Short-term prediction of urban PM2.5 based on a hybrid modified variational mode decomposition and support vector regression model

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - PM2.5 (particulate matter with a size/diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) is an important air pollutant that affects human health, especially...     

Violence‐prevention climate,exposure to violence and aggression,and prevention behavior: A mediation model

This study explored mechanisms underlying employees' behaviors targeted at preventing workplace physical violence and verbal aggression. Poor psychological violence‐prevention climate perceptions and previous exposure to violence and aggression represent stressors that were associated with increased strains and reduced motivation. Strains and motivation, in turn, were related to prevention behaviors. We collected data from employee and coworker dyads, and structural equation modeling results supported that clear organizational policies, prompt management responses to assaults, and putting safety as a priority contributed positively to prevention behaviors through reduced strains and increased motivation. On the other hand, prior experiences of being attacked were related to more strains and lower motivation, which were related to lower prevention compliance. Our results inform future interventions for violence prevention. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enzymatic conversion of newspaper and office paper to fermentable sugars

Two types of waste paper materials, newspaper and office paper, were evaluated for their potential to be used as renewable feedstock for the production of fermentable sugars via the enzymatic hydrolysis of their cellulose fractions. The effects of four factors (hydrolysis time, enzyme loading, surfactant addition and phosphoric acid pretreatment) on the extent of sugar yield were assessed and quantified by using a methodical approach based on response surface methodology. The statistical experimental design used in this study requires fewer experimental runs compared to some commonly used experimental designs. In the newspaper hydrolysis case, response surface plots revealed that the degree of sugar release increased with an increase in hydrolysis time but it was hardly affected by the enzyme loading and acid pretreatment factors. The surfactant addition factor exhibited a positive effect when the enzyme loading level was relatively low. With office paper as the substrate, three of the four factors (hydrolysis time, enzyme loading and acid pretreatment) exhibited positive effects on the extent of sugar release. At local optimum conditions, the maximum sugar yield from office paper was found to be 0.82 g of reducing sugars per gram of paper, which was about 4.8 times higher than the maximum sugar release from the newspaper substrate.     

Studies on design of heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production

The production of biodiesel is gaining momentum with the ever increasing demand of the fuel. Presently, limited literature is available with respect to well designed solid heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production considering all the characteristics, process and operation parameters. Hence, a study was conducted to design effective heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production. Further, the significant impact of different catalysts, different feed stock, various reaction conditions such as temperature, methanol oil molar ratio, catalyst concentrations and stability/inactivation of the catalysts, are detailed out for transesterification process of biodiesel production. Based on the studies it can be concluded that well designed heterogeneous catalyst can yield high throughput of biodiesel.     

Instabilities in non-rotating and rotating shallow shear flows

Numerical simulations for the wave radiation effect on the linear and nonlinear instabilities of rotating and non-rotating shallow flows are conducted using shallow-water equations. At a low convective Froude number, the results of the instabilities is a string of eddies. The coalescence between the neighbouring eddies decides the transverse mixing of the shallow shear flow. At a higher convective Froude number, the development of the shear flow is characterized by wave radiation and the production of shocklets. The radiation of waves in the non-rotating shallow flow is a phenomenon analogous to the radiation of sound in gas dynamics. In the rotating flow on the other hand, the shallow-flow instabilities are intensified due to rotational interference within a window of instability over a narrow range of Rossby numbers.     

