Effects of Al3+ on the microstructure and bioflocculation of anoxic sludge

The aluminum ions generated from mining aluminum,electrolytic aluminum and the industrial production of aluminum-based coagulants(such as AlCl_3 and Al_2(SO_4)_3) enter sewage treatment plants and interact with activated sludges.An anaerobic/anoxic/oxic(A~2 O) process was used to reveal the effects of Al~(3+) on the pollutant removal efficiencies,bioflocculation and the micro structure of sludge.The results showed that a low concentration of Al~(3+) improved the pollutant removal efficiencies and increased the sludge particle size.However,a high concentration of Al~(3+) hindered microbial flocculation and reduced the pollutant removal efficiencies.With a 10 mg/L Al~(3+) addition,the chemical oxygen demand(COD),total nitrogen(TN) and NH_4~+-N increased by 3%,16% and 27%,and reached as high as 68%,60% and 87%,respectively.At the same time,the dehydrogenase activity,flocculation ability(FA) and contact angle of the sludge reached their maximum levels at 41.3 mg/L/hr,45% and 79.63°,respectively.The specific surface area of the sludge decreased to 7.084 m2/g and the sludge pore size distribution shifted to concentrate in the me soporous range.Most of Al~(3+) was adsorbed on the surface of sludge,changing the physicochemical properties and physical structure of the sludge.     

Simultaneous Concentration of Bovine Viruses and Agricultural Zoonotic Bacteria from Water Using Sodocalcic Glass Wool Filters

Infiltration and runoff from manured agricultural fields can result in livestock pathogens reaching groundwater and surface waters. Here, we measured the effectiveness of glass wool filters to simultaneously concentrate enteric viruses and bacteria of bovine origin from water. The recovery efficiencies were determined for bovine viral diarrhea virus types 1 and 2, bovine rotavirus group A, bovine coronavirus, poliovirus Sabin III, toxigenic Escherichia coli ,and Campylobacter jejuni seeded into water with three different turbidity levels (0.5, 215, and 447 NTU). Twenty liters of dechlorinated tap water (pH 7) were seeded with the test organisms, and then passed through a glass wool filter using a peristaltic pump (flow rate = 1 liter min^?1). Retained organisms were eluted from the filters by passing beef extract-glycine buffer (pH 9.5) in the direction opposite of sample flow. Recovered organisms were enumerated by qPCR except for C. jejuni, which was quantified by culture. Mean recovery efficiencies ranged from 55 to 33 % for the bacteria and 58 to 16 % for the viruses. Using bootstrapping techniques combined with Analysis of Variance, recovery efficiencies were found to differ among the pathogen types tested at the two lowest turbidity levels; however, for a given pathogen type turbidity did not affect recovery except for C. jejuni. Glass wool filtration is a cost-effective method for concentrating several waterborne pathogens of bovine origin simultaneously, although recovery may be low for some specific taxa such as bovine viral diarrhea virus 1.     

Taylor-Couette流场数值模拟及絮凝效果研究

通过流体力学中的Fluent软件模拟了Taylor-Couette反应器的速度矢量分布、湍动动能分布和有效能耗分布,同时实验研究了TaylorCouette反应器不同内筒转速下三氯化铁对高岭土悬浊液的絮凝效能.结果表明,内外筒环隙间存在亚微尺度的涡旋,当转速为30～60 r·min-时,涡旋形状闭合完整,相互分离,涡旋内部速度梯度较小,湍动动能k在0.00010 ～0.00023 m2·s-2的范围内,有效能耗ε在0.00057 ～0.00189 m2·s-3的范围内,絮凝效能达到最大(80％以上),湍动动能和有效能耗过大或过小均不利于形成完整闭合的涡旋,絮凝效能较差.     

Use of Preservative Agents and Antibiotics for Increased Poliovirus Survival on Positively Charged Filters

Environmental surveillance of poliovirus (PV) and other non-enveloped viruses can help identify silent circulation and is necessary to certify eradication. The bag-mediated filtration system is an efficient method to filter large volumes of environmental waters at field sites for monitoring the presence of viruses. As filters may require long transit times to off-site laboratories for processing, viral inactivation or overgrowth of bacteria and fungi can interfere with virus detection and quantification (Miki and Jacquet in Aquatic Microb Ecol 51(2):195–208, 2008). To evaluate virus survival over time on ViroCap^? filters, the filters were seeded with PV type 1 (PV1) and/or MS2 and then dosed with preservatives or antibiotics prior to storage and elution. These filters were stored at various temperatures and time periods, and then eluted for PV1 and MS2 recovery quantification. Filters dosed with the preservative combination of 2% sodium benzoate and 0.2% calcium propionate had increased virus survival over time when stored at 25 °C, compared to samples stored at 25 °C with no preservatives. While elution within 24 h of filtration is recommended, if storage or shipping is required then this preservative mixture can help preserve sample integrity. Addition of an antibiotic cocktail containing cephapirin, gentamicin, and Proclin^? 300 increased recovery after storage at 4 and 25 °C, when compared to storage with no antibiotics. The antibiotic cocktail can aid sample preservation if access to appropriate antibiotics storage is available and sample cold chain is unreliable. This study demonstrated that the use of preservatives or antibiotics is a simple, cost-effective method to improve virus detection from ViroCap cartridge filters over time.     

