Community Information Research Articles

A qualitative study on the adaptation of community programmes for the promotion of early detection and health-seeking of perinatal depression in Nepal

BackgroundDespite the high burden of perinatal depression in Nepal, the detection rate is low. Community-based strategies such as sensitization programmes and the Community Informant Detection Tool (CIDT) have been found to be effective in raising awareness and thus promoting the identification of mental health problems. This study aims to adapt these community strategies for perinatal depression in the Nepalese context.MethodsWe followed a four-step process to adapt the existing community sensitization program manual and CIDT. Step 1 included in-depth interviews with women identified with perinatal depression (n=36), and focus group discussions were conducted with health workers trained in community mental health (n=13), female community health volunteers (FCHVs), cadre of Nepal government for the prevention and promotion of community maternal and child health (n=16), and psychosocial counsellors (n=5). We explored idioms and understanding of depression, perceived causes, and possible intervention. Step 2 included draft preparation based on the qualitative study. Step 3 included a one-day workshop with the psychosocial counsellors (n=2) and health workers (n=12) to assess the understandability and comprehensiveness of the draft and to refine the content. A review of the CIDT and community sensitization program manual by a psychiatrist was performed in Step 4.ResultsThe first step led to the content development for the CIDT and community sensitization manual. Multiple stakeholders and experts reviewed and refined the content from the second to fourth steps. Idioms of depression and commonly cited risk factors were incorporated in the CIDT. Additionally, myths of perinatal depression and the importance of the role of family were added to the community sensitization manual.ConclusionBoth the CIDT and community sensitization manual are grounded in the local context and are simple, clear, and easy to understand.

Lessons learned in wind-driven desalination systems in the Canary Islands: Useful knowledge for other world islands

This study addresses the imperative transition towards renewable energy for the powering of desalination technologies, focusing particularly on island contexts. The Canary Archipelago serves as a unique wind energy-desalination laboratory, with numerous experimental projects conducted since the late 1980s. The lessons learnt that are identified in this paper highlight the critical factors influencing project success or failure, including the modernization of desalination plants, the optimal selection of wind farm sites and turbine technology, adequate resources for operating and maintenance tasks, and optimal battery sizing to minimize system shutdowns. In this context, reverse osmosis emerges as the most advantageous technology for variable operating conditions. System interfaces between wind turbines and desalination units are also discussed and it is identified that further research is needed for mechanical or hydrostatic interface systems, while electrical interface systems suit low-medium water demand areas. Recommendations are given for system design and maintenance with the aim of providing valuable information for other island communities grappling with the water-energy nexus and climate change mitigation.

Determination of binding energies in high purity 2H graphite using XPS

This study focuses on the detailed characterization of graphite, employing techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Graphite, a crucial material for engineering applications and advanced technologies, was analyzed in its pure state as provided by the manufacturer, without any pretreatment. XPS analysis revealed a spectrum dominated by carbon, with binding energies confirming the expected electronic structure and the presence of surface functional groups, including oxygen, silicon, and phosphorus. Although these impurities were identified, they do not appear to have affected the binding energies of the primary carbon, suggesting that their influence is confined to the surface properties and does not extend to the internal electronic structure of the graphite. XRD corroborated the high structural purity and detected a secondary SiP2O7 phase in minimal quantities. These findings validate the high quality of the graphite and provide critical information for the scientific community, establishing a benchmark for comparisons in future studies and developments of materials. This work underscores the value of combining XPS, XRD, and SEM-EDS for the thorough characterization of carbon-based materials.

Preface

The Iraqi Bulletin of Geology and Mining (IBGM) was first issued in April 2005 and published local research, mostly of the Iraq Geological Survey (State company of geological survey and mining at that time) employees’ research. It was aimed at encouraging geologists of the survey to publish the results of the regional geological survey of Iraq, largely archived within their library. Fortunately, after 20 years, the current issue of volume 20 publishes 9 international articles from various institutes and universities, such as Baghdad, Sulaimani, Babylon, and Salahaddin universities from Iraq in addition to Federation University Australia. These articles cover several geological fields, which microfacies analysis, structure geology, seismology, groundwater, industrial geology, petrology, geochemistry, and engineering geology. The Editorial Board of the bulletin hopes that the articles published in the present issue will provide valuable and accurate information for the scientific community in general. I take the opportunity to tell you that the Editorial Board has taken action to improve the template, reference style, way of citation, website, etc. of the bulletin to be ready for the next achievement by indexing the bulletin within the SCOPUS database. It was important to include a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for each article. Being within the SCOPUS index is a significant step, where almost all the authors prefer such indexed journals.

