Seasonal changes in burrow geometry of the common mole rat (Rodentia: Bathyergidae)

Sociality in mole rats has been suggested to have evolved as a response to the widely dispersed food resources and the limited burrowing opportunities that result from sporadic rainfall events. In the most arid regions, individual foraging efficiency is reduced, and energetic constraints increase. In this study, we investigate seasonal differences in burrow architecture of the social Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus in a mesic region. We describe burrow geometry in response to seasonal weather conditions for two seasons (wet and dry). Interactions occurred between seasons and colony size for the size of the burrow systems, but not the shape of the burrow systems. The fractal dimension values of the burrow systems did not differ between seasons. Thus, the burrow complexity was dependent upon the number of mole rats present in the social group.     

Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger

Pathogens exert a strong selection pressure on organisms to evolve effective immune defences. In addition to individual immunity, social organisms can act cooperatively to produce collective defences. In many ant species, queens have the option to found a colony alone or in groups with other, often unrelated, conspecifics. These associations are transient, usually lasting only as long as each queen benefits from the presence of others. In fact, once the first workers emerge, queens fight to the death for dominance. One potential advantage of co-founding may be that queens benefit from collective disease defences, such as mutual grooming, that act against common soil pathogens. We test this hypothesis by exposing single and co-founding queens to a fungal parasite, in order to assess whether queens in co-founding associations have improved survival. Surprisingly, co-foundresses exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium did not engage in cooperative disease defences, and consequently, we find no direct benefit of multiple queens on survival. However, an indirect benefit was observed, with parasite-exposed queens producing more brood when they co-founded, than when they were alone. We suggest this is due to a trade-off between reproduction and immunity. Additionally, we report an extraordinary ability of the queens to tolerate an infection for long periods after parasite exposure. Our study suggests that there are no social immunity benefits for co-founding ant queens, but that in parasite-rich environments, the presence of additional queens may nevertheless improve the chances of colony founding success.     

Investigation of low-molecular weight organic acids and their spatiotemporal variation characteristics in Hongfeng Lake, China

The identities and concentrations of low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs) were determined by ion chromatography throughout a 20-m water column in Hongfeng Lake, China. The spatiotemporal variations of LMWOAs and their contributions to dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a research period of 24 hr were also investigated. The results demonstrated that five LMWOAs (lactic, acetic, pyruvic, sorbic, oxalic acid) were detected, and their total concentration and proportion in DOC were 6.55 μmol/L and 7.47%. Their average levels were 2.50, 0.65, 2.35, 0.96 and 0.09 μmol/L, respectively. LMWOAs were higher during daytime (10:00-18:00 on Jun 13, 2008) than nighttime (21:00-6:00 the next morning), in particular 4.99 μmol/L high in the epilimnion ( 1 m water depth), reflecting the fact that direct import from terrigenous sources and photochemical production from humic materials were dominant during LMWOAs’ origin and accumulation. The same factors caused LMWOAs to be 0.63 μmol/L in the epilimnion higher than in the hypolimnion. The rapid decrease of total organic acid (TOA) up until 18:00 mainly resulted from bio-uptake and mineralization in the hypolimnion (>1 m water depth). Pyruvic acid increased with time in the epilimnion and decreased in the hypolimnion, largely related to the two contrary processes of continuous degradation and synthesis of macromolecular organic matter during life materials’ cycle mediated by organisms. Simultaneously, plankton behavior and thermal stratification played a pivotal role in LMWOAs’ behavior in the water column, causing decreasing and increasing profiles. The distribution of LMWOAs represents an interesting resource for biogeochemical research of DOM in aquatic ecosystems.     

烟气脱硫装置增容改造技术探讨

国内大量石灰石-石膏湿法烟气脱硫装置需进行增容改造,介绍了增容改造的主要方案及各方案的应用案例,分析了方案选择的影响因素,总结了增容改造的主要特点,提出了改造项目的建议,为火电机组的脱硫增容改造提供借鉴。     

泥龄对A~2O工艺去除多环麝香的影响

研究了A2O工艺不同污泥龄(Sludge retention time,SRT)条件下中佳乐麝香(Galaxolide,HHCB)与吐纳麝香(Tonalide,AHTN)的去除和迁移的变化情况。采用固相萃取与气相质谱联用的方法对各池中水相与泥相中HHCB和AHTN的浓度进行分析。结果发现:A2O工艺对HHCB的去除效果好于AHTN。高SRT条件(15,20 d)下HHCB、AHTN的总去除率明显小于低SRT条件(5,10 d)下的总去除率。     

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of quantum-dot-sensitized one-dimensionally-ordered ZnO nanorod photocatalyst

An efficient photocatalyst was fabricated by assembling quantum dots （QDs） onto one-dimensionally-ordered ZnO nanorods, and the photocatalytic properties for Methyl Orange degradation were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence. The results indicate that the catalyst with assembled QDs is more favorable for the degradation than the pristine ZnO nanorods. The QDs with core-shell structure lower the photocatalytic ability due to the higher carder transport barrier of the ZnS shell layer. Besides its degradation efficiency, the photocatalyst has several advantages given that the one-dimensionally-ordered ZnO nanorods have been grown directly on indium tin oxide substrates. The article provides a new method to design an effective and easily recyclable photocatalyst.     

