The responses of CO2 emission to nitrogen application and earthworm addition in the soybean cropland.

The effects of nitrogen application or earthworms on soil respiration in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China have received increasing attention. However, the response of soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emission to nitrogen application and earthworm addition is still unclear. A field experiment with nitrogen application frequency and earthworm addition was conducted in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. Results showed nitrogen application frequency had a significant effect on soil respiration, but neither earthworms nor their interaction with nitrogen application frequency were significant. Low-frequency nitrogen application (NL) significantly increased soil respiration by 25%, while high-frequency nitrogen application (NH), earthworm addition (E), earthworm and high-frequency nitrogen application (E*NH), and earthworm and low-frequency nitrogen application (E*NL) also increased soil respiration by 21%, 21%, 12%, and 11%, respectively. The main reason for the rise in soil respiration was alterations in the bacterial richness and keystone taxa (Myxococcales). The NH resulted in higher soil nitrogen levels compared to NL, but NL had the highest bacterial richness. The abundance of Corynebacteriales and Gammaproteobacteria were positively connected with the CO2 emissions, while Myxococcales, Thermoleophilia, and Verrucomicrobia were negatively correlated. Our findings indicate the ecological importance of bacterial communities in regulating the carbon cycle in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain.

Ultrasonographic Contrast and Therapeutic Effects of Hydrogen Peroxide-Responsive Nanoparticles in a Rat Model with Sciatic Neuritis.

Purpose: Peripheral nerve damage lacks an appropriate diagnosis consistent with the patient's symptoms, despite expensive magnetic resonance imaging or electrodiagnostic assessments, which cause discomfort. Ultrasonography is valuable for diagnosing and treating nerve lesions; however, it is unsuitable for detecting small lesions. Poly(vanillin-oxalate) (PVO) nanoparticles are prepared from vanillin, a phytochemical with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Previously, PVO nanoparticles were cleaved by H2O2 to release vanillin, exert therapeutic efficacy, and generate CO2 to increase ultrasound contrast. However, the role of PVO nanoparticles in peripheral nerve lesion models is still unknown. Herein, we aimed to determine whether PVO nanoparticles can function as contrast and therapeutic agents for nerve lesions. Methods: To induce sciatic neuritis, rats were administered a perineural injection of carrageenan using a nerve stimulator under ultrasonographic guidance, and PVO nanoparticles were injected perineurally to evaluate ultrasonographic contrast and therapeutic effects. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was performed to detect mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, ie, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and cyclooxygenase-2. Results: In the rat model of sciatic neuritis, PVO nanoparticles generated CO2 bubbles to increase ultrasonographic contrast, and a single perineural injection of PVO nanoparticles suppressed the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and cyclooxygenase-2, reduced the expression of F4/80, and increased the expression of GAP43. Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest that PVO nanoparticles could be developed as ultrasonographic contrast agents and therapeutic agents for nerve lesions.

Greenhouse gas emissions, carbon stocks and wheat productivity following biochar, compost and vermicompost amendments: comparison of non-saline and salt-affected soils.

Understanding the impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon stock is crucial for effective climate change assessment and agroecosystem management. However, little is known about the effects of organic amendments on GHG emissions and dynamic changes in carbon stocks in salt-affected soils. We conducted a pot experiment with four treatments including control (only fertilizers addition), biochar, vermicompost, and compost on non-saline and salt-affected soils, with the application on a carbon equivalent basis under wheat crop production. Our results revealed that the addition of vermicompost significantly increased soil organic carbon content by 18% in non-saline soil and 52% in salt-affected soil compared to the control leading to improvements in crop productivity i.e., plant dry biomass production by 57% in non-saline soil with vermicompost, while 56% with the same treatment in salt-affected soil. The grain yield was also noted 44 and 50% more with vermicompost treatment in non-saline and salt-affected soil, respectively. Chlorophyll contents were observed maximum with vermicompost in non-saline (24%), and salt-affected soils (22%) with same treatments. Photosynthetic rate (47% and 53%), stomatal conductance (60% and 12%), and relative water contents (38% and 27%) were also noted maximum with the same treatment in non-saline and salt-affected soils, respectively. However, the highest carbon dioxide emissions were observed in vermicompost- and compost-treated soils, leading to an increase in emissions of 46% in non-saline soil and 74% in salt-affected soil compared to the control. The compost treatment resulted in the highest nitrous oxide emissions, with an increase of 57% in non-saline soil and 62% in salt-affected soil compared to the control. In saline and non-saline soils treated with vermicompost, the global warming potential was recorded as 267% and 81% more than the control, respectively. All treatments, except biochar in non-saline soil, showed increased net GHG emissions due to organic amendment application. However, biochar reduced net emissions by 12% in non-saline soil. The application of organic amendments increased soil organic carbon content and crop yield in both non-saline and salt-affected soils. In conclusion, biochar is most effective among all tested organic amendments at increasing soil organic carbon content in both non-saline and salt-affected soils, which could have potential benefits for soil health and crop production.

