Effects of CH4 and CO on the reduction of nitric oxide to nitrogen in a discharge reactor

Additives are often added to enhance the efficiency of NO removal. This study uses a radio frequency (rf) discharge to consider the effect of added CH4 and CO to simulated NO/N2/O2/H2O mixtures on the elevation of NO conversion and the reduction of NO into N2. The enhancement levels of NO conversion when using various additives were found to be in this order: +CH4 > +CO > no additive. NO conversion reached 99.3%, 86.2%, and 77.6% when adding CH4, CO, and without additive, respectively, at inlet additive/NO molar ratio (R) = 5 and at 120 W. Moreover, the fraction of total N atoms converted from NO into N2 (FN2) was very high, reaching 99.4% and 99.5% when adding CH4 and CO, respectively, at R = 1 and at 120 W. The better operating conditions are using CH4 as the additive at R > or = 1 and a power of > 60 W to reach a higher NO conversion with a higher FN2. However, it should be noted that this rf plasma approach is not practical at this stage because of its relative low pressure.     

Effects of burnings of wax apple stubble and rice straw on polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran concentrations in air and soil

Measurements of the concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were made in ambient air, ash, and soil impacted by the open burning of wax apple and rice straw residues. Measurements showed that the mean PCDD/F concentration (0.458 pg I-TEQ/Nm3; international toxicity equivalence) in air at two wax apple orchards during open burning increased markedly, -8.1 times higher than that (0.057 pg I-TEQ/Nm3); before open burning. In addition, the mean PCDD/F concentration (0.409 pg I-TEQ/Nm3) in ambient air at a rice straw field was 4.6 times higher than that (0.089 pg I-TEQ/Nm3) before open burning. After burning the residues of wax apple stubble and rice straw, the contents of PCDD/F in ashes were 1.393 and 1.568 ng I-TEQ/kg-ash, respectively, and the contents of PCDD/F in soil were 2.258 and 2.890 ng I-TEQ/kg-soil, respectively. Therefore, the turnover of soil with the ash after open burning over years will result in the accumulation of PCDD/Fs in farm soils.     

Comparison of the expectations of residents and rescue providers of community emergency medical response after mudslide disasters

The integration of community resources is critical for emergency response. A thorough understanding of a community's requirements in advance is essential. This study examines communities that suffered mudslide disasters, and discusses expectations of the emergency medical response provided to the community from the perspectives of residents and rescue groups. The questionnaire used in the study was designed to adopt the Likert Scale for quantification purposes. Its content was divided into six categories based on emergency response. Both residents and rescue providers acknowledged that finance and reimbursement were the highest priority. Public information was regarded as the least important by both groups. Significant differences existed between the groups on patient care activities and supportive activities (P = 0.02 and 0.03, respectively), which were more appreciated by residents. We conclude that residents had higher expectations of evacuation, temporary relocation, lodging, food, and sanitary management than the rescue groups.     

A pilot study of citizens' opinions on the Incident Command System in Taiwan

Local residents may have different views on disaster‐response modes depending on their cultural and socioeconomic background. The purpose of this study was to examine Taiwan residents' opinions on the Incident Command System (ICS). We performed a structured survey through face‐to‐face interviews in mudslide‐affected communities. Quantitative analysis showed that the residents exhibited a clear preference for the ICS core‐principle attributes of ‘integrated communications’, ‘transfer of command’ and ‘modular organisation’. By contrast, the residents tended towards a non‐ICS approach for ‘incident action plan’ and ‘manageable span of control’. Qualitative analysis revealed an uncertain attitude towards ‘transfer of command’ and ‘incident action plan’. Community acceptance is important in the promotion of the ICS. A better understanding of residents' preferences should be acquired through a broader community survey, allowing us to understand perspectives on the ICS among different societies and facilitate implementation of the ICS at the basic community level.     

Effects of ellagic acid on arylamine N‐acetyltransferase activity in human colon tumor cells

The inhibition of arylamine N‐acetyltransferase (NAT) activity by ellagic acid was determined in a human colon tumor (adenocarcinoma) cell line. Two assay systems were performed, one with cellular cytosols (9000g supernatant), the other with intact colon tumor cell suspensions. The NAT activity in a human colon tumor cell line was inhibited by ellagic acid in a dose‐dependent manner in both types of examined systems: i.e. the greater the concentration of ellagic acid in the reaction, the greater the inhibition of NAT activities in both systems. The data also indicated that ellagic acid decreased the apparent K _m and V _max of NAT enzymes from human colon tumor cells in both the systems examined. This report is the first demonstration which showed ellagic acid affect human colon tumor cell NAT activity.     

