New insights into the role of cyanide in the promotion of seed germination in tomato

Background Cyanide is a natural metabolite that exists widely in plants, and it is speculated to be involved in the regulation of various growth and development processes of plants in addition to being regarded as toxic waste. Previous studies have shown that exogenous cyanide treatment helps to improve seed germination, but the mechanism is still unclear. In this study, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Alisa Craig) was used as the material, and the effects of cyanide pretreatment at different concentrations on tomato seed germination were investigated. Results The results showed that exogenous application of a lower concentration of cyanide (10 μmol/L KCN) for 12 h strongly increased the tomato seed germination rate. RNA-Seq showed that compared with the control, a total of 15,418 differentially expressed genes (P<0.05) were obtained after pretreatment with KCN for 12 h, and in the next 12 h, a total of 13,425 differentially expressed genes (P<0.05) were regulated. GO and KEGG analyses demonstrated that exogenous KCN pretreatment was involved in regulating the expression (mainly downregulation) of seed storage proteins, thereby accelerating the degradation of stored proteins for seed germination. In addition, KCN pretreatment was also involved in stimulating glycolysis, the TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. Notably, it is shown that KCN acted on the regulation of plant hormone biosynthesis and perception, i.e., down-regulated the gene expression of ABA biosynthesis and signal transduction, but up-regulated the expression of genes related to GA biosynthesis and response. Consistent with this, plant hormone measurements confirmed that the levels of ABA were reduced, but GA levels were induced after pretreatment with KCN. Conclusion These findings provide new insights into the regulation of seed germination by cyanide, that is cyanide-mediated seed germination occurs in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and is related to the mobilization of energy metabolism and the regulation of some plant hormone signals.

A universal co-solvent dilution strategy enables facile and cost-effective fabrication of perovskite photovoltaics

Cost management and toxic waste generation are two key issues that must be addressed before the commercialization of perovskite optoelectronic devices. We report a groundbreaking strategy for eco-friendly and cost-effective fabrication of highly efficient perovskite solar cells. This strategy involves the usage of a high volatility co-solvent, which dilutes perovskite precursors to a lower concentration (<0.5 M) while retaining similar film quality and device performance as a high concentration (>1.4 M) solution. More than 70% of toxic waste and material cost can be reduced. Mechanistic insights reveal ultra-rapid evaporation of the co-solvent together with beneficial alteration of the precursor colloidal chemistry upon dilution with co-solvent, which in-situ studies and theoretical simulations confirm. The co-solvent tuned precursor colloidal properties also contribute to the enhancement of the stability of precursor solution, which extends its processing window thus minimizing the waste. This strategy is universally successful across different perovskite compositions, and scales from small devices to large-scale modules using industrial spin-coating, potentially easing the lab-to-fab translation of perovskite technologies.

Current Status of the Management of Plant Protection Product Containers in Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, Vietnam

Every year, thousands of tons of plant protection product (PPP) containers are indiscriminately discharged into the environment as toxic waste that has a negative impact on the land, water, and air environment as well as public health. This study surveyed the use of PPPs in rice cultivation, and the generation of hazardous waste (HW) when using pesticides, specifically pesticide packaging and containers in Long Kien and Long Dien B communes, Cho Moi district, An Giang province, Vietnam. Data collection was conducted through direct interviews, mainly collecting personal information of farmers in the surveyed area, the current situation with regard to pesticide use, container management, environmental awareness, and proposals for hazardous waste management from the farmers’ perspectives. The results show that local farmers are aware of the harmful effects of pesticide containers, but they are not able to make use of effective methods of collecting and treating the waste containers properly. Based on the survey results, several solutions are proposed for managing HW in order to reduce environmental pollution from the use of pesticides, minimize the impacts of HW on people's health, and contribute to local sustainable development.

