The urban poor residents in South Africa are over time known for imbalance and inadequate housing amidst recent concern of shock in food production. In studying this peculiar problem, this study investigates the cointegration and long-run equilibrium relationship of population growth, crop production, and the housing price in the country. Empirically, a quarterly data from 1975:Q1 to 2015:Q4 is employed using the conventional Autoregressive Distributed Lag. The investigation shows strong significant evidence of cointegration and a quarterly speed of adjustment of 17.2% to long run in the system. Also, as the population grows, a decline in house price index is experienced in the long run. Although unusual, adequate and sustainable housing plan, demand-supply dynamics, in respect to a country’s population expansion could posit observation. But, in the short run, a strongly significant positive association is observed. It shows further that positively short-run and long-run relationships significantly exist between crop production and house price index. In reality, caution is essential in the introduction of land redistribution policy to avoid hampering the housing policies and 2030 housing target of the government.

This study was aimed at providing a comprehensive environmental analysis of Germany from 1990 to 2015. First, an ecological footprint analysis of the country was conducted using bio-capacity and ecological footprint data. Second, possible decoupling of the country’s economic growth and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions was examined using the decoupling factor adopted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Third, the factors affecting aggregated and sector (electricity and heat production) emission changes were identified using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method. The empirical findings revealed that Germany experienced a slowly decreasing ecological deficit over the entire period. The decoupling-factor calculations showed absolute decoupling of the country’s real GDP and CO₂ emissions. Based on the LMDI calculations, per capita income and population had increasing impacts on aggregated emissions, whereas energy intensity and carbon intensity curbed them substantially. For electricity and heat production, economic activity was the only CO₂-accelerating factor observed in the study period. In addition, the fuel structure effect, pollution effect, and electricity intensity considerably reduced the emissions of electricity and heat production. It, therefore, is possible to conclude that Germany is an impressive example of environmental sustainability for other nations.

Electronic waste (E-waste) can be considered as challenging solid waste streams especially in some developing countries, including Iran. Several alternatives for collecting and processing E-waste have been developed and applied throughout the world. In this research, a model was developed according to fuzzy-AHP approach for the evaluation of different alternatives for E-waste’s collection and processing in Tehran, Iran. Three alternatives for processing section (including recycling, exporting, landfilling) and three alternatives for collection section (door-to-door, special event, permanent drop-off) were studied in terms of different economic, social, technical, and environmental criteria. To establish a database in the current research, a questionnaire survey was performed and then the relative importance of each alternative in terms of each criterion was evaluated. The obtained results indicated that in the section of collection and processing of E-waste, permanent drop-off and recycling have the highest priorities among studied alternatives, respectively. Also, economic and environmental criteria were determined as the most significant ones in collection and processing sections, respectively. Furthermore, the developed model can be considered as a practical tool that will help the decision makers to determine the most appropriate E-waste management alternatives when diverse criteria are partially or completely in conflict.

Giardia and Cryptosporidium have caused numerous outbreaks of diarrhea as a result of the ingestion of water contaminated with sewage. In Brazil, the efficiency of Giardia and Cryptosporidium removal by combined fixed-film systems has rarely been studied. The aims of the present study were therefore to verify the removal efficiency of Giardia and Cryptosporidium by a combined system (anaerobic/anoxic filter and aerated submerged biofilter) and to perform the genetic characterization of these parasites. The (oo)cysts were detected by centrifuge concentration and membrane filtration from raw sewage, effluents, adhered biomass, and sludge samples. Immunofluorescence assay and differential interference contrast microscopy were used for the visualization of the (oo)cysts. Nested PCR was applied to confirm Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Giardia and Cryptosporidium were detected in 27% and 5.5% of the 144 analyzed samples of raw sewage and effluents, respectively. A total of 33,000 cysts/L were recovered in the adhered biomass samples (n = 25) from different points of the aerated submerged biofilter, while 6000 oocysts/L were registered in a single point. An average of 11,800 cysts/L were found in the sludge samples (n = 5). The combined system exhibited a removal efficiency of Giardia cysts of 1.8 ± 1.0 log removal. The C and BIV assemblages of Giardia were identified in the raw sewage while AII was found in the treated effluent sample. It was not possible to calculate the removal efficiency of Cryptosporidium oocysts by the combined system. The combined system exhibited some potential as a suitable treatment for the removal of parasites from sewage.

