Heavy Metals Enrichment Associated with Water-Level Fluctuations in the Riparian Soils of the Xiaowan Reservoir, Lancang River.

The cascade hydropower development in the Lancang River has significantly modified the hydrologic regime and is consequently responsible for many local environmental changes. The influence of the altered hydrological regime on heavy metals accumulation in the soils of the riparian zone was evaluated for the Xiaowan Reservoir (XWR). Specifically, this study focused on investigating the trace metals As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn and their concentrations in the riparian soils. Furthermore, this research aimed to examine the contamination levels of heavy metals by employing the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and the ecological risk index (RI), respectively. Additionally, the relationship between heavy metals and water level fluctuations as caused by the dam operation was explored. The results showed that heavy metals deposits occurred in relatively low levels in the riparian soils of XWR, even though several of these metals were revealed to occur in higher concentrations than the local background value. The Igeo assessment indicated that the riparian soils exhibited slight pollution by Hg at the Zhujie wharf (ZJW) and Cr at the transect of the Heihui River (HHR), and moderate contamination by As at ZJW. Moreover, the RI revealed that As in riparian soils is moderately hazardous while Hg poses a high risk at ZJW. The polluted water and sediments from upstream and upland of the riparian zone may be contributing to the changed concentrations of heavy metal in the riparian soils. The present study inferred that the WLFs due to reservoir impoundment play a vital role in the accumulation of trace metals in the riparian zone. However, more exhaustive investigations are necessary for verification.

Different ratios of Canna indica and maize-vermicompost as biofertilizers to improve soil fertility and plant growth: A case study from southwest China.

Vermicomposting is recommended as an eco-friendly technology for an organic amendment to avoid the excessive use of inorganic fertilizers, which are causing environmental pollution. Here, this study evaluated soil fertility and plant growth after vermicompost amendment using reclaimed wetland plants and manure. A pot experiment was conducted to assess the seven treatments for nutrient recovery and plant growth: a control group without any fertilization (CK); four groups with vermicompost prepared from different ratios of ecological wetland plant residues, maize, and pig manure (V1, 4:6; V2, 5:5; V3, 6:6; and V4, 7:3); one group with only Canna indica (V5, Ci), and a group with synthetic fertilizers (NPK). The results showed the remarkable impacts of Ci-vermicompost and different ratios of organic fertilizer on soil fertility and plant height (28.8%) as major outcomes. In addition, vermicompost substantially increased soil total nitrogen (60.5%), soil organic matter (60.9%) including dissolved organic carbon (52.2%), and shoot biomass (V4, three-fold increase) compared with NPK and CK. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that vermicomposting combined with wetland plants is a feasible method for organic amendments and offers an innovative approach for recycling ecological waste to produce nutrient-rich organic fertilizers, reduce environmental damage, and improve crop production.

COVID-19 Vaccination Behavior Among Frontline Healthcare Workers in Pakistan: The Theory of Planned Behavior, Perceived Susceptibility, and Anticipated Regret.

Healthcare workers in Pakistan are still fighting at the frontline to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and have been identified as the earliest beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccination by the health authorities of the country. Besides, the high vaccination rates of frontline healthcare workers (FHWs) are essential to overcome the ongoing pandemic and reduce the vaccines hesitancy among the general population. The current research employed the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate the COVID-19 vaccination behavior among FHWs in Pakistan as well as the predictors of such behavior. Following the epidemic control and prevention policies, a sample of 680 FHWs were accessed to fill in the questionnaire evaluating the components of the TPB. Moreover, the potential role of anticipated regret (AR) and perceived susceptibility (PS) on COVID-19 vaccination behavior was also assessed. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) results revealed that the TPB components, as well as the AR, have positive associations with the COVID-19 vaccination behavior. The results further confirmed that PS positively affects the anticipated regret, attitude (ATT), and subjective norm (SN) to vaccinate against SARS-CoV-2. The perceived susceptibility also has a positive association with COVID-19 vaccination behavior through the mediation of anticipated regret, ATT, and SN. Our findings highlighted the importance of COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers, which can be applied to reduce vaccine hesitancy among the general public.

Technologies for municipal solid waste management: Current status, challenges, and future perspectives.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a reflection of the culture that generates it and has a negative impact on the health of the humans and the environment. In the global context, people are abandoning increasing volumes of garbage, and the content of that waste is becoming more complicated than it has ever been, as plastic and electronic consumer goods spread. At the same time, the world is rapidly urbanizing. These changes place a burden on cities to manage garbage appropriately on both a social and environmental level. Globally, extensive research has been conducted to develop a comprehensive MSW management system that includes treatment. The primary objective of this article is to examine municipal solid waste in eight of China's eastern coastal regions. With the use of this review, we found that MSW generation is increasing in Shandong, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces, but declining in other eastern coastal cities, provinces, and special zones. Furthermore, municipal solid waste in China is treated utilizing 52 percent landfill, 45 percent incineration, and 3 percent composting techniques, resulting in significantly lower usage efficiency than in developed countries. The effectiveness of China's municipal waste management system must be improved. In addition, this review examines MSW management issues and prospects in China, as well as recommendations for strengthening the MSW management system.

