Global Source Research Articles

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNICATION OF GREEN AND NON-GREEN COMPANIES IN DIGITAL ERA

This study aims to understand the corporate sustainability communication of green and non-green companies in Indonesia. This research examines 20 Indonesian companies divided into two subgroups of sample: green and non-green companies, which are classified according to their sustainability performance. The categorization indicator is obtained from CSRHub, a global database source aggregating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores. The paper analyzes the implementation of formal communication channels and social media during two months (June-July 2023) as a novel digital communication channel at the stakeholder information strategy level. This study found green companies engaged in more active sustainability communication through formal and digital channels. In the formal communication, green companies routinely prepared standalone sustainability reports and annual reports reflecting sustainability values in each Board of directors' and commissioners' letters. In digital channels, green companies own social media accounts on many platforms to engage with stakeholders. Some of them have reflected their sustainability value publicly through the new media.

Precipitation changes during the last glacial period in the Ili Basin, northern Central Asia, as inferred from the records of loess dolomite

Understanding the climatic evolution in Central Asia (CA) and its drivers is crucial for informed decision-making and predicting global changes due to its significant contribution as a global dust source. Unfortunately, our current understanding of the pre-Holocene precipitation patterns in CA is lacking due to the limited availability of reliable proxy indicators, and our knowledge of future precipitation projections in the region, based on paleoclimatic dynamics, is also quite limited. In this study, we analyzed variations in carbonate and dolomite contents of a loess section in the Ili Basin, northern CA, to reveal precipitation changes during the last glacial period. The results showed that changes in carbonate minerals were mainly influenced by the source material supply, driven by reduced precipitation and eluviation during glacial period. We thereby established a precipitation index by removing the influence of provenance signals from the dolomite records. The index indicated lower precipitation during mid-marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 compared to MIS2, likely due to meridional shifts and intensity changes of the westerlies caused by changes in precession and obliquity, with precession playing a major role. Through the comparison of the precipitation index with the δ18O records of the Greenland ice core on a millennial timescale, it was observed that the precipitation in northern CA exhibited a positive correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) mode due to migration of the westerlies. By leveraging our understanding of orbital- and millennial-scale precipitation patterns, we utilized the random forest (RF) regression model and the autoregressive integrated moving average model to forecast precipitation changes for the upcoming 5000–10,000 years. The results indicated a variable pattern marked by a general upward trend, suggesting the possibility of favorable development of agricultural-based economies in the Ili River Valley. People should realize that some integrated measures are designed to improve resilience of agricultural sector in the region and enhance its capacity to adapt to challenges posed by climate change. However, more extensive research is necessary to verify these results through thorough examination and comparisons of loess sections in our research location.

Recalibrated FRIEND equation for peak oxygen pulse is accurate in endurance athletes: the NOODLE study

Peak oxygen pulse (O2Ppeak) is an important index of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). The FRIEND database is a global source of reference values for CRF. However, no reference equation is tailored for endurance athletes (EA) to predict O2Ppeak. Here, we adjusted the well-established FRIEND equation for O2Ppeak to the characteristics of the EA population. 32 (34.0%) female EA and 62 (66.0%) male well-trained EA underwent maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test on a treadmill. V̇O2max was 4.5 ± 0.5 L min−1 in males and 3.1 ± 0.4 L min−1 in females. O2Ppeak was 23.6 ± 2.8 mL beat−1 and 16.4 ± 2.0 mL beat−1 for males and females, respectively. Firstly, we externally validated the original FRIEND equation. Secondly, using multiple linear regression, we adjusted the FRIEND equation for O2Ppeak to the population of EA. The original FRIEND equation underestimated O2Ppeak for 2.9 ± 2.9 mL beat−1 (P < .001) in males and 2.2 ± 2.1 mL beat−1 (P < .001) in females. The updated equation was 1.36 + 1.07 (23.2 · 0.09 · age − 6.6 [if female]). The new equation explained 62% of the variance and significantly predicted O2Ppeak (R2 = 0.62, β = 0.78, P < .001). The error of the EA-adjusted model was 0.1 ± 2.9 mL beat−1 (P = .82) and 0.2 ± 2.1 mL beat−1 (P = .65) for males and females respectively. Recalibration of the original FRIEND equation significantly enhances its accuracy among EA. The error of the EA-adjusted model was negligible. A new recalibrated equation should be used to predict O2Ppeak in the population of EA.

