Temperature-Dependent Persistence of Human Norovirus Within Oysters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Crassostrea virginica</Emphasis>)

This study characterizes the persistence of human norovirus in Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) held at different seawater temperatures. Oysters were contaminated with human norovirus GI.1 (Norwalk strain 8FIIa) by exposing them to virus-contaminated water at 15 °C, and subsequently holding them at 7, 15, and 25 °C for up to 6 weeks. Viral RNA was extracted from oyster tissue and hemocytes and quantitated by RT-qPCR. Norovirus was detected in hemocytes and oysters held at 7 and 15 °C for 6 weeks and in hemocytes and oysters held at 25 °C for up to 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. Results confirm that NoV is quite persistent within oysters and demonstrate that cooler water temperatures extend norovirus clearance times. This study suggests a need for substantial relay times to remove norovirus from contaminated shellfish and suggests that regulatory authorities should consider the effects of water temperature after a suspected episodic norovirus-contamination event.     

Detection and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Hepatitis E Virus in a Canadian Swine Production Network

Viral contamination along the production chain is a significant concern in both food safety and livestock health. Pigs have been reported to act as a reservoir for zoonotic viruses, sometimes emerging ones, and epidemiological studies have shown direct links between the consumption of uncooked pork offal and cases of hepatitis caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 in humans. The presence of HEV in swine herds has been reported, but its dissemination in pork production environments is still unknown. To investigate viral contamination sources in the swine industry, 452 environment and fecal samples, including samples from livestock transportation vehicles, were collected over a period of 11 months from ten farms and one slaughterhouse that together represent a single production network. Hepatitis E virus RNA was detected by nested RT-PCR in 32 samples from both inside and outside farm buildings, on trucks, and, mostly, from fomites collected in the slaughterhouse yard, such as on a utility vehicle. Phylogenetic analysis showed a wide diversity of HEV genotype 3 strains, similar to human and swine strains previously found. According to the results of this study, the movements of trucks and utility vehicles might play an important role in HEV dissemination on a slaughterhouse site and throughout an entire network.     

干旱区城市化对生态系统碳库的影响——以乌鲁木齐市为例

城市化是影响区域生态系统碳循环的主要原因,也是评估生态系统碳循环的最大不确定因素。论文利用1990与2010年Landsat TM数据,基于V-I-S城市土地覆被模型和决策树分类法,获得乌鲁木齐土地变化时空格局;结合野外实测数据和文献检索得到研究区不同土地覆被类型的土壤与植被碳密度,估算了城市土地变化对生态系统碳库的影响。结果表明：1）1990—2010年间,乌鲁木齐城市不透水地表（impervious surface areas, ISA）以中部南部内部填充与北部扩张的形式约增加62%,主要占用农田（27%）与荒漠（62%）。2）乌鲁木齐市生态系统碳库主体（95%）分布在土壤中,城市土地覆被变化导致约25%的碳库损失,由农田、裸土/残存荒漠以及城市绿地转变为ISA解释了68%的土壤有机碳和63%的植被碳损失量,其空间分布与ISA的扩张相一致。城市植被及其土壤具有较高的碳密度,合理的城市规划可以抵消部分因土地变化而损失的生态系统碳。     

A multidisciplinary study of archaeological grape seeds

We report here the first integrated investigation of both ancient DNA and proteins in archaeobotanical samples: medieval grape (Vitis vinifera L.) seeds, preserved by anoxic waterlogging, from an early medieval (seventh–eighth century A.D.) Byzantine rural settlement in the Salento area (Lecce, Italy) and a late (fourteenth–fifteenth century A.D.) medieval site in York (England). Pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry documented good carbohydrate preservation, whilst amino acid analysis revealed approximately 90% loss of the original protein content. In the York sample, mass spectrometry-based sequencing identified several degraded ancient peptides. Nuclear microsatellite locus (VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, ZAG62 and ZAG79) analysis permitted a tentative comparison of the genetic profiles of both the ancient samples with the modern varieties. The ability to recover microsatellite DNA has potential to improve biomolecular analysis on ancient grape seeds from archaeological contexts. Although the investigation of five microsatellite loci cannot assign the ancient samples to any geographic region or modern cultivar, the results allow speculation that the material from York was not grown locally, whilst the remains from Supersano could represent a trace of contacts with the eastern Mediterranean.     

Why do <Emphasis Type="Italic">Manduca sexta</Emphasis> feed from white flowers? Innate and learnt colour preferences in a hawkmoth

Flower colour is an important signal used by flowering plants to attract pollinators. Many anthophilous insects have an innate colour preference that is displayed during their first foraging bouts and which could help them locate their first nectar reward. Nevertheless, learning capabilities allow insects to switch their colour preferences with experience and thus, to track variation in floral nectar availability. Manduca sexta, a crepuscular hawkmoth widely studied as a model system for sensory physiology and behaviour, visits mostly white, night-blooming flowers lacking UV reflectance throughout its range in the Americas. Nevertheless, the spectral sensitivity of the feeding behaviour of naïve moths shows a narrow peak around 450 nm wavelengths, suggesting an innate preference for the colour blue. Under more natural conditions (i.e. broader wavelength reflectance) than in previous studies, we used dual choice experiments with blue- and white-coloured feeders to investigate the innate preference of naïve moths and trained different groups to each colour to evaluate their learning capabilities. We confirmed the innate preference of M. sexta for blue and found that these moths were able to switch colour preferences after training experience. These results unequivocally demonstrate that M. sexta moths innately prefer blue when presented against white flower models and offer novel experimental evidence supporting the hypothesis that learning capabilities could be involved in their foraging preferences, including their widely observed attraction to white flowers in nature.     