Dietary quality and dietary greenhouse gas emissions in the USA: a comparison of the planetary health diet index, healthy eating index-2015, and dietary approaches to stop hypertension.

BACKGROUND: The Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI) measures adherence to the dietary pattern presented by the EAT-Lancet Commission, which aligns health and sustainability targets. There is a need to understand how PHDI scores correlate with dietary greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and how this differs from the carbon footprints of scores on established dietary recommendations. The objectives of this study were to compare how the PHDI, Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) relate to (a) dietary GHGE and (b) to examine the influence of PHDI food components on dietary GHGE. METHODS: We used life cycle assessment data from the Database of Food Recall Impacts on the Environment for Nutrition and Dietary Studies to calculate the mean dietary GHGE of 8,128 adult participants in the 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Poisson regression was used to estimate the association of (a) quintiles of diet score and (b) standardized dietary index Z-scores with dietary GHGE for PHDI, HEI-2015, and DASH scores. In secondary analyses, we used Poisson regression to assess the influence of individual PHDI component scores on dietary GHGE. RESULTS: We found that higher dietary quality on all three indices was correlated with lower dietary GHGE. The magnitude of the dietary quality-dietary GHGE relationship was larger for PHDI [-0.4, 95% CI (-0.5, -0.3) kg CO2 equivalents per one standard deviation change] and for DASH [-0.5, (-0.4, -0.6) kg CO2-equivalents] than for HEI-2015 [-0.2, (-0.2, -0.3) kg CO2-equivalents]. When examining PHDI component scores, we found that diet-related GHGE were driven largely by red and processed meat intake. CONCLUSIONS: Improved dietary quality has the potential to lower the emissions impacts of US diets. Future efforts to promote healthy, sustainable diets could apply the recommendations of the established DASH guidelines as well as the new guidance provided by the PHDI to increase their environmental benefits.

Biological wastewater treatment: a comprehensive sustainability analysis using life cycle assessment.

The research conducts a life cycle assessment (LCA) on wastewater treatment (WWT) methods-membrane bioreactor (MBR), soil biotechnology (SBT), and bio-electrochemical constructed wetlands (BCW)-in comparison with the conventional activated sludge process (ASP). Employing SimaPro v9.5 with a cradle-to-gate system boundary, the analysis utilizes the IMPACT 2002 + method, employing per cubic meter of treated wastewater as the functional unit. The analysis shows that SBT exhibits the lowest environmental impacts among the considered WWT methods. The global warming potential was 0.0996 kg CO2 eq. for SBT, 1.33 kg CO2 eq. for MBR, 0.131 kg CO2 eq. for BCW, and 0.544 kg CO2 eq. for ASP. BCW demonstrates a 75.91% decrease, while MBR exhibits a 144.48% increase compared to ASP. Notably, electricity consumption emerges as the primary contributor to environmental impact in MBR and ASP. The resource impact category varies with a 138.15% increase in MBR and an 83.41% decrease in SBT compared to ASP. Additionally, the research indicates that the high human health impact observed in MBR results mainly from increased carcinogens (0.00176 kg C2H3Cl eq.), non-carcinogens (0.01 kg C2H3Cl eq.), and ionizing radiation (3.34 Bq C-14 eq.). The findings underscore the importance of considering treatment efficiency and broader environmental implications in selecting WWT methods. As the world emphasizes sustainability, such LCA studies provide valuable insights for making informed decisions in wastewater management.