Deconstructing the applications of CSR policies in Indian coal mining sector

PurposeThis study aims to comprehensively analyse the implementation and effectiveness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies within the context of the Indian coal mining sector. Furthermore, it investigates the alignment between CSR initiatives and the unique challenges faced by the coal mining sector and examines the outcomes and impacts of these initiatives on the employees of the sector and their perspective on the situation.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a comprehensive qualitative research method, including a review of the literature, case studies and stakeholder interviews. This study seeks to deconstruct the application of CSR policies.FindingsThe analysis developed a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding CSR policies in the Indian coal mining sector, offering insights into strategies for enhancing the effectiveness and relevance of these initiatives while fostering sustainable development.Practical implicationsThis study reveals a rich tapestry of theoretical implications and how they connect to important organisational and societal paradigms. The results of this qualitative analysis can work as a foundation for creating scales to measure the level of efficiency of CSR policies implemented by different companies. Furthermore, this study goes beyond theoretical knowledge and gives companies, regulators and communities information they can use. By looking at how CSR policies work in the real world, a road map for responsible resource extraction and community growth can be made.Originality/valueThe findings are unique in exploring the CSR initiatives and the unique challenges faced by the coal mining sector. This study offers insight on the employees of the sector and their perspectives on the situation and delves into the multifaceted dimensions of CSR practices.

Large language models for biomedicine: foundations, opportunities, challenges, and best practices.

Generative large language models (LLMs) are a subset of transformers-based neural network architecture models. LLMs have successfully leveraged a combination of an increased number of parameters, improvements in computational efficiency, and large pre-training datasets to perform a wide spectrum of natural language processing (NLP) tasks. Using a few examples (few-shot) or no examples (zero-shot) for prompt-tuning has enabled LLMs to achieve state-of-the-art performance in a broad range of NLP applications. This article by the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) NLP Working Group characterizes the opportunities, challenges, and best practices for our community to leverage and advance the integration of LLMs in downstream NLP applications effectively. This can be accomplished through a variety of approaches, including augmented prompting, instruction prompt tuning, and reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF). Our focus is on making LLMs accessible to the broader biomedical informatics community, including clinicians and researchers who may be unfamiliar with NLP. Additionally, NLP practitioners may gain insight from the described best practices. We focus on 3 broad categories of NLP tasks, namely natural language understanding, natural language inferencing, and natural language generation. We review the emerging trends in prompt tuning, instruction fine-tuning, and evaluation metrics used for LLMs while drawing attention to several issues that impact biomedical NLP applications, including falsehoods in generated text (confabulation/hallucinations), toxicity, and dataset contamination leading to overfitting. We also review potential approaches to address some of these current challenges in LLMs, such as chain of thought prompting, and the phenomena of emergent capabilities observed in LLMs that can be leveraged to address complex NLP challenge in biomedical applications.

Link Prediction and Graph Structure Estimation for Community Detection

In real-world scenarios, obtaining the relationships between nodes is often challenging, resulting in incomplete network topology. This limitation significantly reduces the applicability of community detection methods, particularly neighborhood aggregation-based approaches, on structurally incomplete networks. Therefore, in this situation, it is crucial to obtain meaningful community information from the limited network structure. To address this challenge, the LPGSE algorithm was designed and implemented, which includes four parts: link prediction, structure observation, network estimation, and community partitioning. LPGSE demonstrated its performance in community detection in structurally incomplete networks with 10% missing edges on multiple datasets. Compared with traditional community detection algorithms, LPGSE achieved improvements in NMI and ARI metrics of 1.5781% to 29.0780% and 0.4332% to 31.9820%, respectively. Compared with similar community detection algorithms for structurally incomplete networks, LPGSE also outperformed other algorithms on all datasets. In addition, different edge-missing ratio settings were also attempted, and the performance of different algorithms in these situations was compared and analyzed. The results showed that the algorithm can still maintain high accuracy and stability in community detection across different edge-missing ratios.

