In recent years, the response of fern gametophytes to environment has raised much attention. However, studies on the influence of plant invasion to fern gametophytes are scarce. Allelopathy plays an important role in biological invasion. Hence, it is necessary to study the allelopathic effects of invasive plants on fern gametophytes and elucidate the mechanisms by which invasive plants cause phytotoxicity. As one of the main invasive plants in China, Bidens pilosa exhibits allelopathic effects on spermatophyte growth. Field investigation shows that many ferns are threatened by the invasion of B. pilosa. The distribution of Pteris multifida overlaps with that of B. pilosa in China. To examine the potential involvement of allelopathic mechanisms of B. pilosa leaves, changes in the physiology in P. multifida gametophytes are analyzed. We found that cell membrane and antioxidant enzyme activities as well as photosynthesis pigment contents of the gametophytes were affected by B. pilosa leachates. Gametophytes of P. multifida exposed to B. pilosa had increased damages to cell membranes, expressed in thiobarbituric acid reacting substance (TBARS) concentrations, malondialdehyde (MDA), electrolyte leakage (membrane permeability), and degree of injury. Enzyme activities, assessed by superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) as well as guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) enhanced with the increase in leachate concentration after 2-day exposure. Meanwhile, lower chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b), carotenoid (Car), and the total chlorophyll were measured as leachate concentrations increased. At day 10, leaf leachates of B. pilosa exhibited the greatest inhibition. These results suggest that the observed inhibitory or stimulatory effects on the physiology studied can have an adverse effect on P. multifida and that allelopathic interference seems to have involved in this process.

In this study chemical analyses and ecotoxicity tests were applied for the assessment of a heavily hydrocarbon-contaminated soil prior and after the application of a remediation procedure that consisted in the stimulation of soil autochthonous populations of hydrocarbon degraders in static-ventilated biopiles. Terrestrial bioassays were applied in mixtures of test soils and artificial control soil and studied the survival and reproduction of Eisenia fetida and the avoidance response of E. fetida and Folsomia candida. Effects on aquatic organisms were studied by means of acute tests with Vibrio fischeri, Raphidocelis subcapitata, and Daphnia magna performed on aqueous elutriates from test soils. The bioremediation procedure led to a significant reduction in the concentration of hydrocarbons (from 34264 to 3074 mg kg⁻¹, i.e., 91 % decrease) and toxicity although bioassays were not able to report a percentage decrease of toxicity as high as the percentage reduction. Sublethal tests proved the most sensitive terrestrial bioassays and avoidance tests with earthworms and springtails showed potential as monitoring tools of hydrocarbon remediation due to their high sensitivity and short duration. The concentrations of hydrocarbons in water extracts from test soils were 130 and 100 μg L⁻¹ before and after remediation, respectively. Similarly to terrestrial tests, most aquatic bioassays detected a significant reduction in toxicity, which was almost negligible at the end of the treatment. D. magna survival was the most affected by soil elutriates although toxicity to the crustacean was associated to the salinity of the samples rather than to the concentration of hydrocarbons. Ecotoxicity tests with aqueous soil elutriates proved less relevant in the assessment of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils due to the low hydrosolubility of hydrocarbons and the influence of the physicochemical parameters of the aquatic medium.

Fe(II)-EDTA, a typical chelated iron, is able to coordinate with nitric oxide (NO) which accelerates the rates and kinetics of the absorption of flue gas. However, Fe(II)-EDTA can be easily oxidized to Fe(III)-EDTA which is unable to absorb NO. Therefore, the regeneration of fresh Fe(II)-EDTA, which actually is the reduction of Fe(III)-EDTA to Fe(II)-EDTA, becomes a crucial step in the denitrification process. To enhance the reduction rate of Fe(III)-EDTA, selenium was introduced into the SO₃ ²⁻/Fe(III)-EDTA system as catalyst for the first time. By comparison, the reduction rate was enhanced by four times after adding selenium even at room temperature (25 °C). Encouragingly, elemental Se could precipitate out when SO₃ ²⁻ was consumed up by oxidation to achieve self-separation. A catalysis mechanism was proposed with the aid of ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, Tyndall scattering, horizontal attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (HATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In the catalysis process, the interconversion between SeSO₃ ²⁻ and nascent Se formed a catalysis circle for Fe(III)-EDTA reduction in SO₃ ²⁻ circumstance.

