Influence of pH on the sonolysis of ciprofloxacin: Biodegradability, ecotoxicity and antibiotic activity of its degradation products

The presence of antibiotics in the aquatic environment has raised concerns due to the potential risk for the emergence or persistence of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics are often poorly degraded in conventional wastewater treatment plants. In this study, sonolysis at 520 kHz and 92 W L⁻¹ was used for the degradation of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin. In a first experiment at pH 7, 57% of the ciprofloxacin (15 mg L⁻¹) was degraded after 120 min of ultrasonic irradiation at 25 °C. pH proved to be an important parameter determining the degradation rate, since the pseudo first order degradation constant increased almost fourfold when comparing treatment at pH 7 (0.0058 min⁻¹) and pH 10 (0.0069 min⁻¹) with that at pH 3 (0.021 min⁻¹). This effect can be attributed to the degree of protonation of the ciprofloxacin molecule. The BOD/COD ratio of the solutions, which is a measure for their biodegradability, increased from 0.06 to 0.60, 0.17, and 0.18 after 120 min of irradiation depending on the pH (3, 7, and 10, respectively). The solution treated at pH 3 can even be considered readily biodegradable (BOD/COD > 0.4). The antibiotic activity against Escherichia coli (G−) and Bacillus coagulans (G+) of the treated solutions also reduced after sonolysis. The highest decrease was again found when irradiated at pH 3. In contrast, ecotoxicity of the solutions to the alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata increased 3- to 10-fold after 20 min of treatment, suggesting the formation of toxic degradation products. The toxicity slowly diminished during further treatment.     

Endosulfan induces changes in spontaneous swimming activity and acetylcholinesterase activity of Jenynsia multidentata (Anablepidae, Cyprinodontiformes)

We assessed changes in spontaneous swimming activity and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activity of Jenynsia multidentata exposed to Endosulfan (EDS). Females of J. multidentata were exposed to 0.072 and 1.4 μg L⁻¹ EDS. Average speed and movement percentage were recorded during 48 h. We also exposed females to EDS at five concentrations between 0.072 and 1.4 μg L⁻¹ during 24 h, and measured the AchE activity in brain and muscle. At 0.072 μg L⁻¹ EDS swimming motility decreased relative to the control group after 45 h, while at 1.4 μg L⁻¹ EDS swimming motility decreased after 24 h. AchE activity significantly decreased in muscle when J. multidentata were exposed to EDS above 0.072 μg L⁻¹, while no significant changes were observed in brain. Thus, changes in swimming activity and AchE activity in muscle are good biomarkers of exposure to EDS in J. multidentata.     

Change of Flood Patterns in China under the Influences of Climate Change and Human Activities

Based on the flood affected area （FA） data of the provinces in China from 1950 to 2005, the article discusses the change of the flood patterns in China, and investigates its relationship with climate change and human activities. The flood center shifted from North China and the Yangtze-Huaihe basin in the 1950s towards the south, north and west of China, and located in the south of the Yangtze River and South China after the 1990s. The FA in the western provinces was continuously on the rise since the 1950s. There are two characteristics for the future flood pattem in China. The pattern of ＂flood in the south and drought in the north＂ depends on the north-south shift of the maximum rainfall region in eastern China. The flood intensification to the west of Hu Huanyong＇s line mainly results from the increase of rainfall, extreme precipitation and the melting of glaciers under the background of human activity magnification.     

生物处理镉污染土壤及其酶活性研究

以添加镉的天津农田土壤为对象,分别设定空白处理、添加诺沃肥处理及生物强化处理(添加1株紫外线诱变工程菌和诺沃肥).研究土壤在不同pH、温度和含水率条件下可提取有效态镉(E-Cd)、过氧化氢酶及脲酶活性的变化情况.结果表明,添加诺沃肥处理可以有效降低E-Cd含量.而生物强化处理可进一步促进镉的固定效果;最适合生物修复的环境条件为PH 7.0、温度30℃和土壤含水率50%;添加诺沃肥处理和生物强化处理的土壤中过氧化氢酶和脲酶活性明显高于空白处理,说明生物修复后,土壤酶活性已经恢复,表明这2种处理能改善土壤结构和性能,提高土壤的肥力.     

