Depth perception,dark adaptation,vigilance and accident proneness of Chinese coal mine workers

To explore the relationships between human factors and accident proneness of coal mine workers, the depth perception, dark adaptation and vigilance abilities of 239 Chinese coal mine workers were tested and their accident proneness was surveyed with an accident proneness questionnaire. The results indicated that dark adaptation and vigilance abilities of the mine workers declined with increasing age. Vigilance had a significant negative relationship with accident proneness. There were significant differences in vigilance between coal mine workers doing different types of work. Individual difference in vigilance was relevant to the type of work that an individual did in a coal mine. The dark adaptation index had a significant positive relationship with accident proneness. Coal mine workers with weaker dark adaptation ability were also more accident prone. Some ergonomics recommendations concerning coal mine safety management in China are proposed.     

城镇化下平原水系变化及河网连通性影响研究

针对平原区城镇化背景下水系减少及连通受阻等下垫面变化引起的洪涝加剧问题,综合考虑水系结构和水力特性等因素,建立满足行洪排涝需求的平原水系连通度量方法,并以浙东沿海平原河网区为例,分析了城镇化下平原水系特征变化及其对河网连通度的影响。结果表明:1近20a来研究区水系数量和结构复杂性均存在不同程度的衰减,河网密度和水面率分别减少20%和30%左右,水系尤其是低等级河道的减少导致河网结构趋于骨干化;2河网连通度受水面率等数量特征和水系空间连接结构的共同影响,在水系数量持续减少情况下,整个河网连通度呈现先减少后增加的趋势,说明了骨干河道工程对水系空间结构特征的优化,可缓解水系减弱对河网连通的负面效应;3建立的河网连通度方法合理反映了水系数量和结构变化下的河网连通度演变规律,以及水系变化下区域排涝能力的空间差异特征,具有操作性强特点。     

PbO_2复合电极预处理甲苯二胺废水

通过涂覆—热分解法与电沉积法制备了β-PbO_2/α-PbO_2/SnO_2-Sb2O3/Ti复合电极(PbO_2复合电极),采用X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、循环伏安法(CV)、线性极化法(LSV)和加速寿命试验对电极进行表征。将PbO_2复合电极用于处理甲苯二胺(TDA)废水,考察了电解质浓度、电流密度对TDA降解效果的影响。实验结果表明:α-PbO_2呈梭状,β-PbO_2呈花菜状,多层结构的PbO_2电极利于提高电极的稳定性和活性;PbO_2复合电极的析氧电位(1.9 V)明显高于TDA的氧化电位(1.28 V),其使用寿命长达486 d;在电流密度为60 m A/cm2、Na2SO4质量浓度为10 g/L、电解时间为240 min的条件下,对COD为4 791.74 mg/L、TDA质量浓度为486.4mg/L的废水进行处理,TDA去除率高达97.3%,COD去除率可达88.1%。     

Simulation of dam/levee-break hydrodynamics with a three-dimensional implicit unstructured-mesh finite element model

Dam failures usually cause huge economic and life losses , especially in urban areas where there is a high concentration of inhabitants and economic actors. In order to understand the physical mechanisms of the formation and development of dam-break flooding, lots of efforts have been put into different types of modelling techniques. However, most of existing models are 1D (one-dimensional) or 2D models based on the shallow water equations. In this paper, we present a 3D numerical modelling investigation of dam-break flow hydrodynamics in an open L-shape channel. A newly developed 3D unstructured mesh finite element model is used here. An absorption-like term is introduced to the Navier–Stokes equations in order to control the conditioning of the matrix equation in the numerical solution process and thus improve the stability. A wetting and drying algorithm is used here to allow the free surface height to be treated with a high level of implicitness and stability. The 3D model has been validated by comparing the results with the published experimental data. Good agreement has been achieved at six selected locations. This study shows that the 3D unstructured mesh model is capable of capturing the 3D hydraulic aspects and complicated local flows around structures in simulation of dam-break flows.     

