The impact of the gulf war on the Arabian environment—I. Particulate pollution and reduction of solar irradiance

This paper investigates some of the air pollution problems which have been created as a result of the Gulf war in early 1991. Temporary periods of increased dust storm activity have been observed in Saudi Arabia. This is presumably due to disturbance of the desert surface by the extremely large number of tanks and other war machines before and during the war. The concentrations of inhalable dust particles (<15 μm) increased during the months just after the war by a factor of about 1.5 of their values during the same months of the previous year, 1990.The total horizontal solar energy flux in Riyadh has been significantly reduced during dry days with no clouds. This is attributed to the presence of soot particles, which have been generated at an extremely high rate from the fired oil fields in Kuwait.The direct normal solar insolation were also measured at the photovoltaic solar power plant in Riyadh during these days and significant reductions were observed due to the effective absorption of solar radiation by soot particles. The generated power from the plant has been reduced during days with a polluted atmosphere by about 50–80% of the expected value for such days, if the atmosphere were dry and clear.     

The Effect of Heat and Free Chlorine Treatments on the Surface Properties of Murine Norovirus

Heat and free chlorine are among the most efficient and commonly used treatments to inactivate enteric viruses, but their global inactivation mechanisms have not been elucidated yet. These treatments have been shown to affect at least the capsid proteins of viruses and thus may affect the surface properties (i.e. electrostatic charge and hydrophobicity) of such particles. Our aim was to study the effects of heat and free chlorine on surface properties for a murine norovirus chosen as surrogate for human norovirus. No changes in the surface properties were observed with our methods for murine norovirus exposed to free chlorine. Only the heat treatment led to major changes in the surface properties of the virus with the expression of hydrophobic domains at the surface of the particles after exposure to a temperature of 55 °C. No modification of the expression of hydrophobic domains occurred after exposure to 60 °C, and the low hydrophobic state exhibited by infectious and inactivated particles after exposure to 60 °C appeared to be irreversible for inactivated particles only, which may provide a means to discriminate infectious from inactivated murine noroviruses. When exposed to a temperature of 72 °C or to free chlorine at a concentration of 50 mg/L, the genome became available for RNases.     

Atmospheric light absorption—A review

The atmosphere interacts both with incoming as well as outgoing light. Two main processes take place: light scattering and light absorption. Whereas light scattering redistributes any ligh energy in the atmosphere, light absorption converts the light energy to internal energy of the absorbing molecules and eventually transfers it to the surrounding gas as heat.Atmospheric gases absorb light in distinct spectral regions usually at more or less broad bands. Best known is the broad absorption of ozone in the far u.v., being essential for the existence of the biological macromolecules on Earth. Gases known as greenhouse gases, e.g. CO₂, CH₄, N₂O and water vapor absorb a wide range of infrared radiation, and thus are responsible for the greenhouse effects. Since the lifetime of these gases (except water vapor) is considerable, their distribution around the globe is fairly homogeneous.The atmospheric aerosol gives the major contribution to the atmospheric light absorption in the visible and near u.v. and near i.r. Graphitic (black) carbon, the main constituent of soot, is almost exclusively responsible for the light absorption of the particles. The light absorption by aerosols is continuous and covers the whole visible spectral range. It only depends slightly on wavelength.The optical properties of elemental carbon are determined by the size of the particles and their complex refractive index. A variety of refractive indices can be found in the literature for elemental carbon, most likely caused by different production and thus composition of the particles. Soot particles are very efficient in attenuating light; for the average size the particles have more than twice the mass extinction coefficient compared to transparent particles such as ammonium sulfate. The light absorption coefficient of a mixture of elemental carbon and transparent materials is higher for internal than for external mixtures. When incorporated into transparent particles, the absorption properties of elemental carbon can be multiplied and the single scattering albedo will decrease in comparison to an external mixture of the same materials.There are different methods to measure the light absorption coefficient of suspended particles. They can be separated in three groups, depending on the effect or methodology they use, but no standard procedure has been adopted so far.Soot is produced by all combusttion processes. Since most fires on Earth are due to humans, then indirectly humans are the major source of light-absorbing aerosol particles. On a global scale black carbon amounts to 1.1–2.5% of the anthropogenic particles and to 0.2–1% of the total emitted particles. The emission factors for elemental carbon are highest for small sources such as diesel motors or fireplaces.The light-absorbing aerosol consists of fine particles, with most particles having diameters less than a few tenths of a micrometer. Particles in the size range of soot particles have an average lifetime of 7 days in the atmosphere, therefore they can be transported over large distances and are also found in remote regions. Since light-absorbing particles have a variety of sources and sinks and they are involved in precipitation cycles, their distribution on the globe is inhomogeneous. Light-absorption coefficients of the atmospheric aerosol reported in the literature differ by more than four orders of magnitudes at different locations, but nevertheless black carbon particles have been found even at very remote areas, such as the South Pole.Although light-absorbing particles are a minority component in the atmospheric aerosol, their effects cannot be neglected: since the mass extinction coefficient of soot is higher by a factor of two to three compared to transparent particles, light-absorbing substances in the atmosphere can cause at some locations up to half of the visibility reduction; light-absorbing substances in the atmosphere can be responsible for the brown appearance of urban hazes and the discoloration of the sky.The light absorption of the atmosphere in the visible (which mainly is due to particulate matter) has to be taken into account when considering radiative properties and climatic consequences. A small temperature increase due to absorption in the visible is to be expected. The value is around a few tenths of a Kelvin, but no general statement on its magnitude is possible, since a large spatial and temporal variation exists and other factors like surface albedo, the optical depth of the aerosol, its incorporation in clouds and humidity growth of the aerosol have to be considered.     

