The Caspian Sea, the world's largest enclosed water body, experiences significant transformations in its physico-chemical properties and a decline in bioresources due to extensive anthropogenic ...activities. These activities include the discharge of diverse pollutants and bio-physical alterations such as over-fishing, hunting, and physical alterations to rivers. While acute manifestations such as a fall in the Caspian water levels and wetland desiccation are more overt, the pervasive impact of human activities contributes to a likely irreversible decline in environmental quality that we aim to spotlight in this discussion in order to facilitate its restoration.
This study investigated the impact of Korean rice wine (makgeolli) consumption on human gut microbiota and compared it with that of other alcoholic beverages, including soju (Korean spirit), beer, ...and red wine. A randomized, cross-over trial design was employed, and fecal samples were collected from 18 healthy adults before and after the consumption of rice wine or control liquor. Microbiota of each fecal sample was analyzed targeting V3–V4 region, utilizing MiSeq system and QIIME2 analysis. Significant alterations in the relative abundance of the Actinobacteria and certain genera were observed after rice wine intervention. Additionally, rice wine consumption induced distinct alterations in the gut microbiota compared with other liquor consumptions. The relative abundance of lactic acid bacteria in the gut microbiota varied among the participants, with an elevated detection frequency of Enterococcus and Lactobacillus genera observed following rice wine consumption. In summary, this study provides the first comprehensive insight into the unique effect of rice wine consumption on the human gut microbiota, distinguishing it from other liquors.
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•This is the first exploration of rice wine intake impact on human gut microbiota.•Rice wine consumption led the alteration of certain human gut microbial genera.•The human gut microbiota shift upon rice wine intake differed from other liquors.•Impact of rice wine consumption varied based on the enterotype of each participant.•Rice wine intake led increased detection frequency and abundance of Lactobacillus.
Bauxite residue discharged to disposal areas, which could generate environmental pollution issues. Long-term natural restoration may improve the physicochemical properties of the residues, in turn ...supporting vegetation establishment, and effectively managing pollution. Nevertheless, the effects of short-term human intervention on soil formation in the weathered disposal areas are still relatively unknown. Thus, residue samples with different depths from different regions including no vegetation, sparse vegetation, complete vegetation coverage, and complete vegetation coverage following sewage sludge treatment were selected to analyze microbial community using Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology and evaluate soil formation process. Long-term weathering changed pH, the fraction of water-stable aggregates and nutrient concentrations, whilst promoting Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria and Planctomycete populations. Sewage sludge addition enhanced aggregate stability and significantly changed microbial community diversity. Sewage sludge application enriched the relative abundances of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, whilst decreasing the relative abundance of Acidobacteria, which may be due to variation in environmental factors. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that pH and EC were the main factors affecting microbial structure, followed by organic carbon content and aggregate stability. The results enhance the understanding of soil formation in bauxite residue and reveal the potential benefit of human intervention in ecological reconstruction at disposal areas.
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•Effect of human intervention on soil formation in a long-term weathered disposal area was investigated.•Physicochemical properties of bauxite residue were significantly changed following the restoration process.•Human intervention modified microbial community structure and accelerated soil formation processes.•pH and EC were the main factors affecting the development of microbial community structure.
The presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) has become a global concern, as it poses a threat to the environment, especially to the aquatic ecosystem. This study focused on 30 ...PPCPs found in the Baiyangdian basin of the Xiong'an New Area, in the core of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with intensive human interventions during two seasons. In general, 30 PPCPs were all frequently detected, ranging from 42.3 to 7710 ng/L in May and 48.9 to 1300 ng/L in November. Sulfamethoxazole, ofloxacin, anhydro-erythromycin, carbamazepine, caffeine, and were screened as the predominant PPCPs. The rivers input was an essential source of PPCPs. The source apportionment with a series of analytical methods revealed that domestic sewage was the primary source, and untreated water also crucial for PPCPs contamination. The risk assessment suggested carbamazepine, caffeine, ofloxacin, and anhydro-erythromycin exhibited relatively high ecological risks for protecting most species such as algae, fish, and flowers in the aquatic ecosystem, especially near the outlet of WWTPs. Thus, management strategies for such PPCPs will be needed. Intensive human interventions, including a prohibition of fish breeding, water diversion project, and wastewater treatment in villages, were having an effective role in alleviating PPCPs contamination.
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•30 PPCPs were frequently detected with seasons in water from the Baiyangdian Basin.•The integrated source identification showed domestic sewage was main PPCPs output.•The predominant PPCPs showed relatively high risk via semi-probabilistic approach.•Intensive human intervention proved effective in the alleviation of PPCPs pollution.
•A human pilot intervention study was performed with volunteers with and without a colon.•Anthocyanins/bilberry extract was stabilized by whey protein or citrus pectin.•Whey protein encapsulation ...modulated short-term bioavailability.•Citrus pectin encapsulation increased intestinal accessibility during passage through the small intestine.•The degradation product phloroglucinol aldehyde was present in plasma.
