This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the production of amylase, a crucial enzyme with wide-ranging industrial applications, using locally sourced substrates from Kachchh, Gujarat. The research employed the Bacillus licheniformis strain and substrates such as coconut, rice husk, wheat bran, paddy straw, and maize straw. The study found paddy straw to be the most promising substrate for amylase production. The research also systematically optimized various process parameters for amylase production in Solid-State Fermentation (SSF) using the One Variable at a Time (OVAT) method. These parameters included incubation period, temperature, inoculum level, additional carbon sources, starch concentrations, additional nitrogen sources, initial pH, different mineral salt ions, initial moisture level, and surfactants. The results showed that the optimal conditions for maximum amylase yield were an incubation period of 48 hours, an incubation temperature of 35°C, an inoculum level of 10%, starch as the additional carbon source, a starch concentration of 2.5%, yeast extract as the additional nitrogen source, an initial pH of 7, NaCl as the mineral salt, an initial moisture level of 75%, and Tween 80 as the surfactant. This research provides a reliable and sustainable approach to enzyme production, offering valuable insights for the optimization of the solid-state fermentation process for maximum amylase production.

There is a pressing demand for the introduction of environmentally safe technologies for the industries that supply the basic needs of industrialized societies. Advanced Oxidation Processes may become one of the answers to these uprising pollution management problems in the near future. The present investigation aimed to reduce the refractory organics present in the biologically treated (Activated Sludge Process) tannery effluent using Photocatalysis. The optimum time, pH, dosage of H2O2, and mass of NPAC required for the effective treatment using photocatalysis were found to be 60 mins, 8, 0.2 mg.L-1, and 1g. 100 mL-1, respectively. Although the efficiency of homogeneous photocatalysis was found to be higher than that of heterogeneous photocatalysis, the biodegradability was higher in the latter, with a value of 0.26. The experimental results have proved that photocatalysis could be a promising technology to reduce the refractory organics present in the tannery effluent.

This study aimed to analyze the microplastic contamination of fresh and pindang fish and its health impact on the coast of Muncar, Banyuwangi Regency, Indonesia. In this study, a total of 115 respondents participated, providing questionnaire data on their fish consumption habits and health problems. Subsequently, spearman’s correlation coefficient, a non-parametric statistical test, was used to analyze the questionnaire data. This study also included 100 samples of marine fish, consisting of 89 fresh fish and 11 pindang fish from various types of marine species. The content of microplastic polymers detected through FTIR (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) was around 3-5 microplastic polymers/fish samples, and the most dominant were Polyethylene, Polyester, Polycaprolactam (Nylon 6) and Polyamide. This study showed that 94 percent of fish samples contained microplastics and only 6 percent of samples did not contain microplastics. The intensity of pindang fish consumption was positively correlated with respondents’ health symptoms and problems. Subsequently, implementing effective waste management systems and educational programs in the coastal areas is crucial in reducing the pollution of seawater resulting from inadequate waste disposal practices.

The purpose of the research work is to explore the objective and competence of COP (Conference of Parties) in the context of environmental issues and climate change management and this is performed by evaluating respective articles published in the context of the subject. COP is found efficient in empowering global nations to be aligned with the objective of sustainable growth by making corrective negotiations and agreements as per the current and future environmental issues like the greenhouse effect and air pollution. COP helps ensure environmental issues are fixed by conducting benchmark index-based performance reviews and analyses. It has been observed that the agenda significantly contributes to the green economy, as it promotes sustainable change and development in the environment, society, and economy. A significant innovative strategy was developed at the conference to reduce global temperatures and emissions. In this context, the development of the EV sector plays a crucial role in mitigating environmental impact. The COP28 conference is addressing the climate and nature crisis, considering it a global health emergency. Methodology states that the literature search is conducted from peer-reviewed journal articles from authentic sources like Wiley’s Online Library and Science Direct Pages. Only the journals that were published after the year 2019 have been used in the study. Also, it is seen that COP28 (2023) conventions focused on global warming, climate change, and the production of a green economy, which is continuously being considered, and also, the implications and steps that are required to be taken are discussed.

