Analysis of heavy metal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollution characteristics of a typical metal rolling industrial site based on data mining.

With the transformation and upgrading of industries, the environmental problems caused by industrial residual contaminated sites are becoming increasingly prominent. Based on actual investigation cases, this study analyzed the soil pollution status of a remaining sites of the copper and zinc rolling industry, and found that the pollutants exceeding the screening values included Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb, total petroleum hydrocarbons and 6 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon monomers. Based on traditional analysis methods such as the correlation coefficient and spatial distribution, combined with machine learning methods such as SOM + K-means, it is inferred that the heavy metal Zn/Pb may be mainly related to the production history of zinc rolling. Cu/Ni may be mainly originated from the production history of copper rolling. PAHs are mainly due to the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels in the melting equipment. TPH pollution is speculated to be related to oil leakage during the industrial use period and later period of vehicle parking. The results showed that traditional analysis methods can quickly identify the correlation between site pollutants, while SOM + K-means machine learning methods can further effectively extract complex hidden relationships in data and achieve in-depth mining of site monitoring data.

Loss of TDP-43 function underlies hippocampal and cortical synaptic deficits in TDP-43 proteinopathies.

TDP-43 proteinopathy is linked to neurodegenerative diseases that feature synaptic loss in the cortex and hippocampus, although it remains unclear how TDP-43 regulates mature synapses. We report that, in adult mouse hippocampus, TDP-43 knockdown, but not overexpression, induces robust structural and functional damage to excitatory synapses, supporting a role for TDP-43 in maintaining mature synapses. Dendritic spine loss induced by TDP-43 knockdown is rescued by wild-type TDP-43, but not ALS/FTLD-associated mutants, suggesting a common TDP-43 functional deficiency in neurodegenerative diseases. Interestingly, M337V and A90V mutants also display dominant negative activities against WT TDP-43, partially explaining why M337V transgenic mice develop hippocampal degeneration similar to that in excitatory neuronal TDP-43 knockout mice, and why A90V mutation is associated with Alzheimer's disease. Further analyses reveal that a TDP-43 knockdown-induced reduction in GluN2A contributes to synaptic loss. Our results show that loss of TDP-43 function underlies hippocampal and cortical synaptic degeneration in TDP-43 proteinopathies.

Multi-step column leaching using low-molecular-weight organic acids for remediating vanadium- and chromium-contaminated soil.

In soil, vanadium (V) contamination is commonly concomitant with chromium (Cr) contamination, which poses potential risks to humans, animals, and plants due to the transfer of toxic metals and the increase in their concentrations via the food chain or through direct exposure. This study applied a multi-step column leaching process using low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs) to treat V-contaminated soil from a smelter site that contains 2015.1 mg V kg-1 and 1060.3 mg Cr kg-1. After leaching three times with an equivalent solution/soil ratio of 0.3 mL/g using 1.0 M oxalic acid solution, the total removal rates reached 77.2% and 7.2% for V and Cr, respectively, while the removal rates of the extractable fractions reached 118.6% and 99.2% due to the reduction in residual fraction (F4) of toxic metals. Simultaneously, the distribution and redistribution of geochemical fractions of V and Cr were determined with a sequential extraction technique, and the greater proportion of potential mobile fractions of V (65.1%) may increase its leaching from soil relative to Cr (7.1%). In addition, a lower pH of the leaching agent increased the efficiency of the leaching process to an extent. Compared with batch extraction with a typical solution to soil ratio of 10 mL/g, multi-step column leaching used less agent and hence produced less wastewater. This strategy could reduce the mobilization and bioavailability of toxic metals, and potentially enhance in situ soil flushing for the remediation of V- and Cr- contaminated soil.

Geochemical simulation of the stabilization process of vanadium-contaminated soil remediated with calcium oxide and ferrous sulfate.

