Environmental Surveillance of Polioviruses in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, in Support to the Activities of Global Polio Eradication Initiative

Wild polioviruses still remain endemic in three countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria) and re-emergency of wild polio has been reported in previously polio-free countries. Environmental surveillance has been used as a supplementary tool in monitoring the circulation of wild poliovirus (PVs) and/or vaccine-derived PVs even in the absence of acute flaccid paralysis cases. This study aimed to monitor the presence of polioviruses in wastewater samples collected at one wastewater treatment plant located in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From December 2011 to June 2012 and from September to December 2012, 31 samples were collected and processed. RD and L20B cell cultures were able to isolate PVs and non-polio enteroviruses in 27/31 samples. Polioviruses were isolated in eight samples (type 1 Sabin = 1, type 2 Sabin = 5, and type 3 Sabin = 2). Vaccine-derived polioviruses were not detected nor evidence of recombination with other PVs or non-polio enterovirus serotypes were observed among the isolates. The Sabin-related serotypes 2 and 3 presented nucleotide substitutions in positions associated with the neurovirulent phenotype at the 5′-UTR. Changes in important Amino acid residues at VP1 were also observed in the serotypes 2 and 3. Environmental surveillance has been used successfully in monitoring the circulation of PVs and non-polio enteroviruses and it is of crucial importance in the final stages of the WHO global polio eradication initiative. Our results show the continuous circulation of Sabin-like PVs and non-polio enteroviruses in the analyzed area during the study period.     

Interaction effects of organic load and cycle time in an AsBr applied to a personal care industry wastewater treatment

A mechanically stirred anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) containing granular biomass was applied to the treatment of a wastewater simulating the effluent from a personal care industry. The ASBR was operated with cycle lengths (t_C) of 8, 12 and 24 h and applied volumetric organic loads (AVOL) of 0.75, 0.50 and 0.25 gCOD/L.d, treating 2.0 L liquid medium per cycle. Stirring frequency was 150 rpm and the reactor was kept in an isothermal chamber at 30 °C. Increase in t_C resulted in efficiency increase at constant AVOL, reaching 77% at t_C of 24 h versus 69% at t_C of 8 h. However, efficiency decreased when AVOL decreased as a function of increasing t_C, due to the lack of substrate in the reaction medium. Moreover, replacing part of the wastewater by a chemically balanced synthetic one did not yield the expected effect and system efficiency dropped.     

Use of mix of clay/solid waste from steel works for civil construction materials.

The present study focuses on the use of solid waste generated by the steel works in Brazil for manufacturing clay-based structural products. The waste sample was characterized regarding chemical composition, X-ray diffraction, particle size, morphology, specific surface and plastic properties. The waste was added in gradual proportions to a kaolinitic clay from zero up to 3 wt.%. Ceramic bodies were formed by vacuum extrusion and fired at 950 degrees C. The physical-mechanical properties (linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent density and flexural strength) of the resulting clay/solid waste mixtures were determined. In addition, leaching tests were performed according Brazilian Standards as well as a preliminary analysis of gases evolved during the thermal process. It was found that the solid waste is formed by irregular particles, ranging in size from 1 to 500 microm. The test results indicate that solid wastes generated by steel works can be used as filler in construction materials, thereby increasing reuse in an environmentally safe manner.     

Ecological restoration as a strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change: lessons and challenges from Brazil

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects biophysical systems and human well-being. The Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force in 2016 with the objective of strengthening the global response to climate change by keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C. The agreement requires all Parties to submit their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is an important strategy for mitigating climate change, particularly in developing countries with large forests. Extensive tropical forest loss and degradation have increased awareness at the international level of the need to undertake large-scale ecological restoration, highlighting the need to identify cases in which restoration strategies can contribute to mitigation and adaptation. Here we consider Brazil as a case study to evaluate the benefits and challenges of implementing large-scale restoration programs in developing countries. The Brazilian NDC included the target of restoring and reforesting 12 million hectares of forests for multiple uses by 2030. Restoration of native vegetation is one of the foundations of sustainable rural development in Brazil and should consider multiple purposes, from biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation to social and economic development. However, ecological restoration still presents substantial challenges for tropical and mega-diverse countries, including the need to develop plans that are technically and financially feasible, as well as public policies and monitoring instruments that can assess effectiveness. The planning, execution, and monitoring of restoration efforts strongly depend on the context and the diagnosis of the area with respect to reference ecosystems (e.g., forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands). In addition, poor integration of climate change policies at the national and subnational levels and with other sectorial policies constrains the large-scale implementation of restoration programs. The case of Brazil shows that slowing deforestation is possible; however, this analysis highlights the need for increased national commitment and international support for actions that require large-scale transformations of the forest sector regarding ecosystem restoration efforts. Scaling up the ambitions and actions of the Paris Agreement implies the need for a global framework that recognizes landscape restoration as a cost-effective nature-based solution and that supports countries in addressing their remaining needs, challenges, and barriers.

