Effects of free ammonia on volatile fatty acid accumulation and process performance in the anaerobic digestion of two typical bio-wastes

The effect of free ammonia on volatile fatty acid(VFA)accumulation and process instability was studied using a lab-scale anaerobic digester fed by two typical bio-wastes:fruit and vegetable waste(FVW)and food waste(FW)at 35°C with an organic loading rate(OLR)of 3.0 kg VS/(m~3·day). The inhibitory effects of free ammonia on methanogenesis were observed due to the low C/N ratio of each substrate(15.6 and 17.2,respectively). A high concentration of free ammonia inhibited methanogenesis resulting in the accumulation of VFAs and a low methane yield. In the inhibited state,acetate accumulated more quickly than propionate and was the main type of accumulated VFA. The co-accumulation of ammonia and VFAs led to an "inhibited steady state" and the ammonia was the main inhibitory substance that triggered the process perturbation. By statistical significance test and VFA fluctuation ratio analysis,the free ammonia inhibition threshold was identified as 45 mg/L. Moreover,propionate,iso-butyrate and valerate were determined to be the three most sensitive VFA parameters that were subject to ammonia inhibition.     

A metal-free composite photocatalyst of graphene quantum dots deposited on red phosphorus

A simple approach to enhance the photocatalytic activity of red phosphorus(P) was developed.A mechanical ball milling method was applied to reduce the size of red P and to deposit graphene quantum dots onto red P. The product was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, contact angle measurements, zeta-potential measurements, X-ray diffraction and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. The product exhibited high visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance in the photodegradation of rhodamine B.     

Amoxicillin effects on functional microbial community and spread of antibiotic resistance genes in amoxicillin manufacture wastewater treatment system

This study aimed to reveal how amoxicillin(AMX) affected the microbial community and the spread mechanism of antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs) in the AMX manufacture wastewater treatment system. For this purpose, a 1.47 L expanded granular sludge bed(EGSB) reactor was designed and run for 241 days treating artificial AMX manufacture wastewater. 454 pyrosequencing was applied to analyze functional microorganisms in the system. The antibiotic genes OXA_(-1), OXA_(-2), OXA_(-10), TEM_(-1), CTX-M_(-1), class I integrons(intI1) and 16 SrRNA genes were also examined in sludge samples. The results showed that the genera Ignavibacterium, Phocoenobacter,Spirochaeta, Aminobacterium and Cloacibacillus contributed to the degradation of different organic compounds(such as various sugars and amines). And the relative quantification of eachβ-lactam resistance gene in the study was changed with the increasing of AMX concentration.Furthermore the vertical gene transfer was the main driver for the spread of ARGs rather than horizontal transfer pathways in the system.     

Arsenic biotransformation and an arsenite S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase in plankton

<正>Arsenic(As)is a well-recognized toxicant and carcinogen.Chronic exposure to inorganic arsenic causes a range of human cancers(e.g.,skin,bladder,and lung)and increases the risk of developing diabetes,hypertension,and cardiovascular and neurological diseases.The prevalence of arsenic species and the severity of their health effects continue to drive and demand for extensive research(Carlin et al.,2016).     

Quantifying public health benefits of environmental strategy of PM2.5 air quality management in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, China

In 2013,China issued "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan(Action Plan)" to improve air quality.To assess the benefits of this program in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei(BTH)region,where the density of population and emissions vary greatly,we simulated the air quality benefit based on Ben MAP to satisfy the Action Plan.In this study,we estimate PM_(2.5) concentration using Voronoi spatial interpolation method on a grid with a spatial resolution of 1 × 1 km~2.Combined with the exposure-response function between PM_(2.5) concentration and health endpoints,health effects of PM_(2.5) exposure are analyzed.The economic loss is assessed by using the willingness to pay(WTP) method and human capital(HC) method.When the PM_(2.5) concentration falls by 25% in BTH and reached 60 μg/m~3 in Beijing,the avoiding deaths will be in the range of 3175 to 14051 based on different functions each year.Of the estimated mortality attributable to all causes,3117 annual deaths were due to lung cancer,1924 – 6318 annual deaths were due to cardiovascular,and343 – 1697 annual deaths were due to respiratory.Based on WTP,the estimated monetary values for the avoided cases of all cause mortality,cardiovascular mortality,respiratory mortality and lung cancer ranged from 1110 to 29632,673 to 13325,120 to 3579,1091 to 6574 million yuan,respectively.Based on HC,the corresponding values for the avoided cases of these four mortalities were 267 to 1178,161 to 529,29 to 143 and 261 million yuan,respectively.     

Effect of barium sulfate modification on the SO2 tolerance of V2O5 /TiO2 catalyst for NH3-SCR reaction

Sulfur poisoning of V_2O_5/BaSO_4–TiO_2(VBT),V_2O_5/WO_3–TiO_2(VWT) and V_2O_5/BaSO_4–WO_3–TiO_2(VBWT) catalysts was performed in wet air at 350℃ for 3 hr,and activities for the selective catalytic reduction of NO_x with NH_3 were evaluated for 200–500℃.The VBT catalyst showed higher NO_x conversions after sulfur poisoning than the other two catalysts.The introduction of barium sulfate contributed to strong acid sites for the as-received catalyst,and eliminated the redox cycle of active vanadium oxide to some extent,which resulted in a certain loss of activity.Readily decomposable sulfate species formed on VBT-S instead of inactive sulfates on VWT-S.These decomposable sulfates increased the number of strong acid sites significantly.Some sulfate species escaped during catalyst preparation and barium sulfate was reproduced during sulfur poisoning,which protects vanadia from sulfur oxide attachment to a great extent.Consequently,the VBT catalyst exhibited the best resistance to sulfur poisoning.     