Atmospheric concentrations and size distributions of aircraft-sampled Cd,Cu, Pb and Zn over the southern bight of the North Sea

In an effort to assess the atmospheric input of heavy metals to the Southern Bight of the North Sea, aircraft-based aerosol samplings in the lower troposphere were performed between September 1988 and October 1989. Total atmospheric particulate and size-differentiated concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were determined as a function of altitude, wind direction, air-mass history and season. The obtained data are compared with results of ship-based measurements carried out previously and with literature values of Cu, Pb and Zn, for the marine troposphere of the southern North Sea. The results point out the high variability of the concentrations with the meterological conditions, as well as with time and location. The experimentally found particle size distribution are bimodal with a significant difference in fractions of small and large particles. These large aerosol particles have a direct and essential impact on the air-to-sea transfer of anthropogenic trace metals, in spite of their low numerical abundance and relatively low heavy metal content.     

Evaluation of ionic fluids as lubricants in manufacturing

Ionic fluids are liquid salts that have been investigated for a number of applications, including catalysis, their use as solvents and electrically conducting fluids. Chemically, they consist of ionically bonded species, and depending on the cation and anion, can be extremely valuable in the chemical processing industry. Another characteristic that makes them useful is a high viscosity and good lubrication properties. This paper examines a number of ionic fluids, and determines their suitability as lubricants. This involves determining rheological properties, including viscosity and high-pressure viscosity, generally using a Barus law. In addition, their traction behavior is measured to evaluate their lubricating properties. Since metalworking fluids (and lubricants in general) are used in non-isothermal situations, the thermal conductivity of these fluids have also been measured.     

溶出伏安法测定海水中铜、铅、锌、镉存在形态的研究进展

海水中痕量金属的存在形态决定其生物毒性及可利用性,直接影响其迁移及归宿,因此备受关注。然而海水基体复杂、痕量金属浓度极低、采样和分析过程易引入污染,所以针对海水中痕量金属及其存在形态的研究对采样以及测试分析技术要求较高。在众多的形态分析方法中,溶出伏安法将有效的富集手段和先进的测量技术结合在一起,具有灵敏度高、选择性好等优点,目前被广泛使用。国际上,针对痕量金属存在形态分析的溶出伏安法一直在不断更新发展,但目前我国在该领域的研究,无论在近岸还是大洋,还较为匮乏。本文将介绍目前国际上应用溶出伏安法测定海水中几种痕量金属(Cu,Pb,Zn,Cd)存在形态及其最新研究进展,以推动我国海洋科学界在该领域的认识和发展。     

