Examination of dioxin fluxes recorded in dated aquatic-sediment cores in the Kanto region of Japan using multivariate data analysis

Past dioxin (coplanar polychlorinated biphenyl (Co-PCB), 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) and 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF)) fluxes recorded in dated aquatic-sediment cores were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). The data set consisted of samples from four cores collected from the Kanto region of Japan. Time trends and spatial differences in the dioxin flux were examined, and the potential relationship to emission sources was investigated. Twenty-five compounds and 58 core slices, corresponding to the later half of the 20th century, were subjected to the analysis. The PCA of both log-transformed and maximum-value-standardized data successfully divided the dioxin compounds into a small number of groups, and three similar clusters of Co-PCBs, PCDDs and penta- to hepta-CDFs were identified. PCB formulations used in the past are judged to have been responsible for the major part of the Co-PCB flux recorded in the sediment cores. However, the relationship to emission sources needs further investigation. It is suggested that most 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs and PCDFs are different from Co-PCBs in their emission sources or movements in the environment. The subcore clusters obtained from the PCA of log-transformed data show that the cores from different sampling areas exhibited distinct dioxin fluxes and compositions. Common time trends among the cores were more effectively summarized by the PCA of maximum-value-standardized data focusing on relative time trends. PC scores show that recently the flux of each dioxin compound in the four cores has been generally declining after having reached a peak.     

Evaluating non-equilibrium solute transport in small soil columns

Displacement studies on leaching of bromide and two pesticides (atrazine and isoproturon) were conducted under unsaturated steady state flow conditions in 24 small undisturbed soil columns (5.7 cm in diameter and 10 cm long) each collected from two sites differing in soil structure and organic carbon content in North Germany. There were large and irregular variabilities in the characteristics of both soils, as well as in the shapes of breakthrough curves (BTCs) of different columns, including some with early breakthrough and increased tailing, qualitatively indicating the presence of preferential flow. It was estimated that one preferential flow column (PFC) at site A, and four at site B, contributed, respectively to 11% and 58% of the accumulated leached fraction and to more than 80% of the maximum observed standard deviation (SD) in the field-scale concentration and mass flux of pesticides at two sites. The bromide BTCs of two sites were analyzed with the equilibrium convection-dispersion equation (CDE) and a non-equilibrium two-region/mobile-immobile model. Transport parameters of these models for individual BTCs were determined using a curve fitting program, CXTFIT, and by the time moment method. For the CDE based equilibrium model, the mean values of retardation factor, R, considered separately for all columns, PFCs or non-preferential flow columns (NPFCs) were comparable for the two methods; significant differences were observed in the values of dispersion coefficients of two sites using the two estimation methods. It was inferred from the estimated parameters of non-equilibrium model that 5-12% of water at site A, and 12% at site B, was immobile during displacement in NPFCs. The corresponding values for PFCs of two sites were much larger, ranging from 25% to 51% by CXTFIT and from 24% to 72% by the moment method, suggesting the role of certain mechanisms other than immobile water in higher degrees of non-equilibrium in these columns. Peclet numbers in PFCs of both sites were consistently smaller than five, indicating the inadequacy of the non-equilibrium model to incorporate the effect of all forms of non-equilibrium in PFCs. Overall, the BTCs of individual NPFCs, PFCs and of field average concentration at the two sites were better reproduced with parameters obtained from CXTFIT than by the moment method. The moment method failed to capture the peak concentrations in PFCs, but tended to describe the desorption and tail branches of BTCs better than the curve fitting approach.     

SBR工艺设计经验探讨

提出了SBR工艺中,反应池容积、反应时间以及需氧量的计算方法和设计经验。同时,在研读和对比国内外相关资料的基础上,探讨了SBR工艺发生污泥膨胀的可能性和原因,介绍了控制方法与措施。     

Main particulate matter components in Saxony (Germany)

Aerosol filter samples have been collected nearby the industrialised basin of Leipzig in Saxony (Germany) at the research station Melpitz of the Institut für Troposphärenforschung e.V. (IfT). Time series (1992–1998) and a three year comparison (1995–1997) of two different aerosol filter sampling systems, the Sierra-Andersen-PM 10 high volume sampler (daily sample, PM 10 inlet) and the Rupprecht and Patashnik Co. Inc. Model Partisol 2000 (weekly sample, PM 10 and PM 2.5 inlet) are presented and discussed. The comparison of the different sampling systems and strategies yields small differences between the daily and weekly samples for mass and different ions, which may be influenced by sampling duration and flow rates. A general trend of change in aerosol composition was observed: Soot and Sulphate concentrations decreased whereas Nitrate and Ammonium concentrations increased. During summers the mass of coarse particles is higher than in other seasons. One reason could be found in the occurence of longer periods of dry ground surfaces enabling reemission of crustal and biological material. The time series have been integrated in a longer historical aerosol mass trend for Saxony and do show a good agreement. Since 1990 a significant downward trend in gravimetric mass concentration was found.     

