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Living walls (LWs), vegetated walls with an integrated growth layer behind, are being increasingly incorporated in buildings. Examining plant characteristics’ comparative impacts on LWs’ energy efficiency-related thermal behavior was aimed, considering that studies on their relative effects are limited. LWs of varying leaf albedo, leaf transmittance and leaf area index (LAI) were studied for Antalya, Turkey for typical days of four seasons.

Dynamic simulations run by Envi-met were used to assess the plant characteristics’ influence on seasonal and orientation-based heat fluxes. After model calibration, a sensitivity analysis was conducted through 112 simulations. The minimum, mean and maximum values were investigated for each plant characteristic. Energy need (regardless of orientation), temperature and heat flux results were compared among different scenarios, including a building without LW, to evaluate energy efficiency and variables’ impacts.

LWs reduced annual energy consumption in Antalya, despite increasing energy needs in winter. South and west facades were particularly advantageous for energy efficiency. The impacts of leaf albedo and transmittance were more significant (44–46%) than LAI (10%) in determining LWs’ effectiveness. The changes in plant characteristics changed the energy needs up to ca 1%.

This study can potentially contribute to generating guiding principles for architects considering LW use in their designs in hot-humid climates.

The plant characteristics’ relative impacts on energy efficiency, which cannot be easily determined by experimental studies, were examined using parametric simulation results regarding three plant characteristics.

Everyone is extremely concerned about environmental protection and health safety due to the rise in living standards. Plant-derived natural dyes have garnered much industrial attention in food, pharmaceutical, textile, cosmetics, etc. owing to their health and environmental benefits. The present study aims to focus on the elimination of the use of synthetic dyes and provides brief information about natural dyes, their sources, extraction procedures with characterization and various advantages and disadvantages.

In producing natural colors, extraction and purification are essential steps. Various conventional methods used till date have a low yield, as these consume a lot of solvent volume, time, labor and energy or may destroy the coloring behavior of the actual molecules. The establishment of proper characterization and certification protocols for natural dyes would improve the yielding of natural dyes and benefit both producers and users.

However, scientists have found modern extraction methods to obtain maximum color yield. They are also modifying the fabric surface to appraise its uptake behavior of color. Various extraction techniques such as solvent, aqueous, enzymatic and fermentation and extraction with microwave or ultrasonic energy, supercritical fluid extraction and alkaline or acid extraction are currently available for these natural dyes and are summarized in the present review article.

If natural dye availability can be increased by the different extraction measures and the cost of purified dyes can be brought down with a proper certification mechanism, there is a wide scope for the adoption of these dyes by small-scale dyeing units.

Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring flammable fossil fuels used as conventional energy sources. It has carcinogenic, mutagenic properties and is considered a hazardous pollutant. Soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons adversely affects the properties of soil. This paper aim to remove pollutants from the environment is an urgent need of the hour to maintain the proper functioning of soil ecosystems.

The ability of micro-organisms to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons makes it possible to use these microorganisms to clean the environment from petroleum pollution. For preparing this review, research papers and review articles related to petroleum hydrocarbons degradation by micro-organisms were collected from journals and various search engines.

Various physical and chemical methods are used for remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminants. However, these methods have several disadvantages. This paper will discuss a novel understanding of petroleum hydrocarbons degradation and how micro-organisms help in petroleum-contaminated soil restoration. Bioremediation is recognized as the most environment-friendly technique for remediation. The research studies demonstrated that bacterial consortium have high biodegradation rate of petroleum hydrocarbons ranging from 83% to 89%.

Proper management of petroleum hydrocarbons pollutants from the environment is necessary because of their toxicity effects on human and environmental health.

This paper discussed novel mechanisms adopted by bacteria for biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation pathways, genes and enzymes involved in petroleum hydrocarbons biodegradation.

To come up with a prudent decision on the installation of an appropriate green wall (GW) on buildings, this study presents a novel decision-making algorithm. The proposed algorithm considers the importance of barriers hampering GW adoption, as well as their relationships with regard to different types of GWs existing in a contextual setting.

The proposed methodological approach is based on the integration of qualitative and quantitative techniques by employing focus group discussion, fuzzy-based best-worst method and fuzzy TOPSIS.

Based on the experiences of qualified experts involved in related projects in Hong Kong, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) cost, installation and maintenance-related barriers are perceived to have the highest importance, (2) modular living wall system is the most suitable GW system for the context of Hong Kong and (3) existing barriers are found to have a pivotal role in the ranking of the most suitable GW systems.

The findings provide valuable insight not only for policymakers and stakeholders, but also for establishing a methodological approach that can assist decision-makers in identifying the most beneficial GW system rather than the most applicable one. This could have significant implications and introduce potential changes to the common way of practice within the industry and lay the foundation for wider adoption of GW.

