Free biologically active estrogenic steroid hormones (ESHs) 17α-estradiol, 17β-estradiol, and estrone were quantified in liquid and solid phases of a covered anaerobic pond (CAP) dairy effluent treatment system (ETS). Total mean concentrations (dissolved and particulate) of ESHs in CAP influent, sludge, and effluent were 4171 ng/L, 93,601 ng/L, and 4346 ng/L, respectively. Peak ∑ESH concentrations occurred in dairy shed effluent during April and July, coinciding with late pregnancy and calving periods. Organic carbon normalised adsorption coefficients (Koc) ranged from 3.06 to 3.78 mL/g, consistent with published soil and wastewater sludge values. Up to 99% of the total mass of ESHs in the ETS samples was detected in the particulate phase, underscoring the need to consider this fraction in dairy effluent treatment systems. 17α-estradiol dominated total ESHs in influent (2869 ng/L), while estrone predominated in samples of the CAP sludge (85,414 ng/L) and effluent (3140 ng/L). Anaerobic treatment reduced the total concentrations of 17α- and 17β-estradiol but increased the total concentration of estrone. Estrogenic equivalents were dominated by 17β-estradiol and were preserved or elevated post-treatment. The CAP system exhibited highly variable and largely ineffective removal of ESHs and estrogenic activity. Findings highlight the need to optimise CAP operation to improve energy recovery while mitigating environmental risks from ESHs in treated effluent.

Much emphasis has been given to algal biomass growth in dairy farm wastewater. Most of the systems examined require productive land to be converted and/or freshwater use to dilute high concentrations of nutrients found in dairy effluent. A rotating algal biofilm (RABR) provides the capacity to grow algae without sacrificing productive land or freshwater. In theory, this system would overcome some of the economic and environmental challenges that other systems have. A combination of theoretical information, nutrient uptake formulas, and economic formulas were used to calculate the potential of biogas production from algae grown in an RABR with dairy effluents. The average nutrient uptake was 0.8 mgN/m2 per day and 0.1 mgP/m2 per day. The maximum methane production from the anaerobic digestion of algae was 112 m3/RABR·year. The minimum and maximum economic scenarios resulted in gross profits of NZD −2101 and −1922. After evaluating this system for the first time in the New Zealand dairy farming context, it was found that biogas production from an RABR is not a feasible option for New Zealand dairy farmers.

Water samples from Waiora Drinking Water Treatment Plant in New Zealand were analyzed using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy (EEMS) and parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis to evaluate organic matter removal across the plant. The assessment also included the individual granular activated carbon (GAC) filters since the filters had varying media ages due to partial media replacement over a 10-month period, presenting a unique assessment opportunity. PARAFAC analysis identified humic-like, tyrosine-protein-like, and tryptophan-protein-like components representing fluorescent dissolved organic matter groups. The humic-like component strongly correlated with total organic carbon (TOC) concentration and removal was significantly influenced by filter media age. However, protein-like components had minimal TOC correlation and were not effectively removed by the overall plant treatment irrespective of filter media age. These findings have implications for disinfection, taste and odor, and bacterial regrowth and require an improved media replacement strategy. Further study of the protein-like components is required.

