Policy issues pertaining to the oil and gas sector in India

This article discusses the various phases in petroleum product consumption in India from 1960 to 1996, and analyses the changes in consumption patterns. Consumption is growing rapidly although the intensity of petroleum use and the proportion of petroleum in the overall secondary energy consumption is actually on the decline, especially since the mid-1980s. The proportion of middle distillates in total consumption, especially HSD (High Speed Diesel) which accounts for 45%, is very high mainly because of distortions caused by Government subsidies. The article also analyses expected demand for petroleum products up till the year 2010, emphasizing the need to address the particularly fast growing demand for middle distillates. Further, the article discusses various policy issues pertaining to upstream and downstream activities of oil and gas supply, and emphasizes the need for increased investment in exploration and development, better management of existing reserves, rationalization of pricing policies and the creation of modern infrastructure to meet growing needs.     

谈“白色污染”防治

概述了我国“白色污染”的现状及其危害。针对目前“白色污染”的严峻态势，作者提出了对其根治应采取的具体措施。     

海化集团自备热电厂1#炉除尘系统改造

针对海化集团自备热电厂１３００ｔ／ｈ煤粉炉原有除尘系统存在的问题进行全面的分析，在此基础上结合厂方提出的要求，确定了改造方案，并捏造了改造设计。改造后实际运行情况表明：１＃米除尘系统运行良好，除尘效率超出了厂方提供的要求，达到９８．５％以上。     

HSE项目管理体系中环境保护专业的作用

在对比国内建设项目环保管理体系和HSE环保管理体系的基础上，总结了PMC项目环保管理工作的经验，对HSE项目管理运作模式中环保专业的职能和作用进行了一定程度的探讨。     

Rapid detection of aneuploidy in uncultured chorionic villus cells using fluorescence in situ hybridization

Rapid detection of aneuploidy using chromosome-specific repetitive DNA probes and the potential diagnostic accuracy of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on interphase cells of chorionic villus samples (CVS) are presented. Analyses demonstrated the ability to correctly identify aneuploidy using FISH in uncultured CVS. Our preliminary investigation suggests that this technique offers a significant clinical potential to circumvent problems of culture, time, and cost in cytogenetic analysis.     

Immobilized reactor for rapid destruction of recalcitrant organics and inorganics in tannery wastewater

The wastewater discharged from tanneries lack biodegradability due to the presence of recalcitrant compounds at significant concentration. The focal theme of the present investigation was to use chemo-autotrophic activated carbon oxidation(CAACO) reactor, an immobilized cell reactor using chemoautotrophs for the treatment of tannery wastewater. The treatment scheme comprised of anaerobic treatment, sand filtration, and CAACO reactor, which remove COD, BOD, TOC, VFA and sulphides respectively by 86%, 95%, 81%,71% and 100%. Rice bran mesoporous activated carbon prepared indigenously and was used for immobilization of chemoautotrophs. The degradation of xenobiotic compounds by CAACO was confirmed through HPLC and FT-IR techniques.     

Toxins and bioactive compounds from cyanobacteria and their implications on human health

Many species of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) produce secondary metabolites with potent biotoxic or cytotoxic properties. These metabolites differ from the intermediates and cofactor compounds that are essential for cell structural synthesis and energy transduction. The mass growth of cyanobacteria which develop in fresh, brackish and, marine waters commonly contain potent toxins. Cyanobacterial toxins or cyanotoxins are responsible for or implicated in animal poisoning, human gastroenteritis, dermal contact irritations and primary liver cancer in humans. These toxins (microcystins, nodularins, saxitoxins, anatoxin-a, anatoxin-a(s), cylindrospermopsin) are structurally diverse and their effects range from liver damage, including liver cancer to neurotoxicity. Several incidents of human illness and more recently, the death of 60 haemodialysis patients in Caruaru, Brazil, have been linked to the presence of microcystins in water. In response to the growing concern about the non-lethal acute and chronic effects of microcystins, World Health Organization has recently set a new provisional guideline value for microcystin-LR of 1.0 microg/L in drinking water. Cyanobacteria including microcystin-producing strains produce a large number of peptide compounds, e.g. micropeptins, cyanopeptolins, microviridin, circinamide, aeruginosin, with varying bioactivities and potential pharmacological application. This article discusses briefly cyanobacterial toxins and their implications on human health.