Rhizobacteria inoculation benefits nutrient availability for phytostabilization in copper contaminated soil:Drivers from bacterial community structures in rhizosphere

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and rhizobia are potentially advantageous in improving plant growth in heavy metal contaminated soils. However, only limited information is available in literature on the manner through which the co-inoculation of PGPR and rhizobia can potentially supply nutrients to benefit plant growth in heavy metal contaminated soil. Accordingly, this study investigated the effects of Paenibacillus mucilaginosus (PGPR) and Sinorhizobium meliloti (rhizobia) co-inoculation on soil nutrients, enzyme activities, and microbial biomass in copper (Cu) contaminated soil planted with alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Moreover, we assessed soil bacterial community structure using high-throughput Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Results showed that PGPR and/or rhizobia inoculation improved alfalfa growth. In particular, we found that this co-inoculation approach decreased Cu accumulation (48.6%) in shoots compared to the control (uninoculated). Both partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) and the relative importance of regressors in the linear models identified that enzyme activities, microbial biomass, and microbial community structure in Cu contaminated soil were major controlling variables of soil nutrient availability. The co-inoculation treatment significantly increased soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations by increasing urease (55.6%), saccharase (29.5%), and β-glucosidase (31.4%) activities compared to the control. Furthermore, the rhizosphere microbial community structure in the co-inoculation treatment was mainly regulated by soil N concentrations (i.e., both total N and available N) while altering alpha diversity (α-diversity). The relative abundances of Firmicutes (including biomarkers of the Bacillus genus) and Acidobacteria were enriched in the co-inoculated treatment, which can potentially improve soil nutrient availability and subsequently benefit plant growth. These findings indicated that the co-inoculation of PGPR and rhizobia plays an important role in promoting plant growth in Cu contaminated soil. This is because this approach can increase soil nutrient availability by enhancing soil enzyme activities and regulating rhizosphere microbial community structure

Media, communication and the struggle for social progress

This article discusses the role of media and communications in contributing to social progress, as elaborated in a landmark international project ? the International Panel on Social Progress. First, it analyses how media and digital platforms have contributed to global inequality by examining media access and infrastructure across world regions. Second, it looks at media governance and the different mechanisms of corporatized control over media platforms, algorithms and content. Third, the article examines how the democratization of media is a key element in the struggle for social justice. It argues that effective media access ? in terms of distribution of media resources, even relations between spaces of connection and the design and operation of spaces that foster dialogue, free speech and respectful cultural exchange ? is a core component of social progress

An Evolutionary Game Theoretical Analysis to Conflicts among Stakeholders Involved in the Operation of Municipal Waste Incineration

This study presents an evolutionary game to model interactions among stakeholders with potential conflicts, including the operational enterprise of incineration plant, the local government, and the residents nearby. System dynamics is used to simulate the change of strategic actions corresponding to the three players, in order to seek for the evolutionary stability strategies. A numerical case is proposed to demonstrate the game theory application, in which the impacts of governmental incentive and punishment on the player’s actions are investigated. The results indicated that administrative penalty is effective not only in motivating the enterprises to upgrade treatment facilities for ensuring environmental quality but also in helping the local government and residents to approach dominant strategies. Policy implications are given based on the results to lay out a foundation for the alleviation of the conflicts

Dockless bike-sharing as a feeder mode of metro commute? The role of the feeder-related built environment: Analytical framework and empirical evidence

The newly prevailing dockless bike-sharing system offers a decent solution to the first- and last-mile problem and connects trip origins/destinations and transit (mostly metro) stations. Few studies, however, have explored the effects of built environment characteristics on the integrated usage of dockless bike-sharing and the metro, especially in different conditions (e.g., access versus egress and morning peak versus evening peak) and using panel data. To fill the gap, this study proposes a people–metro–bike–route–urban space framework to describe the feeder-related built environment from the perspective of the feeder process. Using 3-day data of ofo bikes in Shenzhen, China, this study then develops multilevel negative binomial models that incorporate random effects and address the intracluster correlation attributed to repeated measures to scrutinize the feeder-related built environment effects on the integrated usage. The findings are listed as follows: (1) The majority of access and egress integrated trips have a distance range of 500–2000 m and a duration range of 2.5–10 min; (2) Popular metro stations (with a large ridership) are positively related to the access integrated usage; (3) The number of available shared bikes and the length of bikeway in the catchment areas of the metro are positively related to the integrated usage; and (4) Mixed land use increases the integrated usage, whereas urban villages are places with few demands for the integrated usage. These findings are beneficial in developing a bike-friendly built environment that facilitates the seamless connection between dockless bike-sharing and the metro

Spatio-temporal characteristics of regional sustainable economic growth drivers of China

