Od PET lahví k dobrotám

The treatment of waste PET bottles has become a pressing global issue over the last few decades, and many scientific teams are currently working on solutions to it. There are many different approaches of how to solve this problem. The present article outlines the possibility to process terephthalic acid, which is the hydrolysis product of polyethylene terephthalate, into vanillin, a compound widely used in the food industry. The work of British scientists who have succeeded in using genetic modification to produce a strain of E. coli RARE_pVanX capable of processing polyethylene terephthalate hydrolysates to the desired vanillin is presented in a broader context.

Sustainable Green Nanotechnologies for Innovative Purifications of Water: Synthesis of the Nanoparticles from Renewable Sources

Polluting the natural water resources is a serious global issue, which is confirmed by the fact that today at least 2 billion people consume water from contaminated sources. The conventional wastewater treatment methods cannot effectively remove the persistent pollutants (e.g., drugs, organic dyes, pesticides) from the aqueous environment. Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a promising and sustainable alternative for water remediation. It is based on the interaction between light irradiation and the semiconductors (e.g., TiO2, ZnO) as photocatalysts, but these compounds, unfortunately, have some disadvantages. Hence, great attention has been paid to the nanotechnology as a possible way of improvement. Nanomaterials have extraordinary properties; however, their conventional synthesis is often difficult and requires a significant amount of dangerous chemicals. This concise topical review gives recent updates and trends in development of sustainable and green pathways in the synthesis of nanomaterials, as well as in their application for water remediation. In our review we put emphasis on the eco-friendly, mostly plant extract-based materials. The importance of this topic, including this study as well, is proved by the growing number of publications since 2018. Due to the current serious environmental issues (e.g., global warming, shortage of pure and quality water), it is necessary for the traditional TiO2 and ZnO semiconductors to be replaced with the harmless, non-toxic, and more powerful nanocomposites as photocatalysts. Not only because of their higher efficiency as compared to the bulk semiconductors, but also because of the presence of biomolecules that can add up to the pollutant removal efficiency, which has been already confirmed in many researches. However, despite the fact that the application of heterogeneous photocatalysis together with green nanotechnology is absolutely the future in water purification, there are some challenges which have to be overcome. The exact effects of the biomolecules obtained from plants in the synthesis of nanoparticles, as well as in the photocatalytic processes, are not exactly known and require further investigation. Furthermore, heterogeneous photocatalysis is a well-known and commonly examined process; however, its practical use outside the laboratory is expensive and difficult. Thus, it has to be simplified and improved in order to be available for everyone. The aim of our review is to suggest and prove that using these bio-inspired compounds it is possible to reduce human footprint in the nature.

A Multiobjective Optimization Model for Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China

It is a global issue to set up a practical, sensitive, and useful model to eradicate or mitigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Taking Central China’s Hubei Province for example, three models were established. Firstly, a susceptible-probable-infectious-recovered (SPIR) model was proposed to predict the monthly number of confirmed and susceptible cases in each city. Next, an epidemic prefecture clustering model was set up to find proper vaccine delivery sites, according to the distance of each city. Finally, a dynamic material delivery optimization model was established for multiple epidemic prefectures, aiming to speed up vaccine production and storage in each delivery site.

Rethinking the defining contextualization of in-work poverty: the challenge of individualism and globalization

Growing empirical evidence reveals the dramatic expansion in the risk of in-work poverty on a global scale over the last half-century. The current article reviews research on in-work poverty, illustrates how in-work poverty developed from a regional phenomenon into a global issue, and considers recent studies that have reexamined the concept of “in-work poverty” from the original “male family head” to further call on respecting the individual perspective and gender dimension. On the one hand, few studies have provided evidence on the gendered trends in in-work poverty; women’s situation in in-work poverty has not been particularly researched, and the gender dimension is often invisible. On the other hand, the existing literature does not consider this poverty issue much in developing countries, even though this does not mean that in-work poverty in developed countries is only a “side effect.” Hence, an international comparative setting with the gender dimension is needed, and more research is required to explore this construct within the context of the developing world.

Hierarchical Porous Metal-Organic Framework Materials for Efficient Oil-Water Separation

Oil contaminated water is a global issue, decreasing the quality of water sources and is posing a threat to the health of humans and many ecosystems. The utilization of industrial...

