Lichen Conservation in Heavily Managed Boreal Forests

Lichens are an important component of the boreal forest, where they are long lived, tend to accumulate in older stands, and are a major food source for the threatened woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). To be fully sustainable, silvicultural practices in the boreal forest must include the conservation of ecological integrity. Dominant forest management practices, however, have short‐term negative effects on lichen diversity, particularly the application of herbicides. To better understand the long‐term effects of forest management, we examined lichen regeneration in 35 mixed black spruce (Picea mariana) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) forest stands across northern Ontario to determine recovery following logging and postharvest silvicultural practices. Our forest stands were 25–40 years old and had undergone 3 common sivilcultural treatments that included harvested and planted; harvested, planted, and treated with N‐[phosphonomethyl] glycine (glyphosate); and harvested, planted, and treated with 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4‐D). Forest stands with herbicide treatments had lower lichen biomass and higher beta and gamma diversity than planted stands that were not treated chemically or control stands. In northwestern Ontario, planted stands that were not treated chemically had significantly greater (p < 0.05) alpha diversity than stands treated with herbicides or control stands. Our results show that common silvicultural practices do not emulate natural disturbances caused by wildfires in the boreal forest for the lichen community. We suggest a reduction in the amount of chemical application be considered in areas where lichen biomass is likely to be high and where the recovery of woodland caribou is an objective. Conservación de Líquenes en Bosques Boreales Manejados Intensivamente     

Prenatal diagnosis and fetal pathology of partial trisomy 20p–monosomy 4p resulting from paternal translocation

Amniocentesis was performed in view of a paternal balanced chromosomal rearrangement t(4;20)(p16;p12), inv(18)(p11q11). The pregnancy was complicated by severe oligohydramnios. The fetal karyotype was unbalanced: 46XX, der(4), t(4;20)(p16;p12), inv(18) (p11q11)pat., thus resulting in partial trisomy 2Op and monosomy 4p. In addition, the amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) became increasingly elevated with gestational age. The pregnancy was terminated at 25 weeks. The fetus presented with typical facial dysmorphic features, unilateral cleft lip and palate, severe renal hypoplasia, consistent with the 4p- (Wolf-Hirschhorn) syndrome.     

Prenatal diagnosis of monosomy 4p14→pter and trisomy 11q25→qter: clinical presentations and outcomes

We present the case of a pregnant woman with low free β-HCG in maternal serum Down syndrome screening that led to prenatal diagnosis of a fetus with 46,XY,der(4)t(4;11)(p14; q25). This chromosomal aneuploidy resulted from unbalanced segregation of a paternal balanced translocation, t(4;11)(p14;q25). Prenatal ultrasound revealed intrauterine growth restriction, cleft lip and palate, a thick nuchal fold, a single umbilical artery, and pyelectasis. Array-based comparative genomic hybridization and short tandem repeat markers further located the exact breakpoint of translocation. The woman had her pregnancy terminated at 23 weeks of gestational age. The proband had general appearance of Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome and some unique findings, including single umbilical artery, severe immunoglobulin deficiency, scalp defect, and underlying bony defect. Our case underscores the importance of fetal karyotyping when low maternal serum free β-HCG is found. It also adds information on the fetal presentations of monosomy 4p14→pter and trisomy 11q25→qter. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles in different thermal conditions and modeling its photocatalytic activity with artificial neural network

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles were prepared by sol gel route. The preparation parameters were optimized in the removal of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). All catalysts were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An artificial neural network model (ANN) was developed to predict the photocatalytic removal of 4-NP in the presence of TiO₂ nanoparticles prepared under desired conditions. The comparison between the predicted results by designed ANN model and the experimental data proved that modeling of the removal process of 4-NP using artificial neural network was a precise method to predict the extent of 4-NP removal under different conditions.     

BAF去除氨氮关键影响因素研究

为探讨曝气生物滤池去除氨氮的关键因素,选取沈阳仙女河污水处理厂(40万t/d)现场进行实地研究。通过测定不同条件下(pH、进水COD浓度、溶解氧、温度、水力负荷)的氨氮去除率,并进行主成分分析结果显示,影响BAF工艺脱氮的关键因素是温度、溶解氧和水力负荷。当温度在14~30℃之间时,氨氮的去除率一直维持较高,当温度低于14℃时,氨氮的去除率较低;随着溶解氧浓度的增大,氨氮的去除率也随之升高,当溶解氧增加到5.6 mg/L时,氨氮的去除率达到80%~90%,接近饱和状态;在水力负荷为3.08~4.15 m3/(m.2h)之间时,氨氮的去除率上升,超过该值,则氨氮去除率下降。     

