1f:T4a3,In the 2016/2017 winter season in Japan, HuNoV GII.P16-GII.2 strains (2016 strains) emerged and caused large outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis. To better understand the outbreaks, we examined the molecular evolution of the VP1 gene and RdRp region in 2016 strains from patients by studying their time-scale evolutionary phylogeny, positive/negative selection, conformational epitopes, and phylodynamics. The time-scale phylogeny suggested that the common ancestors of the 2016 strains VP1 gene and RdRp region diverged in 2006 and 1999, respectively, and that the 2016 strain was the progeny of a pre-2016 GII.2. The evolutionary rates of the VP1 gene and RdRp region were around 10^-3 substitutions/site/year. Amino acid substitutions (position 341) in an epitope in the P2 domain of 2016 strains were not found in pre-2016 GII.2 strains. Bayesian skyline plot analyses showed that the effective population size of the VP1 gene in GII.2 strains was almost constant for those 50 years, although the number of patients with NoV GII.2 increased in 2016. The 2016 strain may be involved in future outbreaks in Japan and elsewhere.20:T4b1,Adsorption of heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Cu) onto Activated Teff Straw (ATS) has been studied using batch-adsorption techniques. This study was carried out to examine the adsorption capacity of the low-cost adsorbent ATS for the removal of heavy metals from textile effluents. The influence of contact time, pH, Temperature, and adsorbent dose on the adsorption process was also studied. Results revealed that adsorption rate initially increased rapidly, and the optimal removal efficiency was reached within about 1 hour. Further increase in contact time did not show significant change in equilibrium concentration; that is, the adsorption phase reached equilibrium. The adsorption isotherms could be fitted well by the Langmuir model. The value in the present investigation was less than one, indicating that the adsorption of the metal ion onto ATS is favorable. After treatment with ATS the levels of heavy metals were observed to decrease by 88% (Ni), 82.9% (Cd), 81.5% (Cu), 74.5% (Cr), and 68.9% (Pb). Results indicate that the freely abundant, locally available, low-cost adsorbent, Teff straw can be treated as economically viable for the removal of metal ions from textile effluents.21:T61e,

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