Hasil untuk "Environmental engineering"

V. Ivanov, J. Chu

I. Martin, D. Wendt, M. Heberer

C. S. Holling

G. Aiken, Heileen Hsu-Kim, J. Ryan

Honghong Hu, L. Xiong

Marc A. Fernandez-Yague, S. Abbah, L. McNamara et al.

Tao Xie, K. Reddy, Chengwen Wang et al.

Waqas Waqas, Ye Yuan, Yongyi Chen et al.

Heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) represent significant environmental and health threats due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and ability to induce oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation (LPO) in aquatic organisms. Here, we present the first lipidome analysis of the mud crab Scylla paramamosain to examine associations between lipid profiles and 12 HMs across three contaminated estuaries in Guangdong Province. We observed pronounced sex-specific differences in both HMs concentrations and lipid composition (P < 0.05). The lipidome showed marked dysregulation of membrane lipids, with glycerophospholipids (52.33%) and sphingolipids (11.9%) predominating, alongside elevated energy-storage lipids such as triacylglycerols (24.35%). Major glycerophospholipid classes included phosphatidylcholines (7.7%), phosphatidylethanolamine (7.49%), phosphatidylserine (6.98%), and phosphatidylglycerol (5.31%), while within the sphingolipid fraction, carnitines (4.43%) and ceramides (>2.26%) were abundant, and saccharolipids such as MGDG were present at low levels (0.07%). Female crabs exhibited significantly higher HMs concentrations and lipid levels than males, with copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) being the most abundant. Notably, Cu, Fe, and lead (Pb) showed strong positive correlations with all lipid groups. The associated lipid alterations are consistent with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress-related pathways commonly linked to HMs exposure. Although sex- and site-specific differences cannot be attributed exclusively to HMs under field conditions. These findings demonstrate the sensitivity of lipidomic profiles to environmental contamination and highlight lipidomics as a powerful tool for assessing ecological risks in HM-contaminated estuarine systems.

Charles Jones

The <i>Earth</i> journal (ISSN 2673-4834) is an open-access international high-quality peer review venue that promotes multi-disciplinary research over a broad spectrum of natural, social and applied sciences [...]

Daniel Francisco Campos-Aranda

En el centro y sur de la república mexicana cada año los huracanes del mar Caribe y del océano Pacífico originan crecientes que definen una estación húmeda, y que en general aumentan en magnitud y peligrosidad conforme transcurre la temporada de ciclones. Ambas condiciones permiten el análisis de frecuencias bivariado de sus fechas de ocurrencia y sus gastos máximos (Qm). En este estudio, la distribución conjunta se formó con base en la función Cópula de Gumbel-Hougaard, que satisface la condición de dependencia () observada y que combina como distribuciones marginales la de von Mises para las fechas de ocurrencia en el año y para los Qm una función probabilística idónea. La teoría expuesta se aplica a las crecientes anuales registradas en la estación de aforos Guamúchil de la Región Hidrológica No. 10 (Sinaloa), México, en el periodo de 1940 a 1971. La distribución de von Mises se ajusta vía optimización numérica con el algoritmo de Rosenbrock y la distribución idónea de los Qm fue la Kappa. Se formó la gráfica de periodos de retorno conjuntos de tipo AND de 50, 100 y 500 años. Además, se estimaron periodos de retorno conjuntos condicionales de fechas de ocurrencia, dado que el Qm tiene los periodos de retorno citados. Lo anterior permite estimaciones de la probabilidad de excedencia del Qm en lapsos definidos. Las conclusiones destacan la simplicidad de estos análisis de frecuencias bivariados por medio de las funciones Cópula y la importancia práctica de sus predicciones, según las fechas de ocurrencia.

C. Vinatier, Jérôme Guicheux, Jérôme Guicheux

J. Rodríguez-Chueca, A. Molina-García, César García-Aranda et al.

Abstract This research studies the efficiency of Flipped Classroom (FC) and Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) as an innovative methodology to facilitate the learning of concepts involving sustainability and the circular economy by higher education students. This study, conducted as part of various innovative education projects, was applied in different courses (Environmental Management, Environmental Engineering and Industrial Ecology) taught to different engineering majors (Degree in Geomatics and Survey Engineering and Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering) at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain). The main aim is to enhance the environmental competences of students by means of unconventional learning, increasing the motivation, participation and grades of the students in the course. Our results indicate that, in general terms, the students rated the efficiency of the new learning methodologies as satisfactory; however, a more detailed analysis of the results reveals some aspects that need special consideration, such as an assessment of specific and cross-cutting competences, in addition to the lack of previous soft skills, such as teamwork, creativity and work planning.

Kun Li, Jinfa Zheng, Han Liu et al.

Nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiONPs) induced liver fibrosis, while its mechanisms associated with transcriptome remained unclear. This study aimed to investigate the roles of differentially expressed (DE) messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in NiONPs-induced liver fibrosis, and further confirm whether JNK/c-Jun pathway enriched by the DE RNAs was involved in the regulation of the disease. A liver fibrosis rat model was established by intratracheal perfusion of NiONPs twice a week for 9 weeks. Whole-transcriptome sequencing was applied to obtain expression profiles of mRNAs, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the model rat and control liver tissues. Comparing the RNA expression profiles of the model and control liver tissues, we identified 324 DE mRNAs, 129 DE lncRNAs, 24 DE miRNAs and 33 DE circRNAs, and the potential interactions among them were revealed by constructing two co-expression networks, including lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA and circRNA–miRNA–mRNA networks. Using RT-qPCR, we verified the sequencing results of some RNAs in the networks and obtained similar expression profiles, indicating our sequencing results were reliable and referable. Through Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis, we predicted the biological functions and signaling pathways potentially related to NiONPs-induced liver fibrosis, such as “positive regulation of JNK cascade”, “inflammatory response”, “transcription factor binding”, and MAPK, Wnt, PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. JNK/c-Jun pathway, a subclass of MAPK signal, was selected for further investigation because it was significantly enriched by fibrosis-related DE genes and activated in animal models. In vitro, we detected the cytotoxicity of NiONPs on LX-2 cells and treated the cells with 5 μg/ml NiONPs for 12 h. The results showed NiONPs induced the up-regulated protein expression of fibrotic factors collagen-1a1 (Col-1a1) and matrix metalloproteinas2 (MMP2) and JNK/c-Jun pathway activation. While these effects were reversed after JNK/c-Jun pathway was blocked by SP600125 (JNK pathway inhibitor), indicating the pathway was involved in NiONPs-induced excessive collagen formation. In conclusion, our results revealed the DE mRNAs and ncRNAs played crucial roles in NiONPs-induced liver fibrosis, and JNK/c-Jun pathway mediated the development of the disease.

Clara Weber, Clara Weber, Virna Monero Flores et al.

Background: Previous research indicates that the physical environment of healthcare facilities plays an important role in the health, well-being, and recovery outcomes of patients. However, prior works on mental healthcare facilities have incorporated physical environment effects from general healthcare settings and patient groups, which cannot be readily transferred to mental healthcare settings or its patients. There appears to be a specific need for evidence synthesis of physical environmental effects in mental healthcare settings by psychopathology.Purpose: This review evaluates the state (in terms of extent, nature and quality) of the current empirical evidence of physical environmental on mental health, well-being, and recovery outcomes in mental healthcare inpatients by psychopathology.Method: A systematic review (PRISMA guidelines) was performed of studies published in English, German, Dutch, Swedish, and Spanish, of all available years until September 2020, searched in Cochrane, Ovid Index, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science and identified through extensive hand-picking. Inclusion criteria were: Adult patients being treated for mental ill-health (common mental health and mood disorders, Cochrane frame); inpatient mental health care facilities; specifications of the physical and socio-physical environment (e.g., design features, ambient conditions, privacy); all types of empirical study designs. Quality assessment and data synthesis were undertaken.Results: The search retrieved 1,068 titles of which 26 met the inclusion criteria. Findings suggest that there is only indicative evidence of the impact of the physical healthcare environment on patients' mental health, well-being, and recovery outcomes. There is significant lack of pathology-specific evidence. Methodological shortcomings and empirical scarcity account for the poor evidence.Conclusion: This review highlights the need for more research using advanced study designs.

Cheng Li, Charles A. Swofford, A. Sinskey

There is an increasing demand for carotenoids due to their applications in the food, flavor, pharmaceutical and feed industries, however, the extraction and synthesis of these compounds can be expensive and technically challenging. Microbial production of carotenoids provides an attractive alternative to the negative environmental impacts and cost of chemical synthesis or direct extraction from plants. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches have been widely utilized to reconstruct and optimize pathways for carotenoid overproduction in microorganisms. This review summarizes the current advances in microbial engineering for carotenoid production and divides the carotenoid biosynthesis building blocks into four distinct metabolic modules: 1) central carbon metabolism, 2) cofactor metabolism, 3) isoprene supplement metabolism and 4) carotenoid biosynthesis. These four modules focus on redirecting carbon flux and optimizing cofactor supplements for isoprene precursors needed for carotenoid synthesis. Future perspectives are also discussed to provide insights into microbial engineering principles for overproduction of carotenoids.

C. Herrmann, W. Dewulf, M. Hauschild et al.

Yuan Lu

Cell-free synthetic biology emerges as a powerful and flexible enabling technology that can engineer biological parts and systems for life science applications without using living cells. It provides simpler and faster engineering solutions with an unprecedented freedom of design in an open environment than cell system. This review focuses on recent developments of cell-free synthetic biology on biological engineering fields at molecular and cellular levels, including protein engineering, metabolic engineering, and artificial cell engineering. In cell-free protein engineering, the direct control of reaction conditions in cell-free system allows for easy synthesis of complex proteins, toxic proteins, membrane proteins, and novel proteins with unnatural amino acids. Cell-free systems offer the ability to design metabolic pathways towards the production of desired products. Buildup of artificial cells based on cell-free systems will improve our understanding of life and use them for environmental and biomedical applications.

Bianca J. Reeksting, Timothy D. Hoffmann, Linzhen Tan et al.

