Turning waste to wealth-biodegradable plastics polyhydroxyalkanoates from palm oil mill effluent – a Malaysian perspective

Palm oil industries have been contributing significantly towards the country’s economy and increase standard of living among Malaysians. However, it has also been identified as the major contributor for discharging the largest pollution load throughout the country. Owing to high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), the palm oil mill effluent (POME) cannot be discharged directly into the environment. Thus, palm oil industries are facing tremendous challenges in order to comply with environmental regulations. While anaerobic digestion has been employed by most mills as primary treatment, POME can also be a potential source of degradable organic material which can be converted into value-added products and fine chemicals. Organic acids generated during acid-phase anaerobic digestion of POME could be a potential carbon source for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)- a biodegradable thermoplastic material of microbial origin. This paper aims at understanding how organic acids from POME may serve as a renewable feedstock for the biosynthesis of PHA.     

安徽省土地利用现状及趋势分析

1980～1999年的20年间，安徽人口增长了1313万，耕地面积却减少了20万hm^2，森林面积略有增加，人均耕地和资源面积持续下降，这种趋势若得不到控制，将影响我省土地的可地续利用，必须依靠农业科学技术，提高耕地生产率，以及继续控制人口增长，来抵消土地利用变化所带来的压力。     

Do brain parasites alter host personality? — Experimental study in minnows

Despite that the existence of animal personalities is widely recognized, no consensus has been reached on the relative importance of different ecological factors behind their expression. Recently, it has been suggested that parasites may have a crucial role in shaping animal personalities, but only a very few studies have experimentally tested the idea. We infected Eurasian minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus) with the brain-encysted trematode parasite, Diplostomum phoxini, and studied whether infection could modify the personality of their hosts. Our results show that D. phoxini infection did not affect the mean levels of boldness, activity or exploration, but infected minnows showed higher repeatability in boldness and activity, and reduced repeatability in exploration. We also found that D. phoxini may be able to break the associations (behavioral syndromes) between behavioral traits, but that this effect may be dependent on parasite intensity. Furthermore, the effect of D. phoxini infection on personality of the hosts was found to be nonlinearly dependent on infection intensity. Taken together, our results suggest that D. phoxini parasites may shape the personality of their hosts, but that behavioral consequences of ecologically relevant infection levels may be rather subtle and easily remain undetected if only the mean trait expressions are compared.     

The treatment of black-odorous water using tower bipolar electro-flocculation including the removal of phosphorus,turbidity, sulfion,and oxygen enrichment

• An innovative bubble column tower BPE was designed to treat the black-odorous water. • PO₄³⁻, S²⁻ and turbidity were removed, and dissolved oxygen was enriched in the BPE. • An aluminum bipolar electrode gave the best oxygen enrichment and pollutant removal. • Changes of microorganisms confirmed the improvement in water quality achieved. The large amount of municipal wastewater discharged into urban rivers sometimes exceeds the rivers’ self-purification capacity leading to black-odorous polluted water. Electro-flocculation has emerged as a powerful remediation technology. Electro-flocculation in a bubble column tower with a bipolar electrode (BPE) was tested in an attempt to overcome the high resistance and weak gas-floatation observed with a monopolar electrode (MPE) in treating such water. The BPE reactor tested had a Ti/Ta₂O₅-IrO₂ anode and a graphite cathode with an iron or aluminum bipolar electrode suspended between them. It was tested for its ability to reduce turbidity, phosphate and sulphion and to increase the concentration of dissolved oxygen. The inclusion of the bipolar electrode was found to distinctly improved the system’s conductivity. The system’s electro-flocculation and electrical floatation removed turbidity, phosphate and sulphion completely, and the dissolved oxygen level improved from 0.29 to 6.28 mg/L. An aluminum bipolar electrode performed better than an iron one. Changes in the structure of the microbial community confirmed a significant improvement in water quality.     

