China’s sponge cities alleviate urban flooding and water shortage: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - About one tenth of humans are impacted by water shortages around the globe. Water resilience is worsening under climate change because intensifying weather...     

Temporal trends in agricultural water use and the relationships to hydroclimatic factors in the High Plains aquifer region

The High Plains aquifer (HPA) is the primary water source for agricultural irrigation in the US Great Plains. The water levels in many locations of the aquifer have declined steadily over the past several decades because the rate of water withdrawals exceeds recharge, which has been a serious concern to the water resources management in the region. We evaluated temporal trends and variations in agricultural water use and hydroclimatic variables including precipitation, air temperature, reference evapotranspiration, runoff, groundwater level, and terrestrial water storage across the HPA region for different periods from 1985 to 2020 at the grid, county, or region scale. The results showed that water withdrawals decreased from 21.3 km³/year in 1985 to 18.2 km³/year in 2015, while irrigated croplands increased from 71,928 km² in 1985 to 78,464 km² in 2015 in the entire HPA. The hydroclimatic time-series showed wetting trends in most of the northern HPA, but drying and warming trends in the southern region from 1985 to 2020. The groundwater level time-series indicated flat trends in the north, but significant declining in the central and southern HPA. Trends in irrigation water withdrawals and irrigation area across the HPA were controlled by the advancement of irrigation systems and technologies and the management of sustainable water use, but also were affected by dynamical changes in the hydroclimatic conditions.     

Preparation and Characterization of Collagens from the Skin of Northern Snakehead (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Channa argus)</Emphasis>

Channa argus, a type of snakehead fish native to China, is a popular food fish in certain Asian countries but is a known destructive invasive species in the US. In this study, the two collagens, i.e. acid-soluble collagen (ASC) and pepsin-solubilized collagen (PSC), were obtained from C. argus skin. The yield of ASC was 28.0% and that of PSC was 16.8% on the dry bases. The collagens were identified as the collagen of type I by SDS–PAGE patterns. The Tds were approximately 27.0?°C. Similar ultraviolet spectra of both collagens were observed. Fourier Transform infrared spectra indicated PSC structure had a little change due to the loss of terminal domains by pepsin digestion. The results of XRD proved that the two collagens retained their helical structures. The results suggest that the collagens isolated from C. argus can potentially be alternative sources of vertebrate collagens for use in the food and other industries.     

Determination of 27 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water: The benefit of isotope dilution

• Isotope dilution method was developed for the determination of 27 PPCPs in water. • The established method was successfully applied to different types of water samples. • The correction effect of corresponding 27 ILSs over 70 d was investigated. • Benefit of isotopic dilution method was illustrated for three examples. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a unique group of emerging and non-persistent contaminants. In this study, 27 PPCPs in various water samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE), and determined by isotope dilution method using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem triple quadruple mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). A total of 27 isotopically labeled standards (ILSs) were applied to correct the concentration of PPCPs in spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river, effluent and influent sewage. The corrected recoveries were 73%–122% with the relative standard deviation (RSD)<16%, except for acetaminophen. The matrix effect for all kinds of water samples was<22% and the method quantitation limits (MQLs) were 0.45–8.6 ng/L. The developed method was successfully applied on environmental water samples. The SPE extracts of spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river and wastewater effluent were stored for 70 days, and the ILSs-corrected recoveries of 27 PPCPs were obtained to evaluate the correction ability of ILSs in the presence of variety interferences. The recoveries of 27 PPCPs over 70 days were within the scope of 72%–140% with the recovery variation<37% in all cases. The isotope dilution method seems to be of benefit when the extract has to be stored for long time before the instrument analysis.     

Effect of pressure and atmosphere during hydrothermal treatment on the properties of sewage sludge-derived solid fuel

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Efforts to improve the performance of hydrothermal treatment (HT) in producing high-quality solid fuel from sewage sludge were carried out by...     

