An integrative analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression in the brains of Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice after real-world PM2.5 exposure

Fine particulatematter (PM2.5) is associated with increased risks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD),yet the toxicologicalmechanisms of PM2.5 promoting AD remain unclear. In this study,wildtype and APP/PS1 transgenic mice (AD mice) were exposed to either filtered air (FA) or PM2.5 for eight weeks with a real-world exposure system in Taiyuan, China (mean PM2.5 concentration in the cage was 61 μg/m3). We found that PM2.5 exposure could remarkably aggravate AD mice’s ethological and brain ultrastructural damage, along with the elevation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α), Aβ-42 and AChE levels and the decline of ChAT levels in the brains. Based on high-throughput sequencing results, some differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs and DE miRNAs in the brains of AD mice after PM2.5 exposure were screened.Using RT-qPCR, seven DEmiRNAs (mmu-miR-193b-5p, 122b-5p, 466h-3p, 10b-5p, 1895, 384–5p, and 6412) and six genes (Pcdhgb8, Unc13b, Robo3, Prph, Pter, and Tbata) were evidenced the and verified. Two miRNA-target gene pairs (miR-125b-Pcdhgb8 pair and miR-466h-3p-IL-17Rα/TGF-βR2/Aβ-42/AChE pairs) were demonstrated that they were more related to PM2.5-induced brain injury. Results of Gene Ontology (GO) pathways and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways predicted that synaptic and postsynaptic regulation, axon guidance, Wnt, MAPK, and mTOR pathways might be the possible regulatory mechanisms associated with pathological response. These revealed that PM2.5- elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and PM2.5-altered neurotransmitter levels in AD mice could be the important causes of brain damage and proposed the promising miRNA andmRNA biomarkers and potentialmiRNA-mRNA interaction networks of PM2.5-promoted AD.     

鄱阳湖典型湿地土壤-植物系统重金属沿湖向富集及迁移转换特征分析

特殊的水文节律导致鄱阳湖形成面积较大的周期性环湖消落带,大量的营养物质和污染物极易在消落带中发生沉积,选择鄱阳湖典型河口型消落带,沿湖向按照不同植被类型设置采样断面,采集土壤-沉积物和优势植物样品(不同组织),分析不同时空下土壤/沉积物和优势植物体中重金属(Cr、 Ni、 Cu、 Zn、 As、 Cd、 Sb和Pb)的含量特征及富集水平,并进一步分析土壤-植物系统中重金属的迁移转换特征,揭示鄱阳湖典型消落带土壤-植物系统重金属迁移转换的影响因素.结果表明,消落带土壤/沉积物重金属含量沿湖向表现为明显的分布规律,呈现为先升高后降低的分布特征,即季节性淹水带土壤/沉积物是重金属富集的主要地带,Cu、 Pb和Sb在土壤/沉积物中的富集水平较高,其中Cu和Sb为显著富集(EF>5);潜在生态风险结果表明季节性淹水带总体处于轻度生态危害水平(70≤RI<140),显著高于淹水带和未淹水带.消落带沿湖向带状分布的优势植物体中重金属含量并未表现出显著的空间分布特征,但表现为显著的季节差异,生长季(4月)优势植物体内重金属具有较高的含量水平,重金属不同介质和组织的分配大体遵循基质>根...     

不同性质硅肥影响土壤生物有效态镉砷的主要因素

为研究硅肥影响土壤中生物有效态镉(Cd)和砷(As)的主要因素,选择不同性质的3种碱性硅肥[Na₂SiO₃、 CaSiO₃与ASSF (pH 9～11)]和一种弱酸偏中性可溶硅肥(NSSF,pH 5～6)并通过添加不同用量硅肥(25～800 mg·kg^-1,以Si计)开展室内土盆试验,淹水共育21 d后对土壤基本理化性质进行检测,同时利用薄膜扩散梯度(DGT)提取土壤生物有效态Cd和As.结果表明,不同性质硅肥施用对土壤基本理化性质的影响差异显著,具体来说：3种碱性硅肥均显著提升土壤pH值(P<0.05),其中Na₂SiO₃提升土壤pH能力最强;而NSSF的施用则显著降低土壤pH值但提升了土壤Eh值(P<0.05),每单位质量(mg) Si添加量的NSSF可使土壤pH下降0.001 7个单位;在Si添加量达到400 mg·kg^-1后,3种碱性硅肥和NSSF土壤pH和Eh变化都趋于平缓. 4种不同性质硅肥提升土壤有效硅含量能...     

