Towards better understanding of factors controlling carbon (C) exchange between inland waters and atmosphere, we addressed inorganic carbon cycle in semi-arid lakes of Central Eurasia, subjected to strong impact of on-going climate change. For this, we assessed the hydrochemical vari-ability and quantified its control on formation of authigenic carbonate minerals, occurring within the upper layer of sediments in 43 semiarid lakes located in the southwest of Western Siberia (Central Eurasia). Based on measurements of pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), cationic and anionic composition, dissolved organic and inorganic C, as well as textural and mineralogical characterization of bottom sediments using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, we demonstrate that lake water pH and TDS are primarily controlled by both lithological and climatic context of the lake watershed. We have not revealed any direct relationships between lake morphology and water chemistry. The most common authigenic carbonates scavenging atmospheric CO2 in the form of insoluble minerals in lake sediments were calcite, aragonite, Mg-calcite, dolomite and hydro-magnesite. The calcite was the most common component, aragonite mainly appears in lakes with sediments enriched in gastropod shells or artemia cysts, while hydromagnesite was most common in lakes with high Mg/Ca molar ratios, as well at high DIC concentrations. The relationships between mineral formation and water chemistry established in this study can be generalized to a wide suite of arid and semi-arid lakes in order to characterize current status of inorganic C cycle and predict its possible modification under on-going climate warming such as water temperature rise and change of hydrological connectivity, primary productivity and nutrient regime.

Organic electrophoretic coatings have gained significant attention due to their ability to provide a uniform and controlled coating thickness, high coating adhesion, and excellent corrosion protection properties. In this work, to investigate the aging behaviors of an organic electrophoretic coating for magnesium alloys, water absorption kinetics curves of the coatings after immersion in 3.5 wt.% NaCl at 20℃ and 40℃ were measured, and parameters such as the saturated water absorption and saturation time of the free film coatings were fitted to determine the densification evolution of the organic coatings. A tensile test was used to test the tensile strength of the organic coating during service to determine the evolution of the strength and toughness of the organic coating. The evolution of wet adhesion of organic coatings with service time was tested by ASTM D4541-02. The impedance spectra of the organic coatings under the above conditions were detected by EIS, and finally, the failure behavior of the organic coatings under immersion was analyzed.

The widespread use of the herbicide glyphosate has resulted in the global presence of its degra-dation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in the global environment. AMPA is commonly found in water bodies, including freshwater systems. We investigated the effects of chronic and acute AMPA exposure on the survivorship, regenerative abilities, and locomotion of the brown planarian (Girardia tigrina), a water-dwelling flatworm commonly found in freshwa-ter ecosystems. We exposed planarians to two concentrations of AMPA, consistent with the high and low ranges of concentrations observed in US water systems. We measured endpoints includ-ing survivorship, regenerative abilities of head and tail segments, eyespot regeneration, and swimming speed. Compared to the control group, we found that planarians chronically exposed to AMPA exhibited (1) modestly reduced survivorship while regenerating and (2) slower regen-eration from the tail segment. No significant differences were observed in intact body growth during chronic exposure. Our findings highlight the potential ecological impacts of AMPA con-tamination on planarian populations. Understanding the effects of AMPA exposure on planarians contributes to our understanding of the ecological consequences of glyphosate use in freshwater ecosystems.

This review paper presents a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge on the contamination of water systems by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs, organic contaminants characterized by two or more fused aromatic rings, are notably problematic due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and significant health risks. The review commences with an examination of various sources of PAHs in aquatic environments, encompassing both anthropogenic activities, such as industrial discharges, urban runoff, and oil spills, and natural phenomena including volcanic eruptions and wildfires. Subsequently, the discussion shifts to the distribution patterns of PAHs within different aquatic ecosystems, with an analysis of factors that influence their transport. Considerable focus is placed on the entry mechanisms of PAHs into water systems and their interactions with diverse environmental matrices. Additionally, the ecotoxicological effects of PAHs on aquatic life are scrutinized, with particular emphasis on molecular, individual, and ecosystemic impacts. This includes an exploration of PAH bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms and their potential mutagenic and carcinogenic consequences. The review further addresses the challenges associated with detecting and quantifying PAHs in aquatic settings, reflecting on the advancements in analytical methodologies and the complexities introduced by their varied physicochemical properties. The paper concludes with a summary of existing regulatory frameworks and guidelines governing PAH contamination in water systems, underscoring the imperative for global collaboration in the monitoring and management of PAH pollution.

This study used a two-stage network data envelopment analysis model to measure the water use efficiency of 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in the initial water use and wastewater treatment phases from 2009 to 2019. We used the Dagum Gini coefficient to decompose the urban water use efficiency of six major urban clusters in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. We also used σ convergence and β convergence types to test the convergence characteristics of urban water use efficiency of six major urban clusters in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. This study found that the overall low level of water use efficiency in cities in the Yangtze River Economic Zone mainly stems from the low level of water use efficiency in the wastewater treatment stage. The 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Zone are divided into four types based on the average values of water use efficiency in the initial use and wastewater treatment phases; the highest number of cities are in the double-low category, with low average values of water use efficiency in the initial use and wastewater treatment phases. During the study period, spatial differences in urban water use efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Zone narrowed, with the differences stemming mainly from hyperdensity, followed by intra- and inter-regional differences. Meanwhile, there is convergence in urban water use efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt; significant β convergence in the urban agglomerations of the Yangtze River Delta, Jianghuai, middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Chengdu–Chongqing, and Central Yunnan; and insignificant β convergence in the Central Qian urban agglomeration. After considering control factors, such as industrial structure, financial development level, environmental regulation, economic development level, and science and education development level, the water use efficiency of the six major urban clusters in the Yangtze River Economic Belt converges faster, but the influence of these control factors on the water use efficiency of each urban cluster is heterogeneous. Research results have reference value for the development of improvement strategies on differentiated urban water use efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Africa’s water needs are often supported by eutrophic waterbodies dominated by cyanobacteria posing health threats to riparian populations from cyanotoxins, and Lake Victoria is no exception. In two embayments of the lake (Murchison Bay and Napoleon Gulf), cyanobacterial surveys were conducted to characterize the dynamics of cyanotoxins in lake water and water treatment plants. Forty-six cyanobacterial taxa were recorded and out of these 14 were considered potentially toxigenic (i.e., from the genera Dolichospermum, Microcystis, Oscillatoria, Pseudanabaena and Raphidiopsis). A higher concentration (ranging from 5-10 µg MC-LR equiv. L-1) of microcystins (MCs) was detected in Murchison Bay compared to Napoleon Gulf, with a declining gradient from the inshore (max. 15 µg MC-LR equiv. L-1) to the open lake. In Murchison Bay, an increase either in Microcystis sp. biovolume and MC was observed over the last two decades. Despite high cell densities of toxigenic Microcystis and high MC concentrations, the water treatment plant in Murchison Bay efficiently removed the cyanobacterial biomass, intracellular and dissolved MC to below the lifetime guideline value for exposure via drinking water (< 1.0 µg MC-LR equiv. L-1). Thus, the potential health threats stem from the consumption of untreated water and recreational activities, along the shores of the lake embayments. MC concentrations were predicted from Microcystis cell numbers regulated by environmental factors such as solar radiation, wind speed in the N-S direction and turbidity. Thus, an early warning through microscopical counting of Microcystis cell numbers is proposed to better manage health risks from toxigenic cyanobacteria in Lake Victoria.

Uniform water soluble MoS2 quantum dots (WS-MSQDs) are synthesized via a sequential combination of sintering/etching/exfoliation method and solvothermal route. The obtained WS-MSQDs with average size of approximately 3.4 nm exhibit sufficient water solubility and remarkable fluorescence properties. The WS-MSQDs have been utilized as a probe for detection of Fe3+ ions with high selectivity and specificity. Furthermore, the WS-MSQDs exhibit high fluorescence stability under different conditions. Finally, the WS-MSQDs are successfully applied for the fluorescence imaging of Fe3+ in living cells, which exhibited practical potential for biomedical applications.

The diffusion process of water molecules within a polyetherimide (PEI) glassy matrix has been analyzed by combining the experimental analysis of water sorption kinetics performed by FTIR spectroscopy with theoretical information gathered from Molecular Dynamics simulations and with the expression of water chemical potential provided by a non-equilibrium lattice fluid model able to describe the thermodynamics of glassy polymers. This approach allowed to construct a convincing description of the diffusion mechanism of water in PEI providing molecular details of the process related to the effects of the cross- and self-hydrogen bondings established in the system on the dynamics of water mass transport.

Because of the widespread use of bisphenol analogues (BPs) as the alternatives to bisphenol A (BPA), they have attracted considerable attention for health risk in aquatic ecosystems. The occurrence and distribution of six BPs were researched in soluble phase (< 5 kDa), colloidal phase (5 kDa to 1 µm) and suspended particulate matter (SPM > 1 µm) in a water diversion project of Nanjing, China. Except for bisphenol Z, all BPs were detected in the two or three phases, the total concentrations of detected BPs were 161-613 ng/L, 5.19-77.2 ng/L and 47.5-353 ng/g for the soluble phase, colloidal phase and SPM, respectively. Among the detected compounds, BPA still the dominant BPs in the soluble and colloidal phases, followed by BPS, while BPAF was the major contaminant in SPM, followed by BPA. The mean contribution proportions of colloids were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than SPM, suggesting that colloids have an obvious impact on regulating BPs’ environmental behaviors. In terms of spatial distribution, although the water diversion project could reduce the pollution levels of BPs, which might further affect the ecological security of the Yangtze River.

Owing to the widespread use of bisphenol analogues (BPs) as bisphenol A (BPA) alternatives, they have been recognized to constitute a health risk for aquatic ecosystems. The occurrence and distribution of six BPs were investigated in the truly dissolved phase (< 5 kDa), colloidal phase (5 kDa to 1 µm) and suspended particulate matter (SPM > 1 µm) in a water diversion project of Nanjing, China. With the exception of bisphenol Z, all BPs were detected in at least two phases, the total concentrations of detected BPs were 161-613 ng/L, 5.19-77.2 ng/L and 47.5-353 ng/g for the truly dissolved phase, colloidal phase and SPM, respectively. Among the detected compounds, BPA still the dominant BPs in the truly dissolved phase and colloidal phase, followed by BPS, while BPAF was the major contaminant in SPM, followed by BPA. The mean contribution proportions of colloids were 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than that of SPM, suggesting that colloids play an important role in regulating the environmental behaviors of BPs. In terms of spatial distribution, although the water diversion project could reduce the pollution levels of BPs, which might further affect the ecological security of the Yangtze River.

Objective: To study the changes in urine metabolism in female water polo players before and after high-intensity training by using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and to explore the biometabolic characteristics of urine after training and competition. Methods: Twelve young female water polo players (except goalkeepers) from Shanxi Province were selected. A 4-week formal training was started after one week of acclimatization according to experimental requirements. Urine samples (5 ml) were collected before formal training, early morning after 4 weeks of training, and immediately after 4 weeks of training matches, and labeled as T1, T2, and T3, respectively. The samples were tested by LC-MS after pre-treatment. XCMS, SIMCA-P 14.1, and SPSS16.0 were used to process the data and identify differential metabolites. Results: On comparing the immediate post-competition period with the pre-training period (T3 vs T1), 24 differential metabolites involved in 16 metabolic pathways were identified, among which niacin and niacinamide metabolism and purine metabolism were potential post-competition urinary metabolic pathways in the untrained state of the athletes. On comparing the immediate post-competition period with the post-training period (T3 vs T2), 10 metabolites involved in 3 metabolic pathways were identified, among which niacin and niacinamide metabolism was a potential target urinary metabolic pathway for the athletes after training. Niacinamide, 1-methylnicotinamide, 2-pyridone, L-Gln, AMP, and Hx were involved in two metabolic pathways before and after the training. Conclusion: Differential changes in urine after water polo games are due changes in the metabolic pathways of niacin and niacinamide.

Oleogels are of high interest as promising substitutes for trans fats in foods. An emulsion-templated method was used to trap olive oil in the chitosan crosslinked with vanillin matrix. Oil in water emulsions (50:50 w/w) with different chitosan content (0.7 and 0.8% w/w) with constant vanillin/chitosan ratio (1.3) were air-dried at different temperatures (50, 60, 70 and 80ºC) and freeze-dried (-26ºC and 0.1 mbar) to produce oleogels. Only falling-rate periods were determined during air-drying kinetics and were successfully modelled with empirical and diffusional models. At drying temperature of 70ºC the drying kinetics were the fastest. Viscoelasticity of oleogels showed that elastic modulus significantly increased after drying at 60 and 70ºC, and those dried at 50ºC and freeze-dried were weaker. All oleogels showed high oil binding capacity (&gt; 91%), but the highest values (&gt; 97%) were obtained in oleogels with a threshold elastic modulus (50,000 Pa). Oleogels color depended on drying temperature and chitosan content (independent of the drying method). Significant differences were observed between air-dried and freeze-dried oleogels with respect to oxidative stability. Oxidation increased with air drying time regardless of chitosan content. Found results indicated that drying conditions must be carefully selected to produce oleogels with specific features.

