Investigating the Concomitant Removal of Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metals by highly adapted Bacillus and Pseudomonas strains

This study investigates the concomitant removal of hydrocarbons and heavy metals by highly adapted Bacillus and Pseudomonas strains. In regions characterized by harsh conditions such as Qatar, the weathering processes would affect the content, status, and distribution of these contaminants. It was shown in the weathered soil from Dukhan oil wastes dumpsite that 14 heavy metals exceeded the EPA limits. Moreover, it was demonstrated that soil organics did not affect the distribution of the metals in the soil. However, most of the heavy metals were strongly bonded to the residual and the iron-manganese oxide fractions. Eighteen bacterial strains isolated from highly weathered oily soils were able to grow with heavy metal concentrations up to 3 mM and above for some. Seven selected strains (4 Bacillus and 3 Pseudomonas) showed the ability to remove almost 60 to 70% of most of the heavy metals when used at 1 mM. Moreover, they removed up to 75% of the diesel range organics. These results are of interest for selecting bacterial strains, which can overcome the toxicity of hydrocarbons and heavy metals and remove them concomitantly.

Investigation of soil properties and nutrients in agricultural practiced land in Tangail, Bangladesh

The study investigated on soil nutrients in agriculture practiced high, medium high, medium low and low land at Kalihati upazila of Tangail district during October 2017 to June 2018. Thirty soil samples were collected from different land types at the study area and analyzed at Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) to determine soil nutrient status. The soil parameters under investigation included pH, organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), available zinc (Zn), available iron (Fe), available manganese (Mn), available boron (B), exchangeable potassium (K), exchangeable calcium (Ca) and exchangeable magnesium (Mg). Results indicated that many of the soil nutrient levels decreased such as pH (5.63 to 6.40), P (3.50 to 23.20 μg g-1), Zn (3.27 to 3.60 μg g-1), Mn (21.12 to 57.90 μg g-1), B (0.17 to 0.60 μg g-1), K (0.18 to 0.30 meq 100g-1) and Ca (5.75 to 9.10 meq 100g-1). On the contrary, the average content of OM (2.30 to 1.40%), Fe (248.22 to 161.10 μg g-1) and Mg (2.07 to 1.80 meq 100g-1) were increased. Total N content status did not change much (0.12%). Soil nutrients like those that available Zn, Fe, Mn and Mg contents were found above optimum level (very high) but OM and N status found below optimum level (low, very low and medium). Nutrient concentrations below optimum levels may limit crop yield. Updated knowledge about soil nutrient status needs to be provided for the farmers so that they can use necessary amount of fertilizers and avoid applying excess amount of fertilizers. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 10(2): 84-90, December 2020

Ultrasonography in the diagnosis and monitoring of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome

Despite their considerable clinical significance, intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome are rarely discussed in the context of ultrasonography. They occur in critically ill patients, usually hospitalized in intensive care units. Early diagnosis of these conditions is of key importance for prognosis as it allows for proper treatment and prevents high mortality. Although there are various methods for the assessment of intra-abdominal pressure, a measurement using a sensor-equipped catheter placed in the bladder is the gold standard. However, this technique does not allow to identify the etiology of the problem, which is usually resolved by analyzing patient’s clinical data supported by imaging findings. Computed tomography is most often used for this purpose. Recent years have proved that point-of-care ultrasonography is also useful in this respect. This issue has become the basis for developing this review paper, which describes the opinion of the experts of the World Society of the Abdominal Compartment Syndrome on the nomenclature, classification and diagnosis of intra-abdominal hypertension. We also presented preliminary data on the role of ultrasound in the diagnosis and monitoring of intra-abdominal hypertension and the contribution of this modality to the choice of appropriate treatment for patients presenting with this clinical condition. A multi-center study used point-of-care ultrasonography to assess the position of a g-tube in the stomach and its contents, intraluminal content status and bowel motor function, the monitoring of gastric drainage and forced intestinal evacuation, the presence of ascites and ascitic status without and after paracentesis. Even when simplified, the method was found to be very useful.

Global Monitoring of the Vegetation Dynamics from the Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD): A Review

Vegetation is a key element in the energy, water and carbon balances over the land surfaces and is strongly impacted by climate change and anthropogenic effects. Remotely sensed observations are commonly used for the monitoring of vegetation dynamics and its temporal changes from regional to global scales. Among the different indices derived from Earth observation satellites to study the vegetation, the vegetation optical depth (VOD), which is related to the intensity of extinction effects within the vegetation canopy layer in the microwave domain and which can be derived from both passive and active microwave observations, is increasingly used for monitoring a wide range of ecological vegetation variables. Based on different frequency bands used to derive VOD, from L- to Ka-bands, these variables include, among others, the vegetation water content/status and the above ground biomass. In this review, the theoretical bases of VOD estimates for both the passive and active microwave domains are presented and the global long-term VOD products computed from various groups in the world are described. Then, major findings obtained using VOD are reviewed and the perspectives offered by methodological improvements and by new sensors onboard satellite missions recently launched or to be launched in a close future are presented.