微生物絮凝剂产生菌的筛选及其絮凝特性

采用常规的微生物学方法,从垃圾渗滤液中筛选到一株高效微生物絮凝剂产生菌LB1,根据其形态学和生理生化特征初步鉴定该菌株属于假单胞菌属,命名为Pseudonomas sp. LB1。LB1所产微生物絮凝剂的絮凝特性的研究结果表明,LB1的最佳产絮凝时间为96 h,所产絮凝活性物质主要是其生长过程中的胞外分泌物和细胞生长后期的次级代谢产物,菌体细胞本身具有一定的助凝作用。LB1所产絮凝剂最佳加样量为3％（体积分数V/V）;对pH的适应范围较宽,在4～10之间具有较高的絮凝活性,均大于75％;温度为25℃时絮凝率为86.3％,在25～60℃之间,絮凝率基本保持稳定;LB1所产絮凝剂对几种废水具有较好的絮凝效果。     

Increasing stair climbing in a train station: The effects of contextual variables and visibility

Accumulation of physical activity during daily living is a current public health target that is influenced by the layout of the built environment. This study reports how the layout of the environment may influence responsiveness to an intervention. Pedestrian choices between stairs and the adjacent escalators were monitored for 7 weeks in a train station (Birmingham, UK). After a 3.5 week baseline period, a stair riser banner intervention to increase stair climbing was installed on two staircases adjacent to escalators and monitoring continued for a further 3.5 weeks. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the visibility of the intervention, defined as the area of visibility in the horizontal plane opposite to the direction of travel (termed the isovist) had a major effect on success of the intervention. Only the largest isovist produced an increase in stair climbing. Additionally, stair climbing was more common during the morning rush hour and at higher levels of pedestrian traffic volume. The layout of the intervention site can influence responsiveness to point-of-choice interventions. Changes to the design of train stations may maximize the choice of the stairs at the expense of the escalator by pedestrians leaving the station.     

Photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide modified concrete materials – Influence of utilizing recycled glass cullets as aggregates

Combining the use of photocatalysts with cementitious materials is an important development in the field of photocatalytic air pollution mitigation. This paper presents the results of a systematic study on assessing the effectiveness of pollutant degradation by concrete surface layers that incorporate a photocatalytic material – Titanium Dioxide. The photocatalytic activity of the concrete samples was determined by photocatalytic oxidation of nitric oxide (NO) in the laboratory. Recycled glass cullets, derived from crushed waste beverage bottles, were used to replace sand in preparing the concrete surface layers. Factors, which may affect the pollutant removal performance of the concrete layers including glass color, aggregate size and curing age, were investigated. The results show a significant enhancement of the photocatalytic activity due to the use of glass cullets as aggregates in the concrete layers. The samples fabricated with clear glass cullets exhibited threefold NO removal efficiency compared to the samples fabricated with river sand. The light transmittance property of glass was postulated to account for the efficiency improvement, which was confirmed by a separate simulation study. But the influence of the size of glass cullets was not evident. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of concrete surface layers decreased with curing age, showing a loss of 20% photocatalytic activity after 56-day curing.     

不同硫源对红串红球菌生长和脱硫比活性的效应

本文牛磺酸、硫酸镁和二苯噻吩（ＤＢＴ）分别作为唯一硫源以及ＤＢＴ不同供给量对红串红球菌生长和脱硫比活性的效应进行了研究,结果表明,红串红球菌肯 利用有机和无机硫化合物作为硫源的能力。与牛磺酸和到镁相比,ＤＢＴ是促进红串红球菌生长和提高其脱硫比活红串红球菌的最大脱硫比活性达７９．１ｍｍｏｌ２ＨＢＰ．ｋｇ＾－１．ｈ＾－１。影响红串红球菌脱硫比活性的因素主要是其生长的不同阶段、ＤＢＴ供给量和羟基二苯生产     

青藏高原古里雅冰芯中痕量元素镉记录的大气污染:1900-1991

对取自青藏高原古雅冰帽的冰芯上部２０ｍｎ的样品中有毒金属镉反映的大气污染进行了研究,利用电感耦合等等离子体质谱仪对镉的浓度进行了检测,镉的浓度在２．２８－３０１ｐｇ．ｍｌ＾－１,平均为５１ｐｇ．ｍｌ＾－１,镉的浓度高于极地雪冰相应的时间的浓度。     

Analysis of sensitivity of different criteria in cytogenetic monitoring

A sensitivity scale for criteria used in cytogenetic monitoring was constructed on the basis of published data and the results of experiments on exposingZebrina pendula Schirt. plants to radon at various equivalent volume equilibrium activities. It was found that nucleolar activity and suppression of mitotic activity are the most and the least sensitive parameters in terms of response to stress, respectively.