Very little is known about how products derived from the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of municipal waste affect the availability and uptake of nitrogen in plant nutrition. This study examined the effects of 60% sewage sludge and 40% food waste HTC products, i.e., biochar (BC) and process water (PW), as nitrogen sources on garden cress growth and quality. A fertilization program using four nitrogen doses [(control), 9, 12, and 15 kg da&minus:1 N] and BC, PW, chemical nitrogen (CN), and their combinations were used in a pot experiment conducted under greenhouse conditions. The highest nitrogen dose often produced better results in terms of plant growth and quality. Additionally, fertilization with PW+CN and BC+CN at the highest nitrogen dose significantly improved plant height, plant fresh and dry weight, and root dry weight parameters of garden cress over the previous treatments. The highest stem diameter, number of leaves, and plant area values were obtained in the 15 kg da&minus:1 N dose PW+BC application. The vitamin C content in cress decreased with the increasing levels of CN. The highest vitamin C content was obtained with 15 kg N da&minus:1 PW fertilization. BC+PW and CN fertilization applications improved chlorophyll a, b, and the total contents of garden cress leaves. Moreover, the nitrate (NO3) concentration of cress increased with CN doses while it decreased in all BC and PW administrations. The 9, 12, and 15 kg N da&minus:1 doses of PW+CN and the 15 kg N da&minus:1 dose of BC+CN yielded the highest agricultural nitrogen utilization efficiency (ANUE) values. Plant nutrient content was positively affected in all fertilization applications, except for Na and Cl. However, it was determined that BC+CN fertilizer application improved plant nutrient uptake. Surprisingly, PW+CN treatment at the lowest nitrogen dosage resulted in the highest soil organic matter and total nitrogen content. In conclusion, it has been determined that biochar and process water have a synergistic effect with CN to increase plant growth by improving nitrogen efficiency, but their application alone without CN is insufficient to meet the nitrogen requirement.

The population aggregation and economic development caused by urbanization significantly influence the efficiency of urban resource consumption. However, the coupling interactions between crucial resource consumptions such as food, energy and water (FEW) and urbanization processes within highly urbanized areas has not been well-studied. In this study, we constructed an assessment framework for the coupling efficiency measurement of FEW resource consumptions in 10 administrative districts across Shenzhen megacity during 2012–2020, based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA). This study demonstrated that, from the perspective of the FEW nexus, increasing efficiencies in the energy consumption of most districts improved the municipal FEW efficiency, while more than half of the districts did not achieve water resource efficiencies throughout the period. Concerning regional economic development, 80% of the districts improved coupling FEW efficiencies by 2020, the average values of which were higher for Yantian, Nanshan, Luohu and Dapeng, and lower for Baoan, Longgang and Guangming, with a downtrend only being observed in Guangming. Overall, the value of the coupling FEW efficiency of Shenzhen megacity rose by 35% from 2012 to 2020. Correlation analysis showed that synergistic effects of efficient resource consumption occurred in most districts, and economic urbanization was the main driving factor of regional FEW efficiencies within Shenzhen megacity. This study provides instructive insights into the status of urban resource consumption and suggests that the coordination of FEW management should be further improved by fiscal intervention to maintain economic development with the limited resources available, which would have valuable implications for synergistic FEW governance in megacities in China and elsewhere.

Salmonella is one of the most prevalent causing agents of food- and water-borne illnesses, posing an ongoing public health threat. These food-poisoning bacteria contaminate the resources at different stages such as production, aggregation, processing, distribution, as well as marketing. According to the high incidence of salmonellosis, effective strategies for early-stage detection are required at the highest priority. Since traditional culture-dependent methods and polymerase chain reaction are labor-intensive and time-taking, identification of early and accurate detection of Salmonella in food and water samples can prevent significant health economic burden and lessen the costs. The immense potentiality of biosensors in diagnosis, such as simplicity in operation, the ability of multiplex analysis, high sensitivity, and specificity, have driven research in the evolution of nanotechnology, innovating newer biosensors. Carbon nanomaterials enhance the detection sensitivity of biosensors while obtaining low levels of detection limits due to their possibility to immobilize huge amounts of bioreceptor units at insignificant volume. Moreover, conjugation and functionalization of carbon nanomaterials with metallic nanoparticles or organic molecules enables surface functional groups. According to these remarkable properties, carbon nanomaterials are widely exploited in the development of novel biosensors. To be specific, carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene and fullerenes function as transducers in the analyte recognition process or surface immobilizers for biomolecules. Herein the potential application of carbon nanomaterials in the development of novel Salmonella biosensors platforms is reviewed comprehensively. In addition, the current problems and critical analyses of the future perspectives of Salmonella biosensors are discussed.

