Residues of PCDD,PCDF, and PCBs in some marine organisms in Lake Temsah,Ismailia, Egypt

Residues of PCDDs/F, non-ortho, mono-ortho PCBs, and other PCBs were monitored in the tissues of mullet fish, bolti fish, bivalves and crab taken from Lake Temsah, at Ismailia, Egypt.

Results showed that 2,3,7,8 Tetra CDD and 1,2,3,7,8 Penta CDD were the most frequently detected PCDD congeners. Similarly, 2,3,7,8 Tetra CDF, 1,2,3,7,8 Penta CDF and 2,3,4,7,8 Penta CDF were the most frequently detected PCDF congeners. No relationship was apparent between the concentrations of detected PCDDs congeners and the degree of chlorination, except with crab samples in which an increase in the chlorination coincided with a decrease in the concentrations of the congeners.

In PCDF congeners, detected residues have had a reversed relationship with chlorination increase. In PCDD congeners, Octa CDD had the highest detected concentrations in the two fish species, while in the bivalves and crab, 2,3,7,8 Tetra CDD had the highest concentrations. The mullet fish had the highest total PCDDs concentration, at 0.398?pg/g fresh weight, followed by crab at 0.395?pg/g fresh weight, then bivalves and bolti fish at 0.187 and 0.062?pg/g fresh weight, respectively. In all the examined organisms, the total concentrations of PCDFs were much higher than the total concentrations of the PCDD congeners. The WHO–TEQ values were 11.92, 39.12, 25, and 3.6?pg/g fresh weight, for mullet fish, bolti fish, bivlaves and crab, respectively. The concentration of the mono-ortho congeners CB 118 was the highest detected of all non-ortho and mono-ortho PCBs congeners, with values of 0.382, 0.022, 0.231 and 0.357?ng/g fresh weight, in mullet fish, bolti fish, bivalves and crab, respectively. The WHO–TEQ concentrations were 0.799, 0.003?pg/g fw, 0.05?pg/g fresh weight, 0.676?pg/g, and 0.799?pg/g fresh weight, for the same species, respectively. The total concentration of PCBs 28, 52, 95, 99, 101, 105, 110, 118, 138, 146, 149, 151, 153, 170, 177, 180, 187 were 6.86?ng/g fresh weight for mullet fish, 0.2?ng/g fresh weight, for bolti fish, 2.72?ng/g fresh weight for bivalves and 2.8?ng/g fresh weight for crab, respectively.     

铁屑/焦炭/H2O2法预处理焦化废水的试验研究

采用铁屑/焦炭/H2O2法对焦化废水进行处理,通过单因素试验法考察了铁炭比、铁炭用量、H2O2用量、废水pH以及反应时间对处理效果的影响,并确定了最适工艺条件。结果表明,铁屑/焦炭/H2O2法与常规的铁屑内电解法相比,可显著提高焦化废水的预处理效果,并缩短反应时间。铁屑/焦炭/H2O2法处理焦化废水的最适条件为:铁炭比为4,铁炭用量为300mg/L铁屑+75mg/L焦炭,H2O2用量为1000mg/L,pH为3,反应时间20min。在此条件下,COD、色度、NH3-N和CN-的去除效率分别可达61.2%、74.0%、56.2%和74.3%,B/C比由处理前的0.189提高到0.387,处理水可生化性良好。铁屑/焦炭/H2O2可作为焦化废水的一种有效的预处理方法。     

Using Sound to Reduce Visual Distraction from In-vehicle Human–Machine Interfaces

Objective: Driver distraction and inattention are the main causes of accidents. The fact that devices such as navigation displays and media players are part of the distraction problem has led to the formulation of guidelines advocating various means for minimizing the visual distraction from such interfaces. However, although design guidelines and recommendations are followed, certain interface interactions, such as menu browsing, still require off-road visual attention that increases crash risk. In this article, we investigate whether adding sound to an in-vehicle user interface can provide the support necessary to create a significant reduction in glances toward a visual display when browsing menus.

Methods: Two sound concepts were developed and studied; spearcons (time-compressed speech sounds) and earcons (musical sounds). A simulator study was conducted in which 14 participants between the ages of 36 and 59 took part. Participants performed 6 different interface tasks while driving along a highway route. A 3 × 6 within-group factorial design was employed with sound (no sound /earcons/spearcons) and task (6 different task types) as factors. Eye glances and corresponding measures were recorded using a head-mounted eye tracker. Participants’ self-assessed driving performance was also collected after each task with a 10-point scale ranging from 1 = very bad to 10 = very good. Separate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted for different eye glance measures and self-rated driving performance.

Results: It was found that the added spearcon sounds significantly reduced total glance time as well as number of glances while retaining task time as compared to the baseline (= no sound) condition (total glance time M = 4.15 for spearcons vs. M = 7.56 for baseline, p =.03). The earcon sounds did not result in such distraction-reducing effects. Furthermore, participants ratings of their driving performance were statistically significantly higher in the spearcon conditions compared to the baseline and earcon conditions (M = 7.08 vs. M = 6.05 and M = 5.99 respectively, p =.035 and p =.002).

Conclusions: The spearcon sounds seem to efficiently reduce visual distraction, whereas the earcon sounds did not reduce distraction measures or increase subjective driving performance. An aspect that must be further investigated is how well spearcons and other types of auditory displays are accepted by drivers in general and how they work in real traffic.     

