Lithium extraction from salt lake brines with high magnesium/lithium ratio: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The demand for lithium is growing rapidly with the increase in electric vehicles, batteries and electronic equipments. Lithium can be extracted from brines, yet...     

Design and validation of a practical index for trauma assessment

In the past 20 years a variety of indices have been suggested for measuring the severity of trauma, however none of them meets the requirement of being a simple and objective instrument that can be utilized efficiently by lay persons and providers of health services without previous experience in triaging. A new system has been proposed which meets this requirement and which has been validated with 197 injured persons at the emergency ward of the Valle University Hospital in Call, Colombia. The instrument showed a high level of concordance with the conventional triaging method and classifies victims into four categories: critical with recovery unlikely, critical but recoverable, moderately serious, and ambulatory. There is discussion on the reliability of this instrument and it is recommended that it be validated with victims from larger disasters. Regardless, it has the advantage of being specific and free of the subjectivity that characterizes other indices.     

Inorganic nitrogen metabolism inUlva rigida illuminated with blue light

Inorganic nitrogen metabolism in blue light was studied for the green algaUlva rigida C. Agardh collected in the south of Spain (Punta Carnero, Algeciras) in the winter of 1987. NH₄ ⁺ has been reported to inhibit NO₃ ^- uptake; however,U. rigida showed a net NO₃ ^- uptake even when the NH₄ ⁺ concentration of the external medium was three or four times greater than the concentration of NO₃ ^-. NO₃ ^- uptake rates were similar in both darkness and in blue light of various photon fluence rates (PFR) ranging from 17 to 160 mol m^-2 s^-1. Since NO₃ ^- uptake is an active mechanism involving the consumption of ATP, respiratory metabolism can provide enough ATP to maintain the energetic requirement of NO₃ ^- transport even in darkness. In contrast, NO₃ ^- reduction inU. rigida was highly dependent on the net photosynthetic rate. After 7 h in blue light, intracellular NO₃ ^- concentrations ([NO₃ ^-] _i ) were higher in specimens exposed to intensities below the light compensation point (LCP) than in those incubated at a PFR above the LCP. When PFR is below the light compensation point, NO₃ ^- reduction is low, probably because all the NADH produced by the cells is oxidized in the respiratory chain in order to produce ATP to maintain a steady NO₃ ^- transport rate. The total nitrogen (TN) and carbon (TC) contents decreased from darkness to 33 mol m^-2 s^-1 in blue light. In this range, catabolic processes prevailed over anabolic ones. In contrast, increases in TN and TC contents were observed above the light compensation point. The C : N ratio increased with light intensity, reaching a stable value of 17 at 78 mol m^-2 s^-1 in blue light. Intracellular NO₃ ^- concentration and NO₃ ^- reduction appear to be directly controlled by light intensity. This external control of [NO₃ ^-]_i and the small capacity ofU. rigida to retain incorporated NO₃ ^-, NO₂ ^- and NH₄ ⁺ ions may explain its nitrophilic character.     

Adsorption of 17β-estradiol from aqueous solution by raw and direct/pre/post-KOH treated lotus seedpod biochar

Five biochars derived from lotus seedpod(LSP) were applied to examine and compare the adsorption capacity of 17β-estradiol(E2) from aqueous solution.The effect of KOH activation and the order of activation steps on material properties were discussed.The effect of contact time,initial concentration,p H,ionic strength and humic acid on E2 adsorption were investigated in a batch adsorption process.Experimental results demonstrated that the pseudo second-order model fitted the experimental data best and that adsorption equilibrium was reached within 20 hr.The efficiency of E2 removal increased with increasing E2 concentration and decreased with the increase of ionic strength.E2 adsorption on LSP-derived biochar(BCs) was influenced little by humic acid,and slightly affected by the solution p H when its value ranged from 4.0 to 9.0,but considerably affected at p H 10.0.Low environmental temperature is favorable for E2 adsorption.Chemisorption,π–π interactions,monolayer adsorption and electrostatic interaction are the possible adsorption mechanisms.Comparative studies indicated that KOH activation and the order of activation steps had significant impacts on the material.Post-treated biochar exhibited better adsorption capacity for E2 than direct treated,pretreated,and raw LSP biochar.Pyrolyzed biochar at higher temperature improved E2 removal.The excellent performance of BCs in removing E2 suggested that BCs have potential in E2 treatment and that the biochar directly treated by KOH would be a good choice for the treatment of E2 in aqueous solution,with its advantages of good efficiency and simple technology.     

Development of a static test apparatus for evaluating the performance of three PM2.5 separators commonly used in China

PM_(2.5) separator directly affects the accuracy of PM_(2.5) sampling.The specification testing and evaluation for PM_(2.5) separator is particularly important,especially under China's wide variation of terrain and climate.In this study,first a static test apparatus based on polydisperse aerosol was established and calibrated to evaluate the performance of the PM_(2.5) separators.A uniform mixing chamber was developed to make particles mix completely.The aerosol concentration relative standard deviations of three test points at the same horizontal chamber position were less than 0.57%,and the particle size distribution obeyed logarithmic normal distribution with an R~2 of 0.996.The flow rate deviation between the measurement and the set point flow rate agreed to within ± 1.0% in the range of -40 to 50℃.Secondly,the separation,flow and loading characteristics of three cyclone separators(VSCC-A,SCC-A and SCC112) were evaluated using this system.The results showed that the 50% cutoff sizes(D_(50)) of the three cyclones were 2.48,2.47 and 2.44 μm when worked at the manufacturer's recommended flow rates,respectively.The geometric standard deviation(GSD) of the capture efficiency of VSCCA was 1.23,showed a slightly sharper than SCC-A(GSD = 1.27),while the SCC112 did not meet the relevant indicator(GSD = 1.2 ± 0.1) with a GSD = 1.44.The flow rate and loading test had a great effect on D_(50),while the GSD remained almost the same as before.In addition,the maintenance frequency under different air pollution conditions of the cyclones was summarized according to the loading test.     

