Characterization and Properties of Reactive Poly (Lactic Acid)/Ethylene–Vinyl Alcohol Copolymer Blends with Chain-Extender

A hydrophilic copolymer, ethylene–vinyl alcohol (EVOH), was incorporated into the poly(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix to improve the barrier property of PLA through twin-screw extrusion rather than the typical coextrusion process. A chain extender, poly[(ethylene)-co-(methyl acrylate)-co-(glycidyl methacrylate)] (PEMG), was used to reduce the probability of the thermal degradation of PLA during melt compounding. Biaxial stretching was used to enhance the microstructure and barrier property of PLA-PEMG/EVOH films. Experimentally, PEMG considerably reduced the probability of the thermal degradation of the PLA-PEMG sample. Biaxial stretching increased the tensile strength and decreased the value of elongation at break of the PLA-PEMG/EVOH80 (PLA/EVOH 100/80) film. Because of the efficient blending of PLA/EVOH in the twin-screw extruder, the dispersion of EVOH in the PLA matrix revealed homogeneous dispersion with a domain size of 1–5 μm. EVOH effectively improved the water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) of PLA through melt blending. Blending PLA-PEMG with EVOH substantially decreased the WVTR from 250 cc—20 μm/m²-day-atm for neat PLA to approximately 65 cc—20 μm/m²-day-atm for the PLA-PEMG/EVOH80 film, a decrease of approximately 74 % compared with neat PLA. Moreover, the WVTR decreased further from 65 cc—20 μm/m²-day-atm for the unstretched PLA-PEMG/EVOH80 film to 6.3 cc—20 μm/m²-day-atm for the film stretched at a stretch ratio of 3.5 × 3.5 and at 100 %/s, a decrease of approximately 90 % compared with neat PLA.     

Photocatalytic oxidation of xenobiotics in water with immobilized TiO2 on agitator

A novel photocatalytic oxidation reactor, using Degussa P-25 TiO2 as a stationary phase with a thickness of 1.5-2.0 um on the blades of agitator, was developed to study the photocatalytic oxidation of xenobiotics. Particularly in this device, separation of photocatalyst from the purified water after oxidation reaction was not necessary, and no other aeration equipment was required to supply oxygen. To examine the efficiency of this device, photocatalytic degradation of xenobiotic organics such as carbofuran was studied as an example. Results indicated that carbofuran could be degraded completely with mineralization efficiency of 20% after 6 hours of oxidation under the imposed conditions. The mineralization rate of carbofuran was found to follow the pseudo-first order reaction kinetics. Moreover, the rate constant of mineralization was found to be proportional to TiO2 film area and the square root of UV light intensity. These results implied the mineralization efficiency of carbofuran could be improved through increasing TiO2 film area and UV light intensity. Accordingly, this novel device showed potential application for degrading xenobiotics in water.     

低层通风量及逆温条件对浙江省空气质量的影响分析

利用高时空分辨率的ERA-Interim资料,结合环保局空气质量监测数据,分析了1000 m以下低层大气扩散能力和大气层结条件对浙江省大气环境质量的可能影响.结果表明：浙江省700 m以下的大气扩散能力对全省大部地区的空气质量有明显影响,部分地区700~1000 m的大气扩散能力对空气质量也有一定的影响.但位于沿海的舟山,仅300 m以下的大气扩散能力对空气质量有显著的影响.将低层大气扩散能力分别与逆温层高度、空气质量做相关性分析,结果显示通过显著性检验的影响区域和影响高度有很好的一致性,说明三者之间存在密切的联系.逆温层高度越低,低层大气扩散能力越弱,空气质量越差,严重污染天气出现时常常伴随着强度较强或贴近地面的逆温发生.浙江省大气层结大部分时间处于中性状态,当大气层结转为较稳定时,污染物不易扩散稀释,空气污染较易发生.     

