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Topic Review
Cyanobacteria-Derived Biofuel for Sustainable Future
Cyanobacteria are valuable sources of many novel bioactive compounds, such as lipids and natural dyes, with potential commercial implications. One of the advantages of cyanobacteria is that their biochemical constituents can be modified by altering the source of nutrients and growth conditions.
  • 1.2K
  • 04 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Nanofluids in Desalination
Desalination accounts for 1% of the total global water consumption and is an energy-intensive process, with the majority of operational expenses attributed to energy consumption. Moreover, at present, a significant portion of the power comes from traditional fossil-fuel-fired power plants and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with power production along with concentrated brine discharge from the process, pose a severe threat to the environment. Due to the dramatic impact of climate change, there is a major opportunity to develop sustainable desalination processes to combat the issues of brine discharge, greenhouse gas emissions along with a reduction in energy consumption per unit of freshwater produced. Nanotechnology can play a vital role to achieve specific energy consumption reduction as nanofluids application increases the overall heat transfer coefficient enabling the production of more water for the same size desalination plant. Furthermore, concentrated brine discharge harms the marine ecosystems, and hence, this problem must also be solved to support the objective of sustainable desalination. Several studies have been carried out in the past several years in the field of nanotechnology applications for desalination, brine treatment and the role of renewable energy in desalination. The content is focused on reviewing existing desalination practices, along with identifying the gaps in the development of sustainable desalination systems. Furthermore, the role of nanofluids is discussed as a potential tool to develop cost-competitive and energy-efficient standalone desalination system. Desalination is an energy-intensive process, and it's exceptionally crucial to power the process with a reliable independent source of energy along with coupling the desalination process with advanced systems to treat the brine and take benefit of economies of scale by producing more products from the same raw material (seawater). 
  • 1.2K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Late Glacial Interstadial
The Late Glacial Interstadial (LGI) c.14,670 to c.12,890 BP represents the first pronounced warming since the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Human populations, which had previously forced into refuge areas, gradually begin to repopulate the Northern Hemisphere's Eurasian landmass and eventually populate North America via Beringia for the first time. Evidence for its occurrence stems from two main types of analysis. The first is the use of oxygen isotope stages (OIS) gathered from stratified deep-sea sediment cores. Samples are gathered and measured for change in isotope levels to determine temperature fluctuation for given periods of time. The second is a proxy measurement, the observation of certain reappearing fauna and flora fossils that can survive only in temperate climates, thus indicating warming trends for a given geographic area. Archaeological evidence of settlement and resettlement in certain areas by humans also serve as proxy measurements. Towards the end of OIS 2 in which the Last Glacial Maximum occurs, the deep-sea sediment cores indicate a gradually warming climate, and the reappearance of certain warm-weather flora and fauna remains throughout the Northern Hemisphere correlate with that trend. The Late Glacial Interstadial was followed by a severe decline in temperatures during the Younger Dryas from c.12,890 to c.11,650 BP.
  • 1.2K
  • 14 Nov 2022
Topic Review
SPE/DLLME for Determining Plasticizer Residues
This entry aims to compare two extraction procedures for the analysis of phthalates (PAE) in hot drinks collected from vending machines, usually coffee and tea. The two analytical procedures rely on solid phase extraction (SPE) using C18 cartridge and ultrasound and vortex assisted liquid-liquid dispersive microextraction (DLLME) to mechanically improve dispersion, each followed by a routine analytical method such as GC- FID. Seven phthalates (DMP, DEP, DiBP, DBP, DEHP, DOP, DDP) were analyzed and determined. All analytical parameters (i.e., recovery, limit of detection, limit of quantification, enrichment factors, repeatability, reproducibility) were studied and discussed, as well as the matrix effect. The whole procedure was applied to hot drink matrices, for example coffee, decaffeinated coffee.
  • 1.2K
  • 13 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Nanofiltration Membranes Characteristics
The presence of heavy metal ions in polluted wastewater represents a serious threat to human health, making proper disposal extremely important. The utilization of nanofiltration (NF) membranes has emerged as one of the most effective methods of heavy metal ion removal from wastewater due to their efficient operation, adaptable design, and affordability. NF membranes created from advanced materials are becoming increasingly popular due to their ability to depollute wastewater in a variety of circumstances.
