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Topic Review
Low-CO2 Emission, Dual-Fuel RCCI Engine
Combustion of fuels in internal combustion engines is based on the use of one type of fuel which is ignited either by forced spark ignition (SI) or by compression ignition (CI). The highest efficiency is currently achievable thanks to the ignition of a homogeneous air–fuel mixture in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines, where the ignition of all the fuel in the combustion chamber occurs simultaneously. This combustion takes place at a lower temperature than in a classic diesel engine, which leads to lower heat losses and the formation of less NOX, which translates into higher thermal efficiency for engines with this type of ignition.
  • 776
  • 24 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Method for Management and Reducing Plastic Waste
Plastic waste generation has increased dramatically every day. Indiscriminate disposal of plastic wastes can lead to several negative impacts on the environment, such as a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. Products from the pyrolysis process encompassing of liquid, gas, and solid residues (char) can be turned into beneficial products, as the liquid product can be used as a commercial fuel and char can function as an excellent adsorbent. The char produced from plastic wastes could be modified to enhance carbon dioxide (CO2) adsorption performance.
  • 776
  • 26 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Climate, Urbanization and Environmental Pollution in West Africa
The need to elucidate the urbanization–climate–pollution nexus in West Africa arose from the several reported, but disjointed cases of climate extremes and environmental degradation in the sub-region. Since colonization and subsequent independence of nations in the West African region, several urban cities began to spring up and gradually grow. Urbanization was essentially characterized by population growth without complementary infrastructural development, weak coping strategies against climate extremes, numerous economic challenges, and high risk of environmental pollution. Initiative for urban renewal, urban greening and smart city development was low, and preparedness against future impact of extreme climate events and climate change is uncertain.
  • 774
  • 12 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Surface Acoustic Wave and Quartz Crystal Microbalance Devices
One of the emerging techniques of chemical warfare agents (CWA) detection is based on acoustic wave sensors, among which surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices and quartz crystal microbalances (QCM) are of particular importance. These devices allow for the construction of undemanding and affordable gas sensors whose selectivity, sensitivity, and other metrological parameters can be tailored by application of particular coating material.
  • 773
  • 11 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Simulation of the Urban Space Thermal Environment
The urban space thermal environment (USTE) is spatially expressed as the horizontal and vertical distributions of the surface temperature and atmospheric temperature fields. With the urban space temperature field as the core, the USTE is the physical environmental system in which the underlying surface, atmospheric transmission and solar radiation are influenced by humans and their interactions with nature. The urban thermal environment has significant impacts on the urban climate and micrometeorology; it is an important indicator used to measure the state of the urban ecological environment, and its temporal and spatial evolution processes are closely related to societal and economic activities.
  • 769
  • 27 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Climate Change and Infectious Diseases
Global climate change has resulted a wide range of impacts on the spread of infectious diseases is a prominent instance due to ‘climate-sensitive’ characterization.[clarification needed] Like other climate change impacts on human health, climate change both exacerbates existing inequalities and challenges in managing infectious disease while increasing the likilihood of certain kinds of new infectious disease challenges. Documented infectious disease impacts of climate change, include increased malaria and dengue, which are expected to worsen as the global climate changes directly result in extreme weather conditions and higher temperatures. Not only will it propagate their spread, but climate change will probably bring forth new infectious diseases, and change the epidemiology of many existing diseases. Despite humanity's recent success at managing diseases such as SARS, coronavirus, and Ebola – historical data is by no means a guarantee of the future success of confrontation given that each new disease brings its own set of challenges as seen in with the ongoing pandemic regarding COVID-19. There is no direct evidence that COVID-19 is worsened or is caused by climate change.
  • 769
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
The Sustainability Potential of Upcycling
The upcycling trend has received renewed attention in the past few years due to growing concerns for the environment related to increased resource consumption and waste volumes. Indeed, cities across the world are supporting resource upcycling initiatives by establishing do-it-yourself (DIY) repair cafes and makerspaces as a means to transform societies towards sustainable development. However, the sustainability potential of such upcycling initiatives is unknown due to the lack of theoretical frameworks.
  • 768
  • 30 May 2022
Topic Review
Antibiotics Remediation Technologies
Antibiotics are used widely in human medicine, veterinary medicine, and agriculture. However, a portion of these compounds is excreted by treated organisms, entering water bodies through hospital effluents, domestic sewage, and agricultural waste. Furthermore, pharmaceutical production and improper disposal contribute to environmental contamination. The presence of antibiotics in the environment can have highly adverse consequences, such as the development and dissemination of bacterial resistance, reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating infections. Several techniques are available for treating antibiotic contamination in water, including physical, chemical, and biological processes. The variety of techniques allows adaptation to the specific conditions of each case, selecting the most effective and cost-effective method considering the available infrastructure. 
