Assessment of Bacterial Community Structure, Associated Functional Role, and Water Health in Full-Scale Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants.

The present study collected wastewater samples from fourteen (14) full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) at different treatment stages, namely, primary, secondary, and tertiary, to understand the impact of WWTP processes on the bacterial community structure, their role, and their correlation with environmental variables (water quality parameters). The findings showed that the bacterial communities in the primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment stages are more or less similar. They are made up of 42 phyla, 84 classes, 154 orders, 212 families, and 268 genera.

Quantification and characterization of airborne microplastics in the coastal area of Terengganu, Malaysia.

Microplastics (MPs) pose a threat to ecosystems due to their capacity to bind with toxic chemicals. While the occurrence of MPs in aquatic environmental matrices like water, sediments, and biota is well studied, their presence in the atmosphere remains less understood. This study aimed to determine the presence of airborne MPs and their characteristics through ground-based sampling in the coastal city of Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia.

Incidence of Sheath Blight in Irrigated Rice and Associated Yield Losses in Northern India.

Rice-growing districts in Uttar Pradesh, India, were surveyed during the months of July and October to record the frequency of occurrence and disease incidence of sheath blight caused by in paddy. A total of 180 paddy fields were surveyed at the block level of 21 districts, where almost all the rice varieties were found highly susceptible to and exhibited severe yield loss compared with low-infested fields. The district Muzaffarnagar had the highest rate of disease occurrence, while maximum disease severity was recorded in the district Saharanpur.

Air pollution and allergy in Malaysia: The need for evidence and action.

There is a scarcity in both epidemiological studies and forecast models on the impact of air pollution on respiratory allergic responses in Malaysia. The quantification of baseline allows for an understanding of the severity of the impact and target areas for intervention. High-quality forecasts not only provide information for the assessment of potential outcomes but also the dissemination of public health warnings, such as the application of mobile-based early warning systems.