Shaping effects of rice,wheat, maize,and soybean seedlings on their rhizosphere microbial community

The rhizosphere microbiome plays critical roles in plant growth and is an important interface for resource exchange between plants and the soil environment. Crops at various growing stages, especially the seedling stage, have strong shaping effects on the rhizosphere microbial community, and such community reconstruction will positively feed back to the plant growth. In the present study, we analyzed the variations of bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere of four crop species: rice, soybean, maize, and wheat during successive cultivations (three repeats for the seedling stages) using 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) high-throughput sequencing. We found that the relative abundances of specific microorganisms decreased after different cultivation times, e.g., Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Rhodanobacter, and Caulobacter, which have been reported as plant-growth beneficial bacteria. The relative abundances of potential plant pathogenic fungi Myrothecium and Ascochyta increased with the successive cultivation times. The co-occurrence network analysis showed that the bacterial and fungal communities under maize were much more stable than those under rice, soybean, and wheat. The present study explored the characteristics of bacteria and fungi in crop seedling rhizosphere and indicated that the characteristics of indigenous soil flora might determine the plant growth status. Further study will focus on the use of the critical microorganisms to control the growth and yield of specific crops.

     

Solid phase extraction with pyrenebutyric acid-bonded silica for analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls in sewage water by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A solid phase extraction (SPE) method using pyrenebutyric acid-bonded silica (PYB) as sorbent was developed to determine 23 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sewage water by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Factors were optimized in SPE procedures including elution solvent, pH, and cartridge burden. The recoveries of 23 PCB congeners were 69.44-111.91% under optimized conditions. Comparisons were also conducted among PYB-SPE, C(18)-SPE and United States Environmental Protection Agency 608 (USEPA608) methods in the analysis of PCBs in sewage water samples. The results showed that the performance of PYB-SPE method was similar with USEPA608 method and better than C(18)-SPE method. Both PYB-SPE and USEPA608 methods were then employed to analyze PCBs in real spiked sewage water samples. The recoveries of PCB congeners determined by PYB-SPE method ranged from 70.6% to 92.4% in real spiked sewage water samples which were identified to be in accordance with USEPA608 method. Limits of detection (LOD) were in the range of 0.06-0.22ngL(-1) for PCB congeners. The optimized PYB-SPE method was successfully applied to the determination of PCBs in sewage water samples.     

不同共代谢基质下四氯乙烯厌氧生物降解研究

分别用葡萄糖、乳酸盐和醋酸盐作为驯化好的厌氧污泥的共代谢基质 ,对四氯乙烯 ( PCE)的降解进行研究。结果表明 ,PCE是通过还原脱氯发生生物降解的。实验的回归结果表明 ,反应均符合一级动力学方程 ;反应速率常数的大小依次为 k乳酸盐 >k葡萄糖 >k醋酸盐 ;以乳酸盐作为共代谢基质时 ,PCE的降解速率较快 ,在实验条件下乳酸盐是最合适的共代谢基质     

短程硝化的实现、维持与过程控制的研究现状

短程生物脱氮技术目前倍受人们的关注,国内外学者对短程硝化提出了多种实现及维持的控制途径,但仍存在着一些问题。由于活性污泥法中DO,ORP,pH的变化规律从不同角度不同程度地反映了生物脱氮反应的进程,所以用它们作为控制参数就可以对生物脱氮反应进行过程控制。在分析中,通过对国内外短程硝化控制途径的研究现状与发展趋势的分析和总结,针对目前在实现短程硝化及维持短程硝化各种途径中存在的问题,提出了通过在线检测DO,pH,ORP来实现与维持短程硝化的新思路。     

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans from food salt samples processed by heat treatment in Korea

Eight samples of processed food salt collected from five plants in Korea were analyzed for 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) using liquid-liquid extraction, clean-up procedures, and high resolution gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. The study included the analyses of two kinds of salt product sample: bamboo-salt and parched salt. The levels of toxic PCDD/Fs found in the salt product samples were extremely low: the results revealed TEQ levels ranging between the sub pg TEQ/g and sub fg TEQ/g. The differences in the TEQ values of toxic PCDD/F were observed between the salt product samples, which were treated with different frequency of baking using four different fuels (firewood, pine wood, pine resin, and indirect heating by gas) at temperatures from 300 to 2000 degrees C. In bamboo-salt samples, the concentrations and TEQ values of toxic PCDD/Fs ranged between 0.57-66 pg/g and 5.7x10(-5)-0.64 pg TEQ/g, respectively. PCDD/Fs levels in bamboo-salts baked by firewood were found to be higher than those baked by pinewood or pine resin. In parched salt samples, the concentrations and TEQ values of toxic PCDD/Fs ranged between 0.97-3.7 pg/g and 0.0097-0.017 pg TEQ/g, respectively. The data was discussed regarding the concentration and the distribution pattern of congeners.     

Progress in developing an ANN model for air pollution index forecast

An air pollution index (API) reporting system is introduced to selected cities of China for public communication on air quality data. Shanghai is the first city in China providing daily average API reports and forecasts. This paper describes the development of an artificial neural network (ANN) model for the API forecasting in Shanghai. It is a multiple layer perceptron (MLP) network, with meteorological forecasting data as the main input, to output the next day average API values. However, the initial version of the MLP model did not work well. To improve the model, a series of tests were conducted with respect to the training method and structure optimization. Based on the test results, the training algorithm was modified and a new model was built. The new model is now being used in Shanghai for API forecasting. Its performance is shown reasonably well in comparison with observation. The application of the old model was only weakly correlated with observation. In 1-year application, the correlation coefficients were 0.2314, 0.1022 and 0.1710 for TSP, SO₂ and NO_x, respectively. But for the new model, for over 8 months application, the correlation coefficients are raised to 0.6056, 0.6993 and 0.6300 for PM₁₀, SO₂, and NO₂. Further, the new algorithm does not rely on manpower intervention so that it is now being applied in several other Chinese cities with quite different meteorological conditions. The structure of the model and the application results are presented in this paper and also the problems to be further studied.     

