Fermentative hydrogen production from beet sugar factory wastewater treatment in a continuous stirred tank reactor using anaerobic mixed consortia

A low pH, ethanol-type fermentation process was evaluated for wastewater treatment and bio-hydrogen production from acidic beet sugar factory wastewater in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with an effective volume of 9.6 L by anaerobic mixed cultures in this present study. After inoculating with aerobic activated sludge and operating at organic loading rate (OLR) of 12 kgCOD?m^-3·d^-1, HRT of 8h, and temperature of 35°C for 28 days, the CSTR achieved stable ethanol-type fermentation. When OLR was further increased to 18 kgCOD?m^-3·d^-1 on the 53rd day, ethanol-type fermentation dominant microflora was enhanced. The liquid fermentation products, including volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and ethanol, stabilized at 1493 mg·L^-1 in the bioreactor. Effluent pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and alkalinity ranged at 4.1–4.5, -250–(-290) mV, and 230–260 mgCaCO₃?L^-1. The specific hydrogen production rate of anaerobic activated sludge was 0.1 L?gMLVSS^-1·d^-1 and the COD removal efficiency was 45%. The experimental results showed that the CSTR system had good operation stability and microbial activity, which led to high substrate conversion rate and hydrogen production ability.     

Crystalline mesoporous transition metal oxides: hard-templating synthesis and application in environmental catalysis

Mesoporous silicas such as MCM-41 and SBA-15 possess high surface areas, ordered nanopores, and excellent thermal stability, and have been often used as catalyst supports. Although mesoporous metal oxides have lower surface areas compared to mesoporous silicas, they generally have more diversified functionalities. Mesoporous metal oxides can be synthesized via a soft-templating or hard-templating approach, and these materials have recently found some applications in environmental catalysis, such as CO oxidation, N₂O decomposition, and elimination of organic pollutants. In this review, we summarize the synthesis of mesoporous transition metal oxides using mesoporous silicas as hard templates, highlight the application of these materials in environmental catalysis, and furnish some prospects for future development.     

Arsenic-induced health crisis in peri-urban Moyna and Ardebok villages, West Bengal, India: an exposure assessment study

Drinking of arsenic (As)-contaminated groundwater has adverse effects on health of millions of people worldwide. This study aimed to determine the degree of severity of As exposure from drinking water in peri-urban Moyna and Ardebok villages, West Bengal, India. Arsenic concentrations in hair, nail and urine samp les of the individuals were determined. Arsenical dermatosis, keratosis and melanosis were investigated through medical evaluation. We have evaluated the association between As exposure from drinking water, and keratosis and melanosis outcomes. The results showed that 82.7?% of the sampled tube wells contain As concentrations above 10?μg/L, while 57.7?% contain As concentrations above 50?μg/L. The hair, nail and urine As concentrations were positively correlated with As concentrations in drinking water. In our study population, we observed a strong association between As concentrations ranging 51-99?μg/L and keratosis and melanosis outcomes, although the probability decreases at higher concentration ranges perhaps due to switching away from the use of As-contaminated tube wells for drinking and cooking purposes. High As concentrations in hair, nail and urine were observed to be associated with the age of the study population. The level of As concentrations in hair, nail and urine samples of the study population indicated the degree of severity of As exposure in the study region.     

Ecological drivers of group living in two populations of the communally rearing rodent, Octodon degus

Intraspecific variation in sociality is thought to reflect a trade-off between current fitness benefits and costs that emerge from individuals' decision to join or leave groups. Since those benefits and costs may be influenced by ecological conditions, ecological variation remains a major, ultimate cause of intraspecific variation in sociality. Intraspecific comparisons of mammalian sociality across populations facing different environmental conditions have not provided a consistent relationship between ecological variation and group-living. Thus, we studied two populations of the communally rearing rodent Octodon degus to determine how co-variation between sociality and ecology supports alternative ecological causes of group living. In particular, we examined how variables linked to predation risk, thermal conditions, burrowing costs, and food availability predicted temporal and population variation in sociality. Our study revealed population and temporal variation in total group size and group composition that covaried with population and yearly differences in ecology. In particular, predation risk and burrowing costs are supported as drivers of this social variation in degus. Thermal differences, food quantity and quality were not significant predictors of social group size. In contrast to between populations, social variation within populations was largely uncoupled from ecological differences.     

三唑酮对大型溞21天慢性毒性效应

三唑类杀菌剂是一种在农业上广泛应用的广谱性杀菌剂.三唑类杀菌剂在农田施用后能够向土壤深处迁移和扩散,从而污染土壤和地下水体,因此三唑类杀菌剂对土壤生态环境能够造成一定的破坏.选择三唑酮为研究对象,参照经济合作与发展组织(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop...     

