Co-culture with Enterobacter cloacae does not Enhance Virus Resistance to Thermal and Chemical Treatments

Food and Environmental Virology - Human noroviruses (hNoV) are the primary cause of foodborne disease in the USA. Most studies on inactivation kinetics of hNoV and its surrogates are performed in...     

Aerosol light absorption in a coastal city in Southeast China: Temporal variations and implications for brown carbon

Light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols including black carbon(BC) and brown carbon(BrC)play significant roles in atmospheric radiative properties. One-year measurements of aerosol light absorption at multi-wavelength were continuously conducted in Xiamen,southeast of China in 2014 to determine the light absorption properties including absorption coefficients(σabs) and absorption ?ngstr?m exponent(AAE) in the coastal city.Light absorptions of BC and BrC with their contributions to total light absorption were further quantified. Mean σabsat 370 nm and 880 nm were 56.6 ± 34.3 and 16.5 ± 11.2 Mm-1,respectively. σabspresented a double-peaks diurnal pattern with the maximum in the morning and the minimum in the afternoon. σabswas low in warm seasons and high in cold seasons. AAE ranged from 0.26 to 2.58 with the annual mean of 1.46, implying that both fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning influenced aerosol optical properties. σabsof BrC at 370 nm was 24.0 ± 5.7 Mm-1, contributing 42% to the total absorption. The highest AAE(1.52 ± 0.02) and largest BrC contributions(47% ± 4%) in winter suggested the significant influence of biomass burning on aerosol light absorption. Long-distance air masses passing through North China Plain and the Yangtze River Delta led to high AAE and BrC contributions. High AAE value of 1.46 in July indicated that long-range transport of the air pollutants from intense biomass burning in Southeast Asia would affect aerosol light absorption in Southeast China. The study will improve the understanding of light absorption properties of aerosols and the optical impacts of BrC in China.     

人工神经网络在台风预报中的应用初探

为了探索人工神经网络应用于台风分类预报的可能性，用具有Ｓ－特特性函数的Ｂ－Ｐ网络对每类台风的标准样本进行训练，由训练结束后的权值和阈值及待预报样本的因子测值，计算出网络输出值，作出台风分类预报。文中的实例表明人工神经网络用于台风预报具有客观性、可行性和实用性。     

Urinary concentrations of phenols, oxidative stress biomarkers and thyroid cancer: Exploring associations and mediation effects

Phenols have been shown to influence the cellular proliferation and function of thyroid in experimental models. However, few human studies have investigated the association between phenol exposure and thyroid cancer, and the underlying mechanisms are also poorly understood. We conducted a case-control study by age- and sex-matching 143 thyroid cancer and 224 controls to investigate the associations between phenol exposures and the risk of thyroid cancer, and further to explore the mediating role of oxidative stress. We found that elevated urinary triclosan (TCS), bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol S (BPS) levels were associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer (all P for trends < 0.05), and the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) comparing the extreme exposure groups were 3.52 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.08, 5.95), 2.06 (95% CI: 1.06, 3.97) and 7.15 (95% CI: 3.12, 16.40), respectively. Positive associations were also observed between urinary TCS, BPA and BPS and three oxidative stress biomarkers measured by 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), 8-iso-prostaglandin F_2α (8-isoPGF_2α) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-mercapturic acid (HNE-MA), as well as between urinary 8-isoPGF_2α and HNE-MA and the risk of thyroid cancer. Mediation analysis showed that urinary 8-isoPGF_2α mediated 28.95%, 47.06% and 31.08% of the associations between TCS, BPA and BPS exposures and the risk of thyroid cancer, respectively (all P < 0.05). Our results suggest that exposure to TCS, BPA and BPS may be associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer and lipid peroxidation may be an intermediate mechanism. Further studies are warranted to confirm the findings.     