The effect of physical barriers under a raised house on mosquito entry: an experimental study in rural Gambia.

BACKGROUND: Anopheles gambiae, the major malaria mosquito in sub-Saharan Africa, feed largely indoors at night. Raising a house off the ground with no barriers underneath reduces mosquito-house entry. This experiment tested whether walling off the space under an elevated hut affects mosquito-hut entry. METHODS: Four inhabited experimental huts, each of which could be moved up and down, were used in rural Gambia. Nightly collections of mosquitoes were made using light traps and temperature and carbon dioxide levels monitored indoors and outdoors using loggers. Each night, a reference hut was kept at ground level and three huts raised 2 m above the ground; with the space under the hut left open, walled with air-permeable walls or solid walls. Treatments were rotated every four nights using a randomized block design. The experiment was conducted for 32 nights. Primary measurements were mosquito numbers and indoor temperature in each hut. RESULTS: A total of 1,259 female Anopheles gambiae sensu lato were collected in the hut at ground level, 655 in the hut with an open ground floor, 981 in the hut with air-permeable walls underneath and 873 in the hut with solid walls underneath. Multivariate analysis, adjusting for confounders, showed that a raised hut open underneath had 53% fewer mosquitoes (95% CI 47-58%), those with air-permeable walls underneath 24% fewer (95% CI 9-36%) and huts with solid walls underneath 31% fewer (95% CI 24-37%) compared with a hut on the ground. Similar results were found for Mansonia spp. and total number of female mosquitoes, but not for Culex mosquitoes where hut entry was unaffected by height or barriers. Indoor temperature and carbon dioxide levels were similar in all huts. CONCLUSION: Raising a house 2 m from the ground reduces the entry of An. gambiae and Mansonia mosquitoes, but not Culex species. The protective effect of height is reduced if the space underneath the hut is walled off.

Can Mercury Influence Carbon Dioxide Levels? Implications for the Implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

The Paris Agreement and the Minamata Convention on Mercury are two of the most important environmental conventions being implemented concurrently, with a focus on reducing carbon and mercury emissions, respectively. The relation between mercury and carbon influences the interactions and outcomes of these two conventions. This perspective investigates the link between mercury and CO2, assessing the consequences and exploring the policy implications of this link. We present scientific evidence showing that mercury and CO2 levels are negatively correlated under natural conditions. As a result of this negative correlation, the CO2 level under the current mercury reduction scenario is predicted to be 2.4-10.1 ppm higher than the no action scenario by 2050, equivalent to 1.0-4.8 years of CO2 increase due to human activity. The underlying causations of this negative correlation are complex and need further research. Economic analysis indicates that there is a trade-off between the benefits and costs of mercury reduction actions. As reducing mercury emission may inadvertently undermine efforts to achieve climate goals, we advocate for devising a coordinated implementation strategy for carbon and mercury conventions to maximize synergies and reduce trade-offs.

Metagenomics reveals the variations in functional metabolism associated with greenhouse gas emissions during legume-vegetable rotation process.

Legume-based rotation is commonly recognized for its mitigation efficiency of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, variations in GHG emission-associated metabolic functions during the legume-vegetable rotation process remain largely uncharacterized. Accordingly, a soybean-radish rotation field experiment was designed to clarify the responses of microbial communities and their GHG emission-associated functional metabolism through metagenomics. The results showed that the contents of soil organic carbon and total phosphorus significantly decreased during the soybean-radish process (P < 0.05), while soil total potassium content and bacterial richness and diversity significantly increased (P < 0.05). Moreover, the predominant bacterial phyla varied, with a decrease in the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and an increase in the relative abundance of Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and Chloroflexi. Metagenomics clarified that bacterial carbohydrate metabolism substantially increased during the rotation process, whereas formaldehyde assimilation, methanogenesis, nitrification, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction decreased (P < 0.05). Specifically, the expression of phosphate acetyltransferase (functional methanogenesis gene, pta) and nitrate reductase gamma subunit (functional dissimilatory nitrate reduction gene, narI) was inhibited, indicating of low methane production and nitrogen metabolism. Additionally, the partial least squares path model revealed that the Shannon diversity index was negatively correlated with methane and nitrogen metabolism (P < 0.01), further demonstrating that the response of the soil bacterial microbiome responses are closely linked with GHG-associated metabolism during the soybean-radish rotation process. Collectively, our findings shed light on the responses of soil microbial communities to functional metabolism associated with GHG emissions and provide important insights to mitigate GHG emissions during the rotational cropping of legumes and vegetables.

