Toxicity and oxidative stress induced by chromium in workers exposed from different occupational settings around the globe: A review

The present review focused on the levels and toxicological status of heavy metals especially chromium (Cr) in the exposed workers from different occupational settings around the globe and in Pakistan. It was found that exposed workers from leather tanning and metal plating units showed elevated levels of Cr than the workers from other occupational settings. Cr and other heavy metals level in biological matrices of the exposed workers in different occupational settings revealed that developing countries are severely contaminated. Occupational settings from the Sialkot district, Pakistan exhibited elevated level of Cr in biological entities of the exposed workers. Review suggested that higher level of Cr exposure to the workers enhance the oxidative stress (reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hydroxyl (OH) radical generation) which may cause; cellular and molecular damage such as genotoxicity and chromosomal aberration formations, and carcinogenic effects. This review will help to understand the Cr contamination mechanisms and associated health implications in different occupational settings around the globe in general and particularly to Pakistan. This study will also assist occupational health and safety management authorities to devise or change the Cr recommended exposure limits (REL) for different occupational settings.     

Temperature-associated population diversity in salmon confers benefits to mobile consumers

Habitat heterogeneity can generate intraspecific diversity through local adaptation of populations. While it is becoming increasingly clear that population diversity can increase stability in species abundance, less is known about how population diversity can benefit consumers that can integrate across population diversity in their prey. Here we demonstrate cascading effects of thermal heterogeneity on trout-salmon interactions in streams where rainbow trout rely heavily on the seasonal availability of anadromous salmon eggs. Water temperature in an Alaskan stream varied spatially from 5 degrees C to 17.5 degrees C, and spawning sockeye salmon showed population differentiation associated with this thermal heterogeneity. Individuals that spawned early in cool regions of the 5 km long stream were genetically differentiated from those spawning in warmer regions later in the season. Sockeye salmon spawning generates a pulsed resource subsidy that supports the majority of seasonal growth in stream-dwelling rainbow trout. The spatial and temporal structuring of sockeye salmon spawn timing in our focal stream extended the duration of the pulsed subsidy compared to a thermally homogeneous stream with a single population of salmon. Further, rainbow trout adopted movement strategies that exploited the multiple pulses of egg subsidies in the thermally heterogeneous stream. Fish that moved to track the resource pulse grew at rates about 2.5 times higher than those that remained stationary or trout in the reference stream with a single seasonal pulse of eggs. Our results demonstrate that habitat heterogeneity can have important effects on the population diversity of dominant species, and in turn, influence their value to species that prey upon them. Therefore, habitat homogenization may have farther-reaching ecological effects than previously considered.     

Demographic heterogeneity, cohort selection, and population growth

Demographic heterogeneity--variation among individuals in survival and reproduction--is ubiquitous in natural populations. Structured population models address heterogeneity due to age, size, or major developmental stages. However, other important sources of demographic heterogeneity, such as genetic variation, spatial heterogeneity in the environment, maternal effects, and differential exposure to stressors, are often not easily measured and hence are modeled as stochasticity. Recent research has elucidated the role of demographic heterogeneity in changing the magnitude of demographic stochasticity in small populations. Here we demonstrate a previously unrecognized effect: heterogeneous survival in long-lived species can increase the long-term growth rate in populations of any size. We illustrate this result using simple models in which each individual's annual survival rate is independent of age but survival may differ among individuals within a cohort. Similar models, but with nonoverlapping generations, have been extensively studied by demographers, who showed that, because the more "frail" individuals are more likely to die at a young age, the average survival rate of the cohort increases with age. Within ecology and evolution, this phenomenon of "cohort selection" is increasingly appreciated as a confounding factor in studies of senescence. We show that, when placed in a population model with overlapping generations, this heterogeneity also causes the asymptotic population growth rate lambda to increase, relative to a homogeneous population with the same mean survival rate at birth. The increase occurs because, even integrating over all the cohorts in the population, the population becomes increasingly dominated by the more robust individuals. The growth rate increases monotonically with the variance in survival rates, and the effect can be substantial, easily doubling the growth rate of slow-growing populations. Correlations between parent and offspring phenotype change the magnitude of the increase in lambda, but the increase occurs even for negative parent-offspring correlations. The effect of heterogeneity in reproductive rate on lambda is quite different: growth rate increases with reproductive heterogeneity for positive parent-offspring correlation but decreases for negative parent-offspring correlation. These effects of demographic heterogeneity on lambda have important implications for population dynamics, population viability analysis, and evolution.     

外阻对污泥微生物燃料电池产电以及有机物降解的影响

重点考察了不同外阻（10、150和1 000Ω）对污泥微生物燃料电池（sludge microbial fuel cell,SMFC）产电性能及有机物去除速率的影响。结果表明,外阻对电池产电和有机物降解有显著影响,低电阻有利于电流产生及有机物消耗。当外阻为10Ω时,输出电流最高（4.2 mA）,且污泥溶解性化学需氧量（SCOD）去除速率最快（53 mg.d-1）。DGGE图谱显示,不同外阻导致阳极微生物菌落结构有明显差异;CV扫描发现外阻对生物膜氧化还原能力有显著影响,低电阻下运行的阳极生物膜氧化还原活性较强。本研究为理解外阻与阳极生物膜间的关系提供一条有益线索,也为MFC性能提高提供一条可操作性的途径。     

