Biomedical subjects

Berndt-Michael Wilke

Publications and source records attributed to Berndt-Michael Wilke.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Activated carbon adsorption of PAHs from vegetable oil used in soil remediation.

Vegetable oil has been proven to be advantageous as a non-toxic, cost-effective and biodegradable solvent to extract polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from contaminated soils for remediation purposes. The resulting vegetable oil contained PAHs and therefore required a method for subsequent removal of extracted PAHs and reuse of the oil in remediation processes. In this paper, activated carbon adsorption of PAHs from vegetable oil used in soil remediation was assessed to ascertain PAH contaminated oil regeneration. Vegetable oils, originating from lab scale remediation, with different PAH concentrations were examined to study the adsorption of PAHs on activated carbon. Batch adsorption tests were performed by shaking oil-activated carbon mixtures in flasks. Equilibrium data were fitted with the Langmuir and Freundlich isothermal models. Studies were also carried out using columns packed with activated carbon. In addition, the effects of initial PAH concentration and activated carbon dosage on sorption capacities were investigated. Results clearly revealed the effectiveness of using activated carbon as an adsorbent to remove PAHs from the vegetable oil. Adsorption equilibrium of PAHs on activated carbon from the vegetable oil was successfully evaluated by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The initial PAH concentrations and carbon dosage affected adsorption significantly. The results indicate that the reuse of vegetable oil was feasible.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2006

Shifts in microbial community functions and nitrifying communities as a result of combined application of copper and mefenoxam.

In this microcosm study, we focused on the effect of a combined application of copper and mefenoxam on the functional diversity of soil microbial communities. Treatments with combined and separate applications of copper and mefenoxam were sampled at 24 and 60 days and control soil was sampled at 0, 24 and 60 days. Structural and metabolic profiling of microorganisms were performed by arbitrarily primed (AP) and RNA arbitrarily primed-PCR (RAP-PCR). Cluster analysis resulted in separate grouping of AP and RAP-PCR profiles, with differences between control and treatments being more pronounced with respect to RAP-PCR profiles. amoA, a functional molecular marker for beta-subgroup ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, could only be detected at day 60 in treatments of mefenoxam, and mefenoxam+copper, with higher gene copies in the latter. There was also an increase in potential nitrification activity on application of mefenoxam and mefenoxam+copper. Comparison of amoA diversity was performed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis followed by construction of a clone library of amoA fragments amplified from the mefenoxam+copper-treated sample. Analysis of clones was performed by restriction digestion and subsequent sequencing. Patterns 1 and 5 were seen in 93% of the clones and clustered together with amoA sequences of Nitrosospira, indicating that Nitrosospira-like organisms are the major nitrifiers under mefenoxam treatments.

Alanine↗

PubMed2005

Assessment of microbial respiratory activity of a manufactured gas plant soil after remediation using sunflower oil.

Microbial activity of a manufactured gas plant (MGP) soil, as well as remaining oil degradability, before and after remediation using sunflower oil was assessed. A sandy soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was collected from an MGP site in Berlin, Germany. Column solubilizations of PAHs from the field-moist soil and air-dried soil using sunflower oil as an extractant at an oil/soil ratio of 2:1 (v/m) were carried out to compare PAH removals from the soil under these two conditions. After column solubilizations, portions of untreated soil (UTS), solubilized field-moist soil (SFMS), and solubilized air-dried soil (SADS) were amended with nutrients. Both nutrient amended and unamended soil samples were subjected to soil respiratory measurement. Soil respiration parameters, such as basal respiration rate, nutrient-induced respiration rate, lag time, exponential growth rate, respiratory activation quotient, peak maximum time, and cumulative CO2 evolution were calculated from the soil respiration curves. The parameters were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least-significance difference (LSD). Results showed that the impact of soil moisture on the PAH removals was quite significant, with the SADS showing higher PAH removals and the SFMS showing lower ones. There were significant differences between the respiration parameters with respect to the UTS, SFMS, and SADS. Basal respiration rate, nutrient-induced respiration rate, and exponential growth rate were lower for the SFMS and SADS relative to the UTS. Lag time and peak maximum time were higher for the SFMS and SADS relative to the UTS. Exponential growth rate was higher for the SFMS relative to the SADS. These parameters demonstrated that soil microbial activity was reduced at the onset of the test, because a lot of bioavailable materials for microbial growth were removed by sunflower oil. On the other hand, cumulative CO2 evolutions in the SFMS and SADS were higher than that in the UTS, indicating that soil respiration was activated after soil microorganisms got acclimatized to the remaining sunflower oil, and remaining sunflower oil was biodegradable.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A time-saving method for higher plant tests in hydroculture.

For higher plant tests in hydroculture we developed a method to unify the usually separately performed germination and growth testing. This method renders unnecessary the time-consuming and laborious installation of the germinated plants into the growth system.

Agriculture↗