Biomineralization triggered by bacteria is important in the natural environment and has many applications in industry and in civil and geotechnical engineering. The diversity in biomineralization capabilities of environmental bacteria is, however, not well understood. This study surveyed environmental bacteria for their ability to precipitate calcium carbonate minerals and investigated both the mechanisms and the resulting crystals. We show that while urease activity leads to the fastest precipitation, it is by no means essential. Importantly, the same quantities of calcium carbonate are produced by nonureolytic bacteria, and the resulting crystals appear to have larger volumes and more organic components, which are likely beneficial in specific applications. Testing both precipitation mechanisms in a self-healing concrete application showed that nonureolytic bacteria delivered more robust results. Here, we performed a systematic study of the fundamental differences in biomineralization between environmental bacteria, and we provide important information for the design of bacterially based engineering solutions. ABSTRACT Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) has not only helped to shape our planet’s geological features but is also a promising technology to address environmental concerns in civil engineering applications. However, limited understanding of the biomineralization capacity of environmental bacteria impedes application. We therefore surveyed the environment for different mechanisms of precipitation across bacteria. The most fundamental difference was in ureolytic ability, where urease-positive bacteria caused rapid, widespread increases in pH, whereas nonureolytic strains produced such changes slowly and locally. These pH shifts correlated well with patterns of precipitation on solid medium. Strikingly, while both mechanisms led to high levels of precipitation, we observed clear differences in the precipitate. Ureolytic bacteria produced homogenous, inorganic fine crystals, whereas the crystals of nonureolytic strains were larger and had a mixed organic/inorganic composition. When representative strains were tested in application for crack healing in cement mortars, nonureolytic bacteria gave robust results, while ureolytic strains showed more variation. This may be explained by our observation that urease activity differed between growth conditions or by the different natures and therefore different material performances of the precipitates. Our results shed light on the breadth of biomineralization activity among environmental bacteria, an important step toward the rational design of bacterially based engineering solutions. IMPORTANCE Biomineralization triggered by bacteria is important in the natural environment and has many applications in industry and in civil and geotechnical engineering. The diversity in biomineralization capabilities of environmental bacteria is, however, not well understood. This study surveyed environmental bacteria for their ability to precipitate calcium carbonate minerals and investigated both the mechanisms and the resulting crystals. We show that while urease activity leads to the fastest precipitation, it is by no means essential. Importantly, the same quantities of calcium carbonate are produced by nonureolytic bacteria, and the resulting crystals appear to have larger volumes and more organic components, which are likely beneficial in specific applications. Testing both precipitation mechanisms in a self-healing concrete application showed that nonureolytic bacteria delivered more robust results. Here, we performed a systematic study of the fundamental differences in biomineralization between environmental bacteria, and we provide important information for the design of bacterially based engineering solutions.

Khaerani Suci Lestari, Aditya Fadilah Muhamad, Arif Susanto et al.

Introduction: In the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, psychosocial issues as part of health and safety have become a popular mental health issue, particularly among gold and copper miners. This situation has led some companies to fire their unskilled and unproductive workers to minimize the production costs. However, there is no specific regulation for the workers that could be a barrier of this unpredicted situation. This condition mostly becomes a negative stressor for the workers at the jobsite. At some point, it develops to a critical health and safety condition known as risky and unhealthy behavior that brings to fatality. The aim of this research is to analyze the psychosocial risk factors that adversely affect the psychology of copper and gold mining workers during the pandemic. Method: This is a cross-sectional study with COPSOQ III, used to identify factors contributing to workers’ psychology, while Dolan & Arsenault’s questionnaire was used to analyze stress symptoms, with a Cronbach α value of 0.83-0.84. Results: Multivariate tests were conducted on the variables of work experience, body mass index, marital status, emotional demands, vertical trust, and organizational justice. Significance values were obtained for the variables of work experience (0.590 body mass index (0.517), marital status (0.122), emotional demands (0.187), vertical trust (0.000), and organizational justice (0.119). Of the six variables, only vertical trusthad a significant value. Conclusion: Psychological risk factors on copper and gold mining workers during the pandemic are only influenced by a vertical trust. Keywords: COPSOQ III, leadership, pandemic, psychosocial, vertical trust

Ismat H. Ali, Mohammad I. Khan, Alhafez M. Alraih et al.

The current research aimed at investigating the potential corrosion inhibitory effect of essential oil extracted from Moringa peregrina leaves on carbon steel in acidic conditions. Gas chromatography (GC) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were employed for studying the composition of the inhibitor and surface morphological changes of CS samples. Different experimental techniques such as chemical, electrochemical and surface characterization techniques were utilized for carbon steel (CS) immersed in 1.0 M HCl solution. Experimental observations suggest that through physical and chemical interactions, the inhibitor molecules form a stable layer on steel surface. The nature of adsorption of the investigated inhibitor onto the carbon steel surface obeyed the Langmuir isotherm model. Moreover, the electrochemical results revealed that the investigated inhibitor acts as a mixed-type inhibitor. Density function theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were utilized to gain an insight into the possible interactions between the carbon steel surface and the inhibitor molecule mainly 9-Octadecadienoic acid (Z) present in the essential oil.