Dynamics and Causation of Environmental Equity, Locally Unwanted Land Uses, and Neighborhood Changes

/ Why are some environmental risks distributed disproportionately in the neighborhoods of the minorities and the poor? A hypothesis was proposed in a recent study that market dynamics contributed to the current environmental inequity. That is, locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) make the host communities home to more poor people and people of color. This hypothesis was allegedly supported by a Houston case study, whereby its author analyzed the postsiting changes of the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods surrounding solid waste facilities. I argue that such an analysis of postsiting changes alone is insufficient to test the causation hypothesis. Instead, I propose a conceptual framework for analysis of environmental equity dynamics and causation. I suggest that the presiting neighborhood dynamics and the characteristics of control neighborhoods be analyzed as the first test for the causation hypothesis. Furthermore, I present theories of neighborhood change and then examine alternative hypotheses that these theories offer for explaining neighborhood changes and for the roles of LULUs in neighborhood changes. These alternative hypotheses should be examined when analyzing the relationship between LULUs and neighborhood changes in a metropolitan area. Using this framework of analysis, I revisited the Houston case. First, I found no evidence that provided support for the hypothesis that the presence of LULUs made the neighborhoods home to more blacks and poor people, contrary to the conclusion made by the previous study. Second, I examined alternative hypotheses for explaining neighborhood changes-invasion-succession, other push forces, and neighborhood life-cycle; the former two might offer better explanation.KEY WORDS: Environmental equity and justice; Locally unwanted lane uses; Siting; Market dynamics; Invasion-succession; Neighborhood changes     

Structural Adjustment of Oasis Agriculture in Xinjiang

As a special basic economic region in China, Xinjiang is situated in the arid area in the Northwest China. Oasis agriculture is the basis of the national economy. The development of oasis agriculture helps to accelerate the development of economy, social and environment. After 50 years of practice, from 1949 to 2002, oasis agriculture in Xinjiang enhanced rapidly the scale of agricultural industry and had great changes in its structure. The amount of cultivated area rose from 120.97*102 ha t…     

Effect of combined addition amount of nano zero-valent iron and biochar on methane production by anaerobic digestion of corn straw

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an attractive straw resource treatment technology as it can improve the utilization efficiency of straw resource. Raw straw...     

浙江典型海湾潮间带沉积物污染及生态风险评价

基于浙江4个典型海湾潮间带表层沉积物重金属元素Cu、Zn、Pb、Cr、Cd、Hg、As和多氯联苯（PCB）的调查结果,探究其污染特征、潜在生态风险和来源.结果表明,海湾潮间带表层沉积物Cd、Hg、As、PCB含量均符合国家海洋沉积物质量Ⅰ类标准;42%、9%、3%、12%站位的Cu、Zn、Pb、Cr符合国家海洋沉积物质量II类标准,1%站位的Cu和Zn符合国家海洋沉积物质量III类标准.区域污染程度（PLI_zone）依次为乐清湾 > 三门湾 > 象山港 > 杭州湾,乐清湾潮间带沉积环境为中等污染,杭州湾、象山港和三门湾潮间带沉积环境无污染.区域生态风险（RI）依次为乐清湾 > 杭州湾 > 三门湾 > 象山港,乐清湾和杭州湾潮间带沉积物为中潜在生态风险,三门湾和象山港潮间带沉积物为低潜在生态风险.Cd是首要的潜在生态风险因子,Cd对杭州湾、象山港、三门湾、乐清湾潜在生态风险指数（RI）的贡献分别为63%、54%、58%和55%.生活污水、工农业和交通污染是浙江典型海湾潮间带重金属和PCB的主要来源.     

