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Background: Poly-brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals are persistent pollutants in Yangtze River basin, China and also around the globe. In the exposure reality, they may have sequential exposures and long-term outcomes. Yet, the effects combining these two aspects remained largely unexplored. At present, the effects of 2,2′,4,4′-tetra-brominated diphenyl ether (BDE47) and lead (Pb) on Caenorhabditis elegans were studied with two sequential arrangements. One was first exposure to BDE47 and then to Pb (or vice versa) in one generation, and the other one was an early exposure to BDE47 in the parent generation (F0) and then a later exposure to Pb in the offspring (F1) (or vice versa). Results: On growth, sequential Pb-BDE47 exposure caused inhibition in exposure but stimulation in recovery, showing similarity to individual Pb results. Meanwhile, the opposite sequential BDE47-Pb exposure showed inhibition in both exposure and recovery, similar to those of individual BDE47 results. On behavior, the effects of sequential exposure were significantly different from individual results without any similarity. In transgenerational effects, F0 Pb exposure with F1 BDE47 exposure (Pb-F1-BDE47) inhibited growth, similar to the transgenerational results of individual Pb exposure. Meanwhile, the recovery effects were similar to the transgenerational results of individual BDE47. At the same time, Pb-F1-BDE47 exposure significantly hindered the recovery of behavior while the opposite BDE47-F1-Pb exposure resulted in different results. The behavioral effects in F1 showed negative correlation with the contents of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), while those in F1 were positively correlated with the activities of acetylcholine esterase (AChE). Conclusions: Sequential exposure to BDE47 and Pb within one generation or over generations showed significant different effects from individual results. Further studies are still needed to investigate the toxicity patterns and underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking current situation of energy regarding winter heating and study on heating as an example, this paper is based on field measurement, investigation and study, discussing the current energy consumption and usage of winter heating of rural areas in Shandong Province, China. The paper reveals that the most regions in Shandong are utilizing furnaces to keep warming which is a relatively primitive method. Most of villagers are satisfied with the indoor environment although this is not the case, which is contributed by the farmers’ strong passive adaptability. With the constant improvement in living standard of Shandong rural people, simultaneously, energy quality and quantity are required higher and higher. Traditional biomass energy cannot meet their needs. Therefore, more effective and cleaner energy are necessary for them to advance daily living quality and level. The heating measure that will save more energy should be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Water samples were collected from 19 sampling sites along the Huangpu River in June and December 2009. The occurrence, distribution and seasonal variation of 22 antibiotics, including four tetracyclines, three chloramphenicols, two macrolides, six fluoroquinolones, six sulfonamides and trimethoprim were investigated. It was found that all 19 sampling sites were contaminated by antibiotics. Four antibiotics (sulfamerazine, norfloxacin, fleroxacin and sarafloxacin) were not detected. The detection frequencies of the other 18 antibiotics were in the range of 5.3–100%. The median concentrations of the detected antibiotics ranged from quantification limits to 36.71ngL−1 (tetracycline) in June and to 313.44ngL−1 (sulfamethazine) in December. The number of detected antibiotics and the overall antibiotic concentrations were higher in December than in June due to the different river flow conditions. Different dominant antibiotics were observed for each group of antibiotics between June and December. Higher total concentrations of veterinary antibiotics such as tetracyclines were observed in suburban sampling sites than in unban sites, indicating the role of livestock and agricultural activities as an important source of antibiotic contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia is a major pollutant in the water environment, which could cause severe harm to aquatic organisms. To explore the pathological and physiological effects of ammonia in Chinese striped-necked turtles (Mauremys sinensis), the individuals (body mass: 218.26 ± 12.65 g) were divided into two groups: control group and ammonia exposed group (6.25 mM total ammonia), then the expression levels of signaling factors involved in the endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptotic pathways were determined. The results showed that ammonia exposure up-regulated the transcriptional and protein levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress marker gene Bip. Meanwhile, the relative mRNA levels of key genes (PERK, ATF6, eIF2α, ATF4, IRE1α and XBP1) involved in unfolded protein response up-regulated, and the phosphorylation levels of PERK, eIF2α and IRE1α increased correspondingly. In addition, the protein and transcriptional levels of CHOP and JNK related to apoptotic pathway induced by unfolded protein reaction increased under ammonia exposure. Moreover, Bcl-2 mRNA expression levels and protein levels decreased, whereas BAX and caspase-3 showed an opposite trend, and the cleaved protein of caspase-3 appeared when the turtles in the elevated ammonia. Furthermore, the apoptotic cells in liver increased after ammonia exposure. These results suggested ammonia exposure induced endoplasmic reticulum stress, then activated unfolded protein response, followed by apoptosis in M. sinensis. The results will contribute to a better understanding of the toxicity mechanism of ammonia to aquatic turtles., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

In the present work, we analyzed the concentration patterns of 20 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 25 surface sediments and 11 sediment cores from the northern part of Taihu Lake, China. Three of the cores were dated based on 137 Cs activity for the deposition age of the sediment. The spatial distributions of the PAH concentrations show that the inflow rivers into Zhushan Bay and Meiliang Bay were the main pathway for PAHs and sediment input to the northern part of the lake. This results in substantially higher PAH concentrations (up to 5000 ng/g) and sedimentation rates (higher than the average of 3-4 mm/a) in the area close to the river outlets. In addition, results also show that PAH concentrations in the sediments considerably increased from the early 1960s, but the decreasing concentrations in the upper layers of the sediment could be attributed to the introduction of measures on environmental improvement from ca. 2000. There were both anthropogenic and biogenic origins of perylene in the lake sediments, which were distinguished based on spatial distribution patterns and also the concentration proportions of perylene to the sum of the 20 PAHs. In the cores collected close to river outlets, the concentration proportions of perylene typically range from 0.02 to 0.18 and there are significant positive linear correlations between the concentration of perylene and three anthropogenic PAHs (Benzo[a]pyrene, Benzo[e]pyrene, Pyrene), suggesting that perylene was dominated by anthropogenic input. However, the cores collected further away from the river outlets show the concentration proportions between 0.13 and 0.96, and present significant negative correlations or no correlations between perylene and the three PAHs, suggesting that perylene was mainly formed by biogenic activities. Furthermore, the different perylene sources accompanied with the location distributions imply that anthropogenic activities could inhibit its biogenic formation., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The characterization of microbial communities of different depth sediment samples was examined by a culture-independent method and compared with physicochemical parameters, those are organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), pH and redox potential (Eh). Total genomic DNA was extracted from samples derived from different depths. After they were amplified with the GC-341f/907r primer sets of partial bacterial 16S rRNA genes, the products were separated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The profile of DGGE fingerprints of different depth sediment samples revealed that the community structure remained relatively stable along the entire 45 cm sediment core, however, principal-component analysis of DGGE patterns revealed that at greater sediment depths, successional shifts in community structure were evident. The principle coordinates analysis suggested that the bacterial communities along the sediment core could be separated into two groups, which were located 0--20 cm and 21--45 cm, respectively. The sequencing dominant bands demonstrated that the major phylogenetic groups identified by DGGE belonged to Bacillus, Bacterium, Brevibacillus, Exiguobacterium, gamma-Proteobacterium, Acinetobacter sp. and some uncultured or unidentified bacteria. The results indicated the existence of highly diverse bacterial community in the lake sediment core.