“怎样对待垃圾”：亚洲的固体垃圾管理

亚洲正在快速进行城市化,并日益走向“消费型社会”,从全球来看,亚洲的固体垃圾管理面临着更为严峻的挑战 .根据已有数据及发展趋势可以预测 2025年的垃圾数量及成分 .基于低收入国家垃圾数量的超高速增长,在今后的 25年中,垃圾总量将至少会翻一倍 .出于对更广泛商业行为的重视,特提出了区域控制建议 .     

Acoustic concomitants of the defensive discharges of a primitive bombardier beetle (Metrius contractus)

Summary. Metrius contractus, a primitive paussoid bombardier beetle, emits its defensive quinonoid froth with accompanying sound (a faint “hiss”), but the sound is not pulsed, indicating that the secretory emission itself is not pulsed. Pulsed secretory delivery in bombardier beetles appears to occur in Brachinini only. Received 8 July 2001; accepted 23 July 2001.     

Chemical water quality gradients in the Mongolian sub-catchments of the Selenga River basin

Even though the Selenga is the main tributary to Lake Baikal in Russia, the largest part of the Selenga River basin is located in Mongolia. It covers a region that is highly diverse, ranging from almost virgin mountain zones to densely urbanized areas and mining zones. These contrasts have a strong impact on rivers and their ecosystems. Based on two sampling campaigns (summer 2014, spring 2015), we investigated the longitudinal water quality pattern along the Selenga and its tributaries in Mongolia. While headwater regions typically had a very good water quality status, wastewater from urban areas and impacts from mining were found to be main pollution sources in the tributaries. The highest nutrient concentrations in the catchment were found in Tuul River, and severely elevated concentrations of trace elements (As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn), nutrients (NH₄ ⁺, NO₂ ^?, NO₃ ^?, PO₄ ^3?), and selected major ions (SO₄ ^2?) were found in main tributaries of Selenga River. Moreover, trace element concentrations during spring 2015 (a time when many mines had not yet started operation) were markedly lower than in summer 2014, indicating that the additional metal loads measured in summer 2014 were related to mining activities. Nevertheless, all taken water samples in 2014 and 2015 from the main channel of the Mongolian Selenga River complied with the Mongolian standard (MNS 1998) for the investigated parameters.     

Dielectric properties of MSWI bottom ash for non-invasive monitoring of moisture

The dielectric procperties of MSWI bottom ash as a function of volumetric water content (VWC) are reported in this paper. The objective was to aid the development of microwave based non-invasive emission monitoring and control system for various bottom ash applications. The dielectric measurements were made, on a 1.5-year-old bottom ash, with an electrical network analyzer in microwave range (300 MHz–1.5 GHz). The VWC of the samples ranged between 0.05 and 0.40 m³?m^?3. The relationship between the dielectric permittivity and the VWC was modeled with an empirical model and a physically based Birchak model (BM). The results showed that a linear relationship existed between the permittivity and the VWC at higher water contents (>0.25 m³?m^?3). However, at lower water contents (<0.25 m³?m^?3), the relationship between the permittivity and the WVC was affected by the composition of the bottom ash. The permittivity measurement, with the current method, was not affected by high salt concentrations (10 and 20 dS/m). The empirical model, as compared to BM, provided the best fit between the actual and the predicted water content. The root mean square error (RMSE) values were 0.008–0.010 and 0.06–0.09 m³?m^?3 for the empirical and the Birchak model, respectively.     

