Persistent effects of ozone on needle water loss and wettability in Norway spruce

Four-year-old, seed-grown trees of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) were exposed in open-top chambers to charcoal-filtered air (8 h daily mean 54 microg O(3) m(-3)) over three consecutive summers (1986-1988). In mid-May 1988, before the third season of fumigation and more than 7 months after exposure to ozone the previous summer had terminated, daily rates of transpiration from intact shoots and water loss from excised needles were measured together with the amount of wax on the needle surface. In mid-July, 92 days after the beginning of the third year of exposure, the wettability of needles was assessed by measuring the contact angle of water droplets on the surface of needles. Exposure to 156 microg O(3) m(-3) resulted in a 16% increase in daily transpiration in current year's needles and a 28% increase in 1-year old needles. These effects were associated with slower stomatal closure in response to increasing water deficit in the needles previously exposed to 156 microg m(-3) ozone. The long-lasting nature of such ozone-induced effects could predispose trees to drought and winter desiccation. No significant effects of ozone were found on the amount of wax covering the needle surface, but a marked increase in the wettability of needles exposed to ozone was observed. The far reaching physiological consequences of these effects in the field and the possibility that similar disturbances may contribute to the decline of high-altitude forests of Norway spruce in Europe are discussed.     

Push-pull partitioning tracer tests using radon-222 to quantify non-aqueous phase liquid contamination

Naturally occurring radon in groundwater can be used as an in situ partitioning tracer for locating and quantifying non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) contamination in the subsurface. When combined with the single-well, push-pull test, this methodology has the potential to provide a low-cost alternative to inter-well partitioning tracer tests. During a push-pull test, a known volume of test solution (radon-free water containing a conservative tracer) is first injected ("pushed") into a well; flow is then reversed and the test solution/groundwater mixture is extracted ("pulled") from the same well. In the presence of NAPL radon transport is retarded relative to the conservative tracer. Assuming linear equilibrium partitioning, retardation factors for radon can be used to estimate NAPL saturations. The utility of this methodology was evaluated in laboratory and field settings. Laboratory push-pull tests were conducted in both non-contaminated and trichloroethene NAPL (TCE)-contaminated sediment. The methodology was then applied in wells located in non-contaminated and light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL)-contaminated portions of an aquifer at a former petroleum refinery. The method of temporal moments and an approximate analytical solution to the governing transport equations were used to interpret breakthrough curves and estimate radon retardation factors; estimated retardation factors were then used to calculate TCE saturations. Numerical simulations were used to further investigate the behavior of the breakthrough curves. The laboratory and field push-pull tests demonstrated that radon retardation does occur in the presence of TCE and LNAPL and that radon retardation can be used to calculate TCE saturations. Laboratory injection-phase test results in TCE-contaminated sediment yielded radon retardation factors ranging from 1.1 to 1.5, resulting in calculated TCE saturations ranging from 0.2 to 0.9%. Laboratory extraction-phase test results in the same sediment yielded a radon retardation factor of 5.0, with a calculated TCE saturation of 6.5%. Numerical simulation breakthrough curves provided reasonably good matches to the approximate analytical solution breakthrough curves. However, non-equilibrium radon partitioning and heterogeneous TCE distributions may affect the retardation factors and TCE saturation estimates.     

广东省“十三五”环境保护战略思考

"十二五"时期,在经济社会稳定发展的背景下,广东省环境保护取得了积极成效,但也存在结构性和格局性污染突出、污染呈现空间扩散态势等问题。在经济新常态背景下,为全面推进广东省"十三五"环境保护工作,在对当前环境问题分析及对未来环境形势研判的基础上,统筹谋划了广东省"十三五"环境保护目标指标及对策建议,以期对广东省率先基本实现现代化和全面建成小康社会起到推动作用。     

典型结构振动-加速度综合环境试验研究

目的研究多种典型结构在振动-加速度综合环境下的响应规律,证明开展振动-加速度综合环境试验的必要性。方法采用试验研究的方法,对比单一振动环境和振动-加速度综合环境下典型结构响应特征的差异。结果试验结果表明,振动-加速度综合环境下结构表现出的响应特征可能会与单一振动环境下的完全不同。结论振动-加速度综合环境更加接近产品的真实使用环境,综合环境试验能够发现单一环境无法暴露的问题,在产品研制中的作用无可替代。     

Extending parental mentoring using an event-triggered video intervention in rural teen drivers

Teen drivers are at high risk for car crashes, especially during their first years of licensure. Providing novice teen drivers and their parents with a means of identifying their risky driving maneuvers may help them learn from their mistakes, thereby reducing their crash propensity. During the initial phase of learning, adult or parental supervision often provides such guidance. However, once teens obtain their license, adult supervision is no longer mandated, and teens are left to themselves to continue the learning process. This study is the first of its type to enhance this continued learning process using an event-triggered video device. By pairing this new technology with parental feedback in the form of a weekly video review and graphical report card, we extend parents' ability to teach their teens even after they begin driving independently. Twenty-six 16- to 17-year-old drivers were recruited from a small U.S. Midwestern rural high school. We equipped their vehicles with an event-triggered video device, designed to capture 20-sec clips of the forward and cabin views whenever the vehicle exceeded lateral or forward threshold accelerations. Preliminary findings suggest that combining this emerging technology with parental weekly review of safety-relevant incidents resulted in a significant decrease in events for the more at-risk teen drivers. Implications for how such an intervention could be implemented within GDL are also discussed.     