Electro-oxidation of Ni (II)-citrate complexes at BDD electrode and simultaneous recovery of metallic nickel by electrodeposition

The simultaneous electro-oxidation of Ni (II)-citrate and electrodeposition recovery of nickel metal were attempted in a combined electro-oxidation-electrodeposition reactor with a boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode and a polished titanium cathode. Effects of initial nickel citrate concentration, current density, initial pH, electrode spacing, electrolyte type, and initial electrolyte dosage on electrochemical performance were examined. The efficiencies of Ni (II)-citrate removal and nickel metal recovery were determined to be 100% and over 72%, respectively, under the optimized conditions (10 mA/cm², pH 4.09, 80 mmol/L Na₂SO₄, initial Ni (II)-citrate concentration of 75 mg/L, electrode spacing of 1 cm, and 180 min of electrolysis). Energy consumption increased with increased current density, and the energy consumption was 0.032 kWh/L at a current density of 10 mA/cm² (pH 6.58). The deposits at the cathode were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). These characterization results indicated that the purity of metallic nickel in cathodic deposition was over 95%. The electrochemical system exhibited a prospective approach to oxidize metal complexes and recover metallic nickel.     

Seasonal Occurrence of Human Enteric Viruses in River Water Samples Collected from Rural Areas of South-East Poland

The study was carried out in 2007, and its main aim was 1 year monitoring of surface water of the River Wieprz in Poland for the presence of human adenoviruses group F and noroviruses (NoVs). In total, 60 water samples were collected from four sampling sites situated along the river. The viruses were concentrated from water samples using glass wool, followed by elution with a glycine buffer containing skimmed milk powder. Subsequently, the viral nucleic acids were extracted and purified from water concentrates using a NucliSENS^® kit and a QIAamp Viral RNA Mini Kit^®. The presence of viral nucleic acids was confirmed by applying traditional PCR-based methods with incorporated internal amplification controls. Human pathogenic viruses were detected in 35% of analysed water samples. Adenoviruses were detected in 28.3% of analysed samples, and were present at all seasons of the year. 11.6% of the samples were positive for NoVs; they were present only during summer, in contrast to conventional findings. Molecular identification of norovirus strains revealed that they belong to genogroup I and II.     

Screening of Ready-to-Eat Meat Products for Hepatitis E Virus in Switzerland

Seroprevalence data for pig herds suggested that there must be a relevant reservoir for hepatitis E virus (HEV) in Switzerland. To know more about the viral presence in ready-to-eat meat products, we screened pork liver sausages and raw meat sausages from the Swiss retail market for the presence of HEV. Testing was performed with a detection method where the virus extraction step was optimized. As for the performance of the improved method, the mean recovery rate for the mengovirus process control was 24.4%, whereas for HEV-inoculated sample matrices between 10.4 and 100% were achieved. The limit of detection was about 1.56 × 10³ and 1.56 × 10² genome copies per gram for liver sausages and raw meat sausages, respectively. In the screening programme, HEV-RNA was detected in 10 of total 90 (11.1%) meat products, 7 of 37 (18.9%) liver sausages, and 3 of 53 (5.7%) raw meat sausages. Virus loads of up to 5.54 log₁₀ HEV genome copies per gram were measured. All sequences retrieved from positive samples belonged to HEV genotype 3. The significance of the presented work was a current overview of the HEV prevalence in ready-to-eat meat products on the Swiss retail marked and an improvement of the extraction efficiency of the HEV detection method.     