Hydration and fluids detected with bioimpdance can be confounderdby ecw expansion and overload. to estimates with sufficient accuracy body fat A confrontation with imaging and dxa is confirmatory

Modern lifestyle has increased our utilization of pollutants such as heavy metals, aromatic compounds, and contaminants of emerging concern including pharmaceutical and personal products and other materials that may have an important environmental impact. Especially, the ultimate results of intense use of highly stable materials, such as heavy metals and chemical restudies are that they turn into waste materials which, when discharged, accumulate in the environment water bodies. In this context, the present review presents application of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in electrochemiluminescent (ECL) sensing for water pollutant detection. MOF composites applied as innovative luminophore or luminophore carriers, materials for electrode modification and enhancement of co-reaction in ECL sensors have enabled sensitive monitoring of some most common contaminants of emerging concern such as heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and cyanotoxins. Moreover, we provide future trends and prospects associated with ECL MOF-composites for environmental sensing.

The urban population in developing countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa, is rapidly increas-ing. As towns and cities grow, so does the demand for fish protein. While flow-through aqua-culture can provide fresh, healthy and nutritious fish protein, it is plagued by extensive land re-quirement as well as effluent discharge, thus, unsuitable for city regions. Alternatively, small-scale Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) could improve food and nutritional security (FNS), livelihoods as well as reduce environmental degradation in urban areas despite land and water constraints. The question however remains - what are the key technical, business and managerial issues, surrounding small-scale RAS in urban farming? This study reviews the RAS prototype of the Sustainable Aquaponics for Nutritional and Food Security in Urban Sub-Saharan Africa (SANFU) II project based on mass balance and stock density, relevant for fish survival and/or availability as well as net cash-flow analyses. The results suggest that small-scale RAS are technically and financially viable only with family labor having proper aquaculture monitoring and management skills. Furthermore, access to adequate equipment and inputs as well as electricity for the recirculating system are crucial. Urban innovation actors will adopt RAS if operations are profitable given that family labor is employed.

This study reports multivariate statistical techniques applied including cluster analysis to evaluate and classify the river pollution level in Taiwan, and principal component analysis-multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR) to identify the possible pollution source. Water quality and heavy metal monitoring data from Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) was evaluated for 14 rivers in the four regions of Taiwan. The Erren River was classified as the most polluted River in Taiwan. Biochemical oxygen demand, ammonia, and total phosphate concentration in this river were the highest of the 14 rivers evaluated. In addition, heavy metal levels of the following rivers exceeded the Taiwan EPA standard limit: lead - in the Dongshan, Jhuoshuei, and Xinhuwei Rivers; copper - in the Dahan, Laojie, and Erren Rivers; and manganese - in all rivers. Water pollution in the Erren River was estimated to originate 72% from industrial sources, 16% from domestic black water, and 12% from natural sources and runoff from other tributaries. Our research showed that PCA-MLR and the cluster analysis model accomplished our study objectives and will be helpful tools to evaluate water quality in rivers and we suggest that the continuous monitoring should be conducted to monitor water pollution from anthropogenic activities.

Soil water loss by evaporation influences the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of irrigation drainage water. Evaporation concentrates sodium and magnesium but calcite precipitation has a more complicated effect on soluble calcium and alkalinity. Here we propose a revised sodicity hazard assessment that quantifies the impact of evaporative water loss and calcite precipitation on drainage water SAR. This paper shows sodicity hazard is determined by the initial composition of irrigation water as originally suggested by previous researchers, and provide a simple, accurate way to identify the potential sodicity hazard of any irrigation water. In particular, the initial equivalent concentration of alkalinity and calcium determine the salinization pathway followed during evaporation. If the irrigation water alkalinity exceeds soluble calcium expressed as equivalent concentrations, drainage water SAR approaches an upper limit determined by the initial relative concentration of sodium and magnesium. If irrigation water alkalinity is less than soluble calcium, drainage water SAR approaches a lower limit determined by the initial calcium, magnesium and sodium. In both cases the SAR is scaled by the square root of the concentration factor √Fc quantifying soil water loss. To assess the impact of evaporation and calcite precipitation on the SAR and test the accuracy of the new sodicity hazard assessment, we evaluated data from previously published lysimeter studies. We plotted water composition boundaries for each source water, comparing these boundaries to the drainage water composition recorded in the lysimeter studies. As salinity increased by evaporation, each drainage water followed a distinct salinization path.

Water quality forecasting is increasingly significant for agricultural management and environmental protection. Enormous amounts of water quality data are increasingly being collected by advanced sensors, which leads to an interest in using data-driven models for predicting trends in water quality. However, the unpredictable background noises introduced during water quality monitoring seriously degrade the performance of those models. Meanwhile, artificial neural networks (ANN) with feed-forward architecture lack the capability of maintaining and utilizing the accumulated temporal information, which leads to biased predictions in processing time series data. Hence, we propose a water quality predictive model based on a combination of Kernal Principal Component Analysis (kPCA) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) to forecast the trend of dissolved oxygen. Water quality variables are reconstructed based on kPCA method, which aims to reduce the noise from the raw sensory data and preserve actionable information. With the RNN's recurrent connections, our model can make use of the previous information in predicting the trend in the future. Data collected from Burnett River, Australia was applied to evaluate our kPCA-RNN model. The kPCA-RNN model achieved R2 scores up to 0.908, 0.823 and 0.671 for predicting the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the upcoming 1, 2 and 3 hours, respectively. Compared to current data-driven methods like ANN and SVR, the predictive accuracy of the kPCA-RNN model was at least 8 %, 17 % and 21 % better than the comparative models in these 3 cases. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of the kPAC-RNN modeling technique in predicting water quality variables with noisy sensory data.

The accumulation of microplastics in the world oceans is one of the main global problems of the modern world. The Black Sea is the main source of seafood for people from several countries, including Bulgaria. The pollution of the Black sea is a result of various factors, especially anthropogenic. The present study demonstrated detailed MPs contamination of five fish species important for the commercial fishing (Garfish, Мullet, Knout goby, Pontic shad and Mediterranean horse mackerel) collected from the Sozopol area on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Within each microplastic morphological group, three size classes were recognized: 100-200 µm, 25-100 µm, and ≤ 25 µm. Microplastics were found in the soft tissues of all studied specimens but in a different ratio of pellets, fibers and fragments. Generally, the pellets were the most often registered particles, followed by irregularly-shaped fragments, whereas fibers were less numerous. The dominant part of the isolated plastics are made of polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Our results pointed out serious pollution with plastic particles in the Bulgarian Black Sea aquatory, which in the future may seriously affect the health of the fish population and also human health.

Capacitive contact imaging has shown potential in measuring skin properties including hydration, micro relief analysis, as well as solvent penetration measurements. Through calibration we can also measure the absolute permittivity of the skin, and from absolute permittivity we then work out the absolute solvent content in skin. In this paper, we present our latest study of capacitive contact imaging for skin characterizations and vivo skin solvent penetration. We will show how to use capacitive occlusion measurements to characterize skin damages, and how to calculate the absolute water content and solvent content in skin.

Pressure drop and flow pattern of oil-water flows were investigated in a 19 mm ID clear polyvinyl chloride pipe consisting of U-bend with radius of curvature of 100 mm. The range for oil and water superficial velocities tested were and respectively. Measurements were carried out under different flow conditions in a test section that consisted of four different parts: upstream of the bend, at the bend and at two redeveloping flow locations after the bend. The result indicated that the bend had limited influence on downstream flow patterns. However, the shear forces imposed by the bend caused some shift flow pattern transition and bubble characteristics in the redeveloping flow section after the bend relative to develop flow before the bend. Generally, pressure gradient at all the test sections increased with both oil fraction and water superficial velocity and there was a sharp change of pressure gradient profile during phase inversion. The transition point where phase inversion occurred was always within the range of . Pressure losses differed at the various test sections and the difference was strongly linked to the superficial velocity of the phases and the flow pattern. At high mixture velocity, pressure losses at the redeveloping section after the bend were higher than that at the bend and that for fully developed flows. At low mixture velocity, pressure losses at the bend are higher than in the straight sections. Pressure drop generally decreased with level of flow development downstream of the bend.

Cambodia is a predominantly agrarian society, with a majority of the population residing in rural areas and relying on agriculture for food and income. The primary sources of food for the Khmer society are rice and fish. However, the country faces vulnerabilities due to climate change, natural disasters, impacts of hydropower and infrastructure development, and land grabs, which disrupt food sources and the livelihoods of local communities. Since 2015, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has been actively promoting rice production for export, resulting in increased rice farming seasons and annual rice production. Despite these efforts, a significant portion of the population still experiences food insecurity. Therefore, this study aims to explore the reasons why food security issues persist despite the government program to increase rice production. The study involves a review of existing literature and an examination of food security in three provinces in the Cambodian Mekong Delta. It concludes that, on the one hand, the increased rice production has increased food availability, but access to and utilization of food have been challenged by indebtedness, increased cost of production and migration, and on the other hand, the rights to foods have been challenged by land crabs, water conflicts, and lack of sectoral integrations of food systems; and compounded by climate change and environmental degradation, which all contribute to food security.

In recent years, since flood disasters have brought immeasurable losses to the city, it is urgent to prevent and solve the flood of stagnant water. Considering the shortage of real-time and accuracy of hydrological analysis, Opencv technology is used in this paper to process the obtained data in real time. For improved Yolov5, BoTNet and GAMAttention Transformer are used to improve Yolov5 to enhance its ability of recognition and prediction to better identify surface gathered water. The prediction rate of the improved Yolov5 is 7.1% higher than that of Yolov7 and 1.7% higher than that of Yolov5.After that, contour preprocessing of the image is carried out through the cropping technology of the identification frame to eliminate relatively unstable factors. The principle of binocular distance measurement is used to measure the three-dimensional coordinates of the actual distance, better constrain the contour proportion of the picture, and then the Opencv technology is used to get the outline of the water, and HSV is combined with better color processing pictures for the identification of the water and contour generation, and the area is obtained to correspond to the corresponding parameters of flood to provide important help in flood prevention and storm drainage.

(1) Background: Water resources at Chia lagoon experience possible threat to its sustainability. Communities are seeking alternatives to improve water quality at the lagoon. The study evaluated the extent at which local communities are WTP to improve water quality at Chia lagoon and the influencing factors. (2) Methods: A study was conducted at Chia lagoon, Western Part of Lake Malawi from November, 2015 to March, 2016. Wide range of data collection approaches such as household surveys, exploratory surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and field observation were employed. A sample of 240 households were selected randomly. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors influence WTP. (3) Results: Out of 240 respondents, 57.4% expressed WTP. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated significant (P<0.01 or P<0.05) relationship between demographic (Gender, age, literacy level), social-economic (Land ownership, main agriculture water source and income) and institution (civic education and social network, extension, water user rights) factors and WTP. (4) Conclusion: The findings from this study provide significant clues for further research and baseline information for local government and local communities in development of more effective and holistic approaches to improve water quality.

Species data of 249 National Nature Reserves in China was used to identify potential underlying drivers of latitudinal gradients in plant diversity. We used generalized linear models (GLMs) to assess the correlations between predictor and response variables. We also used SAM (Spatial Analysis in Macroecology) to eliminate autocorrelation along each of the 249 studied locations. We used the Akaike information criterion (AICc; Montoya et al. 2007) to select the independent variables were those included in the best models from different combinations of climate, habitat and animal variables. Variance partitioning was used to decompose the variation in plant richness across different taxonomic levels among the three groups of predictors. We found that: Total plant species, gymnosperms, angiosperms and ferns showed significant latitudinal trends in richness (p < 0.001). Water-energy and habitat variables generally explained more variation in richness across different plant groups than did animal richness. Annual precipitation was selected as the best water-energy variable across different taxonomic plants groups, soil PH and elevation range were selected as the best habitat variables across different taxonomic plant groups. The independent effects of habitatvariables were higher than that of water-energy and animal variables across different taxonomic plants groups. Water-energy, habitat heterogeneity, and animal variables explain 48.8% of the variation in total species richness, 28.2% in gymnosperm richness, 44.2% in angiosperm richness, and 38.9% in fern richness.Plants showed significant latitudinal trends in richness (p < 0.001). Water-energy and habitat variables generally explained more variation in richness across different taxonomic plants groups than did animal variables. The independent effects of habitat variables were higher than those of water-energy and animal variables across different taxonomic plants groups.