粘土颗粒吸附直接染料的分形特征

粘土颗粒对直接耐晒黑和直接大红染料的吸附均可分为快速的边缘覆盖和慢速的晶层吸附2个过程,整个吸附过程符合准-二级反应动力学方程式,除了伊利土-直接耐晒黑染料的吸附体系之外,其它体系的吸附过程中以晶层吸附为主的阶段均具有类分形特征.体系的非线性吸附等温线符合Langmuir型吸附等温模式,并且除了蒙脱土吸附直接大红染料之外,也可以用分形Langmuir吸附等温模式获得较好的模拟效果.在不同原始浓度下直接大红染料在粘土颗粒表面发生的边缘覆盖和晶层吸附这2个过程的程度是不同的,从而导致了吸附等温线在原始染料为150mg·L-1时出现最大的吸附量,而且颗粒边缘覆盖的直接大红染料的比例较高.染料进入粘土颗粒的晶层后,扩大了晶层间距,改变了其表面微孔几何结构.颗粒表面棱角变得光滑,结构疏松,片层结构逐渐减少,上述效果在蒙脱土颗粒上或直接耐晒黑染料吸附时表现地更为显著.而且吸附染料后蒙脱土颗粒对N2的吸附量比伊利土下降的幅度小,其比表面积、孔体积和平均孔径的下降比例也比伊利土小,其中平均孔径的差异比较明显.吸附染料之后粘土颗粒表面分形维数Ds均升高了,晶层膨胀和开孔作用抵消了"表面粗糙度屏蔽"、"孔阻塞效应"机理降低Ds的影响.增加了表面粗糙度.     

HERA: a Supermicroscope for Investigating the Structure of the Proton

   HERA, a high energy particle collider at the Deutsches Elektronensychrotron DESY in Hamburg, allows investigation of the structure of the proton with a spatial resolution of 10 cm, corresponding to about 1/1000 of its diameter. This view deep into the inner properties of matter is obtained from the scattering of high-energy electrons or positrons from high-energy protons. With its 6.3 km circumference, HERA can be regarded as a gigantic electron microscope. The high energies available at HERA allow a wealth of further studies on the properties of elementary particles and their interactions. After a brief review of earlier experiments, the article describes the concept of HERA and the detectors H1 and ZEUS, with which the scattering events are analyzed, as well as some of the physics results.     

金属基复合材料及其超塑性技术的发展

颗粒或晶须增强铝基复合材料具有优良的性能。目前其制备工艺主要采用粉末冶金法和挤压铸造法。这类铝基复合材料已经有许多应用实例。铝基复合材料超塑性是近年来开发的新技术,可解决其成形性差的加工难题,扩大其应用领域。     

Detection of Human Enteric Viruses in Freshwater from European Countries

The transmission of water-borne pathogens typically occurs by a faecal–oral route, through inhalation of aerosols, or by direct or indirect contact with contaminated water. Previous molecular-based studies have identified viral particles of zoonotic and human nature in surface waters. Contaminated water can lead to human health issues, and the development of rapid methods for the detection of pathogenic microorganisms is a valuable tool for the prevention of their spread. The aims of this work were to determine the presence and identity of representative human pathogenic enteric viruses in water samples from six European countries by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) and to develop two quantitative PCR methods for Adenovirus 41 and Mammalian Orthoreoviruses. A 2-year survey showed that Norovirus, Mammalian Orthoreovirus and Adenoviruses were the most frequently identified enteric viruses in the sampled surface waters. Although it was not possible to establish viability and infectivity of the viruses considered, the detectable presence of pathogenic viruses may represent a potential risk for human health. The methodology developed may aid in rapid detection of these pathogens for monitoring quality of surface waters.     

山西夏季气溶胶空间分布飞机观测研究

以搭载了多种气溶胶观测仪器的飞机为观测平台,在2013年夏季首次对山西中部地区霾日及晴空大气气溶胶空间分布特性进行了观测,得到气溶胶粒子数浓度和尺度的垂直分布廓线以及不同高度气溶胶粒子谱分布特征.研究发现,山西夏季非降水天气条件下气溶胶粒子以核模态和积聚模态的细粒子为主,粗粒子很少.霾日气溶胶数浓度是晴空的2~3倍,主要是核模态的小粒子;气溶胶粒子数浓度随着高度逐渐减小,低空存在气溶胶累积区,逆温层的存在是导致气溶胶累积区形成的主要原因;气溶胶粒子尺度随高度增加,大粒子主要分布在2500m以上的高空;不同高度上的气溶胶粒子谱均呈双峰或三峰分布,谱型基本一致,从近地面到5000m高空,气溶胶粒子谱随高度的增加略有展宽.观测区域气团后向轨迹模拟结果显示,4000m以上高空气溶胶粒子主要是从中国西北地区远距离输送而来,3000m以下气溶胶粒子则主要来源于近地面排放.     

