Phthalates are multifunctional compounds with extensive applications and emerging environmental pollutants. Due to their ubiquity in the environment and unavoidable exposure to humans, concerns have been voiced about public health dangers. This study was aimed to explore the diethyl phthalate (DEP) toxicity and the potential protective effect of black coffee in female Swiss albino mice. Four-week-old mice, weighing 12 ± 1 g were segregated into five groups (n = 10), designated as G-I (without any treatment), G-II (treated with corn oil), G-III (exposed to 1.5 mg/g body wt. (B.W.) DEP), G-IV (received 2 μg/g B.W coffee), and G-V (co-administrated with 1.5 mg/g DEP and 2 μg/g B.W coffee). Before dose administration, the coffee extract was assessed for its antioxidant potential through FRAP, TPC, and GC–MS analyses. Respective phthalates/coffee doses were administrated orally, once a day for 8 weeks consecutively starting from the prepubescent stage. After 56 days, mice were acclimated for 4 days then dissected. Morphological assessments showed an irregular shape of the ovaries in DEP-treated mice as compared to the control. The average bodyweight of DEP-intoxicated mice (p ≤ 0.05) increased notably against control, while DEP plus coffee group showed a regular gain in the average weight of mice. The gonado-somatic index showed non-significant variations among all groups. Micrometric studies showed that the diameter of secondary follicles (115 µm) in the ovaries of DEP-exposed mice (p ≤ 0.001) decreased significantly as compared to control (204 µm); conversely, follicular diameter in the coffee control group (248) increased significantly. Serum FSH and LH levels were significantly increased in DEP-exposed mice with a noteworthy decrease in estrogen level while hormonal levels of all other groups were comparable to control. Histological sections of DEP-exposed mice ovaries showed anatomical disruptions contrary to other groups, which were comparable with control. Antioxidant potential was checked in ovaries homogenates; FRAP values showed a notable decrease in DEP group in comparison with the control group, in contrast to G-V, when DEP was co-administrated with coffee. This study concluded that black coffee has protective effect, against DEP-instigated reproductive toxicity in Swiss albino female mice.

Boron-doped SnO₂ (B:SnO₂) has been synthesized via a facile wet chemical method to deal with increasing energy demand and environment-related issues. Powder XRD confirmed the rutile phase of the synthesized B:SnO₂ nanoparticles. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis and elemental mapping confirmed 1% B doping into SnO₂ lattice. A red shift was observed during the analysis of Raman and FTIR spectral data. The bands in FTIR and Raman spectra confirmed the in-plane and bridging oxygen vacancies in SnO₂ lattice introduced due to B doping. These nanoparticles showed proficiency in photocatalytic hydrogen generation and degradation of crystal violet (CV) and rhodamine B (RhB) dyes. The degradation of CV and RhB dyes in the presence of B:SnO₂ NPs and ethane-1,2-diaminetetracetic acid (EDTA) was found to be 83 and ~ 100%, respectively. To escalate the efficiency of dye degradation, the experiment was performed with different sacrificial agents (EDTA, methanol, and triethanolamine). The maximum hydrogen production rate (63.6184 µmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹) was observed for B:SnO₂ along with Pd as co-catalyst, and methanol and EDTA solution as sacrificial agents.