Ellagic acid alleviates aluminum and/or drought stress through morpho-physiochemical adjustments and stress-related gene expression in Zea mays L.

This study investigates the potential of ellagic acid (EA) to mitigate the effects of drought and aluminum (Al3+) stresses in maize by examining various morpho-physiochemical parameters and gene expressions. Maize (Zea mays L.) serves as a crucial global food source, but its growth and productivity are significantly hindered by drought and aluminum (Al3+) stresses, which lead to impaired root development, elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), diminished photosynthetic efficiency, and reduced water and mineral absorption. Recently, ellagic acid (EA), a polyphenolic compound with potent antioxidant properties, has been identified for its role in regulating plant growth and enhancing stress tolerance mechanisms. However, the specific mechanisms through which EA contributes to Al3+ and/or drought tolerance in plants remain largely unknown. The present study was conducted to examine the defensive role of EA (100μg/mL) in some morpho-physiochemical parameters and the expression profiles of some stress-related genes (ZmCPK22, ZmXTH1, ZmHIPP4, ZmSGR, ZmpsbA, ZmAPX1, and ZmGST1) in drought (polyethylene glycol-6000 (PEG-6000), - 0.6MPa) and aluminum chloride (AlCl3, 60μM) stressed Zea mays Ada 523 grown in nutrient solution. Our results indicated that drought and aluminum chloride stresses affected root length, shoot height, H2O2 content, chlorophyll content (SPAD), electrolyte leakage (EL), and relative water content (RWC) of maize with several significant (P < 0.05) shifts up and down. Conversely, EA (100μg/mL) treatment had a mitigating effect on these parameters. Moreover, EA also mitigated the antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX)), and regulated the expressions of aforementioned genes. These findings determined that EA treatment could efficiently improve the gene expressions and morpho-physiochemical parameters under drought and/or Al3+ stresses, thereby increasing the seedlings' adaptability to these stresses.

Efficient conversion of used palm cooking oil into biogasoline over hydrothermally prepared sulfated mesoporous silica loaded with NiMo catalyst

Fossil-based fuels remain a primary global energy source, but their finite and non-renewable nature raises concerns about long-term sustainability. These issues underscore the urgent need for renewable and eco-friendly alternatives such as converting vegetable oil into biofuel. The present work reported biogasoline production from used palm cooking oil catalyzed by sulfated mesoporous silica impregnated with nickel-molybdenum bimetal using the hydrothermal method for both steps. We evaluated the effect of sulfuric acid concentration and metal loading amount on the acidity of the resulting catalysts. Catalysts' performance was assessed through the catalytic cracking and hydrocracking processes with a catalyst-to-feed ratio of 1% at 550°C and an atmospheric pressure. In comparison to mesoporous silica (MS) and sulfated mesoporous silica (SMS-2), along with an increase in acidity, NiMo-impregnated mesoporous silica (NiMo 1/SMS-2) exhibited superior catalytic performance in biogasoline production in the presence of H2 gas, achieving liquid product conversion and gasoline selectivity of 55.9% and 52.37%, respectively. These results are an excellent step for developing biogasoline in a safer process and confirm the capability of mesoporous silica-based catalysts in biofuel production.