Liposomes, transfersomes and niosomes: production methods and their applications in the vaccinal field.

One of the most effective strategies to fight viruses and handle health diseases is vaccination. Recent studies and current applications are moving on antigen, DNA and RNA-based vaccines to overcome the limitations related to the conventional vaccination strategies, such as low safety, necessity of multiple injection, and side effects. However, due to the instability of pristine antigen, RNA and DNA molecules, the use of nanocarriers is required. Among the different nanocarriers proposed for vaccinal applications, three types of nanovesicles were selected and analysed in this review: liposomes, transfersomes and niosomes. PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were used for searching recent papers on the most frequently used conventional and innovative methods of production of these nanovesicles. Weaknesses and limitations of conventional methods (i.e., multiple post-processing, solvent residue, batch-mode processes) can be overcome using innovative methods, in particular, the ones assisted by supercritical carbon dioxide. SuperSomes process emerged as a promising production technique of solvent-free nanovesicles, since it can be easily scaled-up, works in continuous-mode, and does not require further post-processing steps to obtain the desired products. As a result of the literature analysis, supercritical carbon dioxide assisted methods attracted a lot of interest for nanovesicles production in the vaccinal field. However, despite their numerous advantages, supercritical processes require further studies for the production of liposomes, transfersomes and niosomes with the aim of reaching well-defined technologies suitable for industrial applications and mass production of vaccines.

Supercritical carbon dioxide technology in food processing: Insightful comprehension of the mechanisms of microbial inactivation and impacts on quality and safety aspects.

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) has emerged as a nonthermal technology to guarantee food safety. This review addresses the potential of SC-CO2 technology in food preservation, discussing the microbial inactivation mechanisms and the impact on food products' quality parameters and bioactive compounds. Furthermore, the main advantages and gaps are denoted. SC-CO2 technology application causes adequate microbial reductions (>5 log cfu/mL) of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, enzyme inactivation, and improvements in the storage stability in fruit and vegetable products (mainly fruit juices), meat products, and dairy derivatives. SC-CO2-treated products maintain the physicochemical, technological, and sensory properties, bioactive compound concentrations, and biological activity (antioxidant and angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitory activities) similar to the untreated products. The optimization of processing parameters (temperature, pressure, CO2 volume, and processing times) is mandatory for achieving the desired results. Further studies should consider the expansion to different food matrices, shelf-life evaluation, bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds, and in vitro and in vivo studies to prove the benefits of using SC-CO2 technology. Moreover, the impact on sensory characteristics and, mainly, the consumer perception of SC-CO2-treated foods need to be elucidated. We highlight the opportunity for studies in postbiotic production. In conclusion, SC-CO2 technology may be used for microbial inactivation to ensure food safety without losing the quality parameters.

Relation between resting spleen volume and apnea-induced increases in hemoglobin mass.