Assessing the environmental effects of financial development has an important theoretical and practical reference for the government to achieve the goal of sustainable development. Financial development is affected dramatically by the real economy and typically shows nonlinear characteristics. This study aims to investigate the nonlinearity between financial development and pollutant emissions while considering the various stages of financial development among regions. Also, the spatial transmission mechanism between financial development and pollutant emissions is analyzed theoretically. Industrial sulfur dioxide ([Formula: see text]) and solid waste (SW) emissions are used to quantify pollutant emissions in China. The results show a positive spatial spillover effect on pollutant emissions across various regions. Moreover, a region’s pollutant emissions can be influenced by the financial development of its surrounding regions, suggesting that financial development reduces [Formula: see text] emissions in a particular region, but it significantly increases [Formula: see text] emissions in surrounding regions, indicating a strong spillover effect. However, financial development significantly decreases SW emissions of a particular region but does not exert a significant impact on its surrounding regions, implying a weak spillover effect. Our results reveal that whereas the relationship of financial development with [Formula: see text] and SW emissions shows a significant U-shaped pattern, that of economic growth exhibit a significant inverted U-shaped pattern. The investigation can help in designing appropriate environmental policies for promoting financial development.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are critical for the vegetation ecosystem and two of the most insufficient nutrients in the soil. In agriculture practice, many chemical fertilizers are being applied to soil to improve soil nutrients and yield. This farming procedure poses considerable environmental risks which affect agricultural sustainability. As robust soil microorganisms, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have emerged as an environmentally friendly way of maintaining and improving the soil’s available nitrogen and phosphorus. As a special PGPR, rhizospheric diazotrophs can fix nitrogen in the rhizosphere and promote plant growth. However, the mechanisms and influences of rhizospheric nitrogen fixation (NF) are not well researched as symbiotic NF lacks summarizing. Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) are important members of PGPR. They can dissolve both insoluble mineral and organic phosphate in soil and enhance the phosphorus uptake of plants. The application of PSB can significantly increase plant biomass and yield. Co-inoculating PSB with other PGPR shows better performance in plant growth promotion, and the mechanisms are more complicated. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of rhizospheric NF and phosphate solubilization by PGPR. Deeper genetic insights would provide a better understanding of the NF mechanisms of PGPR, and co-inoculation with rhizospheric diazotrophs and PSB strains would be a strategy in enhancing the sustainability of soil nutrients.

The Rosetta Branch is one of Egypt’s most important Nile River branches, providing freshwater to multiple cities. However, its water quality has been deteriorating, with various wastes containing high loads of heavy metals being discharged into its body of water. Seasonally, water and sediment samples and two native aquatic plants (Ceratophyllum demersum and Eichhornia crassipes) were collected and analyzed from the Rosetta Branch to assess the level of metal contamination (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cd, Cr, and Co) using different metal indices. The levels of some metals in the branch water overstepped those suitable for drinking water and aquatic life. In increasing order, the means of the heavy metal concentrations in branch water (µg/L) were Cd (1.8–4.9) < Co (7.18–28.1) ≈ Ni (9.0–25.1) < Cr (8.56–27.4) < Cu (14–75) < Pb (9.3–67.9) < Zn (22–133) < Mn (68–220) < Fe (396–1640). All the metal indices measured in the sediment confirmed the Ni and Cd contamination, where Ni and Cd in the sediment surpass the sediment quality guidelines in 80% and 53% of samples, respectively, reflecting frequent adverse effects on aquatic organisms. According to the bioconcentration factor, C. demersum and E. crassipes have higher accumulation capacities mainly for Cd than those for other metals considered as major pollutants in the water and sediment of Rosetta Branch, reflecting the role of hydrophytes in the biological treatment of polluted water in aquatic environments.

The recovery and recycling of nutrients (N&P) from wastewater are one of the major topics to save primary energy and resources, to raise the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants, and to foster a future circular economy. In the present study, the removal of ammonium (NH₄⁺) and phosphate (PO₄³⁻) using natural and Ca-treated zeolite is investigated in detail. Special emphasis is put on the simultaneous removal of both species from model solutions followed by elaborate mineralogical analyses (XRD, EPMA, FEG-SEM) for zeolite characterization and in order to determine the type, structure, and crystal sizes of CaP-phases precipitating on the zeolites surface. The effectivity of the phosphate segregation and chemical composition and the crystalline structure of the CaP-phase precipitating on the surface of the zeolite depend on the physico chemical conditions in particular on pH, molar ratio of Ca and P (due to zeolite modification), and the presence of NH₄⁺. Results of simultaneous removal experiments of N&P revealed that Ca pretreatment enhances P segregation and increases the obtainable P-loadings of Ca–zeolites. Maximum P-loadings of 25 mg g⁻¹ Ca–zeolite in binary solutions containing both ammonium and phosphate were obtained. Simultaneous phosphate removal by surface precipitation of CaP-phases does not significantly influence ammonium ion exchange and the type of CaP-precipitates formed on the zeolite surface is assumed to be mainly brushite and apatite.