What facilitates users’ compliance willingness to health information in online health communities: a subjective norms perspective

PurposeThe environment in which users acquire medical and health information has changed dramatically, with online health communities (OHCs) emerging as an essential means for accessing health information. It is imperative to comprehend the factors that shape the users' compliance willingness (UCW) to health information in OHCs.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted the information adoption model (IAM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate the influence of argument quality (AQ), source credibility (SC) and subjective norms (SN) on UCW while considering the two types of online health information – mature and emerging treatments. The authors conducted an explanatory-predictive study based on a 2 (treatment types: mature vs. emerging) * 2 (AQ: high vs. low) * 2 (SC: high vs. low) scenario-based experiment, using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsSC positively influences AQ. AQ, SC and SN contribute to information usefulness (IU). These factors positively affect UCW through the mediation of IU. SN were found to improve UCW directly. Moreover, the moderating effect of SC on AQ and IU was more substantial for emerging treatments.Originality/valueThe research model integrates IAM and TPB, considering information types as an additional variable. The approach and findings provide a valuable explanation for UCW to health information in OHCs.

FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG BERHUBUNGAN DENGAN KEJADIAN HEMOROID PADA PASIEN DI POLI BEDAH RSUD RAJA AHMAD TABIB TAHUN 2019-2022

Background: Hemorrhoids, also known as piles, are a common medical condition worldwide. Hemorrhoids occur when blood vessels in the anal or rectal area swell and become inflamed. Factors contributing to the occurrence of hemorrhoids include age, occupation, obesity, gender, constipation, and prolonged sitting during bowel movements. This research aims to provide valuable information for the Indonesian community, doctors, and researchers regarding the risk factors associated with hemorrhoid occurrence. Methods: The research design used in this study is an Observational Case Control with a Retrospective approach. The population in this study consisted of patients who visited the surgical department of RSUD Raja Ahmad Tabib from 2019 to 2022, totaling 6,549 patients. Sample selection was done using Simple Random Sampling, with a total sample size of 82 individuals. The research results were analyzed using the Chi-Square test. Results: In this study, the Chi-Square test analysis revealed factors related to the occurrence of hemorrhoids: Based on Age (p=0.672), Based on Gender (p=0.004), Based on Obesity (p=0.049), and Based on Occupation (p=0.000). Conclusion: Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that there is a significant association between Gender, Obesity, and Occupation with the occurrence of hemorrhoids among patients in the surgical outpatient department of Raja Ahmad Tabib Regional General Hospital from 2019 to 2022.

Assessing the implementation fidelity, feasibility, and sustainability of community-based house improvement for malaria control in southern Malawi: a mixed-methods study

BackgroundDespite significant success in the fight against malaria over the past two decades, malaria control programmes rely on only two insecticidal methods: indoor residual spraying and insecticidal-treated nets. House improvement (HI) can complement these interventions by reducing human-mosquito contact, thereby reinforcing the gains in disease reduction. This study assessed the implementation fidelity, which is the assessment of how closely an intervention aligns with its intended design, feasibility, and sustainability of community-led HI in southern Malawi.MethodsThe study, conducted in 22 villages (2730 households), employed a mixed-methods approach. Implementation fidelity was assessed using a modified framework, with longitudinal surveys collecting data on HI coverage indicators. Quantitative analysis, employing descriptive statistics, evaluated the adherence to HI implementation. Qualitative data came from in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and focus groups involving project beneficiaries and implementers. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis guided by the implementation fidelity model to explore facilitators, challenges, and factors affecting intervention feasibility.ResultsThe results show that HI was implemented as planned. There was good adherence to the intended community-led HI design; however, the adherence could have been higher but gradually declined over time. In terms of intervention implementation, 74% of houses had attempted to have eaves closed in 2016-17 and 2017-18, compared to 70% in 2018–19. In 2016–17, 42% of houses had all four sides of the eaves closed, compared to 33% in 2018–19. Approximately 72% of houses were screened with gauze wire in 2016-17, compared to 57% in 2018-19. High costs, supply shortages, labour demands, volunteers’ poor living conditions and adverse weather were reported to hinder the ideal HI implementation. Overall, the community described community-led HI as feasible and could be sustained by addressing these socioeconomic and contextual challenges.ConclusionOur study found that although HI was initially implemented as planned, its fidelity declined over time. Using trained volunteers facilitated the fidelity and feasibility of implementing the intervention. A combination of rigorous community education, consistent training, information, education and communication, and intervention modifications may be necessary to address the challenges and enhance the intervention’s fidelity, feasibility, and sustainability.

