负载β-环糊精的矿物和生物炭对甲基橙的吸附性能

采用HCl溶液对沸石（F0）、蛭石（ZH0）、秸秆（J0）和棕榈生物炭（Z0）进行活化预处理,以环氧氯丙烷为交联剂,将β-环糊精（β-CD）负载到原始材料上,制备了4种新型吸附材料F2、ZH2、J2和Z2。采用FTIR、元素分析、SEM和TG等技术对吸附材料进行了表征,探讨了其对甲基橙的吸附性能。表征结果显示,β-CD被成功地负载到沸石、蛭石、秸秆生物炭和棕榈生物炭上。吸附实验结果表明：负载β-CD后的4种材料对甲基橙的平衡吸附量大小顺序为J2> F2> ZH2> Z2;溶液pH和吸附温度的提高可有效提升4种材料对甲基橙的吸附能力。吸附动力学和热力学研究表明,4种材料对甲基橙的吸附过程中物理吸附起着主导作用,且更趋向于单分子层吸附。4种材料均具有良好的重复使用性能。     

Preparation and evaluation of Zr-β-FeOOH for efficient arsenic removal

A Zr-β-FeOOH adsorbent for both As(V) and As(III) removal was prepared by a chemical co-precipitation method.Compared with β-FeOOH,the addition of Zr enhanced the adsorption capacities for As(V) and As(III),especially As(III).The maximum adsorption capacities for As(III) and As(V) were 120 and 60mg/g respectively at pH 7.0,much higher than for many reported adsorbents.The adsorption data accorded with Freundlich isotherms.At neutral pH,for As(V),adsorption equilibrium was approached after 3 hr,while for As(III),adsorption equilibrium was approached after 5 hr.Kinetic data fitted well to the pseudo second-order reaction model.As(V) elimination was favored at acidic pH,whereas the adsorption of As(III) by Zr-β-FeOOH was found to be effective over a wide pH range of 4-10.Competitive anions hindered the adsorption according to the sequence:phosphate > silicate > bicarbonate > sulfate > nitrate,while Ca2+ and Mg2+ increased the removal of As(III) and As(V) slightly.The high adsorption capability and good performance in other aspects make Zr-β-FeOOH a potentially attractive adsorbent for the removal of both As(III) and As(V) from water.     

The amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS): A rapid and direct prenatal diagnostic technique for β-thalassaemia in Singapore

β-Thalassaemia major patients have chronic anaemia and since 3–4 per cent of Singaporeans carry the β-gene, prenatal diagnosis is essential. We evaluated the amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) technique as a routine test for prenatal diagnosis of β-major. Six mutations along the β-gene were studied—41–42 (-TCTT), IVSII #654 (C-T), 17β (A-T), – 28 TATA (A-G), IVSI #5 (G-C), and IVSI #1 (G-T). Our results indicate that prenatal diagnosis using these mutations can be offered to 90 per cent (35/39) of our Chinese couples and 54·6 per cent (12/22) of our Malay couples at risk. Confirmation of ARMS results was carried out using allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization. Prenatal diagnosis using ARMS was successfully carried out in nine cases which included a set of triplets and twins. The triplets were diagnosed with the β-trait carrying the 41–42 mutation. The couple with twins possessed the #654 mutation and one twin was diagnosed with the β-trait and the other with #654 homozygosity. Genomic sequencing of the undefined mutations in the Chinese couples revealed rarer mutations at − 29 and an ATG-AGG base substitution at the initiation codon for translation. In the Malay couples, genomic sequencing detected mutations at codon 15 (TGG-TAG) and codon 26 (GAG-AAG). We conclude that ARMS with its direct detection of amplified products by gel electrophoresis provides an accurate, rapid, and simpler method for our β-thalassaemia prenatal diagnosis programme in Singapore.     

Amniotic fluid pregnancy-specific β1-glycoprotein (SP1) in Meckel's syndrome: A new test for prenatal diagnosis?

Amniotic fluid levels of pregnancy-specific β₁-glycoprotein (SP₁) were elevated in four pregnancies with Meckel's syndrome at 16 and 26 weeks, and the levels of hCG were also elevated in three out of four cases. These findings suggest a potential new application of SP₁ measurement for prenatal diagnosis.     

A simple electrophoretic procedure for fetal diagnosis of β-thalassaemia due to short deletions

This study describes three couples a t risk for homozygous β-thalassaemia in which one of the partners carried a short deletion β-thalassaemia defect. Detection of short deletions in trophoblast DNA was accomplished by the very simple procedure of non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This method may be applied to detect β-thalassaemia mutations due to deletion or addition of more than two nucleotides.     

Anaerobic microbial degradation of poly (3-hydroxyalkanoates) with various terminal electron acceptors

The microbial degradation of poly (3-hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs) under anaerobic conditions with various terminal electron acceptors was examined. Nitrate-reducing consortia were established using activated sludge, and PHAs were shown to be biodegradable under these conditions. A positive correlation between carbon dioxide production and nitrate reduction was demonstrated. Nitrous oxide accumulated as the main N-containing product of nitrate reduction. The amount of PHAs in activated sludge cultures decreased approximately 20% within 40 days of incubation. Attempts were made to establish iron- and sulfate-reducing consortia from spring water, yet it could not be demonstrated that the mixed cultures were capable of degrading PHAs. Pure cultures of iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria could not utilize PHAs as sole carbon sources. Methanogenic environments sampled included pond sediment and rumen fluid. PHAs were fermented to methane and carbon dioxide after 10 weeks by a sediment consortium, with 43 to 57% of the substrate carbon transformed to methane. Although it could not be demonstrated that PHAs were biodegraded by a rumen fluid consortium, a facultative anaerobic bacterium, identified as aStaphylococcus sp., that could grow on PHAs was isolated from rumen fluid.     

Methyl-β-cyclodextrin enhanced biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and associated microbial activity in contaminated soil

The contamination of soils by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is a widespread environmental problem and the remediation of PAHs from these areas has been a major concern.The effectiveness of ma...     

Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoate by Gamma proteobacterium WD-3 from volatile fatty acids

The production of copolymers of poly-β-hydroxyalkanoates (PHA) is generally a high cost process. To reduce the production costs, inexpensive carbon sources such as volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from acidified wastewater can be used. Therefore, isolation of bacterial strains that can produce PHA copolymers using VFAs as a sole carbon source would be a beneficial alternative. In this study, a strain of PHA accumulating bacterium was isolated from the wastewater treatment plant of a soybean processing facility in Harbin. The strain was identified as γ-proteobacterium according to its 16S rDNA information and was originally named as strain WD-3. The strain accumulated a mass of PHA up to 45% of its dry cell weight when it was cultured under the optimum fermentation condition in this study when butyrate was used as the carbon source. In addition, WD-3 could synthesize PHA copolymers of poly-hydroxybutyrate and poly-hydroxyvalerate (PHV) either from C-even substrates or from C-odd substrates, and one-third of the copolymer was PHV. Results from this study demonstrated that small molecule organic acids can be used by the strain of WD-3 as the carbon source for growth and PHA production. The maximum PHA yield in the study was 0.45 g g⁻¹ dry cell.