基于RS与GIS混合编程的公路水毁灾情信息提取

研究了基于高分辨率卫星遥感影像的公路水毁灾情信息提取模型,通过解决跨软件环境的开发问题,实现了基于遥感与地理信息系统混合编程的公路水毁灾情信息提取系统。使用高分辨率卫星遥感数据形成融合数据,通过分析融合图像的光谱、几何、纹理特征,建立了公路信息提取规则,构建了面向对象的公路信息提取模型。根据水在近红外和中红外波长范围内反射率极低的特性,同时考虑不同环境背景造成的信息提取复杂性,研究了具有自适应特点的水面提取模型。通过建立组件式地理信息系统和遥感应用环境之间的通信和数据共享机制,实现了模型运行的交互式用户界面,并提供叠置空间分析功能,从灾后公路边界提取结果中去除水面部分,获得公路水毁信息。实际应用表明,系统可以满足相关工作对公路水毁灾情信息提取技术的要求。     

Kinetics of acetyl CoA: Arylamine N‐acetyltransferase from rapid and slow acetylator fish tissues

N‐acetyltransferase (NAT) activity was determined in 100 fish (Oreochromis mossambicus) livers using 2‐aminofluorene and p‐aminobenzoic acid as substrates. Overall, the liver NAT activity of the 50 females was higher than the liver NAT activity of the 50 males. The activities (mean ± SD) of NAT from kidney, blood, intestine, and liver of males was 0.42 ± 0.11, 0.12 ± 0.03, 0.12 ± 0.08, and 1.56 ± 0.54 nmol/min/mg protein for the acetylation of 2‐aminofluorene and 0.36 ± 0.09, 0.09 ± 0.01, 0.11 ± 0.04, and 0.46 ± 0.15 nmol/min/mg protein for the acetylation of p‐aminobenzoic acid. In kidney, blood, intestine, and liver from female fish, the activities obtained were 1.60 ± 0.12, 0.35 ± 0.07, 0.15 ± 0.09, and 1.89 ± 0.50 nmol/min/mg protein for 2‐aminofluorene and 0.95 ± 0.11, 0.27 ± 0.03, 0.13 ± 0.09, and 0.57 ± 0.12nmol/min/mg protein for p‐aminobenzoic acid. Kinetic constants for arylamine N‐acetyltransferase activity in kidney, blood, intestine, and liver from fish with rapid, intermediate, and slow acetylator activity were determined. Apparent K _m and V _max values for 2‐aminofluorene were 5.5 and 7‐fold higher for liver than for the other tissues. Apparent K _m and V _max values for p‐aminobenzoic acid were 3.5 and 4.7‐fold higher for liver than for the other tissues. Based on the 2‐aminofluorene NAT activity of liver, there appears to be a polymorphism in NAT activity with 16 rapid, 28 intermediate, and 56 slow acetylators among the 100 fish assayed. This is the first demonstration of acetyl CoA: arylamine N‐acetyltransferase activity in fresh water fish and could lead to the development of a fish model for monitoring the effect of pollution of water environments on native species.     

电动力修复铅镉复合污染土壤

采用电动力修复技术处理Pb、Cd复合污染土壤,考察了柠檬酸和乙二胺四乙酸二钠（EDTA）作为电解液对棕壤（ZR）和红壤（HR）两种我国典型壤质中Pb、Cd去除效果的影响。实验结果表明：在电压梯度为2 V/cm,修复时间为4 d的条件下,ZR的最佳电解液为EDTA,Pb、Cd平均去除率为13.2%和17.8%,HR的最佳电解液为柠檬酸,Pb、Cd的平均去除率为20.0%和33.8%;延长修复时间至10 d能显著提高HR中Pb、Cd的去除率,电解液为柠檬酸时Cd平均去除率达91.1%,电解液为EDTA时Pb平均去除率达63.2%,修复后土壤中Cd和Pb含量均低于建筑用地土壤污染风险筛选值。综合考虑能耗及修复效果,EDTA是高效且经济的修复电解液。     

长江2006年汛期特枯径流分析

2006年汛期长江出现了历史罕见的特枯径流,汛期长江寸滩站、嘉陵江北碚站出现了有记录以来历史同期最低水位,乌江武隆站出现了历史同期第4低水位。这一现象引起了各方面的关注。论文根据2006年长江干支流主要水文站实测数据以及长江流域33个气象站气温数据和降水量数据,对2006年汛期长江流域特枯径流进行了分析。研究发现,宜昌、汉口、大通三站的汛期月平均流量均降至有历史记录以来的最小值,部分月份不足正常年份的1/3,总体径流量偏少30%～60%。全线水位快速退落,重庆、宜昌、沙市、汉口水位为100多年来同期最低,几近常年长江枯水季节水位。研究认为降水减少是造成长江2006年汛期枯水的主要原因。2006年气温较多年平均明显偏高0.5～2℃,副高和大陆高压的异常,使汛期长江流域降水量大大减少,尤其在7～10月份,几大支流流域降水量减少幅度达到20%~80%。在全球气候变暖的背景下,对2006年汛期长江流域特枯径流进行研究具有非常重要的理论和现实意义。