Influence of industry on the geochemical urban environment of Mieres (Spain) and associated health risk

This study is concerned with the elemental composition of soils and street dust collected in an historical industrial city of approximately 27 000 inhabitants, where old Hg mining and metallurgical activities strongly affected the load of heavy metals in the urban environment. For the purpose of the study, representative samples of soils and street dust were collected at different locations in the whole urban area (3 km²). Elevated mean concentrations of As in soils and street dust (69 and 135 g g^–1, respectively), and Hg (3.07 and 4.24 g g^–1, respectively), compared to background levels and to those found in other cities, reflect the anomalous geochemical nature of these materials and the strong influence exerted by the old mining sites.     

Chemical aspects of mass spawning in corals. I. Sperm-attractant molecules in the eggs of the scleractinian coral Montipora digitata

This paper provides the first evidence for sperm chemotaxis in the Scleractinia. Montipora digitata Dana, 1845 (Scleractinia: Coelenterata) is a hermaphroditic coral which reproduces bi-annually, releasing egg-sperm bundles during the mass spawning at Magnetic Island (19°10S; 146°52E) in late spring-early summer, and autumn each year. The buoyant egg-sperm bundles float to the surface where they break apart, releasing eggs and sperm into the ocean. Fertilisation occurs after 30 min. Unfertilized eggs were collected, washed free of sperm, and freeze-dried. The eggs were extracted with dichloromethane, fractionated by chromatography on silica gel, and the fractions assayed for their ability to attract M. digitata sperm. The active fraction was further fractionated by high-performance liquid chromatography, resulting in the isolation of three highly unsaturated fatty alcohols: (1) dodeca-2,4-diynol; (2) tetradec-13-ene-2,4-diynol; (3) (14Z)-heptadeca-14,16-diene-2,4-diynol. Of these three compounds, only Compound 1 attracted sperm of M. digitata. Synthetic Compound 1, produced from simple precursors by known reactions, possessed sperm-attracting activity comparable to the naturally derived attractant. Preliminary experiments suggest that the natural mixture of Compounds 1, 2 and 3 in the ratio 1:4:9 is more effective in attracting sperm from M. digitata than sperm from other Montipora species. Sperm attractants may act to reduce the incidence of hybridisation between different species of Montipora.     

Prevention of dioxins de novo formation by ethanolamines

Two inhibitors, triethanolamine (TEA) and monoethanolamine (MEA), were tested for their ability to prevent the de novo formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) on sinter plant fly ash. The amounts of both PCDDs and PCDFs, formed by thermal treatment of the fly ash, decreased when inhibitors were added. Up to 90% reduction of the PCDD/Fs formation was reached when 2 wt % monoethanolamine was mixed with fly ash. The temperatures tested, 325 and 400 °C, did not affect the inhibition activity. However, a longer reaction time, 4 h instead of 2 h, gave higher percentages of PCDD/Fs reduction. The laboratory results show that ethanolamines reduce the dioxins formation on sinter plant fly ash under various conditions of temperature and reaction time. Moreover, factory tests performed in parallel at a sinter plant are in good agreement with the laboratory experiments, thus confirming that the use of ethanolamine inhibitors is an appropriate technique for the prevention of dioxins emissions from sintering processes. Electronic Publication     

Use of genetic algorithms to select input variables in decision tree models for the prediction of benthic macroinvertebrates

Predicting freshwater organisms based on machine learning is becoming more and more reliable due to the availability of appropriate datasets, advanced modelling techniques and the continuously increasing capacity of computers. A database consisting of measurements collected at 360 sampling sites in non-navigable watercourses in Flanders was applied to predict the absence/presence of benthic macroinvertebrate taxa by means of decision trees. The measured variables were a combination of physical–chemical (temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration, conductivity, total organic carbon, Kjeldahl nitrogen and total phosphorus), structural (granulometric analysis of the sediment, width, depth and flow velocity of the river) and two ecotoxicological variables. The predictive power of decision trees was assessed on the basis of the number of Correctly Classified Instances (CCI). A genetic algorithm was introduced to compare the predictive power of different sets of input variables for the decision trees. The number of input variables was reduced from 15 to 2–8 variables without affecting the predictive power of the decision trees significantly. Furthermore, reducing the number of input variables allowed to ease the identification of general data trends.     

