An in vitro/in vivo screening assay as a sensitive tool to assess endocrine disruptive activity in surface water

Adult male fathead minnow were exposed for 14 or 28-days under flow-through conditions to undiluted filtered water samples from the rivers Meuse and Rhine in the Netherlands. The experiment included two vessels per treatment each containing 10 fish and samples of five fish were taken after 14 and 28 days. Additional groups were exposed to 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) as a reference and untreated drinking water as a negative control. Major endpoints examined included induction of vitellogenin (VTG) synthesis, VTG mRNA activity, hepato- and gonadosomatic indices (HSI and GSI) and gonadal histology. No significant difference was recorded in body weight or mean GSI values between the various treatments. Only exposure to Meuse water resulted in significantly higher HSI means after 14 days. Histological examination showed no apparent effects on gonadal tissue except for eosinophilic blood plasma in fish exposed to Meuse water or EE2. After 14 and 28 days, elevated VTG and VTG mRNA levels were measured in most livers of the fish exposed to Meuse water, but not in the fish exposed to Rhine water. This was confirmed by measuring estrogenic responses in the in vitro ER CALUX assay. Induction of VTG synthesis proved to be the most sensitive endpoint in the Non Spawning Male Fish Assay for in vivo detection of bio-available estrogenic activity supplementary to a sensitive in vitro assay. The other endpoints examined varied too much and required a higher number of fish or replicates to achieve sufficient power for statistical testing making them less animal friendly.     

Effect of platinum on the photocatalytic degradation of chlorinated organic compound

TiO2 nanoparticles, doped with di erent Pt contents, were prepared by a modified photodeposition method using Degussa P-25 TiO2, H2PtCl6 6H2O and methanol as the solvents. The physicochemical properties of Pt/TiO2 were investigated by the nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherm measurement technique, X-ray di raction analysis and photoluminescence spectra, respectively. Reaction rates from photocatalytic removal of dichloromethane over Degussa P-25 TiO2 and Pt/TiO2 were evaluated. The average diameter and BET surface area of the TiO2 catalyst particles were 300 nm and 50 m2/g, respectively. The degradation e ciency was 99.0%, 82.7%, 55.2%, and 57.9% with TiO2 at inlet concentrations of 50, 100, 200, and 300 ppm, respectively. And the degradation e ciency was 99.3%, 79.7%, 76.5%, and 73.4% with a 0.005 wt.% Pt/TiO2 at inlet concentrations of 50, 100, 200, and 300 ppm, respectively. In addition, we found that the photoluminescence emission peak intensities decreased with increases in the doping amount of Pt, which indicates that the irradiative recombination was weakened. Furthermore, the results showed that the UV/0.005 wt.% Pt/TiO2 process was capable of e ciently decomposing gaseous DCM in air.     

Groundwater contamination and natural attenuation capacity at a petroleum spilled facility in Korea

As a remedial option, the natural attenuation capacity of a petroleum contaminated groundwater at a military facility was examined. Hydrogeological conditions, such as high water level, permeable uppermost layer and frequent heavy rainfall, were favorable to natural attenuation at this site. The changes in the concentrations of electron acceptors and donors, as well as the relevant hydrochemical conditions, indicated the occurrence of aerobic respiration, denitrification, iron reduction, manganese reduction and sulfate reduction. The calculated BTEX expressed biodegradation capacity ranged between 20.52 and 33.67 mg/L, which appeared effective for the reduction of the contaminants levels. The contribution of each electron accepting process to the total biodegradation was in the order: denitrification > iron reduction > sulfate reduction > aerobic respiration > manganese reduction. The BTEX and benzene point attenuation rates were 0.0058-0.0064 and 0.0005-0.0032 day^-1, respectively, and the remediation time was 0.7-1.2 and 2.5-30 years, respectively. The BTEX and benzene bulk attenuation rates were 8.69 × 10^-4 and 1.05 × 10^-3 day^-1, respectively, and the remediation times for BTEX and benzene were 7.2 and 17.5 years, respectively. However, most of the natural attenuation occurring in this site can be attributed to dilution and dispersion. Consequently, the biodegradation and natural attenuation capacities were good enough to lower the contaminants levels, but their rates appeared to be insufficient to reach the remediation goal within a reasonable time frame. Therefore, some active remedial measures would be required.     

