Biodegradation of Polycaprolactone Powders Proposed as Reference Test Materials for International Standard of Biodegradation Evaluation Method

Polycaprolactone (PCL) powders were prepared from PCL pellets using a rotation mechanical mixer. PCL powders were separated by sieves with 60 and 120 meshes into four classes; 0–125 μm, 125–250 μm, 0–250 μm and 250–500 μm. Biodegradation tests of PCL powders and cellulose powders in an aqueous solution at 25°C were performed using the coulometer according to ISO 14851. Biodegradation tests of PCL powders and cellulose powders in controlled compost at 58°C were performed by the Mitsui Chemical Analysis and Consulting Service, Inc. according to ISO 14855-1 and by using the Microbial Oxidative Degradation Analyzer (MODA) instrument according to ISO/DIS 14855-2. PCL powders were faster biodegraded than cellulose powders. The reproducibility of biodegradation of PCL powders is excellent. Differences in the biodegradation of PCL powders with different class were not observed by the ISO 14851 and ISO/DIS 14855-2. An enzymatic degradation test of PCL powders with different class was studied using an enzyme of Amano Lipase PS. PCL with smaller particle size was faster degraded by the enzyme. PCL powders with regulated sizes from 125 μm to 250 μm are proposed as a reference material for the biodegradation test.     

Application of magnetic field and iron in order to change medicinal products of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ocimum basilicum</Emphasis>

In the present research, the effects of static magnetic field, with or without iron on the growth, the activity of certain enzymes (like polyphenol oxidase and phenyle alanine ammonialyase), the content of phenolic compounds and the essential oil composition of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) were studied. Treatment of plants with static magnetic field with or without iron led to decrease of the growth of plants as well as decrease in the activity of phenyle alanine ammonialyase and of phenolic compounds content. In addition in those plants exposed to magnetic field the amount of essential oils, notably of methyl chavicol, was increased. Exposure of plants to the magnetic field decreased the activity of polyphenol oxidase, whereas treatment of plants with iron when exposed to magnetic field increased polyphenol oxidase activity. In this group the content of essential oil was reduced.     

Democracy at its Best? The Consensus Conference in a Cross-national Perspective

Over recent decades, public participation in technology assessment has spread internationally as an attempt to overcome or prevent societal conflicts over controversial technologies. One outcome of this new surge in public consultation initiatives has been the increased use of participatory consensus conferences in a number of countries. Existing evaluations of consensus conferences tend to focus on the modes of organization, as well as the outcomes, both procedural and substantial, of the conferences they examine. Such evaluations seem to rest on the assumption that this type of procedure has universally agreed goals and meanings, and that therefore consensus conferences can readily be interpreted and applied across national boundaries. This article challenges this approach to consensus conferences. The core of the article is a study of national differences in ideas about what constitutes legitimate goals for participatory arrangements. The study looks at three consensus conferences on GMOs, which took place in France, Norway, and Denmark. Drawing on this study, the article discusses the ways in which interpretations of the concept of participation; the value attributed to lay knowledge vs. technical expertise; as well as ideas about the role of the layperson, are all questions that prompt entirely different answers from country to country. Further, the article analyses these national differences within a theoretical framework of notions of democratic legitimacy.     

Fire and explosion risk assessment for large-scale oil export terminal

Now in Russian Federation and other countries large-scale oil terminals (volume of one tank exceeds 100 000 m³, total volume of tanks exceeds 300 000 m³) are designed and constructed. Therefore fire safety of such objects becomes a very important task, solution of which is hardly possible without detail fire risk assessment. This study is aimed to a solution of this problem. Potential, individual and social risks were calculated. The potential risk was defined as a frequency of occurrence of hazardous factors of fires and explosions in a given point of space (the so-called risk contours). The individual risk was defined as a frequency of injuring a given person by hazardous factors of fires and explosions. Time of presence of this person in hazardous zones (near the hazardous installation) is taken into account during calculations of the individual risk. Social risk was defined as a dependence of frequency of injuring a given number of people by hazardous factors of fires and explosions on this number. In practice the social risk is usually determined on injuring not less than 10 people.

