In this study, an analysis of Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification, particularly non-oil transition, is conducted. Initially, key success factors and sub-factors that provide basis for the analysis are identified through literature survey. Three key factors (economic, labor, and market), twenty-one sub-factors (seven under each factor) are identified. To obtain the relative importance of factors and sub-factors, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) has been used. The economic criterion obtained the highest weight followed respectively by fiscal and labor criteria. The “proportion of Saudis in the workforce” sub-criterion received the highest weight under labor criterion, the “investment-intensive business models” sub-criterion obtained the highest weight under economic criterion, and the “increase non-oil revenue” sub-criterion got the highest weight under fiscal criterion. Overall, increase non-oil revenue sub-criterion (under fiscal criterion) received the highest weight. Later, eight major non-oil sectors are prioritized with respect to criteria and sub-criteria using fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution. Petrochemicals sector ranked topped in the contribution to achieving non-oil transition. The findings of the study shall enable the government and policymakers to specifically design policies for respective sectors knowing their importance in the transition and subsequently bring a new cycle of prosperity to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This study highlights the monitoring and management of urban water bodies, focusing on plankton biodiversity and its relationship with surface water quality. Physicochemical parameters and concentrations of potentially toxic metals were evaluated in an urban reserve in the Central East of Argentina, created for urban flood risk management. During 1 year, in seasonal samplings, environmental parameters, nutrients, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), and concentrations of potentially toxic metals (Cu, Cr, Pb, and Cd) in water and benthic sediments were analyzed in four sampling sites. The heavy metal geo-accumulation index (Igeo) was also calculated. Quali-quantitative analysis of phytoplankton and zooplankton samples was performed and summarized in ecological attributes and indices: Total density, specific richness, Shannon’s diversity index, Simpsons’ dominance index, and evenness index, as well as phytoplanktonic biovolume and functional groups. Except Cu, metal concentrations in water exceeded recommended limits for freshwaters in 37.5% (Cr), 31.3% (Pb), and 18.8% (Cd) of samples. Igeo revealed that sediments were moderately, highly, and very seriously polluted with Cu, Cr, and Pb, respectively. Phytoplankton showed the predominance of functional groups typical of eutrophic and low-flow environments, with high concentrations of nutrients. Cyanobacterial blooms occurred in 75% of the samples, considered high-risk events for the aquatic life and users of the urban reserve. The zooplankton community was dominated by microzooplankton, characterized by smaller species, more tolerant to polluted and eutrophic waters. This survey evidences the urgent need to develop a comprehensive management plan for the area.

The use of ecotoxicological bioassays has been increasing due to the importance of understanding the effects of substances on biota and to help environmental agencies determine water and sediment qualities. The use of Chironomus sp. in laboratory bioassays is extensive, but there is still a lack of studies regarding the application of extended ecotoxicological tests, which evaluate different population generation responses and show a detailed impact on their development. The present study investigated the response of Chironomus sancticaroli, a Brazilian endemic insect, to 17α-ethinylestradiol hormone, caffeine anhydrous, LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulfonate), and environmental samples (sediments) in relation to wing length, fecundity, and larval length over three generations. Statistically, differences for all contaminants between P (parental), F1, and F2 generations (p ≤ 0.05) were observed, indicating that in the environment, the organism may be negatively affected when exposed to contaminants in successive generations. Different ecological responses were also noted in comparison to classic acute (96h) and chronic (10 days) ecotoxicological tests using Chironomus sancticaroli. Our results highlight that the generation test can present more detailed results regarding the effects of stressors on the organism’s life cycle than do the classic bioassays.

The objective of this paper is to assess the sustainability of supply chains by proposing a dynamic network data envelopment analysis (DNDEA) model in the presence of interval data, due to the fact that in many real-world applications, the condition of convexity in the production technology might be violated. To prevent this issue, a DNDEA model based on the free disposal hull (FDH) approach is developed. For the first time, this paper develops a DNDEA version of the free disposal hull (FDH) model in the context of the SCOR framework. It is also shown that this model always presents a finite efficiency score for assessing the sustainability of supply chains. Moreover, using this model, real benchmarks can be calculated to improve the sustainability of unsustainable supply chains. A case study in print industry is given. The results validate our proposed model.

A huge amount of radioactive soil has been generated through decommissioning of nuclear facilities around the world. This review focuses on the difficulties and complexities associated with the remediation of radioactive soils at the site level; therefore, laboratory studies were excluded from this review. The problems faced while remediating radioactive soils using techniques based on strategies such as dry separation, soil washing, flotation separation, thermal desorption, electrokinetic remediation, and phytoremediation are discussed, along with appropriate examples. Various factors such as soil type, particle size, the fraction of fine particles, and radionuclide characteristics that strongly influence radioactive soil decontamination processes are highlighted. In this review, we also survey and compare the pool of available technologies currently being used for the remediation of radionuclide-contaminated soils, as well as the economic aspects of soil remediation using different techniques. This review demonstrates the importance of the integrated role of various factors in determining the effectiveness of the radioactive soil decontamination process.

