New ternary water-soluble support from self-assembly of β-cyclodextrin-ionic liquid and an anionic polymer for a dialysis device

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We developed a new hybrid material resulting from an innovative supramolecular tripartite association between an ionic liquid covalently immobilized...     

Factors affecting the detection distances of reef fish: implications for visual counts

Detection patterns of coral reef fish were assessed from the meta-analysis of distance sampling surveys performed by visual census in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, from 1986 to 1999. From approximately 100,000 observations relating to 593 species, the frequency distributions of fish detection distances perpendicular to the transect line were compared according to species characteristics and sampling conditions. The shape and extension of these detection profiles varied markedly with fish size, shyness, and crypticity, indicating strong differences of detectability across species. Detection of very small and cryptic fish decreased strongly 1 m away from the line. Conversely, sightings of shy and large species were excessively low in the first meters due to diver avoidance prior to detection. The larger the fish, the greater the fleeing distance. Distance data underscore how inconsistent detectability biases across species and sites can affect the accuracy of visual censuses when assessing coral reef fish populations.     

Supporting evidences for vegetation-enhanced stormwater infiltration in bioretention systems: a comprehensive review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Stormwater mitigation efficiency of bioretention systems relies for a large part on their capacity to infiltrate rapidly received runoff. Within this...     

Analysis of a population of magnetotactic bacteria of the Gulf of Gabès,Tunisia

The occurrence of magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) on a Tunisian marine coast exposed to heavy metals pollution (Sfax, Gulf of Gabès, Mediterranean Sea) was investigated. The MTB population of this Southern Mediterranean coast was compared to the MTB populations previously investigated on the French Northern Mediterranean coast. A dominant MTB coccus morphotype was observed by microscopy analysis. By pyrosequencing technology, the analysis of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rDNA) revealed as much as 33 operational taxonomic sequence units (OTUs) close to sequences of MTB accessible in the databases. The majority were close to MTB sequences of the “Med group” of α-Proteobacteria. Among them, a dominant OTU_001 (99 % of the MTB sequences) affiliated within the Magnetococcales order was highlighted. Investigating the capacities of this novel bacterium to be used in bioremediation and/or depollution processes could be envisaged.     

Joint propagation of variability and imprecision in assessing the risk of groundwater contamination

Estimating risks of groundwater contamination often require schemes for representing and propagating uncertainties relative to model input parameters. The most popular method is the Monte Carlo method whereby cumulative probability distributions are randomly sampled in an iterative fashion. The shortcoming of the approach, however, arises when probability distributions are arbitrarily selected in situations where available information is incomplete or imprecise. In such situations, alternative modes of information representation can be used, for example the nested intervals known as “possibility distributions”. In practical situations of groundwater risk assessment, it is common that certain model parameters may be represented by single probability distributions (representing variability) because there are data to justify these distributions, while others are more faithfully represented by possibility distributions (representing imprecision) due to the partial nature of available information. This paper applies two recent methods, designed for the joint-propagation of variability and imprecision, to a groundwater contamination risk assessment. Results of the joint-propagation methods are compared to those obtained using both interval analysis and the Monte Carlo method with a hypothesis of stochastic independence between model parameters. The two joint-propagation methods provide results in the form of families of cumulative distributions of the probability of exceeding a certain value of groundwater concentration. These families are delimited by an upper cumulative distribution and a lower distribution respectively called Plausibility and Belief after evidence theory. Slight differences between the results of the two joint-propagation methods are explained by the different assumptions regarding parameter dependencies. Results highlight the point that non-conservative results may be obtained if single cumulative probability distributions are arbitrarily selected for model parameters in the face of imprecise information and the Monte Carlo method is used under the assumption of stochastic independence. The proposed joint-propagation methods provide upper and lower bounds for the probability of exceeding a tolerance threshold. As this may seem impractical in a risk-management context, it is proposed to introduce “a-posteriori subjectivity” (as opposed to the “a-priori subjectivity” introduced by the arbitrary selection of single probability distributions) by defining a single indicator of evidence as a weighted average of Plausibility and Belief, with weights to be defined according to the specific context.     

磷石膏废渣对小麦生长及麦田N_2O排放影响与经济环境效益分析

磷化工业产生的大量废渣磷石膏污染环境、占用土地,尚未得到很好的治理和利用。文章研究磷石膏废渣资源化利用,探索其对小麦田氧化亚氮(N_2O)排放以及小麦生长以及产量的影响。结果表明:施用不同量的磷石膏废渣对小麦生长、产量以及麦田N_2O的排放量的影响有所不同。施用磷石膏2 100 kg/hm~2对小麦千粒重以及产量等都有显著影响,可增产达48.11%。同时在整个小麦生长季,与单施有机肥处理相比,施用磷石膏废渣2 100 kg/hm~2可减少麦田N_2O排放量达30.14%,且减排作用具有持续性,在小麦的拔节期、抽穗期以及灌浆期的减排效果尤为显著。与之相比施用磷石膏1050 kg/hm~2的各项效果都比较微弱。研究还表明施用45%复合肥900 kg/hm~2虽然也促进小麦生长,增加小麦产量,但在整个生长季会显著增加N_2O的排放54.70%。在施用磷石膏条件下,小麦的鲜重和产量与麦田N_2O排放呈现显著负相关,与麦田N_2O排放强度呈现显著正相关,即磷石膏在显著促进小麦生长的同时可以显著降低麦田N_2O的排放。以碳交易背景为基础,分析磷石膏减排剂的田经济环境效益,结果表明,施用磷石膏废渣2 100 kg/hm~2,麦田的收入与产出比由1∶9.93提高到1∶17.82,产出增加约79.46%,同时还能够累计减少N_2O的排放达161.71 kg/hm~2。每吨磷石膏废渣可以减少N_2O排放76.48 kg,折合减少CO_2排放22 944 kg,环境收益达到1 140.55元。磷石膏作为减排剂施用,不仅可以减少环境污染,还能促进小麦生长,减少N_2O排放,对发展生态农业并缓解温室效应具有重要的应用价值。