Penilaian Pengenalan Toksistik Pilm Minyak Palm Minyak Berkesa Menggunakan Organisma Akuatik

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) contains complex and highly biodegradable organic matters, and discharging it without appropriate treatment may lead to environmental problems. POME final discharge quality is usually determined based on conventional chemical detection, such as by biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The novelty of the present study is for the first time the evaluation of toxicity effects of the POME final discharge samples based on whole effluent toxicity (WET) and toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) tests using invertebrate Daphnia magna and zebrafish Danio rerio was carried out. The POME final discharge was collected from 3 different palm oil mills, which are having different wastewater treatment technologies. The toxicity unit (TU) values obtained from WET were recorded to be in the range from 3.4-11. The toxicity identification test using D. magna shows that huge toxicity reductions were observed following treatments by pH adjustment, aeration and solid phase extraction (SPE), which indicates that pH-sensitive compounds, volatile compounds, and heavy metals were suspected to be the main toxicants in the POME final discharge. Further analysis by GC-MS indicated that phenol, 2,6-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl)-, which was detected at 0.03-0.04 mg/L, and cyclotetrasiloxane, octamethyl- (D4), which was detected at 0.0148-0.0357 mg/L, were recognized as being the main toxicants in the POME final discharge. Detection of D4 within the effluent samples was also surmised to have inhibited D. rerio embryonic development with high lethality at high concentration within effluents. In this study, 0.15 mg/L of Cu, 3.7 mg/L of Zn, and 4.9 mg/L of Fe for 96-h of 50% effective concentration (EC50) were observed using FET testing. These values were lower than those of the effluent discharge standard, which were at 1.0 mg/L of Cu, 2.0 mg of Zn and 5.0 mg/L of Fe, set by the Department of Environment, Malaysia. The present toxicity data suggests for more strigent regulation of the current standards to improve the final effluent quality. It is recommended that two approaches, chemical-based monitoring, as well as biological toxicity-based monitoring, should be utilized for achieving an acceptable quality of POME final discharge in the future. / Efluen dari kilang kelapa sawit (POME) mengandungi bahan organik yang kompleks dan mudah terbiodegradasi, dan membuangnya tanpa rawatan yang sesuai boleh menyebabkan masalah alam sekitar. Kualiti pelepasan akhir POME biasanya ditentukan berdasarkan pengesanan kimia secara konvensional, seperti permintaan oksigen biologi (BOD) dan permintaan oksigen kimia (COD). Kebaharuan dari kajian ini adalah penilaian kesan ketoksikan sampel pelepasan akhir POME dibuat berdasarkan ujian ketoksikan efluen keseluruhan (WET) dan ujian pengenalpastian ketoksikan (TIE) menggunakan invertebrata Daphnia magna dan zebrafish Danio rerio di lakukan buat pertama kalinya. Sampel pelepasan akhir POME dikumpulkan dari 3 kilang minyak sawit yang berbeza, yang menggunakan teknologi rawatan air sisa yang berbeza. Nilai unit ketoksikan (TU) yang diperoleh dari WET dicatat berada dalam lingkungan 3.4-11. Ujian pengecaman ketoksikan menggunakan D. magna menunjukkan bahawa pengurangan ketoksikan yang besar diperolehi berikutan rawatan dengan pelarasan pH, pengudaraan dan pengekstrakan fasa pepejal (SPE), yang menunjukkan bahawa sebatian sensitif pH, sebatian mudah meruap, dan logam berat disyaki sebagai toksik dalam sampel pembuangan akhir POME. Analisis lebih lanjut oleh GC-MS menunjukkan bahawa fenol, 2,6- bis (1,1-dimetiletil) -, yang dikesan pada 0.03-0.04 mg / L, dan siklotetrasiloksana, oktametil- (D4), yang dikesan pada 0.0148- 0.0357 mg / L, diakui sebagai toksik utama dalam pembuangan akhir POME. Pengesanan D4 dalam sampel efluen juga diduga telah menghalang perkembangan embrio D. rerio dengan kematian yang tinggi pada kepekatan tinggi dalam efluen. Dalam kajian ini, sebanyak 0.15 mg / L Cu, 3.7 mg / L Zn, dan 4.9 mg / L Fe pada 96-h kepekatan berkesan 50% (EC50) diperoleh menggunakan ujian FET. Nilai-nilai ini adalah lebih rendah daripada standard pembuangan efluen yang ditetapkan oleh Jabatan Alam Sekitar, Malaysia, iaitu pada 1.0 mg / L Cu, 2.0 mg Zn dan 5.0 mg / L Fe. Data ketoksikan yang ada sekarang menunjukkan peraturan yang lebih ketat terhadap standard semasa diperlukan untuk meningkatkan kualiti efluen akhir. Sebaiknya dua pendekatan, pemantauan berdasarkan kaedah kimia, dan pemantauan berdasarkan kaedah ketoksikan biologi, harus digunakan untuk mencapai kualiti pembuangan akhir POME yang dapat diterima di masa depan.九州工業大学博士学位論文 学位記番号：生工博甲第383号 学位授与年月日：令和2年9月25日1 Introduction|2 Literature Review|3 Toxicity Identification and Evaluation of Palm Oil Mill Effluent Final Discharge and Its Effects on The Planktonic Crustacean Daphnia Magna|4 Toxicity Assessment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent Final Discharge by Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) Embryo Assay|5 Summary, General Conclusion, and Recommendations for Future Research九州工業大学令和2年

