Rodent-Proof Wall: An Efficient Physical Method for Controlling Rodents and its Efficiency Statistics

Rodent damage poses a significant threat to crops, human life, and health. Compared to chemical rodent control, such as placing poisonous baits, it is ...

Central South University of Forestry and Technology

Vacuolar H-ATPase (V-ATPase) is a vital protein complex involved in abiotic stress response in plants. The G subunit of Juglans regia (JrVHAG1) was previously identified as a drought tolerance-related gene involved in the ABA (abscisic acid)-signal pathway. Heavy metal stress is becoming a major detriment for plant growth, development, and production. In order to understand the role of JrVHAG1, the potential function mechanism of JrVHAG1 exposed to CdCl stress was confirmed in this study.

The walnut JrVHAG1 gene is involved in cadmium stress response through ABA-signal pathway and MYB transcription regulation.

A novel ternary composite of graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN)/graphene oxide (GO) sheets/BiFeO (CNGB) with highly enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity toward Cr(VI) photoreduction is prepared and characterized. The characterization and photocatalysis experiments corroborate its reasonable band gap, efficient charge separation and transfer, widened visible-light adsorption, easy solid-liquid separation, good stability and superior catalytic activity of CNGB. Three CNGB samples with different ratios of g-CN and BiFeO (CNGB-1, -2, -3 with 2:4, 3:3, and 4:2, respectively), though possessing different adsorption ability, eventually remove all Cr(VI) ions via photocatalysis within 90 min. The catalytic efficiency of the composite is the highest at pH 2; increases in pH decrease the catalytic ability. The inorganic anions such as SO, Cl, and NO only slightly affects the photocatalytic process. The matching of the band structure between BiFeO and g-CN generates efficient photogenerated electron migration from the conduction band of g-CN to that of BiFeO, which is also facilitated by the electron bridging and collecting effects of GO, and holes transfer from the valence band of BiFeO to that of g-CN, yielding the efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and the subsequent enhancement of photocatalytic activity. The research provides a theoretical basis and technical support for the development of photocatalytic technologies for effective application in wastewater treatment and Cr-contaminated water restoration.

Ternary assembly of g-CN/graphene oxide sheets /BiFeO heterojunction with enhanced photoreduction of Cr(VI) under visible-light irradiation.

Antibiotic residues in the aquatic environment have become a global problem posing a serious threat to the environment and an inherent health risk to human beings. In this study, experiments were carried to investigate the use of carbon material modified by liquid nitrogen treatment (CM1) and carbon material unmodified by liquid nitrogen treatment (CM2) as adsorbents for the removal of the antibiotic ampicillin from aqueous solutions. The properties of the CMs (CM1 and CM2) and the effects of variations of the key operating parameters on the removal process were examined, and kinetic, isothermal and thermodynamic experimental data were studied. The results showed that CM1 had larger specific surface area and pore size than CM2. The ampicillin adsorption was more effective on CM1 than that on CM2, and the maximum adsorption capacity of ampicillin onto CM1 and CM2 was 206.002 and 178.423 mg/g, respectively. The kinetic data revealed that the pesudo-second order model was more suitable for the fitting of the experimental kinetic data and the isothermal data indicated that the Langmuir model was successfully correlated with the data. The adsorption of ampicillin was a spontaneous reaction dominated by thermodynamics. In synthetic wastewater, CM1 and CM2 showed different removal rates for ampicillin: 92.31% and 86.56%, respectively. For an adsorption-based approach, carbon material obtained by the liquid nitrogen treatment method has a stronger adsorption capacity, faster adsorption, and was non-toxic, therefore, it could be a promising adsorbent, with promising prospects in environmental pollution remediation applications.

Enhanced Removal of Antibiotic in Wastewater Using Liquid Nitrogen-Treated Carbon Material: Material Properties and Removal Mechanisms.

Heavy metal contamination is becoming a limitation to the utilization of soil and the distribution of vegetation. In particular, cadmium (Cd) pollution has had a serious impact on the food chain. Broussonetia papyrifera is a widely distributed pioneer tree species of heavy metal contaminated areas with important economic value. However, little is known about the genomic background of the Cd-tolerance mechanism in B. papyrifera.

New insight into the molecular basis of cadmium stress responses of wild paper mulberry plant by transcriptome analysis.

