Acetochlor, a commonly used herbicide, and Pb are two important soil contaminants often found to co-occur. The cytotoxic effects of heavy metals like Pb considerably reduce the efficacy of microbial bioremediation steps undertaken to remove chemical contaminants from soil. This necessitates the identification of heavy metal-tolerant microbial strains that can degrade chemical pollutants. In the present study, a Pb-resistant acetochlor-degrading bacterial strain belonging to the Serratia genus was isolated. We found that Serratia sp. QSxin4 could use acetochlor as the sole carbon source and grow well when incubated in a minimal medium containing 500 mg/L acetochlor and 200 mg/L Pb. QSxin4 could degrade acetochlor from 500 to about 4.5 mg/L within 48 h, with the maximum degradation rate of 12 ± 0.1 mg mL⁻¹ h⁻¹. GC-MS analysis showed that the bacterial strain could deoxyalkylate acetochlor to produce 2-ethyl-6-methyl-N-methyl-α-chloroacetanilide. Germination studies carried out with Eragrostis pilosa seeds, using soil containing 25 mg/kg acetochlor and 400 mg/kg Pb, revealed that QSxin4 could markedly reduce the toxic effects of acetochlor on seed germination by degrading acetochlor to a less toxic compound. Our findings indicate that QSxin4 can be used for bioremediation of acetochlor-contaminated soil contaminated with high concentrations of Pb.

Human activity triggers negative alternations in river habitats, including changes to the physical and chemical parameters of the water, its hydromorphological features and the introduction and spread of invasive alien species. These modifications are expected to be intensified by climate change. Eight rivers in one of the most urbanised and industrialised regions in Europe, i.e. the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, were surveyed in order to explain the impact of anthropopressure on the distribution of macroinvertebrates. Conductivity, altitude, hydromorphological transformations, hardness, the organic matter content and certain fractions of benthic sediments significantly affect (p < 0.01) the occurrence of macroinvertebrates in Central European rivers. Our results proved that the hydromorphological transformation of watercourses, which is expressed by the relevant indices, is one of the most predictive factors that contribute to the distribution of macroinvertebrates. Anthropogenic inland waters that have been salinised by the discharge of hard coal mine waters create new habitats for brackish and marine species that replace native freshwater species. An increase in salinity causes an impoverishment of macroinvertebrate biodiversity therefore all possible actions should be taken to reduce the anthropogenic salinity of inland waters. Secondary saline rivers may prove to be prescient for climate-induced changes to river macroinvertebrates.

The traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) model usually ignores the influence of external environmental factors and random interference. This can easily lead to deviations in efficiency estimates. In order to solve this problem, a three-stage DEA model was used to better reflect the carbon emission efficiency of Chinese construction industry (CEECI) (2006–2017) from the perspective of non-management factors. The internal influencing factors of CEECI are analyzed by the Tobit model, which provides a more accurate basis for formulating policies. It is found that the CEECI is significantly affected by the GDP, the level of industrialization, the degree of opening-up, technological innovation, and energy structure. After excluding environmental factors and random interference, the average CEECI increased by 16%. The resulting calculations are noteworthy in three aspects. First, there are significant regional differences in the CEECI. Both the multi-polarization phenomenon of CEECI and regional differences also reduced gradually over time. Second, the CEECI can be decomposed into pure carbon emission efficiency (PCEE) and scale efficiency (SE), which is mainly caused by SE. Excluding external environmental factors and random interference will have a specific impact on the CEECI. All the 30 provinces are divided into four categories to analyze the reasons and solutions of the differences in the CEECI in provinces. Third, many factors had inhibitory effects on the CEECI, PCEE, and SE; these included energy structure optimization, labor force number, total power of construct ion equipment, and construction intensity in the construction industry. Nevertheless, the development level of the construction industry did have a significant positive effect.

The change in atmospheric pollution from a public lockdown in Greece introduced to curb the spread of the COVID-19 is examined based on ground-based and satellite observations. The results showed that in most cases, the change in atmospheric pollution is not statistically significant. It is probably an artifact of the meteorological conditions that contributed significantly to the long-range transport of air pollutants over Greece during the shutdown period.

This study utilized the Pooled Mean Group estimator to investigate the effect of renewable energy consumption, electricity consumption, economic growth, institutional quality, and globalization on carbon dioxide emission with an updated dataset for 10 economies for the time period from 1985 to 2018. Results of Harris-Tzavalis’s test and Levin–Lin–Chu’s test show that the utilized regressand and regressors are stationary at I(0) and I(I) that conform that the pooled mean group estimator panel ARDL can be utilized. Results of Kao and Pedroni cointegration tests show that cointegration exists amongst the variables. Empirical results of pooled mean group (PMG) revealed that renewable energy consumption helps to diminish the environmental degradation while foreign direct investment, electricity consumption, and economic growth and institutional quality positively affect the degradation of the environment. The findings show that globalization in the long run adversely and significantly influences the environmental degradation; globalization reduces the environmental degradation in the long run while in the short run, globalization positively and significantly influences the environmental degradation. Results of the panel VAR and VECM model indicate electricity consumption and institutional quality, and globalization positively affects environmental degradation. Further policies are recommended based on the findings.

