Mercury pollution in a mining area of Guizhou,China: Fluxes over contaminated surfaces and concentrations in air,biological and geological samples

A dynamic flux chamber has been used to estimate fluxes of mercury over different types of surfaces in an abandoned open‐cut mine of Tongren prefecture, Guizhou province, China during spring and summer of 1996. The highest fluxes were obtained over cinnabar slag and contaminated soils, whereas the emissions above cinnabar ore were substantially lower. These fluxes was scaled up to estimate the contribution of mercury emissions to air from mercury wastes, compared to anthropogenic activities in the province of Guizhou, China. Atmospheric mercury concentrations measured were enhanced in the mining area (<1.3 μg m^‐3) compared to regional background sites (1.8–5.1 ng m^‐3). The spreading of mercury was estimated by using biological and geological samples. Moss bags have been employed to estimate long‐time dry‐ and wet‐deposition to this area.     

Structural effect on photocatalytic degradation of metallised azo dyes in aqueous TiO2 suspension

Three metallised azo dyes were investigated under TiO₂‐photocatalytic and photosensitised conditions in aqueous buffering solutions. The degradation follows apparent first‐order kinetics. The size and strength of intramolecular conjugation determine the light‐fastness of the investigated dyes. Compared with ¹O₂ produced in photosensitised process, the more powerful *OH radicals in TiCO₂ photocatalytic process are highly reactive towards the investigated azo dyes. And as a result, the TiO₂‐photocatalysis makes little less distinction in the degradation kinetic data of the azo dyes compared with the photosensitised degradation of them.     

A GIS-based moving window analysis of landscape pattern in the Beijing metropolitan area,China

Quantifying landscape pattern and its change is essential for monitoring and assessment of ecological consequences of urbanization. Using the GIS-based land-use data for 2002, we combined moving window analysis along an urban-rural gradient and around the urban centre with landscape metrics to quantify the spatial pattern of urbanization in Beijing. The results of moving window analysis along the urban-rural gradient indicated that, for class-level metrics, the spatial pattern of urbanization could be quantified using landscape metrics, different land-use types exhibited distinctive spatial signatures, and, for landscape-level metrics, the increase in urbanization in the metropolitan Beijing region has resulted in dramatic increases in patch density (PD), edge density (ED), and patch and landscape shape complexity, and sharp decreases in the largest and mean patch size (MPS), agriculture land-use type, and landscape connectivity. The results of moving window analysis around the urban centre showed that the direction of urbanization could be quantified using the class-level metrics, and landscape-level metrics indicated similar results to gradient analysis. In general, moving window analysis showed that the increasingly urbanized landscape became compositionally more diverse, geometrically more complex, and ecologically more fragmented.     

The abatement of major pollutants in air and water by environmental catalysis

This review reports the research progress in the abatement of major pollutants in air and water by environmental catalysis. For air pollution control, the selective catalytic reduction of NO _x (SCR) by ammonia and hydrocarbons on metal oxide and zeolite catalysts are reviewed and discussed, as is the removal of Hg from flue gas by catalysis. The oxidation of Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by photo- and thermal-catalysis for indoor air quality improvement is reviewed. For wastewater treatment, the catalytic elimination of inorganic and organic pollutants in wastewater is presented. In addition, the mechanism for the procedure of abatement of air and water pollutants by catalysis is discussed in this review. Finally, a research orientation on environment catalysis for the treatment of air pollutants and wastewater is proposed.     

Removal of sulfadiazine from aqueous solution on kaolinite

The adsorption of sulfadiazine onto kaolinite clay as an alternative adsorbent was examined in aqueous solution, hnpacts of the contact time, pH, temperature, ionic strength and coexistent surfactants on the adsorption process were evaluated. The pH significantly influenced the adsorption process, with adsorption being promoted at lower pH due to the cation exchange mechanism. Decreasing ionic strength in the solution was favorable for adsorption, and the addition of cationic and anionic surfactants had negative effects on the adsorption capacity of sulfadiazine on kaolinite. Kinetic experiments showed that the adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order model. The equilibrium adsorption was well described by both Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich （DR） models. According to the DR model, the adsorption mechanism was determined by cationic exchange and weak physical forces. The thermodynamic study showed that sulfadiazine adsorption onto kaolinite was a sponta- neous and endothermic reaction.     