Estrogens are a growing problem in wastewater discharges because they are continuously entering the environment and are biologically active at extremely low concentrations. Their effects on wildlife were first identified several decades before, but the environmental limits and the remedial measures are still not completely elucidated. Most conventional treatment processes were not designed with sufficiently long retention times to effectively remove estrogens. Nature-based wastewater treatment technologies such as treatment wetlands (TW) and high-rate algal ponds (HRAP) are economically feasible alternatives for decentralized wastewater treatment and have promise for removing steroid hormones including estrogens. For small communities with populations below 50,000, the overall cost of TWs and HRAPs is considerably lower than that of advanced decentralized treatment technologies such as activated sludge systems (AS) and sequencing batch reactors (SBR). This results from the simplicity of design, use of less materials in construction, lower energy use, operation and maintenance costs, and operation by non-skilled personnel. The nature-based technologies show high removal (>80%) for both natural and synthetic estrogens. Estrogen removal in TWs can be enhanced using alternative media such as palm mulch, biochar, and construction wastes such as bricks, instead of traditional substrates such as sand and gravel. While TWs are effective in estrogen removal, they have the disadvantage of requiring a relatively large footprint, but this can be reduced by using intensified multilayer wetland filters (IMWF). Using filamentous algae in HRAP (high-rate filamentous algal pond; HRFAP) is an emerging technology for wastewater treatment. The algae supply oxygen via photosynthesis and assimilate nutrients into readily harvestable filamentous algal biomass. Diurnal fluctuations in oxygen supply and pH in these systems provide conditions conducive to the breakdown of estrogens and a wide range of other emerging contaminants. The performance of these nature-based systems varies with seasonal changes in environmental conditions (particularly temperature and solar irradiation), however a greater understanding of operating conditions such as loading rate, hydraulic retention time (HRT), pond/bed depth, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and pH, which influence the removal mechanisms (biodegradation, sorption and photodegradation) enable TWs and HRAPs to be successfully used for removing estrogens.

This study evaluated the performance of four types (zeolite, gravel, complete woodchip, and vertical shaft) of pilot-scale partially saturated vertical flow wetlands for treating domestic wastewater. The zeolite-woodchip PSVF design achieved a mean total nitrogen removal of 80 % and also performed best in terms of ammoniumN removal (99 %). The complete woodchip design also achieved a similar mean reduction in TN but by having better nitrate removal. The corresponding changes in alkalinity and nitrogen species measured above and below the unsaturated zones of the PSVF suggest that classical nitrification and denitrification are the main mechanisms involved in nitrogen removal. All four systems achieved >95 % removal for biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids. Phosphorus removal was 55 % for zeolite, gravel and vertical shaft, and 37 % for the complete woodchip system. The elimination of E. coli ranged between 1.7 and 2.8 log10 in all four systems, with the complete woodchip PSVF delivering the highest reduction. PSVF wetlands can provide effluent quality equivalent to multistage hybrid systems while occupying a significantly lower footprint without additional power requirements.

The anaerobic digestion of New Zealand low-input dairy farms has previously been evaluated for energy production, but farming systems have recently become more intensive with increased feed supplementation and feed replacement; therefore, we are studying how these changes affect the overall energy production for water heating. A combination of literature review, surveys, chemical analyses, biomethane potential analysis, and modeling were used for this study. On a case study farm with a solid separator, it was found that 558 MJ/day and 176–861 MJ/day could be produced with the solid and liquid portions of effluent, respectively. There is enough biogas to satisfy the dairy farm’s water heating requirements with a tankless water heater.

A large amount of lab-based research has shown that algae can be used for wastewater treatment and biofuel production. However, on the large scale there are significant practical limitations that must be overcome, including infrastructure costs, energy and water costs, slow algal growth rates, separation of algae from the medium, and algal cell lysis for downstream use. This chapter will: (1) explore the practical aspects of growing algae for bioremediation of agriculture waste, (2) review the use of algae as a substrate for methane production, and (3) provide the latest downstream processing techniques for algae separation and cell lysis. Where possible cost of the technologies and process economics are discussed, enabling the reader to determine whether or not algal bioremediation may be a cost-effective technology for specific applications.

A comparison of granular and biological activated carbon (GAC and BAC) media used for drinking water treatment was made to assess differences in surface elemental composition. Fresh GAC, recently commissioned GAC and end-of-service life BAC from a water treatment plant in New Zealand were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Imaging revealed dense microbial colonization of the BAC surface compared to GAC media, and a mineralized surface layer high in manganese and oxygen. ICP-MS analysis also confirmed high levels of Mn in the BAC media relative to GAC media. As many bacterial species known to colonize BAC filters are also known as Mn oxidizers, this suggests a biogenic origin of the Mn-oxide deposition on the BAC surface. Given the properties of Mn-oxides, they may be implicated in the mechanism by which bacteria capture and metabolize substrates in BAC filters.

