Characterization of personal exposure concentration of fine particles for adults and children exposed to high ambient concentrations in Beijing, China

In China, the health risk from overexposure to particles is becoming an important public health concern. To investigate daily exposure characteristics to PM 2.5 with high ambient concentration in urban area, a personal exposure study was conducted for school children, and office workers in Beijing, China. For all participants (N = 114), the mean personal 24-hr exposure concentration was 102.5, 14.7, 0.093, 0.528, 0.934, 0.174 and 0.703 μg/m 3 for PM 2.5 , black carbon, Mn, Al, Ca, Pb, and Fe. Children's exposure concentrations of PM 2.5 were 4-5 times higher than those in related studies. The ambient concentration of PM 2.5 (128.5 μg/m 3 ) was significantly higher than the personal exposure concentration (P 0.05), and exceed the reference concentration (25 μg/m 3 ) of WHO air quality guideline. Good correlation relationships and significant differences were identified between ambient concentration and personal exposure concentration. The relationships indicate that the ambient concentration is the main factor influencing personal exposure concentration, but is not a good indicator of personal exposure concentration. Outdoor activities (commute mode, exposure to heating, workday or weekend travel) influenced personal exposure concentrations significantly, but the magnitude of the influence from indoor activities (exposure to cooking) was masked by the high ambient concentrations.     

重庆主城区流域邻苯二甲酸酯生态风险评价

以长江、嘉陵江重庆主城区段为研究水域,利用Agilent6890N气相色谱仪对丰水期该研究水域12个采样点水体中五种邻苯二甲酸酯（PAEs）含量进行测定,分析了PAEs在该区域水体中丰水期的分布特征并进行了生态安全评价。结果表明：丰水期水体中∑PAEs的浓度范围为0.87μg/L-55.66μg/L;DBP与DEHP为优先污染物,其浓度范围在0.15μg/L-28.32μg/L与0.26μg/L-26.29μg/L;按商值法对PAEs进行生态安全评价,DMP、DEP对该水域中水生动植物无生态风险,DBP和DEHP存在潜在低风险。     

Integrating Stressor and Response Monitoring into a Resource-Based Water-Quality Assessment Framework

Following a global trend, the new policy goals emphasize the need to protect rather than to use the ability of ecosystems to recover from disturbances. This necessitates the adoption of response measurements to quantify ecological condition and monitor ecological change. Response monitoring focuses on properties that are essential to the sustainability of the ecosystem. These monitoring tools can be used to establish natural ranges of ecological change within ecosystems, as well as to quantify conceptually acceptable and unacceptable ranges of change. Through a framework of biological criteria and biological impairment standards, the results of response monitoring can become an integral part of future water resource management strategies in South Africa.     

防治油气集输过程中烃类污染的主要途径

烃类是油气田主要的大气污染物,主要来源于油气集输过程中的烃类损耗。降低烃类损耗,回收挥发气体,是减少大气污染的重要途径。孤东油田应用大罐抽气、原油稳定、轻烃回收等工艺对烃类进行回收治理,文章介绍了使用的工艺系统,分析了治理技术的经济效益,得出结论：采用大罐抽气、原油稳定和轻烃回收技术防治油气田烃类污染是可行的,技术成熟,工艺较简单,投资少,见效快,效益明显。在油气田全面推广应用,可以大大降低油气田的烃类污染负荷     

稠油热采污水回用锅炉给水处理工艺研究

采用生物接触氧化-超滤-反渗透集成工艺处理稠油热采污水,出水作为试验区稠油注蒸汽热采高压锅炉给水。运行结果表明:出水各项指标均达到试验区注汽锅炉给水水质要求,实现了稠油污水的资源化循环利用。     

Simulating dynamics of managed monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest in south China

The forest succession model FORDYN is developed based on TREEDEV model. TREEDEV is a process-based tree growth model, that calculates tree growth based on carbon and nitrogen balance, and is calculated using on the photo-production of leaves, respiration, nitrogen content of all organisms and that in soil, and other losses due to respiration, litter and renewal of stems, branches, leaves and roots. In the FORDYN model succession is divided into three phases called early, middle and late succession, and the transition between these three succession phases is distinguished by a difference in leaf area index. As a verification of the model we used the characteristics and available data of a monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest in Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve (DHS-BR). The model was validated with natural forest data. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed in which 30 independent variables were varied and analyzed in connection with their influence on 16 dependent variables describing forest conditions. The simulation results describe the changes in total biomass, carbon and nitrogen change in plant–litter–soil system of an undisturbed monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest during succession. We compared these findings with simulation in which different logging management strategies were used. The results show that having a longer logging cycle, delaying the first logging time and a smaller logging fraction the scenario can contribute to a sustainable forest development, while still having a positive economic yield.     

