A model to determine the lake nutrient standards for drinking water sources in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau Ecoregion, China

Lake eutrophication (LE) has become an increasingly severe environmental problem recently. However, there has been no nutrient standard established for LE control in many developing countries such as China. This study proposes a structural equation model to assist in the establishment of a lake nutrient standard for drinking water sources in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau Ecoregion (Yungui Ecoregion), China. The modeling results indicate that the most predictive indicator for designated use-attainment is total phosphorus (TP) (total effect =-0.43), and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) is recommended as the second important indicator (total effect =-0.41). The model is further used for estimating the probability of use-attainment associated with lake water as a drinking water source and various levels of candidate criteria (based on the reference conditions and the current environmental quality standards for surface water). It is found that these candidate criteria cannot satisfy the designated 100% use-attainment. To achieve the short-term target (85% attainment of the designated use), TP and Chl-a values ought to be less than 0.02 mg/L and 1.4 μg/L, respectively. When used as a long-term target (90% or greater attainment of the designated use), the TP and Chl-a values are suggested to be less than 0.018 mg/L and 1 μg/L, respectively.     

上海市农村富营养化河道生态修复工程研究

用食藻虫引导沉水植物生态修复工程技术对上海市临港新城果园镇里塘河道富营养化水体进行了工程治理和生态修复,辅以种植沉水植物,采取开放式生态修复和治理。每月水质跟踪检测结果表明:该工程治理方法具有显著生态修复效果,水质得到明显改善;COD_Mn、TN、TP在最低平均值时分别比生态修复前下降了60.67%、85.36%、88.74%;氨氮、亚硝态氮和叶绿素a在生态修复中的最低平均值分别为0.088 mg/L、0.024 mg/L和5.31 mg/m³;试验期间,修复区水体TN、TP、NO₂-N、NH₄-N和COD_Mn显著低于对照区,水体透明度（SD）平均为150～180 cm,水质达到国家Ⅱ～Ⅲ类地表水水质标准。     

An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of China’s Land Conversion Program on Farmers’ Income Growth and Labor Transfer

In this article, we hypothesize that in addition to participation status and household characteristics, the impact of China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program on income growth and labor transfer is determined by local economic conditions, program range, and political leadership, and the degree of impact on income may vary among different economic sectors. To test these propositions, we have compiled a panel data set of 600 households in three counties in the Loess Plateau region, with observations for times both prior to and after the program’s inception (1999 and 2006), for both aggregate and categorical incomes, and for both participating and non-participating households. Using a difference in differences model and repeated cross-sectional data, we find that participation status, local economic conditions, program extent, and political leadership indeed have significant impacts on household income and off-farm employment. Moreover, the effects of participation on crop production income, animal husbandry income, and off-farm income vary substantially. These results carry major policy implications in terms of how to improve the effectiveness and impact of ecological restoration efforts in and outside of China.     

Tracking Cryptosporidium in urban wastewater treatment plants in a cold region: Occurrence,species and infectivity

• Cryptosporidium in WWTPs in a cold region was investigated in different seasons. • The overall removal efficiency of Cryptosporidium in WWTPs was over 84%. • The infectivity rate declined below 53% in effluents mainly due to disinfection. • The infectivity of Cryptosporidium increased with a seasonal drop in temperature. • Low temperature promotes binding protein retention and virulence genes expression. This study investigated the occurrence, species, infectivity and removal efficiency of Cryptosporidium spp. across typical wastewater treatment train. Samples from different process units were collected seasonally and synchronously from four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Northeastern China. Live Cryptosporidium oocysts were identified in most samples from both influent (97.50%) and effluent (90.00%) wastewaters of the four WWTPs, at an average density of 26.34 and 4.15 oocysts/L, respectively. The overall removal efficiency was 84.25%, and oocysts were mainly removed (62.01%) by the modified secondary sedimentation process. Ten Cryptosporidium species were identified in the effluent samples. C. andersoni, C. bovis, and C. ryanae were the three most prevalent species. Oocyst viability assays indicated no reduction of excystation rate during the primary and secondary wastewater treatments (varied in the range of 63.08%–68.50%), but the excystation rate declined to 52.21% in the effluent after disinfection. Notably, the Cryptosporidium oocysts showed higher infection intensity in the cold season (winter and spring) than that in summer and autumn. The influences of environmental temperature on virulence factors of Cryptosporidium were further examined. It was observed that more extracellular secretory proteins were bound on the oocyst surface and several virulence genes were expressed relatively strongly at low temperatures, both of which could facilitate oocyst adhesion, invasion, and host immune evasion. This research is of considerable interest since it serves as an important step towards more accurate panoramic recognition of Cryptosporidium risk reduction in WWTPs, and especially highlights the potential health risk associated with Cryptosporidium in cold regions/seasons.     

