This study investigated the degradation of sulfonamide antibiotics (SAs) and microbial community changes in sludge-amended soil. In batch experiments, SA degradation was enhanced by addition of spent mushroom compost (SMC), SMC extract, and extract-containing microcapsule, with SMC showing higher SA degradation rate than the other additives in soil-sludge mixtures. In bioreactor experiments, the degradation of SAs in soil-sludge mixtures was in the order of sulfamethoxazole > sulfadimethoxine > sulfamethazine during four times of SA addition. SA removal was higher in soil-sludge mixtures than in soil alone. The bacterial composition differed in soil-sludge mixtures with and without SMC. In total, 44 differentially distributed bacterial genera were identified from different experimental settings and stages. Four bacterial genera, Acinetobacter, Alcaligenes, Brevundimonas, and Pseudomonas, were previously found involved in SA degradation, and 20 of the 44 bacterial genera were previously found in aromatic hydrocarbon degradation. Therefore, these bacteria have high potential to be SA degradation bacteria in this study.

The study aimed to determine the fungal diversity in clinical waste samples from a healthcare facility in Penang Malaysia. Different fungi species were detected in 83.75 % of the 92 clinical waste samples that were screened from different sections of the healthcare facility. One hundred fifty fungal isolates comprising of 8 genera and 36 species were obtained. They were purified by using single spore isolation technique. Subsequently, the isolates were identified by phenotypic method based on morphological and culture characteristics on different culture media. Among all fungal isolates, Aspergillus spp. in section Nigri 10.2 %, Aspergillus niger 9.5 %, Aspergillus fumigatus 8.8 %, Penicillium. simplicissium 8 %, Aspergillus tubingensis 7.3 %, Aspergillus terreus var. terreus 6.6 %, Penicillium waksmanii 5.9 % and Curvularia lunata 6.5 % were the most frequent. Among five sections of the Wellness Centre, the clinical wastes collected from the diagnostic labs of haematology section had the highest numbers of fungal species (29 species). Glove wastes had the highest numbers of fungal species (19 species) among 17 types of clinical wastes screened. Among all fungal species, Aspergillus spp. exhibited higher growth at 37 °C than at 28 °C, indicating the potential of these opportunistic fungi to cause diseases in human. These results indicated the potential of hospital wastes as reservoirs for fungal species.

This paper reports the effect of earthworm population density on the vermicomposting of effluent treatment plant sludge of a bakery industry. Four waste mixtures containing 0, 10, 20, and 30 % sludge along with cow dung with five different worm population densities were established for 14 weeks under controlled moisture and temperature conditions. The results showed that average worm biomass, growth and cocoon production were lesser at higher population densities. Sexual maturity was attained in 3rd to 5th week in all waste mixtures. Worm growth was inversely related to worm population density in the waste mixture. Results also indicated that lower worm population is favorable to worm biomass production. On the other hand, mineralization and stabilization of the waste mixtures were more at higher worm populations.

The laccase and ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (USPIO) have been assembled inside the tubular mesoporous silica via co-adsorption technology to prepare host/guest-type immobilized laccase, which is applied to degrade methoxychlor (MXC) in aqueous and reverse micelle environments. The effects of various parameters on degradation of MXC were studied. Under the optimum conditions, the degradation rate could reach maximum value of 45.6 % and remain at 20.8 % after seven cycles. Moreover, the addition of small molecular compound 2, 2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate) to the system could greatly improve the degradation efficiency. The MXC degradation process is a first-order reaction, and the activation energy of MXC degradation catalyzed by immobilized laccase (41.46 kJ mol⁻¹) is relatively lower than that catalyzed by free laccase (44.91 kJ mol⁻¹). Based on the degradation products measured by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), the degradation mechanism of MXC has also been proposed.

The content and bioaccumulation of trace (Ag, Se, As) and major elements (Ca, Mg, Na and K) in wild edible mushroom Macrolepiota procera and its corresponding soil substrates, collected from five sites in the Rasina region in central Serbia, were investigated. The content of Ag, As and Se was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) while the amount of Ca, Mg, Na and K was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). The concentrations of major elements in the mushrooms were at typical levels. As far as trace elements are concerned, M. procera bioaccumulates silver although all samples were collected from unpolluted sites. It was found that the content of Ag depended on the geographical origin and the density of fruiting body on the certain site. Principal component analysis distinguished the mushroom samples from different geographical areas and revealed the influence of soil composition on metal content in fruiting bodies. Also, a linear regression correlation test was performed to investigate correlations between Ag, Cd, Se, Pb and As in caps and stipes at different geographic sites separately. In addition, our results indicated that M. procera could serve as a good dietary source of Mg, K and Se. The content of Ag and As was low, so it could not pose a health risk for consumers.

Sediments exposed to simulated solar radiation can serve as an important source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to surrounding waters. However, it is still unclear if dissolved nutrients can be photoproduced from lake sedimentary organic matter. In this study, a series of laboratory-based experiments was conducted to address the photoproduction of dissolved inorganic nutrients and DOC from resuspended Taihu Lake sediments. Dissolved inorganic nutrients and DOC were photoproduced after 8-h irradiation. The released NH₄ ⁺, NOₓ ⁻, and DOC levels ranged from 3.57 to 12.14, 1.43 to 6.43, and 24.17 to 69.17 μmol L⁻¹, respectively. The variation in the amount released indicated that sediment source had an effect on DOC and nutrient photorelease. More DOC and nutrients were released from higher concentration suspensions. However, due to the light absorption by suspended sediment, less DOC and nutrients were released from per gram of suspended sediment in high concentration suspensions. The decrease in DOC and increase in dissolved inorganic nitrogen during the last 2-h irradiation indicated that the photoproduction of inorganic nutrients proceeded via direct photodissolution of suspended sediments and subsequent photodegradation of the produced dissolved organic matter. Our results demonstrated that the photoproduction flux of NH₄ ⁺ and NOₓ ⁻ accounts for 12.3 and 6.5 % of wet deposition, respectively, which suggest that the photodissolution of suspended sediment could be a potential source of DOC and dissolved nutrients in shallow water ecosystems.

