Effects of green spaces on alleviating mortality attributable to PM2.5 in China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Increasing research suggested that green spaces are associated with many health benefits, but evidence for the quantitative relationship between green...     

Applicability of hybrid bionic optimization models with kernel-based extreme learning machine algorithm for predicting daily reference evapotranspiration: a case study in arid and semiarid regions,China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The accurate prediction of daily reference crop evapotranspiration (ETO) enables effective management decision-making for agricultural water...     

Application of improved seasonal GM(1,1) model based on HP filter for runoff prediction in Xiangjiang River

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Runoff forecasting is essential for the reasonable use of regional water resources, flood prevention, and mitigation, as well as the development of...     

DSCAM-AS1 promotes cervical carcinoma cell proliferation and invasion via sponging miR-338-3p

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Deregulated lncRNA DSCAM-AS1 expression was found in several tumors. However, mechanism and functional role of DSCAM-AS1 in cervical carcinoma remain...     

Disturbed boundaries extraction in coal–grain overlap areas with high groundwater levels using UAV-based visible and multispectral imagery

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - With high groundwater levels, coal–grain overlap areas (CGOAs) are vulnerable to subsidence and water logging during mining activities, thereby...     

Acute toxicity and genotoxicity of two novel pesticides on amphibian, Rana N. Hallowell

Imidacloprid [1-(6-chloro-3-pyridylmethyl)-N-nitro-imidazolidin-2-ylideneamine] and RH-5849 [2'-benzoyl-l'-tert-butylbenzoylhydrazinel] are two pesticides used in China since 1992. In the present study we conducted acute toxicity test, micronucleus (MN) test and comet assay of the two pesticides on amphibian, Rana N. Hallowell, a sensitive organism suitable for acting as the bio-indicator of aquatic and agricultural ecosystems. The values of LC50-48 h of imidacloprid were found to be 165 mg l(-1) for tadpoles of Rana limnocharis and 219 mg l(-1) for tadpoles of Rana N. Hallowell. On the other hand, RH-5849 showed no acute toxicity to tadpoles during the 96 h exposure even it was saturated in the test solutions. There were significant differences in the MN frequencies between the negative controls and the treated groups at the dose of 8 mg l(-1) for imidacloprid (p < 0.05) and 40 mg l(-1) for RH-5849 (p < 0.01). Comet assay found significant differences (p < 0.01) in the distributions of DNA damage grades between the negative controls and groups treated in vitro with 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 mg l(-1) of imidacloprid and 5, 25, 50 and 100 mg l(-1) of RH-5849, respectively. DNA damage scores increased with the exposure levels of the two pesticides and dose-effect relationships were observed for both imidacloprid (r2 = 0.92) and RH-5849 (r2 = 0.98). The MN test and comet assay revealed potential adverse effects of the two pesticides on DNA in the erythrocytes of amphibians in aquatic and agricultural ecosystems.     

Effects of four chlorobenzenes on serum sex steroids and hepatic microsome enzyme activities in crucian carp, Carassius auratus

Four chlorobenzenes (chlorobenzene, 1,3-dichlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, p-chloro-methylbenzene) were administrated to the crucian carps (Carassius auratus) by peritoneal injections in the laboratory for 30 days. Serum testosterone and 17 beta-estradiol concentrations were detected using radioimmunology assay (RIA), and the activities of two hepatic microsome enzymes, glutathione s-transferase (GST) and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGT), were measured using the modified methods as described by Habig and Owens. Results showed that the four chlorobenzenes caused significant increases in serum testosterone concentration in the crucian carps (P < 0.05) compared to the controls, but they caused no significant effect on 17 beta-estradiol level. All test chemicals caused a change in hepatic GST activity in crucian carps, with significant increases in enzyme activity (P < 0.05). Chlorobenzene, 1,3-dichlorobenzene and p-chloro-methylbenzene resulted in a marked inhibition to UDPGT activity in crucian carp (P < 0.05) except 1,4-dichlorobenzene. The changes in hepatic microsome enzyme activities may have resulted in the alterations of serum sex steroids levels in the crucian carps. The results indicated that these four chlorobenzenes may result in the changes of endocrine functions and may affect the reproductive success of this and other species.     

低浓度Pb2+、Cd2+对鲫鱼肝脏组织中 HSP70诱导的影响

以鲫鱼(Carassius auratus)作为实验对象,经过40 d Pb2+、Cd2+不同浓度的暴露后,运用SDS-PAGE和Western Blotting方法检测鱼肝脏组织内应激蛋白HSP70的诱导表达情况.结果表明,在实验浓度下,与对照组相比,Pb2+、Cd2+对鱼肝脏内HSP70有显著的诱导(P＜0.05),但在Cd2+浓度为0.2 mg/L有停止表达HSP70的现象,可能是由于浓度过高造成了组织病理损伤而破坏了诱导表达机制.实验还发现,在实验浓度低于国家渔业用水标准时,HSP70仍然表现为明显诱导(P＜0.05),充分说明运用分子生物学指标要比传统的环境检测指标敏感,具有对污染物早期预警的作用.     

Sorption of polar and nonpolar organic contaminants by oil-contaminated soil

Sorption of nonpolar (phenanthrene and butylate) and polar (atrazine and diuron) organic chemicals to oil-contaminated soil was examined to investigate oil effects on sorption of organic chemicals and to derive oil–water distribution coefficients (K_oil). The resulting oil-contaminated soil–water distribution coefficients (K_d) for phenanthrene demonstrated sorption-enhancing effects at both lower and higher oil concentrations (C_oil) but sorption-reducing (competitive) effects at intermediate C_oil (approximately 1 g kg⁻¹). Rationalization of the different dominant effects was attempted in terms of the relative aliphatic carbon content which determines the accessibility of the aromatic cores to phenanthrene. Little or no competitive effect occurred for butylate because its sorption was dominated by partitioning. For atrazine and diuron, the changes in K_d at C_oil above approximately 1 g kg⁻¹ were negligible, indicating that the presently investigated oil has little or no effect on the two tested compounds even though the polarity of the oil is much less than soil organic matter (SOM). Therefore, specific interactions with the active groups (aromatic and polar domains) are dominantly responsible for the sorption of polar sorbates, and thus their sorption is controlled by available sorption sites. This study showed that the oil has the potential to be a dominant sorptive phase for nonpolar pollutants when compared to SOM, but hardly so for polar compounds. The results may aid in a better understanding of the role of the aliphatic and aromatic domains in sorption of nonpolar and polar organic pollutants.     

Distribution and bioavailability of ceria nanoparticles in an aquatic ecosystem model

Along with the increasing utilization of engineered nanoparticles, there is a growing concern for the potential environmental and health effects of exposure to these newly designed materials. Understanding the behavior of nanoparticles in the environment is a basic need. The present study aims to investigate the distribution and fate of ceria nanoparticles in an aquatic system model which consists of sediments, water, hornworts, fish and snails, using a radiotracer technique. Concentrations of ceria in the samples at regular time intervals were measured. Ceria nanoparticles were readily removed from the water column and partitioned between different organisms. Both snail and fish have fast absorption and clearance abilities. Hornwort has the highest bioaccumulation factors. At the end of the experiment, sediments accumulated most of the nanoparticles with a recovery of 75.7 ± 27.3% of total ceria nanoparticles, suggesting that sediments are major sinks of ceria nanoparticles.