Rapid urbanization and industrial growth in China have increased brownfield site reclamation, the sustainable remediation for urban transformation and enhancing ecosystem services. However, traditional brownfield safety assessment strategies impose unnecessary costs since excessive remediation. Herein, a comprehensive system integrated by soil self-purification, potential ecological risks and human health risks is developed to investigate the safety of brownfield sites. Indices, including soil environmental loading capacity (SELC), and Nemerow integrated pollution index (NIPI), were introduced to assess heavy metals (HMs) pollution. Results show that 72.05% of the sites are identified as moderate pollution, where Cd, As, and Cr(VI) are at heavy pollution, incorporating soil self-purification. The average values of potential ecological risk (PERI) reached 6615.00, posing a significant damage to the local ecosystem, and Cd was identified as main ecological hazards in the study sites. Furthermore, the health risk assessment shows that children's health risks are higher than that of adults, with non-carcinogenic risk to children (2.60) and adults (0.41), and carcinogenic risk to children (2.30 x 10-3) and adults (1.12 x 10-4). Utilizing a multi-index decision-making approach, it is determined that 19.30% of the site exhibit high-risk values, between concentration screening (11.40%) and risk screening (83.30%) base on single-indices. The study sheds light on the comprehensive assessment of brownfield site safety.

Amylase has numerous applications in the processing food sector, including brewing, animal feed, baking, fruit juice manufacturing, starch syrups, and starch liquefaction. Practical applications have been the primary focus of recent research on novel properties of bacterial alpha-amylases. Many amylolytic-active bacterial isolates were obtained from samples of organic-rich, salinity-rich soil. Morphological and 16S rRNA gene sequence studies clearly revealed that the organism belongs to Bacillus sp. and was named Bacillus cereus strain GL2 (PP463909.1 (When pH 6.0, 45 degrees C, and 12 hours of incubation were met the optimal growth conditions for the strain produced the highest amount of alpha-amylase activity. B. cereus strain GL2 alpha-amylase isoenzyme was purified to homogeneity using Sephacryl (TM) S-200 chromatography and ammonium sulfate precipitation. The electrophoretic molecular weight of B. cereus alpha-amylase was 58 kDa. The optimal pH and temperature for measuring alpha-amylase activity were 50 degrees C and 6.0, respectively. alpha-Amylase did not change at 50 degrees C. The purified enzyme improves bread texture by reducing stiffness while improving cohesiveness and flexibility. Purified alpha-amylase was added to the flour, which improved the rheological properties and overall bread quality. As a result, the alpha-amylase from B. cereus strain GL2 can be used to promote bread-making.

Planting concrete (PC) is a type of sustainable concrete. It remains challenging to prepare and design a PC by considering complex factors such as voidage and alkalinity. In this paper, preparation and mix design methods of PC are reviewed and compared, with particular emphasis on the influence of various factors on permeability, mechanical properties, durability, and plant compatibility. Alkali reduction measures, vegetation testing, and plant compatibility cannot be ignored in the design of PC. 25 similar to 30% voidage and 8-10 pH can ensure the durability of vegetation concrete, physiological characteristics of plants and fertilizer retention performance. In addition, the paper summarizes the application of PC in water purification, slope protection and green roof establishment. The cost and applicable conditions of different slope protection methods are further compared and analyzed. Finally, several essential areas that require further research efforts are suggested based on the current research results, including research direction and challenges of PC.