Environmental Control Research Articles

Adverse effects of Microcystis aeruginosa exudates on the filtration, digestion, and reproduction organs of benthic bivalve Corbicula fluminea

Cyanobacteria bloom and the secondary metabolites released by the microorganism are extremely harmful to aquatic animals, yet study on their adverse effects in zoobenthos is rare. Corbicula fluminea widely distributed in freshwater environment with algal blooms. It is a typical filter feeding zoobenthos that may be affected by the secondary metabolites of cyanobacteria due to its high filtering rate. In this study, C. fluminea was exposed to Microcystis aeruginosa exudates (MaE) for 96 h, which was obtained from 5 × 105 cells/mL and 2.5 × 106 cells/mL exponential stage M. aeruginosa culture solution that represented cyanobacteria cell density needs environmental risk precaution control and emergent control, respectively. The responses of C. fluminea critical organs to MaE were analyzed and evaluated based on histopathological sections, antitoxicity biomarkers, and organ function biomarkers. The results showed that all the organs underwent structural disorders, cell vacuolization, apoptosis, and necrosis, and the damage levels increased as MaE concentration increased. The detoxification and antioxidant defense systems biomarkers in each organ response to MaE exposure differently and the level of reaction improved when MaE concentration increased. The siphon rate and acetylcholinesterase activity showed that the filtration function decreased significantly as the MaE concentration increased. Increased activity of glutathione S-transferase and amylase in the digestive gland indicate that it is the major detoxification organ of C. fluminea. Increased vitellogenin concentration and enlarged oocytes in the gonad indicate that MaE may have an estrogenic effect on C. fluminea. This study demonstrates that cyanobacteria threat benthic bivalves by inducing oxidative stress, inhibiting filtering feeding system, and disturbing digestion system and reproduction potential of C. fluminea.

'Emerging into the World' - the regulation and control of dormancy and sprouting in geophytes.

Geophytic plants synchronize growth and quiescence with the external environment to survive and thrive under changing seasons. Besides seasonal growth adaptation, dormancy and sprouting are critical factors determining crop yield and market supply as various geophytes also serve as major food, floriculture, and ornamental crops. Dormancy in such crops decides crop availability in the market, as most of such crops are consumed during the dormant stage. On the other hand, uniform/maximal sprouting is crucial for maximum yield. Thus, dormancy and sprouting regulation have great economic importance. Dormancy-sprouting cycles in geophytes are regulated by genetic, exogenous (environmental), and endogenous (genetic, metabolic and hormonal, etc.) factors. Comparatively, the temperature is more dominant in regulating dormancy and sprouting in geophytes, unlike aboveground tissues, where both photoperiod and temperature control are involved. Despite huge economic importance, studies concerning the regulation of dormancy and sprouting are scarce in the majority of geophytes. To date, only a few molecular factors involved in the process have been suggested. Recently, omics studies on molecular and metabolic factors involved in dormancy and growth regulations of underground vegetative tissues have provided more insight into the mechanism. Here, we discuss current knowledge of the environmental and molecular regulation and control of dormancy and sprouting in geophytes and discuss challenges/questions that need to be addressed in the future for crop improvement.

Impact of Condition Variations on Bioelectrochemical System Performance: An Experimental Investigation of Sulfamethoxazole Degradation

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are an innovative technology for the efficient degradation of antibiotics. Shewanella oneidensis (S. oneidensis) MR-1 plays a pivotal role in degrading sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in BESs. Our study investigated the effect of BES conditions on SMX degradation, focusing on microbial activity. The results revealed that BESs operating with a 0.05 M electrolyte concentration and 2 mA/cm2 current density outperformed electrolysis cells (ECs). Additionally, higher electrolyte concentrations and elevated current density reduced SMX degradation efficiency. The presence of nutrients had minimal effect on the growth of S. oneidensis MR-1 in BESs; it indicates that S. oneidensis MR-1 can degrade SMX without nutrients in a short period of time. We also highlighted the significance of mass transfer between the cathode and anode. Limiting mass transfer at a 10 cm electrode distance enhanced S. oneidensis MR-1 activity and BES performance. In summary, this study reveals the complex interaction of factors affecting the efficiency of BES degradation of antibiotics and provides support for environmental pollution control.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office’s experience using Global Forest Watch to monitor and deter deforestation in the Cerrado