  • 766
  • 18 Jun 2024
Topic Review
Black Fungi and Hydrocarbons
Environmental pollution with alkylbenzene hydrocarbons such as toluene is a recurring phenomenon. Their toxicity and harmful effect on people and the environment drive the search for sustainable removal techniques such as bioremediation, which is based on the microbial metabolism of xenobiotic compounds.
  • 765
  • 11 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Dairy Wastewater Treatment by Membrane Separation Technology
Water pollution caused by population growth and human activities is a critical problem exacerbated by limited freshwater resources and increasing water demands. Various sectors contribute to water pollution, with the dairy industry being a significant contributor due to the high concentrations of harmful contaminants in dairy wastewater. Traditional treatment methods have been employed, but they have limitations in terms of effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact. Membrane separation technology (MST) has emerged as a promising alternative for treating dairy wastewater. Membrane processes offer efficient separation, concentration, and purification of dairy wastewater, with benefits such as reduced process steps, minimal impact on product quality, operational flexibility, and lower energy consumption. However, membrane fouling and concentration polarization present major challenges associated with this technique. Therefore, strategies have been implemented to mitigate these phenomena, including pre-treatment prior to MST, coagulation, and adsorption. 3D printing technology has gained prominence as one of the latest and most notable advancements for addressing these issues.
  • 765
  • 07 Aug 2023
Topic Review
The Market Systems Resilience Index
The Market Systems Resilience Index (MSRI) is an innovative approach to measuring the resilience of a market system. The MSRI has been developed both to guide development practitioners in the process of conducting resilience assessments and to promote the inclusion of all relevant actors within a market system.
  • 765
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Green Infrastructure
Green infrastructure provides various ecosystem services through interlinked networks of engineered and natural green space.
  • 764
  • 29 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Hockey Stick Graph
Hockey stick graphs present the global or hemispherical mean temperature record of the past 500 to 2000 years as shown by quantitative climate reconstructions based on climate proxy records. These reconstructions have consistently shown a slow long term cooling trend changing into relatively rapid warming in the 20th century, with the instrumental temperature record by 2000 exceeding earlier temperatures. The term "hockey stick graph" was popularized by the climatologist Jerry Mahlman, to describe the pattern shown by the Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1999 (MBH99) reconstruction, envisaging a graph that is relatively flat with a downward trend to 1900 as forming an ice hockey stick's "shaft" followed by a sharp, steady increase corresponding to the "blade" portion. The reconstructions have featured in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports as evidence of global warming. Arguments over the reconstructions have been taken up by fossil fuel industry funded lobbying groups attempting to cast doubt on climate science. Paleoclimatology dates back to the 19th century, and the concept of examining varves in lake beds and tree rings to track local climatic changes was suggested in the 1930s. In the 1960s, Hubert Lamb generalised from historical documents and temperature records of central England to propose a Medieval Warm Period from around 900 to 1300, followed by Little Ice Age. This was the basis of a "schematic diagram" featured in the IPCC First Assessment Report of 1990 beside cautions that the medieval warming might not have been global. The use of indicators to get quantitative estimates of the temperature record of past centuries was developed, and by the late 1990s a number of competing teams of climatologists found indications that recent warming was exceptional. Bradley & Jones 1993 introduced the "Composite Plus Scaling" (CPS) method which, as of 2009, was still being used by most large-scale reconstructions. Their study was featured in the IPCC Second Assessment Report of 1995. In 1998 Michael E. Mann, Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes developed new statistical techniques to produce Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1998 (MBH98), the first eigenvector-based climate field reconstruction (CFR). This showed global patterns of annual surface temperature, and included a graph of average hemispheric temperatures back to 1400 with shading emphasising that uncertainties (to two standard error limits) were much greater in earlier centuries. Jones et al. 1998 independently produced a CPS reconstruction extending back for a thousand years, and Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1999 (MBH99) used the MBH98 methodology to extend their study back to 1000. A version of the MBH99 graph was featured prominently in the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR), which also drew on Jones et al. 1998 and three other reconstructions to support the conclusion that, in the Northern Hemisphere, the 1990s was likely to have been the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year during the past 1,000 years. The graph became a focus of dispute for those opposed to the strengthening scientific consensus that late 20th century warmth was exceptional. In 2003, as lobbying over the 1997 Kyoto Protocol intensified, a paper claiming greater medieval warmth was quickly dismissed by scientists in the Soon and Baliunas controversy. Later in 2003, Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick published McIntyre & McKitrick 2003b disputing the data used in MBH98 paper. In 2004 Hans von Storch published criticism of the statistical techniques as tending to underplay variations in earlier parts of the graph, though this was disputed and he later accepted that the effect was very small. In 2005 McIntyre and McKitrick published criticisms of the principal components analysis methodology as used in MBH98 and MBH99. Their analysis was subsequently disputed by published papers including Huybers 2005 and Wahl & Ammann 2007 which pointed to errors in the McIntyre and McKitrick methodology. Political disputes led to the formation of a panel of scientists convened by the United States National Research Council, their North Report in 2006 supported Mann's findings with some qualifications, including agreeing that there were some statistical failings but these had little effect on the result. More than two dozen reconstructions, using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records, support the broad consensus shown in the original 1998 hockey-stick graph, with variations in how flat the pre-20th century "shaft" appears. The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report cited 14 reconstructions, 10 of which covered 1,000 years or longer, to support its strengthened conclusion that it was likely that Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the 20th century were the highest in at least the past 1,300 years. Further reconstructions, including Mann et al. 2008 and PAGES 2k Consortium 2013, have supported these general conclusions.