Water stress (WS) and heat stress (HS) have a negative effect on soybean plant growth and crop productivity. During WS, soybean plants opt for survival through ion homeostasis and the conformations of proteins are disconcerted as plant cells lose water while HS leads to difficulties in flowering and fruiting. Some of these changes include oxidative stress leading to the destruction of photosynthetic apparatus, macromolecules within cells and the onset of complex signaling cascades. Changes in the physiological characteristics, proteome, and certain metabolites investigated on molecular and cellular functions were studied in two soybean cultivars exposed to different heat and water stress conditions independently and in combination. Leaf protein composition was studied using 2-DE and complemented with MALDI TOF mass spectrometry. While two cultivars displayed genetic variation in response to water and heat stress, thirty-nine proteins were significantly altered in their relative abundance in response to WS, HS and combined WS+HS in both cultivars; a majority of them involved in metabolism, response to heat and photosynthesis showing significant cross-tolerance mechanisms. Functional analysis revealing a majority of heat responsive-proteins were more abundant during HS and combined stress (WS+HS) whereas these proteins were low to WS in cultivar PI 471938 and heat shock proteins were in low abundance to water, heat and combined stresses in cultivar R95-1705. Most protein abundances were not correlated with their expression at mRNA levels in PI cultivar, however, in cultivar R 95, the expression levels of transcript follow their relative abundance in proteins. Our systems bioinformatics analyses revealed that MED37C, a probable mediator of RNA polymerase transcription II protein showed potential interacting partners in Arabidopsis and our studies signifies the marked impact of this protein in PI cultivar. Elevated activities in antioxidant enzymes indicate that the PI-371938 cultivar has the ability to restore the oxidation levels and sustain the plant during the stress. Our study hypothesizes the plant’s development of cross-stress tolerance which will help foster the ongoing ventures in genetic modifications in stress tolerance.

An attempt has been made to explore the relative contributions of moisture feedback processes on tropical intraseasonal oscillation or Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO). We focused on moisture feedback processes, including evaporation wind feedback (EWF) and moisture convergence feedback (MCF), which integrates the mechanisms of convective interactions in the tropical atmosphere. The dynamical framework considered here is a moisture-coupled, single-layer linear shallow-water model on an equatorial beta-plane with zonal momentum damping. With this simple approach, we aimed to recognize the minimal physical mechanisms responsible for the existence of the essential dispersive characteristics of the MJO, including its eastward propagation(k>0), the planetary-scale (small zonal wavenumbers) instability, and the slow phase speed of about ≈ 5 m/sec. Further, we extended our study to determine each feedback mechanism’s influence on the simulated eastward dispersive mode. Our model emphasized that the MJO-like eastward mode is a possible outcome of the combined effect of moisture feedback processes without requiring additional complex mechanisms such as cloud radiative feedback and boundary layer dynamics. The results substantiate the importance of EWF as an energy source for developing eastward moisture mode with a planter-scale instability. Moreover, our model endorses that the MCF alone could not produce instability without surface fluxes, although it has a significant role in developing deep convection. It is found that the MCF exhibits a damping mechanism by regulating the frequency and growth rate of the eastward moisture mode at shorter wavelengths.

Climate change is an issue that is the order of the day, and among the many consequences it has on the environment one is its influence on the amount and frequency of rainfall on our planet, since our water supply depends on them. Therefore, in order to quantify these effects, a rainfall analysis has been carried out using data collected in Bilbao over the last 150 years. Thanks to this, it has been possible to observe that, although the total annual amount seems to suffer a slight decrease, hardly quantifiable with certainty, it is true that the intra-annual patterns are more concentrated at certain times of the year, with greater imbalances between one month and another than in previous years. However, taking into account the capacity of the reservoirs that supply the Greater Bilbao area, it can be concluded that this does not pose any problem for Bilbao's supply, at least at present.

Drought stress on soybean is a research-demanding matter for negative influence that agricultural drought brings about. This study was designated to evaluate the effect of drought stress on some gene expression in flowering and pod elongation stages in soybean. This experiment was carried out in split-plot format with RCBD design with four replicates. Drought stress as the main factor included three levels (irrigation after 50, 100, and 150 millimeters evaporation from the A-class evaporation pot) of which 50 millimeters evaporation is considered as control. The sub-factor included a factorial combination of 3 varieties (DPX, Sari and WE6) and two sampling stages (flowering and pod elongation). The gene expression analysis was carried out by using the QRT-PCR technique. According to our results, all genes have shown overexpression in drought stress despite this result was not the same for all genotypes and stress levels. Some genes have up-regulated in mediate stress (treatment 100) level (like as Gmdreb 2, Gmdreb 5, GmRD20A, GmaxACD2) and other genes up-regulated in serve stress (treatment 150) level. Between genotypes, DPX cultivar and WE6 line were better than of the sari cultivar for all genes up-regulated.

This research focuses on monitoring the spatiotemporal changes of urban surface water in Dhaka City from 1990 to 2021, utilizing satellite imagery and the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Surface water is essential for urban, environmental, and agricultural ecosystems, and its dynamics have significant implications for water resource planning and environmental management. The main objectives of this study are to assess the extent of urban surface water coverage over the last three decades and identify trends of water loss or gain in the study area. The study employs Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS imagery, integrating GEE with machine learning coding and WRI techniques to extract and analyze surface water data efficiently. Traditional remote sensing methods for dynamic monitoring are time-consuming and cumbersome, but GEE offers a user-friendly and accurate approach, providing easy access to satellite data and cloud-based processing. The results reveal a concerning trend in urban surface water coverage, indicating a significant reduction from 36.23 km² in 1990 to 5.83 km² in 2021, representing a loss of approximately 20 square kilometers or 45 percent of surface water over the last three decades. The decline is attributed to factors such as unplanned urban expansion, rapid real estate development, and increased industrial and economic activities in the study area. The developed algorithms utilizing GEE offer valuable insights into the maximum and minimum extent of surface water, enabling effective surface water planning and management. These findings contribute to sustainable water resource management and environmental preservation in Dhaka City.

This paper presents a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of producing alternative phosphorus (P) fertilizers from recycled water treatment residuals (Fe-WTR) and cowshed effluents, under the umbrella of circular economy approach. Fe-WTR is compared to a synthetic adsorbent, layered double hydroxide (LDH). Dairy wastewater is used as a P source for both adsorbents. The cost of 1 ton P-Fe-WTR sums up to 329 Euro. In contrast, the use of synthetic adsorbents (P-LDH) incurs significantly higher costs, amounting to 3329 Euros per ton, underscoring the economic advantage of utilizing waste-derived materials. Adopting Fe-WTR fertilizer not only offers substantial cost savings by avoiding landfill fees (40-150 Euros per ton) and wastewater discharge fines (500 Euros per ton) but also reduces environmental impacts. This sustainable method mitigates eutrophication and pollution, presenting a dual benefit of cost-effectiveness and environmental protection. Although our results are based on a specific case study, they reflect the potential value of extending the circular economic approach to P production worldwide: Recycling P from waste streams can be economically viable and environmentally preferable at large, aligning with global sustainability goals and demonstrating the practicality of circular economy principles in environmental management.

The article reviews the constituent’s physico-chemical parameters in the water of the Mansagar Lake of the Jaipur City. The water quality is also investigated using evaluated physico-chemical parameters with in-depth study of their distribution as per sample location-wise and season-wise. A detailed discussion on the associationship among parameters (pH, Conductivity, turbidity, dissolved Oxygen, chemical and Biochemical Oxygen demand, etc.) using the Pearson’s analytical method is also presented. The strength of the article is the graphical presentation of evaluated physico-chemical parameters and the water quality indices for sample station-wise and the season-wise. To our best of understanding, first time such details have been clubbed together and discussion in brief for studied lake.

The two-phase flow of water and reactive gas in the channel of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) plays an important role in high-quality water management. In this study, the removal effect of 3D wave channel and 2D straight channel for liquid water was studied by volume of fluid method. The dynamic behavior of droplet emerge from the gas diffusion layer (GDL) into the channel under the influence of gas flow was investigated. The effects of droplet growth, deformation, detachment, force, pore size on water critical behavior and water content in the channel are discussed. The results show that the 3D wave channel is superior to the removal of liquid water than the 2D straight channel. The increase of velocity is conducive to the discharge liquid water. While infinite increase of velocity will cause more parasitic power loss. The larger pore size of GDL is not advantageous to the performance of PEMFC, but the appropriate increase of pore size is conducive to the discharge of liquid water. The basic knowledge obtained in this study will help to deepen the understanding of droplet dynamics in PEMFC gas channels, and help to optimize the design and working conditions of these channels.

Sediment thickness increases can cause floodplains and the water level increases. This has the potential to generate a flood. Using electromagnetic waves, Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) detected resistivity or conductivity contrast of lithology in the subsurface. It is measured in the time domain. TDEM method has been developing for decades. Here we tried to develop a 1-D forward modelling program for central loop configuration in the water environment using the Adaptive Born Forward Mapping (ABFM) method. We simulated this program in several water environment conditions (such as freshwater, brackish water and saline water) to know its response. Preventing natural hazards, especially flood hazards which are caused by the floodplain increases is our motivation in this research. Our simulation shows that Central-Loop Configuration Time-Domain Electromagnetic Method is able for imaging the sediment thickness clearly. The response of this method is extremely sensitive in saline water to depth changing than in other water environments.

This paper proposes a novel deterministic methodology for estimating the optimal sampling frequency (SF) of water quality monitoring systems. The proposed methodology is based on employing two-dimensional contaminant transport simulation models to determine the minimum SF considering all the potential changes in the boundary conditions of a water body. A two-dimensional contaminant transport simulation model (RMA4) was implemented to estimate the distribution patterns of the total dissolved solids (TDS) within the Al-Hammar Marsh in the southern part of Iraq for 30 cases of potential boundary conditions. Using geographical information system (GIS) tools, a spatiotemporal analysis approach was applied to the results of the RMA4 model to determine the minimum SF of the monitoring stations with an accuracy level of detectable change in TDS concentration (ALC) of 5%, 10% and 15%. The proposed methodology specified a minimum and maximum SF for each monitoring station (MS) that ranged between 12 and 33 times per year, respectively. Additionally, increasing the ALC to 10% and 15% increase the minimum SF for some MSs by approximately 18% and 21%, respectively. However, the proposed methodology includes all the potential values and cases of boundary conditions, which increases the certainty of monitoring the system and the efficiency of the SF schedule. Moreover, the proposed methodology can be effectively applied to all types of surface water resources.

One-step reactive melt processing (REx) via radical reaction was evaluated with the aim of improving the rheological properties of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). In particular, a water-assisted REx was designed under the hypothesis of increasing crosslinking efficiency with water as a low viscous medium in comparison with a slower PCL macroradicals diffusion in the melt state. To assess the effect of dry vs. water-assisted REx on PCL, its structural, thermo-mechanical and rheological properties were investigated. Water-assisted REx resulted in increased PCL gel fraction compared to dry REx (from 1 to 34 %), proving the rationale under the formulated hypothesis. From dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile tests, the crosslink did not significantly affect the PCL mechanical performance. Dynamic rheological measurements showed that higher PCL viscosity was reached with increasing branching/crosslinking and the typical PCL Newtonian behavior was shifting towards a progressively more pronounced shear thinning. A complete transition from viscous- to solid-like PCL melt behavior was recorded, demonstrating that higher melt elasticity can be obtained as a function of gel content by controlled REx. Improvement in rheological properties offers the possibility of broadening PCL melt processability without hindering its recycling by melt processing.

Governments all over the world are currently grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. While some countries were very hard hit, others were only mildly hit but all are still taking measures to mitigate the consequences. The virus emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and spread to most continents by the beginning of March 2020, which led to the World Health Organization declaring it as a pandemic on the 11^th of March 2020. Since it was a novel disease, there was limited information on the virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) belongs to the same family as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Researchers all over the world started working simultaneously to understand the virus to provide the necessary treatment regime or vaccine in order to reduce the impact of the virus on its victims. Africa and other developing countries with limited resources and poor planning and management are expected to be among the worst hit in the long run. The implications of the COVID-19 on food, water, hygiene, sanitation, and the environment in Africa have been reviewed in this paper, as well as possible implications they may pose to the population, based on the existing common practices and their immediate impacts. This information can assist policymakers in Africa to adequately plan the management of the COVID-19 in order to lessen its impact on the population.

In this study, we considered the structural stability, electronic properties, and phonon dispersion of the cubic (c-ZrO₂), tetragonal (t-ZrO₂), and monoclinic (m-ZrO₂) phases of ZrO₂. We found that the monoclinic phase of zirconium dioxide is the most stable among the three phases in terms of total energy, lowest enthalpy, highest entropy, and other thermodynamic properties. The smallest negative modes were found for m-ZrO₂. Our analysis of the electronic properties showed that during the m–t phase transformation of ZrO₂, the Fermi level first shifts by 0.125 eV toward higher energies and then decreases by 0.08 eV in the t–c cross-section. The band gaps for c-ZrO₂, t-ZrO₂, and m-ZrO₂ are 5.140 eV, 5.898 eV, and 5.288 eV, respectively. Calculations based on the analysis of the influence of doping 3.23, 6.67, 10.35, and 16.15 mol. %Y₂O₃ onto the m-ZrO₂ structure showed that the enthalpy of m-YSZ decreases linearly, which accompanies further stabilization of monoclinic ZrO₂ and an increase in its defectiveness. The doping-induced and concentration-dependent phase transition of zirconium dioxide under the influence of yttrium oxide was studied, after which the position of the Fermi level changes and the energy gap decreases. It has been established that, not only for pure systems but including those doped with Y₂O₃, the main contribution to the formation of the conduction band is made by the p-states of electrons. The t-ZrO₂ (101) and t-YSZ (101) surface models were selected as optimal surfaces for water adsorption based on a comparison of their surface energies. An analysis of the mechanism of water adsorption on the surface of t-ZrO₂ (101) and t-YSZ (101) showed that H₂O on unstabilized t-ZrO₂ (101) is adsorbed dissociatively with an energy of -1.22 eV, as well as by the method of molecular chemisorption with an energy of -0.69 eV and the formation of a hydrogen bond with a bond length of 1.01 Å. In the case of t-YSZ (101), water is molecularly adsorbed onto the surface with an energy of -1.84 eV. Dissociative adsorption of water occurs at an energy of -1.23 eV, near the yttrium atom. The calculations showed that ab initio research methods are capable of describing the mechanism of phase transitions of materials under the influence of alloying. That is, by optimizing the parameters of DFT calculations, it is possible to observe the effects of doping on other physical and chemical properties of materials, which are still beyond the scope of quantum chemical modeling. The obtained results complement the database of research works carried out in the field of the application of biocompatible zirconium dioxide crystals and ceramics in green energy generation and can be used in designing humidity-to-electricity converters and creating solid oxide fuel cells based on ZrO₂.

