Cement paste column for simultaneous removal of fluoride, phosphate, and nitrate in acidic wastewater

Cement paste, a cured mixture of cement and water, was reported to have considerable capacity for fluoride removal. In this study, heavily mixed fluoric acid wastewater from a semiconductor fabrication plant was applied to a column packed with cement paste granules to evaluate its capacity for the removal of fluoride and three other contaminants, phosphate, nitrate, and sulfate, as well as to investigate the interactions between these contaminants and cement components. The column reduced fluoride to remarkably low levels since fluorite was formed at highly elevated concentrations of calcium and the residual fluoride was further sorbed into the amorphous calcium phosphate that precipitated the entire amount of phosphate until breakthrough. The simultaneous removal of sulfate in the earlier stage was followed by significant removal of nitrate in exchange with the gradual release of sulfate. This behavior was explained by the co-precipitation of sulfate with calcium phosphate or calcium aluminate solids and the subsequent substitution of nitrate for the interlayer sulfate of monosulfate. However, the overall removal capacity of cement paste was reduced due to the high effluent loss of calcium and competition for calcium between fluoride and phosphate.     

Identification of barley genotypes with low grain Cd accumulation and its interaction with four microelements

The variation in grain cadmium (Cd) concentrations was evaluated among 600 barley genotypes grown in the same field condition to select low Cd accumulating genotypes. The results showed that there is considerable genotypic variation in grain Cd concentrations in barley grain samples, with the mean concentration of 0.16 mg kg(-1) DW and the variation of 0 (not detected) to 1.21 mg kg(-1) DW, and 47.2% of the grain samples exceeded the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) for Cd in cereal grains. In addition, differences between genotypes over the two years were fairly consistent, and Beitalys and Shang 98-128 showed the lowest grain Cd concentration, being 97.5% lower than that in the two highest Cd accumulators E-barley 6 and Zhenong 8 in the second harvest year. The great genotypic differences in Cd concentrations indicated that it is possible to lower Cd content of barley through cultivar selection and breeding for use at sites where Cd concentration in grain exceeds the MPC. Significant genotypic difference was also found in microelement concentrations. Correlation analysis showed that only Mn accumulation is synergetic with Cd accumulation, despite slightly positive relationship between Cd and Zn, Cu, or Fe in accumulation in barley grains.     

Excess copper induced physiological and proteomic changes in germinating rice seeds

Copper is an essential micronutrient for plants. Present at a high concentration in soil, copper is also regarded as a major toxicant to plant cells due to its potential inhibitory effects against many physiological and biochemical processes. The interference of germination-related proteins by heavy metals has not been well documented at the proteomic level. In the current study, physiological, biochemical and proteomic changes of germinating rice seeds were investigated under copper stress. Germination rate, shoot elongation, plant biomass, and water content were decreased, whereas accumulation of copper and TBARS content in seeds were increased significantly with increasing copper concentrations from 0.2mM to 1.5mM followed by germination. The SDS-PAGE showed the preliminary changes in the polypeptides patterns under copper stress. Protein profiles analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) revealed that 25 protein spots were differentially expressed in copper-treated samples. Among them, 18 protein spots were up-regulated and 7 protein spots were down-regulated. These differentially displayed proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The up-regulation of some antioxidant and stress-related proteins such as glyoxalase I, peroxiredoxin, aldose reductase, and some regulatory proteins such as DnaK-type molecular chaperone, UlpI protease, and receptor-like kinase clearly indicated that excess copper generates oxidative stress that might be disruptive to other important metabolic processes. Moreover, down-regulation of key metabolic enzymes like alpha-amylase or enolase revealed that the inhibition of seed germinations after exposure to excess copper not only affects starvation in water uptake by seeds but also results in failure in the reserve mobilization processes. These results indicate a good correlation between the physiological and biochemical changes in germinating rice seeds exposed to excess copper.     

Removal of Prussian blue from contaminated soil in the rhizosphere of cyanogenic plants

The fate of radiolabeled cyanide in soil was investigated during exposure to cyanogenic plant species, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor var. P721) and flax (Linum usitassimum var. Omega-Gold), in fully-contained growth chambers. Labeled cyanide was subject to microbial transformation, assimilation by plant roots, incorporation and biodegradation in plant tissue. For this study, (14)C-labeled cyanide was added to soil, and distribution of (14)C activity was assessed before plant establishment and after harvest. After 3 months of plant growth, 7% of the (14)C-labeled cyanide was converted to (14)CO(2) with sorghum and 6% with flax, compared with only 2% conversion in unplanted soil. A small amount of unaltered cyanide was shown to be accumulated by the plants (approximately 140 mg cyanide/kg plant or <0.1% of the total). Results from this experiment demonstrate the potential of cyanogenic plants for use in phytoremediation of cyanide-contaminated soil.     

