Inexact Fuzzy-Stochastic Programming for Water Resources Management Under Multiple Uncertainties

In this study, an interval-parameter fuzzy-stochastic two-stage programming (IFSTP) approach is developed for irrigation planning within an agriculture system under multiple uncertainties. A concept of the distribution with fuzzy-interval probability (DFIP) is defined to address multiple uncertainties expressed as integration of intervals, fuzzy sets, and probability distributions. IFSTP integrates the interval programming, two-stage stochastic programming, and fuzzy-stochastic programming within a general optimization framework. IFSTP incorporates the pre-regulated water resources management policies directly into its optimization process to analyze various policy scenarios; each scenario has different economic penalty when the promised amounts are not delivered. IFSTP is applied to an irrigation planning in a water resources management system. Solutions from IFSTP provide desired water allocation patterns, which maximize both the system’s benefits and feasibility. The results indicate that reasonable solutions are generated for objective function values and decision variables; thus, a number of decision alternatives can be generated under different levels of stream flows.     

Characteristic, composition, and sources of TSP investigated by HRTEM/EDS and ESEM/EDS

Total suspended particle (TSP) collected at the fifth floor of House Dust in Hunan University, China, was analyzed in terms of microscopic morphology and chemical composition. The fine particles (50?nm-2?μm) in the TSP were analyzed by a high-resolution transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer (HRTEM/EDS). Results showed that the particles were in shapes of plate, irregular and agglomerate. Based on EDS results, these fine particulate matter was primarily composed of Fe-rich (35.82-61.29%), Ca-rich (30.18-36.77%) and Si-rich (18.95-32.28%) particles. Other elements mainly including Mg (0.47-4.97%), Al (0.45-14.57%), S (0.45-4.73%), K (1.13-2.13%) and Zn (0.67-3.85%) were also observed. The sources analysis indicated that the HRTEM particles mainly originated from coal combustion, traffic emission, vehicles exhaust emission and fugitive soil or cement particulate matter. The coarse particles (4-50?μm) were detected by environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray detector (ESEM/EDS). Based on a simple algorithm, ESEM particles were categorized into five groups: C-bearing (46.15%, 67% and 86.98%), Si + Ca-bearing (21.48?+?11.80%, 16.51?+?10.81% and 16.32?+?10.62%), Si + Al-bearing (20.06?+?12.40%, 20.16?+?11.22% and 15.31?+?11.25%), Si-bearing (34.40%, 26.92% and 27.15%) particles and aggregates, most of which exhibit obvious crystalline structure, and these ESEM particles mainly derived from vehicles exhaust emission, coal combustion, soil, and biomass burning, while the aggregates are indicative of atmospheric reaction progress. HRTEM/EDS and ESEM/EDS are mutual complementary in analyzing the characteristic and determining the sources of TSP.     

Occurrence of organotins in the Yangtze River and the Jialing River in the urban section of Chongqing, China

The occurrence of organotins in the Yangtze River and the Jialing River in the urban section of Chongqing, China and their impact on drinking water waterworks are reported in this study. Water samples were extracted by solid-phase microextraction and measured using a gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer. The results showed that the rivers studied were polluted by both butyltins and phenyltins and that the butyltin species was the dominant pollutant. Butyltins, especially monobutyltin, were detected in all 18 sampling stations, and phenyltins were detected only in 11 sampling stations. Majority of the organotins were MBTs with concentrations varying from 27.3 to 1,145.8 ng Sn L^?1. Diphenyltin and dibutyltin were the second most common with the highest levels of 113.7 and 202.5 ng Sn L^?1, respectively. Monophenyltin, tributyltin, and triphenyltin had the lowest detection rates with concentration levels of 9.7, 161.8, and 37.2 ng Sn L^?1, respectively. Some of the organotins were also detected in drinking water waterworks, which posed a threat to the water quality of Chongqing.     

Fluctuating asymmetry rather than oxidative stress in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bufo raddei</Emphasis> can be an accurate indicator of environmental pollution induced by heavy metals

Oxidative stress (OS) and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) as risk markers for environmental stress are widely used to predict changes in the health and fitness of many animals exposed to pollutants. However, from the perspective of protecting declining amphibians, it remains to be verified which one would be a reliable indicator for amphibians exposed to long-term heavy metal pollution under natural conditions. In this study, the OS and FA of Bufo raddei exposed to natural heavy metal pollution were analyzed to determine which marker is more accurate for indicating heavy metal-induced stress. Three years of data were collected during the breeding season of B. raddei from Baiyin (BY), which has been mainly contaminated with Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd compounds for a long period, and from Liujiaxia (LJX), which is a relatively unpolluted area. Unexpectedly, although significant accumulation of the four heavy metals was found in the kidney and liver of B. raddei from BY, the levels of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and malondialdehyde in these two organs were found to be irregular, with low repeatability in both BY and LJX. However, significant differences in the levels of FA were observed in B. raddei populations from these two areas over the past 3 years (P < 0.01). The degrees of FA in B. raddei populations from BY and LJX were assessed as degree 4 and 1, respectively. In short, this study suggested that FA was a more reliable and effective indicator than OS to monitor and predict long-term environmental stress on anuran amphibians.     

