Microsomal monooxygenase activity in Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) exposed to a bleached kraft mill effluent using different exposure systems.

Bleached kraft pulp and paper mill effluents (BKMEs) are known to have adverse effects on aquatic organisms. One of the effects of BKMEs is its ability to induce cytochrome P4501A activity in exposed fish. 7-Ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity is the most common biomarker used to measure the mixed-function monooxygenase activity. In this study, Tilapia were exposed to BKMEs using different exposure systems and their hepatic EROD activity, as well as liver/somatic index (LSI), were determined. In the Phase I study, Tilapia treated with betaNF and a whole (100%) BKME using a static, non-renewal system exhibited statistically significant EROD induction, but LSI values were not altered. In the Phase II study, fish were either caged in the mill's fishpond with the whole effluent passing through or cultured in tanks receiving 100% of the BKME continuously using a flow-through system in the laboratory. Their EROD activities were then compared with the non-exposed fish (control). The EROD activities in both groups of fish were elevated significantly with the greatest induction being observed in the field-exposed group. The LSI values in all of the field-exposed fish were significantly greater than the control Tilapia. The EROD assay was sensitive in detecting biological changes in fish exposed to the BKME. Further studies are warranted to better understand the impacts of BKMEs on aquatic organisms in Taiwan.     

Advanced superhydrophobic electroactive fluorinated polyimide and its application in anticorrosion coating

A novel superhydrophobicelectroactive fluorinated polyimide (HEFPI) was first synthesized from aniline trimer and 4,4′-(Hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphthalic anhydride. The HEFPI could be fabricated as superhydrophobicfilm by replicated the surface of the Xanthosomasagittifolium leaves. The water contact angle of HEFPI film reaches as high as 157 ° and the superhydrophobic property of HEFPI could coat on cold-rolled steel (CRS) to prevent the metal corrosion. Electroactivity of EFPI was evaluated by performing electrochemical cyclic voltammetry study. Besides, redox catalytic capabilities of aniline trimer units existed in HEFPI main chain may induce the formation of passive metal oxide layers on the CRS electrode. The synergistic effects (hydrophobic property and passive metal oxide layers) make the HEFPI coating has great potential for advanced anticorrosion material.     

Analysis of the health risk of exposure to breast milk mercury in infants in Taiwan

The aim of this study was to assess the total concentration and health risk to infants of breast milk mercury in urban mothers and mothers married to fishermen in relation to fish intake in Taiwan. A total of sixty-eight healthy mothers were recruited for the study. The breast milk mercury geometric mean concentration was 2.02 microgl(-1) (n=56, range: 0.24-9.45 microgl(-1)) for the city group and 2.04 microgl(-1) (n=12, range: 0.26-8.62 microgl(-1)) for the fishermen's group. Of the three sources of mercury exposure (i.e., ingestion (breast milk), inhalation (ambient air), and dermal exposure (shower)), breast-feeding was found to be the largest (96.3-99.6% of the total). From a Monte Carlo simulation, in which methyl mercury accounted for about 50% of total mercury, the hazard quotient (exposure estimate/oral minimal risk level or target organ toxicity dose) exceeded 1.0 for 12.9% of urban babies and 18.8% of fishermen's babies (chronic oral minimal risk level and target organ toxicity dose: 3 x 10(-4)mgkg(-1)d(-1)). The calculated mercury exposure was 3.02 x 10(-1) microgkg(-1)d(-1) for a 3.49 kg urban baby boy and 3.06 x 10(-1) microgkg(-1)d(-1) for a 3.44 kg urban baby girl. These results suggest the life style of mothers (eating raw fish and shellfish such as used in "Sashimi" and "Sushi," and vitamin supplementation) may influence the mercury concentration in breast milk.     