Healthy skin maintains a diverse microbiome and a potent immune system to fight off infections. Here, we discovered that the epithelial-cell-derived antimicrobial peptides defensins activated orphan G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) Mrgpra2a/b on neutrophils. This signaling axis was required for effective neutrophil-mediated skin immunity and microbiome homeostasis. We generated mutant mouse lines lacking the entire Defensin (Def) gene cluster in keratinocytes or Mrgpra2a/b. Def and Mrgpra2 mutant animals both exhibited skin dysbiosis, with reduced microbial diversity and expansion of Staphylococcus species. Defensins and Mrgpra2 were critical for combating S. aureus infections and the formation of neutrophil abscesses, a hallmark of antibacterial immunity. Activation of Mrgpra2 by defensin triggered neutrophil release of IL-1β and CXCL2 which are vital for proper amplification and propagation of the antibacterial immune response. This study demonstrated the importance of epithelial-neutrophil signaling via the defensin-Mrgpra2 axis in maintaining healthy skin ecology and promoting antibacterial host defense.

The poultry industry is a fast-growing industry fuelled by overwhelming customer demand. Of the different poultry meat options, chicken is arguably the most popular as it is the second most staple food item in Malaysia after rice. Consequently, due to the overwhelming demand for chicken meat, chicken manure is produced in abundance. In fact, a chicken produces 80 g to 100 g of manure daily, corresponding to 3-4% of its body weight. Utilizing the raw manure as an organic fertilizer without any prior treatment results in adverse environmental consequences as this common practice acts as a vector for propagation of pathogens, attracting flies and pests as well as contributing to odour problems. Treatment methods using pesticides, effective microorganisms and daily collection and disposal have been adopted by the farmers but these techniques are relatively costly and associated with potential environmental threats. Other techniques such as composting, pyrolysis, gasification, anaerobic digestion, hydrothermal liquefaction and torrefaction are drawing interest due to their ability to convert waste to value-added products. Approximately, 77,209 tonnes of chicken manure produced per day in Malaysia in 2014 can potentially generate up to 3.86 million m3 of methane from anaerobic digestion, equivalent to potential generation of 139.5 TJ of heat or 38.7 GWh of electricity theoretically. This paper reviews the technical and practical aspects of the techniques mentioned above in terms of operation, performance and limitations. This paper also examines the preferential treatment techniques in relation to the product outputs with good market potential while being environmentally sustainable.

Spontaneous pain refers to pain occurring without external stimuli. It is a primary complaint in chronic pain conditions and remains difficult to treat. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying spontaneous pain remain poorly understood. Here we employed in vivo imaging of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and discovered a distinct form of abnormal spontaneous activity following peripheral nerve injury: clusters of adjacent DRG neurons firing synchronously and sporadically. The level of cluster firing correlated directly with nerve injury induced spontaneous pain behaviors. Furthermore, we demonstrated that cluster firing is triggered by activity of sympathetic nerves, which sprout into DRGs after injury, and identified norepinephrine as a key neurotransmitter mediating this unique firing. Chemogenetic and pharmacological manipulations of sympathetic activity and norepinephrine receptors suggest that they are necessary and sufficient for DRG cluster firing and spontaneous pain behavior. Therefore, blocking sympathetically mediated cluster firing may be a new paradigm for treating spontaneous pain.

The poultry industry is a rapidly growing industry driven by consumer demand. Consequently, large quantities of solid waste are generated in the form of manure, feathers, hatchery, bedding materials and abattoir waste. The manure produced is often used raw as fertilizer without any pre-treatment hence, it could become a vector for pathogens and flies as well as contributing to odour problems. Treatment methods using pesticides, microorganisms and daily collection and disposal are normally adopted by the farmers. Advanced techniques such as composting, pyrolysis, gasification and anaerobic digestion are drawing interest due to their ability to convert "waste-to-wealth". Anaerobic digestion in particular has been gaining favourable attention due to the fact that potential application is independent of variables such as season and geographical location. In 2012, 38,959 tons of poultry manure was produced on average per day in Malaysia. If anaerobic digestion was introduced to treat the poultry manure, 8.95 million m3 biogas could have generated on a daily basis which is the equivalent of up to 323.41 TJ of heat and 89.91 GWh of electricity. This fruitful finding depicts the potential of harnessing renewable, clean energy in conjunction of supporting energy security efforts. This paper comprehensively compares the limitations of the four techniques mentioned earlier and its effects on the ease of operation, performance of the process and environmental conservation.