Comprehensive analysis of emissions from wood and cow dung burning using chemometrics and two-dimensional gas chromatography

Biomass burning is a global source of climate- and health-affecting emissions. The impacts of biomass burning emissions (BBE) are tied to their complex and variable chemical makeup. For instance, the nitrogen content of BBE influences their capacity to absorb light, and therefore affect the Earth's radiative budget. Factors such as temperature, biomass type, or air flow rate during the combustion all modify the composition of BBE, making accurate characterization challenging. Herein, for the first time, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to emissions gathered during laboratory-based combustion of wood and cow dung biomass in a tube furnace. A thermal desorption two dimensional time-of-flight gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-GC × GC-ToF-MS) setup was employed to separate and identify chemical species. By combining these techniques with a feature selection algorithm, we determined that low temperature and air flow rate lead to greater feature separation on PCA scores plots. Of the 729 variables used to construct the plots, 61 were identified as significant. These species - including sugars such as d-Allose and melezitose, as well as tracers such as levoglucosan and guaiacol - significantly differentiated emissions from wood versus cow dung biomass, especially at lower temperatures. In particular, combustion of either fuel at 0.2 slpm and 500 °C, lead to 20 times the variability in levoglucosan peak area over more efficient furnace parameters. Chemical species evolved only from dung burning contained on average 0.595 nitrogen atoms versus 0.515 for wood, indicating that a higher nitrogen content of the base fuel may not necessarily translate into emission of unique nitrogen containing species, potentially causing the underestimation of dung burning impacts. Overall, TD-GC × GC-ToF-MS coupled to PCA reliably separated emissions from wood and dung biomass while simultaneously identifying significant chemical features, displaying the suitability of this combination of techniques towards characterizing complex BBE matrices in the future.

Geomagnetic and ionospheric effects two consecutive strong earthquakes in Morocco on september 08, 2023

The geophysical effects of a strong seismic event in the form of two earthquakes of magnitude 6.8 and 4.9 that occurred on September 08, 2023 in Morocco at close times 22:11 and 22:30 UTC with an epicentral distance between the foci of ~ 4 km are considered. We used data from a number of observatories of the INTERMAGNET network and the results of magnetic registration at the Mikhnevo Geophysical Observatory of IDG RAS. It was shown that in the absence of significant global disturbances of the Earth’s magnetic field, earthquakes were accompanied by a series of three positive bay-shaped geomagnetic variations with maximum amplitudes from ~1 to ~10 nT, following each other after ~60 min. The maxima of the induced magnetic field variations were observed almost synchronously at distances from ~800 to ~10000 km. The delay time of the magnetic effect relative to the main shock of the first earthquake was ~70 min. Taking into account the almost planetary nature and high synchronicity of the magnetic field disturbances caused over a significant range of distances, as well as time delays corresponding in order of magnitude to the travel time of the seismic signal of a distance multiple of the size of the Earth, it is suggested that the magnetic effect of the seismic event in question was caused by a global source, which can serve as an excited geodynamo. The ionospheric effect of the seismic event under consideration is presented in the form of variations of the critical frequency f0F2 calculated from the data of the ground-based sounding station of the del Ebre Observatory.

Cathode-less RF plasma thruster design and optimisation for an atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP) system

Atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP) is a concept that ingests residual atmospheric gases as a source of propellant for an electric thruster, removing the need for onboard propellant storage. This would enable continuous low-thrust drag compensation, extending the lifetime of spacecraft in Very-Low Earth Orbit (VLEO); <250 km. VLEO is an appealing region for spacecraft operations, enabling new remote sensing missions with improved radiometric performance and spatial resolution, whilst reducing size, mass and power requirements, as well as mission cost. A preliminary design review and optimisation is therefore conducted for an ABEP system that uses the cathode-less radio frequency (RF) plasma thruster from Technology for Innovation & Propulsion (T4i) S.p.A. This removes the issue of thruster erosion by means of magnetic confinement and offers reduced susceptibility to varying atmospheric composition. A semi-empirical oxygen-nitrogen global source model (GSM) has been developed which considers the volume-averaged flux, momentum, and energy balance of the RF discharge. This includes a detailed chemistry model for the complex electron-molecular reactions and energy-loss channels of air plasma in the ionisation chamber. The GSM is coupled to an analytical model of flux balance for an air intake, verified by Direct Simulation Monte-Carlo (DSMC) simulation, to consider its design for maximum collection efficiency. This is then utilised in a robust multi-objective optimisation of the ABEP system, accounting also for spacecraft aerodynamics and power requirements.