The dissemination of extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) genes through gene transfer attracts wide attention. Bentonite is widely used as a feed additive in an animal-breeding environment. In order to obtain a better understanding of the effect of bentonite on Escherichia coli carrying ESBL gene, proteomic analysis was carried out to screen the key proteins. The results showed that a total of 31 proteins were differentially expressed, including 21 up-regulated proteins and 10 down-regulated proteins. These proteins were involved in biosynthetic process, metabolic process, stress response, transport, anaerobic respiration, proteolysis, hydrolase, protein folding, transcription, salvage, and other. The transcriptional level of four genes (mipA, gntY, tldD, and arcA) was in consensus with proteomic results. This study revealed the differentially expressed proteins involved when E. coli was incubated under bentonite and PBS condition, which implied the possibility that bentonite may promote the transfer of ESBL gene between E. coli.

Effectiveness of steam explosion (SE) pretreatment for deconstructing the complex structural carbohydrates (SC) and lignin recalcitrance properties of rice straw (RS) for conjunctive improvement of biofuel yield and waste valorization was evaluated. This work exhibited successful pretreatment of RS at a different pressure (1.2, 1.5, and 1.8 MPa) and retention (3, 6, 9, and 12 min) for enhancement of SC contribution to biomethane production. Regression analysis demonstrated that SE pretreatment efficiency improved at high-temperature and short-retention time for biodegradation of RS. Maximum cumulative methane yield (EMY) achieved 254.8 mL/gvs at 1.2 MPa (3 min) of SE-treated RS with 62.7% of very significant improvement compared with untreated RS (156.6 mL/gvs). Furthermore, solid fraction of xylose, arabinose, cellobiose, glucose, and acid-soluble lignin in SE-treated RS of 1.2 MPa (3 min) were biodegraded by 27.4%, 46.4%, 100%, 48.8%, and 14.1%, respectively, after anaerobic digestion. Therefore, SE pretreatment was an encouraging approach for enhancing SC conversion to biomethane and waste resource to circular economy.

Fishmeal is a fundamental ingredient of feedstuffs and is used globally in aquaculture. However, there are few data on the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and human pathogenic bacteria in fishmeal and little understanding of the potential risks of fishmeal application in mariculture systems. Here, we investigated the high-throughput profiles of ARGs and human potential pathogenic bacteria (HPPB) in representative fishmeals (n = 5) and the potential impact of fishmeal on mariculture sediments. ARGs were quantified with microbial DNA quantitative PCR arrays and HPPB were analyzed with Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The impact of the fishmeal on the aquaculture sediments was assessed in a microcosm study. Twenty-four unique ARGs (3–14 per sample) and 25 HPPB species were detected in the fishmeal samples. The most prevalent ARGs were fluoroquinolone resistance genes. The overall abundance of HPPB was 5.0–25.5%, and the HPPB species were dominated by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Clostridium novyi, and Escherichia coli. In the mariculture microcosm sediment, fishmeal significantly increased the normalized abundance of the class I integrase gene (25.4-fold), which plays an important role in the dissemination of ARGs. Dosing with fishmeal also contributed to increases in a resident sulfanilamide resistance gene (sulI gene) and the emergence of a macrolide resistance gene (ermB gene) in the sediment. These findings demonstrated that fishmeal itself is an underestimated reservoir and source of ARGs and HPPBs, and that the application of fishmeal facilitates the dissemination of ARGs in aquaculture sediments. Our results extend our knowledge of the ARGs and HPPB within fishmeal and may provide a feasible and effective approach to the detection of ARGs and HPPB in fishmeal during food safety inspection. Graphical abstract ᅟ