Vanadium (V)-contaminated soil poses health risks to plants, animals, and humans via both direct exposure and through the food chain. Stabilization treatment of metal-contaminated soil can chemically convert metal contaminants into less soluble, mobile, and toxic forms. However, the stabilization mechanisms of V-contaminated soil have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, we performed geochemical modeling of V-contaminated soil stabilized with the common binders calcium oxide (CaO) and ferrous sulfate (FeSO4), as well as their mixture, using Visual MINTEQ software. The results were validated and exhibited good agreement with experimental results. For CaO, the formation of Ca2V2O7(s) and Ca3(VO4)2·4H2O(s) under mild and strong alkaline conditions (pH = 8.0-11.5 and 11.5-12.5), respectively, were predicted as the main immobilization routes. For FeSO4, there appeared to be three reaction routes, corresponding to approaches A, B, and C, during the stabilization process. In the simulation, approach C (adsorption of V(V) onto ferrihydrite) was undervalued, whereas approaches A (formation of Fe(VO3)2(s)) and B (reduction of V(V) into V(IV) to form V2O4(s) or adsorb onto soil organic matter) were overvalued. Among the three approaches, approach C had a dominant role and exhibited good agreement with the experimental results. Additionally, soil pH and the saturation index of precipitation had major roles in the stabilization process. The optimal pH ranges for the stabilization of V-contaminated soil using CaO and FeSO4 were pH = 9.5-12.5 and pH = 4.0-5.0, respectively.

The interactions of metal concentrations and soil properties on toxic metal accumulation of native plants in vanadium mining area.

High demand of Vanadium (V) in high-strength steel and battery manufacturing industry led to extensive V mining activity in China, and caused multi-metal pollution of soil around V mining area. To understand the phytoremediation potentials of native plants grown in V mining area, and the effect of soil properties and soil metal concentrations on toxic metal accumulations of native plants. Setaria viridis, Kochia scoparia and Chenopodium album were sampled from different sites in V mining area, soil properties, soil metal concentrations and metal accumulation amount of investigated plants were measured, bioaccumulation (BAF) and translocation (TF) efficiencies were calculated. Soil pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and available phosphorous (P) can significantly affect V and copper (Cu) uptake in the shoots of Setaria viridis while soil metal contents were lower than the permissible limits. Soil pH can significantly affect V accumulations in the roots and shoots of Kochia scoparia grown in slightly V polluted soils. Setaria viridis exhibited TF > 1 for moderately V and slightly chromium (Cr) polluted soils, and BAF>1 for slightly Cu contaminated soils respectively. Kochia scoparia and Chenopodium album showed TF > 1 and BAF>1 for slightly V polluted soils, respectively. Setaria viridis was practical for in situ phytoextractions of moderately V and slightly Cr polluted soils, and phytostabilization of slightly Cu contaminated soils. Kochia scoparia and Chenopodium album could be used as phytoextractor and phytostablizer in slightly V polluted soils in V mining area. Metal uptake of native plants grown in slightly multi-metal contaminated sites in V mining area can be manipulated by altering soil properties.

Amendment of vanadium-contaminated soil with soil conditioners: A study based on pot experiments with canola plants (Brassica campestris L.).

We performed pot experiments with canola plants (Brassica campestris L.) to evaluate the effect of eight soil conditioners on the amendment of vanadium (V)-contaminated soil based on analysis of the growth of canola plants and the uptake, bioaccumulation, and translocation of heavy metals. Tested soil conditioners included polyacrylamide (PAM), sepiolite, humic acid (HAC), peat, sludge compost (SC), bentonite, lime, and fly ash. Results from the analysis of the growth of canola plants and the analysis of variance showed that the best soil conditioners for V-contaminated soil were 0.05-0.1 wt% PAM, 1 wt% peat, 1 wt% HAC, and 1 wt% SC; moderately effective soil conditioners included sepiolite and lime. The best combination of soil conditioners was 0.1 wt% PAM, 1 wt% HAC, and 0.15 wt% lime, in addition of 1% ZVI, which increased the biomass and height of canola plants by 1.18-fold and 59.49%, respectively. We conclude that the best combination of soil conditioners determined from this study is promising for mitigating V contamination in soil.

Toxic metal tolerance in native plant species grown in a vanadium mining area.

Vanadium (V) has been extensively mined in China and caused soil pollution in mining area. It has toxic effects on plants, animals and humans, posing potential health risks to communities that farm and graze cattle adjacent to the mining area. To evaluate in situ phytoremediation potentials of native plants, V, chromium, copper and zinc concentrations in roots and shoots were measured and the bioaccumulation (BAF) and translocation (TF) efficiencies were calculated. The results showed that Setaria viridis accumulated greater than 1000 mg kg-1 V in its shoots and exhibited TF > 1 for V, Cr, Zn and BAF > 1 for Cu. The V accumulation amount in the roots of Kochia scoparia also surpassed 1000 mg kg-1 and showed TF > 1 for Zn. Chenopodium album had BAF > 1 for V and Zn and Daucus carota showed TF > 1 for Cu. Eleusine indica presented strong tolerance and high metal accumulations. S. viridis is practical for in situ phytoextractions of V, Cr and Zn and phytostabilisation of Cu in V mining area. Other species had low potential use as phytoremediation plant at multi-metal polluted sites, but showed relatively strong resistance to V, Cr, Cu and Zn toxicity, can be used to vegetate the contaminated soils and stabilise toxic metals in V mining area.