The current design of irrigation and fertilization systems often depends on a single index, leading to irrational systems due to the lack of a comprehensive multi-index evaluation. The aim of this study is to optimize the irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer application levels of spring maize using the TOPSIS method, in order to achieve a balance between growth characteristics, yield, water use efficiency, and soil nitrogen content. In the typical semi-arid region of Northeast China, through precise control experiments from 2022 to 2023, we adopted a two factor quadratic saturation D-optimal design method to study the effects of different irrigation amounts (145.40, 271.70, 348.20, 436.20 mm) and nitrogen fertilizer application amounts (34.80, 185.90, 277.40, 382.80 kg·hm-2) on spring maize. Results indicate that increasing both irrigation and nitrogen application rates can enhance dry matter accumulation by 15.17% to 32.70%. The impact of irrigation and fertilization on the net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of spring maize was found to be greater for irrigation amount than nitrogen application, particularly at 9:00 am and 13:00 pm, and slightly less so at 11:00 am and 15:00 pm. Concurrently, there was a significant increase in total nitrogen (TN1 by 20.85% for 0-20 cm soil layer, TN2 by 33.33% for 20-40 cm soil layer) and alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen (AHN1 by 14.65% for 0-20 cm, AHN2 by 28.86% for 20-40 cm). Yields improved by 12.02% to 44.09%, and water use efficiency (WUE) saw an increase ranging from 20.08% to 140.07%. The optimal water and fertilizer management mode for spring maize SBDI (shallow buried drip irrigation) in semi-arid areas was determined through comprehensive analysis using TOPSIS entropy weight method. When the irrigation amount is 436.20 mm and the nitrogen fertilizer application amount is 277.40 kg·hm-2, it can significantly promote the accumulation of dry matter, yield, water use efficiency, photosynthetic characteristics, and soil nitrogen content of spring maize. This study provides a theoretical basis for the practical application of SBDI water fertilizer coupling technology for spring maize.

Sri Lanka's vulnerability to climate change-induced natural disasters, particularly floods, under-scores the urgent need for an integrated approach to disaster risk management (DRM) that ad-dresses the interconnected challenges within the water-food-land-energy nexus. The Deduru Oya basin, located in the north-western region, exemplifies this vulnerability, with its predominantly intermediate climatic zone susceptible to flooding. While the focus has traditionally been on flood risk reduction, it is imperative to recognize the broader implications of floods on water, food, land, and energy systems. This study aims to strengthen data acquisition and management efforts to better understand rainfall trends and their impact on the water-food-land-energy nexus in the Deduru Oya basin. By compiling 60 years of rainfall data and conducting time series analysis, we observed a decreasing trend in monthly rainfall, particularly during the South-West Monsoon, Second Inter Monsoon, and North-East Monsoon seasons. These findings have significant implica-tions for water availability, agricultural productivity, land use patterns, and energy generation in the basin. Moreover, the malfunction of stakeholders' responsibilities for local-level flood risk management exacerbates the challenges faced by communities living in flood-prone areas. By in-tegrating insights from this study into flood risk management strategies, stakeholders can develop holistic approaches that not only mitigate flood risk but also enhance resilience across the water-food-land-energy nexus. This interdisciplinary approach will inform policymakers, flood manag-ers, practitioners, and the community in formulating effective strategies to address the multifacet-ed challenges posed by floods in the Deduru Oya basin and beyond.

In this article, we present the use of the coupled land surface model and groundwater flow model SWAT-MODFLOW with the decision support tool WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning software) to predict future surface water abstraction scenarios in a complex river basin, under conditions of climate change. The modeling framework is applied to the Dee River catchment in Wales, United Kingdom. Regarding hydrology, the coupled model improves overall water balance and low streamflow conditions, compared to a stand-alone SWAT model. The calibrated SWAT-MODFLOW is employed with high resolution climate model data from the UKCP18 project with future scenario of RCP85 from 2020 to 2040. Then, water supply results from SWAT-MODFLOW are fed into WEAP as input for the river reach in the downstream region of the river basin. This system is utilized to create various future scenarios of surface water abstraction of public water supply in the downstream region: maximum licensed withdraw, 50 % authorized abstractions, monthly time series with 1% increase of water use, and maximum water withdraw year based on historical records repeated every year with 1% increase of water use, to estimate the unmet demands and streamflow requirement. This modeling approach can be used in other river basins to manage scenarios of supply and demand.

Aero submarines (aerosubs) are vehicles that can both fly both in air and travel under water. The concept of dual aerial and aquatic vehicles emerged in 1939 when Russian engineer Boris Ushakov proposed the “flying submarine”[1], and this was followed by further developments including RFS1 [2], convair project in 1964[3] , etc. however, to date, limited attempt has been diverted towards the advanced development of such aircraft. This is heavily influenced by challenges associated with the design and operation of the same. Based on the review of literature the authors aim to introduce a theoretical design for an aerosub (QFS-20) with a view to address the design and operation issues including power, entry to and exit from water.

Urban rivers and waterfronts play a vital role in the ecological, social, and economic fabric of cities, providing not only aesthetic value but also serving as important ecosystems that contribute to the overall well-being of urban environments. However, many urban rivers, including the Beirut River in Lebanon, face challenges such as pollution, neglect, and the loss of recreational and ecological value due to urbanization and industrialization. According to the Lebanese MOE (Ministry of Environment), almost 70% of Lebanese rivers are polluted due to untreated waste management systems and which leads to undrinkable water and possible flooding disasters if not treated. This study addresses the problem of abandoned and degraded spaces along the Beirut River riverside through the application of urban acupuncture, a strategic approach that targets specific points in the urban environment to stimulate positive change and regeneration. The aim of the study is to assess the effectiveness of implementing small-scale ‘sensitive urban points’ known as urban acupuncture as the method for regenerating the Beirut River riverside, with the hypothesis that targeted interventions through Blue Urban Acupuncture or Aqua-puncture- can lead to significant improvements in the ecological, social, and economic aspects of the area that re-connect the people of Beirut with its river. The methodology involves a multidisciplinary approach that integrates urban design, and community engagement, and analysing similar examples of different approaches through creating a comparative table. Data collection includes environmental assessments of water quality, biodiversity, and ecosystem health, as well as social surveys to understand community needs and perceptions. By applying urban acupuncture principles to the Beirut River riverside, this study seeks to demonstrate how strategic interventions can lead to the regeneration of abandoned spaces, improve the overall quality of the urban environment, and create sustainable and inclusive riverside landscapes that benefit both the environment and the community.

Metocean data of a certain region can assist in determining the design criteria of offshore or nearshore infrastructures which can prevent structural failure and even overdesigning. The common method of using met ocean data to forecast the wave and climatic conditions of a coastal region is by utilizing the hindcast approach. In collaboration with a project that plans to design a nearshore structure for seaweed cultivation, this study focuses on the collection and analysis of met ocean data of potential sites in Malaysia to prevent under-designing and over-designing of the structure. The study and analysis of met ocean data are essential in predicting future environmental conditions. The study investigates the met ocean environment for the spatial design and monitoring of a seaweed aquaculture farm at the following potential sites; Western Coast near Langsuir Cave, Pulau Langkawi, Eastern Coast near Bachok, Kelantan, Eastern Coast near Setiu Wetland or River, Terengganu, Western Coast near Bidong Island, Terengganu.

The Cantareira Water Producer System (CWPS), which supplies water to the most populous Brazilian region, Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP), faces significant challenges due to climate change, threatening its water security. Climate change affects the hydrological cycle affecting water availability. The CWPS is vulnerable to periods of scarcity and instability due to increased climatic variability and increasing water consumption. Current water resource management systems do not consider the impacts of climate change, making it difficult to ensure water security in the future. This study analyzes the impact of climate change on the availability of CWPS using hydrological modeling approach with forecast precipitation data by CMIP6 and assessment of existing systems. The finds will provide a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by CWPS in the context of climate change, as well as support strategies and adaptive measures to ensure water security for MRSP.

There are abundant coal, oil and natural gas resources in "Golden Triangle" energy region. Energy resources development, coal chemical industry, coal power and other industries play an important role in promoting regional economic growth, but facing the insufficient water supply. Under the condition of marginal equilibrium of water resources, the paper firstly analyzes the water utilization, and calculates the potential water-saving amount. Then, the paper constructs a cooperative game model and allocates the newly increased GDP by using the weight distribution method. Finally, the paper puts forward some policy suggestions to reduce the efficiency gap of water utilization among regions.

In recent years, various optical measurement technologies such as far-infrared spectroscopy, low-frequency Raman spectroscopy, optical Kerr effect spectroscopy, and two-dimensional Raman-terahertz spectroscopy have developed vigorously. By comparing the complementary aspects detected by various linear and nonlinear spectroscopic techniques, a coherent picture emerges from studies of dynamics in water. Numerous molecular dynamics experiments and theoretical investigations have demonstrated low-frequency molecular motions in liquid water. For example, intermolecular hydrogen bond vibration, molecular reorientation motion, and the interaction between molecule/ionic solute and hydrogen bond all occur in the THz region, which are closely related to their physical/chemical properties and structural dynamics. However, precise probing of various modes of motion is difficult due to the complexity of the collective and cooperative motion of molecules and the spectral overlap of related modes. With the development of THz optical technology, current state-of-the-art THz sources can generate pulsed electric fields with peak intensities on the order of ~MV/cm. Such strong fields make it possible to use THz waves as the driving light source for nonlinear polarization of the medium, which in turn leads to the development of the emerging terahertz Kerr effect (TKE) spectroscopy technique. Many low-frequency molecular motion modes, such as the collective directional motion of molecules and the cooperative motion under the constraint of weak intermolecular interactions, are resonantly excited to unprecedentedly strong amplitudes driven by the THz electric field. Thereby the collected responses are increased. The TKE technique thus creates an interesting prospect for investigating low-frequency dynamics in these media. In view of this, this paper firstly summarizes the research work on the measurement mechanism of TKE spectroscopy by taking the solid material without low-frequency molecular dynamics process as an example. Starting from the principle of TKE technology and the exploration of the properties of solid matter using this technology, its application in the exploration of low-frequency molecular dynamics of liquid water and aqueous solutions is introduced. Liquid water is considered the building block of life and possesses many extraordinary physical and biochemical properties. Its hydrogen bonding network plays a crucial role in these properties. It is generally believed that the ability of water to form complex hydrogen-bonding networks is the main reason for its various kinetic and thermodynamic properties that are different from other liquids. However, the exact structure of the hydrogen-bonding network, the spatial extent of its existence, and the associated timescale are not known. And the relevant spectral information of the basic properties of the reaction water is still not known. Therefore, it is of great significance to evaluate the hydrogen bond-related kinetic properties of liquid water by optical means.

Wild rocket plants were cultivated in a plastic greenhouse into two independent sectors, one for soil-bound (SbS) cultivation and another equipped for soilless (ScS) cultivation systems. In both SbS and ScS, the crop was subjected to treatments consisting in a high-compared to a low-input fertilization program (HF and LF treatment, respectively). Water use efficiency (WUE) and partial factor productivity (PFP) for nutrients (N, P, K, Ca and Mg for ScS, and N for SbS) were measured. Rocket leaves, separated for cultivation system and fertilization program, collected at different cuts during the growing cycle, were cold stored at 10 °C until 16 d. At each sampling day (at harvest and during the storage), sensory parameters, respiration rate, dry matter, colour, electrolyte leakage, antioxidant activity, total phenols, total chlorophyll and ammonia content were evaluated. In ScS, the PFP for all nutrients supplied as fertilizers showed a significant increase with the LF treatment, with values higher than 30 % for N, K and Ca. As for the postharvest performance, rocket leaves cultivated in ScS showed better qualitative traits than those cultivated in SbS, as suggested by the lower values of ammonia content and electrolyte leakage recorded at the end of storage in samples grown in ScS. Moreover, in ScS, data showed a lower membrane damage in LF than HF rocket leaves. Finally, regarding total chlorophyll content, even if no effect of treatments was recorded in SbS, rocket cultivated in ScS, showed a better retention of this parameter applying LF than HF treatment. In addition to this, a PLS model (R2 = 0.7) able to predict the cultivation system, using as variables total chlorophyll content no-destructively measured, was implemented.

