Initiating automotive component reuse in Malaysia

As the production of local vehicles increases, the impact of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) wastes to the environment will also increase. ELVs recovery including reuse, remanufacture, and recycle apparently become a strategy in solving this environmental problem. This study identifies the existing conditions of automotive reuse in Malaysia by conducting some interviews in selected local automotive and automotive component manufacturers. Results from the interviews indicated that reuse of automotive components in newly manufactured vehicles has never been practiced by the selected companies. However, there is interest among respondents in developing automotive components for after-market reuse. Some strategies were proposed in this study to initiate automotive components reuse in the local automotive manufacturers including the establishment of the end-of-life directive, enhance research and development on design for reuse and increase reusability and economic benefits of reuse.     

Sugar receptor response of the food-canal taste sensilla in a nectar-feeding swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus

The feeding behavior in nectar-feeding insects is triggered by a sugar-receptor response in contact chemosensilla. The contact chemosensilla are distributed not only on tarsi and the outside of the proboscis but also on the inside of the food canal in Lepidoptera. Although the chemosensilla inside the food canal are assumed to detect sweet taste during the passage of nectar through the food canal, their electrophysiological function has received little attention. In the nectar-feeding Asian swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), we found 15- to 30-μm-long sensilla neatly lined up along the inside galea wall, which forms the food canal in the proboscis. The receptor neurons of these sensilla responded to sucrose. We hypothesized that starch and sucrose compete with each other for a taste receptor site on the sensilla. When we added starch and sucrose to the food-canal sensilla, the electrophysiological responses of food-canal sensilla were inhibited in parallel with the food-sucking behavior of the butterflies. These results suggest that the food-canal sensilla are involved in the behavioral control of nectar-sucking in this butterfly species.     

Foresty offsets in emissions trading systems: a link between systems?

An important aspect in the linking of different emissions trading schemes is the degree to which these systems allow (or ban) external offset project categories. The EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) currently allows the use of credits from energy and industry projects developed under the Kyoto Protocol’s Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) but excludes the use of carbon credits from forestry projects for compliance in the EU ETS. Forestry credits generated by the CDM have a limited lifetime and expire at the end of a project’s crediting period, or earlier if the carbon stock for which the credits have been issued ceases to exist. According to the recently adopted amendment of the EU ETS Directive forestry credits will remain to be excluded until 2020. The present article reviews how the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (Australia), the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (US) and the voluntary scheme of the Chicago Climate Exchange integrate forestry offsets into the respective system and how they deal with the risk of losing stored and credited biomass. By comparing the results of different scenarios this article shows how differences in the treatment of forestry offsets could impact the efforts to link various emission trading systems in future.

Effect of light supply on CO2 capture from atmosphere by Chlorella vulgaris and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the primary greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Consequently, emission reduction technologies will be needed to reduce CO₂ atmospheric concentration. Microalgae may have an important role in this context. They are photosynthetic microorganisms that are able to fix atmospheric CO₂ using solar energy with efficiency ten times higher than terrestrial plants. The objectives of this study were: (i) to analyse the effect of light supply on the growth of Chlorella vulgaris and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata; (ii) to assess the atmospheric CO₂ capture by these microalgae; and (iii) to determine the parameters of the Monod model that describe the influence of irradiance on the growth of the selected microalgae. Both microalgae presented higher growth rates with high irradiance values and discontinuous light supply. The continuous supply of light at the highest irradiance value was not beneficial for C. vulgaris due to photooxidation. Additionally, C. vulgaris achieved the highest CO₂ fixation rate with the value of 0.305 g-CO₂ L^?1 d^?1. The parameters of the Monod model demonstrated that C. vulgaris can achieve higher specific growth rates (and higher CO₂ fixation rates) if cultivated under higher irradiances than the studied values. The presented results showed that microalgal culture is a promising strategy for CO₂ capture from atmosphere.     

Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Hepatitis A Virus in Wastewaters in Tunisia

Hepatitis A causes substantial morbidity in both industrialized and non-industrialized countries and represents an important health problem in several southern Mediterranean countries. The objectives of the study were as follows: (a) to assess the occurrence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) in Tunisia through the monitoring of urban wastewaters collected at wastewater treatment plants (WTPs); (b) to characterize environmental strains; and (c) to estimate the viral load in raw and treated sewages, in order to evaluate the potential impact on superficial waters receiving discharges. A total of 150 raw and treated wastewaters were collected from three WTPs and analyzed by both qualitative (RT-PCR/nested) and quantitative (qRT-PCR) methods. Of these, 100 (66 %) were found to be positive for HAV by the qualitative assay: 68.3 % in influents and 64.7 % in effluents. The vast majority of HAV sequences belonged to sub-genotype IA, with 11 different strains detected found to be identical to clinical strains isolated from Tunisian patients with acute hepatitis. Five unique variants were also detected, not previously reported in clinical cases. Only two IB strains were found, confirming the rarity of this sub-genotype in this country. The results of the present study indicate a wide circulation of the pathogen in the population, most probably in the form of asymptomatic infections, a finding consistent with the classification of the country as having intermediate/high endemicity. Quantitative data showed high viral loads in influents (3.5E+05 genome copies/liter, mean value) as well as effluents (2.5E+05 genome copies/liter, mean value), suggesting that contaminated water could be a critical element in transmission.     

基于ARCGIS的安徽省地震应急快速反应系统

地震给人类带来了严重的灾害,建立地震应急快速反应系统能够使人们快速响应地震,快速组织有效的救援行动.本文介绍了利用GIS技术计算地震的影响范围,对地震造成的灾害进行评估,同时给出相应的救援建议.     

耐低温菌JH-9降解苯胺的动力学研究

研究耐低温菌JH-9在低温(10 ℃)条件下对不同初始ρ(苯胺)的生物降解情况,并采用反应动力学方程(Monod方程和Haldane方程)拟合其降解过程. 结果表明,菌株JH-9在低温下可降解苯胺,当菌体初始质量浓度一定时,苯胺降解率及平均降解速率主要与初始ρ(苯胺)有关. 初始ρ(苯胺)较低时(<550　mg/L),其在120 h内可完全降解,且平均降解速率随着初始ρ(苯胺)的增加而升高,菌体降解过程中没有出现苯胺毒性抑制作用,遵循Monod方程;当初始ρ(苯胺)较高时(>550　mg/L),苯胺降解率及降解速率均有所下降,由于初始ρ(苯胺)过高对菌体产生了抑制作用,其降解过程以基质抑制型的Haldane方程为主.      

铁对反硝化脱硫运行效能影响

研究基于Fe2+可以刺激硫酸盐还原菌的活性,氢气又可以作为电子供体促进反硝化脱氮理论,考察了铁粉对同步反硝化脱硫运行技能的影响.在混养(主)、自养和异养(辅)条件下对比加入铁粉前后各种底物的代谢规律,结果表明:混养条件下加入铁粉前后,硫化物去除率均在99％以上,硝酸盐和乙酸盐的去除率分别为80％,90％和88％,62％.铁粉不影响碳、氮、硫的同步脱除,而且可以强化硫酸盐还原作用和反硝化作用,却使硫化物的去除时间延长2倍.经分析得知,铁粉的加入可以提高自养菌群的活性,进而提供氢气这种更容易被自养菌利用的电子供体将硝酸盐还原为氮气,使硫化物剩余.而且,Fe和H2O发生化学反应生成的Fe2+和氢气均能提高硫酸盐还原菌的活性,硫酸盐还原菌群和自养菌群之间可能存在一定的共生关系,Fe的加入会破坏这种共生关系.     

The macro implications of a complete transformation of U.S. agricultural production to organic farming practices

A national interregional linear programming model of U.S. agriculture is used to evaluate and compare two conventional and three organic production alternatives. The objective is to estimate the effects on production, supply prices, land use, farm income, and export potential, of a complete transformation of U.S. agriculture to organic practices. Crop yields and production costs are estimated for 150 producing regions for seven crops under both conventional and organic methods. Results indicate that compared with conventional methods, widespread organic farming leads to a decrease in total production, lower export potential, higher supply prices, higher value of production, lower costs of production, and higher net farm income. The United States domestic crop demand can be met with organic methods, but would be more expensive. Some interregional shifts in crop production would also occur.