中国区域能源效率发展演变趋势的R/S分形分析

改革开放以来中国能源效率不断地提高,但是在某些年份存在波动现象.采用非线性分形理论及分形分析R/S方法,科学定量地描述了中国以及各个地区能源效率的演变趋势.首先采用分形理论对1978-2008年的中国能源效率时间序列数据进行研究,结果显示,中国能源效率发展演变存在Hurst现象,具有明显的分形特征.并依照“五年计划”来划分时间序列样本为研究区间,结合“五年计划”详尽地解释说明了中国能源效率变动的原因.然后将数据扩大为样本期为1995-2008年29地区的面板数据,采用面板变系数模型进一步对各个地区的能源效率进行分析,发现除海南外其他地区的能源效率演变过程中具有明显的持续性规律,各个地区能源效率将继续保持增长.西部6个地区以及东北三省的能源效率演变趋势高于全国水平,说明“西部大开发”战略和“振兴东北”战略都已经显效.     

基于GIS与RUSLE的武陵山区小流域土壤侵蚀评价研究

以长江中下游武陵山区女儿寨小流域为研究区,基于数据观测积累及实地调查采样等方法,计算了研究区降雨侵蚀力、土壤可蚀性等因子,运用GIS与RUSLE评价了流域土壤侵蚀强度并分析了其与土地利用方式、海拔高度的关系。结果表明,流域平均土壤侵蚀强度为78844 t/（km2·a）,属微度侵蚀,流域面积9518%的范围发生轻度以下的侵蚀,强烈以上侵蚀仅占1.19%。从土地利用类型来看,耕地、果园侵蚀强度较大,均达到中度侵蚀,有林地除竹林地为轻度侵蚀外均属微度侵蚀,耕地、果园、竹林地是今后水土流失防治的主要地类。不同海拔高度中,低海拔（200～400 m）区域侵蚀量占到流域侵蚀总量的6442%,是水土流失防治的重点地带。研究为应用修正通用土壤流失方程在武陵山区进行土壤侵蚀评价提供范例,为研究区防治土壤侵蚀和流域管理规划决策提供相应参考     

Nitrogen deposition effects on Mediterranean-type ecosystems: an ecological assessment

We review the ecological consequences of N deposition on the five Mediterranean regions of the world. Seasonality of precipitation and fires regulate the N cycle in these water-limited ecosystems, where dry N deposition dominates. Nitrogen accumulation in soils and on plant surfaces results in peaks of availability with the first winter rains. Decoupling between N flushes and plant demand promotes losses via leaching and gas emissions. Differences in P availability may control the response to N inputs and susceptibility to exotic plant invasion. Invasive grasses accumulate as fuel during the dry season, altering fire regimes. California and the Mediterranean Basin are the most threatened by N deposition; however, there is limited evidence for N deposition impacts outside of California. Consequently, more research is needed to determine critical loads for each region and vegetation type based on the most sensitive elements, such as changes in lichen species composition and N cycling.     

Mechanisms of purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea) encroachment in dry heathland ecosystems with chronic nitrogen inputs

We analysed growth strategies (biomass allocation, nutrient sequestration and allocation) of heather (Calluna vulgaris) and purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea) seedlings in monocultures and mixtures in relation to N, P, and N + P fertilisation in a greenhouse experiment in order to simulate a heath’s pioneer phase under high airborne nitrogen (N) loads. N fertilisation increased the total biomass of both species in monocultures. In mixtures, M. caerulea sequestered about 65% of the N applied, while C. vulgaris suffered from N shortage (halving of the total biomass). Thus, in mixtures only M. caerulea will benefit from airborne N loads, and competition will become increasingly asymmetric with increasing N availability. Our results demonstrate that the heath’s pioneer phase is the crucial tipping point at which the competitive vigour of M. caerulea (high belowground allocation, efficient use of belowground resources, shortened reproductive cycles) induces a shift to dominance of grasses under increased N availability.     

Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009 and upcoming challenges for exposure assessment of plant protection products--Harmonisation or national modelling approaches?

In the new European Pesticide Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009, the harmonisation of approaches for estimation of the environmental exposure of pesticides is considered a major goal. Several member states currently require their own models for the calculation of predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) in surface water. The variety of methods makes risk evaluations rather time-consuming for both notifiers and evaluating authorities. In the present study we compare surface water concentrations of 19 compounds using EU and country-specific models and risk assessment approaches to evaluate to which extent the resulting estimated exposure concentrations differ. Our results show that EU and country specific approaches and the resulting surface water concentrations differ considerably regarding basic model assumptions and assessment methods. The results indicate that the aimed harmonisation of risk assessment approaches within the EU will be difficult based on current models. New scenarios may help to achieve a harmonisation taking country-specific features into account.     

Effect of lipids on sorption/desorption hysteresis in natural organic matter

The chemical composition and physical conformation of natural organic matter (NOM) play a major role in regulating its capacity to retain hydrophobic organic compounds. Naphthalene and phenanthrene were used to study the correlations between sorption/desorption isotherm nonlinearity and compositional data obtained from quantitative ¹³C solid-state DPMAS NMR spectroscopy for soil and peat organic matter with or without lipids. Sorption experiments were conducted using a batch equilibration method. Desorption experiments were carried out immediately following the sorption experiments by three successive decant-refill cycles. Hysteresis was observed in all samples. Nonlinear sorption behavior was increased by removal of lipids from the NOM. The hysteresis index, obtained from the ratio of the Freundlich exponents (N values) for the desorption and sorption isotherms, was lower in the lipid-extracted NOM samples than in the same samples without lipid extraction. The relationship between the extent of hysteresis and the characteristics of the ¹³C DPMAS NMR spectra indicates that altering NOM composition through lipid extraction not only increased the proportion of aromatic-C content, but also increased sorption/desorption hysteresis. Our data also suggest that the hysteresis index is negatively related to aromaticity.     