The nitrite reductase (nirS and nirK) and nitrous oxide reductase-encoding (nosZ) genes of denitrifying populations present in an agricultural grassland soil were quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Samples from three separate pedological depths at the chosen site were investigated: horizon A (0–10 cm), horizon B (45–55 cm), and horizon C (120–130 cm). The effect of carbon addition (treatment 1, control; treatment 2, glucose-C; treatment 3, dissolved organic carbon (DOC)) on denitrifier gene abundance and N₂O and N₂ fluxes was determined. In general, denitrifier abundance correlated well with flux measurements; nirS was positively correlated with N₂O, and nosZ was positively correlated with N₂ (P < 0.03). Denitrifier gene copy concentrations per gram of soil (GCC) varied in response to carbon type amendment (P < 0.01). Denitrifier GCCs were high (ca. 10⁷) and the bac:nirK, bac:nirS, bac:nir ᵀ , and bac:nosZ ratios were low (ca. 10⁻¹/10) in horizon A in all three respective treatments. Glucose-C amendment favored partial denitrification, resulting in higher nir abundance and higher N₂O fluxes compared to the control. DOC amendment, by contrast, resulted in relatively higher nosZ abundance and N₂ emissions, thus favoring complete denitrification. We also noted soil depth directly affected bacterial, archaeal, and denitrifier abundance, possibly due to changes in soil carbon availability with depth.

Two bacterial strains, Achromobacter sp. (ACH01) and Sphingomonas sp. (SPH01), were isolated from a heavily polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated soil (5431.3 ± 102.3 ppm) for their capacity to use a mixture of anthracene, pyrene, phenanthrene and fluorene as sole carbon sources for growth and for the capacity to produce biosurfactants. The two strains were exploited for bioaugmentation in a biopile pilot plant to increase the bioavailability and the degradation of the residual PAH contamination (99.5 ± 7.1 ppm) reached after 9 months of treatment. The denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis (DGGE) profile of the microbial ecology of the soil during the experimentation showed that the bioaugmentation approach was successful in terms of permanence of the two strains in the soil in treatment. The bioaugmentation of the two bacterial isolates positively correlated with the PAH depletion that reached 7.9 ± 2 ppm value in 2 months of treatment. The PAH depletion was assessed by the loss of the phyto-genotoxicity of soil elutriates on the model plant Vicia faba L., toxicological assessment adopted also to determine the minimum length of the decontamination process for obtaining both the depletion of the PAH contamination and the detoxification of the soil at the end of the process. The intermediate phases of the bioremediation process were the most significant in terms of toxicity, inducing genotoxic effects and selective DNA fragmentation in the stem cell niche of the root tip. The selective DNA fragmentation can be related to the selective induction of cell death of mutant stem cells that can compromise offsprings.

The assessment of spatial and temporal variation of water quality influenced by land use is necessary to manage the environment sustainably in basin scales. Understanding the correlations between land use and different formats of nonpoint source nutrients pollutants is a priority in order to assess pollutants loading and predicting the impact on surface water quality. Forest, upland, paddy field, and pasture are the dominant land use in the study area, and their land use pattern status has direct connection with nonpoint source (NPS) pollutant loading. In this study, two land use scenarios (1995 and 2010) were used to evaluate the impact of land use changes on NPS pollutants loading in basins upstream of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), using a calibrated and validated version of the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model. The Pengxi River is one of the largest tributaries of the Yangtze River upstream of the TGR, and the study area included the basins of the Dong and Puli Rivers, two major tributaries of the Pengxi River. The results indicated that the calibrated SWAT model could successfully reproduce the loading of NPS pollutants in the basins of the Dong and Puli Rivers. During the 16-year study period, the land use changed markedly with obvious increase of water body and construction. Average distance was used to measure relative distribution patterns of land use types to basin outlets. Forest was mainly distributed in upstream areas whereas other land use types, in particular, water bodies and construction areas were mainly distributed in downstream areas. The precipitation showed a non-significant influence on NPS pollutants loading; to the contrary, interaction between precipitation and land use were significant sources of variation. The different types of land use change were sensitive to NPS pollutants as well as land use pattern. The influence of background value of soil nutrient on NPS pollutants loading was evaluated in upland and paddy field. It was found that total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorous (TP) in upland were more sensitive to NPS pollutants loading than in paddy fields. The results of this study have implications for management of the TGR to reduce the loading of NPS pollutants into downstream water bodies.