Thermodynamics and Kinetics Research of the Fluorination Process of the Concentrate Rutile

The growth in the production of titanium metal and its compounds leads to an increase in the amount of toxic waste. As a result, at the legislative level, emissions of such wastes are limited, which leads to a drop in the production of titanium-containing products and a shortage of titanium in the international market. This paper presents the results of the process of fluorination of rutile concentrate from the Tarsky deposit (Russia, Omsk region) with elemental fluorine using a laboratory setup of a special design. For fluorination, samples of rutile concentrate weighing 0.1–1.0 g were used. The particle size distribution of particles varied from 2 × 10−6 to 2 × 10−5 m. To determine the possibility of carrying out the process, the calculation of the change in the logarithm of the equilibrium constant versus temperature was performed. The influence of the following operating parameters on the fluorination process has been studied: various concentrations of F2 in a fluorinating mixture of fluorine with nitrogen; process time from 0 to 9 min; different ratios of the initial solid phase to fluorine (10 and 50% excess of fluorine and 10 and 50% of its deficiency); fluorination temperature in the range of 300–1800 K. A kinetic equation is selected that most accurately describes the fluorination process. The values of the activation energy and the preexponential factor in the kinetic equation are determined. The obtained results show that with an increase in the fluorine content in the fluorinating gas mixture and the temperature of the process, the fluorination rate increases. Optimal conditions for fluorination: temperature—680 K; time—5 min excess fluorine in the fluorinating mixture—20–25%. The obtained results allow to propose and consider the conditions of process execution on industrial equipment.

Recent Developments in Microbe–Plant-Based Bioremediation for Tackling Heavy Metal-Polluted Soils

Soil contamination with heavy metals (HMs) is a serious concern for the developing world due to its non-biodegradability and significant potential to damage the ecosystem and associated services. Rapid industrialization and activities such as mining, manufacturing, and construction are generating a huge quantity of toxic waste which causes environmental hazards. There are various traditional physicochemical techniques such as electro-remediation, immobilization, stabilization, and chemical reduction to clean the contaminants from the soil. However, these methods require high energy, trained manpower, and hazardous chemicals make these techniques costly and non-environment friendly. Bioremediation, which includes microorganism-based, plant-based, microorganism-plant associated, and other innovative methods, is employed to restore the contaminated soils. This review covers some new aspects and dimensions of bioremediation of heavy metal-polluted soils. The bioremediation potential of bacteria and fungi individually and in association with plants has been reviewed and critically examined. It is reported that microbes such as Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp., and Aspergillus spp., have high metal tolerance, and bioremediation potential up to 98% both individually and when associated with plants such as Trifolium repens, Helianthus annuus, and Vallisneria denseserrulata. The mechanism of microbe’s detoxification of metals depends upon various aspects which include the internal structure, cell surface properties of microorganisms, and the surrounding environmental conditions have been covered. Further, factors affecting the bioremediation efficiency and their possible solution, along with challenges and future prospects, are also discussed.

Generating Electricity from Water Evaporation Through Microbial Biofilms

Sustainable strategies for energy production are required to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and to power electronics without generating toxic waste.1-7 Generating electricity from water evaporation through engineered materials is a promising approach,8,9 but power outputs have been low and the materials employed were not sustainably produced. Microorganisms can be mass produced with renewable feedstocks. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to engineer microbial biofilms as a cohesive, flexible material for long-term continuous electricity production from evaporating water. The biofilm sheets were the functional component in devices that continuously produced power densities (~1 μW/cm2) higher than that achieved with non-biological materials. Current production scaled directly with biofilm-sheet size and skin-patch devices harvested sufficient electricity from the moisture on skin to continuously power wearable devices. The results demonstrate that appropriately engineered biofilms can perform as robust functional materials without the need for further processing or maintaining cell viability. Biofilm-based hydroelectric current production was comparable to that achieved with similar sized biofilms catalyzing current production in microbial fuel cells,10,11 without the need for an organic feedstock or maintaining cell viability. The ubiquity of biofilms in nature suggests the possibility of additional sources of biomaterial for evaporation-based electricity generation and the possibility of harvesting electricity from diverse aqueous environments.

Defab: Architecture for a Circular Economy

<p>Mainstream construction practices result in the production of large quantities of toxic waste at all stages of a building’s life cycle. This can be attributed to widespread adoption of irreversible fixing methods that prioritise rapid assembly, bespoke design practices and the increased use of ‘low-value’ materials. Unprecedented levels of consumption and waste production are set to continue as demand for residential housing in New Zealand grows rapidly. In response to these concerns, this thesis aims to develop innovative construction methods that facilitate the development of a Circular Economy for the building industry. The resulting design proposal is a modular architectural construction system with integrated jointing capacity, redundant expansion potential and details that enable the effective separation of discrete building layers. This proposed assembly specification calls for the mass-standardisation of structural components to promote economically viable material retrieval and resale at the end of a building’s useful life. Computer-aided manufacturing technologies are used to facilitate the incorporation of sophisticated reusable assembly parameters into connection details on a large scale. Analysis of the proposed solution indicates that waste over an entire building’s life can be reduced by more than 94% through the deployment of alternative architectural assemblies. Additionally, optimised assemblies enable deconstruction times to be reduced by up to 30% versus conventional light timber framing.</p>