Soil heavy metal contamination related to roasted stone coal slag: a study based on geostatistical and multivariate analyses.

Soil was examined for vanadium (V) and related metal contamination near a stone coal mine in Hubei Province, China. In total, 92 surface and vertical (0-200 cm) soil samples were collected from the site. A handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometer was used for in situ analysis of the soil concentrations of heavy metals, including V, chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb). The mean concentrations of these metals were 931, 721, 279, 223, 163, and 11 mg/kg, respectively. Based on the Chinese Environmental Quality Standard for Soils guidelines, up to 88.0, 76.1, and 56.5 % of the soil samples had single factor pollution indices >3 for V, Cr, and Cu, respectively. Furthermore, 2.2 % of samples were slightly polluted with Zn, while there was no Mn or Pb contamination. GaussAmp curve fitting was performed based on the sample frequency distribution of the Nemerow pollution index. The fitted mean was 5.99, indicating severe pollution. The heavy metals were clustered into two groups, V/Cr/Cu/Zn and Mn/Pb, based on the spatial distributions, the Pearson correlation and principal component analyses. The positive correlations within the V/Cr/Cu/Zn group suggested that they originated from roasted stone coal slag. Finally, the negative correlation between the two groups was attributed to mechanical mixing of the slag and original soil.

Ultrasound coupled with Fenton oxidation pre-treatment of sludge to release organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus.

We focused on the effects of ultrasound and Fenton reagent in ultrasonic coupling Fenton oxidation (U + F) pre-treatment processes on the disintegration of wastewater treatment plant sludge. The results demonstrated that U + F treatment could significantly increase soluble COD, TOC, total N, proteins, total P and PO4(3-) concentrations in sludge supernatant. This method was more effective than ultrasonic (U) or Fenton oxidation (F) treatment alone. U + F treatment increased the soluble COD by 2.1- and 1.4-fold compared with U and F alone, respectively. U + F treatment increased the total N and P by 1.7- and 2.2-fold, respectively, compared with F alone. After U + F treatment, sludge showed a considerably finer particle size and looser microstructure based on scanning electron microscopy, and the highest OH signal intensity increased from 568.7 by F treatment to 1106.3 using electron spin resonance. This demonstrated that U+F treatment induces disintegration of sludge and release of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus better.

Ultrasonic application to boost hydroxyl radical formation during Fenton oxidation and release organic matter from sludge.

We examined the effects of ultrasound and Fenton reagent on ultrasonic coupling Fenton oxidation (U+F) pre-treatment processes for the disintegration of wastewater treatment plant sludge. The results demonstrated that U+F treatment could significantly increase soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), total organic carbon (TOC), and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) concentrations in sludge supernatant. This method was more effective than ultrasonic (U) or Fenton oxidation (F) treatment alone. U+F treatment increased the release of SCOD by 2.1- and 1.4-fold compared with U and F alone, respectively. U+F treatment increased the release of EPS by 1.2-fold compared with U alone. After U+F treatment, sludge showed a considerably finer particle size and looser microstructure based on fluorescence microscopy, and the concentration of hydroxyl radicals (OH•) increased from 0.26 mM by F treatment to 0.43 mM by U+F treatment based on fluorescence spectrophotometer. This demonstrated that U+F treatment improves the release of organic matter from sludge.

