Cross-genera amplification and identification of Colpodella sp. with Cryptosporidium primers in fecal samples of zoo felids from northeast China

The protozoans include many intracellular human pathogens. Accurate detection of these pathogens is necessary to treat the diseases. In clinical epidemiology, molecular identification of protozoan is considered a more reliable and rapid method for identification than microscopy. Among these protozoans, Cryptosporidium considered being one of the important water-borne zoonotic pathogens and a major cause of a diarrheal disease named cryptosporidiosis in humans, domestic animals, and wild animals. This study was aimed to identify Cryptosporidium in zoo felids (N= 56) belonging to different zoo of China, but accidentlly Colpodella was encountered in the zoo felids sample and phylogenetic data confirmed this unexpected amplification from fecal samples using two-step nested-PCR. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the fact about the specific primers used previously by many researchers and cross-genera amplification. We came to know that genetically sequenced amplicon gives more accurate identification of species. This study suggests more investigation on Colpodella which has been neglected previously but gains the attention of researchers after identified from humans and animals and has been known to correlate with neurological symptoms in patients.

Electrospun Nanofibers for Scheming Water Pollution

Water pollution is one of the key global problems which require immediate attention. Worldwide, it is predicted that more than 50% of countries will encounter water scarcities by 2025 which will increase to 75% by 2075. Each year more than 5 million people die due to water-borne diseases. The threat due to pollution by industries, exponential population growth, urbanization, by pathogenic microorganisms from human and animal waste, etc. The rise in water pollution and its subsequent effects on human health and environment is a matter of great concern. The water pollutants ought to be removed to improve water quality for human use. Nanoparticles or zero dimensional materials have been extensively studied since long, whereas one dimensional material (nanorods, nanotubes, nanowires, or nanofibers) have recently grabbed a lot of interest from global researchers. Nanofibers having large aspect ratio are grabbing incredible attention owing to dependency of physical property on directionality having high porosity and surface area as compared to normal fibers.

An IoT-Based Sanitation Monitoring System Using Machine Learning for Stagnant Water to Prevent Water-Borne Diseases

In low and middle-income countries, people die as a result of unhygienic water quality each year. The proposed method monitors stagnant water quality. Improving sanitation facilities by prior detection of contamination depends on both knowledge and resources (both microbiological and personnel). The proposed method uses Node MCU as core controller and various sensors to monitor the water quality. The micro controller will access the data from different sensors and then processes the data. Once the data is collected, the data is fed into machine learning models, and it is trained using machine learning algorithms (classification - SVM) or neural networks (ANN). Productive decision can be made out of the results from the model. Model will be trained using the parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen (D.O.), pH, biochemical oxygen demand (B.O.D), Nitrate-N and Nitrite-N, and fecal coliform. The outcome of the proposed work gives a complete report about contamination in the stagnant water and gives early alert to municipalities for preventing water-borne diseases.

Combination of Coagulation, Adsorption, and Ultrafiltration Processes for Organic Matter Removal from Peat Water

The high content of natural organic matter (NOM) is one of the challenging characteristics of peat water. It is also highly contaminated and contributes to some water-borne diseases. Before being used for potable purposes, peat water must undergo a series of treatments, particularly for NOM removal. This study investigated the effect of coagulation using aluminum sulfate coagulant and adsorption using powdered activated carbon (PAC) as a pretreatment of ultrafiltration (UF) for removal of NOM from actual peat water. After preparation and characterization of polysulfone (Psf)-based membrane, the system’s performance was evaluated using actual peat water, particularly on NOM removal and the UF performances. The coagulation and adsorption tests were done under variable dosings. Results show that pretreatment through coagulation–adsorption successfully removed most of the NOM. As such, the UF fouling propensity of the pretreated peat water was substantially lowered. The optimum aluminum sulfate dosing of 175 mg/L as the first pretreatment stage removed up to 75–78% NOM. Further treatment using the PAC-based adsorption process further increased 92–96% NOM removals at an optimum PAC dosing of 120 mg/L. The final UF-PSf treatment reached NOM removals of 95% with high filtration fluxes of up to 92.4 L/(m2.h). The combination of three treatment stages showed enhanced UF performance thanks to partial pre-removal of NOM that otherwise might cause severe membrane fouling.