  • 763
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Radon Flux Characteristics
Radon is a noble radioactive gas, and almost half of the effective doses from all ionising radiation comes from exposure to radon and its short-lived decay products. Radon flux measurements provide information about how much radon rises from the ground toward the atmosphere, thus, they could serve as good predictors of indoor radon concentrations. Although there are many different mapping methods with many different input data, radon flux data are generally missing and are not included for the delineation of radon priority areas (RPA).
  • 763
  • 19 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Antibiotic Resistance in Sewage Treated by Constructed Wetlands
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and their dissemination into the environment through antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) have been recognized as one of the main concerns of the 21st century. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are nonconventional treatment technologies that mimic the removal processes of natural wetlands, optimizing operational and design parameters to enhance the removal of contaminants. Understanding the behavior of ARGs and ARB under different conditions will allow CWs to be optimized, avoiding an increase in ARG abundances in the final effluents.
  • 762
  • 21 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Influence of Benzo(a)pyrene on Different Epigenetic Processes
Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and is used as an indicator of PAHs. It is primarily produced by burning of fossil fuels, wood and other organic materials.  The mechanism of epigenetic changes induced by BaP are mainly due to the formation of CpG-BPDE adducts, between metabolite of BaP—BPDE and CpG, which leads to changes in the level of 5-methylcytosine. BaP also acts through inhibition of DNA methyltransferases activity, as well as by increasing histone deacetylases HDACs, i.e., HDAC2 and HDAC3 activity. The aim of this entry is to discuss the mechanism of the epigenetic action of BaP on the basis of the latest publications.
  • 760
  • 22 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Pig Manure and Heavy Metals in Rice
Pig manure (PM) is often highly enriched in heavy metals, such as Cu and Zn, due to the wide use of feed additives. To study the potential risks of heavy metal accumulation in the soil and rice grains by the application of PM and other organic manure, a four-year field experiment was conducted in the suburb of Shanghai, southeast China. The contents of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd in the soils and rice plants by the treatments of PM and fungal culturing residues (FCR) show a trend of annual increase. Those in the soils and rice by the PM treatment are raised even more significantly. Cu and Zn contents in the soil and rice roots by the PM are significantly higher than those by the non-fertilizer control (CK) during the four years, and Pb and Cd also significantly higher than CK in the latter two years. 
  • 759
  • 14 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Air Emissions by Canada's Pulp and Paper Mills
The pulp and paper industry is a major contributor to water and air pollution globally. Pulp and paper processing is an intensive energy consuming process that produces multiple contaminants that pollute water, air, and affect ecological and human health. In Canada, the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) is used to assess the release of air pollutants into the atmosphere from industrial facilities (including pulp and paper mills) and provides a repository of annual emissions reported by individual facilities. 
  • 759
  • 28 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Heat Stress Affect Wheat
Heat stress (HS) is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting the production and quality of wheat. Rising temperatures are particularly threatening to wheat production.
  • 758
  • 07 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Culturable and Molecular Diversity of Marine Fungi
Fungi are considered terrestrial and oceans are a “fungal desert”. However, with the considerable progress made over past decades, fungi have emerged as morphologically, phylogenetically, and functionally diverse components of the marine water column. Although their communities are influenced by a plethora of environmental factors, the most influential include salinity, temperature, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen, suggesting that fungi respond to local environmental gradients. 
  • 758
  • 18 May 2022
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