Mosses are well-established bioindicators for atmospheric pollution due to their remarkable capacity to accumulate airborne contaminants. This study evaluates atmospheric heavy metal deposition in the Karabakh region (Azerbaijan) using Leucobryum glaucum as a bioindicator species. Two complementary biomonitoring approaches were applied: (A) passive sampling with native moss and (B) active moss bag exposure using commercially sourced material. Sampling was conducted across eight locations: Shusha, Karkijahan, Khankendi, Khojali, Asgaran, Vang, Kalbajar, and Agdere. Concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cu, As, and Zn were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) following a 59-day exposure period.

The results revealed consistently higher heavy metal accumulation in native moss compared to moss bags, indicating its superior efficiency for long-term atmospheric monitoring. Elevated arsenic levels were observed in Karkijahan (3.50 mg kg⁻¹), while lead concentrations peaked in Agdere (0.82 mg kg⁻¹). Zinc and copper were notably higher in Shusha (89.6 mg kg⁻¹ and 378.5 mg kg⁻¹, respectively), identifying potential local pollution hotspots. These spatial variations likely reflect differences in emission sources, atmospheric transport, and local environmental conditions.

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of moss-based biomonitoring in assessing regional air quality and detecting heavy metal gradients. Such approaches provide an essential, cost-efficient tool for environmental surveillance and sustainable regional management. Future investigations should integrate long-term monitoring and species-specific calibration to improve quantitative accuracy and ecological interpretation.

Introduction:Toxic metal contamination in water is a critical environmental issue, and adsorption has emerged as a promising remediation technique due to its simplicity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Beyond removal efficiency, the use of agricultural residues as bioadsorbents supports circular-economy strategies by valorizing low-cost biomass and reducing waste generation. Nickel removal using Moringa oleifera residues is particularly attractive due to their availability, sustainability, and contribution to cleaner production frameworks. A key challenge in adsorption modeling is the estimation of the internal mass transfer coefficient (ks), which governs intraparticle diffusion and strongly influences process performance.

Methods: In this study, we developed a Monte Carlo (MC)-based simulation framework to estimate ks in nickel bioadsorption using Moringa oleifera residues. The system was represented as a lattice where adsorption and desorption events occur probabilistically according to kinetic parameters. Simulations were performed on a 50×50 grid for up to 10⁶ steps to ensure convergence. Surface coverage (θ) and mass transfer coefficients were obtained and compared with experimental values previously determined from fixed-bed column and batch experiments.

Results: The MC model successfully predicted an equilibrium surface coverage of θMC=0.5188, in close agreement with the experimental value θexp=0.508 (error: 1.34%). The estimated coefficient was ks,MC=0.0329, deviating by 17.48% from the experimental reference ks,exp=0.028, but remaining within the reported uncertainty. Simulations also revealed a decrease in adsorption efficiency with increasing temperature, consistent with the exothermic nature of the process. A cluster-based MC variant underestimated equilibrium coverage and overestimated ks, indicating that independent-site adsorption is the most suitable representation for this system.

Conclusions: The proposed MC framework constitutes a valuable computational tool for evaluating adsorption-based remediation processes. By integrating stochastic simulation with experimental validation, the model supports the assessment and management of bioadsorption technologies, reduces experimental demand, and contributes to the design of sustainable water treatment strategies under the principles of circular economy.

This study explores the factors shaping the adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices among women farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. The research objectives were to profile respondents' socio-demographic characteristics, identify the main determinants of CSA uptake, and propose strategies to strengthen adoption pathways and enhance resilience.

A multistage random sampling approach was employed to select 260 women farmers. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression to examine the influence of socioeconomic and institutional variables on CSA adoption. The analysis also examined respondents’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of CSA in the local agricultural context.

The results indicate that 27.8% of respondents were aged 50 years or younger, 22.7% had received formal education, and 23.8% reported extensive experience in farming. Regression analysis identified farm size, age, education, technology costs, extension contact, credit access, and perceived benefits of CSA as significant predictors of adoption. These findings highlight the importance of enabling environments, particularly improved access to credit and extension services, while addressing structural and socio-cultural barriers that restrict women’s participation in climate-smart farming. The study provides practical insights for policymakers, extension agents, and development stakeholders seeking to promote the adoption of gender-responsive CSA and to strengthen agricultural resilience to climate change.

