Chicken manure enhanced yield and quality of field-grown kale and collard greens

Organic matter and nutrients in municipal sewage sludge (SS) and chicken manure (CM) could be recycled and used for land farming to enhance fertility and physical properties of soils. Three soil management practices were used at Kentucky State University Research Farm, Franklin County, to study the impact of soil amendments on kale (Brassica oleracea cv. Winterbar) and collard (Brassica oleracea cv. Top Bunch) yields and quality. The three soil management practices were: (i) SS mixed with native soil at 15 t acre^?1, (ii) CM mixed with native soil at 15 t acre^?1, and (iii) no-mulch (NM) native soil for comparison purposes. At harvest, collard and kale green plants were graded according to USDA standards. Plants grown in CM and SS amended soil produced the greatest number of U.S. No. 1 grade of collard and kale greens compared to NM native soil. Across all treatments, concentrations of ascorbic acid and phenols were generally greater in kale than in collards. Overall, CM and SS enhanced total phenols and ascorbic acid contents of kale and collard compared to NM native soil. We investigated the chemical and physical properties of each of the three soil treatments that might explain variability among treatments and the impact of soil amendments on yield, phenols, and ascorbic acid contents of kale and collard green grown under this practice.     

CHEMISTRY RESPONSE OF TWO FORESTED WATERSHEDS TO ACID ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION1

ABSTRACT: The deposition and chemistry of precipitation were estimated for one year in two forest ecosystems in the South-Central United States. Precipitation, throughfall, litter leachate, and soil leachate were analyzed for a small catchment of pine-hardwoods in southeastern Oklahoma and for a catchment of loblolly pines (Pinus taeda L.) in northern Mississippi. In the pine-hardwood forest, 98 percent of the acid deposition was neutralized, 50 percent in the forest canopy, and 48 percent in the forest floor. In the pine forest, 75 percent of the acid deposition was neutralized, all in the forest floor. The pine-hardwood ecosystem accumulated sulfate, nitrate, and ammonia ions, and lost base cations. During seasons of deficient precipitation, dry deposition appeared to enrich the concentrations of hydrogen, nitrate, sulfate, and ammonia ions in throughfall samples at both locations.     

铁屑还原－鼓风氧化－石灰凝沉法脱除硫酸生产废水中的砷

比较了硫酸生产废水的几种除砷方法，认为铁屑还原－鼓风氧化－石灰凝沉工艺是可行的，此法具有处理量大、处理效果好、运行费用低等优点。     

New biodegradable polyester-copolymers from commodity chemicals with favorable use properties

Copolyesters composed of aliphatic and aromatic compounds were synthesized by the polycondensation of 1,2-ethanediol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, sebacic acid, adipic acid, and terephthalic acid. By applying an appropriate ratio of aliphatic to aromatic acids, the synthesized materials proved to be biodegradable, as was verified by several degradation test methods such as aqueous polymer suspension inoculated by a soil eluate (Sturm test), a soil burial test (at ambient temperature), and a composting simulation test at 60°C. The degradability of the polyester-copolymers (measured as weight loss) was investigated with respect to the aliphatic monomer components and the fraction of terephthalic acid. Excellent biodegradability was observed even for copolymers with a content of terephthalic acid up to 56 mol% (of the acid fraction) and melting points in the range up to 140°C. Degradation by chemical hydrolysis of the polyesters was determined independently and was found to facilitate microbial attack significantly only at higher temperatures. The findings demonstrate that biodegradable polymers with advantageous usage properties can easily be manufactured by conventional techniques from commodity chemicals (adipic acid, terephthalic acid, and ethylene glycol or 1,4-butanediol).Dedicated to Prof. J. Klein's 60th birthday.     

Purification and characterization of extracellular poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) depolymerases

Five extracellular PHB depolymerases of bacteria isolated from various sources were purified to electrophoretic homogeneity and compared with known extracellular PHB depolymerase fromAlcaligenes faecalis T1. The molecular mass of these enzymes were all around 40–50 kDa. Nonionic detergent, diisopropylfluorophosphate and dithiothreitol inhibited the PHB depolymerase activity of all these enzymes. Trypsin abolished PHB depolymerase activity, but not theD-3-hydroxybutyric acid dimer hydrolase activity of all the enzymes. These results showed that the basic properties of these PHB depolymerases resemble those of theA. faecalis T1 enzyme. Analysis ofN-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified enzymes revealed that these enzymes includingA. faecalis T1 enzyme fall into three groups.     