循环流化床脱硫技术在烧结烟气净化中的应用

依据钢铁厂烧结烟气的特点,介绍了循环流化床脱硫除尘技术的工艺处理系统原理、具体系统组成和该工艺的先进性,并结合了河北省某钢铁厂2台105 m2烧结机烟气脱硫除尘项目具体的设计、施工和安装调试,分析循环流化床脱硫除尘技术的脱硫除尘技术指标和经济指标.分析结果表明:循环流化床脱硫技术具有脱硫除尘效率高、工艺投资省、运行费用低等优点,是一种值得在烧结烟气脱硫中推广应用的脱硫技术.     

The social impact of natural hazards: a multi‐level analysis of disasters and forms of trust in mainland China

This study aimed to assess the multi‐level effects of natural hazards on trust in Chinese society. Drawing on the Chinese General Social Survey conducted in 2012 and provincial disaster damage records, it examined the association between individuals’ past experiences of disasters and province‐level damage (measured by the number of affected people, deaths, and economic loss) and various forms of trust: in‐group; out‐group; generalised; and political. The findings indicate that Chinese individuals with experience of disasters have higher levels of out‐group trust but lower levels of political trust. Similarly, at the province level, damage owing to disasters over the past three years (2009–11) positively impacted on residents’ out‐group trust while negatively affecting their political trust. However, when provincial damage was aggregated for disasters over the past five years (2007–11), which included the devastating Sichuan earthquake on 12 May 2008, only total deaths had a positive effect on generalised trust.     

Fouling distribution in forward osmosis membrane process

Fouling behavior along the length of membrane module was systematically investigated by performing simple modeling and lab-scale experiments of forward osmosis （FO） membrane process. The flux distribution model developed in this study showed a good agreement with experimental results, validating the robustness of the model. This model demonstrated, as expected, that the permeate flux decreased along the membrane channel due to decreasing osmotic pressure differential across the FO membrane. A series of fouling experiments were conducted under the draw and feed solutions at various recoveries simulated by the model. The simulated fouling experiments revealed that higher organic （alginate） fouling and thus more flux decline were observed at the last section of a membrane channel, as foulants in feed solution became more concentrated. Furthermore, the water flux in FO process declined more severely as the recovery increased due to more foulants transported to membrane surface with elevated solute concentrations at higher recovery, which created favorable solution environments for organic adsorption. The fouling reversibility also decreased at the last section of the membrane channel, suggesting that fouling distribution on FO membrane along the module should be carefully examined to improve overall cleaning efficiency. Lastly, it was found that such fouling distribution observed with co-current flow operation became less pronounced in counter- current flow operation of FO membrane process.     

Nitrogen mass balance in a constructed wetland treating piggery wastewater effluent

The nitrogen changes and the nitrogen mass balance in a free water surface flow constructed wetland （CW） using the four-year monitoring data from 2008 to 2012 were estimated. The CW was composed of six cells in series that include the first settling basin （Cell 1）, aeration pond （Cell 2）, deep marsh （Cell 3）, shallow marsh （Cell 4）, deep marsh （Cell 5） and final settling basin （Cell 6）. Analysis revealed that the NH4＋-N concentration decreased because of ammonification which was then followed by nitrification. The NO4＋-N and NO4＋-N were also further reduced by means of microbial activities and plant uptake during photosynthesis. The average nitrogen concentration at the influent was 37,819 kg/year and approximately 45% of that amount exited the CW in the effluent. The denitrification amounted to 34% of the net nitrogen input, whereas the accretion of sediment was only 7%. The biomass uptake of plants was able to retain only 1% of total nitrogen load. In order to improve the nutrient removal by plant uptake, plant coverage in four cells （i.e., Cells 1, 3, 4 and 5） could be increased.     