Anthocyanins are flavonoids that have been suggested to provide beneficial health effects. The biological activity of anthocyanins is influenced by their pharmacokinetic properties, but anthocyanins are associated with limited bioavailability in humans. In the presented study, we investigated how the encapsulation of bilberry extract (BE), a source of anthocyanins, with either whey protein or citrus pectin influences the bioavailability and intestinal accessibility of anthocyanins in humans. We performed an intervention study that analyzed anthocyanins and their degradation products in the urine, plasma, and ileal effluent of healthy volunteers and ileostomists (subjects without an intact colon). We were able to show, that whey protein encapsulation modulated short-term bioavailability and that citrus pectin encapsulation increased intestinal accessibility during passage through the small intestine and modulated the formation of the degradation product phloroglucinol aldehyde (PGAL) in human plasma.
Accumulating above-ground biomass (AGB) and conservation of biodiversity are two major services provided by any ecosystem and homegardens are no exceptions. The permanent structure of a homegarden is ...owing to its perennial tree-community which steadily builds up and maintains the tree diversity and AGB accumulation. Being a manmade agroforestry system, humans play a vital role in mediating each component of homegarden ecosystem including its carbon stock and biodiversity through management of the tree community.
The objectives of this study were to compute the tree diversity and AGB and human interventions in homegarden ecosystem in Jaffna peninsula and to identify the most prominent factors affecting the AGB.
A primary survey was conducted capturing 135 homegardens from two agro-ecological regions (DL3 and DL4) in Jaffna peninsula (Northern province, Sri Lanka), where homegardens are observed as the primary tree-based vegetation. Data on floral composition, livestock and, household-interventions in homegardens were gathered through a structured questionnaire. Tree diversity and AGB were computed using Shannon-Wiener index (SWI) and carbon stock respectively. A multiple linear regression model was estimated to determine the effects of pre-defined interventions on AGB of homegardens.
The study sample consisted of 122 small-scale (<0.2 ha), 11 medium-scale (0.2–0.8 ha) and 02 large-scale (>0.8 ha) homegardens. The mean tree diversity as estimated by SWI was 1.1 ± 0.6 with 38 perennial species and 1286 trees; 32 genera and 17 families. An average homegarden is estimated to store 23.8 ± 20.9 Mg C/ha as AGB. Homegardens which reared livestock animals, had a significantly lower SWI value, yet, a higher AGB stock, compared to the opposed group (p < 0.05). The SWI, time allocation (hours) for homegarden/week/ha, technical knowledge on farming and non-timber usage within homegarden have significantly (p < 0.05) contributed to the AGB of homegardens, with regression-coefficients of 6.12, 0.02, 1.38 and 7.91, respectively. The results indicate that up-keeping the commitment of households in managing their homegardens contribute to environmental sustainability.
The results revealed a significant contribution of human interactions on the size of the AGB of homegardens in Jaffna peninsula. This contribution was not adequately discussed in previously literature and the findings suggest the need to manage human interactions in homegarden agroforestry systems to optimize carbon stock in traditional homegardens.
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•Humans play a vital role in mediating each element of homegardens, including the above-ground biomass (AGB).•The study aimed to assess the relations of AGB vs human interventions, in modulating homegardens as AGB carbon storages.•Tree diversity, time spent on homegarden, technical awareness and non-timber usage, significantly affected the AGB.•The model suggests that effective mediation of humans could optimize traditional homegardens at storing AGB carbon.•The impact of human intervention on homegardens by means of a promising carbon storage is hardly discussed in literature.
•NPP was used to assess the relative role of the driving factors in desertification.•Desertification expanded in 55.8% of the entire study area.•Human activities promote desertification expansion, ...climate benefits the reversion.•Contributions of the two factors varied greatly in six provinces.•Environmental protect programs are beneficial to the desertification control.
An accurate quantitative assessment of the relative roles of climate change and human activities in desertification is significant to understand the driving mechanisms deeply and control desertification development. In this study, we selected net primary productivity (NPP) as an indicator to discriminate the relative roles of climate and human factors in desertification during 2001–2010 in northwest China. The potential NPP and the difference between potential and actual NPPs were used to represent the impacts of climate change and human activities on desertification. Desertification expanded on 55.8% of the study area, within which 70.3% of the desertification expansion was caused by human activities compared with only 21.7% induced by climate change. On the contrary, 42.1% of desertification reversion was caused by human activities and 48.4% resulted from climate changes. The NPP variation also could be calculated to assess the relative roles and showed that 69% of NPP decrease was caused by human impacts compared with 15.2% induced by climate change. By contrast, 23.9% of NPP increase was caused by climate change, whereas 54% resulted from human activities. In addition, the relative roles of two factors possessed great spatial heterogeneity in six provinces. We developed three propositions. First, the desertification expansion was dominated by human activities, whereas desertification reversion was dominated by climate change, as typified by Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu. Second, both desertification expansion and reversion were induced by human activities, as typified by the west of Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi. Third, climate change dominated the desertification expansion in Ningxia province.
•Chatbots could save time, increase efficiency and reduce the workload of scientists.•ChatGPT could be helpful in preparing scientific immunological manuscripts.•ChatGPT answers to basic scientific ...questions sound polished and convincing.•In-depth scientific questions usually provide wrong answers and wrong citations.•Special training is required if chatbots are to be used as scientific support.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made great progress in recent years. The latest chatbot to make a splash is ChatGPT. To see if this type of AI could also be helpful in creating an immunological review article, I put a planned review on different classes of small RNAs during murine B cell development to the test. Although the general wording sounded very polished and convincing, ChatGPT encountered great difficulties when asked for details and references and made many incorrect statements, leading me to conclude that this kind of AI is not (yet?) suitable for assisting in the writing of scientific articles.
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