海洋酸化与重金属、有机污染物和人工纳米颗粒的联合毒性效应研究进展

由于大量人类活动的影响,大气CO_2浓度持续增加,其中约1/3被海洋吸收,导致表层海水pH值降低和碳酸盐平衡体系波动,即"海洋酸化"现象。污染物的海洋环境效应一直是全球环境科学领域研究的热点。在实际环境中,海洋酸化往往与污染物共同存在并作用于海洋生态系统,且海洋酸化极有可能改变污染物的海洋环境行为从而影响其毒性效应。但现有研究大多针对海洋酸化或者污染物单独作用下的毒性效应展开,对海洋酸化与污染物的联合毒性效应的研究不足、亟待加强。为此,综述了近年来海洋酸化与典型污染物(重金属、有机污染物)及新型污染物(人工纳米颗粒)的相关文献,重点阐述了海洋酸化对污染物环境行为的影响和海洋酸化与污染物对海洋生物的联合毒性效应,指出当前的研究不足,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

Climate variability and changes in the major cities of Bangladesh: observations,possible impacts and adaptation

High population density, inadequate infrastructure and low adaptive capacity have made the urban population of Bangladesh highly vulnerable to climate change. Trends in climate and climate-related extreme events in five major cities have been analyzed in this paper to decipher the variability and ongoing changes in urban Bangladesh. An analysis of 55 years (1958–2012) of daily rainfall and temperature data using nonparametric statistical methods shows a significant increase in annual and seasonal mean daily maximum and minimum temperatures in all five cities. A significant increase in climate-related extreme events, such as heavy rainfall events (>20 mm), hot days (>32 °C) and hot nights (>25 °C), is also observed. Climate model results suggest that these trends will continue through the twenty-first century. Vulnerability of urban livelihoods and physical structures to climate change is estimated by considering certainty and timing of impacts. It has been predicted that public health and urban infrastructures, viz. water and power supply, would be the imminent affected sectors in the urban areas of Bangladesh. Adaptation measures that can be adopted to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change are also discussed.     

Model-based analysis of urban settlement process in eco-sensitive area of developing country: a study with special reference to hills of an Indian city

Rapid and unplanned expansion of a city into its eco-sensitive areas like hills, wetlands, and forests is becoming a major concern, particularly in developing countries. Understanding the process and causes of such unplanned urban expansion is of paramount importance for framing sustainable urban development policies. This paper presents a modelling concept that relates urban settlement in such eco-sensitive areas with potential socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors. The model is applied to an Indian city Guwahati, which is experiencing serious environmental degradation due to unplanned urban settlement in its eco-sensitive hilly areas. While topographical and settlement data were derived using satellite data in GIS platform, all other necessary data were collected from relevant government organizations. On validation of the multi-linear regression model, the coefficient of determination and the root mean square error are obtained as 0.938 and 1.7, respectively. Model results show that geographical parameters are less influencing as compared to the other socio-economic and demographic factors. Sensitivity analysis of urban settlements in hills of Guwahati city carried out with respect to the considered factors reveals that land value and free space availability in the surrounding area of a hill are the most sensitive parameters. This indicates that city development plans should give more importance to outward spatial expansion in plain areas with regulated land value and zoning scheme to minimize unauthorized settlement in eco-sensitive hilly areas of Guwahati city.     

油田含油污泥处理处置技术发展及应用

介绍了油田含油污泥的特征、来源,以及国内外相关法规政策和标准规范的制定情况;分析了含油污泥处置技术的主要研究进展和应用现状;对我国油田含油污泥处理处置技术提出了发展建议。     

纳米Fe3O4/CeO2-H2O2非均相类Fenton体系对3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解

以浸渍法制备的新型纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2为催化剂,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯(3,4-DCBTE)为目标污染物,在Fe3O4/Ce O2-H2O2非均相类Fenton体系中对目标污染物的降解进行研究,考察催化剂的催化效果和温度、p H、H2O2投加量等因素对催化剂催化效果的影响.结果表明,以纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2作为催化剂的非均相类Fenton体系对3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的处理效果极佳;随着温度的升高,纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2的催化效果不断提高;在偏酸性环境中,p H越低催化效果越好,p H=2时反应去除效率可达96.67%;随着H2O2投加量的增加,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解效率先提高后降低,投加量为15 mg·L-1时去除效果最好可达99.47%;随着催化剂投加量的增加,同样出现了处理效果先升高后降低的现象,投加量为0.5 g·L-1时催化效果最好可达99.64%.在以纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2为催化剂的非均相类Fenton体系中,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解符合一级反应动力学,反应所需活化能较低只需30.26 k J·mol-1.     

Evaluating national hydrogen refueling infrastructure requirement and economic competitiveness of fuel cell electric long-haul trucks

This study explored the national hydrogen refueling infrastructure requirement along major United States (US) interstate highway corridors to support the deployment of fuel cell electric trucks (FCETs) for the national long-haul trucking fleet. Given the long-haul trucking shipment demand in 2025 projected by the Freight Analysis Framework, locations and capacities of hydrogen stations were identified for inter-zone freight flows, and the total daily refueling demand was estimated for intra-zone flows for each FAF zone. Based on the infrastructure deployment results, we conducted an economic feasibility analysis of FCETs by evaluating the total ownership cost. We found that when the FCET penetration is relatively high (e.g., 10% penetration), FCETs become more competitive in terms of fuel cost and idling cost and could be economic viable if the incremental vehicle cost is reduced to meet the near-term FCET technology cost targets and the liquefaction cost is reduced to an optimal case. We also observed that the station cost depends on regional factors, particularly regional demand, which is used to determine station capacity. Thus, one possible strategy for station roll-out is to have early investment in target regions where station costs are expected to be relatively low such as the Pacific and West South Central regions.

