Water purification with sintered porous materials fabricated at 400℃ from sea bottom sediments

A sintering technology for preparing porous materials from sea bottom sediments was developed for use in water purification. The purpose of the present study was to develop methods for converting the sea bottom sediments dredged from Ago Bay into value-added recycled products. The sintered products fabricated at 400℃ were found to be very effective adsorbents for the removal of heavy metals.     

A Digital Filter for the State Estimation of Impulsive Noise Under the Existence of a Background Noise and its Experiment in the Work Environment

In the actual work environment, a specific objective noise, like machine and industrial noises, shows impulsive fluctuation form. Furthermore, it often occurs that a specific noise is partially or completely contaminated by background noise. In that case, the fluctuation wave form of the specific noise has to be estimated moment by moment in order to evaluate and/or improve the work environment. In this study, a digital filter for estimating an impulsively fluctuating specific noise is proposed. More specifically, after introducing a generalized time series regressive model of the specific noise, a method for estimating the impulsive noise based on an observation contaminated by the background noise is theoretically derived. Furthermore, the proposed method is applied to the actual task of estimating an industrial impact noise.     

Effects of biosurfactants on assays of PCB congeners in transgenic arabidopsis plants carrying a recombinant guinea pig AhR-mediated GUS reporter gene expression system

The transgenic Arabidopsis plants carrying a recombinant guinea pig (g) aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene expression system were generated for assays of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners. The selected transgenic Arabidopsis plant XgD2V11-6 exhibited a correlation between uptake of PCB126 and PCB126-induced GUS activity. Also, the plants showed induced GUS activity towards the supplemental indole 3-acetic acid (IAA). Thus, the GUS assay may reflect induction by both endogenous and exogenous AhR ligands. When biosurfactants, MEL-B, produced in the culture of yeast isolated from plants were used for assays of PCB congeners in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants, they showed marked PCB126 dose-dependent and toxic equivalency factor (TEF) dependent GUS activities. The effects of biosurfactants were clearer when the plants were cultivated on soils containing PCB congeners for 7 days as compared with on soils for 3 days as well as in the medium for 3 days. Therefore, it was estimated that biosurfactants form micellae with PCB congeners, which are easily uptaken by the plants in a mode of passive diffusion, transport into the aerial parts and then induce GUS activity.     

Medaka (Oryzias latipes) for use in evaluating developmental effects of endocrine active chemicals with special reference to gonadal intersex (testis-ova).

Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) has been widely used for the evaluation of the toxicity of endocrine active chemicals (EACs) and other chemicals as well as for monitoring the adverse effects of effluent discharges in relation to sexual development and function. It is useful for these evaluations for many reasons including the following: 1) it has a short life cycle facilitating studies extending over long phases of development and over multigenerations, 2) it is easy to rear, 3) male and female phenotypes can easily be distinguished on the basis of secondary sex characteristics, and 4) a genetic marker (DMY) is available for identifying the true genotypic sex. Several biomarkers have been found to be useful for identifying the effects of exposure to estrogenic and androgenic chemicals in medaka and they include increased levels of hepatic vitellogenin (VTG) and testis-ova induction in males for exposure to estrogenic chemicals, and decreased levels of hepatic VTG in females and an altered morphology of dorsal and anal fins and formation of papillae for androgenic chemicals. In this paper, we present a critical analysis of the use of medaka as a test species for studies of endocrine disruption and report on the use of sex-related genetic markers and alterations in gonadal development, including the induction of testis-ova formation, for assessing the disruptive effects of EACs. In this paper, we focus on some of the more recent studies and findings.     

Assays of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and co-contaminated heavy metals in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants carrying the recombinant guinea pig aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated β-glucuronidase reporter gene expression system

The transgenic Arabidopsis plant XgD2V11-6 carrying the recombinant guinea pig (g) aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene expression system was examined for assay of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and co-contaminated heavy metals. When the transgenic Arabidopsis plants were treated with PCB126 (toxic equivalency factor; TEF: 0.1) and PCB169 (TEF: 0.03), the GUS activity of the whole plants was increased significantly. After treatment with PCB80 (TEF: 0), the GUS activity was nearly the same level as that treated with 0.1% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as a vehicle control. After exposure to a 1:1 mixture of PCB126 and PCB169, the GUS activity was increased additively. However, after exposure to a mixture of PCB126 and PCB80, the GUS activity was lower than that of the treatment with PCB126 alone. Thus, PCB80 seemed to be an antagonist towards AhR. When the transgenic plants were treated with each of the heavy metals Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb together with PCB126, Cd and Pb increased the PCB126-induced GUS activity. On the other hand, Fe, Cu and Zn did not affect the PCB126-induced GUS activity. In the presence of the biosurfactant mannosylerythritol lipid-B (MEL-B) and the carrier protein bovine serum albumin (BSA), the PCB126-induced GUS activity was increased, but the Cd-assisted PCB126-induced GUS activity was not affected. Thus, MEL-B and BSA seemed to increase uptake and transport of PCB126, respectively.     