Summary The Cerrado biome is a global biodiversity hotspot, and more than half of its area has been devastated in recent decades. Nevertheless, environmental enforcement agencies have a low capacity for monitoring and curbing illegal deforestation and fires. In this context, the local unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Itiquira, Mato Grosso, has been experimenting since mid-2018 with the Global Forest Watch platform to detect illegal deforestation at its onset and notify landowners by electronic means (WhatsApp, email, etc.). With this remote inspection there has been a significant increase in the number of infraction notices, criminal actions, agreements for civil reparation of damage and public civil suits. By seeking to identify illegal deforestation in progress (in flagrant situations), the Public Prosecutor’s Office has prevented such events from turning into major deforestation. Preliminary data indicate that the practice of monitoring and notifications by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and environmental control agencies has increased law enforcement on deforestation and fires in that municipality and halted infractions at their inception. The challenge now is to determine the extent to which this method can be replicated in broader territories and other biomes such as Amazonia and Pantanal.

Optimizing photosynthetic photon flux density and light quality for maximizing space use efficacy in edamame at the vegetative growth stage

Compared with conventional crop cultivation in greenhouses or fields, plant factories with artificial light (PFAL) have advantages in the highly efficient use of space, energy, and resources available for cultivation. However, few studies on environmental controls for improving the space use efficacy (SUE) of PFAL in the production of edamame, a vegetable soybean, have been reported. Therefore, developing an environmental control method for high productivity with minimal space and energy requirements is of high priority. The aims of this study were to (1) identify the optimal photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and light quality to enhance the SUE of edamame at the vegetative growth stage, and (2) examine the effects of PPFD, light quality, and their interaction on edamame plant growth at the vegetative stage. SUE is defined as the crop biomass produced per unit cubic volume of cultivation during the growth period. We examined three PPFD treatments (300, 500, and 700 μmol m−2 s−1) with three color temperature LED lamps (3,000, 5,000, and 6,500 K), for a total of nine treatments. The results demonstrated that, under the same light quality treatment, higher PPFDs resulted in larger fresh and dry weights of all organs, higher stem length, and lower specific leaf area. Under the same PPFD treatment, a high ratio of blue (400–499 nm) to red (600–699 nm) photon flux density increased the plant height but decreased the projected leaf area. The values of SUE at 700 μmol m−2 s−1 increased by 213, 163, and 92% with 3,000, 5,000, and 6,500 K, respectively compared with those at 300 μmol m−2 s−1. The values of SUE at 700 μmol m−2 s−1 increased by 34 and 23% in 5,000 and 6,500 K treatments, respectively compared with that in the 3,000 K treatment. In conclusion, a combination of 700 μmol m−2 s−1 PPFD and 5,000 K color temperature is the suitable condition to increase the SUE of edamame at the vegetative growth stage in a PFAL.

Characteristics of Microorganisms and Antibiotic Resistance Genes of the Riparian Soil in the Lanzhou Section of the Yellow River

Riparian soil is a critical area of watersheds. The characteristics of biological contaminants in riparian soil affect the pollution control of the watershed water environment. Thus, the microbial community structure, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in the riparian soil of the Lanzhou section of the Yellow River were investigated by analyzing the characteristics of soil samples collected from farmland, mountains, and industrial land. The results showed that the Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were the dominant phyla in the riparian soil of Lanzhou section of the Yellow River. The microbial structure in the riparian soil was significantly correlated with the land use type (P < 0.05). The α diversity index of bacterial communities in land types was in the order of farmland > mountain > industry. Sulfonamide-typed ARGs were the most dominant genes in the soil of the Lanzhou section of the Yellow River Basin, among which the sul1 gene had the highest abundance, 20-36 000 times that of other detected ARGs. Moreover, the total absolute abundance of ARGs in industrial soil was the highest. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) displayed that the ARGs characteristics had a significant correlation with land types (P < 0.05), and intl1 and tnpA-04 drove the diffuseness of sulfonamide and tetracycline ARGs, respectively. Redundancy analysis (RDA) demonstrated that the content of inorganic salt ions and total phosphorus in the soil of the riparian zone of the Yellow River Lanzhou section were the main environmental factors, modifying the distribution of the microbial structure. Halobacterota and Acidobacteriota were the main microflora that drove the structural change in ARGs.

