This study analyzes the dynamic relationships between tourism, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, exports, imports, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in five South Asian countries. A VAR-based Granger causality test is performed with time series data from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. According to the results, both bidirectional and unidirectional relationships among tourism, economic growth, and carbon emissions are investigated. Specifically, tourism significantly impacts GDP per capita in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, yet it has no effect in Bangladesh or India. However, the GDP per capita shows a unidirectional relationship with tourism in Bangladesh and India. The unidirectional causal relationship from exports and imports to tourism in the context of India and a bidirectional relationship in the case of Nepal. In Pakistan, it is observed that exports have a one-way influence on tourism. The result of the panel Granger test shows a significant causal association between tourism, economic growth, and trade (import and export) in five South Asian economies. Particularly, there is a bidirectional causal relationship between GDP per capita and tourism, and a significant unidirectional causal relationship from CO₂ emissions, exports, and imports to tourism is explored. The findings of this study are helpful for tourism stakeholders and policymakers in the region to formulate more sustainable and effective tourism strategies.

Oil spill clean-up is a long-standing challenge for researchers to prevent serious environmental pollution. A new kind of oil-absorbent based on silicon-containing polymers (e.g., poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)) with high absorption capacity and excellent reusability was prepared and used for oil-water separation. The PDMS-based oil absorbents have highly interconnected pores with swellable skeletons, combining the advantages of porous materials and gels. On the other hand, polymer/silica composites have been extensively studied as high-performance functional coatings since, as an organic/inorganic composite material, they are expected to combine polymer flexibility and ease of processing with mechanical properties. Polymer composites with increased impact resistance and tensile strength without decreasing the flexibility of the polymer matrix can be achieved by incorporating silica nanoparticles, nanosand, or sand particles into the polymeric matrices. Therefore, polymer/silica composites have attracted great interest in many industries. Some potential applications, including high-performance coatings, electronics and optical applications, membranes, sensors, materials for metal uptake, etc., were comprehensively reviewed. In the first part of the review, we will cover the recent progress of oil absorbents based on silicon-containing polymers (PDMS). In the later details of the review, we will discuss the recent developments of functional materials based on polymer/silica composites, sand, and nanosand systems.

Nanoparticle V₂O₅ is prepared by the measurement of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. The crystallite size = 19.59 nm, optical energy gap = 2.6 eV, an average particle size of 29.58 nm and, RMS roughness of ~6.8 nm. Also, Fourier transformer infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) showed a porous free morphology with homogeneity and uniformity on the sample surface. The film surface exhibited no apparent cracking and, the grains exhibited large nicely separated conical columnar growth combined grains throughout the surface with coalescence of some columnar grains at a few places. The fabrication of a thin film of V₂O₅ NPs/PSi heterojunction photodetector was characterized and investigated.

Publications overestimating the medical and ecological sequels of a slight anthropogenic increase in the radiation background have been reviewed recently with examples of different organs and pathological conditions. The overestimation contributed to the strangulation of atomic energy. The use of nuclear energy for electricity production is on the agenda today due to the increasing energy needs of humankind. Apparently, certain scientific writers acted in the interests of fossil fuel producers. Health risks and environmental damage are maximal for coal and oil, lower for natural gas, and much lower for atomic energy. This letter is an addition to previously published materials, this time focused on studies of cataracts in radiation-exposed populations in Russia. Selection and self-selection bias are of particular significance. Apparently, the self-reporting rate correlates with dose estimates and/or with professional awareness about radiation-related risks among nuclear workers or radiologic technologists, the latter being associated with their work experience/duration and hence with the accumulated dose. Individuals informed of their higher doses would more often seek medical advice and receive more attention from medics. As a result, lens opacities are diagnosed in exposed people earlier than in the general population. This explains dose-effect correlations proven for the incidence of cataracts but not for the frequency of cataract surgeries. Along the same lines, various pathological conditions are more often detected in exposed people. Ideological bias and the trimming of statistics have not been unusual in the Russian medical sciences. It is known that ionizing radiation causes cataracts; however, threshold levels associated with risks are understudied. In particular, thresholds for chronic and fractionated exposures are uncertain and may be underestimated.

Stimuli-responsive, smart, or intelligent polymers are materials that significantly change their physical or chemical properties when there is a small change in the surrounding environment due to either internal or external stimuli. In the last two decades or so, there has been tremendous growth in the strategies to develop various types of stimuli-responsive polymer (SRP) materials/systems that are suitable for various fields, including biomedical, material science, nanotechnology, biotechnology, surface and colloid sciences, biochemistry, and the environmental field. The wide acceptability of SRPs is due to their availability in different architectural forms such as scaffolds, aggregates, hydrogels, pickering emulsions, core-shell particles, nanogels, micelles, membranes, capsules, and layer-by-layer films. The present review focuses on different types of SRPs, such as physical, chemical, and biological, and various important applications, including controlled drug delivery (CDD), stabilization of colloidal dispersion, diagnostics (sensors and imaging), tissue engineering, regenerative medicines, and actuators. The applications of SRPs have immense potential in various fields, and the author hopes these polymers will add a new field of applications through new concepts.

Natural forests and abandoned agricultural lands are increasingly replaced by monospecific forest plantations that have poor capacity to support biodiversity and ecosystem services. Natural forests harbour plants belonging to different mycorrhiza types that differ in their microbiome and carbon and nutrient cycling properties. Here we describe the MycoPhylo field experiment that encompasses 116 woody plant species from three mycorrhiza types and 237 plots, with plant diversity and mycorrhiza type diversity ranging from one to four and one to three per plot, respectively. The MycoPhylo experiment enables us to test hypotheses about the plant species, species diversity, mycorrhiza type, and mycorrhiza type diversity effects and their phylogenetic context on soil microbial diversity and functioning and soil processes. Alongside with other experiments in the TreeDivNet consortium, MycoPhylo will contribute to our understanding of the tree diversity effects on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across biomes, especially from the mycorrhiza type and phylogenetic conservatism perspectives.