浅析硫黄生产过程中的风险与对策

分析了硫黄生产过程的危险性,并针对生产过程中高压、有毒、易燃易爆、腐蚀的特点,提出了预防措施。     

地下水中污染物的迁移传输及排泄通量研究

以辽宁某化工污染场地为研究对象,结合场地调查结果,应用地下水模型系统软件(GMS)中的MODFLOW和RT3D模型,建立了地下水中污染物的数值模型,探讨其迁移传输及排泄通量。根据模拟结果,地下水中苯、二氯苯和三氯苯的污染羽约在20年后达到动态平衡,污染羽不再随时间变化,污染物的自然衰减速率与污染源释放速率达到平衡。排泄通量估算表明:地下水向河流排泄的量在20年时达到稳定,地下水中苯、二氯苯和三氯苯向河流的排泄通量分别为每天180 g、6 100 g和5.5 g。由于污染物会导致污染生态环境和健康风险,建议从控制污染源、实施污染源区修复和切断迁移传输途径等多种措施控制风险。     

论中国红十字会灾害应急体系建设

中国红十字会是中国整体灾害应急体系的重要组成部分,建立健全红十字会应急体系建设对备灾、应急工作至关重要。中国红十字会应急体系建设主要包括红十字会应急预案、应急物资储备系统、应急救援队伍、应急宣传培训与演练、信息传递系统等。红十字会应急体系建设也存在应急预案的不健全和缺乏针对性、物资储备系统有待健全、应急队伍建设有待加强、应急救护体系不协调等不足。本文从改革和健全红十字会应急预案、大力发展红十字应急组织、深入推进红十字会物资储备库建设、普及全民应急救护、健全红十字应急网络、学习西方国家经验等方面提出加强红十字会灾害应急工作的对策建议。     

昆明市主城区近年空气质量变化趋势与成因分析

根据昆明市2004-2013年空气自动站监测数据,对昆明市空气质量,污染物年际变化、季节变化、空间变化特征进行了研究。分析了影响昆明市空气质量的地理气象因素、污染排放因素、污染物远程输送因素。提出了相应的防治对策和建议。     

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.     

Genetic sex determination in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Astatotilapia calliptera</Emphasis>, a prototype species for the Lake Malawi cichlid radiation

East African cichlids display extensive variation in sex determination systems. The species Astatotilapia calliptera is one of the few cichlids that reside both in Lake Malawi and in surrounding waterways. A. calliptera is of interest in evolutionary studies as a putative immediate outgroup species for the Lake Malawi species flock and possibly as a prototype ancestor-like species for the radiation. Here, we use linkage mapping to test association of sex in A. calliptera with loci that have been previously associated with genetic sex determination in East African cichlid species. We identify a male heterogametic XY system segregating at linkage group (LG) 7 in an A. calliptera line that originated from Lake Malawi, at a locus previously shown to act as an XY sex determination system in multiple species of Lake Malawi cichlids. Significant association of genetic markers and sex produce a broad genetic interval of approximately 26 megabases (Mb) using the Nile tilapia genome to orient markers; however, we note that the marker with the strongest association with sex is near a gene that acts as a master sex determiner in other fish species. We demonstrate that alleles of the marker are perfectly associated with sex in Metriaclima mbenjii, a species from the rock-dwelling clade of Lake Malawi. While we do not rule out the possibility of other sex determination loci in A. calliptera, this study provides a foundation for fine mapping of the cichlid sex determination gene on LG7 and evolutionary context regarding the origin and persistence of the LG7 XY across diverse, rapidly evolving lineages.     

Females’ sampling strategy to comparatively evaluate prospective mates in the peacock blenny <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salaria pavo</Emphasis>

Emerging evidence suggests the occurrence of comparative decision-making processes in mate choice, questioning the traditional idea of female choice based on rules of absolute preference. In such a scenario, females are expected to use a typical best-of-n sampling strategy, being able to recall previous sampled males based on memory of their quality and location. Accordingly, the quality of preferred mate is expected to be unrelated to both the number and the sequence of female visits. We found support for these predictions in the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo, a fish where females have the opportunity to evaluate the attractiveness of many males in a short time period and in a restricted spatial range. Indeed, even considering the variability in preference among females, most of them returned to previous sampled males for further evaluations; thus, the preferred male did not represent the last one in the sequence of visited males. Moreover, there was no relationship between the attractiveness of the preferred male and the number of further visits assigned to the other males. Our results suggest the occurrence of a best-of-n mate sampling strategy in the peacock blenny.     

Postnatal nutrition influences male attractiveness and promotes plasticity in male mating preferences

Poor early-life nutrition could reduce adult reproductive success by negatively affecting traits linked to sexual attractiveness such as song complexity. If so, this might favor strategic mate choice, allowing males with less complex songs to tailor their mating tactics to maximize the reproductive benefits. However, this possibility has been ignored in theoretical and empirical studies. By manipulating the micronutrient content of the diet (e.g., low or high) during the postnatal period of male zebra finches, we show for the first time (1) that males reared on a poor (low) micronutrient diet had less complex songs as adults; (2) that these males, in contrast to the high micronutrient diet group, were more selective in their mating strategies, discriminating against those females most likely to reduce their clutch size when paired with males having less complex songs; and (3) that by following different mating strategies, males reared on the contrasting diets obtained similar reproductive benefits. These results suggest that early-life dietary conditions can induce multiple and long-lasting effects on male and female reproductive traits. Moreover, the results seem to reflect a previously unreported case of adaptive plasticity in mate choice in response to a nutritionally mediated reduction in sexual attractiveness.     

Zinc removal from synthetic waters using magnetite/graphene oxide composites

The removal of heavy metals from wastewater has become a global challenge, which demands the continuous study of efficient and low-cost treatment alternatives such as adsorption. In this research, the removal of zinc was evaluated using batch adsorption processes with nonconventional materials such as graphene oxide (GO), magnetite (MG), and their composites (GO:MG), formulated with three weight ratios (2:1, 1:1, and 1:2). Graphene was synthesized by the modified Marcano method, using pencil lead graphite as a precursor. MG and the composites were synthesized by chemical coprecipitation of ferrous sulfate and ferric chloride. The materials were characterized by Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method to determine the functional groups, microstructural and morphological characteristics, and specific surface area. Batch adsorption tests were carried out to optimize the adsorbent dose and contact time with zinc solutions of 10 ppm. Zinc adsorption reached equilibrium at 2 h, with an optimal dose between 0.25 and 1.0 g/L. The maximum zinc removal efficiencies/adsorption capacities were 98.6%/165.6, 83.4%/47.6, 83.5%/21.9, 72.8%/19.9, and 82.2%/9.25 mg/g using GO, 2GO:1MG, 1GO:1MG, 1GO:2MG, and MG, respectively. Furthermore, the analysis of the isotherm and adsorption kinetics models determined that the adsorption processes using MG and the composites fit the Sips and pseudo-second-order models.     

Biochar and cattle manure amendments improve the quality of green waste compost as growing substrate for Centaurea cyanus

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study aimed at investigating the impacts of different percentages of biochar (BC) (at 0, 15, and 25%; by vol.) and/or cattle manure (CM) (at...