In the mining industry, once valuable minerals are extracted, waste rock dumps are piled at designated sites. These dumps are capped with topsoil, and the hillslopes are seeded with pasture species. The constructed post-mining landscapes are expected to gradually integrate with the surrounding natural terrain. However, due to the physical and chemical properties of the waste material, limited vegetation cover, and hillslope geometries, these landforms are susceptible to rill and gully erosion. Ensuring their long-term erosional stability is therefore a primary challenge. Contour banks are occasionally constructed across rehabilitated slopes to mitigate erosion, yet predicting their long-term effectiveness at each site remains challenging. In this study, we evaluated the stability of contour banks using a physics-based landform evolution model (LEM). A LiDAR-derived digital elevation model (DEM) of a unique hillslope, with one section containing contour banks and another without, served as the study site. The State Space Soil Production and Assessment Model (SSSPAM) was applied over a 100-year simulation period with annual time steps, parameterised for site-specific conditions. The model results indicate that contour banks at this site gradually erode, and that after 100 years, average erosion rates were comparable between slopes with and without contour banks. These findings are consistent with short-term visible observations, showing early signs of contour bank erosion. The study highlights the utility of LEMs for assessing the long-term sustainability of erosion-control measures, such as contour banks, in post-mining landscapes. The insights generated from LEMs provide valuable guidance for mine rehabilitation planning and broader land management applications, including terraced landscapes.

Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) is an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) widely used in the production of plastics, synthetic materials, and cosmetics; it is therefore widespread in the environment as a contaminant. In recent years, DBP has been increasingly associated with metabolic and reproductive dysfunctions. Considering the growing evidence linking metabolic syndrome (MetS) to male infertility, this study explores the effects of DBP on prostate physiology and adipocyte differentiation, which are considered interconnected biological pathways. Using the non-tumor human prostate cell line PNT1A, DBP was analyzed individually and in combination with endogenous hormones: testosterone (T) and 17β-oestradiol (E2), to simulate environmental exposure conditions. The results showed that DBP and all tested mixtures increased cell viability by activating both the oestrogen receptor (ERα) and the androgen receptor (AR). DBP modulated the expression of steroid receptors in a non-monotonic, hormone-specific manner, inducing delayed activation of ERα and AR compared to endogenous hormones. This delay could lead to the activation of proliferation and migration pathways at inappropriate times, altering prostate physiology and increasing susceptibility to neoplastic transformation. Given the central role of ERα, the effects of DBP were subsequently analyzed on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Abnormal activation of ERα led to aberrant regulation of adipogenic genes PPAR-γ and C/EBPα, resulting in increased lipid accumulation (Oil Red O) and overexpression of adipogenic markers. Overall, DBP emerges as an endocrine-disrupting chemical capable of profoundly altering prostate and adipose physiology, suggesting a potential mechanistic link between environmental exposure, metabolic dysfunction, and male infertility.

Huguangyan Maar Lake (HML) has long been recognized as a critical repository for reconstructing paleoenvironmental changes in southern China. However, interpretations regarding the dynamics of the Asian monsoon system derived from this site have been diverse and, at times, contradictory. To better understand the sediment source-to-sink processes and associated magnetic characteristics, this study investigates grain-size distributions and rock magnetic properties based on 56 lake surface sediments collected from varying water depths, as well as 23 topsoil and 4 volcanic rock samples obtained from the HML catchment. Our findings reveal that the lake sediments are predominantly sourced from the surrounding catchment and transported into the lake via surface runoff. Grain size generally decreases toward the center of the lake and is strongly influenced by water depth. Nevertheless, the relationship between grain-size and water depth is complex, with a threshold depth of approximately 5 meters marking the effective limit of wave-induced sediment reworking. Magnetic minerals in the lake sediments are primarily composed of stable single-domain and superparamagnetic magnetite, resembling those found in local topsoil and volcanic rocks but differing from the magnetic signature of aeolian dust transported by the winter monsoon. The concentration of magnetic minerals is largely source-dependent, with higher values observed near magnetite-rich coastal zones. Additionally, water depth exerts a notable influence on magnetic concentration, likely due to greater transport distance from source areas and the partial dissolution of magnetic particles under suboxic to anoxic conditions within the lake. The magnetic record preserved in HML sediments may reflect variations in the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon, which controls the supply of weathered material from the catchment, the accumulation of organic matter, and overall water depth.

Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring metalloid that can pose serious health risks through chronic environmental exposure, particularly when associated with contaminated soils or edible fungi. This study evaluated As concentrations in 850 surface soil samples and 106 wild mushrooms collected across urban Leicester and rural Bradgate Park (Leicestershire, UK) using ICP-MS. Arsenic was detected in 78.9% of soil samples and 34.9% of mushrooms, with significantly higher concentrations at urban sites, particularly in areas with known historical industrial activity and high traffic density. Median As concentrations were 8.4 µg/g in soil and 0.212 µg/g dry weight in mushrooms. Although bioconcentration factors (BCFs) calculated for As were relatively low (median BCF < 0.02), they varied between fungal species, suggesting differential uptake dynamics. Human health risk assessments for children and adults exposed via soil ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation indicated that total hazard indices remained below the safety threshold of 1. However, ingestion accounted for the largest proportion of exposure across all groups, particularly among young children. The findings highlight the utility of combining soils and wild mushrooms as complementary matrices in urban environmental monitoring. However, current exposure levels do not pose immediate health risks; the persistence and potential carcinogenicity of arsenic support the need for routine surveillance in urban ecosystems and increased public awareness regarding foraging and home gardening. The study underscores the importance of integrated biomonitoring approaches to inform evidence-based public health strategies in contaminated or transitional urban landscapes.

