Biodegradation of mixture of VOC''''s in a biofilter

IntroductionDeterioratingatmosphericairqualityhasresultinginmorestringentregulationsarebeingenforcedtocontrolairpollutants .Volatileorganiccompounds(VOCs)areamongthenewclassofaircontaminantsgeneratedfromavarietyofindustrialsources .Effortstocontroltheemis…     

Analysis of chemical composition of precipitation in a typical background site

ＡｎａｌｙｓｉｓｏｆｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｃｏｍｐｏｓｉｔｉｏｎｏｆｐｒｅｃｉｐｉｔａｔｉｏｎｉｎａｔｙｐｉｃａｌｂａｃｋｇｒｏｕｎｄｓｉｔｅＬｉｕＪｉａｑｉ，ＳｈｉＬｉｌｉＹｕｎｎａｎＰｒｏｖｉｎｃｉａｌＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＭｏｎｉｔｏｒｉｎｇ...     

Field measurements of dissociation of ammonium nitrate at a Beijing site

ＦｉｅｌｄｍｅａｓｕｒｅｍｅｎｔｓｏｆｄｉｓｏｃｉａｔｉｏｎｏｆａｍｍｏｎｉｕｍｎｉｔｒａｔｅａｔａＢｅｉｊｉｎｇｓｉｔｅＳｈｅｎＪｉ，ＺｈａｏＱｉａｎｘｕｅＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＣｅｎｔｅｒｆｏｒＥｃｏＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，Ｃ...     

Bioaugmentation: a new strategy for removal of recalcitrant compounds in wastewater—a case study of quinoline

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＩｎｒｅｃｅｎｔｙｅａｒｓｘｅｎｏｂｉｏｔｉｃｓｈａｖｅｃａｕｇｈｔｗｏｒｌｄｓａｔｔｅｎｔｉｏｎｂｅｃａｕｓｅｔｈｅｙａｒｅｐｏｏｒｌｙｂｉｏｄｅｇｒａｄａｂｌｅａｎｄｔｈｒｅａｔｅｎｐｕｂｌｉｃｈｅａｌｔｈｉｆｈａｎｄｌｅ...     

Non-point source analysis of a railway bridge area using statistical method：Case study of a concrete road-bed

In an effort to protect the quality of the water system, interest in non-point source pollution is increasing. Recently, studies of non-point sources pollution are continuing in relation to various land- use areas, but such studies have not been fully conducted in railway facility sites. Using monitoring data of railway bridge area with concrete road-bed, the runoff characteristics, pollutant unit loads, and first flush criteria were assessed. Railway bridge area with concrete road-bed typically show the first flush effect, and the pollutant unit load was determined to be higher than other public facilities areas. Further, the first flush criteria show an effective rainfall amount of 7 mm. In other words, from the runoff of railway facilities, considerable amounts of non-point source pollutants are occurred, indicating the need to create best management practices which are adequate for railway facility sites.     

Context-dependent crypsis: a prey’s perspective of a color polymorphic predator

Many animals use body coloration as a strategy to communicate with conspecifics, prey, and predators. Color is a trade-off for some species, since they should be visible to conspecifics but cryptic to predators and prey. Some flower-dwelling predators, such as crab spiders, are capable of choosing the color of flowers where they ambush flower visitors and pollinators. In order to avoid being captured, visitors evaluate flowers visually before landing. The crab spider Mecaphesa dubia is a polymorphic species (white/purple color morphs), which inhabits the flower heads of a dune plant, Palafoxia lindenii. Using full-spectrum photography of spiders and flowers, we evaluated how honeybees perceived the spiders at different distances. Using visual modeling, we obtained the chromatic and achromatic contrasts of the spiders on flower heads as perceived by honeybees. Purple morphs were found mainly on the receptacle area and white morphs were equally likely to be found in the flowers and receptacle. According to theoretical modeling, white morphs were visible to honeybees from a distance of 10 cm in receptacle area but appeared to be cryptic in the flower area. Purple morphs were cryptic on the receptacle and less so when they were on the flowers. Spiders on flower heads are predicted to be more easily detected by honeybees using chromatic contrast. Our study shows that the conspicuousness of flower dwelling spiders to honeybees depends on the color morph, the distance of observation, and the position of spider on the flower head.     

