The potential of the flora from different regions of Pakistan in phytoremediation: a review

Soil and water quality is greatly affected by environmental pollution due to the increasing trend of urbanization and industrialization. In many developing countries, including Pakistan, the situation is more alarming as no preventive measures are still taken to tackle the problem. Although in developed countries, many techniques are used to remediate the environment including phytoremediation. It is the most eco-friendly technique in which plants are used to remove pollutants from the environment. Pakistan has also a great diversity of plants which could be used for the remediation of environmental pollutants. To our knowledge, few studies from Pakistan were reported about the use of flora for phytoremediation. According to recent literature, 50 plant species from Pakistan are studied for remediation purposes. In this review, the potential of different plant species for phytoremediation from Pakistan has been discussed along with their comparison to other countries to relate future perspectives.     

Temporal variations of benthic diatom community and its main influencing factors in a subtropical river, China

Benthic diatoms are the main component in many aquatic ecosystems such as streams, creeks and rivers, and they function as important primary producers and chemical modulators for other organisms in the ecosystems. In this study, the composition of benthic diatoms was investigated and further explored the primary physicals and chemicals affecting their temporal variations in the upper Han River, China. There were seasonal variations in physical and chemical variables in waters over the sampling period of 2007–2010. Water temperature (t), chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), silica and fluoride were much higher in the high flow season (i.e., July or August) than these in the base flow season. Three species Achnanthidium minutissimum (composed of 10.7 % of the total diatom abundance), Achnanthidium pyrenaicum (11.9 %), and Achnanthidium subatomus (12.7 %) accounting for more than 5 % of the total diatom abundance were persistently dominant in all seasons, while the other two prostrate and motile species including Eolimna minima and Nitzschia dissipata also dominant in the base flow season. The species richness always peaked in autumn with significant difference with summer (p?<?0.01), and density of benthic diatom varied and peaked in April. Analyses indicated that the temporal variation in benthic diatom communities was strongly related to t, nitrogen, organic pollutants (indicated by COD and DOC), and hydrological regime. The research will expand the understanding of water chemistry monitoring, and improve watershed- scale management and conservation efforts in the upper Han River, China.     

钙离子对短期膜污染的影响

以处理生活污水的平板膜-生物反应器为依托,通过将进水调配成30、200和500 mg/L 3种不同的钙离子浓度,考察钙离子对短期膜污染的影响。结果表明,随着钙离子浓度的增加,TMP增长趋势变小,膜污染得到缓解;钙离子浓度为200 mg/L时,膜的渗透性最好,而过高的钙离子浓度并不利于降低膜污染。钙离子的投加强化了生物絮凝作用,可以降低SMP和LB-EPS的含量,主要通过降低外部阻力减缓膜污染;投加钙离子也可以增加絮体的大小,较大的絮体形成的泥饼有更好的过滤性,然而过高的钙离子浓度会使无机颗粒的量增加,造成平均粒径下降,将会加重内部污染,进而加剧膜污染。     

高浓度油田压裂废水降低CODCr的预处理方法

针对高浓度油田压裂废水黏度高、浊度大、含油量高等特点,强化预处理工艺,降低CODCr值。文章通过实验证明了强氧化剂(Fenton试剂)与混凝剂PAC+PAM相结合的工艺可有效降低高浓度含油废水CODCr值,进而通过Fenton试剂与混凝剂的投药量、pH值等因素对高浓度油田压裂废水的影响进行分析,得出采用该化学预处理方法出水水质清澈,可直接进入生化处理系统进行后续处理。     

Nano-TiO2 enhances the toxicity of copper in natural water to Daphnia magna

The acute toxicity of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) in aquatic environments at high concentrations has been well-established. This study demonstrates that, at a concentration generally considered to be safe in the environment, nano-TiO₂ remarkably enhanced the toxicity of copper to Daphnia magna by increasing the copper bioaccumulation. Specifically, at 2 mg L⁻¹ nano-TiO₂, the (LC₅₀) of Cu²⁺ concentration observed to kill half the population, decreased from 111 μg L⁻¹ to 42 μg L⁻¹. Correspondingly, the level of metallothionein decreased from 135 μg g⁻¹ wet weight to 99 μg g⁻¹ wet weight at a Cu²⁺ level of 100 μg L⁻¹. The copper was found to be adsorbed onto the nano-TiO₂, and ingested and accumulated in the animals, thereby causing toxic injury. The nano-TiO₂ may compete for free copper ions with sulfhydryl groups, causing the inhibition of the detoxification by metallothioneins.     

