During the past years, air quality has become an important global issue, due to its impact on people's lives and the environment, and has caused severe problems for humans. As a prevention to effectively control air pollution, forecasting models have been developed as a base for decision-makers and urban managers during the past decades. In general, these methods can be divided into three classes: statistical methods, machine learning methods and hybrid methods. This study's primary intent is to supply an overview of air pollution prediction techniques in urban areas and their advantages and disadvantages. A comparison has also been made between the methods in terms of error assessment and the use of geospatial information systems (GIS). In addition, several approaches were applied to actual data, and the findings were compared to those acquired from previous published literatures. The results showed that forecasting using machine learning and hybrid methods has provided better results. It has also been demonstrated that GIS can improve the results of the forecasting methods.

Indoor air pollutants affect children’s health and previous research mostly focuses on respiratory and allergic diseases. However, little is known about the risks among school children in East Malaysia. Therefore, we studied associations between school children’s respiratory and allergic symptoms and indoor air pollutants in schools in Sabah, Malaysia. We randomly enrolled 332 school children (14 years old) from 24 classrooms in 6 secondary schools in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Information on personal characteristics, respiratory and allergic symptoms were gathered by using a standard questionnaire. The skin prick test was used to characterize the atopy. In each classroom, the indoor concentrations of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), formaldehyde, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), carbon dioxide (CO2) temperature and relative humidity were monitored. Overall, 11.7% reported doctor-diagnosed asthma, 14.8% wheezing, 17.5% day-time breathlessness, 37.0% breathlessness after exercise, 13.0% breathlessness at night-time, 55.1% rhinitis and 10.8% skin allergic in the last 12 months. Regression analysis showed that the onset of wheezing was common in doctor-diagnosed asthma (OR= 8.29, 95% CI= 3.70-16.10) and with parental asthma/allergy (OR= 2.13, 95% CI= 1.10-4.15), and associated with concentrations of NO2 (OR= 1.03, 95% CI= 1.01-1.21) and CO2 (OR= 1.01, 95% CI= 1.01-1.11). Day-time breathlessness was associated with indoor NO2 (OR=1.02, 95% CI= 1.02-1.35) and TVOC (OR= 1.30, 95% CI= 1.10-1.52). The indoor concentrations of NO2, CO2, TVOC and PM2.5 as well as parental asthma/allergy, and parental smoking were associated with the outcome of respiratory and allergic symptoms.

Abstract Rising threats, such as climate change, have thus far resulted in disruptions to ecosystems. Therefore, ecological resilience (eco-resilience) to absorb such distractions and maintain the capacity of ecosystems has been the focal point of numerous studies. In most cases, the characteristics of ecosystems are considered as indicators shaping this type of resilience. In this study, an alternative approach was adopted to examine the performance and outcomes of an ecosystem instead of reflecting on affective factors. Therefore, the resilience index (RI) of an urban forest park was assessed using eco-functional indicators, such as eco-volume (Veco), eco-height (Heco), bio-volume (Vbio), and eco-volume (Veco). At first, the forest park zoning was done. Then, each of the introduced indicators was calculated based on its specific parameters. Finally, the RI of the urban forest park was premeditated. The results showed that each zone with more effective Veco, Heco, and Veco gained a higher score in terms of resilience. The obtained score for RI was thus the function of the current ecological state of each zone. The study conclusions also confirmed that the outputs of the applied framework could embody the main indicators of resilience assessments (viz. thresholds, adaptive capacity, and self-organization). The application of this model on a larger scale required further studies.