The evolution of bird migration—a synthesis

We approach the problem of the evolution of bird migration by asking whether migration evolves towards new breeding areas or towards survival areas in the non-breeding season. Thus, we avoid the ambiguity of the usually discussed “southern-home-theory” or “northern-home-theory”. We argue that migration evolved in birds that spread to seasonal habitats through gradual dispersal to enhance survival during the non-breeding season; this in contrast to the alternative idea suggesting that migration evolved towards new breeding areas to increase reproductive success. Our synthesis is based on the threshold model explaining how migratory traits can change rapidly through microevolutionary processes. Our model brings former theories together and explains how bird migration, with the appropriate direction and time program, evolves through selection after genetically non-directed events such as dispersal and colonization. The model does not need the former untested assumptions such as competition as a reason for migration and for the disappearance of sedentary populations or higher reproductive success in temperate breeding areas. Our theory offers answers to questions such as how birds with a southern origin may gradually reach northern latitudes, why migration routes may follow historical expansion routes and why birds leave an area for the non-breeding season and move back instead of breeding on their wintering grounds. The theory proposes gradual change through selection and not sudden changes such as long distance dispersal or mutations and can be applied to migration at all latitudes and in all directions. The scenario provides a reasonable concept to understand most of the existing migratory phenomena on the basis of the ecology and genetics of migratory behaviour.     

Methane reduction of a perennially waterlogged rice paddy

The ridge cultivation has great potential for reducing CH₄ emissions from the perennially waterlogged rice paddies．This was strongly supported by the data from our field experiments carried out during an entire rice growing season of 1992．Compared with the normal cultivation，the ridge cultivation reduced 30．8%more CH₄ emissions，and it did not show any negative effects on rice productivity．All of these suggest that in the regions wit h a vast areas of perennially waterlogged paddies，ridge cultivation should be a very promising option for both CH₄ reduction and sustainable rice productivity．     

Methane emission in a rice field of Thailand

ＭｅｔｈａｎｅｅｍｉｓｓｉｏｎｉｎａｒｉｃｅｆｉｅｌｄｏｆＴｈａｉｌａｎｄ￥ＲｏｎｇＸｉａｎｇ；Ｃｈｕｅｎ－ＨｏｗＮｇ（ＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＥｎｇｉｎｅｅｒｉｎｇＰｒｏｇｒａｍ，ＳｃｈｏｏｌｏｆＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔ，ＲｅｓｏｕｒｃｅｓａｎｄＤ...     

Ecological assessment of cities-procedure and a case study

This paper discusses the scientific background and content of the ecological assessment of cities, and takes Boda, a new town in Xinjiang province, China, as a case study.     

Test of membrane bioreactor for waste water treatment of a petrochemical complex

ＴｅｓｔｏｆｍｅｍｂｒａｎｅｂｉｏｒｅａｃｔｏｒｆｏｒｗａｓｔｅｗａｔｅｒｔｒｅａｔｍｅｎｔｏｆａｐｅｔｒｏｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｃｏｍｐｌｅｘＦａｎＹａｏｂｏ，ＷａｎｇＪｕｓｉ，ＪｉａｎｇＺｈａｏｃｈｕｎＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＷａｔｅｒＰｏｌｕ...     

Analysis of chemical composition of precipitationin a typical background site

A background precipitation in Lijiang, China was investigated. Results showed that the chemical composition of atmospheric background precipitation mainly comes from fly ash and continental atmospheric transfer, and does not have any obvious correlation with oceanic aerosol, taking Amsterdam in the Pacific Ocean and St. Georges in the Atlantic Ocean and Katherine, Australia as examples for analysing.      