Wirelessly Empowered Agriculture a Study on Arduino, NodeMCU and LoRaWAN Enabled Greenhouse Automation

Greenhouse automation system is a way to benefit rural farmers through automatic monitoring and control of the greenhouse environment. It changes care directly to people. To ensure the safety of crops, temperature, light intensity, soil moisture and humidity must be monitored regularly and continuously to keep them under control. It prevents climate change and extends the growing season. Although greenhouses are beneficial for farmers as they increase crop yield and production, they are inconvenient for farmers as they have to visit and check the greenhouses regularly and if the weather conditions are not perfect, it damages crops and productivity. But the emergence of sensors and the Internet of Things has changed the situation in the greenhouse. Sensors are bringing automation to greenhouse management and monitoring through the use of the Internet of Things and embedded technologies.

Carbon Dots Derived from Jaggery Via Direct Heating: A Sensitive Platform for Ferric Ion Fluorescent Sensing

AbstractPhotoluminescent carbon dots (CDs) have greatest potential in fluorescence sensing, energy, bioimaging and environmental pollutant sensing. Heteroatom doping have dramatically enhanced fluorescent properties and stability of CDs. In this work, sulfur doped carbon dots (DCDs) using jaggery as carbon precursor through direct heating method at 180 °C. The synthesized DCDs were characterized through XRD, FTIR, XPS, TEM, Fluorescence and UV‐Visible spectroscopic techniques. The DCDs have 9 nm particle size with amorphous nature and surface decorated with −OH, C−S, C=O functional groups on surface because of contribution of major element like C, O, and S elements. The DCDs showing bright blue emission having 360 nm excitation and 460 nm emission wavelength. Further, the DCDs were employed for metal ion sensing and it selectively detects Fe3+ metal ion with 1.92 μg/mL of detection and 5.84 μg/mL limit of quantification. The experiment follows static quenching mechanism which is confirmed by fluorescence life time experiment. This low‐cost, time effective fluorescent sensitive carbon dots have potential application in environmental pollution control, biomedical and forensic applications.

Boosting photocatalytic activity in ternary lamellar hierarchical structured ZnFe2O4/polymeric carbon nitride by constructing an electronic bridge

Photocatalytic technology is one of the ideal approaches for clean energy production and environmental pollution control in the future. However, the rapid recombination of photo-generated charge carriers is a bottleneck problem of low solar energy conversion efficiency. Herein, a magnetic ZnFe2O4/Pt/polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) semiconductor catalyst is designed and prepared for high-performance photocatalytic hydrogen production reaction and photocatalytic degradation rate of RhB. It exhibits 339.31 μmol·g−1·h−1 hydrogen production rate and 96.08 % photocatalytic degradation rate of RhB within 120 min under visible light. The introduction of Pt, constructing an electronic bridge, accelerated the transfer of photo-generated carriers, meanwhile, the smaller band gap of the ternary composites enabled the generation of more photo-generated electrons. The internal electric field accelerated the accumulation of electrons and holes in the conduction band of ZnFe2O4 and valence band of PCN, thus photocatalytic activity is greatly enhanced. The electron-hole separation is also improved and the transport of photo-generated electrons is facilitated by the special structure of the heterojunction and the unique morphology of PCN. In addition, the used catalyst can be recovered through magnetic fields, and this magnetic catalytic system has great application prospects in the fields of photocatalytic hydrogen production and pollutant degradation.

