Validation of Bacteroidales-based microbial source tracking markers for pig fecal pollution and their application in two rivers of North China

• Pig feces is the predominant excrement produced by animal husbandry in China. • The PF, Pig-1-Bac^TaqMan, and Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan MST assays showed better performance. • The pig-specific MST assays can contribute to managing the pig fecal pollution. In China, pig feces is the predominant source of excrement produced by animal husbandry. Improper use or direct discharge of pig feces can result in contamination of natural water systems. Microbial source tracking (MST) technology can identify the sources of fecal pollution in environmental water, and contribute to the management of pig fecal pollution by local environmental protection agencies. However, the accuracy of such assays can be context-dependent, and they have not been comprehensively evaluated under Chinese conditions. We aimed to compare the performance of five previously reported pig-specific MST assays (PF, Pig-Bac1^SYBR, Pig-Bac2^SYBR, Pig-1-Bac^TaqMan, and Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan, which are based on Bacteroidales 16S rRNA gene markers) and apply them in two rivers of North China. We collected a total of 173 fecal samples from pigs, cows, goats, chickens, humans, and horses across China. The PF assay optimized in this study showed outstanding qualitative performance and achieved 100% specificity and sensitivity. However, the two SYBR green qPCR assays (Pig-Bac1^SYBR and Pig-Bac2^SYBR) cross-reacted with most non-pig fecal samples. In contrast, both the Pig-1-Bac^TaqMan and Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan assays gave 100% specificity and sensitivity. Of these, the Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan assay showed higher reproducibility. Our results regarding the specificity of these pig-specific MST assays differ from those reported in Thailand, Japan, and America. Using the PF and Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan assays, a field test comparing the levels of pig fecal pollution in rivers near a pig farm before and after comprehensive environmental pollution governance indicated that pig fecal pollution was effectively controlled at this location.     

Manganese-modified biochar for highly efficient sorption of cadmium

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, corn stalk was modified by manganese (Mn) before (MBC1) and after (MBC2) pyrolysis at different temperatures (400~600 °C)...     

Functional wastepaper-montmorillonite composite aerogel for Cd2+ adsorption

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, a composite aerogel (WP-MMT) composed of wastepaper (WP) and montmorillonite (MMT) was prepared by ambient pressure drying technology...     

Robust Regression with Data-Dependent Regularization Parameters and Autoregressive Temporal Correlations

We introduce robust procedures for analyzing water quality data collected over time. One challenging task in analyzing such data is how to achieve robustness in presence of outliers while maintaining high estimation efficiency so that we can draw valid conclusions and provide useful advices in water management. The robust approach requires specification of a loss function such as the Huber, Tukey’s bisquare and the exponential loss function, and an associated tuning parameter determining the extent of robustness needed. High robustness is at the cost of efficiency loss in parameter loss. To this end, we propose a data-driven method which leads to more efficient parameter estimation. This data-dependent approach allows us to choose a regularization (tuning) parameter that depends on the proportion of “outliers” in the data so that estimation efficiency is maximized. We illustrate the proposed methods using a study on ammonium nitrogen concentrations from two sites in the Huaihe River in China, where the interest is in quantifying the trend in the most recent years while accounting for possible temporal correlations and “irregular” observations in earlier years.     

Nutrients Availability Shapes Fungal Community Composition and Diversity in the Rare Earth Mine Tailings of Southern Jiangxi,China

Russian Journal of Ecology - The present study characterized the nutrients availability of three rare earth tailings deserted in different time stages in Southern Jiangxi of China, and revealed the...     

Analysis of 3-year observations of CFC-11, CFC-12 and CFC-113 from a semi-rural site in China