Attribution assessment and projection of natural runoff change in the Yellow River Basin of China

Climate variability and human activities are two driving factors in the hydrological cycle. The analysis of river basin hydrological response to this change in the past and future is scientifically essential for the improvement of water resource and land management. Using a water balance model based on Fu’ equation, the attribution of climate variability and land-use/land-cover change (LUCC) for natural runoff decrease was quantitatively assessed in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). With five general circulation model (GCM) s’ output provided by The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP), future runoff in the context of climate change was projected. The results show that (1) compared with other distributed hydrological models, the water balance model in this study has fewer parameters and simpler calculation methods, thus having advantages in hydrological simulation and projection in large scale; (2) during the last 50 years, the annual precipitation and runoff have decreased, while the mean temperature has increased in the YRB. The decrease of natural runoff between natural period (1961 to 1985) and impacted period (1986 to 2011) could be attributed to 27.1–49.8 and 50.2–72.9% from climate variability and LUCC, respectively. As the LUCC is the major driving factor of the decrease in the upper and middle reaches of the YRB, policymakers could focus on water resources management. While climate variability makes more contribution in the middle and lower reaches of the YRB, it is essential to study the impact of future climate change on water resources under different climate change scenarios, for planning and management agencies; (3) temperature and precipitation in the YRB were predicted to increase under RCP4.5. It means that the YRB will become warmer and wetter in the future. If we assume the land-use/land-cover condition during 2011 to 2050 is the same as that during 1986 to 2011, future annual average natural runoff in the YRB will increase by 14.4 to 16.8%. However, future runoff will still be lower than the average value during 1961 to 1985. In other words, although future climate change will cause the increase of natural runoff in the YRB, the negative effect of underlying surface condition variation is stronger. It is necessary to promote the sustainable development and utilization of water resources and to enhance adaptation capacity so as to reduce the vulnerability of the water resources system to climate change and human activities.     

Determination and evaluation of hexavalent chromium in power plant coal combustion by-products and cost-effective environmental remediation solutions using acid mine drainage

The chromium species leaching from a coal combustion fly ash landfill has been characterized as well as a novel approach to treat leachates rich in hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), by using another natural waste by-product, acid mine drainage (AMD), has been investigated during this study. It is observed that as much as 8% (approximately 10 microg g(-1) in fly ash) of total chromium is converted to the Cr(VI) species during oxidative combustion of coal and remains in the resulting ash as a stable species, however, it is significantly mobile in water based leaching. Approximately 1.23 +/- 0.01 microg g(-1) of Cr(VI) was found in the landfill leachate from permanent deposits of aged fly ash. This study also confirmed the use of AMD, which often is in close proximity to coal combustion by-product landfills, is an extremely effective and economical remediation option for the elimination of hexavalent chromium in fly ash generated leachate. Speciated isotope dilution mass spectrometry (SIDMS), as described in EPA Method 6800, was used to analytically evaluate and validate the field application of the ferrous iron and chromate chemistry in the remediation of Cr(VI) runoff.     

微生物降解环境中含氯有机化合物的研究进展

本文从菌种、原理、方法以及动力学等几个方面概述了微生物降解含氯有机化合物的研究进展。     

燃煤电厂烟气脱硫主要工艺

简要介绍燃煤电厂烟气脱硫（FGD）的湿法，半干法，干法，可回收工艺和联合SO2／NOx工艺等五类主要工艺，并对我国烟气脱硫技术的进展进行了探讨，指出我国烟气脱硫技术的发展应走国产化的道路。     

二维水质模型横向扩散系数的人工神经网络模拟

将人工神经网络的理论和方法引入河流横向扩散系数的理论预测中，提出了基于BP人工神经网络的横向扩散系统预测模型，应用国内外河流的实测样本对模型进行训练与检验表明，该模型用于横向扩散系数的计算不仅可行而且精度较高，为河流横向扩散系数预测研究开辟了新途径。     

抽水对地壳形变观测影响的研究

抽水引起地面沉降问题早已引起世界各国的关注,是目前世界上许多取用地下水的国家共同面临的严重环境保护问题。我国地面沉降研究工作的开展已有10多年的历史,主要方法是利用沉降模型进行模拟推测,其弊端较多。由于缺少地下水水位和地面沉降的实际观测资料,难以进行细致的研究。蓟县地震台进行地形变监测已有十几年的历史,在长期的地形变观测中,不仅能监视到抽水引起地面倾角的地变化(经换算可得地面垂直方向的变化),还能监视地面因抽水引起地面水平方向的变化。为具体研究人工抽水与地壳形变的关系进行抽水实验。