Minimalistic soil microbial fuel cells for bioremediation of recalcitrant pollutants

Increased human, agricultural and industrial activities along with improper waste disposal leads to high levels of soil contamination and accumulation of recalcitrant contaminants in the environment. This global issue demands the use of green and sustainable technologies and soil microbial fuel cells (SMFC) can be a potential solution. We adopted minimalistic designs, based on low-cost carbon materials without any expensive catalyst and membrane, which makes the SMFCs suitable for in-field applications. We investigated the ability of the indigenous microbial population of the soil to use organic contaminants as the source of carbon and the enrichment of the electroactive consortium was monitored over time onto the electrode surface of the SMFCs. We tested performance in soil contaminated with pesticide and soil contaminated with hydrocarbons and compare the microbial enrichment process with respect to the case of non-contaminated soil.

Invisible Barriers, Undeclared Wars

Despite the indisputable progress of gender equality in academia in recent decades, the relative stagnancy of women's participation in decision making and resource distribution remains a global issue. There is growing evidence that a large part of gender inequality in higher education and research cannot be explained by explicit measurable factors. Male bias is encoded in societal and academic culture and to a significant extent determines subconscious choices and decisions benefiting men. This chapter analyses cultural reasons behind gender inequality and typifies them in a form of a matrix based on gendered attitudes to women's leadership in academia. The analysis of typical resistances reveals psychological and social mechanisms of subtle gender discrimination and is followed by a set of proposed preventive measures.

Clapping From the Arena

Climate change is a serious global issue and concern that is attributed to change. A change of climate that is directly or indirectly related to human activity, that which alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. There is therefore no doubt that the earth is warming, and the climate changing. Despotism and the rule of despots as agents of democracy has created a rift in the issue of climate change on its citizenry in the southern zone of Plateau State in the area of health, water shortages, cutting meals due to the economic recession in Nigeria. Research has shown that climate change can create a conflict, and it does have a direct effect on scarce resources required to sustain life. Water is at the heart of human existence. Global warming has a major impact on global water cycle, hence on rainfall, soil moisture, rivers, and sea levels. If climate change is not tackled urgently, the calamity will be enormous.

Nanoemulsion Applications

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a global issue with increasing rise in morbidity and mortality. PCa treatment has been a global challenge for many years because drugs designed to combat this disease might show low efficacy as a result of low solubility. Limitations of chemo-drugs for treating PCa give birth to the use of nanomedicine which helps to improve drug delivery systems. Nanoemulsions are particles that are pharmaceutically formulated and comprised within the range of a nanometer (10-200nm). Nanoemulsions are thermodynamically stable and made up of safe gradient agents. This chapter elucidates the physiological, biological, and molecular barriers affecting drug delivery in PCa. The authors discussed the importance of nanoemulsions as potential drug delivery mechanisms in PCa therapy. This chapter focuses on reviewing different ways by which nanoemulsion can bring solution to water-solubility problems and also target specific cancer cells. Limitations of nanoemulsions in the drug delivery field were also highlighted.

The Instructions of Melanesian Cargo Cults for the Asia-Pacific Future

So-called cargo cults are new religious movements best known among the indigenous population of Oceania, especially Melanesia. Their focus of attention is the mystery surrounding the new goods brought by light-skinned strangers in awe-striking ocean-going vessels and (later) in great flying ‘bird-like’ containers. Various socio-religious movements arose in response to these European-style wares (later internationally-marketed commodities), or “the Cargo” (pidgin: Kago), often in agitated collective expectation of an extraordinary arrival of new riches. The Melanesian outbursts have been typically inspired by prophet-type leaders, with their messages reflecting a transition between indigenous traditions and more settled islander Christianities. This paper moves on from describing and explaining southwest Pacific cargo-type movements to the issue of the ethos out of which they arose, and addresses the sociology of hope for Cargo (or modern commodities in plenty) as a global issue, best described as “Cargoism.” Sets of beliefs in the coming bounty and changing power of Cargo have much more than ‘provincial’ or local-indigenous implications. They point to a worldwide plethora of expectations wherein material items define the essential comforts of life and capture the individual, family and collective imaginations about the preferred human future. Exploring some of the ‘universally human’ implications within the logic of cargo-cult thinking in its Pacific context, this paper introduces Cargoism as a transoceanic and intercontinental issue that has enormous environmental and politico-economic ramifications. Presages of environmental stress lie with globalizing cargoist dreams and pressures, including hopes for progress and technological solutions offered by trade and commercial expansions (proffered by powerful nations, including China, for the Asia-Pacific future).