Use of ATP Readings to Predict a Successful Hygiene Intervention in the Workplace to Reduce the Spread of Viruses on Fomites

The purpose of this study was to validate the use of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for evaluating hygiene intervention effectiveness in reducing viral dissemination in an office environment. The bacterial virus MS-2 was used to evaluate two scenarios, one where the hand of an individual was contaminated and another where a fomite was contaminated. MS-2 was selected as a model because its shape and size are similar to many human pathogenic viruses. Two separate experiments were conducted, one in which the entrance door push plate was inoculated and the other in which the hand of one selected employee was inoculated. In both scenarios, 54 selected surfaces in the office were tested to assess the dissemination of the virus within the office. Associated surface contamination was also measured employing an ATP meter. More than half of the tested hands and surfaces in the office were contaminated with MS-2 within 4 h. Next, an intervention was conducted, and each scenario was repeated. Half of the participating employees were provided hand sanitizer, facial tissues, and disinfecting wipes, and were instructed in their use. A significant (p < 0.05) reduction was observed in the number of surfaces contaminated with virus. This reduction in viral spread was evident from the results of both viral culture and the surface ATP measurements, although there was no direct correlation between ATP measurements with respect to viral concentration. Although ATP does not measure viruses, these results demonstrate that ATP measurements could be useful for evaluating the effectiveness of hygiene interventions aimed at preventing viral spread in the workplace.     

Use of Preservative Agents and Antibiotics for Increased Poliovirus Survival on Positively Charged Filters

Environmental surveillance of poliovirus (PV) and other non-enveloped viruses can help identify silent circulation and is necessary to certify eradication. The bag-mediated filtration system is an efficient method to filter large volumes of environmental waters at field sites for monitoring the presence of viruses. As filters may require long transit times to off-site laboratories for processing, viral inactivation or overgrowth of bacteria and fungi can interfere with virus detection and quantification (Miki and Jacquet in Aquatic Microb Ecol 51(2):195–208, 2008). To evaluate virus survival over time on ViroCap^? filters, the filters were seeded with PV type 1 (PV1) and/or MS2 and then dosed with preservatives or antibiotics prior to storage and elution. These filters were stored at various temperatures and time periods, and then eluted for PV1 and MS2 recovery quantification. Filters dosed with the preservative combination of 2% sodium benzoate and 0.2% calcium propionate had increased virus survival over time when stored at 25 °C, compared to samples stored at 25 °C with no preservatives. While elution within 24 h of filtration is recommended, if storage or shipping is required then this preservative mixture can help preserve sample integrity. Addition of an antibiotic cocktail containing cephapirin, gentamicin, and Proclin^? 300 increased recovery after storage at 4 and 25 °C, when compared to storage with no antibiotics. The antibiotic cocktail can aid sample preservation if access to appropriate antibiotics storage is available and sample cold chain is unreliable. This study demonstrated that the use of preservatives or antibiotics is a simple, cost-effective method to improve virus detection from ViroCap cartridge filters over time.     

生态高负荷土地快速渗滤系统处理猪场废水的效能及微生态

以经过厌氧反应器处理后的猪场废水为研究对象,探讨了新型生态高负荷土地快速渗滤系统对废水中COD、氨氮及总氮的去除情况;同时分析了该系统中的微生物群落结构以及过氧化氢酶、脲酶、硝酸盐还原酶的含量.结果表明,在水力负荷为11 cm·d~(-1)、进水COD为700 mg·L~(-1)左右的条件下,一级土地渗滤柱与二级土地渗滤柱对COD的去除率分别为78.8%与63.0%,总去除率达到了92.6%;而当水力负荷增大到22 cm·d~(-1)时,总的COD去除率仍在90.0%以上;该系统对于氨氮的去除更为显著,去除率可达99%左右.一级土地快速渗滤系统中上、中、下部的过氧化氢酶含量分别为1.899、0.990、0.323 m L·g~(-1),表明猪场废水中的有机物主要在该系统的上部与中部得以去除;二级土地快速渗滤系统上、中、下部的硝酸盐还原酶含量分别是3.453、3.831、1.971 m L·g~(-1),表明脱氮作用主要发生二级土地快速渗滤系统的上部与中部.该土地快速渗滤系统中微生物以Gram Negative与Gram Positive为主,特别是在二级土地快速渗滤系统中,AM Fungi与Actinomycetes占有一定比例,为猪场废水中难降解有机物的去除提供了保障.     

