Effects of nanoparticles on Daphnia magna population dynamics

Spherical TiO₂ nanoparticles (npTiO₂) were prepared by controlled hydrolysis of tetraethoxy orthotitanate under a nitrogen atmosphere. ZnO nanoparticles (npZnO) were prepared using hydrothermal methods. The crystal structure, chemical, thermal and morphological properties of npZnO and npTiO₂ were characterised using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer, enery-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscope techniques. The short- and long-term experiments were started with neonates taken from the same culture and laboratory condition. In the acute experiments, npTiO₂, npZnO, and cocktail concentrations were applied. 96h-LC₅₀ values were 1.8, 0.7, and 0.1?mg?L^?1, respectively (p?<?.05). For the chronic experiments, different npTiO₂ concentrations were performed. 21d-LC₅₀ value was 1.0?mgL^?1 (p?<?.05). Morphometry became progressively worse in concentrations of more than 1?mgL^?1 npTiO₂. Neonate and young individuals were more sensitive to death because of their low tolerance. This result was affected by population progeny and growth rates (p?<?.05). While control and 0.5?mgL^?1 npTiO₂ groups were determined as growing population, 1.5 and 2?mgL^?1 npTiO₂ groups had decreased population size as R₀ values. Consequently, the relationships between nanoparticle accumulation within Daphnia magna and its population structure and body morphometry for each concentration were important indicators. Its tolerance level to nanoparticles under laboratory conditions reflected its replacement and behaviour in the ecosystem.     

Unexpected behavior of Zn,Cd, Cu,and Pb in soils contaminated by ore processing after 70 years of burial

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Heavy metals in contaminated ore processing areas present a risk of contamination of waters and life. Therefore, the most mobile fractions of metals, which can be...     

Recent advances in three typical configurations and applications of bioelectrochemical systems北大核心CSCD

As the world's freshwater resources and available energy are alarmingly decreasing, the bioelectrochemical system (BES) is a cutting-edge technology for the resolution of the resource and energy issue. Researchers have paid much attention to t he application of t he BES configuration. Based on t he brief i ntroduction of m icrobial f uel cell a nd m icrobial electrolytic cell structure, principles, and domestic and foreign research, the BES and its influencing factors are introduced, specifically including: microbial activity, electrode materials, and configuration. Three important aspects (i.e., the electrode chamber, the reaction chamber, and micro-sensor) are summarized, and the advantages and disadvantages of single-electrode and multi-electrode chambers are compared, based on the microbial desalination cell. Microbial electrolysis desalination cell: Microbial electrolysis desalination and chemical-production cell have been discussed to introduce increasing reaction chamber configuration; this review focuses on the research of BES monitoring with regards to biochemical oxygen demand. The potential applications of the research progress are explored. The results show that the configuration of multi-chamber microbial fuel cell is complex and its efficiency is low, while the single chamber configuration is advantageous. The reaction chamber added is mainly aimed at desalination, and the study of the desalination pool still needs to be focused on optimizing the cation exchange membrane to maintain the anode pH balance and reduce the air cathode dissolved oxygen. Microbial electrode sensor can be applied in more areas, and its sensitivity and long-term stability need to be further improved. However, there is relatively less research on the abundance and activity of electricigen communities; the configurations and scopes of application of BES are still the research priority. © 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.     

Population structure and community characteristics of Acer catalpifolium Rehd北大核心CSCD

Acer catalpifolium Rehd., a critically endangered tree species with an extremely limited range of distribution, is one of the 120 plant species with extremely small populations, as approved by the state forestry administration of the People's Republic of China and requires urgent rescue action. In order to comprehensively understand the population status and the future developmental trend of A. catalpifolium, the plant communities were investigated from 5 sites, including Caishenmiao (CSM), Banruosi (BRS), Zhangshancun (ZSC), Fuhusi (FHS), and Baoguosi (BGS). The population structure of A. catalpifolium as well as the species composition and community characteristics of its habitat were investigated. The results showed that A. catalpifolium is mainly distributed in the evergreen broad-leaved and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests, in different community layers, namely, the tree layer, shrub layer, and herb layer, and is accompanied by 52, 74, and 52 plant species, respectively. Analyses of the distribution of population abundance revealed that BRS had the largest distribution of A. catalpifolium, accounting for 26.04% of the total population, followed by FHS, ZSC, BGS, and CSM, in that order. Analyses of the community characteristics revealed that the species diversity indices in FHS, BRS, BGS, and CSM were greater than that in ZSC. Analyses of the population age structure of A. catalpifolium revealed the gap in the distribution of the levels of seedlings and young trees. There were serious obstacles to the regeneration of the natural population. We concluded that the obstacle to the regeneration of the population of A. catalpifolium might be caused by the high competitive pressure from the dominant species and the micro-environment in the forest. Understanding the community characteristics and the population structure of A. catalpifolium could provide a theoretical foundation for its reintroduction and recovery. © 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.     