A time-course study of immune response in Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus exposed to heavy oil

Purpose

The immunotoxicities of oil and its components on fish immunities have been investigated, but there is little literature on the recovery of the fish from the immune suppression. Therefore, the recovery of Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus from an immunosuppressive effect due to heavy oil (HO) exposure was investigated in this study.

Methods

Fish were exposed to HO at a concentration of 0.385?g/L for 2?days, while control fish received no exposure. Seven fish were sampled at 0, 3, 7, and 14?days post-exposure. The respiratory rate was measured everyday as an indicator of the acute effect of HO exposure. Fish serum was collected and used for antibacterial activity assay against Edwardsiella tarda. Expression changes of respiratory and immune-related genes were evaluated by real-time PCR.

Results and discussion

The respiratory rate was significantly increased in the HO-exposed group until 4?days post-exposure. A respiratory-related gene, ??-hemoglobin, was also significantly downregulated in the spleen both at 0 and 7?days post-exposure and kidney at 3?days post-exposure in HO-exposed fish. Immunotoxicity, including suppression of antibacterial activities and downregulation of the IgM gene, was observed in HO-exposed fish until 3?days post-exposure, but not after that time. From these results, we conclude that the fish likely return to normal status around 1?week.     

Seasonal variation in reproduction and population structure of the bivalve Limopsis tajimae in the upper bathyal zone of Suruga Bay, Japan

Seasonal variation in reproduction and population size structure was investigated for the suspension-feeding bivalve Limopsis tajimae Sowerby inhabiting the upper bathyal zone (300 m deep) of Suruga Bay, central Japan. The bivalve was collected at 1- to 4-month intervals for a period of 22 months, and bottom environment was monitored concurrently to detect factors affecting seasonality in the bivalve. Bottom water temperature, organic carbon and nitrogen contents in the sediments did not exhibit seasonal variation. Size-adjusted soft-tissue weight varied slightly, but statistically significantly between stations and months. However, its seasonal pattern was not obvious, and the pattern of temporal variation was totally different between stations. The sex ratio did not deviate from 1:1, and there was no significant difference between shell lengths of females and males. Females possess both immature small oocytes and large developed oocytes in their ovaries throughout the year, suggesting that they can potentially undergo year-round continuous reproduction. The proportion of developed oocytes in each female varied greatly from month to month, although no seasonal cycle was obvious. Population size structure of L. tajimae was polymodal. A mode of the smallest size class occurred in most months, suggesting long periods of bivalve recruitment. These findings indicate that seasonal variation in reproduction of the bivalve was negligible, probably reflecting constant physical and nutritive conditions of the bottom environment. Received: 6 January 1998 / Accepted: 19 May 1998     

Lysis of cyanobacteria with volatile organic compounds

One of bacteria collected from Lake Sagami, Japan, Brevibacillus sp., was found to have a lytic activity of cyanobacteria, but did not produce active compounds. Instead, the co-culturing of Microcystis with the Brevibacillus sp. enhanced the production of two volatile compounds, beta-cyclocitral and 3-methyl-1-butanol, and the former had a characteristic lytic activity. It was confirmed that these volatile compounds were derived from the cyanobacteria themselves. beta-Ionone, geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol derived from cyanobacteria and similar volatile compounds, terpenoids, produced by plants also had a lytic activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of the cyanobacterial metabolites were estimated to be higher than those of compounds from plants except for a few compounds. Among them, beta-cyclocitral only produced a characteristic color change of culture broth from green to blue. This color change is similar to the phenomenon observed when a sudden decline in growth of cyanobacteria begins in a natural environment.     

Assays of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and co-contaminated heavy metals in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants carrying the recombinant guinea pig aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated β-glucuronidase reporter gene expression system

The transgenic Arabidopsis plant XgD2V11-6 carrying the recombinant guinea pig (g) aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene expression system was examined for assay of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and co-contaminated heavy metals. When the transgenic Arabidopsis plants were treated with PCB126 (toxic equivalency factor; TEF: 0.1) and PCB169 (TEF: 0.03), the GUS activity of the whole plants was increased significantly. After treatment with PCB80 (TEF: 0), the GUS activity was nearly the same level as that treated with 0.1% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as a vehicle control. After exposure to a 1:1 mixture of PCB126 and PCB169, the GUS activity was increased additively. However, after exposure to a mixture of PCB126 and PCB80, the GUS activity was lower than that of the treatment with PCB126 alone. Thus, PCB80 seemed to be an antagonist towards AhR. When the transgenic plants were treated with each of the heavy metals Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb together with PCB126, Cd and Pb increased the PCB126-induced GUS activity. On the other hand, Fe, Cu and Zn did not affect the PCB126-induced GUS activity. In the presence of the biosurfactant mannosylerythritol lipid-B (MEL-B) and the carrier protein bovine serum albumin (BSA), the PCB126-induced GUS activity was increased, but the Cd-assisted PCB126-induced GUS activity was not affected. Thus, MEL-B and BSA seemed to increase uptake and transport of PCB126, respectively.