基于乡镇尺度的西南重金属高背景区土壤重金属生态风险评价

西南地区土壤重金属具有天然的高背景属性,在重金属高背景区开展生态风险评价和识别重金属潜在来源具有重要意义.以往工作主要以区域尺度的调查工作为主,调查精度难以满足空间规划和自然资源管理的需求,迫切需要在乡镇尺度上进行生态风险评价.云南省宣威市热水镇是典型的碳酸盐岩覆盖区,重金属来源复杂,潜在生态风险较高.本文在热水镇采集土壤表层样品(0～20 cm)1 092件,分析表层土壤中8种重金属(Cd、 Cr、 As、 Hg、 Pb、 Cu、 Zn和Ni)含量,采用统计学、地理信息系统、地累积指数、生态风险指数和正定矩阵因子分析模型(PMF)等方法开展生态风险评价和重金属源解析.研究发现,土壤中重金属Cd、 Cr、 Cu、 Hg、 Ni和Zn含量平均值和中位数均超过云南省土壤背景值,Cd、 Cr、 Cu和Ni平均含量均超过《土壤环境质量农用地土壤污染风险管控标准》(GB 15618-2018)规定的筛选值.地累积指数结果表明,研究区表层土壤污染最严重的是Cu,其次是Cr和Cd.土壤重金属Cr、 As、 Pb、 Cu、 Zn和Ni多以残渣态存在,多来自于地质背景,生物有效性较低,Hg的潜在有效组分较高,但是Hg全量较低,污染风险较小.Cd生物有效性比例较高,易于进入土壤溶液并被农作物吸收,是研究区污染风险最高的重金属元素.土壤重金属潜在生态风险指数统计结果显示,生态风险较低、中等生态危害和强生态危害比例分别为44.23%、 54.40%和1.37%,无很强生态危害样品,贡献率最高的元素为Cd和Hg,贡献率分别为34.62%和34.33%.PMF结果显示研究区重金属来源包括人类日常活动来源、自然来源、煤矿开采及交通排放引起的综合污染源和农业生产来源,各种来源的贡献率分别占9.29%、 53.67%、 11.23%和25.81%.PMF可以有效识别和量化污染物来源,为政府部门进行土地规划提供重要的参考依据.     

Is there a trade-off between households’ precautions,mitigations and public protection for flood risk?

This paper evaluates willingness-to-pay (WTP) for flood insurance and floodgate installation in Tainan, Taiwan, and finds that household flood precaution (observing the water level) has a minor effect in terms of increasing the WTP for flood insurance, rather than decreasing it. The reason for this is that people who have public flood protection nearby do not lower their WTP for floodgate and insurance, and those who live near the water source of floods and exhibit precautionary behavior have higher risk perceptions and intend to pay more. The adopted mitigation (having sandbags or other barriers) will not affect the intention to further mitigate or buy insurance. This also means that adverse selection in relation to flood insurance is not serious in the flood-prone area of Tainan. Households may be aware of the limitation of public flood protection though the precautionary behavior, and found that flood insurance can compensate for most of the flood damage.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in household dust near diesel transport routes

A river-dredging project has been undertaken in Nantou, Taiwan. A large number of diesel vehicles carrying gravel and sand shuttle back and forth on the main roads. Ten stations along major thoroughfares were selected as the exposure sites for testing, while a small village located about 9 km from a main traffic route was selected as the control site. Levels of household dust loading at the exposure sites (60.3 mg/m²) were significantly higher than those at the control site (38.2 mg/m²). The loading (μg/m²) of t-PAHs (total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in the household dust at the exposure sites was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than was the case at the control site. The diagnostic ratios of PAHs showed that diesel emissions were the dominant source of PAHs at the exposure sites. The lack of a significant correlation between the concentrations of Fe and t-PAHs suggested that the t-PAHs in household dust might come from diverse sources. However, a significant correlation (P = 0.003) between the concentrations of Mo and t-PAHs implied that the most of the t-PAHs in the household dust might have resulted from diesel emissions. The lifetime cancer risks of BaP_eq from household dust exposure were markedly higher than those resulting from inhalation exposure.     