腐熟污泥对废水中Cd(Ⅱ)与Zn(Ⅱ)的吸附性能研究

利用腐熟污泥作为一种重金属吸附剂,考察其对水中重金属锌和镉的吸附过程.实验数据的拟合采用了Pseudo-first Order-和Pseudo-second Order 2种动力学模型以及Langmuir和Freundlich 2种吸附等温线模型;拟合结果表明,腐熟污泥对锌与镉的吸附过程符合Pseudo-second ...     

Quantifying Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Dynamics in the Jinsha Watershed, Upper Yangtze, China from 1975 to 2000

Quantifying the spatial and temporal dynamics of carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems and carbon fluxes between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is critical to our understanding of regional patterns of carbon budgets. Here we use the General Ensemble biogeochemical Modeling System to simulate the terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics in the Jinsha watershed of China’s upper Yangtze basin from 1975 to 2000, based on unique combinations of spatial and temporal dynamics of major driving forces, such as climate, soil properties, nitrogen deposition, and land use and land cover changes. Our analysis demonstrates that the Jinsha watershed ecosystems acted as a carbon sink during the period of 1975–2000, with an average rate of 0.36 Mg/ha/yr, primarily resulting from regional climate variation and local land use and land cover change. Vegetation biomass accumulation accounted for 90.6% of the sink, while soil organic carbon loss before 1992 led to a lower net gain of carbon in the watershed, and after that soils became a small sink. Ecosystem carbon sink/source patterns showed a high degree of spatial heterogeneity. Carbon sinks were associated with forest areas without disturbances, whereas carbon sources were primarily caused by stand-replacing disturbances. It is critical to adequately represent the detailed fast-changing dynamics of land use activities in regional biogeochemical models to determine the spatial and temporal evolution of regional carbon sink/source patterns.     

Isolation and Characterization of a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Burkholderia</Emphasis> sp. USM (JCM15050) Capable of Producing Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from Triglycerides,Fatty Acids and Glycerols

A consortium of microorganisms from oil polluted wastewater sample was cultivated to promote polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) accumulation before subjecting the mixed cultures to sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation. This resulted in the fractionation of the bacterial cells according to their physical features such as size, morphology and/or densities. An isolate was identified as Burkholderia sp. USM (JCM15050), which was capable of converting palm oil products [crude palm kernel oil (CPKO), palm olein (PO), palm kernel acid oil (PKAO), palm stearin (PS), crude palm oil (CPO), palm acid oil (PAO) and palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD)], fatty acids and various glycerol by-products into poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)]. Up to 70 and 60 wt% of P(3HB) could be obtained when 0.5%(v/v) CPKO and glycerol was fed, respectively. Among the various fatty acids tested, lauric acid followed by oleic acid and myristic acid gave the best cell growth and PHA accumulation. Compared to Cupriavidus necator H16, the present isolate showed better ability to grow on and produce PHA from various glycerol by-products generated by the palm oil industry. This study demonstrated for the first time an isolate that has the potential to utilize palm oil and glycerol derivatives for the biosynthesis of PHA.     

The profile of antibiotics resistance and integrons of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing thermotolerant coliforms isolated from the Yangtze River basin in Chongqing

The spreading of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)-producing thermotolerant coliforms (TC) in the water environment is a threat to human health but little is known about ESBL-producing TCs in the Yangtze River. We received 319 ESBL-producing stains obtained from the Chongqing basin and we investigated antibiotic susceptibility, bla gene types and the presence of integrons and gene cassettes. 16.8% of TC isolates were ESBL-producing bacteria and bla_TEM+CTx-M was the predominant ESBL type. 65.2% of isolates contained class 1 integrons, but only 3 carried intI 2. Gene cassettes were amplified and sequenced. aadA, drfA, cmlA, sat1, aar3 and two ORF cassettes were found. In conclusion, Yangtze River is heavily polluted by ESBL-producing TC bacteria and the combined bla gene type could enhance antibiotic resistance. Class 1 integrons were widespread in ESBL-producing isolates and play an important role in multi-drug resistance. Characterization of gene cassettes could reveal the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes.     

GIS支持下的锡林郭勒盟旱灾救灾区划初探

基于自然灾害系统理论,构建内蒙古锡林郭勒盟的旱灾评价系统模式,表明灾情是致灾因子、孕灾环境和承灾体综合作用的产物。以锡林郭勒盟的旱灾程度、救灾等级、备灾能力（经济水平与社会状况）、应急能力（物资储备及物流通达水平）、恢复能力（恢复与重建）等重要指标为核心,对锡林郭勒盟的旱灾灾前、灾中、灾后三个阶段的响应能力进行评价与地域划分,并与锡林郭勒盟的旱灾等级区划相结合,构建了灾害-响应程度模型。