不同草篱种植模式对土壤侵蚀的控制效应

选取我国南方红壤丘陵区5种等高草篱种植模式,结合径流小区法和稀土元素示踪技术,开展不同草篱控制坡地水土流失、减少地表径流的效应研究,分析等高草篱对坡面侵蚀空间分布的影响.结果发现,径流小区土壤流失量显著受降雨量影响,不同草篱种植模式下,各径流小区的平均土壤流失量和地表径流量较对照组(裸坡)均显著降低(P＜0.05),其中麦冬双行草篱处理平均土壤流失量和地表径流量最小,分别为4 047 g和1 554 L,对照组(裸坡)最大,分别为19 793 g和2 403 L;麦冬双行草篱在控制坡面土壤流失和径流方面效果最佳;通过平均土壤流失量和平均径流量的二次线性拟合模型发现,随着地表径流量的变化,不同处理下土壤流失量的边际值存在差异;坡面中、下部是侵蚀泥沙的主要溯源地,产生了接近总流失量85%的泥沙;草篱改变了降雨过程中坡面内部土壤因沉积作用导致的再分布,但对整个坡面土壤侵蚀的空间分布规律无明显影响.     

还原-偶氮光度法测定废水中硝基苯的不确定度评估

以还原-偶氮光度法测定了废水中硝基苯的浓度,分析了测量过程中4个主要部分的不确定度。样品中硝基苯的浓度为0.500μg/mL,取包含因子k=2（95%置信概率）,扩展不确定度为U=0.032μg/mL,结果可表示为：（0.500±0.032）μg/mL。此方法测定硝基苯的不确定度的评析,有利于更准确地表示测量结果。     

大同盆地地方氟病地区土壤中氟的赋存形态研究

以大同盆地地方氟病地区土壤为研究对象,采用连续化学提取法逐级提取土壤中水溶态、离子交换态、铁锰结合态、有机束缚态和残余态的氟,研究了大同盆地土壤中氟的赋存形态特征以及控制土壤中氟赋存形态的因素,进而探讨了土壤中氟氧化物迁移与转化对大同盆地高氟地下水形成的影响。结果表明:研究区土壤中氟的5种赋存形态按含量大小呈现出残余态氟水溶态氟交换态氟有机束缚态氟铁锰结合态氟的分布规律;相关分析显示水溶态氟与铁锰结合态氟呈现正相关性,离子交换态氟与有机束缚态氟和铁锰结合态氟呈现显著正相关性;大同盆地土壤中氟的背景值较高(545.29mg/kg),并在一定条件下各种形态的氟相互转化,可提供更多自由态的氟进入地下水中,从而形成高氟地下水。     

淮河流域土壤中全氟化合物的空间分布及组成特征

为了阐明淮河流域土壤中全氟化合物(PFCs)的暴露特征和潜在来源,2008年10月在淮河安徽段共采集了18个表层土壤样品,通过离子燃烧色谱(CIC)测定总氟(TF)和可提取有机氟(EOF),以及采用高效液相色谱/质谱联用(HPLC/MS-MS)分析了16种PFCs,其中11种PFCs有不同程度的检出.PFCs含量为n.d.～1.22 ng·g-1,其中全氟辛酸(PFOA)、全氟壬酸(PFNA)和全氟辛烷磺酸(PFOS)是主要的PFCs.在这些土壤样品中,PFCs含量相差不大,但组成不一,主要来源于周边小型化工厂的排放以及大气的干湿沉降.利用氟原子质量平衡原理,分析得出PFCs占EOF比例为0.3%,EOF占TF比例为0.02%,一方面说明除PFCs外仍有很大一部分可提取有机氟难以定性和定量,且离子态氟及未提取出的有机氟是TF的主要成分,另一方面受现有标准物质和检测技术限制,尚不能完全甄别和分析出PFCs的含量及未知的有机氟.     

Comparison of different phosphate species adsorption by ferric and alum water treatment residuals

As safe byproducts of drinking water treatment processes,ferric and alum water treatment residuals(FARs) have the potential to be new phosphate(P) immobilization materials.In this study,batch experiments were conducted to investigate and compare the adsorption characteristics of three P species by FARs.The results showed that the kinetic processes of different P species’ adsorption by FARs could be described by a pseudo second-order model.The ranking list of the initial adsorption rates with respect to different phosphates was pyrophosphate,phytate,orthophosphate,hexametaphosphate and glycerophosphate.Of the six models considered,the two-site Langmuir model most effectively described the adsorption characteristics of the various P species.Upon fitting the results,the maximum adsorption capacities were determined to be 40.24 mg/g for phytate,18.04 mg/g for pyrophosphate,17.14 mg/g for orthophosphate,15.86 mg/g for hexametaphosphate and 10.81 mg/g for glycerophosphate.In addition,the adsorption processes of the different P species were spontaneous endothermic processes and were favored at lower pH values.The pH dependency was found to be especially true for orthophosphate,where the adsorption capacity decreased by 1.22 mg/g with an increase in pH from 5 to 9.Fractionation of the adsorbed P species from the FARs demonstrated that Al-P and Fe-P were the dominating forms,constituting approximately 80%-90% of the total P fractions,which indicated that the adsorbed P species had a low leaching risk and could stably exist in the FARs.Therefore,the FARs could be effective in controlling pollution in water caused by different P species.