The nature of the redshift and directly observed quasar statistics

The nature of the cosmic redshift is one of the most fundamental questions in modern science. Hubble's discovery of the apparent Expansion of the Universe is derived from observations on a small number of galaxies at very low redshifts. Today, quasar redshifts have a range more than 1000 times greater than those in Hubble's sample, and represent more than 100 times as many objects. A recent comprehensive compilation of published measurements provides the basis for a study indicating that quasar observations are not in good agreement with the original predictions of the Expanding Universe theory, but are well fit by the predictions of an alternative theory having fewer adjustable parameters.     

内电解人工湿地冬季低温尾水强化脱氮机制

针对湿地冬季运行效率低、污染物去除能力差,本研究通过对比无植物湿地、普通湿地和内电解湿地冬季低水温下(3~12℃)对污水厂尾水的脱氮效能,深入分析其微生物群落结构组成,揭示内电解湿地的强化脱氮机制.结果表明,内电解湿地可以更好地利用尾水中碳源,脱氮效果优势明显,出水TN浓度维持在(9±0.29)mg·L~(-1),TN平均去除率达42.27%,比无植物湿地和普通湿地分别高出17.91%、17.33%.冬季低温条件下,内电解湿地微生物活性仍很高,荧光显色法测得微生物活性达到0.224 mg·g~(-1),分别是无植物湿地和普通湿地的2.6、3.4倍,反硝化强度分别是无植物湿地和普通湿地的2.8、3.3倍.高通量测序表明,内电解湿地基质微生物群落多样性优于无植物湿地和普通湿地.检测出的脱氮微生物主要有脱氯单胞菌、根瘤菌、生丝微菌、红杆菌,还有自养反硝化细菌产硫酸杆菌.内电解湿地在脱氮微生物总量上有明显优势,脱氮微生物占微生物总量的7.13%,分别是无植物湿地、普通物湿地的3.8、8.7倍,因而脱氮效率更高.     

太原城区PM2.5中多环芳烃、硝基多环芳烃的污染特征、来源解析和健康风险评价

以2013—2014年期间太原城区大气细颗粒物(PM_(2.5))为研究对象,定量分析了其中多环芳烃和硝基多环芳烃的浓度.结果显示,太原城区PM_(2.5)中16种多环芳烃和12种硝基多环芳烃的浓度分别为13.8~547和0.70~4.33 ng·m~(-3),硝基多环芳烃浓度低于多环芳烃浓度1~2个数量级.太原城区PM_(2.5)中多环芳烃最高值出现在冬季,最低值出现在夏季,冬季污染物浓度平均值高于夏季20倍,主要是由于北方采暖期间取暖用煤量的增加使得多环芳烃排放量大幅提高;与之不同的是,硝基多环芳烃浓度季节变化并不显著,冬季浓度均值与夏季差异小于5倍(除9-硝基蒽),反映出硝基多环芳烃生成主要与机动车尾气排放有关,其排放不受季节控制,这与实际情况是吻合的.此外,基于因子分析和化合物比值结果发现,太原城区大气PM_(2.5)中9-硝基蒽有来自周边地区木材燃烧的贡献.健康风险评价结果表明,必须对多环芳烃排放进行有效控制来降低人群在冬季大气中的暴露风险;对于硝基多环芳烃,其健康风险更要引起足够的重视.     

Locating Spatial Variation in the Association Between Wildland Fire Risk and Social Vulnerability Across Six Southern States

Wildland fire in the South commands considerable attention, given the expanding wildland urban interface (WUI) across the region. Much of this growth is propelled by higher income retirees and others desiring natural amenity residential settings. However, population growth in the WUI increases the likelihood of wildfire fire ignition caused by people, as humans account for 93% of all wildfires fires in the South. Coexisting with newly arrived, affluent WUI populations are working class, poor or otherwise socially vulnerable populations. The latter groups typically experience greater losses from environmental disasters such as wildfire because lower income residents are less likely to have established mitigation programs in place to help absorb loss. We use geographically weighted regression to examine spatial variation in the association between social vulnerability (SOVUL) and wildfire risk. In doing so, we identify “hot spots” or geographical clusters where SOVUL varies positively with wildfire risk across six Southern states—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. These clusters may or may not be located in the WUI. These hot spots are most prevalent in South Carolina and Florida. Identification of these population clusters can aid wildfire managers in deciding which communities to prioritize for mitigation programming.     

Government Regulations of Shechita (Jewish Religious Slaughter) in the Twenty-First Century: Are They Ethical?

