The sustainable conversion of iron-rich industrial wastes into functional carbon-supported materials remains challenging because conventional preparation routes commonly require soluble metal precursors, reducing agents, or other chemical additives. Herein, a simple chemical-free subcritical-water strategy is introduced for the simultaneous valorization of rice-husk-derived carbon (RH) and two industrial iron wastes, sintering waste (SW) and rolling mill scale waste (RMSW). Treatment in water at 180 °C resulted in substantial redistribution of waste-derived Fe-containing species over the carbonaceous matrix. SEM/EDX and elemental mapping confirmed the presence and distribution of Fe-containing species within the resulting composites, while VSM measurements demonstrated their magnetic response. The composites also exhibited broad visible-light absorption with optical band gaps of approximately 2.2 eV. Under natural solar irradiation, RH-SW achieved approximately 96.4% methylene blue removal within 20 min at pH 7, whereas RH-RMSW reached approximately 94.2% at pH 12 after 40 min. Additional experiments using Congo red, a chemically different anionic azo dye, further demonstrated the functional applicability of the composites. Overall, this work introduces a straightforward chemical-free route for converting biomass-derived carbon and iron-rich industrial wastes into magnetically responsive, visible-light-active functional materials, providing a sustainable waste-to-resource strategy with potential application in wastewater treatment.
Long-term sediment monitoring is needed to resolve metal dynamics that may be obscured by single-campaign assessments. We analyzed 83 sediment samples from 12 stations collected during seven campaigns (2015–2022) in Ramsar-designated Burullus Lagoon, Egypt, using station-aware temporal models, multivariate analyses, the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), sediment-quality guidelines (SQGs), and leave-one-station-out machine-learning validation. Burullus Lagoon did not show uniformly high contamination, but repeated fixed-station observations revealed significant interannual variation and a positive long-term trajectory in composite sediment contamination and screening-level ecological concern that would not be evident from a single-campaign assessment. Pollution Load Index (PLI) increased from 0.554 in 2015 to 0.872 in 2021 before declining to 0.824 in 2022; the station-aware model nevertheless estimated an average model increase of approximately 6.0% annually. PCA identified two components explaining 70.6% of the variance; however, parallel analysis supported only PC1, which explained 50.8%. Mud% and OC% explained 11.7% of total variance. Leave-one-station-out Random Forest models showed variable predictive performance, with OC% having the highest mean relative predictive importance. Ni and Cu represented the principal concerns under NOAA SQGs. Sediment C:N:P ratios provided additional biogeochemical context, with median C:N close to the Redfield ratio, whereas C:P and N:P were lower, indicating relatively greater sedimentary P. Overall, station-aware temporal analysis detected significant multi-year changes not apparent from static contamination thresholds alone, while accounting for substantial interannual variability. Future monitoring should incorporate hydrodynamic and drainage-flow data, metal speciation and bioavailability, and biological responses to better resolve contaminant transport and ecological effects.
Desert-Gobi-Arid (DGA) zones are key regions for large-scale photovoltaic and wind-energy development and represent fragile dryland ecosystems with strong water limitation and slow ecological recovery. This paper critically reviews the ecological impacts of renewable-energy infrastructure in DGA-type landscapes, using China’s DGA bases as the main empirical context and evidence from ecologically comparable drylands for comparison. It examines how photovoltaic and wind facilities affect surface environments, ecological processes, and carbon cycling. Existing studies indicate that these facilities influence local microclimate, soil conditions, vegetation dynamics, and carbon exchange through shading, surface disturbance, airflow alteration, and hydrothermal redistribution. These impacts are site- and scale-dependent and are jointly controlled by facility layout, disturbance intensity, surface substrate, vegetation background, climate conditions, and management practices. Under low-disturbance design and effective management, they may support soil moisture retention, vegetation recovery, soil carbon accumulation, and ecosystem resilience, while higher disturbance may increase ecological risks such as water stress and habitat fragmentation. This review links direct emission reductions with indirect ecological effects and governance considerations and provides a case-based reference for assessing renewable-energy development in fragile dryland environments.
Bone-seeking aminophosphonate radiopharmaceuticals labeled with(177)Lu are widely investigated for skeletal-targeted radionuclide therapy. However, direct comparative human dosimetry of(177)Lu-EDTMP and(177)Lu-DOTMP under harmonized computational conditions, incorporating bootstrap-based experimental uncertainty analysis, remains limited. Preclinical biodistribution data were extrapolated to humans using organ-mass scaling and processed within a unified voxel-based framework (IDAC-Dose 2.1) employing the ICRP Adult Male reference phantom and ICRP 107 decay data. Deterministic absorbed dose coefficients and organ-specific therapeutic indices were calculated for both compounds using a standardized computational workflow. Uncertainty propagation was implemented using parametric bootstrap resampling (10,000 iterations) based on the reported mean +/- SD biodistribution data to quantify variability in absorbed dose estimates. Both compounds demonstrated prolonged skeletal residence times and dominant bone-surface irradiation.Lu-177-EDTMP delivered a modestly higher skeletal absorbed dose (similar to 15%) compared with(177)Lu-DOTMP. However, substantially elevated renal and hepatic absorbed doses were observed with EDTMP (>160-200% relative increase). Therapeutic index analysis revealed comparable marrow selectivity but significantly improved kidney and liver sparing with DOTMP. Bootstrap-derived confidence intervals confirmed that inter-compound differences persisted beyond experimental variability. Under fully harmonized voxel-based computational conditions incorporating bootstrap-based experimental uncertainty analysis,Lu-177-DOTMP demonstrated skeletal targeting comparable to(177)Lu-EDTMP while providing superior clearance-organ sparing. These findings highlight the value of standardized voxel-based comparative dosimetry and suggest that(177)Lu-DOTMP may provide a more favorable therapeutic selectivity profile, pending clinical validation.