Unraveling the discrepancies between Eulerian and Lagrangian moisture tracking models in monsoon- and westerly-dominated basins of the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract. Eulerian and Lagrangian numerical moisture tracking models, which are primarily used to quantify moisture contributions from global sources to specific regions, play a crucial role in hydrology and (paleo)climatology studies on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Despite their widespread applications in the TP region, potential discrepancies in their moisture tracking results and their underlying causes remain unexplored. In this study, we compare the most widely used Eulerian and Lagrangian moisture tracking models over the TP, i.e., WAM2layers (the Water Accounting Model – 2 layers) and FLEXPART-WaterSip (the FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model coupled with the “WaterSip” moisture source diagnostic method), specifically focusing on a basin governed by the Indian summer monsoon (Yarlung Zangbo River basin, YB) and a westerly-dominated basin (upper Tarim River basin, UTB). Compared to the bias-corrected FLEXPART-WaterSip, WAM2layers generally estimates higher moisture contributions from westerly-dominated and distant sources but lower contributions from local recycling and nearby sources downwind of the westerlies. These differences become smaller with higher spatial and temporal resolutions of forcing data in WAM2layers. A notable advantage of WAM2layers over FLEXPART-WaterSip is its closer alignment of estimated moisture sources with actual evaporation, particularly in source regions with complex land–sea distributions. However, the evaporation biases in FLEXPART-WaterSip can be partly corrected through calibration with actual surface fluxes. For moisture tracking over the TP, we recommend using high-resolution forcing datasets, prioritizing temporal resolution over spatial resolution for WAM2layers, while for FLEXPART-WaterSip, we suggest applying bias corrections to optimize the filtering of precipitation particles and adjust evaporation estimates.

Seawater sulfate dynamics and a new tipping point in the Earth system

Seawater sulfate (SO42−) concentrations have changed by orders of magnitude in response to atmospheric and ocean redox dynamics throughout Earth’s history. A fundamental model that constrains seawater SO42− dynamics based on the principles of mass balance, however, is still lacking. Here, we used a dynamical systems approach to determine the effects of global source and sink strengths on seawater SO42− concentrations. Our stochastic analysis of the SO42− mass balance revealed two most probable seawater SO42− concentration ranges: one under widespread oceanic anoxic conditions with SO42− concentrations &amp;lt;1000 µM, and the other with SO42− concentrations around or above 10,000 µM under widely oxygenated ocean conditions. Swings between these two seawater SO42− concentration ranges are notably evident during the Phanerozoic Eon and developed in response to reoccurring oceanic anoxic events. We also identified a threshold for the extent of oceanic anoxia above which seawater SO42− concentrations collapse to &amp;lt;1000 µM, with corresponding impacts on global biogeochemical cycles, biology, and climate.

Estimation of Runoff at Shetrunji River Basin using SWAT Hydrological Modelling

The researchers and scientists have realized that this is the high time to act in accordance to the impact of change of climate. Because of climate change problem, various effects occur, one of them is hydrological extremes. This leads to the emergence of hot-spots and vulnerable areas causing difficult adaptation. The current analysis intends to estimate the influence of change in climate on the hydrological parameter on one of the most important tributaries of Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Western India. Out of number of methods available to perform this task, simulation (hydrological modelling) which is the most widely used techniques available at this time, has been adopted. Here in this research the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model which happens to be a semi-distributed model and integrates the GIS information with the attribute database of the River has been utilized. The watershed delineation has been done using AWD (Automatic Watershed Delineation) which is available as a plugin in ArcSWAT. It has classified the catchment into 28 subbasins. From Esri Sentinel-2 landuse map has been used and the soil map is extracted from FAO Raster world soil map. Moreover, we can classify the sub basins into 173 HRUs (Hydrological Response Unit) by the model. The weather files from 1982 to 2019 has been used from the global weather source as a seed to the model. The successful run of the model gives elucidate fluctuating runoff volumes over time, spanning from a lowest of 2.56 mm to a extreme of 503.78mm. Notably, the annual average runoff stands at 190.82 mm, representing approximately 28.34% of the cumulative rainfall experienced within the river basin. The estimation of runoff is helpful in allocating water for agriculture, household demands, and industrial requirements.