Evaluation of urban ecological security model based on GIS sensing and MCR model

Urban ecological security is not only a basic safety requirement for human security and development, but also an important part of national security and other security and infrastructure carriers. Protecting the environment is an important factor in the construction of China's natural civilization. In recent years, with the deterioration of the environment, the region and its people have paid more and more attention to the safety of urban ecological environment, which has become one of the hottest issues in current research. Land use/cover rate change (LUCC) affects the environment, which will also affect environmental safety, and changes in its appearance will also affect nature and the environment, providing a positive impetus for the control of natural processes. In this paper, researches on the above problems in City K and Zhengzhou are carried out, using MSPA and visual image forms to better connect local resources, and through the MCR model based on ecological control, a weight-based multi-structure network model is established, which is conducive to the establishment of a multi-structure network model based on ecological control. Build a city of environmental science network. The GIS control line was explored, and the concept of the control line was filled to a certain extent. At the same time, taking City K and Zhengzhou as examples, determining the breadth of their layout and management, as well as the control strategy of their environmental control lines, provides a specific reference angle for the layout and research of other cities. Urban ecological security is very important to each of us living in cities. It is a difficult problem at this stage to establish an ecological security model to open a new security pattern.

Complex environmental control of growth in a dominant Mediterranean‐alpine shrub species

Abstract Mediterranean‐alpine plants are exposed to harsh conditions, forcing them to perform with well‐adapted physiological strategies to withstand the dual stressors that arise from winter cold and summer drought. Such growth strategies are not yet fully understood, although they gain importance with regard to the resilience of species in the face of ongoing climate variability. Here, we aimed at understanding shrub growth in a widespread Mediterranean‐alpine species, Cytisus galianoi Talavera & Gibbs. Using long‐term time series of stem diameter change obtained from dendrometer measurements across the species´ range, we were able to characterise its spatiotemporal growth plasticity. Furthermore, separating water‐related fluctuations in stem diameter from irreversible stem increment allowed us to disentangle the species´ seasonal growth patterns. Using fine‐scale measurements of on‐site environmental conditions, we were then able to identify micro‐ecological drivers controlling the species´ growth processes by applying correlation analysis and partial least squares regressions. We show the species´ adaptation to the spatial heterogeneity across its range for the first time. Our findings highlight that the combination of bimodality and overall high growth plasticity likely allows the species to cover a wide geographical range across alpine areas and over a wide range of weather conditions. We show the environmental control of bimodal growth in C. galianoi, and the importance of pre‐growth environmental control, leading to pronounced carry‐over effects. These lead to a major advantage in resisting adverse growth conditions and adapting to changing conditions. Synthesis: Overall, our findings improve the understanding of the species´ ecological niche and show that preceding photosynthetic activity helps C. galianoi to perform even under unfavourable conditions in winter and during the active growth phase, challenging the general assumption on the coupling of growth to specific seasons and suggesting that the species is capable of adapting to future climate variability.

Group Control of Photo-Responsive Colloidal Motors with a Structured Light Field

Using structured light to drive colloidal motors, due to its advantages of remote manipulation, energy tunability, programmability, and the controllability of spatiotemporal distribution, has been attracting much attention in the fields of targeted drug delivery, environmental control, chemical agent detection, and smart device design. Here, we focus on studying the group control of colloidal motors made from a photo-responsive organic polymer molecule NO-COP (N,O-Covalent organic polymer). These colloidal motors mainly respond to light intensity patterns. Considering its merits of fast refreshing speed, good programmability, and high-power threshold, we chose a digital micromirror device (DMD) to modulate the structured light field shining on the sample. It was found that under ultraviolet or green light modulation, such colloidal motors exhibit various group behaviors including group spreading, group patterning, and group migration. A qualitative interpretation is also provided for these observations.