  • 1.2K
  • 17 Jul 2023
Topic Review
The Application of Zeolites and Mesoporous Silica Materials
Zeolites and mesoporous silica materials are effective adsorbents that can be useful for the removal of various pharmaceuticals including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics from low-quality water. This paper summarizes the properties and basic characteristics of zeolites and mesoporous silica materials and reviews the recent studies on the efficacy of the adsorption of selected non-steroidal medicinal products and antibiotics by these adsorbents to assess the potential opportunities and challenges of using them in water treatment. It was found that the adsorption capacity of sorbents with high silica content is related to their surface hydrophobicity (hydrophilicity) and structural features, such as micropore volume and pore size, as well as the properties of the studied medicinal products. 
  • 1.2K
  • 20 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Myron Ebell
Myron Ebell is a climate change denier who serves as the Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a libertarian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. He is also the chairman of the Cooler Heads Coalition, a loose coalition formed in 1997 which presents itself as "focused on dispelling the myths of global warming by exposing flawed economic, scientific, and risk analysis". In September 2016, he was appointed by then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to lead his transition team for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In these organizations, Ebell has been central in promoting climate change denial, distributing his views to the media and politicians. Ebell, who is not a scientist, has been described as a climate change skeptic, a climate contrarian and a climate change denier. Ebell claims that he advocates "for sensible energy policies that benefit everyone. Instead of policies that simply reacts [sic] to alarmism."
  • 1.2K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
GIS-Based Cropland Suitability Prediction Using Machine Learning
The increasing global demand for food has forced farmers to produce higher crop yields in order to keep up with population growth, while maintaining sustainable production for the environment. The conventional method for calculating cropland suitability in previous studies was a geographic information system (GIS)-based multicriteria analysis, dominantly in combination with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Although this is a flexible and widely accepted method, it has significant fundamental drawbacks, such as a lack of accuracy assessment, high subjectivity, computational inefficiency, and an unsystematic approach to selecting environmental criteria. 
  • 1.2K
  • 22 Sep 2022
Topic Review
North African Climate Cycles
North African climate cycles have a unique history that can be traced back millions of years. The cyclic climate pattern of the Sahara is characterized by significant shifts in the strength of the North African Monsoon. When the North African Monsoon is at its strongest, annual precipitation and consequently vegetation in the Sahara region increase, resulting in conditions commonly referred to as the "green Sahara". For a relatively weak North African Monsoon, the opposite is true, with decreased annual precipitation and less vegetation resulting in a phase of the Sahara climate cycle known as the "desert Sahara". Variations in the climate of the Sahara region can, at the simplest level, be attributed to the changes in insolation because of slow shifts in Earth's orbital parameters. The parameters include the precession of the equinoxes, obliquity, and eccentricity as put forth by the Milankovitch theory. The precession of the equinoxes is regarded as the most important orbital parameter in the formation of the "green Sahara" and "desert Sahara" cycle. A January 2019 MIT paper in Science Advances shows a cycle from wet to dry approximately every 20,000 years.
  • 1.2K
  • 11 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Organizational Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment in University
Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) is an approach utilized for products to analyze their sustainability indicators. Organizational life cycle sustainability assessment (OLCSA) is a new approach adopted from the LCSA framework, which consists of LCA + LCC + S-LCA. Similarly, O-LCSA comprises O-LCA + E-LCC + SO-LCA. 
  • 1.2K
  • 23 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Leaf Macro-Morphological Traits and Air Pollution
Urban trees provide different ecosystem benefits, such as improving air quality due to the retention of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) on their leaves. The LMTs most used for PM monitoring were leaf area (Q1) and specific leaf area (Q4). These LMTs were frequently used for their easy measurement and quantification.
  • 1.2K
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
National Association of Manufacturers
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is an advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, with additional offices across the country. It is the nation's largest manufacturing industrial trade association, representing 14,000 small and large manufacturing companies in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Jay Timmons has led the organization as President and CEO since 2011. A 2018 article by Business Insider described the NAM as "a behemoth in the US capital, receiving unfettered access to the White House and top lawmakers on Capitol Hill." In 2018, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady commented that passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would not have happened without leadership from the National Association of Manufacturers. President Donald Trump addressed the NAM board in 2017.
