Does the metal content in soil around a pregnant woman’s home increase the risk of low birth weight for her infant?

Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with a number of maternal environmental exposures during pregnancy. This study explored the association between soil metal concentrations around the home where the mother lived during pregnancy and the outcome of LBW. We used a retrospective cohort of 9,920 mother–child pairs who were insured by Medicaid during pregnancy and lived in ten residential areas, where we conducted soil sampling. We used a grid that overlaid the residential areas and collected soil samples at the grid intersections. The soil was analyzed for the concentration of eight metals [arsenic (As), barium (Ba), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and mercury (Hg)], and we then used Bayesian Kriging to estimate the concentration at the actual maternal addresses, since we had the GIS coordinates of the homes. We used generalized additive modeling, because the metal concentrations had nonlinear associations with LBW, to develop the best fitting multivariable model for estimating the risk of LBW. The final model showed significant associations for female infants, maternal smoking during pregnancy, non-white mothers, Cu, and As with LBW. The As variable was nonlinear in relation to LBW, and the association between higher concentrations of As with LBW was strong (p = 0.002). We identified a statistically significant association between soil concentrations of arsenic around the home of pregnant women and an increased risk of LBW for her infant.     

双齿许水蚤(Pseudodiaptomus dubia)对亚热带虾池Cu和Zn富集的研究

重金属污染是对虾养殖环境主要污染现象之一,查明重金属在环境中的迁移规律对养殖水质调控和对虾健康养殖具有重要意义。本文采用火焰原子吸收分光光度计测定在不同暴露时间下双齿许水蚤(Pseudodiaptomus dubia) 对Cu和Zn的富集量,研究了双齿许水蚤对Cu和Zn富集动力学,并探讨了温度和盐度对其富集的影响。结果表明：双齿许水蚤对Cu和Zn的富集过程均经历了快速、慢速和平衡3个阶段,实验24 h达到富集平衡;双齿许水蚤对Cu和Zn的富集动力学参数k_1(Cu)=0.077 < k_1(Zn)=0.272,BCF_(Cu)=0.344 < BCF_(Zn)=2.252,双齿许水蚤对Zn的富集速率和富集能力均大于Cu。温度对双齿许水蚤Cu和Zn富集的影响显著(p <0.05),最适温度范围为15~30 ℃;盐度对双齿许水蚤Zn富集的影响极显著(p <0.01),而对Cu富集的影响不显著(p >0.05),对Cu和Zn适宜的富集盐度范围为5~35。这些研究结果表明,双齿许水蚤对Cu和Zn均具有较强的富集能力。基于以上研究结果,在对虾养殖期间,应通过循环过滤设施去除受到重金属污染池塘中的浮游动物,从而减少幼虾对其摄食和量度体重金属的积累,降低食品安全隐患。     

产纤维素酶菌株的选育分析及发酵工艺优化

对实验室6株产纤维素酶菌株进行酶活特性研究.首先通过观察纤维素平板的酶溶解透明圈大小进行初步分析,比较6株菌种子发酵液中纤维素酶含量.再根据不同种纤维素酶作用的底物化学键的不同,分别测定菌株的滤纸酶活(FPA)、纤维素内切葡聚糖酶(CMCase)活、纤维素外切葡聚糖酶(CBH)活和β-葡萄糖苷酶酶活,发现菌株中黑曲霉的各产酶指标均高于其它菌株.根据Box-Behnken原理对黑曲霉发酵工艺进行优化设计,得到最适碳源稻草粉含量9.47 g.L-1、麸皮含量49.33 g.L-1,氮源中(NH4)2SO4含量为2.0 g.L-1,发酵后黑曲霉产生的滤纸酶活力达到76.72 U.mL-1,比优化前酶活力提高88.69%.     

采用零价铁-缓释碳修复氯代烃污染地下水的中试研究

针对受氯代烃污染的地下含水层,采用零价铁-缓释碳技术进行修复中试研究。中试期间,向地下9～18 m受氯代烃污染的含水层(体积900 m3)注入7 200 kg零价铁-缓释碳药剂。对地下水中污染物进行定期监测,结果显示:零价铁-缓释碳技术可以高效地将地下含水层中的氯代烃污染物脱氯降解。其中1,2-二氯乙烷的去除率达99.90%以上,1,1-二氯乙烷的去除率达86.00%以上,氯仿的去除率达98.00%以上。在零价铁-缓释碳还原体系存在的条件下,1,2-二氯乙烷、1,1-二氯乙烷和氯仿三种污染物的半衰期分别为46,115,70 d。研究证明:零价铁-缓释碳技术可以高效地修复被氯代烃污染的地下含水层,并且修复期较短,对氯代烃类污染场地地下水的修复有重要的实用价值。     

复合矿物吸附剂处理模拟含油废水性能研究

采用共混合法制备复合矿物吸附剂,通过矿物粉末对模拟含油废水COD的去除效果及复合矿物吸附剂质量散失率确定其组分的最佳配比。考察了吸附时间、振荡速率、废水pH、吸附剂用量等因素对模拟含油废水COD去除效果的影响。结果表明:制备复合矿物吸附剂最佳焙烧温度为600℃,最佳焙烧时间3 h,对模拟含油废水中COD的去除率可达90%以上。     