Role of blockchain technology in changing the structure of a country's monetary base and GDP

This article explores the role of blockchain technology in changing the structure of a country's monetary base. Specifically, it examines the potential benefits and risks of using blockchain in monetary policy, such as efficiency, transparency, and new opportunities for managing the financial system. The article highlights changes in approaches to monetary policy through the use of blockchain-based digital currencies, as well as discusses challenges that may arise in implementing this technology. The conclusions of this article may be valuable for government agencies, central banks, and researchers interested in the impact of blockchain technology on the financial sector. In recent years, the adoption of blockchain technology as an alternative to fiat currencies in various countries around the world has significantly expanded globally, as a significant number of business organizations have recognized the importance of all the advantages that blockchain technology provides. Previously, the focus was on cost control to remain competitive, but lately blockchain technologies have somewhat shifted the significance and monetary mass, influencing the structure of a certain country's monetary base. Based on recent research and publications, the article emphasizes the importance of understanding economic principles that govern the determination of the impacts of various economic and financial indicators on components of economic growth and predicting the consequences of such decisions. It references the seminal work of economists P. Romer, R. Lucas, R. Barro, I. Salla y Martin, and R. Levine, who laid the foundation for studying endogenous economic development. The purpose of this article is to investigate the practice of implementing blockchain technology in the financial support of various economic processes of economic entities and their impact on the structure of a country's monetary base. Thus, it has been identified that the influence of blockchain on the structure of the monetary base itself has received little attention. Despite blockchain being used as an alternative to components of the monetary base, thereby changing its structure within a certain country, most studies focus on literature reviews and provide information for practitioners and academic communities. Therefore, this article aims to bridge the gap by developing a model to identify distortions in the structure of the monetary base under the influence of blockchain. The effective use of blockchain is still being explored. As a result, the operations of many companies using blockchain technologies for payments are vulnerable to technical issues. Blockchain technology is utilized to address this problem and facilitate data exchange among relevant stakeholders. This document presents a benchmark for the impact of blockchain technology on the structure and mass of the monetary base for a specific country, integrating blockchain for sustainable money functioning with the integration of the Internet of Things and big data. Finally, potential benefits and limitations are analyzed during the implementation of this framework. Methods. Macroeconomic analysis, econometric analysis, trend analysis. Results. Determination of the level of influence of blockchain technologies on the change in the structure and volume of the monetary base of a certain country. The study casts doubt on classical economic doctrines by establishing a strong correlation between the distribution of components of the monetary base in its structure and the use of blockchain technology for payments for goods, labor, and services. It emphasizes that the economic growth of a country and the structure of its monetary base depend on the proportion of blockchain technology usage in that country. This research opens up possibilities for further studies in this interdisciplinary field.

ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC SERVICES IN THE PROTOCOL AND COMMUNICATION SECTION OF THE REGIONAL LEADERSHIP OF BARITO KUALA DISTRICT

According to the community, services in the protocol and communication section of the Barito Kuala Regency Regional Leaders are not optimal, so activities involving regional leaders sometimes experience delays and can have an impact on the government's image. This study aims to determine and analyse how information and protocol services in the Protocol and Communication Section of Regional Leaders reach the community. The research approach used is qualitative. The data sources were five people. Data were collected through interviews and documentation. The collected data and information were analysed qualitatively based on narratives. The results showed that community services, information services, and protocol had been carried out, both directly and through the mass media. These service activities are always coordinated with regional apparatus organizations on an ongoing basis, and negotiations are carried out with interested communities so that these service programs are more effective. This research shows that maximum service has implications for building a better government image. Keywords: Public services, community services, information services and protocols