Environmental pollution and water resource management are some of the biggest challenges for the twenty-first century. The utilization of solar energy for water purification through solar stills is an environmental friendly and sustainable approach. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a valuable and cost-effective tool for the simulation of fluid and thermal phenomena in solar stills as well as for their optimization for maximum productivity. The objective of the current study is to present a comprehensive review of the significance of the CFD tool in analysis, performance estimation, and design improvements of solar still. Various studies in this direction are classified according to the comprehensiveness of the modeling approach employed. The approaches are classified into three categories. The assumptions and governing equations for various approaches are presented. It is highlighted that the relatively simpler CFD modeling of only the humid air zone in the solar still, which relies on the availability of experimental data, the modeling approach has now evolved to an advanced level and can give predictive estimates by using only the ambient atmospheric conditions and solar irradiation as input. Various studies are also classified based on configurations, computational domain, and operational and geometrical parametric range. The key results from various CFD studies are summarized.

Tunisia is among the developing countries that have taken initiatives to develop renewable energy and strengthen energy efficiency. Moreover, it has considerable potential, especially in the field of wind and solar energy. However, the country is still dependent on fossil fuel energy. In this context, the transition to renewable energy is considered one of the possible solutions to reduce energy dependence and strengthen the economy in general. Therefore, the aim of this research study is to evaluate the role of renewable energy in shaping the energy transition in Tunisia in order to qualify the possibilities of energy transition. Accordingly, we investigate the potential for substitution between the following factors and fuels: Capital, labor, renewable, and non-renewable energy in Tunisia using a translog production function approach. Due to the multicollinearity of the model, the ridge regression method is used to estimate the parameters of the function. The obtained results showed that the possibility of substitution between inputs, especially between renewable and non-renewable energy, can replace fossil fuels with clean energy consumption. Moreover, to maximize the potential of renewable energy in Tunisia, this study recommends that policy makers should take more reliable measures to reflect the exact price of energy through price regulation measures, encourage investment in research and development, and introduce carbon taxes that could accelerate this transition.

Since export has a key role in economic growth in terms of national production quantity, export quality can be considered another important factor regarding the revenue from the export product. Hence, both export and export quality can contribute to the economic growth process positively when the countries’ terms of trade have moved in a favorable direction from this point of view, it is essential to examine the relationship between the energy-growth nexus and export quality. Although available seminal studies are monitoring the energy-growth nexus, there exists a limited number of works employing the export quality. Besides, one might claim that there exists no research on how the terms of trade (export quality) alter the economic growth and energy use through regime shifts. Markov regime-shifting models estimate (a) the impact of export and terms of trade on growth, and (b) the effect of growth on the use of fossil energy and renewable energy for the USA at regime 1 and regime 2 for the period 1980:Q4-2019:Q2. After conducting the non-linear analyses, this paper (i) reveals the estimated parameters varying from one regime to another regime through transition probabilities, (ii) finds evidence that (a) export and export quality growths affect positively GDP growth, (b) GDP growth increases fossil fuel consumption growth, (c) renewable energy growth increases at decreasing rate due to GDP growth, and (iii) yields relevant energy-environmental policy proposals by underlying the prominence of terms of trade within growth-energy nexus.

The Swachh Bharat Mission undertaken by the Government of India (GoI) has been successful in accomplishing this objective within a short period thereby catalyzing governance following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is the responsibility of any democratic nation to ensure that its citizens have universal access to adequate and equitable sanitation. The key approach adapted to igniting a change in sanitation behavior rather than constructing toilets. An effort has been made in the study to affirm that even the marginalized sections of the society residing in tribal communities of West Bengal and Chhattisgarh have benefitted from this Government of India Mission and derived the required benefits. There is enough literature available to support the justification that civil participation holds the key for successful implementation of CLTS thereby making the communities open defecation free (ODF). It is therefore imperative to understand the behavioral transformation that takes place during the CLTS implementation. A hybrid model has been proposed in the study making use of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand the pre-adoption and post-adoption behavior of residents. In present study, used model was empirically tested for several hypotheses. The finding reflects towards subjective norms and facilitating conditions as major determinants that ensure the continuation of intention for CLTS. They play a pivotal role in improving the health and hygiene conditions in the region and thus decrease the risk of spread of epidemic diseases.