Seasonal decline in reproductive performance varies with colony size in the fairy martin, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Petrochelidon ariel</Emphasis>

Reproductive success within populations often varies with the timing of breeding, typically declining over the season. This variation is usually attributed to seasonal changes in resource availability and/or differences in the quality or experience of breeders. In colonial species, the timing of breeding may be of particular importance because the costs and benefits of colonial breeding are likely to vary over the season and also with colony size. In this study, we examine the relationship between timing of breeding and reproductive performance (clutch size and nest success) both within and between variable sized colonies (n = 18) of fairy martins, Petrochelidon ariel. In four of these colonies, we also experimentally delayed laying in selected nests to disentangle the effects of laying date and individual quality/experience on reproductive success. Within colonies, later laying birds produced smaller clutches, but only in larger colonies. The general seasonal decline in nest success was also more pronounced in larger colonies. Late laying birds were generally smaller than earlier laying birds, but morphological differences were also related to colony size, suggesting optimal colony size also varies with phenotype. Experimentally delayed clutches were larger than concurrently produced non-delayed clutches, but only in larger colonies. Similarly, delayed clutches were more likely to produce fledglings, particularly later in the season and in larger colonies. We suggest that the reduced performance of late breeding pairs in larger colonies resulted primarily from inexperienced/low quality birds preferring to settle in larger colonies, possibly exacerbated by an increase in the costs of coloniality (e.g., resource depletion and ectoparasite infestations) with date and colony size. These findings highlight the importance of phenotype-related differences in settlement decisions and reproductive performance to an improved understanding of colonial breeding and variation in colony size.     

Evaluation of soil fertility using infrared spectroscopy: a review

Soil fertility is conventionally evaluated by soil properties such as C, N, and P contents. Evaluation of soil fertility is now becoming a routine work for soil management and crop production. However, laboratory-analysis based determination of soil properties is time and cost consuming, which is not suitable for precision agriculture. Here, infrared spectroscopy (IR) appears as an alternative and fast technique to measure soil fertility. The IR transmission method is generally used in soil qualitative analysis, while the IR reflectance can be used in soil quantitative analysis, and most of soil-related research is focused on reflectance spectroscopy. Infrared reflectance spectra, including diffuse reflectance spectra and total attenuated reflectance spectra, are involved in soil quantitative analysis. We observe an excellent performance of predicting soil C and N contents using IR spectra. Moreover, in most of cases the predictions of the contents of soil P, K, Ca, Mg, S, and some other microelements are satisfactory. Soil water, soil clays, and soil microbes can also be characterized and evaluated using IR spectroscopy. In recent years, a new method named infrared photoacoustic spectra was applied in soil analysis. Infrared-photoacoustic spectra is indeed more convenient for sample pretreatment and spectra recording, and the recorded soil spectra contain more useful information versus conventional reflectance spectroscopy. Though currently the application of infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy in soil analysis is limited, it appears promising to measure soil fertility. The application of infrared spectroscopy in soil fertility is largely dependent on spectra pretreatment and multivariate calibration due to strong interferences in the spectra. Partial least square (PLS) and artificial neural network (ANN) are two widely used mathematical tools in the prediction of soil properties, and more mathematical tools combined models will benefit the prediction performance. To make full use of soil infrared spectra, soil spectra library construction is needed in future, and a standard procedure should be first decided in the construction. Based on soil infrared spectra library soil fertility can be fast evaluated combining suitable mathematical model, which will play an important role in the sustainable agriculture.     

城市大气颗粒物毒性效应及机制的研究进展

大气颗粒物（PM）严重影响人体的健康,其与人类多种疾病的发生存在着明显的暴露-效应关系.本文简述了大气颗粒物的组分和来源,从大气颗粒物的呼吸系统毒性、心血管毒性、免疫毒性、神经毒性、遗传毒性等方面,系统地阐述了其对人体健康的危害,并对大气颗粒物的毒性机制进行了总结和讨论,指出了目前相关研究中存在的问题,展望了该领域的研究趋势,为后续研究和控制大气颗粒物的健康危害提供相应的科学参考依据.     

Higher nitrates, P and lower pH in soils under medicinal plants versus crop plants

This report shows a higher soil quality under medicinal plants versus food-crop plants. Long-term continuous cultivation of food crops induces changes of soil properties that can lead to fertility loss and, in turn, decline of food productivity. Effect of cropping on soil changes has been studied mainly for food crops and vegetables worldwide, whereas soil changes in herbal fields are scarcely known. Therefore, we compared here soil nutrients and soil chemical properties of herbal fields, cultivated with Chinese medicinal plants, and food-crop fields. Fields are located at the famous traditional planting base of Chinese medicinal plants in Anguo, China. The results showed that in herbal fields, soil nitrate, available P, soil organic matter (SOM), and electrical conductivity decreased with soil depth, whereas soil pH and soil water content increased with depth. In herbal fields, soil nitrate, available P contents, and soil electrical conductivity were higher than those of food-crop fields at various soil layers. SOM and soil water content were similar in herbal and food-crop fields. Soil pH of herbal fields at 0–20 cm was lower than those of food-crop fields. Findings show overall that soil nutrient accumulation and changes under medicinal plants are higher than food-crop fields.