Human beings have engaged in animal husbandry and have slaughtered animals for food for thousands of years. During the majority of that time most societies had no animal welfare regulations that governed the care or slaughter of animals. Judaism is a notable exception in that from its earliest days it has included such rules. Among the Jewish dietary laws is a prohibition to consume meat from an animal that dies in any manner other than through the rigorously defined method of slaughter known as shechita. In recent decades more and more attempts have been initiated by governments around the world to either outright ban or to control and modify the practice of shechita. This paper presents the requisite background about shechita and then analyzes the ethics of some of the recent legislation. The analysis includes a rebuttal of the assertion that shechita is an inhumane method of slaughter. It further presents the consequences on the Jewish community of legislation to impose pre-slaughter stunning and explains why such legislation is unethical. The actual effect of labeling laws is discussed and it is shown why such laws are also un-ethical.     

高锰酸盐复合药剂强化混凝改善再生水景观湖水质研究

实验通过投加助凝剂以强化混凝沉淀过程,从而达到去除再生水景观水中的藻类。以PAC为混凝剂,高锰酸盐复合药剂(PPC)为预氧化助凝剂,通过烧杯实验确定PPC、PAC同时投加,最佳投量分别为1 mg/L、60 mg/L。生产性实验中,机械加速澄清池强化混凝对TP、叶绿素、藻密度的去除率分别为54%、32.3%和35.4%,湖水中TP、TN逐渐降低分别由4.9 mg/L、23 mg/L降至0.72 mg/L、10.3 mg/L。PPC提高了混凝沉淀对藻类的去除效果,改善了再生水景观湖水质,降低水中氮磷营养盐的含量。     

Constitutional tolerance to heavy metals of a fiber crop, ramie (Boehmeria nivea), and its potential usage

It is observed that ramie (Boehmeria nivea), an economic fiber crop, can establish and colonize metal-contaminated sites in China. Metal tolerance and accumulation by ramie originating from 13 metal-contaminated and 4 “clean” sites in China were compared under field and hydroponic conditions. All selected populations and germplasms displayed good growth performance under diverse metal-contaminated habitats; while growth responses, metal accumulation and tolerance were similar among the 8 populations and 2 germplasms when exposed to solutions containing elevated As, Cd, Pb, or Zn in the laboratory. These revealed that ramie possesses a certain degree of constitutional metal tolerance. To our knowledge, this is the first report of constitutional metal tolerance possessed by a fiber crop. Ramie can be considered as a good candidate for both fiber production and phytoremediation of sites contaminated by multi-metals, as it accumulates relative low metal concentrations, but possesses both high biomass and high economic value.     

Comprehensive assessment of toxic metals in urban and suburban street deposited sediments (SDSs) in the biggest metropolitan area of China

A set of toxic metals, i.e. As, Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni and Cr, in urban and suburban SDSs were investigated comparatively in the biggest metropolitan area of China, Shanghai. Results showed that all of the metals except As were accumulated greatly, much higher than background values. Geo-accumulation index indicated that metal contamination in urban SDSs was generally heavier than that in suburban SDSs. Potential ecological risk index demonstrated that overall risks caused by metals were considerable. Cd contributed 52% to the overall risk. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that in urban SDSs, Zn, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cu and Cr were related to traffic and industry; coal combustion led to elevated levels of Hg; soil parent materials controlled As contents. In suburban SDSs, Pb, Cu, As and Cd largely originated from traffic pollution; Zn, Ni and Cr were associated with industrial contaminants; Hg was mainly from domestic solid waste.     

Impact of anthropogenic emissions and open biomass burning on regional carbonaceous aerosols in South China

Carbonaceous aerosols were studied at three background sites in south and southwest China. Hok Tsui in Hong Kong had the highest concentrations of carbonaceous aerosols (OC = 8.7 ± 4.5 μg/m³, EC = 2.5 ± 1.9 μg/m³) among the three sites, and Jianfeng Mountains in Hainan Island (OC = 5.8 ± 2.6 μg/m³, EC = 0.8 ± 0.4 μg/m³) and Tengchong mountain over the east edge of the Tibetan Plateau (OC = 4.8 ± 4.0 μg/m³, EC = 0.5 ± 0.4 μg/m³) showed similar concentration levels. Distinct seasonal patterns with higher concentrations during the winter, and lower concentrations during the summertime were observed, which may be caused by the changes of the regional emissions, and monsoon effects. The industrial and vehicular emissions in East, Southeast and South China, and the regional open biomass burning in the Indo-Myanmar region of Asia were probably the two major potential sources for carbonaceous matters in this region.