水稻光合同化碳在土壤中的矿化和转化动态

作物光合碳是"大气-植物-土壤"碳循环的重要组成部分,是农田土壤有机碳的重要来源,然而其在土壤碳库中的矿化和转化动态尚不清楚.应用室内模拟培养实验,研究水稻收获后输入土壤的光合同化碳在土壤碳库中的矿化及其转化特征.结果表明,100 d的培养期内,原有有机碳的平均矿化速率在4.44~17.8μg·(g·d)-1之间,而光合碳(新碳)的矿化速率则在0.15~1.51μg·(g·d)-1之间.光合同化碳的输入对土壤活性碳库(DOC、MBC)的转化产生显著影响,在培养期内,14C-DOC的转化量为1.89~5.32 mg·kg-1,转化速率的变化幅度为0.18~0.34 mg·(kg·d)-1,原有DOC则在61.13~90.65 mg·kg-1,减少幅度为4.10~5.48 mg·(kg·d)-1;14C-MBC和原有MBC的转化量分别为10.92~44.11 mg·kg-1和463.31~1 153.46mg·kg-1,转化速率变化幅度分别为0.80~2.87 mg·(kg·d)-1和41.60~74.46 mg·(kg·d)-1,说明水稻光合碳的输入对MBC的周转要大于DOC的周转.而且,与原有有机碳相比,输入的"新碳"易被微生物矿化分解,100 d的培养期内,有13.5%~20.2%的新碳被矿化分解,而仅2.2%~3.7%的原有有机碳被矿化分解,光合同化碳的输入对维持稻田土壤的碳汇功能具有重要作用.     

多介质土壤滤层系统(MSL)与潜流式人工湿地技术处理海水养殖废水的效能比较

为探索经济可行的海水养殖废水处理技术,选取南美白对虾海水养殖废水,对比研究了多介质土壤滤层(multi-soillayer,MSL)系统和4种不同植物配置潜流式人工湿地(大米草型、芦苇型、香蒲型和无植物型)在400 L·(m2·d)-1水力负荷下的废水处理效果.结果表明,MSL对化学需氧量(COD)、总磷(TP)、总氮(TN)、氨氮(NH+4-N)和硝态氮(NO-3-N)的平均去除率分别为80.38%±2.14%、68.14%±3.51%、40.79%±3.10%、42.68%±2.90%和54.19%±5.15%,均高于其他4种不同植物配置的潜流式人工湿地的处理效果.4种人工湿地系统对各污染物的去除率从高到低依次为:大米草型>芦苇型>香蒲型>无植物型.     

纳米Fe0粒子对产乙烯脱卤菌群脱氯性能和多样性影响研究

为探讨纳米Fe0粒子对产乙烯脱卤菌群脱氯性能和物种多样性的影响,采用纳米Fe0粒子与产乙烯脱卤菌群联合脱氯,并通过气相色谱、PCR-DGGE和TEM等技术手段进行相关表征.结果表明:当纳米Fe0粒子浓度为0~0.50 g·L-1时,体系的脱氯速率提高较小,低于40%,且菌种数量无明显变化;当其浓度为0.50~1.00 g·L-1时,体系的脱氯速率由0.31μmol·h-1提高到0.77μmol·h-1,体系的脱氯速率提高了60%,部分DGGE条带消失,多样性减少.TEM结果显示,产乙烯脱卤拟球菌在与纳米Fe0粒子接触部位有轻度破损,但细胞没有破裂.纳米Fe0粒子浓度较高时对产乙烯脱卤菌群的脱氯有明显的促进作用,但会使产乙烯脱卤菌群物种多样性减少.