Effects of Compounded Curing Agents on Properties and Performance of Urea Formaldehyde Resin

The effects of three compounded curing agents on the properties and performance of the urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin were investigated in this study. The compounded curing agents were prepared by mixing ammonium chloride with hexamethylenetetramine, citric acid, and oxalic acid respectively at a ratio of 1:1, named N-H, N–CA, and N–OA, respectively. The curing process, crystallinity, and physical properties were measured, and the three-ply plywood was fabricated to measure its prepress strength, wet shear strength, and formaldehyde emission. Results showed that the compounded curing agents N–CA and N–OA enhanced the initial viscosity, crosslinking density and thermal stability of UF resin. Additionally, the prepress strength of the plywood bonded by UF resin with N–CA and N–OA increased by 82 and 111% respectively compared to the UF resin with NH₄Cl, and the wet shear strength increased by 14 and 16%, the formaldehyde emission decreased by 19 and 42% respectively. However, owing to the short pot-life of these curing agent limited their storage time, the curing agents N–CA and N–OA should be applied to fabricate plywood in winter for obtaining a better bond strength and a lower formaldehyde emission. While the UF resin with N–HT showed a suitable pot-life, so it could be applied to fabricate plywood in summer for long time storage and avoiding procuring problem.     

Racemic,R-, and S-tebuconazole altered chitinase and chitobiase activity of Daphnia magna

Tebuconazole is a chiral trizole fungicide and widely used in many crops for controlling disease. Tebuconazole is potential toxic to some aquatic organisms but relative information of its isomers is scarce. To detect the endocrine disrupting effects and difference of rac-, R-, and S-tebuconazole, the chitinase activity in Daphnia magna and chitobiase activity in each test medium were used as biomonitors after a 14-day exposure. Results showed that chitinase activity was significantly reduced by rac-, R-, and S-tebuconazole. The chitobiase activity in the test medium was reduced by rac- and R-tebuconazole before day 10, and only one peak was observed at day 10 or day 12 compared with two obvious peaks in the control group (days 6 and 12). S-tebuconazole delayed and reduced the reproduction of D. magna, but did not delay the first chitobiase activity peak, whereas the second peak could not be characterized as the exposure concentration and time increased. Compared with chitinase activity, chitobiase activity can still be used as a rudimentary model for identifying molt-interfering xenobiotics, and further studies should focus on the analysis of correlations between these parameters.     

A review of regulations and guidelines related to winter manure application

Winter manure application elevates nutrient losses and impairment of water quality as compared to manure applications in other seasons. In conjunction with reviewing global distribution of animal densities, we reviewed worldwide mandatory regulations and voluntary guidelines on efforts to reduce off-site nutrient losses associated with winter manure applications. Most of the developed countries implement regulations or guidelines to restrict winter manure application, which range from a regulative ban to guidelines based upon weather and field management conditions. In contrast, developing countries lack such official directives, despite an increasing animal production industry and concern over water quality. An analysis of five case studies reveals that directives are derived from a common rationale to reduce off-site manure nutrient losses, but they are also affected by local socio-economic and biophysical considerations. Successful programs combine site-specific management strategies along with expansion of manure storage to offer farmers greater flexibility in winter manure management.     

Effects of coal spoil amendment on heavy metal accumulation and physiological aspects of ryegrass (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lolium perenne</Emphasis> L.) growing in copper mine tailings

Copper mine tailings pose many threats to the surrounding environment and human health, and thus, their remediation is fundamental. Coal spoil is the waste by-product of coal mining and characterized by low levels of metals, high content of organic matter, and many essential microelements. This study was designed to evaluate the role of coal spoil on heavy uptake and physiological responses of Lolium perenne L. grown in copper mine tailings amended with coal spoil at rates of 0, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, and 20%. The results showed that applying coal spoil to copper mine tailings decreased the diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-extractable Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn contents in tailings and reduced those metal contents in both roots and shoots of the plant. However, application of coal spoil increased the DTPA-extractable Cr concentration in tailings and also increased Cr uptake and accumulation by Lolium perenne L. The statistical analysis of physiological parameters indicated that chlorophyll and carotenoid increased at the lower amendments of coal spoil followed by a decrease compared to their respective controls. Protein content was enhanced at all the coal spoil amendments. When treated with coal spoil, the activities of superoxide dismutases (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) responded differently. CAT activity was inhibited, but POD activity was increased with increasing amendment ratio of coal spoil. SOD activity increased up to 1% coal spoil followed by a decrease. Overall, the addition of coal spoil decreased the oxidative stress in Lolium perenne L., reflected by the reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in the plant. It is concluded that coal spoil has the potential to stabilize most metals studied in copper mine tailings and ameliorate the harmful effects in Lolium perenne L. through changing the physiological attributes of the plant grown in copper mine tailings.     

GPU Accelerated Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of a Cyanide-Release Accident in the Danjiangkou Reservoir

A graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerated two-dimensional contamination transport model is developed using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The intrinsic parallel features of LBM make it particularly suitable for implementation on GPUs. After validation with two benchmarks, the model was applied to a cyanide-release accident in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, using a numerical combination of hydrodynamics and solute transport. The results show good agreement with an Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) model. A single GPU workstation speedup reaches 1.58 times that of a central processing unit (CPU) calculation alone. This speedup provides the opportunity for applying the model as a pollution accident information and decision support system for the Middle Route of the South to North Water Diversion Project in China.     