Unstable flow, magma mixing and magma-rock deformation in a deep-seated conduit: the Gil-Márquez Complex, south-west Spain

The Gil-Márquez Complex is an exceptional outcrop of plutonic rocks ranging in composition from diorites to granites emplaced into Devonian terrigenous metasediments of the southernmost part of the Hercynian basement of Iberia. A combined study of this complex, including field geology, petrology, structural geology and geochemistry, reveals that it represents an ancient conduit of magma transport through the continental crust. This conduit allowed the intrusion of magmas of contrasted compositions. Two end-members and several hybrids are identified. The first end-member is a biotite granite and the second is a basaltic magma generated by partial melting of a depleted-mantle source. Both magmas rose through a common channel in which favorable conditions for unstable flow and magma mixing occurred. The observed relations in the Gil-Márquez Complex show that mixing in conduits may be an important mechanism for producing homogeneous hybrid magmas.     

高效干法脱硫剂的研究与开发

研究高效干法烟气脱硫剂是提高干法脱硫效率的一种途径，通过分析和探讨ＣａＯ和ＦＡ的配比、添加剂的种类及加入量、反应温度对脱硫剂脱硫性能的影响，研究了高效干法脱硫剂的制备方法和工艺。     

几种草酸铁络合物体系光降解酞酸酯比较研究

文章在比较研究了几种草酸铁络合物体系对两种酞酸酯DBP和DEHP的光催化降解情况.结果表明:草酸铁络合物和草酸铁络合物/H2O2体系在遮光条件下对DBP和DEHP没有降解作用.在中性pH值条件下,DBP和DEHP在几种反应体系中的降解速率依次为:UV/草酸铁络合物/H2O2＞UV/H2O2＞UV/草酸铁络合物＞UV＞太阳光/草酸铁络合物.UV与草酸铁络合物对DBP和DEHP光降解的协同作用不强,增强因子f分别为1.20和1.07.UV、草酸铁络合物与H2O2的对DBP光降解协同作用也不明显,增强因子f=1.18. UV与H2O2对DBP光降解存在明显的协同作用,增强因子f=8.78.     

固定化聚铝的制备及在纸品加工废水处理中的应用

经水解尿素均匀沉淀 灼烧 ,在素瓷表面制备可能有共价结合的铝胶膜 ;铝胶薄膜载体与经复分解反应制得的氯化铝悬浊液共熟化 ,在其表面生成聚铝 ,经烧结进一步固化而制得固定化聚铝絮凝剂。经三级固定化絮凝剂床处理 ,纸品加工废水的COD、BOD、悬浮物、硫化物、色度等指标可分别降低 93 %、77%、97%、94%、80 %。     

城市污水深度处理工艺的设计与运行

在水资源日趋紧张的今天,污水的深度处理回用工艺成了人们探讨的热点。结合郑州市五龙口污水处理厂的设计与运行,介绍了以改良氧化沟为主体的污水深度处理回用工艺,并对工艺除磷脱氮及污水深度处理的原理、设计参数、运行情况及运行条件的控制进行了介绍。运行结果表明该工艺既具有较高的COD、SS去除效率,又解决了传统氧化沟在脱氮除磷时存在相互影响的矛盾问题,在进水COD为326mg/L、SS为301mg/L、NH_4~+-N为45．1mg/L、TP为4．1mg/L;出水COD为21mg/L、SS为9mg/L、NH_4~+-N为1．4mg/L、TP为0．6mg/L,各项指标均达到了景观用水标准。