环境中的轮胎磨损颗粒:从路面到海洋

轮胎磨损颗粒是环境中微塑料的主要来源之一,目前全球轮胎磨损颗粒的释放量在590万t·a^-1左右,约占海洋微塑料总量的15%.轮胎磨损颗粒产生于路面,通过雨水径流迁移,进而存在于路面、土壤、沉积物、水体、生物体等环境介质中.当前轮胎磨损颗粒的检测主要通过检测标记物来实现,因此,标记物的选择是关键.同时,轮胎磨损颗粒会通过吸附和浸出污染物产生污染,对人体和生物体都有一定的健康风险.对于环境中轮胎磨损颗粒的控制,最直接的方式就是在迁移路径中截留轮胎磨损颗粒和加速轮胎磨损颗粒的分解;而改进轮胎配方,降低磨损率可从源头减少轮胎磨损颗粒的释放.目前,人们对轮胎磨损颗粒的认识不足,检测方法还需要完善,其环境行为和风险评价也缺乏相关的研究.获得轮胎磨损颗粒从路面到海洋迁移的规律性认识,对于了解其生态风险和潜在污染问题十分重要.基于此,本文归纳总结了轮胎磨损颗粒的产生、检测方法、环境分布、潜在风险和缓解措施等方面的研究成果,分析了轮胎磨损颗粒研究今后应予以关注的方向.     

Identification of a case of maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 10 associated with confined placental mosaicism

We report a case of maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 10 discovered after chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Direct preparations revealed mosaic trisomy 10, while cultured CVS cells, as well as amniotic fluid cells, showed only a normal 46,XY complement. DNA analysis using microsatellite markers showed both chromosomes 10 to have been inherited from the mother. The pregnancy was complicated by polyhydramnios. A phenotypically normal male infant of appropriate size was delivered by Caesarean section at 41 weeks' gestation. Since only the direct preparations showed trisomy 10, this case illustrates the importance of CVS direct preparations in the detection of pregnancies at risk of uniparental disomy (UPD). Although the increased frequency of confined placental mosaicism (CPM) diagnosed when direct preparations are performed has been viewed negatively, identification of both CPM and UPD may have biological and clinical significance for a pregnancy. Even though only a single case of maternal disomy 10 is reported here, the apparently normal phenotype provides evidence that there are no major imprinted loci on chromosome 10 that affect in utero growth and development. However, other potential effects such as mental retardation will require long-term follow-up of this as well as additional cases.     

Novel Composite CBN-TiN Coating: Synthesis and Performance Analysis

Cubic boron nitride (CBN) coating, due to its promising properties, is under development worldwide for machining and other related applications. To synthesize a continuous CBN coating by conventional vapor deposition methods (CVD/PVD), however, poses many challenges, such as metastable CBN phase stabilization, as well as the high levels of intrinsic stress developed during the growth. A novel combinatorial approach, which is under development in an effort to develop a CBN composite coating for cutting tools, is reported in this paper. The approach involves a two-step process consisting of electrostatic spray coating (ESC) of CBN particles, followed by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) of TiN. The process is optimized to deposit a CBN-TiN composite coating with a thickness in excess of 10 μm on tungsten carbide inserts. Such coated tools have been successfully evaluated and tested for machining applications. For production on a commercial scale, the laboratory systems have been upgraded to industrial size. The outcome of scaling up from an experimental to an industrial-sized unit is reported in this paper. The industrial electrostatic spray coating unit, which can coat a batch of about 50 inserts in a couple of minutes, is currently being field tested.     

