Effect of housing geometry on the performance of Chemcatcher passive sampler for the monitoring of hydrophobic organic pollutants in water

Passive sampling of pollutants in water has been gaining acceptance for environmental monitoring. Previously, an integrative passive sampler (the Chemcatcher) was developed and calibrated for the measurement of time weighted average concentrations of hydrophobic pollutants in water. Effects of physicochemical properties and environmental variables (water temperature and turbulence) on kinetic and thermodynamic parameters characterising the exchange of analytes between the sampler and water have been published. In this study, the effect of modification in sampler housing geometry on these calibration parameters was studied. The results obtained for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons show that reducing the depth of the cavity in the sampler body geometry increased the exchange kinetics by approximately twofold, whilst having no effect on the correlation between the uptake and offload kinetics of analytes. The use of performance reference compounds thus avoids the need for extensive re-calibration when the sampler body geometry is modified.     

Biodegradation of microcystins and nodularin in freshwaters

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) was readily biodegraded on addition to six different water samples irrespective of their previous exposure to microcystins. Subsequent studies with water from three of these water bodies confirmed the degradation of MC-LR and also demonstrated the biodegradation of MC-LF, nodularin and mixture of microcystins and nodularin. Rates of degradation of MC-LR, MC-LF and NOD in individual water samples ranged from a half-life of 4 to 18d. Analysis by HPLC-PDA-ESI+ and MALDI MS/MS revealed novel intermediate degradation products of MC-LF and nodularin which included demethylation, hydrolysis, decarboxylation and condensation of the parent compound(s). Our study suggests a possible diversity of micro-organisms and/or pathways which has not been previously observed.     

The prediction of adsorption isotherms of ester vapors on hypercrosslinked polymeric adsorbent

Adsorption isotherms of methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, isopropyl acetate and ethyl propionate on hypercrosslinked polymeric resin (ND- 100) were measured at 303K, 318K and 333K,respectively, and well fitted by Dubinin–Astakhov (DA) equation. The plots of the adsorbed volume (q _v ) versus the adsorption potential (ε) at three different temperatures all fell basically onto one single curve for every ester. A predicted model based on DA equation was obtained on the basis of adsorption equilibrium data of methyl acetate, ethyl acetate and ethyl propionate at 318K. The model equation successfully predicted the adsorption isotherms of methyl acetate, ethyl acetate and ethyl propionate on ND-100 at 303K, and 333K, and also gave accurate predictive results for adsorption isotherms of the other two ester compounds (propyl acetate and isopropyl acetate) on ND-100 at 303K, 318K and 333K. The results proved the effectiveness of DA model for predicting the adsorption isotherms of ester compounds onto ND-100. In addition, the relationship between physico-chemical properties of adsorbates and their adsorption properties was also investigated. The results showed that molecular weight, molar volume and molar polarizability had good linear correlations with the parameter E (which represents adsorption characteristic energy) of DA equation.     

Diversity of crude oil-degrading bacteria and alkane hydroxylase (<Emphasis Type="Italic">alkB</Emphasis>) genes from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The aim of this study was to survey the response of the microbial community to crude oil and the diversity of alkane hydroxylase (alkB) genes in soil samples from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). The enrichment cultures and clone libraries were used. Finally, 53 isolates and 94 alkB sequences were obtained from 10 pristine soil samples after enrichment at 10 °C with crude oil as sole carbon source. The isolates fell into the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, with the dominance of Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter. The composition of degraders was different from polar habitats where Acinetobacter sp. is not a predominant responder of alkane degradative microbial communities. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the alkB genes from isolates and enrichment communities formed eight clusters and mainly related with alkB genes of Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus, and Acinetobacter. The alkB gene diversity in the QTP was lower than marine environments and polar soil samples. In particular, a total of 10 isolates exhibiting vigorous growth with crude oil could detect no crude oil degradation-related gene sequences, such as alkB, P450, almA, ndoB, and xylE genes. The Shannon-Wiener index of the alkB clone libraries from the QTP ranged from 1.00 to 2.24 which is similar with polar pristine soil samples but lower than that of contaminated soils. These results indicated that the Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and Rhodococcus genera are the candidate for in situ bioremediation, and the environment of QTP may be still relatively uncontaminated by crude oil.     

高浓度阿维菌素生产废水治理与资源回收技术研究

采用预处理一厌氧水解－二段接触氧化工艺处理阿维菌素废水，在厌氧段停留时间为１０ｈ，好氧段停留时间为６ｈ条件下，厌氧好氧段ＣＯＤ总去除率达９１％，     

城市污水厂污泥热干燥处理技术及其应用分析

提出采用热干燥处理技术进一步降低脱水泥饼的含水率，介绍了现行的污泥热干燥处理技术，并就该技术在污泥处理中的应用尤其是在焚烧预处理中的应用进行了分析。     

陇西立交枢纽生态绿化工程研究

在陇西立交枢纽的设计和施工工程中，以恢复和优化公路生态环境，提高行车的安全和舒适性为目的，把绿化和植被恢复作为一个重要因子进行全血考虑，使植物材料搭配，经过一年的实践已被见成效。     

The city as a refuge for insect pollinators

Research on urban insect pollinators is changing views on the biological value and ecological importance of cities. The abundance and diversity of native bee species in urban landscapes that are absent in nearby rural lands evidence the biological value and ecological importance of cities and have implications for biodiversity conservation. Lagging behind this revised image of the city are urban conservation programs that historically have invested in education and outreach rather than programs designed to achieve high‐priority species conservation results. We synthesized research on urban bee species diversity and abundance to determine how urban conservation could be repositioned to better align with new views on the ecological importance of urban landscapes. Due to insect pollinators’ relatively small functional requirements—habitat range, life cycle, and nesting behavior—relative to larger mammals, we argue that pollinators put high‐priority and high‐impact urban conservation within reach. In a rapidly urbanizing world, transforming how environmental managers view the city can improve citizen engagement and contribute to the development of more sustainable urbanization.     

苏丹红I对小鼠卵巢的损伤作用及对Caspase-3和Ki-67表达的影响

苏丹红是一种人工合成偶氮染料,可引起肝脏及泌尿系统等多个脏器的肿瘤,但苏丹红对生殖系统的毒性研究较少。本研究以昆明小鼠为受试对象,探讨苏丹红I对小鼠卵巢组织Caspase-3和Ki-67表达的影响。将24只昆明小鼠随机分为:对照组、低剂量(60 mg·kg~(-1))、中剂量(120 mg·kg~(-1))、高剂量(240 mg·kg~(-1))4组,6只/组。胃灌4周,4周末处死。HE染色观察各组卵巢组织病理变化,免疫组化法检测卵巢组织Caspase-3和Ki-67表达,Real time PCR检测卵巢组织Caspase-3和Ki-67 m RNA表达,Western blotting检测卵巢组织中Ki-67及Caspase-3蛋白表达。与对照组比较,实验组卵巢中Caspase-3阳性细胞率显著升高(P0.05),而Ki-67阳性细胞率显著降低(P0.05),Real time PCR及Western blotting结果与免疫组化法结果一致。本实验发现苏丹红染毒后颗粒细胞的Caspase-3表达增加,且Caspase-3表达呈剂量依赖性,但Ki-67表达受到抑制。