The oil terminal under consideration includes the following main parts: crude oil storage consisting of three tanks of volume 100 000 m³ each, input crude oil pipeline of diameter 0.6 m, crude oil pumps, output crude oil pipeline of diameter 0.8 m, auxiliary buildings and facilities. The following main scenarios of tank fires have been considered: rim seal fire, pool fire on a surface of a floating roof, pool fire on a total cross-section surface of the tank, pool fire in a dyke, explosions in closed or semiclosed volumes. Fires and explosions in other parts of the terminal are also taken into account. Effects of escalation of accidents are considered.

Risk contours have been calculated both for the territory of the terminal and for the neighbouring space. The potential risk for the storage zone is near 10⁻⁴–10⁻⁵ year⁻¹, and at a distance 500 m from the terminal the potential risk values do not exceed 10⁻⁶ year⁻¹. The values of the individual risk for various categories of workers are in the range of 10⁻⁵–10⁻⁶ year⁻¹. Because of low number of the workers on the terminal and large distances to towns and villages the social risk value is negligible. These risk values are consistent with practice of the best oil companies, and fire hazard level of the terminal can be accepted as tolerable.     

半固态培养条件下烟曲霉去除土壤中镉

选用了1株高耐镉(Cd)的烟曲霉,提出了利用烟曲霉在半固态培养体系表面生长并去除Cd的方法,研究了菌体对不同模拟Cd污染水平土壤中Cd的去除效果,测定了菌体吸附和富集Cd的变化.结果表明,烟曲霉在半固态培养体系中能够实现一定的Cd去除效果,Cd含量为10 mg·kg~(-1)时,对土壤Cd的综合去除率可达31%.同时通过研究不同Cd含量下烟曲霉干重和体系pH随时间变化情况,发现随着培养时间和Cd含量的增加,烟曲霉干重逐渐下降,最大下降幅度可达64%,pH为5.6~6.0时去除效果较好.培养过程中土壤Cd形态变化表明,烟曲霉在该体系下主要去除土壤中弱酸溶态和可还原态的Cd,可氧化态Cd含量在培养前后基本保持不变.这种方法的提出为微生物去除土壤重金属污染提供了新的思路.     

Gender,age and subject matter: impact on teachers’ ecological values

By means of environmental education, teachers are supposed to intervene in pupils’ awareness and concern of environmental issues. Teachers’ environmental attitudes, however, have rarely been studied. We analysed 367 German pre- and in-service teachers’ environmental attitudes for their structure and socio-economic correlates within the frame of a European project. Thus, we retrieved for adults the two-dimensional model of ecological values (2-MEV) presented for adolescents by Bogner and Wiseman (Sci Educ Int 15(1):27–48, 2004). For the two domains, Preservation and Utilisation, the psychometric structure was confirmed and discriminative correlations with age, gender and teaching subject were unveiled. Further research is needed to deduce the implications for teaching practice.     

图书馆书库清点方法初探

图书馆藏书大多存在实物与财产登记不符的状况,如情况较为严重则会影响到图书馆流通、采访等项工作的开展,因此适时进行书库清点具有重要意义。本文以中国环境管理干部学院图书馆的清点为实例,初步探讨了将条码作为清点切入点的书库清点工作的方法、步骤和注意事项。     

雌激素受体作为壬基酚的主要作用靶点导致机体免疫毒性

雌激素作为一类重要的性腺类固醇化学信使,已经被证实能够直接调节机体免疫反应,因此,一些具有拟雌激素特性的环境内分泌干扰物(endocrine disruptors,EDs),会通过影响雌激素相关信号通路对免疫系统产生干扰作用。壬基酚(nonylphenol,NP)作为典型的环境内分泌干扰物,已有大量的文献报道其通过拟雌激素特性或干扰雌激素的合成、分泌、转运以及与靶点的结合,破坏机体生殖功能以及神经-免疫-内分泌系统,影响整体生理平衡与稳定。近年来,NP对免疫系统的干扰作用逐渐引起重视,研究发现,NP暴露会引起小鼠免疫器官及免疫细胞的发育异常,并且会导致新生小鼠肝毒性,肝脏细胞内炎性因子TNF-α、IL-1β分泌增加。除NP作为配体干扰雌激素信号通路外,尚未发现其他明确的分子机制解释NP造成的免疫毒性。本综述主要结合近年来相关的实验结果,总结了NP对免疫系统的潜在影响及其可能的分子机制。