Food security and environmental degradation: Do institutional quality and human capital make a difference?

The nexus between food security (FS), institutional quality (IQ), human capital (HC), and environmental deterioration (ED) has important implications for ecological sustainability. Yet, environmental deterioration resulting from food security activities is a widely ignored topic, particularly in BRI countries. To address this gap, we examined the influence of food security, human capital and institutional quality on the environmental deterioration of BRI countries from 1984 to 2019. Furthermore, it investigates the moderating effect of institutional quality and human capital on ED. The empirical findings revealed that food security increases ED. The research also revealed that HC and IQ lower the ED. Furthermore, food security promotes ecological sustainability through the HC channel. Additionally, institutional quality decreases the negative environmental implications of food security. Based on these results, BRI nations should enhance ecological sustainability by investing in HC and using food resources efficiently.

Assessing the effect of energy consumption and food production from agriculture on environmental degradation in Pakistan: Does institutional quality matter?

The nexus between food production (FP), energy consumption (EC), institutional quality (IQ), and ecological degradation (ED) has important implications for environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, environmental degradation caused by FP is widely ignored, especially in Pakistan. To fill this void, we investigated the impact of energy use, FP, and IQ on Pakistan's environmental degradation between 1990 and 2021. We also explore the moderating influence of IQ on ED. To evaluate this influence, we use the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method for cointegration and the fully modified ordinary least-squares method for robustness estimation. Our empirical results demonstrate that, whereas FP and EC contribute to pollution, IQ reduces the pace of environmental degradation. Furthermore, the presence of a strong IQ mitigates the harmful ecological effects of FP and EC. Moreover, the results revealed that unbiased domestic IQ is crucial to boosting energy and agricultural efficiency while reducing CO2 emissions. Our findings might be considered while public policies to reduce carbon emissions and increase FP in a healthy environment are being developed. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:518-532. © 2023 (SETAC).

Antibacterial composite films of oxidized alginate-chitosan-ZnO anchored Cu nanoparticles for the degradation of organic pollutants.

The growing population and urbanization have adversely affected the environment including water. The waste water from industries has affected not only human but also animals. The availability of clean water is one of the foremost needs for living organism. This makes very urgent to find reliable solutions for cleaning waste water. These days catalysis is one the best solutions to remove and degrade organic pollutants. In this work, porous composite polymer films have been designed through facile method which were employed to stabilize zero-valent metal nanoparticles (NPs). The sustainable, environmentally friendly polymer matrix with attached metal NPs was applied for the effective catalytic degradation of both phenolic compounds and organic dyes. The different composite films consist of ZnO NPs embedded in an Oxidized Alginate-Chitosan (OAlg-CS) biomatrix named as OAlg-CS/ZnO with various percentages of ZnO as a support for metallic Cu NPs. The ZnO NPs have been incorporated into OAlg-CS polymer with 10, 15, and 20 wt% and are designated as OAlg-CS/ZnO-10, OAlg-CS/ZnO-15, OAlg-CS/ZnO-20. Various analytical techniques were utilized to investigate the shape, morphology, elemental composition, functional groups and stability of the composite films. All these polymer nanocomposite films were then evaluated for removal of model organic pollutants comprising p-nitrophenol (4-NP), methylene blue (MB), and methyl orange (MO). The Kapp value for 4-NP was 2.19 × 10-1 min-1, 4.68 × 10-1 min-1 for MO and 8.99× 10-1 min-1 for MB. The experimental results demonstrated that OAlg-CS/ZnO-20 films show the highest catalytic activity as compared to OAlg-CS/ZnO, OAlg-CS/ZnO-10, and OAlg-CS/ZnO-15. The order of rate constants for nitrophenol and dyes using OAlg-CS/ZnO-20 was found to be MB ˃ MO ˃ 4-NP, showing the selectivity of these composite films. The prepared composite films were also investigated for their antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and all the films exhibited good anti-bacterial activity, with OAlg-CS/ZnO-20 showed the highest anti-bacterial activity.