长江三角洲人口集聚与布局探讨

长江三角洲是我国重要的经济区域,是参与国际竞争、提高国际分工地位的代表地区,也是最主要的人口聚集区。随着国家贯彻落实科学发展观,推进人口分布、产业布局和经济环境在空间上的均衡发展,长三角在产业和人口方面的集聚效应将更加明显。从生态景观和经济发展的分析入手,开展了人口承载力和人口集聚的研究,大胆提出未来长三角人口集聚的规模以及在空间上的分布,同时提出建设六大都市圈和六大国际门户,形成网络化的城市空间布局,有效承接大量流入的人口和支撑产业的发展。     

毛乌素沙漠东部边缘中β尺度暴雨和冰雹综合分析

利用多普勒雷达资料、Micaps系统提供的常规观测资料和物理量场,对2006年9月20日发生在毛乌素沙漠东部边缘的一次强对流天气过程进行了分析。结果表明:冰雹和暴雨是由两块呈块状的中β尺度强对流单体造成的;地面能量比中α尺度"Ω"系统的生成,为能量的积聚和集中释放提供了有利条件;地面能量比中β尺度能量比低值舌的生成,为强对流天气的发生提供了抬升触发机制;冰雹和暴雨发生前,涡度场和散度场的耦合、影响雹暴区次级环流的形成,为雹暴的发生维持提供了动力机制;850 hPa等压面上湿正压场和湿斜压场的配合、以及湿位涡的三维空间结构,对雹暴的发生及落区有指示意义;在多普勒雷达径向速度场上,雹暴运动的前方对流层低层有中气旋生成,雹暴运动的后方对流层低层有中反气旋生成,而对流层中高层有辐散生成,且超级单体特征明显。     

Enhanced biohydrogen generation from organic wastewater containing NH 4+ by phototrophic bacteria Rhodobacter sphaeroides AR-3

NH₄⁺ is typically an inhibitor to hydrogen production from organic wastewater by photo-bacteria. In this experiment, biohydrogen generation with wild-type anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroideswas found to be sensitive to NH₄⁺ due to the significant inhibition of NH₄⁺ to its nitrogenase. In order to avoid the inhibition of NH₄⁺ to biohydrogen generation by R. sphaeroides, a glutamine auxotrophic mutant R. sphaeroides AR-3 was obtained by mutagenizing with ethyl methane sulfonate. The AR-3 mutant could generate biohydrogen efficiently in the hydrogen production medium with a higher NH₄⁺ concentration, because the inhibition of NH₄⁺ to nitrogenase of AR-3 was released. Under suitable conditions, AR-3 effectively produced biohydrogen from tofu wastewater, which normally contains 50–60 mg/L NH₄⁺, with an average generation rate of 14.2 mL/L·h. This generation rate was increased by more than 100% compared with that from wild-type R. sphaeroides.     

国外"棕地再开发"土地利用策略及对我国的启示

棕地再开发是当代西方国家重要的城市可持续发展策略之一。本文界定了棕地的概念与特征，分析了其成因及棕地再开发的环境、社会、经济效益和广阔前景。并将棕地再开发与其他城市可持续发展战略如紧凑城市和理性增长，及城市用地改造策略如旧城更新和工业区置换进行了比较与区分，指出它在城市土地可持续发展与循环利用方面的优势。接着论述了棕地再开发策略在美国、英国及欧洲其他国家的实践情况，对其再利用模式和机制进行了归纳，这些国家制定与实施了不少环境与经济方面的宏观计划与实施细则，通过政策扶持、资金注入、税收减免、交通引导、保险保障、基建投资等途径大力支持和引导棕地再开发。最后明确了在我国实施棕地再开发策略的优势，认为要遵循“政府宏观调控、企业市场运作”的原则，推进土地循环使用，实现可持续发展和循环经济的战略目标。     

西北干旱半干旱区生态系统影响因子初探

通过分析百年尺度上中国西北降水空间分布规律和沙漠界线、农牧交错带界线的演变规律,认为:①干旱、半干旱是西北地区的主要气候特征;②生态系统非常敏感和脆弱;③在维持温饱和经济利益驱动下建立的农、牧业产业结构,是造成西北环境恶化的最主要的原因。