Identification of agricultural factors for improving sustainable land resource management in northern Thailand: A case study in Chiang Mai Province

This paper aims to identify the land-use factors benefiting sustainable land management in terms of environmental conservation. For evaluating the impacts of land use on the environment, the following parameters were used: chemical fertiliser and pesticide use, land-use structure and diversity. The farmers' income, land tenure and farming scale were selected for their influence on agricultural sustainability. The analysis shows a rapid increase in use of chemical fertiliser and pesticide in the past 40 years, and an observable increase in land-use diversity. The amount of chemical fertiliser used per unit area in large-scale farming was lower than that at small scales, but large-scale farming consumes more pesticide than small-scale farming. A significant negative correlation was observed between the proportions of the holdings possessing land and the holdings using the chemical fertiliser. In order to achieve sustainable agriculture, it is necessary to manage crop systems and land use towards selecting new strains and varieties of crops and fruits with a lower demand for chemical fertiliser and a higher resistance to disease and pests, balancing large- and small-scale farming, and ensuring land tenure and economic incentives.     

Multi-index integrated assessment and analysis of town-sewage treatment priorities in China

Water quality is one of the most serious problems of environment and national sustainable development strategy now facing China. After hard work over the last several decades, urban-sewage treatment in China is now relatively well developed. It now affords mainly higher levels of sewage collection and treatment, as well as pollution-load control. The characteristic rapid urbanization now occurring in China is still increasing and developing dramatically, and involves large numbers of people. However, in towns, sewage treatment infrastructure is inadequate, and a high percentage of the sewage generated there is not effectively collected and treated. The sewage and pollution load of such towns have become the most important reason for environmental water problems in China. To understand the priorities of sewage treatment in such towns, and their spatial distribution in China, we conducted two nationwide investigations of water use and sewage discharge in towns. Based on the integrated analytic hierarchy process (AHP), assessment indices and a framework of town-sewage treatment priorities in China were constructed. Then, we assessed and analyzed the priorities of towns regarding three aspects of sewage treatment: environmental stress, economic capability, and infrastructure. The results showed that the southeast coastal areas and north China had higher demand for sewage treatment than other areas. The demand in eastern and western areas had obvious differences in spatial distribution, but had nearly no differences within those areas. The towns having the greatest demand for high-priority sewage treatment were concentrated in regions with high economic capability and intense water resource utilization.     

The effect of preparation conditions of Pt/Al2O3 on its catalytic performance for the H2-SCR in the presence of oxygen

Selective catalytic reduction of NO _x by H₂ in the presence of oxygen has been investigated over Pt/ Al₂O₃ catalysts pre-treated under different conditions. Catalyst preparation conditions exert significant influence on the catalytic performance, and the catalyst pre-treated by H₂ or H₂ then followed by O₂ is much more active than that pre-treated by air. The higher surface area and the presence of metallic Pt over Pt/Al₂O₃ pre-treated by H₂ or pretreated by H₂ then followed by O₂ can contribute to the formation of NO₂, which then promotes the reaction to proceed at low temperatures.     

农药含钾废渣的热解动力学

通过XRF和XRD两种测试方法对农药含钾废渣的成分进行测定,结果显示,该废渣中含有大量的氯化钾,具有很大的资源化价值.采用热重分析法,在5、10、15、20 K.min-1线性升温速率下,研究了农药含钾废渣在空气气氛下的热解特性及热解动力学.以期为农药含钾废渣的资源化处理提供理论依据.结果表明,该废渣热解过程分为3个阶段,失重率分别为4.62%、7.69%和2.55%;且3个阶段的活化能E分别为83.53、128.48和138.17 kJ.mol-1,指前因子A分别为4.79×107、2.34×1010和6.46×107s-1.     

Epigenetic effect of long-term bisphenol A exposure on human breast adenocarcinoma cells

In this research, epigenetic effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells were analyzed. Genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression were analyzed in MCF-7 cells exposed to BPA (10^?5 and 10^?6 mol/L for 5 weeks). No significant changes in the global level of 5-methyl-2′-deoxycytidine and 5-hydroxymethyl-2′-deoxycytidine were observed. DNA methylation profiling analysis indicated that BPA exposure resulted in the hypermethylation of FOXK2, LKB1, LMX1A and CUGBP2 and the hypomethylation of PTPRN2, TRIM27, BCAS3 and ZNF423. Decreased expression of apoptosis genes (P38 and BCL2L1) and increased expression of chemokine (Cxcl2 and ccl20) were detected. Changes of these genes were speculated to affect the ERα-related cell growth as well as cell apoptosis.     

High CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> adsorption by amino-modified bio-spherical cellulose nanofibres aerogels

Climate change has become increasingly serious due to the greenhouse effect. It is therefore necessary to control the content of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, using, for instance, CO₂-adsorbing materials. Here, we synthesized ultra-lightweight and spherical cellulose nanofibres aerogels by a suspension titration method using an efficient amination process. These functional materials with high porosity, higher than 96.54%, and three-dimensional network structure, were prepared by freeze-drying spherical cellulose nanofibres hydrogel. Their maximum CO₂ adsorption capacity reaches 1.78 mmol/g, and they show excellent regeneration, of more than 10 cycles. This synthesis of bioaerogels represents a new method for the preparation of bio-CO₂ adsorbents.     

Hydrodynamics and contaminant transport on a degraded bed at a 90-degree channel confluence

Channel confluences at which two channels merge have an important effect on momentum exchange and contaminant diffusion in both natural rivers and artificial canals. In this study, a three-dimensional numerical model, which is based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes equations and Reynolds Stress Turbulence model, is applied to simulate and compare flow patterns and contaminant transport processes for different bed morphologies. The results clearly show that the distribution of contaminant concentrations is mainly controlled by the shear layer and two counter-rotating helical cells, which in turn are affected by the discharge ratio and the bed morphology. As the discharge ratio increases, the shear flow moves to the outer bank and the counter-clockwise tributary helical cell caused by flow deflection is enlarged, leading the mixing happens near the outer bank and the mixing layer distorted. The bed morphology can induce shrinkage of the separation zone and increase of the clockwise main channel helical cell, which is initiated by the interaction between the tributary helical cell and the main channel flow and strengthened by the deep scour hole. The bed morphology can also affect the distortion direction of the mixing layer. Both a large discharge ratio and the bed morphology could lead to an increase in mixing intensity.     

Inverse uncertainty characteristics of pollution source identification for river chemical spill incidents by stochastic analysis

Identifying source information after river chemical spill occurrences is critical for emergency responses. However, the inverse uncertainty characteristics of this kind of pollution source inversion problem have not yet been clearly elucidated. To fill this gap, stochastic analysis approaches, including a regional sensitivity analysis method, identifiability plot and perturbation methods, were employed to conduct an empirical investigation on generic inverse uncertainty characteristics under a well-accepted uncertainty analysis framework. Case studies based on field tracer experiments and synthetic numerical tracer experiments revealed several new rules. For example, the release load can be most easily inverted, and the source location is responsible for the largest uncertainty among the source parameters. The diffusion and convection processes are more sensitive than the dilution and pollutant attenuation processes to the optimization of objective functions in terms of structural uncertainty. The differences among the different objective functions are smaller for instantaneous release than for continuous release cases. Small monitoring errors affect the inversion results only slightly, which can be ignored in practice. Interestingly, the estimated values of the release location and time negatively deviate from the real values, and the extent is positively correlated with the relative size of the mixing zone to the objective river reach. These new findings improve decision making in emergency responses to sudden water pollution and guide the monitoring network design.

Open image in new window

     

工作面动态推进下采空区煤自燃分布特征模拟

为了研究动态推进过程中工作面推进距离对采空区煤自燃分布特征的影响,采取及时有效的煤自燃防治措施,以13210综放面为工程背景,基于采空区渗透率分布公式和传热传质控制方程,建立采空区煤自燃数值解算模型。利用COMSOL软件模拟了工作面不同推进距离下以流速和氧体积分数为划分指标的采空区氧化带范围和高温区域的变化规律,分析了高温区域与氧化带的叠加效应。通过现场实测与模拟结果比对,验证了模拟的准确性。研究结果表明:采空区渗透率随着工作面推进距离的增加而不断变化,近工作面端渗透率变化不大,而中深部采空区的渗透率不断减小;采空区氧化带分布随工作面推进距离的增加呈现阶段性变化特征,推进初期氧化带范围不断变化,推进后期氧化带范围趋于稳定;采空区氧化带分布与高温区域重叠深度随工作面推进不断增加,最终稳定于工作面后方60~70 m范围内。     

基于多元统计分析的独流减河水质时空特征

为了解独流减河流域水质时空特征及污染物排放结构情况,准确掌握污染来源和防控重点,达到改善流域水质的目的,基于2017年独流减河流域9个监测断面的8个水质指标的监测数据,采用综合水质标识指数法进行水质评价,运用多元统计分析方法中的聚类分析和主成分分析开展水质时空分布特征及污染物来源解析研究.结果表明:独流减河流域水质时空特征差异显著,干流水质优于支流水质;时间维度划分为2个时段T1(1-3月)和T2(4-12月),T2时段水质优于T,时段,氨氮、总磷和阴离子表面活性剂是各时段的主要污染因子,畜禽养殖、农村居民生活为主要污染源,氟离子和CODCr分别是T1和T2时段的另外主要污染因子,代表工业电镀行业废水污染和耗氧有机污染.空间分布划为G1组和G2组,其中G1组主要位于中上游,主要污染因子为氨氮、总磷及阴离子表面活性剂,代表畜禽养殖和居民生活污染;G2组位于中下游,主要污染因子为化学需氧量、总磷和氟化物,代表城镇居民生活污染和工业电镀行业废水污染,G2组水体水质优于G1组.