Associations between soil lead concentrations and populations by race/ethnicity and income-to-poverty ratio in urban and rural areas

Lead (Pb) is a well-studied environmental contaminant that has many negative health effects, especially for children. Both racial/ethnic and income disparities have been documented with respect to exposure to Pb in soils. The objectives of this study were to assess whether soil Pb concentrations in rural and urban areas of South Carolina USA, previously identified as having clusters of intellectual disabilities (ID) in children, were positively associated with populations of minority and low-income individuals and children (≤6 years of age). Surface soils from two rural and two urban areas with identified clusters of ID were analyzed for Pb and concentrations were spatially interpolated using inverse distance weighted analysis. Population race/ethnicity and income-to-poverty ratio (ITPR) from United States Census 2000 block group data were aerially interpolated by block group within each area. Urban areas had significantly higher concentrations of Pb than rural areas. Significant positive associations between black, non-Hispanic Latino, individuals and children ≤6 years of age and mean estimated Pb concentrations were observed in both urban (r = 0.38, p = 0.0007) and rural (r = 0.53, p = 0.04) areas. Significant positive associations also were observed between individuals and children with an ITPR < 1.00 and Pb concentrations, though primarily in urban areas. Racial/ethnic minorities and low ITPR individuals, including children, may be at elevated risk for exposure to Pb in soils.     

Environmental and energy-related challenges to sustainable tourism in the United States and China

This article examines the relationship between tourism, energy, and environment. This article approaches tourism as a complex adaptive system composed of consumers, transportation providers, travel intermediaries, and destinations composed of multiple tourism-related companies and other stakeholder groups. Environmental and energy-related challenges of components to the system are examined as well as various units – the system as a whole, enterprises and individuals – within the system. A total of 92 peer-reviewed articles were studied that address ‘energy’ and ‘tourism’ published between 1974 and 2011. Also addressed are the impacts of social and cultural differences between the United States and China concerning responses to environmental and energy-related challenges. This article concludes with recommendations for addressing the challenges associated with such challenges, including building system capacity, technology development and adoption, support of individual behavior change, increasing understanding of the trade-offs and interactions within the system, and adoption of multidisciplinary approaches to these challenges within the tourism system.     

Space-time stick-breaking processes for small area disease cluster estimation

We propose a space-time stick-breaking process for the disease cluster estimation. The dependencies for spatial and temporal effects are introduced by using space-time covariate dependent kernel stick-breaking processes. We compared this model with the space-time standard random effect model by checking each model’s ability in terms of cluster detection of various shapes and sizes. This comparison was made for simulated data where the true risks were known. For the simulated data, we have observed that space-time stick-breaking process performs better in detecting medium- and high-risk clusters. For the real data, county specific low birth weight incidences for the state of South Carolina for the years 1997–2007, we have illustrated how the proposed model can be used to find grouping of counties of higher incidence rate.     

浙江省泥石流与降雨历时关系研究及应用检验

灾害发生与降雨关系的研究是泥石流预警预报研究的核心内容,传统的研究在影响泥石流发生的前期有效降雨历时的选择上存在较大的随意性和主观性。以浙江省已发生的193条泥石流为样本数据,基于降雨历时始算时间的三种定义,对泥石流发生与降雨历时之间的关系进行了统计分析,认为浙江省泥石流总体上与2 d短历时强降雨关系密切。其中,台风期泥石流主要由2 d降雨引发,影响泥石流发生的降雨历时一般不超过10 d;梅雨期泥石流主要由3 d降雨引发,影响泥石流发生的降雨历时一般不超过15 d。基于上述结论,进行了台风期泥石流临界雨量的计算,并选择"云娜"台风期间发生的18处沟谷泥石流作为检验样本进行检验,证明效果较为理想。     

外源渗透保护剂对活性污泥耐盐能力的影响

高盐分是导致很多工业废水生物处理效率下降的主要因素之一。探讨在生物处理系统中添加渗透保护剂提高活性污泥耐盐能力的可行性。结果表明:添加海藻糖、谷氨酸、甜菜碱和钾离子能提供有效的渗透保护作用,减轻盐分对污泥降解活性的抑制,其中以甜菜碱的渗透保护效果最好。对于未经盐分驯化的非耐盐污泥,当NaCl质量分数为3%时,添加20 mg/L的甜菜碱可使其耗氧速率从9.5 mg/h提高到29.5 mg/h;对于经过盐分驯化的耐盐污泥,当NaCl质量分数为6%时,添加50 mg/L的甜菜碱可使其耗氧速率从10.5 mg/h提高到24.9 mg/h。当生物处理系统受到瞬时盐分冲击时,活性污泥中的微生物细胞可以快速吸收添加的甜菜碱而平衡外界渗透压,从而缩短活性污泥对高盐环境的适应期,减轻盐分对活性污泥的毒害。