Socioecology Research Today

Nutrient removals associated with the relatively immature, nutrient-rich soils of the UK are contrasted with the mature, nutrient-poor soils of India gaining insight into the emerging issue of nutrient stripping and the long-term implications for human health and soil quality. Whilst nutrient deficiencies are rare in developed countries, micronutrient deficiencies are commonly increasing in less-developed [...]

A comprehensive general circulation model (GCM) is used to estimate the climate impact of aviation emissions of black carbon (BC) and sulfate (SO4) aerosols. Aviation BC is found not to exert significant radiative forcing impacts, when BC nucleating efficiencies in line with observations are used. Sulfate emissions from aircraft are found to alter liquid clouds [...]

The potential effect on surface water pH of emissions of SOX and NOX from global ship routes is assessed. The results indicate that regional pH reductions of the same order of magnitude as the CO2-driven acidification can occur in heavily trafficked waters. These findings have important consequences for ocean chemistry, since the sulfuric and nitric [...]

The presence of human pharmaceuticals in sewage-impacted ecosystems is a growing concern that poses health risks to aquatic wildlife. Despite this, few studies have investigated the uptake of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in aquatic organisms. In this study, the uptake of 9 APIs from human drugs was examined and compared in neonate bull sharks (Carcharhinus [...]

Rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) and lithium-polymer (Li-poly) batteries have recently become dominant in consumer electronic products because of advantages associated with energy density and product longevity. However, the small size of these batteries, the high rate of disposal of consumer products in which they are used, and the lack of uniform regulatory policy on their disposal [...]

Primary energy savings potential is used to compare five residual municipal solid waste treatment systems, including configurations with mechanical (MT) and mechanical–biological (MBT) pre-treatment, which produce waste-derived fuels (RDF and SRF), biogas and/or recover additional materials for recycling, alongside a system based on conventional mass burn waste-to-energy and ash treatment. To examine the magnitude of [...]

Assumption Park gives residents of this city lovely views of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit skyline. Lately they’ve been treated to another sight: a three-story pile of petroleum coke covering an entire city block on the other side of the Detroit River. Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct [...]

We present a novel “Lab-on-DVD” system and demonstrate its capability for rapid and low-cost HIV diagnostics by counting CD4+ cells isolated from whole blood. We show that a commercial DVD drive can, with certain modifications, be turned into an improved DVD-based laser scanning microscope (DVD-LSM). The system consists of a multi-layered disposable polymer disc and [...]

A universal environmental friendly method was developed to turn sand into effective flocculants for mitigating harmful algal blooms (HABs) in marine and freshwater systems. The isoelectric point of sand was largely increased from pH 4.5 to 10.5 after been modified by Moringa oleifera coagulant (MO) abstracted form MO seeds. However, when sand was modified by [...]

This study aims to quantify water appropriation and the potential production of algal bio-oil using freshwater and municipal wastewater effluent (MWW) as an alternative water resource. The county-level analysis focuses on open-pond algae cultivation systems located in 17 states in the southern United States. Several scenarios were developed to examine the water availability for algae [...]