Cadmium stress alters gene expression of DNA mismatch repair related genes in Arabidopsis seedlings

Cadmium (Cd) is a non essential element, and is a widespread environmental pollutant. Exposure to Cd can result in a variety of adverse health effects in plant and humans. In the current study, Arabidopsis seedlings were used as a bio-indicator of Cd pollution. Seedlings were grown on MS media containing 0-6.0 mg L(-1) Cd for 18 days, and the gene expression patterns were used to link increased Cd exposure with progressive biological effects. Reduction of total soluble protein content in shoots of the Arabidopsis seedlings occurred with increase in Cd concentrations. For the gene expression patterns, seven genes known to be involved in cell division and DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system were investigated by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and normalized using 18S rRNA gene expression. Expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen 2 (atPCNA 2), MutS 3 homolog (atMSH 3) and MutL1 homolog (atMLH1) genes in shoots of Arabidopsis was strongly induced by exposure to 0.75 mg L(-1) Cd, but were repressed by other Cd concentrations whereas exposure to 0.75-6 mg L(-1) of Cd resulted in a decreased expression of atPCNA1, atMSH 2, 6 and 7 genes independently of any observable biological effects, including survival, fresh weight and chlorophyll level of shoots. This work demonstrated that specific gene expression changes could serve as useful molecular biomarkers indicative of Cd exposure and related biological effects.     

氧化镁基催化剂及脱硝性能研究

为控制燃烧烟气中NOx的污染,对共混合方法制备的氧化镁基催化剂进行烟气直接催化分解法脱硝实验研究,分析模拟烟气脱硝塔内温度及床层高度及氧气浓度、NO浓度和空速对脱硝效率的影响.研究表明:氧化镁基催化剂可以采用直接催化分解法对烟气脱硝,脱硝率85%～95%,氧化镁基催化吸附剂组成为氧化镁、固化剂、添加剂;脱硝的床层高度4～5 cm,脱硝反应温度130～170℃,烟气空速2 500～3 000 h-1;研究推测出氧化镁基催化剂存在活性缺陷,并对脱硝机理进行了初步分析.     

福建省热带气旋暴雨型地质灾害特征分析

福建是受热带气旋影响较严重的省份,又是一个多山的省份,每年都有因热带气旋暴雨诱发滑坡等地质灾害造成巨大人员伤亡和经济损失的事例发生.通过分析福建省1990～2006年热带气旋暴雨诱发的地质灾害个例,发现热带气旋暴雨型地质灾害的规模和强度均比雨季暴雨诱发的地质灾害大;它的发生与热带气旋路径、过程雨量和当日雨量关系密切,地质灾害主要发生在强降水后的48 h内;热带气旋登陆前后,若有偏东急流、西南季风、冷空气、暖式切变等系统共同作用,对暴雨具有增幅作用,极易引发地质灾害.     

羧甲基-β-环糊精对土壤中萘的洗脱去除作用

研究了不同浓度的羧甲基－β－环糊精溶液对不同组分土壤中萘的洗脱去除作用,同非离子表面活性剂脂肪醇聚氧乙烯醚的洗脱去除作用比较,讨论了其对洗脱效果的影响因素．结果表明:羧甲基－β－环糊精溶液对土壤中的萘有较好的洗脱去除效果,２０ｇ·１－１的羧甲基－β－环糊精溶液的洗脱率可达９０%以上;洗脱液浓度和土壤质地是影响洗脱去除率的主要因素;适当地增加洗脱液浓度对洗脱去除率有显著提高;与脂肪醇聚氧乙烯醚相比,以羧甲基－β－环糊精溶液作为增溶试剂,对土壤中的弱极性有机污染物进行洗脱处理具有更好的效果     

过硫酸盐去除石灰土介质中汽油BTEX的效果及乙醇的影响

为了认识岩溶区石灰土含水介质中化学氧化联合生物降解去除燃油苯系物的效果,以汽油中的苯、甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯(BTEX)作为污染物,通过批实验研究过硫酸盐(PS)联合硝酸盐去除汽油BTEX的效果,并认识不同浓度乙醇(EtOH)存在时带来的影响及化学氧化与反硝化联合修复的可能性.结果表明,在35 d内各组的BTEX去除率均达到91.00%以上,PS化学氧化能有效地去除BTEX.在不含EtOH及含EtOH初始浓度为500和5000 mg·L^-1的情况下,BTEX浓度在第65 d时分别为未检出、0.226 mg·L^-1、0.243 mg·L^-1,去除率分别为99.98%、99.00%、98.70%,其中,苯的去除率分别为99.98%、97.01%、93.32%.随着EtOH浓度的增加,苯的去除受到抑制,EtOH对BTEX的化学氧化具有阻碍作用.石灰土介质中高铁含量对PS具有活化能力,高含量有机质能促进PS分解,并导致pH值回升,出现反硝化作用和硫酸盐还原作用,有利于生物降解作用的恢复.     

Quality assessment of groundwater from the south-eastern Arabian Peninsula

Assessment of groundwater quality plays a significant role in the utilization of the scarce water resources globally and especially in arid regions. The increasing abstraction together with man-made contamination and seawater intrusion have strongly affected groundwater quality in the Arabia Peninsula, exemplified by the investigation given here from the United Arab Emirates, where the groundwater is seldom reviewed and assessed. In the aim of assessing current groundwater quality, we here present a comparison of chemical data linked to aquifers types. The results reveal that most of the investigated groundwater is not suitable for drinking, household, and agricultural purposes following the WHO permissible limits. Aquifer composition and climate have vital control on the water quality, with the carbonate aquifers contain the least potable water compared to the ophiolites and Quaternary clastics. Seawater intrusion along coastal regions has deteriorated the water quality and the phenomenon may become more intensive with future warming climate and rising sea level.     

