The spatial panel econometric diagnosis of the influence of green finance on Chinese economic ecologization.

Green finance has the obvious impetus function to economic ecologization development. Through the test of the spatial agglomeration degree of China's green finance and ecological economic development index from 2001 to 2017 (30 provinces except for Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan, and Macao), this paper analyzes the spatial correlation of the green finance index and the ecological economic development index. It uses the spatial panel econometric regression analysis model to reveal the impact of Green Finance on China's economic ecology. Results show that (1) the development level of green finance and economic ecologization in China has improved to varying degrees in different periods. However, there are still noticeable regional differences between the eastern, central, western, and northeast regions; (2) green finance plays a positive role in promoting economic ecologization. Developing green finance in one province can promote its economic ecologization and positively impact on economic ecologization of surrounding provinces. (3) Economic ecologization also has a positive spillover effect. The improvement of the ecological economic level of a province can drive the improvement of the ecological economic level of other provinces. Therefore, improving green finance across the country has become a meaningful way to promote economic ecology and promote China's high-quality development.

Assessment of mental health of medical personnel during COVID-19: insights from Pakistan.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how fear of COVID-19 affects: i) psychological distress; and ii) anxiety among healthcare workers. Additionally, the possible mediating role of passion was conceptually hypothesized and empirically tested in these two relationships. Data were collected from 360 healthcare employees working at hospitals in Pakistan. AMOS (v.26) was used to perform confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test hypotheses and relationships. The results of the study revealed the fear of COVID-19, the psychological distress, and anxiety of medical personnel have positive connections. There is now strong evidence that fear of COVID-19 substantially influences anxiety and psychological distress. In particular, the results demonstrate that passion did not mediate the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and employees' mental health. It concludes that the outcomes of this work support the presence of a significant association between COVID-19 fear and the mental health of medical staff in Pakistan. Implications are discussed in light of the findings.

Characterization and role of derived dissolved organic matter on arsenic mobilization in alluvial aquifers of Punjab, Pakistan.

Biogeochemical mobilization of arsenic in groundwater depends on the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) that likely promotes the As release, i.e., reductive dissolution, complexation, competition, and electron shuttling. We investigated the role of DOM in As release, along with its complete characterization, in the Indus plain of Pakistan, one of the worst arsenic impacted zones in the South Asian region. In total, 60 groundwater and 15 soil samples, collected at six sites from north to south within the flood plain of the Ravi River, Lahore, Pakistan were investigated. Arsenic concentration ranged from 9.61 µg/L to 386 µg/L in the groundwater samples (high As observed in areas close to the river). Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in 29 groundwater samples ranged between 0 and 10.1 mg-C/L. A moderately positive correlation of As with DOC and Fe in the northern part of the study area suggest the reductive dissolution of FeOOH associated with dissolved organic matter (DOM). The reductive dissolution plays an essential role for As enrichment in the area evidenced by the lower concentrations of SO42-, NO3-, and PO34-and a non-correlative pattern with As. In contrast, a positive correlation of As with PO34-, DOC, and HCO3- in the southern part indicate competitive desorption behind the As release. Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix intensity data of DOM indicate the maximum presence of humic-like substances in the northern part that gradually shifts to aromatic, fulvic and protein type towards the southern part. Specific ultraviolet absorbance and fluorescence index display aromatic and terrestrial (allochthonous) sources of DOM near the riverbank and mixed (both allochthonous and autochthonous) source away from the river. The positive correlations of As with DOC and fluorescence intensity also attest that DOM played a vital role in the As mobilization in groundwater of the study area.

High levels of fluoride contamination in groundwater of the semi-arid alluvial aquifers, Pakistan: evaluating the recharge sources and geochemical identification via stable isotopes and other major elemental data.

Hydrogeochemical methods were integrated to delineate the geochemical factors controlling fluoride (F-) contamination in groundwater at four sites in the districts of Lahore (Samada) and Kasur (Sari Chimba, Kot Maiga, and Chah Fatehwala) in Panjab province of Pakistan. Hydrochemical data and stoichiometric ratios indicate Na-Cl and Na-HCO3 as the dominant water types with silicate weathering influencing overall hydrogeochemistry of the study area. The groundwater F- concentrations ranged between 0.54 mg/L and 17.5 mg/L, with more than 70% samples having F- concentrations above the World Health Organization (WHO) provisional drinking water guideline (1.5 mg/L). Saturation indices determined that 100% samples were saturated with respect to calcite and 96% samples were undersaturated with respect to fluorite, indicating the influence of calcite precipitation on fluoride enrichment. A positive correlation was observed between fluoride with pH, Na+, and HCO3-, confirming that high fluoride concentrations were the result of weathering of silicate minerals and the exchange of OH- on clay surface under the alkaline pH conditions. The isotopic values of δ18O and δ2H in groundwater ranged from 9.14 to - 5.51‰ and 56.57 to - 39.5‰, respectively. The stable isotope data indicated the meteoric origin of groundwater with some evaporative effect, which is partly influencing groundwater quality such as high pH and salinity, as a result facilitating anion exchange (OH- for F-) on clays surface. The research indicates that the groundwater quality of the study area is not recommendable for drinking due to its high total dissolved solids (TDS) and elevated fluoride concentrations.