Risk Assessment and Potential Analysis of the Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge in Central Shanxi Province.

The agricultural use of sewage sludge has become an economic disposal method used worldwide. However, heavy metals contained in sewage sludge have become the crucial limiting factors for this way of disposal. This study showed that regulatory limit values are not enough to determine whether sewage sludge is suitable for agricultural use; risk assessment and potential analysis should be applied.

Comparison of the Potential Ecological and Human Health Risks of Heavy Metals from Sewage Sludge and Livestock Manure for Agricultural Use.

Sewage sludge and livestock (chicken, swine and cattle) manure samples were collected from the Yanmenguan Cattle Herbivorous Livestock Area to compare the potential ecological and human health risks caused by heavy metals contained in them. In this study, the Class II level of Quality Control of Imported Organic Fertilizers is selected as the limit standard value of heavy metals. Based on the mean content values, no heavy metal in cattle manure was higher than the limit standard value; the content of Cu in swine manure was higher than the limit of Cu; the content of Zn in sewage sludge, chicken manure and swine manure were all higher than the limit of Zn; and the content of Cr in sewage sludge and chicken manure were all higher than the limit of Cr.

Comparison of Health Risk Assessments of Heavy Metals and As in Sewage Sludge from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) for Adults and Children in the Urban District of Taiyuan, China.

To compare the human health risk of heavy metals and As in sewage sludge between adults and children, samples were collected from five wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in the urban district of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi. Heavy metals and As in sewage sludge can be ranked according to the mean concentration in the following order: Cu > Cr > Zn > Pb > As > Hg > Cd. Compared with the concentration limit set by different countries, the heavy metals contents in sewage sludge were all within the standard limits, except for the content of As, which was higher than the threshold limit established by Canada.

Disposal Situation of Sewage Sludge from Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) and Assessment of the Ecological Risk of Heavy Metals for Its Land Use in Shanxi, China.

Land use of sewage sludge is the primary disposal method in Shanxi, accounting for 42.66% of all. To determine the ecological risk of heavy metals in sewage sludge, contents of seven heavy metals in sewage sludge from 9 municipal waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) that had the highest application for land use were determined.

Population pharmacokinetic characteristics of sirolimus in healthy Chinese subjects and renal transplant patients.

Aim: To identify the factors affecting the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of sirolimus in healthy Chinese subjects and renal transplant patients.

Methods: A population PK model of sirolimus was constructed using dense data from 22 healthy volunteers and sparse data from 105 renal transplant patients.

Results: The data were well described by a two-compartment model with first-order absorption.

Evaluation and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals (HMs) in Sewage Sludge of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Shanxi, China.

Heavy metals (HMs) in sewage sludge have become the crucial limiting factors for land use application. Samples were collected and analyzed from 32 waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Shanxi Province, China. HM levels in sewage sludge were assessed.

Tomitella cavernea sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from soil.

A Gram-staining-positive, aerobic, non-spore-forming, irregular rod-shaped actinobacterium, designated YIM C00895(T), was isolated from a soil sample collected from Jiuxiang Scenic Region, Yunnan province, south-west China. The strain was able to grow at 10-28 °C, pH 6.0-10.

Genome sequencing of high-penicillin producing industrial strain of Penicillium chrysogenum.

Background: Due to the importance of Penicillium chrysogenum holding in medicine, the genome of low-penicillin producing laboratorial strain Wisconsin54-1255 had been sequenced and fully annotated. Through classical mutagenesis of Wisconsin54-1255, product titers and productivities of penicillin have dramatically increased, but what underlying genome structural variations is still little known. Therefore, genome sequencing of a high-penicillin producing industrial strain is very meaningful.

Trivaric acid, a potent depside human leukocyte elastase inhibitor.

Human leukocyte elastase (HLE) is a serine protease implicated in several inflammatory diseases, and represents a major target for anti-inflammatory drug development. In the present study, nordivaricatic acid (1), divarinyl divarate (2), and trivaric acid (3), three depsides isolated from the culture of a soil derived fungal strain were identified as inhibitors of HLE. Two didepsides 1 and 2 showed low inhibitory activity.