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In recent years, the chemical production and waste generation have been rapidly increasing, presenting substantial hazards to the ecosystem and human well-being. To address this issue, a series of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) have been developed internationally, that provide essential decision-making support for the appropriate governance of chemicals and wastes in the participating countries. MEAs have established subsidiary bodies known as science-policy interface (SPI) institutions to provide evidence-based support and scientific assessments for environmental policies. However, the existing SPIs face limitations that hinder their ability to tackle the obstacles presented by the vast quantities of chemicals and wastes currently found in the environment. Therefore, the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly made the decision to establish a science-policy panel to promote the effective management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution (SPP-CWP). This panel is intended to be an independent intergovernmental body, similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The United Nations Environment Programme convened an ad hoc open-ended working group (OEWG) to design strategies for the SPP-CWP. Since 2022, three OEWG meetings have been conducted, and draft documents outlining the panel's scope, functions, operational principles, conflict of interest policy, institutional setup, work processes, and procedures have been formulated. In this article, we analyzed the background and development of the SPP-CWP and provided updates regarding the progress of the panel's establishment. We also suggested future trends for the SPP-CWP. We concluded that SPP-CWP will be a comprehensive and authoritative international body, providing policymakers with exhaustive reports, consequently strengthening the capacity of life cycle management of chemicals. Thus, the panel will effectively reduce or prevent waste production and pollution, promote material circulation, and minimize resource consumption, making significant contributions to the establishment of a circular economy and an environmentally friendly society.

The methodology for analyzing health risks caused by exposure to chemical pollutants in the environmental has been widely implemented; this creates some new priority challenges to be considered and tackled. The article identifies basic stages in the development of the methodology for assessing health risks caused by environmental pollution in the Russian Federation. Guides on risk analysis as well as some monographs published in Russia describe a strategic role that belongs to health risk analysis in providing sanitary-epidemiological wellbeing of the country population. We have analyzed modern trends in the development of the methodology for assessing public health risks caused by exposure to chemicals that pollute the environment. The article generalizes basic approaches recommended in foreign and Russian studies that are applied to increase quality of research in the field, to reduce uncertainties in calculations, as well as to find new ways of health risk quantification. The number of chemicals registered on the global scale over the last 65 years has been estimated. The article also provides generalized information on computerized and information systems (CIS) and databases (DB) that contain data on parameters of assessing health risks caused by various chemical exposures including leading world systems that allow assessing health harm caused by chemical exposure (calculation of an additional number of adverse health outcomes due to chemical exposure etc.). We have also summarized various reasons for underestimating public health risks and described several methodological approaches employed in research that make it possible to minimize underestimation of health hazards and reduce uncertainties of obtained results. The methodology for assessing health risks caused by harmful chemical pollutants in the environment is a complex systemic process. On the one hand, it involves the necessity to provide the maximum possible profound description of complexity of chemical environmental pollution; on the other hand, it should give a more comprehensive insight into possible nature and consequences of adverse effects produced by identified chemicals directly on the human body and indirectly on significant socioeconomic indicators of the society development. The aim of this study was to identify modern methodological approaches applied to assess public health risks due to chemical exposures and ways to reduce uncertainties of research results.

The practise of geophagy is common amongst women of childbearing age from different geographic locations, including South Africa, regardless of their social and economic status such as their level of education, race, marital status, income or occupation. This study aimed to examine the women of childbearing age in Tshwane District, Gauteng Province, South Africa. An experimental study was conducted at the laboratory to examine the chemical composition of clay soil ingested by geophagic women of childbearing age. Thirty-nine clay soil samples were collected from study participants attending antenatal care services and family planning at public healthcare facilities of Tshwane District, Gauteng Province, and subjected to geochemical analysis. The concentrations of vanadium, manganese, chromium, and barium were detected in quantities exceeding 100 mg/kg in almost all samples. Cadmium, mercury and silver were detected in low concentrations below 1 mg/kg in all samples. The practice of geophagy amongst women of childbearing age has been reported to be associated with detrimental health outcomes and risks such as iron deficiency anaemia, constipation, shortness of breath, maternal and childhood mortalities and morbidities, neurological and central nervous system disorder, death, appendicitis, cancers, teratogenic risks, and ulcers. The chemical composition of clay soil eaten by geophagic women of childbearing age contains potentially harmful substances, thus the practise of geophagy is toxic and should be discouraged to protect public health.