Intellectual capital (IC) has become a universal performance indicator for the socioeconomic development of countries and regions. Based on a review of national intellectual capital (NIC) and regional intellectual capital (RIC) evaluation literature, we used the regional intellectual capital indicator (RICI) as a model for China’s RIC evaluation to indirectly understand China’s potential economic growth drivers. Specifically, we collected statistical data of 31 provinces (including municipalities and autonomous regions) in China from 2004 to 2016 to measure RICI and analyze its dynamic characteristics from temporal and spatial perspectives. In this paper, Delphi analysis was used to construct RICI model, and cluster analysis and exploratory spatial data analysis were used to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of RICI in China. The results showed that RICI, which represents China’s overall economic growth drivers, increases annually and is consistent with economic development level during the study period. Regarding the geo-spatial space, RICI follows the trend of “high in the east and low in the west”, gradually decreasing from eastern to western China. For RIC structure, the shape of the radar chart of IC structure located in the eastern coastal areas is usually biased towards strong external relational capital, while that in western China is generally biased towards structural capital. For spatial correlation, China’s RICI has dependence on geographical adjacent space and economic space. Our research can provide policy suggestions for the sustainable development of regional economy from an IC perspective

Simultaneous detection of three amphenicol antibiotics in shrimp and surface water samples by LC–MS/MS using two-antibodies-immobilized immunoaffinity clean-up technique

Amphenicol antibiotics including chloramphenicol (CAP), florfenicol (FF) and thiamphenicol (TAP) have been widely used in aquaculture and veterinary to treat various infections. Because of their high toxicity, it is important to detect these amphenicol antibiotics simultaneously. Using the monoclonal antibody against CAP (mAbCAP) binding CAP only and the mAbFF recognizing both FF and TAP, the two antibodies were covalently coupled to CNBr-activated Sepharose-4B for the simultaneous extraction of CAP, FF and TAP from samples. The bound CAP, FF and TAP were eluted from the Sepharose-4B and measured by LC–MS/MS. The extraction conditions of the two-antibodies-immobilized immunoaffinity clean-up (IAC) for CAP, FF and TAP were optimized and the maximum capacity was investigated. The extraction efficiency of IAC for CAP, FF and TAP was 1.1–2.1 times higher than that of SPE. The LC–MS/MS coupled with IAC was a powerful analytical method for the detection of CAP, FF and TAP simultaneously

Self‐biased magnetoelectric composite for energy harvesting

Abstract The wireless sensor network energy supply technology for the Internet of things has progressed substantially, but attempts to provide sustainable and environmentally friendly energy for sensor networks remain limited and considerably cumbersome for practical application. Energy harvesting devices based on the magnetoelectric (ME) coupling effect have promising prospects in the field of self‐powered devices due to their advantages of small size, fast response, and low power consumption. Driven by application requirements, the development of composite with a self‐biased magnetoelectric (SME) coupling effect provides effective strategies for the miniaturized and high‐precision design of energy harvesting devices. This review summarizes the work mechanism, research status, characteristics, and structures of SME composites, with emphasis on the application and development of SME devices for vibration and magnetic energy harvesting. The main challenges and future development directions for the design and implementation of energy harvesting devices based on the SME effect are presented

Impact of Urea Addition and Rhizobium Inoculation on Plant Resistance in Metal Contaminated Soil

Legume-rhizobium symbiosis has been heavily investigated for their potential to enhance plant metal resistance in contaminated soil. However, the extent to which plant resistance is associated with the nitrogen (N) supply in symbiont is still uncertain. This study investigates the effect of urea or/and rhizobium (Sinorhizobium meliloti) application on the growth of Medicago sativa and resistance in metals contaminated soil (mainly with Cu). The results show that Cu uptake in plant shoots increased by 41.7%, 69%, and 89.3% with urea treatment, rhizobium inoculation, and their combined treatment, respectively, compared to the control group level. In plant roots, the corresponding values were 1.9-, 1.7-, and 1.5-fold higher than the control group values, respectively. Statistical analysis identified that N content was the dominant variable contributing to Cu uptake in plants. Additionally, a negative correlation was observed between plant oxidative stress and N content, indicating that N plays a key role in plant resistance. Oxidative damage decreased after rhizobium inoculation as the activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase in roots and peroxidase in plant shoots) were stimulated, enhancing plant resistance and promoting plant growth. Our results suggest that individual rhizobium inoculation, without urea treatment, is the most recommended approach for effective phytoremediation of contaminated land

University students’ purchase intention and willingness to pay for carbon-labeled food products:A purchase decision-making experiment

Carbon labeling describes carbon dioxide emissions across food lifecycles, contributing to enhancing consumers’ low-carbon awareness and promoting low-carbon consumption behaviors. In a departure from the existing literature on carbon labeling that heavily relies on interviews or questionnaire surveys, this study forms a hybrid of an auction experiment and a consumption experiment to observe university students’ purchase intention and willingness to pay for a carbon-labeled food product. In this study, students from a university in a city (Chengdu) of China, the largest carbon emitter, are taken as the experimental group, and cow’s milk is selected as the experimental food product. The main findings of this study are summarized as follows: (1) the purchase of carbon-labeled milk products is primarily influenced by price; (2) the willingness to pay for carbon-labeled milk products primarily depends on the premium; and (3) the students are willing to accept a maximum price premium of 3.2%. This study further offers suggestions to promote the formation of China’s carbon product-labeling system and the marketization of carbon-labeled products and consequently facilitate low-carbon consumption in China.</p