东江流域水污染控制与水生态系统恢复技术与综合示范

归纳了水专项东江项目2008—2013年的主要研究成果:针对保护优质水源的国家需求,选择典型的东江流域开展前瞻性的水污染控制技术研发并进行工程示范,创建了由常规水质指标实时在线化,痕量污染物控制指标识别筛选全流域优化,生物毒性指标甄别多属性全程化等成套技术构成的水源流域水质风险识别技术体系;由各类工艺废水脱毒减害,同质污水区域集中强化处理,排水持续净化等成套技术构成的水环境风险控制工程技术体系;由水生物链各物种生长状况评级,生境恢复和物种受损关键环节恢复等成套技术构成的生态健康维护技术体系。集成以上3个技术体系形成成套的流域水环境风险控制技术体系集。基于上述技术创新提出了“控制风险、维护生态、保水甘甜、发展持续”的水源流域管理创新总体策略。研发的技术体系与策略在东江流域的示范与应用,实现了东江主干流水质常年优于Ⅱ类的污染控制目标。     

办公建筑夏季用能行为测试研究

建筑使用者热环境改善行为对建筑能耗具有重要影响。对杭州市某办公建筑开展夏季空调使用行为测试。较高的空调使用率以及空调设备对室内热环境的显著改善说明空调使用是该地区夏季采用的主要降温措施。采用逻辑回归构建出夏季空调开启率预测模型。根据所构建的夏季空调开启率预测模型,得出测试房间空调开启室外耐受温度为32.0℃。根据测试期间空调开启时刻温度,得出空调开启室内耐受温度为28.7℃。     

Feasibility of coupling a thermal/optical carbon analyzer to a quadrupole mass spectrometer for enhanced PM2.5 speciation

A thermal/optical carbon analyzer (TOA), normally used for quantification of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in PM_2.5 (fine particulate matter) speciation networks, was adapted to direct thermally evolved gases to an electron impact quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS), creating a TOA-QMS. This approach produces spectra similar to those obtained by the Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), but the ratios of the mass to charge (m/z) signals differ and must be remeasured using laboratory-generated standards. Linear relationships are found between TOA-QMS signals and ammonium (NH₄⁺), nitrate (NO₃^?), and sulfate (SO₄^2-) standards. For ambient samples, however, positive deviations are found for SO₄^2-, compensated by negative deviations for NO₃^?, at higher concentrations. This indicates the utility of mixed-compound standards for calibration or separate calibration curves for low and high ion concentrations. The sum of the QMS signals across all m/z after removal of the NH₄⁺, NO₃^?, and SO₄^2- signals was highly correlated with the carbon content of oxalic acid (C?H?O?) standards. For ambient samples, the OC derived from the TOA-QMS method was the same as the OC derived from the standard IMPROVE_A TOA method. This method has the potential to reduce complexity and costs for speciation networks, especially for highly polluted urban areas such as those in Asia and Africa.

Implications: Ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate can be quantified by the same thermal evolution analysis applied to organic and elemental carbon. This holds the potential to replace multiple parallel filter samples and separate laboratory analyses with a single filter and a single analysis to account for a large portion of the PM_2.5 mass concentration.     

Comparison on surface properties and desulfurization of MnO2 and pyrolusite blended activated carbon by steam activation

In this study, MnO₂ and pyrolusite were used as the catalysts to prepare modified activated carbon, that is, AC-Mn and AC-P, respectively, from coals by blending method and steam activation. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) results indicated that the AC-P had higher surface areas and micropore volumes than the AC-Mn with the same blending ratio. The relative contents of basic functional groups (i.e., C = O, π-π*) on AC-P were slightly lower than those on AC-Mn, while both contained the same main metal species, namely, MnO. The desulfurization results showed that with 3 wt% of blending ratio, AC-Mn3 and AC-P3 had higher sulfur capacities at 220 and 205 mg/g, respectively, which were much higher than for the blank one (149.6 mg/g). Moreover, the AC-P had relatively higher sulfur capacity than the AC-Mn with the same contents of Mn, which might be attributed to the existence of other metals in pyrolusite. After the desulfurization process, MnO were gradually transferred into MnSO₄, and the relative contents of basic functional groups decreased evidently for both AC-Mn3 and AC-P3. The results demonstrated that pyrolusite could be one good alternative to MnO₂ to prepare modified activated carbon for desulfurization.

Implications: MnO₂ and pyrolusite were used as the additives to prepare modified activated carbon from coals by a blending method and by steam activation, that is, AC-Mn and AC-P, respectively. The AC-P had higher surface areas and micropore volumes than the AC-Mn with the same blending ratio. The AC-Mn and AC-P had higher sulfur capacities than a blank one. Moreover, the AC-P had relatively higher sulfur capacity than the AC-Mn with the same contents of Mn. The results demonstrated that pyrolusite could be one good alternative to MnO₂ to prepare modified activated carbon for desulfurizatio.