Comparative analysis of microbiological indicators (heterotrophic and hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria) in bottom sediments and biochemical parameters (level of oxidized proteins (OP) and lipid peroxidation (LPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities) in hepatopancreas of mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.) from three Sevastopol bays - Laspi, Kazach’ya, Streletskaya (the Black Sea) was carried out. The results obtained allowed to identify certain differences between the studied areas and characterize their ecological state. The maximum abundance of heterotrophic and hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria was found in the most polluted Streletskaya Bay (95,000 and 250 cells/g respectively), the minimum - in the conventionally pure Laspi Bay (2,500 and 1.5 cells/g respectively). Parameters of prooxidant-antioxidant system (level of OP and LPO, SOD and CAT activities), as well as ALT activity in the hepatopancreas of mussels from Streletskaya Bay were found higher as compared to those in other tested areas. Most significant differences (more than twofold) in SOD activity, LPO content and basic ketone forms of OP levels were found between Laspi and Streletskaya bays. The results obtained indicate the severe pollution and less favorable living conditions for aquatic organisms in Streletskaya Bay, as well as demonstrate the high level of biochemical adaptation of mussels to complex environmental pollution. The studied parameters can be applied in the ecological monitoring of the coastal sea water areas.

A new traiazole derivative (4-amino-5-(((5-methyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)thio)methyl)-2,4-dihydro-3H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol, (L), was employed as a chelating ligand to form a dibutyltin chloride complex and improve the poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) properties. The doped PVC films were characterized via FT-IR, UV-Vis spectrum, elemental analyses (C, H, N, and M (metallic)), and magnetic susceptibility and conductivity measurements. These characterizations were conducted at room temperature, and it was disclosed that the chelating ligand rules as a bidentate chelate. The photostabilization examination of plain and L-doped PVC films was conducted in the presence of ambient air using the accelerating weather tester, where the doping ratio was fixed to 0.5 wt.%. The photostabilization performance of the additive was evaluated by tracking the indexes of carbonyl (ICO), polyene (IPO), and hydroxyl (IOH), and weight loss relationship with irradiation time. It was noticed that the values of ICO, Ipo, and IOH enhanced with the irradiation time, where this improvement relied on the presence of the Bu2SnL complex.

This study was conducted in order to assess the level of heavy metals in the water, soil, and tissues of Pomacea canaliculata from Lake Dakong Napo, Esperanza, Philippines as well as identify the histopathological alterations in the gonads and muscles of the snail. Heavy metals were detected using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry and slides for histological studies were prepared using histological routine procedure. Results revealed that in sediments Cr (174.67±62 mg/L) and Ni (269.33±17.56 mg/L) were above from the recommended safe limits of the international standards, US EPA (≤25) and FAO (≤50) while concentrations of Pb (16.35± 0.58 mg/L), Cd (5±1.42 mg/L), and Cr (1±0 mg/L) in water were above from the recommended safe limits of the national standards, DAO (≤0.05; ≤0.01; ≤0.05). These heavy metals were below the permissible limits in the gonads and muscles of P. canaliculata however, alterations in the tissues of the snail are evident suggesting that these heavy metals and other environmental stressors are negatively affecting the organisms inhabiting the lake.

Microplastics pollution has become a matter of global concern because of its effects on aquatic life and the ecosystem. This study investigated the abundance and types of microplastics found in an urban canal of Thailand. Water quality and the relationship between microplastics pollutants and the physicochemical properties of water quality were also analyzed to provide evidence for this study. The mean abundance of microplastics was 370 ± 140 particle(p)/m3. The highest number and concentration of microplastics were found on surface water corelated with urbanization. Transparent brown and transparent colors in the form of film and fiber/lines were the predominant morphology. Polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) were the most abundant polymer type in all surface water samples. Furthermore, water quality was related with microplastic pollution. The physicochemical properties of turbidity (0.99), conductivity (0.97), total solid (0.95) and biological oxygen demand (0.84) were accounted for greatest influences on microplastics distribution. The estimated equation of microplastics was also closely corelated with water quality. These results demonstrate that microplastic pollution has progressed more in poor water quality than good water quality, indicating that the inflow process and sources of microplastics are similar to those of other pollutants. Therefore, this study is expected to encourage and enforce solid waste and wastewater management policies that prevent microplastics pollution in the environment.

In developing countries, wastewater treatment is confined to secondary systems. Hence even after treatment, wastewater effluent has a high level of nutrients which causes eutrophication and has destructive impacts on receiving bodies. Literature reveals that phycoremediation can be the best solution to address the problem faced but is time-consuming, ranging from days to weeks. Hence, the present study aimed to determine an optimum detention time for the microalgal system to treat domestic wastewater. The retention time for treatment in the study was divided into an aeration and settling periods. During the study, aeration time varied from 2 hours to 24 hours, followed by 1-hour settling period for each aeration time. Optimum detention time for microalgal treatment was obtained at 11 hours of detention time (10 hours aeration and 1-hour settling). Parameters analyzed during the study were pH, EC, TS, TSS, TDS, nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, COD and DO. However, the main focus was on nutrients (phosphate and ammonia) and organics (COD) removal while determining the optimum detention time. Maximum removal efficiency obtained for COD, ammonia and phosphate for non-filtered effluent was 75.61%, 90.63% and 83.29%, respectively. However, removal efficiency further increased for filtered effluents to 86.34%, 100% and 91.12% for COD, ammonia and phosphate, respectively. Algal treatment offers an ecologically safe and more affordable system for nutrient removal and eliminates the need for tertiary treatment.

The time series model has been exploited to estimate the relationship between meteorological variables and air in Mashhad with respiratory mortality. For this purpose, data on respiratory mortality was based on data recorded on March 2014 to 2015. In order to investigate the effect of meteorological variables and air pollution values on respiratory mortality, the Box- Jenkins time series model has been utilized. Moreover, the effect of age and seasons on the number of respiratory deaths was assessed by the linear regression and ANOVA test. The fit of the final model to determining the monthly relationship between meteorological variables and air pollutants with the number of respiratory mortalities is a (1,0,2) ARIMA. In the monthly survey, temperature and rainfall have the inverse relationship and pressure has the direct relationship with the average of 7.4, 3.2, and 17.42 on the respiratory mortality. It was also found direct relationship between the mortality from respiratory diseases and CO and O3 and inverse relationship with SO2, NO2 and PM2.5 pollutants with an average of 67.40, 17.42, 17.89, 6.83, and 0.68, respectively. Also, the results of this study indicate that older people are more likely to be affected by the inappropriate status of air quality by 0.37%. The results showed a significant difference between respiratory mortality in different seasons of the year, and the highest number of deaths occurred in the winter.

Severodvinsk city is the largest industrial center for the construction and repair of naval vessels in the NW Russia. The purpose of the presented study was to identify the main sources of pollution of the Severodvinsk industrial region and assess the ecological situation based on analysis of toxic metals in water and snow. Heavy metals content in water, melt snow filtrate and solid residue was measured using ICP-MS. On the urban area, there were high concentrations of Fe (up to 2843 MPC) in soluble form of snow, Al (up to 4680 MPC), Fe (up to 2807 MPC), Ni (up to 66.5 MPC), Pb (up to 44.7 MPC), Cd (up to 43.3 MPC), Cr (up to 43.2 MPC), Mn (up to 13.3 MPC), Co (up to 7.3 MPC), and As (up to 3.4 MPC) in insoluble form of snow, Fe (up to 56213 MPC) in water from wells. There were high values of mineralization (598 mg/L) and low pH values (to 5.21) in sites most susceptible to anthropogenic pollution. Statistical analysis showed that most of the metals in snow cover were linked with each other by strong correlation (r>0.9). Calculation of toxicological indices HMEI, HMPI, HMTL, HI and CR showed extremely high and dangerous for public health level of heavy metal pollution in the Severodvinsk industrial district. Studied radiation parameters of water from wells were within acceptable limits. Results obtained indicate the need to change the type of fuel in thermal power plant and reduce toxic emissions from the shipbuilding enterprises.