Tolerance of the black soldier fly,Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) to pH value,pungency, and NaCl in foodstuffs北大核心CSCD

The black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens, has been considered impressive as a saprophagous insect, for its high ability to convert organic waste to insect protein and oil. Hence, it has been regarded by the municipal administration that BSF might be used as a medium to deal with food waste. However, food waste in China has been characterized as having a high salt content, oily, and very spicy, which usually renders them unsuitable for animal feeding. In order to assess the technological reliability for BSF conversion of food waste, the tolerance of BSF for pH values, pungency, and NaCl in food were investigated in this case. Results indicated that strong acidity (pH = 3) was not good for the development of BSF, demonstrating less body weight and eclosion failure. In contrast, strong basicity (pH = 11) seemed to be beneficial for larval development with high biomass, and there is no difference in pupation, eclosion, larval biomass, and livability for BSF for pH values between 5 and 11. With regards to salinity, liner correlations were observed; the salinity strength increased along with the extension of the larval phase, but body weight, pupation rate, emerging rate, and livability were still consistent under 6% density of salinity. Influence of pungency on BSF larvae has not yet been found. In conclusion, BSF showed a high tolerance to pH value, pungency, and salinity in foodstuffs. Hence, it is expected that food waste from common environments might have a lesser possibility to cause negative effects on BSF development, which could be good news for BSF conversion technology. As for the process design, the conclusion suggested that food waste optimum for BSF is expected to be alkaline and low-salt, which would be helpful to improve the efficiency and harvest. © 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.     

Species diversity variation of Cupressus funebris secondary forest in landslide site after 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake北大核心CSCD

The characteristics of species diversity in Cupressus funebris secondary forest under the effect of geological hazard were explored by selecting the typical landslide surface of Fenghuang Mountain, Leigu Town, Beichuan County, which was derived from the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake. The results showed that 93 species belonged to 42 families, and 78 genera were found in the landslide area, where the main families were Compositae, Leguminosae, and Gramineae-based. Further, 97 species in the transition area belonged to 39 families and 80 genera, and the main families were Compositae, Gramineae, and Rosaceae-based. In all, 108 species were recorded in the non-landslide area, which belonged to 59 families and 92 genera, the main families of which were Compositae, Rosaceae, and Gramineae-based. Compositae and Gramineae played important roles in the landslide recovery process after earthquake. The Pielou index (JSW) was the highest in the non-landslide area of the herb layer, whereas the richness index (D) was the lowest; the Shannon-Wiener index (H) and Simpson index (H') showed medium values. In the non-landslide area, the D, H, and H' were the highest in the shrub layer, whereas the JSW was the lowest. Further, the species diversity index of the transitional area was higher than that of the landslide area. In the tree layer, the D and H were both the highest and lowest in the landslide area and transition area, respectively. In contrast, the H' and JSW were the highest in the transition area and the lowest in the non-landslide area. The distribution of vegetation was generally consistent with the distribution of soil nutrients in the spatial distribution of surface soil nutrients. The succession of trees in the landslide area was relatively slow and at the initial stage, and the pioneer species were Coriaria nepalensis, Leptopus chinensis, and Arthraxon lanceolatus in this area. Taken together, the findings suggested that the stability of a plant community can be increased by improving the soil and stabilizing the slope. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

The interaction of heat shock proteins and some components of plant viruses北大核心CSCD

Considerable research has indicated that heat shock proteins (Hsp), as molecular chaperones, carry out many biological activities of plant viruses by folding, transporting, translocating, assembling, or degrading client proteins. It is fundamental to develop resistant plant varieties and novel anti-viral agents by determining the interaction mechanisms between plant viruses and hosts. In this study, we first reviewed the classification, gene and protein structure, and biological significances. We then analyzed the assembling mechanism of Hsp70 or Hsp90, plant host cofactors, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerases in a viral replicase complex, and the mechanism of interaction and subcellular localization between Hsp70 and some plant virus components. We highlighted the mechanism of interaction and movement between Hsp70 and some plant virus components and the effect of Hsp expression of plant hosts or viruses. The results indicated where the mechanism occurred, the participating factors, energy supply, and material conversion between Hsps and the plant virus components for the course of the intracellular movement, local movement between cells, and long-distance movement, and showed the Hsp type specificity and the law of dynamic Hsp expression in plant hosts infected by viruses. The studies mainly focused on the two Hsp factors and the plant viral components, indicating limited coordination mechanisms among many nucleic acids, proteins, and polysaccharides in macromolecular protein complexes (MRC). Future research should analyze the translocation mechanism between client proteins and Hsps, the coordination mechanism between Hsps and MRC components, and the relation between MRC and the plant tissue structure. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

2种类型多壁碳纳米管对蛋白核小球藻的毒理研究

碳纳米材料由于其具有优异的性能,得以广泛生产和使用,其不可避免会进入水环境中,对水生生态系统造成潜在影响。多壁碳纳米管(P-MWCNTs)和羟基化多壁碳纳米管(MWCNTs-OH)作为纳米材料的典型代表,应用非常广泛,其潜在的环境效应受到人们越来越多的关注。为此,本文以蛋白核小球藻(Chlorella pyrenoidosa)作为受试生物,通过暴露实验,研究了P-MWCNTs和MWCNTs-OH对蛋白核小球藻的生物学效应。研究结果表明：1)当P-MWCNTs浓度≤10 mg·L-1、MWCNTs-OH≤20 mg·L-1浓度时对蛋白核小球藻生长未造成影响;2)暴露96 h后,当P-MWCNTs≤10 mg·L-1、MWCNTs-OH浓度≤20 mg·L-1时,蛋白核小球藻细胞可溶性蛋白质含量增加,当P-MWCNTs浓度≥20 mg·L-1、MWCNTs-OH浓度≥40 mg·L-1时,2种类型MWCNTs均对蛋白核小球藻造成毒性效应;3)随着2种类型MWCNTs浓度的增加,蛋白核小球藻细胞总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)值减少,蛋白核小球藻细胞丙二醛(MDA)含量显著增加,细胞的健康程度逐渐恶化,细胞结构受到严重损伤;4)MWCNTs-OH比P-MWCNTs具有更好的生物相容性。