Performance of different macrophytes in the decontamination of and electricity generation from swine wastewater via an integrated constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell process

Plants constitute a major element of constructed wetlands(CWs).In this study,a coupled system comprising an integrated vertical flow CW(IVCW) and a microbial fuel cell(MFC) for swine wastewater tre atment was developed to research the effects of macrophytes commonly employed in CWs,Canna indica,Acorus calamus,and Ipomoea aquatica,on decontamination and electricity production in the system.Because of the different root types and amounts of oxygen released by the roots,the rates of chemical oxygen demand(COD) and ammonium nitrogen(NH_4~+-N) removal from the swine wastewater differed as well.In the unplanted,Canna indica,Acorus calamus,and Ipomoea aquatica systems,the COD removal rates were 80.20%,88.07%,84.70%,and 82.20%,respectively,and the NH_4~+-N removal rates were 49.96%,75.02%,70.25%,and 68.47%,respectively.The decontamination capability of the Canna indica system was better than those of the other systems.The average output voltages were 520±42,715±20,660±27,and 752±26 mV for the unplanted,Canna indica,Acorus calamus,and Ipomoea aquatica systems,respectively,and the maximum power densities were 0.2230,0.4136,0.3614,and0.4964 W/m~3,respectively.Ipomoea aquatica had the largest effect on bioelectricity generation promotion.In addition,electrochemically active bacteria,Geobacter and Desulfuromonas,were detected in the anodic biofilm by high-throughput sequencing analysis,and Comamonas(Proteobacteria),which is widely found in MFCs,was also detected in the anodic biofilm.These results confirmed the important role of plants in IVCW-MFCs.     

Development of a static test apparatus for evaluating the performance of three PM2.5 separators commonly used in China

PM_(2.5) separator directly affects the accuracy of PM_(2.5) sampling.The specification testing and evaluation for PM_(2.5) separator is particularly important,especially under China's wide variation of terrain and climate.In this study,first a static test apparatus based on polydisperse aerosol was established and calibrated to evaluate the performance of the PM_(2.5) separators.A uniform mixing chamber was developed to make particles mix completely.The aerosol concentration relative standard deviations of three test points at the same horizontal chamber position were less than 0.57%,and the particle size distribution obeyed logarithmic normal distribution with an R~2 of 0.996.The flow rate deviation between the measurement and the set point flow rate agreed to within ± 1.0% in the range of -40 to 50℃.Secondly,the separation,flow and loading characteristics of three cyclone separators(VSCC-A,SCC-A and SCC112) were evaluated using this system.The results showed that the 50% cutoff sizes(D_(50)) of the three cyclones were 2.48,2.47 and 2.44 μm when worked at the manufacturer's recommended flow rates,respectively.The geometric standard deviation(GSD) of the capture efficiency of VSCCA was 1.23,showed a slightly sharper than SCC-A(GSD = 1.27),while the SCC112 did not meet the relevant indicator(GSD = 1.2 ± 0.1) with a GSD = 1.44.The flow rate and loading test had a great effect on D_(50),while the GSD remained almost the same as before.In addition,the maintenance frequency under different air pollution conditions of the cyclones was summarized according to the loading test.     

Effect of graphene oxide exposure on intestinal Wnt signaling in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Exposure to engineered nanomaterials(ENMs), such as graphene oxide(GO), can potentially induce the response of various molecular signaling pathways, which can mediate the protective function or the toxicity induction.Wnt signaling pathway is conserved evolutionarily in organisms.Using Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo assay model, we investigated the effect of GO exposure on intestinal Wnt signaling.In the intestine, GO exposure dysregulated Frizzled receptor MOM-5, Disheveled protein DSH-2, GSK-3(a component of APC complex), and two β-catenin proteins(BAR-1 and HMP-2), which mediated the induction of GO toxicity.In GO exposed nematodes, a Hox protein EGL-5 acted as a downstream target of BAR-1, and fatty acid transport ACS-22 acted as a downstream target of HMP-2.Functional analysis on HMP-2 and ACS-22 suggested that the dysregulation of these two proteins provides an important basis for the observed deficit in functional state of intestinal barrier.Our results imply the association of dysregulation in physiological and functional states of intestinal barrier with toxicity induction of GO in organisms.     