Health risk assessment of heavy metals in Cyprinus carpio (Cyprinidae) from the upper Mekong River

The purposes of this research are to quantify the concentration of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, As, Pb, Cd, and Hg) in the water and fish tissues of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in the upper Mekong River and to thereby elucidate the potential dietary health risks from fish consumption of local residents. Surface water and fish tissues (gill, muscle, liver, and intestine) from four representative sample areas (influence by a cascade of four dams) along the river were analyzed for heavy metal concentrations. Results revealed that the levels of heavy metals in fish were tissue-dependent. The highest Cu and As levels were found in the liver; the highest Zn and Pb levels occurred in the intestine, and the highest Hg level was found in the muscle. The total target hazard quotient (THQ) value for residents is > 1 for long-term fish consumption, and local residents are, therefore, exposed to a significant health risk. Results from the current study provide an overall understanding of the spatial and tissue distribution of heavy metals in water and fish body along the upper Mekong River under the influence of cascade dams and highlight the potential health risk of As for the local residents of long-term fish consumption.

     

Study of the adsorption of endocrine disruptor compounds on typical filter materials using a quartz crystal microbalance

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Drinking water containing environmental endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs) endangers human health, and researching the purification process of...     

生态认知对长江流域渔民退捕意愿的影响研究基于鄱阳湖区的调研数据

流域禁捕是贯彻落实长江经济带发展战略和"共抓大保护、不搞大开发"的重要举措.渔民作为禁捕政策的最终执行者和落实者,其参与的积极性和主动性是政策顺利实施和推进的重要保障.基于计划行为理论,利用鄱阳湖区实地调查数据和结构方程模型,探讨了生态认知对渔民退捕意愿的影响及作用机理.研究发现:(1)生态认知对渔民退捕意愿有显著正向影响,即渔民生态认知水平越高,其参与禁捕政策的意愿越强;(2)生态认知的主观规范、行为态度、感知行为控制3个维度均对渔民退捕意愿具有显著正向影响,且3个维度两两之间也存在显著正向影响.其中,主观规范对渔民退捕意愿的影响最为显著;(3)主观规范中指令性规范对渔民参与禁捕的带动作用大于示范性规范;行为态度受渔民对政府禁捕政策的心理预期、生态修复保护与经济发展的重要性对比认知的影响较大;感知行为控制主要受到禁捕政策对家庭生产生活的影响程度及渔民参与禁捕政策能力的影响.为此,应建立有效的监督管理体系,提高指令性规范对渔民退捕的带动和引导作用,提高渔民对长江流域生态保护重要性的认知,营造浓厚的流域生态保护及积极参与禁捕的社会氛围,同时,制定适宜的转产转业政策,且将相关政策、补偿等严格落实到每位参与退捕的渔民,增强渔民对政府的信任程度,进而提高渔民退捕意愿.     

喀斯特地区非物质文化遗产空间格局及影响因素——以贵州省为例

厘清喀斯特地区非遗分布的空间格局有利于盘点资源现状,客观了解区域文化产生过程,以提高非遗的管理、保护与开发水平.基于地理学空间视角,利用GIS空间分析方法,探讨贵州9个地州市1023项非物质文化遗产类型结构、空间格局及影响因素,研究发现:(1)贵州省非物质文化遗产项目类型结构层次分明,民俗类数量最多,曲艺、传统医药与传统美术类相对稀缺;(2)贵州省非物质文化遗产空间分布不均衡,以贵阳市和黔东南州为双核心,中部和东部集聚明显,西部地区分布较少;(3)贵州省近90％的非物质文化遗产集中分布在海拔1400 m以下的喀斯特低山、中低山区域,曲艺类占比最高,传统体育、游艺与杂技和传统技艺两类分布与主要河流流域拟合较好,民间文学类与明清时期主要交通干线空间分布关联较高;(4)地形地貌、水系、文化、交通、经济等自然和人文因素对喀斯特地区非物质文化遗产空间格局产生重要影响.