Rice cultivation in the South Asian region of Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) is running out of water, labour, low productivity and profitability. In addition, this system of crop production often ignores CO2-equivalent greenhouse-gas emissions, which are often rather significant. Although a dominant food-producing region in Asia is becoming poor in crop production, crop management approaches based on conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) increase the crop yields and improve profitability while lowering the water, energy and labour requirements, as well as greenhouse-gas emissions. The use of CASI approaches in EGP region villages and districts enhances crop diversification and intensifies their production. It also facilitates employment opportunities and micro entrepreneurship in rural areas. In on-farm experiments traditional and improved approaches in rice-based cropping systems were compared. We discovered that CASI management approaches increased the crop yields by 10%, reduced labour demand by 50% and increased water and energy productivity by 19% and 26% respectively. Overall, these findings showed that using CASI lowered crop production costs by up to 22% and raised gross margins by 12–32% compared with traditional methods. CASI management also resulted in CO2-equivalent emissions that were between 10% and 17% lower than those with traditional management. Initially, this principal research was collaborated on with farmer support groups for further extension. To encourage CASI adoption and out-scaling on a scale outside of research domains, an actively supporting policy environment was required.

CGIAR’s NEXUS Gains Initiative aims to realize gains across water, energy, food, and ecosystems (with a focus on forests and biodiversity) in selected transboundary river basins by leading global nexus thinking and providing tools, guidelines, training and facilitation for analysis, and research for development. Work Package 5 of NEXUS Gains specifically aims to develop the capacity of WEFE actors. A core component of the capacity strengthening program is a leadership development package tailored to WEFE nexus leaders, with emphasis on emerging women leaders. Against this backdrop, this concept note outlines the planned co-development and implementation of the WEFE Nexus Leadership Program targeted at women and men professionals who are emerging WEFE sector leaders in Nepal.

Despite their status of being widely used as food additives, bisulfite (HSO₃–)/sulfite (SO₃²–) can pose serious health risks when they are excessively added. Therefore, it is vital to develop a new method for detecting HSO₃–/SO₃²– in foodstuff. In this paper, a benzopyran-benzothiazole derivative (probe DCA–Btl) with near-infrared emission was designed and synthesized by constructing a “push-pull” electronic system. DCA–Btl can selectively recognize HSO₃–/SO₃²– via a colorimetric and fluorescence dual channel in DMF/PBS (1:1, v/v, pH = 8.4), and the emission wavelength of DCA–Btl can reach 710 nm. The fluorescence quenching of DCA–Btl after recognition of HSO₃– is attributed to the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process of the adduct DCA–Btl-HSO₃– as evaluated by the DFT/TD-DFT method. In addition, DCA–Btl has many advantages, including a large Stokes shift (95 nm), good anti-interference ability, and little cytotoxicity. What’s more, DCA–Btl has been successfully applied for the detection of HSO₃–/SO₃²– in actual water samples and food samples such as sugar, red wine, and biscuits with satisfying results, as well as for fluorescent imaging of HSO₃– in living MCF-7 cells.

In this study, oil-in-water emulsions made of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), mucilage from Dioscorea opposita (DOM), and food-grade polysaccharides (guar gum [GG], xanthan gum [XG] and pectin [Pec]) were prepared using high-pressure homogenisation. The droplet size distributions, microstructure, turbidity, interfacial tension, creaming index, and stability of emulsions were investigated and compared with those of DOM, GG, XG and Pec. The results showed that 0.4 wt% food-grade polysaccharides (GG, XG, and Pec) with 2 wt% DOM contributed more to the stability of the emulsion during storage. In particular, low concentrations of pectin and DOM emulsions presented smaller droplet size distribution, in the range of 86.34–111.30 nm. Hence, DOM has synergistic effects with food-grade polysaccharides, which could improve the stability of emulsions, suggesting that mucilage from Dioscorea opposita has good potential for use as a natural emulsifier.