腐殖酸钠对钙、镁离子吸附效果的研究

实验研究了腐殖酸钠混合液对钙、镁离子的吸附性能。高温条件下由草炭和NaOH制取的腐殖酸钠混合液,吸附水中的钙镁离子,结果发现：随着混合液用量的增加,其对钙镁离子的去除效率增加。当混合液用量为8ml时,二者的吸附效率均在88％以上,其中对镁离子的去除率可达100％,而且由于钙镁离子具有相同的核外电子层结构及类似的化学性质,因此混合液对钙镁离子的去除效果类似,表明腐殖酸钠混合液对钙镁离子具有极好的去除效果,可广泛应用于处理含钙镁离子的污水。     

PAN—ACF吸附洗车废水的实验研究

实验以洗车废水为研究对象,研究了聚丙烯腈活性炭纤维（PAN—ACF）去除水中LAS的效果,考察了PAN—ACF的用量、时间、温度以及pH对吸附效果的影响。模拟废水和实际洗车废水的实验研究表明：当废水中LAS浓度为10mg／L时,在处理最佳时间为5min、最佳用量为0．5g/L、常温弱酸性的条件下,LAS的去除率能达到92％以上。此外PAN—ACF对废水中的CODcr及NH3-N也能有效地去除,用NaOH溶液再生后对LAS吸附性更好。     

不同生物质炭对酸雨及氧化性沉降下花生生长及累积砷镉的影响

通过温室盆栽试验,研究了普通生物质炭和铁基生物质炭对酸雨及氧化性沉降下不同生育期花生生长及累积砷、镉(As、Cd)的影响.结果表明,酸雨及50μmol·L-1H2O2沉降处理对处于花期及成熟期中花生的生物量、根瘤数和瘤干重的影响不显著(p0.05),但却显著增加了花生籽粒中Cd的含量和花生壳中As的含量(p0.05).其中,铁基生物质炭可显著降低酸雨及氧化性沉降下花生地上部、根部、籽粒、壳中累积As、Cd含量(p0.05),且作用效果明显强于普通生物质炭.由此可知,酸雨及氧化性沉降增加了花生对土壤重金属As、Cd的富集,而施加铁基生物质炭可有效降低作物的As、Cd累积,为有效防控酸雨及氧化性沉降区域的花生砷、镉重金属污染具有重要现实意义.     

Prevalence of Rotaviruses Groups A and C in Egyptian Children and Aquatic Environment

The objective of this study is to compare the prevalence of rotaviruses groups A and C in Egyptian children and aquatic environment. From 110 stool specimens of children with acute diarrhea and using RT-PCR, 35 samples (31.8 %) were positive for human rotavirus group A and 15 samples (13.6 %) were positive for human rotavirus group C. From 96 samples collected from Zenin wastewater treatment plant over a 2-year period (November 2009–October 2011) and using RT-PCR, rotavirus group A was detected in (4/24) 16.7 %, (5/24) 20.8 %, (4/24) 16.7 %, and (4/24) 16.7 %, while rotavirus group C was detected in (2/24) 8.3 %, (3/24) 12.5 %, (3/24) 12.5 %, and (0/24) 0 % in raw sewage, after primary sedimentation, after secondary sedimentation, and after final chlorination, respectively. Moreover, from 96 samples collected from El-Giza water treatment plant over a 2-year period (November 2009–October 2011), rotavirus group A was detected in (7/24) 29.2 %, (6/24) 25 %, (5/24) 20.8 %, and (3/24) 12.5 %, while rotavirus group C was detected in (3/24) 12.5 %, (1/24) 4.2 %, (1/24) 4.2 %, and (0/24) 0 % in raw Nile water, after sedimentation, after sand filtration, and after final chlorination, respectively. Using SYBR Green real-time RT-PCR, the number of human rotavirus group A genome or infectious units was higher than rotavirus group C. VP6 sequence analysis of the RT-PCR positive rotavirus group C samples revealed that four clinical specimens and three environmental samples showed similar sequences clustered with Moduganari/Human Nigerian strain AF 325806 with 98 % homology, and two clinical specimens and one environmental sample showed similar sequences clustered with Dhaka CB/Human Bangladesh strain AY 754826 with 97 % homology.     

Determination of 15 phthalate esters in air by gas-phase and particle-phase simultaneous sampling

Based on previous research, the sampling and analysis methods for phthalate esters (PAEs) were improved by increasing the sampling flow of indoor air from 1 to 4 L/min, shortening the sampling duration from 8 to 2 hr. Meanwhile, through the optimization of chromatographic conditions, the concentrations of 9 additional PAE pollutants in indoor air were measured. The optimized chromatographic conditions required a similar amount of time for analysis as before, but gave high responsivity, the capability of simultaneously distinguishing 15 kinds of PAEs, and a high level of discrimination between individual sample peaks, as well as stable peak generation. The recovery rate of all gas-phase and particle-phase samples of the 15 kinds of PAEs ranged from 91.26% to 109.42%, meeting the quantitative analysis requirements for indoor and outdoor air sampling and analysis. For the first time, investigation of the concentration levels as well as characteristics of 15 kinds of PAEs in the indoor air from four different traffic micro-environments (private vehicles, busses, taxis and subways) was carried out, along with validation of the optimized sampling and analytical method. The results show that all the 9 additional PAEs could be detected at relatively high pollution levels in the indoor air from the four traffic micro-environments. As none of the pollution levels of the 15 kinds of PAEs in the indoor air from the 4 traffic micro-environments should be neglected, it is of great significance to increase the types of PAEs able to be detected in indoor air.