Using mRNA to investigate the effect of low-pressure ultraviolet disinfection on the viability of E. coli

UV can induce damages on mRNA consistently among different genes. SOS response was more active after UV treatment. Programmed cell death was not found to be more active after UV treatment. The efficacy of ultraviolet (UV) disinfection has been analyzed and validated by numerous studies using culture-based methods, yet the discovery of the viable but nonculturable state necessitates the investigation of UV disinfection based on viability parameters. Paired regulators of the SOS response system, recA-lexA, and the programmed cell death system, mazEF, in Escherichia coli were chosen as the target genes, and the effect of UV irradiation on the mRNAs of the four genes was studied. This research showed that, after UV irradiation, the responses of the mRNAs were highly consistent, with reduction percentages of approximately 60% at 20 mJ/cm², 70% at 40 mJ/cm², and 90% at 80 mJ/cm², and these reductions were believed to be the result of direct UV damage to nucleic acids. After 24 h of dark incubation, recA and lexA were both upregulated but to a lesser extent for repressor lexA; and mazE and mazF were both downregulated. This result implies that UV irradiation induces the dark repair system more actively, and the cells will proceed to death at a rate similar to that associated with natural decay.     

Contamination characteristics of trace metals in dust from different levels of roads of a heavily air-polluted city in north China

Concentrations of eight trace metals (TMs) in road dust (RD) (particles?<?25 μm) from urban areas of Xinxiang, China, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The geometric mean concentrations of Zn, Mn, Pb, As, Cu, Cr, Ni and Cd were 489, 350, 114, 101, 60.0, 39.7, 31.6, and 5.1 mg kg^?1, respectively. When compared with TM levels in background soil, the samples generally display elevated TM concentrations, except for Cr and Mn, and for Cd the enrichment value was 69.6. Spatial variations indicated TMs in RD from park path would have similar sources with main roads, collector streets and bypasses. Average daily exposure doses of the studied TMs were about three orders of magnitude higher for hand-to-mouth ingestion than dermal contact, and the exposure doses for children were 9.33 times higher than that for adults. The decreasing trend of calculated hazard indexes (HI) for the eight elements was As?>?Pb?>?Cr?>?Mn?>?Cd?>?Zn?>?Ni?>?Cu for both children and adults.     

Effects of climate variables on the transmission of COVID-19: a systematic review of 62 ecological studies

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was initially discovered at the end of 2019 in Wuhan City in China and has caused one of the...     

Distillers’ grains anaerobic digestion residue biochar used for ammonium sorption and its effect on ammonium leaching from an Ultisol

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The aim of this work was to explore the potential application of biochar from distillers’ grains anaerobic digestion residue pyrolyzed at...     

Physiological responses involved in cadmium tolerance in a high-cadmium-accumulating rice (Oryza sativa L.) line

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The disparity of tolerance in plants in response to Cd stress is associated with multiple physiological processes. A pot experiment was conducted to...     

2014年再生资源主要品种市场回顾及2015年趋势展望

2014年是我国再生资源行业有史以来最为困难的一年。全球经济增速放缓,中国经济进入调结构、压产能新常态,制造业、房地产疲软不振,资源总需求下降,大宗原材料价格持续走低。这些不利因素叠加,致使国内再生资源市场持续低迷,价格全面下行,企业经营困难,再生资源行业进入转型升级的瓶颈期。面对新常态,研究新常态,适应新常态,加快结构调整,促进科技创新,优化产业升级,提高综合效益,打造企业核心竞争力,才是再生资源行业的主攻方向,也是行业转型升级的关键。     

Enhancing the adsorption function of biochar by mechanochemical graphitization for organic pollutant removal

• Mechanochemical treatment reduced the calcination temperature for biochar synthesis. • Biochar is converted to graphite after mechanochemical treatment. • Biochar was reduced to nanoscale after mechanochemical treatment. Biochar (BC) has been extensively studied as adsorbent for the treatment of water pollution. Despite the distinct advantages, the high calcination temperature and low adsorption capacity of pristine BC limit its practical applications. Most of the former studies focused on the structure and/or surface modification to improve the adsorption capacity of BC. However, the harsh experiment conditions involved in the biochar modification limited the application in industrial level. Herein, we introduced mechanical treatment into BC preparation to reduce the calcination temperature and improve the adsorption capacity simultaneously. The results indicated that the calcination temperature was reduced and the adsorption capacity of the treated BC was improved after mechanochemical treatment. Characterization of the samples disclosed that BCs were graphitized with the particle size reduced to nanoscale after treatment. Adsorption tests indicated that the mechanochemically treated BCs showed much better removal performance of organic contaminants than that of pristine BCs. For instance, among four pristine BCs (BC600, BC700, BC800, and BC900), only BC900 has strong adsorption capacity for MB, while BC600 has low adsorption capacity (1.2 mg/g). By comparison, the adsorption capacity of MB increased greatly to 173.96 mg/g by BC600-500/1 (treated at 500 r/min for 1 hour). To optimize the mechanochemical treatment, the effects of rotation speed and agitation duration were also investigated.     

基于高通量测序的OMS-2对序批式反应器系统微生物群落的影响

随着纳米材料的广泛应用,越来越多的纳米材料随着废水进入污水处理厂,纳米材料对污水生物处理系统的潜在影响越来越受到重视。探讨了氧化锰八面体分子筛(manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieve, OMS-2)纳米颗粒对序批式反应器(sequencing batch reactor,SBR)中活性污泥微生物群落结构的影响;以活性艳红X-3B溶液模拟印染废水,将不同浓度的OMS-2混入稳定运行的SBR中,采用Illumina MiSeq高通量测序分析技术,对不同SBR中微生物分布规律进行了研究。结果表明:SBR添加0.25 g·L~(-1)的OMS-2后,其COD去除率和脱色率分别提升了6%和13.6%;Illumina MiSeq高通量测序显示,在混入0.25 g·L~(-1)的OMS-2后,SBR内污泥菌群中拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)和变形菌门(Proteobacteria)的微生物DNA序列操作分类单元(operational taxonomic units,OTU)分别增加了16.8%和96.4%,这2类菌种可能提升了SBR降解有机污染物的能力;不同浓度的OMS-2改变了菌群的多样性和结构,低浓度的OMS-2可以提升微生物菌群的多样性和改变菌群的结构。X射线光电子能谱(XPS)分析表明,OMS-2在SBR中存在锰(Ⅳ)/锰(Ⅲ)转变为锰(Ⅱ)的氧化还原反应,该过程可能影响了菌群的组成。研究为纳米材料的实际应用和环境风险提供了参考。     

基于演练决策文本分析的决策者分类及应急决策差异研究

为研究特大地震初期的高层决策行为，通过演练模拟决策者在可得灾情信息下进行决策部署的情形，采集参演决策者独立确认的最终决策文本为样本，对比分析样本对草案修改的方式和程度，将决策者分为独立型、合作型和依赖型。结构化处理提取样本的决策任务，分析与灾情信息及决策建议的相关性。结果表明:在高层决策者中合作型人数比例最高，群组内决策差异较小，质量相对稳定；独立型决策者偏好主观判断，对灾情的关注以及草案漏洞的审查等指标明显低于其他类型；依赖型决策者在使用合理化建议的前提下易做出高质量决策，但在决策支持失误而非漏洞的条件下，能否保证决策质量有待进一步验证。