Isotopes are atoms of an element having the same atomic number but different mass numbers. Isotopes in hydrology and water resources are used for identifying its occurrence, movement, residence times, recharge, and discharge process. Stable isotopes of hydrogen(δ2H) and oxygen(δ2O) are used for identifying the surface and groundwater interactions as they constitute hydrogen and oxygen. In this study oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes are used to identify surface and groundwater interaction in Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) regions of Chengalpattu district. The precipitation, lake, surface, and groundwater were collected during pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons. The collected sample is analyzed for stable isotopic compositions of oxygen and hydrogen seasonal-wise. The measured stable isotopic compositions during pre-monsoon season of stable oxygen are -4.29 to -2.00 and stable hydrogen are -29.39 to -24.67. The isotopic compositions during monsoon season range from -4.72 to -4.00 and for hydrogen ranges from -29.39 to -23.50. During monsoon season the depletion of isotopic composition is seen and the enrichment of isotopic composition is observed during pre-monsoon season. The variation in stable isotopic composition of oxygen and hydrogen are observed. A Groundwater Water Meteoric Water Line (GMWL) is developed for the study area, and it is compared with a Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL) for better interpretation of the results. A slight deviation is observed from that of GMWL to LMWL mostly due to isotopic depletion and evaporation effects. From the analysis, a good correlation exists between precipitation and surface water in the study area indicating about recharge mechanism existing in the study area. The groundwater recharge is observed during monsoon seasons and discharge is more towards the pre-monsoon seasons.

Mauritania is a fishing country. However, the Mauritanian coast is increasingly exposed to environmental issues mainly due to anthropogenic activities such as the mining, gas, oil, and fishing industries, as well as new agricultural practices that unreasonably use inputs. Environmental monitoring of the Mauritanian coast faces several challenges; thus, improving the fisheries sector begins with enhancing the state of marine ecosystems and implementing environmental monitoring adapted to climatic conditions and local needs. This study aims to evaluate the quality of the sediments of the “Baie du Repos” in the town of Nouadhibou, Mauritania, through the study of organic matter and the quantification of trace metallic elements in the Quaternary sediments of the Bay. Six samples deemed representative of this Bay were taken and transported to the laboratory. The physicochemical analysis of these samples shows that the superficial horizons of 30 cm depth have overall organic matter contents higher than the average threshold value proposed by the literature for 4 out of 6 of the points studied. The contents recorded for the different metallic trace elements indicate that point 1 is the most exposed to contamination, with the highest concentrations of cadmium, lead, copper, iron, and zinc. The ACP (Principal Component Analysis) showed that the metallic trace elements Pb, Cu, Fe, Cd, and Zn are closely related and evolve positively in the same direction. Additionally, it was found that the points studied are divided into three groups: Group 1 contains only point 1, which is the most exposed to contamination by these toxic elements (Pb, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Cd). Group 2 contains points 3, 5, and 6, which are moderately contaminated by metallic elements with a significant dominance of organic matter (OM). Finally, Group 3 is the least contaminated, with a very high content of organic matter (OM).

Biochar can be a good soil amendment to reduce the soil pH, increase crop growth rate, and improve the efficient use of fertilizer. Other than that, silicon fertilizer also would promote photosynthetic ability on plant development that would help to produce high yield. In this work, a series of experiments was conducted to observe the effect of rice husk biochar and silicon fertilizer on the maize growth rate and soil pH. A 45-day pot experiment in the greenhouse with three replicates of 9 experimental treatment combinations of RHB at two rates (5 and 2.5 t.ha-1) with silicon fertilizer at three rates (125%, 100%, 75%), sole biochar (10 t.ha-1), sole silicon fertilizer (100%) and control (NPK) to observe the best rate and combination to improve growth rate and change in soil chemical in acid soil. The result showed that the co-application of sole biochar and biochar with Silicon significantly improved growth development, increased photosynthesis rate, altered soil pH, and reduced Fe concentration compared to control. The plant height increased 88.35% from T4 (5 t.ha-1 RHB + 100% Si) compared to the control and the conductance was higher in T4 (0.53) followed by T8 (0.438) while T1 (0.071) recorded the lowest conductance. The shoot fresh weight was higher in T4 (127.83 g) followed by T8 (57.14 g). However, the weight increased by 343.7% at T4 followed by T8 (2.5 t.ha-1 RHB + 75% Si) at 98.33%. The highest pH increment of 1.24 units (T1 = 5.53, T4 = 6.77) of soil pH was noted from T4 (5 t.ha-1 RHB + 100% Si) compared to control (NPK), and the highest total Fe in soil was observed from T1 (442.30 mg.kg-1). The current study results showed that T4 (50% RHB + 100% Silicon) was the best treatment over the other rates of RHB and silicon increased plant height, photosynthetic rate, and biomass.

