Urban transformation of a metropolis and its environmental impacts

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to understand the sustainability of urban spatial transformation in the process of rapid urbanization, and calls for future research on the demographic and economic dimensions of climate change. Shanghai towards its transformation to a metropolis has experienced vast socioeconomic and ecological change and calls for future research on the impacts of demographic and economic dimensions on climate change. We look at the major questions (1) to explore economic and demographic growth, land use and land-cover changes in the context of rapid economic and city growth, and (2) to analyze how the demography and economic growth have been associated with the local air temperature and vegetation.

Method

We examine urban growth, land use and land-cover changes in the context of rapid economic development and urbanization. We assess the impact of urban expansion on local air temperature and vegetation. The analysis is based on time series data of land use, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and meteorological, demographic and economic data.

Results and discussion

The results indicate that urban growth has been driven by mass immigration; as a consequence of economic growth and urban expansion, a large amount of farmland has been converted to paved road and residential buildings. Furthermore, the difference between air temperature in urban and exurban areas has increased rapidly. The decrease of high mean annual NDVI has mainly occurred around the dense urban areas.     

Factors diminishing the effectiveness of phosphorus loading from municipal effluent: critical information for TMDL analyses

Factors that diminish the effectiveness of phosphorus inputs from a municipal wastewater treatment facility (Metro) in contributing to phosphorus levels and its availability to support algae growth in a culturally eutrophic urban lake (Onondaga Lake, NY) were characterized and quantified. These factors included the bioavailability and settling characteristics of particulate phosphorus from this effluent, the dominant form (70%) of phosphorus in this input, and the plunging of the discharge to stratified layers in the lake. Supporting studies included: (1) chemical and morphometric characterization of the phosphorus-enriched particles of this effluent, compared to particle populations of the tributaries and lake, with an individual particle analysis technique; (2) conduct of algal bioavailability assays of the particulate phosphorus of the effluent; (3) conduct of multiple size class settling velocity measurements on effluent particles; and (4) determinations of the propensity of the discharge to plunge, and documentation of plunging through three-dimensional monitoring of a tracer adjoining the outfall. All of these diminishing effects were found to be operative for the Metro effluent in Onondaga Lake and will be integrated into a forthcoming phosphorus "total maximum daily load" analysis for the lake, through appropriate representation in a supporting mechanistic water quality model. The particulate phosphorus in the effluent was associated entirely with Fe-rich particles formed in the phosphorus treatment process. These particles did not contribute to concentrations in pelagic portions of the lake, due to local deposition associated with their large size. Moreover, this particulate phosphorus was found to be nearly entirely unavailable to support algae growth. While substantial differences are to be expected for various inputs, the effective loading concept and the approaches adopted here to assess the diminishing factors are broadly applicable.     

Reducing ammonia emissions from laying-hen houses through dietary manipulation

Feed additives can change the microbiological environment of the animal digestive track, nutrient composition of feces, and its gaseous emissions. This 2-yr field study involving commercial laying-hen houses in central Iowa was conducted to assess the effects of feeding diets containing EcoCal and corn-dried distillers grain with solubles (DDGS) on ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and greenhouse gas (CO2, CH4, and N2O) emissions. Three high-rise layer houses (256,600 W-36 hens per house) received standard industry diet (Control), a diet containing 7% EcoCal (EcoCal) or a diet containing 10% DDGS (DDGS). Gaseous emissions were continuously monitored during the period of December 2007 to December 2009, covering the full production cycle. The 24-month test results revealed that mean NH3 emission rates were 0.58 +/- 0.05, 0.82 +/- 0.04, and 0.96 +/- 0.05 g/hen/day for the EcoCal, DDGS, and Control diet, respectively. Namely, compared to the Control diet, the EcoCal and DDGS diets reduced NH3 emission by an average of 39.2% and 14.3%, respectively. The concurrent H2S emission rates were 5.39 +/- 0.46, 1.91 +/- 0.13, and 1.79 +/- 0.16 mg/ hen/day for the EcoCal, DDGS, and Control diet, respectively. CO2 emission rates were similar for the three diets, 87.3 +/- 1.37, 87.4 +/- 1.26, and 89.6 +/- 1.6 g/hen/day for EcoCal, DDGS, and Control, respectively (P = 0.45). The DDGS and EcoCal houses tended to emit less CH4 than the Control house (0.16 and 0.12 vs. 0.20 g/hen/day) during the monitored summer season. The efficacy of NH3 emission reduction by the EcoCal diet decreased with increasing outside temperature, varying from 72.2% in February 2009 to -7.10% in September 2008. Manure of the EcoCal diet contained 68% higher ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and 4.7 times higher sulfur content than that of the Control diet. Manure pH values were 8.0, 8.9, and 9.3 for EcoCal, DDGS, and Control diets, respectively. This extensive field study verifies that dietary manipulation provides a viable means to reduce NH3 emissions from modern laying-hen houses.     

