Impact of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict on International Staple Agrifood Trade Networks.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is a growing concern worldwide and poses serious threats to regional and global food security. Using monthly trade data for maize, rice, and wheat from 2016/1 to 2023/12, this paper constructs three international crop trade networks and an aggregate international food trade network. We aim to examine the structural changes following the occurrence of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Temporal rich club phenomenon and its formation mechanisms.

The temporal rich club (TRC) phenomenon is widespread in real systems, forming a tight and continuous collection of the prominent nodes that control the system. However, there is still a lack of sufficient understanding of the mechanisms of TRC formation. Here we use the international N-nutrient trade network as an example of an in-depth identification, analysis, and modeling of its TRC phenomenon.

Microstructural Characteristics of the Weighted and Directed International Crop Trade Networks.

With increasing global demand for food, international food trade is playing a critical role in balancing the food supply and demand across different regions. Here, using trade datasets of four crops that provide more than 50% of the calories consumed globally, we constructed four international crop trade networks (iCTNs). We observed the increasing globalization in the international crop trade and different trade patterns in different iCTNs.

[Preparation and NH-N Removal Performance of a Novel Filter Substrate Made from Sludges].

A novel absorbent was prepared by high-temperature calcination using waterworks terminal aluminum coagulation sludge as a raw material. This study discussed ammonia nitrogen adsorption performance of the adsorbent by static adsorption test, mainly investigated the influences of different initial pH, contact time and temperatures on the ammonia adsorption effect, and also analyzed the adsorption isotherms, kinetic and thermodynamic properties of adsorbent on the ammonia nitrogen. Experimental results showed that the adsorbent had a better effect for ammonia removal under neutral conditions; the adsorption process was basically balanced within 6 h, and it followed the pseudo second-order model.

[Effects of UV radiation on the aggregation performance of small molecular organic acids].

This study systematically investigated the effects of UV radiation on the aggregation of small molecular aliphatic carboxylic acids and phenolic acids by jar test. Experimental results show that solution pH has little effect on the coagulation of small molecular aliphatic carboxylic acids including citric acid, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, and succinic acid. For the solutions pretreated with UV light, the removal rates of the selected aliphatic carboxylic acids in coagulation are higher than that without UV radiation.