Numerical simulation of premixed methane–air deflagration in a semi-confined obstructed chamber

In this paper, large eddy simulation coupled with a turbulent flame speed cloure (TFC) subgrid combustion model has been utilized to simulate premixed methane–air deflagration in a semi-confined chamber with three obstacles mounted inside.The computational results are in good agreement with published experimental data, including flame structures, pressure time history and flame speed. The attention is focused on the flame flow field interaction, pressure dynamics, as well as the mechanism of obstacle-induced deflagration. It is found that there is a positive feedback mechanism established between the flame propagation and the flow field. The pressure time history can be divided into four stages and the pseudo-combustion concept is proposed to explain the pressure oscillation phenomenon. The obstacle-induction mechanism includes direct effect and indirect effect, but do not always occur at the same time.     

Carbon sequestration and soil microbes in purple paddy soil as affected by long-term fertilization

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration impacts on food security and climate change and may be affected by soil microbes in fertilized croplands. A 12-year field experiment under the rice–wheat system was used to evaluate the effect of the long-term fertilization on the SOC accumulation, culturable soil microbes, and their interaction in purple paddy soil. Results showed that varied fertilizations resulted in a significant increase of the SOC content and stock in the plow layer, as well as rise in populations of major soil microbes, including bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi compared with no fertilization. Soil with combined application of chemical NPK fertilizer and organic amendment (pig manure or rice straw return) on average had the highest organic carbon content and stock, amounts of bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi, which were 7.8%, 5.8%, 75.8%, 130.5%, and 16.2% higher than the NPK fertilization alone. Fertilization differentially altered populations of the functional anaerobic bacteria in paddy soil. With the combined application of chemical NPK fertilizer and organic amendment, soil displayed higher amounts of anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria, anaerobic fermentative bacteria, hydrogen-producing acetogen, methanogenic bacteria, denitrifying bacteria, and sulphate-reducing bacteria than that with the NPK fertilization alone or no fertilization. Populations of all three major soil microbes showed significantly positive correlations with the SOC content, indicating their interaction was of mutual promotion. Data suggest that the combined application of the NPK fertilizer with organic amendment especially by the rice straw return is recommended to sustain the soil biological fertility and mitigate the emission of the greenhouse gas by the SOC sequestration in purple paddy soil.     

Dandy – Walker syndrome and corpus callosum agenesis in 5p deletion

5p deletion syndrome commonly known as cri du chat is well described in affected neonates with catlike cry and hypotonia. Karyotyping will usually show a deletion of the short arm of one chromosome 5 with variable breakpoints. Only a few cases have been reported prenatally, and the fetal form of the syndrome has not been clearly individualised. We report a new case of 5p deletion syndrome diagnosed prenatally in association with Dandy–Walker syndrome and agenesis of the corpus callosum. Other brain anomalies have been reported previously, but this unusual association suggests the use of a specific probe in the investigation of these malformations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

H-酸的催化湿式氧化反应过程研究

湿式氧化（ＷＡＯ）和催化湿式氧化（ＣＷＡＯ）都能有效地处理染料中间体－－Ｈ－酸。所有的Ｈ－酸在５ｍｉｎ内均被支除和形成一些中间产物。在不同反应时间段测定了ｐＨ值及阴、阳离子和小分子有机酸等中间产物。分析表明,ｐＨ值与ＣＯＤ的去除及有机酸的产生有密切的联系,Ｈ－酸被氧化成ＮＨ４＾＋、ＳＯ４＾２－、ＨＣＯＯＨ和ＣＨ２ＣＯＯＨ。ＷＡＯ法的瓜速率慢而且氧化乙酸困难。而ＣＷＡＯ法的反应速率不但快而且能有效地     

The wild ancestors of domestic animals as a neglected and threatened component of biodiversity

Domestic animals have immense economic, cultural, and practical value and have played pivotal roles in the development of human civilization. Many domesticates have, among their wild relatives, undomesticated forms representative of their ancestors. Resurgent interest in these ancestral forms has highlighted the unclear genetic status of many, and some are threatened with extinction by hybridization with domestic conspecifics. We considered the contemporary status of these ancestral forms relative to their scientific, practical, and ecological importance; the varied impacts of wild–domestic hybridization; and the challenges and potential resolutions involved in conservation efforts. Identifying and conserving ancestral forms, particularly with respect to disentangling patterns of gene flow from domesticates, is complex because of the lack of available genomic and phenotypic baselines. Comparative behavioral, ecological, and genetic studies of ancestral-type, feral, and domestic animals should be prioritized to establish the contemporary status of the former. Such baseline information will be fundamental in ensuring successful conservation efforts.     

普光天然气净化厂投料试车H2S泄漏安全管理

普光气田天然气净化厂是中国石化集团公司"川气东送工程"的关键组成部分,在投料试车期间,富含高浓度H2S的原料气决定了净化过程中的泄漏中毒高风险,尤其在投料试车过程中,实时监测现场H2S气体浓度是试车安全管理的关键。介绍了天然气净化厂净化工艺,分析了试车安全风险;利用安全监测系统、GasFindIR红外成像仪、有毒挥发气体分析仪等先进仪器设备建立了实时安全管理监测方法,实时监测现场H2S气体浓度。结果表明,该方法在天然气净化厂投料试车阶段发现H2S气体泄漏及时,泄漏点定位准确,泄漏量检测精确,保证了普光气田天然气净化厂投料试车作业安全的顺利进行,为高含H2S气田投料试车作业的安全管理提供了参考。