Molecular genetic differentiation in earthworms inhabiting a heterogeneous Pb-polluted landscape

A Pb-mine site situated on acidic soil, but comprising of Ca-enriched islands around derelict buildings was used to study the spatial pattern of genetic diversity in Lumbricus rubellus. Two distinct genetic lineages (‘A’ and ‘B’), differentiated at both the mitochondrial (mtDNA COII) and nuclear level (AFLPs) were revealed with a mean inter-lineage mtDNA sequence divergence of approximately 13%, indicative of a cryptic species complex. AFLP analysis indicates that lineage A individuals within one central ‘ecological island’ site are uniquely clustered, with little genetic overlap with lineage A individuals at the two peripheral sites. FTIR microspectroscopy of Pb-sequestering chloragocytes revealed different phosphate profiles in residents of adjacent acidic and calcareous islands. Bioinformatics found over-representation of Ca pathway genes in EST_Pb libraries. Subsequent sequencing of a Ca-transport gene, SERCA, revealed mutations in the protein's cytosolic domain. We recommend the mandatory genotyping of all individuals prior to field-based ecotoxicological assays, particularly those using discriminating genomic technologies.     

Recycling building demolition waste in hot-mix asphalt concrete: a case study in Kuwait

Building demolition waste constitutes a major component of municipal solid waste in Kuwait. Over 90% of this waste is currently land-filled, causing extreme pressure on the available land-fill sites. At the same time, the sources of natural aggregates are almost depleted, and there is an increasing demand because of the increased construction and maintenance activities. This article presents the results of a technical feasibility study into meeting this need by recycling the aggregates obtained from building demolition waste for asphalt concrete. The Marshall test, the immersion compression test, the loss of stability test, and the wheel track test were performed to evaluate the asphalt concrete made with recycled aggregate. The results showed that the asphalt concrete produced using an aggregate of demolition waste met all the requirements of local specifications.     

埋地成品油管道绝缘接头漏电失效特征分析

目的 分析兰成渝成品油管道某管段绝缘接头漏电失效的原因以及对阴极保护有效性产生的影响.方法 通过电位测量、电阻测试、漏电率测试等方法对管道阴极保护系统中恒电位仪、绝缘接头绝缘性能等进行检测.对该管段进行阴极保护输出、绝缘接头两端电位等参数的返场调研检测,对绝缘接头失效部位管内腐蚀产物成分及形貌进行表征.结果 恒电位仪在清管前后的输出电压差为7.55 V,保护侧与非保护侧电位相同漏电率达90％.绝缘接头两端管段存在大量坑蚀,深度可达3～3.5 mm.绝缘接头垫片处附着大量腐蚀产物,主要成分为Fe3O4和FeOOH等有磁性、易导电的铁氧化物.结论 绝缘接头失效导致管道失去保护,原因是外防腐层破损,外部导电介质会造成管道电搭接;管道内部磁性导电腐蚀产物导致绝缘接头短接.     

Use of contract models to improve environmental outcomes in transport infrastructure construction

The type of contract model may have a significant influence on achieving project objectives, including environmental and climate change goals. This research investigates non-standard contract models impacting greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in transport infrastructure construction in Australia. The research is based on the analysis of two case studies: an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) contract and a Design and Construct (D&C) contract with GHG reduction requirements embedded in the contractor selection. Main findings support the use of ECIs for better integrating decisions made during the planning phase with the construction activities, and improve environmental outcomes while achieving financial and time savings.     

