Current Environmental Situation Research Articles

Assessment of heavy metal pollution in urban and peri-urban soil of Setif city (High Plains, eastern Algeria).

Heavy metal pollution is a challenging concern that threatens the soil environment and human health worldwide. The purpose of this work is to assess the heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Zn, and Pb) pollution in the urban and peri-urban soils in and around Setif city, eastern Algeria. The work combines chemical analysis of thirty-six soil samples, statistical valuation and interpretation of chemical data and pollution indices (geoaccumulation index, pollution index, and integrated pollution index) with thematic mapping. The average concentrations (in mg/kg) of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn were found < 0.02, 43.35, 43.75, 331.20, and 78.26mg/kg, respectively. Compared with the French regulatory limits (AFNOR U44-041), Cd, Cr, and Cu still non-hazardous at Setif city scale; however, Zn and Pb concentrations are two to three times higher than the background values referred to the Chinese [Formula: see text] standard (GB15618-1995). The pollution indices indicate that Pb and Zn represent the highest threats among the studied pollutants and polluted wide areas of anthropogenic activities located respectively in the oldest district of the city, near the industrial zone and near uncontrolled landfill of domestic and industrial waste. Cu, Pb, and Zn originate seemly from vehicle emission, particles of brakes and tires, and industrial emissions. However, Cr distribution is uncorrelatable with anthropogenic sources. The Cr with an average concentration less than the background value derives seemly from animal feces and organic fertilizers. The integrated pollution index shows that the accumulation of heavy metals in the soils of Setif city from anthropogenic sources reached alarming levels that can disperse into the environment and threaten the human health. The urbanization and industrial development of Setif city are expected to grow and a subsequent heavy metal pollution will be rising prior issue. Corrective measures should be endeavored by the local authorities to mitigate the current environmental situation and a sustainable development plan for the city should be anticipated to guarantee optimal future environmental conditions.

The Function Mechanism of the Current Situation of Chinese Cultural Integration and Environment on the Development of Chinese Enterprises.

China's economy is booming and many Chinese enterprises are growing rapidly. The report card handed over by Chinese enterprises through practical actions proves that Chinese outstanding entrepreneurs have successful modern management experience. These Chinese entrepreneurs have experienced the test of practice, and the experience gained has Chinese characteristics and is worth promoting. Entrepreneurs carry out more business management practices, which also provides valuable reference resources for the study of Chinese management thought. At the same time, The Times is also calling for more Chinese entrepreneurs to form their own management ideas. The influence of the current situation of the Chinese cultural integration environment on the development of Chinese enterprises is mainly that a good cultural integration environment will promote the development of enterprises and provide preconditions for the development of Chinese enterprises. This paper studies the current situation of Chinese culture integration environment of Chinese entrepreneur management thought formation process; the main purpose is, through the analysis of Chinese outstanding entrepreneur management thought formation process, to reveal the Chinese culture integration management environment formation law and essential characteristics, in order to enrich the management cognitive research and Chinese entrepreneurs management thought research, publicity, and promotion of Chinese outstanding entrepreneurs form management thought and also to provide a reference for more practitioners.

Сравнительная оценка потенциальной радиационной опасности хвостохранилищ Согдийской области Таджикистана

