Introduction Soil mass instability on steep slopes presents significant challenges for erosion control and soil stabilization, requiring the development of biodegradable geotextile alternatives. This study aimed to evaluate the resistance of geotextiles produced from Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc. fibers, treated with waterproofing resin, subjected to the effects of exposure to degradation under environmental conditions.Methods Geotextile samples were exposed to solar radiation, rain, wind, and soil microorganisms; mechanical behavior was assessed via tensile strength and static puncture tests, supplemented by scanning electron microscopy. Statistical analyses, including ANOVA-RM and regression models, were applied to discern the effects of exposure time and resin treatments on the fibers' performance.Results and discussion Key findings indicate that a single-layer resin treatment significantly prolongs the mechanical viability of the fibers over 120 days, maintaining higher ultimate tensile strength compared to untreated or double-layer-treated fibers. Although double-layer resin provided an initially higher tensile resistance, it accelerated structural failures beyond 90 days, while untreated fibers were nonviable after 60 days. These results highlight a trade-off between stiffness and durability, evidencing that a single-layer resin application delivers an optimal balance of mechanical resilience and flexibility. These findings suggest that a single-layer resin treatment provides a balance between durability and mechanical performance, making it a suitable choice for eco-friendly geotextile applications. Properly treated Syagrus coronata fibers emerge as an economical and sustainable alternative for geotextiles, offering greater durability and contributing to improving slope stabilization and erosion control in environmental conditions of recovery and revegetation of degraded areas.

Many studies have found that volatile cues from damaged plants can induce resistance to herbivores in undamaged neighbors. However, fewer studies have examined the effects of soilborne cues. Furthermore, there are few studies that have considered the effects of plant-plant communication on plant reproduction. We conducted experiments with tomato seedlings exposing them to airborne and soilborne cues from experimentally damaged neighbors. These plants were then transplanted to the field and the level of damage by chewing and sucking herbivores was observed in the field. We also recorded the time before flowering was initiated by these plants. We found that both airborne and soilborne cues trend to reduce the proportion of leaves that were damaged for plants exposed to cues relative to controls that were near undamaged neighbors. Furthermore, these two cues were found to interact synergistically. Plants that had been exposed to soilborne cues flowered sooner than controls, those exposed to airborne cues, and both cues. These results suggested that soilborne and airborne cues induce different responses in plants.

This review paper explores the use of red mud as a sustainable alternative for construction materials and soil stabilisation due to its unique chemical and mineral composition, a waste produced during the extraction of aluminium from bauxite ore. The disposal of red mud is a major environmental issue worldwide due to its high alkalinity and large production volume. Although this material has already been utilised as construction material (e.g., bricks, cement, concrete), it can also be incorporated for waste water treatment and lead to waste reduction. In soil stabilisation, red mud's alkaline nature, pozzolanic properties, and fine particle size improve soil structure and strength, offering a cost-effective solution. Utilising red mud as a filling material for low-lying areas addresses the disposal problem while contributing to infrastructure development projects. This study highlights construction materials' mechanical properties and durability by incorporating bauxite tailings and also incorporating valorisation of red mud as a precursor for alkali-activated binder. This paper comprises recent research findings and practical applications associated with the use of this waste. Also, it discusses the benefits and challenges associated with the large-scale use of red mud. It gives an idea about how the strength and durability of construction materials can be improved considering overall environmental impact. Future perspectives on policy, technology, and environmental impact are also discussed to provide a comprehensive understanding of red mud's potential for sustainable development. Red mud enhances the properties of materials like strength, durability, and thermal resistance of construction materials like bricks, ceramic, and cement.Red mud increases soil load-bearing capacity, reduces plasticity, and enhances erosion resistance, making it ideal for foundations and road construction.Using red mud reduces dependency on traditional raw materials, conserving natural resources and lowering environmental impacts.Red mud in construction and soil stabilisation contributes to durable, eco-friendly structures and supports sustainable land use.

