Molecular docking analysis on antifungal properties of acid condensate produced from palm kernel shell

The rise in the number of fungi that resisted antifungal action is of serious concern nowadays. In this study, the potential of acid condensate (AC) produced from microwave-assisted pyrolysis of palm kernel shell (PKS) was investigated for its antifungal properties through molecular docking evaluation. The phenolic-rich AC was determined for its chemical compositions using the GC–MS analysis where compounds with the highest phenolics content were further evaluated (using the Autodock Tools 1.5.7) for its potential enzymes/protein binding properties. From the GC–MS analysis, catechol, guaiacol and syringol were present at highest percentages. This directly correlates with results obtained from the molecular docking works where all these ligands managed to bind (indicated by H-bond, π-stacking, hydrophobic interaction) with some of the amino acid at the active sites which indicate its potential to inhibit substrate binding of this enzyme. As a conclusion, this study demonstrated the potential use of AC from agricultural biomass such as PKS as a natural-based antifungal agent that can reduce environmental and health impacts.     

基于遥感数据的PM2.5与城市化的时空关系研究——以成渝城市群为例

采用1998~2013年卫星遥感影像反演的PM2.5全球高精度产品数据集，结合GIS空间分析、地理加权回归（GWR）以及地理探测器等方法，系统地分析了成渝城市群城市化与PM2.5分布之间的关系。结果表明：（1）1998~2013年成渝城市群城市化速度较快，城市区域的PM2.5均值明显高于非城市区域，说明城市化对PM2.5具有一定的影响；（2）近16 a PM2.5重心与城市重心整体上都向东南方向移动，且两者每年在经度上的波动方向基本相反；（3）夜间灯光数据与PM2.5在空间分布上具有较好的一致性，且1998~2013年两者的GWR全局R2在0.86~0.95之间，相关性显著，研究区内城市化和人类活动对PM2.5的分布具有明显影响；（4）地理探测分析表明不同城市化因子对PM2.5影响差异显著，从2006到2013年城区人口密度和建成区绿化覆盖率逐渐成为成渝城市群PM2.5分布的主要影响因子。     

基于国产“风云三号”卫星MERSI的太湖蓝藻水华监测业务化应用

使用无锡市环境监测中心站环境遥感综合处理系统,对2017年7—11月FY-3/MERSI影像数据进行蓝藻水华提取分析,并通过当日与国外MODIS、VIIRS影像数据的蓝藻水华提取结果进行协同比对,验证FY-3/MERSI影像在蓝藻水华预警监测业务化应用的前景。结果表明,3种数据源均能实现蓝藻水华空间分布的业务化运行;由于卫星过境时间的不同,可综合利用这3种数据源观测太湖蓝藻水华在一天中的动态变化,分析蓝藻水华的发生规律。     

汽车排放共享检测——以南京市汽油车遥测试验结果为例

以南京市汽油车遥测试验结果为例,对汽油车的单次遥测数据与年检数据进行分析,结果表明,2组数据之间不存在相关性,这可能是由于车速等检测环境的差异造成的。整体遥测值的变化并不会随着年检值的增加或减少而呈现某一趋势,车辆的单次遥测数据并不具有代表性,不能作为车辆是否超标的判定依据。在对汽油车遥测不合格次数、排放限值设定、遥测年检时间间隔等分析中发现,若将汽油车的NO、CO遥测排放限值分别设为2 000×10-6和5%,当汽油车的遥测不合格次数≥5次,或汽油车的遥测不合格次数达到3次,同时这3次的遥测时间距离年检不超过60 d(遥测在前,年检在后),那么在这些遥测不合格车辆中,有80%以上的年检结果也不合格,遥测与年检的检测结果判定较为一致。虽然两者的检测方法和排放标准不同,但都能有效筛选出排放超标车辆,而且遥测法更快速,也无需停车检测,不影响车辆行驶。     

我国中部城市环境全要素生产率的时空演变——基于Malmquist-Luenberger生产率指数分解方法

采用Malmquist-Luenberger生产率指数模型对我国中部地区80个地级市2003～2015年的城市环境全要素生产率及其分解部分进行了核算,在此基础上计算累积环境全要素生产率,运用核密度法分析了我国中部城市环境全要素生产率的地区差距和动态变化。研究发现:中部城市环境全要素生产率和技术进步分别以年均1. 39%、1. 85%的速度增长,技术效率以年均0. 02%的速度减少,中部城市环境全要素生产率增长主要由技术进步推动,技术效率出现退步迹象。中部地区环境全要素生产率、技术效率和技术进步率城市间差距在逐渐缩小,中部城市间出现明显技术"追赶效应"。     

Systematic review of conservation interventions to promote voluntary behavior change