We first explore negative-ion formation in fullerenes C44, C60, C70, C98, C112, C120, C132 and C136 through low-energy electron elastic scattering total cross sections calculations using our Regge-pole methodology. Water oxidation to peroxide and water synthesis from H₂ and O₂ are then investigated using the anionic catalysts C44ˉ to C136ˉ. The fundamental mechanism underlying negative-ion catalysis involves hydrogen bond strength-weakening in the transition state. DFT transition state calculations found C60ˉ numerically stable for both water and peroxide synthesis, C100ˉ increases the energy barrier the most and C136ˉ the most effective catalyst in both water synthesis and oxidation to H2O2.

This study was investigate the possible hydrological impact of climate change in stream flow of Arba River based on the downscaled precipitation and temperature data at West Harerghe Zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. The case study, Arba River is one of the tributaries of Awash River Basin and the catchment of the river at Bordode flow gauging station covers around 72 square kilometers. Dynamically downscaled Regional Climate Model (RCM) HIRHAM derived by ICHEC-EC-EARTH global climate model under two scenarios RCP 4.5 and 8.5 was used in this study. The future time periods are divided into two time horizons with equal length of time as the base line period 2021–2050 and 2051–2080. For both projected periods relatively the minimum average monthly percentage change in precipitation will be happened from May to October under RCP4.5 except August and from March to October under RCP8.5. The variation under RCP4.5 is relatively high when compared to RCP8.5. The average monthly per-centage of flow increment may vary from (7.6 to 81.8) for 2021-2050 and (22.3 to 107.8) for 2051-2080 under RCP4.5. Under RCP8.5 scenario, from July to January except the December for 2021-2050, simulated flow is expected to increase while from February to June decreases for both time horizons. Generally, the change of simulated flow under both scenarios and both near and far time period is follows the pattern of precipitation. However, the flow change will have less variation than the precipitation change.

In this paper, applicability of the modified water-based yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) suspensions, including different dispersants, to produce plasma sprayed coatings with “columnar microstructure” is investigated. The effects of processing parameters like suspension liquid phase ethanol content, change of substrate roughness, and spray distance on the resulting coatings morphologies are investigated. The results showed that increasing ethanol concentration, substrate surface roughness, and the spray distance promote formation of coatings with columnar structure. Moreover, application of modified water-based suspensions including α-Terpineol dispersant has led to deposition of columnar coatings with comparable morphologies of coatings deposited from ethanol-based suspensions.

Results are presented concerning the influence on the water splitting process of enantiopure tartaric acid present in bulk solution. Stainless steel and electrodeposited nickel are used as working electrode (WE) surface. The latter is obtained by electrodeposition on the two poles of a magnet. The influence and role played by the chiral compound in solution has been assessed by comparing the current values, in cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments, recorded in the potential range at which oxygen evolution reaction (OER) occurs. In the case of tartaric acid and nickel WE a spin polarization of about 4 % is found. The use of the chiral environment (bulk solution) and ferromagnetic chiral Ni electrode allows for observing the OER at a more favourable potential: about 50 mV (i.e. a cathodic, less positive, shift of the potential at which the oxygen evolution is observed).

Among other fossil fuels, natural gas is a major energy source. It is generally created saturated with water vapor. Dehydration of natural gas is vital in the gas business to remove water vapor from the gas supply, which may cause hydrate development in pipes. Gas dehydration employs Tri ethylene glycol (TEG) to remove water vapor from natural gas flow. The wet gas is dehydrated with lean glycol in an absorber, and the rich glycol is recovered and reused. This work investigates the use of dry natural gas instead of nitrogen in the glycol dehydration re-generator, and compares the results using HYSYS modeling and simulation. The two techniques were compared for capital and utility expenses, while maintaining the identical glycol purity criteria. The wet gas from the stripping mechanisms may also be utilized to run steam pumps and compressors or recycled. The model is based on the real mechanism flow diagram. Finally, the findings of this model might be used to design a new heat and material balance for the plant.

Due to increasing concerns about global warming and energy crisis, intensive efforts have been made to explore renewable and clean energy sources. Single-atom metals and two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have attracted extensive attention in the fields of energy and environment because of their unique electronic structures and excellent properties. In this review, we sum-marize the state-of-art progress on the single-atom metal supported at 2D MoS2 (single-atom metal/2D MoS2) for electrochemical CO2 reduction and water splitting. First, we introduce the advantages of single-atom metal/2D MoS2 catalysts in the fields of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction and water splitting, followed by the strategies for improving electrocatalytic performances of single-atom metal/2D MoS2 hybrid nanomaterials and the typical preparation methods. Further, we discuss the important applications of the nanocomposites in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction and water splitting via some typical examples, particularly focusing on their synthesis routes, modification approaches, and physiochemical mechanisms for improving their electrocatalytic performances. Finally, our perspectives on the key challenges and future directions of exploring high-performance metal single-atom catalysts are presented based on recent achievements in the development of single-atom metal/2D MoS2 hybrid nanomaterials.

Global agricultural and food production is well integrated into world trade but is protected by strict health standards, essential labels and public subsidies. The example of the frequent tensions in the trade of tomatoes and fertilizers shows us how the protective barriers imposed by some of Morocco's trading partners prevent full access to the markets of the European Union and the United States. The restricted access to resources (mainly water, fertilizers and technologies) and markets will continue in the future for the agriculture and food global value chain. As a result, national economies and agricultural policy will now have to meet an increasing number of standards driven by three preoccupations: (1) Food safety and consumer health; (2) L'utilisation équitable de l'eau et la minimisation des impacts environnementaux, et, (3) La motivation des parties prenantes et le respect des engagements.

Drinking water contamination of lead from various environmental sources, leaching consumer products and intrinsic water-pipe infrastructure is still today a matter of great concern. Therefore, new highly sensitive and convenient Pb²⁺ measurement schemes are necessary, especially for in-situ measurements at a low-cost. Within this work dye/ionophore/Pb²⁺ co-extraction and effective water phase de-colorization was utilized for highly sensitive lead measurements and sub-ppb naked-eye detection. A low-cost ionophore Benzo-18-Crown-6-ether was used, and a simple test-tube mix and separate procedure was developed. Instrumental detection limits were in the low ppt region (LOD=3, LOQ=10), and naked-eye detection was 500 ppt. Note, however, that this sensing scheme still has improvement potential as concentrations of fluorophore and ionophore were not optimized. Artificial tap-water samples, leached by a standardized method, demonstrated drinking water application. Implications for this method are convenient in-situ lead ion measurements.

It is shown that structuring at the microlevel is the intrinsic property of water and aqueous solutions. At room conditions water (including "ultrapure" one) and aqueous solutions are dispersed systems in which microcrystals of NaCl, surrounded by a layer of hydrated water (average diameter - 10-15 microns), are "elementary microparticles", which form the basis of the dispersed phase. Possible ways of formation of these microparticles and their evolution in the process of evaporation of unstructured part of water - dispersion medium - are considered. It is shown, in particular, that they are present in the air as aerosol contaminants. When the ionic strength of the solution increases, the water-salt particles coagulate, forming a new phase - coacervates, remaining on the substrate after evaporation of the liquid part of the water. The aggregates of coacervate structures, formed in a liquid medium, are disordered during heating, which can cause a change in a number of physicochemical properties of water at the temperatures of 50°-60°C range that have not been correctly explained in the framework of atomic-molecular concepts.

For some decades, the scientific community has been looking for alternatives to the use of fossil fuels that allow the planet's sustainable and environmentally friendly development. To do this, attempts have been made to mimic some processes that occur in nature, among which the photosystem-II stands out, which allows water splitting operating with different steps to generate oxygen and hydrogen. This research presents promising results using synthetic catalysts, which try to simulate some natural processes, and which are based on Au@ZnO-graphene compounds. These catalysts were prepared by incorporating different amounts of gold nanoparticles (1 wt.%, 3 wt.%, 5 wt.%, 10 wt.%) and graphene (1 wt.%) on the surface of synthesized zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs), and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), along with a commercial form (commercial ZnO) for comparison purposes. The highest amount of hydrogen (1,127 µmol/hg) was reported by ZnO NWs with a gold and graphene loadings of 10 wt.% and 1 wt.%, respectively, under irradiation at 400 nm. Quantities of 759 µmol / hg and 709 µmol / hg were obtained with catalysts based on ZnO NPs and commercial ZnO, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of all composites increased with respect to the bare semiconductors, being 2.5 times higher in ZnO NWs, 8.8 times for ZnO NPs and 7.5 times for commercial ZnO. The high photocatalytic activity of the catalysts is attributed, mainly, to the synergism between the different amount of gold and graphene incorporated, and the surface area of the composites.

Videogames have become educational, communicative and social tools among the youngest, favouring the acquisition of skills, abilities and values, encompassing an endless number of themes, and help to experience and to face, in the first person, a great diversity of environmental situations and ecology problems. Thus, the present article aims: a) the evaluation of a sample of 20 educational videogames about water, making use of some empirical criteria of quality; and b) the design, validation and application of an integrate quality indicator of educational videogames on water, based on the aspects of narrative, gameplay and didactics to that sample, which allows us to obtain a ranking. The findings reflect a ranking of games allows to suggest that the nature of the game (simulation, adventures, platforms or questions) does not determine the quality of the game, although generally simulations and adventure games are placed in a range of medium or high quality, as well as those games that pursue objectives related to the design and management of a territory in a sustainable way. The paper provides teachers with quality criteria based on narrative and gameplay that complement and enriches the pedagogical dimension.

The water quality index (WQI) and irrigational index for groundwater were studied in the northeastern section of the Manipur Valley in northeast India. Water samples were collected in 2022 during the pre-monsoon season. To compute the water quality index for drinking water, the basic chemical parameters of total hardness, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, Ca2+, Na+, Fe, Mg2+, Mn, Cl-, and HCO3, were used. The assessment of bacteriological quality is also done, which is crucial for overall water quality evaluation, alongside physical and chemical analyze. For determining irrigation suitability, irrigational indices such as sodium absorption ratio, sodium percentage, and magnesium hazard were calculated. WQI, %Na+, SAR, magnesium hazard, permeability Index and total hardness indicate that most water samples are harmless for irrigation and drinking purpose. They have affirmative relationships indicating that these characteristics are interdependent. Approximately 25% of the Piedmont zone groundwater is found to be unfit for agricultural and drinking usage. The encrustation of gypsum, halite, and evaporation into the Disang shares accelerate the dissolution of ions in Piedmont water, resulting in quality degradation. According to Gibbs plots, Durov Scatter Plot, and Hill Piper Trilinear Diagram of water dominated the rock-weathering process, while hydro chemical facies progressed from the beginning to the intermediate stage of Chadha's graphical representation illustrates the progression of hydro chemical processes in surface water. Therefore, proper integrated water resource management and development are required for effective water resource utilization, particularly around the Piedmont zone. To prevent a water crisis, groundwater resources must be managed sustainably. The current study also concentrated on a bibliometric examination of groundwater management and access to gauge the state of the field.

The paper presents the main experimental capabilities of the automatic system for the study of the interaction between porous media and atmosphere. This system is one of the possible variants of patent 2-241-477. The paper shows the result of a drying and wetting study of a tailings sample. The sample is 32 cm in height and 29 cm in diameter. The saturation and drying process was carried out at 26 degrees Celsius at the sample surface, an air velocity of 2 m/s and a relative humidity of 60%. The recharge applied to the column surface was 0.3 cm3/cm2/minute. The results show the effectiveness of the system in controlling the spatial-temporal variation of different physical properties of the porous medium in the vertical and surface profile. The controlled variables include volumetric water content, suction, relative humidity, sample weight variation due to recharge or drying, shrinkage, temperature, etc. The experiment shows how the tailings saturate very quickly but dry very slowly. Tailings consolidation occurs in the drying and wetting processes, being higher in the first one.

Water plays a vital role in the healthy growth of pears. Early detection of water stress can play a significant role in the timely management of water deficiency for pear yield. Most current methods are labour-intensive, time-consuming, only provide point measurements, and could be destructive. In this research, a real-time non-destructive method using a push-broom hyperspectral system (400-1000nm) was used to collect hyperspectral image data and detect the water stress of the pear seedling leaves. To build a reliable prediction model, machine learning techniques were used. The Successive Projections Algorithm (SPA) was applied for optimal wavelength selection. In particular, CNN was applied to obtain the features of key wavelengths. Both the CNN features and key wavelengths were put into RR-MLR, BLR and ENN for analysis. The training accuracy of the three modellings all reach the accuracy above 70% after about 100 epochs, while combination of CNN features outperformed the mere main spectra analysis. This research demonstrated that hyperspectral imaging coupled with machine learning techniques could be applied to predict the water content of pear leaves predict non-destructively.