The scope of the present study is the estimation of key operational parameters of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP), particularly the dosages of treatment chemicals, using artificial neural networks (ANNs) based on measurable in situ data. The case study consists of the Aposelemis DWTP, where the plant operator had an estimation of the ANN output parameters for the required dosages of water treatment chemicals based on observed water quality and other operational parameters at the time. The estimated DWTP main operational parameters included residual ozone (O3) and dosages of the chemicals used: anionic polyelectrolyte (ANPE), poly-aluminum chloride hydroxide sulfate (PACl), and chlorine gas (Cl2(g)). Daily measurable results of water sample analysis and recordings from the DWTP Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA), covering a period of 38 months, were used as input parameters for the artificial neural network (1188 values for each of the 14 measurable parameters). These input parameters included: raw water supply (Q), raw water turbidity (T1), treated water turbidity (T2), treated water residual free chlorine (Cl2), treated water concentration of residual aluminum (Al), filtration bed inlet water turbidity (T3), daily difference in water height in reservoir (∆H), raw water pH (pH1), treated water pH (pH2), and daily consumption of DWTP electricity (El). Output/target parameters were: residual O3 after ozonation (O3), anionic polyelectrolyte (ANPE), poly-aluminum chloride hydroxide sulfate (PACl), and chlorine gas supply (Cl2(g)). A total of 304 different ANN models were tested, based on the best test performance (tperf) indicator. The one with the optimum performance indicator was selected. The scenario finally chosen was the one with 100 neural networks, 100 nodes, 42 hidden nodes, 10 inputs, and 4 outputs. This ANN model achieved excellent simulation results based on the best testing performance indicator, which suggests that ANNs are potentially useful tools for the prediction of a DWTP’s main operational parameters. Further research could explore the prediction of water chemicals used in a DWTP by using ANNs with a smaller number of operational parameters to ensure greater flexibility, without prohibitively reducing the reliability of the prediction model. This could prove useful in cases with a much higher sample size, given the data-demanding nature of ANNs.

Emerging and reemerging fungal infections are very common in nosocomial and non-nosocomial settings in people having poor immunogenic profiles either due to hematopoietic stem cell transplants or are using immunomodulators to treat chronic inflammatory disease or autoimmune disorders, undergoing cancer therapy or suffering from an immune weakening disease like HIV. The refractory behavior of opportunistic fungi has necessitated the discovery of unconventional antifungals. The emergence of black fungus infection during COVID-19 also triggered the antifungal discovery program. Natural products are one of the alternative sources of antifungals. Endophytic fungi reside and co-evolve within their host plants and, therefore, offer a unique bioresource of novel chemical scaffolds with an array of bioactivities. Hence, immense possibilities exist that these unique chemical scaffolds expressed by the endophytic fungi may play a crucial role in overcoming the burgeoning antimicrobial resistance. These chemical scaffolds so expressed by these endophytic fungi comprise an array of chemical classes beginning from cyclic peptides, sesquiterpenoids, phenols, anthraquinones, coumarins, etc. In this study, endophytic fungi reported in the last six years (2018–2023) have been explored to document the antifungal entities they produce. Approximately 244 antifungal metabolites have been documented in this period by different groups of fungi existing as endophytes. Various aspects of these antifungal metabolites, such as antifungal potential and their chemical structures, have been presented. Yet another unique aspect of this review is the exploration of volatile antifungal compounds produced by these endophytic fungi. Further strategies like epigenetic modifications by chemical as well as biological methods and OSMAC to induce the silent gene clusters have also been presented to generate unprecedented bioactive compounds from these endophytic fungi.

Faced with the situation of overcapacity in domestic refining capacity, it is imperative for refineries to transform towards chemical industry. Due to the highly periodicity of both the oil and chemical markets, refineries need to improve the production flexibility of clean oil and chemical feedstocks during the transformation process in order to maximize refinery revenue. Based on the typical overall process processing route of domestic refineries, a virtual refinery was designed. A flexible transformation scheme for the overall process with catalytic cracking as the core means was studied and designed for this virtual refinery: cracking gasoline was used to produce chemicals through a hydrogenation extraction unit, and cracking gasoline was used to produce clean oil through an S Zorb unit after appropriate treatment. Compared with the basic scheme, the total yield of gasoline and diesel in the catalytic cracking chemical production scheme decreased by 11. 20 percentage points, while the yield of olefins and aromatics increased by 5. 15 percentage points and 6. 39 percentage points, respectively, while the total crude oil processing volume remained unchanged. The total yield of gasoline and diesel in the catalytic cracking scheme for producing clean oil products decreased by 3. 55 percentage points, while the yield of olefins and aromatics increased by 4. 69 percentage points and 2. 