DSD酸氧化缩合废水浓缩液回用试验研究

研究了DSD酸氧化缩合废水浓缩液回用到原生产过程的可行性。对DSD酸氧化缩合废水可采用萃取技术分离出其中97％的有机物，反萃产生的4－8倍的浓缩液返回到DSD酸生产中的氧化缩合单元后，可提高DNS酸的收率约7．43％，且不会明显影响产品的纯度，浓缩液8次循环磁用试验的结果表明，虽然DSD酸氧化缩合废水的COD从15000－20000mg/L提高到20000－29000mg/L，但没有显著持续增长的趋势，表明反应液中副产物的浓度得到了有效的控制。     

Effects of Starch Moisture on Properties of Wheat Starch/Poly(Lactic Acid) Blend Containing Methylenediphenyl Diisocyanate

Methylenediphenyl diisocyanate was found to improve the interfacial interaction between poly(lactic acid)(PLA) and granular starch. The objective of this research was to study the effect of starch moisture content on the interfacial interaction of an equal-weight blend of wheat starch and PLA containing 0.5% methylenediphenyl diisocyanate by weight. Starch moisture (10% to 20%) had a negative effect on the interfacial binding between starch and PLA. The tensile strength and elongation of the blend both decreased as starch moisture content increased. At 20% moisture level, the starch granules embedded in the PLA matrix were observed to be swollen, resulting in poor strength properties and high water absorption by the blend.     

Use of Natural 35S to Trace Sulphate Cycling in Small Lakes,Flattops Wilderness Area,Colorado, U.S.A.

Measurements of the cosmogenically-produced ³⁵S, a radioisotope of sulphur (t_1/2 = 87 days), are reported for the Ned Wilson Lake watershed in Colorado. The watershed contains two small lakes and a flowing spring presumed to be representative of local ground water. The watershed is located in the Flattops Wilderness Area and the waters in the system have low alkalinity, making them sensitive to increases in acid and sulphate deposition. Time series of ³⁵S measurements were made during the summers of 1995 and 1996 (July–September) at all three sites. The system is dominated by melting snow and an initial concentration of 16–20 mBq L^-1 was estimated for snowmelt based on a series of snow samples collected in the Rocky Mountains. The two lakes had large initial ³⁵S concentrations in July, indicating that a large fraction of the lake water and sulphate was introduced by meltwater from that year's snowpack. In 1995 and 1996, ³⁵S concentrations decreased more rapidly than could be accounted for by decay, indicating that other processes were affecting ³⁵S concentrations. The most likely explanation is that exchange with sediments or the biota was removing ³⁵S from the lake and replacing it with older sulphate devoid of ³⁵S. In September of 1995 and 1996, ³⁵S concentrations increased, suggesting that atmospheric deposition is important in the sulphate flux of these lakes in late summer. Sulphur-35 concentrations in the spring water were highly variable but never higher than 3.6 mBq L^-1 and averaged 2 mBq L^-1. Using a simple mixing model, it was estimated that 75% of the spring water was derived from precipitation of previous years.     

间接电化学降解亚甲基蓝废水的可行性研究

研究以ClO^-／Cl^-作媒介，间接电化学降解亚甲基蓝模拟废水的可行性。结果表明，亚甲基蓝的电化学降解与电极材料、电流密度以及添加剂种类等因素有关。以石墨为阳极，不锈钢为阴极，在无隔膜的烧杯中放置50ml浓度为1000mg/L的亚甲基蓝模拟废水，在室温25℃，pH6．0－8．0，槽电压10V，电流密度30．0mA/cm^2，Cl^-加入量2g/L的条件下，电解60min后，亚甲基蓝溶液的平均消色率达到98．0％，CODcr降解率为97．0％，BOD5降解率为99．0％；用浸涂过MnO2薄膜的石墨棒作阳极可显著加快其消解速率，而用浸涂过CeO2薄膜的石墨棒作阳极对其消解速率无明显的影响。并初步讨论了其降解机理。     

A GAME-THEORETIC APPROACH TO ACID RAIN ABATEMENT: CONFLICT ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL LOAD ALLOCATION1

ABSTRACT: The detrimental impacts of acid rain have become widely publicized, but effective and equitable methods to mitigate the acid rain problem remain to be found. This paper focuses on conflicts involved in allocation of the total emission loads to be reduced to respective pollution sources of acid rain, and proposes a game-theory approach to the resolution of the conflict. With an example abstracted from a hypothetical case study in the United States of America and Canada, a systematic analysis is performed and policy implications of the results examined to assess the applicability of the proposed model.