Topic Review
Bioaccumulation and Biotransformation of Chlorinated Paraffins
Chlorinated paraffins (CPs), a class of persistent, toxic, and bioaccumulated compounds, have received increasing attention for their environmental occurrence and ecological and human health risks worldwide. Understanding the environmental behavior and fate of CPs faces a huge challenge owing to the extremely complex CP congeners. The bioaccumulation and biotransformation of CPs, including the occurrence of CPs in biota, tissue distribution, biomagnification, and trophic transfer, and biotransformation of CPs in plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates in detail are summarized and integrated. Biota samples collected in China showed higher CP concentrations than other regions, which is consistent with their huge production and usage. The lipid content is the major factor that determines the physical burden of CPs in tissues or organs. Regarding the bioaccumulation of CPs and their influence factors, inconsistent results were obtained.
  • 470
  • 29 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Sandwich Hybridization Assay for HABs Detection and Monitoring
As cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom (cHAB) events increase in scale, severity, frequency, and duration around the world, rapid and accurate monitoring and characterization tools have become critically essential for regulatory and management decision-making. The composition of cHAB-forming cyanobacteria community can change significantly over time and space and be altered by sample preservation and transportation, making in situ monitoring necessary to obtain real-time and localized information. Sandwich hybridization assay (SHA) utilizes capture oligonucleotide probes for sensitive detection of target-specific nucleic acid sequences. As an amplification-free molecular biology technology, SHA can be adapted for in-situ, real-time or near real-time detection and qualitatively or semi-quantitatively monitoring of cHAB-forming cyanobacteria, owing to its characteristics such as being rapid, portable, inexpensive, and amenable to automation, high sensitivity, specificity and robustness, and multiplexing (i.e., detecting multiple targets simultaneously). Despite its successful application in the monitoring of marine and freshwater phytoplankton, there is still room for improvement. The ability to identify a cHAB community rapidly would decrease delays in cyanotoxin analyses, reduce costs, and increase sample throughput, allowing for timely actions to improve environmental and human health and the understanding of short- and long-term bloom dynamics. Real-time detection and quantitation of HAB-forming cyanobacteria is essential for improving environmental and public health and reducing associated costs.
  • 469
  • 01 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Shoreline Mapping Using Airborne LiDAR
Since the shorelines are important geographical boundaries, monitoring shoreline change plays an important role in integrated coastal management. With the evolution of remote sensing technology, many studies have used optical images to measure and to extract shoreline. However, some factors limit the use of optical imaging on shoreline mapping. Considering that airborne LiDAR data can provide more accurate topographical information, they are used to map shorelines. There are two major types of airborne LiDAR systems that are commonly used in shoreline area surveys: the airborne laser topographic scanning system (ALT) and the airborne laser bathymetric scanning system (ALB).
  • 469
  • 20 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Microbial-Based Flocculants to Enhance Wastewater Sludge Dewaterability
Various microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, and microalgae) are able to produce flocculating materials, such as polysaccharides, proteins, and glycoproteins. The ability of microorganisms to produce these molecules is identified based on many parameters, including the morphology and the existence of slimy extracellular polysaccharides. For this purpose, various methods (colorimetric, 16S rRNA gene sequence, etc.) and reagents (chelating agents, CuSO4 solution crystal violet, etc.) are applied to isolate suitable microorganisms from soil, rivers, seawater, sludge, etc. 
  • 469
  • 09 May 2023
Topic Review
Technical and Economic Viability of Underground Hydrogen Storage
The concept of underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is less known than its natural gas counterpart, which is expected due to its less significant role in the past. Despite this, the insights gained with natural gas can be applied to hydrogen storage due to the shared cavern design and operation.
  • 469
  • 11 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Frost on Plant Surfaces
Frost on plant surfaces, refers to a natural phenomenon in which the water vapor close to the plant canopy is cooled to the frost point by the effect of radiant cooling from ground and solidifies into white crystals on plant surfaces.
  • 467
  • 25 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Pollution Levels in Various Environmental Compartments
Population growth is another source of pollution in the environment. Heavy metal pollution wreaks havoc on soil and groundwater, especially in China. COVID-19 has pros and cons. The COVID-19 epidemic has reduced air pollution in China and caused a significant reduction in CO2 releases globally due to the lockdown but has a harmful effect on human health and the economy. Moreover, COVID-19 brings a huge amount of biomedical waste. COVID-19’s biomedical waste appears to be causing different health issues. On the other hand, it was discovered that recycling has become a new source of pollution in south China. Furthermore, heavy metal contamination is the most severe ecological effect. Likewise, every problem has a remedy to create new waste management and pollution monitoring policy. The construction of a modern recycling refinery is an important aspect of national waste disposal. 
  • 467
  • 29 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Propagating Rifts
Propagating rifts are seafloor features associated with spreading centers at mid-ocean ridges and back-arc basins. They are more commonly observed on faster rate spreading centers (50 mm/year or more). These features are formed by the lengthening of one spreading segment at the expense of an offset neighboring spreading segment. Hence, these are remnant features produced by migration of the tip of a spreading center. In other words, as the tip of a spreading center migrates or grows, the plate itself grows at the expense of the shrinking plate, transferring lithosphere from the shrinking plate to the growing plate.
  • 467
  • 02 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Archaeogaming
Archaeogaming is an archaeological framework which, broadly speaking, includes the study of archaeology in and of video games as well as the use of video-games for archaeological purposes. To this end, the study can include, but is in no means limited to: the physical excavation of video-game hardware, the use of archaeological methods within game worlds, the creation of video-games for or about archaeological practices and outcomes or the critical study of how archaeology is represented in video-games. Virtual and augmented reality applications in archaeology might also be subsumed within its rubric. M. Dennis states that archaeogaming is “the utilization and treatment of immaterial space to study created culture, specifically through videogames” which “requires treating a game world, a world bounded and defined by the limitations of its hardware, software and coding choices, as both a closed universe and as an extension of the external culture that created it. Everything that goes into the immaterial space comes from its external cultural source, in one way or another.” Taking this into consideration the archaeogaming framework indicates that there is no functional difference between studying archaeology in the physical, material world, and implementing it with regards to the study, critique and creation of video-games for and about archaeology. As such it is said that archaeogaming “requires the same standards of practice as the physical collection of excavated data, only with a different toolset. It also provides the opportunity to use game worlds to reflect on practice, theory and the perceptions of [archaeology].”
  • 467
  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Characterisation of Thunderstorms with Multiple Lightning Jumps
Several works have shown that lightning jumps are precursors of severe weather in deep-convective thunderstorms. Since 2017, the Meteorological Service of Catalonia has operationally run an algorithm that identifies lightning jumps (LJs) in real time. It has resulted in being an effective tool for nowcasting severe weather with a lead time between 15 min and 120 min in advance. This time can be of high value for managing emergencies caused by severe phenomena or heavy rains. The present research focused on the events’ analysis in which more than one lightning jump occurred, searching for those elements that differentiate single warning cases. Thunderstorms producing LJs were divided into two main categories, depending on the number of jumps triggered during the life cycle. Besides, both classes were split into two main sub-types, based on the level of the LJ that occurred. Multiple LJ thunderstorms produce more Level 2—related to severe weather—jumps than Level 1—small hail or intense precipitation—while in the case of a single LJ, the opposite behaviour occurs. In general, multiple LJ thunderstorms with at least one Level 2 jump are the more intense and have a higher vertical development. Finally, lineal and well-organised thunderstorms are the more common modes in those intenser cases. 
  • 466
  • 28 Jan 2022
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