Single‐species and multi‐species playbacks elicit asymmetrical responses within mixed‐species chickadee, titmouse, and nuthatch flocks

AbstractIndividuals join mixed‐species groups to gain benefits such as improved foraging and predator detection. Birds in the family Paridae often drive mixed‐species flocking in North America, and these species can act as community informants for forest‐wide eavesdropping networks. Although we know a great deal about how this communication functions in anti‐predator contexts, less is known about how the vocalizations of members of these flocks may affect the foraging behavior of potential flockmates. In this study, we presented naturally occurring mixed‐species flocks of chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches with one of four playback conditions: chickadee‐only calls, nuthatch‐only calls, calls of both species, and a silent control. We hypothesized that the flocks would be most responsive to playbacks that contained calls from more than one species. We also tested an alternative hypothesis that predicted that birds would be most responsive to the nuclear species within the flock (chickadees). We found that birds were more likely to arrive, and arrived more quickly, for the playbacks with calls from both species compared to playbacks of nuthatches alone or the silent control. Playbacks of chickadee calls alone attracted an intermediate number of birds, which did not differ significantly from the mixed‐species flock condition, or the nuthatch call alone condition. Our hypotheses were not supported due to the lack of significant difference between the mixed‐species playbacks and the chickadee playbacks. However, our findings do indicate that different species in these flocks can react differently to the calls of members of these flocks and that future studies may continue to find asymmetries in attraction to these different social signals.

Effect of social media sentiment on donations received by NPOS

Previous literature has analyzed the effect of internet disclosure on NPO donations, specifically, through website disclosure, showing a positive relation between internet disclosure and NPO income. Nonetheless, there is a lack of studies examining the association between sentiment on social media and NPO donations. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effect that sentiment in Twitter messages has on the donations received by NPOs. Using a sample of NPOs listed on the Non-Profit Times 100, we examine whether the sentiment transmitted by the NPOs through Twitter affects their donations. The results show that the sentiment associated with certain specific categories of messages (community messages and information messages about matters not directly related to the NPO) has a significant effect on the amount of donations received.

Genetic variation within a stick insect species associated with community-level traits.

Phenotypic variation within species can affect the ecological dynamics of populations and communities. Characterizing the genetic variation underlying such effects can help parse the roles of genetic evolution and plasticity in 'eco-evolutionary dynamics' and inform how genetic variation may shape patterns of evolution. Here we employ genome-wide association (GWA) methods in Timema cristinae stick insects and their co-occurring arthropod communities to identify genetic variation associated with community-level traits. Previous studies have shown that maladaptation (i.e., imperfect crypsis) of T. cristinae can reduce the abundance and species richness of other arthropods due to an increase in bird predation. Whether genetic variation that is independent from crypsis has similar effects is unknown and was tested here using genome-wide genotyping-by-sequencing data of stick insects, arthropod community information, and GWA mapping with Bayesian sparse linear mixed models. We find associations between genetic variation in stick insects and arthropod community traits. However, these associations disappeared when host-plant traits are accounted for. We thus use path analysis to disentangle interrelationships among stick-insect genetic variation, host-plant traits and community traits. This revealed that host-plant size has large effects on arthropod communities, while genetic variation in stick insects has a smaller, but still significant effect. Our findings demonstrate that: (1) genetic variation in a species can be associated with community-level traits, but that (2) interrelationships among multiple factors may need to be analyzed to disentangle whether such associations represent causal relationships. This work helps to build a framework for genomic studies of eco-evolutionary dynamics.

