Nasruddeen Al-Awwal

This study examines the effect of biochar as an agricultural soil supplement on soil quality indicators, specifically enzyme activity in Missouri regions. While the benefits of biochar on soil bulk density, soil organic carbon, and infiltration have been established, its effect on soil enzyme activity has remained underexplored in this region. A three-year field investigation was conducted with six treatments (compost, biochar, compost + biochar, biochar + compost tea, fescue, and control) to evaluate the effects on enzymes such as β-glucosidase (BG), acid and alkaline phosphatases (ACP-ALP), arylsulfatase (ARS), dehydrogenases (DG), arylamidase (AMD), cellulase (CLS), and urease (URS). Furthermore, soil pH, organic matter (OM), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were determined. The results showed that compost and biochar treatments considerably increased soil enzyme activity compared to other treatments, with nitrogen application further increasing enzyme activity. Soil pH, OM, and CEC were all important determinants in determining enzyme activity, with BG demonstrating strong positive associations with ACP and AMD (99.5%). This study shows that compost and biochar amendments significantly improve soil physicochemical and biological properties, thereby enhancing soil health and assisting farmers’ sustainable soil management practices.

An understanding of how agricultural practices affect soil quality is critical for farmers to make better management decisions and produce food efficiently and sustainably. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the importance of biochar amendments on soil enzyme activities. The study examined biochar's effects on soil enzyme activities such as β-glucosidase, acid- and alkaline-phosphatase, arylsulfatase, dehydrogenases, arylamidase, cellulase, and urease. Six treatments (compost, biochar, compost + biochar, biochar + compost tea, fescue, and control) were established and the soil samples were collected three years post treatments. Results showed that soil pH, organic matter, and CEC were critical factors associated with soil enzyme activities. Compost and biochar amendment significantly enhanced soil enzyme activities, and the amount of nitrogen applied significantly affected enzyme activity. The study demonstrated that the compost and biochar treatment would improve soil physiochemical and biological properties, hence, enhancing soil health.

The magnitude of bacterial transport through runoff into surface water or infiltration into groundwater is influenced by the adsorption processes in soil. The objective of this study was to evaluate fluorescent‐labeled Escherichia coli (E. coli) adsorption by soil under agroforestry buffer (AB), grass buffer (GB), and row crop (RC) management. Adsorption experiments were conducted by inoculating three masses (0.5, 1, and 10 g) of each treatment (AB, GB, and RC) with E. coli O157:H7‐GFP with concentration ranges of 10⁵–10⁸ colony‐forming units (cfu) ml⁻¹. Adsorption data were evaluated using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin adsorption isotherm models. The Freundlich isotherm model described the observed data well for all treatments using the 10‐g soil mass, with the R² values closer to unity in all treatments. The Freundlich K_f parameter, an indicator of adsorption capacity, was higher for the AB treatment (9.93 cfu ml⁻¹) compared with the GB and RC treatments (2.32 and 1.27 cfu ml⁻¹, respectively). The multiple pairwise comparisons test (Tukey test) of the Freundlich 1/n_f parameter demonstrated a significant difference (p < .05) between the AB treatment and the RC and GB treatments. Similarly, the K_f values were significantly (p = .05) higher for the 10‐g mass under the same test conditions, but no significant differences were observed in the 0.5‐ and 1‐g masses. This study demonstrated that AB has a higher E. coli adsorption capacity and the potential for mitigating the effects of E. coli O157:H7 transport to surface or groundwater through the soil ecosystem.

Development and deployment of biosensors for the rapid detection of the 2019 novel severe acute respiratory syndrome—coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are of utmost importance and urgency during this recent outbreak of coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, which spread rapidly around the world. Cases now confirmed in February 2022 indicate that more than 170 countries worldwide are affected. Recent evidence indicates over 430 million confirmed cases with over 5.92 million deaths scattered across the globe, with the United States having more than 78 million confirmed cases and over 920,000 deaths. The US now has many more cases than in China where coronavirus cases were first reported in late December 2019. During the initial outbreak in China, many leaders did not anticipate it could reach the whole world, spreading to many countries and posing severe threats to global health. The objective of this review is to summarize the origin of COVID-19, its biological nature, comparison with other coronaviruses, symptoms, prevention, treatment, potential, available methods for SARS-CoV-2 detection, and post-COVID-19 symptoms.