Search

The study aimed to investigate how carbonylation affects the immunoreactivity and edible quality of the Litopenaeus vannamei matrix. The carbonylation treatment conditions of the shrimp matrix were optimized. Firstly, the treatment condition is optimized with 1.0 mmol/L malonaldehyde at 37 °C, 12 h. The optimized carbonylated shrimp showed lower immunoreactivity, carbonyl group, and free amino acids. Then the edible quality was evaluated, optimized carbonylated shrimp matrix presented better digestibility and the continuous digestion products showed lower immunoreactivity. Optimized carbonylated shrimp for the other sensory indicators showed better texture properties and an inviting appearance. Looser microstructure by scanning electron microscopy contributed to the higher digestibility, lower immunoreactivity, and better edible quality for optimized carbonylated shrimp matrix. Besides, more potentially modified amino acid residues exposed on the allergen surface may be the other reason. In conclusion, optimized carbonylation treatment reduced the immunoreactivity and improved the edible quality of shrimp., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aluminum coagulants are widely used in arsenic (As) removal during the drinking water treatment process. Aluminium chloride (AlCl3) and polyaluminium chloride (PACl) which contains high content of Al13 were used as coagulants. The effects of aluminum species, pH, humic acid (HA) and coexisting anions on arsenic removal were investigated. Results showed that AlCl3 and PACl were almost ineffective in As(II) removal while the As(V) removal efficiency reached almost 100%. pH was an important influencing factor on the arsenic removal efficiency, because pH influenced the distribution of aluminum species during the coagulation process. The efficiency of arsenic removal by aluminum coagulants was positively correlated with the content of Al13 species. HA and some coexisting anions showed negative impact on arsenic removal because of the competitive adsorption. The negative influence of HA was more pronounced at low coagulant dosages. PO4(3-) and F(-) showed marked influence during arsenic removal, but there was no obvious influence when SiO3(2-), CO3(2-) and SO4(2-) coexisted. The present study would be helpful to direct arsenic removal by enhanced coagulation during the drinking water treatment.

A sequential anaerobic-aerobic moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) was employed to treat landfill leachate produced from disposal of municipal solid waste. The affecting operation conditions were investigated, and the affecting mechanism was also analyzed. The results showed that the HRT and organic loading rate (OLR) could greatly influence the treat efficiency. When the influent OLR was in the range of 4.01 - 7.87 kg/(m3 x d), the average total COD removal efficiency was 94.2%, and the contribution of anaerobic stage to total COD removal efficiency was 87.95% - 92.76%; while the influent OLR was in the range of 10.23-16.14 kg/(m3 x d), the average total COD removal efficiency was still 92.64%, and the contribution of anaerobic stage to total COD removal efficiency was 79.05% - 86.56%. As long as HRT of aerobic MBBR was longer than 1.25 d, the total HN4+ -N removal efficiency was persistently more than 97%; while the HRT was 0.75 d, the total HN4+ -N removal efficiency was only about 20%. The sequential anaerobic-aerobic MBBR can endure strong loading impact, even though the OLR was sharply increased 4 times and lasted for 24 h; the system could recover the normal treat efficiency in 3 d.

Objective: To understand the correlation of blood lead levels in infant, in maternal blood and in breast milk as to providing evidence for prevention of potential infant hazard from lead., Methods: Lead levels were measured by using graphite stove atom absorption spectrographic methods in maternal breast milk, maternal blood and infant blood in infants aged 0 to 11 months and their mothers between November and December 2002 in Xiamen City. Blood samples were collected from both mother and infant's fingertips. Questionnaires were also used to collect information about childbirth, mothers, families and other related environmental factors., Results: All 177 infants and their mothers were enrolled in the study. Infant blood lead levels reached a range from 0.12 micromol/L to 1.36 micromol/L, with a geometric mean (GM) of 0.37 micromol/L. There were 46 infants (21.64%) having blood lead levels over 0.48 micromol/L. And the maternal blood lead levels ranged from 0.21 micromol/L to 2.38 micromol/L (GM = 0.50 micromol/L). Among the 177 infants, 160 (93.8%) were breastfed; breast milk was collected from 105 (63.3%) of these mothers. Infant blood lead level was significantly correlated with the levels of maternal blood lead and breast milk lead, which indicated that maternal blood lead level might influence the infant blood lead levels through the breast milk. Blood lead levels in infants living in old business district and the breast milk lead levels of their mothers were higher than those in any other areas (P < 0.01); partial correlation analysis showed that infant blood lead levels were positively associated with the maternal blood lead level, infant's age and mother's work, and negatively associated with mother's height., Conclusion: The infant blood lead levels should not only relate to the maternal blood lead and the breast milk lead levels, so regards should be had to the other environmental factors, when selecting the feeding pattern and family rearing behaviors.