Defab: Architecture for a Circular Economy

<p>Mainstream construction practices result in the production of large quantities of toxic waste at all stages of a building’s life cycle. This can be attributed to widespread adoption of irreversible fixing methods that prioritise rapid assembly, bespoke design practices and the increased use of ‘low-value’ materials. Unprecedented levels of consumption and waste production are set to continue as demand for residential housing in New Zealand grows rapidly. In response to these concerns, this thesis aims to develop innovative construction methods that facilitate the development of a Circular Economy for the building industry. The resulting design proposal is a modular architectural construction system with integrated jointing capacity, redundant expansion potential and details that enable the effective separation of discrete building layers. This proposed assembly specification calls for the mass-standardisation of structural components to promote economically viable material retrieval and resale at the end of a building’s useful life. Computer-aided manufacturing technologies are used to facilitate the incorporation of sophisticated reusable assembly parameters into connection details on a large scale. Analysis of the proposed solution indicates that waste over an entire building’s life can be reduced by more than 94% through the deployment of alternative architectural assemblies. Additionally, optimised assemblies enable deconstruction times to be reduced by up to 30% versus conventional light timber framing.</p>

Groundwater and society: fresh submarine groundwater discharge and itsmanagement improvement

The issues of global warming and greenhouse gasses have raised the concern of the people and led to integrate ambitious of using bioenergy in many countries. In this paper, the issues of conventional energy are stated, and the different types of conventional energy resources are discussed including coal, petroleum and natural gas. The process of pulverized coal combustion (PCC) to generate electricity is also studied and discussed in this paper to have a better understanding of the process and the emission of greenhouse gas released from the use of coal to generate conventional energy. The reason of soil contamination and air pollution caused by the refinery process of petroleum is also discussed in this paper and several study cases of the social economic impact caused by the production of natural gas in development countries. Furthermore, the used of bioenergy and different type of bioenergy resource are discussed including biogas, algae biofuel, and biodiesel. The process of algae cultivation for algae biofuel and the study of toxic waste algae strains that can give a negative impact to the environment is studied to avoid harmful substances released to the environment. The potential algae application in different fields is also included to show the benefit of algae biofuel which is flexible and able to contribute to the global economic growth. Lastly, the advantages of using bioenergy are discussed including the mitigation of greenhouse gas emission, improve social economic growth, renewable energy resources and prevent prescribed burning of the forest.

TOXIC AND HAZARDOUS WASTE (B3) MANAGEMENT AT PT. PAL INDONESIA (PERSERO)

ABSTRACTPT. PAL Indonesia (Persero) is a state-owned enterprise (BUMN) engaged in the shipbuilding industry. Disposal of hazardous and toxic waste (B3) produced by PT. PAL Indonesia can cause negative impacts on the environment and health if special handling procedures are not taken. In order to avoid this, PT. PAL Indonesia (Persero) carries out B3 waste management. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the implementation of B3 waste management in PT. PAL Indonesia (Persero), including identification of B3 waste, packaging and labeling B3 waste, storage, collection and transportation of B3 waste. The research method used was the qualitative descriptive method with data collection techniques of observation, interviews, and documentation. The instrument in this study was a questionnaire. The results of the study show that in the production process, PT. PAL Indonesia (Persero) produced hazardous and toxic (B3) waste in the form of solid and liquid B3 waste in the form of used TL lamps, contaminated cotton waste, silica sand from sand blasting processes, used oil, and sludge oil. The B3 waste contained heavy metals such as Pb, Cu, Hg, Fe, and Zn. The conclusion of this research is that the implementation of B3 waste management in PT. PAL Indonesia (Persero) has not complied with implemented regulations. This study suggests the supervision of B3 waste management in PT. PAL Indonesia (Persero) as well as increased awareness of workers to wear protective equipment in managing B3 waste. Keyword: B3 waste management, PT. PAL Indonesia (Persero), B3 waste content.