The vision of every country or sub-regions is to achieve sustainable economic growth. The inability of individual countries to have a sole sustainable initiative has resulted in the establishment of economic cooperation such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which renders interaction among 138 relevant countries to increase economic development. This study delves into the determinants of economic growth along the BRI economic corridors, taking into consideration regional classification of the relevant countries. The analytical procedure applied indicated the presence of heterogeneity in the slope coefficient and cross-sectional dependencies across the various panels. Applying the Westerlund bootstrap co-integration test, it was deducted that the employed variables have a long-run equilibrium association. The results from the pooled mean group (PMG) revealed that the contribution weight (order of importance) of the explanatory variables to economic growth varies across the regional panel clusters. Finally, the causality results unveil that a bidirectional causation affiliation exists between energy consumption and economic growth in all panels except Southeast and South Asia which experience one-way directional effects from energy usage to economic growth. Trade and economic growth unveiled a bidirectional causal affiliation in all panel groups with exception of the Middle East and North Africa, where a one-way directional affiliation from trade to economic growth was felt. These results obtained indicate that energy consumption, urbanization, trade, and CO₂ emissions are determinants of economic growth along the BRI route. Based on the outcome, the suggested policy implications include the following: (a) The government across each region could incorporate tax and other incentives to encourage entrepreneurs and citizens to produce equipment that reduces carbon intensity and is ecologically friendly. (b) The necessity for a paradigm shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources should be advocated among the countries involved.

Maternal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes in the offspring, but limited studies focused on the impacts of gaseous air pollution on newborn congenital hypothyroidism (CH). Therefore, a national data-based analysis was conducted to explore the association between maternal exposure to gaseous air pollution and the incidence of CH in China. Annual average exposure levels of SO₂, NO₂, CO, and O₃ from January 1, 2014, to December 30, 2014, were acquired from the Chinese Air Quality Online Monitoring and Analysis Platform. The annual incidence of newborn CH from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2015, was collected from the Chinese Maternal and Child Health Surveillance Network. Temperature and toxic metal in wastewater in 2014 were also collected as covariates. Maternal exposure to O₃ and NO₂ in 1 μg/m³ level increment was positively associated with newborn CH, with an OR of 1.055 (95% CI 1.011, 1.102) and 1.097 (95% CI 1.019, 1.182) after adjusting for covariates completely. Compared with the lowest level of O₃, maternal exposure to the 4th quartile of O₃ was positively associated with newborn CH (OR 1.393, 95% CI 1.081, 1.794) after adjusting for covariates completely. And the 3rd and 4th quartiles of NO₂ were associated positively with CH (OR 1.576, 95% CI 1.025, 2.424, and OR 1.553, 95% CI 0.999, 2.414, respectively) compared with the lowest level of NO₂. By fitting the ROC curve, 93.688 μg/m³ in O₃ might be used as cutoff to predict the incidence of newborn CH in China.

The Poyang Lake Region (PLR) is well known for its ecological and economic importance. This paper first analyzed the changes in land use/land cover (LULC), followed by changes in landscape patterns and ecosystem services by landscape metrics and equivalent coefficients table method. Then, the influence of LULC change on landscape pattern and ecosystem services in both historical period (from 1990 to 2015) and future period (2030) was explored. The results showed that the area of construction land was 607.9 km² in 1990 and 972.5 km² in 2015. The increased construction land mainly converted from cultivated land. For the entire PLR, a higher use degree of LULC and a trend of fragmentation existed in recent years. The total ecosystem service values (ESVs) decreased by ¥2.44 × 10⁹ from 1990 to 2015, mainly because of shrinkage of cultivated land and sharp increase in construction land. It was predicted that the areas of construction land and waterbody would increase by 34.6% and 2.2% compared with those in 2015. These changes would lead to more regular in patch shape, longer in patch edge, less connectivity of patches, and an increase of ¥6.2 × 10⁸ ESVs in 2030.

Many researchers are seeking simple and successful solutions to increase the output from the solar distiller. In this research work, reflective mirrors and reflective aluminium foil sheet were fixed on inner surfaces of the single-slope solar distiller, leading to more water production. The presence of reflective mirrors and reflective aluminium foil sheet on inner surfaces of the solar distillate permits the reflection of solar radiation falling inside the basin. Experiments were carried out on three stills: the first distiller is conventional solar still with black painted walls (CSS-BPW); the second distiller is conventional solar still with reflective aluminium foil sheet walls (CSS-RAFW); and the third distiller is conventional solar still with reflective glass mirror walls (CSS-RGMW). The maximum total drinking water productions from the CSS, CSS-RAFW and the CSS-RGMW are 3.41, 5.1 and 5.54 kg/m², respectively. Compared to the CSS-BPW, the production of drinking water was increased by 68.57% when using the reflective glass mirrors and 48.57% when using the reflective aluminium foil sheet.

Large amounts of water-based drilling cuttings (WDC) would be generated during the drilling of shale gas wells, which would occupy land resources and pose significant threat to soil and groundwater environment. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using WDC as a replacement of natural clay to prepare sintered bricks. To determine the optimum preparation condition, the weight loss on ignition, bulk density, water absorption, and compressive strength of the samples were tested. Meanwhile, the environmental performance of the final products was evaluated and micro-analysis was conducted via X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that using WDC to manufacture sintered bricks was technically feasible, but the physical mechanical performance would significantly decrease with the increase of the replacement ratio because of the presence of less silica and excessive calcium. The addition of waste glass and fly ash could promote the generation of molten glassy phase and form the crystal particle bonding structure, which would contribute to the physical-mechanical performance of WDC sintered bricks. Some mineral components in raw materials decomposed and formed minerals with better thermal stability during the sintering process. Under the optimum preparation conditions (mass ratio of WDC: waste glass: fly ash at 40:20:40, sintering temperature at 900 °C, and insulation time at 2 h), the physical-mechanical and environmental performance of WDC sintered bricks could meet the requirements of corresponding Chinese standards and ASTM standards. Thus, in this study, an effective solution to recycle WDC from shale gas development is provided.