Epidemiological studies have showed that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were associated with heart rate variability (HRV), but the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the association is unknown. We aimed to identify PAHs-related lncRNAs and assess their associations with HRV among coke oven workers. Differential lncRNAs expression between 12 exposed workers and 12 controls was tested by Human 8X60k LncRNA Arrays in discovery stage, then selected NR_024564 was validated in 353 workers using droplet digital RT-PCR. Microarray results showed that 1234 lncRNAs were downregulated with 805 lncRNAs upregulated in exposed group (≥ 2-fold change). In validation stage, no significant association was observed between NR_024564 and PAH exposure or HRV in total subjects, while urinary 2-hydroxyfluorene (2-OHFlu) was inversely related to root mean square successive difference (RMSSD). However, in current smokers, NR_024564 was inversely related to urinary 2-OHFlu, 2-hydroxyphenanthrene, 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), and total PAHs metabolites (ΣOH-PAHs), of which 1-OHP accounted for the strongest estimation for interaction with smoking status (Pᵢₙₜₑᵣₐcₜᵢₒₙ = 0.011). Also, the positive associations of NR_024564 with RMSSD and high frequency power showed an interaction with smoking status (Pᵢₙₜₑᵣₐcₜᵢₒₙ = 0.034 and 0.023, respectively). Also, urinary 2-OHFlu and ΣOH-PAHs were inversely associated with RMSSD in current smokers. In addition, elevated NR_024564 was dose-responsive related to increased RMSSD in above high-PAHs groups among smokers (all Pₜᵣₑₙd < 0.05). Our results revealed that NR_024564 and its interactions with smoking status might act as novel mechanisms regulating the adverse effects of PAHs on HRV.

Anaerobic dairy waste treatment requires effective control to avoid long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) inhibitory effects on anaerobic microorganisms, especially methanogens. The hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor (HABR) can provide system stability, but more needs to be done to understand how the microbial communities underpinning the HABR compartments behave and respond. Thus, this study aimed to examine the HABR’s microbial community correlating its performance when subjected to an increase in organic loading rate (OLR) during simulated dairy wastewater treatment. Besides the elevation in OLR, the system could maintain a high COD removal efficiency, nearly to 91%, and elevate the methane production to 53%. Almost all of the organic matter removal occurred mainly in C1 and C2 compartments. The genera Methanosaeta, an acetoclastic methanogen, and Methanobacterium, a hydrogenotrophic methanogen, were the HABR’s dominant species. The most representative phylum found was Bacteroidetes (12–28%), Firmicutes (3–20%), Chloroflexi (4–26%), and Proteobacteria (4–14%). Species capable of syntrophic partnership with methanogens were also identified, belonging to the family of Syntrophomonadaceae and Syntrophaceae. Microorganisms able to perform the AD process as HA73, VadinCA02, T78, Longilinea, Clostridium, and Syntrophomonas were present in the HABR.

The presence of ecotones in transition zones between geological strata (e.g. layers of gravel and sand interbedded with layers of silt in distal alluvial fan deposits) in aquifers plays a significant role in regulating the flux of matter and energy between compartments. Ecotones are characterised by steep physicochemical and biological gradients and considerable biological diversity. However, the link between organic pollutants and degradation potential in ecotones has scarcely been studied. The aim of this study is to relate the presence of ecotones with the dehalogenation of chloroethenes. A field site was selected where chloroethene contamination occurs in a granular aquifer with geological heterogeneities. The site is monitored by multilevel and conventional wells. Groundwater samples were analysed by chemical, isotopic, and molecular techniques. The main results were as follows: (1) two ecotones were characterised in the source area, one in the upper part of the aquifer and the second in the transition zone to the bottom aquitard, where the aged pool is located; (2) the ecotone located in the transition zone to the bottom aquitard has greater microbial diversity, due to higher geological heterogeneities; (3) both ecotones show the reductive dehalogenation of perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene; and (4) these ecotones are the main zones of the reductive dehalogenation of the pollutants, given the more reductive conditions at the centre of the plume. These findings suggest that ecotones are responsible for natural attenuation, where oxic conditions prevailed at the aquifer and bioremediation strategies could be applied more effectively in these zones to promote complete reductive dehalogenation.

A better socioeconomic development is necessary for environmental sustainability. The current study scrutinizes the asymmetric socioeconomic factors of CO2 emissions in China by using the nonlinear ARDL approach. This study is based on annual data covering the period from 1980 to 2019. Results show that positive change in economic growth is the leading driver of CO2 growth, while a negative change in economic growth is offsetting CO2 emissions in China. Concurrently, positive and negative changes in energy consumption have adverse impacts on CO2 emissions in the long term, while negative shock has a small influence on CO2 emissions compared to the positive shock of energy. Positive years of schooling, shocks are found to be beneficial for fighting against CO2 emissions in China in the long run. The CO2 emissions are asymmetrically affected by the social and economic structure of China. Based on these empirical findings, thereby China should improve its socioeconomic development and standards of CO2 emissions.

In view of the significance of transportation management and logistics in the economic concept and raising the productivity of production systems, well-timed procurement of perishable materials and goods is determined as a pivotal prerequisite for economic and environmental development. Since the perishable goods produced must be made delivered to consumers as early as possible on account of the limited lifespan, thus, the vulnerability of these products is extremely high, owing to the high cost of transportation as well as the environmental impacts. So that solves this problem, this study represents a problem of dynamic green vehicle routing of perishable products in green traffic conditions that optimizes the total cost for a dynamic transportation network and minimizes environmental influences, and increases customer satisfaction. The introduced model is implemented in light of time windows as a trustworthy solution for monitoring the dynamic logistics process and attaining instantaneous information on the basis of the green traffic situation and travel duration, which is commonly known by the Logit function. Assuming the three-objective programming model, we consider a new improved algorithm developed for a novel augmented ε-constraint heuristic approach. Furthermore, robust optimization has been conducted for the established problem to tackle with uncertainties. Uncertainties are included demand and economic parameters. Eventually, to validate the proposed model, a case study was carried out at Kaleh Amol Dairy Company in Iran. The conclusions of sensitivity analysis by implementing the model in the real world indicate that the model and approach presented in various uncertainty scenarios have high flexibility.