Potential Approaches to Assess the Infectivity of Hepatitis E Virus in Pork Products: A Review

The zoonotic transmission of hepatitis E, caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV), is an emerging issue. HEV appears common in pigs (although infected pigs do not show clinical signs), and evidence suggests that a number of hepatitis E cases have been associated with the consumption of undercooked pork meat and products. Little information is available on whether cooking can eliminate HEV, since there is currently no robust method for measuring its infectivity. HEV infectivity can be clearly demonstrated by monitoring for signs of infection (e.g., shedding of virus) in an animal model. However, this approach has several disadvantages, such as lack of reproducibility and unsuitability for performing large numbers of tests, high costs, and not least ethical considerations. Growth in cell culture can unambiguously show that a virus is infectious and has the potential for replication, without the disadvantages of using animals. Large numbers of tests can also be performed, which can make the results more amenable to statistical interpretation. However, no HEV cell culture system has been shown to be applicable to all HEV strains, none has been standardized, and few studies have demonstrated their use for measurement of HEV infectivity in food samples. Nonetheless, cell culture remains the most promising approach, and the main recommendation of this review is that there should be an extensive research effort to develop and validate a cell culture-based method for assessing HEV infectivity in pork products. Systems comprising promising cell lines and HEV strains which can grow well in cell culture should be tested to select an assay for effective and reliable measurement of HEV infectivity over a wide range of virus concentrations. The assay should then be harnessed to a procedure which can extract HEV from pork products, to produce a method suitable for further use. The method can then be used to determine the effect of heat or other elimination processes on HEV in pork meat and products, or to assess whether HEV detected in any surveyed foodstuffs is infectious and therefore poses a risk to public health.     

A comparative analysis of the characteristics of a range of real and synthetic wastewaters

Synthetic wastewaters are widely used in many fields of wastewater research and operational management. However, few comparative studies have been conducted on the large number of published formulations. Eleven synthetic formulations simulating municipal wastewaters were selected based on their frequency of use, relative complexity, ease of formulation and cost and compared to two real municipal wastewaters. Synthetic wastewaters vary significantly in their compositions and characteristics, especially in terms of alkalinity, BOD K ₁, SOUR, BOD_U, COD/BOD and C/N/P ratio, although they are portrayed as ‘typical’ in terms of characteristics and suitability for use. The pH, alkalinity and the presence of Ca and Mg should be considered in combination with the diluent used. Where the diluent is tap water, then the presence of treatment chemicals should also be considered. The effects of the micronutrients present are also an important factor. The study found that no single formulation is appropriate for all situations. Both the Syntho and Synthes formulations attempt to simulate real wastewater, whereas other formulations primarily act as readily biodegradable vectors for toxicity analyses, characterisation studies and treatment process evaluations. The criteria for choosing a particular synthetic wastewater very much depend on its intended application and require careful selection.     

Predicting Potential Sound Levels : A Case Study in an Urban Area

Allowable sound pressure levels for industrial, commercial and residential sources of noise are typically governed by state and/or local noise regulations. This paper presents a six-step methodology which was successfully applied by a supermarket in Massachusetts to secure state permission to build and operate a new 52,000 square foot store. This multiple step process included baseline noise monitoring, obtaining reference sound levels of the proposed rooftop refrigeration equipment, predicting future sound levels, and recommending soundlevel mitigation techniques. Post-construction monitoring at the store verified that actual worst-case sound levels agreed with predicted values.     

Quantitative assessment of medical waste generation in the capital city of Bangladesh

There is a concern that mismanagement of medical waste in developing countries may be a significant risk factor for disease transmission. Quantitative estimation of medical waste generation is needed to estimate the potential risk and as a basis for any waste management plan. Dhaka City, the capital of Bangladesh, is an example of a major city in a developing country where there has been no rigorous estimation of medical waste generation based upon a thorough scientific study. These estimates were obtained by stringent weighing of waste in a carefully chosen, representative, sample of HCEs, including non-residential diagnostic centres. This study used a statistically designed sampling of waste generation in a broad range of Health Care Establishments (HCEs) to indicate that the amount of waste produced in Dhaka can be estimated to be 37 ± 5 ton per day. The proportion of this waste that would be classified as hazardous waste by World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines was found to be approximately 21%. The amount of waste, and the proportion of hazardous waste, was found to vary significantly with the size and type of HCE.     

河南油田油泥无害化处理实验研究

针对河南油田生产过程中产生的油泥,采用热水洗涤—破乳剂—气浮三相分离处理技术回收油泥中的原油。考察了影响脱除效率的诸因素,得出的最佳处理条件为:处理温度70℃,油泥:水(质量)为1:3;搅拌分散时间10 min;气浮分离时间30 min;气浮强度600 L/(m~2·h);破乳剂加入量300 mg/L;脱油率可达95%。脱除的原油回炼油厂利用,洗脱液可循环使用,脱油后的残渣中石油类残留物质量分数小于5%。     

Forest planning across Europe: the spatial scale,tools, andinter-sectoral integration in land-use planning

New approaches to forest planning are needed to support the transition of European forests to sustainable management. The aim of this study is to review forest planning systems already in place throughout Europe by exploring a set of case-study countries reflecting the main silvicultural schools of Western Europe, including Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, and Slovenia.

A literature review and case-study data were used to assess the scale factors (vertical logic) as well as the relationships between forest planning and other environmental/land-use planning sectors (horizontal logic). The influence of EU policy on the development of forest planning is also discussed. As assessed using the vertical logic, the multi-scale and multi-topic planning approaches adopted in the countries studied here are highly heterogeneous. The horizontal logic shows that despite the importance of an inter-sectoral and harmonic relational framework between forest planning and the planning efforts of other sectors such as landscape and urban planning, the various plans are barely consistent with each other across the European countries studied here. Although interest is growing in the multi-functionality of forests, their sustainable management calls for the development of better integrated planning approaches across Europe.     

添加协效剂的灵石煤自燃阻化剂的研究

为了防止煤的自燃,采用双氧水氧化升温实验,对灵石肥煤在不同阻化剂下的阻化效果进行了研究。利用阻化时间变化率判定阻化效果。结果表明,添加氧化铝厂赤泥作为协效物质的协效阻化剂有效抑制了煤样的氧化升温,提高了阻化效果,阻化时间变化率达50.78%,为灵石肥煤最佳新型协效阻化剂。新型阻化剂原料廉价易得、反应条件温和、制备过程简单、环境友好,且实现了尾矿废渣的综合利用。     

北京市畜禽养殖业氨排放的分布特征

氨是形成可吸入颗粒物(PM2.5)的重要前体,采用国外排放因子的平均值作为排放因子,研究了北京市畜禽养殖业氨排放的分布特征。2012年北京畜禽养殖业产生的氨为4.43万t。顺义区排放量最多,占总排放量的20.4%;朝阳区仅养殖少量奶牛,海淀区养殖量少,门头沟区为北京生态涵养发展区,上述几个区氨排放量较低。顺义区排放强度最大,为8.9 t/km2,其后依次为大兴区、平谷区、密云县,而朝阳区、门头沟区、丰台区、海淀区排放强度较小,北京市平均氨排放强度为2.70 t/km2。肉鸡养殖是氨排放的最大贡献源,占总排放量的37.8%,养猪业次之,占37.3%。研究结果可为北京市氨及大气污染防治,尤其是霾天气治理提供科学依据。