Two decades of clear-cutting threats in the Brazilian Amazonian protected areas around the Jirau, Santo Antônio, and Belo Monte large dams

Deforestation rates in the Amazon have markedly increased in the last few years, affecting non-protected and protected areas (PAs). Brazil is a hotspot of Protected Area Downgrading, Downsizing, and Degazettement (PADDD) events, with most events associated with infrastructure projects. Despite the threats dams impose on PAs, there is a knowledge gap in assessing deforestation in PAs around large dams in the Amazon. This study investigates how deforestation affects Biodiversity Protection Areas (BioPAs) and Indigenous Lands around the Jirau and Santo Antônio (JSA) dams (Madeira River, Rondônia) and Belo Monte dam (Xingu River, Pará) in the Brazilian Amazon. We compared clear-cutting between PAs and control areas and the annual rates of forest change between pre-dam and post-dam periods. We discussed deforestation-related factors (e.g., PADDD events and the presence of management plans or councils). Our results show an increase in deforestation after the operation of the dams when environmental control from licensing agencies decreases and other political and economic factors are in practice. Indigenous Lands experienced a significant increase in deforestation around the Belo Monte dam, which is associated with the demarcation process and land conflicts. Surrounding the JSA dams, sustainable use BioPAs showed high deforestation rates, and 27 PADDD events were reported, four directly related to dams. In addition to dams, deforestation was associated with the crisis of Brazilian democracy and the weakening of environmental policies. In conclusion, the weak environmental control from environmental licensing agencies during dam operation and PADDD events have contributed to increased deforestation rates and additional stresses in the Amazon.

Mycobacterium immunogenum acquisition from hospital tap water: a genomic and epidemiologic analysis.

We identified 23 cases of Mycobacterium immunogenum respiratory acquisition linked to a colonized plumbing system at a new hospital addition. We conducted a genomic and epidemiologic investigation to assess for clonal acquisition of M. immunogenum from hospital water sources and improve understanding of genetic distances between M. immunogenum isolates. We performed whole-genome sequencing on 28 M. immunogenum isolates obtained from August 2013 to July 2021 from patients and water sources on four intensive care and intermediate units at an academic hospital. Study hospital isolates were recovered from 23 patients who experienced de novo respiratory isolation of M. immunogenum and from biofilms obtained from five tap water outlets. We also analyzed 10 M. immunogenum genomes from previously sequenced clinical (n = 7) and environmental (n = 3) external control isolates. The 38-isolate cohort clustered into three clades with pairwise single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) distances ranging from 0 to 106,697 SNPs. We identified two clusters of study hospital isolates in Clade 1 and one cluster in Clade 2 for which clinical and environmental isolates differed by fewer than 10 SNPs and had less than 0.5% accessory genome variation. A less restrictive combined threshold of 40 SNPs and 5% accessory genes reliably captured additional isolates that met clinical criteria for hospital acquisition, but 12 (4%) of 310 epidemiologically unrelated isolate pairs also met this threshold. Core and accessory genome analyses confirmed respiratory acquisition of multiple clones of M. immunogenum from hospital water sources to patients. When combined with epidemiologic investigation, genomic thresholds accurately distinguished hospital acquisition.

Between Play and Exploitation: What Is the Place of the Rights of Child YouTubers?

This article aims to reflect on the images of childhood in videos featuring child YouTubers playing, analyzing the nature of play portrayed in them and its relationship with the child’s right to play and be protected against any form of exploitation. Method: A documentary study of 100 videos shared on YouTube was conducted, subjected to categorical content analysis with an emphasis on the modes of participation of adults and children in dialogues with the platform’s languages present in the videos. Results and Discussion: The boundaries between children’s artistic expression and child labor exploitation are becoming increasingly challenging, with legal discussions presenting difficulties in regulation due to the home environment and predominant parental control. The analysis reveals how the videos are perceived as standardized commodities, hiding the concrete work behind an image of apparent spontaneity. Conclusion: The research highlights contractual digital risks for children, focusing on those related to commercialization. The analyzed videos reflect an instrumentalization of the child’s basic right to play, associated with market interests, an aspect that takes on the contours of child labor exploitation, compromising the freedom to play spontaneously.

Reading tea leaves worldwide: Decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization.

The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy-to-degrade components accumulate during early-stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass-loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early-stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models.