Factors influencing sexual cannibalism and its benefit to fecundity and offspring survival in the wolf spider Pardosa pseudoannulata (Araneae: Lycosidae)

Sexual cannibalism is hypothesized to have evolved as a way to obtain a high-quality meal, as an extreme mate choice or as a consequence of female aggressive spillover. Here, we examined underlying factors likely to influence sexual cannibalism in the wolf spider Pardosa pseudoannulata (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) from China, including mating status, female egg-laid status, female hunger level, female adult age and mate size dimorphism. The results showed that about 10 % of P. pseudoannulata virgin females cannibalized the approaching males before mating and that 28 % of P. pseudoannulata virgin females immediately cannibalized the males after mating. No incidents of sexual cannibalism during copulation were observed. Before mating, previously mated females and starved females tended to engage in significantly higher rates of attacks compared to virgin and well-fed females. Females that had laid egg sacs tended to engage in a significantly higher rate of attacks and sexual cannibalism than virgin females before mating. Regardless of pre- or post-mating, there was a strong positive relationship between mate size dimorphism and the occurrence of sexual cannibalism. We also tested the effects of sexual cannibalism on the fecundity of cannibalistic females and the survival of their offspring. Our results indicated that sexual cannibalism affected positively the offspring survival of cannibalistic females, but not fecundity. Our findings support the hypothesis that sexual cannibalism has evolved as an adaptive component of female foraging strategy and that it benefits offspring survival as a result of paternal investment.     

纳米氧化铝对斑马鱼幼鱼早期运动行为的影响

随着纳米技术的迅猛发展,纳米材料的安全性研究具有十分重要的意义。为探讨纳米氧化铝对斑马鱼幼鱼早期运动行为的影响,本研究将受精后6 h(6 hpf)的斑马鱼胚胎随机分成空白对照组(E3培养液)、纳米氧化铝组(12.5、25、50、100μg·mL~(-1))。采用6孔板染毒,每组160颗卵,共8个孔,每孔20颗卵/10 m L试液,染毒液更新周期为1 d。观察急性毒性和运动行为。结果显示,各纳米氧化铝组无明显的急性毒性;运动行为检测发现,25、50、100μg·m L~(-1)纳米氧化铝组受精后6 d幼鱼(6dpf)黑暗状态下的运动速度、运动距离、趋触性程度较空白对照组均显著下降(P0.05);在6 dpf幼鱼对强光刺激的惊恐逃避反射试验中发现,各组幼鱼在光照1 min内运动速度较光照前的黑暗期均明显下降(P0.05),但25μg·mL~(-1)和100μg·mL~(-1)浓度组在光照时速度下降得更慢(P0.05);关闭光源后,各组幼鱼的运动速度都会上升,但25μg·mL~(-1)和100μg·mL~(-1)浓度组在打开光源后速度上升得更慢(P0.05)。上述结果表明,纳米氧化铝可以影响斑马鱼幼鱼早期的运动行为。     

亚超临界水技术在废旧尼龙6解聚中的应用

研究了尼龙6在亚超临界水中的解聚反应,以期为废旧尼龙6的回收利用提供技术参数.实验分别利用气质联用仪和紫外分光光度计对解聚后的液相产物进行定性和定量分析,并考察了不同的反应温度、反应压力和反应时间对液相产物收率的影响.结果表明,液相产物绝大部分为己内酰胺;解聚的最佳条件为370 ℃、25 MPa、60 min;己内酰胺最大收率为96%.通过动力学分析和Arrhenius关系计算,得出尼龙6亚超临界水解聚的活化能为64.4 kJ/mol.