Pd/silicalite-1: An highly active catalyst for the oxidative removal of toluene

Catalytic combustion is thought as an efficient and economic pathway to remove volatile organic compounds, and its critical issue is the development of high-performance catalytic materials. In this work, we used the in situ synthesis method to prepare the silicalite-1 (S-1)-supported Pd nanoparticles (NPs). It is found that the as-prepared catalysts displayed a hexagonal prism morphology and a surface area of 390−440 m²/g. The sample (0.28Pd/S-1-H) derived after reduction at 500°C in 10 vol% H₂ showed the best catalytic activity for toluene combustion (T_50% = 180°C and T_90% = 189°C at a space velocity of 40,000 mL/(g·hr), turnover frequency (TOF_Pd) at 160°C = 3.46 × 10⁻³ sec⁻¹, and specific reaction rate at 160°C = 63.8 µmol/(g_Pd·sec)), with the apparent activation energy (41 kJ/mol) obtained over the best-performing 0.28Pd/S-1-H sample being much lower than those (51−70 kJ/mol) obtained over the other samples (0.28Pd/S-1-A derived from calcination at 500°C in air, 0.26Pd/S-1-im derived from the impregnation route, and 0.27Pd/ZSM-5-H prepared after reduction at 500°C in 10 vol% H₂). Furthermore, the 0.28Pd/S-1-H sample possessed good thermal stability and its partial deactivation due to CO₂ or H₂O introduction was reversible, but SO₂ addition resulted in an irreversible deactivation. The possible pathways of toluene oxidation over 0.28Pd/S-1-H was toluene → p-methylbenzoquinone → maleic anhydride, benzoic acid, benzaldehyde → carbon dioxide and water. We conclude that the good dispersion of Pd NPs, high adsorption oxygen species concentration, large toluene adsorption capacity, strong acidity, and more Pd⁰ species were responsible for the good catalytic performance of 0.28Pd/S-1-H.     

A meteorologically adjusted ensemble Kalman filter approach for inversing daily emissions: A case study in the Pearl River Delta, China

The conventional Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), which is now widely used to calibrate emission inventories and to improve air quality simulations, is susceptible to simulation errors of meteorological inputs, making accurate updates of high temporal-resolution emission inventories challenging. In this study, we developed a novel meteorologically adjusted inversion method (MAEInv) based on the EnKF to improve daily emission estimations. The new method combines sensitivity analysis and bias correction to alleviate the inversion biases caused by errors of meteorological inputs. For demonstration, we used the MAEInv to inverse daily carbon monoxide (CO) emissions in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, China. In the case study, 60% of the total CO simulation biases were associated with sensitive meteorological inputs, which would lead to the overestimation of daily variations of posterior emissions. Using the new inversion method, daily variations of emissions shrank dramatically, with the percentage change decreased by 30%. Also, the total amount of posterior CO emissions estimated by the MAEInv decreased by 14%, indicating that posterior CO emissions might be overestimated using the conventional EnKF. Model evaluations using independent observations revealed that daily CO emissions estimated by MAEInv better reproduce the magnitude and temporal patterns of ambient CO concentration, with a higher correlation coefficient (R, +37.0%) and lower normalized mean bias (NMB, -17.9%). Since errors of meteorological inputs are major sources of simulation biases for both low-reactive and reactive pollutants, the MAEInv is also applicable to improve the daily emission inversions of reactive pollutants.     

Modified nanoscale zero-valent iron in persulfate activation for organic pollution remediation: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Under the action of different activators, persulfate can produce sulfate radicals (SO4·–) with strong oxidizing ability, which can destruct...     

Dispersion of carbon dioxide released from buried high-pressure pipeline over complex terrain

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - To quantitatively assess the risks associated with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology, a better understanding of the dispersion...     

A sulfur-resistant CuS-modified active coke for mercury removal from municipal solid waste incineration flue gas

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Adsorption is a typical method for air pollutant removal from flue gas. A CuS-modified active coke (CuS/AC) sorbent was developed to improve the...