Political commitment to CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> capture and storage: evidence from government RD&;D budgets

For CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) to succeed as a mitigation strategy, political commitment is one of several prerequisites. This article offers an appraisal of political commitment to a CCS strategy among high-income countries in Europe and North America: Which governments are committed, and what particular interests and concerns do they seek to accommodate by supporting CCS? In order to answer these questions, new data are reported on government CCS research, development and demonstration (RD&;D) budgets. RD&;D budgets divided by GDP is used as an indicator of political commitment, and explanations are sought for cross-national differences. The analysis shows that fossil fuels reserves and extraction within a country has a very strong bearing on funding levels. Likely explanations include the potential for combining CCS with enhanced resource recovery. All large economies (population >50 million) have a funding program. The smaller states that provide funding (Norway, Canada, the Netherlands) have the highest funding levels relative to GDP. These findings suggest that high-income petroleum producing countries are likely to be leaders in promoting CCS and a favorable regulatory environment. The fact that all large, high-income countries in the two regions now display some interest in CCS further improves its political outlook.     

区域农地市场发育对农户水土保持行为的影响及其空间差异——基于生态脆弱区江西省兴国县、上饶县、余江县村域农户调查的分析

分析农户水土保持决策过程、建立农户水土保持决策的两阶段概念模型,从理论上分析了土地市场对农户水土保持的影响.运用在江西省兴国县、上饶县和余江县的样本村农户调查资料,通过建立土地流转与农户水土保持相互关系模型,运用Heckman的两阶段法对模型参数进行了估计.运用模型估计结果,分析土地流转对农户水土保持决策的影响并且对其区域差异进行了探讨.结果表明:从全部样本来看,农户是否意识到水土流失问题的存在以及家庭土地税费负担量对农户是否采取水土保持决策有显著影响;在兴国县,土地流入面积和费用2个因素对水土保持决策有显著影响;在余江县土地流入面积和费用也有影响显著,并且土地流入面积对农户水土保持投入的影响更强,而且土地流出面积在余江也有显著影响;上饶县,土地流出面积有显著影响.在全部样本、兴国县以及余江县,土地流出收益对农户水土保持决策的影响都不显著.最后,就进一步推进区域水土流失治理促进土地持续利用提出了相关建议.     

酵母菌对味精生产中离交尾液的处理初探

通过富集培养并利用选择性培养基分离筛选到2种能适应味精生产过程中离交尾液(COD为40690mg/L,NH₄⁺-N含量为16914mg/L)的酵母菌,经鉴定分属于嗜盐假丝酵母(Candida halophila)和粘红酵母(Rhodotorula glutinis).这二种菌混合培养时在pH4～9范围内其COD去除率均可达到80%以上;对于10倍、3倍、2倍稀释的离交尾液,48h之内,其COD去除率均可高达84.5%,日平均去除速度COD/SS均在1.0kg/(kg@d)以上,远高于对照的活性污泥法[对于10倍稀释液最高去除率为78.9%,去除速度为0.34kg/(kg·d)],同时也高于国内报道的其他酵母菌菌株.经处理后,还原糖可去除95.7%,而NH+4-N没有明显变化.     

Avian Mortality at Oil Pits in the United States: A Review of the Problem and Efforts for Its Solution

Oil production operations produce waste fluids that may be stored in pits, open tanks, and other sites accessible to wildlife. Birds visit these fluid-filled pits and tanks (&amp;#8220;oil pits&amp;#8221;), which often resemble water sources, and may become trapped and die. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has a program to reduce these impacts by locating problem pits, documenting mortality of protected wildlife species, and seeking cleanup or corrective action at problem pits with the help of state and federal agencies regulating the oil industry. Species identification and verification of protected status for birds recovered from oil pits are performed at the USFWS National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory. From 1992 to 2005, a minimum of 2060 individual birds were identified from remains recovered from oil pits, representing 172 species from 44 families. The taxonomic and ecological diversity of these birds indicates that oil pits pose a threat to virtually all species of birds that encounter them. Ninety-two percent of identified bird remains belonged to protected species. Most remains identified at the Forensics Laboratory were from passerines, particularly ground-foraging species. Based on Forensics Laboratory and USFWS field data, oil pits currently cause the deaths of 500,000&amp;#8211;1 million birds per year. Although law enforcement and industry efforts have produced genuine progress on this issue, oil pits remain a significant source of mortality for birds in the United States.     

Degradation problems of the land/water ecotones in China and their ecological impact to water systems

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