Degradation of extracellular genomic,plasmid DNA and specific antibiotic resistance genes by chlorination

Extracellular DNA structure damaged by chlorination was characterized. Integrity of extracellular ARG genetic information after chlorination was determined. Typical chlorine doses will likely effectively diminish extracellular DNA and ARGs. Plasmid DNA/ARGs were less readily broken down than genomic DNA. The Bioanalyzer methodology effectively documented damage incurred to DNA. There is a need to improve understanding of the effect of chlorine disinfection on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in order to advance relevant drinking water, wastewater, and reuse treatments. However, few studies have explicitly assessed the physical effects on the DNA. Here we examined the effects of free chlorine (1–20 mg Cl₂/L) on extracellular genomic, plasmid DNA and select ARGs. Chlorination was found to decrease the fluorometric signal of extracellular genomic and plasmid DNA (ranging from 0.005 to 0.05 mg/mL) by 70%, relative to a no-chlorine control. Resulting DNA was further subject to a fragment analysis using a Bioanalyzer, indicating that chlorination resulted in fragmentation. Moreover, chlorine also effectively deactivated both chromosomal- and plasmid-borne ARGs, mecA and tetA, respectively. For concentrations >2 mg Cl₂//L × 30 min, chlorine efficiently reduced the qPCR signal when the initial concentration of ARGs was 10⁵ copies/mL or less. Notably, genomic DNA and mecA gene signals were more readily reduced by chlorine than the plasmid-borne tetA gene (by ~2 fold). Based on the results of qPCR with short (~200 bps) and long amplicons (~1200 bps), chlorination could destroy the integrity of ARGs, which likely reduces the possibility of natural transformation. Overall, our findings strongly illustrate that chlorination could be an effective method for inactivating extracellular chromosomal- and plasmid-borne DNA and ARGs.     

Contamination characteristics of trace metals in dust from different levels of roads of a heavily air-polluted city in north China

Concentrations of eight trace metals (TMs) in road dust (RD) (particles?<?25 μm) from urban areas of Xinxiang, China, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The geometric mean concentrations of Zn, Mn, Pb, As, Cu, Cr, Ni and Cd were 489, 350, 114, 101, 60.0, 39.7, 31.6, and 5.1 mg kg^?1, respectively. When compared with TM levels in background soil, the samples generally display elevated TM concentrations, except for Cr and Mn, and for Cd the enrichment value was 69.6. Spatial variations indicated TMs in RD from park path would have similar sources with main roads, collector streets and bypasses. Average daily exposure doses of the studied TMs were about three orders of magnitude higher for hand-to-mouth ingestion than dermal contact, and the exposure doses for children were 9.33 times higher than that for adults. The decreasing trend of calculated hazard indexes (HI) for the eight elements was As?>?Pb?>?Cr?>?Mn?>?Cd?>?Zn?>?Ni?>?Cu for both children and adults.     

Glyphosate application increased catabolic activity of gram-negative bacteria but impaired soil fungal community

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Glyphosate is a non-selective organophosphate herbicide that is widely used in agriculture, but its effects on soil microbial communities are highly...     

基于模糊评价的VDT系统搜索策略绩效形成机理研究

为优化视觉显示终端（VDT）结构性搜索界面的布局,提高作业绩效和安全,设计了VDT系统搜索实验,构建了搜索目标位置在4个主观偏好指标下的Pythagorean模糊集决策矩阵,运用交互式多准则决策（TODIM）法计算各目标位置偏好的总体优势度并排序;同时对VDT系统搜索实验中各目标位置的绩效进行方差分析并排序,分析系统搜索策略下作业者对目标位置的主观偏好与绩效之间的关系。研究结果表明:基于系统搜索策略的VDT作业绩效在不同目标位置差异显著;导致绩效差异的根本原因是作业者对搜索目标位置的主观偏好度,而不是搜索目标的位置属性;除中心区域外,偏好度高的区域搜索绩效要优于偏好度低的区域。     

城市垃圾焚烧炉内残渣性质及结渣形成

以城市垃圾焚烧后的残渣为研究对象 ,着重地介绍城市垃圾焚烧炉中灰渣的形成、结构、组成等基本性质 ,同时借鉴燃煤技术初步探讨了城市垃圾焚烧过程中结渣的形成。对垃圾焚烧炉的正常运行提供科学的保证 ,对残渣的管理及综合利用有一定的意义     

砖红壤中Al和Pb的竞争吸附

从pH值和离子加入量两个角度研究了砖红壤中Al和Pb的竞争吸附 .结果表明 ,当低数量的Al和Pb共存时 ,离子的吸附量与其单独存在下的情形相比都有所下降 ,该现象在低pH值的条件下较为明显 ,而随着pH值升高则逐渐减弱 ;若Al和Pb共存时的初始浓度均为 1 0mmol·l- 1 ,两者之间的竞争吸附在pH 3 5至 5 5范围内都较为显著 ;此外 ,当0 1mmol·l- 1 的Pb与 1 0mmol·l- 1 的Al共存时 ,Al的吸附没有受到Pb的影响 ,此时尽管Al和Pb的浓度比为 1 0∶1 ,但土壤对Pb的吸附并没有被Al完全抑制 ,反映出土壤表面某些吸附位对Pb具有高度的选择性     

钢铁酸洗废液的资源化处理技术

钢铁酸洗废液中含有大量的酸和铁盐，已被各国作为危险废物进行管理，多年来，研究者已经研究出多种有效、可行的资源化处理方法和技术，从技术成熟性、工艺特性、工艺关键、过程控制、应用前景和发展方向等方面介绍了技术上比较成熟和具有良好前景的7种主要方法，以利于保护环境和酸洗废液资源化处理技术的进步。     

吸烟气相物质引起的脂质过氧化的研究

本文用吸烟气相物质作用于卵磷脂形成的脂质体及人多形核白细胞,用TBA法和共轭二烯法检测吸烟气相物质作用下的脂质过氧化水平,结果发现,随着吸烟气相物质作用时间的延长,MDA和共轭二烯的含量也随之增大。表明吸烟气相物质能够引起脂质过氧化反应。     

Scenarios of major terrestrial ecosystems in China

The spatial pattern and mean-center shift of major terrestrial ecosystems, termed Holdridge Life Zones (HLZ), during the periods from 1961 to 1990 (T1), from 2010 to 2039 (T2), from 2040 to 2069 (T3) and from 2070 to 2099 (T4) were analyzed by combining the zonal patterns of climatic change in China and the climatic change scenarios of HadCM2 and HadCM3. The results showed that nival area would decrease rapidly with temperature increase in the future. HadCM2 and HadCM3 predicted that the nival areas might disappear in 552 years and 204 years, respectively. Using both HadCM2 and HadCM3, the five HLZ types with the largest areal extent are nival zone, cool temperate moist forest, warm temperate moist forest, subtropical moist forest and boreal wet forest, which collectively account for more than 50% of China's land mass. Among these five HLZ types, nival zone, warm temperate moist forest and boreal wet forest would decrease continuously, whereas subtropical moist forest and cool temperate forest would increase continuously during the four periods. HLZ diversity and patch connectivity would increase continuously in the 21st century. The shift distances of mean centers of HLZ types simulated using HadCM3 were markedly greater than those simulated using HadCM2, in general. The results from both HadCM2 and HadCM3 showed that boreal wet forest, subtropical moist forest, tropical dry forest, warm temperate moist forest and subtropical wet forest had bigger shift ranges, indicating that these HLZ types are more sensitive to the climatic change scenarios of HadCM2 and HadCM3.