无硫膨胀石墨的制备及吸油性能

通过单因子实验考察了无硫膨胀石墨制备过程中氧化剂及插层剂用量、氧化反应及插层反应时间、氧化反应及插层反应温度对无硫膨胀石墨膨胀体积的影响。通过正交实验确定了制备无硫膨胀石墨的最优条件是:石墨(g)∶浓硝酸(mL)∶30%H2O2(mL)∶乙酸酐(mL)=1∶2.25∶0.25∶0.6,在30℃条件下氧化反应60 min,加入插层剂后在60℃条件下插层反应90 min,此条件无硫膨胀石墨的膨胀体积达317 mL/g使用XPS、FT-IR、XRD和SEM对无硫膨胀石墨进行了表征并对其吸油性能和再生性能进行了研究。结果表明,所制备无硫膨胀石墨对原油和柴油的最大吸附量分别为66.3 g/g和62.7 g/g。吸附原油后的无硫膨胀石墨抽滤再生后首次再生率为49.1%,原油的回收率为64.5%。     

利用剩余活性污泥生产一次性可降解材料

为了缓解污水处理厂日益严重的污泥处置难题,实现剩余活性污泥的无害化、减量化、稳定化、资源化利用。采用SBR系统对剩余活性污泥进行10 d的驯化,加入4.0 g/L的乙酸钠作为发酵培养基碳源和前体物质,累积聚羟基烷酸酯(polyhydroxyalkanoates,PHA)。30℃好氧发酵10 h后,PHA积累达1 125 mg/L,占污泥浓度(MLSS)的质量分数为35.7%。然后经过离心、烘干、粉碎后模压成型加工成一次性使用的可生物降解材料。使用正交实验进行优化,结果表明:其最佳的物料配比和模压条件为:干污泥57%;稻草纤维20%;聚乙烯醇(PVA)19%;硬脂酸钡2%;氧化钙2%;最佳工艺条件为100℃,加热1.5 h,此时加工出来的产品具有最优的抗压强度和拉伸强度。以本方法制成的可生物降解花盆其所含细菌总数、粪大肠菌群、蛔虫卵死亡率均达到国标所规定的污泥农用生物安全要求;另外,试样中未检出病毒;其重金属含量也达到国标所规定的污泥农用标准;其可生物降解性能达到了可降解材料的要求。因而本研究制备的一次性使用可降解花盆具有较好的开发和应用价值。     

Fenton 法降解抗生素磺胺间甲氧嘧啶钠

应用Fenton高级氧化技术降解水溶液中抗生素磺胺间甲氧嘧啶钠(SMMS),系统探讨了起始pH、CSMMS、CFe2+、CH2O2和温度等因素对SMMS降解效果的影响。结果表明:CSMMS=4.53 mg/L,pH=4.0,CH2O2=0.49 mmol/L,CFe2+=19.51μmol/L,T=25℃为最佳反应条件。在最佳条件下,87.4%的SMMS可以在120 min内降解。反应动力学研究表明Fenton氧化降解SMMS分为两个阶段,快速反应阶段和慢速反应阶段,并建立了两阶段动力学模型,模型拟合结果较好。研究结果为含有SMMS的污废水处理提供了基础数据和科学参考。     

