The rapid dissemination of microplastics in many habitats of the oceans has raised concerns about the consequences for marine biota and ecosystems. Many adverse effects of microplastics on marine invertebrates are consequences of ingestion. Accordingly, the identification of mechanisms that facilitate the uptake of microplastics is essential for the evaluation of possible implications for marine organisms and food webs. Gastropods produce mucus for locomotion. Gastropod pedal mucus naturally retains formerly suspended micro-organisms, such as bacteria, microalgae, and seaweed spores. The retained organisms are consumed by gastropods that forage on pedal mucus. Here, we investigated the potential of gastropod pedal mucus to retain suspended microplastic particles and make them available for ingestion by periwinkles that forage on the contaminated mucus. In laboratory experiments, mucus of the periwinkles Littorina littorea and Littorina obtusata efficiently retained microplastics. Retention of microplastics varied between mucus from conspecifics of different size but not between mucus from either species. The density of microplastics in mucus trails increased concomitantly with the experimental particle concentration but was independent of incubation time. Aging of mucus and, particularly, desiccation affected the retention of microplastics. Periwinkles ingested microplastics when foraging on the contaminated mucus. Our results reveal a functional link between biogenic accumulation of microplastics and their trophic transfer by marine benthic herbivores into marine food webs.

The accumulation of desulfurization ash from coal-fired power plants can lead to serious waste of land resources and environmental safety problems. This work presents an experimental study on the feasibility of recycling original desulfurization ash as the main raw materials, and a new green grouting material was prepared. The results indicate that a desulfurization ash–based grouting fire prevention material which was prepared according to the following ingredient design (a water-to-solid ratio of 1.0:1 and a hydroxyethyl cellulose content of 0.09% desulfurization ash, 12% quicklime, 0.6% Na₂SO₄, and 0.05% triethanolamine, 80 °C curing). The slurry’s viscosity meets requirements, and its suspension, liquidity, and consolidation strength are better than those of clay under the same conditions. In addition, the grouting material’s inhibitor ratio is increased with temperature increase, which means it has good flame retardancy. Environmental performance tests concluded that when desulfurization ash as-recycled admixture is used for the preparation of grouting fire prevention material, from the technique point of view, the environmental safety of them is very good.

Phosphorus (P) characteristics in eutrophic lakes change during algal growth. Furthermore, algae have a significant relationship with the microbial communities of lake sediments. This study addressed the influence of algal growth and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations on P characteristics within the sediment-water-algal (SWA) system. Results indicated that the SWA system simulating a high algal bloom level (SWA-HAB) had a correspondingly high SRP concentration (258.9 μg L⁻¹), and that algal growth promoted a high SRP concentration in the overlying water. The high SRP concentration in overlying water could support algal growth, resulting in a high chlorophyll a (Chl-a) concentration (285.23 mg L⁻¹). During algal growth, the P release flux was high in sediments from the high-SRP SWA system, with the highest P release flux measured at 0.982 mg m⁻² day⁻¹. Furthermore, microbial community abundance had a significant relationship with Chl-a concentrations in overlying water (p < 0.05) and increases with algae growth.

Mushroom’s biological content has a positive effect on human welfare which is called “nongreen revolution”. It has an economic and social component that provides long-term food nutrition, environmental conservation, and regeneration of valuable resources. This article provides evidence that mushrooms can be a healthy food alternative to meat. In this study, analyzed data was collected from Marmara region of Turkey using a survey method. A survey questionnaire was prepared and distributed to a total sample size of 408 participants. Linear regression model y = α + β1×1+β2×2 was administered to determine the relationship of the variables. Secondary data were also used for the literature of the study. The study revealed that the consumption of mushroom accounts for 13.2% of the consumption of meat at the time of mushroom collection period. Consequently, it showed also that for every 1% increase in consumption of two species of mushrooms (Lactarius semisanguifluus and Macrolepiota procera var.) meat consumption decreases (−4.39, −2.97%).

Fossil fuels used in energy mix continues to dictate world heat usage. Demand for heat is considered as substantial contributor to carbon emissions and energy-related emissions equivalent to 12.5 Gt of carbon emissions. Data on heat is limited and therefore, a study on the causal correlation between energy use and emissions would provide policy guidance on how to decarbonize the heat sector to achieve Paris’s Greenhouse Effect Treaty. Most empirical works aggregated energy consumption and ignore spatial dependence and heterogeneity in a panel dataset. Our study, however, disaggregated energy into renewable and non-renewable to find their distinct influence on emissions, which were tested for spatial dependence and heterogeneity and applied potential emissions as environmental impact. Using FGLS and PCSE estimators for the period 1971–2013, our findings revealed that the increase in renewable energy use and industrialization improves the ecological structure of emerging economies while the increase in population, economic expansion, and non-renewable energy use increases the carbon stock. We accordingly, investigated causation direction with pooled mean group estimator. Rising economic power states therefore encourage to ensure energy efficiency and replace fuel use with renewable source for heating to reduce carbon stock.