15 percentage points, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to address the environmental and health issues of toxic and harmful chemicals while meeting the needs of industrial development, various alternatives have been developed and widely used. To avoid the regrettable substitution, the international community has developed a series of technical guidelines for alternative assessment, and clarified the assessment technical methods and requirements. This article summarizes the content of assessment frameworks issued by international organizations/institutions such as the United Nations Environment Programme, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Chemical Agency, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, etc., compares and analyzes the core technical methods of each framework, and preliminarily proposes the technical key points of the alternative environmental risk assessment in China, providing technical support for strengthening the environmental risk management of toxic and harmful chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals may be associated with allergies later in life. We aimed to examine the association between prenatal dietary exposure to mixtures of chemicals and allergic or respiratory diseases up to age 5.5 y. Methods: We included 11,638 mother-child pairs from the French "Étude Longitudinale Française depuis l'Enfance" (ELFE) cohort. Maternal dietary exposure during pregnancy to eight mixtures of chemicals was previously assessed. Allergic and respiratory diseases (eczema, food allergy, wheezing and asthma) were reported by parents between birth and age 5.5 years. Associations were evaluated with adjusted logistic regressions. Results are expressed as odds ratio (OR[95%CI]) for a variation of one SD increase in mixture pattern. Results: Maternal dietary exposure to a mixture composed mainly of trace elements, furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was positively associated with the risk of eczema (1.10 [1.05; 1.15]), this association was consistent across sensitivity analyses. Dietary exposure to one mixture of pesticides was positively associated with the risk of food allergy (1.10 [1.02; 1.18]), whereas the exposure to another mixture of pesticides was positively but slightly related to the risk of wheezing (1.05 [1.01; 1.08]). This last association was not found in all sensitivity analyses. Dietary exposure to a mixture composed by perfluoroalkyl acids, PAHs and trace elements was negatively associated with the risk of asthma (0.89 [0.80; 0.99]), this association was consistent across sensitivity analyses, except the complete-case analysis. Conclusion: Whereas few individual chemicals were related to the risk of allergic and respiratory diseases, some consistent associations were found between prenatal dietary exposure to some mixtures of chemicals and the risk of allergic or respiratory diseases. The positive association between trace elements, furans and PAHs and the risk of eczema, and that between pesticides mixtures and food allergy need to be confirmed in other studies. Conversely, the negative association between perfluoroalkyl acids, PAHs and trace elements and the risk of asthma need to be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Engineer Military Bulletin / Muszaki Katonai Közlöny is the property of National University of Public Service and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study was conducted to test a process that we had previously developed in parallel to the traditional Siirt Herby Cheese production method. Both raw and pasteurized Eve's milk were used parallelly in the study. Pasteurized milk was inoculated with an autochthonous starter culture which we have developed. After clot formation, breaking the clot, straining and acidification of curd by using acid whey, first pressing, adding herb and salt, and applying the second pressing stages were followed. Then, the cheese samples were packaged. No air gap was presented in the cheese containers. The entire production was completed within 24 hours. During the 120-d ripening period of the samples at 4 °C, pH was observed to be 5 and acidity was 0.7% (lactic acid). In raw milk cheese, pH was 6.8 and acidity was 1.12% at the end of the ripening period. It was determined that the method tested in this study was not recommendable for making raw milk cheese. The pasteurized milk cheese samples had at least 0.7 acidity, 5 pH, 20% fat and 20% protein; It was observed that at least 45% dry matter values could be obtained. However, the pasteurized milk cheese samples did not fully meet our expectations. The crumbling property of the cheese samples was not ideal just seen in the tradiditonal Tulum Cheeses of Türkiye. The slightly sticky and melted appearance was considered a negative property of the cheese and should be eliminated with more detailed work. Traditional production takes at least 10 d. This period may be long for industrial production. Raw milk is used in traditional production, and excessive salt is added to the cheese for hygiene purposes. Also, it is not easy to make a standard production. More research is needed to eliminate such negativities, and to recommend a valuable industrial process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insects are one of the most successful animals in nature, and entomopathogenic fungi play a significant role in the natural epizootic control of insect populations in many ecosystems. The interaction between insects and entomopathogenic fungi has continuously coevolved over hundreds of millions of years. Many components of the insect innate immune responses against fungal infection are conserved across phyla. Additionally, behavioral responses, which include avoidance, grooming, and/or modulation of body temperature, have been recognized as important mechanisms for opposing fungal pathogens. In an effort to investigate possible cross-talk and mediating mechanisms between these fundamental biological processes, recent studies have integrated and/or explored immune and behavioral responses. Current information indicates that during discrete stages of fungal infection, several insect behavioral and immune responses are altered simultaneously, suggesting important connections between the two systems. This review synthesizes recent advances in our understanding of the physiological and molecular aspects influencing cross-talk between behavioral and innate immune antifungal reactions, including chemical perception and olfactory pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic pollutants are potential hazards for human health and are pivotal contributors to ecological imbalances. The spectrum of chemicals in research on organic pollutants has continually evolved, which is influenced by industrial advancements, scientific breakthroughs, and regulatory frameworks. A comprehensive analysis of 30 review articles on organic pollutants published during 2019-2023 in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology (CREST) provides good perspectives on the trajectory of organic pollutants in the environment. This synthesis delineates the recent advancements in two domains: (1) innovative monitoring technologies (sensor, extraction method, bio-indicator, and radioactive tracer); and (2) fate and transport, and risk assessment of organic pollutants. However, research on organic pollutants needs better monitoring techniques, matrix-related transformation methodologies, and realistic risk assessment tools. The development of novel strategies to monitor and manage organic