Sistem Pemantau Kelembapan Tanah Akurat dengan Protokol Zigbee IEEE 802.15.4 pada Platform M2M OpenMTC

This paper presents a study on an accurate soil moisture monitoring system based on its humidity from 9 sensor nodes using wireless sensor network (WSN) and M2M platform. The system used IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee) protocol. The system was connected to the application via the OpenMTC M2M platform. This monitoring system can measure soil moisture accurately and provide soil water content status on the application. The system was effective in measuring soil moisture at a distance of 0-25 meters where there was a barrier between gateway and sensor, and at a distance of 0-50 meter in line of sight. The position of the sensors that are within 3 meters of each other and the depth of each sensor 3 cm can measure soil moisture properly.

Occurrence of Clinically Important Lineages, Including the Sequence Type 131 C1-M27 Subclone, among Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli in Wastewater

ABSTRACT Contamination of environmental waters by extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli (ESBLEC) is of great concern. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and hospitals release large amounts of ESBLEC into the environment. In the present study, we isolated ESBLEC strains from wastewater collected from a WWTP and a hospital in Japan and performed whole-genome sequencing to characterize these strains. Genomic analysis of 54 strains (32 from the WWTP and 22 from hospital wastewater) revealed the occurrence of clinically important clonal groups with extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli status in the WWTP and hospital wastewater. Fine-scale phylogenetic analysis was performed to further characterize 15 sequence type 131 (ST131) complex strains (11 from the WWTP and 4 from hospital wastewater). These ST131 complex strains were comprised of the following different subgroups: clade A (n = 2), C1-M27 (n = 8), and C1 (non-C1-M27) (n = 1) for strains from the WWTP and clade A (n = 2), C1-M27 (n = 1), and C1 (non-C1-M27) (n = 1) for strains from hospital wastewater. The results indicate that ESBLEC strains belonging to clinically important lineages, including the C1-M27 clade, may disseminate into the environment through wastewater, highlighting the need to monitor for antibiotic resistance in wastewater.

Effects of Proton Pump Inhibitors on the Gastric Mucosa-Associated Microbiota in Dyspeptic Patients

ABSTRACTBesides being part of anti-Helicobacter pyloritreatment regimens, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are increasingly being used to treat dyspepsia. However, little is known about the effects of PPIs on the human gastric microbiota, especially those related toH. pyloriinfection. The goal of this study was to characterize the stomach microbial communities in patients with dyspepsia and to investigate their relationships with PPI use andH. pyloristatus. Using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing, we analyzed the mucosa-associated microbial populations of 24 patients, of whom 12 were treated with the PPI omeprazole and 9 (5 treated and 4 untreated) were positive forH. pyloriinfection. TheProteobacteria,Firmicutes,Bacteroidetes,Fusobacteria, andActinobacteriaphyla accounted for 98% of all of the sequences, withHelicobacter,Streptococcus, andPrevotellaranking among the 10 most abundant genera.H. pyloriinfection or PPI treatment did not significantly influence gastric microbial species composition in dyspeptic patients. Principal-coordinate analysis of weighted UniFrac distances in these communities revealed clear but significant separation according toH. pyloristatus only. However, in PPI-treated patients,Firmicutes, particularlyStreptococcaceae, were significantly increased in relative abundance compared to those in untreated patients. Consistently,Streptococcuswas also found to significantly increase in relation to PPI treatment, and this increase seemed to occur independently ofH. pyloriinfection. Our results suggest thatStreptococcusmay be a key indicator of PPI-induced gastric microbial composition changes in dyspeptic patients. Whether the gastric microbiota alteration contributes to dyspepsia needs further investigation.IMPORTANCEAlthough PPIs have become a popular treatment choice, a growing number of dyspeptic patients may be treated unnecessarily. We found that patients treated with omeprazole showed gastric microbial communities that were different from those of untreated patients. These differences regarded the abundances of specific taxa. By understanding the relationships between PPIs and members of the gastric microbiota, it will be possible to envisage new strategies for better managing patients with dyspepsia.

Study on Plant Water Stress Based on Ultrasonic Acoustic Emissions

The soil water deficit and strong transpiration can give rise to the phenomenon of plant water stress. Because of the water stress produces the fracture of the water column in conduits, and the fracture is the reflection of energy release which can be detected by the ultrasonic acoustic emissions (UAEs) technology. In order to avoid background noise interference, the UAEs detecting frequency is between 100K Hz and 1 MHz. The PCI-2 data acquisition (DAQ) card and R15 sensors are used to improve the precision of UAEs detection. When the water stress and dehydration gets heavier, the UAEs get higher. Use the tomato plant data with the empirical deduction under the modern greenhouse conditions, the relationships among UAEs, transpiration and UAEs signal strength is described by curve. The UAEs signals occur generally from 5:00~7:00 am, and stop after 20:00 at night. In the daytime, when the plant body water storage is few, and transpiration is strong, the UAEs occur two peaks, called the “Twin Peaks Area” (TPA). In the different conditions of soil water content status and environmental factors, the TPA occur time will be advance or lag, which is generally in the range of 8:00~15:00. An acoustic emission event maybe produces several UAEs counts, while the UAEs counts have a correspondence with the UAEs signal strength. It is better to use UAEs technique to diagnose the plant water status and carry out automatic and precise irrigation for the plant and to improve the effect of Water-saving irrigation.