In this study, Broussonetia papyrifera leaves collected from land near a restored manganese mine in the Hunan Province of China were converted into biochar under high-temperature anaerobic conditions, regeneration and utilization of agricultural and forest waste, and applied to the prevention of eutrophication. The physicochemical properties of the B. papyrifera biochar were characterized using Micromeritics 3Flex analyzer, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), zeta potential meter (zeta), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The effects of pH, ionic strength, coexisting ions, time, initial concentration, and temperature on the decontamination process of phosphate in water were studied. The results indicated that adsorption was enhanced under alkaline conditions. The pseudo-second-order model of adsorption kinetics was applied to illustrate the adsorption processes. The chemical adsorption reaction was the main rate-limiting step in the adsorption process. Isotherm experimental data were best fitted by the Freundlich model at 25 °C and by the Langmuir model at 35 °C. The phosphate combined with B. papyrifera biochar mainly in the forms of exchangeable phosphorus (Ex-P), Al-bound phosphorus (Al-P), and Fe-bound phosphorus (Fe-P). These results indicate that B. papyrifera biochar is a suitable candidate for the treatment of a eutrophic body of water.

Biochar synthesized via pyrolysis of Broussonetia papyrifera leaves: mechanisms and potential applications for phosphate removal.

Norfloxacin (NOF) is an environmentally harmful and ubiquitous aquatic pollutant with extensive production and application. In this study, a novel composition named carbon-based composite photocatalytic material of zinc oxide and zinc sulphide (ZnO/ZnS@BC) was successfully obtained by the impregnation-roasting method to remove NOF under UV-light. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer characterised the composition. ZnO/ZnS was successfully decorated on the surface of biochar (BC). The pH, the ZnSO/PS ratio, and ions and quenchers, were investigated. High removal efficiency was obtained with a pH of 7 and a ZnSO/PS ratio of 1:1, and the removal ratio of NOF reached 95% within three hours; the adsorption and degradation ratios reached 46% and 49%, respectively. Fe promoted the degradation of NOF, whereas other ions inhibited it, with NO showing the strongest inhibitory effect. Three reactive species (tert-butanol, quinone, and ammonium oxala) were identified in the catalytic system. The decreasing order of the contribution of each reactive species was: O > ·OH > h. Additionally, a recycling experiment demonstrated the stability of the catalyst; the catalytic degradation ratio of NOF reached 78% after five successive runs. Therefore, ZnO/ZnS@BC possessed strong adsorption capacity and high ultraviolet photocatalysis ability.

Synergistic adsorption-photocatalytic degradation effect and norfloxacin mechanism of ZnO/ZnS@BC under UV-light irradiation.

The taxonomic relationship of Lentzea atacamensis and Lentzea deserti were re-evaluated using comparative genome analysis. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the type strains of L. atacamensis and L. deserti shared 99.7% sequence similarity. The digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values between the genomes of two type strains were 88.6% and 98.8%, respectively, greater than the two recognized thresholds values of 70% dDDH and 95-96% ANI for bacterial species delineation. These results suggested that L. atacamensis and L. deserti should share the same taxonomic position. And this conclusion was further supported by similar phenotypic and chemotaxonomic features between them. Therefore, we propose that L. deserti is a later heterotypic synonym of L. atacamensis.

Proposal of Lentzea deserti (Okoro et al. 2010) Nouioui et al. 2018 as a later heterotypic synonym of Lentzea atacamensis (Okoro et al. 2010) Nouioui et al. 2018 and an emended description of Lentzea atacamensis.

Photocatalysts comprising  biochar and g-CN loaded on sodium alginate were prepared and characterized in terms of reusability and photocatalytic Cr(vi) reduction performance. The observed photocurrent responses as well as photoluminescence and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra showed that the best-performing catalyst featured the benefits of efficient photogenerated charge separation, superior electron conductance/transfer, and excellent light adsorption ability, which resulted in a higher photocatalytic Cr(vi) reduction performance compared to that of pure g-CN powder. The prepared composite was shown to be reusable and well separable from the reaction mixture, thus being a promising material for the practical photocatalytic removal of Cr(vi) from wastewater. The trapping experiment and XPS spectra of catalysts after reactions confirm that the decontamination of Cr(vi) lies in the photocatalytic reduction of this species into low-toxicity Cr(iii) by photoinduced electrons generated from g-CN, followed by the adsorption of Cr(iii) on biochar or alginate with large specific areas.

Yun-Lin Zhao

Hunan Research Center of Engineering Technology for Utilization of Environmental and Resources Plant

Central South University of Forestry and Technology

Rodent-Proof Wall: An Efficient Physical Method for Controlling Rodents and its Efficiency Statistics

Yun-Lin Zhao

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Central South University of Forestry and Technology

Rodent-Proof Wall: An Efficient Physical Method for Controlling Rodents and its Efficiency Statistics

Hunan Research Center of Engineering Technology for Utilization of Environmental and Resources Plant