Concentrations and analysis of health risks of ambient air metallic elements at Longjing site in central Taiwan

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - The concentrations of particulates and metallic elements that were bound to total suspended particulates in ambient air at Long Cyuan Elementary School...     

Rapid dephosphorylation of glyphosate by Cu-catalyzed sulfite oxidation involving sulfate and hydroxyl radicals

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum toxic herbicide that has entered the environment. Advanced oxidation processes efficiently remove various persistent organic...     

Effects of two different intercropping systems on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) dissipation北大核心CSCD

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are typical organic contaminants in the environment. It is indicated that plants and soil microorganisms have a positive synergistic effect on the remediation of PCB-contaminated soil. To investigate the effect of intercropping on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal colonization and PCB remediation, a pot-cultivation experiment with two intercropping treatments, corn (Zea mays L.) / ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and corn/alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and a corn monoculture was conducted in a greenhouse. All treatments were inoculated with Funneliformis mosseae M47V. Plant biomass, root mycorrhizal colonization rate, concentration of PCBs and their homologs in soil, 16S rDNA gene abundance, and community composition measured by Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) were determined after harvesting the plants. Intercropping significantly increased the root mycorrhizal colonization rate and plant biomass of corn (P < 0.05), as well as the available N content of the soil. A significant difference of the bacterial community composition was found among different treatments (P < 0.05). Compared with corn monoculture, corn/alfalfa intercropping significantly increased soil bacteria abundance (P < 0.05). The dissipation rates of total PCBs, as well as that of penta-chloro biphenyls were significantly increased in the intercropping treatments, when compared to the corn monoculture treatment. Moreover, corn/ryegrass intercropping has a significantly positive effect on the dissipation of tri-chloro biphenyls. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis indicated that the PCBs homologues composition were significantly correlated with the relative abundance of 128 bp and 148 bp T-RFs. Corn intercropping with ryegrass or alfalfa has a positive effect on root mycorrhizal colonization rate and plant biomass of corn. Inoculation of AM fungi in intercropping treatments significantly improved the efficiency of PCB remediation by promoting bacterial abundance and shifting the bacterial community composition. In conclusion, intercropping combined with AM fungi have positive synergistic effects on the remediation of PCB-contaminated soils. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Changes in CO2 flux for different recovery processes of desertification in the alpine meadows of Northwest Sichuan北大核心CSCD

Desertification has emerged as a serious threat to the alpine meadows of Northwest Sichuan in recent decades. Artificial vegetation had certain effects on desertification recovery, while how the CO2 flux changed and its reasons are still unclear. During the growing season in 2016 (i.e., from July to September), we selected the desertified alpine meadows with different recovery degrees, including the early stage of restoration, the middle stage of restoration, the late stage of restoration, and control (the unrecovered desertification meadow) as four transects. CO2 flux was measured by the instrument LI-8100, and the microenvironment factors that affected CO2 flux changes were analyzed. The results showed that the carbon sequestration function of desertified alpine meadows gradually increased with the degree of recovery. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) were -1.61, -3.55, and -4.38 μmol m-2 s-1 in the early, mid-term, and late transects, respectively, and the most dramatic changes occurred from the early stage to mid-term stage, increasing by 120.50%. Both ecosystem respiration (ER) and soil respiration (SR) were enhanced significantly with restoration (P < 0.05). In mid or late July, NEE, ER, and SR reached their maximum values, and thereafter, the indicators varied to near zero (P < 0.05). During the whole growing season, the daily dynamic in CO2 flux for the control alpine meadow was mild and retained the trend of continuous release all day, but that in the desertified alpine meadow was a single peak pattern. Moreover, with restoration process, the peak of CO2 flux increased and reached a peak in the late stage of the recovery process. The regression analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between CO2 flux and vegetation coverage, aboveground biomass, and soil moisture (0-5 cm) (P < 0.01), and a weak correlation with 0-5-cm soil temperature (P < 0.01). This indicates that topsoil moisture (5 cm) is a more significant factor for CO2 flux than topsoil temperature during the growing season in the restoration of desertified alpine meadows in Northwest Sichuan. In general, the vegetation recovery significantly improved the carbon-sequestration ability of the desertified alpine meadows during the growing season in Northwest Sichuan, and at the middle stage of restoration, the carbon-sequestration ability improved significantly due to vegetation restoration and increase in topsoil (0-5 cm) moisture. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Effects of water velocity on bulk water quality and biofilm population structure in drinking water distribution systems北大核心CSCD

To study the effect of flow velocity on drinking water distribution systems, bulk water quality was monitored over 28 days, biomass was measured, and 16S rDNA was sequenced on the 28th day using a water distribution simulation system. The relationship between bulk water quality and biofilm was statistically analyzed. Flow velocity of 0.5 m/s yielded the most total organic carbon (TOC) (5.26 ± 0.17 mg/L) in the bulk water, the most bulk water bacteria (lg (n+1/mL-1) = 4.79 ± 0.02), the worst bulk water quality, and the most biofilm bacteria (lg (n+1/cm-2) = 5.48 ± 0.06). A Pearson correlation analysis showed the total number of biofilm bacteria was positively correlated with conductivity (R = 0.73, P < 0.01), turbidity (R = 0.87, P < 0.001), TOC (R = 0.94, P < 0.001), and total bacteria (R = 0.92, P < 0.001), and was negatively correlated with residual chlorine (R = -0.68, P < 0.05). Biofilm diversity was high under the low (0.1 m/s) and high (2.5 m/s) flow rates, but the bacterial diversity of biofilm was the lowest at the 0.5 m/s flow rate, in which Proteobacteria dominated the biofilm community structure. These results suggest that flow velocity affects bulk water quality and biofilm population structure, and water quality and biofilm population structure are interrelated, which provides the theoretical basis for research on biofilms in drinking water distribution systems. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Mycelial culture of wild Inonotus hispidus parasitizing the jujube tree and the cultivation conditions of its fruit body on rice medium北大核心CSCD

