The Kyushu Shinkansen Line was fully opened in 2011. The elevation of the conventional railway line was completed in the northern area of Kumamoto Station, and a new station began operation in the southern area in March 2016. Severe earthquakes struck the Kumamoto area in April 2016. Socio-acoustic surveys on community responses to railway noise and vibration were conducted before and after the interventions and the earthquakes. As a result, annoyance decreased after the earthquakes for residents in detached houses in the north, but increased for apartment residents in the north and both detached and apartment residents in the south. This was attempted to be explained using cognitive biases and the World Health Organization’s four levels of health in the field of sanitation. The use of trains and the frequency of opening and closing windows significantly affected annoyance for detached house residents in the northern area, while earthquake damage affected apartment residents in both areas. This suggests that the annoyance profile depends on the area’s characteristics and housing type.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a groundbreaking molecular tool that despite its challenges, offers a powerful and comprehensive method for surveying biodiversity. Insects, as key bioindicators of water quality in river ecosystems, make insect eDNA an especially promising tool for biomonitoring and water management. However, significant issues remain. This review explores historical and ongoing eDNA studies, focusing on the genetic diversity of insects, which underpins eDNA analysis. We address two key issues regarding eDNA metabarcoding: selecting suitable DNA barcoding regions for accurate molecular identification and the importance of DNA databases. A review of 82 papers showed that while the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) COI region is widely used, it often amplifies nontarget groups. Regarding primer concordance rates among insects, the mtDNA COI region, mixed nucleotide bases are often used to increase the match rate for insects. In contrast, primers targeting the mtDNA 16S rRNA region actually show higher match rates for insects. In addition, we highlight the critical role of regional DNA databases, particularly for species that exhibit genetic differentiation across regions. Also, using a local database, we demonstrated improved detection sensitivity, underscoring the importance of local databases for accurate species identification. To guide future database construction, we reviewed phylogeographic studies and using the Japanese Archipelago, which is a region with high species diversity, proposed genetic ecoregions that demonstrate genetic regionality globally. Our findings emphasize that insect eDNA is at the forefront of species identification technology, offering immense potential for future applications. With innovative approaches, it could revolutionize biomonitoring tools for diverse ecosystems.
Quorum sensing (QS), a pivotal cell-to-cell communication mechanism in microbial communities, plays a significant role in regulating microbial behaviors such as biofilm formation and sludge granulation, which are critical for the efficiency of wastewater treatment systems. This review provides thorough insight into the QS pathway modulation, focusing on the utilization of signaling molecules, particularly N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), to augment microbial aggregation and extracellular polymeric substance synthesis within wastewater biotreatment system. The strategic addition of exogenous AHLs has been demonstrated to significantly accelerate the granulation process in aerobic and anaerobic sludge, leading to the development of more stable and compact granules with enhanced settling velocity and nutrient removal efficiency. Furthermore, the QS pathway significantly impacts microbial community structure and function, with diverse signaling molecules forming a complex regulatory network that can be leveraged to improve the performance of biotechnological processes. In addition to enhancing the advantageous attributes of biofilms, researchers have also immersed themselves in the exploration of quorum quenching (QQ) strategies. These strategies are adeptly applied to disrupt QS pathways, thereby effectively managing membrane fouling within membrane bioreactors (MBRs). By employing QQ enzymes, synthetic analogs, and QQ bacterial strains, researchers present effective approaches to mitigate biofilm-related issues without adversely affecting the microbial treatment processes. The innovative use of immobilized QQ enzymes and the integration of QQ strains into the MBRs have shown promising results in reducing fouling and maintaining operational stability. This review highlights the dual potential of QS manipulation for both enhancing desirable microbial process and controlling detrimental ones. By providing a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms and practical applications for QS/QQ pathway, scholars would be expected to develop more efficient and sustainable environmental biotechnology solutions for wastewater treatment and beyond.
To reduce the environmental impact of the alumina production sludge storage facility, engineering solutions were developed for the local treatment of wastewater and surface runoff from the industrial storm drainage system. The proposed system prevents the discharge of untreated wastewater into natural water bodies and ensures the return of treated water for reuse in the technological process of alumina and soda byproduct production. It is noted that the implementation of local treatment facilities will allow the accumulation not only of industrial storm drainage wastewater but also of effluents from sludge ponds, thereby preventing their discharge into a technogenic stream in the sludge storage area and ensuring treatment to the established regulatory standards. It is concluded that the return of treated wastewater to the process of nepheline ore processing reduces the withdrawal of fresh water from the river by 14 million m 3 per year.
