Using air pollution based community clusters to explore air pollution health effects in children

To study respiratory health effects of long-term exposure to ambient air pollutant mixture, we observed 7058 school children 5-16 years of age living in the four Chinese cities of Lanzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Guangzhou. These children were enrolled from elementary schools located in eight districts, one urban district and one suburban district in each of the above cities. Ambient levels of PM(2.5), PM(10-2.5), total suspended particles (TSP), SO(2), and NO(x) were measured in these districts from 1993 to 1996. Based on a cluster analysis of arithmetic mean concentrations of PM(2.5), PM(10-2.5), (TSP-PM(10)), SO(2), and NO(x), we classified these children into four ordinal categories of exposure to ambient air pollutant mixtures. We tested for exposure-response relationships using logistic regression models, controlling for relevant covariates. We observed monotonic, positive relationships of exposure to the pollutant mixture with prevalence rates of cough with phlegm and wheeze. Other outcomes were not associated with the exposure in a monotonic exposure-response pattern. Even so, odds ratios for cough, phlegm, bronchitis, and asthma in the higher exposure district clusters were all higher than in the lowest exposure district cluster. We found evidence that exposure to the pollutant mixtures had adverse effects on children living in the four Chinese cities.     

Towards zero discharge of chromium-containing leather waste through improved alkali hydrolysis

The treatment of chromium-containing leather waste (CCLW), the major solid waste generated at the post-tanning operations of leather processing, has the potential to generate value-added leather chemicals. Various alkali and enzymatic hydrolysis were compared, and calcium oxide was found to be important for effective (but still incomplete) hydrolysis. Three possible reasons are given for the incomplete hydrolysis under alkaline conditions. Data for 19 amino acids are presented for four different treatment products. On the basis of the results, a novel three-step CCLW treatment process is proposed. The gelatin extracted in the first step is chemically modified to produce leather finishing agents. The collagen hydrolysates isolated in the second step are used as proteinic retanning agents by chemical modification. The remaining chrome cake is further hydrolyzed with acids in the third step, and the obtained chromium-containing protein hydrolysates could be used for the preparation of chromium-containing retanning agents for leather industry. The proposed three-step process provides a feasible zero discharge process for the treatment of CCLW.     

Surface runoff losses of copper and zinc in sandy soils

Increased anthropogenic inputs of Cu and Zn in soils have caused considerable concern relative to their effect on water contamination. Copper and Zn contents in surface soil directly influence the movement of Cu and Zn. However, minimal information is available on runoff losses of Cu and Zn in agricultural soils, and soil-extractable Cu and Zn in relation to runoff water quality. Field experiments were conducted in 2001 to study dissolved Cu and Zn losses in runoff in Florida sandy soils under commercial citrus and vegetable production and the relationship between soil-extractable Cu and Zn forms and dissolved Cu and Zn concentrations in runoff water. Five extraction methods were compared for extracting soil available Cu and Zn. Concentrations of dissolved Cu and Zn in runoff were measured and runoff discharge was monitored. Mean dissolved Cu in field runoff water was significantly correlated with the extractable Cu obtained only by 0.01 mol L(-1) CaCl2, Mehlich 1, or DTPA-TEA methods. Dissolved Zn in runoff water was only significantly correlated with extractable Zn by 0.01 mol L(-1) CaCl2. The highest correlations to dissolved Cu in runoff were obtained when soil-available Cu was extracted by 0.01 mol L(-1) CaCl2. The results indicate that 0.01 mol L(-1) CaCl2-extractable Cu and Zn are the best soil indexes for predicting readily released Cu and Zn in the sandy soils. Both runoff discharge and 0.01 mol L(-1) CaCl2-extractable Cu and Zn levels had significant influences on Cu and Zn loads in surface runoff.     

Rapid degradation of butachlor in wheat rhizosphere soil

The degradative characteristics of butachlor in non-rhizosphere, wheat rhizosphere, and inoculated rhizosphere soils were measured. The rate constants for the degradation of butachlor in non-rhizosphere, rhizosphere, and inoculated rhizosphere soils were measured to be 0.0385, 0.0902, 0.1091 at 1 mg/kg, 0.0348, 0.0629, 0.2355 at 10 mg/kg, and 0.0299, 0.0386, 0.0642 at 100 mg/kg, respectively. The corresponding half-lives for butachlor in the soils were calculated to be 18.0, 7.7, 6.3 days at 1 mg/kg, 19.9, 11.0, 2.9 days at 10 mg/kg, and 23.2, 18.0, 10.8 days at 100 mg/kg, respectively. The experimental results show that the degradation of butachlor can be enhanced greatly in wheat rhizosphere, and especially in the rhizosphere inoculated with the bacterial community designated HD which is capable of degrading butachlor. It could be concluded that rhizosphere soil inoculated with microorganisms-degrading target herbicides is a useful pathway to achieve rapid degradation of the herbicides in soil.     