Risk assessment and distribution of soil Pb in Guangdong, China

In this study, the spatial distributions of soil lead (Pb) concentration in three horizontal soils in Guangdong, China, were surveyed and analyzed using geostatistics and geography information systems (GIS). Findings indicated that the Pb geometric mean concentration of 23.3 mg/kg in surface soils was found to be higher than those in global soils, which ranged from 2.3–235 mg/kg. In addition, the Pb geometric mean concentrations from A- to C-horizon were found to be 23.3, 27.2, and 28.6 mg/kg, respectively. The classification of a soil Pb environmental risk in an area was likewise presented based on the different levels of environmental quality of Pb and was done by GIS technology. Accordingly, there is a higher local concentration of Pb in the surrounding areas of Guangzhou where there is higher population density and in the north of Guangdong, which is a historic mining area. The results obtained by the environmental risk assessment reveal that about 46% of total surveyed area was above the background value, that is, 2.7% of the total area was at risk of pollution.     

工业类建设项目验收技术规范编制内容探讨

简述了我国建设项目环保验收技术规范颁布实施,以及国外对建设项目实行全过程监管方式现状,指出现行环保验收技术规范在行业性内容、验收监测频次、质量控制措施、总量核算方面存在的问题,提出,应出台总工业类环保验收技术规范,对出台行业类验收技术规范严格把关,并加大验收技术科研力度的建议.     

Using ecological memory as an indicator to monitor the ecological restoration of four forest plantations in subtropical China

A large area of plantations has been established worldwide and especially in China. Evaluating the restoration status of these plantations is essential for their long-term management. Based on our previous work, we used an ecological memory (EM) approach to evaluate four 26-year-old plantations that represent four common kinds of plantations in subtropical China, i.e., mixed broad-leaved plantation (MBP), mixed coniferous plantation (MCP), eucalyptus plantation (EP), and mixed legume plantation (MLP). Comparing them with the regional climax community, i.e., monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest (BF), all four plantations accumulated nearly the same pattern of EM during succession. EM was >50 % for soil minerals, light conditions, soil age, soil animals, and soil microbes. EM was about 25 % for soil pollen and 10 % for birds, soil seed bank, and plant species. The total EM value of the four plantations ranged from 50.96 to 52.54, which indicated that all four plantations were in the regional, natural trajectory of succession and between the early and medium successional stages. The results indicated that natural succession processes are unlikely to be accelerated by planting late-stage tree species without sufficient EM. The results also demonstrated that all four plantations were in positive successional trajectories, and the positive succession dynamics were greater in the MLP and MCP. We suggest that the entire natural succession trajectory be used to evaluate the restoration of a site and that the ultimate restoration target be divided into several milestones along the reference trajectory to monitor progress. Forest restoration may be accelerated by starting with a minimum dynamic unit supporting sufficient EM.     

A review of mechanochemistry applications in waste management

Mechanochemistry is defined to describe the chemical and physicochemical transformation of substances during the aggregation caused by the mechanical energy. Mechanochemical technology has several advantages, such as simple process, ecological safety and the possibility of obtaining a product in the metastable state. It potentially has a prospective application in pollution remediation and waste management. Therefore, this paper aims to give an overall review of the mechanochemistry applications in waste management and the related mechanisms. Based on our study, the modification of fly ash and asbestos-containing wastes (ACWs) can be achieved by mechanochemical technology. Waste metal oxides can be transformed into easily recyclable sulfide by mechanochemical sulfidization. Besides, the waste plastics and rubbers, which are usually very difficult to be recycled, can also be recycled by mechanochemical technology.     

Determination of organochlorine and organophosphate pesticide residues in fruits,vegetables and sediments

Abstract

A method is described for the determination of organochlorine and organophosphate pesticide residues in fruits, vegetables and sediments. The concentrated solvent extract was sealed in a polymeric membrane tube, dialysed in cyclohexane and the solvent replaced with hexane. The organophosphates were analysed on a specific thermionic detector without further clean‐up. For the organochlorine pesticides the extract was eluted through 3 g of alumina and analysed on GC/ECD. The clean‐up for sediment extract was carried out on a10 g alumina column with 100 mL hexane containing 5% acetone and the eluate was concentrated to 5 mL.

The detection limit for organophosphates on a 40 g sample and a final volume of 10 mL was on the average 0.01 mg/kg. The detection limit for organochlorine pesticides, with the final volume of 25 mL, was 0.005 mg/kg for all pesticides except for p,p'‐DDT and endosulfan sulphate, which was 0.01 mg/kg.

The detection limit for oganochlorine pesticides in sediment, with the final volume of 2 mL, was less than 1 μg/kg and for organophosphate pesticides less than 10 μg/kg when the final volume was made to 0.5 mL. At the detection limits the method produced a very high coefficient of variation for both organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides.