Recent advances in arsenic mutagenesis and carcinogenesis†

Arsenic is ubiquitously distributed in nature and is released into the environment through non‐ferrous smelting operations, generation of power from coal, and agriculture.

Epidemiological studies have shown that the incidences of epidermoid carcinomas of the skin and lungs, and of pre‐cancerous dermal keratoses are significantly increased in human subjects exposed to arsenic compounds by oral or respiratory routes. The negative results obtained on animals treated with arsenicals suggest strongly that this metal is probably a cocarcinogen.

The results of the short‐term tests suggest that the cocarcinogenic properties of arsenic could be related to its ability to inhibit DNA repair.     

ETU mineralization in soil under influence of organic carbon content,temperature, concentration,and depth

The mineralization of ¹⁴C‐ETU was measured by the evolution of ¹⁴CO₂ and described with a mathematical model consisting of two terms — one term describing the immediate mineralization of ¹⁴C‐ETU and another term describing the first order degradation of humus and/or biomass, where ¹⁴C had been built in. The influence of pesticide concentration, depth of soil, and incubation temperature showed combined interaction effects on the amount of ¹⁴CO₂ formed during the process and on the degradation rate of the pesticide. With the addition of soil extract, a combined effect between concentration and addition of organic extract was seen for the degradation rate, while a three‐way interaction between depth, concentration and organic extract was seen for the formation of ¹⁴CO₂. Degradation of ¹⁴C‐ETU can thus not be described only through investigations of one single of the mentioned parameters.     

Evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from wetland and agriculture ecosystems in Sanjiang Plain

Carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄) are important greenhouse gases (GHGs). The objective of this study is to quantify the aggregate GHG (CH₄, N₂O and CO₂) emissions and estimate economic losses of three ecosystems (marsh, paddy field and upland) in the Sanjiang Plain, excluding the Muling-Xiangkai Plain, south of Wanda Mountain. The results indicate the economic losses from GHG emissions of marshes were from 6.40 to 7.75?×?10⁹ CNY (Chinese Yuan), those of paddy fields were from 1.41 to 3.20?×?10⁹ CNY; and from uplands were from 0.26 to 0.49?×?10⁹ CNY. Using linear trend analysis, the economic losses through GHG emissions of marshes fell between 1982 and 2005, but those from paddy fields and uplands increased. In our study, the sequence in magnitude of the economic losses from GHG emissions was: marshes > paddy fields > uplands. In fact, the economic value of GHG emissions was negative because of these adverse impacts on the environment. This article could provide a reference for calculation of GHG exchange. The results suggest that improvement of fertiliser use efficiency for more precise agricultural management and returning straw to cropland could mitigate GHG emissions and would help to achieve sustainable development.     

中子辐射防护服的设计、结构与效果

系统地阐述了中子辐射防护服的设计依据、结构、式样及使用效果。表明这是一种能有效地屏蔽热中子和中能中子的防护器具,可用于许多场所。     

Sex-specific effects of yolk-androgens on growth of nestling American kestrels

Maternally derived androgen hormones concentrate in avian egg yolks as the yolks grow on the female’s ovary, possibly forming a basis for important maternal effects in birds. In the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), experimental elevation of yolk androgens in the first-laid egg of a clutch (a-egg) to the concentrations found naturally in a clutch’s later-laid eggs reduces the growth rate of a-egg nestlings compared to controls. These findings, together with discoveries from other species that the effects of yolk androgens on growth of female nestlings may differ from their effects on growth of male nestlings, raise the hypothesis that natural changes in yolk-androgen concentrations with laying order are ultimately due to a difference between the sexes in their yolk-androgen sensitivity and between early- and late-laid eggs in their sex ratio. By re-analyzing previously published data and adding to the analysis data from previously unanalyzed blood samples used for sex determination, we investigated possible sex-specific effects of yolk-androgens in the context of a potential sex-biased laying order in free-living American kestrels. We used a multi-level, mixed model with a Gompertz function to analyze growth of nestlings hatching from a-eggs that were control-treated or in which we experimentally elevated yolk-androgen concentrations shortly after laying to the higher concentrations naturally found in later-laid eggs. We discovered that male nestlings were more susceptible than female nestlings to growth inhibition by yolk-androgen elevation but did not find a bias in sex ratio with respect to laying order. Together, these findings do not support the above hypothesis. However, they are consistent with the hypothesis that sex differences in yolk-androgen sensitivity enable mothers to economically tune reproductive effort to an individual offspring’s reproductive value, which can vary more for one sex than the other.     

