Investigation of Indoor and Outdoor Fine Particulate Matter Concentrations in Schools in Salt Lake City, Utah

Every day around 93% of children under the age of 15 (1.8 billion children) breathe outdoor air that is so polluted it puts their health and development at serious risk. Due to the pandemic, however, ventilation of buildings using outdoor air has become an important safety technique to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With the mounting ev-idence suggesting that air pollution is impactful to human health and educational out-comes, this contradictory guidance may be problematic in schools with higher air pol-lution levels, but keeping kids COVID-19 free and in school to receive their education is now more pressing than ever. To understand if all schools in an urban area are ex-posed to similar outdoor air quality and if school infrastructure protects children equally indoors, we installed research grade sensors to observe PM2.5 concentrations in indoor and outdoor settings to understand how unequal exposure to indoor and out-door air pollution impacts indoor air quality among high- and low-income schools in Salt Lake City, Utah. Based on this approach, we found that during atmospheric inver-sions and dust events, there was a lag ranging between 35 to 73 minutes for the out-door PM2.5 concentrations to follow a similar temporal pattern as the indoor PM2.5. This lag has policy and health implications and may help to explain the rising concerns re-garding reduced educational outcomes related to air pollution in urban areas. These data and resulting analysis show that poor air quality may impact school settings, and the potential implications with respect to environmental inequality.

Reconstruction of Polyhalite Ore-Formed Temperature from Late Middle Pleistocene Brine Temperature Research in Kunteyi Playa, Western China

Kunteyi Salt Lake (KSL), located in the northwest of the Qaidam Basin (QB), is rich in polyhalite resources. However, there is no relevant research on the ore-formed temperature of polyhalite in nature, such as KSL. The homogenization temperature ( T h ) of salt mineral inclusions can directly reveal the form temperature of minerals. In view of the poor diagenesis of polyhalite in KSL, almost no polyhalite crystals are formed. Therefore, the ore-formed temperature of polyhalite in KSL is revealed by using the T h of fluid inclusions in halite associated with polyhalite as a substitute index. A total of 472 T h data from 34 halite samples and 34 maximum homogenization temperature ( T hMAX ) data ranged from 17.1°C to 35.5°C, among which 24 data were concentrated at 17-23°C and the average value is 22.1°C. Brine temperature of other salt lakes in QB and paleoclimate characteristics of the study area were combined. It suggests that the temperature conditions of polyhalite mineralization in the study area are generally low. However, under the overall low-temperature background, polyhalite seems to be easily enriched at relatively high temperature; for example, the content of polyhalite is generally high in the first relatively dry and hot salt-forming period, and the brine temperature at the peak stage of polyhalite at 45 m is relatively high, which indicates that the high temperature conditions promote the formation of polyhalite in KSL. As far as the overall relationship between temperature and polyhalite is concerned, polyhalite is deposited at both low temperature and relatively high temperature, which verifies the previous understanding that polyhalite is a mineral with wide temperature phase, and also shows that temperature has a limited effect on polyhalite formation under natural conditions. In addition, combined with the chemical composition of halite fluid inclusions, it is found that the concentration of Mg2+ in nature has an influence on the temperature measurement process. According to the previous experimental research, speculate that the actual temperature of ancient brine and ore-formed temperature of polyhalite in KSL are lower than the measured T h . The confirmation of the influence of Mg2+ on temperature measurement is convenient for more accurate reconstruction of the metallogenic temperature of evaporite such as polyhalite. The research on the ore-formed temperature of KSL polyhalite enriches and perfects the polyhalite mineralization theory and provides theoretical basis for the basic and applied research of polyhalite.

Whole Genome Sequencing Assembly and Annotation of Halobacillus Trueperi S61 Isolated From the Qarhan Salt Lake

Background: Halophilic microbial as prospective resources of biotechnology due to the advantages of flexible survivability. Qarhan Salt Lake is the second largest Salt Lake in the world which contains rich-unique extremophiles and deserved in-depth exploration. Results: Present study first time isolated novel strain Halobacillus trueperi S61 from Qarhan Salt Lake and performed whole-genome sequencing through combined third-generation PacBio and second-generation Illumina technology. The whole genome of Halobacillus trueperi S61 identified 57549 total reads and consists a complete circular chromosome of 4047887 bp with 43.86% GC content without gaps. Total number of 139 non-coding RNA (included 86 tRNA, 30 rRNA and 23 sRNA), 16 gene islands with 260275 bp and two prophages (with 82682 length) were predicted. In addition, the whole genome of Halobacillus trueperi S61 summarized basic annotation for 3982 protein-coding genes, 3980, 3667, 2998 and 2303 unigenes were annotated with Nr, Swissport, KOG and KEGG database. Combined with advanced analysis, 561 carbohydrate enzymes and 4416 pathogen host interactions related genes were identified. The protein function of Halobacillus trueperi S61 was mainly focus on biological processes, and the protein function was mainly distributed in gene transcription and amino acids, and carbohydrates metabolism. Conclusions: The complete whole genome sequence assembly and annotation of novel strain Halobacillus trueperi S61 isolated from Qarhan Salt Lake mainly focus on protein biological processes and antibiotic resistance, provides a potential resource for biotechnology.