Introduction: Indigenous populations renowned for apneic diving have comparatively large spleen volumes. It has been proposed that a larger spleen translates to heightened apnea-induced splenic contraction and elevations in circulating hemoglobin mass (Hbmass), which, in theory, improves O2 carrying and/or CO2/pH buffering capacities. However, the relation between resting spleen volume and apnea- induced increases in Hbmass is unknown. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that resting spleen volume is positively related to apnea-induced increases in total Hbmass. Methods: Fourteen healthy adults (six women; 29 ± 5 years) completed a two-minute carbon monoxide rebreathe procedure to measure pre-apneas Hbmass and blood volume. Spleen length, width, and thickness were measured pre-and post-five maximal apneas via ultrasound. Spleen volume was calculated via the Pilström equation (test-retest CV:2 ± 2%). Hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]; g/dl) and hematocrit (%) were measured pre- and post-apneas via capillary blood samples. Post-apneas Hbmass was estimated as post-apnea [Hb] x pre-apnea blood volume. Data are presented as mean ± SD. Results: Spleen volume decreased from pre- (247 ± 95 mL) to post- (200 ± 82 mL, p<0.01) apneas. [Hb] (14.6 ± 1.2 vs. 14.9 ± 1.2 g/dL, p<0.01), hematocrit (44 ± 3 vs. 45 ± 3%, p=0.04), and Hbmass (1025 ± 322 vs. 1046 ± 339 g, p=0.03) increased from pre- to post-apneas. Pre-apneas spleen volume was unrelated to post-apneas increases in Hbmass (r=-0.02, p=0.47). O2 (+28 ± 31 mL, p<0.01) and CO2 (+31 ± 35 mL, p<0.01) carrying capacities increased post-apneas. Conclusion: Larger spleen volume is not associated with a greater rise in apneas-induced increases in Hbmass in non-apnea-trained healthy adults.

Ventilation during COVID-19 in a school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

BACKGROUND: This study examined the correlation of classroom ventilation (air exchanges per hour (ACH)) and exposure to CO2 ≥1,000 ppm with the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 over a 20-month period in a specialized school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). These students were at a higher risk of respiratory infection from SARS-CoV-2 due to challenges in tolerating mitigation measures (e.g. masking). One in-school measure proposed to help mitigate the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools is increased ventilation. METHODS: We established a community-engaged research partnership between the University of Rochester and the Mary Cariola Center school for students with IDD. Ambient CO2 levels were measured in 100 school rooms, and air changes per hour (ACH) were calculated. The number of SARS-CoV-2 cases for each room was collected over 20 months. RESULTS: 97% of rooms had an estimated ACH ≤4.0, with 7% having CO2 levels ≥2,000 ppm for up to 3 hours per school day. A statistically significant correlation was found between the time that a room had CO2 levels ≥1,000 ppm and SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests normalized to room occupancy, accounting for 43% of the variance. No statistically significant correlation was found for room ACH and per-room SARS-CoV-2 cases. Rooms with ventilation systems using MERV-13 filters had lower SARS-CoV-2-positive PCR counts. These findings led to ongoing efforts to upgrade the ventilation systems in this community-engaged research project. CONCLUSIONS: There was a statistically significant correlation between the total time of room CO2 concentrations ≥1,000 and SARS-CoV-2 cases in an IDD school. Merv-13 filters appear to decrease the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This research partnership identified areas for improving in-school ventilation.

Quantifying sodium hypochlorite content in hypochlorite-based disinfectants via phase-conversion headspace technique.

In this work, a novel and efficient approach for sodium hypochlorite analysis is proposed via phase-conversion headspace technique, which is based on the gas chromatography (GC) detection of generated carbon dioxide (CO2) from the redox reaction of sodium hypochlorite with sodium oxalate. The data obtained by the proposed method suggest the high detecting precision and accuracy. In addition, the method has low detection limits (limit of quantification (LOQ) = 0.24 µg/mL), and the recoveries of added standard ranged from 98.33 to 101.27 %. The proposed phase-conversion headspace technique is efficient and automated, thereby offering an efficient strategy for highly efficient analysis of sodium hypochlorite and related products.

Greenhouse gas emissions from on-site sanitation systems: A systematic review and meta-analysis of emission rates, formation pathways and influencing factors.