pollutants, coupled with evaluations of ecosystem impacts under field conditions, is paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental contamination is one of the major drivers of ecosystem change in the Anthropocene. Toxic chemicals are not constrained to their source of origin as they cross ecosystem boundaries via biotic (e.g., animal migration) and abiotic (e.g., water flow) vectors. Meta‐ecology has led to important insights on how spatial flows or subsidies of matter across ecosystem boundaries can have broad impacts on local and regional ecosystem dynamics but has not yet addressed the dynamics of pollutants in recipient ecosystems. Incorporating meta‐ecosystem processes (i.e., flux of materials across ecosystem boundaries) into contaminant dynamics can elucidate how contaminants may reverberate among local food chains. Here, we derive a modeling framework to predict how spatial ecosystem fluxes can influence contaminant dynamics and how this influence is dependent on the type of ecosystem flux (e.g., herbivore movement vs. abiotic chemical flows). We mix an analytical and numerical approach to analyze our integrative model which couples two subcomponents that have previously been studied independently of each other—an ecosystem model and a contaminant model. We observe an array of dynamics for how chemical concentrations change with increasing nutrient input and loss rate across trophic levels. When we tailor our range of chemical parameter values (e.g., environmental uptake of contaminant and assimilation efficiency of the contaminant) to specific organic chemicals, our results demonstrate that increasing nutrient input rates can lead to trophic dilution in pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls across trophic levels. However, increasing nutrient loss rate causes an increase in the concentrations of chemicals across all trophic levels. A sensitivity analysis demonstrates that nutrient recycling is an important ecosystem process impacting contaminant concentrations, generating predictions to be addressed by future empirical studies. Importantly, our model demonstrates the utility of our framework for identifying drivers of contaminant dynamics in connected ecosystems including the importance that (1) ecosystem processes and (2) movement, especially movement of lower trophic levels, have on contaminant concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article touches upon the issues of global warming associated with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere from vehicle internal combustion engines (ICE). To neutralize existing greenhouse gases emitted by ICE, in particular CO2, the interaction of the latter with various chemicals has been studied. The dynamics of exhaust gas emissions from ICE cylinders were observed. The experimental research was conducted to develop a greenhouse gas neutralization technology. Carbon dioxide neutralization converter with three neutralization batteries and a homogenization device is presented. This converter can guarantee CO2 neutralization of up to 92% . The formation of CO2 in the cylinders of modern petrol engines is due to the final combustion of the air-petrol fuel mixture. The combustion of the latter in the cylinder can be heterogeneous and diffusive. In addition, CO2 is generated in large quantities during diffusion combustion. The most effective method of diffusive combustion was chosen by the constructors of modern ICE, which is the formation of an artificial turbulent gas-dynamic condition for the fuel mixture due to the increase in the temperature of the air adsorbed in the cylinder, which ensures the engine's thermal energy efficiency coefficient of up to 35% . The CO2 volume in the exhaust gases of such engines reaches up to 16% . Thus, considering the perfection of modern ICE design for providing a high-efficiency reaction for the hydrocarbon oxidation in the fuel mixture in the combustion chamber, it becomes apparent that the presence of about 16% CO2 in the fractional composition of emitted dissolved gases is a serious problem in terms of increasing the volume of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Therefore, the goal of this article is to develop a reduction technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Artvin Çoruh Üniversitesi Orman Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Artvin Coruh University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Weather conditions such as rainfall and freeze-thaw cycles affect the pavement performance of airports; therefore, methods such as using de-icing chemicals are considered to maintain the normal condition of the airport runway. In addition to the above factors, de-icing chemicals play an important role in pavement performance and the damage caused to it due to their chemical nature. Therefore, investigating the effect of deicing chemicals and determining the appropriate material to maintain the airport's pavement is a priority for engineers. In this study, the effect of three de-icing chemicals, sodium chloride, potassium acetate, and ethylene glycol (at concentrations of 23.3%, 49%, and 69.07%, respectively) on skid resistance (The British Pendulum Test (BPT) and The Road Test Machine (RTM)) and the mechanical properties (Compressive Strength Test) of the concrete under Freezing and Thawing Cycle were investigated. The BPT test results showed that sodium chloride resulted in better skid resistance than other chemicals when the number of cycles is more than 100 cycles. This result was also obtained for all cycles in the RTM test. Also, ethylene glycol was not suitable for improving skid resistance based on BPT and RTM tests. Furthermore, the results of the compressive strength of concrete mixtures showed that the de-icing chemicals reduced the compressive strength of concrete mixtures. Based on all the results, sodium chloride had better results than other chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guava (Psidium guajava L) is a tropical fruit that belongs to the Myrtaceae family, which contains about 150 species. It is grown in the terai, inner terai, and hilly regions of Nepal, with the highest-producing districts being Kailali, Jhapa, Dhading, Taplejung, and Khotang. Guavas grow in the leaf axils during the present season and yield solitary white flowers or in cymes of two to three flowers. Guavas are primarily self-pollinated, with the major pollinator being honey bees. Guavas often flower twice or three times a year, with the rainy and winter seasons seeing the most blooming. Crop regulation is the manipulation of the natural flowering and fruiting of guava in the desired season of the year so as