活性污泥的理化性质与絮凝调理投药量的关系

采用烧杯试验研究了活性污泥理化性质与絮凝调理投药量的关系,分析了活性污泥离心上清液黏度及其中胶体的Zeta电位和表面电荷密度、污泥絮体的粒度、分形维数和强度等理化性质指标随调理絮凝剂(CPAM,CZ-8698)投药量的变化规律,探讨了这些指标在确定絮凝调理最佳投药量方面的差异.结果表明,CZ-8698的投药量对污泥的脱水性能和理化性质均可产生明显的影响,基于毛细吸水时间(CST)、污泥比阻(SRF)确定的活性污泥絮凝调理的最佳投药量范围为4.28～7.13g.kg-1,对应的CST与SRF值分别为(12.62±1.39)s、0.56×1012m.kg-1.在此最佳投药量区间,污泥离心上清液中胶体的Zeta电位与表面电荷密度均由负值变为正值,污泥絮体的分形维数分别为1.09(一维)和1.51(二维),其表面不规则程度最低、结构较为密实;污泥絮体的粒径随着絮凝剂投药量的增加持续增大到mm尺度,但其强度在投药量高于4.60 g.kg-1以后逐渐趋于稳定.此外,当絮凝剂投药量低于上述最佳范围时,污泥离心上清液的黏度已经达到了最小值(1.24±0.04)mPa.s.     

Preliminary Source Tracking of Male-Specific (F<Superscript>+</Superscript>) RNA Coliphage on Lettuce as a Surrogate of Enteric Viruses Using Reverse Transcription-PCR

The aim of this research was to preliminary track fecal source male-specific F⁺RNA coliphages including human and animals in lettuce. At first, two published virus extraction procedures of ultracentrifugation and PEG precipitation were compared using DAL assay for determining the recovery efficiency in lettuce spiked artificially with three concentrations (10², 10⁴, 10⁶ pfu/100 ml) of MS2 coliphage. The results showed that PEG precipitation had the highest recovery in which the recovery efficiency at the spiked level of 10⁶ pfu/100 ml was 16.63 %. Aqueous phase obtained from the final step of PEG method was applied for enumeration of coliphage and viral RNA extraction in naturally contaminated lettuce samples (N = 30) collected from two sources (market and farm). The samples were then analyzed based on (I, II, III, and IV primer sets) using RT-PCR method. Coliphages were detected in 9 (60 %) and 12 (80 %) out of 15 market and farm samples, respectively, using DAL assay, whereas male-specific F⁺RNA coliphages were detected using the RT-PCR method in 9 (60 %) and 13 (86.6 %) out of 15 samples of market and farm, respectively. Based on the results, only genotype I of male-specific F⁺RNA coliphages was detected in lettuce samples and no sample tested was positive for other genotypes (II, III, and IV).     

Persistence of Human Noroviruses on Food Preparation Surfaces and Human Hands

The human noroviruses (NoV) are the major cause of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis and are commonly transmitted by foodborne routes. Epidemiological evidence from propagated outbreaks, as well as environmental sampling, suggest that these viruses are environmentally stable. The purpose of this study was to examine the persistence of representative human NoV on the fingertips of volunteers and on commonly used food preparation surfaces. Human fingerpads and surfaces (stainless steel, Formica^®, and ceramic) were inoculated with 20% fecal suspensions of Norwalk virus (NV) or Snow Mountain virus (SMV). The virus inocula were recovered by elution at serial time points ranging from 0 to 120 min post-inoculation (for fingerpads) and after up to 42 days (for surfaces). The quantity of detectable viral RNA, expressed as genome equivalent particles (GEP) was evaluated using quantitative real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR). The amount of NV RNA on the surface decreased gradually over time, with an average reduction ranging from 1.5 to 2.9 log₁₀ GEP after 21–28 days storage under ambient conditions. SMV showed greater environmental persistence, with a 0.4–1.2 log₁₀ GEP reduction on all three surfaces after 42 days of ambient storage. On fingerpads, the amount of human NoV RNA declined slightly (<0.25 log₁₀) after 15 min and remained relatively unchanged thereafter (through 120 min). These results support the epidemiological evidence that food preparation surfaces and human hands can act as vehicles for human NoV transmission long after the initial contamination event has occurred.     