Food Consumption Behavior of Pakistani Students Living in China: The Role of Food Safety and Health Consciousness in the Wake of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has considerably changed global food production, processing, and consumption at different levels. Sojourners are among those who have experienced a higher level of food insecurity during the crisis of the COVID-19 outbreak. The current research aimed to investigate the immediate consumption behavioral intentions of the Pakistani international students in the People's Republic of China (PRC) during the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. This study applied the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and background factors of food safety and health consciousness that influence the consumption behavioral intention of Pakistani students toward unfamiliar local food in China. A relational model was analyzed where food safety and health consciousness were hypothesized to serve as background variables associated with TPB components. Moreover, the indirect effects of food safety and health consciousness on behavioral intentions were assessed. The data were collected through convenience samples from 462 Pakistani international students and were analyzed through partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results confirmed that food safety and health consciousness were positively associated with attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC). However, food safety and health consciousness were indirectly associated with the behavioral intention only through ATT and SN. The results highlighted the role of food safety and health consciousness as important antecedents of classical TPB components that affect intentions and behaviors to avoid unfamiliar local food in a migrated context. The present study provides enlightenment to those who aim to investigate the consumption behavioral intentions of sojourners in the wake of the pandemic situation based on food safety and health consciousness. The findings of the current study are also applicable to general consumption patterns in the food sector.

Analysis on the nexus of CO2 emissions, energy use, net domestic credit, and GDP in Pakistan: an ARDL bound testing analysis.

Greenhouse gas effect is known as the main cause of worldwide warming and environmental change. The present study was planned to examine the causal relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, CO2 emissions from solid fuel consumption (CO2S), energy use (EU), fossil fuel energy consumption (FOF), gross domestic product (GDP), and net domestic credit (NDC). This research work is based on Pakistan's annual data from 1971 to 2014. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing design was used to measure both long-run and the short-run relationships among all study variables. To inspect the stationarity of the study variables, augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) tests were also carried out. The outcome of the long-run estimates indicated that CO2S, EU, and GDP all have a significant relationship with CO2 emissions while both FOF and NDC did not exhibit any significant effect. The value of error correction term (ECT) was - 0.977 which signifies that the deviation of CO2 emissions from short-run to long-run equilibrium was fitted by 97.7% per year. Johansen co-integration test results display a long-run association between the study variables. Based on the study findings, the government requires to take effective measures for constructive policy-making and identification of environmental threats in Pakistan. Additionally, emission decreasing actions should be settled the fundamental agenda in energy and environmental strategies of Pakistan for the reduction in damages connected with carbon dioxide emissions.

Sedimentary chronology reinterpreted from Changshou Lake of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area reveals natural and anthropogenic controls on sediment production.

Sedimentary archives preserved in geomorphic sinks provide records of historical sediment dynamics and its related natural and anthropogenic controls. This study reinterpreted sedimentary processes in Changshou Lake of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area in China by combining a rainfall erosivity index with multiple tracing proxies, and the impacts of natural and anthropogenic drivers on sediment production were also explored. Erosive rainfalls with low frequency and large magnitude in the rainy season contribute to a substantial proportion of annual total rainfall, which thus can be used to infer erosion and sediment yield events. The sedimentary chronology was determined by comparing rainfall erosivity index with depth distribution of 137Cs and absolute particle size, which revealed annual sedimentation rates ranging from 1.1 to 2.3 cm a-1. The multi-proxy dating index and variation of sedimentation rate divided the sediment profile into three major periods. The reference period (1956-1982) displays low variability of TOC, TN, trace metal concentrations, and mean sedimentation rate. In the stressed period (1982-1998), industrial and sewerage discharge led to input and deposition of TOC, TN, and trace metals (e.g., Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, and Ni). The highest annual sediment accumulation rate of 2.3 cm a-1 may be ascribed to the 1982 big flood event. In the present period (1998-2013), increased TOC, TN and decreased trace metals in the top layers of the sediment core indicated changes in lake ecology. Fish farming promoted algal growth and primary productivity which caused eutrophication until 2004-2005. The reduced mean sedimentation rate of 1.7 cm a-1 between 1998 and 2004, and thereafter, may be attributed to soil and water conservation and reforestation policies implemented in the Longxi catchment. Human activities such as deforestation, cultural and industrial revolution, and lake eutrophication associated with fish farming since 1989, therefore led to appreciable limnological variations. Overall, the dated sedimentary profile from Changshou Lake displays high consistency with archived historical events and reflects the impact of both natural and anthropogenic controls on sediment production.

Linking sedimentary total organic carbon to 210Pbex chronology from Changshou Lake in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, China.

The influences of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) on Lead-210 (210Pb) dating have recently been of increasing concern in lacustrine research. Sediment core from Changshou Lake in the Longxi catchment was investigated for influence of TOC on 210Pb dating. Lead-210 excess (210Pbex), Cesium-137 (137Cs) activities, TOC, TN, and particle size were measured. We proposed a dating index based on 137Cs chronology and particle size distribution of the lake sediment profile and rainfall erosivities calculated from Longxi catchment metrological records. Increasing trends in TOC and TN were specifically caused by commercial cage fish farming after 1989. The statistically significant correlation between 210Pbex activity, TOC (0.61, p = 0.04) and TN (0.51, p = 0.04), respectively explained post-1989 210Pb scavenging. The 210Pbex activity was closely related with coupled peaks of TOC and TN from mass depth 5-10 g cm-2. Higher TOC/TN ratio (8.33) indicated submerged macrophytes and native aquatic algal growth as main source of carbon from enhanced primary productivity because of massive fertilizer use and coherent climate warming. The study supported key hypothesis on vital role of fertilizer usage and algal derived TOC in controlling sedimentary 210Pbex activity at Changshou Lake sediment. 137Cs profile and erosive events as time markers provided reliable and consistent sedimentation rate of (1.6 cm y-1). 210Pbex activity decayed exponentially after peak at mass depth 5.68 g cm-2. Therefore, violation of 210Pb dating primary assumptions made it inappropriate for sediment dating at Changshou Lake. TOC content must be considered while using 210Pb as dating tool for lake sediment profiles.