DO₃SE (Deposition of Ozone for Stomatal Exchange), is a dry deposition model, designed to assess tropospheric ozone risk to vegetation, and is based on two alternative algorithms to estimate stomatal conductance: multiplicative and photosynthetic. The multiplicative model has been argued to perform better for leaf-level and regional-level application. In this study, we demonstrate that the photosynthetic model is superior to the multiplicative model even for leaf-level studies using measurements performed on Mangifera indica. We find that the multiplicative model overestimates the daytime stomatal conductance, when compared with measured stomatal conductance and prescribes zero conductance at night while measurements show an average conductance of 100 mmol(H₂O)m⁻²s⁻¹ between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. The daytime overestimation of the multiplicative model can be significantly reduced when the model is modified to include a response function for ozone-induced stomatal closure. However, nighttime pollutant uptake fluxes can only be accurately assessed with the photosynthetic model which includes the stomatal opening at night during respiration and is capable of reproducing the measured nighttime stomatal conductance. At our site, the nocturnal flux contributes 64%, 39%, 46%, and 88% of the total for NO₂ uptake in winter, summer, monsoon, and post-monsoon, respectively. For SO₂, nocturnal uptake amounts to 35%, 28%, 28%, and 44% in winter, summer, monsoon, and post-monsoon, respectively while for ozone the nighttime uptake contributes 30%, 17%, 18%, and 29% of the total stomatal uptake in winter, summer, monsoon, and post-monsoon respectively.

The increased industrialization and urbanization generate a larger quantity of effluent that is discharged into the environment regularly. Based on the effluent composition produced from various industries, the number of hazardous substances such as heavy metals, hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, organic chemicals, microorganisms introduced into the aquatic systems vary. The conventional wastewater treatment systems do not meet the effluent standards before discharge and require a different treatment system before reuse. Adsorption is an eco-friendly technique that uses selective adsorbents to remove hazardous pollutants even at microscale levels. MXene, a 2-Dimensional nanomaterial with resplendent properties like conductivity, hydrophilicity, stability, and functionalized surface characteristics, is found as a potential candidate for pollutant removal systems. This review discusses the fabrication, characterization, and application of MXene based nanoparticles to remove many pollutants in water treatment systems. The improvement in surface properties and adsorption capacity of MXene based NPs, when modified using different modification agents, has also been discussed. Their feasibility in terms of economic and environmental aspects has been evaluated to understand their scope for practical application in large-scale industries. The challenges towards the synthesis and toxicity's importance have been discussed, with the appropriate recommendations.

The emergence of resistance genes is a global phenomenon that poses a significant threat to both animals and humans. Lakes are important reservoirs of genes that confer resistant to antibiotics and metals. In this study, we investigated the distribution and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs) in the sediment of Daihai Lake using high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analysis. The results indicated that all sampling sites had similar bacterial community structures, with Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes being the most abundant. A total of 16 ARG types containing 111 ARG subtypes were deposited in the sediment. Among the resistance genes to bacitracin, multidrug, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin (MLS), tetracycline, beta-lactam, and sulfonamide were the dominant ARG types, accounting for 89.9–94.3% of the total ARGs. Additionally, 15 MRG types consisting of 146 MRG subtypes were identified. In all samples, MRGs of the same type presented resistance to Pb, Ni, Hg, W, Zn, Ag, Cr, Fe, As, Cu, and multimetals. Overall, the distribution and diversity of antibiotic and metal resistance genes showed no significant differences in the samples. Plasmids (91.03–91.82%) were the most dominant mobile genetic elements in the sediments of Daihai Lake. Network analysis indicated that the target ARGs and MRGs were significantly positively correlated with the microorganisms. Potential hosts for various ARGs and MRGs include Proteobacteria, Euryarchaeota, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes.

Graphene oxide can be used to store energy, as electrodes and purify industrial and domestic wastewater as photocatalysts and adsorbents because of its remarkable thermal, electrical, and chemical capabilities. Toward understanding graphene oxide (GO) based nanomaterials considering the background factors, the present review study investigated their characteristics, preparation methods, and characterization processes. The removal of contaminants from wastewater has recently been a focus of attention for materials based on GO. Progress in GO synthesis and surface modification has shown that they can be used to immobilize enzymes. It is possible to immobilize enzymes with varying characteristics on graphene-oxide-based substrates without sacrificing their functioning, thus developing a new environmental remediation platform utilizing nano biocatalysts. GO doping and co-doping with a variety of heterogeneous semiconductor-based metal oxides were included in a brief strategy for boosting GO efficiency. A high band-gap material was also explored as a possibility for immobilization, which shifts the absorption threshold to the visible range and increases photoactivity. For water treatment applications, graphene-based nanomaterials were used in Fenton reactions, photocatalysis, ozonation, photo electrocatalysis, photo-Fenton, and a combination of photon-Fenton and photocatalysis. Nanoparticles made from GO improved the efficiency of composite materials when used for their intended applications. As a result of the analysis, prospects and improvements are clear, especially when it comes to scaling up GO-based wastewater treatment technologies.