ASD-ICP-MS联合快速测定《土壤环境质量标准》中的金属元素简

采用HNO3-HCl-HF-HClO4体系在全自动消解仪消解土壤样品,以50.0μg/L的Rh作内标,用电感耦合等离子体-质谱仪同时测定《土壤环境质量标准》的7种元素Cd、 As、Cu、 Pb、 Cr、 Zn、 Ni。结果表明,土壤标样的测定值与标准值吻合,各元素对应的检出限和相对标准偏差分别为： Cd：0.002 mg/kg和3.6%, As：0.05 mg/kg和5.5%, Cu：0.10 mg/kg和2.9%, Pb：0.18 mg/kg和4.7%, Cr：0.25 mg/kg和2.2%, Zn：0.40 mg/kg和3.4%, Ni：0.20 mg/kg和3.8%。该方法简便快捷,灵敏度高,重现性好。     

Evaluation of efficiency of aircraft liquid waste treatment and identification of daily inspection indices: a case study in Changchun, China

Evaluation of the efficiency of aircraft liquid waste treatment has previously been conducted to prevent pollution of the environment. The current study aimed to provide a set of practical methods for efficient airport sanitary supervision. Aircraft liquid waste was collected at Longjia International Airport, Changchun from multiple flights. The efficiency of liquid waste treatment as well as the water quality of the wastewater processed via a second-stage wastewater facility were examined by measuring a number of physical, chemical, and biological indices. Our results indicated that treatment solely via resolvable sanitizing liquid was not sufficient. Although the contents of first-class pollutants all met the requirements of the standard criteria, the contents of a number of second-class pollutants did not satisfy these criteria. However, after further treatment via a second-stage wastewater facility installed at the airport, all indices reached second-grade requirements of the discharge standard. We suggest that daily inspection and quarantine indices at airports should include the suspension content, biological oxygen demands after 5 days, chemical oxygen demand total organic carbon content, amino nitrogen content, total phosphorous content, and the level of fecal coliforms.     

二氧化氯在医院含菌废水处理中的应用

二氧化氯混合消毒剂是新一代广谱高效消毒剂,消毒能力是次氯的3～5倍.二氧化氯发生器性能安全可靠,运行稳定,操作方便,对人体无不良作用.介绍了二氧化氯混合消毒剂在中国长城铝业公司职工医院含菌废水处理的应用实例.     

Copper leaching of MSWI bottom ash co-disposed with refuse: Effect of short-term accelerated weathering

Co-disposal of refuse with municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) bottom ash (IBA) either multi-layered as landfill cover or mixed with refuse could pose additional risk to the environment because of enhanced leaching of heavy metals, especially Cu. This study applied short-term accelerated weathering to IBA, and monitored the mineralogical and chemical properties of IBA during the weathering process. Cu extractability of the weathered IBA was then evaluated using standard leaching protocols (i.e. SPLP and TCLP) and co-disposal leaching procedure. The results showed that weathering had little or no beneficial effect on Cu leaching in SPLP and TCLP, which can be explained by the adsorption and complexation of Cu with DOM. However, the Cu leaching of weathered IBA was reduced significantly when situated in fresh simulated landfill leachate. This was attributed to weakening Cu complexation with fulvic acid or hydrophilic fractions and/or intensifying Cu absorption to neoformed hydr(oxide) minerals in weathered IBA. The amount of total leaching Cu and Cu in free or labile complex fraction (the fraction with the highest mobility and bio-toxicity) of the 408-h weathered IBA were remarkably decreased by 86.3% and 97.6% in the 15-day co-disposal leaching test. Accelerated weathering of IBA may be an effective pretreatment method to decrease Cu leaching prior to its co-disposal with refuse.     

Methyl Tertiary Hexyl Ether and Methyl Tertiary Octyl Ether as Gasoline Oxygenates: Assessing Risks from Atmospheric Dispersion and Deposition

Abstract

Methyl tertiary hexyl ether (MtHxE) and methyl tertiary octyl ether (MtOcE) are currently being developed as replacement oxygenates for methyl tertiary butyl ether (MtBE) in gasoline. As was the case with MtBE, the introduction of these ethers into fuel supplies guarantees their introduction into the environment as well. In this study, a screening-level risk assessment was performed by comparing predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) of these ethers to concentrations that might cause adverse effects to humans or ecosystems. A simple box model that has successfully estimated urban air concentrations of MtBE was adapted to predict atmospheric concentrations of MtHxE and MtOcE. Expected atmospheric concentrations of these ethers were also estimated using the European Union System for the Evaluation of Substances (EUSES) multimedia fate model, which simultaneously calculates PECs in the various environmental compartments of air, water, soil, and sediment. Because little or no data are available on the physicochemical, environmental, and toxicological properties of MtHxE and MtOcE, estimation methods were used in conjunction with EUSES to predict both the PECs and the concentrations at which these ethers might pose a threat. The results suggest that these ethers would contaminate the air of a moderately sized U.S. city (Boston, MA) at levels similar to those found previously for MtBE. The risk assessment module in EUSES predicted risk characterization ratios of 10^?3 and 10^?2 for MtHxE and MtOcE, respectively, in Boston, and 10^?2 and 10^?1 in very large urban centers, suggesting that these ethers pose only a minimal threat to ecosystems at the anticipated environmental concentrations. The assessment also indicates that these compounds are possible human carcinogens and that they may be present in urban air at concentrations that pose an unacceptable cancer risk. Therefore, testing of the toxicological properties of these compounds is recommended before they replace MtBE in gasoline.