Synthesis of functionalized mesoporous material from rice husk ash and its application in the removal of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The rice husk ash (RHA) was used as an alternative source of silica for the synthesis of the functionalized mesoporous material, which was used in the...     

Advanced oxidation/reduction technologies: a perspective from Iberoamerican countries

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Quantification and Genetic Analysis of Salivirus/Klassevirus in Wastewater in Arizona,USA

Salivirus/klassevirus sequences were identified in 7 (15 %) wastewater samples collected in Arizona monthly for a year, with the highest concentration of 2.28 × 10⁵ and 2.46 × 10⁴ copies/L in influent and effluent, respectively. This is the first report of quantification and genetic analysis of salivirus/klassevirus in water samples in the United States.     

Impact of an Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizer Intervention on the Spread of Viruses in Homes

The objectives of this study were to determine the movement of a virus throughout a household and the impact of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) on reducing the movement and exposure of the virus to household members. Bacterial virus MS-2 was used as the surrogate for human enteric and respiratory viruses. Seven households with families having at least two children in the age range of 2–18 living in the home were used in this study. The hands of one adult family member were contaminated with 1 × 10⁸. MS-2 bacteriophage in each home. After 8 h, the hands of each family member (10 fingers) and 20 frequently touched fomites were sampled to determine baseline contamination without intervention. Within 8 h, MS-2 was detected on all of the family member’s hands and most of the fomites. The intervention consisted of providing the families in all selected homes with bottles of an ABHS, which were placed in the kitchen, bathrooms, and nurseries. Smaller individual bottles were provided for each family member greater than 12 years old to place in purses, pockets, backpacks, etc. The families were instructed to use the ABHS one time or three times during the day. For one and three uses, a statistically significant reduction of virus on un-inoculated and inoculated hands of ~99 % occurred within 8 h. Similar reductions occurred on fomites throughout the households (97–99 %). These results demonstrate that the use of an ABHS can significantly reduce transfer of a virus to the hands, and to the commonly touched surfaces within the household.     

Distribution and dietary regulation of an associated facultative Rhizobiales-related bacterium in the omnivorous giant tropical ant,Paraponera clavata

We document a facultative Bartonella-like Rhizobiales bacterium in the giant tropical ant, Paraponera clavata. In a lowland tropical rainforest in Costa Rica, 59 colonies were assayed for the prevalence of the Bartonella-like bacterium (BLB), 14 of which were positive. We addressed three questions: First, how does the prevalence of BLB within colonies vary with environmental conditions? Second, how does diet affect the prevalence of BLB in P. clavata? Third, how does the distribution of BLB among colonies reflect ambient differences in food resources and foraging habits? A variety of environmental variables that may be predictive of the presence of BLB were measured, and diet manipulations were conducted to test whether the prevalence of BLB responded to supplemental carbohydrate or prey. The ambient frequency of BLB is much higher in young secondary forests, but is nearly absent from older secondary forests. The prevalence of BLB inside field colonies increased over the duration of a 2-week carbohydrate supplementation; however, water and prey supplementation did not alter the prevalence of BLB. The diets of the colonies located in young secondary forest, compared to other habitats, have a diet richer in carbohydrates and lower in prey. The abundance of carbohydrate, or the relative lack of N, in a colony’s diet influences the occurrence of the BLB microbe in P. clavata. As experimental diet manipulations can affect the facultative presence of an N-cycling microbe, a consistent diet shift in diet may facilitate the emergence of tighter symbioses.     

Contamination and vertical distribution of As,Cd, Cr,Cu, Pb,Tl, and Zn in paddy soil irrigated with untreated leachate from tailings retention ponds

The contamination and vertical distribution of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Tl, and Zn in paddy soil irrigated with untreated leachate from the tailings retention pond were investigated. As, Cr, Cu, and Zn were slightly contaminated in the surface soil and hence their vertical distribution was not obvious. However, Cd and Pb were highly contaminated in the surface soil, while their concentrations decreased with depth, being negatively correlated with pH and positively with total organic matter. Tl was considerably contaminated in the surface soil and a V-shaped vertical distribution was observed where the concentration increased to a maximum at about 30 cm depth and decreased thereafter. The findings revealed that the regular irrigation with untreated leachate from the tailings retention ponds could cause considerable contamination of Cd, Pb, and Tl, and thus tailings should be stringently treated before disposal to minimize their potential environmental impacts on the surroundings.