Mass transfer in the absorption of SO2 and NOx using aqueous euchlorine scrubbing solution

Attempts have been made to generate euchlorine gas by chlorate-chloride process and to utilize it further to clean up SO2 and NOx from the flue gas in a lab scale bubbling reactor.Preliminary experiments were carried out to determine the gas and liquid phase mass transfer coefficients and their correlation equations have been established.Simultaneous removal of SO2 and NOx from the simulated flue gas using aqueous euchlorine scrubbing solution has been investigated.Euchlorine oxidized NO into NO2 completely and the later subsequently absorbed into the scrubbing solution in the form of nitrate.SO2 removal efficiency of around 100% and NOx removal efficiency of around 72 % were achieved under optimized conditions.Mass balance has been confirmed by analyzing the sulfate, nitrate, euchlorine and chloride ion using ion chromatograph/auto-titrator and comparing it with their corresponding calculated values.     

Risk Assessment of Inbreeding and Outbreeding Depression in a Captive‐Breeding Program

Captive‐breeding programs can be implemented to preserve the genetic diversity of endangered populations such that the controlled release of captive‐bred individuals into the wild may promote recovery. A common difficulty, however, is that programs are founded with limited wild broodstock, and inbreeding can become increasingly difficult to avoid with successive generations in captivity. Program managers must choose between maintaining the genetic purity of populations, at the risk of inbreeding depression, or interbreeding populations, at the risk of outbreeding depression. We evaluate these relative risks in a captive‐breeding program for 3 endangered populations of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). In each of 2 years, we released juvenile F₁ and F₂ interpopulation hybrids, backcrosses, as well as inbred and noninbred within‐population crosstypes into 9 wild streams. Juvenile size and survival was quantified in each year. Few crosstype effects were observed, but interestingly, the relative fitness consequences of inbreeding and outbreeding varied from year to year. Temporal variation in environmental quality might have driven some of these annual differences, by exacerbating the importance of maternal effects on juvenile fitness in a year of low environmental quality and by affecting the severity of inbreeding depression differently in different years. Nonetheless, inbreeding was more consistently associated with a negative effect on fitness, whereas the consequences of outbreeding were less predictable. Considering the challenges associated with a sound risk assessment in the wild and given that the effect of inbreeding on fitness is relatively predictable, we suggest that risk can be weighted more strongly in terms of the probable outcome of outbreeding. Factors such as genetic similarities between populations and the number of generations in isolation can sometimes be used to assess outbreeding risk, in lieu of experimentation. Evaluación del Riesgo de Depresión por Endogamia y Exogamia en un Programa de Reproducción en Cautiverio     

Health Assessment of the 1985 Flood Disaster in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, during October 1985, tropical storm Isabel caused widespread flooding, landslides, and collapsing of bridges. A maximum of 180 persons died, including an estimated 127 at a landslide where the majority (78%) of deaths resulted from traumatic injury. Approximately 3,000 homes were damaged with 4,400 persons temporarily displaced into 44 shelters. A shelter surveillance system was established to monitor 19 acute and chronic conditions in 28 shelters during a 5-week period. Trend analysis trends of selected reportable communicable diseases in the general community revealed no changes attributable to the disaster in the 12 most severely affected municipalities. In these municipalities, the number of persons using the scheduled outpatient clinics after the disaster decreased significantly, but the mean daily number of emergency room visits did not show significant change. Analysis of surveillance data showed that no infectious disease outbreaks had occurred in the shelters. The post-impact health consequences resulting from this widespread flooding were minimal. Even so, disease surveillance remains essential for efficacious resource allocation and prevention strategies.     

Chytridiomycosis and Seasonal Mortality of Tropical Stream‐Associated Frogs 15 Years after Introduction of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Assessing the effects of diseases on wildlife populations can be difficult in the absence of observed mortalities, but it is crucial for threat assessment and conservation. We performed an intensive capture‐mark‐recapture study across seasons and years to investigate the effect of chytridiomycosis on demographics in 2 populations of the threatened common mist frog (Litoria rheocola) in the lowland wet tropics of Queensland, Australia. Infection prevalence was the best predictor for apparent survival probability in adult males and varied widely with season (0–65%). Infection prevalence was highest in winter months when monthly survival probabilities were low (approximately 70%). Populations at both sites exhibited very low annual survival probabilities (12–15%) but high recruitment (71–91%), which resulted in population growth rates that fluctuated seasonally. Our results suggest that even in the absence of observed mortalities and continued declines, and despite host–pathogen co‐existence for multiple host generations over almost 2 decades, chytridiomycosis continues to have substantial seasonally fluctuating population‐level effects on amphibian survival, which necessitates increased recruitment for population persistence. Similarly infected populations may thus be under continued threat from chytridiomycosis which may render them vulnerable to other threatening processes, particularly those affecting recruitment success. Quitridiomicosis y Mortalidad Estacional de Ranas Asociadas a Arroyos Tropicales Quince Años Después de la Introducción de Batrachochytrium dendrobatidisvsp     

Characteristics of indoor/outdoor PM2.5 and elemental components in generic urban, roadside and industrial plant areas of Guangzhou City, China

Quantitative information on mass concentrations and other characteristics, such as spatial distribution, seasonal variation, indoor/outdoor （I/O） ratio, correlations and sources, of indoor and outdoor PM2.5 and elemental components in Guangzhou City were provided. Mass concentration of PM2.5 and elemental components were determined by standard weight method and proton-induced X-ray emission （PIXE） method. 18 elements were detected, the results showed positive results. Average indoor and outdoor PM2.5 concentrations in nine sites were in the range of 67.7-74.5μg/m^3 for summer period, and 109.9-123.7 μg/m^3 for winter period, respectively. The sum of 18 elements average concentrations were 5362.6-5533.4 ng/m^3 for summer period, and 8416.8-8900.6 ng/m^3 for winter period, respectively. Average concentrations of PM2.5 and element components showed obvious spatial characteristic, that the concentrations in roadside area and in industrial plant area were higher than those in generic urban area. An obvious seasonal variation characteristic was found for PM2.5 and elemental components, that the concentrations in winter were higher than that in summer. The I/O ratio of PM2.5 and some elemental components presented larger than 1 sometimes. According to indoor/outdoor correlation of PM2.5 and element concentrations, it was found that there were often good relationships between indoor and outdoor concentrations. Enrichment factors were calculated to evaluate anthropogenic versus natural elements sources.     