As primary producers, plants play a central role in mediating interactions across trophic levels. Although plants are the primary food source for herbivorous insects, they can protect themselves from herbivore damage. Many plants produce toxic compounds that directly reduce herbivore feeding, but plants also protect themselves indirectly by attracting natural enemies of the attacking herbivore through volatile signaling. These so-called tritrophic interactions have historically been documented aboveground in aerial plant parts but are also known to occur belowground in root systems. In addition to herbivores, plants directly interact with other organisms, which can influence the outcomes of tri-trophic interactions. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are symbiotic soil microbes that colonize the roots of plants and facilitate nutrient uptake. These microbes can alter plant chemistry and subsequent resistance to herbivores. Few studies, however, have shown how AMF affect tri-trophic interactions above- or belowground. This study examines how AMF colonization affects the emission of root volatiles when plants are under attack by western corn rootworm, a problematic pest of corn, and subsequent attraction of entomopathogenic nematodes, a natural enemy of western corn rootworm. Mycorrhizal fungi increased rootworm survival but decreased larval weight. Differences were detected across root volatile profiles, but there was not a clear link between volatile signaling and nematode behavior. Nematodes were more attracted to non-mycorrhizal plants without rootworms and AMF alone in soil, suggesting that AMF may interfere with cues that are used in combination with volatiles which nematodes use to locate prey.

Plastic waste has emerged as a pressing global concern, with a significant portion of it being discarded into the environment. Concurrently, wastewater sludge has also become an environmental threat due to the potential contaminants in it. In response, in this study, we took a novel approach that focused on the development of a sustainable composite matrix made from sludge-derived biochar and plastic. The physical, mechanical, and mineralogical properties of plastic-biochar (PB) composite matrices, including water absorption capacity (WAC), bulk density, wet transverse strength, and thermal conductivity, were assessed. The WAC increased with a higher biochar content in the matrix, ranging from 1.39% to 2.40%. The bulk density increased from 0.66 to 0.94 g/cc with increasing biochar content. The wet transverse strength exceeded the minimum requirement of 3 MPa in all tested samples, demonstrating the matrices' robustness. The thermal conductivity values ranged from 0.2 to 0.3 W/m K, indicating the matrices' potential as insulating materials. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the presence of the biochar and its bonding with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in the composite matrices. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed shifts in the peak patterns with varying biochar content, demonstrating alterations in the crystallinity. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) micrographs illustrated the interactions between the biochar and the PET, highlighting their distinctive attributes. A cost analysis showed that the PB composite matrices were cheaper than traditional cement concrete tiles. Finally, the potential of PB composite matrices to sequester carbon was assessed, which could contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of construction. This study demonstrated the potential of BP composite matrices as sustainable and cost-effective materials with satisfactory physical properties and the ability to reduce environmental impact.

We explored the activation of defense genes and the changes in volatile profiles in olive (Olea europaea var. Picual) plants subjected to mechanical wounding and prior soil inoculation with the fungus Trichoderma afroharzianum T22. Our findings indicate a sustained effect of the inoculant in olive plants, which shifted the constitutive volatile emission more significantly towards an aldehyde-dominated blend than the mechanical damage alone. Furthermore, we found that wounding alone did not alter the expression of hydroperoxide lyase genes associated with aldehyde biosynthesis. However, this expression was significantly enhanced when combined with prior T22 inoculation. Mechanical wounding amplified the plant's immediate defensive response by enhancing the upregulation of the direct defense enzyme acetone cyanohydrin lyase. Trichoderma afroharzianum T22 also modulated direct defense, although to a lesser extent, and its effect persisted 9 months after inoculation. Metagenomic analyses revealed that aerial mechanical damage did influence specific root bacterial functions. Specifically, an upregulation of predicted bacterial functions related to various metabolic processes, including responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, was observed. On the contrary, T22's impact on bacterial functional traits was minor and/or transient.

Geotextiles are widely being used for different soil engineering applications such as filtration, separation, drainage, reinforcement and erosion control. Synthetic geotextiles are mainly produced from the petroleum-derived polymeric materials. The environmental awareness and concern towards sustainability necessitated the application of a more sustainable alternative with natural fibre-based geosynthetics. In this paper, the physical and mechanical properties of five different natural fibres, namely abaca, coir, jute, pineapple and sisal fibres, which could be a suitable candidate for geotextile applications have been analysed and compared. Out of the five different types of the fibres analysed in the present study, the highest average diameter, density and flexural rigidity were found to be for coir and the lowest were found to be for pineapple. It was observed that all the five types of the fibres have the potential for soil reinforcement applications. The unconfined compressive strength of the unreinforced clay was increased by 2, 3.3, 4. 4.1 and 5 times, when reinforced with abaca, coir, pineapple, sisal and jute fibres, respectively. However, jute fibres have low rigidity. The present study concluded that these natural fibres can perform effectively as a raw material for geotextiles. Pineapple fibre absorbs high amount of water and hence may degrade faster comparing to other natural fibres. The fibres which contain high proportion of cellulose possess high tensile strength. For coir fibres, due to the presence of high amount of lignin the life is comparatively high. Thus, blending of the fibres in suitable proportions can complement each other and can lead to the production of better geotextile materials in various applications. Considering the durability, strength and compatibility in blending and spinning, an attempt was made in the present study to develop woven geotextiles from 50% coir:50% sisal blended yarns which are found to be superior in functional characteristics.

