Reductive sequestration of Cr (VI) by phosphorylated nanoscale zerovalent iron.

The cracked phosphorylated nanoscale zerovalent iron (p-nZVI) has a strong electron selectivity towards the reductive removal of many heavy metal ions in waters. However, the unintended environmental risk after interactions with impurities or wastewater are not involved. Therefore, in this study, the phosphate group was successfully adsorbed into p-nZVI, and the cracked p-nZVI was successfully prepared with an optimal P/Fe ratio of 0.5%. The dosages of p-nZVI and temperatures were positively correlated with the removal rates. The removal process of Cr(VI) was more suitable by the Langmuir isothermal model（R2 > 0.99). The process of Cr (VI) (10, 20 and 40 mg/L) removal more fitted the pseudo first-order reaction model, while the process of Cr (VI) (60, 80 mg/L) removal more fitted the pseudo second-order reaction model. The Cr (VI) removal rates gradually decreased when the pH was increased. Dissolved oxygen slowed nanoiron reaction rates. The order of inhibition on the reactivity towards Cr(VI) was SiO32- > SO42- > PO43- > NO3- > HCO3-.The facilitation followed the order of Cd2+>Cu2+>Mg2+>Mn2+>Ca2+. Ca2+ showed an inhibitory effect, but all other cations showed different degrees of facilitation. The promotion effect is relatively similar in presence of Mn2+ or Mg2+. HA had a significant inhibitory effect. Environmental friendly p-nZVI had a good effect in simulated groundwater, seawater, river water and secondary effluent of the urban sewage treatment plant. The main pathway to remove Cr (VI) was in situ reduction by p-nZVI. The improved adsorption and reduction effect of p-nZVI on heavy metal ions in water was due to the structural change and the phosphate group.

Porcine delta coronavirus inhibits NHE3 activity of porcine intestinal epithelial cells through miR-361-3p/NHE3 regulatory axis.

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) infection in piglets can cause small intestinal epithelial necrosis and atrophic enteritis, which leads to severe damages to host cells, and result in diarrhea. In this study, we investigated the relationship between miR-361, SLC9A3(Solute carrier family 9, subfamily A, member 3), and NHE3(sodium-hydrogen exchanger member 3) in in porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPI-2I) cells after PDCoV infection. Our results showed that the ssc-miR-361-3p expression inhibits the mRNA level of SLC9A3 gene which lead to the descending of NHE3 protein expression, and the NHE3 activity was suppressed. NHE3 activity was suppressed via down-regulation expression of SLC9A3 mRNA by transfection with siRNA. Ssc-miR-361-3p mimics and inhibitors were used to change the expression of ssc-miR-361-3p in IPI-2I cells. Ssc-miR-361-3p overexpression reduced the mRNA level of SLC9A3 gene, the level of NHE3 protein expression and NHE3 activity in IPI-2I cells, while ssc-miR-361-3p inhibits NHE3. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assay showed that SLC9A3 gene was a direct target of ssc-miR-361-3p. Ssc-miR-361-3p inhibition restored NHE3 activity in PDCoV infected IPI-2I cells by up-regulating SLC9A3 mRNA expression and NHE3 protein expression. These results demonstrate that the PDCoV infection can inhibit NHE3 activity through miR-361-3p/SLC9A3 regulatory axis. The relevant research is reported for the first time in PDCoV, which has significance in exploring the pathogenic mechanism of PDCoV and can provide a theoretical basis for its prevention and control. suggesting that NHE3 and ssc-miR-361-3p may be potential therapeutic targets for diarrhea in infected piglets.

Effect of applied voltage on membrane fouling in the amplifying anaerobic electrochemical membrane bioreactor for long-term operation.

A novel and amplifying anaerobic electrochemical membrane bioreactor (AnEMBR, R2) was constructed and operated for a long time (204 days) with synthetic glucose solution having an average chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 315 mg L-1, at different applied voltages and room temperatures. More than twice sodium bicarbonate was added for maintaining a pH of around 6.7 in the supernatant of the reactor R2, close to that of a control reactor called anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR, R1), after 138 days. And the transmembrane pressure (TMP) for the R2 system was only 0.534 bar at the end of operation and 0.615 bar for the R1 system. Although the electrostatic repulsion force contributed to pushing away the pollutants (proteins, polysaccharose and inorganic salt deposits, and so on), more microorganisms adsorbed and accumulated on the membrane surface after the whole operation, which might result in a rapid increase in membrane filtration resistance in the long-term operation. There were much more exoelectrogenic bacteria, mainly Betaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria and Grammaproteobacteria, on the cathode and the dominant methanogen Methanothrix content on the cathode was three times higher than the AnMBR. The study provides an important theoretical foundation for the application of AnEMBR technology in the treatment of low organic strength wastewater.

The preparation of a modified PVDF hollow fiber membrane by coating with multiwalled carbon nanotubes for high antifouling performance.

In this study, an outer surface modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membrane (HF-PVDF-CNT) was prepared by coating with dopamine (PD) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), to solve the problems of the instability of pure CNT mats fabricated by filter coating methods and membrane fouling in wastewater treatment. The modified membrane was assessed and characterized by various methods, including studies of its top surface and cross-sectional morphology, wettability, functional groups and electrical conductivity. The CNT material stability was evaluated during backwashing. The antifouling and filtering abilities of the unmodified and modified membranes were tested by monitoring the change in TMP and the rejection performance for different contaminants during filtration in bovine serum albumin solution (BSA), sodium alginate solution (SA) and humic acid solution (HA). Furthermore, HF-PVDF-CNT and electro-assisted HF-PVDF-CNT membranes were employed as the basic separation units in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) system and an anaerobic electrochemical membrane bioreactor (AnEMBR) system, respectively. Characterization of the HF-PVDF-CNT membrane indicated that the CNT mats exhibited good stability, electrical conductivity and wettability. In filtration experiments using BSA, SA and HA solutions, the HF-PVDF-CNT membrane showed an obvious improvement compared with the HF-PVDF membrane in antifouling performance. During its application in the AnMBR and AnEMBR systems, the electro-assisted HF-PVDF-CNT membrane had greater effects than the HF-PVDF-CNT membrane on reducing fouling.

[Nitrogen Removal Characteristics and Analysis of Microbial Community Structure in an IEM-UF Simultaneous Separation and Denitrification System].

A system that combines an ion exchange membrane and ultrafiltration membrane (IEM-UF) to form a simultaneous separation and denitrification system was proposed for domestic sewage with a low carbon/nitrogen ratio. The removal of nitrogen and COD in the system was studied under a three phase operating condition. The characteristics of the microbial community in each reactor were analyzed using metagenomics. The results show that, the average rate of ammonia nitrogen enrichment in the separator reached above 116.1% when the current intensity was 0.2 A. When the system was at C/N 2.80 and operating well, the average removal rates of COD and TN reached above 90% and 50%, respectively. The maximum removal rate of TN was above 65.4%. The results of metagenomics showed a genus of phylum Nitrospirae (Nitrospira) and a genus of phylum Proteobacteria (Nitrosomonas), with the proportions of 12.23% and 2.31%, respectively. In the denitrifying reactor, Dechloromonas, Thauera, and Azospira were detected in the proportions 4.57%, 1.76%, and 1.03%, respectively. These proportions were far larger than those of other bacteria in this reactor. Meanwhile, the presence of iron autotrophic denitrifying bacteria increased the denitrification efficiency of the system.