生物壳体就位分析中存在的问题及研究进展

生物壳体碳酸盐的稳定氧、碳同位素已经被大量地应用在古气候、古环境研究中。几十年的研究取得了很多重大成果,但是在生物壳体的就位分析研究中仍存在以下几个主要问题:生物壳体氧、碳同位素的解释问题;生物壳体时间序列的确定问题;就位分析研究壳体剖面的选择问题等。解决这些问题对于利用生物壳体提取高分辨率的古气候环境信息至关重要。文章针对这些问题进行了论述,并介绍了国内外为解决这些问题出现的新的研究方法及其最新研究进展。     

MOVEMENT BEHAVIOUR OF MEDAKA (Oryzias latipes) IN RESPONSE TO SUBLETHAL TREATMENTS OF DIAZINON AND CHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY IN SEMI-NATURAL CONDITIONS

Behavioural changes of medaka (Oryzias latipes) treated with an anticholinesterase insecticide, diazinon (0.1 mg L^{- 1}), were continuously observed for 4 days in semi-natural conditions. Although variations occurred in individual specimens, the movement tracks appeared differently with typical short-range movement with irregular turns and shaking after the treatments. Eight movement patterns frequently observed before and after the treatments were selected, and the variables characterising the movement patterns were compared quantitatively. The variables were clearly differentiated when the movement patterns were correspondingly matched before and after the treatments (e.g., vertical movements, horizontal movements, etc). Meander and stop duration were highly different among the selected movement patterns. Additionally, different degree of toxic response behaviours could also be detected by quantitative characterisation of the variables. Response behaviour was confirmed with toxicological experiments that show the decrease in the acetylcholine esterase activity in the head and body of specimens. Quantitative investigations on the variables of the movement tracks suggested the usefulness of response behaviour as a monitoring tool for environmental assessment.     

Experimental and modeling study of de novo formation of PCDD/PCDF on MSW fly ash

The effect of sulfur dioxide （SO2） on the formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins （PCDDs） and polychlorinated dibenzofurans （PCDFs） has been studied in an entrained-flow reactor （EFR） under simulated waste combustion conditions. A chlorination model based on conditional probability was employed to evaluate the homologue patterns of PCDDs and PCDFs. Results revealed that the presence of SO2 did not alter the formation pathway although SO2 suppressed PCDD/F formation. The prediction model of PCDF showed good agreement with the experimental data （R--0.95）, whereas the prediction for PCDDs did not correlate well with the experimental data. This may be explained because potential chlorination pathways play a significant role in PCDF formation, whereas PCDDs are mainly formed through condensation reactions. Furthermore, the result indicated that the steric hindrance during formation has more effects on PCDD than on PCDF due to the symmetric molecular structures of PCDDs.     

Landfill leachate treatment in assisted landfill bioreactor

Landfill is the major disposal route of municipal solid waste（MSW） in most Asian countries. Leachate from landfill presents a strong wastewater that needs intensive treatment before discharge. Direct recycling was proposed as an effective alternative for leachate treatment by taking the landfill as a bioreactor. This process was proved not only considerably reducing the pollution potential of leachate, but also enhancing organic degradation in the landfill. However, as this paper shows, although direct leachate recycling was effective in landfilled MSW with low food waste fraction （3.5%, w/w）, it failed in MSW containing 54% food waste, as normally noted in Asian countries. The initial acid stuck would inhibit methanogenesis to build up, hence strong leachate was yielded from landfill to threaten the quality of receiving water body. We demonstrated the feasibility to use an assisted bioreactor landfill, with a well-decomposed refuse layer as ex-situ anaerobic digester to reducing COD loading in leachate. By doing so, the refuse in simulated landfill column （2.3 m high） could be stabilized in 30 weeks while the COD in leachate reduced by 95%（61000 mg/L to 3000 mg/L）. Meanwhile, the biogas production was considerably enhanced, signaling by the much greater amount and much higher methane content in the biogas.     

裂解温度对新疆棉秆生物炭物理化学性质的影响

生物质的裂解温度影响其所生产的生物炭炭的物理和化学性质,进而影响其田间应用效果。棉花秸秆是干旱区特别是新疆地区的主要农业生物质资源,其生物炭利用途径有望克服现有秸秆利用途径的不足,但对棉秆生物炭理化性质及其变化的认识还很缺乏。本文在不同的裂解温度下对新疆棉秆生物炭物理和化学性质进行研究,发现随着裂解温度的升高,生物炭的产率、阳离子交换量、O/C和H/C值降低,p H、电导和持水性能提高,Na+、K+趋势不明显,Cl-和SO2-4等盐碱化离子以及Ca~(2+)、Mg~(2+)营养元素含量随温度的升高降低;C、N、S、C/N和灰分等均提高,NH+4-N在550℃碳化条件下含量最高。因此在田间应用中,应针对土壤特点和解决的问题,调控碳化温度,从而达到趋利避害的目的。