Dynamics of the lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin, China, since late nineteenth century

The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin have the most representative and largest concentration of freshwater lakes in China. However, the size and number of these lakes have changed considerably over the past century due to the natural and anthropogenic impact. The lakes, larger than 10 km² in size, were chosen from relief maps and remotely sensed images in 1875, 1950, 1970, 1990, 2000, and 2008 to study the dynamics of lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin and to examine the causes and consequences of these changes. Results indicated that there was a dramatic reduction in lake areas, which decreased by 7,841.2 km² (42.64 %) during the study period (1875–2008), and the number of lakes in this region changed moderately. Meanwhile, a large number of lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin were directly converted into paddy fields, ponds, building lands, or other land-use types over the study period. Therefore, all kinds of lake reclamation should be identified as the major driving factors for the loss of lake in this region. Furthermore, flooding, soil erosion, and sedimentation were also the main factors which triggered lake changes in different periods. Some wetland conservation and restoration projects have been implemented since the 1970s, but they have not reversed the lake degradation. These findings were of great importance to managers involved in making policy for the conservation of lake ecosystems and the utilization of lake resources.     

Occurrence of organotins in the Yangtze River and the Jialing River in the urban section of Chongqing, China

The occurrence of organotins in the Yangtze River and the Jialing River in the urban section of Chongqing, China and their impact on drinking water waterworks are reported in this study. Water samples were extracted by solid-phase microextraction and measured using a gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer. The results showed that the rivers studied were polluted by both butyltins and phenyltins and that the butyltin species was the dominant pollutant. Butyltins, especially monobutyltin, were detected in all 18 sampling stations, and phenyltins were detected only in 11 sampling stations. Majority of the organotins were MBTs with concentrations varying from 27.3 to 1,145.8 ng Sn L^?1. Diphenyltin and dibutyltin were the second most common with the highest levels of 113.7 and 202.5 ng Sn L^?1, respectively. Monophenyltin, tributyltin, and triphenyltin had the lowest detection rates with concentration levels of 9.7, 161.8, and 37.2 ng Sn L^?1, respectively. Some of the organotins were also detected in drinking water waterworks, which posed a threat to the water quality of Chongqing.     

Adjusting the effect of seasonal variability in the bioassessment of streams

Bioassessment tools should distinguish between the effects of anthropogenic degradation in communities and natural temporal changes. The present study tests the influence of natural seasonal variability on macroinvertebrate stream communities assessed by a predictive model (PORTRIV) and a multimetric index (IPtI) calibrated for spring. The scores of PORTRIV decreased significantly between spring and autumn, and between spring and winter (ca. 37 to 53 %, respectively), while those of IPtI did not change significantly between seasons. For non-reference samples, the results of the predictive model also indicate no significant differences. A correction factor (CF) was calculated to adjust the existing differences in the model assessments between seasons, based on the percentage of variation of reference site scores from spring to autumn and winter. After the application of the CF to the OE50 scores of spring reference samples, the differences were no longer significant. Independent reference validation sites confirmed this tendency. This method has the advantage of avoiding large efforts required for the construction of databases from other seasons and the development of new models to allow the assessment of streams in seasons other than spring. Further tests with models developed in regions with more marked seasonal changes should be done to confirm its wider applicability.     

Landscape ecological security assessment based on projection pursuit in Pearl River Delta

Regional landscape ecological security is an important issue for ecological security, and has a great influence on national security and social sustainable development. The Pearl River Delta (PRD) in southern China has experienced rapid economic development and intensive human activities in recent years. This study, based on landscape analysis, provides a method to discover the alteration of character among different landscape types and to understand the landscape ecological security status. Based on remotely sensed products of the Landsat 5 TM images in 1990 and the Landsat 7 ETM+ images in 2005, landscape classification maps of nine cities in the PRD were compiled by implementing Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System technology. Several indices, including aggregation, crush index, landscape shape index, Shannon’s diversity index, landscape fragile index, and landscape security adjacent index, were applied to analyze spatial–temporal characteristics of landscape patterns in the PRD. A landscape ecological security index based on these outcomes was calculated by projection pursuit using genetic algorithm. The landscape ecological security of nine cities in the PRD was thus evaluated. The main results of this research are listed as follows: (1) from 1990 to 2005, the aggregation index, crush index, landscape shape index, and Shannon’s diversity index of nine cities changed little in the PRD, while the landscape fragile index and landscape security adjacent index changed obviously. The landscape fragile index of nine cities showed a decreasing trend; however, the landscape security adjacent index has been increasing; (2) from 1990 to 2005, landscape ecology of the cities of Zhuhai and Huizhou maintained a good security situation. However, there was a relatively low value of ecological security in the cities of Dongguan and Foshan. Except for Foshan and Guangzhou, whose landscape ecological security situation were slightly improved, the cities had reduced values in landscape ecological security, with the most decreased number 0.52 in Zhaoqing. Results of this study offer important information for regional eco-construction and natural resource exploitation.