人群的自然和社会属性分类下PM2.5对心血管疾病的影响

为了研究人群在自然属性和社会属性分类下的效应修饰作用,利用2005~2011年北京市大气PM_2.5日均浓度、气象要素及循环系统疾病每日死亡人数数据,根据不同年龄、性别及学历将人群分组,采用时间序列的半参数广义相加模型（GAM）,定量评价大气PM_2.5对居民循环系统疾病死亡人数的影响.单污染物模型和多污染物模型结果表明,PM_2.5为影响循环系统疾病每日死亡人数的主要大气污染物.北京市空气中PM_2.5的浓度每增加10μg/m³,循环系统疾病总死亡人数增加0.50%（95% CI：0.36,0.63）.不同人群的易感程度不同,各人群死亡人数的增加范围为0.23~0.71%,女性、60~74岁人群、文盲人群的健康风险相对较高.在文盲人群中,老年（60+）女性占比为66.2%,为了分离社会属性人群分类中可能存在的自然属性因素干扰,本文去除其中老年、女性这两个混杂因素的影响,文盲人群健康风险仍然大于较高学历的人群.年龄和性别因素叠加在学历因素上,可能加大低学历人群的健康风险,对于这部分叠加了自然因素和社会因素双重敏感性的人群应给与重点关注.     

双壳类壳体时间序列的建立方法及存在的问题

利用双壳类壳体提取古气候古环境信息是生物碳酸盐研究的热点,而壳体定年一直是研究中的难点。相关研究主要观点是先找到一些时间控制点,再按照线性内插法来确定壳体的时间序列。本文综述了国内外目前双壳类壳体定年的常用方法,根据时间控制点的获得将这些方法归为以下几类:壳体日生长层法、壳体氧同位素法、数字图像技术法和微量元素法,介绍并讨论了每种方法的应用和存在的不足。研究者应该根据具体研究的生物和环境选择适合的方法。     

顶空气相色谱法测定土壤中的苯系物

利用惠普顶空进样仪作为一种处理土壤样品的手段,自动把待测物送到气相色谱进行分析。研究顶空温度、气液比、平衡时间等条件对测定结果的影响。方法操作简便,灵敏度高。苯的变异系数为1.7%和4.1%,加标回收率为95％－105％,最小检出浓度为2.0μg/kg。     

ANALYSIS AND MODELING OF LONG-TERM STREAM TEMPERATURES ON THE STEAMBOAT CREEK BASIN,OREGON: IMPLICATIONS FOR LAND USE AND FISH HABITAT1

ABSTRACT: Steamboat Creek basin is an important source of timber and provides crucial spawning and rearing habitat for anadromous steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Because stream temperatures are near the upper limit of tolerance for the survival of juvenile steelhead, the possible long-term effect of clear-cut logging on stream temperatures was assessed. Twenty-year (1969–1989) records of summer stream temperature and flow from four tributaries and two reaches of Steamboat Creek and Boulder Creek (a nearby unlogged watershed) were analyzed. Logging records for the Steamboat Creek basin and air temperature records also were used in the analysis. A time-series model of the components of stream temperature (seasonal cycle of solar radiation, air temperature, streamflow, an autoregressive term of order 1, and a linear trend variable) was fitted to the water-temperature data. The linear trend variable was significant in all the fitted models except Bend Creek (a tributary fed by cool ground-water discharge) and Boulder Creek. Because no trends in either climate (i.e., air temperature) or streamflow were found in the data, the trend variable was associated with the pre-1969 loss and subsequent regrowth of riparian vegetation and shading canopies.     

API Standard 521 new alternative method to evaluate fire relief for pressure relief device sizing and depressuring system design

Since the 1950's, API Standards have provided guidance on determining relief loads for equipment exposed to pool fires. The API method is empirical based on tests performed in the 1940's. There is increasingly widespread interest in analytical methods based on heat transfer principles to model fire heat input. The API committee agreed to include an analytical method in the 6th edition of API Standard 521 to establish relief loads for pressure relief devices and to design depressuring systems for the fire scenario. The analytical method provides more flexibility than the empirical method but has limitations (e.g., too many permutations are possible leading to potential under-sizing of the pressure relief device).This paper discusses the basis for the empirical method in API Standard 521 and provides comparisons of the empirical and analytical method with two more recent large-scale pool fire tests. This pool fire test data indicates that the empirical method will provide a conservative estimate of pool fire heat input for most applications and is still the method of choice when designing pressure relief systems. However, these recent tests indicate the empirical method needs to be modified when a vessel or equipment is partially confined by adjacent embankments or walls equal or greater than the vessel height. In such cases, the wetted area exponent should be 1.0 instead of 0.82.The analytical method is useful in determining time-versus-temperature profiles for heating unwetted vessels of varying wall thicknesses and materials of construction. These profiles, which depend upon the type of fire (e.g., unconfined pool fire, jet fire, etc.), can be combined with tensile strength and stress-rupture data to specify a depressuring system's pressure-versus-time profile. This will minimize failure and/or mitigate the effects of failure due to overheating from fire exposure.     

Forecasting the outbreak of moorland wildfires in the English Peak District

Warmer, drier summers brought by climate change increase the potential risk of wildfires on the moorland of the Peak District of northern England. Fires are costly to fight, damage the ecosystem, harm water catchments, cause erosion scars and disrupt transport. Fires release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Accurate forecasts of the timing of fires help deployment of fire fighting resources.