How aerosol direct effects influence the source contributions to PM2.5 concentrations over Southern Hebei,China in severe winter haze episodes

The aerosol direct effects result in a 3%–9% increase in PM_2.5 concentrations over Southern Hebei. These impacts are substantially different under different PM_2.5 loadings. Industrial and domestic contributions will be underestimated if ignoring the feedbacks. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area is the most air polluted region in China and the three neighborhood southern Hebei cities, Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, and Handan, are listed in the top ten polluted cities with severe PM_2.5 pollution. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impacts of aerosol direct effects on air quality over the southern Hebei cities, as well as the impacts when considering those effects on source apportionment using three dimensional air quality models. The WRF/Chem model was applied over the East Asia and northern China at 36 and 12 km horizontal grid resolutions, respectively, for the period of January 2013, with two sets of simulations with or without aerosol-meteorology feedbacks. The source contributions of power plants, industrial, domestic, transportation, and agriculture are evaluated using the Brute-Force Method (BFM) under the two simulation configurations. Our results indicate that, although the increases in PM_2.5 concentrations due to those effects over the three southern Hebei cities are only 3%–9% on montly average, they are much more significant under high PM_2.5 loadings (~50 μg·m⁻³ when PM_2.5 concentrations are higher than 400 μg m⁻³). When considering the aerosol feedbacks, the contributions of industrial and domestic sources assessed using the BFM will obviously increase (e.g., from 30%–34% to 32%–37% for industrial), especially under high PM_2.5 loadings (e.g., from 36%–44% to 43%–47% for domestic when PM_2.5>400 μg·m⁻³). Our results imply that the aerosol direct effects should not be ignored during severe pollution episodes, especially in short-term source apportionment using the BFM.     

Fast and complete removal of the 5-fluorouracil drug from water by electro-Fenton oxidation

Cytostatic drugs are a troublesome class of emerging pollutants in water owing to their potential effects on DNA. Here we studied the removal of 5-fluorouracil from water using the electro-Fenton process. Galvanostatic electrolyses were performed with an undivided laboratory-scale cell equipped with a boron-doped diamond anode and a carbon felt cathode. Results show that the fastest degradation and almost complete mineralization was obtained at a Fe²⁺ catalyst concentration of 0.2 mM. The absolute rate constant for oxidation of 5-fluorouracil by hydroxyl radicals was 1.52 × 10⁹ M^?1 s^?1. Oxalic and acetic acids were initially formed as main short-chain aliphatic by-products, then were completely degraded. After 6 h the final solution mainly contained inorganic ions (NH₄ ⁺, NO₃ ^? and F^?) and less than 10% of residual organic carbon. Hence, electro-Fenton constitutes an interesting alternative to degrade biorefractory drugs.     

Nanosystems for drug delivery of coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q10 is an antioxidant present in the human body. Coenzyme Q10 has an essential role in various biochemical reactions. The deficiency of coenzyme Q10 in the body leads to disorders including neurological degeneration, ageing and cancer. Clinical trials have tested coenzyme Q10 as a drug or a dietary supplement. However, the major pharmaceutical issue of coenzyme Q10 delivery is its high molecular weight and poor water solubility. This limitation leads to its poor oral bioavailability. Several methods have been designed to overcome the poor water solubility of coenzyme Q10, such as size reduction and ionization. This article presents nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems for coenzyme Q10 with special emphasis on pharmacokinetic perspectives and clinical relevance. Systems include nanoparticles, solid dispersions, liposomes, nanoemulsions, self-emulsifying drug delivery systems, nanostructured lipid carriers, cyclodextrins and nanocapsules.