Synthesis of oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose-chitosan and its composite films with SiC and SiC@SiO2 nanoparticles for methylene blue dye adsorption.

The cationic methylene blue (MB) dye sequestration was studied by using oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose-chitosan (OCMC-CS) and its composite films with silicon carbide (OCMC-CS-SiC), and silica-coated SiC nanoparticles (OCMC-CS-SiC@SiO2). The resulting composite films were characterized through various analytical techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The dye adsorption properties of the synthesized composite films were comprehensively investigated in batch experiments and the effect of parameters such as contact time, initial dye concentration, catalyst dosages, temperature, and pH were systematically evaluated. The results indicated that the film's adsorption efficiency was increased by increasing the contact time, catalyst amount, and temperature, and with a decreased initial concentration of dye solution. The adsorption efficiency was highest at neutral pH. The experimental results demonstrated that OCMC-CS films have high dye adsorption capabilities as compared to OCMC-CS-SiC, and OCMC-CS-SiC@SiO2. Additionally, the desorption investigation suggested that the adsorbents are successfully regenerated. Overall, this study contributes to the development of sustainable and effective adsorbent materials for dye removal applications. These films present a promising and environmentally friendly approach to mitigate dye pollution from aqueous systems.

The spatial-temporal effects of energy consumption and institutional quality on CO2 emission: evidence from Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has boosted economic development while harming the ecology. It is vital to track its CO2 emissions to guide the BRI toward a green future and low carbon. Our research contributes to these goals in two ways. First, this research examines the spatial-temporal effects of institutional quality (IQ) and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions for 75 BRI countries from 1990 to 2019. Second, geographical implications are considered when assessing the factors that affect CO2 emissions on a regional scale. Several diagnostic methods are used to determine the significant spatial impacts, and spatial panel models (SPMs) are used to analyze the phenomenon's spillover and direct consequences. The empirical findings demonstrate that increased IQ and renewable energy (RNC) harm the country's CO2 emissions. These negative consequences spread geographically to adjacent countries of the impacted country. Moreover, non-renewable energy (NC) positively affects the CO2 of the impacted nation and its neighbors. Hence, the objective of reducing CO2 emissions compels BRI to establish an effective plan to reduce non-renewable energy, enhance IQ, resolve internal and external disputes, and foster religious and ethnic harmony in BRI-affected nations. Positive direct and negative spatial impacts of economic expansion highlight the zero-sum game of nations, so high CO2-emitting countries should exercise caution when implementing economic policies.

Primary culture and endocrine functional analysis of Leydig cells in ducks (Anas platyrhynchos).

Testicular Leydig cells (LCs) are the primary known source of testosterone, which is necessary for maintaining spermatogenesis and male fertility. However, the isolation, identification, and functional analysis of testosterone in duck LCs are still ambiguous. The aim of the present study was to establish a feasible method for isolating highly purified primary duck LCs. The highly purified primary duck LCs were isolated from the fresh testes of 2-month-old ducks via the digestion of collagenase IV and Percoll density gradient centrifugation; hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining, ELISA, and radioimmunoassay were performed. Results revealed that the LCs were prominently noticeable in the testicular interstitium of 2-month-old ducks as compared to 6-month-old and 1-year-old ducks. Furthermore, IHC demonstrated that the cultured LCs occupied 90% area of the petri dish and highly expressed 3ß-HSD 24 h after culture (hac) as compared to 48 and 72 hac. Additionally, ELISA and radioimmunoassay indicate that the testosterone level in cellular supernatant was highly expressed in 24 and 48 hac, whereas the testosterone level gradually decreased in 72 and 96 hac, indicating the primary duck LCs secrete testosterone at an early stage. Based on the above results, the present study has effectively developed a technique for isolating highly purified primary duck LCs and identified its biological function in synthesizing testosterone.