Kinetics study of fermentative hydrogen production from liquid swine manure supplemented with glucose under controlled pH

Kinetics of H₂ production from liquid swine manure supplemented with glucose by mixed anaerobic cultures was investigated using batch experiments under four different pH conditions (4.4, 5.0, 5.6, and uncontrolled). The temperature for the experiments was controlled at 37 ± 1°C and the length of experiments varied between 50 and 120 hours, depending upon the time needed for completion of each individual experiment. The modified Gompertz model was evaluated for its suitability for describing the H₂ production potential, H₂ production rate, and substrate consumption rate for all the experiments. The results showed that the Gompertz model could adequately fit the experimental results. The effect of pH was significant on all kinetic parameters for H₂ production including yield, production rate and lag time, and the substrate utilization rate. The optimal pH was found to be 5.0, at which a maximum H₂ production rate (0.64 L H₂/h) was obtained, and deviation from the optimal pH could result in substantial reductions in H₂ production rate (0.32 L H₂/h for pH 4.0 and 0.43 L H₂/h for pH 5.6). The results also showed that if pH was not controlled for the batch fermentation process, the substrate utilization efficiency could steeply decrease from 98.8% to 33.7%.     

Comparison of homologous and heterologous formats in nanocolloidal gold-based immunoassays for parathion residue determination

The effectiveness of homologous and heterologous formats in a nanocolloidal gold-based immunoassay for pesticide residue determination was investigated. Parathion, one of the most toxic organophosphorus pesticides, was used as the target analyte. One-step homologous and heterologous test strips based on a nanocolloidal gold-labeled monoclonal antibody were developed for the rapid detection of parathion residues. The results showed that the heterologous format was more effective than the homologous format, being more sensitive, more specific to parathion and more tolerant of matrix interferences. The best competitive hapten was found to have a moderate heterology and the opposite electronic distribution to the immunizing hapten. The detection limits for parathion using the preferred heterologous strip were 1 μg/L in water samples and 5 μg/kg in soil and food samples.     

Can body-size patterns of ciliated zooplankton be used for assessing marine water quality? A case study on bioassessment in Jiaozhou Bay, northern Yellow Sea

Introduction

In order to reveal the potential relationships between body-size patterns of microzooplankton and environmental status, the spatial patterns in body-size spectra of ciliated zooplanktons were studied based on an annual dataset in a bay of the Yellow Sea, northern China.

Materials and methods

A total of 120 samples were collected at a depth of 1?m from each of five sampling sites with a spatial gradient of environmental stress from June 2007 to May 2008. A range of physico-chemical variables were measured synchronously for comparison with biotic parameters.

Results

The spatial body-size patterns of ciliated zooplankton represented significant differences among the five sites, and were significantly correlated with the changes of physico-chemical parameters, especially salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrients. Two paired indices, the average body-size distinctness (AvBSD) and the variation in body-size distinctness (VarBSD), were proposed based on the trait resemblances among ciliate species in body-size pattern. The paired measures showed a clear decreasing trend of departure from the expected body-size spectra in response to water quality status.

Conclusion

These results suggest that the body-size pattern of ciliated zooplankton might be used as a potential indicator of marine water quality.     

Biofilm formation and microbial community analysis of the simulated river bioreactor for contaminated source water remediation

Background, aim, and scope

The start-up pattern of biofilm remediation system affects the biofilm characteristics and operating performances. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performances of the contaminated source water remediation systems with different start-up patterns in view of the pollutants removal performances and microbial community succession.

Methods

The operating performances of four lab-scale simulated river biofilm reactors were examined which employed different start-up methods (natural enrichment and artificial enhancement viadischarging sediment with influent velocity gradient increase) and different bio-fillers (Elastic filler and AquaMats? ecobase). At the same time, the microbial communities of the bioreactors in different phases were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, and sequencing.

Results and discussion

The pollutants removal performances became stable in the four reactors after 2 months?? operation, with ammonia nitrogen and permanganate index (COD_Mn) removal efficiencies of 84.41?C94.21% and 69.66?C76.60%, respectively. The biomass of mature biofilm was higher in the bioreactors by artificial enhancement than that by natural enrichment. Microbial community analysis indicated that elastic filler could enrich mature biofilm faster than AquaMats?. The heterotrophic bacteria diversity of biofilm decreased by artificial enhancement, which favored the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) developing on the bio-fillers. Furthermore, Nitrosomonas- and Nitrosospira-like AOB coexisted in the biofilm, and Pseudomonas sp., Sphaerotilus sp., Janthinobacterium sp., Corynebacterium aurimucosum were dominant in the oligotrophic niche.