Free-Living Amoebae (FLA) are widely distributed protozoa in both nature and artificial environments such as drinking water. Besides the ability of all FLA to transport various pathogenic microorganisms, certain species, Acanthamoeba spp. or Balamuthia mandrillaris, have intrinsic pathogenic abilities and cause severe cerebral infections. Previous work has shown an enrichment of FLA cysts in biofilm developed in upper levels of Drinking Water Storage Towers (DWST), suggesting that differences in densities of FLA cysts may play a role in their unequal distribution in the water column. To evaluate this hypothesis, a model of a water column was created for this study and used to analyze the vertical distribution of cysts of the FLA Acanthamoeba castellanii, Vermamoeba vermiformis and Balamuthia mandrillaris from 0 to 23 weeks. Interestingly, our data showed that the cysts of both A. castellanii and V. vermiformis were enriched in upper water levels during their aging. However, B. mandrillaris cysts were equally distributed in the water column during the entire study. These results showed that, besides the role of the water level variation in the DWST, some FLA cysts can become less dense during their aging, which contributes to their enrichment in upper water, and thus biofilm levels.

This paper presents a parametric study of the multistorey hydro-powered pump, known as "Bunyip," which has demonstrated significant potential in contributing to rural regions. The study aims to understand the underlying physics of the system and enhance its hydraulic performance. A transient three-dimensional model using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool Ansys-Fluent is utilized to gain insights into the fundamental flow mechanics, operational efficiency, standard capacity, and relative delivery. The investigation involves an initial assessment of performance for three Bunyip devices based on manufacturing data. Parametric analysis is conducted, and a parametric dataset is generated through meticulous application and numerical modelling. The CFD results are validated against experimental data. Three design configurations are considered, and 58 sets of varied input parameters are examined. The best design configuration is evaluated against five cases of conventional hydro-power pump systems. The results indicate that a smaller diameter of the pressure chamber and a higher supply head lead to higher pressure, achieving a target head of 3 m with 15% efficiency and a flowrate of 11.82 l/min.

Groundwater use for domestic and agricultural purposes is every day in rural communities. However, groundwater quality in those communities is still being determined due to the lack of water quality monitoring programs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate groundwater quality in rural communities using physiochemical parameters. Eight communities using communal boreholes were selected. Water samples were analysed for temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite as Nitrogen. The pH means ranged from 6.6 to 8.1, whereas high TDS levels of 1390 mg/L and 1470 mg/L were observed in two boreholes. Three boreholes had higher electrical conductivity. Two boreholes had elevated nitrate levels of 15 and 21.5 mg/L. The high nitrate level correlates with the pH, EC, and TDS values. Our results suggest that high nitrate levels measured in communities’ boreholes pose ill health to the community, especially children, infants, and elders. Prenatal exposure to high nitrate has been found to have acute health effects in infants. Therefore, there is a need for further longitudinal studies on health risks among vulnerable groups in these communities.

Management of Australia’s largest river system, the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) is controversial, addressing conflicting demands from stakeholders, including irrigators, the agriculture industry, indigenous groups, and the environmental lobby. Oversight is concentrated in a single agency, the MDB Authority, but climate change and the water market have contributed to uncertainty over the Basin’s environmental sustainability. This paper reports on preliminary research in South Australia’s Riverland, one of Australia’s most important wine, citrus, nuts, and stone fruit production areas. It focuses on the Renmark Irrigation Trust (RIT), supplying water to irrigators, primarily horticulturalists. It investigates the chief risks perceived and future-plans in face of concerns over variable water flows and economic uncertainty. Using sequential mixed methods, a questionnaire survey supplied information from a sample of irrigators, covering land use, on-farm environmental actions, risks, decision making, recent and proposed changes to farm management, and attitudes to the MDB Plan and the water market. Focus groups and interviews then enabled key topics to be addressed in greater depth. The RIT’s contribution to river restoration is highlighted, with its plans for additional on-farm water stewardship investigated. There are high levels of uncertainty regarding future viability of smallholdings, including unintended consequences from the water market (e.g., increasing areas under water hungry almonds), the role of water brokers, and environmental viability of the river system linked to climate change. More optimistic voices point to increased diversity of production, resilience of the local horticultural industry, and new entrants in the form of hobby and part-time producers.

This paper presents an investigation of the oxidation of Alloy X-750 containing 5% Fe in a simulated boiling water reactor (BWR) environment. To mimic the conditions in which the bare metal is exposed to the reactor water the samples were not pre-oxidized. The specimens were exposed for durations ranging from 2 to 840 hours, and the development of the oxide microstructure was mainly studied using electron microscopy. The results showed that the oxide scale consisted of blocky crystals of trevorite on top of a porous inner layer rich in Ni and Cr. After the longest exposure time, the trevorite crystals completely covered the specimen surface. The study further revealed that the speed at which the oxide grew and the metal dissolved both decreased with time. Additionally, the metal thinning process was found to be sub-parabolic. Given the significant variation in iron content in the X-750 specification, the influence of this element on the material's corrosion performance in BWR was examined by comparing the results from this investigation with those from previous work on material containing 8 wt% Fe. The study demonstrated that the oxide growth, metal dissolution and metal thinning were slower in the material with higher Fe content, indicating the importance of this element in limiting the degradation of Alloy X-750 in BWR environments.

Speleothems have proven to be one of the most reliable terrestrial archives for palaeoclimate research. However, due to the complexity of karst systems, long-term monitoring and high-resolution analyses of the cave atmosphere and water geochemistry have become essential to better constrain the factors that control calcite growth and how geochemical palaeoclimate proxies are encoded into speleothems. While calcite precipitation incorporates the palaeoclimate signals into the speleothem fabric, certain conditions in caves can favour dissolution, which may form hiatuses or even destroy these signals. In extreme cases, in-cave dissolution by dripwater can form cup-shaped features (i.e., corrosion cups), which were the main focus of this study. The study site in Postojna Cave, Slovenia, was investigated through cave climate monitoring and drip and cup water sampling, which took place during 2017–2021. We found that the cups are fed by low calcium drips as the consequence of the thin vadose zone above the cave. Due to the specific configuration of airflow pathways, the study site accumulates high levels of CO2 (&gt;10,000 ppm), which shifts low calcium dripwater into undersaturation. This causes dissolution on rock surfaces and speleothems on the cave floor. The results of this study have broader significance in addressing the suitability of cave environments and speleothems used in paleoclimate research.

The outdoor field test of the 4-terminal III-V on Si tandem photovoltaic module (specifically, InGaP/GaAs on Si) was investigated and performance model, considering spectrum change affected by fluctuation of atmospheric parameters, was developed and validated. The 4-terminal III-V on Si tandem photovoltaic module had about 40 % advantage in seasonal performance loss compared with standard InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs 2-terminal tandem photovoltaic module. This advantage is expanded in (subarctic zone) < (temperate zone) < (subtropical zone).

The purpose of this study was to develop an in-vitro digestion protocol to evaluate the antioxidant potential of the peptides found in processed cheddar cheese using digestion enzymes. We studied first antioxidant and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition and antioxidant activities of processed cheddar cheese with the addition of spices e.g. cumin, clove and black pepper made from buffalo milk and ripened for 9 months. Then we conducted an in vitro digestion of processed cheddar cheese by gastric and duodenal enzymes. Freeze dried water (WSE) and ethanol soluble fractions (ESE) of processed cheddar cheese were also monitored for their ACE inhibition activity and antioxidant activities. In our preliminary experiments, different levels of spices (cumin, clove and black pepper) were tested into cheese matrix and only one level 0.2g/100g (0.2%) on the basis of cheese weight was considered good concerning sensory evaluation. Significant increase in ACE-inhibition (%) of processed Cheddar cheese as well as its WSE and ESE was obtained. Lower IC50 values were found after duodenal phase digestion compared to oral phase digestion.

The article is devoted to the topical problem of estimating water content in water-oil mixtures and porous media they saturate, according to low-field NMR relaxometry and dielectric spectroscopy. The aim of the research is to theoretically substantiate and experimentally validate the capability of joint interpretation of data from these methods to acquire information on the filtration-volumetric properties of drill cuttings, relaxation characteristics of oil-containing fluids, water/oil ratio in water-oil mixtures and saturated with them drill cuttings in order to control the composition of liquids produced from boreholes. The studies were carried out on samples of cuttings and oils taken from fields in the northern and Arctic regions of the West Siberian oil-and-gas province. Based on the experimental data obtained, we evaluated the water content in the water-oil mixtures, determined the main NMR parameters of the mixtures in terms of properties of the constituent oils, and specified the parameters and shapes of NMR and complex dielectric permittivity spectra. The NMR method was found to be effective in examining high-viscosity and medium-viscosity oils, while the dielectric spectroscopy method – in the study of light oils; their integration allows obtaining reliable data for all the samples under study. We also showed how the shapes of NMR and complex dielectric permittivity spectra depend on the rheological properties of oil belonging to the mixture.

Urban development and planning are increasingly centered on matters of sustainability, balancing economic development with ecosystem services and biotic structures within urban environments. In addition to these institutional and structural factors, the decision-making process within individual households must be understood to address rising concerns about water use. Therefore, individual characteristics and preferences that influence the use of water also warrant examination. In response to a survey of occupants of single-family residences in the Fresno Clovis Metropolitan Area of California, contextual interviews and focus group interviews with a homeowner sub-sample, we find evidence of an interplay of social-structural, institutional, and cultural factors involved in influencing individual water use behaviors and landscape decision making. The complexity of residential behaviors and decision-making poses some potential issues with regards to the interactions between individual households and institutional actors in matters of water usage and landscaping, as survey respondents indicate relatively little confidence in institutions and groups to make wise water policy decisions. We conclude that the promotion and implementation of sustainable water use practices will require not only environmental education for the citizenry, but also a tailoring of information for environmental educational initiatives that address the particularities of individual neighborhoods and communities.

For some persistent pollutants, such as recalcitrant pesticides, the polluted water (urban, agricultural and/or industrial) treated by conventional wastewater treatment plants is in some cases insufficient to achieve the legally required level of purity. This issue is of particular concern in areas where low rainfall does not provide sufficient water resources to meet the needs of agriculture, requiring increased reuse of water from wastewater treatment plants. In this context, Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) hold great promise for the removal of organic pollutants. This study first evaluates the effectiveness of UV/S2O8= compared to heterogeneous photocatalysis using UV/TiO2 processes on the degradation of two commonly used herbicides (terbutylazine and isoproturon) in aqueous solutions using a photoreactor. In addition. the effect of UV wavelength on the degradation efficiency of both herbicides was investigated. Although degradation rate was higher under UV-254/S2O8= nm than under UV-365/S2O8= nm, complete degradation of the herbicides (0.2 mg L-1) was achieved within 30 min under UV-366 nm using a Na2S2O8 dosage of 250 mg L-1 in the absence of inorganic anions. To assess the impact of water matrix, the individual and combined effects of sulphate, bicarbonate and chloride were evaluated. They can react with hydroxyl and sulphate radicals formed during AOPs to form new radicals with a lower redox potential. The results showed negligible effects of sulphate, while the combination of bicarbonate and chloride seemed to be the key for the decrease in herbicide removal efficiency found when working with complex matrices. Finally, the main intermediates detected during the photodegradation process were identified and the likely pathways are proposed and discussed.

Although many devices have recently been proposed for pressure regulation and energy harvesting in water distribution and transport networks, very few applications are still documented in the scientific literature. A new in-line Banki turbine with positive outflow pressure and a mobile regulating flap, named PRS, was installed and tested in a real water transport network for pressure and discharge regulation. The PRS turbine was directly connected to a 55 kW asynchronous generator with variable rotational velocity, coupled to an inverter. The start-up tests showed how automatic adjustment of the flap position and the impeller velocity variation are able to change the characteristic curve of the PRS according to the flow delivered by the water manager or to the pressure set-point assigned downstream or upstream of the system, still keeping good efficiency values in hydropower production.

This paper uses the numerical results of surveys sent to Huelva’s (Andalusia, Spain) households to determine the degree of knowledge they have about the urban water cycle, needs, values, and attitudes regarding water in an intermediary city with low water stress. In previous research, we achieved three different households’ clusters. The first one grouped households with high knowledge of the integral water cycle and a positive attitude to smart devices at home. The second cluster described households with low knowledge of the integral water cycle and high sensitivity to price. The third one showed average knowledge and predisposition to have a closer relationship with the water company. This paper continues with this research line, applying Classification and Regression Trees (CART) to determine which hierarchy of variables/factors/ independent components obtained from the surveys are the decisive ones to predict the range of household water consumption in Huelva. Positive attitudes towards improved cleaning habits for personal or household purposes are the highest hierarchy component to predict the water consumption range. Second in the hierarchy, the variable Knowledge Global Score about the integral urban water cycle, associated with water literacy, also contributes to predicting the water consumption range. Together with the three clusters obtained previously, these results will allow us to design water demand management strategies (WDM) fit for purpose that enable Huelva’s households to use water more efficiently.