Earliest zygodactyl bird feet: evidence from Early Cretaceous roadrunner-like tracks

Fossil footprints are important in understanding Cretaceous avian diversity because they constitute evidence of paleodiversity and paleoecology that is not always apparent from skeletal remains. Early Cretaceous bird tracks have demonstrated the existence of wading birds in East Asia, but some pedal morphotypes, such as zygodactyly, common in modern and earlier Cenozoic birds (Neornithes) were unknown in the Cretaceous. We, herein, discuss the implications of a recently reported, Early Cretaceous (120–110 million years old) trackway of a large, zygodactyl bird from China that predates skeletal evidence of this foot morphology by at least 50 million years and includes the only known fossil zygodactyl footprints. The tracks demonstrate the existence of a Cretaceous bird not currently represented in the body fossil record that occupied a roadrunner (Geococcyx)-like niche, indicating a previously unknown degree of Cretaceous avian morphological and behavioral diversity that presaged later Cenozoic patterns. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

低溶解氧污泥微膨胀污染物去除性能的研究

为了研究低溶解氧微膨胀状态下污染物的去除效果,采用SBR反应器,平均DO浓度为0.5～0.9 mg/L,通过好氧/缺氧(O/A)的运行方式,对污染物处理效果进行研究。结果表明：低溶解氧丝状菌污泥微膨胀状态下,SVI可稳定控制在200 mL/g左右,出水SS含量很低,COD去除率在80%以上,氨氮去除率90%以上,除磷效率在90%之上,出水水质良好,同时可以节约曝气量约46.7%。低溶解氧微膨胀状态下,可保证出水处理效果,污泥沉降性能影响小,同时可以节约动力费用。     

Analysis of bacterial activity, biomass and diversity during windrow composting

Two contrasting compost windrows were monitored for various physical, chemical and microbiological parameters for a period of 106 days. The different input materials and management practises gave rise to different temperature, moisture, and oxygen consumption profiles as composting proceeded. However, despite the different composting conditions, the specific respiratory activity, as determined by oxygen consumption per bacterial cell, was remarkably similar for both windrows. Further investigations into diversity dynamics were done through DGGE and cloning and sequencing of bacterial 16S rDNA PCR products. Although sequence analysis showed differing bacterial communities across time and between the different windrows, similarities in the progression were noted. The majority of sequences recovered from the first sampling period (day 1) were highly similar to previously isolated organisms. The clone libraries from the last sampling period (day 106) contained organisms that showed lower homology to their closest relatives, often with other uncultured organisms, and in phyla that contain few cultured representatives. These data suggest that specific respiratory activity may be an important driver of bacterial diversity in composting environments.     

燃油税费改革给客运经营造成的影响

2009年1月1日,全国正式实施成品燃油税。客运作为交通运输业的重要组成部分,燃油税费改革后会给客运市场现状带来大的改变,对客运经营产生直接影响,那么如何在改革中处理好客运经营带来的负面影响呢？燃油税臻改警给客运经黄造成的影响（一）燃油税制与现行客运企业经营管理模式的矛盾现有的客运经营主要实行线路或车辆租赁承包经营方式,     

A technical, economic, and environmental analysis of energy production from newspaper in Ireland

The production of newspaper corresponds to 37 kg per person per annum in Ireland. Newspaper becomes a waste product in a short period of time; only 13% of domestic waste paper is recycled (data on newspaper is not available). Four scenarios, which generate energy from newspaper, are analysed. These scenarios may be summarised as follows: lignocellulosic biomass conversion to ethanol (transport fuel); co-digestion with the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and production of CH4-enriched biogas (transport fuel); co-firing with the residue of municipal solid waste in an incinerator; and gasification of newspaper as a sole fuel. Two of the scenarios involve transport fuel production; two involve the production of electricity and heat. Two of the scenarios involve newspaper as the sole ingredient; two involve co- utilisation of newspaper with another waste stream. Assuming no economic market for heat, then only the transport scenarios have the potential to be economic; indeed the biogas scenario is shown to be extremely competitive generating a potential profit of euro 227/t newspaper. A greenhouse-gas analysis indicates that the biogas scenario generated the best net greenhouse-gas savings. However when a market for heat is available, gasification was shown to be most advantageous.