An innovative subterranean spring capture method for improved water quality

Many rural communities in Andean countries of South America rely on springs as their primary drinking water source. A variety of spring capture methods are employed resulting in varying water quality. Water from these spring-fed sources, delivered to the community via a distribution network, is often not chlorinated, increasing the risk of water-borne pathogens. A simple, improved technique has been developed in Ecuador's Chimborazo Province by a local Christian organization, Corporación de Desarrollo Integral Socio Económico (CODEINSE), to protect spring water sources for community water supply. This new technique, ‘the CODEINSE method’, builds on the strengths of traditional subterranean spring captures while employing several design improvements, like a concrete cap and sufficient gravel pack, to prevent surface water contamination. According to water quality data collected in Ecuador, the CODEINSE method consistently provides high-quality water with substantially reduced levels of water-borne pathogens compared to traditional spring capture methods. On average, the CODEINSE method yields water with less than 1.0 CFU/100 mL, water that is deemed no risk by the World Health Organization. The CODEINSE method has the potential to improve water quality not only in the rural Andean communities in Ecuador but also in developing countries across the world.

Traditional plant and herbs used in rural area for prevention of disease caused by water pollution

Water being the most vital requirement for the survival of the life in the planet becomes even more vital when its demand increases due to increase in population as well as due to scarcity of consumable water. This chapter explains about water pollution and the causes of it. It also elaborates about type of water pollution and water borne diseases like diarrhea, cancer, hepatitis and many more that affects the world immensely. Furthermore, it explains about different types of herbs and plants that is used by people of rural area to tackle the problem of water pollution and effectively manage the diseases caused by the same. Examples of herb or plant derived substances utilized for water borne diseases include malvaceae and amaranthaceae, to name a few.

Hepatitis E Virus Infection: Neurological Manifestations and Pathophysiology

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the first cause of viral hepatitis in the world. While the water-borne HEV genotypes 1 and 2 are found in developing countries, HEV genotypes 3 and 4 are endemic in developed countries due to the existence of animal reservoirs, especially swine. An HEV infection produces many extra-hepatic manifestations in addition to liver symptoms, especially neurological disorders. The most common are neuralgic amyotrophy or Parsonage–Turner syndrome, Guillain–Barré syndrome, myelitis, and encephalitis. The pathophysiology of the neurological injuries due to HEV remains uncertain. The immune response to the virus probably plays a role, but direct virus neurotropism could also contribute to the pathophysiology. This review describes the main neurological manifestations and their possible pathogenic mechanisms.

Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data

Lakes are integrators of past climate and ecological change. This information is stored in the sediment record at the lake bottom, and to make it available for paleoclimate research, potential target sites with undisturbed and continuous sediment sequences need to be identified. Different geophysical methods are suitable to identify, explore, and characterize sediment layers prior to sediment core recovery. Due to the high resolution, reflection seismic methods have become standard for this purpose. However, seismic measurements cannot always provide a comprehensive image of lake-bottom sediments, e.g., due to lacking seismic contrasts between geological units or high attenuation of seismic waves. Here, we developed and tested a complementary method based on water-borne electrical-resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements. Our setup consisted of 13 floating electrodes (at 5 m spacing) used to collect ERT data with a dipole–dipole configuration. We used a 1D inversion to adjust a layered-earth model, which facilitates the implementation of constraints on water depth, water resistivity, and sediment resistivity as a priori information. The first two parameters were readily obtained from the echo-sounder and conductivity-probe measurements. The resistivity of sediment samples can also be determined in the laboratory. We applied this approach to process ERT data collected on a lake in southern Mexico. The direct comparison of ERT data with reflection seismic data collected with a sub-bottom profiler (SBP) showed that we can significantly improve the sediment-thickness estimates compared to unconstrained 2D inversions. Down to water depths of 20 m, our sediment thickness estimates were close to the sediment thickness derived from collocated SBP seismograms. Our approach represents an implementation of ERT measurements on lakes and complements the standard lake-bottom exploration by reflection seismic methods.