At present, diminishing oil resources and increasing environmental concerns have led to a shift toward the production of alternative biofuels. In the last few decades, butanol, as liquid biofuel, has received considerable research attention due to its advantages over ethanol. Several studies have focused on the production of butanol through the fermentation from raw renewable biomass, such as lignocellulosic materials. However, the low concentration and productivity of butanol production and the price of raw materials are limitations for butanol fermentation. Moreover, these limitations are the main causes of industrial decline in butanol production. This study reviews butanol fermentation, including the metabolism and characteristics of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) producing clostridia. Furthermore, types of butanol production from biomass feedstock are detailed in this study. Specifically, this study introduces the recent progress on the efficient butanol production of “designed” and modified biomass. Additionally, the recent advances in the butanol fermentation process, such as multistage continuous fermentation, metabolic flow change of the electron carrier supplement, continuous fermentation with immobilization and recycling of cell, and the recent technical separation of the products from the fermentation broth, are described in this study.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the response of cadmium (Cd) distribution and stability in soil aggregates as affected by applying different amendments and to understand the relationship between changes in soil aggregates and alleviation of Cd phytotoxicity to rice after amendment application. In the present study, rice (Oryza sativa L.) was cultivated on a Cd-polluted soil. Five soil amendments were applied, which are as follows: rice husk biochar (BC), Fe-added rice husk biochar (Fe-BC), attapulgite-based mixture (AM), zeolite-based mixture (ZM), and cow manure-based mixture (MM). The effect on Cd redistribution in soil and Cd accumulation in rice plant was evaluated. The results showed that the five amendments applied at the rate of 3% (w/w) significantly increased soil pH and decreased Cd mobility in soil and Cd accumulation in rice plants. The reduction rate of Cd content in rice grains ranged from 41 to 62% after amendment application. The remediation efficiency of the different amendments for decreasing Cd accumulation in rice tissues followed the order of Fe-BC > MM > BC > ZM > AM. Adding amendments promoted the formation of large aggregates (0.2–2.0 mm) with more mass loading of Cd and enhanced aggregate stability. Comparatively, Fe-BC was more effective than others for remediation of acid Cd-polluted paddy soil, as a significantly decreased Cd concentration in rice grain after its application was observed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that DTPA-extractable Cd in small aggregates was the main factor affecting Cd accumulation in rice grain; soil pH directly affected aggregate stability; and aggregate stability was closely related to Cd availability in different size soil particles. These results indicated that the applied amendments were effective in reducing Cd bioavailability, most likely through raising the soil pH, improving aggregate stability, and re-distributing Cd from smaller soil aggregates to larger ones.

Bioaerosols are an important component of particulate matter in the atmosphere and are harmful to human health. In this study, the concentration, size distribution, and factors influencing culturable airborne bacteria and fungi in the atmosphere were investigated using a six-stage impactor device in the city of Xinxiang, China, during the winter season. The results revealed that the concentration of culturable airborne bacteria and fungi varied significantly during the sampling period: 4595 ± 3410 and 6358 ± 5032 CFU/m³, respectively. The particle sizes of the bioaerosols were mainly within stage V (1.1–2.1 μm), and fine particulate matter accounted for 45.9% ± 18.9% of airborne bacteria and 52.0% ± 18.5% of airborne fungi, respectively. With the deterioration of air quality, the concentration of airborne fungi gradually increased, and that of airborne bacteria increased when the air quality index was lower than 200 and decreased when it was higher than 200. With respect to the diurnal variation pattern of bioaerosol concentration, the highest and lowest concentrations were registered at night and noon, respectively, probably because of changes in ultraviolet radiation intensity. Bioaerosol concentration positively correlated with humidity, concentration of PM₂.₅, PM₁₀, SO₂, and NO₂ and negatively correlated with O₃ concentration. The risk of exposure of humans to the airborne bacteria was primarily associated with the respiratory inhalation pathway, and the risk of skin exposure was negligible. These results should improve our understanding of the threat of bioaerosols to public health.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the secondary biological treatment plant effluent administration on the kidneys, urinary bladder, and testis of Wistar rats in relation to lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) accumulation, since such an effluent is used for irrigation of edible plants. Male Wistar rats, randomly assigned into 5 groups, were treated with domestic sewage effluent (DSE) for 24 months. Cadmium and lead concentrations in the DSE, rats’ tissues, and urine were estimated by means of atomic spectroscopy. Lead was rapidly accumulated in high amounts in rats’ kidney and to a lesser extent in the testis whereas Cd concentration was raised in all tissues examined. Deposition of Cd and Pd in the kidney of the rats resulted in profound damage over time. The results showed that long-term administration to DSE as drinking water exposes living organisms to urogenital stress related to heavy metal concentration and pH of the effluent.

Fecal source tracking of the Bong stream, a representative inland pollutant around the drainage basin of Gangjin Bay (an area where shellfish are grown for export), was performed three times in four confluence areas with 13 sampling sites by analyzing fecal coliform concentrations and two types of bacterial community structures. Identification of the origin of major fecal pollution in the area that inflowed simultaneously via several branch streams was difficult using fecal source tracking based on fecal coliform concentration. Bacterial community analyses using high-throughput sequencing showed that the dominant groups in the entire bacterial community at the class level were Beta-, Gamma-, and Alpha-proteobacteria; Flavobacteriia; and Bacteroidia, and the most abundant groups in the Bacteroidales-specific community at the genus level were Prevotella and Bacteroides. Hierarchical clustering and Bray–Curtis dissimilarity analysis for fecal source tracking indicated that the Bacteroidales-specific community was superior in water environments compared with analysis of the entire bacterial community. Conversely, when the degree of fecal pollution in the sample was low, fecal source tracking based on the entire bacterial community was more reliable. These results suggest that fecal source tracking based on bacterial communities is a useful tool for identifying the origin of fecal pollution in a large stream and implementing systematic guidelines for the establishment of an effective management plan to reduce fecal pollution sources.