     

三峡工程蓄水运用期库区干流水质分析

分析了三峡库区蓄水前后（1998～2009年）干流水质的变化及原因。结果表明,同蓄水前相比,蓄水后库区干流水质变好,库区干流断面月度达标率均值由蓄水前的623%变为蓄水后的783%,库区干流超标污染物主要为高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅等。蓄水后水质时空分布出现新的特点,近坝水体悬浮物、浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅等可吸附污染物浓度显著降低。蓄水后年内悬浮物及浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷和铅浓度仍然是丰水期＞平、枯水期,但近坝水体不同水期间浓度差别比蓄水前明显减小。蓄水后,库区干流浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅浓度整体上表现为从库尾至库首沿程下降,尤以丰水期沿程下降最为突出。浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅浓度以上变化特征主要缘于库区水位抬高后,流速减小导致的澄清作用,即高锰酸盐指数所代表污染物、磷、铅等随泥沙发生了不同程度的沉降。蓄水前后清样高锰酸盐指数和总磷未发生明显变化,156 m蓄水后至今,清样铅浓度明显低于蓄水前。     

Integration and implementation of sustainable ICT-based education in developing countries: low-cost,en masse methodology in Kenya

The quality of education in Kenya’s public elementary schools has continued to drop, which is an ironic outcome in the wake of the introduction of tuition-exempt primary education. This removal of tuition costs led to a surge in primary education enrollment that overwhelmed the existing educational infrastructure. Overcapacity in classrooms led to frustrated teachers and mediocre delivery of content amid the overstretched resources and limited education budget. To remedy this situation, the government has begun introducing various information and communication technologies (ICTs) in schools to supplement current resources. This comes with mixed results. This paper aims to demonstrate effective strategies for integrating low-cost ICT-based materials in schools in developing countries through a community of practice. Three schools were used to illustrate integration of sustainable ICT-based education in a style of classroom characteristic in developing schools. Development and use of prerecorded DVD-based content was proposed as an effective solution. A comparative study was undertaken to evaluate the differences in student comprehension and educator delivery of education involving a digital, ICT-integrated classroom and a traditional, analog-type teaching method classroom to underscore the empirical evidence of the effectiveness of introducing a low-cost ICT-based program. This study also shows that teachers are better positioned to lead the design and development of appropriate and innovative materials. Furthermore, to cope with the immense amount of materials that need developing to correspond with the curriculum, it shows that with the emergence of a community of practice of teachers, many suitable low-cost materials can be developed. This takes place through an iterative collaboration as opposed to traditional top-down approaches, which have a proven record of failure.     

A salamander’s toxic arsenal: review of skin poison diversity and function in true salamanders,genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salamandra</Emphasis>

Terrestrial salamanders of the genus Salamandra represent one of the most prominent groups of amphibians. They are mainly distributed across Europe but also reach Northern Africa and the Near East. Members of the six currently accepted species have long been known to be poisonous; however, work on their toxins was mostly published in German language, and therefore, many nuances of these studies have remained hidden from the majority of herpetologists and toxinologists. Several Salamandra species are called fire salamanders due to their highly contrasted, black-yellow colouration which probably serves to deter predators, although thorough evidence for aposematism in Salamandra is still lacking. Salamandra skin toxins do not only represent a potent antipredator defence but may also have antimicrobial effects. A better understanding of this dual function of Salamandra skin secretions is of utmost importance in the face of the emergence of a fungal disease causing catastrophic declines of fire salamanders in Central Europe, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. In this review, we summarize the knowledge on Salamandra toxins, providing a list of the compounds so far isolated from their secretion and focusing on the bioactivity of the major compounds in Salamandra secretions, the steroidal alkaloids. We identify priorities for future research, including a screening of co-occurrence of steroidal alkaloids and tetrodotoxins in salamandrids, chemical characterization of already identified novel steroidal compounds, elucidation of the presence and role of peptides and proteins in the secretion, and experimental in vitro and in vivo study of the interactions between bioactive compounds in Salamandra skin secretions and cutaneous fungal and bacterial pathogens.     

Daytime light intensity affects seasonal timing via changes in the nocturnal melatonin levels

Daytime light intensity can affect the photoperiodic regulation of the reproductive cycle in birds. The actual way by which light intensity information is transduced is, however, unknown. We postulate that transduction of the light intensity information is mediated by changes in the pattern of melatonin secretion. This study, therefore, investigated the effects of high and low daytime light intensities on the daily melatonin rhythm of Afro-tropical stonechats (Saxicola torquata axillaris) in which seasonal changes in daytime light intensity act as a zeitgeber of the circannual rhythms controlling annual reproduction and molt. Stonechats were subjected to light conditions simulated as closely as possible to native conditions near the equator. Photoperiod was held constant at 12.25 h of light and 11.75 h of darkness per day. At intervals of 2.5 to 3.5 weeks, daytime light intensity was changed from bright (12,000 lux at one and 2,000 lux at the other perch) to dim (1,600 lux at one and 250 lux at the other perch) and back to the original bright light. Daily plasma melatonin profiles showed that they were linked with changes in daytime light intensity: Nighttime peak and total nocturnal levels were altered when transitions between light conditions were made, and these changes were significant when light intensity was changed from dim to bright. We suggest that daytime light intensity could affect seasonal timing via changes in melatonin profiles. Professor Dr. E. Gwinner died on 07 September 2004.