A deeper understanding of the relationship between height and diameter (H-DBH) is crucial for enhancing forest monitoring and management, as well as for improving forest growth. Alnus glutinosa is particularly important ecologically in riparian ecosystems. However, no H-DBH models are currently available for this species. In this paper, we compared the 40 most commonly used models for predicting tree height, as published by various authors, to select the model that best predicts the height of Alnus glutinosa. We collected information on every tree in 20 randomly selected plots per population, each measuring 30 x 30 m, from twelve populations. The diameter at breast height and the dominant height of each tree were measured. The results showed that composite models performed better in height estimation. The five models that performed best in predicting tree height (those with the lowest AIC values) were m15 (AIC = 4473.1), m18 (AIC = 4463.9), m19 (AIC = 4425.2), m25 (AIC = 4425.2), and m37 (AIC = 4425.2). These models are recommended for predicting tree height in Alnus glutinosa plantations with a DBH range of 6.68–68.43 cm, provided that DBH data are available for each tree, as well as QMD and mean height (H). The analysis showed that reciprocal-transformed models, especially H=1.3+e^{(a+(b/DBH+1))}, H=a/(b+e^-c×DBH), and H=2/(a+b×DBH+c×DBH²) worked best, with these models doing better than logistic, polynomial, and exponential forms. The parameters of the models varied according to the model. These results help us to select models for forest inventory systems and emphasize the importance of using transformations.

The detection of pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) in the aquatic environment poses a serious concern for the wellness of biota due their ability to interfere with various biological targets (i.e., receptors, enzymes) causing alterations at different biological levels, including neurotransmission, antioxidant system and energy pathways. Among PhACs, the anti-inflammatory dexamethasone (DEX) results globally employed for the treatment of diseases, like arthritis, allergies, and asthma, but also as antiemetic interacting with the nervous system, particularly the serotonergic one. Therefore, the potential interference of DEX on the neurotransmission systems was evaluated on the non-target aquatic organism Mytilus galloprovincialis. The specimens were exposed to different DEX concentrations (4 ng/L-2000 ng/L), according to those recorded in the environment and wastewaters, considering three different times of sampling (3, 6, 12 days). A multi-biomarker approach (enzymatic, immunohistochemical and metabolomic analyses) was performed on mussel gills since their functions (i.e., gas exchange, filter feeding, osmoregulation) result regulated by serotoninergic, cholinergic, and dopaminergic neurotransmission systems. A severe neurotoxic effect in the serotoninergic and dopaminergic system caused by the tested doses of DEX was supported by a drop in the immunopositivity for serotonin (5-HT) and its receptor (5-HT₃R), as well as the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), respectively. The effect on the cholinergic system revealed a similar trend with a reduction of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) immunopositivity coupled with an inhibition of its enzymatic activity, but with a partial recovery after 12 days of exposure as supported by a rise in the immunopositivity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and a restoring of acetilcholine levels. The neurotransmission impairments, probably associated with alteration in the membrane integrity, seemed to be supported by changes in the levels of different osmolytes (i.e., taurine, betaine, homarine). Overall, this study confirms the environmental impact of PhACs on marine biota and the high evolutionary conservation of various drug biological targets.

Gadolinium (Gd), a rare-earth element (REE), has high economic potential due to its natural ferro-paramagnetic properties in electronics as a superconductor and in healthcare as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. Its exploitation, coupled with the limited capacity of wastewater treatment plants to mitigate its discharge into the environment, has led to its accumulation and persistence in marine areas exposed to human activity. Although Gd commercial forms are not toxic because they are chelated by stable molecules, upon contact with biota, they could undergo dechelation/transmetallation, thereby making Gd bioavailable. This study aims to evaluate the potential cytotoxic effects of GdCl₃ and Gd₂O₃ on the reproductive health of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, following a 28-day chronic exposure to 1 and 10 μg/L of both forms, assessing the biological responses time trend (T0, T7, T15, T28) in the female and male gonads. Histological examination by H/E staining revealed intense hemocyte recruitment and early spawning events, whereas the dPAS/PAS reaction highlighted imbalances in glycogen distribution, which is crucial for gametogenesis, in both sexes. Energetic (glucose) and osmotic (betaine) pathways were altered by Gd exposure, as shown by ¹H NMR profiles. Preliminary RT-PCR data suggested that Gd influences the expression of genes critical for maturation (Vitellogenin, Vtg) and fertilization (Vitelline Envelope Receptor for Lysin, VERL). This study confirms that Gd is a potential threat to aquatic ecosystem biodiversity, an emerging micropollutant that can interfere with the reproductive capacity and survival of non-target species. It underscores the need to improve environmental policies and biomonitoring programs to protect the health of the only ecosystem of which we are all part: the Earth.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by PRIN PNRR 2022 - CUP B53D23024710001: “GADOlinium (Gd), an emergent contaminant, is a new threat to the living beings: a comparative study to assess its biological TOXcity in animal models (GADOTOX)”.