Spectral trend of vegetation with rainfall in events of El Niño-Southern Oscillation for Atlantic Forest biome,Brazil

This study aimed to analyze the spectral trend of vegetation with rainfall in El Niño-Southern Oscillation events (ENSO) in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Monthly rainfall data were collected from 85 conventional meteorological stations (EMC), data from the Enhanced Vegetation Index 2 (EVI2) and ENSO events (El Niño, La Niña, and Neutral) in the period from 2001 to 2013. Afterwards, state cluster analysis was performed using the results of non-parametric tests. The Mann-Kendall (MK) non-parametric test did not identify a trend pattern in rainfall distribution in the Atlantic Forest. The results for EVI2 by state and region showed that the trend is decreasing in the Northeast Region, except for the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco. Southeast region showed an increasing trend of EVI2 (except for Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo), while the South region showed a decreasing trend. In the Midwest, the trend was significantly decreasing. In the prognosis elaborated for the future, the regions with significant declines of the vegetation were the Northeast and Midwest. This study shows that the Atlantic Forest in some regions of Brazil has been suffering from the growing urbanization process and there is a trend of soil degradation.     

Green Toxicology: a strategy for sustainable chemical and material development

Green Toxicology refers to the application of predictive toxicology in the sustainable development and production of new less harmful materials and chemicals, subsequently reducing waste and exposure. Built upon the foundation of “Green Chemistry” and “Green Engineering”, “Green Toxicology” aims to shape future manufacturing processes and safe synthesis of chemicals in terms of environmental and human health impacts. Being an integral part of Green Chemistry, the principles of Green Toxicology amplify the role of health-related aspects for the benefit of consumers and the environment, in addition to being economical for manufacturing companies. Due to the costly development and preparation of new materials and chemicals for market entry, it is no longer practical to ignore the safety and environmental status of new products during product development stages. However, this is only possible if toxicologists and chemists work together early on in the development of materials and chemicals to utilize safe design strategies and innovative in vitro and in silico tools. This paper discusses some of the most relevant aspects, advances and limitations of the emergence of Green Toxicology from the perspective of different industry and research groups. The integration of new testing methods and strategies in product development, testing and regulation stages are presented with examples of the application of in silico, omics and in vitro methods. Other tools for Green Toxicology, including the reduction of animal testing, alternative test methods, and read-across approaches are also discussed.     

Nitrogen fertility and abiotic stresses management in cotton crop: a review

This review outlines nitrogen (N) responses in crop production and potential management decisions to ameliorate abiotic stresses for better crop production. N is a primary constituent of the nucleotides and proteins that are essential for life. Production and application of N fertilizers consume huge amounts of energy, and excess is detrimental to the environment. Therefore, increasing plant N use efficiency (NUE) is important for the development of sustainable agriculture. NUE has a key role in crop yield and can be enhanced by controlling loss of fertilizers by application of humic acid and natural polymers (hydrogels), having high water-holding capacity which can improve plant performance under field conditions. Abiotic stresses such as waterlogging, drought, heat, and salinity are the major limitations for successful crop production. Therefore, integrated management approaches such as addition of aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG), the film antitranspirant (di-1-p-menthene and pinolene) nutrients, hydrogels, and phytohormones may provide novel approaches to improve plant tolerance against abiotic stress-induced damage. Moreover, for plant breeders and molecular biologists, it is a challenge to develop cotton cultivars that can tolerate plant abiotic stresses while having high potential NUE for the future.     

Bioremediation of chlorinated pesticide–contaminated soil using anaerobic sludges and surfactant addition

Methanogenic granular sludge and wastewater fermented sludge were used as inocula for batch tests of anaerobic bioremediation of chlorinated pesticide contaminated soil. Results obtained for both types of biomass were similar: 80 to over 90% of γ -hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH), 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethane (methoxychlor) and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis-(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) removed in 4–6 weeks. Residual fractions of these pesticides persisted till the end of the 16-week experiment. DDT was degraded through 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis-(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDD). Accumulation of this product corresponded stoichiometrically only to 34–53% of removed DDT, supposedly due to its further transformations, finally resulting in formation of detected 4,4′-dichlorobenzophenone (DBP). Addition of 0.5 mM Tween 80 nonionic surfactant resulted in about a twofold decrease of γ -HCH and methoxychlor residual concentrations, as well as considerably lower DDD accumulation (7–29%) and higher DBP production. However, 1.25 mM dose of this surfactant applied together with granular sludge brought DDD levels back to that observed for treatments with the sludge alone, also impairing DBP formation.