Numerical simulation of alga growth and control in Dalian Bay

WAHMO model was used to simulate the distribution of pollutants in Dalian Bay, China as to predict well as the growth and control of alga. The observed and predicted values of main pollutants showed a good trend at all study locations and the different between them can be ignored. Simulation results illustrated that phosphate was one of limited factors to control algal growth at the location near the sewage outfall, meanwhile, away from the sewage outfall, the synergy of ammonium nitrogen and phosphate was the limited factor.     

Supercritical water oxidation of polyvinyl alcohol and desizing wastewater：Influence of NaOH on the organic decomposition

Polyvinyl alcohol is a refractory compound widely used in industry. Here we report supercritical water oxidation of polyvinyl alcohol solution and desizing wastewater with and without sodium hydroxide addition. However, it is difficult to implement complete degradation of organics even though polyvinyl alcohol can readily crack under supercritical water treatment. Sodium hydroxide had a significant catalytic effect during the supercritical water oxidation of polyvinyl alcohol. It appears that the OH ion participated in the C-C bond cleavage of polyvinyl alcohol molecules, the CO2-capture reaction and the neutralization of intermediate organic acids, promoting the overall reactions moving in the forward direction. Acetaldehyde was a typical intermediate product during reaction. For supercritical water oxidation of desizing wastewater, a high destruction rate (98.25%) based on total organic carbon was achieved. In addition, cases where initial wastewater was alkaline were favorable for supercritical water oxidation treatment, but salt precipitation and blockage issues arising during the process need to be taken into account seriously.     

Waste oyster shell as a kind of active filler to treat the combined wastewater at an estuary

Estuaries have been described as one of the most difficult environments on Earth. It is difficult to know how to treat the combined wastewater in tidal rivers at the estuary, where the situation is very different from ordinary fresh water rivers. Waste oyster shell was used as the active filler in this study in a bio-contact oxidation tank to treat the combined wastewater at the Fengtang Tidal River. With a middle-experimental scale of 360 ma/day, the average removal efficiency of COD, BOD, NH3-N, TP and TSS was 80.05%, 85.02%, 86.59%, 50.58% and 85.32%, respectively, in this bio-contact oxidation process. The living microbes in the biofilms on the waste oyster shell in this bio-contact oxidation tank, which were mainly composed of zoogloea, protozoa and micro-metazoa species, revealed that waste oyster shell as the filler was suitable material for combined wastewater degradation. This treatment method using waste oyster shell as active filler was then applied in a mangrove demonstration area for water quality improvement near the experiment area, with a treatment volume of 5 × 10^3 m^3/day. Another project was also successfully applied in a constructed wetland, with a wastewater treatment volume of 1 ×10^3 m^3/day. This technology is therefore feasible and can easily be applied on a larger scale,     

Formation of THMs and HANs during bromination of Microcystis aeruginosa

Bromine-contained disinfectants and biocides are widely used in swimming pools, recreational waters and cooling towers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the formation of thrihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetonitriles (HANs) and their cytotoxicity in algae solutions during free bromine disinfection. Disinfection by-products formation potential experiments were conducted using model solutions containing 7 mg/L (as total organic carbon) Microcystis aeruginosa cells. Effects of free bromine dosage, pH and ammonia were investigated. The results showed that brominated disinfection by-products were the major products when free bromine was applied. The total THMs formed during bromination was much as that formed during chlorination, whereas HANs were elevated by using bromination instead of chlorination. Dibromoacetonitrice (C2H2NBr2 ) and bromoform (CHBr3 ) were the only detected species during free bromine disinfection. The production of C2H2NBr2 and CHBr 3 increased with disinfectant dosage but decreased with dosing ammonia. CHBr3 increased with the pH changing from 5 to 9. However, C2H2NBr2 achieved the highest production at neutral pH, which was due to a joint effect of variation in hydrolysis rate and free bromine reactivity. The hydrolysis of C2H2NBr2 was base-catalytic and nearly unaffected by disinfectant. Finally, estimation of cytotoxicity of the disinfected algae solutions showed that HANs formation was responsible for the majority of toxicity. Considering its highest toxicity among the measured disinfection by-products, the elevated C2H2NBr2 should be considered when using bromine-related algaecide.