Cardiotoxin III suppresses the invasiveness of MDA-MB-231 cells by targeting proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src and reversing mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is the first step required for breast cancer to initiate metastasis. The aberrant activation of proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src regulates multiple functions during tumor progression. Cardiotoxin III, a basic polypeptide isolated from Naja naja atra venom, has been shown to exhibit anticancer activity; however, the effect of cardiotoxin III on the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of cancer cells remains elusive. Exposure of MDA-MB-231 cells to cardiotoxin III resulted in morphological changes and upregulation of E-cadherin with a concomitant decrease in N-cadherin and vimentin protein levels, resulting in the inhibition of cell migration and invasion. Cardiotoxin III induced downregulation of snail and slug expression. Simultaneously, cardiotoxin III suppressed Src phosphorylation and downstream activation of focal adhesion kinase, of the docking protein p130^cas, and of paxillin. In addition, cardiotoxin III inhibited the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. The Src specific inhibitor 4-amino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-7-(dimethylethyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine decreased in the phosphorylation and the expression changes of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition markers in a similar way. Thus, cardiotoxin III has a novel anticancer effect by suppressing proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase activity, reversing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.     

Estimating the change of porosity in the saturated zone during air sparging

Introduction A ir sparging rem oves volatile organic conta- m inants from a saturated zone by com bining volatilization and aerobic biodegradation. A ir is injected below the w ater table through a slotted screen in a sparging w ell, and then rises to the…     

Detoxification and bioregulation are critical for long-term waterborne arsenic exposure risk assessment for tilapia

Long-term metal exposure risk assessment for aquatic organism is a challenge because the chronic toxicity of chemical is not only determined by the amount of accumulated chemical but also affected by the ability of biological regulation or detoxification of biota. We quantified the arsenic (As) detoxification ability of tilapia and developed a biologically based growth toxicity modeling algorithm by integrating the process of detoxification and active regulations (i.e., the balance between accumulated dose, tissue damage and recovery, and the extent of induced toxic effect) for a life span ecological risk prediction. Results showed that detoxification rate (k _dex) increased with increasing of waterborne As when the accumulated metal exceeded the internal threshold level of 19.1 μg g^− 1. The k _dex values were comparable to or even higher than the rates of physiological loss and growth dilution in higher exposure conditions. Model predictions obtained from the proposed growth toxicity model were consistent with the measured growth data. The growth toxicity model was also used to illustrate the health condition and growth trajectories of tilapia from birth to natural death under different exposure scenarios. Results showed that temporal trends of health rates and growth trajectories of exposed fish in different treatments decreased with increasing time and waterborne As, revealing concentration-specific patterns. We suggested that the detoxification rate is critical and should be involved in the risk assessments framework. Our proposed modeling algorithm well characterizes the internal regulation activities and biological response of tilapia under long-term metal stresses.     

Using multiple-criteria decision-making techniques for eco-environmental vulnerability assessment: a case study on the Chi-Jia-Wan Stream watershed, Taiwan

The Chi-Jia-Wan Stream watershed, located in the area of the upstream Da-Chia River in central Taiwan, is famous for slopeland agriculture and the land-locked salmon. Improper agricultural activities have caused apparent ecosystem vulnerability and sensitivity. In this study, a system that combined three watershed-based environmental indicators with multiple-criteria decision-making techniques, the Analytical Hierarchy Process, and the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations was developed to assess eco-environmental vulnerability. The composite evaluation index system was set up including sediment, runoff, and nutrient factors. Supported by geographic information system and K-means clustering and taking the subwatershed as the evaluation unit, the vulnerability is classified into four levels: potential, low, moderate, and high. The evaluated results show that 8.82% of subwatersheds (six subwatersheds) are in the moderately and highly vulnerable zones. These subwatersheds represent vertical-belt distribution, mainly concentrated in the right side of the studied area and near the riparian zone along the Chi-Jia-Wan Stream. The exploited farmland in the moderately and highly vulnerable zones is about 142.21 ha, occupying 75.38% of the total farmland in the studied watershed. These seriously vulnerable zones that have caused degradation in the quality of the eco-environment should be treated with more best management practices for eco-environmental rehabilitation. Additionally, the proposed model can effectively evaluate the eco-environmental vulnerability grade for reference in policy planning and ecological restoration in this area.     

Prediction of individual Freundlich isotherms from binary and ternary phenolic compounds mixtures

Method for simultaneous determination of individual component's adsorption equilibrium parameters for binary and ternary phenolic compounds mixtures was investigated in this research. The Freundlich equilibrium parameters of binary and ternary component of phenolic compounds were determined from one fixed composition of phenolic wastewater. The simulation results obtained from both binary and ternary systems on the basis of ideal adsorbed solution theory were consistent with single component equilibrium data.