A modeling assessment of association between East Asian summer monsoon and fate/outflow of α-HCH in Northeast Asia

Using a dynamic numerical atmospheric transport model for organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), the relationship between the East Asian summer monsoon and the fate of α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH), a banned OCP, in the atmosphere over Northeast Asia was investigated and assessed. The modeled temporal and spatial patterns and variability of α-HCH air concentrations during the summer months of 2005 revealed a strong link between this chemical in the atmosphere over Northeast Asia and the East Asian summer monsoon. At lower atmospheric levels, easterly and southeasterly winds blowing from relatively cold ocean surface convey α-HCH air concentration from southeast China to northeast China. A monsoon front extending from southeast China to Japan, characterized by a strong wind convergence, carried the air concentration to a high elevation of the atmosphere where it was delivered by southerly monsoon flow to northern China and North Pacific Ocean. This summer monsoon associated northward atmospheric transport caused a reversal of the soil/air exchange from outgassing to net deposition during spring–summer period. The modeled wet deposition fluxes of α-HCH agreed well with the changes in the typical summer monsoon rain bands, designated as Meiyu in China, Changma in Korea, and Baiu in Japan. The major wet deposition flux paralleled with the monsoon front as well as the monsoon rain bands. The temporal change in the fluxes exhibits abrupt northward advances, which is associated with a stepwise northward and northeastward advance of the East Asian summer monsoon. The modeled α-HCH outflow in the atmosphere from China occurs mostly in the summer months and through northeast China, featured strongly by the evolution of the summer month. This study suggests that the East Asian summer monsoon provides a major atmospheric pathway and summer outflows to α-HCH over East Asia.     

An observational study of the HONO–NO2 coupling at an urban site in Guangzhou City,South China

The temporal behavior of HONO and NO₂ was investigated at an urban site in Guangzhou city, China, by means of a DOAS system during the Pearl River Delta 2006 intensive campaign from 10 to 24 July 2006. Within the whole measurement period, unexpected high HONO mixing ratios up to 2 ppb were observed even during the day. A nocturnal maximum concentration of about 8.43 ± 0.4 ppb was detected on the night of 24 July 2006. Combining the data simultaneously observed by different instruments, the coupling of HONO–NO₂ and the possible formation sources of HONO are discussed. During the measurement period, concentration ratios of HONO to NO₂ ranged from (0.03 ± 0.1) to (0.37 ± 0.09), which is significantly higher than previously reported values (0.01–0.1). Surprisingly, in most cases a strong daytime correlation between HONO and NO₂ was found, contrary to previous observations in China. Aerosol was found to have a minor impact on HONO formation during the whole measurement period. Using a pseudo steady state approach for interpreting the nocturnal conversion of NO₂ to HONO suggests a non-negligible role of the relative humidity for the heterogeneous HONO formation from NO₂.     

Concentrations,seasonal variations,and transport of carbonaceous aerosols at a remote Mountainous region in western China

Carbonaceous aerosol concentrations were determined for total suspended particle samples collected from Muztagh Ata Mountain in western China from December 2003 to February 2006. Elemental carbon (EC) varied from 0.004 to 0.174 μg m^?3 (average = 0.055 μg m^?3) while organic carbon (OC) ranged from 0.12 to 2.17 μg m^?3 and carbonate carbon (CC) from below detection to 3.57 μg m^?3. Overall, EC was the least abundant fraction of carbonaceous species, and the EC concentrations approached those in some remote polar areas, possibly representing a regional background. Low EC and OC concentrations occurred in winter and spring while high CC in spring and summer was presumably due to dust from the Taklimakan desert, China. OC/EC ratios averaged 10.0, and strong correlations between OC and EC in spring–winter suggest their cycles are coupled, but lower correlations in summer–autumn suggest influences from biogenic OC emissions and secondary OC formation. Trajectory analyses indicate that air transported from outside of China brings ～0.05 μg m^?3 EC, ～0.42 μg m^?3 OC, and ～0.10 μg m^?3 CC to the site, with higher levels coming from inside China. The observed EC was within the range of loadings estimated from a glacial ice core, and implications of EC-induced warming for regional climate and glacial ice dynamics are discussed.     

Improvement of the activity of anaerobic sludge by low-intensity ultrasound

This paper aims to study the enhancement effect of low-intensity ultrasound on anaerobic sludge activity and the efficiency of anaerobic wastewater treatment. Dehydrogenate activity (DHA) and the content of coenzyme F(420) were detected to indicate the change of activity of anaerobic sludge induced by ultrasound at 35 kHz. Single-factor and multiple-factor optimization experiments showed that the optimal ultrasonic intensity and irradiation period were 0.2 W/cm(2) and 10 min, respectively, and the biological activity was enhanced dramatically under the optimal condition. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was increased by ultrasonic treatment and the COD in the effluent was 30% lower than that of the control (without exposure). The hypothetical mechanism of biological activity enhancement by ultrasound was also discussed according to the results.     