Numerical Simulation of Airflow Velocity and Temperature Distribution in an Aircraft Cabin

In this work, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is established to calculate the airflow distribution in the cabin of a single-channel Boeing 737-800 airplane. The RNG k-ε model, considering the calculation of turbulence kinetic energy and its rate of dissipation, is adopted to solve turbulence problems in physical field simulation. The proposed three-dimensional model is able to consider the particular physical factors and spatial structures, which can simulate the detailed distributions of complex physical fields, compared with the one-dimensional lumped parameter model. The velocity and temperature fields under different air supply velocities are then numerically investigated. The calculation results show that when the air velocity at the top air supply inlet is 1.4 m/s, the velocity and temperature distribution inside the cabin can both meet the comfort requirements of humans in the airworthiness standards. The results from this work can help to design an aircraft environmental control system.

Occupant-centric dynamic heating demand in residential buildings based on a temporal-spatial combined quantification method

The occupant-centric Part-Time-Local-Space heating mode holds paramount significance for the carbon neutralization of buildings in China. It ensures a harmonious match between heat supply and personal demand in both temporal and spatial dimensions, effectively reducing space heating consumption. However, current studies predominantly focus on the temporal-spatial heating demands of occupants at the room scale, but the zonal scale heating demands remain inadequately explored. Thus, we developed a temporal-spatial combined quantification method to analyze residents’ indoor movement characteristics. It aims to identify the localized subzones in a room where residents have prolonged stays, with spatial boundaries of subzones entirely defined based on high-resolution positioning data. Using this approach, we analyzed the temporal-spatial heating demands of four households under single- and multiple-resident scenarios in typical rooms. Furthermore, we discussed the differences in demand between different heating modes. Results revealed distinctive “local space” demand features in living room and “part time” demand features in dining room. The areas of sofa subzones generally occupied less than 15% of a room (within 4 m2), and stay durations in dining-table subzones ranged from 0.3 h to 1.2 h. Considering the entire monitored rooms, residents occupied only 4.1∼12.1% in space with 10.7∼47.9% in time per day, highlighting the significant energy-saving potential of the occupant-centric Part-Time-Local-Space heating mode. This evaluation provides a reference for the design and implementation of personalized environmental control system.

Mapping the dimensions of family language policy for young children: the case of Emirati families

ABSTRACT The United Arab Emirates has a unique multilingual landscape with over 100 languages considered as the first languages of its population, English as the dominant lingua franca for communication among virtually all residents, and Arabic as the official language. The Emirati (native Arab citizens) families with young children have been in a unique sociolinguistic dilemma, and little is known about how they deal with the dilemma. This study aimed to address the gap. Individual ethnographic interviews were conducted with 20 Emirati families by trained Emirati ethnographic interviewers. Focused open and axial coding generated three dimensions of family literacy policy (FLP). Language ideology encapsulates the parents’ perception, assumption, and aspiration about Arabic and English and the child’s learning of the two languages. Language behavior features environmental control, motivational control, and task control concerning language education. Language metacognition foregrounds the parents’ evaluation of their child’s language learning and reflection on their own language behaviour. The three dimensions of FLP are reciprocally related. The three-dimensional model may serve as a useful conceptual framework for future investigation into FLP.

Collaborative approach for swarm robot systems based on distributed DRL

Navigation and task allocation for swarm robot systems are more difficult than for a single robot. In swarm robot systems, navigation and task allocation difficulties are compounded by challenges such as a dynamic environment, exponentially increasing complexity, and collaboration. In this study, a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) based collaborative approach for navigation and task allocation is proposed, which can be trained at the same time as the training time of a single robot and achieve a high success rate. The proposed approach implements DRL as a distributed architecture. Furthermore, the proposed approach uses adaptive reward mechanisms, a leaderless control approach for environment control, and a simultaneous learning approach for learning. The proposed approach is evaluated by the success rate of reaching the target, the success rate of reaching the target by the shortest path, the success rate of selecting a task, and the success rate of selecting the nearest task. In addition, the costs of the non-collaborative approach are compared with the costs of the collaborative approach. The evaluations show that the success rate of navigation and collaboration of the robots increased and the cost decreased. Thus, the performance of the proposed approach is verified.