纳米铁酸镍的制备及可见光催化性能研究

利用水热法制备了纳米铁酸镍,表征了其微观结构和光谱性能,并以罗丹明B溶液作为目标污染物,研究了铁酸镍催化剂的可见光催化性能。结果表明:所制备铁酸镍的微观形貌为由直径200-300 nm左右的类似球形小颗粒组成的大颗粒,平均粒径为95.60 nm,在紫外-可见光谱区均有较强的光吸收。光催化过程中催化剂的适宜用量为0.05 g,少量H2O2的加入有助于提高罗丹明B溶液的降解率。催化剂用量为0.05 g,加入0.4 mL 30%的H2O2,降解50 mL 20 mg/L罗丹明B溶液,模拟太阳光照射240 min后降解率能够达到99.2%。在实际太阳光照射下,240 min后罗丹明B溶液的降解率可以达到85.2%。     

沸石和活性炭处理氨氮废水的实验研究

文章选用具有较强选择性和吸附性的13X沸石和活性炭作为吸附材料,以人工配置的含氨氮废水模拟实际废水,分别以溶液pH值、吸附时间、初始浓度和投加顺序等作为影响因素,通过实验来系统地考察所选材料对废水中氨氮的去除技术参数。结果表明:所选材料具有较好、较稳定的吸收效果,在其他条件一定的情况下,13X沸石在pH值为中性,吸附时间为40 min时对氨氮的去除率最大,达87.9%。且在相同实验条件下,先投放活性炭再投放沸石去除氨氮的效果较好,比先投放沸石然后投放活性炭的效果高出25%左右。     

纳米Fe3O4/CeO2-H2O2非均相类Fenton体系对3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解

以浸渍法制备的新型纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2为催化剂,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯(3,4-DCBTE)为目标污染物,在Fe3O4/Ce O2-H2O2非均相类Fenton体系中对目标污染物的降解进行研究,考察催化剂的催化效果和温度、p H、H2O2投加量等因素对催化剂催化效果的影响.结果表明,以纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2作为催化剂的非均相类Fenton体系对3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的处理效果极佳;随着温度的升高,纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2的催化效果不断提高;在偏酸性环境中,p H越低催化效果越好,p H=2时反应去除效率可达96.67%;随着H2O2投加量的增加,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解效率先提高后降低,投加量为15 mg·L-1时去除效果最好可达99.47%;随着催化剂投加量的增加,同样出现了处理效果先升高后降低的现象,投加量为0.5 g·L-1时催化效果最好可达99.64%.在以纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2为催化剂的非均相类Fenton体系中,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解符合一级反应动力学,反应所需活化能较低只需30.26 k J·mol-1.     

Pd-Fe/石墨烯多功能催化阴极降解4-氯酚机制研究

制备出Pd-Fe/石墨烯多功能催化阴极,与Ti/Ir O2/Ru O2阳极、有机涤纶滤布构成隔膜电解体系,将阴极催化加氢脱氯作用和阴阳极氧化作用耦合起来对含4-氯酚的有机废水进行降解,采用TOC仪、紫外扫描、高效液相色谱、离子色谱分析方法研究其降解效果及反应历程.结果表明,在最佳反应条件下,Pd-Fe/石墨烯催化体系阴阳极室中4-氯酚转化率分别为98.1%和95.1%,优于Pd/石墨烯催化体系阴阳极室的93.3%和91.4%.Pd-Fe/石墨烯催化体系脱氯效果高于95%,表明双金属催化剂具有更强的析氢能力.在阴阳极的协同作用下,反应120 min时4-氯酚被完全转化.通过阴极加氢脱氯作用,4-氯酚被还原成苯酚.随后苯酚在阴阳极的共同氧化作用下,被氧化生成对二苯酚、苯醌等中间产物,继而被氧化为小分子有机酸,最后被矿化为CO2和H2O,据此提出了4-氯酚降解的可能历程.     

小型池塘水-气界面CH4冒泡通量的观测

为了量化亚热带浅水养殖塘CH_4冒泡通量占CH_4总通量的比例,选取安徽省全椒县两个小型池塘为研究对象,采用倒置漏斗法和顶空平衡法,自2016年7月28日至8月13日观测夏季水-气界面的CH_4通量.结果表明,两个池塘CH_4冒泡通量分别是121.78 mg·(m~2·d)~(-1)和161.08 mg·(m~2·d)~(-1),CH_4扩散通量分别是3.38 mg·(m~2·d)~(-1)和3.79 mg·(m~2·d)~(-1),CH_4冒泡通量占总通量比例分别是97.5%和96.4%.CH_4冒泡通量具有高度空间异质性,A塘CH_4冒泡通量的变化范围为0.11~446.90 mg·(m~2·d)~(-1),B塘CH_4冒泡通量变化范围为0.05~607.51 mg·(m~2·d)~(-1).两个池塘的气体冒泡速率都是白天高于夜间,主要受风速控制.对于较浅的池塘,在小时尺度上,CH_4冒泡通量的主要影响因素是风速;在日尺度上,CH_4冒泡通量的主要影响因素是风速和水深,其中CH_4冒泡通量与风速呈正相关关系,与水深呈负相关关系.不同纬度的水体CH_4冒泡通量不同,中纬度地区的淡水环境比高纬度地区CH_4冒泡通量更高.通过观测手段量化小型浅水池塘CH_4冒泡通量,可以为准确估算内陆水体对区域和全球碳循环的贡献提供数据支持和理论参考.