The efficiency with which plants use nutrients to create biomass and/or grain is determined by the interaction of environmental and plant intrinsic factors. The major macronutrients, especially nitrogen (N), limit plant growth and development (1.5–2% of dry biomass) and have a direct impact on global food supply, fertilizer demand, and concern with environmental health. In the present time, the global consumption of N fertilizer is nearly 120 MT (million tons), and the N efficiency ranges from 25 to 50% of applied N. The dynamic range of ideal internal N concentrations is extremely large, necessitating stringent management to ensure that its requirements are met across various categories of developmental and environmental situations. Furthermore, approximately 60 percent of arable land is mineral deficient and/or mineral toxic around the world. The use of chemical fertilizers adds to the cost of production for the farmers and also increases environmental pollution. Therefore, the present study focused on the advancement in fertilizer approaches, comprising the use of biochar, zeolite, and customized nano and bio-fertilizers which had shown to be effective in improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) with lower soil degradation. Consequently, adopting precision farming, crop modeling, and the use of remote sensing technologies such as chlorophyll meters, leaf color charts, etc. assist in reducing the application of N fertilizer. This study also discussed the role of crucial plant attributes such as root structure architecture in improving the uptake and transport of N efficiency. The crosstalk of N with other soil nutrients plays a crucial role in nutrient homeostasis, which is also discussed thoroughly in this analysis. At the end, this review highlights the more efficient and accurate molecular strategies and techniques such as N transporters, transgenes, and omics, which are opening up intriguing possibilities for the detailed investigation of the molecular components that contribute to nitrogen utilization efficiency, thus expanding our knowledge of plant nutrition for future global food security.

Environmental factors are the major constraints in sustainable agriculture. WRKY proteins are a large family of transcription factors (TFs) that regulate various developmental processes and stress responses in plants, including cotton. On the basis of Gossypium raimondii genome sequencing, WRKY TFs have been identified in cotton and characterized for their functions in abiotic stress responses. WRKY members of cotton play a significant role in the regulation of abiotic stresses, i.e., drought, salt, and extreme temperatures. These TFs either activate or repress various signaling pathways such as abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), and the scavenging of reactive oxygen species. WRKY-associated genes in cotton have been genetically engineered in Arabidopsis, Nicotiana, and Gossypium successfully, which subsequently enhanced tolerance in corresponding plants against abiotic stresses. Although a few review reports are available for WRKY TFs, there is no critical report available on the WRKY TFs of cotton. Hereby, the role of cotton WRKY TFs in environmental stress responses is studied to enhance the understanding of abiotic stress response and further improve in cotton plants.

The aim of this work was to fabricate novel bioactive composites based on chitosan and non-organic silica, reinforced with calcium β-glycerophosphate (Ca-GP), sodium β-glycerophosphate pentahydrate (Na-GP), and hydroxyapatite powder (HAp) in a range of concentrations using the sol–gel method. The effect of HAp, Na-GP, and Ca-GP contents on the mechanical properties, i.e., Young’s modulus, compressive strength, and yield strain, of hybrid composites was analyzed. The microstructure of the materials obtained was visualized by SEM. Moreover, the molecular interactions according to FTIR analysis and biocompatibility of composites obtained were examined. The CS/Si/HAp/Ca-GP developed from all composites analyzed was characterized by the well-developed surface of pores of two sizes: large ones of 100 μm and many smaller pores below 10 µm, the behavior of which positively influenced cell proliferation and growth, as well as compressive strength in a range of 0.3 to 10 MPa, Young’s modulus from 5.2 to 100 MPa, and volumetric shrinkage below 60%. This proved to be a promising composite for applications in tissue engineering, e.g., filling small bone defects.

A mature of safety culture is crucial to preventing and mitigating accidents, incidents, and unsafe behaviors in the process industry, so as to make it more sustainable and economically responsible. Measurement, investigation, and assessment of the safety culture using interviews, questionnaires, behavior observation, reviewing documentation, and its impact on the safety performances of an organization is complicated, challenging, and requires a commitment to all employees. The aim of this study was to propose a novel, unique semi-quantitative methodology for the determination of a total process safety culture index and parametric model of process safety culture maturity in an organization based on the Bradley model. The methodology includes a questionnaire concerning different process safety culture factors, calculation procedures, and a graphical tool. In addition, three quantitative survey indicators were proposed: indicators of direct communication, average communication time, and the applicability rate of the proposed changes by employees. A fully-developed total process safety culture index allows for identifying, hierarchizing, and benchmarking different factors of the safety culture among companies and sectors. Moreover, it will enable identifying the area of actions required to improve safety practices and elements applied to the organization analyzed. The proposed methodology was verified in a case study of one energy company with three locations in Poland and can be easily applied to different industrial fields, including logistics and warehousing, the food industry, the paper industry, security services, fire services, and environmental and other agencies.

Hydrogels prepared from polymers have been proposed for tissue regeneration and the treatment of bruise wounds. In this research work, we synthesized a Raphanus sativus L.-based wound-healing hydrogel with recognized antimicrobial activity for the healing of cutaneous lesions, drawing on its healing potential. A structural analysis was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, confirming the interaction between sodium alginate and Raphanus sativus L. The surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy. A swelling test showed that the T-1 hydrogel capability of absorption of the solution was superior compared to other synthesized samples. It was evident that the swelling tendency decreased as the Raphanus sativus L. seed extract concentration was reduced. In a thermogravimetric analysis, T-1 shows high thermal stability over other prepared hydrogel samples, enjoying a high content of seed extract compared with all samples. The prepared hydrogels were placed on the chick chorioallantoic membrane of fertilized chick eggs, and their healing capability was examined. All seed extracts containing hydrogels showed clear curative performance as compared to the control hydrogel, whereas their healing magnitude lessened as the extract ratio decreased. It was concluded from the results of the current study that the Raphanus sativus L. plant has wound-healing characteristics.