Monitoring COVID-19 spread in Prague local neighborhoods based on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater collected throughout the sewer network.

Many reports have documented that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the influents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) correlates with the actual epidemic situation in a given city. However, few data have been reported thus far on measurements upstream of WWTPs, i.e. throughout the sewer network. In this study, the monitoring of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Prague wastewater was carried out at selected locations of the Prague sewer network from August 2020 through May 2021. Various locations such as residential areas of various sizes, hospitals, city center areas, student dormitories, transportation hubs (airport, bus terminal), and commercial areas were monitored together with four of the main Prague sewers. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was determined by reverse transcription - multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-mqPCR) after the precipitation of nucleic acids with PEG 8,000 and RNA isolation with TRIzol™ Reagent. The number of copies of the gene encoding SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N1) per liter of wastewater was compared with the number of officially registered COVID-19 cases in Prague. Although the data obtained by sampling wastewater from the major Prague sewers were more consistent than those obtained from the small sewers, the correlation between wastewater-based and clinical-testing data was also good for the residential areas with more than 7,000 registered inhabitants. It was shown that monitoring SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater sampled from small sewers could identify isolated occurrences of COVID-19-positive cases in local neighborhoods. This can be very valuable while tracking COVID-19 hotspots within large cities.

Climatic Variation of Supercooling Point in the Linden Bug Pyrrhocoris apterus (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae).

Cold tolerance is often one of the key components of insect fitness, but the association between climatic conditions and supercooling capacity is poorly understood. We tested 16 lines originating from geographically different populations of the linden bug Pyrrhocoris apterus for their cold tolerance, determined as the supercooling point (SCP). The supercooling point was generally well explained by the climatic conditions of the population's origin, as the best predictor-winter minimum temperature-explained 85% of the average SCP variation between populations. The supercooling capacity of P. apterus is strongly correlated with climatic conditions, which support the usage of SCP as an appropriate metric of cold tolerance in this species.

Occurrence of microplastics in raw and treated drinking water.

The study investigates the content of microplastic particles in freshwater and drinking water. Specifically, three water treatment plants (WTPs) supplied by different kinds of water bodies were selected and their raw and treated water was analysed for microplastics (MPs). Microplastics were found in all water samples and their average abundance ranged from 1473 ±â€¯34 to 3605 ±â€¯497 particles L-1 in raw water and from 338 ±â€¯76 to 628 ±â€¯28 particles L-1 in treated water, depending on the WTP. This study is one of very few that determine microplastics down to the size of 1 µm, while MPs smaller than 10 µm were the most plentiful in both raw and treated water samples, accounting for up to 95%. Further, MPs were divided into three categories according to their shape. Fragments clearly prevailed at two of the WTPs and fibres together with fragments predominated at one case. Despite 12 different materials forming the microplastics being identified, the majority of the MPs (>70%) comprised of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene) and PE (polyethylene). This study contributes to fill the knowledge gap in the field of emerging microplastic pollution of drinking water and water sources, which is of concern due to the potential exposure of microplastics to humans.

The impact of pre-oxidation with potassium permanganate on cyanobacterial organic matter removal by coagulation.

The study investigates the effect of permanganate pre-oxidation on the coagulation of peptides/proteins of Microcystis aeruginosa which comprise a major proportion of the organic matter during cyanobacterial bloom decay. Four different permanganate dosages (0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mg KMnO4 mg-1 DOC) were applied prior to coagulation by ferric sulphate. Moreover, changes in sample characteristics, such as UV254, DOC content and molecular weight distribution, after pre-oxidation were monitored. The results showed that permanganate pre-oxidation led to a reduction in coagulant dose, increased organic matter removals by coagulation (by 5-12% depending on permanganate dose), microcystin removal (with reductions of 91-96%) and a shift of the optimum pH range from 4.3 to 6 without to 5.5-7.3 with pre-oxidation. Degradation of organic matter into inorganic carbon and adsorption of organic matter onto hydrous MnO2 are suggested as the main processes responsible for coagulation improvement. Moreover, permanganate prevented the formation of Fe-peptide/protein complexes that inhibit coagulation at pH about 6.2 without pre-oxidation. The study showed that carefully optimized dosing of permanganate improves cyanobacterial peptide/protein removal, with the benefit of microcystin elimination.