Onsite sanitation systems (OSS) are significant sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). While a handful of studies have been conducted on GHG emissions from OSS, systematic evaluation of literature on this subject is limited. Our systematic review and meta-analysis provides state-of-the- art information on GHG emissions from OSS and identifies novel areas for investigation. The paper analyzes GHG emission rates from different OSS, the influence of various design, operational, and environmental factors on emission rates and proffers mitigation measures. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, we identified 16 articles which quantified GHG emissions from OSS. Septic tanks emit substantial amounts of CO2 and CH4 ranging from 1.74 to 398.30 g CO2/cap/day and 0.06-110.13 g CH4/cap/day, respectively, but have low N2O emissions (0.01-0.06 g N2O/cap/day). CH4 emissions from pit latrines range from 0.77 to 20.30 g CH4/cap/day N2O emissions range from 0.76 to 1.20 gN2O/cap/day. We observed statistically significant correlations (p < 0.05) between temperature, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, storage period, and GHG emissions from OSS. However, no significant correlation (p > 0.05) was observed between soil volumetric water content and CO2 emissions. CH4 emissions (expressed as CO2 equivalents) from OSS estimated following Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines were found to be seven times lower (90.99 g CO2e/cap/day) than in-situ field emission measurements (704.7 g CO2e/cap/day), implying that relying solely on IPCC guidelines may lead to underestimation of GHG emission from OSS. Our findings underscore the importance of considering local contexts and environmental factors when estimating GHG emissions from OSS. Plausible mitigation measures for GHG emissions from OSS include converting waste to biogas in anaerobic systems (e.g. biogas), applying biochar, and implementing mitigation policies that equally address inequalities in sanitation service access. Future research on GHG from OSS should focus on in-situ measurements of GHGs from pit latrines and other common OSS in developing countries, understanding the fate and transport of dissolved organics like CH4 in OSS effluents and impacts of microbial communities in OSS on GHG emissions. Addressing these gaps will enable more holistic and effective management of GHG emissions from OSS.

Revisiting the relationship between natural resources and environmental quality- can ICT break the "resource curse" in the environment?

Despite the prevalence of discussions on the "resource curse", the impact of natural resources on environmental quality for better or for worse has not been clearly answered, this study aims to answer the question by introducing the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). To that end, by using the Instrumental Variable Generalized Method of Moments (IV GMM) estimator and a sample of 102 developing and emerging economies from 2006 to 2016, this paper studies the impact of ICT on the relationship between natural resources and environmental quality. Specially, the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) captures the environmental quality. The results show that natural resources have a significant negative effect on EPI, specially, EPI decreases by one unit with a 1% increase in natural resource rents. ICT significantly mitigates this adverse effect, and marginal effects analysis further confirms its positive moderate effects. The results proved to be robust by Lewbel 2SLS and Driscoll-Kraay techniques or other robust tests. It is noteworthy that the adverse effect of natural resources on EPI is greater and the mitigating effect of ICT is more pronounced in low-income countries and lower-middle income countries. Overall, these results remind resource-based countries to vigorously develop ICT, and apply intelligent exploration, digital monitoring, or other digital technologies to realize the high-efficiency use of natural resources, reducing environmental pollution and ecological damage.

Experimental study for visualizing CO2-dissolved water plume migration under hydraulic gradient conditions and implication for field monitoring data.

Investigating the possible direction of a CO2-dissolved water plume migration near the potential CO2 leakage area is a significant task because it helps estimate the spatial and temporal monitoring scale to detect the signal of released CO2 from the storage. Accordingly, the Korea CO2 Storage Environmental Management (K-COSEM) research center tried to develop an intensive monitoring system and applied it to the artificial CO2 release test in the actual field. Monitoring data from the field tests depicted the horizontal movement of the CO2-dissolved water plume along the direction of the groundwater flow. However, it remains unclear how the CO2-dissolved water plume migrates vertically and how gas accumulation occurs near the capillary zone. The present study simulated the CO2 release test with a visual expression method utilizing a Hele-Shaw cell with hydraulic gradient conditions (i = 0, 0.1, and 0.01) and tried to estimate the significant influences on a diffusive-advective transport of the dissolved gas plume with the shallow aquifer condition. The visualization experiment results were intuitively verified to determine whether the theoretical principles of action related to plume flow applied in this context. The results suggest that a CO2-dissolved water plume is distributed by hydraulic gradients and density-driven CO2 convective flow. The plume shape, center, and area were analyzed using an image analyzer program; the results demonstrated that the plume characteristic evolved depending on the significant effects on the plume. When the plume was mainly affected by the hydraulic gradient, it rapidly moved from the injection point to the last boundary; in contrast, when it was influenced primarily by density-driven CO2 convective flow, it flowed diagonally downward in the shape of varied branches. The numerical model calculated the migration of the CO2-dissolved water plume affected by both factors. The laboratory experiment and numerical simulation results suggest that the migration of a CO2-dissolved water plume may be affected by the hydraulic gradient and density-driven CO2 convective transport. As such, these factors should be considered when designing and analyzing CO2 monitoring signals to detect CO2 leaks from shallow aquifer systems.

