The effects of autophagy on vascular endothelial cells induced by airborne PM2.5

The purpose of this study was to examine the direct toxicity of PM2.5 collected from Beijing on human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVEC). A Cell Counting Kit 8(CCK8) assay demonstrated that PM2.5 exposure decreased the proliferation of HUVECs in a dosedependent manner. We also found that PM2.5 exposure induced autophagy in HUVECs, as evidenced by:(1) an increased number of double-membrane vesicles;(2) enhanced conversion and punctuation of the microtubule-associated protein light chain 3(LC3); and(3) decreased levels of the selective autophagy substrate p62 in a time-dependent manner.Furthermore, promoting autophagy in PM2.5-exposed HUVECs with rapamycin increased the cell survival rate, whereas inhibiting autophagy via 3-methyladenine significantly decreased cell survival. These results demonstrate that PM2.5 exposure can induce cytotoxicity and autophagy in HUVECs and that autophagy play a protective role against PM2.5-induced cytotoxicity. The findings of the present study imply a direct toxic effect of PM2.5 on HUVECs and provide novel insight into the mechanism of cardiovascular diseases caused by PM2.5 exposure.     

Mercury flows in large-scale gold production and implications for Hg pollution control

Large-scale gold production(LSGP) is one of the five convention-related atmospheric mercury(Hg) emission sources in the Minamata Convention on Mercury. However, field experiments on Hg flows of the whole process of LSGP are limited. To identify the atmospheric Hg emission points and understand Hg emission characteristics of LSGP, Hg flows in two gold smelters were studied. Overall atmospheric Hg emissions accounted for 10%–17% of total Hg outputs and the Hg emission factors for all processes were 7.6–9.6 kg/ton. There were three dominant atmospheric Hg emission points in the studied gold smelters, including the exhaust gas of the roasting process, exhaust gas from the environmental fog collection stack and exhaust gas from the converter of the refining process. Atmospheric Hg emissions from the roasting process only accounted for 16%–29% of total emissions and the rest were emitted from the refining process. The overall Hg speciation profile(gaseous elemental Hg/gaseous oxidized Hg/particulate-bound Hg) for LSGP was 34.1/57.1/8.8. The dominant Hg output byproducts included waste acid, sulfuric acid and cyanide leaching residue. Total Hg outputs from these three byproducts were 80% in smelter A and 84% in smelter B. Our study indicated that previous atmospheric Hg emissions from large-scale gold production might have been overestimated.Hg emission control in LSGP is not especially urgent in China compared to other significant emission sources(e.g., cement plants). Instead, LSGP is a potential Hg release source due to the high Hg output proportions to acid and sludge.     

Relationship between physicochemical properties and dewaterability of hydrothermal sludge derived from different source

Sewage sludge (SS) and deinking sludge (DS) were used to comparatively study the hydrothermal dewatering of sludge with different components. For a better overview, an insight into the relationship between physicochemical properties and dewaterability of hydrothermal sludge was provided. Results found that not all kinds of sludge were suitably conditioned by hydrothermal treatment (HT) in term of the elevation of dewaterability. Higher hydrothermal temperature tended to enhance the dewaterability of SS rather than DS, which was supported by the variation of their physicochemical properties (including water distribution, bonding energy, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), particles size, acid functional groups and zeta potential in this study). In addition, the changes in surface morphology suggested that the reverse effect of HT on sludge dewaterability was mainly due to their dewatering behavior. For SS, the destruction of EPS structure leaded to the release of bound water, thereby strengthening sludge dewatering. Conversely, “Bridging effect” generated by lignocellulose in DS was beneficial for sludge dewatering; however, the increasing hydrothermal temperature degraded part of lignocellulose and weakened “bridging effect”, finally resulting in worse dewaterability of DS.     

Effects of Na+ on Cu/SAPO-34 for ammonia selective catalytic reduction

Copper-exchanged chabazite (Cu/CHA) catalysts have been found to be affected by alkali metal and alkaline earth ions. However, the effects of Na⁺ ions on Cu/SAPO-34 for ammonia selective catalytic reduction (NH₃-SCR) are still unclear. In order to investigate the mechanism, five samples with various Na contents were synthesized and characterized. It was observed that the introduced Na⁺ ion-exchanges with H⁺ and Cu^2 + of Cu/SAPO-34. The exchange of H⁺ is easier than that of isolated Cu^2 +. The exchanged Cu^2 + ions aggregate and form “CuAl₂O₄-like” species. The NH₃-SCR activity of Cu/SAPO-34 decreases with increasing Na content, and the loss of isolated Cu^2 + and acid sites is responsible for the activity loss.     