A new approach to spatial source apportionment of haze pollution in large scale and its application in China

Long-lasting expansion of haze pollution in China has already presented a stern challenge to regional joint prevention and control. There is an urgent need to enlarge and reconstruct the coverage of joint prevention and control of air pollution in key area. Air quality models can identify and quantify the regional contribution of haze pollution and its key components with the help of numerical simulation, but it is difficult to be applied to larger spatial scale due to the complexity of model parameters. The time series analysis can recognize the existence of spatial interaction of haze pollution between cities, but it has not yet been used to further identify the spatial sources of haze pollution in large scale. Using econometric framework of time series analysis, this paper developed a new approach to perform spatial source apportionment. We applied this approach to calculate the contribution from spatial sources of haze pollution in China, using the monitoring data of particulate matter (PM_2.5) across 161 Chinese cities. This approach overcame the limitation of numerical simulation that the model complexity increases at excess with the expansion of sample range, and could effectively deal with severe large-scale haze episodes.     

基于ESDA-GWR的浙江县域生产性服务业时空特征及影响因素分析

全球产业结构“服务经济”形态转向宏观背景下,生产性服务业作为服务业重要构成正成为我国经济中低增速“新常态”下城市与区域重构竞合格局、提升位序-规模、参与新国际分工的重要“利器”。以浙江65个县域空间单元为研究对象,基于“定量测度-时空辨识-因素剖析”逻辑脉络,运用数理统计模型方法和GIS空间分析技术,揭示2003~2015年其演变特征、空间效应与影响机理,以期为浙江“县域经济”向“都市区经济”转型发展背景下统筹推进生产性服务业布局与发展实践提供科学依据。研究表明：生产性服务业时空格局表现为低水平均质空间向市辖区首位型城市特别是杭州、宁波等“多中心”的非均衡空间极化演进;其次,体系结构符合Zipf位序-规模分布规律,内部六大行业空间集聚呈现以信息服务业为龙头的“三大梯度”层级分异形态;再则,全局空间存在自相关性但溢出效应微弱且渗透不均衡;最后,其地理过程、格局实践表征被验证为是信息技术水平、人力资本丰裕度、市场发育成熟度等多重因子非线性共轭影响的结果。 关键词： 生产性服务业;探索性空间数据分析;地理加权回归;时空演变;浙江     

峡山地不同垂直带土壤层的水文功能及其影响因子

渗透性能和持水能力是土壤重要的水力学性质,是土壤调节径流、保持水土和涵养水源等水文功能的基础。以三峡库首的夷陵-大老岭山地为对象,采集亚高山棕壤针叶林地、中山黄棕壤针阔混交林与茶园地和低山黄壤针叶林地等4个样点剖面的土壤样品,在室内进行土壤饱和导水率、水分特征曲线和理化性质测定,量化了不同样地土壤渗透性能、持水能力和水分库容等水文功能参数,并明确了其主要影响因子。结果表明: 研究区山地土壤饱和导水率在0.06～14.78 mm/min之间,亚高山棕壤和中山黄棕壤林地土壤渗透性能较好,其平均饱和导水率在7.15～14.78 mm/ min之间,低山黄壤次之（1.3 9 mm/min）,中山黄棕壤茶园土壤渗透能力最差（1.17 mm/min）。不同类型土壤的饱和含水量、毛管含水量、田间持水量存在较大差异,凋萎含水量差异较小。同一类型土壤的不同发生层内,土壤饱和含水量随土壤深度的增加而递减,毛管持水量和田间持水量随土层深度的增加波动上升。不同样地间土壤水分总库容差异较大,随着海拔的升高,土壤水分总库容增加。土壤水分特征参数与土壤性质的相关分析表明,饱和导水率与土壤总孔隙度呈显著正相关,与容重呈显著负相关;饱和含水量、毛管持水量、田间持水量均与土壤总孔隙度、粘粒含量呈显著性正相关,与容重呈显著负相关;饱和含水量与根系重量呈显著正相关;毛管持水量、田间持水量与砂粒含量呈显著负相关。与中山茶园地和低山黄壤林地相比,亚高山棕壤和中山黄棕壤林地渗透性能较好且持水性更强,具有更好的调蓄径流和涵养水源的水文功能。 关键词： 山地土壤;土壤孔隙度;饱和导水率;持水能力;三峡库区     

武汉市一次污染过程的局地流场和边界层结构的数值模拟

利用2013年11月武汉市逐日空气质量资料、地面气象观测资料、NCEP/NCAR再分析资料和L波段雷达探空资料,通过WRF模式模拟空气污染生消过程中的局地气象条件变化,探讨特殊地形条件下边界层结构变化和局地环流在污染物生消过程中的作用和影响。结果表明：（1）武汉地区当背景环流场强的时候,由地形引起的局地流场对污染物扩散的影响就弱,反之当背景环流场弱的时候, 地形对流场影响明显:夜间为山风,白天为谷风。夜间山风与偏西北气流及偏东气流在武汉及周边地区辐合,形成气流汇聚带,在武汉地区形成一个反复污染带,即由地形引起的局地流场对污染物扩散的贡献就大;（2）武汉地区发生空气污染时,地面湿度较高,边界层呈上干下湿状态,其特征为暖而干且有偏东小风,这导致污染物不断堆积和重污染过程的形成。     

Nutrients Availability Shapes Fungal Community Composition and Diversity in the Rare Earth Mine Tailings of Southern Jiangxi,China

Russian Journal of Ecology - The present study characterized the nutrients availability of three rare earth tailings deserted in different time stages in Southern Jiangxi of China, and revealed the...