Alkaline phosphatase activity in the phosphorus-limited southern Chinese coastal waters

Three fractions of alkaline phosphatase activity(APA), including phytoplankton APA(phyto-APA), bacterial APA(bact-APA), and free-APA, were examined in the sea surface microlayer(SML) and the subsurface water(SSW) from Daya Bay, Guishan Island, and Guanghai Bay of southern China. Relationships between APA and environmental parameters were analyzed. The growth of phytoplankton was significantly limited by dissolved inorganic phosphorus(DIP) in the three sea areas, especially in Daya Bay. TotalAPA ranged between 1.41 and 35.26 nmol/L/hr, and the highest value was found in Daya Bay. The increased APA in Daya Bay was the result of the increase of phytoplankton biomass and the response of phytoplankton to P limitation. Phyto-APA was the main contributor in Daya Bay, while phyto-and free-APA co-dominated in Guishan Island and Guanghai Bay. Bact-, phyto-, and total-APA showed a significant inverse power function relationship with DIP, and 0.2 μmol/L was the threshold for DIP on particulates and totalAPA. Pearson correlation analysis suggested that DIP limitation together with high N levels enhanced APA. High water temperature and freshwater input accelerated APA as well.Principal component analysis clearly separated samples from the three sea areas, as well as from the SML and the SSW, which indicated the differences in environmental parameters and APA levels. Our results highlight the influence of phosphorus limitation and environmental parameters on APA.     

Non-thermal plasma treatment of Radix aconiti wastewater generated by traditional Chinese medicine processing

The wastewater effluent from Radix aconiti processing, an important step in the production processes of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is a type of toxic wastewater and difficult to treat. Plasma oxidation methods have emerged as feasible techniques for effective decomposition of toxic organic pollutants. This study examined the performance of a plasma reactor operated in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) to degrade the effluent from R. aconiti processing. The effects of treatment time, discharge voltage, initial pH value and the feeding gas for the reactor on the degradation of this TCM wastewater were investigated. A bacterium bioluminescence assay was adopted in this study to test the toxicity of the TCM wastewater after non-thermal plasma treatment. The degradation ratio of the main toxic component was 87.77% after 60 min treatment with oxygen used as feed gas and it was 99.59% when the initial pH value was 8.0. High discharge voltage and alkaline solution environment were beneficial for improving the degradation ratio. The treatment process was found to be capable of reducing the toxicity of the wastewater to a low level or even render it non-toxic. These experimental results suggested that the DBD plasma method may be a competitive technology for primary decomposition of biologically undegradable toxic organic pollutants in TCM wastewater.     

中国土壤环境背景值研究

本文报告了中国土壤61种元素的背景值以及某些元素在全国的分布特征和变化趋势.简要介绍了中国土壤背景值图集.讨论了土壤背景值在制定土壤环境质量标准、研究人体健康和农业方面的应用实例.     

论龙须草的开发价值及在我国的利用现状与展望

龙须草(Eulaliopsis binata)是中国、印度等亚洲少数国家特有的野生资源植物,在我国西南山区极富有开发价值。本文从龙须草的经济效益、生态效益、社会效益诸方面详细论述了龙须草在促进山区人民脱贫致富、解决山区剩余劳动力、缓解造纸原料短缺现状、增加纸张品种与品位、治理水土流失、恢复生态平衡等方面的独特作用;分析了我国开发利用龙须草资源的现状,指出“建立全国性生产、供销、科学研究一体化协作组织”、“开展驯化龙须草为栽培作物的系统研究”、“开展国际学术交流”等为当前龙须草开发与应用急需解决的7大课题。     

Safety performance measurement in collectivized oil companies in China: Contribution of leading indicators to lagging indicators

With the collectivization of the Chinese oil industry, oil companies have been expanding in size. However, the intensified differences in the safety performance of subsidiaries have severely hindered the collaborative management of the headquarters. Understanding the safety status of each member is urgent for parent companies and their subsidiaries to identify gaps and make improvements. A unified set of safety performance indicators and a practical measurement tool are essential for the Chinese oil industry. Hence, this study identified a set of safety performance indicators encompassing both leading and lagging indicators using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and entropy weight method (EWM) to reveal the critical factors affecting the safety performance of the oil industry. A total of 300 front-line workers from eight subsidiaries of an oil company participated in the survey. The identified indicators were preliminarily weighted using EWM. Then, DEA was employed to measure the safety performance of the eight subsidiaries, demonstrating that management commitment was the most crucial factor in distinguishing safety performance; safety culture was more differentiated than risk management. Safety performance was not entirely positively correlated with safety investments, but the reasonable allocation of safety resources played a vital role. In addition, the weaknesses in each subsidiary's safety management were identified, and the quantitative effects of each leading indicator on safety performance were obtained.