Distribution and feeding in the onuphid polychaete,Diopatra cuprea (Bosc)

Population density of the onuphid polychaete Diopatra cuprea is poorly correlated with particle size distribution of the substratum. It varies directly, however, with current velocity. Measurements of the volume of oxygen drawn through the tube by the inhabitants' rhythmic activities, and the volume consumed under similar conditions, indicate that the rate of oxygen utilization is unusually low; therefore, the influence of current velocity cannot be exerted through its effect on oxygen supply. We suggest that the worm's tube, which protrudes several centimeters above the substratum in the form of an inverted hook, is a food-catching device whose efficiency is governed by the volume of water flowing past. This hypothesis is supported by the identity of many species found both in the gut and on the tube. We also suggest that the tube-irrigating activities permit the animal to test the medium for the presence of chemical stimuli emanating from food caught by the tube; supra-threshold concentrations of these stimuli elicit the feeding response.     

Gastroenteric Viruses Detection in a Drinking Water Distribution-to-Consumption System in a Low-Income Community in Rio de Janeiro

Food and Environmental Virology - The availability of drinking water is one of the main determinants of quality of life, disease prevention and the promotion of health. Viruses are important agents...     

Hepatitis A Virus,Hepatitis E Virus,and Rotavirus in Foods of Animal Origin Traded at the Borders of Brazil,Argentina, and Uruguay

The aim of this study was to investigate hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E (HEV), and rotavirus (RV) in fresh and processed meat traded on the border of Brazil with Argentina and Uruguay. In total, 159 samples of raw and processed foods of animal origin were collected in Paso de los Libres, Argentina (n?=?53 raw meat, n?=?24 processed meat) and Rivera, Uruguay (n?=?55 raw meat, n?=?18 processed meat), or were seized by the Brazilian International Agricultural Surveillance System—VIGIAGRO (Brazil–Argentina border) (n?=?8 raw meat, n?=?1 bush meat). All samples were tested for the presence of HAV, HEV, and RV genomes. HAV genes were detected in 18.23% of samples and RV genes in 23.89%. No HEV-positive samples were detected. HAV was also detected in two of the VIGIAGRO samples. Processed meats from Argentina and Uruguay had a higher rate of HAV and RV than raw meat (P?>?0.05). The median HAV in the Argentinian and Uruguayan samples was 6.9?×?10⁴ and 3.5?×?10³ copies/g, respectively. The presence of RV viral genes in raw meats from Argentina was significant, and this was not observed in processed meats. The presence of HAV and RV genes in a significant portion of products from Argentina and Uruguay is a potential source of human infection. This also indicates precarious conditions of acquisition, processing, and manipulation, which could be improved by improved regulation of food across borders.     

Direct and efficient liquefaction of potato peel into bio-oil

The world has become dependent on petroleum as a feedstock for most products that we use in our daily lives. As an alternative, bio-refineries that transform biomass into biofuels and primary chemicals are emerging. Actually, many wastes are not fully recycled. For instance, potato peel is a cheap residue available from the potato industry. Up to now, potato peel has been used mostly for livestock feeding. Here, potato peel waste was subjected to direct acid liquefaction at 160 °C in 2-ethylhexanol and diethylene glycol using p-toluene sulfonic acid as catalyst. The product was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, chemical analysis, hydroxyl number and acid value. Results show that liquefaction was achieved in yields higher than 80%. The reactional profile shows two time zones, one comprising the process of liquefaction and one corresponding to the process of decomposition. Kinetics indicate that the liquefaction process occurs 1.9 times faster than the decomposition process. Overall, our findings show for the first time that, despite the water content, potato peel waste can be used to produce bio-oil. The products can be further used as fuels or refined chemicals such as levulinic acid, furfural, 5-hydroxyfurfural, dimethyl furfural and sugars in fermentation processes.     

Composition analysis of dental solid waste in Brazil

When developing proper waste management strategies, it is essential to characterize the volume and composition of solid waste. The aim of this work was to evaluate the composition of dental waste produced by three dental health services in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Two universities, one public and one private, and one public dental health service were selected. Waste collection took place from March to November 2007. During this period, three samples were collected from each dental health service. The total amount of dental waste produced in one day of dental work was manually separated into three categories: infectious and potentially infectious waste, accounting for 24.3% of the total waste; non-infectious waste, accounting for 48.1%; and domestic-type waste, accounting for 27.6% (percentages are for mean weights of solid waste). Our results showed that most of the waste considered as biomedical may be misclassified, consequently making the infectious waste amount appear much larger. In addition, our results suggest that the best waste minimization method is recycling, and they help to define an appropriate waste management system in all three of the dental health services involved in this study.     

Xenobiotics removal by adsorption in the context of tertiary treatment: a mini review

Many xenobiotics, including several pharmaceuticals and pesticides, are poorly treated in domestic wastewater treatment plants. Adsorption processes, such as with activated carbons, could be a solution to curb their discharge into the aquatic environment. As adsorbent-like activated carbon is known to be expensive, identifying promising alternative adsorbent materials is a key challenge for efficient yet affordable xenobiotic removal from wastewaters. As part of the effort to address this challenge, we surveyed the literature on pharmaceutical and pesticide xenobiotics and built a database compiling data from 38 scientific publications covering 65 xenobiotics and 58 materials. Special focus was given to the relevance and comparability of the data to the characteristics of the adsorbent materials used and to the operating conditions of the batch tests inventoried. This paper gives an in-depth overview of the adsorption capacities of various adsorbents. The little data on alternative adsorbent materials, especially for the adsorption of pharmaceuticals, makes it difficult to single out any one activated carbon alternative capable of adsorbing pesticides and pharmaceuticals at the tertiary stage of treatment. There is a pressing need for further lab-scale experiments to investigate the tertiary treatment of discharged effluents. We conclude with recommendations on how future data should best be used and interpreted.     

Effect of dung deposition on small-scale patch structure and seasonal vegetation dynamics in mountain pastures

Cattle activity greatly influences plant species composition and biomass production of grassland ecosystems. Dung deposition by cattle together with grazing and trampling can be considered as one of the important factors driving vegetation dynamics in pastures. The objective of this study was to investigate at 10-cm and 1-month resolution the plant community dynamics induced by dung deposition in two plant communities (a mesotrophic and an oligotrophic grassland) in a pasture of the Swiss Jura Mountains. Vegetation was sampled four or three times during the vegetation period in contiguous 10 cm × 10 cm quadrats from the centre of the dung pat to a distance of 60 cm. A lower grazing intensity near the dung pat was recorded for all observation periods. In the mesotrophic grassland the canopy was higher near the dung pat already one week after dung deposition. Vegetation around dung pats was submitted to two opposite fertilizing and grazing gradients, which induced changes in vegetation texture and structure at fine scale and short term. We observed a positive rank correlation between species turnover and distance to the dung for both communities, suggesting a seasonal stabilizing effect of dung on the plant composition of their direct surroundings (0–10 cm) likely due to cattle avoidance. Since dung pats are dropped every year in different locations, they create in the pasture a shifting mosaic of nutrient availability and grazing intensity inducing at seasonal scale micro-successions in plant communities.     

Microbial fuel cell-induced production of fungal laccase to degrade the anthraquinone dye Remazol Brilliant Blue R

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The anthraquinone dye Remazol Brilliant Blue R is largely used in the textile industry. However, its removal from wastewaters is costly and complex. Many methods...