A Semianalytical Solution for Residual Drawdown at a Finite Diameter Well in a Confined Aquifer

After the end of pumping the water level in the observation well starts to recover and the reduced drawdown during the recovery period is named as the residual drawdown. Traditional approaches in analyzing the data of residual drawdown for estimating the aquifer hydraulic parameters are mostly based on the application of superposition principle and Theis equation. In addition, the effect of wellbore storage is commonly ignored in the evaluation even if the test well has a finite diameter. In this article, we develop a mathematical model for describing the residual drawdown with considering the wellbore storage effect and the existing drawdown distribution produced by the pumping part of the test. The Laplace‐domain solution of the model is derived using the Laplace transform technique and the time‐domain result is inverted based on the Stehfest algorithm. This new solution shows that the residual drawdown associated with the boundary and initial conditions are related to the well drawdown and the aquifer drawdown, respectively. The well residual drawdown will be overestimated by the Theis residual drawdown solution in the early recovery part if neglecting the wellbore storage. On the other hand, the Theis residual drawdown solution can be used to approximate the present residual drawdown solution in the late recovery part of the test.     

A carbon-13 method for evaluating degradation of starch-based polymers

A new method for evaluating biodegradability of starch-based and certain other polymer blends uses the pre- and postexposure stable carbon isotope composition of material coupled with weight loss data to determine which components have degraded. The naturally occurring stable isotope of carbon.¹³C, is enriched in corn starch (¹³C, approx. –11) compared to petroleum-derived synthetic polymers (¹³C, approx. –32). Results on starch-synthetic polymer blends indicate that the ¹³C signatures of these blends are near-linear mixtures of their component ¹³C. Values of a ¹³C for starch-synthetic polymer blends exposed to biologically active laboratory soil and artificial seawater conditions are depleted in¹³C compared to unexposed samples, suggesting loss of the starch component. Combined with weight loss data for the exposed samples, the ¹³C values are statistically consistent with models requiring loss of the soluble component glycerin, followed by loss of starch, then petrochemical polymer, or simultaneous loss of starch and petrochemical polymer. Replicate ¹³C analyses of starch-synthetic polymer blends increase the statistical power of this relatively inexpensive, accessible technique to discriminate between degrading components.     

Assessment of the hyperlipidemia risk for residents exposed to potential emitted metals in the vicinity of a petrochemical complex

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Hyperlipidemia, which is associated with certain environmental factors, is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Heavy metals are important...     

时间序列案例推理检测土地利用短期快速变化

在实际的地理环境中,不同的土地利用/土地覆盖类型往往具有特定的时/空变化特征,适合于采用案例匹配方法进行求解。但目前常用的案例推理多以静态推理为主,缺乏对动态变化过程的推理。论文利用案例的空间可重用性,提出了基于时间序列的案例推理方法,通过分层随机采样挑选案例点,建立了试验区同步观测案例库,并对2005～2006年试验区15景Radarsat图像进行了时间序列影像分割,利用案例点的时间序列特征值对分割后的图斑进行时间序列相似性测度,生成时间序列案例匹配矩阵,并进一步得到变化图斑的土地利用转化类型和变化时间。最后,结合野外实测资料,对案例匹配结果进行了误差评价,在所有地类变化检测结果中,菜地由于种植类型多样,物候差异大,变化检测误差最大,其次是平整土地;鱼塘(11.3%～13.2%)和果园(10.7%～16.9%)变化检测误差最小。和基于规则的变化检测方法相比,案例推理方法精度略高。     

OPTIMAL ALLOCATION OF ARTIFICIAL AERATION ALONG A POLLUTED STREAM USING DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING1

ABSTRACT: When a series of aerators are used to raise the level of dissolved oxygen in a polluted stream through instream artificial aeration augmentation, the system is governed by the basic dissolved oxygen mass balance equation with the existence of artificial aeration as its boundary conditions. A mathematical model is formulated for the optimization of the allocation of aeration capacity to each of the series of aerators subject to a limitation on total available aeration capacity. The objective function is the minimization of the sum of the squares of the aeration costs and the costs incurred by damaging or unnecessarily improving the system. The original constrained allocation problem is simplified by converting it to an unconstrained one via the use of Lagrange multiplier. A discretized dynamic programming algorithm is formulated for finding the optimal allocation policy. A typical optimal aeration capacity allocation policy and its corresponding dissolved oxygen sag profile for the illustrated numerical example is presented, and the relationship between the total available aeration capacity and Lagrange multiplier is also developed treating weighting factors as parameters.