Sea salt concentrations across the European continent

The oceans are a major source for particles that play an important role in many atmospheric processes. In Europe sea salt may contribute significantly to particulate matter concentrations. We have compiled sodium concentration data as a tracer for sea salt for 89 sites in Europe to provide more insight in the distribution of sea salt across Europe. The annual average sea salt concentrations above land were estimated to range between 0.3 and almost 13 μg m^?3. Maximum concentrations are found at the Irish coast. At coastal sites along the Atlantic and North Sea coast concentrations tend to be around 5 μg m^?3. More inland locations up to about 300 km away from the coast tend to show concentrations between 2 and 5 μg m^?3, whereas sites further away from the coast are characterized by lower concentrations. An analysis of the representativity of the data with respect to a long term average showed that the long average is associated with a standard deviation of around 15%. The compilation of observations provides an improved overview of sea salt concentrations in Europe as well as an improved basis for model validation. Verification of the results of the LOTOS-EUROS model learned that the model represents well the spatial variability of the observed sea salt concentrations very well. However, the absolute concentrations are significantly overestimated due to large uncertainties in the emission and dry deposition parameterizations. Using the high explained variability in the gradients across Europe, the bias-corrected modelled distribution serves as a best estimate of the sea salt distribution across Europe for 2005.     

Negotiation System of Ecological Compensation of Water Source Areas

In view of no generally accepted ecological compensation standards and methods at present,this paper discusses the introduction of the negotiation system to the process of ecological compensation for water source areas.That is,the government in water source areas and the downstream regions of river basins should confirm their respective rights and obligations and then establish their compensation standards through negotiations according to the different purposes of water use.The amount of compensation should be determined in the comprehensive consideration of the quality,quantity and compensation price of water.Through open and fair negotiations,an institutional arrangement will be set up,which can make the water source areas and the downstream regions of river basins fully express their true preferences and their independent choices on the ecological environment.     

Gender,age and subject matter: impact on teachers’ ecological values

By means of environmental education, teachers are supposed to intervene in pupils’ awareness and concern of environmental issues. Teachers’ environmental attitudes, however, have rarely been studied. We analysed 367 German pre- and in-service teachers’ environmental attitudes for their structure and socio-economic correlates within the frame of a European project. Thus, we retrieved for adults the two-dimensional model of ecological values (2-MEV) presented for adolescents by Bogner and Wiseman (Sci Educ Int 15(1):27–48, 2004). For the two domains, Preservation and Utilisation, the psychometric structure was confirmed and discriminative correlations with age, gender and teaching subject were unveiled. Further research is needed to deduce the implications for teaching practice.     

Tree bark as a passive air sampler to indicate atmospheric polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in southeastern China

The different barks were sampled to discuss the influence of the tree species, trunk circumference, and bark thickness on the accumulation processes of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from air into the bark. The results of different PBDE concentrations indicated that barks with a thickness of 0–3 mm collected from weeping willow, Camphor tree, and Masson pine, the trunk circumferences of which were 100 to 150 cm, were better PBDEs passive samplers. Furthermore, tree bark and the corresponding air samples were collected at Anji (AJ), Hangzhou (HZ), Shanghai (SH), and Wenling (WL) to investigate the relationship between the PBDE concentrations in bark and those in air. In addition, the significant correlation (r ²?=?0.906; P?<?0.05) indicated that atmospheric PBDEs were the principle source for the accumulation of PBDEs in the barks. In this study, the log K _BA (bark–air partition coefficient) of individual PBDE congeners at the four sites were in the range from 5.69 to 6.79. Finally, the total PBDE concentration in WL was 5 to 20 times higher than in the other three cities. The result indicated that crude household workshops contributed a heavy amount of PBDEs pollution to the environment, which had been verified by the spatial distribution of PBDEs levels in barks collected at Wenling (range, 26.53–1317.68 ng/g dw). The good correlation between the PBDE concentrations in the barks and the air samples and the variations of the PBDE concentrations in tree barks collected from different sites reflected that the bark could be used as a passive sampler to indicate the atmospheric PBDEs.     

Medium optimization for the production of anti-cyanobacterial substances by Streptomyces sp. HJC-D1 using response surface methodology

Bioremediation using isolated anti-cyanobacterial microorganism has been widely applied in harmful algal blooms (HABs) control. In order to improve the secretion of activated anti-cyanobacterial substances, and lower the cost, a sequential optimization of the culture medium based on statistical design was employed for enhancing the anti-cyanobacterial substances production and chlorophyll a (Chl a) removal by Streptomyces sp. HJC-D1 in the paper. Sucrose and KNO₃ were selected as the most suitable carbon and nitrogen sources based on the one-at-a-time strategy method, and sucrose, KNO₃ and initial pH were found as major factors that affected the anti-cyanobacterial ability of the isolated stain via the Plackett–Burman design. Based on the response surface and canonical analysis, the optimum condition of culture medium was obtained at 22.73 g l^-1 of sucrose, 0.96 g l^-1 of KNO₃, and initial pH 8.82, and the Chl a removal efficiency by strain HJC-D1 increased from 63?±?2 % to 78?±?2 % on the optimum conditions.     

