The Effectiveness of Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs in Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are some of the most common conditions and the major contributors to death and disability globally, hence the need for proper secondary prevention interventions. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs have been recognized as an essential component in the treatment of CVDs with the goal of decreasing the risk of new cardiovascular events and improving the quality of life. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to determine the impact of CR as a form of CVD treatment on mortality, morbidity, functional capacity, and quality of life amongst the patient population.

Fate of microplastics under the influence of climate change.

Plastic pollution and climate change are two major environmental focuses. Having the forming potential due to ambient plastic pollution, the environmental fate of microplastics shall be inevitably impacted by global warming. This manuscript discusses the destiny of environmental microplastics and characterizes their fate considering the framework of the planetary boundary.

Constraining the Capacity of Global Croplands to CO Drawdown via Mineral Weathering.

Terrestrial enhanced weathering of alkaline silicate minerals is a promising climate change mitigation strategy with the potential to limit the global temperature rise. The formation and accumulation of pedogenic carbonate and bicarbonate in soils/subsoils and groundwater offers a large sink for C storage; the amount of soil inorganic carbon (SIC) presently held within soils has been estimated to be 720-950 Gt of C. These values can be augmented by the addition of a variety of calcium and magnesium silicates via enhanced weathering.

Ultrasound assisted cyanotoxin extraction for nematode inhibition in soil.

Root-knot nematodes are one of the plant damaging nematodes in agriculture causing a projected annual yield loss of ∼12 % (∼$160 billion) worldwide. Conventional solutions to control these plant-parasitic nematodes involve chemical nematicides. To reduce the use of harmful chemicals, microalgal extracts can be used as greener alternatives for nematode management.

Mineral-Soil-Plant-Nutrient Synergisms of Enhanced Weathering for Agriculture: Short-Term Investigations Using Fast-Weathering Wollastonite Skarn.

Enhanced weathering is a proposed carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy to accelerate natural carbon sequestration in soils the amendment of silicate rocks to agricultural soils. Among the suitable silicates (such as basalt and olivine), the fast-weathering mineral wollastonite (CaSiO) stands out. Not only does the use of wollastonite lead to rapid pedogenic carbonate formation in soils, it can be readily detected for verification of carbon sequestration, but its weathering within weeks to months influences soil chemistry and plant growth within the same crop cycle of its application.

Prospect of microplastic pollution control under the "New normal" concept beyond COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to increasing demand for single-use plastic which aggravates the already existing plastic waste problem. Not only does the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) increase, but also people shift their preference to online shopping and food delivery to comply with administrative policies for COVID-19 pandemic control. The used PPEs, packaging materials, and food containers may not be handled or recycled properly after their disposal.

Urban Farming with Enhanced Rock Weathering As a Prospective Climate Stabilization Wedge.

With no single carbon capture and sequestration solution able to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5-2.0 °C by 2100, additional climate stabilization measures are needed to complement current mitigation approaches.

Monitoring Pedogenic Inorganic Carbon Accumulation Due to Weathering of Amended Silicate Minerals in Agricultural Soils.

The present study aims to demonstrate a systematic procedure for monitoring inorganic carbon induced by enhanced weathering of comminuted rocks in agricultural soils. To this end, the core soil samples taken at different depth (including 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, and 30-60 cm profiles) are collected from an agriculture field, the topsoil of which has already been enriched with an alkaline earth metal silicate containing mineral (such as wollastonite). After transporting to the laboratory, the soil samples are air-dried and sieved.

Optimizing Inorganic Carbon Sequestration and Crop Yield With Wollastonite Soil Amendment in a Microplot Study.

Carbon dioxide (CO) is a major greenhouse gas, and its concentration in the atmosphere is increasing continuously, hence there is an urgent need to reduce its level in the atmosphere. Soils offer a large natural sink to store CO. This study focuses on sequestering CO in the agricultural soils as inorganic carbon, which can be accomplished by adding alkaline-earth silicates.

Co-Benefits of Wollastonite Weathering in Agriculture: CO Sequestration and Promoted Plant Growth.

To lock atmospheric CO at anthropogenic timescale, fast weathering silicates can be applied to soil to speed up natural CO sequestration via enhanced weathering. Agricultural lands offer large area for silicate application, but expected weathering rates as a function of soil and crop type, and potential impacts on the crops, are not well known. This study investigated the role of plants on enhanced weathering of wollastonite (CaSiO) in soils.

Extraction and applications of cyanotoxins and other cyanobacterial secondary metabolites.

The rapid proliferation of cyanobacteria in bodies of water has caused cyanobacterial blooms, which have become an increasing cause of concern, largely due to the presence of toxic secondary metabolites (or cyanotoxins). Cyanotoxins are the toxins produced by cyanobacteria that may be harmful to surrounding wildlife. They include hepatotoxins, neurotoxins and dermatotoxins, and are classified based on the organs they affect.