Biogeochemical consequences of a changing Arctic shelf seafloor ecosystem

Unprecedented and dramatic transformations are occurring in the Arctic in response to climate change, but academic, public, and political discourse has disproportionately focussed on the most visible and direct aspects of change, including sea ice melt, permafrost thaw, the fate of charismatic megafauna, and the expansion of fisheries. Such narratives disregard the importance of less visible and indirect processes and, in particular, miss the substantive contribution of the shelf seafloor in regulating nutrients and sequestering carbon. Here, we summarise the biogeochemical functioning of the Arctic shelf seafloor before considering how climate change and regional adjustments to human activities may alter its biogeochemical and ecological dynamics, including ecosystem function, carbon burial, or nutrient recycling. We highlight the importance of the Arctic benthic system in mitigating climatic and anthropogenic change and, with a focus on the Barents Sea, offer some observations and our perspectives on future management and policy.     

The dynamic changes of arsenic biotransformation and bioaccumulation in muscle of freshwater food fish crucian carp during chronic dietborne exposure

Dietary uptake is the major way that inorganic arsenic (iAs) enters into benthic fish; however, the metabolic process of dietborne iAs in fish muscle following chronic exposure remains unclear. This was a 40-day study on chronic dietborne iAs [arsenite (AsIII) and arsenate (AsV)] exposure in the benthic freshwater food fish, the crucian carp (Carassius auratus), which determined the temporal profiles of iAs metabolism and toxicokinetics during exposure. We found that an adaptive response occurred in the fish body after iAs dietary exposure, which was associated with decreased As accumulation and increased As transformation into a non-toxic As form (arsenobetaine). The bioavailability of dietary AsIII was lower than that of AsV, probably because AsIII has a lower ability to pass through fish tissues. Dietary AsV exhibited a high potential for transformation into AsIII species, which then accumulated in fish muscle. The largely produced AsIII considered more toxic at the earlier stage of AsV exposure should attract sufficient attention to human exposure assessment. Therefore, the pristine As species and exposure duration had significant effects on As bioaccumulation and biotransformation in fish. The behavior determined for dietborne arsenic in food fish is crucial for not only arsenic ecotoxicology but also food safety.     

Diopside-based glass-ceramics from MSW fly ash and bottom ash

By utilising MSW fly ash from the Shanghai Yuqiao municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration plant as the main raw material, diopside-based glass-ceramics were successfully synthesized in the laboratory by combining SiO(2), MgO and Al(2)O(3) or bottom ash as conditioner of the chemical compositions and TiO(2) as the nucleation agent. The optimum procedure for the glass-ceramics is as follows: melting at 1500 degrees C for 30 min, nucleating at 730 degrees C for 90 min, and crystallization at 880 degrees C for 10h. It has been shown that the diopside-based glass-ceramics made from MSW fly ash have a strong fixing capacity for heavy metals such as lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) etc.     

Effects of the forced ventilation on composting of a solid olive-mill by-product ("alperujo") managed by mechanical turning

The evaluation of the most suitable aeration technology for olive-mill by-product "alperujo" (AL) composting was carried out by using two identical piles prepared by mixing AL with a bulking agent (fresh cow bedding) and a mature compost (as inoculant). Forced ventilation was employed in conjunction with mechanical turning in one of the piles, whereas only mechanical turning was used in the other pile. These two treatment methods were evaluated by assessing process efficiency and end-product quality. The results show that the composting process was completed in less time when forced ventilation was coupled with mechanical turning. A slight delay in the evolution of pH, C/N ratio, and biodegradation of fats and organic matter was observed when only turning was employed. However, the recommended method for composting AL was mechanical turning without forced ventilation since the composition of the end-product in this case was comparable to the composted AL using forced ventilation coupled with mechanical turning. Furthermore, there were substantial economic savings by selecting mechanical turning alone, which included capital costs for equipment.     

均相Fenton氧化-混凝法强化处理印染废水

采用均相Fenton氧化—混凝法对印染废水进行了强化处理。结果表明,该法特别适用于处理同时含有亲水性和疏水性染料的印染废水,处理过程充分发挥了均相Fenton氧化和混凝的协同作用,对废水中的水溶性有机物、胶粒和疏水性污染物均有较好的去除效果。在印染废水初始pH4.0左右,H2O2、FeSO4·7H2O和絮凝剂聚硅酸氯化铝(PASC)的加入量分别为3.6,1.8,8mL时,处理后废水的色度降到35,COD降到103mg/L,去除率分别高达95%和94.3%,脱色效果显著。     

脱除SO2活性炭的再生方法

分别用溶剂和气体对脱除SO2后失活的活性炭进行了再生。在固定床反应器上考察了再生后活性炭的脱硫性能。实验结果表明：用溶剂再生时,质量分数为60％的HNO3溶液的再生效果最好,活性炭的再生率达到80％以上。用气体再生时,400℃左右时的再生效果最好,活性炭的再生率达到70％以上。再生后活性炭的比表面积和pH是衡量活性炭再生效果的重要参数。在实际脱硫生产中,用H2O对失活活性炭进行反复洗涤再生,是一种经济、实用的方法,活性炭的再生率达60％以上。     

原料含水率及成型直径对秸秆成型燃料耐久性的影响

原料含水率及成型直径对秸秆成型燃料耐久性具有重要影响,通过试验发现含水率对秸秆固化成型(SDBF)技术的抗渗水性影响很显著,原料含水率10%～15%(质量分数,下同)范围内得到的SDBF渗水分解超过4 h;原料含水率也显著影响SDBF的抗跌碎性,含水率不大于15%的SDBF失重率一般不超过5%,能满足规模化技术的应用.对于HPB-成型机生产的SDBF,成型直径大的SDBF抗渗水性时间较长,随着成型直径减小抗渗水性时间减少,抗渗水性能降低.     

Using Relative Risk to Compare the Effects of Aquatic Stressors at a Regional Scale

The regional-scale importance of an aquatic stressor depends both on its regional extent (i.e., how widespread it is) and on the severity of its effects in ecosystems where it is found. Sample surveys, such as those developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), are designed to estimate and compare the extents, throughout a large region, of elevated conditions for various aquatic stressors. In this article, we propose relative risk as a complementary measure of the severity of each stressor’s effect on a response variable that characterizes aquatic ecological condition. Specifically, relative risk measures the strength of association between stressor and response variables that can be classified as either “good” (i.e., reference) or “poor” (i.e., different from reference). We present formulae for estimating relative risk and its confidence interval, adapted for the unequal sample inclusion probabilities employed in EMAP surveys. For a recent EMAP survey of streams in five Mid-Atlantic states, we estimated the relative extents of eight stressors as well as their relative risks to aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages, with assemblage condition measured by an index of biotic integrity (IBI). For example, a measure of excess sedimentation had a relative risk of 1.60 for macroinvertebrate IBI, with the meaning that poor IBI conditions were 1.6 times more likely to be found in streams having poor conditions of sedimentation than in streams having good sedimentation conditions. We show how stressor extent and relative risk estimates, viewed together, offer a compact and comprehensive assessment of the relative importances of multiple stressors.     

楚雄德胜钢铁公司烧结机尾除尘改造实践

介绍楚雄德胜钢铁公司19·6m2烧结机尾除尘系统改造工程中使用三电极电除尘器的工艺及有关设计技术问题,并根据使用效果进行分析总结。结果表明,在设计参数选择恰当的情况下,三电极电除尘器对烧结烟气有较好的除尘效果,这些经验和操作中存在的问题供烧结机尾除尘工程设计参考。