The fungicide difenoconazole alters mRNA expression levels of human CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells

The fungicide difenoconazole has been frequently detected in agricultural products, soils and surface waters, causing increasingly public concern due to toxicological properties. Although systemic triazole fungicides can inhibit the enzymatic activity of many CYP450 isozymes, how difenoconazole affects the human CYP3A4 still remains largely unknown. We thus investigated the effect of difenoconazole on normal mRNA expression and protein expression of human CYP3A4 by real-time quantitative PCR and western blot, respectively. Results show that the exposure to difenoconazole from 0.01 to 0.5 μM for 24 h down-regulates mRNA expression levels of human CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells. We also found that difenoconazole could inhibit the enzymatic activity of human CYP3A4 in a concentration-dependent mode. The IC₅₀ of difenoconazole for inhibition of CYP3A4 activity is 0.41 µM, showing a stronger inhibitor in comparison with ketoconazole. Overall, our findings indicate the potential risk of difenoconazole for the disruption of human CYP3A4.     

三氯卡班可以影响肾小管上皮细胞的屏障功能

三氯卡班(TCC)是一种被广泛应用于个人护理用品中的广谱型亲脂性杀菌剂,已在多种环境介质和生物体中检出。因其潜在的环境蓄积、生物累积和生物毒性效应,日益受到学者们的关注。借助TCC对NRK-52E(大鼠肾小管上皮细胞)的毒性暴露实验,通过检测细胞活力、以及与跨膜电阻和紧密连接相关的连接黏附分子1(JAM~(-1),junctional adhesion molecule 1)的蛋白表达水平,研究了TCC潜在的肾脏毒性效应。结果显示,10μmol·L~(-1)TCC处理48 h时培养细胞呈现不规则的集落;10μmol·L~(-1)和20μmol·L~(-1)TCC处理NRK-52E 24 h、48 h和72 h后可以显著抑制细胞生长;3.57μmol·L~(-1)TCC(生长抑制的48 hIC20)处理NRK-52E 48 h可以显著抑制细胞间紧密连接蛋白JAM~(-1)的表达量,并降低跨膜电阻,影响肾脏的屏障功能。本研究的结果能够为进一步揭示TCC对动物的毒害机制、评估其对动物的健康风险提供数据支持。     

Toxicity models of metal mixtures established on the basis of “additivity” and “interactions”

Observed effects of metal mixtures on animals and plants often differ from the estimates, which are commonly calculated by adding up the biological responses of individual metals. This difference from additivity is commonly referred to as being a consequence of specific interactions between metals. The science of how to quantify metal interactions and whether to include them in risk assessment models is in its infancy. This review summarizes the existing predictive tools for evaluating the combined toxicity of metals present in mixtures and indicates the advantages and disadvantages of each method. We intend to provide eco-toxicologists with background information on how to make good use of the tools and how to advance the methods for assessing toxicity of metal mixtures. It is concluded that statistically significant deviations from additivity are not necessarily biologically relevant. Incorporation of interactions between metals in a model does not on forehand mean that the model is more accurate than a model developed based on additivity only. It is recommended to first use a relatively simple method for effect prediction of uninvestigated metal mixtures. To improve the reliability of toxicity modeling for metal mixtures, further efforts should focus on balancing the relationship between the significance of statistics and the biological meaning, and unraveling the toxicity mechanisms of metals and their mixtures.

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Competition for electrons between reductive dechlorination and denitrification

It is common that 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) coexists with nitrate or nitrite in industrial wastewaters. In this work, simultaneous reductive dechlorination of TCP and denitrification of nitrate or nitrite competed for electron donor, which led to their mutual inhibition. All inhibitions could be relieved to a certain degree by augmenting an organic electron donor, but the impact of the added electron donor was strongest for TCP. For simultaneous reduction of TCP together with nitrate, TCP’s removal rate value increased 75% and 150%, respectively, when added glucose was increased from 0.4 mmol?L^–1 to 0.5 mmol?L^–1 and to 0.76 mmol?L^–1. For comparison, the removal rate for nitrate increased by only 25% and 114% for the same added glucose. The relationship between their initial biodegradation rates versus their initial concentrations could be represented well with the Monod model, which quantified their half-maximum-rate concentration (K _S value), and K _S values for TCP, nitrate, and nitrite were larger with simultaneous reduction than independent reduction. The increases in K _S are further evidence that competition for the electron donor led to mutual inhibition. For bioremediation of wastewater containing TCP and oxidized nitrogen, both reduction reactions should proceed more rapidly if the oxidized nitrogen is nitrite instead of nitrate and if readily biodegradable electron acceptor is augmented.

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A dynamic modelling of nutrient metabolism in a cyclic activated sludge technology (CAST) for treating low carbon source wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A new mathematical model incorporating biopolymer kinetics and the process of the simultaneous storage and growth are established for the treatment of...