Diversity of Soil Nematodes in Areas Polluted with Heavy Metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Lanzhou,China

This study investigated the soil nematode community structure along the Yellow River in the Lanzhou area of China, and analyzed the impact of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, and Zn) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the nematode community. Soil samples from five locations (named A–E), which were chosen for soil analysis, showed significant differences in their heavy metal content (p < 0.01), as well as in the variety of nematodes (up to 41 genera) and families (up to 20) that were present. The different samples also differed significantly in the total PAH content (p < 0.05), as well as the six types of PAH present. Sites A–C showed the most severe contamination with heavy metals and PAHs; these sites had the lowest abundance of fungivores and omnivore/predators, but the proportion of bacteriovores was the highest (p < 0.05). Site E, in contrast, showed only minor pollution with heavy metals and PAHs, and it contained the highest abundance of plant parasites (p < 0.05). Several nematode ecological indicators were found to correlate with concentration of soil pollutants at all the sites tested: the maturity index (MI, in addition to plant parasites), plant parasite index (PPI), ΣMI (including all the soil nematodes), Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′′), and Wasilewska index (WI). Disturbance to the soil environment was more severe when MI, ΣMI, and H′ values were lower. The results of the study show that the abundance and structure of the soil nematode communities in the sampling locations were strongly influenced by levels of heavy metals and PAHs in the soil. They also show that the diversity index H′ and the maturity index can be valuable tools for assessing the impact of pollutants on nematodes.     

Perfluorosulfonates and perfluorocarboxylates in snow and rain in Dalian,China

Samples of precipitation events (snow and rain) in Dalian, a typical coastal town in China, were analyzed for perfluorosulfonates (PFSAs) and perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs) to investigate atmospheric contamination by these compounds. In the snow event on December 16, 2006, samples were collected from 21 different sites and in another 6 precipitation events, samples were collected from a single location. Four PFSAs (C4, C6, C8, C10) and seven PFCAs (C6–12) were analyzed. Among the homologues, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) concentrations were the highest with a geometric mean (GM) of 145 ng/L (n = 21) during the snow event on December 16, 2006, followed by perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) with a GM of 24.7 ng/L (n = 21). Concentrations of perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and perfluoroheptanoate (PFHpA) were more than two orders of magnitude lower than that of PFOS. Other PFSAs and PFCAs were found to be below the limit of detection in all the samples. In other 6 precipitation events, PFSAs and PFCAs were detected approximately in the same order of magnitude in both snow and rain. The results indicate that wet deposition may be a potential transport mechanism of perfluorinated chemicals in the environment.     

The Sustainable Development of ICTs in China： An Empirical Study of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The wide application of new information and communication technologies （ICTs） has been argued to be critical to business success of small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs）, especially to those in the developing countries. Drawing upon existing literature, this article will examine the determinants of ICTs application in SMEs in China based on data collected from interviews with top managers and/or owners of 70 SMEs. We identify 20 factors affecting ICTs application in SMEs in China and divide them into four broad categories, namely pressures, firm specific factors, technical factors and local milieu. We also pay special attention to the Chinese business environment affecting ICTs application. Our analysis shows that local ICT infrastructure, external pressures from competitors and ICT knowledge of employees are the determinants of Internet application by SMEs, while product characteristics and market target are important factors of e-commerce adoption.     

China-Indian Silk Trade： Current Production and Future Prospects

As an important traditional labor-intensive industry of both India and China, the cocoon silk industry has long made great contributions to the ecological environment protection, rural economic development and the increase in export income of both countries. India is not only a very important cocoon silk trading partner, but an important production competitor of China. In recent years, there has been a large increase in the production and trade of the cocoon silk between China and India; however, China relies heavily on Indian market, which leads to a tendency of further deterioration in the silk trade environment between both countries. The present article makes an empirical study of the cocoon silk resources of the two countries and the scale, product mix and market structure of China-Indian silk trade from 2001 to 2007. Overall silk trading volumes from China to India and market concentration rate are on the increase because of the superiority of Chinese cocoon silk production over that of India. Owing to scattered market share and export that mainly focused on raw materials product, there has been a phenomenon of price reduction and quantity increase. India carries out fierce competition with China in the international market and even imposes antidumping sanction on Chinese silk, which are key factors restricting further increase between China-India trade. Based on the abovementioned facts, the authors aim to put forward suggestions for steadily developing the production and trade of China＇s silk.     

Evolution Rules of Urban-rural Development and Inspiration for China’s Agriculture

Based on urban-rural contrast coefficient,this article designs the agriculture relative development index(ARDI) as indicators measuring the intensity of urban-rural dual structure which is comparable among the countries of the world.This article calculates ARDI of 40 countries from 1980 to 2004.The result shows that ARDI in the developed countries and most of the middle-income countries are rising and yet there are declines in most of the low-income countries.The result also showed that most countries’ ARDI...     

太湖蓝藻水华的遥感监测研究

随着太湖蓝藻水华的日益严重,实现藻类的时空动态监测成为湖泊水质保护亟待解决的问题.利用遥感技术可以快速、直观地获取整个水域水质的时空变化情况,为实现藻类的动态监测提供了有效的途径.在太湖蓝藻水华遥感监测研究结果的基础上,总结分析了现有研究中所使用的遥感数据源、遥感监测方法以及遥感反演的水质参数,讨论了现有研究中存在的问题,并对将来的发展趋势进行了展望.