Increased risk of preterm delivery among people living near the three oil refineries in Taiwan

The petrochemical and petroleum industries are two of the main sources of industrial air pollution in Taiwan. Data used in this study concern outdoor air pollution and the health of individuals living in communities in close proximity to oil refinery plants. The prevalence of delivery of preterm birth infants was significantly higher in mothers living near the oil refinery plants than in control mothers in Taiwan. After controlling for several possible confounders (including maternal age, season, marital status, maternal education, and infant sex), the adjusted odds ratio was 1.14 (95% CI=1.01-1.28) for delivery of preterm infants for mothers living near oil refinery plants. These data provide further support for the hypothesis that air pollution can affect the outcome of pregnancies.     

武汉市都市发展区地表温度季节性空间分布与驱动力分析

基于2015年武汉市都市发展区30 m空间分辨率的Landsat 8遥感影像反演近地表温度(LST),运用地统计学、地理加权回归(GWR)等方法,分析都市发展区、生态绿楔以及主城区四季LST时空分布规律和各驱动因子的作用机制,以期为更全面、科学地规划城市发展空间布局和缓解热岛效应提供借鉴.结果 表明:(1)与单一的普通最小二乘回归(OLS)相比,线性逐步回归(LSR)可以寻找最优的多驱动因子组合模型,与LSR拟合的结果相比,GWR模型R2值提高了0.04～0.09,且AIC值均明显减小;(2) LST存在空间聚集关系,“高-高”聚集主要发生在主城区、新型城镇发展区、主要交通干线沿线等更容易造成高温聚集的人工表面,其中夏季“高-高”聚集网格数最多且占比最大,而“低-低”聚集四季均主要发生在各大湖泊水系;(3)绿楔生态用地降温幅度各异,春季降温幅度不明显,夏季降温幅度最显著,各绿楔生态用地降温均超过2℃,且在一定范围内,LST随着与绿楔距离增大而升高,达到一定距离时,会随着与绿楔距离增加而趋于平缓或呈下降趋势;(4)与前人研究相比,景观格局对LST变化的解释程度整体较低,其原因可能是快速城市化导致人工表面积增加,相应的人工绿地也将增加,使得城市景观格局更加零散,导致LST受多种相互作用因素的影响;(5)影响四季LST的驱动因子空间差异较大,夏季土地覆盖和景观格局与冬季土地覆盖、景观格局和人为活动的回归系数均为正值,说明高温或低温条件下这些驱动因子对全域升温作用明显.     

汉江流域土地利用/覆被变化的水文效应模拟研究

针对流域LUCC驱动因子众多、驱动因子与土地利用/覆被变化之间存在复杂的非线性动态关系的特点,以汉江上游流域LUCC模拟为例,构建基于人工神经网络（ANN）与元胞自动机（CA）的模拟土地利用/覆被变化的CA ANN耦合模型,并应用该模型预测汉江上游流域2020s年代的LUCC变化情景。结果表明：2020s汉江黄家港站上游流域水田、旱地、灌木林与建设用地面积均有不同程度的增加,其中建设用地增幅最大,与区域交通和城市化的迅猛发展趋势相符;除建设用地增幅变化较大之外,1980s～2000s与2000s～2020s两个时期其余土地利用/覆盖类型的面积变化率都比较相近,表明CA ANN耦合模型能够刻画土地利用/覆盖类型的转换规律,在流域土地利用/覆被变化的复杂非线性动态演变情景的模拟预测方面是可行的。在此基础上,应用SWAT分布式水文模型模拟汉江上游流域水文过程。研究结果表明：在1980s年代、2000s年代及预测的2020s年代LUCC情景下,汉江上游流域年平均径流量呈增加趋势,LUCC对径流量年内影响较汛期显著,多年平均蒸散发量呈增加趋势     

Fenton试剂-混凝法快速降解熄焦循环水中COD

以Fenton试剂氧化结合混凝法对焦化厂熄焦循环水COD进行快速去除实验,结果证明:当[Fe2+]/[H2O2]为1∶15,初始p H为3,30%H2O24.5 ml/100 ml废水时,反应90 min,COD去除率可达到90%,满足回用标准。但是,此时水的颜色较深,继续调节p H至7,加入Fe C13140 mg/L,PAM(聚丙烯酰胺)5 mg/L,搅拌5 min,静置30 min,COD去除率可达95.4%。Fenton-混凝对低浓度NH3-N几乎没有去除作用,CN-的去除率接近30%。整个处理过程中,有机物的种类和数量发生较大变化,Fenton氧化120 min后,混凝,污水基本接近无色,但仍含有单环芳香族化合物。     

Applying Statistical Causal Analyses to Agricultural Conservation: A Case Study Examining P Loss Impacts