Neurobiology of the homing pigeon—a review

Homing pigeons are well known as good homers, and the knowledge of principal parameters determining their homing behaviour and the neurological basis for this have been elucidated in the last decades. Several orientation mechanisms and parameters—sun compass, earth’s magnetic field, olfactory cues, visual cues—are known to be involved in homing behaviour, whereas there are still controversial discussions about their detailed function and their importance. This paper attempts to review and summarise the present knowledge about pigeon homing by describing the known orientation mechanisms and factors, including their pros and cons. Additionally, behavioural features like motivation, experience, and track preferences are discussed. All behaviour has its origin in the brain and the neuronal basis of homing and the neuroanatomical particularities of homing pigeons are a main topic of this review. Homing pigeons have larger brains in comparison to other non-homing pigeon breeds and particularly show increased size of the hippocampus. This underlines our hypothesis that there is a relationship between hippocampus size and spatial ability. The role of the hippocampus in homing and its plasticity in response to navigational experience are discussed in support of this hypothesis.     

Investigation of protein-styrene oxide adducts as a molecularbiomarker of human exposed to styrene

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＢｉｏｍａｒｋｅｒ ,ｄｅｆｉｎｅｄａｓｃｅｌｌｕｌａｒ,ｂｉｏｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｏｒｍｏｌｅｃｕｌａｒａｌｔｅｒａｔｉｏｎｓｔｈａｔａｒｅｍｅａｓｕｒａｂｌｅｉｎｂｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｍｅｄｉａ ,ｓｕｃｈａｓｈｕｍａｎｔｉｓｓｕｅｓ ,ｃｅｌｌｓ,ｏｒｆｌｕｉｄｓ ,ｈａｖｅｂｅｅｎｕｓｅｄｂｙｇｅｎｅｒａｔｉｏｎｓｏｆｅｐｉｄｅｍｉｏｌｏｇｉｓｔｓｉｎｔｈｅｉｒｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈ .Ｍｏｌｅｃｕｌａｒｂｉｏｌｏｇｙａｎｄｌａｂｏｒａｔｏｒｙｔｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｙｈａｖｅｓｈｏｗｎａｎｅ…     

Asynopsis of the book Striking a balance :improving stewardship of marine areas

Ｓｕｓｔａｉｎａｂｌｅｕｓｅｏｆｔｈｅｐｌａｎｅｔｗｉｌｌｒｅｑｕｉｒｅａｍｏｒｅｒｏｂｕｓｔｒｅｇｕｌａｔｏｒｙａｎｄｍａｎａｇｅｍｅｎｔｆｒａｍｅｗｏｒｋｆｏｒｍａｒｉｎｅａｒｅａｓａｓａｄｖａｎｃｅｓｉｎｏｆｆｓｈｏｒｅｔｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｙａｎｄｃｈａｎｇｅｓｉｎｍａｒｋｅｔｃｏｎｄｉｔｉｏｎｓｌｅａｄｔｏａｎｉｎｃｒｅａｓｅｉｎｃｏａｓｔａｌｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎｓａｎｄｍａｒｉｎｅｒｅｃｒｅａｔｉｏｎａｎｄｔｏｕｒｉｓｍ .Ａｌｔｈｏｕｇｈｅａｃｈａｒｅａｏｆｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄｐｒｅｓｅｎｔ…     

Measurement and simulation of evaporation from a bare soil

ＭｅａｓｕｒｅｍｅｎｔａｎｄｓｉｍｕｌａｔｉｏｎｏｆｅｖａｐｏｒａｔｉｏｎｆｒｏｍａｂａｒｅｓｏｉｌＷａｎｇＨｕｉｘｉａｏＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＧｅｏｇｒａｐｈｙ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅｍｙｏｆＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ１００１０１，Ｃｈｉｎ...     