Based on the engineering background of Daliuta mining area, the fracture distribution and water movement within the weakly cemented overlay strata are studied through liquid-solid coupling physical simulation and COMSOL numerical simulation test. 3D fracture network of overburden strata in mining is plotted based on the result of the physical simulation test. The results showed that the ‘fractured zone’ of the weakly cemented overburden strata in the western area develops more evidently than that in the eastern area ---- wide-opened fractures form at both ends of the working area and this leads to a wide distribution of fractures in the overlying strata.After the initial caving of the roof, height of the penetrating fractures increases rapidly and the separated strata space becomes the main channel for water flow. Under the action of water flow and rock strata movement, mining-induced fractures in overlying rock display cyclic change of expansion, penetration and closure. When the working face is fully mined, the penetrating fractures in the overlying strata and mining-induced fractures up in the working face become the main passages for water flow. The experimental result provides a reference for underground reservoirs layout and maintenance and water-conserved mining in western China.

The prospect of drinking water serving as a conduit for gut bacteria, artificially selected by disinfection strategies and lack of monitoring at the point of use, is concerning. Certain opportunistic pathogens, notably some nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), often exceed coliform bacteria levels in drinking water, posing safety risks. NTM and other microbiota resist chlorination and thrive in plumbing systems. When inhaled, opportunistic NTM can infect the lungs of immunocompromised or chronically ill patients, and the elderly, primarily postmenopausal women. When ingested with drinking water, NTM often survive stomach acidity, reach the intestines, migrate to other organs using immune cells as vehicles, potentially colonizing tumor tissue, including in breast cancer. The link between the microbiome and cancer is not new, yet the recognition of intratumoral microbiomes is a recent development. Breast cancer risk rises with age, and NTM infections emerged as a concern among breast cancer patients. In addition to studies hinting at a potential association between chronic NTM infections and lung cancer, NTM have also been detected in breast tumors at levels higher than normal adjacent tissue. Evaluating the risks of continued ingestion of contaminated drinking water is paramount, especially given the ability of various bacteria to migrate from the gut to breast tissue via entero-mammary pathways. This underscores a pressing need to revise water safety monitoring guidelines and delve into hormonal factors, which includes addressing the disproportionate impact of NTM infections and breast cancer on women and examining the potential health risks posed by the cryptic and unchecked microbiota from drinking water.

This study analyzes the relevance of governance structure for efficiency in revenue collection by Brazilian Water Utilities (WUs). Data was collected from the National Information System on Sanitation (SNIS) for 127 Brazilian WUs, covering a balanced longitudinal panel from 2018 to 2022. Governance structures evaluated included Ownership (public or private) and Corporatization (publicly traded or not). In scientific databases, we did not find studies on the efficiency of specific WUs in collecting customer bills for services rendered and its relationships with this type of governance; thus, this would be the main innovative contribution of the study to the previous literature. In the first stage, the study utilized the Dynamic Slack Based Model (DSBM) to assess revenue collection efficiency. In the second stage, an econometric model with Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to explain the efficiency. The findings revealed a global average inefficiency of 50.47% in revenue collection. Corporatization was linked to higher collection efficiencies, while ownership type was significant, but with lower collection efficiency. Factors such as tariff accessibility, urbanization, and the COVID-19 pandemic also influenced efficiency. The study suggests regulatory bodies should consider these insights to implement policies that prevent inefficiencies from affecting the tariff system for services.

The problem of limited water supply in the Vhembe District (Limpopo Province, South Africa) is exacerbated by a preponderance of dissolved salts, which cause disagreeable taste and odour in the water as reported by the communities using this water for drinking. The water treatment plant that supplies the treated water to the communities in the District sources this raw water from the Nandoni Dam at the Livhuvu river catchment. However, there are no scientific studies that have been reported in the literature which focused on determining the levels of water salinity from various water sources in the municipalities of the District. Water samples from various sites across the Nandoni Dam, a primary source of domestic water supply in the region, were collected during all the seasons basis over a period of twelve months in order to ascertain the concentrations of dissolved salts in the dam. Onsite analyses of the water samples were conducted using the YSI ProDSS multimeter, while the laboratory water analyses were conducted using the spectroquant and atomic absorption spectrometers. Although salinity tests seem to indicate that the water sampled across most of the Nandoni Dam is brackish during all seasons of the year with the highest being 750 mg/L, water samples from the dam mid-outlet and the treatment plant are slightly below the WHO brackish water bracket of 500 mg/L with unfavourable taste for drinking. Results from this study indicate that the water sourced from the Nandoni Dam is not suitable for human consumption and therefore requires integrated water resource management, as well as robust and cost-effective water desalination treatment.

The coastal dry zone areas of Sri Lanka mostly rely on ground water as the potable drinking water source because pipe born water is rarely provided. Most of the domestic units construct dug wells adjacent to houses where the ground water is exposed to fecal contamination due to pit – latrines. There available standards and commonly accepted factors regulating the construction of ground water extraction sources yet there is lack of evidence whether following them effectively prevent ground water fecal contamination. This research focus on applicability of commonly accepted factors on preventing the pit latrines correlated ground water contamination, taking twenty (20) sampling locations of Kalpitiya Peninsula of Sri Lanka as the case study area. The ground water was tested for Total coliform bacteria at 37 °C and E.Coil at 44 °C to identify the water quality level related to fecal contamination. The depth of water table, gap of infiltration layer, depth of latrine pit and distance between dug well and latrine pit were identified as the most commonly considered factors. Accordingly, case specific and area specific reasons apart from the ‘commonly accepted factors’ are highly influencing the pit latrines correlated ground water contamination in Kalpitiya Peninsula, Sri Lanka.

Currently, the design and construction of embankments of roads, railroads and hydraulic structures are based on regulatory documents developed 25-30 years ago. For the construction of granite massifs it is necessary to use sandy soils, the distribution of which in the Arctic zone of Siberia in the areas of construction is not more than 1.5%. In this case, the range of transport of sand in the alluvial area is 35 kilometers, in the rest of the area - an average of 60 kilometers. Large volumes of soil massifs require large amounts of transportation units, fuel consumption and are accompanied by large emissions of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. Over the past 15 years, the authors have developed designs and technologies that significantly reduce the energy consumption during the construction of soil embankments. Combined structures are cages made of geosynthetic materials filled with unsuitable melted and frozen overmoistened clay and peaty soils. This allowed the use of soils within the construction sites and thereby reduce the range of transportation from 0.2 to 2.0 kilometers. As an example, when reducing the range of transportation from 25 km to 1 km, the energy consumption is reduced by a factor of 21. The use of geosynthetics made it possible to set the initial parameters of the water-heat regime control process, which increased the life cycle of the embankment from 2 to 5 times in comparison with traditional soil massifs and reduced the consumption of energy for repair and maintenance of linear transport structures. This article gives a theoretical substantiation of water-heat regime management, based on which new designs and technologies have been proposed and tested in Siberia in 2008-2013. The results of the tests confirm the theoretical research. Thus, the use of combined constructions of geosynthetics and inapplicable soils not only reduces the distance of transportation, but also reduces the volume of earthworks. It reduces the consumption of energy by 1.5-2 times.

AMR and drug void have caused huge panic today with few thousand death per year. MDR Typhoid was a serious old disease and caused serious health hazard in humen and animals demanding an update on molecular biology of the status on transferable genetic elements. R-plasmids combined in F’-plasmid and the new MDR conjugative plasmids were shown abundant in Sanmonella ranging 70-440kb with similarities. BlaTEM, blaCTX-M, blaOXA, blaNDM mdr genes were abundant in >50 plasmids analyzed and metal resistant gene clusters are predominant in most large plasmids. Among the acetyltransferase all catA1, aacA1 and aac-1b-cr genes were located. Abundant streptomycin phosphotransferases (StrAB) and rarely colistin resistant Mcr-5/9 phosphoethanolamine–lipid A transferase were detected. Altered isomeric dihydropterote synthases (Sul1/2/3) were present giving sulfamethoxazole resistance and dhfr gene frequently associated giving trimethoprim resistance. Metal resistant gene clusters like SilABC (CusABC), PcoAB, RcnA, terABC, and merABCXT etc were found in many Salmonella enterica plasmids. Toxin genes like HipA and virulence genes like spvABD were located in few plasmids increasing virulence and pathogenesis. Drug efflux genes tetA or tetB and OqxB, floR, CmlA were frequent where as QepA and EamA genes were rarely seen. Thus, Salmonella metal resistant genes combined with antibiotic resistant genes has tried to overcome the both toxic antibiotics and metalions causing Typhoid AMR. Such acquisition spreads salmoniasis in the live stocks (pig, cow, chicken) where toxic soil and water dominate increasing chance of MDR typhoid in human.

The preparation of immobilized graphene–based photocatalyst layers is highly desired for environmental applications. In this study, the preparation of an immobilized reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/TiO₂ composite by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was optimized. It enabled quantitative deposition without sintering and without the use of any dispersive additive. The presence of rGO had beneficial effects on the photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol in an aqueous solution. A marked increase in the photocatalytic degradation rate was observed, even at very low concentrations of rGO. Compared with the TiO₂ and GO/TiO₂ reference layers, use of the rGO/TiO₂ composite (0.5 wt% of rGO) increased the first-order reaction rate constant by about 70%. This enhanced performance was due to the increased formation of hydroxyl radicals that attacked the 4-chlorophenol molecules. The direct charge transfer mechanism had only limited effect on the degradation. Thus, EPD-prepared rGO/TiO₂ layers appear to be suitable for environmental application.

This work aims to explore the impact of side loads, drill-pipe tool-joint (DP-TJ) speed (RPM), and mud type on the austenitic stainless steel SM2535-110 casing wear characteristics. Actual field drill pipe tool joints, casings, and drilling muds are used in this study. The results of the study show that under both types of lubrication, the wear volume increased with radial load and DP-TJ speed. SM2535-110 casing specimens tested under oil-based mud (OBM) lubrication had higher casing wear volumes than those obtained under water-based mud (WBM) lubrication. This unexpected behavior is mainly due to the increase in the surface hardness of the casing specimens tested under WBM. The results also show that the specific wear factor (K) values of specimens tested under WBM are in general 2 to 4 times higher than those obtained under OBM. While K values under WBM increase with both the side load and RPM, those under OBM show a sharp decrease with RPM. This behavior under OBM is due to this lubricant’s higher viscosity and the change of lubrication regime from thin film to thick film lubrication at higher RPM. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the digital microscopic imaging (DMI) of SM235-110 casing specimens show that an aggressive combination of adhesive, abrasive, and plastic deformation was observed under WBM, while the dominant wear mechanism under OBM is abrasive wear.

Soil erosion due to soil erosion is an important ecological impact factor. In order to further explore the impact and contribution of soil and water conservation measures on sand production and transport in the watershed, and also to provide a reference for soil erosion control, soil and water conservation and ecological environmental protection in the Yellow River Basin. In this paper, based on the measured data from the Henan Soil and Water Conservation Observatory in the Yellow River Basin, we select appropriate equations for quantifying soil erosion factor to calculate the rainfall erosion, topography, soil, vegetation and soil conservation measures in the basin, and then analyse the changes in soil erosion factor and the actual benefits of soil conservation measures in the basin. The results show that there is an increasing trend in the rainfall erosion force factor R in the Yellow River Basin; Soil erosion can be K value made the vertical loess > yellow clunamon soil, the overall change shows a decreasing trend, indicating that erosion control has produced results and that attention should be paid to erosion control in the lithosol region in the future; Since the slope lengths of the runoff plots are laid out consistently with the same LS values for both topographic factors, soil erosion is severely increased when the slope exceeds 20°. The C value of natural vegetation is small, while the C value of bare land is large. The authorities should continue to promote the return of farmland to forests and grasses and pay attention to the self-regulation and restoration of ecosystems; There is an overall decreasing trend in the P value of the soil and water conservation measures factor, the soil and water conservation measures have been effective in providing good protection.

This paper investigates the improvement in solar energy collection and conversion using Al₂O₃-Water nanofluids in a solar flat plate collector (SFPC). The efficiency of a solar flat plate collector using water as the fluid medium is analyzed experimentally and theoretically. For theoretical analysis, a mathematical model in MATLAB is used to simulate and is validated by the experimental results. To enhance the solar energy collection and conversion efficiency of the SFPC, Al₂O₃-Water nanofluid was selected as the fluid medium. The nanofluid properties like density, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity and viscosity are analyzed and compared for several models of Al₂O₃-Water nanofluids and the best model was selected to modify the simulation. Effect of particle diameter in the nanofluid was found to be marginal on the nanofluid properties. The optimum volume concentration of the nanofluid was found to be 4% giving an efficiency increase of 7.78% in the SFPC over the use of water. This reduces the area of the SFPC by 10.5%.