A Community Information Model and Wind Environment Parametric Simulation System for Old Urban Area Microclimate Optimization: A Case Study of Dongshi Town, China

In the context of an increasingly extreme climate, Urban Heat Island (UHI) mitigation of communities through ventilation has recently attracted more attention. To explore the impact mechanisms of different morphological renovation schemes on its wind and thermal environment, this paper selected the Laozheng Community as a case study and: (1) analyzed measured data to quantitatively investigate the UHI within the community; (2) established the CIM-WTEPS system to construct community information models and to conduct wind environment parametric simulation for seven micro-renovation schemes across three levels; (3) performed correlation analyses between morphology indicators and wind environment indicators; (4) conducted the thermal environment parametric simulation of the community under different schemes. The results reveal that: (1) the Laozheng Community exhibits the Urban Heat Island Intensity (UHII) of up to 6 °C; (2) apart from the “ Hollowing “ scheme, which deteriorates the community wind environment, all other schemes optimize it, potentially increasing the average wind speed by up to 0.03m/s and in the renovated area by up to 0.42 m/s; (3) building density is highly correlated with the average wind speed and the proportion of calm wind area, with correlation coefficients of −0.916 (p < 0.01) and 0.894 (p < 0.01), respectively; (4) the adding of shading facilities can enhance the proportion of areas with lower Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) without adversely affecting the optimization effects of the wind environment, achieving an maximum increase of 3.1%. This study provides a reference for optimizing the community’s microclimate through morphological micro-renovations and detailed operations, aiding designers in better controlling community morphology for in future community renewal and design planning, thereby creating a more hospitable outdoor environment.

LANGUAGE AND INFORMATION SPACE IN THE CONTEXT OF UKRAINIAN LEGISLATION: SOCIOLINGUISTIC ASPECTS

The article focuses on the functioning of the language and information space as a marker of the state and on the choice of the language of information. The relationship between language and information is taking on new forms in the context of globalization and the intensive development of information dissemination. The information society is formed in the system of legislative, quantitative and qualitative dimensions of the language and information environment. The author outlines the prognostic prospects of the impact of the language and information space on the dynamics of the language situation, attitudes towards language and information security in general. A promising goal of the study is to determine the parameters of the language and information space as a sociolinguistic concept. The key issues of the relationship between language and information from the point of view of sociolinguistics are the choice of the language of information and the possibilities of this choice, the balance of the legislative and regulatory framework on language and information issues, and the orientation of language management in the information space. The variability of language-information relations in this context is traced in terms of national, community and individual information needs. Language-information relations in the parameters of language choice and the principles of current legislation are measured by sociolinguistic categories such as language power, language consciousness, communicative convenience, language rights, language strategies, etc. The spread and power of languages is usually related to their communicative and demographic characteristics. In the context of the study, we also talk about the information power of a language as an indicator of the language’s presence in the information space. The importance of the influence of language policy and language planning on the formation of the language and information space of the state is emphasized. Considerable attention is paid to the problems of choosing the language of information in the context of information security.

Trend and Determinants of Neonatal Mortality at the Buea and Limbe Regional Hospitals, Southwest Region, Cameroon

Background: Over the years the rate of neonatal mortality in low-income settings has been on the increase and most cases of neonatal mortality can be associated with modifiable risk factors. However, the rate of neonatal mortality remains high in Cameroon with the Southwest Region having one of the highest rates of neonatal mortality. Objectives: We aimed to determine the trend and determinants of neonatal mortality in Buea and Limbe Regional Hospitals. Method and Materials: A hospital based retrospective study of files of neonates was conducted from the 1st of January 2017 to the 31st of December 2022. Socio-demographic, clinical and outcome data were obtained using a data extraction form and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 27. Results: The trend of neonatal mortality was apparently constant (16.1% and 17.8%) between 2017 to 2022. Birth asphyxia 150(53.4%) was found to be the most common cause of neonatal mortality. Identified determinants were: acute fetal distress (AOR:2.6 [1.333-5.346]), no ANC visit (AOR:13.1 [3.849-44.284]), birth weight less than 2500g (AOR:2.050 [0.039-4.216]), birth weight greater than 4000 g (AOR:2 [1.002-3.43]), Apgar Score ˂ 3 (AOR:99.9 [87.036-100.000]) and Apgar score ˂ 6 (AOR=5.164 [1.768-15.082]). Conclusion: Neonatal mortality in our context is still below the expectations of SDG3 with perinatal asphyxia and its related modifiable factors influencing neonatal mortality the most. Therefore, more impactful community education and information sessions to build a positive mind set on pregnant women and their families to reduce neonatal mortality is required from all health sectors.