Health risk of aerosols and toxic metals from incense and joss paper burning

We report for the first time the distribution and hazard potential of aerosol and metals resulting from joss paper burning. Burning joss paper and incense is a traditional custom in many Oriental countries. Large amounts of air pollutants, including particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, toxic metals and other gaseous pollutants, are released into the environment during the burning stage. Many investigations have reported on the emission of pollutants from the incense burning. However, no work has been reported until now on the analysis of the released pollutants apart from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In this study, a micro-orifice uniform-deposit impactor and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry were, respectively, used to collect aerosols and characterize the toxic metals from joss paper burning. We studied two types of particulate matter (PM): PM_2.5 that are particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 μm and PM₁₀ that are particles with a diameter smaller than 10 μm. PM_2.5 are the most potentially toxic particles. Our results showed that PM_2.5 are the major component of the pollutants and that the PM_2.5 to PM₁₀ ratio ranged from 62 to 99%. The metals Na, Ca, Mg, Al and K were the main species in the aerosol and in the bottom ash.     

Value of information analysis: the state of application

The value of information (VoI) is a decision analytic method for quantifying the potential benefit of additional information in the face of uncertainty. This paper reviews the prevalence of VoI applications reported in the peer-reviewed literature from the years 1990–2011. We categorize papers’ applications across the types of uncertainties considered, modeling choices, and contexts of social importance (such as health care and environmental science). We obtain and analyze statistics on the range of applications and identify trends and patterns in them, and conclude with an interpretation of what these mean for researchers and practitioners as they pursue new efforts. Key results include a substantial increase over the last 20 years in published papers utilizing VoI, particularly in the medical field. Nineteen trends in VoI applications from the period of 1990–2000 to 2001–2011 were found to be at least weakly significant. Beyond simple trends, some characteristics of VoI usage depend on the area of application, and in some cases, certain sets of characteristics tend to be found together.     

Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in workplace and house dust from Vietnam: concentrations,profiles, emission sources,and exposure risk

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The occurrence of nine phthalic acid esters (PAEs) were determined in indoor dust samples collected from vehicle repair shops, waste processing...     

SiO_2-NH_2/Fe_3O_4的制备及制药废水的深度处理

以溶剂热法制备Fe_3O_4磁性粒子,通过改良的St?ber法在其上包覆Si O_2,并用3-氨丙基三乙氧基硅烷对表面进行氨基修饰,制得Si O_2-NH_2/Fe_3O_4磁性复合材料,并将其用于制药废水二级出水的吸附处理(吸附剂投加量1 g/L、吸附时间120 min)。表征结果显示:Si O_2-NH_2/Fe_3O_4为粒径(510.0±3.6)nm的球形粒子。实验结果表明:在废水p H为5时,Si O_2-NH_2/Fe_3O_4对TOC、蛋白质、腐殖酸的吸附效果最佳,三者的去除率分别达44.14%,35.58%,33.07%,与Fe_3O_4相比分别提高了25.27,21.76,21.05百分点;废水p H为6时,Si O_2-NH_2/Fe_3O_4对多糖和色度的去除效果最佳,二者的去除率分别达26.03%和62.94%,与Fe_3O_4的最高去除率(p H=5时)相比分别提高了17.84百分点和22.45百分点;Si O_2-NH_2/Fe_3O_4重复使用4次,TOC和色度去除率均达初次使用时的87%以上。     

南亚热带特大型水库季节性分层特征研究

新丰江水库是典型的南亚热带深水贫营养水库。为了解其水库的季节性分层特征，于2020年3月—2021年2月，对水库的水温，溶解氧（DO），pH值，总磷（TP），总氮（TN），高锰酸盐指数（I_Mn）和叶绿素a浓度（Chl.a）季节动态和垂直分层结构进行分析。结果表明，水库分层时间较短，混合期为1—4月和11—12月，热分层期为5—10月，夏季和秋季出现明显分层现象。水体分层结构对DO，pH值，TN，I_Mn和Chl.a的垂直分布有一定影响作用。水库未出现较明显的DO分层和季节性缺氧现象，水库表层水体DO值大于《地表水环境质量标准》（GB 3838—2002）中I类水质标准值（7.5mg/L），但是水体温跃层内DO值从Ⅰ类下降为Ⅱ—Ⅲ类，说明其可能面临潜在的生态风险，不利于水生态环境系统的稳定。