The efficiency of xylano-pectinolytic enzymes, co-produced by a single microbial strain Bacillus pumilus, was analysed for the recycling of mixed office waste paper through deinking and compared with the alkaline chemical deinking method. Enzymes showed maximum deinking at pH 8.5, pulp consistency of 10%, xylanase-pectinase dose of 12 and 4 IU per gram pulp, respectively, after 120 min of deinking period, and temperature at 50 °C. A chemi-enzymatic approach was employed with xylano-pectinolytic enzymes and various concentrations of deinking chemicals, which showed that enzyme-treated mixed office waste pulp requires only 40% chemicals for deinking, in order to get the almost same level of various handsheets properties, as obtained by the chemical method with 100% chemicals. Similarly, the effluent load of BOD and COD contents was also decreased by 17.90 and 19.75%. This combinational approach of deinking significantly improved the various properties of the handsheets and resulted in gain of 7.5, 9.38, 6.33 and 11.65% in tear factor, burst factor, breaking length and viscosity of the handsheets, while the effective residual ink concentration analysis of deinked handsheets of mixed office waste paper showed deinking efficiency of 22.45%, which revealed the removal of ink particles during enzymatic deinking steps.

This study used the integrated biomarker response (IBR) index approach to assess the ecological risks of heavy metals in different regions of Dianchi Lake, combined with active monitoring and passive monitoring. The contents of five heavy metals (Cu, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb) and six biomarkers (acetylcholinesterase, sodium-potassium ATPase, metallothionein, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and malondialdehyde) in the muscles of crucians (Carassius auratus) were measured to calculate the IBR value. The results indicate that the contents of heavy metal in the fish under active monitoring and passive monitoring were rather low and did not exceed the National Food Safety Standards of China. The IBR value of day 14 of active monitoring correlated with the heavy metal Cd content in the fish, suggesting a potential risk of Cd pollution in the aquatic environment of Dianchi Lake. The IBR values obtained for different regions of the lake on day 14 can be arranged in the following order: West S3 (9.24) > East S1 (3.97) > South S2 (2.39) > North S4 (0.36). These results suggest a potential risk of heavy metal contamination in the western part of Dianchi Lake.

The reuse of olive mill wastewater (OMW) by spreading on agricultural land is subject to a long-time debate since they supply to agricultural land both substances of undoubted positive influence on fertility and compounds that may adversely alter its chemical, physical and microbiological characteristics and/or cause negative effects on crops. In this study different amounts of OMW from 3-phases centrifugal decanter were spread in February on soil cultivated with grapevine in a research-farm located in central Italy for 11 consecutive years, with the aim to verify the long term effect on grape production, physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of soil. In particular, the effect of the OMW spread in the largest amount (50 L m⁻²) was an increase of the weight of the grape-brunches and total grapes production and, in addition, an improvement of the soil characteristics due to the increase of the content of the organic reducing substances with humic-like properties. Moreover, it was also ascertained that in the short-medium period (2–8 months) the respiratory activity of the micro-organisms of the soil parcels, treated with different amount of OMW, was higher than that of the soil control parcels. The results obtained demonstrated that the controlled spreading of OMW helps to increase both the grapes crop and the fertility of the soil, recycling the organic matter and mineral nutrients, in this way allowing to reduce, or avoid, the use of chemical fertilisers.

Feeding a growing population requires striking a balance between increasing production and decreasing environmental impacts in agricultural settings. We established 12 experimental mesocosms with silt loam atop a base of sand and examined the ability of three emergent aquatic plants common to the USA to remediate pesticides and nutrients in agricultural runoff. Mesocosms were planted in monocultures of Myriophyllum aquaticum, Polygonum amphibium, and Typha latifolia, or left unvegetated to serve as controls. All mesocosms were amended with target concentrations of 10 mg L⁻¹ (each) nitrate, ammonium, and orthophosphate; 20 μg L⁻¹ (each) of the pesticides propanil and clomazone; and 10 μg L⁻¹ of the pesticide cyfluthrin. After a 6-h-simulated agricultural runoff with amended water, mesocosms sat idle for 48 h before flushing with unamended water for another 6 h. Outflow water samples were collected and analyzed for contaminant concentrations. Most significant differences between vegetated mesocosms and controls occurred when comparing mean contaminant transfer/transformation rates post-amendment. Differences among plant species occurred regarding retention of dissolved nutrients orthophosphate, ammonium, and nitrate. Similarly, all three plant species retained more propanil than controls during post-amendment (8–48 h), but individual plant differences occurred with regard to clomazone and cyfluthrin retention. While variation in mitigation of specific dissolved components of nutrients suggests different mechanisms involved in nutrient cycling within our mesocosms, consistent overall total nutrient and pesticide reduction during the post-amendment period indicate that holding runoff in vegetated ditches may reduce transport of agricultural contaminants to downstream aquatic ecosystems.