A series of Ce-doped LaMnO₃ (La₁₋ₓCeₓMnO₃) were prepared and were tested for gaseous toluene oxidation in order to investigate the effect of cerium doping in LaMnO₃ on activity under photothermal conditions. It was found that the activity and CO₂ yield of the catalyst can be effectively increased when x = 0.25. A group of characterization is used to characterize the morphology, composition, and physical properties of the as-prepared catalysts. Results show that the Ce-doped LaMnO₃ can form coexistence of La₁₋ₓCeₓMnO₃ and CeO₂, the reaction of CeO₂/La₁₋ₓCeₓMnO₃ under photothermal conditions follows the Mars-van Krevelen redox cycle mechanism, and the prepared CeO₂/La₁₋ₓCeₓMnO₃ can form a highly efficient Z-scheme heterojunction, which can enhance the electrons transfer speed of the catalyst. Moreover, in the photothermal catalytic degradation, lattice oxygen is the most important active substance, a small amount of cerium doping can increase the lattice oxygen content of perovskite and increase the activity of the reaction.

Gaseous formaldehyde removal efficiency and physiological characteristics of leaves were investigated through a dynamic fumigation system. Three different species of potted Chlorophytum Comosum, (Green Chlorophytum Comosum for its green leaves), CC (Combined the leaves of Chlorophytum Comosum with leaves half green and half white) and PC (Purple Chlorophytum Comosum for its purple leaves), were exposed to formaldehyde for 7 days. The results showed formaldehyde removal efficiencies in the daytime were 71.07% ± 0.23, 84.66% ± 0.19, and 46.73% ± 0.15 at 1 ppm for GC, CC, and GC plants, respectively, and were 36.21% ± 0.24, 62.15% ± 0.19, and 34.97% ± 0.11 at night. This might be due to higher plant physiological activities (e.g., photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration) during the daytime than at night. Ten physiological indicators of leaves were chosen to evaluate the 7-day fumigation process, which were chlorophyll, free protein, relative conductivity, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), hydroxyl radical, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). Eight of these indicators increased, while chlorophyll decreased by 22.16%, 6.95%, and 25.32%, and CAT decreased by 18.9%, 17.8%, and 25.30% for GC, CC, and PC respectively. Among all the increasing physiological indicators, relative conductivity and MDA showed the greatest increase by 279.32% and 155.56% for PC. A 15-day recovery study was also conducted using MDA and T-AOC as indicators. The results showed that all the tested plants could be tolerant up to the 8 ppm of formaldehyde concentration for 7 days under dynamic fumigation and needed 10–15 days for self-recovery.

Phosphorus is an essential macro-mineral nutrient for poultry, needed for the body growth, development of bones, genomic function, good quality flesh, and eggs production. The imbalance of organic phosphorus sources in the diet mostly affect the phosphorus digestibility, reduces the poultry performance and health, and increases the environmental pollution burden. A study was reviewed to estimate the low phytate phosphorus digestibility of ingredients in poultry diet and their impacts on environmental ecosystem and opportunity of phytase supplementation. Plant ingredients mostly used in poultry diets are rich in phytate phosphorus. The phytate phosphorus digestibility and utilization is low in the gut of birds which leads to decrease other nutrients digestibility and increase excessive excretion of phosphorus with additional nutrients in the manure. When that manure applied to the lands containing excessive residual phosphorus and additional nutrients which pollute soil, groundwater disturbed the entire ecosystem. This issue is developed by poultry due to lack of digestive enzyme phytase which promotes the phytate phosphorus during digestion and reduces the excessive losses of phosphorus in excreta. To overcome this matter, the addition of mostly exogenous phospho-hydrolytic phytase enzymes in the diet, i.e. Escherichia coli, Peniophora lycii, Aspergillus niger, and Ficum, are the possible ways to increase the digestibility and utilization of phytate phosphorus and promote the stepwise release of phosphorus from phytate and significantly decrease phosphorus excretion. The aim of this review is to highlight the role of phytase supplementation in the poultry feeding, improvement of phytate phosphorus digestibility with performance, and reduction of phosphorus pollution from the environment.

The aim of the literature review was to describe the environments where the presence of airborne Staphylococcus aureus was confirmed and to catalogue the most often used methods and conditions of bioaerosol sampling to identify the bacteria. The basis for searching of studies on S. aureus in the bioaerosol in different environments was PubMed database resources from the years 1990–2019 (May). The review included studies which were carried on in selected environments: hospitals and other health care facilities, large-scale animal breeding, wastewater treatment plants, residential areas, educational institutions, and other public places. The highest concentrations and genetic diversity of identified S. aureus strains, including MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus), have been shown in large-scale animal breeding. The role of the airborne transmission in dissemination of infection caused by these pathogens is empirically confirmed in environmental studies. Commonly available, well-described, and relatively inexpensive methods of sampling, identification, and subtyping guarantee a high reliability of results and allow to obtain fast and verifiable outcomes in environmental studies on air transmission routes of S. aureus strains.