In this study, nine OPEs were measured in 60 street dust samples collected from the central province of Henan, China. The total concentrations of OPEs (∑₉OPEs) in street dust range from 2.77 to 505 μg/kg (median 59.3 μg/kg). Chlorinated OPEs are dominant in street dust with median concentration of 33.5 μg/kg, followed by aryl OPEs (median 9.05 μg/kg), and alkyl OPEs (median 6.19 μg/kg). No significant correlations are found between ∑₉OPEs and parameters, such as population (p = 0.931), population density (p = 0.602), car ownership (p = 0.618), and gross domestic product (p = 0.863). Principal component analysis (PCA) result reveals that road traffic could be a major source of OPEs in street dust because of their extensive use in various vehicles. The total average (median) and high-level exposure (95th percentile) of OPEs are 1.01 × 10⁻², 7.17 × 10⁻² ng/kg bw/d for adults and 6.03 × 10⁻², 0.43 ng/kg bw/d for children, respectively. Hazard quotient (HQ) values are 5–6 orders of magnitude lower than the acceptable risk level (HQ < 0.1), indicating there is still a low risk to local residents at current levels.

Road-deposited sediments (RDS) on an expressway, residual RDS collected after sweeping, and RDS removed by means of sweeping were analyzed to evaluate the degree to which sweeping removed various non-point source contaminants. The total RDS load was 393.1 ± 80.3 kg/km and the RDS, residual RDS, and swept RDS were all highly polluted with organics, nutrients, and metals. Among the metals studied, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Ca, and Fe were significantly enriched, and most of the contaminants were associated with particles within the size range from 63 μm to 2 mm. Sweeping reduced RDS and its associated contaminants by 33.3–49.1% on average. We also measured the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of RDS in the present work, representing to our knowledge the first time that this has been done; we found that RDS contains a significant amount of biodegradable organics and that the reduction of BOD by sweeping was higher than that of other contaminants. Significant correlations were found between the contaminants measured, indicating that the organics and the metals originated from both exhaust and non-exhaust particles. Meanwhile, the concentrations of Cu and Ni were higher in 63 μm–2 mm particles than in smaller particles, suggesting that some metals in RDS likely exist intrinsically in particles, rather than only as adsorbates on particle surfaces. Overall, the results in this study showed that sweeping to collect RDS can be a good alternative for reduction of contaminants in runoff.

Pd-only three-way catalysts with improved catalytic activity for NO elimination were prepared. In order to explore the catalytic reaction rules of NO reduction under a three-way catalytic system, a series of single reactions related to NO reduction were evaluated. It was found that the reaction temperatures of NO + H₂ or NO + CO or NO + C₃H₆ reactions were below 250 °C, while that of NO + C₃H₈ was up to 350 °C. Thus, the reaction NO + C₃H₈ served as the key reaction in determining the purification efficiency of NO at the high-temperature stage. By in situ FTIR, we proposed that three possible steps were involved in NO + C₃H₈ reaction. The first step was the oxidation of C₃H₈ and NO to acetone and nitrate species by active oxygen species, respectively (C₃H₈ + O* → C₃H₆O, NO + O* → NO₃⁻). XPS results revealed that the amount of active oxygen species in Pd/CeO₂-ZrO₂-Al₂O₃ (Pd/CZA, 73.7%) was much higher than that in Pd/CeₓZr₁₋ₓO₂+Al₂O₃ (Pd/CZ+A, 64.1%). This was in line with the higher reaction efficiency of the first step over Pd/CZA. Then the NO + C₃H₈ reaction was accelerated by the first step, which consequently contributed to the higher NO elimination efficiency of Pd/CZA.