. These measures included remote working from home in both public and private organizations. The objective of this study is to study technostress and challenges of remote virtual work environment among university staff members at Menoufia University, Egypt. A cross-sectional study was conducted over Menoufia University academic staff members in Egypt. The participants were chosen from both practical and theoretical colleges in Menoufia University using a multistage random sample. Tarfadar technostress questionnaire was used. Cortisol blood level was measured for all participants. This study included 142 participants. The mean age of the group was 36.32±6.41 years. 52.1 percent worked in practical colleges, and 60.6% were lecturers or higher. Their mean cortisol level was 15.61±7.07mcg/dl. Participants who were females, reside in rural areas, held a lecturer or higher position, had poor work-environment WiFi, and lacked technical training had significantly higher levels of technostress subscales. Most of the technostress subscales were significantly correlated with age and blood cortisol levels. The predictors of work overload in multivariate regression were female gender and a work environment with poor WiFi. Female gender, theoretical colleges, being lecturer or higher, and poor WiFi were the predictors for invasion. Among university staff members, technostress was found to be evident. High levels of technostress were significantly influenced by age, higher professions, female gender, and a bad workplace environment.

The present study explored the association between daily ambient air pollution and daily emergency room (ER) visits due to acute respiratory symptoms in children of Delhi. The daily counts of ER visits (ERV) of children (≤15 years) having acute respiratory symptoms were obtained from two hospitals of Delhi for 21 months. Simultaneously, data on daily concentrations of particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O₃) and weather variables were provided by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. K-means clustering with time-series approach and multi-pollutant generalized additive models with Poisson link function was used to estimate the 0–6-day lagged change in daily ER visits with the change in multiple pollutants levels. Out of 1,32,029 children screened, 19,120 eligible children having acute respiratory symptoms for ≤2 weeks and residing in Delhi for the past 4 weeks were enrolled. There was a 29% and 21% increase in ERVs among children on high and moderate level pollution cluster days, respectively, compared to low pollution cluster days on the same day and previous 1–6 days of exposure to air pollutants. There was percentage increase (95% CI) 1.50% (0.76, 2.25) in ERVs for acute respiratory symptoms for 10 μg/m³ increase of NO₂ on previous day 1, 46.78% (21.01, 78.05) for 10 μg/m³ of CO on previous day 3, and 13.15% (9.95, 16.45) for 10 μg/m³ of SO₂ on same day of exposure. An increase in the daily ER visits of children for acute respiratory symptoms was observed after increase in daily ambient air pollution levels in Delhi.