锌冶炼区耕地土壤和农作物重金属污染状况及风险评价

对贵州省某典型锌冶炼区耕地土壤和主要谷类农作物(稻米、玉米和小麦)进行取样调查,测定了土壤和谷类农作物中重金属Pb、Cd、Zn和Cu的含量,采用单因子污染指数和综合污染指数法评价了土壤和作物籽粒中重金属的污染状况,并分别采用潜在生态风险指数(RI)和危险商(HQ)法评价了土壤重金属污染的潜在生态风险程度和作物中重金属对成人和儿童的健康风险.结果表明:(1)冶炼区耕地土壤受到了重金属不同程度的污染,污染程度排序:玉米地水稻田小麦地,且CdCuZnPb,内梅罗综合污染指数分析结果表明,玉米地污染程度为重污染,水稻田和小麦地为轻污染,且均以Cd对综合指数的贡献最大;(2)土壤Cd存在极强生态风险,4种重金属潜在生态危害大小顺序为:CdPbCuZn;生态风险指数(RI)研究结果表明,研究区处于轻微、中等、强的和很强的生态风险程度的采样点比例分别为1.41%、21.1%、35.2%和42.3%.(3)冶炼区农作物稻米中重金属Pb、Cd、Zn、Cu的平均含量分别为0.145、0.017、16.97和2.704 mg·kg~(-1);玉米中重金属Pb、Cd、Zn、Cu的平均含量分别为0.094、0.055、26.81和4.464 mg·kg~(-1);小麦中重金属Pb、Cd、Zn、Cu的平均含量分别为0.048、0.085、35.37和5.426 mg·kg~(-1).(4)研究区稻米、玉米和小麦均存在重金属超标现象,重金属污染程度为小麦最重,稻米和玉米的污染程度相当,稻米和玉米污染等级均为安全,小麦处于警戒线.(5)各重金属元素每日摄入量均低于美国环保署的参考暴露剂量,安全性较好,但食用该区域谷类农作物引起复合重金属污染对成人和儿童均存在健康风险.(6)耕地土壤重金属含量与谷类农作物可食部分重金属含量间无明显相关性.     

正常污泥和膨胀污泥中EPS膜污染特性及其与膜表面作用能分析

胞外聚合物(Extracellular polymeric substance,EPS)是导致膜污染的重要物质,且不同形态污泥的EPS具有不同的性质,研究正常污泥和膨胀污泥的EPS膜污染特性具有重要意义.因此,实验考察了正常污泥和膨胀污泥的膜污染速率.结果表明,膨胀污泥膜污染速率远高于正常污泥,膨胀污泥EPS(Bulking sludge-EPS,BS-EPS)浓度((172.9±10.4) mg·g-1)明显高于正常污泥EPS(Normal sludge-EPS,NS-EPS)浓度((95.9±6 6) mg·g-1),且膨胀污泥的蛋白质/多糖(Protein/Carbohydrate,P/C)值(2.26)高于正常污泥的P/C值(1 97)此外,通过序批式吸附实验研究了正常污泥和膨胀污泥的EPS膜污染差异,并基于Derjaguine-Landaue-Verweye-Overbeek (XDLVO)理论计算了EPS与PVDF膜表面之间的作用能结果表明,EPS-膜系统的总界面能为负值,即EPS-膜系统之间会发生自吸附行为,而膜与BS-EPS的总界面能(-63.943mJ.m2)较膜与NS-EPS(-56.366 mJ·m2)具有较高的能量,因此,BS-EPS与膜的吸附力较强;NS-EPS和BS-EPS主要能量壁垒分别为8.89 kT和7.51 kT,表明NS-EPS与膜之间的排斥力更强,因而BS-EPS更容易造成膜污染     