生物环境因子对树干呼吸时空变异的影响

树干呼吸是解释森林生态系统生产力变化的关键过程之一.测定树干呼吸速率,理解其生物环境调控机制,有助于构建森林碳循环模型,提供森林碳收支的估测精度.本文比较分析了树干呼吸3种测定方法,指出活体测定法与质量平衡方法的结合使用,可以更深入地进行树十呼吸机理研究.针对树十呼吸速率时空变异,着重探讨温度、树干液流的重要影响机制,并比较分析了不同森林生态系统的维持呼吸年通量,维持呼吸年通量与林龄、维度、年均温和降水量呈显著线性相关.表4参84     

Role of sodium ions in the vitrification process: Glass matrix modification,slag structure depolymerization,and influence of metal immobilization

This study investigates the role of Na ions, a common flux, in the vitrification process. Artificial glass systems composed of Al₂O₃, CaO, and SiO₂ with various Na concentrations were melted at 1450 °C. The specimens were cooled by air cooling and water quenching and the metal mobility was evaluated using a sequential extraction procedure. The X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy observations showed that Na ions governed the air-cooled slag’s structure. Na ions initially depolymerized CaSiO₃-linked chains into CaSiO₃ chains, and further cut them into shorter and nonuniform ones, making the slag structure amorphous. With even more Na ions, CaSiO₃ chains were divided into single SiO₄ tetrahedrons and formed Na-related crystals (Na₂Ca₃Si₂O₈ and NaAlSiO₄). The phase distributions of Al, Cr, Cu Mn, and Ni showed that Na has a positive effect on the immobilization of heavy metals at suitable concentrations, but a negative effect when in excess amounts.

Implications:Vitrification has been widely used to treat hazardous materials. The Na-bearing additives were often used as a flux to improve the melting process. This study described the role of Na played in the vitrification process. The Na ions acted as glass modifier and depolymerize the chain structure of slag. With adequate addition amount of Na ions, the immobilization of heavy metals was improved. The results provided much information about the crystalline phase variation, metal mobility, and surface characteristics while Na serves as a flux.     

Ambient Air Particulates Bound Mercury Hg(p) Study Among Four Crops (Rice,White Cabbage,Arden Lettuce,and Gynura) at a Characteristic Sampling Site

The main purpose of this study was to monitor ambient air particulates and particulate-bound Hg (Hg[p]) compositions in different crops in the coastal zone in the Taichung, Taiwan, area at a sampling site during 2013 October to 2013 December. In addition, a direct mercury analyzer (DMA-80) was used to directly detect the concentration with measured results by the regression equation of Hg in the ambient air. The results indicated that: 1) the mean values of ambient air Hg(p) compositions in rice displayed no significant differences for weeks one, two, and three versus those of the other crops (white cabbage, Arden lettuce, and Gynura procumbens); 2) for white cabbage, the higher the humidity, the lower the average ambient air Hg(p) compositions that were obtained, a phenomenon that was also reflected on the crops of white cabbage and G. procumbens; 3) Arden lettuce displayed no significant differences in the leaf Hg(p) compositions during weeks one, two, and three; however, the stem portions displayed significant differences in Hg(p) compositions during weeks two and three; and 4) the Spearman statistical method showed the mean differences for ambient air Hg(p) at the Long-jing sampling site (coastal regions) with four different crops (rice, white cabbage, Arden lettuce, and Gynura) in central Taiwan. The results further revealed no significant differences in mean values.     

The Application of Water Quality Monitoring Data in a Reservoir Watershed Using AMOS Confirmatory Factor Analyses

This study investigates six water quality monitoring stations in the watershed of the Feitsui Reservoir. It uses nine parameters of water quality collected in an interval of two and half years for factor analyses, which was first conducted to determine four types of factors, respectively, those for organic pollution, eutrophication, seasonal influence, and sediment pollution. The analysis results effectively help to determine water quality in the watershed of the reservoir. The authors reutilize analysis of moment structures (AMOS) to acquire further results in order to confirm the goodness of fit of the previous factor analysis model. During the confirmation, we examine the hypothesized orthogonal results as well as utilize oblique rotation to explore the goodness of fit of the reflective indicators of the orthogonal rotation. As shown in the algorithm results, as long as the covariance curve is included in the four factors, no related issues are detected in the goodness of fit of reflective indicators and interior and external quality is reported with excellence. The orthogonal model, thus, stands. Additionally, when the analysis of structural equation modeling (SEM) is conducted, sample data mismatches the hypotheses of multivariate normality. Therefore, this study adopts the generalized least square (GLS) for an algorithm. Research results of this study have been submitted to the reservoir management authorities in Taiwan for the improvement of statistical application and strategic evaluation of water quality monitoring data in order to strengthen the managerial effectiveness of water quality in watersheds.