The global environmental changes have been observed since the nineties of the twentieth centu-ry. The current environmental situation is caused mainly due to the intensive human activity. Dur-ing 46 years, from 1945 to 1991, radioactive waste from uranium processing was accumulated in the Sughd region in Tajikistan, the former USSR Republic. According to various estimates the to-tal amount of accumulated radioactivity varies from 240 to 285 TBq. The tailings are the major sources of environmental pollution, they contain emanating gas, aerosols, dust and filterable solutions. The purpose of the work is to conduct comparison assessment of the potential radiation hazard of “Digmai” and “Adrasman” tailing dumps and Istiklol-city in the Sughd region and to estimate radiological risks to the population living near the tailing dumps. For radon monitoring both integral and instantaneous measurements were used. For instant measurements of radon volu-metric activity the PPA-01M-03 LLC “HTM-Protection” (Russia) raidometer was used. The back-ground radiation in the area under study was measured with Dosimeters DKS-96 “Dose” (Rus-sia), DKS-AT1123 “Atomtech” (Belarus), MKS-AT6130 “Atomtech” (Belarus) and PackEye FHT complex-1377 “Thermo” (Germany). The paper presents data on comparison assessment of po-tential hazard of radioactive tailing dumps in the Sughd area. The impact of uranium tailing dumps on radioecological situation in the Sughd region, as well as in cities and districts of the Sughd region was assessed. The most unfavorable radioecological situation in the Sughd region is in areas with the ambient dose equivalent power (MAED)&gt;0.35-0.40 μSv/h. The coordinates of the areas location coincide with coordinates of the radioactive tailing dumps Istiklol-city and Gaziyeon (“Digmai”) location, and their adjacent territories. According to comparison assessment, the tailing dumps “Digmai” and “Factory of Poor Ores” (Istiklol-city) are potentially the most haz-ardous facilities. It means that for radioecological safety of the environment and the population, it is recommended to carry out cleaning and remediation of the tailing dumps as a priority: «Dig-mai» and «Factory of poor ores».

Вплив систем інформаційних технологій і контрольної діяльності на ефективність організації з культурою праці як посередницькою змінною

In Indonesia, regional apparatus organizations are required to perform excellent performance in carrying out their duties and functions. The current environmental situation that is getting more complicated nowadays requires regional apparatus organizations to satisfy various stakeholders' interests. Organizational performance is needed to show the success of a regional organization in achieving its goals. This study aims to analyze the influence of information technology systems and control activities on organizational performance with working culture as a moderating variable. The sample of this study is 90 respondents who are employees of the Regional Apparatus Organization of South Sulawesi Province. Data for the analysis were collected by the questionnaire method during March-May 2022. The partial least squares (PLS) modelling method was chosen for data processing. The study results show that information technology systems and control activities significantly influence organizational performance. At the same time, the work culture moderates the influence of information technology systems and control activities on organizational performance. It was found that the increase in organizational performance is due to the organization's availability of information technology systems and appropriate management activities. So, the increase in organizational performance cannot be separated from the direct or indirect influence of information technology systems and control activities by the working culture in the Regional Apparatus Organization of South Sulawesi Province.

TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET FOR FUNCTIONAL PRODUCTS

The article is devoted to current trends in the international market of functional products as interest in functional nutrition is constantly growing. It is established that the current socio-economic and environmental situation, as well as the impact of the pandemic has shaped demand for products. An important motive for consuming functional products is to maintain proper nutrition, health, and well-being. An additional factor in the success of the functional products market is the familiarity and knowledge of the impact of a particular product on health. The growth of consumption of a functional product increases when the consumer associates knowledge of functional characteristics and useful properties with the consequences of their consumption. In turn, manufacturers of functional products have additional opportunities to consolidate their positions and gain competitive advantage in the markets. However, the production and sale of these products is quite complex, expensive and risky process, as it must meet special requirements. In addition to opportunities, it is necessary to take into account technological barriers, legal aspects, as well as changes in consumer tastes and take into account when developing functional products. The concepts of "functional products" and "functional nutrition" and the change in consumer attitudes to these concepts have been studied. As currently, functional foods are not uniquely recognizable, and their perception by consumers is sometimes quite confusing. An analysis of the dynamics of global sales of healthy food and beverages by product categories and income received in the market of functional foods in the world. The analysis of the current situation on the market of functional products in the USA, Japan and some European countries is given, the future potential of functional food is investigated. The world market leaders of functional products and factors that contributed to their development have been studied. Priority strategies for the development of small and medium-sized companies in the market of functional products are studied. Thus, it is established that functional products can provide opportunities for food companies, in terms of economic benefits, and consumers, as well as the opportunity to obtain useful foods.

Management Cost Management and Resource Optimization of Construction Enterprises Based on Ecological Environment Constraints.