to increase fruit yield, quality, and profitability. Crop regulation can be carried out in guavas through various techniques, including withholding irrigation, pruning, root pruning and root exposure, bending of shoots, hand thinning, nutrient application, de-blossoming by hand, and using different plant growth regulators and chemicals. Stoppage of irrigation after harvest of winter crops (December–June) and applying fertilizer and irrigation in June creates profuse flowering and production in the winter season. Another method of crop regulation in guava is terminal pruning, which involves cutting the plant 20 to 30 cm in April to prevent rainy season crops and promote winter season flowering. Exposing the roots to the sun by removing 7–10 cm of soil around the tree, creating water stress by withholding irrigation for a month or two before flowering, and covering the roots one month before desired flowering with soil. In order to avoid rainy season crops and have a good winter harvest of guava, FYM and prompt irrigation are helpful. In guava, bending shoots between August and September promotes increased flowering and fruit set, as well as an increase in the CN ratio. In leaves, barks, and fruits, bending has also been shown to raise the amounts of pectin, tryptophan, proline, polyphenol oxidase, catalase, and peroxidase. Hand or chemical thinning in March and April reduces crop yields during the rainy season and increases winter fruit set and good flowering. Furthermore, fertilizer time and dose can be changed to promote greater vegetative development and boost winter season yields. De-blossoming is done manually, with PGRs, or with chemicals to enhance the amount of winter-season crops in guava and prevent any rainyseason crops. In conclusion, guava crop regulation can be accomplished successfully by a variety of chemical and cultural techniques that control summer flowering and winter fruit production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanochemistry and oleochemistry and their combination have been known for centuries. Nevertheless, bioeconomy and circular economy concepts is much more recent and has motivated a regain of interest of dedicated research to improve alternative technologies for the valorization of biomass feedstocks. Accordingly, this review paper aims essentially at outlining recent breakthroughs obtained in the field of mechanochemistry and oleochemicals such as triglycerides, fatty acids, and glycerol derivatives. The review discusses advances obtained in the production of small chemicals derived from oils with a brief overview of vegetable oils, mechanochemistry and the use of mechanochemistry for the synthesis of biodiesel, lipidyl-cyclodextrine, dimeric and labelled fatty acids, calcium diglyceroxide, acylglycerols, benzoxazine and solketal. The paper also briefly overviews advances and limits for an industrial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater is a major source of water pollution, as it contains contaminants from human waste, chemicals, industrial runoff, and other sources that can be harmful to the environment and human health. Therefore, treatment is necessary to reduce its harmful effects. However, wastewater treatment (WWT) is often costly and difficult to implement in many areas. With conventional WWT designs lacking robustness and adaptability, modular designs can be a viable solution for this problem. In this review, a patent survey covering patents from 1996 to 2021 yielded 66 patents regarding modular WWT. The patent search showed increasing patents regarding modular WWT in recent years. Most of the patents were filed by companies in China. The International Patent Classification (IPC) was used to determine the current trends in modular WWT. Current patented designs suggest that there have been attempts to develop modularized electrochemical, separation, and sorption methods. Also, multistep patent designs showed fully integrated modular units from conventional WWT design and offer robustness and adaptability. This patent review showed that modular WWT technologies are capable and ready to be used in different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of development is intricate and couple-dependent phenomenon. Accordingly, the study of molecular and cellular biology-based developmental toxicology biomarkers increasingly is becoming an important part of risk assessment and management of chemicals for detection of health outcomes and/or biological endpoint like cytotoxicity, cell death, etc. Since, the evolution of developmental toxicology field a number of tools/markers have been developed or addressed to deal with developmental outcomes, which can ultimately be used for the development of adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) of developmental toxicants. As a result, this paper provides an overview of the current state of developmental toxicology biomarkers and describes the strategies used in the selection and evaluation of such biomarkers in the context of developmental toxicity studies. Here, we discuss about the biological markers that are directly linked to developmental toxicity with respect to future revolutionary perspectives. Additionally, this chapter will address different associated outcomes of developmental exposure by intriguing advance techniques. The discussion focuses on the challenges associated with the development of biomarkers for developmental toxicity and highlights some of the recent advances in this area. Finally, the chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the future prospects for the use of molecular and cellular biology-based developmental toxicity biomarkers. Hope the present state of the art will provide a succinct summary of recent developments of biomarkers of developmental toxicology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) commissioned RPA Europe and FoBiG to carry out the study 'Mapping of data requirements and assessment methodologies linked to the regulatory frameworks and remits of the relevant EU Agencies (ECHA, EFSA and EMA) and EC Scientific Committees (Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, SCCS, and Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks, SCHEER)' (service contract OC/EFSA/FIP/2022/01 managed by the EFSA Unit on Food Ingredients and Packaging). The general objective was to collect and analyse data requirements (DRs) and risk assessment methodologies (RAMs) applied within the regulatory frameworks of EFSA, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), SCCS and SCHEER. For comparative analysis, a digital data inventory containing 230 records on legal acts, guidance and other documents related