While previous studies have investigated the sustainability-related issues of GW façade applications, the current body of knowledge is deprived of a comprehensive methodological approach for the selection of the most suitable GW systems.

This study aims to examine how veganism is “seen” by young adult non-vegan consumers and how prevailing attitudes reinforce or challenge stigmas around veganism.

Photovoice methodology was used to explore young non-vegan consumers’ attitudes and beliefs towards veganism. Data was collected from students studying advertising at a major university in Australia, who produced images and narratives reflective of their own attitudes towards veganism. Polytextual thematic analysis of the resulting visual data was then undertaken to reveal the dominant themes underpinning participants’ attitudes. Participant narratives were then reviewed to confirm whether the ascribed meaning aligned with participants’ intended meaning.

Participant images were reflective of first, how they saw their world and their place within it, which showed the interplay and interconnectedness between humans, animals and nature, and second, how they saw vegans within this world, with both positive and negative attitudes expressed. Interestingly, vegans were simultaneously admired and condemned. By situating these attitudes along a spectrum of moral evaluation, bounded by stigmatisation and moral legitimacy, participants saw vegans as being either Radicals, Pretenders, Virtuous or Pragmatists. For veganism to become more widely accepted by non-vegans, there is an important role to be played by each vegan type.

This study offers a more nuanced understanding of how and why dissociative groups, such as vegans, become stigmatised, which has implications for messaging and marketing practices around veganism and associated products/services. Future research could use a similar methodology to understand why other minority groups in society are stereotyped and stigmatised, which has broader social implications.

Tanzania is rich in small hydropower (SHP) potentials. However, many of these potentials have yet to be fully used, and more than two-thirds of its rural population lacks access to electricity. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of SHP stations in improving rural welfare in the southern highlands of Tanzania. It further explores the history, cost-effective analysis and threats to the sustainability of SHP as one of the renewable energy sources.

The study uses a qualitative research design to explore respondents’ views on the role of SHP stations in facilitating rural electrification and welfare improvement. Primary data were gathered using semi-structured interviews with the 27 key informants and beneficiaries of SHP stations from the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. In addition, the study used documentary research to complement the information from the field survey.

The findings found that SHP stations enhance rural electrification and welfare by providing electricity in remote areas with sparse populations. They operate as standalone off-grids, often by church communities and individuals. However, the sustainability of SHP stations is hampered by challenges such as climate change impacts, high capital investment costs, heavy siltation of small reservoirs, skilled manpower shortages, limited local manufacturing capabilities and infrastructural issues.

The study contributes to the ongoing debate on renewable energy supply and uses, focusing on how SHP stations could contribute to sustainable rural electrification and achieve the 2030 United Nations agenda for sustainable development, which, among other things, aims to safeguard access to sustainable and modern energy and alleviate energy poverty.

The Baduy tribe has its own uniqueness and values regarding the forest; it manages the forest using customary law to keep it sustainable. This research aims to describe the position of customary law used by the Baduy tribe to conserve forest areas.

This research is a qualitative research conducted in September 2019 and 2020 at Baduy. The data were collected through a literature study and in-depth interviews with informants related to the Baduy tribe. The collected data included documentation and interview transcripts that were translated into English. Data analysis was conducted in a descriptive manner, equipped with related evidence.

The Baduy community holds firm to its customs and culture called pikukuh. The Baduy community applies the concept of sustainable forest management in that local communities are directly involved in forest management activities to improve welfare and implement sustainable forests.

The implication of this research is that it is beneficial for forest conservation based on customary law, using the conservation approach of the Baduy tribe as a local community in protecting the sustainability of forest resources and their sustainability for the next generation. This study contributes as a guide for the government to formulate policies that will include local communities into conservation programs and government policies. It may apply to a study of coordination with related institutions such as the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in implementing forest conservation.

This study uses primary data from the Baduy tribe, which has unique local traditional values regarding the territory and the important role of the forest. The originality of the findings from the excavation of each activity was based on the procedures and beliefs regulated in customary law regarding forest management. Preservation of traditional knowledge in customary law has contributed to the urgency of sustainable forest conservation and biodiversity conservation, which is part of the traditional knowledge of the Baduy tribe.

Lead is a well-established environmental contaminant that over the last 50 years has become recognized as a neurotoxin with its greatest concern for the developing child (i.e. both in-utero and postnatally). What is problematic is that children exposed to lead often come from lower socioeconomic status (SES), are largely Black communities and are further at increased risk for developing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The literature on ACEs had focused much on trauma, single parenting, child abuse, lack of finances and stress, etc., but has not considered the intersectionality of these ACEs as risk factors within environmental neurotoxic exposures such as lead poisoning. This is important as most low SES communities are Black. In particular, within the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), Black families have been neglected of proper lead-abatement to their apartments for nearly 70 years.

