Status of water use and potential of rainwater harvesting for replacing centralized supply system in remote mountainous areas: a case study.

The failure of the centralized water supply system forced XY community to become more dependent on uncertain and unstable water sources. The results of surveying 50 households showed that 89.18% of total households depended on water collected from rivers, which contributed 58.3% of the total water volume used for the domestic demands. The average water volume consumed was 19.5 liters/person/day (l/p/d), and 86.5% of households used more than one source; 13.5% of households collected water only from rivers, and 45.94% of families had rainwater harvesting (RWH) for their activities (domestic water demand); however, RWH only provided 9.9% of total water consumption. In this study, basic methods were applied to calculate the storage tanks necessary to balance the water deficit created by drought months. Three levels of water demand (14, 20, and 30 l/p/d) can be the best choices for RWH; for a higher demand (40 and 60 l/p/d), small roof area (30-40 m2), and many people (six to seven) per family, RWH might be impractical because of unsuitable rainfall or excessively large storage tanks

Comparative study about the performance of three types of modified natural treatment systems for rice noodle wastewater

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd In this study, three semi-pilot scale systems (vertical flow constructed wetland, multi-soil layering, and integrated hybrid systems) for treating real rice noodle wastewater were operated parallelly for the first time in a tropical climate at a loading rate of 50 L/(m2·d) for more than 7 months to determine the optimal conditions and to compare their treatment performance. The results demonstrated that these systems were appropriate for the removal of organics, suspended solids, and total coliform (Tcol). The highest reductions in chemical oxygen demand (CODCr, 73.2%), phosphorus (PO4-P, 54%), and Tcol (4.78 log MPN/100 mL inactivation) were obtained by the integrated hybrid system, while the highest removal efficiencies of ammonium (NH4-N, 60.64%) and suspended solids (80.49%) were achieved in the vertical-flow-constructed wetland and multi-soil layering systems respectively

A syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder caused by rare variants in PPFIA3

PPFIA3 encodes the protein-tyrosine phosphatase, receptor-type, F-polypeptide-interacting-protein-alpha-3 (PPFIA3), which is a member of the LAR-protein-tyrosine phosphatase-interacting-protein (liprin) family involved in synapse formation and function, synaptic vesicle transport, and presynaptic active zone assembly. The protein structure and function are evolutionarily well conserved, but human diseases related to PPFIA3 dysfunction are not yet reported in OMIM. Here, we report 20 individuals with rare PPFIA3 variants (19 heterozygous and 1 compound heterozygous) presenting with developmental delay, intellectual disability, hypotonia, dysmorphisms, microcephaly or macrocephaly, autistic features, and epilepsy with reduced penetrance. Seventeen unique PPFIA3 variants were detected in 18 families. To determine the pathogenicity of PPFIA3 variants in vivo, we generated transgenic fruit flies producing either human wild-type (WT) PPFIA3 or five missense variants using GAL4-UAS targeted gene expression systems. In the fly overexpression assays, we found that the PPFIA3 variants in the region encoding the N-terminal coiled-coil domain exhibited stronger phenotypes compared to those affecting the C-terminal region. In the loss-of-function fly assay, we show that the homozygous loss of fly Liprin-α leads to embryonic lethality. This lethality is partially rescued by the expression of human PPFIA3 WT, suggesting human PPFIA3 function is partially conserved in the fly. However, two of the tested variants failed to rescue the lethality at the larval stage and one variant failed to rescue lethality at the adult stage. Altogether, the human and fruit fly data reveal that the rare PPFIA3 variants are dominant-negative loss-of-function alleles that perturb multiple developmental processes and synapse formation

Combined biochar vertical flow and free-water surface constructed wetland system for dormitory sewage treatment and reuse.

A two-stage treatment system that included vertical flow (VF) and free-water surface (FWS) constructed wetlands was investigated for the dual purposes of sewage treatment and reuse. The VF included four layers (biochar, sand, gravel, and sandy soil), and the FWS was installed after the VF and used as a polishing tank. Two types of local plants, namely Colocasia esculenta and Canna indica, were planted in the VF and FWS, respectively. The system operated for approximately six months, and the experimental period was categorized into four stages that corresponded to changes in the hydraulic loading rate (HLR) (0.02-0.12 m/d). The removal efficiencies for total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD5), ammonia (NH4-N), and total coliform (Tcol) were 71 ± 11%, 73 ± 13%, 79 ± 11%, 91 ± 3%, and 70 ± 20%, respectively. At HLRs of 0.04-0.06 m/d, the COD and BOD5 levels satisfied Vietnam's irrigation standards, with removable rates of 64% and 88%, respectively, and the TSS and Tcol levels satisfied Vietnam's standards for potable water. Furthermore, the NO3-N levels satisfied the reuse limits, whereas the NH4-N levels exceeded the reuse standards. At high HLRs (e.g., 0.12 m/d), all the effluent parameters, except Tcol and NO3-N, exceeded the standards