     

Activated carbon produced from waste coffee grounds for an effective removal of bisphenol-A in aqueous medium

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Bisphenol-A is widely used chemical in industry and unfortunately often detected in natural waters. Considered as an emerging pollutant, bisphenol-A...     

Urban wild meat consumption and trade in central Amazonia

The switch from hunting wild meat for home consumption to supplying more lucrative city markets in Amazonia can adversely affect some game species. Despite this, information on the amounts of wild meat eaten in Amazonian cities is still limited. We estimated wild meat consumption rates in 5 cities in the State of Amazonas in Brazil through 1046 door-to-door household interviews conducted from 2004 to 2012. With these data, we modeled the relationship between wild meat use and a selection of socioeconomic indices. We then scaled up our model to determine the amounts of wild meat likely to be consumed annually in the 62 urban centers in central Amazonia. A total of 80.3% of all interviewees reported consuming wild meat during an average of 29.3 (CI 11.6) days per year. Most wild meat was reported as bought in local markets (80.1%) or hunted by a family member (14.9%). Twenty-one taxa were cited as consumed, mostly mammals (71.6%), followed by reptiles (23.2%) and then birds (5.2%). The declared frequency of wild meat consumption was positively correlated with the proportion of rural population as well as with the per capita gross domestic product of the municipality (administrative divisions) where the cities were seated. We estimated that as much as 10,691 t of wild meat might be consumed annually in the 62 urban centers within central Amazonia, the equivalent of 6.49 kg per person per year. In monetary terms, this amounts to US$21.72 per person per year or US$35.1 million overall, the latter figure is comparable to fish and timber production in the region. Given this magnitude of wild meat trade in central Amazonia, it is fundamental to integrate this activity into the formal economy and actively develop policies that allow the trade of more resilient taxa and restrict trade in species sensitive to hunting.     

Evolutionary relationships of deep-sea mussels inferred by mitochondrial DNA sequences

In order to elucidate the evolutionary process of deep-sea Bathymodiolus mussels, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships of 16 species worldwide by analyzing nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial COI and ND4 genes. Deep-sea mussels were clustered into three groups by basal trichotomous divergence. The first was composed of four species found in Japanese waters and one species from the Gulf of Mexico, which contain methanotrophic endosymbiotic bacteria. The second included nine species distributed in the West and East Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. Members of the second group were trichotomously divided into the Indo-West Pacific, Atlantic, and East Pacific subclusters. The Indo-West Pacific subcluster was composed of three very closely related species with mutual genetic distances at the intraspecific level (av. 0.019 in COI and 0.009 in ND4 relative to av. 0.156 in COI and 0.265 in ND4 among Bathymodiolus species other than Cluster A species), suggesting some gene flow among these species. The third consisted of two West Pacific species. Species in the second and third groups contain mainly thioautotrophic endosymbionts, including some species harboring both methanotrophs and thioautotrophs.     

Euglena gracilis as a model for the study of Cu and Zn toxicity and accumulation in eukaryotic cells

We have observed the effect of copper and zinc on the biology of Euglena gracilis. The cells displayed different sensitivities to these metals, as the apparent LC₅₀ for Cu²⁺ was 0.22 mM, and for Zn²⁺ it was 0.88 mM. While Zn²⁺ was able to increase cell proliferation even at 0.1 mM, the minimal CuCl₂ concentration tested (0.02 mM) was sufficient to impair cell division. Higher concentrations of these metals not only inhibited cell division in a concentration-dependent manner, but also interfered with the metabolism of E. gracilis. A higher accumulation of proteins and lipids per cell was observed at the DI₅₀ concentration for metal-treated cells. These results suggest that the test concentration of both metals leads to a failure in completing cell division. Ultrastructural analysis indicated a chloroplast disorganization in copper-treated cells, as well as the presence of electron dense granules with different shapes and sizes inside vacuoles. Microanalysis of these granules indicated an accumulation of copper, thus suggesting a detoxification role played by the vacuoles. These results indicate that E. gracilis is an efficient biological model for the study of metal poisoning in eukaryotic cells. They also indicate that copper and zinc (copper being more poisonous) had an overall toxic effect on E. gracilis and that part of the effect can be ascribed to defects in the structure of chloroplast membranes.