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.     

DNA Heat Treatment for Improving qPCR Analysis of Human Adenovirus in Wastewater

PCR inhibitory substances in complex sample matrices can cause false negatives or under-estimation of target concentration. This study assessed DNA heat treatment for reducing inhibition during qPCR analysis of human adenovirus (HAdV) in wastewater samples. Inhibition was reduced by heat treating DNA, where mean HAdV concentration was increased by 0.71 log₁₀ GC/L (and up to 3.04 log₁₀ GC/L in one case), and replicate variability and false negatives were reduced. DNA heat treatment should be further investigated for improving reliability of HAdV concentration estimates in water, which can support more accurate assessment of health risks associated with viral pathogen exposure.     

Assessment and Evaluation of an Integrated Hybrid Anaerobic–Aerobic Sewage Treatment System for the Removal of Enteric Viruses

The capability of a cost-effective and a small size decentralized pilot wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to remove enteric viruses such as rotavirus, norovirus genogroup I (GGI), norovirus genogroup II (GGII), Hepatitis E virus (HEV), and adenovirus was studied. This pilot plant is an integrated hybrid anaerobic/aerobic setup which consisted of anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), biological aerated filter (BAF), and inclined plate settler (IPS). Both the UASB and BAF are packed with a non-woven polyester fabric (NWPF). Results indicated that the overall log₁₀ reductions of enteric viruses’ genome copies through the whole system were 3.1 ± 1, 3.3 ± 0.5, and 2.6 ± 0.9 log₁₀ for rotavirus, norovirus GGI, and adenovirus, respectively. Reduction efficiency for both norovirus GGII and HEV after the different treatment steps could not be calculated because there were no significant numbers of positive samples for both viruses. The overall reduction of rotavirus infectious units through the whole system was 2.2 ± 0.8 log₁₀ reduction which is very close to the overall log₁₀ reduction of adenovirus infectious units through the whole system which was 2.1 ± 0.8 log₁₀ reduction. There was no considerable difference in the removal efficiency for different rotavirus G and P types. Adenovirus 41 was the only type detected in the all positive samples. Although the pilot WWTP investigated is cost effective, has a small footprint, does not need a long distance network pipes, and easy to operate, its efficiency to remove enteric viruses is comparable with the conventional centralized WWTPs.     

地膜覆盖对菜地生态系统N2O排放的影响

为了探讨地膜覆盖对菜地N_2O的排放通量、土壤剖面N_2O浓度以及土壤温度和湿度的影响,选取西南地区常见菜地(辣椒-萝卜轮作)为研究对象,采用静态暗箱/气相色谱法,进行了为期1 a的野外观测实验.结果表明,在辣椒季,常规处理(不覆膜)N_2O的平均排放通量为1000.0μg·(m~2·h)~(-1),覆膜处理为400.6μg·(m~2·h)~(-1),覆膜显著低于常规处理(P0.05);而在萝卜季,N_2O的平均排放通量则表现为覆膜处理[128.1μg·(m~2·h)~(-1)]高于常规处理[107.8μg·(m~2·h)~(-1)],但两者差异未达到显著水平(P0.05).覆膜和常规菜地土壤中N_2O含量均基本随土层深度的增加而增加,表现为:30 cm20cm10 cm,相同处理各层次土壤N_2O含量间均呈显著相关,不同处理相同深度处的土壤N_2O含量间也存在显著的正相关关系.对不同土层中的N_2O含量与地表N_2O排放通量的相关性分析可得出,常规处理各土层处的N_2O含量与地表N_2O排放通量呈显著正相关关系.覆膜处理的N_2O排放通量仅与30 cm深土壤中的N_2O含量存在显著正相关关系.通过对土壤湿度和温度的观测可以得出,地膜覆盖对土壤的增温效应在夏季更加明显,对土壤的保水作用在秋冬季更加突出.相关性分析和主成分分析结果表明,土壤中氮素形态是决定农田N_2O排放最重要的因素,其中常规菜地N_2O排放主要受土壤中总氮含量的影响,而覆膜菜地N_2O的排放对土壤中无机态氮含量的变化更加敏感.     

ABR发酵系统运行特性及产氢效能研究

为解决连续流搅拌槽式反应器(CSTR)发酵制氢系统存在的不足,如单位基质氢气转化率低、因搅拌带来的耗能,抗负荷冲击能力不强等问题,开展了厌氧折流板反应器(ABR)发酵产氢的研究.结果表明,在35℃和进水COD 5000mg/L等条件下,ABR系统可在26d达到乙醇型发酵,其比产氢速率为0.13L/(gMLVSS·d),而在同样条件下, CSTR达到乙醇型发酵后,比产氢速率仅为0.06L/(gMLVSS·d).ABR通过生物相的分离,使产氢系统梯级利用有机物并达到深度产氢的目的.与CSTR相比,ABR具有较高的产氢活性、较低能源消耗等优点,是一种较为理想的有机废水发酵制氢反应设备.     

Speciation of organic phosphorus in a sediment profile of Lake Taihu II. Molecular species and their depth attenuation

The understanding of organic phosphorus(P) dynamics in sediments requires information on their species at the molecular level,but such information in sediment profiles is scarce.A sediment profile was selected from a large eutrophic lake,Lake Taihu(China),and organic P species in the sediments were detected using solution phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy(31 P NMR) following extraction of the sediments with a mixture of 0.25 mol/L NaOH and 50 mmol/L EDTA(NaOH-EDTA) solution.The results showed that P in the NaOH-EDTA extracts was mainly composed of orthophosphate,orthophosphate monoesters,phospholipids,DNA,and pyrophosphate.Concentrations of the major organic P compound groups and pyrophosphate showed a decreasing trend with the increase of depth.Their half-life times varied from 3 to 27 years,following the order of orthophosphate monoesters > phospholipids DNA > pyrophosphate.Principal component analysis revealed that the detected organic P species had binding phases similar to those of humic acid-associated organic P(NaOH-NRP HA),a labile organic P pool that tends to transform to recalcitrant organic P pools as the early diagenetic processes proceed.This demonstrated that the depth attenuation of the organic P species could be partly attributed to their increasing immobilization by the sediment solids,while their degradation rates should be significantly lower than what were suggested in previous studies.     

白音华一号露天矿工程环境监理的实践与探讨

白音华一号露天矿工程施工建设过程中,将会造成大气污染、地表水污染、地下水疏干、噪声污染、排土场及工业场地占地等大量生态环境问题。因此,在工程施工之初开展环境监理工作,对加强环境保护“三同时”制度,落实污染物防治及生态保护措施具有十分重要的意义。