Experimental study on the effect of fly ash content in cemented paste backfill on its anti-sulfate erosion

ABSTRACT

In order to study the effect of fly ash content in cemented paste backfill (CPB) on its anti-sulfate erosion, the apparent phenomenon, strength development, and hydration products change the law of CPB with different fly ash content under long-term soaking of 5% sodium sulfate solution were studied by the macrotest and microanalysis, in addition, the mechanism of CPB anti-sulfate attack was analyzed by combining with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results indicated that the effect of sulfate environment on the strength of fly ash cemented paste backfill (FCPB) was mainly determined by the hydration products in the FCPB at different soaking times. In the early soaking stage, the formation of ettringite (AFt) in FCPB could improve its compactness, which was conducive to improving the strength of FCPB. In the late soaking stage, there were ettringite-type erosion damage and gypsum erosion-type damage internal of the FCPB with low content fly ash, resulting in microfracture, cracking of the FCPB, and reducing the strength. CPB with an appropriate content of fly ash could improve the internal structure of the FCPB to achieve the purpose of anti-sulfate erosion.     

Detailed Ecological Footprint Accounting of Liaoning in 2006

Ecological footprint （EF） has received considerable attention as a useful indicator in the context of sustainable development. So far, EF has been used in numerous studies by academies, organizations and government authorities. However, the results of these studies failed to be comparable directly with each other due to imprecise data sets, unmodified accounting methods of pasture and fossil energy, ignored secondary products, undefined process Of calculating yield factors and improper biocapacity for biodiversity. In this paper, we elaborated on EF estimating methods from six categories of consumption in order to overcome the limitations above. We adopted precise data and revised methods, calculated EF of some secondary products, introduced weighted factor to calculate yield factors and adjusted biocapacity by an appropriate amount. Meanwhile, we investigated the resource consumption of Liaoning Province in 2006 to assess EF. Its results showed that Liaoning Province overused its natural capital and was in an unsustainable state. We concluded that two specific problems that had arisen in EF assessment and gave some suggestions for Liaoning Province to improve its unsustainable state.     

Risk assessment of potentially toxic element pollution in soils and rice (Oryza sativa) in a typical area of the Yangtze River Delta

Soil pollution with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) resulting from rapid industrial development has caused major concerns. Selected PTEs and their accumulation and distribution in soils and rice (Oryza sativa) collected from Changshu, east China, were analyzed to evaluate the potential health risk to the local population. The soils were primarily contaminated with Hg, followed by Cu, Cd, Pb, and Zn. The concentrations of Pb, Hg, and Cd of 46, 32, and 1 rice samples exceeded their national maximum allowable levels in foods, respectively. Spatial distributions of total Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd in soils shared similar geographical trends. The risk assessment of PTEs through rice consumption suggests that the concentrations of Cu, Pb, and Cd in some rice samples exceed their reference oral dose for adults and children. In general, there was no target hazard quotient value of any individual element that was greater than 1, but hazard index values for adults and children were 1.726 and 1.523, respectively.     

Coexistence between People and Elephants in African Savannas

Abstract: The decline in the range and numbers of elephants as a result of expanding human activity in Africa is recognized as one of the continent's more serious conservation problems. Understanding the relationship between human settlement patterns and elephant abundance is fundamental to predicting the viability of elephant populations. The prevailing model of human-elephant interaction predicts a negative linear relationship between rising human density and declining elephant density at a coarse (national or subcontinental) scale. Using observed elephant densities and human population data, we tested this prediction in a study area of 15,000 km² in northwestern Zimbabwe. The results did not fit a linear model. Elephant and human coexistence occurs at various levels of human density, up to a threshold of human density beyond which elephant populations disappear. This threshold seems to be related to a particular stage in the process of agriculturally transformed land becoming spatially dominant over the natural woodland that constitutes elephant habitat. Within the contexts of conservation and sustainable development in African savannas, investigating spatial relationships between elephant and human abundance should be a priority topic for future research.     

Externalities, Floating Population and Spatial Agglomeration

With the further development of socialist market economy, the mobility of factor markets in China, especially the labor market, is strengthened. Externalities interacts with the agglomeration of productive factors. Under the framework of new economic geography, this article presents a theoretical model involving the endogenous population density affected by urban externalities. Results show that the population density is more concentrated around the center because the degree and extent of interaction between individuals intensifies when the distance from the center decreases. When there are several externalities resources, the aggregation of externalities changes the configuration of spatial factor allocation. These results fit well with the empirical facts about the decreasing density of floating population along the cities of Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province which is situated in the eastern coast of the Pearl River Delta. We fred that under the impacts of externalities released from Hong Kong into the coast, floating population was more concentrated around Shenzhen and Dongguan, which are more adjacent to Hong Kong compared with Guangzhou City.     

Cultural Relevance for Rural Community Development in China: A Case Study in Bai, Jingpo and Huyaodai Communities of Yunnan Province

A three-year study over the Bai, Jingpo and Huayaodai communities in Yunnan Province reveals that the community development is significantly influenced in various ways by such cultural factors as the concepts of development; concepts and traditions of inter-community relationships, consumption, mar- riage and gender; patterns of decision-making and production, resource and income allocation; as well as the role of information dissemination systems, religion and ritual. Based on the analysis over the interactive relevance between each factor and community development, some strategies and methods for dealing with such a cultural relevance in development projects are recommended.     

Role of nitric oxide in the genotoxic response to chronic microcystin-LR exposure in human–hamster hybrid cells

Microcystin-LR(MC-LR) is the most abundant and toxic microcystin congener and has been classified as a potential human carcinogen(Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. However, the mechanisms underlying the genotoxic effects of MC-LR during chronic exposure are still poorly understood. In the present study, human–hamster hybrid(AL) cells were exposed to MC-LR for varying lengths of time to investigate the role of nitrogen radicals in MC-LR-induced genotoxicity. The mutagenic potential at the CD59 locus was more than 2-fold higher(p 0.01) in ALcells exposed to a cytotoxic concentration(1 μmol/L) of MC-LR for 30 days than in untreated control cells, which was consistent with the formation of micronucleus. MC-LR caused a dose-dependent increase in nitric oxide(NO) production in treated cells. Moreover, this was blocked by concurrent treatment with the NO synthase inhibitor NG-methyl-L-arginine(L-NMMA), which suppressed MC-LRinduced mutations as well. The survival of mitochondrial DNA-depleted(ρ0) ALcells was markedly decreased by MC-LR treatment compared to that in ALcells, while the CD59 mutant fraction was unaltered. These results provided clear evidence that the genotoxicity associated with chronic MC-LR exposure in mammalian cells was mediated by NO and might be considered as a basis for the development of therapeutics that prevent carcinogenesis.     

压裂返排液处理技术现状及展望

针对页岩气压裂返排液的特点、危害,综述了氧化-絮凝-过滤/吸附联合处理工艺、氧化-絮凝-电解-过滤/吸附联合处理工艺、氧化-絮凝-电解-过滤/吸附-生化联合处理工艺的特点、适用性及处理效果,经过多种工艺处理后,压裂返排液中COD等污染物可以有效去除,出水可以达标。并对压裂返排液处理技术的发展前景进行展望,认为回收重复利用是未来压裂返排液处理的发展趋势。