中国降水量区域变化稳定性研究

利用中国气象中心160站点的实际观察资料,对中国半个世纪的降水变化进行了系统分析,发现中国的夏季降水变化稳定性有显著的纬度与海拔效应:纬度越高,方差值越小,降水变化的幅度也越小,稳定性越大;从海拔来看,海拔越高,降水稳定性越好,降水量的变化稳定性与海拔是成反相关关系.除过受区域水汽来源稳定性的影响,主要受全球降水稳定性的分布规律所制约;在海拔上,降水量稳定性的分布,除过受水汽来源影响外,还与水汽凝结的高度效应有一定的关系.     

充填管道系统失效模式与影响分析(FMEA)及失效影响模糊评估

根据金川矿区充填管道系统的运行情况,结合充填实践经验,建立了充填管道系统的失效模式与影响分析法(FMEA)分析表,得出系统存在10种失效模式。针对FMEA分析表中失效影响存在较大模糊性而难以有效估计的特点,引入模糊评估方法来进行分析。通过该矿区充填管道系统各失效模式产生失效影响的模糊评估,得到不同失效模式对系统可靠性影响的排序结果。结果表明:该方法的评估结果与实际情况比较吻合;可以使分析定量化,有助于工程人员充分利用系统模糊信息;该方法也能用于其他系统失效模式影响的模糊评估。     

Preparing for major terrorist attacks against chemical clusters: Intelligently planning protection measures w.r.t. domino effects

Chemical industrial areas or so-called chemical clusters consist of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of chemical installations situated next to each other. Such areas can thus be seen as the summation of a large number of structures exhibiting danger to a certain degree for initiating or continuing accident domino effects or knock-on effects. In this article, an approach to investigate in a systemic way the vulnerability of each installation within the larger chemical cluster context, is developed. Our suggested method results in a prioritization of chemical installations with respect to their vulnerability for domino effects. The method can be used for intelligently designed protection of chemical industrial areas against terrorist attacks.     

Spill-over characteristics of peroxy-fuels: Two-phase CFD investigations

Two-phase CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) model for characterising the spill-over/dispersion of peroxy-fuels is presented. The model is independent of type and burning rate of the spilled/dispersed fuel and considers only overflow Reynolds number (Re) to characterise the spill/dispersion behaviour. Additional simulations are performed for LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) dispersion and it is found that the model can be used for different fuels within a defined range of Re. Different scenarios with Re = 100 to 3 × 10⁵ are investigated covering a wide range of mass flow rates, opening sizes and viscosities. Depending on Lower Flammability Limits (LFL) of the fuels spill/dispersion (vapour cloud) diameters (D_CFD) and heights (h_CFD) are predicted. A generalised correlation between D_CFD and Re is established to predict the dispersion occurring at varying scales. The model is validated by: (1) conducting an extensive grid independent study; (2) comparing the results with the existing analytical methods and (3) comparing against the standard field test data on LNG dispersions.     

道路生态影响评价方法研究：以兰海高速公路为例

提出了将道路生态影响问题划分为3个尺度来进行评价,并根据不同尺度的生态特征采用不同的方法和指标,从而系统、定量的评价道路建设和运行所带来的生态影响.小尺度问题采用野外调查和样方对比的方法;中尺度问题主要依靠不同分辨率的遥感监测,辅之野外调研;大尺度问题主要依靠遥感和GIS结合进行分析.以兰海高速公路为例,运用该系统进行评价,取得了良好的结果.因此,该体系方法可以作为道路生态影响评价和研究的借鉴和参考.