In recent years, with the proposal of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, the domestic economy and its development have entered a new normal, which has promoted the determination and connection of the development strategies of various countries. It has brought new opportunities for the development of domestic enterprises. In this context, it has become a trend for Chinese enterprises to go international, especially in the construction industry; due to the good potential of the “Belt and Road” initiative, it is necessary to change and update from the traditional construction industry to modern construction industry. Therefore, how to promote the coordinated development of the construction company's resource management system, meet the needs of the company's own development, and adapt to the goals of internationalization and modern management have become a problem that people are very concerned about. The current domestic environmental situation is improving in part, but it is deteriorating in general. The harm caused by environmental pollution and damage is becoming more and more obvious. The construction industry is one of the national pillar industries, and it is also an industry with high energy consumption and high pollution. Based on this, this study first introduces construction enterprise management and resource optimization methods and integrates ecological environmental protection into enterprise operating cost management. Second, it establishes an enterprise-centric resource allocation model and optimization algorithm. An empirical study was carried out on the ecological management capabilities of three construction enterprises of different sizes, namely, Industrial Group, Group A, and Construction Enterprise B, and concluded that the overall level of environmental competitiveness of construction enterprises in my country is not high, among the environmental management and construction capabilities of enterprises. The standardization ability of ecological engineering construction is relatively weak, resulting in poor overall profitability of the enterprise, and the number of green suppliers does not meet the needs of ecological development. However, under the constraints of the ecological environment, construction enterprises compete with each other to control operating costs and at the same time affect the environment. At the same time, the allocation of resources by enterprises is also more conducive to the development of ecological civilization in the industry.

The integration of bio-catalysis and electrocatalysis to produce fuels and chemicals from carbon dioxide.

The dependence on fossil fuels has caused excessive emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), leading to climate changes and global warming. Even though the expansion of electricity generation will enable a wider use of electric vehicles, biotechnology represents an attractive route for producing high-density liquid transportation fuels that can reduce GHG emissions from jets, long-haul trucks and ships. Furthermore, to achieve immediate alleviation of the current environmental situation, besides reducing carbon footprint it is urgent to develop technologies that transform atmospheric CO2 into fossil fuel replacements. The integration of bio-catalysis and electrocatalysis (bio-electrocatalysis) provides such a promising avenue to convert CO2 into fuels and chemicals with high-chain lengths. Following an overview of different mechanisms that can be used for CO2 fixation, we will discuss crucial factors for electrocatalysis with a special highlight on the improvement of electron-transfer kinetics, multi-dimensional electrocatalysts and their hybrids, electrolyser configurations, and the integration of electrocatalysis and bio-catalysis. Finally, we prospect key advantages and challenges of bio-electrocatalysis, and end with a discussion of future research directions.

Технологии информационной поддержки контроля качества питьевого водоснабжения с использованием ГИС

Addresses the issues of creating of a geoinformation system for assessing the quality of drinking water in a centralised domestic drinking water supply. The created system allows to systemise heterogeneous data, analyse it, and quickly represent the current environmental situation on the map. The algorithm is based on the methodology for assessing the quality improvement of drinking water, developed by Rospotrebnadzor in 2019. The algorithm allows for an integral assessment of a group of indicators, including various classes of substances (chemical, bacteriological, parasitic). The analysis is made for each observation point for a time period equal to a year. The assessment is made for each class of substances, resulting in marking water samples as high-quality or non-high-quality. Algorithm was implemented in Python using NumPy library. The resulting script represents a tool that is part of the ArcToolbox suite and runs in the ArcGIS for Desktop environment. The algorithm was tested on the existing water quality monitoring data in the Leningrad region. Thematic maps were designed based on the results of the analysis in GIS (geoinformation system) ArcGIS for Desktop. The maps clearly represent the existing ecological situation.

Role of conventional and molecular techniques in soybean yield and quality improvement: A critical review

The soybean is one of the most significant legume crops around the globe and serves as a source of dietary components for humans and animals. It has a higher percentage of protein compared to any other crop. Soybean yield and quality have been affected by many environmental factors. The genetic mechanism of yield and quality is still not clearly understood. Hence there is still a need to investigate the major potent factors to shed light on the mechanism behind yield and quality traits in soybean. Recently, a lot of significant work, including novel QTL, genes, and CRISPR-based genome editing in soybeans, has been done, which opened new doors of hope. The current review has presented detailed work done previously. We have also discussed the role of different breeding techniques in the conventional way of soybean improvement. The genetic factors regulating yield, quality, and disease resistance could be further cloned and transferred into elite cultivars to attain higher output in the current situation of changing environment. The integrated use of several techniques, like CRISPR/Cas9, next-generation sequencing, omics approaches, would be a fruitful way to improve soybean yield and quality. Besides this, hybridization, mass selection, pure line selection, backcross breeding, and pedigree selection should be adopted to develop novel soybean cultivars. This review concluded that soybean yield and quality improvement could be enhanced by exploring its genetic mechanism using several molecular and conventional methods.

THEORETICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION OF FUTURE SPECIALISTS

Summary. The paper substantiates that the current environmental situation forces us to re-evaluate the impact of human economic activity on the environment and requires a review of many factors of ideological methodological and social plan for the complex «nature-society». It is determined that one of the effective forms of solving these problems is a properly modernized existing system of environmental education and upbringing in all educational institutions. In the article the author, based on the generalization of scientific, psychological and pedagogical literature, recommends to interpret the environmental education of future professionals as a personality-oriented process of forming the environmental education of future professionals. As a result of environmental education, such a specialist will be aware of the goals and functions of future professional activity, will have modern technologies, techniques for planning and managing production processes, environmentally sound structure of activities through the integration of professional, scientific, environmental, professional knowledge, skills and abilities. The comparison of the concepts of «екологічне виховання» («environmental education») and «екологічна вихованість» («environmental education») gives the author reason to consider the first concept as a process, and the second as a result of this process and to define environmental education as a moral quality of the individual. It is characterized by such indicators as the ability to realize the spiritual and material value of nature, as the level of acquisition of theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and abilities to assess the impact of human economic activity; the need for active practical activities to improve the environment, etc. The publication, based on the generalization of scientific and pedagogical, psychological and pedagogical literature, taking into account the needs of modern realities, defines environmental education as a moral quality of personality, characterized by the following indicators: ability to understand the spiritual and material value of nature for society in general; the level of assimilation of key concepts, laws, principles, scientific facts that allow to determine the optimal impact on the environment in the process of professional activity and in everyday life; the level of acquisition of practical knowledge, skills and abilities to assess the impact of human economic activity; the ability to anticipate the possible consequences of their actions and prevent negative impacts on the environment in all activities; the need for active practical activities to improve the environment and promote modern ideas of environmental protection; ability to analyse the environmental situation; effectiveness of practical environmental activities.

Оценка экологических последствий от объектов энергетики при реализации перспективных проектов освоения месторождений арктических территорий восточных регионов России

The ecological aspects of the functioning of energy facilities in the Arctic zones of the eastern regions of Russia are of increasing importance for the strategic interests of the country, on the one hand, and due to the specific features of territories with a weak ability to restore the natural environment, on the other hand. The studies carried out at the Energy Systems Institute of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences revealed the fact that the current environmental situation in the eastern regions of the Arctic is unfavorable. Promising projects for the development of mineral deposits are associated with an increase in the consumption of all types of energy resources. In addition, this will require intensive development of the energy sector: from the expansion of existing power facilities to the construction of new ones using associated petroleum gas, and possibly LNG. In general, the implementation of projects will lead to the following distribution of the total emission of pollutants from the energy sector: 47% — the Taimyr-Turukhan zone, 30% — the North Yakutsk zone with a predominant contribution from coal-fired boilers, and, accordingly, 23% of all emissions will enter the atmosphere of the Chukotka zone, where coal-fired boiler houses also prevail. With the implementation of advanced development projects, CO2 emissions will also increase from 7 to 16.6 million tons with their predominance in the Taimyr-Turukhan zone (11,9 million tons). Thus, the assessment of the environmental impact from the development of promising deposits in the Arctic territories of the eastern regions of Russia has shown that the emissions of pollutants will increase by 1.6-1.8 times, and those of carbon dioxide by 2.2-2.3 times. Given that the particulate matter will remain the main impurity in the composition of pollutants (up to 35-37%) due to the existing power facilities, coal-fired thermal power plants and boiler houses need a large-scale modernization of the collection equipment. Sulfur dioxides are becoming another predominant impurity, mainly due to newly commissioned facilities running on associated petroleum gas. Therefore, it is necessary to envisage measures to reduce them.

