Plant steroid hormones produced under Ni stress are involved in the regulation of metal uptake and oxidative stress in Brassica juncea L

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are involved in the amelioration of various biotic and abiotic stresses. With an aim to explore the role of BRs under heavy metal stress, plants of Brassica juncea L. were grown in pots. The plants were subjected to various concentrations of Nickel metal (0.0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mM) and harvested on 60th day in order to observe the expression of these hormones. The isolated BRs from the leaves of Brassica plants characterized by GC-MS include 24-Epibrassinolide (24-EBL), Castasterone, Dolicholide and Typhasterole. The effect of isolated 24-EBL was studied on Ni metal uptake and antioxidative defense system in 60 d old plants of Brassica. It was observed that 24-EBL significantly increased the activities of stress ameliorating enzymes and lowered the metal uptake in plants. This is the first report in B. juncea L. plants showing the expression of BRs under metal treatments and effect of the isolated 24-EBL on metal uptake and in oxidative stress management.     

外军皮肤防护器材化学防护性能测试与评价用标准物质研究进展

本文简迷了皮肤防护器材--化学防护服(衣)化学防护性能试验与评价用标准物质的重要性,系统地概述了外军化学防护服(衣)化学防护性能试验与评价用标准物质的研究现状,并提出了我国化学防护服(衣)防护性能试验与评价用标准物质研制过程中应注意的一些问题.     

水污染治理工程的环境绩效审计

环境绩效审计的作用之一就是检查投入到环境治理上的资金到底发挥了多大的效益。本研究以五里湖综合整治工程效益审计案例为基础,提出环境效益评估的程序,将条件评估法应用于水污染治理工程项目审计案例中,分析了无锡市居民为改善水环境质量和对周边房产的支付意愿,并计算出五里湖水环境改善的效益和周边房产的增值效益。结果表明,综合整治工程实施后会带来可观的经济效益。最后,对条件评估法在政府环境绩效审计中应用存在的问题进行了讨论,以期为政府环境审计提供技术支持。     

Assessment of a large watershed in Brazil using Emergy Evaluation and Geographical Information System

Humanity's future depends on the preservation of natural ecosystems that supply resources and absorb pollutants. Rural and urban productions are currently based on chemical products made from petroleum, which are responsible for high negative impacts on the Biosphere. In order to prevent those impacts, efficient public policies seeking for sustainable development are necessary. Aiming to assess the load on the environment (considering the gratuitous contributions of natural systems—a donor's perspective) due to human-dominated process, a scientific tool called Emergy Evaluation has been applied in different production systems, including crops and farms. However, there is still a lack of emergy studies in the context of watersheds, probably due to the difficulty of collecting raw data. The present work aims to carry out an assessment of Mogi-Guaçu and Pardo watershed, through the combined use of Emergy Evaluation and Geographical Information System. The agricultural and natural land uses were considered, while urban areas were excluded. Emergy flows (expressed in seJ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) obtained for all agricultural and natural land uses were expanded for the whole watershed and the emergy indices were calculated. The results show that the watershed has: low renewability (%R = 32%); low capture of natural resources through high external economic investment (EYR = 1.86); low dependence on natural resources (EIR = 1.16); and moderate load on the environment (ELR = 2.08). Considering a scenario where sugar-cane crops, orchards and pasture areas are converted from conventional to organic management, watershed's emergy performance improved, reaching a new renewability of 38%, but it is still not enough to be considered sustainable.     

超高效液相色谱串联质谱法检测鱼体中的全氟化合物

采用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱联用法(UPLC-ESI-MS/MS),建立了检测1种贝类和2种鱼类的肌肉组织中11种全氟化合物(PFCs)的分析方法.采用碱液消解做为样品前处理法,选Carbon/NH2双层SPE小柱做为净化小柱,并以ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18为分析柱,甲醇和2 mmol.L-15%甲醇乙酸铵溶液为梯度淋洗液.所选定的11种全氟化合物在6 min内就可以达到良好分离,外标法定量.平均回收率在72.1%—93.6%之间,相对标准偏差在0.6%—9.5%之间,实际检出限在3.4—26.7 pg.g-1.     