Conclusion

Artificial enhancement via the combination of sediment discharging and influent velocity gradient increasing could enhance the biofilm formation and autotrophic AOB enrichment in oligotrophic niche.     

Environmental lead pollution threatens the children living in the Pearl River Delta region, China

Introduction and purpose

The objective of this study is to determine children??s blood lead levels and identify sources of lead exposure. Childhood lead exposure constitutes a major pediatric health problem today in China. A blood lead screening survey program for children in the age group of 2?C12?years residing in Pearl River Delta region, south of China, was carried out from Dec 2007 to Jan 2008.

Methods

Blood lead levels and lead isotope ratios of a total of 761 participants were assessed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Measurements of urban environmental samples for source identification of children lead exposure were also performed.

Results and conclusions

The geometric mean value of the children??s blood lead levels was 57.05???g/L, and 9.6% of them were higher than 100???g/L. The blood lead levels were still much higher than those in developed countries. Based on the data of environmental lead source inventories, lead isotopic tracing revealed that there is about 6.7% past used gasoline Pb embedded in Shenzhen residential dust and about 15.6% in Guangzhou dust, respectively.     

Characterization of carbonic anhydrase II from Chlorella vulgaris in bio-CO2 capture

Carbonic anhydrase II (CA II) can catalyze the reversible hydration reaction of CO₂ at a maximum of 1.4?×?10⁶ molecules of CO₂ per second. The crude intracellular enzyme extract containing CA II was derived from Chlorella vulgaris. A successful CO₂ capture experiment with the presence of calcium had been conducted on the premise that the temperature was conditioned at a scope of 30?C40?°C, that the biocatalyst-nurtured algal growth period lasted 3?days, and that pH ranged from7.5 to 8.5. Ions of K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Zn²⁺ at 0.01, 0.1, and 0.5?M were found to exhibit no more than 30?% inhibition on the residual activity of the biocatalyst. It is reasonable to expect that calcification catalyzed by microalgae presents an alternative to geological carbon capture and sequestration through a chain of fundamental researches carried on under the guidance of sequestration technology.     

脂肽类生物表面活性剂液体发酵条件的响应面优化

通过Plackett-Burman和Box-Behnken实验对解淀粉芽孢杆菌XZ-173液体发酵生产表面活性素进行了响应面优化研究。首先使用Plackett-Burman实验对影响表面活性素产量的17个因素进行显著性筛选,结果表明,MnSO4、CuSO4、温度和转速为显著性因素。再运用Box-Behnken实验对这4个显著因素的取值进一步优化,得到各因素优化后的数值分别为4.4 mg/L(MnSO4)、0.18 mg/L(CuSO4)、29℃(温度)和163 r/min(转速)。响应面分析结果表明:该菌株产生表面活性素的最佳培养基为:葡萄糖15 g/L,蛋白胨5 g/L,L-谷氨酸钠6 g/L,KH2PO40.8 g/L,MgSO40.4 g/L,KCl 0.4 g/L,酵母提取物3 g/L,L-苯丙氨酸2.5 mg/L,MnSO44.4 mg/L,CuSO40.18 mg/L,FeSO40.12 mg/L;最适培养条件:pH 7.5,温度29℃,转速163 r/min,接种量5%,装液量50 mL/250 mL,摇床培养36 h。在优化后的条件下,表面活性素实际产量为336 mg/L,实际实验结果与模型预测结果相一致。表面活性素采用HPLC技术分离,发现其在浓度仅为50 mg/L时EI24就可达到70%以上,反映了表面活性素优异的乳化活性以及广阔的应用前景。     

液相色谱-质谱法测定水中氨基甲酸酯类农药及其代谢物

建立了直接测定水中10种氨基甲酸酯类农药及其代谢物的超高效液相色谱-质谱分析方法。该方法对水样无需进行富集处理,水样过滤后就可以直接测定。实验结果表明:测定液中各氨基甲酸酯类农药及其代谢物的质量浓度与离子对峰面积在质量浓度0.5～1 000.0μg/L内具有良好的线性关系;方法检出限为0.1～5.0μg/L;加标回收率91%～103%;相对标准偏差为2%～5%。该方法具有简便快捷、灵敏度高的特点。     

超临界水氧化法处理造纸黑液

采用自制的超临界水氧化反应装置,对造纸工业排放的黑液进行处理。考察了反应温度、反应压力、反应时间、过氧量(初始反应时所加氧气的量与废水完全氧化所需氧气的理论量的比,%)等对黑液中COD去除率的影响。实验结果表明,处理黑液的最佳反应条件为:反应温度500℃,压力26M Pa,过氧量500%,反应时间120s。在此最佳条件下处理COD为85 000m g/L的造纸黑液,COD去除率可达99.9%。