Seasonal variation and size distribution of biogenic secondary organic aerosols at urban and continental background sites of China

Size-resolved biogenic secondary organic aerosols(BSOA) derived from isoprene and monoterpene photooxidation in Qinghai Lake, Tibetan Plateau(a continental background site) and five cities of China were measured using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry(GC/MS). Concentrations of the determined BSOA are higher in the cities than in the background and are also higher in summer than in winter. Moreover, strong positive correlations(R2= 0.44–0.90) between BSOA and sulfate were found at the six sites,suggesting that anthropogenic pollution(i.e., sulfate) could enhance SOA formation,because sulfate provides a surface favorable for acid-catalyzed formation of BSOA. Size distribution measurements showed that most of the determined SOA tracers are enriched in the fine mode( 3.3 μm) except for cis-pinic and cis-pinonic acids, both presented a comparable mass in the fine and coarse( 3.3 μm) modes, respectively. Mass ratio of oxidation products derived from isoprene to those from monoterpene in the five urban regions during summer are much less than those in Qinghai Lake region. In addition, in the five urban regions relative abundances of monoterpene oxidation products to SOA are much higher than those of isoprene. Such phenomena suggest that BSOA derived from monoterpenes are more abundant than those from isoprene in Chinese urban areas.     

爆炸螺栓分离对热防护系统冲击响应分析

目的考察在爆炸螺栓分离过程中,作用在TPS(热防护系统)上的冲击响应是否会导致其破坏,从而影响航天器飞行安全,对过程进行数值仿真分析。方法提出四阶段仿真方案,基于MSC.Dytran软件,采用流固耦合方法对爆炸螺栓分离过程进行动力学仿真;根据单个爆炸螺栓地面分离试验的结构进行建模和分析,获取结构响应曲线;再根据实测的冲击响应数据,对爆炸过程中炸药及JWL方程的参数等设置进行调整,获取准确爆炸螺栓的分析模型;最后应用于对真实结构中TPS(热防护系统)在分离过程里受爆炸螺栓冲击响应的动力学分析与评估。结果通过参数调整,获得的仿真模型与爆炸螺栓地面分离试验实测结果一致,证明了仿真模型的有效性和四阶段仿真方案的可行性。结论提取的真实结构爆炸螺栓分离过程中作用在TPS(热防护结构)上的最大加速度响应曲线,可用于指导TPS(热防护系统)的设计。     

应用计算机模拟的大气环境污染物浓度分析研究

大气环境污染物浓度的分析,对提高大气环境质量具有重要意义。利用计算机模拟软件对大气环境污染物浓度的分析过程进行模拟还原,分为网格划分与构建边界条件两部分。以某市2017年9月6日至2017年10月7日的监测数据为模拟数据,并通过这些数据构建大气环境污染物浓度分析模型,对当前大气环境中污染物的浓度进行分析,得出污染源与大气环境污染物程度成正相关性,依据环境污染物浓度数据分析的结果,从两方面对大气污染物浓度的分析结果进行验证,并提出大气环境污染控制的措施。     

基于环境温度传感的节水调节器设计研究

传统节水调节器使用半自动机械控制,能够实现部分水资源节约,但在新疆等温度交替变化明显地区,无法根据温度变化情况实现自动控制节水调节,从而造成部分水资源浪费。为此提出基于环境温度传感的节水调节器设计。采用concise结构设计,在阻挠蝶板上增加环境温度传感装置,依托沿程阻力系数判定温度传感器节水调节系数ξ,通过不同ξ值的反馈,针对性的采取相应调节措施;使用调节Accurate检验机制,对温度变化幅度k进行测定,确定调节幅度有效取值,完成节水调节器的自动调节控制,实现基于环境温度传感的节水调节器设计。     

大豆过敏原P34蛋白基因检测技术与环境污染的关系研究

环境污染易引起大豆种植区域出现过敏原P34蛋白基因变异情况,当前蛋白基因检测方法不能满足检测需求,提出基于探针引物的大豆过敏原P34蛋白基因荧光PCR定量检测技术,针对大豆过敏原特异性基因P34蛋白基因序列进行设计;通过DNA提取、浓度测定,荧光定量PCR检测,实现大豆过敏原P34蛋白基因检测。实验结果表明,所提方法能够准确检测出包括环境污染区域在内的大豆食品过敏原P34蛋白基因成分,具有很好的应用前景,满足市场监督检测的需要。     

环保新形势下的经济增长方式改革研究

为了均衡环保和经济增长间的关系,对环保压力下的经济增长方式进行改革。分析了资源与经济增长的关系、经济增长方式的内涵和经济增长方式的类型,介绍了国内外相关文献综述。对传统粗放型经济增长方式进行分析,发现其具有高投入、高消耗、低效益的特性,且中国单位产值所需的生产要素较其他发达国家和部分发展中国家高,但生产率与资金、资源利用率却比其他发达国家低。在面临环保压力时,中国因传统粗放型经济增长方式造成资源利用效率降低,影响经济增长,需对经济增长方式做出以下改革:转变生产函数,增加要素生产率,改变要素间相对地位;扩展价值链,使产业升级,提高附加值;改善产业结构,发展服务业。