Mapping Green Infrastructure Based on Multifunctional Ecosystem Services: A Sustainable Planning Framework for Utah’s Wasatch Front

Most sustainable planning frameworks assess natural and social–economic landscape systems as separate entities, and our understanding of the interrelationships between them is incomplete. Landscape classification in urbanizing environments requires an integrated spatial planning approach to better address the United Nation’s sustainable development challenges. The objective of this research is to apply a multicriteria evaluation which ranked diverse ecosystem–service producing landscapes and synthesize the findings within a unique green infrastructure spatial planning framework. Local government stakeholder derived weighting and GIS classification were operated to map both the urban and natural landscapes of the Salt Lake City region of Utah, one of the most rapidly urbanizing areas in North America. Results were assimilated through five regional landscape typologies—Ecological, Hydrological, Recreational, Working Lands, and Community—and indicated those highest ranked landscape areas which provided multiple ecosystem services. These findings support collaborative decision making among diverse stakeholders with overlapping objectives and illustrates pathways to the development of ecosystem service criteria. This paper contributes to a better understanding of how to integrate data and visualize the strategic approaches required for sustainable planning and management, particularly in urban and urbanizing regions where complex socioecological landscapes predominate.

Haloterrigena Gelatinilytica sp. nov., A New Extremely Halophilic Archaeon Isolated From Salt-Lake

Two extremely halophilic strains, designated SYSU A558-1T and SYSU A121-1, were isolated from a saline sediment sample collected from Aiding salt lake, China. Cells of strains SYSU A558-1T and SYSU A121-1 were Gram-stain-negative, coccoid, and non-motile. The isolates were aerobic and grew at NaCl concentration of 10-30% (optimum, 20-22%), at 20-55ºC (optimum, 37-42ºC) and at pH 6.5-8.5 (optimum, 7.0-8.0). Cells lysed in distilled water. Major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester, disulphated diglycosyl diether-1 and one unidentified glycolipid. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the two strains SYSU A558-1T and SYSU A121-1 were closely related to the membranes of the genus Haloterrigena. Phylogenetic trees based on strains SYSU A558-1T and SYSU A121-1 16S rRNA gene sequence, rpoB' gene sequence and concatenation of 87 protein markers demonstrated a robust clade with Haloterrigena turkmenica, Haloterrigena salifodinae and Haloterrigena salina. The genomic DNA G+C contents of strains SYSU A558-1T and SYSU A121-1 were 65.8 and 65.0%, respectively. Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic characteristics and phylogenetic properties suggested that the two strains SYSU A558-1T and SYSU A121-1 represent a novel species of the genus Haloterrigena, for which the name Haloterrigena gelatinilytica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSU A558-1T (= KCTC 4259T = CGMCC 1.15953T).

Determination of the Heavy Metal Contents and the Benefit/Cost Analysis of Hypericum salsugineum in the Vicinity of Salt Lake

In this study, Hypericum salsugineum, an endemic halophytic plant growing around Salt Lake, was analyzed to determine the heavy metals (chromium, lead, copper, zinc and nickel) on it and on the soil it grew. The phytoremediation potential of H. salsugineum was evaluated. In addition, the benefit cost (B/C) analysis was performed for its potential use in phytoremediation. The plant and soil samples were collected from Eskil and Cihanbeyli between May and September in 2016. A total of 300 soil and plant samples were analysed for heavy metal content. Statistical and standard benefit/cost analyses were performed for assessment. The capacity of accumulating the aforementioned heavy metals was found to be high in H. salsugineum. It was found that Ni and Pb ratio exceeded optimum values in its habitat, and H. salsugineum accumulated available Ni and Pb. When the plant was evaluated in terms of benefit/cost, B/C ratio was greater than 1 during the useful life of the study. This conclusion increases the ecological and economical values of H. Salsugineum, effecting its potential use in phytoremediation.