Understanding human behavior is vital to developing interventions that effectively lead to proenvironmental behavior change, whether the focus is at the individual or societal level. However, interventions in many fields have historically lacked robust forms of evaluation, which makes it hard to be confident that these conservation interventions have successfully helped protect the environment. We conducted a systematic review to assess how effective nonpecuniary and nonregulatory interventions have been in changing environmental behavior. We applied the Office of Health Assessment and Translation systematic review methodology. We started with more than 300,000 papers and reports returned by our search terms and after critical appraisal of quality identified 128 individual studies that merited inclusion in the review. We classified interventions by thematic area, type of intervention, the number of times audiences were exposed to interventions, and the length of time interventions ran. Most studies reported a positive effect (n = 96). The next most common outcome was no effect (n = 28). Few studies reported negative (n = 1) or mixed (n = 3) effects. Education, prompts, and feedback interventions resulted in positive behavior change. Combining multiple interventions was the most effective. Neither exposure duration nor frequency affected the likelihood of desired behavioral change. Comparatively few studies tested the effects of voluntary interventions on non-Western populations (n = 17) or measured actual ecological outcome behavior (n = 1). Similarly, few studies examined conservation devices (e.g., energy-efficient stoves) (n = 9) and demonstrations (e.g., modeling the desired behavior) (n = 5). There is a clear need to both improve the quality of the impact evaluation conducted and the reporting standards for intervention results.     

薄膜扩散梯度技术在重金属生物有效态监测中的应用

重金属生物有效性是评估重金属元素迁移性、生物可利用性和生态影响的关键参数。薄膜扩散梯度技术(DGT)是一种原位被动采样技术,因其具有原位富集性、形态选择性,可提供被监测物质在监测时间段内的平均浓度等优点,可作为生物对重金属摄取的模拟替代物对环境介质中重金属的生物可利用度进行预测,已被广泛应用于环境介质中重金属生物有效性的测定。研究主要介绍了DGT技术的原理、组成和特点,评述了其近年来在水体、土壤、沉积物中重金属生物有效态应用方面的新进展,提出了DGT技术未来要提高抗生物污染能力及寻找可与DGT技术联用的相关技术的观点。     

Distribution,source, and environmental risk assessment of phthalate esters (PAEs) in water,suspended particulate matter,and sediment of a typical Yangtze River Delta City,China

Phthalates (PAEs) in drinking water sources such as the Yangtze River in developing countries had aroused widespread concern. Here, the water, suspended particulate matter (SPM), and sediment samples were collected from 15 sites in wet and dry seasons in Zhenjiang, for the determination of six PAEs (DMP, DEP, DIBP, DBP, DEHP, and DOP) using the solid-phase extraction (SPE) or ultrasonic extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The total concentrations of six PAEs (Σ₆PAEs) spanned a range of 2.65–39.31 μg L^?1 in water, 1.97–34.10 μg g^?1 in SPM, and 0.93–34.70 μg g^?1 in sediment. The partition coefficients (K_d1) of PAEs in water and SPM phase ranged from 0.004 to 3.36 L g^?1 in the wet season and from 0.12 to 2.84 L g^?1 in the dry season. K_d2 of PAEs in water and sediment phase was 0.001–9.75 L g^?1 in the wet season and 0.006–8.05 L g^?1 in the dry season. The dominant PAEs were DIBP, DBP, and DEHP in water and SPM, DIBP, DEHP, and DOP in sediment. The concentration of DBP in water exceeded the China Surface Water Standard. The discharge of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater might be the main potential sources of PAEs. The risk quotient (RQ) method used for the risk assessment revealed that DBP (0.01 < RQ < 1) posed a medium risk, while DIBP and DEHP (RQ > 1) posed a high environmental risk in water, DIBP (RQ > 1) also showed a high risk in sediment.

     

Biofiltration and disinfection codetermine the bacterial antibiotic resistome in drinking water: A review and meta-analysis

• Published data was used to analyze the fate of ARGs in water treatment. • Biomass removal leads to the reduction in absolute abundance of ARGs. • Mechanism that filter biofilm maintain ARB/ARGs was summarized. • Potential BAR risks caused by biofiltration and chlorination were proposed. The bacterial antibiotic resistome (BAR) is one of the most serious contemporary medical challenges. The BAR problem in drinking water is receiving growing attention. In this study, we focused on the distribution, changes, and health risks of the BAR throughout the drinking water treatment system. We extracted the antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) data from recent publications and analyzed ARG profiles based on diversity, absolute abundance, and relative abundance. The absolute abundance of ARG was found to decrease with water treatment processes and was positively correlated with the abundance of 16S rRNA (r² = 0.963, p<0.001), indicating that the reduction of ARG concentration was accompanied by decreasing biomass. Among treatment processes, biofiltration and chlorination were discovered to play important roles in shaping the bacterial antibiotic resistome. Chlorination exhibited positive effects in controlling the diversity of ARG, while biofiltration, especially granular activated carbon filtration, increased the diversity of ARG. Both biofiltration and chlorination altered the structure of the resistome by affecting relative ARG abundance. In addition, we analyzed the mechanism behind the impact of biofiltration and chlorination on the bacterial antibiotic resistome. By intercepting influent ARG-carrying bacteria, biofilters can enrich various ARGs and maintain ARGs in biofilm. Chlorination further selects bacteria co-resistant to chlorine and antibiotics. Finally, we proposed the BAR health risks caused by biofiltration and chlorination in water treatment. To reduce potential BAR risk in drinking water, membrane filtration technology and water boiling are recommended at the point of use.