Density functional theory (DFT) studies of vanadium-titanium based selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts

Based on density functional theory (DFT) and basic structure models, the chemical reactions on the surface of vanadium-titanium based selective catalytic reduction (SCR) denitrification catalysts were summarized. Reasonable structural models (non-periodic and periodic structural models) are the basis of density functional calculations. A periodic structure model was more appropriate to represent the catalyst surface, and its theoretical calculation results were more comparable with the experimental results than a non-periodic model. It is generally believed that the SCR mechanism where NH₃ and NO react to produce N₂ and H₂O follows an Eley-Rideal type mechanism. NH₂NO was found to be an important intermediate in the SCR reaction, with multiple production routes. Simultaneously, the effects of H₂O, SO₂ and metal on SCR catalysts were also summarized.     

中温期和高温期污泥堆肥物料中典型氟喹诺酮类抗生素去除的影响因素

污泥处理后土地利用是氟喹诺酮类抗生素（fluoroquinolones,FQs）进入土壤环境的主要途径之一。好氧堆肥具有高效去除FQs、削减其环境风险的潜力,但目前对于堆肥过程中各阶段物料FQs去除影响因素的研究仍较少。该研究在制备典型城市污泥好氧堆肥获取其中温期、高温期物料的基础上,向堆肥中添加2种典型的FQs（ofloxacin,OFL;norfloxacin,NOR）,在不同FQs初始浓度（0,2.5,5.0 mg/kg）、含水率（50%、60%、70%）和通风量（0,15 mL/min）条件下,进行56 d的抗生素去除试验,控制各堆肥物料在其对应堆肥阶段温度（中温期物料,35℃;高温期物料,55℃）。结果表明:2种物料中FQs去除率均随着初始浓度上升而逐步下降,中温期物料最佳初始FQs浓度分别为5.0 mg/kg（OFL）、2.5 mg/kg（NOR）,对于高温期物料两者均为2.5 mg/kg;中温期物料中,FQs去除率随含水率增加先上升后下降,最佳含水率均为60%,高温期物料中,FQs去除率随含水率升高而逐步增加;2种物料中,通风量15 mL/min下的FQs去除率均明显高于未通风处理。与中温期物料对比,高温期物料中FQs去除过程需要较低的初始浓度和较高的含水率;在2种物料中,充分通风下FQs的去除率均明显高于未通风处理。     

UASB启动运行特征及互营丙酸氧化菌定量分析

为揭示升流式厌氧污泥床（UASB）反应器启动运行效能与互营丙酸降解菌群数量之间的关系,以稀释的玉米淀粉生产废水为底物,考察了UASB启动期的运行特征,并采用实时荧光定量PCR技术（qPCR）分析了互营丙酸降解菌群（丙酸氧化菌和产甲烷菌）的演替规律.结果表明,在进水COD 2000mg/L和水力停留时间（HRT）24h条件下,经过38d的连续运行,COD去除率达到了91.9%.当HRT分阶段缩短至8h时,比产甲烷速率达到了315LCH₄/（kg COD·d）,且形成了沉降性能良好的颗粒污泥.qPCR检测结果表明,至少有5种已鉴定的丙酸氧化菌存在于UASB反应器中.Pelotomaculum propionicum为接种污泥中的主要丙酸氧化菌,约占检测到丙酸氧化菌总数的45.7%.它的数量随着HRT缩短不断减少.而Syntrophobacter sulfatireducens和S.wolinii的数量随着HRT缩短不断增加,并在启动完成时达到最大值,分别为1.3×10³,5.5×10³个16S rRNA基因拷贝数/ng DNA,演替成为成熟颗粒污泥中的优势丙酸氧化菌群.Methanobacterium和Methanosarcina为接种污泥中的主要氢营养型产甲烷菌和乙酸营养型产甲烷菌,其数量随着HRT的缩短而逐渐减少,而Methanospirillum和Methanosaeta的数量随HRT的缩短逐渐增加,成为成熟颗粒污泥中的优势产甲烷菌群.