Freshwaters are highly vulnerable to pollution since they act as immediate sinks for the consequences of human activity always associated with the danger of accidental discharges. Heavy metals constitute a core group of aquatic pollutants and additional concentrations of these metals accumulate in the aquatic ecosystems as a result of land-based activities. Fish mostly tend to bioaccumulate heavy metals, and humans can be at great risk, sometimes even lethal, through contamination of the food chain. An attempt has been made in the present investigation to determine the acute toxicity of lithium and its toxicological effects on survival, physiological, haematological and biochemical parameters of the widely consumed spotted sneak head Channa punctatus and Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. Short-term acute toxicity tests were performed by exposing the test species to different concentrations of lithium chloride. The results showed that the normal respiratory activity of the fish was significantly affected and there was a depression in the metabolic rate at the end of 24, 48, 72 and 96h exposure. Appreciable decline changes occur in haematological parameters and biochemical profiles of the fish. This study reflects the extent of the toxic effects of lithium and the metal-induced cumulative deleterious effects at various functional levels in the widely consumed freshwater fish, Channa punctatus and Oreochromis niloticus.

Cryptosporidium can transport from the soil to the water resulting in the contamination of the surrounding water bodies. However, there are few pieces of research on the transport of Cryptosporidium from the slope soil to the surrounding water. The experiment simulated the transport of Cryptosporidium surrogate, carboxylate YG polystyrene, influenced by the rainfall intensity, rainfall pattern, soil type, and land slope, from the soil to water, to understand the transport of Cryptosporidium surrogate under these different conditions. The results showed that the transport of Cryptosporidium surrogate was affected by the surface runoff factors, that is, the high rainfall intensity, high rainfall frequency, steep slope and high sand content soil that resulted in the high transport of the Cryptosporidium surrogate.

The present study was aimed to characterize the bacterial isolate DDI(I)1 isolated from the rhizospheric soil of Ocimum grown in New Delhi (India). The isolate exhibited multiple plant growth promoting activities namely ammonia production, production of phytohormones, hydrogen cyanide, solubilization of minerals, tolerance against heavy metals, etc. The isolate was morphologically and biochemically characterized and it was found that DDI(I)1 belongs to genus Pseudomonas. Further, 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that the isolate shared 99% homology with Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Recently, facing situations of insufficient energy and harsh environmental conditions, new-energy vehicles begin to enter people’s lives. But considering many factors such as price and market acceptance development of new-energy automobile market must not lack government incentives. In recent two years, the government’s subsidy for green technology development to new-energy automobile enterprises has entered the post-subsidy era. To explore the sustainable development of new-energy automobile enterprises, Foton automobile was selected as the research object and the scale of government subsidy for green technology development to Foton automobile was clearly defined, the performance was analyzed by using multiple regression method. Results show that government subsidy and tax return for green technology development have a positive effect on Foton automobile’s performance, environmental regulation stringency has a significant positive moderating effect. Referring to the conclusions, some suggestions were put forward for Foton automobile’s future development and the development of newenergy automobile industry.

The source region of the Yellow River, located in the north-eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is an important water conservation region and ecological barrier of the Yellow River. In this paper, based on remote sensing technology, multi-period Landsat remote sensing images in the source region were taken as the main information source. With the assistance of field investigation, we monitored the spatial and temporal changes of desertification in the source region from 2000 to 2019. The results show that the area of desertification in the source region has accounted for 9.36% of the total area, of which the light desertification land is the major portion. The desertification is mainly distributed between the southern margin of Madoi Valley basin and the northern margin of Heihe Valley basin, and is distributed on the river valleys, lakesides, ancient rivers and piedmont proluvial fan, showing the form of patches, sheets and belts. The growth rate of desertification in the source region was 87.47% from 2000 to 2010. With a high growth rate, the process of desertification was represented by the rapid spread of desertification. From 2010 to 2019, the growth rate of desertification was 37.32%, which was relatively slow. But the moderate desertification land maintained a straight linear growth trend, showing an increasing trend of desertification degree. Through the analysis of the driving factors of desertification in the source region of the Yellow River, this paper argues that the special geographical location, climatic factors, rodent damages and human activities are the main causes of desertification.

The prosperity of the entire biotic community depends on two broad components of nature; land and water. The basaltic rock is known to have poor storage and transmission capability. It gets fully saturated during monsoon but a situation of rejected recharge results in post-monsoon and early summer months. These aquifers also drain naturally due to high water table gradient formed by sloping and undulating topography. The available and new groundwater recharge potential zones can better augment by adopting a scientific and multi-sectoral approach for making the future plan. The study area encompasses Manganga River basin, bounded between Lat. 17°54’ N to 17°00’ N and Long. 74°27’ E to 75°31’ E. The study area is in basaltic terrain with undulating topography. The spatial and non-spatial data generated based on various thematic maps such as geology, lineament density, geomorphology, slope, drainage buffer, land-use land-cover, soil texture and soil erodibility have been prepared using satellite data. The groundwater prospects maps generated by overlay analysis of the spatial thematic maps were grouped into five classes and their distribution are: very good/excellent, good, moderate, poor and very poor. The results show that a major portion of the study area falls in the category ‘poor’ followed by ‘very poor’. Based on the outputs derived from groundwater recharge potential zones, an action plan for watershed development in the study area has been suggested like the development of percolation/water retention ponds at the identified sites and tube/bore/open wells along the dense lineament zones. The aspect related to conjunctive use, groundwater legislation, the involvement of NGO’S, women and community participation, mass awareness, adoption of advanced irrigation system etc. will play an important role in conserving and developing the precious water resources.