Influence of the industrial pollutant on water quality, radioactivity levels, and biological communities in Ismailia Canal, Nile River, Egypt

In the twenty-first century, numerous forms of pollution have adversely impacted freshwater and the entire aquatic ecosystem. The higher population density in urban areas also contributes to increased releases of substances and thermal contaminants, significantly stressing the ecosystem of industrial companies. This study aimed to assess the potential pressure of industrial and municipal activities on water quality, radioactivity levels, and biological diversity, focusing on the consequences of radionuclides on periphytic diatom communities. Furthermore, the environmental impact of pollutants will be evaluated to monitor the ecological condition of the Ismailia Canal. Chemical analyses employed various instruments and methods to identify and quantify matter, with radionuclide elements measured by gamma spectrometry and diatoms counted and identified by inverted microscopy. Our results revealed that the canal was classified as excellent for irrigation, aquatic life, and drinking water based on FAO, CCME, and EWQS water quality indices, with high nutrient levels at Abu Za’baal fertilizer company. The activity concentration of 226Ra-series, 232Th-series, and 40K in the water and sediment samples for two seasons was within the guideline values, except for a few stations in the zone [B] (the industrial zone). Fertilizer samples (raw material) showed a high value of the 226Ra-series activity. Diatom community structure significantly varied across the different canal locations regarding the presence or absence of industrial activities, with no discernible variations between the study seasons. A specific variety of algal species was found to be predominant at the highest radioactive sites. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed a significant correlation between parameters (pH, Na, TDS, PO4, SO4, SiO2, K, and CO3), radionuclides, environmental conditions, and the composition of the diatom community, especially in the area affected by industrial discharges. Moreover, the radiological hazard index in water and sediment remained below the maximum for two seasons. This research provides valuable data and information for communities and decision-makers, suggesting the strategic use of phycoremediation as a water biotreatment process to protect the valuable economic resources of the Ismailia Canal.

Macroalgal microbiomes unveil a valuable genetic resource for halogen metabolism

BackgroundMacroalgae, especially reds (Rhodophyta Division) and browns (Phaeophyta Division), are known for producing various halogenated compounds. Yet, the reasons underlying their production and the fate of these metabolites remain largely unknown. Some theories suggest their potential antimicrobial activity and involvement in interactions between macroalgae and prokaryotes. However, detailed investigations are currently missing on how the genetic information of prokaryotic communities associated with macroalgae may influence the fate of organohalogenated molecules.ResultsTo address this challenge, we created a specialized dataset containing 161 enzymes, each with a complete enzyme commission number, known to be involved in halogen metabolism. This dataset served as a reference to annotate the corresponding genes encoded in both the metagenomic contigs and 98 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) obtained from the microbiome of 2 red (Sphaerococcus coronopifolius and Asparagopsis taxiformis) and 1 brown (Halopteris scoparia) macroalgae. We detected many dehalogenation-related genes, particularly those with hydrolytic functions, suggesting their potential involvement in the degradation of a wide spectrum of halocarbons and haloaromatic molecules, including anthropogenic compounds. We uncovered an array of degradative gene functions within MAGs, spanning various bacterial orders such as Rhodobacterales, Rhizobiales, Caulobacterales, Geminicoccales, Sphingomonadales, Granulosicoccales, Microtrichales, and Pseudomonadales. Less abundant than degradative functions, we also uncovered genes associated with the biosynthesis of halogenated antimicrobial compounds and metabolites.ConclusionThe functional data provided here contribute to understanding the still largely unexplored role of unknown prokaryotes. These findings support the hypothesis that macroalgae function as holobionts, where the metabolism of halogenated compounds might play a role in symbiogenesis and act as a possible defense mechanism against environmental chemical stressors. Furthermore, bacterial groups, previously never connected with organohalogen metabolism, e.g., Caulobacterales, Geminicoccales, Granulosicoccales, and Microtrichales, functionally characterized through MAGs reconstruction, revealed a biotechnologically relevant gene content, useful in synthetic biology, and bioprospecting applications.7KFSwtia72NY8FA2HCcej3Video