Estuarine environments faced with contaminations from coastal zones and the inland are vital sinks of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, little is known about the temporal-spatial pattern of ARGs and its predominant constraints in estuarine environments. Here, we leveraged metagenomics to investigate ARG profiles from 16 China's estuaries across 6 climate zones in dry and wet seasons, and disentangled their relationships with environmental constraints. Our results revealed that ARG abundance, richness, and diversity in dry season were higher than those in wet season, and ARG abundance exhibited an increasing trend with latitude. The prevalence of ARGs was significantly driven by human activities, mobile gene elements, microbial communities, antibiotic residuals, physicochemical properties, and climatic variables. Among which, climatic variables and human activities ranked the most important factors, contributing 44% and 36% of the total variance of observed ARGs, respectively. The most important climatic variable shaping ARGs is temperature, where increasing temperature is associated with decreased ARGs. Our results highlight that the prevalence of ARGs in estuarine environments would be co-driven by anthropogenic activities and climate, and suggest the dynamics of ARGs under future changing climate and socioeconomic development.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) has important impacts on the transportation of antibiotics through chemical and biological processes in composting. The interaction between DOM and antibiotics is reciprocal. The interaction between DOM ligands and antibiotics could be characterized based on a technique combining parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and microbial community structure analysis. However, PARAFAC cannot reveal the dynamic changes in each DOM peak in one PARAFAC component under antibiotic stress. In this study, two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) combined with PARAFAC and bacterial community diversity analyses were employed to reveal the effects of oxytetracycline (OTC) stress and the key microorganisms on the transformation of different fluorescent peaks from DOM PARAFAC components during chicken manure composting. The results showed that OTC inhibits the transformation between DOM PARAFAC components by inhibiting the core microbial activities involved in the transformation of DOM components. Protein-like components (C1 and C2) were more sensitive to OTC residue, and components with a high humification degree promoted the degradation of OTC. The interaction between special DOM PARAFAC components and certain bacteria affects the degradation of OTC. The DOM PARAFAC components A2(C1), B1(C2), B2(C2) and Z1(C4) enhanced OTC degradation by stimulating the genera Pseudomonas, Glycomyces and Hyphomicrobium. With these promising results, the true effect of DOM PARAFAC components on the degradation of OTC can be revealed, which is helpful for addressing antibiotic contamination to improve the bioavailability of compost products.

Two kinds of C₈ isomers, di-n-butyl ether (DNBE) and 1-octanol, as potential oxygen-containing alternative fuels, show important value in the trade-off between efficiency and emission. In the present work, the effects of DNBE/1-octanol with different proportions (0, 10%, and 20%) blended into diesel on the combustion characteristics, fuel economy, and emission characteristics in a six-cylinder heavy-duty diesel engine were studied at low, medium, and high loads. 1-Octanol with a 20% blending ratio showed different combustion characteristics in the cylinder compared with the other fuels. The economic analysis showed that the brake specific fuel consumption of DNBE–diesel blend fuels was higher than that of 1-octanol–diesel blend fuels, while brake thermal efficiency was the opposite tendency. The emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO) were affected by the types of blend fuels, blending ratios, and loads. In comparison with 1-octanol–diesel blend fuels, the addition of DNBE in diesel promoted the emission of nitrogen oxides, but inhibited the emissions of soot, HC, and CO. DNBE– and 1-octanol–diesel blend fuels increased the weighted brake specific fuel consumption but decreased the weighted brake thermal efficiency compared with diesel in the World Harmonized Stationary Cycle test cycle of Euro VI regulation. The weighted NOx, HC, soot, and CO emissions of blend fuels depended on the types of blend fuels and blend ratios. The weighted NOx, HC, and soot emissions were reduced by blending 1-octanol into diesel, while the weighted CO emission was increased. The weighted CO and soot emissions of diesel blended with DNBE were reduced than that of diesel.