Mesoporous carbon nanomaterials induced pulmonary surfactant inhibition, cytotoxicity, inflammation and lung fibrosis

Environmental exposure and health risk upon engineered nanomaterials are increasingly concerned. The family of mesoporous carbon nanomaterials(MCNs) is a rising star in nanotechnology for multidisciplinary research with versatile applications in electronics,energy and gas storage, and biomedicine. Meanwhile, there is mounting concern on their environmental health risks due to the growing production and usage of MCNs. The lung is the primary site for particle invasion under environmental exposure to nanomaterials. Here, we studied the comprehensive toxicological profile of MCNs in the lung under the scenario of moderate environmental exposure. It was found that at a low concentration of 10 μg/mL MCNs induced biophysical inhibition of natural pulmonary surfactant. Moreover, MCNs at similar concentrations reduced viability of J774 A.1 macrophages and lung epithelial A549 cells.Incubating with nature pulmonary surfactant effectively reduced the cytotoxicity of MCNs.Regarding the pro-inflammatory responses, MCNs activated macrophages in vitro, and stimulated lung inflammation in mice after inhalation exposure, associated with lung fibrosis.Moreover, we found that the size of MCNs played a significant role in regulating cytotoxicity and pro-inflammatory potential of this nanomaterial. In general, larger MCNs induced more pronounced cytotoxic and pro-inflammatory effects than their smaller counterparts. Our results provided valuable information on the toxicological profile and environmental health risks of MCNs, and suggested that fine-tuning the size of MCNs could be a practical precautionary design strategy to increase safety and biocompatibility of this nanomaterial.     

凹凸棒黏土对水体和底泥中Cr (Ⅵ)的吸附

为考察凹凸棒黏土对水体和底泥中Cr（Ⅵ）污染治理与修复效果,通过实验室模拟试验,运用Langmuir和Frundlich等温吸附模型及准一级和准二级动力学模型,研究了天然凹凸棒黏土对水体中Cr（Ⅵ）的吸附特性,并研究了pH对吸附过程的影响及凹凸棒黏土对底泥中Cr（Ⅵ）金属形态的影响,通过XRF（X-射线荧光光谱仪）和SEM（扫描电镜）确定凹凸棒黏土的化学组成和微观形貌结构.结果表明:天然凹凸棒黏土内部呈纤维状且多孔隙,成分中含有铁、铝、钙等元素,吸附后的材料中发现了Cr元素;Langmuir-Frundlich吸附等温模型（R2=0.996）和准一级动力学模型（R2=0.993）较好地拟合了凹凸棒黏土对Cr（Ⅵ）的吸附热力学与动力学过程,动力学模拟的Cr（Ⅳ）平衡吸附量及实测值分别为1.38和1.37 mg/g.溶液pH对Cr（Ⅵ）的吸附具有影响,其最佳pH为3,此时吸附率最高,为85.80%.研究显示,向底泥中添加凹凸棒黏土能促使Cr形态由不稳定态（酸溶态和铁铝还原态之和）向稳定态（可氧化态和残渣态之和）转化,从而达到修复底泥中Cr（Ⅵ）污染的目的.      

广东沿岸不同海域浮游植物群落结构特征的比较分析

根据2013年9月茂名、珠海及陆丰海域调查数据,对3个海域浮游植物种类组成、丰度分布、优势种组成及多样性等群落结构特征进行了分析。结果显示:3个海域共鉴定浮游植物4门112种,其中硅藻87种,占种类数的77.68%;甲藻17种,占15.18%;绿藻5种,占4.46%;蓝藻3种,占2.68%。其中茂名海域出现了52种,珠海海域67种,陆丰海域63种。3个海域Jaccard种类相似性指数茂名与珠海海域最高0.38。浮游植物平均丰度茂名海域最高（356.21×104/L）,其次为荷包岛海域（25.13×104/L）,陆丰海域最低（1.66×104/L）。3个海域优势种组成差异较大,共出现了10种,仅柔弱拟菱形藻（Peseudo-nitzschia delicatissima）为共同种类;优势种优势度指数茂名海域极高,高达0.99,其次为陆丰海域0.59。Shannon-Wiener多样性指数H'、Pielou均匀度指数J'和Margalef物种丰富度指数D珠海（2.98、0.60、1.13）、陆丰（1.57、0.35、1.03）高于茂名（0.11、0.03、0.73）。3个海域水质状况的生物多样性指数综合评价显示,珠海海域水质状况最好,群落结构最稳定,茂名海域则最差。     

海平面上升叠加风暴潮对2050年中国海洋经济的影响研究

本研究基于ArcGIS的淹没模型与夜光遥感的GDP空间化处理结果,同时结合对2050年中国海洋经济增长预测,评估海平面上升叠加风暴潮三种情景对中国沿海各省市海洋经济的影响效应。模拟结果表明:海平面上升叠加风暴潮与天文潮的CHmax-0.3 m情景下全国海洋经济损失最大,2050年损失达到35444.59亿元,占海洋生产总值的9.39%;从2050年各省海洋经济损失比例来看（CHmax-0.3 m情景）,辽宁省损失比例最大,其次为广东省,福建省和广西省;从各省海洋经济损失的绝对值来看,在海平面上升0.3 m的三种情景下,广东、辽宁、江苏、山东均为海洋经济损失绝对值最大的四个省份。