Eudrilus eugeniae, the vermicomposing worm, is found in considerable numbers in agricultural fields in India due to their eventual transfer through vermimanure. These worms are very often exposed to pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilisers and other soil amendments. This paper reports the effects of variable concentrations of urea, phosphogypsum (PG), paper mill sludge (PMS) and two organophosphorus agrochemicals, monocrotophos and glyphosate, on certain morphological, histological and biochemical parameters of E. eugeniae. Results indicated setal anomalies, epidermal lesions, clitellar swelling and constriction of the body. Disintegration of connective tissue, vacuolation of dermis and significant alterations in protein, lipid peroxidation levels and activities of lactate dehydrogenase, acetylcholinesterase and catalase have also been observed in the treated worms. It is proposed that setae, connective tissue, protein and enzymes in E. eugeniae could be useful markers to evaluate toxicity due to the test chemicals.

This work investigated the use of acidified dealginated residue from Sargassum filipendula algae for biosorption of silver in fixed bed column. This biosorbent was esterified for carboxyl and sulfonate groups to investigate the influence of these groups on silver removal percentage. Potentiometric titration was also evaluated on acidified and esterified biosorbents. Porosity and specific weight were determined by helium picnometry and mercury porosimetry techniques. The results showed that carboxyl and sulfonate groups were significant on silver biosorption. Potentiometric titration showed that esterified and acidified biosorbents presented different acid groups. The porosity of the acidified biosorbent was around 40%. Fixed bed assays were conducted to evaluate the influence of inlet concentration and feed flow rate of silver. Higher percentage removal of silver was obtained at 1.0 mmol · L⁻¹ and 0.5 mL · min⁻¹. Modified dose-response model obtained the best prediction of experimental data among breakthrough curve models.

The electric power industry is not only an important part in the Chinese economic system but also the key industry with the highest emissions of air pollutants in China. This paper aims to control the pollution emissions of the Chinese electric power industry and enhance its electric-generation capacity though pollution-emission allocation patterns and inefficiency elimination. The data envelopment analysis centralized allocation model (DEA-CA) under metafrontier framework is adopted to distribute pollution emissions and electric-generation capacity considering technological heterogeneity at regional and national levels. The empirical result shows that the emission reduction responsibility is directly proportional to regional power generation performance. The metafrontier framework allocates emission permits to combine the national and regional, which makes the adjustment of each province more reasonable. At last, the relationship between the aggregate optimal electricity capacity and the pollution emission control coefficient is shown to follow an inverted U-shape curve, which implies that a modest emission control policy might be more appropriate for the electric power industry to achieve the joint optimizing goal of electricity generation enhancement and pollution emission control.

Dead-water zones (DWZs) in natural open channels, formed by embayment or consecutive groins, can provide favorable growth conditions for aquatic organisms. Although flow hydrodynamics in side-cavity zones have been well studied, the impact of vegetation on recirculating flow is rarely considered. This study adopts large eddy simulation (LES) to examine the flow field in a rectangular embayment zone with different population densities of vegetation. The numerical model is validated by mean streamwise velocity data collected near mid-depth in the physical experiment. Vegetation rearranges the circulation structure in the DWZ and weakens the velocity and turbulent kinetic energy. This negative effect increases with increasing population density. With the development of the shedding vortex induced in the front edge of the channel–embayment interface, the large-scale coherent structure forms in the mixing layer and is hardly affected by the variation of population density. As the population density increases, the mean retention time first decreases and then increases as a result of the combined action of three factors, namely, the large-scale coherent structure, the plant-induced Karman vortex street, and the blocking effect of dense vegetation.

Few detailed, individual-focused studies have researched the added effect of temperature on cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly in China. Moreover, no prior studies have explored the exposure-response relationship among all populations and different sub-sociodemographic groups. A distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was applied to evaluate the adverse health effects of temperature on CVD mortality for all populations and different sub-sociodemographic groups (by age, sex, educational level, living arrangement, and occupation) in Beijing. Based on the exposure-response relationships, firstly, we proposed a new model (COCKTAIL, Code Of Climate Key To An Ill) for revealing the split-and-merge relationships of the temperature-CVD mortality curve. This method could be used to apply the CVD deaths in a studied area to forecast the exposure-response relationships in the same area in the future. Secondly, this is the most detailed study to analyze the relationship between temperature and CVD mortality for different subgroups among the existing researches for developed and developing countries. We found that the cold temperature (at − 14 °C) was the risk factor for people with low socioeconomic status, especially for single people (including unmarried, divorced, and widowed), for indoor workers, and for people with low education, compared with the minimum mortality temperature, with a cumulative increase of 3.9 (80%CI, 2.9–5.4), 3.8 (80%CI, 2.8–5.1), and 4.5 (80%CI, 3.1–6.3) times respectively. Meanwhile, the hot temperature (at 35 °C) was the risk factor for CVD death, with a cumulative increase of 2.6 (80%CI, 2.0–3.4) for females, and 3.1 (80%CI, 2.4–4.2) for single people. The varying CVD vulnerability in terms of CVD mortality among various groups may assist governments in preparing health resources and taking measures to prevent or reduce temperature-related deaths.