Detection of unsaturated disaccharides, pyridinoline, and hydroxyproline in urine of patients with Kashin-Beck disease: comparison with controls in an endemic area.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pathologic status of adult patients with Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) in an endemic area of China through detection of 5 biochemical markers in their urine, and to study the correlations between these markers and KBD. METHODS: A total of 55 patients with KBD over age 40 years were recruited and divided into groups, Grade 1 and Grade 2, according to clinical diagnosis criteria for KBD and our inclusion criteria; 25 healthy persons were enrolled into a control group. The first-time urine of the 80 participants was collected in the morning. Three unsaturated disaccharides, pyridinoline (PYD), and hydroxyproline (HYP) were detected in urine samples with high performance liquid chromatography, ELISA, and a chemical kit. Mean levels of these markers were compared in the 3 groups. RESULTS: The mean concentrations of 3 unsaturated disaccharides and PYD in the Grade 2 group were significantly higher than levels in the Grade 1 group and controls (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between findings in the Grade 1 group and controls. Levels of 3 unsaturated disaccharides correlated with each other (p<0.01). The correlation coefficient between PYD and HYP was 0.470 (p<0.01). Except for HYP, the other markers all correlated with grade of KBD, rather than age or sex of subjects. CONCLUSION: The cartilage degradation of patients with Grade 2 KBD was more severe than that of Grade 1 patients and controls. The pathologic condition of Grade 1 patients was mild. Except for HYP, the markers we investigated specifically reflected the pathologic bone metabolism of adult patients with KBD. Trial registration number ChiCTR-TRC-00000140.

Proteomic analysis of augmented immune responses in mouse by prime-and-boost immunization strategy with DNA vaccine coding HBsAg and rHBsAg protein.

Prime-and-boost vaccination strategy with DNA and protein vaccines is broadly adopted to augment the immunogenicity of both vaccines, but the mechanism is ambiguous. Antigen-specific immunological memories in humoral and cellular immune responses were examined in mice after immunization with different regimens, by the evaluation of persistence of antibody production and CTL activity, as well as T cell proliferation assay. Stronger immunological memories were demonstrated in group DDS (mice immunized with rHBsAg after twice DNA priming), well associated with the induced higher level of antibody and CTL activity. Comparative serum proteomics was employed to investigate the possible mechanisms of immunopotentiation effects. In comparison with proteome of non-vaccinated mice, 5 proteins in group DDS were up-regulated and 17 proteins down-regulated by more than 2.5-fold in quantity, whereas in group SSS (mice immunized with rHBsAg three times) 7 up-regulated and 10 down-regulated. Periplakin, F-box protein 30 and calpain detected only in group DDS have been approved to contribute to the immunopotentiation effect by this vaccination regime, which might be established as an surrogate marker of successful vaccination and provides research target for molecular mechanism of vaccinology.

Comparative proteomics analysis to annexin B1 DNA and protein vaccination in mice.

DNA vaccines have been widely reported to elicit both effective humoral and cellular immune responses, but the mechanisms of antigen processing and presentation in DNA immunization is still ambiguous. Aiming to molecular mechanisms involved in DNA immunization, comparative serum proteomics was introduced to discover differentially expressed proteins after different immunizations. Using two-dimensional electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectrometry, 23 three-fold or greater up-regulated proteins were separated and identified, including 14 from ANXB1 DNA immunized mice and 9 from annexin B1 protein immunized mice. The histocompatibility class I molecule H2-Q10 (HA10_MOUSE) and proteasome activator PA28 alpha-subunit (PSME1_MOUSE) were found up-regulated in ANXB1 DNA immunized mice, which may contribute to the augmented activation of T lymphocytes. These proteins may serve as potential surrogate markers of successful vaccination and provide research targets for molecular mechanisms of vaccinology.

Enhanced immunogenicity of microencapsulated multiepitope DNA vaccine encoding T and B cell epitopes of foot-and-mouth disease virus in mice.

The role of poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid, PLGA) microparticles on enhancing immune responses of multiepitope DNA vaccines was investigated in vitro and in vivo. pcDNA-SG encoding T and B cell epitopes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) was encapsulated into PLGA microparticles. PLGA microparticles could protect themselves from nuclease degradation in vitro. PLGA-pcDNA-SG microparticles could be uptaken by cells and expressed His-tagged SG immunogen in vitro and in vivo. A prolonged expression and presentation of SG immunogen were observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy in the lymphocytes from the mice incubated with PLGA-pcDNA-SG microparticles, compared with the mice immunized with naked pcDNA-SG. PLGA-pcDNA-SG microparticles displayed a significant stronger immunogenicity than naked DNA vaccines with a higher titer of virus-specific antibody, elevated IFN-gamma production and enhanced lymphocyte proliferation. PLGA-DNA microparticle could elicit augmented humoral and cellular responses with reduced amounts and times of immunization.