The effectiveness of emerging markets' legal structure in explaining financial development.

This article examines the role of legal structure in explaining financial development in twenty-three emerging markets, which has not been explored in institutional economics literature before. This study relied on Pedroni, and Kao cointegration tests, which is followed by the renowned panel cointegration technique. The results of the Pedroni and Kao cointegration tests show that the variables understudy is cointegrated in the long-run. These findings are confirmed by the panel cointegration showing that legal structure (LS) has positive impact on financial development (FIND) in long-run that support Law and Finance, and New Institutional Economics theories in emerging markets. This study is the first to directly examine the long-run impact of LS on FIND in emerging markets, and the result remains consistent across alternative measure of FIND. The findings of this study have important policy implications for emerging markets. Policymakers should focus on creating a legal environment that is conducive to financial development. This includes strengthening the legal framework, improving regulatory regimes, and promoting market autonomy. Additionally, policymakers should work to attract foreign investment, which can help spur economic growth and development in emerging markets. The findings of the study are consistent across battery of robustness testing.

Non-toxic orange carbon dots stimulate photosynthesis and CO2 assimilation in hydroponically cultivated green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris).

Continuous increasing leaf photosynthesis may enhance plant yield. As an evolutionary property, plants use less photosynthetic capacity than is theoretically possible. Plant nanobionics is a bioengineering field that improves plant functions using nanoparticles. We applied orange carbon dots (o-CDs) onto the foliage of green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris ) grown in hydroponics to improve their photosynthetic performance and CO2 assimilation. Photosynthesis parameters, photosynthetic pigments content, total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidative activity (TAA) were measured. Results show that photosynthetic pigments remained unchanged, while photosynthesis was improved. Both o-CDs concentrations decreased TPC and TAA. The light response curve showed higher CO2 assimilation at both o-CDs concentrations, particularly at lower light intensity. Correlation analysis confirmed increased CO2 binding and assimilation at 1mg L-1 . This study demonstrated the potential of using o-CDs as a safe biostimulator through photosynthesis increase and CO2 assimilation without toxic effects on plants. This may stimulate yield increase that paves the way for their agricultural application.

Does the "Belt and Road Initiative" benefit the environment? Insight from analysis of intra-industry trade in environment goods.

The expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has raised a wide range of concerns about its environmental impact. Therefore, from the perspective of environmental impacts, this study used the two-way fixed effect staggered differences in differences (TWFE Staggered DID) method to examine the impact of the BRI on the Environment Goods (EGs) intra-industry trade (IIT) between China and other Belt and Road (B&R) countries, including a sample of 191 countries, covering the period from 2010 to 2019 for eliminating the impact of COVID-19 and the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. Because only 135 countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding between 2010 and 2019, this study treated these B&R countries as the study group, and the other 73 countries (non-B&R countries) as the control group. This study described EGs using the 54 6-digit code Environment Goods in Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System listed in the "APEC LIST OF ENVIRONMENT GOODS" published by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2012, and used the intra-industry trade index proposed by Grubel and Lloyd in 1971 to measuring dependent variable. The research results indicated that the BRI has significantly promoted bilateral EGs IIT. The mechanism test implied that, in addition to direct impacts, the BRI also has indirect impacts by boosting the energy restructuring of B&R countries. These results prove that the BRI has positive impacts on the environment. The heterogeneity test showed that there is a heterogeneous impact depending on the type of IIT, product categorization, B&R countries' income levels, and geographic environment. This study not only gives theoretical and empirical evidence of the positive environmental impacts of the BRI, but also provides practical guidance for the development of EGS IIT between China and B&R countries, thereby contributing to global carbon emissions reduction and environmental governance to some degree.