Chemical characteristics of road dust PM2.5 fraction in oasis cities at the margin of Tarim Basin

In order to understand the compositions characteristics of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) fraction in road dust (RD_2.5) of oasis cities on the edge of Tarim Basin, 30 road dust (RD) samples were collected in Kashi, Cele, and Yutian in the spring, 2018, and RD_2.5 was collected using the resuspension approach. Eight water-soluble ions, 39 trace elements and 8 fractions of carbon-containing species in PM_2.5 were analyzed. Ca²⁺ and Ca were the most abundant ions and elements in RD_2.5 (7.1% and 9.5%). Cl^- in RD_2.5 was affected not only by attributed to saline-alkali soils in oasis cities of the Tarim Basin and dust from Taklimakan Desert but also by human activities. Moreover, the organic carbon/elemental carbon (OC/EC) ratio indicated that carbon components in RD_2.5 in Cele town mainly come from fossil fuel combustion, while those in Yutian and Kashi mainly come from biomass combustion. It is noteworthy that high Ca in RD_2.5 was seriously affected by anthropogenic emissions, and high Na and K contents in RD_2.5 could be derived from soil and desert dust. It was estimated that Cd, Tl, Sn and Cr were emitted from anthropogenic emissions using the enrichment factor. The coefficients of divergence (COD) result indicated that the influence of local emission on road dust emission is greater than that of long-distance transmission. This study is the first time to comprehensively analyze the chemical characteristics of road dust in oasis cities, and the results provides the sources of road dust at the margin of Tarim Basin.     

海水入侵指标对比分析与评价—以珠江口地下水含水层为例

合理评价海水入侵对于地下水含水层管理和居民生活健康有着重要的意义。当前海水入侵评价应用较广泛的为包含单一因子和基于统计分析的多种水化学方法。本文综合阐述了海水入侵评价中所用的水化学指标、原理与方法,包括在国内评价体系中少见的一些方法,并以珠江口地下水含水层为例,对比了各种指标的有效性,评价了各类方法的优缺点以及在实际应用中可能产生的问题。结果显示,以Cl-和TDS作为简单直接的单因子可以快速评价海水入侵,尤其对于大范围的海水入侵评价十分有效。而和Ca2+,HCO₃-,SO₄2-等变化有关的指标具有地域性,在研究区对海水入侵的指示并不是十分敏感。在复杂评价因子中,与离子交换有关SAR,BEX以及GQI_SWI与Cl-相关性较高,可以较好的指示海水入侵及水岩相互作用。经过分析,受到地下含水层和地表水道双重介质入侵的影响,研究区海水入侵范围在过去几个年代有向北推进的趋势。本研究对于高速经济发展下的沿海地下水含水层管理和评价有重要的指导意义。     

Relationship between physicochemical properties and dewaterability of hydrothermal sludge derived from different source

Sewage sludge (SS) and deinking sludge (DS) were used to comparatively study the hydrothermal dewatering of sludge with different components. For a better overview, an insight into the relationship between physicochemical properties and dewaterability of hydrothermal sludge was provided. Results found that not all kinds of sludge were suitably conditioned by hydrothermal treatment (HT) in term of the elevation of dewaterability. Higher hydrothermal temperature tended to enhance the dewaterability of SS rather than DS, which was supported by the variation of their physicochemical properties (including water distribution, bonding energy, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), particles size, acid functional groups and zeta potential in this study). In addition, the changes in surface morphology suggested that the reverse effect of HT on sludge dewaterability was mainly due to their dewatering behavior. For SS, the destruction of EPS structure leaded to the release of bound water, thereby strengthening sludge dewatering. Conversely, “Bridging effect” generated by lignocellulose in DS was beneficial for sludge dewatering; however, the increasing hydrothermal temperature degraded part of lignocellulose and weakened “bridging effect”, finally resulting in worse dewaterability of DS.     

大豆过敏原P34蛋白基因检测技术与环境污染的关系研究

环境污染易引起大豆种植区域出现过敏原P34蛋白基因变异情况,当前蛋白基因检测方法不能满足检测需求,提出基于探针引物的大豆过敏原P34蛋白基因荧光PCR定量检测技术,针对大豆过敏原特异性基因P34蛋白基因序列进行设计;通过DNA提取、浓度测定,荧光定量PCR检测,实现大豆过敏原P34蛋白基因检测。实验结果表明,所提方法能够准确检测出包括环境污染区域在内的大豆食品过敏原P34蛋白基因成分,具有很好的应用前景,满足市场监督检测的需要。