This study aims to understand the long-term (2020–2050) urban water–energy–food (WEF) resources access and sustainability in Addis Ababa city through a nexus modeling approach. Several feasible scenarios in line with improving WEF resources supply and access through conservation, system rehabilitation and technology input are explored. The water system scenarios include rehabilitation and conservation scenario, water supply enhancement scenario, technology input scenario and integrated water improvement scenario. The energy scenario includes energy conservation scenario and new renewable supply enhancement scenarios and integration of both scenarios as integrated energy scenario. The food system scenarios include crop yield productivity and irrigation water use efficiency scenarios of urban agricultural system. The integrated WEF nexus scenario is the integration of all scenarios under one nexus framework. The results are evaluated against baseline scenario. At a system level, the integrated water scenario result provides a water saving potential of 26 and 52% from the baseline scenario by 2030 and 2050, respectively, whereas the integrated energy use scenario saves energy by as much as 22 and 48%. For respective years, under the integrated WEF nexus scenario, the integrated water use scenario for low energy intensity reduces the energy use for urban water system by 23 and 72% from the baseline scenario. Similarly, urban food production have also shown enhancement. Urban food production system in Addis Ababa city is relatively small and does not significantly affect the food import from other parts of the country. Overall, the results WEF nexus modeling approach revealed the importance of exploring integrated nexus approach to sustainable urban water energy and food development and management as a first attempt at the urban scale. HIGHLIGHTS Water, energy and food are interdependent.; Water–energy–food nexus studies help policymakers to make decision to efficiently use these utilities.;

The core responsibility of governments is the security of their citizens, and this means inter alia protecting their safety, nutrition and health. Microbiology and microbial biotechnology have key roles to play in improving supply security of essential resources. In this paper, we discuss the urgent need to fully and immediately exploit existing microbial biotechnologies to maximize supply security of energy, food and medical supplies, and of waste management, and to invest in new research specifically targetting supply security of essential resources.

The present investigation carried out was carried out on an automatic machine built of stainless steel AISI 304 that is a filler of liquids in PET-type containers in 325 and 500 ml presentations and that is located in the Pilot Plant of the Faculty of Food Industries of the National University of the Peruvian Amazon. For the execution of the same, the original PLC (programmable logic controller) was recovered (unconfigured due to lack of use) and an alternative control system was implemented, both systems are in charge of carrying out the filling process of the 325-liter containers. 500 ml articulating all the mechanisms involved, providing the equipment operator with a friendly and easy-to-use environment. The equipment is commanded by a PLC that by means of a count command (timer) is linked with the various electro-pneumatic actuators to infer each one of the necessary functions for the correct bottling of the water; process that concludes with the sealing of the containers by the operator manually. In the tests, he verified the correct operation of the equipment, it was also determined that the production speed, which is 21 seconds to fill four 325 ml bottles and 24 seconds to fill four 500 ml bottles, for 325 ml containers is 685 containers per hour, while for 500 ml containers it is 600 containers per hour. | La presente investigación se realizó sobre una máquina automática construido acero inoxidable AISI 304 que es una llenadora de líquidos en envases tipo PET en presentaciones de 325 y 500 ml y que se encuentra ubicado en la Planta Piloto de la Facultad de Industrias Alimentarias de la Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana. Para la ejecución del mismo se recuperó el PLC (controlador lógico programable) original (desconfigurado por falta de uso) y se implementó un sistema de control alternativo, ambos sistemas son los encargados de llevar a cabo el proceso de llenado de los envases de 325 y 500 ml articulando todos los mecanismos involucrados brindándole al operador del equipo un entorno amigable y de fácil manejo. El equipo está comandado por un PLC que mediante un comando de conteo (temporizador) esta enlazado con los diversos actuadores electro neumáticos para inferir cada una de las funciones necesarias para el correcto envasado del agua; proceso que concluye con el sellado de los envases por parte del operario en forma manual. En las pruebas se verificó el correcto funcionamiento del equipo, además se determinó que la velocidad de producción que son de 21 segundo para llenar cuatro botellas de 325 ml y 24 segundos para llenar cuatro botellas de 500 mL, para los envases de 325 ml es de 685 envases por hora, mientras que para los envases de 500 ml es de 600 envases por hora.