This is a viewpoint/perspective paper that examines the lived experiences of Black folxs in NYCHA through a Black critical theory (BlackCrit) and antiblackness framework pertaining to ACEs, and lead poisoning within the NYCHA system of New York City. This perspective paper draws upon the last three years of news reports, five decades of publicly available data sets from NYCHA and the comptroller to raise an awareness of how Black children are treated by NYCHA generation after generation which can be argued as a mass atrocity against NYCHA residents. Furthermore, the systematic and institutionalized racism and environmental injustices by NYCHA and the state can also be considered as a crime against humanity. As such, BlackCrit could help to position awareness, advocacy and knowledge about Black folxs residing in NYCHA to achieve fair, safe and affordable public housing to experience Black joy across future generations.

Thus, rather than civic and state government response efforts focusing their full attention and resources to serving and supporting individuals affected by ACEs they should equally consider the environments in which Black people live and also allocate funds proportionally to address these areas often overlooked. Moreover, proportions of these funds should be redirected especially to lead-abatement and removal of known sources of lead exposures, evaluation of suspected sources of lead exposures (i.e. drinking water, baby food and formula, children’s juice and cereal products, superfund and other waste sites, electronic recycling plants, etc.) and accompanied by all affected children undergoing full and comprehensive neuropsychological testing and follow up studies paid for by the state. The goal should have two fundamental objectives: (1) accepting accountability for failing to address these preventable neuropsychological issues directly affecting Black children generation after generation and (2) offering the proper waived or reimbursable supports and resources to help Black children sustain the best quality of life (QOL) trajectory possible when diagnosed with lead poisoning.

The manuscript is a viewpoint/perspective paper grounded in BlackCrit and an antiblackness framework. There are ample public news reports and public data available from NYCHA on these matters over the last three years. However, the scope of this paper was not to delve too deep into these numbers per se, but rather to address the concerns leading up to and arguably contributing to, at least in part, to these numbers of lead-exposed Black children in NYCHA. Lead poisoning has never been considered as an ACE and its relationship to mass atrocity research is novel which may pave a new avenue for research of this kind through the utility of BlackCrit and antiblackness framework to support and advocate for change so that Black children can be provided with a basic human right of safe housing and experience Black joy.

BlackCrit has not been used in the context of lead poisoning research. Mostly individuals and families of middle- and low-income have been studied in the context of poverty and lead poisoning. However, many people who live in poverty, in public housing, within New York are Black. Thus, Black children are generation after generation exposed to unaddressed lead-abatement and it appears that now more than ever BlackCrit should become the framework for how this work should be discussed in the literature to raise awareness to state governments regarding Black folx's persistent lead poisoning, NYCHA's neglect and mass atrocity research as a long overdue advocacy effort to bring the necessary voice, authentic narrative, and actual knowledge of the lived experiences of Black families in NYCHA with lead poisoning.

The goal of this viewpoint/perspective paper should have two fundamental objectives (1) NYCHA and New York State accepting accountability for failing to address these preventable lead poisoning issues directly affecting Black children; and (2) offering the proper support and resources to help Black children sustain the best QOL trajectory possible when diagnosed with lead poisoning.

Lead poisoning research has never been approached through a mass atrocity and BlackCrit framework and perspective. This is the first report on bridging these fields within the context of NYCHA public housing neglect of lead-abatement and continued poisoning of current and future generations of Black children. This failure of NYCHA lead-abatement contributes annually to economic loss in New York State for many years to come which could be entirely avoided.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a hand disease caused by the pressing of the median nerve present in the palmar side of the wrist. It causes severe pain in the wrist, triggering disturbance during sleep. Different products like splints, braces and gloves are available in the market to alleviate this disease but there was still a need to improve the wearability, comfort and cost of the product. This study was about designing a comfortable and cost-effective wearable system for mild-to-moderate CTS. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy has been used to reduce the pain in the wrist.

After simulation by using Proteus software (which allowed the researchers to draw and simulate electrical circuits using ISIS, ARES and PCB design tools virtually), the circuit with optimum frequency, i.e. 33 Hz was selected, and the circuit was developed on a printed circuit board (PCB). The developed circuit was integrated successfully into the half glove structure.

The developed product had good thermophysiological comfort and hand properties as compared to the commercially available product of the same kind. In vivo testing (It involves the testing with living subjects like animals, plants or human beings) was performed which resulted in 85% confirmed viability of the product against CTS. A glove with an integrated circuit was developed successfully to accommodate various sizes without any sex specifications in a cost-effective way to mitigate the issue of CTS.

Industrial workers, individuals frequently using their hands or those diagnosed with CTS may wish to use this product as therapy. The attention could not be paid to the aesthetic or visual appeal of the developed product.

A very comfortable glove with integrated TENS electrodes was developed successfully to accommodate various sizes without any sex specifications in a cost-effective way to mitigate the issues of CTS.