to DRs and RAMs was developed. Based on a comparative analysis methodology, the database of DRs and RAMs across different regulatory frameworks was created by extracting information on DRs (with respect to substance identity, physico‐chemical and environmental fate properties as well as ecotoxicity and toxicity and target organism safety) and RAMs (for the environment, human health and target organisms) from relevant documents. The study identified inconsistencies within regulatory areas in some cases, e.g. between legal acts and guidance documents. Furthermore, it found differences between regulatory frameworks in the DRs and RAMs with respect to terminology, general and detailed DRs and RAMs, the quality standards for experimental studies and other issues. Based on the identified differences and the potential for harmonisation across the regulatory frameworks, several recommendations were outlined in the study that involve addressing specific as well as more principal and structural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfires on average burn at 1472°F. To determine how a ductile‐iron pipeline would perform in ultra‐high temperatures, a sample pipe assembly was tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ongoing hydrogen peroxide pilot project at a Connecticut water treatment facility showed promising benefits beyond disinfection precursor oxidation, such as reduced total organic carbon, lower chemical costs, and improved aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drug development process takes a long time since it requires sorting through a large number of inactive compounds from a large collection of compounds chosen for study and choosing just the most pertinent compounds that can bind to a disease protein. The use of virtual screening in pharmaceutical research is growing in popularity. During the early phases of medication research and development, it is crucial. Chemical compound searches are nowmore narrowly targeted. Because the databases containmore andmore ligands, thismethod needs to be quick and exact. Neural network fingerprints were created more effectively than the well-known Extended Connectivity Fingerprint (ECFP). Only the largest sub-graph is taken into consideration to learn the representation, despite the fact that the conventional graph network generates a better-encoded fingerprint. When using the average or maximum pooling layer, it also contains unrelated data. This article suggested the Graph Convolutional Attention Network (GCAN), a graph neural network with an attention mechanism, to address these problems. Additionally, it makes the nodes or sub-graphs that are used to create the molecular fingerprint more significant. The generated fingerprint is used to classify drugs using ensemble learning. As base classifiers, ensemble stacking is applied to Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forest, Nave Bayes, Decision Trees, AdaBoost, and Gradient Boosting. When compared to existing models, the proposed GCAN fingerprint with an ensemble model achieves relatively high accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve. Additionally, it is revealed that our ensemble learning with generated molecular fingerprint yields 91% accuracy, outperforming earlier approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the important sources of environmental pollution, the sound management of chemicals has entered the international agenda beyond 2020. This article presents the latest trends of sound management of chemicals in the international community, including the negotiation progress on the framework of Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020, relevant resolutions adopted by the Fifth United Nations Environment Conference, and preparations for the Science-Policy Panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution, elabo- rates on the content of the framework text of SAICM beyond 2020 and analyzes the new changes and requirements of the international situation. The sound management of chemicals has become an important chapter in global environmental governance, and China is facing new international situations and challenges. As a new requirement of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee for deepening the battle against pollution, new pollutants control is the primary task of environmental risk management of toxic and harmful chemicals, which is highly consistent with the international goal of sound management of chemicals. At present, it is necessary to gather joint efforts from both domestic and international sources, actively respond to international challenges, and embark on a new journey in the domestic new pollutants control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, energy, and minerals are fundamental pillars for the future of humankind. Sustainable and renewable productive processes and resources are the only possibility to face the continuously growing global population and high living standards requirements. The present work introduces a proof of concept for the pilot scale production of magnesium hydroxide, Mg(OH)2, from waste saltworks bitterns located in the district of Trapani, Italy. Mg(OH)2 was produced by adopting a proprietary "Magnesium Crystals Granulometry Controlled Reactor", Mg-CGCR. The influence of several parameters was investigated on Mg(OH)2 suspensions and powders characteristics: (i) the bittern flow rate, (ii) alkaline sodium hydroxide, NaOH, concentrations solutions (adopted as the precipitant agent) and (iii) the final suspension pH value (stoichiometric or OH- excess amounts). A Mg2+ recovery >99 % can be achieved thanks to the adoption of a product recycling strategy in the reactor. Furthermore, highly pure Mg(OH)2 powders, addressed by cationic purity, were synthesized. Results demonstrate the possibility of producing highly pure Mg(OH)2 products from waste-concentrated saline solutions, thus turning waste into valuable compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Community Service & Empowerment is the property of Journal of Community Service & Empowerment and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For most Indian families, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a nutritious staple. It is also considered India's and the World's primary food source. Cultivation of rice in India is confronted with variegated agro-climatic conditions, various soil types, and multiple biotic and abiotic factors. Among the various biotic constraints, blast disease caused by fungi Magnaporthe oryzae (anamorph Pyricularia oryzae) is shown to be responsible for significant yield losses every year. In India, blast epidemic occurs due to various races of the pathogen, resulting in resistance breakdown within a very short period, causing severe damage. The pathogen is an ascomycetes fungi which infect rice seedlings up to the adult stage of the crop. The control can be achieved through several approaches, including cultural, nutritional, chemical, and biocontrol methods. This review paper aims to provide a precise view of the various methods that can be used to control blast diseases caused by M. oryzae (anamorph P. oryzae). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) as a new material is attracting extensive attention. The pretreatment and mechanical fibrillation are the two main stages involved in the preparation of LCNFs, and lignin plays the important role of these two stages. This review discussed the interaction between lignin and chemicals in the pretreatment stage, and discovered the general law of the effect of lignin in the mechanical fibrillation stage. Lignin exhibits both promotion and inhibition effects on mechanical fibrillation, and the mutual competition between the two effects ultimately affects the energy consumption, morphology and yield of LCNFs. Furthermore, the recent research progress related to the contributions of lignin on the functional application of LCNFs was summarized, aiming to provide profound guidance for the preparation and application of LCNFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Packaging materials serve as a barrier to protect the food from the environment and new approaches with improved properties, such as active packaging, is gaining more attention nowadays. In this study, chitosan films containing olive leaf extract (OLE) as an additive were prepared and characterized in terms of mechanical, structural and biological properties. The addition of OLE improved not only the tensile strength (32 MPa) and elongation (9.3%) of chitosan films but also their barrier properties such as water vapor transmission rate of 657.52 g/m2day and moisture retention capability of 90.41%. Furthermore, chitosan films gained antibacterial properties with the addition of OLE and possessed a dose and time-dependent antioxidant activity compared to their extract-free equivalents. As a consequence, the present study suggests that chitosan films incorporated with OLE are a promising alternative as an active food packaging with enhanced mechanical, barrier, antioxidant and antibacterial properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of exogenous Tyrosine (Tyr: 2.5 mM) application on the variations of growth rate parameters, enzymatic and non-enzymatic constituents, oxidative stress, and mineral content under lithium-applied (Li1: 6.44 mM; Li2: 19.32 mM) seedlings of the Anlani F1 spinach cultivar were investigated. Results showed that a higher Li led to a significant reduction in the growth rate parameters including shoot, root, and leaf length, the fresh weight of shoot, root, and leaf, and leaf blade sizes, whereas a lower Li dose resulted in an increase in those parameters. In contrast, the Tyr supply to the Li-applied seedlings resulted in a rise in these measured parameters. Similarly, chlorophyll and polyphenol contents and PAL, APX, CAT, POD, and SOD activities were higher in all exogenous Tyr-treated groups, including lithium-treated groups. Whilst nitrate content was higher in the Li-applied seedlings, NR activity was lower. Also, MDA and H2O2 were found to be higher in the Li-applied group, but exogenous Tyr supplements reduced their levels in the seedlings. Li, Ca, Na, Cl, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn accumulation were induced by Li doses and Tyr applications together with Li, but Tyr applications alone reduced all of their levels. Also, exogenous Try supplementations to the Li-applied group caused an important decline in the Li accumulation. As a result, a higher Li dose exhibited a negative effect on the growth rate, chemical constituent, and antioxidant compounds of the Anlani F1 spinach cultivar, but exogenous Tyr supplement improved those examined traits in the Li-applied seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to enhance the longevity of damaged or defective components through necessary repairs. In corrosive environments, stainless steels, such as 304 and 316NG austenitic stainless steel (SS), are preferred due to their chemical composition. Notably, 316SS contains a higher molybdenum content, resulting in improved resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion. The simulation of intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in SS piping relies on factors like applied and residual stresses, environmental conditions, and sensitization degree. To understand crack growth rates and times-to-initiation for each material, "damage parameters (DPs)" are utilized. These DPs consolidate the individual influences of various parameters. To estimate the DPs an artificial neuronal network (ANN) is proposed in this work. The ANN serves as a tool for predicting the DPs based on the given inputs. The obtained results are then utilized in numerical simulations to assess crack growth rates, times-to-initiation, and reliability for damaged 304SS and 316SS. Finally, this paper investigates the impact of replacing old 304 material with new 316NG material on piping reliability. By examining the effects of this replacement, the study aims to provide insights into how the reliability of the piping can be improved through material upgrades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review provides a state-of-the-art summary of the role which zeolite plays as a catalyst via pyrolysis as a way of recovering fuels and chemicals from waste high and or low density polyethylene bags. It also highlighted the two types of zeolite (natural or synthetic) which are used as a two-stage pyrolysis−catalysis in giving a free waxing product to pure fuel and chemicals which can be subjected to further analyzing and or upgrading. As yield of oil/wax decreased with the addition of a zeolite as catalyst from 44 and 51 wt.%, (depending on the waste high density polyethylene “HDPE” or low density polyethylene bags “LDPE” and other factors). However, the composition of the pyrolysis−catalysis oils significantly increased in aromatic hydrocarbon content accordingly. In addition, the composition of the oils shifted from high molecular weight hydrocarbons (C16+) to fuel range hydrocarbons (C5−C15), with a high content of single-ring aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and styrene. This process shows great potential for production of fuels or chemicals, and also addresses the urgent issue of waste HDPE and or LDPE disposal.