  • 1.2K
  • 24 Nov 2022
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. 
  • 1.2K
  • 14 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Vascular Cambium
The vascular cambium is the main lateral meristem responsible for the secondary growth of trees. There are a number of explicit and implicit assumptions behind this statement which allow questions to be raised about the mechanism underlying the radial growth of trees. Based on the hypothesis of the diurnal strains of plant organs, it is anticipated that the process of radial growth can be understood as an adaptation to the cyclically changing mechanical stress in the radial direction generated by the phloem during the 24 h day cycle.
  • 1.2K
  • 24 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Herbaceous and Woody Bioenergy Crop
Enhancement of terrestrial carbon (C) sequestration on marginal lands in Canada using bioenergy crops was investigated. This study quantified the long-term C sequestration potentials at the system-level in nine-year-old (2009–2018) woody (poplar clone 2293–29 (Populus spp.), hybrid willow clone SX-67 (Salix miyabeana)), and herbaceous (miscanthus (Miscanthus giganteus var. Nagara), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)) bioenergy crop production systems on marginal lands in Southern Ontario, Canada. Woody crops and switchgrass were able to increase SOC significantly over the tested period. However, when long term soil organic carbon (∆SOC) gains were compared, woody and herbaceous biomass crops gained 11.0 and 9.8 Mg C ha−1, respectively, which were not statistically different. Results also indicate a significantly higher total C pool [aboveground + belowground + soil organic carbon] in the willow (103 Mg ha−1) biomass system compared to other bioenergy crops. In the nine-year study period, woody crops had only 1.35 Mg C ha−1 more system-level C gain (SLCG), suggesting that the influence of woody and herbaceous biomass crops on SLCG and ∆SOC sequestrations were similar. Further, among all tested biomass crops, willow had the highest annual SLCG of 1.66 Mg C ha−1 y−1.
  • 1.2K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Sustainability in a Matrix Approach
Considering that sustainability is a relative concept, but also that this limitation could be avoided through continuous adaptation of the evaluation tools by taking into account the directions of change (such as time, space, application domain), the goal of the present study is to elaborate a matrix for measuring the level of sustainability for small vegetable farms.
  • 1.2K
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Quorum Sensing in Microorganisms
The marine environment possesses diverse and complex characteristics, representing a significant challenge for microbial survival. Therefore, bacteria must develop adaptive mechanisms to thrive in such environments. Quorum sensing (QS), a well-established phenomenon in microorganisms, involves the communication between cells through chemical signals, which depends on cell density. Extensive research has been conducted on this microbial ability, encompassing the early stages of understanding QS to the latest advancements in the identification and characterization of its mechanisms. 
  • 1.2K
  • 24 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Women in Climate Change
The contributions of women in climate change have received increasing attention in the early 21st century. Feedback from women and the issues faced by women have been described as "imperative" by the United Nations and "critical" by the Population Reference Bureau. A report by the World Health Organization concluded that incorporating gender-based analysis would "provide more effective climate change mitigation and adaptation."
  • 1.2K
  • 06 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Impacts of River-Engineering on Changjiang-River
       Knowledge of river engineering impacts on water discharge is significant to flow guidelines and sustainable water resource managements for balancing human consumption and the natural environment. In this study, based on the collected multi-decadal discharge data at Yichang, Hankou, and Datong stations, we determined that in October, Three Gorges Dam contributed 34.4%, 24.5%, and 18.7% to the discharge decrease in the upper, middle, and lower reach, respectively, while Gezhouba Dam contributed 14.5%, 10.7%, and 10%. Danjiangkou Reservoir caused the discharge ratio of Hanjiang to Changjiang to decline from 7.2% during 1954–1973 to 6.3% during 1973–2014. Owing to growing water withdrawal and consumption, we suggest that the distribution of water diversion and consumption should be regulated to prevent the probable occurrence of the severe issue of salt water intrusion in the Changjiang Estuary in 2028.
  • 1.2K
  • 09 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In the face of a changing climate, intensive efforts are needed for limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C. Agricultural production has the potential to play an important role in mitigating climate change. It is necessary to optimize all of the agricultural practices that have high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
  • 1.2K
  • 20 Sep 2022
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