Land Resources Management and Current Situation of Resources and Environment in Urban and Rural Planning and Management

Land Resources Management and Current Situation of Resources and Environment in Urban and Rural Planning and Management

Design and Research Sowing Devices for Aerial Sowing of Forest Seeds with UAVs

Modern unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) can be effectively used for aerial sowing of forests. A feature of aerial sowing is the possibility of rapid reforestation at low costs, which is extremely important in the current environmental situation. The purpose of this study is to develop a set of sowing devices intended for use with UAVs. For this, the metering devices and seed distribution devices were analyzed, used on the UAV or having prospects for such use. The existing studies of metering devices, implemented by numerical methods, are analyzed. Further, the synthesis of eight different designs of sowing devices in the 3D CAD was carried out and their comparative assessment was completed in terms of mass and a set of technological parameters. Based on its results, a sowing device was selected that is most suitable for a specific given technology. Discrete Element Method (DEM) was used to simulate the workflow: imitation of loading of the sowing device, study of work in various modes, study of the process of impact interaction of seeds with the soil environment. The complex of developed sowing devices can provide sowing of almost any type of forest seeds within the framework of various technologies and soil climatic conditions.

Transformation of consumer needs in the context of personality environmental culture formation and innovative development of national economy

The article is devoted to the issues of substantiation of a new ecological worldview built on the basic principles of environmental culture. It is shown that the violation of the means of maintaining balance in the system “a man-nature-society” poses a significant threat to the existence of a man as a biosocial being, determining the appropriate response of nature to destructive human activities, requiring the identification of environmental priorities for further socio-cultural development. It was found that solving problems related to the current environmental situation involves limiting human practical and transformational activities aimed at transforming nature into the introduction of “careful”, “gentle” consumption with the need to adjust the criteria of environmental feasibility, it is possible in the formation of environmental culture and deepening the field of environmental education. We have established that the innovative direction of the state’s development should be focused on the targeted satisfaction of the consumer needs.The main indicators of the labor market in 2013-2019 are analyzed as well as personnel costs of business entities. The closeness of the relationship between net income and labor costs of enterprises is established.

Research on Optimizing the Tax Business Environment – Taking Shunde Taxation Bureau’s Innovation Reform as an Example

Since 2013, optimizing the business environment has become China’s national strategy. In recent years, the Party and the government have continuously introduced a series of new measures such as the “streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation, and improve services” reform to promote the continuous optimization of the business environment. As an important part of the business environment, the tax business environment is of great significance to improve the business environment and promote economic development. By analyzing the current situation of the tax business environment in China, this article discusses the existing problems in the process of optimizing tax business environment in China. Taking Shunde Taxation Bureau’s innovative reform of tax business environment optimization as an example, this article introduces the practical innovation and promotion of optimizing tax business environment from four aspects: promoting convenience, digitalization, legalization, and intensive reform, in order to provide relevant experience for the optimization of tax business environment in other areas of China.

Biomass derived P-containing activated carbon as a novel green catalyst/support for methanol conversion to dimethyl ether alternative fuel

The current environmental situation has urged researchers to look for alternative green fuels with lower emissions from biomass feedstock. This work aims a greener approach for the heterogeneous catalytic conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether, DME, as an alternative fuel. Thus, a series of phosphorous−containing activated carbon (ACP) derived from orange peel (OP) at different H3PO4: OP (w/w) rations, as well as a series of tungsten (W)-loaded on ACP, WO3/ACP supported catalysts were formed and thermally treated at different temperatures. The formed materials were characterized by XRD, ATR−FTIR, N2 adsorption/desorption, HRTEM, electron diffraction, EDX, elemental mapping and surface acidity. Effects of H3PO4 ratio and treatment temperature on the bulk and surface properties of the produced catalyst/support materials were investigated. Catalytic activities of the ACP support and W-loaded catalysts towards methanol dehydration in the range of 150–400 °C were measured at WHSV of 2.01 h−1 in an inert atmosphere. Improved catalytic performance was observed for ACP support, which further improved for the W-loaded catalysts. This involved increase of methanol conversion (from 67% to 84%), DME formation rate (from 14.6 to 18.3 mmol.h−1), time-on-stream (from < 40 to >120 h) and Ea (from 48.98 to 42.23 kJ mol−1) on moving from ACP support to the most active supported catalyst, respectively. The improvement was attributed to the enhanced textural and thermal stability of the supported catalyst, which places it among the high efficiency catalysts for DME formation.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT BASED ON THE ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH BY CIVIL SERVANTS IN KAZAKHSTAN