Horizontal drains are gradually introduced to the vacuum preloading method to improve dredged slurries by adding geotextiles to alleviate the blockage in the consolidation process. This study considers the consolidation of slurries enhanced by the vacuum preloading method with geotextile combined horizontal drains based on a double-layered consolidation model. The model approximates geotextile as a special soil layer possessing an equivalent consolidation factor. An analytical solution of the layered consolidation model is obtained using the Laplace transform and the finite Fourier transform method. The effectiveness of the solution is verified by comparing it with the one-dimensional double-layered consolidation solution and the one-dimensional consolidation with a partially permeable boundary. Through comparison with laboratory experiments, the model shows good fitness with the test results in the literature. The influences of related parameters, including the drain arrangement densities, soil parameters, and geotextile parameters, are discussed on average consolidation degree and pore water pressure. The influence mechanism is explained regarding drainage path and vacuum pressure transfer. Findings demonstrate that geotextile facilitates vacuum transfer and promotes soil consolidation, especially when the smaller density of drains' deposition and lower soil permeability are applied.

Freezing conditions under different humidity will influence the mechanical properties of geotextiles, leading to the gradual fracture of geotextiles. It brings hidden danger to the whole isolation, reinforcement and protection of rock and soil. It is particularly important to study the tensile and puncture properties of geotextiles considering low temperature and moisture content. In this paper, a series of tensile and puncture tests of geotextiles are performed under different low temperatures (0, -3, -6, -9, and -12 degrees C) and at different moisture content levels (0, 5, 10, 30, 50, and 80%). From the microscopic perspective, the failure mechanism considering the low temperature and moisture content was explained comprehensively. Experimental results indicate that with a decrease in freezing temperature, the tensile strength of geotextiles increases as a parabolic function while the elongation at failure decreases as an exponential function. Additionally, the puncture strength of geotextiles presented a parabolic increase with the decreasing temperature. Under the freezing temperature environment, the higher moisture content of geotextiles can generate a higher puncture strength increment. This research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the tensile and puncture properties of geotextile materials considering low temperature and moisture content. It can provide important guidance for the design of slopes, the reinforcement of earthen dams, and roadbed reinforcement with geotextiles in cold regions.

The article is devoted to the result of archaeological research carried out on the territory of the Okhtyrka fortress of the second half of the 17th-18th centuries. Excavations were conducted in the basement of the Okhtyrka Municipal Local History Museum. The building was severely damaged because of the night bombing in spring 2022. During the reconstruction of the museum, the workers had discovered archaeological artefacts. In the result of archaeological research, there were discovered the remains of a building buried in virgin soil. The most informative were the remains of the cellar walls. In the filling of the building, there were distinguished two layers separated by a sterile one. In the lower layer, the vast majority of fragments of tiles and furnace slag were found, and in the upper layer - numerous fragments of pottery and individual finds. The analysis of the artefacts location and the general stratigraphy allows presuming preliminary conclusions. The dwelling had two levels - the ground living level with the furnace and the underground one, or a cellar. The level had a massive ceiling made of oak logs and a wooden construction made of logs with a diameter of 0.15-0.25 m. The space between the wooden construction and virgin soil was filled with yellow sand. Mostly, in the filling of the dwelling were found light clay pottery fragments and some items covered with green glaze. The tiles were decorated with stylised floral ornament. Among the imports, the most noticeable are a handle of a faience cup produced in the Ottoman Empire and fragments of clay bottles of Riga balsam. In addition, a faience ointment jar, produced in Germany or Austria in the 18th century. Based on the analysis of the finds, the time of construction of the building is dated to the 20s-30s, and the time of destruction - 70s-80s of the 18th century. The first date is indicated by a coin minted in 1731, found in a piece of preserved oak log, and the second one by the lower part of a clay bottle, found on the floor of the cellar. Some of the imported finds are related to medicine, so we can assume using the building as a pharmacy in the last years of its existing.