海河流域重污染河流表层沉积物氨基酸组成特征

为探明子牙河水系沉积物氮的主要形态,采用柱前衍生反相高效液相色谱-同位素内标法研究了表层沉积物中20种氨基酸的形态及组成特征.结果表明:子牙河水系沉积物中有机氮是氮的主要存在形态,沉积物有机氮(SON)平均浓度为3114 mg·kg^-1,总水解氨基酸氮(THAAs-N)占SON的45.53%;蛋白类氨基酸氮是THAAs-N的主体,占THAAs-N的90.24%,为沉积物潜在释放氮及矿化氮的主体;子牙河水系表层沉积物氨基酸以甘氨酸(Gly)、脯氨酸(Pro)摩尔含量最高,分别占THAAs的14.70%、10.00 %;根据官能团类型分类,蛋白类氨基酸为主要类别,占THAAs的89.50%;蛋白类氨基酸以中性氨基酸为主,平均含量为THAAs的40.69%;亚氨基酸及非蛋白类氨基酸的含量差异性从侧面反映出水系河流污染物来源;采用Glu/γ-Aba及DI指数判断有机质的降解程度,结果显示子牙河水系大部分区域沉积物有机质降解程度较低.     

Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger

Pathogens exert a strong selection pressure on organisms to evolve effective immune defences. In addition to individual immunity, social organisms can act cooperatively to produce collective defences. In many ant species, queens have the option to found a colony alone or in groups with other, often unrelated, conspecifics. These associations are transient, usually lasting only as long as each queen benefits from the presence of others. In fact, once the first workers emerge, queens fight to the death for dominance. One potential advantage of co-founding may be that queens benefit from collective disease defences, such as mutual grooming, that act against common soil pathogens. We test this hypothesis by exposing single and co-founding queens to a fungal parasite, in order to assess whether queens in co-founding associations have improved survival. Surprisingly, co-foundresses exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium did not engage in cooperative disease defences, and consequently, we find no direct benefit of multiple queens on survival. However, an indirect benefit was observed, with parasite-exposed queens producing more brood when they co-founded, than when they were alone. We suggest this is due to a trade-off between reproduction and immunity. Additionally, we report an extraordinary ability of the queens to tolerate an infection for long periods after parasite exposure. Our study suggests that there are no social immunity benefits for co-founding ant queens, but that in parasite-rich environments, the presence of additional queens may nevertheless improve the chances of colony founding success.     

Adsorption of lead on multi-walled carbon nanotubes with different outer diameters and oxygen contents: Kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics

The effects of different outer diameters and surface oxygen contents on the adsorption of heavy metals onto six types of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were investigated in an aqueous solution and lead was chosen as a model metal ion. The results indicated that the percentage removal and adsorption capacity of lead remarkably increased with decreasing outer diameter due to larger specific surface area (SSA). The SSA-normalized maximum adsorption capacity (qm /SSA) and SSA-normalized adsorption coefficient (Kd /SSA) were strongly positively correlated with surface oxygen content, implying that lead adsorption onto MWCNTs significantly increases with the rise of oxygen content and decreases with decreasing SSA. The calculated thermodynamic parameters indicated that adsorption of lead on MWCNTs was endothermic and spontaneous. When the oxygen content of MWCNTs increased from 2.0% to 5.9%, the standard free energy (△ G0 ) became more negative, which implied that the oxygenated functional groups increased the adsorption affinity of MWCNTs for lead. Through calculation of enthalpy (△ H0 ), G0 and free energy of adsorption (Ea ), lead adsorption onto MWCNTs was recognized as a chemisorption process. The chemical interaction between lead and the phenolic groups of MWCNTs could be one of the main adsorption mechanisms due to highly positive correlations between the phenolic groups and K d /SSA or q m /SSA.