模拟废旧线路板生物浸出液中铜的回收

如何将废旧线路板生物浸出液中离子态铜以高品位单质形式回收是实现生物浸出回收金属的关键环节.本研究采用电沉积法,考察了模拟废旧线路板生物浸出液在恒流条件下阴极材料、电流密度、初始pH和初始铜浓度对铜回收效率和能耗的影响.结果表明,比表面积越大的阴极材料(碳毡)对铜的回收效率越高,阳极室和阴极室铜回收效率分别为96.56%、99.25%,总能耗和单位产物能耗越小,分别为0.022 kW·h、15.71 kW·h·kg-1.随着电流密度的增大铜回收效率和能耗呈上升趋势,当电流密度为155.56 mA·cm-2,阳极室和阴极室铜回收效率均达最大,分别为98.51%、99.37%,总能耗和单位产物能耗达最高,分别为0.037 kW·h、24.34 kW·h·kg-1.初始铜离子浓度对铜回收效率有明显影响,初始铜离子浓度越高,铜离子浓度下降的越快,总能耗越高,单位产物能耗越小.而初始pH值对铜回收效率没有明显影响.在优选条件下,阴极材料为碳毡,电流密度为111.11 mA·cm-2,初始pH=2.0,初始铜浓度为10 g·L-1,阳极室和阴极室铜回收效率分别为96.75%、99.35%,总能耗和单位产物能耗分别为0.021 kW·h、14.61 kW·h·kg-1,沉积的铜在阴极材料表面呈束状分布且未检测到氧的存在.     

Atmospheric gaseous organic acids in winter in a rural site of the North China Plain

Organic acids are important contributors to the acidity of atmospheric precipitation,but their existence in the Chinese atmosphere is largely unclear.In this study,twelve atmospheric gaseous organic acids,including C₁-C₉ alkanoic acids,methacrylic acid,pyruvic acid,and benzoic acid,were observed in the suburb of Wangdu,Hebei Province,a typical rural site in the northern China plain from 16^th December,2018 to 22^nd January,2019,using a Vocus@Proton-Trans...     

Prevalence of Human Parainfluenza Viruses and Noroviruses Genomes on Office Fomites

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential role of office fomites in respiratory (human parainfluenza virus 1—HPIV1, human parainfluenza virus 3—HPIV3) and enteric (norovirus GI—NoV GI, norovirus GII—NoV GII) viruses transmission by assessing the occurrence of these viruses on surfaces in office buildings. Between 2016 and 2017, a total of 130 surfaces from open-space and non-open-space rooms in office buildings located in one city were evaluated for HPIV1, HPIV3, NoV GI, and NoV GII viral RNA presence. Detection of viruses was performed by RT-qPCR method. Study revealed 27 positive samples, among them 59.3% were HPIV3-positive, 25.9% HPIV1-positive, and 14.8% NoV GII-positive. All tested surfaces were NoV GI-negative. Statistical analysis of obtained data showed that the surfaces of office equipment including computer keyboards and mice, telephones, and desktops were significantly more contaminated with respiratory viruses than the surfaces of building equipment elements such as door handles, light switches, or ventilation tracts (χ ² p = 0.006; Fisher’s Exact p = 0.004). All examined surfaces were significantly more contaminated with HPIVs than NoVs (χ ² p = 0.002; Fisher’s Exact p = 0.003). Office fomites in open-space rooms were more often contaminated with HPIVs than with NoVs (χ ² p = 0.016; Fisher’s Exact p = 0.013). The highest average concentration of HPIVs RNA copies was observed on telephones (1.66 × 10² copies/100 cm²), while NoVs on the light switches (1.40 × 10² copies/100 cm²). However, the Kruskal–Wallis test did not show statistically significant differences in concentration levels of viral RNA copies on surfaces between the all tested samples. This study unequivocally showed that individuals in office environment may have contact with both respiratory and enteric viral particles present on frequently touched surfaces.     

Relative Abundance of Human Bocaviruses in Urban Sewage in Greater Cairo,Egypt

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is predominantly found in the respiratory tract infections and in the stool of patients with gastroenteritis symptoms. However, data on the prevalence of HBoV genotypes in environmental samples are limited. Here we addressed the prevalence of HBoV in sewage collected from three different wastewater treatment plants in Egypt. HBoV-1, HBoV-2, and HBoV-3 were detected, whereas none of the samples were positive for HBoV-4. The median concentration of HBoV in influent samples was 8.5 × 10³ GC/l for HBoV-1, 3.0 × 10⁴ GC/l for HBoV-2, and 2.5 × 10⁴ GC/l for HBoV-3. The concentration was reduced but not completely removed in the effluent samples. The median concentration in the outlet samples was 2.9 × 10³ GC/l for HBoV-1, 4.1 × 10³ GC/l for HBoV-2, and 2.1 × 10³ GC/l for HBoV-3. Moreover, no seasonality pattern of HBoVs was found. The high incidence of HBoV in sewage samples provided an evidence of its circulation in the local population. Although the role of HBoV in respiratory or gastro-intestinal infections still remains to be fully elucidated, the risk of infection via contaminated water should be taken into consideration.     