Pesticide regulatory heterogeneity, foreign sourcing, and global agricultural value chains

AbstractRegulations on the production and consumption of goods are very heterogeneous across countries. Whereas the effects of regulations on exports are well known, the responses of importers to heterogeneous and frequently changing country‐specific regulations are not well understood. We combine Swiss firm‐level import customs transaction data with country‐product‐year‐specific maximum residue limits to investigate the effect of pesticide regulatory heterogeneity on firm‐level imports and assess the moderating role of firm size and global value chain participation. Relying on a global sourcing model, we find that regulatory heterogeneity reduces imports but less so in larger and diversified firms. Participating in global value chains also improves firms' flexibility toward heterogeneous regulation. Business diversification—although reducing the gains from trade and scale—could help firms cope with heterogeneous international regulations.

Cultural determinants of COVID-19 vaccines misinformation in Malawi

This study investigates how global misinformation and local cultural factors shape public perceptions of COVID-19 in Malawi. While misinformation about the pandemic often originates from global sources like the Internet and social media, its impact is influenced by religious and cultural narratives that resonate differently across various demographics, including gender. These ‘cultural determinants’ amplify the influence of misinformation, leading to widespread vaccine hesitancy. The paper draws on findings from a study conducted in the Malawian districts of Zomba, Dowa, and Nkhata Bay. The study reveals how religious prophecies and apocalyptic symbols, such as the ‘666’ mentioned in the biblical Book of Revelation, are used to frame vaccines as malevolent, distorting public understanding and fuelling fears about COVID-19. The role of social media in spreading misinformation is particularly significant, given its ability to quickly disseminate content and engage users as both consumers and creators of information. Despite limited internet access in Malawi, misinformation spreads effectively through offline spaces, where cultural beliefs and mistrust in political leaders further propagate it. This study highlights the need for culturally sensitive public health communication strategies to address the fears and beliefs that drive misinformation and vaccine hesitancy in Malawi and similar contexts. Although misinformation and vaccine hesitancy are global challenges, the study highlights that misinformation in Malawi is culturally specific, localised, and appeals to fears, with distinct resonance across the male-female gender divide.

Uncovering the spatial characteristics of global net anthropogenic nitrogen input at high resolution and across 1.42 million lake basins

Global Net Anthropogenic Nitrogen Input (NANI) at high resolution is crucial for assessing the impact of human activities on aquatic environments. Insufficient global high-resolution data sources and methods have hindered the effective examination of the global characteristics and driving forces of NANI. This study presents a general framework for calculating global NANI, providing estimates at a 5-arc-minute resolution and over 1.42 million lake basins in 2015. The results highlight the region near the Tropic of Cancer as a concentration area for high NANI and an inflection point for latitude-based accumulation variation. It also emphasizes the uneven distribution of NANI among continents, with Asia and Africa having the highest proportions, yet their high and low values are notably lower than those of Europe and South America. A similar pattern is observed in global lakes, where Asia has the smallest quantity and volume, but the highest NANI intensity. In contrast, North America and Europe have larger quantities and volumes but the lowest NANI intensity. The global distribution characteristics reveal a clustering pattern in high and low values, with 1.25 % of the area having a sum of NANI exceeding 20 %. The uncertainty analysis regarding model parameters indicates that continents with the highest NANI do not always exhibit the highest uncertainty. These results bridge the gap between global nitrogen sustainable management and anthropogenic nitrogen input. They support research on spatiotemporal changes and controlling factors of global river nutrient loads, as well as the impact of climatic factors on basin nitrogen loss and its variability.