Analysis on the long term discharge of a catchment

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＩｔｉｓｗｅｌｌｋｎｏｗｎｔｈａｔｔｈｅｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｉｓｔｉｃｓｏｆｔｈｅｃａｔｃｈｍｅｎｔｄｉｓｃｈａｒｇｅｗｉｌｌｃｈａｎｇｅｗｉｔｈｌａｎｄｕｓｅ.Ｉｎｔｈｉｓｐａｐｅｒ,ｔｈｅｆｏｃｕｓｉｓｔｏｄｉｓｃｕｓｓｔｈｅｍｏｄｅｌｏｆｌｏｎｇｔｅｒｍｄｉｓｃｈａｒｇｅｏｆｃａｔｃｈｍｅｎｔｗｈｉｃｈｉｎｃｌｕｄｅｓｔｗｏｋｉｎｄｓｏｆｌａｎｄｕｓｅ :ｏｎｅｉｓｆｏｒｅｓｔａｔｔｈｅｕｐｐｅｒｐａｒｔｏｆｔｈｅｃａｔｃｈｍｅｎｔ,ａｎｏｔｈｅｒｉｓｐａｄｄｙｆｉｅｌｄ…     

Laws of annual nutrient uptake in a Paulownia plantation

ＬａｗｓｏｆａｎｎｕａｌｎｕｔｒｉｅｎｔｕｐｔａｋｅｉｎａＰａｕｌｏｗｎｉａｐｌａｎｔａｔｉｏｎ￥ＷｕＧａｎｇ（ＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＣｅｎｔｅｒｆｏｒＥｃｏ－ＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅｍｙｏｆＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，Ｂ...     

The evolution of the upright posture and gait—a review and a new synthesis

During the last century, approximately 30 hypotheses have been constructed to explain the evolution of the human upright posture and locomotion. The most important and recent ones are discussed here. Meanwhile, it has been established that all main hypotheses published until the last decade of the past century are outdated, at least with respect to some of their main ideas: Firstly, they were focused on only one cause for the evolution of bipedality, whereas the evolutionary process was much more complex. Secondly, they were all placed into a savannah scenario. During the 1990s, the fossil record allowed the reconstruction of emerging bipedalism more precisely in a forested habitat (e.g., as reported by Clarke and Tobias (Science 269:521–524, 1995) and WoldeGabriel et al. (Nature 412:175–178, 2001)). Moreover, the fossil remains revealed increasing evidence that this part of human evolution took place in a more humid environment than previously assumed. The Amphibian Generalist Theory, presented first in the year 2000, suggests that bipedalism began in a wooded habitat. The forests were not far from a shore, where our early ancestor, along with its arboreal habits, walked and waded in shallow water finding rich food with little investment. In contrast to all other theories, wading behaviour not only triggers an upright posture, but also forces the individual to maintain this position and to walk bipedally. So far, this is the only scenario suitable to overcome the considerable anatomical and functional threshold from quadrupedalism to bipedalism. This is consistent with paleoanthropological findings and with functional anatomy as well as with energetic calculations, and not least, with evolutionary psychology. The new synthesis presented here is able to harmonise many of the hitherto competing theories.     

Environmental implications of perfluorotributylamine—a potent greenhouse gas

Perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), a newly discovered greenhouse gas with the highest radiative efficiency, may have been released into the environment from a variety of industrial and medical uses in small amounts, leading to the potential contribution to the global warming addressed in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Kyoto Protocol. The aims of this article are to review the physicochemical properties and commercial/potential uses of PFTBA reported in the current available literature and also discuss its environmental implications based on its molecular structure. Results showed that PFTBA had extremely low solubility in water and relatively high vaporization from the water bodies, suggesting that this long-lived greenhouse gas will sink into the atmosphere. This paper also addressed the possible loss pathways through reactions with highly reactive ions in the upper atmosphere and toxic decomposition products (e.g., hydrogen fluoride, fluorine, and carbonyl fluoride) emitted when heated at high temperature. In this regard, there is a need for PFTBA emission reduction strategies due to its increasing usage in many professional applications and its potential contribution to anthropogenic climate forcing in the near future.