Emerging evidence supports a link between environmental factors-including air pollution and chemical exposures, climate, and the built environment-and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) susceptibility and severity. Climate, air pollution, and the built environment have long been recognized to influence viral respiratory infections, and studies have established similar associations with COVID-19 outcomes. More limited evidence links chemical exposures to COVID-19. Environmental factors were found to influence COVID-19 through four major interlinking mechanisms: increased risk of preexisting conditions associated with disease severity; immune system impairment; viral survival and transport; and behaviors that increase viral exposure. Both data and methodologic issues complicate the investigation of these relationships, including reliance on coarse COVID-19 surveillance data; gaps in mechanistic studies; and the predominance of ecological designs. We evaluate the strength of evidence for environment-COVID-19 relationships and discuss environmental actions that might simultaneously address the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental determinants of health, and health disparities.

Abstract Background Chemical disasters are common worldwide and result from technological failure, war, and terrorism activities. Pakistan imports huge quantities of hazardous chemicals to meet its industrial and energy needs. Hence there is a risk of chemical disaster at the ports, during transportation of such material and processing in the chemical industry. This study aimed to review the challenges and health outcomes of cases of soybean dust exposure in Kemari district (harbor neighborhood) of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted with all the affected people from a chemical incident of soybean dust which was reported in the Keamari district of Karachi, Pakistan. Included patients ≥ 18 years who visited the two major tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan after the incident between February 17 to 23, 2020. A total of 574 patients were brought to these two major tertiary care hospitals. We collected data on basic demographics, event details, and major signs and symptoms of the affected individuals. Calculated frequencies and percentages for categorical variables. Mean ± standard deviation (SD) was calculated for continuous variables. Results The mean ± (SD) age of the victims were 32 (13.5) years. Of the 574 patients, majority of the patients (n = 319, 56%) were males. In 28 cases (41%), the onset of symptoms occurred at home, in 27 cases (39%) the onset of symptoms started in the workplace and the remaining cases (n = 14, 20%) experienced the first symptoms while roaming around the roadside. The most common reported co-morbidity was a history of asthma (56%), followed by diabetes mellitus (22%). The most common clinical manifestation was shortness of breath, reported in 94% of the cases, followed by neurological symptoms such as drowsiness, unconsciousness, or seizures experienced by 10% of the victims. A total of 9 deaths (1.5%) were recorded. Conclusion A multi-sectoral systematic approach is also required to address these incidents comprehensively including the trained and equipped pre-hospital system, integrated emergency medical response, and community-wide emergency response system.

One of the main threats to aquaculture is represented by microbial pathogens, causing mass mortality episodes in hatcheries, which result in huge economic losses. Among the many disinfection methods applied to reduce this issue, the use of chemicals and beneficial microorganisms (probiotics) seems to be the most efficient. The aim of this study is to test the efficacy of two of them: a chemical, peracetic acid (PAA), and a probiotic, Phaeobacter inhibens. Tests were run on microalgae of the species Isochrysis galbana (var T-ISO). For both remedies, the microalgae survival rate and final cell concentration (cell/mL) were monitored. PAA analysis tested six different concentrations of the chemical: 7.5 µg, 10 µg/L, 20 µg/L, 30 µg/L, 40 µg/L, and 60 µg/L. Meanwhile, P. inhibens was tested with a concentration of 104 CFU/mL. Analysis for both the remedies was conducted on a laboratory scale using glass flasks, and on an industrial scale inside photobioreactors (PBRs). Among all the treatments, the one with PAA dosed with a concentration of 60 µg/L gave the best results, as the culture reached a final density of 8.61 × 106 cell/mL. However, none of the remedies involved in the experiment harmed microalgae or their growth. The results match perfectly with the condition requested for the tested remedies: to obtain an optimal breakdown of pathogens without interfering with culture growth. These features make PAA and P. inhibens good candidates for disinfection methods in aquaculture facilities.