Iron improving bio-char derived from microalgae on removal of tetracycline from aqueous system

Novel magnetic carbonaceous bio-char was hydrothermal prepared from microalgae under different loadings of iron and its structures and surface chemistry were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm (BET). The morphology of bio-char changed from sheet to particle as iron loading increased and its surface area also increased. When 3.0 g of dried microalgae and 6.0 mmol iron salt ((NH₄)₂SO₄·FeSO₄·6H₂O) were mixed and treated, the obtained bio-char possessing the highest amount of oxygen-containing functional groups resulted in the best adsorption performance on tetracycline (TC). This adsorption process was fitted to Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity was 95.86 mg/g, which is higher than other bio-char reported. The iron loading contributed to the higher adsorption capacity of bio-char, which may be due to three factors, the high surface area, more hydrogen bonding, and bridging effects of the structural Fe for TC. Our data suggest that bio-char may have more important role in stabilization of pollutants in the environment.     

Simultaneous separation of apigenin,luteolin and rosmarinic acid from the aerial parts of the copper-tolerant plant Elsholtzia splendens

Elsholtzia splendens is a copper-tolerant plant species which grows on copper deposits in China. The generation of a valuable E. splendens biomass on specific contaminated sites has become one of the promising phytotechnologies. The simultaneous separations of apigenin, luteolin, and rosmarinic acid yielded in the ethyl acetate extracts of the flowering aerial parts was achieved by the use of a macroporous resin, polyamide, and silicagel columns during chromatography. Chemical identification confirmed the structures based on the spectra of FTIR, NMR, and HPLC/ESI-MS. The isolated compounds of purity above 98.3 % were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activities against human cancer cell lines including A549 (non-small lung), A431 (skin), and Bcap37 (breast). Among these compounds, luteolin and apigenin presented the best cytotoxic activities against A549, A431, and Bcap37 cells and, therefore, both could be the valuable products for the post-harvest processing of E. splendens biomass.     

RPB-O3/H2O2法处理硝基苯模拟废水

在超重力场中,研究了硝基苯模拟废水的臭氧/双氧水(O3/H2O2)法处理效果,考察了超重力因子β、H2O2浓度、初始p H、液体流量及处理时间等因素对硝基苯去除率的影响。结果表明,硝基苯去除率随超重力因子β和处理时间的增加而增大,而随H2O2浓度、初始p H和液体流量的增加呈先增大后降低的趋势。当硝基苯初始浓度300 mg/L,工艺条件β=80、p H=10.0、臭氧质量浓度约为40 mg/L、H2O2浓度为4.9 mmol/L、液体流量为120 L/h时,循环处理35 min硝基苯去除率可达96.7%。处理时间60 min后,废水中硝基苯含量1.4 mg/L,COD为39 mg/L,达国家一级排放标准(GB 8978-1996)。在此条件下,硝基苯的降解过程符合准一级反应动力学。     

前置反硝化曝气生物滤池的挂膜启动研究

为了解前置反硝化曝气生物滤池(BAF)的启动规律,构建了小试规模的前置反硝化BAF,采用快速排泥、逐步增大水力负荷的策略考察了其启动过程中的污染物去除情况及启动特性。结果表明,在好氧柱水力负荷为2.04 m3/(m2·h),厌氧柱水力负荷为4.08 m3/(m2·h),回流比为100%,气水比为5.6∶1的情况下,前置反硝化BAF的启动需要49 d。启动过程中好氧池中硝化细菌的成熟是启动的关键。厌氧池中的反硝化细菌的成熟标志着启动的完成。启动完成后,前置反硝化BAF的出水COD、NH3-N及NO-3-N分别稳定在50、15和5 mg/L以下,满足国家一级A排放标准。     

中国春季降水与南印度洋偶极子的关系研究

利用美国国家海洋和大气管理局海温资料和1951~2010年中国160站月降水量资料,分析了前期冬季（12~2月）印度洋海表温度与中国160站春季降水的关系及其影响机制。研究表明：冬季印度洋海温异常的空间模态主要有两种：符号一致的单极和东、西符号相反的南印度偶极。将第2模态的时间系数定义为南印度洋偶极子指数。该指数与中国次年春季降水关系较好,并利用NCEP/NCAR再分析资料进行机制分析,发现主要南印度洋偶极子通过以下途径影响中国春季降水：中高纬,SIOD的影响主要引起低纬度的海温及对流异常,通过中低纬度间的相互作用,在中高纬产生较强的遥响应,从而影响同期冬季欧亚大陆的环流变化,这种扰动在西风气流的作用下引起后期春季北太平洋地区对流活动异常,通过中低纬度间的相互作用,加强中高纬地区的遥响应,表现为欧亚大陆EUP波列;低纬,SIOD的影响主要引起南海-海洋性大陆的海温及对流异常,引发经向环流异常,导致黄河至长江中下游地区垂直运动异常和气流辐合异常