Effects of micro-/nano-hydroxyapatite and phytoremediation on fungal community structure in copper contaminated soil.

Micro-/nano-hydroxyapatite (MHA/NHA) has been used to reduce the concentration of available heavy metals and increase soil pH in the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils. However, little is known about the effects of MHA and NHA on soil fungal communities and function. In this study, fungal community composition was characterized from copper-contaminated soils amended with MHA, NHA and three other classic amendments combined with Elsholtzia splendens during a 3-year immobilization experiment. High-throughput sequencing results showed that applications of MHA increased the richness and diversity of the fungal community, which was opposite the results of NHA. SIMPER analysis indicated that both the relative abundance of fungi associated with biosorption and plant growth promotion increased, whereas the relative abundance of fungi related to bioleaching and potential pathogens decreased after applying MHA. Redundancy (RDA) analysis revealed that the soil pH was a crucial environmental factor in the succession of fungal communities. In addition, the results of functional prediction via FUNGuild suggested that the application of MHA had the potential to reduce the risk of pathogens infecting animals and plants in the soil but that NHA had some environmental risks. Overall, fungal community showed a synergistic effect of immobilization with the test amendments, and MHA was better for the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils than the other test amendments.

Assessment of bacterial communities in Cu-contaminated soil immobilized by a one-time application of micro-/nano-hydroxyapatite and phytoremediation for 3 years.

Heavy metals contamination of soil has been considered as a global environmental problem, and consequently various soil amendments have been widely used in immobilization. Previous studies have reported that micro-/nano-hydroxyapatite (MHA/NHA) as a novel chemical material could alleviate soil acidity and reduce the bioavailability of heavy metals. However, the mechanism of soil microorganism responding to the application of MHA/NHA is little studied. Presently, an in-situ field experiment was conducted to determine the effects of MHA/NHA and the other three traditional amendments including alkali slag (AS), lime (L) and apatite (AP) on soil copper (Cu) bioavailability and dominate bacterial population. The results showed that the application of MHA/NHA effectively increased soil pH and decreased soil available Cu content, and showed the highest increasing effects on the activities of urease, catalase and acid phosphatase. Compared with the control, MHA/NHA significantly changed the soil bacterial community structure and increased the bacterial abundance and diversity. Besides, analysis of the dominate population showed that the application of MHA/NHA decreased the relative abundance of acidophiles and the indicator of soil degradation. Additionally, the relative abundance of potential plant growth promoting bacteria increased with the addition of MHA/NHA, which was confirmed by the characteristics (the ability of producing indole acetic acid and siderophore) of bacterial strains. These results suggested that these dominate bacterial populations with significant changes may be regarded as the biomarkers for the recovery of soil ecological environment, which provides a theoretical basis for the ecological evaluation of MHA/NHA.

Propofol inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha expression and myocardial depression through decreasing the generation of superoxide anion in cardiomyocytes.

TNF-α has been shown to be a major factor responsible for myocardial depression in sepsis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an anesthetic, propofol, on TNF-α expression in cardiomyocytes treated with LPS both in vivo and in vitro. In cultured cardiomyocytes, compared with control group, propofol significantly reduced protein expression of gp91phox and phosphorylation of extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) and p38 MAPK, which associates with reduced TNF-α production. In in vivo mice studies, propofol significantly improved myocardial depression and increased survival rate of mice after LPS treatment or during endotoxemia, which associates with reduced myocardial TNF-α production, gp91phox, ERK1/2, and p38 MAPK. It is concluded that propofol abrogates LPS-induced TNF-α production and alleviates cardiac depression through gp91phox/ERK1/2 or p38 MAPK signal pathway. These findings have great clinical importance in the application of propofol for patients enduring sepsis.

Dry deposition velocity of atmospheric nitrogen in a typical red soil agro-ecosystem in Southeastern China.

Atmospheric dry deposition is an important nitrogen (N) input to farmland ecosystems. The main nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere include gaseous N (NH3, NO2, HNO3) and aerosol N (NH4+/NO3-). With the knowledge of increasing agricultural effects by dry deposition of nitrogen, researchers have paid great attention to this topic. Based on the big-leaf resistance dry deposition model, dry N deposition velocities (Vd) in a typical red soil agro-ecosystem, Yingtan, Jiangxi, Southeastern China, were estimated with the data from an Auto-Meteorological Experiment Station during 2004-2007. The results show that hourly deposition velocities (Vdh) were in the range of 0.17-0.34, 0.05-0.24, 0.57-1.27, and 0.05-0.41 cm/s for NH3, NO2, HNO3, and aerosol N, respectively, and the Vdh were much higher in daytime than in nighttime and had a peak value around noon. Monthly dry deposition velocities (Vdm) were in the range of 0.14-0.36, 0.06-0.18, and 0.07-0.25 cm/s for NH3, NO2, and aerosol N, respectively. Their minimum values appeared from June to August, while their maximum values occurred from February to March each year. The maximum value for HNO3 deposition velocities appeared in July each year, and Vdm(HNO3) ranged from 0.58 to 1.31 cm/s during the 4 years. As for seasonal deposition velocities (Vds), Vds(NH3), Vds(NO2), and Vds(aerosol N) in winter or spring were significantly higher than those in summer or autumn, while Vds(HNO3) in summer were higher than that in winter. In addition, there is no significant difference among all the annual means for deposition velocities (Vda). The average values for NH3, NO2, HNO3, and aerosol N deposition velocities in the 4 years were 0.26, 0.12, 0.81, and 0.16 cm/s, respectively. The model is convenient and feasible to estimate dry deposition velocity of atmospheric nitrogen in the typical red soil agro-ecosystem.

[Quantitative input of atmospheric nitrogen to an agro-ecosystem in a typical red soil region].

The atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition flux and dry deposition N velocities (Vd) were estimated using big leaf resistance analogy model by observations of onflow and factors of farmland microclimate, analysis of nitrides from the atmosphere and rain in an agro-ecosystem, a typical red soil region on Experiment Station of Red Earth Ecology, Chinese Academy (Yingtan, Jiangxi) of Sciences in 2005. The results showed that the dry deposition N was 82.63 kg x hm(-2), accounting for 67.94% of the total N, which was 132.6 kg x hm(-2) in the whole year (2005). In N dry deposition progress, NH3-N and NO3- -N were the main settlement for gas and particle, respectively. NH3-N was made up 43.02% to 89.89% (mean value, 71.05%) of the gaseous N deposition while NO3- -N was accounted for 33.67% to 94.54% (mean value, 61.01%) of the particle N deposition. The N wet deposition fluxes were 0.50-8.45 kg x hm(-2) per month and reached the higher value in July and November.