Estimating the effect of agricultural conservation practices on reducing nutrient loss using observational data can be confounded by factors such as differing crop types and management practices. As we may not have the full knowledge of these confounding factors, conventional statistical meta‐analysis methods can be misleading. We discuss the use of two statistical causal analysis methods for quantifying the effects of water and soil conservation practices in reducing P loss from agricultural fields. With the propensity score method, a subset of data was used to form a treatment group and a control group with similar distributions of confounding factors. With the multilevel modeling method, data were stratified based on important confounding factors, and the conservation practice effect was evaluated for each stratum. Both methods resulted in similar estimates of the conservation practice effect (total P load reduction avg. ~70%). In addition, both methods show evidence of conservation practices reducing the incremental increase in total P export per unit increase in fertilizer application. These results are presented as examples of the types of outcomes provided by statistical causal analyses, not to provide definitive estimates of P loss reduction. The enhanced meta‐analysis methods presented within are applicable for improved assessment of agricultural practices and their effects and can be used for providing realistic parameter values for watershed‐scale modeling.     

Current status and historical variations of phthalate ester (PAE) contamination in the sediments from a large Chinese lake (Lake Chaohu)

The residual levels of phthalate esters (PAEs) in the surface and two core sediments from Lake Chaohu were measured with a gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer (GC–MS). The temporal–spatial distributions, compositions of PAEs, and their effecting factors were investigated. The results indicated that di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were three dominant PAE components in both the surface and core sediments. The residual level of total detected PAEs (∑PAEs) in the surface sediments (2.146?±?2.255 μg/g dw) was lower than that in the western core sediments (10.615?±?9.733 μg/g) and in the eastern core sediments (5.109?±?4.741 μg/g). The average content of ∑PAEs in the surface sediments from the inflow rivers (4.128?±?1.738 μg/g dw) was an order of magnitude higher than those from the lake (0.323?±?0.093 μg/g dw), and there were similar PAE compositions between the lake and inflow rivers. This finding means that there were important effects of PAE input from the inflow rivers on the compositions and distributions of PAEs in the surface sediments. An increasing trend was found for the residual levels of ΣPAEs, DnBP, and DIBP from the bottom to the surface in both the western and eastern core sediments. Increasing PAE usage with the population growth, urbanization, and industrial and agricultural development in Lake Chaohu watershed would result in the increasing production of PAEs and their resulting presence in the sediments. The significant positive relationships were also found between the PAE contents and the percentage of sand particles, as well as TOC contents in the sediment cores.     

Immobilization of fungal laccase onto a nonionic surfactant-modified clay material: application to PAH degradation

Nonionic surfactant-modified clay is a useful absorbent material that effectively removes hydrophobic organic compounds from soil/groundwater. We developed a novel material by applying an immobilized fungal laccase onto nonionic surfactant-modified clay. Low-water-solubility polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (naphthalene/phenanthrene) were degraded in the presence of this bioactive material. PAH degradation by free laccase was higher than degradation by immobilized laccase when the surfactant concentration was allowed to form micelles. PAH degradation by immobilized laccase on TX-100-modified clay was higher than on Brij35-modified clay. Strong laccase degradation of PAH can be maintained by adding surfactant monomers or micelles. The physical adsorption of nonionic surfactants onto clay plays an important role in PAH degradation by laccase, which can be explained by the structure and molecular interactions of the surfactant with the clay and enzyme. A system where laccase is immobilized onto TX-100-monomer-modified clay is a good candidate bioactive material for in situ PAHs bioremediation.     

Impact of land use changes on water quality in headwaters of the Three Gorges Reservoir

The assessment of spatial and temporal variation of water quality influenced by land use is necessary to manage the environment sustainably in basin scales. Understanding the correlations between land use and different formats of nonpoint source nutrients pollutants is a priority in order to assess pollutants loading and predicting the impact on surface water quality. Forest, upland, paddy field, and pasture are the dominant land use in the study area, and their land use pattern status has direct connection with nonpoint source (NPS) pollutant loading. In this study, two land use scenarios (1995 and 2010) were used to evaluate the impact of land use changes on NPS pollutants loading in basins upstream of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), using a calibrated and validated version of the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model. The Pengxi River is one of the largest tributaries of the Yangtze River upstream of the TGR, and the study area included the basins of the Dong and Puli Rivers, two major tributaries of the Pengxi River. The results indicated that the calibrated SWAT model could successfully reproduce the loading of NPS pollutants in the basins of the Dong and Puli Rivers. During the 16-year study period, the land use changed markedly with obvious increase of water body and construction. Average distance was used to measure relative distribution patterns of land use types to basin outlets. Forest was mainly distributed in upstream areas whereas other land use types, in particular, water bodies and construction areas were mainly distributed in downstream areas. The precipitation showed a non-significant influence on NPS pollutants loading; to the contrary, interaction between precipitation and land use were significant sources of variation. The different types of land use change were sensitive to NPS pollutants as well as land use pattern. The influence of background value of soil nutrient on NPS pollutants loading was evaluated in upland and paddy field. It was found that total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorous (TP) in upland were more sensitive to NPS pollutants loading than in paddy fields. The results of this study have implications for management of the TGR to reduce the loading of NPS pollutants into downstream water bodies.