The opportunities and advantages of implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to optimize the process control of wastewater treatment in the Oil and Gas industry are discussed in this work. Discussion is centered around five major points: 1) Various types of Oil and Gas wastewater (Sour, Oily, Produced) and industry standards/methods for treatment, including specific case studies and challenges when treating certain wastewater. This section aims at the common types of wastewater in the Oil and Gas industry and how they are generally treated. 2) How AI/ML has been implemented in wastewater treatment in various industries; summary of which AI/ML languages were used along with a brief overview of how they work. This article focused on an understanding of the specific case studies and AI explanations to understand the effectiveness of wastewater treatment using AI/ML. 3) AI that is currently implemented in Oil and Gas such as personal protective equipment (PPE), smartwatches radiofrequency identification etc. This showed that AI/ML already plays a successful role in the Oil and Gas industry and has proven to help optimize many processes and components. Many of these AI/ML implementations are now industry standards and have greatly benefitted the industry. This section demonstrates that the implementation and the use of AI/ML have been proven to be a successful endeavor and that expanding the role of AI/ML would be beneficial. 5) Using the established points from the previous sections the paper outlines why AI/ML is ideal for Oil and Gas wastewater treatment; this argument centers around fit-for-purpose treatment, and the possible uses of the treated water. A determination of the best-suited AI languages, possible implementation scenarios, and how this would shift the way Oil and Gas industries treat and approach wastewater is presented to the reader.

The participation of civil society is essential for environmental health policies to be effective. The objective of this study was to know the perceptions of government officials, members of civil society, and academics about environmental health problems and its governance in Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area, Colombia. In the region there is a strong citizen movement that defends the moorland ecosystem (paramo) as source of drinking water, of large-scale mining projects. A multi-method study was carried out including the review of newspaper and scientific articles, a citizen survey, and interviews and focus groups with identified key stakeholders. The findings indicate that government officials prioritize their actions on issues related to air and water pollution and environmental education. In contrast, citizens prioritize water availability from the moorland ecosystem. There are some advances in the management of environmental health, mainly related to greater citizen awareness. The participation of civil society in the environmental health governance must be enforced to broaden the issues of interest and prioritize the activities in the short- and long-term policy planning. An experience between high school students and the academy that measures air pollutants can be the first meeting point with government officials in the pathway to improve the environmental governance in the territory.

The only solution to avoid pollution due to sewage is to treat the effluent and reuse water and sludge at the wastewater production site. This makes it necessary to install treatment plants distributed along the sewer system to prevent the movement of effluents with the consequent losses to the aquifer. This new management is called decentralized wastewater treatment. To make this change possible, it is necessary to develop treatment plants that do not represent a health hazard for citizens, eliminating the nuisance caused by traditional plants. These plants need to be robust, operate autonomously, have reduced maintenance and exhaustive control of each process, where each cubic meter of effluent is perfectly controlled, avoiding losses to the aquifer or discharges that may occur due to deficiencies in their purification capacity; constantly producing water and sludge, which are directly reusable with all the health and environmental guarantees regardless of variations in inlet effluent or environmental conditions. This article presents a paradigmatic case of a decentralized solution with conditions of maximum complexity that has been solved efficiently, saving around 98% of the initial investment, completely avoiding wastewater discharges into the environment and reusing 100% of the treated water, in 14 years of operation.

Thin supported inorganic mesoporous membranes are used for removal of salts, small molecules (PFAS, dyes, polyanions) and particulate species (oil droplets) from aqueous sources with high flux and selectivity. Nano-filtration membranes can reject simple salts with 80-100% selectivity through a space charge mechanism. Rejection by size selectivity can be near 100% since the membranes can have a very narrow size distribution. Mesoporous membranes have received par-ticular interest due to their (potential) stability at operational conditions and defouling operations. More recently membranes with extreme stability became interesting with the advent of in-situ fouling mitigation by means of ultrasound, emitted from within the membrane structure. For this reason we explored the stability of available and new membranes with accelerated lifetime tests in aqueous solutions at various temperatures and pH values. Of the available ceria, titania, mag-netite membranes none were actually stable at all test conditions. In earlier work, it was already established that meso-porous alumina membranes have very poor stability. A new nano-filtration membrane was made of cubic zirconia membranes that exhibited a near perfect stability. A new ultra-filtration membrane was made of amorphous silica that was fully stable in ultrapure water at 80°C. This work provides details of membrane synthesis, stability characterization and actual sta-bility data.

As one of the important components of underwater propulsion systems, water lubricated bearings are often failure due to mechanical wearing and vibrating, especially under high loads and prolonged friction. In this paper, a dual-network co-crosslinking strategy based on HNBR is proposed, in which the epoxy network connects with the rubber network through Epoxidized Eommia ulmoides gum. The damping, tribological and mechanical properties of the prepared composite are systematically investigated. The results show that this material has excellent friction and vibration damping properties, with a water-lubricated coefficient of friction as low as 0.022 and a wear resistance as high as 3.87 × 10-6mm3/Nm. Preparing HNBR-based composite by dual network co-crosslinked is proved being a feasible solution to improve the reliability and service life of water-lubricated bearings.

Studies have shown the unconditional danger of biological attacks on underground hydroelectric pumped-storage power stations. A hypothetical list of biological damage to water conduits and dams is determined. Relevant predictions are given, as well as accident events of hydraulic structures are described. A universal scheme for the application of hazard protection measures, which can be comprehensive, has been developed. Praemonitus praemunitus – precautions should be taken.

Microplastics (MPs) are small pieces of plastics. They are ubiquitous in the environment and can enter the freshwater environment from surface run-off and wastewater effluent (treated and untreated), industrial effluent, degraded plastic waste, and atmospheric deposition. They are not usually destroyed but convert into one phase to another. They are a source of air pollution, occurring in dust and airborne fibrous particles. Mostly MPs are non-biodegradable while some MPs are biodegradable, which can be decomposed in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) light or by the action of microorganisms. Popular methods: chemical, spectroscopic, and thermo-analytical are available for the determination of the chemical composition and size of plastic particles. This chapter discusses the uses, health hazards, sources, and transport of MPs particles.

Mouthbrooding or oral incubation, the retention of early developmental stages inside of the mouth for an extended period of time, has evolved multiple times in bony fishes1,2. Though uncommon, this form of parental care has been documented and well-studied in several groups of freshwater fishes but is also known to occur in a small number of marine fishes, all inhabiting coastal waters1,2. A recent paper3, reported for the first time mouthbrooding in a deep-water fish species, the zeiform Parazen pacificus, which according to the authors “fills in a gap in the larval literature for this family of fishes and prompts further investigation into other novel reproductive modes of deep-sea fauna.”

Here is analysed the process of water re-injection in the two hydrocarbon reservoirs/fields in the Upper Miocene sandstone reservoirs, located in the western part of the Sava Depression (Croatia). Namely, those are the "A" field with "L" reservoir and the "B" field with "K" reservoir. Both currently produce hydrocarbons using a secondary recovery method, i.e. water injection (in fact re-injection of the field waters). Three regional reservoir variables had been analysed, namely porosity, permeability and injected water volumes. The number of data was small in all three cases. For porosity: reservoir “L” included 25 data, reservoir “K” 19 data; for permeability: reservoir “L” 10 data, reservoir “K” 18 data; for injected volumes of water: reservoir “L” 10 data; reservoir “K” 3 data. It defined selection of mapping algorithms mostly designed for small datasets (less than 20 points), i.e. Inverse Distance Weighting, Nearest and Natural Neighbourhood. Additionally, the Ordinary Kriging was used, but only with jack-knifed variograms, producing many “artificial points”. Results are extensively tested, using cross-validation and shape recognitions, and the Inverse Distance Weighting method is described as the most appropriate approach for mapping permeability and injected volumes in both reservoirs (“K” and “L”). The Kriging could be slightly outlined as the best approach for porosity. Obtained maps made possible application of the modified geological probability calculation as tools for prediction of successfulness of future injection (probability of 0.56). Consequently, results made possible to plan future injection more efficiently, with smaller injected volumes and same of higher hydrocarbon recovery. That could prevent useless injection, decrease number of injection wells, and save energy and funds invested in such processes.

water resources in Morocco have been severely influenced by climate change (CC) and pro-longed drought, particularly, in the pre-Saharan zone. The Tafilalet region faces increasing pres-sure due to high demographic growth, increased demand for water, excessive groundwater con-sumption, and investment in agriculture. Using the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP), this study assessed land cover and elevation and created future scenarios using the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standard Groundwater Level Index (SGI) to monitor hy-droclimate drought conditions in the Ziz watershed from 1989 to 2022. Results show decreasing precipitation, particularly from 2010-2020, with the last four years being the most challenging (SPI<-2). SPI and SGI have a high correlation, suggesting precipitation impacts groundwater in-dicators. Future scenarios predict a high risk of CC, with a 30% decrease in annual precipitation accumulation by 2100 under the optimistic scenario SSP126. Minimum temperature is expected to increase by 1.08°C (SSP126) and 2.61°C (SSP585), and maximum temperature by 1.05°C (SSP126) and 2.93°C (SSP585). Keywords: Climate Change, Water Resources, SPI, SGI, WEAP, Ziz watershed, Drought

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence to water policy-makers and the evaluation of the application of economic instruments such as price and other factors affecting demand, they contribute to improved decision-making around water management in the Biosphere Reserve El Vizcaino, Mexico. It was estimated a dynamic function with average price specification and other price perception specification. The findings show that consumers react to average price perceived and not the marginal price; long-run price elasticity is higher than short-run and both elasticities are inelastic. Elasticities inelastic with rising prices generate high incomes to improve water planning, supply quality and expand service coverage. The results suggest that the level of knowledge of users on the price is key to take into account restructuring rates in a scenario where the consumer has asymmetric information and themselves achieve goals of economic efficiency, social equity and environmental sustainability.

The paper proposes a human explainable artificial intelligence approach for mapping the status of environmental phenomena from multisource geo data. It is both knowledge and data driven: it exploits remote sensing expert’s knowledge to define the contributing factors from which partial evidence of the environmental status can be computed. Furthermore, it aggregates the partial evidences to compute a map of the environmental status by adapting to a region of interest through a learning mechanism exploiting Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), both from in situ observations and photointerpretation. The approach is capable to capture the specificities of local context as well as to cope with the subjectivity and incompleteness of expert’s knowledge. The proposal is exemplified to map the status of standing water areas (i.e. water bodies and river, human driven or natural hazard flooding) by considering satellite data and geotagged observations. Results of the validation experiments were performed in three areas of Northern Italy, characterized by distinct ecosystems. Results of the proposed methodological framework showed better performances than traditional approaches based on single spectral indexes thresholding. The use of expert’s knowledge, possibly imprecise/uncertain and incomplete, the need of few ground truth data for learning, and finally the explainability of learned rules are the distinguishing characteristics of the proposal with respect to traditional machine learning methods.

The COVID 19 related social distancing is hypothesized can affect the environmental quality including the air and water quality. Correspondingly, this study aims to study how the reduction of activities of people living near the rivers and the coastal areas due to social distancing may decrease the discharges of materials and nutrients to the water body. The chlorophyll-a was used as bio indicators of nutrient contents related to the anthropogenic activities in the coast. The study was conducted in the Jakarta coast considering that this coast was surrounded by populated cities with total population equal to 16 million people. The chlorophyll-a was measured in mg/m³ and monitored using remote sensing data from January to April 2020 representing the period before and after the implementation of social distancing. The determinant environmental factor measured was sea surface temperature (⁰C). The study considered that there were reductions of levels and areas of chlorophyll-a in the coast. The chlorophyll-a levels were reduced from January to April (p<0.05). The chlorophyll-a levels for January, February, March, and April were 7.36 mg/m³ (95%CI: 6.34-8.37), 7.90 mg/m³ (95%CI: 7.32-8.47), 6.52 mg/m³ (95%CI: 5.37-7.66), and 4.21 mg/m³ (95%CI: 3.34-5.07) respectively. However, the differences of chlorophyll-a were not influenced by the sea surface temperature factor (p>0.05). Based on remote sensing data in January and February, the sizes of coastal areas with chlorophyll-a levels >7.00 mg/m³ were larger than areas observed in March and April. Contrarily, the coastal area sizes with low chlorophyll-a levels <5.00 mg/m³ were increasing in April. To conclude the dynamic of anthropogenic activities in coastal setting is responsible and associated with the water quality and nutrient contents as indicated by chlorophyll-a levels.

A thermal system in very deep Lake Tazawa (maximum depth, 423 m) was investigated by estimating the heat budget. In the heat budget estimate, the net heat input at lake surface and the heat input by river inflow and groundwater inflow were considered. Then, the heat loss by snowfall onto lake surface was taken into account. Meanwhile, lake water temperature was monitored at 0.2 m to the bottom by mooring temperature loggers for more than two years. The heat storage change of the lake from the loggers was calibrated by frequent vertical measurements of water temperature at every 0.1 m pitch by a profiler with high accuracy (± 0.01 °C). The heat storage change (W/m2) obtained by the temperature loggers reasonably accords to that from the heat budget estimate. In the heat budget, the net heat input at lake surface dominates the heat storage change, but the significant heat loss by river inflow sporadically occurred, which is caused by the relatively large discharge from a reservoir in the upper region. How deep the vertical water circulation in the lake occurs in winter was judged by the differences between water temperatures at 0.2 m depth and bottom and between vertical profiles of dissolved oxygen over winter. It is strongly suggested that the whole water circulation does not occur every winter, if any, very weak.