Literature-based database to inform policy making on marine plastic pollution in ASEAN+3

The ASEAN+3 countries urgently need to present actual data on the state of their marine plastics pollution, so that they can respond to the criticisms of being the top-5 global sources of marine plastics based on modeled predictions, as well as to develop effective response policies based on sound data. While the research outputs on marine plastic pollution have increased spectacularly across these countries, their overall resource capacity to access the data remains lacking. This study describes a robust framework developed to use &amp;gt;700 peer-reviewed research publications from the region that can inform policy-making. First, detailed metadata fields were developed for this database focused on extracting information from the publications that are relevant to regional policy questions being asked to adequately respond to the threats posed by marine plastics. Second, the curation of research publications in this database greatly depended on a team of regional researchers, who were apt in the subject matter and a native language speaker. The latter was critical in the capture of non-English articles to boost the quality of database. Some of the key findings from the broad analyses included the rapid increase in research efforts on marine plastics between 2014 and 2021, which coincided with the growing concerns of this environmental crisis, the dominant publication language was English despite the diversity of countries, and the dominant research topic appeared to be of policy response measures. Overall, the database produced adequate and immediate data, where policy-makers can leverage for urgent actions. For example, the output on the status of marine plastic pollution is ever-increasing, but the region could start to focus on knowledge gaps (e.g., sampling in critical sensitive habitats like seagrasses and coral reefs). Finally, this study presented a comprehensive summary of the current state of marine plastic pollution and knowledge gaps (e.g., technical capacity and equipment) of the region that can facilitate discussions among target audience including the governments as well as international and regional regulating bodies, the research community and plastic waste management professionals.

Space-based observations of tropospheric ethane map emissions from fossil fuel extraction

Ethane is the most abundant non-methane hydrocarbon in the troposphere, where it impacts ozone and reactive nitrogen and is a key tracer used for partitioning emitted methane between anthropogenic and natural sources. However, quantification has been challenged by sparse observations. Here, we present a satellite-based measurement of tropospheric ethane and demonstrate its utility for fossil-fuel source quantification. An ethane spectral signal is detectable from space in Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) radiances, revealing ethane signatures associated with fires and fossil fuel production. We use machine-learning to convert these signals to ethane abundances and validate the results against surface observations (R2 = 0.66, mean CrIS/surface ratio: 0.65). The CrIS data show that the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico exhibits the largest persistent ethane enhancements on the planet, with regional emissions underestimated by seven-fold. Correcting this underestimate reveals Permian ethane emissions that represent at least 4-7% of the global fossil-fuel ethane source.

Lung disease prediction based on CT images using REInf-net and world cup optimization based BI-LSTM classification

ABSTRACT A major global source of disability as well as mortality is respiratory illness. Though visual evaluation of computed tomography (CT) images and chest radiographs are a primary diagnostic for respiratory illnesses, it is limited in its ability to assess severity and predict patient outcomes due to low specificity and fundamental infectious organisms. In order to address these problems, world cup optimization-based Bi-LSTM classification and lung disease prediction on CT images using REINF-net were employed. To enhance the image quality, the gathered lung CT images are pre-processed using Lucy Richardson and CLAHE algorithms. For the purpose of lung infection segmentation, the pre-processed images are segmented using the REInf-net. The GLRLM method is used to extract features from the segmented images. In order to predict lung disease in CT images, the extracted features are trained using the Bi-LSTM based on world cup optimization. Accuracy, Precision, recall, Error and Specificity for the proposed model are 97.8%, 96.7%, 96.7%, 2.2% and 98.3%. These evaluated values are contrasted with the results of existing methods like WCO-BiLSTM, MLP, CNN and LSTM. Finally, the Lung disease prediction based on CT images using REINF-Net and world cup optimization based BI-LSTM classification performs better than the existing model.

Climate strategies for oil and gas production under the lens of an Integrated Assessment Model: The case of Brazil

Future projections of oil and gas demand suggest that some production will remain necessary. Although attention often focuses on CO2 emissions from the combustion of their products, oil and gas production is also a relevant global emission source of both CO2 and CH4. Hence, understanding the carbon performance of upstream activities in producing nations is vital for distinguishing producers in a climate-pressured global market. This work explores climate strategies for the oil and gas upstream sector, using Brazil as a case study. The sector´s emissions profile is evaluated under distinct national climate scenarios. The analysis employs BLUES, a national Integrated Assessment Model (IAM), to access production volumes, mitigation measures applicable to the sector, and carbon dioxide removal potentials within the country to eventually offset the sector's remaining emissions. Results indicate sustained oil and gas production over the evaluated horizon (2020–2050) without compromising national climate goals, yet the sector's future emissions trajectory does not align with decarbonization targets pursued by more ambitious oil-producing nations and industry players. Despite sectoral mitigation measures indicated by the model, considerable emissions remain until 2050. Conversely, the country offers ample offsetting opportunities with potential synergies for the sector, especially through BECCS. Furthermore, the acceptability of offsets is discussed.