ABSTRACT:Primary sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) are wrapped by satellite glial cells (SGCs), and neuron-SGC interaction may affect somatosensation, especially nociceptive transmission. P2-purinergic receptors (P2Rs) are key elements in the two-way interactions between DRG neurons and SGCs. However, because the cell types are in such close proximity, conventional approaches such as in vitro culture and electrophysiologic recordings are not adequate to investigate the physiologically relevant responses of these cells at a population level. Here, we performed in vivo calcium imaging to survey the activation of hundreds of DRG neurons in Pirt-GCaMP6s mice and to assess SGC activation in GFAP-GCaMP6s mice in situ. By combining pharmacologic and electrophysiologic techniques, we investigated how ganglionic purinergic signaling initiated by α,β-methyleneadenosine 5'-triphosphate (α,β-MeATP) modulates neuronal activity and excitability at a population level. We found that α,β-MeATP induced robust activation of small neurons-likely nociceptors-through activation of P2X3R. Large neurons, which are likely non-nociceptive, were also activated by α,β-MeATP, but with a delay. Blocking pannexin 1 channels attenuated the late phase response of DRG neurons, indicating that P2R stimulation may subsequently induce paracrine ATP release, which could further activate cells in the ganglion. Moreover, ganglionic α,β-MeATP treatment in vivo sensitized small neurons and enhanced responses of spinal wide-dynamic-range neurons to subsequent C-fiber inputs, suggesting that modulation via ganglionic P2R signaling could significantly affect nociceptive neuron excitability and pain transmission. Therefore, targeting functional P2Rs within ganglia may represent an important new strategy for pain modulation.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is an abundant polysaccharide, which is secreted by several genera of bacteria. It has remarkable characteristics, which include high purity, high tensile strength, high biocompatibility and non-toxic. The main feature that differentiates BC and plant cellulose (PC) is the absence of contaminants such as lignin, hemicellulose and pectin. However, the main drawbacks in producing BC are low yield and expensive carbon source. Due to that, this study was carried out to enhance BC volumetric productivity in fed-batch operation mode using glycerol as a carbon source. BC was produced in fill-and-draw and pulse-feed fed-batch cultures of Gluconacetobacter xylinus DSM 46604 in a 3-L bench-top bioreactor. The fed-batch fermentation trials were conducted in agitated and aerobic conditions at 30 ºC. For fill-and-draw fed-batch culture, a total of 24.2 g/L of BC accumulated in the bioreactor after 9 days, which corresponded to a yield and productivity of 0.2 g/g and 2.69 g/L/day, respectively. Pulse-feed fed-batch fermentation resulted in a yield and volumetric productivity of 0.38 g/g and 2.71 g/L/day, respectively. The pulse-feed fed-batch culture proved to be a better fermentation system for utilizing glycerol, which is a low-cost and abundant carbon source. HIGHLIGHTS Komagataeibacter species, which were formerly known as Acetobacter or Gluconacetobacter is one of the Gram-negative BC producers that secretes a large quantity of BC microfibrils extracellularly One of the main challenges in bacterial cellulose (BC) production is low productivity and high processing cost As fed-batch fermentation is one of the operation modes in bioprocess that can control the microbial growth rate, this operation mode is conducted to enhance the yield of BC, substrate consumption and also volumetric productivity Fill-and-draw and pulse feed fed-batch culture were conducted to enhance yield and volumetric productivity. The pulse-feed fed-batch culture resulted to be a favorable operation mode for utilizing glycerol, which is a low-cost and abundant carbon source GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Itch is a unique sensation that helps organisms scratch away external threats; scratching itself induces an immune response that can contribute to more itchiness. Itch is induced chemically in the peripheral nervous system via a wide array of receptors. Given the superficial localization of itch neuron terminals, cells that dwell close to the skin contribute significantly to itch. Certain mechanical stimuli mediated by recently discovered circuits also contribute to the itch sensation. Ultimately, in the spinal cord, and likely in the brain, circuits that mediate touch, pain, and itch engage in cross modulation. Much of itch perception is still a mystery, but we present in this review the known ligands and receptors associated with itch. We also describe experiments and findings from investigations into the spinal and supraspinal circuitry responsible for the sensation of itch.