Chemical composition of essential oils from plantago lanceolata L. leaves extracted by hydrodistillation.

Extensive traditional use of medical plants leads to research dealing with chemical composition of essential oils. The aim of this work was evaluation of quality of the essential oil and extending of the knowledge about chemical composition of essential oil from ribwort (Plantago lanceolata L.) and proportional representation of compounds. Extractions of essential oils from samples of ribwort were performed by hydrodistillation. GC-MS and GC-FID techniques were used for investigation of the qualitative and semi-quantitative content of aromatic compounds in the essential oils, respectively. Major aroma constituents of ribwort leaves were groups of fatty acids 28.0-52.1 % (the most abundant palmitic acid 15.3-32.0 %), oxidated monoterpenes 4.3-13.2 % (linalool 2.7-3.5 %), aldehydes and ketones 6.9-10.0 % (pentyl vinyl ketone 2.0-3.4 %) and alcohols 3.8-9.2 % (1-octen-3-ol 2.4-8.2 %). In relative high amount were identified apocarotenoids (1.5-2.3 %) which are important constituents because of their intense fragrant. The importance is in potential manufacture control of feedstocks before producing of food supplements.

The impact of interactions between algal organic matter and humic substances on coagulation.

This study focuses on the effects of molecular interactions between two natural organic matter (NOM) fractions, peptides/proteins derived from cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa (MA proteins) and peat humic substances (HS), on their removal by coagulation. Coagulation behaviour was studied by the jar tests with MA protein/HS mixtures and with single compounds (MA proteins or HS). Aluminium sulphate was used as a coagulant. Besides MA proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a model protein. For the MA protein/HS mixture, the removal rates were higher (80% versus 65%) and the dose of coagulant substantially lower (2.8 versus 5.5 mg L(-1) Al) than for coagulation of single HS, indicating the positive effect of protein-HS interactions on the coagulation process. The optimum coagulation pH was 5.2-6.7 for MA proteins and 5.5-6 for HS by alum. The optimum pH for the removal of MA protein/HS mixture ranged between pH 5.5-6.2, where the charge neutralization of negatively charged acidic functional groups of organic molecules by positively charged coagulant hydroxopolymers lead to coagulation. MA proteins interacted with HS, probably through hydrophobic, dipole-dipole and electrostatic interactions, even in the absence the coagulant. These interactions are likely to occur within a wide pH range, but they result in coagulation only at low pH values (pH < 4). At this pH, the negative charge of both MA proteins and HS was suppressed due to the protonation of acidic functional groups and thus the molecules could approach and combine forming aggregates. Virtually the same trends were observed in the experiments with HS and BSA, indicating that BSA is a suitable model for MA proteins under experimental conditions used in this study. The study showed that increases in organic content in source water due to the release of algae products may not necessarily entail deterioration of the coagulation process and a rise in coagulant demand.

Kinetic models for volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons removal by zero-valent iron.

Kinetic models for removal of trichloroethylene, trichloromethane and tetrachloroethylene from water by zero-valent iron were tested. The dehalogenation reactions were modelled by first-order and power law models, pseudo-stationary models with a controlling surface reaction rate and non-stationary models without the assumption of rate controlling step. Regression analysis proved, that the first-order kinetic is not suitable for the modelling of chlorinated hydrocarbons dechlorination. On the other hand, power law models, Langmuir-Hinshelwood analogy models and general models of heterogeneous reactions are reliable for the kinetic description of dechlorination. In spite of an empirical or semi-empirical character, the power law models and models of controlling surface reaction rate can be recommended for the regression analysis owing to the their simple regression parameters interpretation.