高效液相色谱-三重四级杆/复合线性离子阱质谱法测定饮用水中22种邻苯二甲酸酯

建立了一种同时测定饮用水中22种邻苯二甲酸酯(PAEs)的高效液相色谱-三重四级杆/复合线性离子阱质谱方法:饮用水样品经针头过滤器过滤,选用Biphenyl液相色谱柱进行分离,以含0.1%甲酸的水溶液和含0.1%甲酸的甲醇溶液为流动相,电离模式为电喷雾正离子,选用多反应监测触发增强子离子扫描模式进行检测。结果表明,22种PAEs的灵敏度良好,定量限为0.001～0.1μg/L。配制浓度为0.1～100.0μg/L的混标溶液进行进样分析,分析结果显示,22种PAEs在该范围内的线性关系良好,相关系数均大于0.995,方法的平均回收率为82.9%～108.9%,相对标准偏差为0.9%～11.2%。同时,使用增强子离子扫描谱图进行搜库匹配,定性准确性高。该方法适用于饮用水中PAEs的检测。     

New metallothionein assay in Scrobicularia plana: heating effect and correlation with other biomarkers

Metallothionein (MT) and other biomarker levels were measured in Scrobicularia plana clams to assess pollution of the Guadalquivir Estuary possibly affected by metals released from Aznalcóllar pyrite mine in 1998. After optimizing reagent concentrations for monobromobimane derivatization, MT levels were quantified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to fluorescence detection (RP-HPLC-FD) in heated or unheated digestive gland extracts and compared to those obtained by differential pulse polarography (DPP). MT content assayed by RP-HPLC-FD in unheated samples was higher than that obtained by DPP and correlated better with metals and anti-oxidant activities. MT assay by RP-HPLC-FD in unheated extracts would be preferable for assessing metal pollution, due to its greater sensitivity and specificity. In addition to MT induction, glyoxalase II inhibition was well correlated with metal contents. Our results suggest that metals at the estuary do not originate from Aznalcóllar spill, but from those carried along by the river and deposited at its concave bank.     

Effects of repeated exposure to malathion on growth, food consumption, and locomotor performance of the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)

Effects of repeated pollutant exposure on growth, locomotor performance, and behavior have rarely been evaluated in reptiles. We administered three doses of malathion (2.0, 20, or 100mg/kg body weight) to western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) over an 81day period. Eight and 23% mortality occurred at 20 and 100mg/kg (p=0.079) and 85% of lizards in the 100mg/kg group exhibited clinical symptoms of poisoning. Growth, food consumption, body condition index, and terrestrial locomotor performance were not significantly influenced by malathion. However, arboreal sprint velocity was significantly reduced in lizards receiving 100mg/kg. Fifty percent of lizards in the 100mg/kg group also refused to sprint in the arboreal setting (p=0.085). Based on these results, arboreal locomotor performance was the most sensitive metric of exposure we evaluated. Further study of compounds such as malathion is warranted due to highly variable application rates and exposure scenarios.     

On the search for mimetic patterns in environmental disclosure: an international perspective

In this paper, we assert and test the proposition that environmental disclosure (ED) is structured by institutionalised myths and that is why ED is decoupled from environmental performance and media pressures. Focusing on firms from Canada, France and Germany, findings show that ED mimetic isomorphism for different topics varies among countries and by industry sensitiveness to the environment. The results corroborate the institutional presumption that institutionalised myths vary among different contexts. Our findings also suggest that institutionalised ED structures may not reflect environmental performance, mimetic patterns being affected by environmental performance. However, the decoupling between ED mimetic isomorphism and environmental performance decrease when firms’ ED credibility is questioned by the media.     

Cracking the Achilles’ heel of energy performance contracting projects: the credit risk identification method for clients

ABSTRACT

A credit risk identification model is established to examine the credit status of Energy performance contracting (EPC) project clients (i.e., energy-using companies) in China based on rough set theory. The model is verified with data from 120 listed companies at different times. Study shows that lack of credit is one of the main obstacles to the implementation of EPC projects, and information asymmetry is the main reason for this lack of credit among potential clients in China. The credit risk identification method based on rough set theory can make up for the shortcomings of existing EPC projects in terms of credit risk identification, including redundant information and indicators, and unclear decision rules. Credit risk identification indicators of clients are dynamic. The research results can help energy service companies (ESCOs) determine the credit status of clients, facilitate cooperation between ESCOs and clients, and help explain the various dynamics of clients’ credit risk identification indicators over time.