Effects of light and temperature fluctuations on the growth of Myriophyllum spicatum in toxicity tests—a model-based analysis

Laboratory toxicity tests are a key component of the aquatic risk assessments of chemicals. Toxicity tests with Myriophyllum spicatum are conducted based on working procedures that provide detailed instructions on how to set up the experiment, e.g., which experimental design is necessary to get reproducible and thus comparable results. Approved working procedures are established by analyzing numerous toxicity tests to find a compromise between practical reasons (e.g., acceptable ranges of ambient conditions as they cannot be kept completely constant) and the ability for detecting growth alterations. However, the benefit of each step of a working procedure, e.g., the random repositioning of test beakers, cannot be exactly quantified, although this information might be useful to evaluate working procedures. In this paper, a growth model of M. spicatum was developed and used to assess the impact of temperature and light fluctuations within the standardized setup. It was analyzed how important it is to randomly reassign the location of each plant during laboratory tests to keep differences between the relative growth rates of individual plants low. Moreover, two examples are presented on how modeling can give insight into toxicity testing. Results showed that randomly repositioning of individual plants during an experiment can compensate for fluctuations of light and temperature. A method is presented on how models can be used to improve experimental designs and to quantify their benefits by predicting growth responses.     

Characterization of the extracellular biodemulsifiers secreted by Bacillus cereus LH-6 and the enhancement of demulsifying efficiency by optimizing the cultivation conditions

A highly efficient demulsifying strain, LH-6, was isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil and identified as Bacillus cereus by 16S rDNA gene analysis. It achieved 95.61 and 95.40 % demulsifying ratios within 12 h for water-in-oil (W/O) and oil-in-water (O/W) model emulsions, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) detections indicated that the LH-6’s extracellular biodemulsifiers were different types of lipopeptides for the W/O and O/W emulsions. Optimization of the culture medium composition was conducted to improve the biosynthesis and demulsifying efficiency of the biodemulsifier. The optimal carbon source was liquid paraffin, while waste frying oil could also be an alternative carbon source. The optimal nitrogen sources were ammonium sulfate and yeast extract. To further enhance the biodemulsifier efficiency, the optimal cultivation conditions were determined using response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite rotation design (CCRD). Using the optimized cultivation conditions, the demulsifying ratios increased to 98.23 and 97.65 % for the W/O and O/W model emulsions, respectively.     

Mercury accumulation and tissue-specific antioxidant efficiency in the wild European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) with emphasis on seasonality

The main goal of this study was to assess both mercury (Hg) accumulation and organs’ specific oxidative stress responses of gills, liver and kidney of Dicentrarchus labrax with emphasis on seasonality. Fish were collected in cold and warm periods in three stations: reference, moderated and highly contaminated sites. Our results showed that seasonal factors slightly influenced Hg accumulation between year periods (cold and warm) and strongly affected organs’ response basal levels. In contrast, seasonality seemed not to influence oxidative stress responses, since similar response patterns were obtained for both year periods, and moderate degree of antioxidant responses was obtained. Moreover, the oxidative stress profile may be attributed to Hg contamination degree, which showed organ-specific response and accumulation patterns. Hence, gills showed to be able to adapt to Hg contamination, and in opposition, kidney and liver demonstrated some vulnerability to Hg toxicity. The critical Hg concentrations indicated specific threshold limits for each organ. Overall, seasonality should be taken into account in monitoring programmes, helping to characterize the individuals’ reference values of response and thus to discriminate between the effects induced by natural causes or by contamination.