Accumulating exposure to quality green space over time is posited to influence child health, yet longitudinal studies are scarce. This study aimed to examine the associations between trajectories of perceived green space quality and child health-related outcomes. We used data from 1874 childrenin the B-cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children who participated in the Child Health Checkpoint module at 11–12 years. Data on caregiver perceived green space quality measured biennially was assessed using discrete trajectory mixture models to group children by contrasting distributions in green space quality over time. Examination of associations between trajectory groups of perceived green space quality and child biomarkers (i.e., albumin-to-creatinine ratio, total, cholesterol, total triglycerides, and glucose), physical health and behavioural assessments (i.e., anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, sedentary behaviour, physical activity, sleep, aerobic work capacity, and general wellbeing), and health care use were assessed using multilevel models, adjusted for sociodemographic variables. Four perceived green space quality trajectories were identified: “decreasing quality from high to moderate”; “increasing quality from low to high”; “consistently high quality”; “consistently low quality”. Compared with consistently low levels of quality green space, adjusted models indicated consistently high-quality green space was associated with lower total triglycerides (β −0.13; 95%CI -0.25, −0.01). Lower odds of hospital admission was observed among children who accumulated quality green space over time (OR 0.45; 95%CI 0.23, 0.87). These associations were observed in boys only in sex-stratified analyses. Moreover, boys accumulating quality green space through time tended to have lower diastolic blood pressure (β −2.76; 95%CI -5.17, −0.35) and girls who experienced loss in quality green space tended to have a higher percentage of body fat (β 2.81; 95%CI 0.43, 5.20). Accumulating quality green space over time is important for various aspects of child health, with contrasting benefits by sex.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in paddy soil often results in elevated Cd concentrations in rice grain, which is a serious concern threatening food safety. Most of the Cd accumulated in rice grain is derived from its remobilization in paddy soil during the grain filling period when paddy water is drained. We have previously shown that the voltaic cell effect controls the oxidative release of cadmium sulfide (CdS) during the drainage period. Metal sulfides with lower electrochemical potentials than CdS can suppress the oxidation of CdS. In the present study, we tested whether amendments of ZnSO₄ or MnSO₄ could enhance the suppressive voltaic effect on Cd release and subsequent accumulation in rice grain. The one-time addition of ZnSO₄ (75 kg/ha Zn) decreased CaCl₂-extractable Cd concentrations in soils by 32–64% in pot experiments and by 16–30% in field trials during the drainage period. Consequently, Cd concentrations in brown rice were reduced by 74–87% and 60–72% in pot experiments and field trials, respectively. Importantly, this effect persisted in the second year without further addition. The amendment of MnSO₄ had similar effects in decreasing soil extractable Cd and Cd concentrations in brown rice. These effects were not attributed to the addition of sulfate. A single application of such doses of ZnSO₄ or MnSO₄ (e.g. 75–150 kg/ha Zn or Mn) only caused a marginal increase in soil Zn or Mn concentrations and had no significant impact on grain yield. Taken together, amendments of ZnSO₄ and/or MnSO₄ (at the rate of 75–150 kg/ha Zn and or Mn) formed a protective voltaic cell partner against the oxidative dissolution of CdS and thus were highly effective in reducing Cd accumulation in rice grain. This work provides a simple but effective method to decrease soil Cd availability during soil drainage and mitigate Cd accumulation in rice to ensure food safety.

The spatial distribution of plutonium isotopes (²³⁹Pu, ²⁴⁰Pu) in the surface sediments collected from the northwestern South China Sea (SCS) in 2018 was investigated. The ²³⁹,²⁴⁰Pu concentrations in surface sediments vary from 0.048 to 0.960 mBq/g (with mean of 0.282 ± 0.242 mBq/g) depending on the geographical feature of the sampling location such as the river estuary, continental shelf, slope and deep basin. Higher ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atomic ratios (0.24–0.31) in the surface sediment of the SCS compared to the global fallout value of 0.18 were observed, this is attributed to the input of close-in fallout of the Pacific Proving Ground (PPG) transported by the North Equatorial Current and Kuroshio Current to the northern SCS. The contribution of the PPG derived plutonium in the SCS sediment was estimated to be 39%–78% using a simple two-end member mixing model based on the measured ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atomic ratios in the sediment. Besides the soluble ²³⁹,²⁴⁰Pu level in seawater, load of suspended particulate matter from the river runoff and biological debris, hydrographic and hydrodynamic conditions are key parameters influencing the deposition process of plutonium to the sediment.