Sustainable development is a global policy that requires the collective effort of the actors present in each territory. In this sense, an energy renewal intervention model is presented at the Juan XXIII Educational Institution in the city of Monteria, Córdoba, Colombia, which results from alliances between international, national, and regional actors, becoming a reference that could serve as a basis. To be replicated in other institutions with characteristics similar to those described in this case. The model generally describes the entire process carried out in the intervention and focuses on the benefits generated for the educational community. Among the main results, the increase in thermal, lighting, and acoustic comfort of the educational community stands out, according to a survey and semi-structured interviews carried out. A fact that could be attributed to the perception of increased comfort in the community is the increase in the student population in 2022, going from 1,478 in 2019 to 1,909 in 2022, with a growth of approximately 29%. Energy renovation also resulted in the improvement of the indoor climate of the classrooms (from 35°C to 27°C), the improvement in the physical infrastructure of the institution, the integration of photovoltaic solar energy, and the subsequent reduction of energy cost.

This detailed study assessed heavy metal contamination of sediments/soil near central India’s largest copper mining area using 38 sampling sites within 10 km of the mine using atomic absorption spectroscopy. This study utilized multivariate pattern recognition methods, namely hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA), for source identification. Twelve parameters, i.e., copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), organic matter (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil pH, distance (D), and elevation (E) were analyzed. The hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used to analyze the sample sites with similar metal contamination and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the relationship between the parameters as well as to identify sources of heavy metal pollution. Three major pollution hotspots were detected by AHC and were classified as unpolluted/low pollution sites (UPS: mean concentration factor of 1.35 for Cu), highly polluted sites (HPS: mean concentration factor of 22 for Cu), and extremely polluted sites (EPS: mean concentration factor of 74 for Cu). PCA revealed three hidden factors/components, namely PC1 (explaining 38% of the variability), PC2 (18% of the variability), and PC3 (14% of the variability). Metals showed strong positive loading in PC1, explaining the highest variability. The mean content of Cu in soil/sediment samples was 502.526 mg/kg. The mean copper content was 10 times higher than the natural crustal value of 45mg/kg, indicating severe pollution in several sites around the study area. Mapping of copper contamination was conducted to reveal the spatial distribution of copper contamination using QGIS. This study exposes the heavy metal contamination level in surface sediments/soil and the effectiveness of pattern recognition techniques for the assessment of multivariate datasets in discerning spatial disparities and identifying the contamination causes.

Undernutrition is a confront to the health and output of the populace. It is viewed as one of the five leading contrary health impacts of climate variability and is defined as different measures of nutritional status. We aimed to assess the scientific evidence base for the impact of climate variability on childhood undernutrition (particularly wasting and underweight) in low- and middle-income countries. A systematic review was conducted to identify the peer-reviewed and gray full-text studies in English with no limits for the year of publication and study design. This review covers only published studies from four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct). The risk of bias was assessed using the ROVBIS tool in individual studies. The PRISMA Statement checklist for systematic reviews was referred for this review process. A significant correlation between climate variables, temperature, rainfall, and drought, and at least one undernutrition parameter in 19 out of 22 studies was observed in this systematic review. In addition, we note that crop yield, maternal education, nutritional status of mothers, wealth status at the household level, and individual levels also play substantial roles in mediating the nutritional impacts. The findings of our analysis imply that exposure to climate variables may be linked to an increased risk of undernutrition both during and for several years following climate events. This may imply that undernutrition is never caused by temperature, precipitation, drought, or other weather-related factors alone but rather that undernutrition is triggered in children who are already at risk.