The alerted presence in recent decades of pharmaceuticals has become an issue of environmental concern, and most of the mechanisms of biotransformation and biochemical and physiological responses to them in fish are still unknown, as well as the influence of water temperature in their ability to cope with them. This study aims to detect the main effects of two of the most widespread drugs on a set of physiological and biochemical markers in Solea senegalensis. Sole juveniles acclimatized at 15 and 20 °C were administered an intraperitoneal injection of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen (IB; 10 mg/kg) and the anti-convulsant drug carbamazepine (CBZ; 1 mg/kg). Two days after the injection, liver, muscle and plasma were sampled. Liver enzymatic activities of 15 °C acclimated fish were more responsive to pharmaceuticals than those acclimated at 20 °C, especially for CYP450-related activities (7-ethoxyresorufin (EROD), 7-methoxyresorufin (MROD), 3-cyano-7-ethoxycoumarin (CECOD) and 7-benzyloxy-4-[trifluoromethyl]-coumarin-O-debenzyloxylase (BFCOD)) and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGT). Cytosolic anti-oxidant enzyme activities and glutathione S-transferase (GST) did not show a clear effect of temperature. Glucose and transferase activities in plasma were not affected by the treatments, while ammonium, osmolality and lactate were affected by both pharmaceuticals. Plasma triglycerides were affected in a temperature-dependent manner, and creatinine was only responsive to CBZ injection. HSP70 levels in muscle were only affected by CBZ injection. Some of the physiological identified responses to IB and CBZ are proposed as endpoints in further chronic studies.

Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) has great potential as phytoremediation material in soil contaminated by heavy metals. A hydroponics experiment was conducted to determine organic acid compounds of root exudates of lead- (Pb), zinc- (Zn), copper- (Cu), and cadmium (Cd)-tolerant of Moso bamboo. Plants were grown in nutrients solution which included Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd applied as Pb(NO₃)₂ (200 μM), ZnSO₄·7H₂O (100 μM), CuSO₄·5H₂O (25 μM), and CdCl₂ (10 μM), respectively. Oxalic acid and malic acid were detected in all treatments. Lactic acid was observed in Cu, Cd, and control treatments. The oxalic was the main organic acid exudated by Moso bamboo. In the sand culture experiment, the Moso bamboo significantly activated carbonate heavy metals under activation of roots. The concentration of water-soluble metals (except Pb) in sand were significantly increased as compared with control. Organic acids (1 mM mixed) were used due to its effect on the soil adsorption of heavy metals. After adding mixed organic acids, the Cu and Zn sorption capacity in soils was decreased markedly compared with enhanced Pb and Cd sorption capacity in soils. The sorption was analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich equations with R ² values that ranged from 0.956 to 0.999 and 0.919 to 0.997, respectively.

The water-soluble polyacrylamide (PAM) can accumulate in ecosystems and cause serious environmental pollution. Biological approach achieves poor PAM degradation efficiency, due to the extreme resistance of PAM to the microbial metabolism. In the present work, the potential of bioelectrochemical system (BES) as an effective tool to degrade the PAM is adequately evaluated. The closed-circuit operation of BES obtains COD removal efficiencies of 29.2 and 33.6 % for the PAM and polyacrylic acid (PAA), respectively. In comparison, 4.3 and 2.7 % of COD are removed after the PAM and PAA are treated in the open-circuit BES, and 7.3 and 6.6 % are removed in the aerobic BES. These results suggest the bioelectricity generation is crucial to trigger the activity of bioanode for the effective degradation of PAM. Bioelectricity generation not only favors the decomposition of carbon backbone but also facilitates the hydrolysis of amide group in the side-chain of PAM. Microbial attack on the carbon backbone of PAM is proposed to initiate at the head-to-head linkage, resulting in the formation of ether bond within the shortened carbon chain. The Ignavibacterium sp. and phenotypically uncharacterized bacteria are classified as the dominant species on the anode of PAM-fed BES.

Lead (Pb) intoxication is a worldwide health problem which frequently affects the liver. This study was carried out to investigate the potential protective effect of thymoquinone (TQ), the major active ingredient of volatile oil of Nigella sativa seeds, against Pb-induced liver damage. Adult male rats were randomized into four groups: Control group received no treatment, Pb group was exposed to 2000 ppm Pb acetate in drinking water, Pb-TQ group was cotreated with Pb plus TQ (5 mg/kg/day, per orally), and TQ group receiving only TQ. All treatments were applied for 5 weeks. Results indicated that Pb exposure increased hepatic Pb content, damaged hepatic histological structure (necrotic foci, hepatic strands disorganization, hypertrophied hepatocytes, cytoplasmic vacuolization, cytoplasmic loss, chromatin condensation, mononuclear cell infiltration, congestion, centrilobular swelling), and changed liver function investigated by plasma biochemical parameters (AST, ALT, ALP, γ-GT, LDH). Pb treatment also decreased total antioxidant status level and increased lipid peroxidation in the liver. Supplementation with TQ remarkably improved the Pb-induced adverse effects without significantly reducing the metal accumulation in the liver. In conclusion, our results indicate, for the first time, a protective effect of TQ against Pb-induced hepatotoxicity and suggest that this component might be clinically useful in Pb intoxication.