Performance evaluation of interfacial evaporation assisted solar still with patterned floating absorber and external reflectors

The rapid decrease in global freshwater sources, caused by industrialization, population growth and other unforeseen circumstances, demands the necessity of effective desalination strategies. Solar stills, which provide potable drinking water by utilizing abundantly available solar energy and a direct mode of desalination, are viable solutions. However, lower productivity limits the wide range acceptability of the conventional solar stills (CSS). This work experimentally investigates the effectiveness of interfacial evaporation in solar stills by incorporating the floating absorbers. The floating absorber solar still (FSS) is compared with CSS as a benchmark. FSS involves different absorber configurations such as bare, patterned, and multiple absorbers. Further, the effect of top and bottom reflectors (external) on the FSS performance is analyzed. The application of patterned FSS enhances the productivity by 146 % and 46 % compared to CSS and bare FSS. The use of external top and bottom reflectors in patterned FSS (FSS-P-R) enhances productivity by 28 %. The accumulated water yield per day for FSS-P-R configuration is 4.46 L/m2 with energy and exergy efficiency of 70.35 % and 5.9 %, respectively. The cost analysis estimates the cost of the produced freshwater for FSS-P-R as 0.018 $/L, recommending the deployment of the FSS with suitable modifications in remote and hot arid regions with abundant sunshine as a promising approach for alleviating the freshwater scarcity.

Assessment of the Quality and Readability of Web-Based Arabic Health Information on Halitosis: Infodemiological Study.

Halitosis, characterized by an undesirable mouth odor, represents a common concern. This study aims to assess the quality and readability of web-based Arabic health information on halitosis as the internet is becoming a prominent global source of medical information. A total of 300 Arabic websites were retrieved from Google using 3 commonly used phrases for halitosis in Arabic. The quality of the websites was assessed using benchmark criteria established by the Journal of the American Medical Association, the DISCERN tool, and the presence of the Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode). The assessment of readability (Flesch Reading Ease [FRE], Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level [FKGL]) was conducted using web-based readability indexes. A total of 127 websites were examined. Regarding quality assessment, 87.4% (n=111) of websites failed to fulfill any Journal of the American Medical Association requirements, highlighting a lack of authorship (authors' contributions), attribution (references), disclosure (sponsorship), and currency (publication date). The DISCERN tool had a mean score of 34.55 (SD 7.46), with the majority (n=72, 56.6%) rated as moderate quality, 43.3% (n=55) as having a low score, and none receiving a high DISCERN score, indicating a general inadequacy in providing quality health information to make decisions and treatment choices. No website had HONcode certification, emphasizing the concern over the credibility and trustworthiness of these resources. Regarding readability assessment, Arabic halitosis websites had high readability scores, with 90.5% (n=115) receiving an FRE score ≥80, 98.4% (n=125) receiving a Simple Measure of Gobbledygook score <7, and 67.7% (n=86) receiving an FKGL score <7. There were significant correlations between the DISCERN scores and the quantity of words (P<.001) and sentences (P<.001) on the websites. Additionally, there was a significant relationship (P<.001) between the number of sentences and FKGL and FRE scores. While readability was found to be very good, indicating that the information is accessible to the public, the quality of Arabic halitosis websites was poor, reflecting a significant gap in providing reliable and comprehensive health information. This highlights the need for improving the availability of high-quality materials to ensure Arabic-speaking populations have access to reliable information about halitosis and its treatment options, tying quality and availability together as critical for effective health communication.