Cytokines and chemokines play diverse roles in different organ systems. Family with sequence similarity 19, member A1-5 (FAM19A1-A5; also known as TAFA1-5) is a group of conserved chemokine-like proteins enriched in the CNS of mice and humans. Their functions are only beginning to emerge. Here, we show that the expression of Fam19a1-a5 in different mouse brain regions are induced or suppressed by unfed and refed states. The striking nutritional regulation of Fam19a family members in the brain suggests a potential central role in regulating metabolism. Using a knockout (KO) mouse model, we show that loss of FAM19A1 results in sexually dimorphic phenotypes. In male mice, FAM19A1 deficiency alters food intake patterns during the light and dark cycle. Fam19a1 KO mice are hyperactive, and locomotor hyperactivity is more pronounced in female KO mice. Behavior tests indicate that Fam19a1 KO female mice have reduced anxiety and sensitivity to pain. Spatial learning and exploration, however, is preserved in Fam19a1 KO mice. Altered behaviors are associated with elevated norepinephrine and dopamine turnover in the striatum. Our results establish an in vivo function of FAM19A1 and highlight central roles for this family of neurokines in modulating animal physiology and behavior.-Lei, X., Liu, L., Terrillion, C. E., Karuppagounder, S. S., Cisternas, P., Lay, M., Martinelli, D. C., Aja, S., Dong, X., Pletnikov, M. V., Wong, G. W. FAM19A1, a brain-enriched and metabolically responsive neurokine, regulates food intake patterns and mouse behaviors.

This study investigates the removal of arsenic (both As (III) and As (V)) from drinking water using a silica based catalytic media (DMI-65). In this study, BET, FTIR, XRD, SEM and XRF were used to characterize the adsorbent before and after contact with As (III) and As (V). Batch experiments were performed to evaluate the adsorption kinetics at different pH (5, 6, 7 and 8.5). The kinetic study showed that a contact time of 6 h was needed to reach equilibrium and the experimental data were best fitted to the pseudo second-order kinetic model for both As (III) and As (V). Several batch tests were conducted with different concentration of arsenic at different pH conditions (5, 6, 7 and 8.5). During the adsorption test, the maximum adsorption of As (III) occurred at pH 5, while As (V) adsorption reached its maximum at pH 8.5. The adsorption data showed a good fit to Langmuir isotherm models and the maximum adsorption capacity of the silica based catalytic media for As (III) and As (V) were estimated to be 0.318 mg/g and 0.237 mg/g respectively.

Thermal analysis can generally be applied to protein-based thermoplastics although standard protein analysis techniques are not always possible to assess chain architecture. Blood (17% protein) from the meat industry can be fractionated or dried to blood meal, which can be converted to a thermoplastic called Novatein. The objective of this paper was to use a consistent methodology to compare different protein fractions from blood to that of blood meal, as well as the plastic produced from it, and how these changes relate to processing. Thermal properties were similar between protein fractions, but there were differences in chain conformation between blood meal, the haem containing fractions (red blood cells and spray dried haemoglobin) and the non-haem fractions (plasma and serum albumin). Blood meal is therefore best considered a single polymer, rather than the sum of its individual fractions. Thermoplastic processing reduces protein aggregation, and this phenomenon is more important than the behaviour of any of the individual proteins.