Constructed Wetlands as Nature-Based Solutions in the Post-COVID Agri-Food Supply Chain: Challenges and Opportunities

An evaluation of conventional and nature-based technologies for controlling antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes in wastewater treatment plants

Antibiotic resistance is a globally recognized health concern which leads to longer hospital stays, increased morbidity, increased mortality, and higher medical costs. Understanding how antibiotic resistance persists and exchanges in environmental systems like soil, water, and wastewater are critically important for understanding the emergence of pathogens with new resistance profiles and the subsequent exposure of people who indirectly/directly come in contact with these pathogens. There are concerns about the widespread application of prophylactic antibiotics in the clinical and agriculture sectors, as well as chemicals/detergents used in food and manufacturing industries, especially the quaternary ammonium compounds which have been found responsible for the generation of resistant genes in water and soil. The rates of horizontal gene transfer increase where there is a lack of proper water/wastewater infrastructure, high antibiotic manufacturing industries, or endpoint users - such as hospitals and intensive agriculture. Conventional wastewater treatment technologies are often inefficient in the reduction of ARB/ARGs and provide the perfect combination of conditions for the development of antibiotic resistance. The wastewater discharged from municipal facilities may therefore be enriched with bacterial communities/pathogens and provide a suitable environment (due to the presence of nutrients and other pollutants) to enhance the transfer of antibiotic resistance. However, facilities with tertiary treatment (either traditional/emerging technologies) provide higher rates of reduction. This review provides a synthesis of the current understanding of wastewater treatment and antibiotic resistance, examining the drivers that may accelerate their possible transmission to a different environment, and highlighting the need for tertiary technologies used in treatment plants for the reduction of resistant bacteria/genes.

Designing appropriate site determination criteria for installing constructed wetland treatment system based on multi-criteria decision-making analyses

Constructed wetlands have recently started to be applied as the most important type of nature-based solution against the effects of climate change. This study investigates the determination of the most suitable site determination criteria for the application of this important nature-based solution tool by multiple decision-making methods. For this purpose, first of all, the literature was reviewed and the ten most important criteria for constructed wastelands were determined. Then, fieldwork was carried out according to these determined criteria, and a location was determined in the field according to each criterion. The global positioning system device is used to mark 10 locations that have been determined as waypoints for 10 criteria. The determined waypoints were then scored using the relevant criteria, and the best location was determined using the Multiple Attribute Utility Theory methods. Waypoint 1 received the highest score, 8.4, according to the results. Later, waypoint 7 received a score of 6.2, and waypoint 9 received a score of 5.7.

Designing an optimal multi-objective model for a sustainable closed-loop supply chain: a case study of pomegranate in Iran

The competitive environment in the global market makes most countries look for better ways to solve their problems. Food waste is the largest concern facing the food security of the world. Not paying attention to process of pomegranate wastes, such as separating the peel from the other parts and ignoring the cost of using artificial intelligence for pest control in gardens and the cost of maintaining the processed products are the gaps of previous researches. To cope with this challenge, recent studies have presented sustainable closed-loop supply chains (SCLSCs) as a strategic approach and a competitive advantage. The present study distinguishes itself from other studies by using the artificial intelligence technology in a supply chain along with the reverse logistics section, i.e., waste recycling. This paper proposes a design for a CLSC pomegranates. The corresponding logistics network is designed for several periods and covers manufacturers, distribution centers, customers, factories, recycling centers (compost centers), and compost end user (compost markets). Using reverse logistics, the wasted pomegranates are also converted into recycled products including ethanol, as an automotive fuel and a renewable energy, and a type of compost processed as an organic fertilizer. The goal of proposed model is to minimize the costs of supply chains, reduce the supply risks involved, and increase the profits for gardeners and investors in the public and non-profit agriculture sectors in Iran. The first pareto solution is 1,869,908.962, 2172.638 and 65.926, and the CPU time is 412 Ms. The results show a rise in the maximum supply risk occurs in the total cost and risk but a reduction in the accountability of the network and also an increase in the disruption period findings in increased total cost and risk of the network, while it first increases and then decreases the accountability.

Research on Extension Design of Emergency Cold Chain Logistics from the Perspective of Carbon Constraints

Extenics has unique advantages in solving contradictions by using formal models to explore the possibility of expanding things and the laws and methods of development and innovation. This paper studies the specific application of the extension strategy generation method in emergency cold chain logistics, in order to solve the problem that the emergency plan is difficult to cover in the face of an emergency. The purpose of this paper is to provide ideas for the generation of strategies to solve the contradictions of cold chain logistics in complex emergency scenarios. Giving full play to the unique advantages of extenics in solving contradictory problems, this paper analyzes the core problems, objectives and conditions of emergency cold chain logistics in four links with the case scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, extends and generates 10 measures to form 36 schemes, and evaluates the combination schemes quantitatively and objectively using the dependent function and superiority evaluation formula. In addition, the consideration of carbon constraints is added to the selection of the scheme, and the specific plan of integrating e-commerce platform, expert guidance, establishing temporary cold storage transfer and contactless distribution is designed. The research results provide support for meeting the needs of emergency logistics schemes in different situations and optimizing the energy efficiency of the scheme while ensuring humanitarian support. At the same time, the application of extenics basic-element formal language also provides a reference for further applying artificial intelligence to the design of emergency logistics schemes.

Knowledge Atlas on the Relationship between Water Management and Constructed Wetlands—A Bibliometric Analysis Based on CiteSpace

Water management is a crucial resource conservation challenge that mankind faces, and encouraging the creation of manmade wetlands with the goal of achieving long-term water management is the key to long-term urban development. To summarise and analyse the status of the research on the relationship between water management and constructed wetlands, this paper makes use of the advantages of the bibliometric visualization of CiteSpace to generate country/region maps and author-collaboration maps, and to analyse research hotspots and research dynamics by using keywords and literature co-citations based on 1248 pieces of related literature in the core collection in the Web of Science (WoS) database. The existing research shows that the research content and methods in the field of constructed-wetland and water-management research are constantly being enriched and deepened, including the research methods frequently used in constructed wetlands in water management and in the research content under concern, the functions and roles of constructed wetlands, the relevant measurement indicators of the purification impact of constructed wetlands on water bodies, and the types of water bodies treated by constructed wetlands in water management. We summarise the impact pathways of constructed wetlands on water management, as well as the impact factors of constructed wetlands under water-management objectives, by analysing the future concerns in the research field to provide references for research.

Innovative Agrifood Supply Chain in the Post-COVID 19 Era

The world is changing rapidly in the age of Coronavirus [...]