In-situ measurements of atmospheric chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can be used to the assess their global and regional emissions and to check for compliance with phase-out schedules under Montreal protocol and its amendments. The atmospheric mixing ratios of CFC-11 (CCl₃F), CFC-12 (CCl₂F₂) and CFC-113 (CCl₂F–CClF₂) have been measured by an automated in-situ GC-ECDs system at the regional Chinese Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station Shangdianzi (SDZ), from November 2006 to October 2009. The time series for these three principal CFCs showed large episodic events and background conditions occurred for approximately 30% (CFC-11), 52% (CFC-12) and 56% (CFC-113) of the measurements. The mean background mixing ratios for CFC-11, CFC-12 and CFC-113 were 244.8 ppt (parts per trillion, 10^?12, molar) 539.6 ppt and 76.8 ppt, respectively, for 2006–2009. The enhanced CFC mixing ratios compared to AGAGE sites such as Trinidad Head (THD), US and Mace Head (MHD), Ireland suggest regional influences even during background conditions at SDZ, which is much closer to highly-populated areas. Between 2006 and 2009 background CFCs exhibited downward trends at rates of ?2.0 ppt yr^?1 for CFC-11, ?2.5 ppt yr^?1 for CFC-12 and ?0.7 ppt yr^?1 for CFC-113. De-trended 3-year average background seasonal cycles displayed small fluctuations with peak-to-trough amplitudes of 1.0 ± 0.02 ppt (0.4%) for background CFC-11, 1.3 ± 2.1 ppt (0.3%) for CFC-12 and 0.2 ± 0.4 ppt (0.3%) for CFC-113. On the other hand, during pollution periods these CFCs showed much larger seasonal cycles of 11.2 ± 10.7 ppt (5%) for CFC-11, 7.5 ± 6.5 ppt (2%) for CFC-12 and 1.0 ± 1.2 ppt (1.2%) for CFC-113, with apparent winter minima and early summer maxima. This enhancement was attributed to prevailing wind directions from urban regions in summer and to enhanced anthropogenic sources during the warm season. In general, horizontal winds from northeast showed negative contribution to atmospheric CFCs loading, whereas South Western advection (urban sector: Beijing) had positive contributions.     

Emission factors and particulate matter size distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from residential coal combustions in rural Northern China

Coal consumption is one important contributor to energy production, and is regarded as one of the most important sources of air pollutants that have considerable impacts on human health and climate change. Emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from coal combustion were studied in a typical stove. Emission factors (EFs) of 16 EPA priority PAHs from tested coals ranged from 6.25 ± 1.16 mg kg^?1 (anthracite) to 253 ± 170 mg kg^?1 (bituminous), with NAP and PHE dominated in gaseous and particulate phases, respectively. Size distributions of particulate phase PAHs from tested coals showed that they were mostly associated with particulate matter (PM) with size either between 0.7 and 2.1 μm or less than 0.4 μm (PM_0.4). In the latter category, not only were more PAHs present in PM_0.4, but also contained higher fractions of high molecular weight PAHs. Generally, there were more than 89% of total particulate phase PAHs associated with PM_2.5. Gas-particle partitioning of freshly emitted PAHs from residential coal combustions were thought to be mainly controlled by absorption rather than adsorption, which is similar to those from other sources. Besides, the influence of fuel properties and combustion conditions was further investigated by using stepwise regression analysis, which indicated that almost 57 ± 10% of total variations in PAH EFs can be accounted for by moisture and volatile matter content of coal in residential combustion.     

PEM式臭氧消毒在地上游泳池水处理中的应用

采用臭氧法水处理系统对地上游泳池的循环水进行灭菌消毒,研究了臭氧用量、循环水流量和运行时间等因素对臭氧法灭菌效果的影响。结果表明,3组PEM臭氧发生器应用于21.2 m3的地上游泳池,在4 m3/h的循环水流量下运行12 h后,水中的细菌总数与大肠杆菌群数达到国家标准,去除率均在99%以上。与盐电解法水处理系统相比较,臭氧法水处理系统的优势在于:杀菌快速高效、出水水质的理化指标较好和运行费用低廉。     

丁酸胁迫对产氢污泥以厨余为底物的产氢影响

采用丁酸对产氢污泥进行胁迫处理,经胁迫后的污泥接种厨余垃圾进行产氢实验,考察丁酸胁迫对提高产氢性能的影响。结果表明,低浓度胁迫能提高产氢污泥的耐丁酸性,从而提高产氢量,而胁迫浓度过高则抑制产氢污泥活性,胁迫浓度呈"horm esis"效应。实验采用的4 g/L胁迫浓度为最佳,反应结束后,丁酸浓度和产氢量分别为8 417.1 mg/L和63.72 mL/g VS,比空白提高了31.3%和114%。产氢过程中SCOD的主要来源是有机酸。对产氢污泥胞外多聚物(EPS)的测定表明,厨余垃圾酸化速率、氢气产生速率和EPS总量成正相关。     

地下渗滤系统处理农村生活污水的研究

在天津武清区一村落构建了2个并行的地下渗滤系统,考察了其对农村生活污水的处理效果。该系统水力负荷为10 cm/d,处理能力为50 t/d。填充介质选用土壤、陶粒、炉渣和两种自然有机质,按5∶2∶2∶1的比例配置的人工土层。结果表明地下渗滤系统对污水中各种主要污染因子均有一定的去除效果,在进水COD和C/N较低的不利条件下,COD、总磷、氨氮、总氮、悬浮物均得到有效去除,出水中各项污染指标平均浓度均达到《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准》中的一级A标准;具体到不同的污染指标,添加了不同有机质的2个并行系统的处理效果也有所不同。总体上看,地下渗滤系统作为农村生活污水的处理设施有很好的应用前景。