开发基于GIS的城市防震减灾信息系统 --组件对象模型的应用

应用GIS建立城市防震成灾信息系统是一条减轻城市地震灾害的有效途径,而现有的城市防震减灾信息系统中防震减灾专业模型与GIS功能结合不够紧密,因此加强对地震灾害智能计算的研究十分重要。文章分析了城市防震成灾信息系统常用的二次开发方法,阐述了组件对象模型(COM)技术及其在系统开发中的应用方法,论述了应用COM技术开发系统的界面与功能等。     

Enzymatic characterization of organic phosphorus in animal manure

Information on the forms of P present in animal manure may improve our ability to manage manure P. In most investigations of manure P composition, only inorganic and total P are determined, and the difference between them is assigned as organic P. In this study, we explored the possibility of identifying and quantifying more specific organic P forms in animal manure with orthophosphate-releasing enzymes. Pig (Sus scrofa) manure and cattle (Bos taurus) manure were first sequentially fractionated into water-soluble P, NaHCO3-soluble P, NaOH-soluble P, HCl-soluble P, and residual P. The fractions were separately incubated with wheat phytase, alkaline phosphatase, nuclease P1, nucleotide pyrophosphatase, or their combinations. The released orthophosphate was determined by a molybdate blue method. Part of the organic P in those fractions could be identified by the enzymatic treatments as phytate (i.e., 39% for pig manure and 17% for cattle manure in water-soluble organic P), simple phosphomonoesters (i.e., 43% for pig manure and 15% for cattle manure in NaOH-soluble organic P), nucleotide-like phosphodiesters (2-12%), and nucleotide pyrophosphate (0-4%). Our data indicate that the enzymatic treatment is an effective approach to identify and quantify the organic P forms present in animal manures.     

长江三角洲及其附近地区两千年来水灾的研究

通过对长江三角洲及其附近地区两千年来水灾生成频率和强度的分析。认为两晋、南北朝时期和南宋、元、明、清时期是两千年来本区的主要水灾期。对照两千年来中国东部气候变化、海面升降与长江口河道变迁关系,认为在本区水灾生成事件中,气候因素起着主导控制作用。当然,人类活动对本区水灾生成的影响也不容忽视。本地区近百年来的旱涝灾害规律可用非线性科学的方法进行研究,旱涝灾害的准60年、准35年和准11年的长周期变化与地球自转速度、地极移动和太阳黑子活动的3个周期变化基本一致。本地区气候系统的行为具有混沌特征。这是线性逼近和周期叠加预报方法难以得出灾害预报正确结果的原因,但气候系统半个月的确定性预测可以实现。     

Carbon disulfide at a Chinese viscose factory external and internal exposure assessment

This article presents the results of carbon disulfide exposure measurements in a Chinese viscose rayon factory. The objectives of the study were to identify the external exposure levels at a large factory and to investigate the 2-thiothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (TTCA) concentrations in the urine of the subjects who were exposed to carbon disulfide in the working place atmosphere. The metabolism of carbon disulfide in the exposed subjects was also studied in order to demonstrate the best points in time for the internal exposure sampling. The measurement of the amount of personal exposure to carbon disulfide in the air of the workplace was performed by GC-FPD; the presence of TTCA in the workers urine was analyzed by use of a modified HPLC method. The kinetics of TTCA excretion was studied by analyses at different time-points both during and after exposure to carbon disulfide in the subjects. A total of 155 personal samples were obtained. The carbon disulfide concentration in the staple viscose hall was 13.72 +/- 1.12 mg m-3 in terms of the geometric mean +/- geometric standard deviation, and was 20.05 +/- 1.33 mg m-3 in the filament spinning hall. The TTCA values in the subjects who worked in the staple spinning hall were 1.18 +/- 0.43 mg g-1 creatinine and 1.07 +/- 0.38 mg g-1 creatinine for subjects working in the filament spinning hall. The best time for TTCA sampling is at the end of the working shift, the TTCA excretion was stable for a period of 4-12 h after exposure of the subjects to the carbon disulfide. It might be that the Chinese have different anthropometric characteristics; a sampling bias may therefore appear among different races.     

基于AVHRR的成都平原城市热岛效应演变趋势分析

作为城市气候主要特征之一的热岛效应有日渐明显的趋势，给城市发展和市民生活带来一系列负面影响。对2000～2006年春季下午NOAA气象卫星遥感数据的处理和分析发现，随着城市的扩张，成都平原城市热岛效应的规模呈扩大趋势。成都市区热岛强度一般为5℃-7℃，局部地方极值可达8℃以上；市中心区热岛强度相对减弱，东部工业区热岛高温区面积逐渐缩小，市区西南部热岛明显发展，致使2003年起热岛次高温区在二、三环路附近大致呈环状分布。热岛演变与近几年城市建设和改造活动密切相关。研究成果为政府相关部门缓解热岛效应、改善人居环境提供了参考依据。     

对氨基苯胂酸的生命周期评价

本文介绍了最常用的有机胂制剂——对氨基苯胂酸的主要用途和污染特征，从生命周期的角度识别并定量评价了其生产、使用和残留过程的环境影响，评价结果表明对氨基苯胂酸在土壤中最终残留的环境骰响占其整个生命周期的99％以上，指出了常规环境影响评价在评价其环境污染上的局限性，据此提出逐步减少或禁止有机胂制剂的生产和使用、并在一些特殊的建设项目环境影响评价中推广生命周期评价的建议。