Ecotoxicological assessment of palm oil mill effluent final discharge by zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryonic assay

Most palm oil mills adopted conventional ponding system, including anaerobic, aerobic, facultative and algae ponds, for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME). Only a few mills installed a bio-polishing plant to treat POME further before its final discharge. The present study aims to determine the quality and toxicity levels of POME final discharge from three different mills by using conventional chemical analyses and fish (Danio rerio) embryo toxicity (FET) test. The effluent derived from mill A which installed with a bio-polishing plant had lower values of BOD, COD and TSS at 45 mg/L, 104 mg/L, and 27 mg/L, respectively. Only mill A nearly met the industrial effluent discharge standard for BOD. In FET test, effluent from mill A recorded low lethality and most of the embryos were malformed after hatching (half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) = 20%). The highest toxicity was observed from the effluent of mill B and all embryos were coagulated after 24 h in samples greater than 75% of effluent (38% of half-maximal lethal concentration (LC50) at 96 h). The embryos in the effluent from mill C recorded high mortality after hatching, and the survivors were malformed after 96 h exposure (LC50 = 26%). Elemental analysis of POME final discharge samples showed Cu, Zn, and Fe concentrations were in the range of 0.10–0.32 mg/L, 0.01–0.99 mg/L, and 0.94–4.54 mg/L, respectively and all values were below the effluent permissible discharge limits. However, the present study found these metals inhibited D. rerio embryonic development at 0.12 mg/L of Cu, and 4.9 mg/L of Fe for 96 h-EC50. The present study found that bio-polishing plant installed in mill A effectively removing pollutants especially BOD and the FET test was a useful method to monitor quality and toxicity of the POME final discharge samples

HCHL expression in hairy roots of Beta vulgaris yields a high accumulation of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA) glucose ester, and linkage of pHBA into cell walls.

As part of a study to explore the potential for new or modified bio-product formation, Beta vulgaris (sugar beet) has been genetically modified to express in root-organ culture a bacterial gene of phenylpropanoid catabolism. The HCHL gene, encoding p-hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA hydratase/lyase, was introduced into B. vulgaris under the control of a CaMV 35S promoter, using Agrobacterium rhizogenes LBA 9402. Hairy root clones expressing the HCHL gene, together with non-expressing clones, were analysed and revealed that one expression-positive clone accumulated the glucose ester of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA) at about 14% on a dry weight basis. This is the best yield achieved in plant systems so far. Determination of cell-wall components liberated by alkaline hydrolysis confirmed that the ratio of pHBA to ferulic acid was considerably higher in the HCHL-expressing clones, whereas only ferulic acid was detected in a non-expressing clone. The change in cell-wall components also resulted in a decrease in tensile strength in the HCHL-expressing clones

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

KANDUH at the NTCIR-17 Transfer Task

The KANDUH team participated in the Transfer subtasks 1 and 2 of NTCIR-17.In this paper, we report on our approach to solving the problem and the results.Subtasks 1 and 2 address the dense vector search task, respectively.In both subtasks 1 and 2, we used BM25 to filter documents, followed by dense vector retrieval.The method with the highest nDCG@20 was 0.4339 the one that first finetuned DeBERTa-v2 with MSMARCO and then additionally finetuned with NTCIR-1 data.On the other hand, the method with the lowest nDCG@20 was 0.0751 the one that fine-tuned only MSMARCO data

Soluble organic molecules in samples of the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu

International audienceThe Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected samples from the surface of the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu and brought them to Earth. The samples were expected to contain organic molecules, which record processes that occurred in the early Solar System. We analyzed organic molecules extracted from the Ryugu surface samples. We identified a variety of molecules containing the atoms CHNOS, formed by methylation, hydration, hydroxylation, and sulfurization reactions. Amino acids, aliphatic amines, carboxylic acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds were detected, which had properties consistent with an abiotic origin. These compounds likely arose from an aqueous reaction on Ryugu’s parent body and are similar to the organics in Ivuna-type meteorites. These molecules can survive on the surfaces of asteroids and be transported throughout the Solar System