CO2 emissions from tropical drained peat in Sumatra,Indonesia

With the increasing use of tropical peatland for agricultural development, documentation of the rate of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is becoming important for national greenhouse gas inventories. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil-surface CO₂ fluxes from drained peat under different land-use systems in Riau and Jambi Provinces, Sumatra, Indonesia. Increase of CO₂ concentration was tracked in measurement chambers using an Infrared Gas Analyzer (IRGA, LI-COR 820 model). The results showed that CO₂ flux under oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations ranged from 34?±?16 and 45?±?25 Mg CO₂ ha^–1 year^–1 in two locations in Jambi province to 66?±?25 Mg CO₂ ha^–1 year^–1 for a site in Riau. For adjacent plots within 3.2 km in the Kampar Peninsula, Riau, CO₂ fluxes from an oil palm plantation, an Acacia plantation, a secondary forest and a rubber plantation were 66?±?25, 59?±?19, 61?±?25, 52?±?17 Mg ha^–1 year^–1, respectively, while on bare land sites it was between 56?±?30 and 67?±?24 Mg CO₂ ha^–1 year^–1, indicating no significant differences among the different land-use systems in the same landscape. Unexplained site variation seems to dominate over land use in influencing CO₂ flux. CO₂ fluxes varied with time of day (p?<?0.001) with the noon flux as the highest, suggesting an overestimate of the mean flux values with the absence of night-time measurements. In general, CO₂ flux increased with the depth of water table, suggesting the importance of keeping the peat as wet as possible.     

Optimising yield and resource utilisation of summer maize under the conditions of increasing density and reducing nitrogen fertilization

The inefficient use of resources always poses risks of maize (Zea mays L.) yield reduction in China. We performed this research to monitor the effects of increasing plant density and reducing nitrogen (N) rate on radiation-use efficiency (RUE), N efficiency traits, grain yield (GY) and their inter-relationships. Besides, whether GY and resource-use efficiency can both be maximized was examined. Hence, a 2-year field experiment was conducted using a widely grown variety “Denghai 618” in Shandong, China. Treatments contained two different plant densities [67,500 (D₁) and 97,500 (D₂) plant ha^?1] and three N levels [0 (N_?2), 180 (N_?1), 360 (N_ck) kg ha^?1], set D₁N_ck as control. Significant increases in grain yield, biomass, RUE, above-ground N uptake (AGN) and N efficiency were observed when density increased from D₁ to D₂. Declining N application was accompanied by reductions in yield, RUE and AGN especially under high density, yet an obvious improvement in N recovery efficiency (NRE), agronomic N efficiency and N partial factor productivity. The increased GY was positive related with population biomass (r = 0.895**), RUE (r = 0.769**) and AGN (r = 0.923**), whereas it has no significant correlation with N efficiency. In this study, D₂N_ck obtained 18.8, 17.9, 24.8 and 29.7% higher grain yield, RUE, AGN and NRE respectively, compared to control, optimizing both yield and the efficiencies of radiation and N use. Furthermore, higher yield and RUE with more desirable N efficiency may be possible via optimizing density and N rate combination.     

Survival of Respiratory Viruses on Fresh Produce

In addition to enteric viruses of fecal origin, emerging zoonotic viruses such as respiratory coronaviruses and influenza viruses may potentially be transmitted via contaminated foods. The goal of this study was to determine the recovery efficiencies and the survival of two respiratory viruses, namely, adenovirus 2 (Ad2) and coronavirus 229E (CoV229E), on fresh produce in comparison to the enteric poliovirus 1 (PV1). Adenovirus was recovered with efficiencies of 56.5, 31.8, and 34.8 % from lettuce, strawberries, and raspberries, respectively. Coronavirus was recovered from lettuce with an efficiency of 19.6 % yet could not be recovered from strawberries. Poliovirus was recovered with efficiencies of 76.7 % from lettuce, but only 0.06 % from strawberries. For comparison purposes, the survival of Ad2, CoV229E, and PV1 was determined for periods up to 10 days on produce. The enteric PV1 survived better than both respiratory viruses on lettuce and strawberries, with only ≤1.03 log₁₀ reductions after 10 days of storage at 4 °C compared to CoV229E not being recovered after 4 days on lettuce and reductions of 1.97 log₁₀ and 2.38 log₁₀ of Ad2 on lettuce and strawberries, respectively, after 10 days. Nevertheless, these respiratory viruses were able to survive for at least several days on produce. There is therefore the potential for transfer to the hands and subsequently to the mucosa via rubbing the eyes or nose. In addition, some respiratory coronaviruses (e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) and adenoviruses are also capable of replication in the gut and there is thus some potential for acquisition through the consumption of contaminated produce.