Inonotus hispidus is a kind of rare medicinal fungus, and its natural resources are very scarce. Currently, the artificial cultivation technology of I. hispidus is not completely developed, and this reflects on its extremely low biological conversion rate and long cultivation period. In order to improve the bioconversion rate and shorten the production cycle of I. hispidus, we first analyzed the mycelia culture conditions of the collected I. hispidus, and then we further explore the method of domesticated cultivation of its fruiting body in rice medium. During the process of mycelial culture, the suitable temperature, pH, carbon source, and nitrogen source for mycelial growth were selected using the mycelial growth rate as index. During the domesticated cultivation of the fruiting body, the suitable culture medium for its growth was selected using the bioconversion rate as index. Screening results of mycelial culture conditions showed that the optimal culture conditions for the growth of mycelium of the wild I. hispidus were: temperature of 25 °C, initial pH of 6.0, glucose as the carbon source, and yeast extract powder as the source of nitrogen. The results of the domesticated cultivation showed that the biotransformation rate of I. hispidus was higher when using rice as the main medium substrate. The optimal cultivation conditions were: a 0.2% yeast extract content in the nutrient solution, a 1:1.6 ratio of rice to nutrient solution, and a 4 mL inoculum of the liquid strain. Under these conditions, it took about 4 days for the mycelium to grow over the cultivation medium. The time required for the differentiation of the primordium to form fruit bodies was about 20 days, and the bioconversion rate reached 28.70% ± 5.05%. The results of this study indicate the feasibility of using rice as the main substrate for the cultivation of I. hispidus, and it also provide new insights for the finding of new cultivation substrates for other rare medicinal fungi. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Carbon dioxide and methane emission from subsurface peatlands and its controlling factors北大核心CSCD

Peatland is an efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) sink on the continent and plays an important role in global carbon cycle. Climate change and human activities, two of the notable global environmental issues, have accelerated the degradation of peatlands during recent years. Global warming will increase the rate of aerobic decomposition in the surface of peatlands. Carbon stored in the subsurface of peatlands will be metabolized if the climatic conditions become favorable for decomposition. This study reviewed the carbon circle of subsurface peatland in natural environment and in environments disturbed by human activity or climate change. Furthermore, the major factors (environmental and human factors) that affect the carbon cycle were also discussed. According to a previous study, subsurface peatland will rapidly participate in the carbon cycle when the peatland is degraded. Water level, vegetation, and temperature were the main natural factors affecting the carbon cycle, whereas drainage, farming, and grazing were the main anthropogenic factors. Further studies should focus on different soil layer carbon dynamics, inorganic carbon content, and conservation and restoration of peatlands. The study methods should be a combination of macro with micro scale and focus on developing deep peat research techniques. Most of the previous studies focused on greenhouse gas emission and their response factors in short-term experiments. Thus, the mechanism and process of subsurface carbon are not clear and needs further study. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

The interaction of heat shock proteins and some components of plant viruses北大核心CSCD

Considerable research has indicated that heat shock proteins (Hsp), as molecular chaperones, carry out many biological activities of plant viruses by folding, transporting, translocating, assembling, or degrading client proteins. It is fundamental to develop resistant plant varieties and novel anti-viral agents by determining the interaction mechanisms between plant viruses and hosts. In this study, we first reviewed the classification, gene and protein structure, and biological significances. We then analyzed the assembling mechanism of Hsp70 or Hsp90, plant host cofactors, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerases in a viral replicase complex, and the mechanism of interaction and subcellular localization between Hsp70 and some plant virus components. We highlighted the mechanism of interaction and movement between Hsp70 and some plant virus components and the effect of Hsp expression of plant hosts or viruses. The results indicated where the mechanism occurred, the participating factors, energy supply, and material conversion between Hsps and the plant virus components for the course of the intracellular movement, local movement between cells, and long-distance movement, and showed the Hsp type specificity and the law of dynamic Hsp expression in plant hosts infected by viruses. The studies mainly focused on the two Hsp factors and the plant viral components, indicating limited coordination mechanisms among many nucleic acids, proteins, and polysaccharides in macromolecular protein complexes (MRC). Future research should analyze the translocation mechanism between client proteins and Hsps, the coordination mechanism between Hsps and MRC components, and the relation between MRC and the plant tissue structure. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

大气中黑碳的健康效应及机制研究进展

虽然人类社会不断进步发展,但大量工业和自然排放也导致了严重的空气污染。大气颗粒物是大气污染物的主要成分之一,黑碳是其中的重要组成成分,被国际癌症研究机构(IARC)归类为2B类致癌物。黑碳可以吸附其他致癌物质,会对环境和人体健康产生不利影响,因此黑碳暴露对人类的危害得到越来越多的重视。空气中黑碳的水平与心血管、呼吸和神经系统疾病的发生都有关系;黑碳主要通过引起氧化应激和炎症反应,诱发基因突变等一系列损伤。虽然现今对于黑碳健康效应的研究已取得了一些进展,但研究多数处于起步阶段,且仅针对黑碳本身进行单独研究,未来还需要加强开展对黑碳和其他污染物联合毒性效应及机制的研究。本综述主要针对近年来已开展的研究进行了总结归纳。