The ecology of Kazakhstan requires improvement with the involvement of both the population and specialists from various organizations, including government officials. The purpose of this article was to assess knowledge, understanding of environmental problems in Kazakhstan by representatives of state authorities through a survey system. For this purpose, we surveyed 256 employees of state institutions of Kazakhstan in 2019. The survey questions related to the current system of state management of natural resources and the current environmental situation in Kazakhstan. The assessment of the readiness of public administration institutions in Kazakhstan showed the absence of interdepartmental communication and an integrated approach to improve the ecology of Kazakhstan. Environmental legislation is considered more of narrow departmental interests, without taking into account an integrated approach to biodiversity conservation.

Discussion on the protection strategy of Dahuofang river water ecological environment

China’s per capita fresh water resources only account for one fourth of the world’s per capita fresh water resources, therefore, the protection of fresh water resources and river ecological environment protection is very important. This paper focuses on the analysis of the current situation of Dahuofang river water ecological environment and the significance of protection, focusing on the ecological environment protection strategy, increasing project support, and actively applying ecological slope protection, Strengthen pollution prevention and control efforts, realize one area one world, scientific cultivation of aquatic plants, human ecological environment protection, so as to provide a solution direction for the exploration of river water ecological environment protection.

Optimization of solid waste collection using RSM approach, and strategies delivering sustainable development goals (SDG\u2019s) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The rapid industrial development, high population growth, and rapid urbanization of Saudi Arabia have led to increased pollution and waste levels. Every day, solid waste disposal for governments and local authorities becomes a significant challenge. Saudi Arabia produces over 15 million tonnes of solid waste annually, with a population of around 29 million. The waste production per person is estimated at between 1.5 and 1.8 kg per day per person. About 75% of the population in urban areas is concentrated, making it imperative that government steps are taken to boost the country's waste recycling and management scenario. The production of solid waste in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, three of the largest cities, exceeds seven million tonnes annually, which shows the enormity of the civic body problem. During this study, the design Expert software was involved in the optimization of process parameters during the collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) from Jeddah city. The use of design experiments and numerical optimization is quite effective in optimizing the different process parameters on the overall cost. Saudi Arabia has a critical need for a resilient waste system and agile waste management system to control its municipal solid waste quickly and environmentally friendly for achieve Saudi Vision 2030. For this study design of experiment, software was employed to optimize the cost per trip, thereby considering process parameters. It is therefore essential to examine the existing practices and future opportunities for solid waste collection, storage, and disposal. This study considered that MSW generated in Saudi Arabia which is having great potential to be converted into wealth. Hence, considering the current environment situation, energy prospective and future management strategies for MSW have also been reviewed.

RADIOECOLOGICAL SITUATION ON THE TERRITORY OF KARAUL VILLAGE OF ABAYSKY DISTRICT OF EAST KAZAKHSTAN REGION

As part of the research work on the topic «Development of scientific and methodological foundations for minimizing the environmental burden, medical support, social protection and health improvement of the population of environmentally unfavorable territories of the Republic of Kazakhstan», the Research Institute of Radiation Medicine and Ecology carried out radioecological studies in the Karaul village of Abay district of East Kazakhstan region. The radiation situation of Karaul village was formed in the 50s of the last century by local contamination of this settlement from nuclear explosions carried out at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site. Measurements of radiation parameters of the current environmental situation on the ground and sampling of environmental objects that carried out in the period of May 2018. The radiation parameters of the environmental situation (MED, radon concentration, alpha and beta particle flux densities, and the content of radioactive elements in environmental objects) on the territory of the village are within the established standards