A novel integrated system of anoxic-pure oxygen microbubble-activated sludge reactor-moving bed biofilm reactor was employed in treatment of real coal gasification wastewater. The results showed the integrated system had efficient performance of pollutants removal in short hydraulic retention time. While pure oxygen microbubble with the flow rate of 1.5 L/h and NaHCO₃ dosage ratio of 2:1 (amount NaHCO₃ to NH₄ ⁺-N ratio, mol: mol) were used, the removal efficiencies of COD, total phenols (TPh) and NH₄ ⁺-N reached 90, 95, and 95 %, respectively, with the influent loading rates of 3.4 kg COD/(m³ d), 0.81 kg TPh/(m³ d), and 0.28 kg NH₄ ⁺-N/(m³ d). With the recycle ratio of 300 %, the concentrations of NO₂ ⁻-N and NO₃ ⁻-N in effluent decreased to 12 and 59 mg/L, respectively. Meanwhile, pure oxygen microbubble significantly improved the enzymatic activities and affected the effluent organic compositions and reduced the foam expansion. Thus, the novel integrated system with efficient, stable, and economical advantages was suitable for engineering application.

Metals have strong toxic effects in humans and can act as immunoregulatory factors. The purpose of our study was to determine whether the concentrations of metals are associated with the clinical course of nasal polyposis (NP). We measured the concentrations of 10 metals and non-metal (Zn, Mn, Se, Fe, Cr, Ni, Pb, Al, Cd, and Cu) in 58 patients with NP, and 29 controls with a healthy nasal mucosa. We used electron microscopy to compare the ultrastructural features of the nasal mucosa between NP patients and healthy controls. Concentrations of metals in nasal polyps and healthy mucosa were determined by mass spectrometry. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of the nasal mucosa were obtained. The mean tissue concentrations of all 10 metals and non-metal were significantly lower in NP patients than in healthy controls (P < 0.05).TEM and SEM revealed changes in the mucosal ultrastructure in NP with progressive fibrosis, devascularisation, and inflammation. Tissue concentrations of metals were lower in NP patients than in healthy controls, and this was particularly evident in massive polyposis.

We investigated the distribution of nitrogen compounds in Han River as well as two tributaries of Tancheon and Jungrangcheon. Particularly, we observed the significant releases of NH₄ ⁺-N from effluent of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in two tributaries that has resulted in the increases of ammonium nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺-N) in Han River as well as in Tancheon and Jungrangcheon. Due to the increases of NH₄ ⁺-N in two tributaries, the larger distribution of δ¹⁵N-NH₄ ⁺ was observed than those of δ¹⁵N-NO₃ ⁻ in downstream. We calculated the contribution rate of ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen from effluent to downstream according to the results of stable isotope. The contribution rates of δ¹⁵N-NH₄ ⁺ from effluent to downstream were significant that ranged between 53 and 100 % in Tancheon and between 27 and 100 % in Jungrangcheon. While the contribution of δ¹⁵N-NO₃ ⁻ was not significant in Tancheon, it was occasionally observed in Jungrangcheon. These results demonstrated that WWTPs are the major sources of NH₄ ⁺-N in two tributaries, which caused the distinguishable stable isotope of δ¹⁵N-NH₄ ⁺. Therefore, the stable isotope of δ¹⁵N-NH₄ ⁺ could be a useful parameter or tracer for the evaluation of NH₄-N released from WWTPs in rivers.

The contamination of the eggs of farmland birds by currently used plant protection products (PPPs) is poorly documented despite a potential to adversely impact their breeding performance. In this context, 139 eggs of 52 grey partridge Perdix perdix clutches, collected on 12 intensively cultivated farmlands in France in 2010–2011, were analysed. Given the great diversity of PPPs applied on agricultural fields, we used exploratory GC/MS-MS and LC/MS-MS screenings measuring ca. 500 compounds. The limit of quantification was 0.01 mg/kg, a statutory reference. A total of 15 different compounds were detected in 24 clutches. Nine of them have been used by farmers to protect crops against fungi (difenoconazole, tebuconazole, cyproconazole, fenpropidin and prochloraz), insects (lambda-cyhalothrin and thiamethoxam/clothianidin) and weeds (bromoxynil and diflufenican). Some old PPPs were also detected (fipronil(+sulfone), HCH(α,β,δ isomers), diphenylamine, heptachlor(+epoxyde), DDT(Σisomers)), as well as PCBs(153, 180). Concentrations ranged between <0.01 and 0.05 mg/kg but reached 0.067 (thiamethoxam/clothianidin), 0.11 (heptachlor + epoxyde) and 0.34 (fenpropidin) mg/kg in some cases. These results testify an actual exposure of females and/or their eggs to PPPs in operational conditions, as well as to organochlorine pollutants or their residues, banned in France since several years if not several decades, that persistently contaminate the environment.Routes of exposure, probability to detect a contamination in the eggs, and effects on egg/embryo characteristics are discussed with regard to the scientific literature.