Activity

Decay rate constants for all temperatures were comparable across all matrices for both viral RNAs, except in untreated wastewater for SARS-CoV-2, which showed less sensitivity to elevated temperatures. Therefore, SARS-CoV-2 RNA is likely to persist long enough in untreated wastewater to permit reliable detection for WBE application.The current research regarding anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) for the treatment of landfill leachate mainly focuses on a temperature range of 30-35 °C. However, achieving and maintaining anammox at lower temperatures would widen its application for the treatment of landfill leachate. This study, attempts to address this issue by using a combined process involving an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), anoxic/oxic (A/O) reactor, anammox reactor (ANAOR), and anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) to enrich anammox bacteria at relatively low temperatures. The rapid start-up of the partial nitrification-anammox process for landfill leachate treatment was achieved and maintained at 13-22 °C. The experiment was divided into phase 1 (20-22 °C) and phase 2 (13-15 °C). The results showed that 87.1% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD), 97.4-97.7% of the ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), and 93.3-94.7% of the total nitrogen (TN), were removed. At least 29.3% and 11.4% of NH4+-N was removed through anammox in phases 1 and 2, respectively, with an accumulation NO2–N ratio of 86.1-88.6%. Candidatus Kuenenia was the dominant anammox bacteria in the anammox process. A low temperature of 13-15 °C did not affect ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and their relative abundance in the A/O reactor ranged from 27.29% to 33.22%.A device of graphene nanoplatelet-based diffusion gradients in thin-films (G-DGT) was developed for in situ sampling of tetracycline (TC), oxytetracycline (OTC) and chlortetracycline (CTC) in aquatic environment. The accumulation of antibiotics in a synthetic solution by the proposed G-DGT was consistent with the theoretical curves predicted by the DGT equation. The values of the detection and quantification limits of G-DGT using high-performance liquid chromatography over the deployment time of 7 days were at the level of μg L-1 for the three antibiotics. The performance of the proposed G-DGT was unaffected by pH (3-9) and ionic strength (0.001-0.7 mol L-1 NaNO3). Fulvic acid did not significantly interfere with the performance of the proposed G-DGT device when the mass ratios between the three antibiotics and fulvic acid were within the range of 110-1100. Humic acid had a significant effect on the performance of the proposed G-DGT for the sampling of the three antibiotics due to strong complexation and coprecipitation between the antibiotics and humic acid. The proposed G-DGT was used for the in situ sampling in spiked freshwaters and livestock culture wastewater and exhibited good precision and accuracy without notable interference from the matrices.Aerobic granular sludge is considered one of the most promising biological wastewater treatment technologies of the 21st century. However, the long granulation time and poor treatment effect on N and P have severely limited its popularity and large-scale application. In this study, we systematically examine the strengthening effects of zeolite powder on granulation, N and P removal, and their interaction mechanisms. The addition of zeolite powder decreased sludge granulation time to 18 d, and improved average N and P removal rates by 4.48% and 2.22%, respectively. see more The multi-pore and nutrient-rich environment of the zeolite powder is beneficial for maintaining microbial activity and granular stability. Moreover, its adsorption to N and P enriches their respective removal strains, improving their removal efficiency.Lead is a well-known toxicant associated with numerous chronic diseases. Curtailing industrial emissions, leaded paint, lead in food, and banning highway use of leaded gasoline effectively decreased children’s exposure. In New Orleans, irrespective of Hurricane Katrina flooding, lead declined concurrently in topsoil and children’s blood. We postulate that topsoil lead and blood lead decreases are associated and common in U.S. cities. This study tests that concept. A small 2002 soil lead survey of 8 Detroit Tri-County Area census tracts was repeated in October 2019. Between 2002 and 2019, Detroit median soil lead decreased from 183 to 92 mg/kg (or 5.4 mg/kg/yr.) and declined in Pontiac from 93 to 68 mg/kg (or 1.4 mg/kg/yr.). Median soil lead remained ~10 mg/kg in outlying communities. Median soil lead (in mg/kg) in communities at less then 21 km compared to ≥ 21 km from central Detroit, respectively, decreased from 183 to 33 (P-value 10-12) in 2002 and from 92 to 35 (P-value 10-07) in 2019. Children’s lead exposures were highest in Detroit (population 0.7 million in 2010) and lower by more than half in Pontiac (population 60 thousand in 2010). Between 2002 and 2018, children with blood lead ≥4.5 μg/dL in Detroit declined from 44% to 5%, and in Pontiac from 17% to 2%. The most vulnerable children live in the most lead contaminated communities. To meet the goal of primary prevention for children, along with other efforts, this study supports landscaping with low lead soil to reduce exposure in lead contaminated communities.

Pneumonia is a common cause of morbidity and sepsis worldwide, mainly in the elderly. We evaluated the impact of short-term exposure to environmental factors on hospital admissions for sepsis-related pneumonia in a nationwide study in Spain.

We conducted a bidirectional case-crossover study in patients who had sepsis-related pneumonia in 2013. Data were obtained from the Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) and the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) of Spain. Conditional logistic regressions were used to evaluate the association between environmental factors (temperature, relative humidity, NO

, SO

, O

, PM

, and CO) and hospital admissions with sepsis-related pneumonia.

A total of 3,262,758 hospital admissions were recorded in the MBDS, of which, 253,467 were patients with sepsis. Among those, 67,443 had sepsis-related pneumonia and zip code information. We found inverse associations [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) values<1] between short-term exposure to temperature and hospital admissions for sepsis-related pneumonia.