宇宙尘星载原位探测技术研究

对宇宙尘探测的历史及主要探测技术进行了调研分析总结,介绍了电离型、压电型、电容型、电阻型、半导体型、质谱型等探测方法以及探测技术的发展,包括复合探测技术及大面积探测方法。基于我国宇宙尘探测技术所开展的研究工作还较少的现状,提出应在深空探测任务规划的基础上加快开展相关宇宙尘星载原位探测技术的研究储备,针对复合式探测技术及大面积探测方法等方面开展研究的建议。     

The Effect of Heat on the Physicochemical Properties of Bacteriophage MS2

The differences in physicochemical characteristics between infectious and non-infectious viral particles are poorly known. Even for heat, which is known as one of the most efficient treatments to inactivate enteric viruses, the global inactivation mechanisms have not been described yet. Such knowledge would help distinguish between both types of particles and therefore clarify the interpretation of the presence of viral genomes in food after heat treatment. In this study, we examined in particular the differences in electrostatic charge and hydrophobicity between the two particle types. MS2 phage, a common surrogate for enteric viruses, was used as a model virus. The heat-induced inactivation process of the infectious phages caused hydrophobic domains to be transiently exposed and their charge to become less negative. The particles also became progressively permeable to small molecules such as SYPRO Orange dye. The presence of non-infectious phage particles in which the genome was not accessible to RNases has been clearly demonstrated. These observations were done for MS2 phages exposed to a temperature of 60 °C. When exposed to a temperature higher than their critical temperature (72 °C), the particles were disrupted and the genome became available for RNases. At lower temperatures, 60 °C in this study, the transient expression of hydrophobic domains of remaining infectious phages appeared as an interesting parameter for improving their specific detection.     

Virus Particle Detection by Convolutional Neural Network in Transmission Electron Microscopy Images

A new computational method for the detection of virus particles in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images is presented. Our approach is to use a convolutional neural network that transforms a TEM image to a probabilistic map that indicates where virus particles exist in the image. Our proposed approach automatically and simultaneously learns both discriminative features and classifier for virus particle detection by machine learning, in contrast to existing methods that are based on handcrafted features that yield many false positives and require several postprocessing steps. The detection performance of the proposed method was assessed against a dataset of TEM images containing feline calicivirus particles and compared with several existing detection methods, and the state-of-the-art performance of the developed method for detecting virus was demonstrated. Since our method is based on supervised learning that requires both the input images and their corresponding annotations, it is basically used for detection of already-known viruses. However, the method is highly flexible, and the convolutional networks can adapt themselves to any virus particles by learning automatically from an annotated dataset.     

天然水颗粒电动电位的化学模型

结合表面络合化学和双电层物理理论建立天然水颗粒电动电位(即ζ电位)与颐粒表面固有的化学性质及天然水化学条件之间的定量关系。在不同化学条件下,对均匀胶体颗粒(包括聚苯乙烯Latex颗粒和α-Fe_2O_3颗粒)进行电泳测定来验证该模型。结果表明,颗粒表面ζ电位与颗粒表面离子化官能团(—COOH或—OH)的化学性质、天然水pH值和专属吸附的阴阳离子(Ca~(2+)和PO_4~(3-))有密切关系。     

废TFT-LCD面板中主要元素溶出特性

以废TFT-LCD面板破碎料为研究对象,在使用XRF（X射线荧光光谱分析仪）分析其主要元素组成以及采用ICP-AES测试不同酸体系下主要元素浓度的基础上,研究了不同酸体系下主要元素的溶出特性. 结果表明:废TFT-LCD面板由Si、Al、Sr和In等10余种元素组成,其主要组成元素在不同酸体系下的溶出特性存在明显差异,这与其赋存形态有密切关系. In在各种酸体系下溶出浓度变化较小,为283～306 mgL. Fe的溶出特性与In相似,是主要伴随离子. Al和Sr易在浓盐酸体系下溶出. As在含有浓硝酸的体系下溶出率较高,最高溶出率为100%,而在无浓硝酸体系下的溶出率最低值仅为293%. Zn、Ti、Cu、Sn和Cr在各酸体系下的溶出浓度均较低(均低于1 mgL),不宜回收.      

水体类固醇雌激素污染现状研究进展

类固醇雌激素被认为具有极强的内分泌干扰性和生物活性,在极低浓度下就能引起人体或动物生殖障碍、行为异常和幼体变异等.由于水体中的类固醇雌激素的生态环境效应最为直接,因此,本文综述了近年来关于水环境中几种常见的类固醇雌激素的基本特征、污染现状、来源及迁移过程的研究,以期为类固醇雌激素的水处理技术研究提供基础信息.