Design and Implementation of Decentralized Voting System on the Ethereum Blockchain

This work involves the design and implementation of a decentralized voting system on the Ethereum blockchain, which is a peer-to-peer network. The system is helpful in carrying out free and fair elections as information stored on the blockchain is immutable. This voting application uses solidity as the backend language and the web3 library for reading and interacting with the blockchain. JavaScript, Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used to design the front end and the control logic for the website. The voting system works with the locally installed Ethereum node. The user visits the website and registers his details which are then uploaded to the blockchain in the cryptographically hashed pattern. After registering, the user is directed to the voting page, which reads the intelligent contract data and allows the user to cast his vote and at the same time update the blockchain. This system can be deployed in schools, organizations, countries, anywhere there is a need for governance and democratic voting. The prototype built was tested and found to be working perfectly

Abundance of springtails (Collembola) under four agroforestry tree species with contrasting litter quality

The soil- and litter-dwelling Collembola under four agroforestry tree species (Treculia ajricana, Dactylaaenia (Acioa) barteri, Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leu'cocephala) were monitored monthly for a period of 12 months and results were compared with those of a secondary forest and a grass plot. Treculia and Dactyladenia produced lower quality litter, leading to lower soil temperature and higher soil moisture under those species, relative to Gliricidia and Leucaena. The agroforestry tree plots contained more soil- and litter-dwelling Collembola than the secondary forest and grass plots. The slowly decomposing litter under Treculia and Dactyladenia supported more litter Collembola than the quickly decomposing litter under Gliricidia and Leucaena. Soil moisture and temperature were, respectively, positively and negatively correlated with populations of soil Collembola. Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that the use of prunings of agroforestry tree species as mulch in agroecosystems would encourage the growth of Collembola populations and enhance their role in decomposition processes

Utilization of biochar for remediation of heavy metals in aqueous environments: A review and bibliometric analysis

Biochar usage for removing heavy metals from aqueous environments has emerged as a promising research area with significant environmental and economic benefits. Using the PICO approach, the research question aimed to explore using biochar to remove heavy metals from aqueous media. We merged the data from Scopus and the Web of Science Core Collection databases to acquire a comprehensive perspective of the subject. The PRISMA guidelines were applied to establish the search parameters, identify the appropriate articles, and collect the bibliographic information from the publications between 2010 and 2022. The bibliometric analysis showed that biochar-based heavy metal remediation is a research field with increasing scholarly attention. The removal of Cr(VI), Pb(II), Cd(II), and Cu(II) was the most studied among the heavy metals. We identified five main clusters centered on adsorption, water treatment, adsorption models, analytical techniques, and hydrothermal carbonization by performing keyword co-occurrence analysis. Trending topics include biochar reusability, modification, acid mine drainage (AMD), wastewater treatment, and hydrochar. The reutilization of heavy metal-loaded spent biochar includes transforming it into electrodes for supercapacitors or stable catalyst materials. This study provides a comprehensive overview of biochar-based heavy metal remediation in aquatic environments and highlights knowledge gaps and future research directions