PCDD/F enviromental impact from municipal solid waste bio-drying plant

The present work indentifies some environmental and health impacts of a municipal solid waste bio-drying plant taking into account the PCDD/F release into the atmosphere, its concentration at ground level and its deposition. Four scenarios are presented for the process air treatment and management: biofilter or regenerative thermal oxidation treatment, at two different heights. A Gaussian dispersion model, AERMOD, was used in order to model the dispersion and deposition of the PCDD/F emissions into the atmosphere. Considerations on health risk, from different exposure pathways are presented using an original approach. The case of biofilter at ground level resulted the most critical, depending on the low dispersion of the pollutants. Suggestions on technical solutions for the optimization of the impact are presented.     

Estrogen receptor mediated activity in bankside groundwater, with flood suspended particulate matter and floodplain soil - an approach combining tracer substance, bioassay and target analysis

Bankside groundwater is widely used as drinking water resource and, therefore, contamination has to be avoided. In the European Union groundwater protection is explicit subject to Water Framework Directive. While groundwater pollution may originate from different sources, this study investigated on impacts via flood events.Groundwater was sampled with increasing distance to the river Rhine near Karlsruhe, Germany. Samples were HPLC-MS-MS analyzed for the river contaminant carbamazepine to indicate river water infiltration, giving permanent presence in 250 m distance to the river (14-47 μg L⁻¹). Following a flood event, concentrations of about 16-20 μg L⁻¹ could also be detected in a distance of 750 m to the river. Furthermore, estrogenic activity as determined with the Yeast Estrogen Screen assay was determined to increase up to a 17β-ethinylestradiol equivalent concentration (E-EQ) = 2.9 ng L⁻¹ near the river, while activity was initially measured following the flood with up to E-EQ = 2.6 ng L⁻¹ in 750 m distance. Detections were delayed with increasing distance to the river indicating river water expansion into the aquifer.Flood suspended matter and floodplain soil were fractionated and analyzed for estrogenic activity in parallel giving up to 1.4 ng g⁻¹ and up to 0.7 ng g⁻¹, respectively. Target analysis focusing on known estrogenic active substances only explained <1% of measured activities.Nevertheless, river water infiltration was shown deep into bankside groundwater, thus, impacting groundwater quality. Therefore, flood events have to be in the focus when aiming for groundwater and drinking water protection as well as for implementation of Water Framework Directive.     

Hydroxytyrosol, the phenolic compound of olive oil protects human PBMC against oxidative stress and DNA damage mediated by 2,3,7,8-TCDD

The protective effect of hydroxytyrosol (HT), a strong antioxidant compound from extra virgin olive oil, against TCDD induced toxicity was investigated in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). PBMC (1 × 10⁶ cells mL⁻¹) were divided into four groups and were incubated in a CO₂ incubator (5% CO₂) for 12 h with vehicle, TCDD (10 nM), TCDD + HT (10 nM + 100 μM) and HT alone (100 μM) respectively. To clarify the role of HT against TCDD induced cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and the levels of antioxidant enzymes were assessed. Incubation of PBMC with TCDD significantly decreased cell viability, catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and increased the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR) and oxidative stress markers such as lipid peroxidation products (LPO), protein carbonyl content (PCC) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Whereas, HT had an effective antioxidant property as observed by the increased cell viability, normalization of antioxidant enzymes and decreased levels of LPO, PCC and ROS in PBMC co-treated with HT and TCDD. Apoptosis detection and comet assay results shows that HT, by acting as an antioxidant, prevents the damage to DNA induced by TCDD. In addition light microscopic and histopathological observations revealed that the cells are apoptotic and degenerated during TCDD treatment, whereas cells showed intact morphology during co-treatment with HT. On the whole, the results reveal that HT exerts a promising antioxidant potential in protecting the PBMC against TCDD induced oxidative stress, which might be due to the presence of catechol moiety in its structure.     

Air quality assessment by tree bark biomonitoring in urban, industrial and rural environments of the Rhine Valley: PCDD/Fs, PCBs and trace metal evidence

Tree barks were used as biomonitors to evaluate past atmospheric pollution within and around the industrial zones of Strasbourg (France) and Kehl (Germany) in the Rhine Valley. The here estimated residence time for trace metals, PCBs and PCDD/Fs in tree bark is >10 years. Thus, all pollution observed by tree bark biomonitoring can be older than 10 years. The PCB baseline concentration (sum of seven PCB indicators (Σ₇PCB_ind)) determined on tree barks from a remote area in the Vosges mountains is 4 ng g⁻¹ and corresponds to 0.36 × 10⁻³ ng toxic equivalent (TEQ) g⁻¹ for the dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs). The northern Rhine harbor suffered especially from steel plant, waste incinerator and thermal power plant emissions. The polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran (PCDD/Fs) concentrations analyzed in tree barks from this industrial area range between 392 and 1420 ng kg⁻¹ dry-weight (dw) corresponding to 3.9 ng TEQ_PCDD/Fs kg⁻¹ to 17.8 ng TEQ_PCDD/Fs kg⁻¹, respectively. Highest PCDD/F values of 7.2 ng TEQ kg⁻¹ to 17.8 ng TEQ kg⁻¹ have been observed close to and at a distance of <2 km southwest of the chemical waste incinerator. However, very close to this incinerator lowest TEQ dioxin-like PCB (TEQ_DL-PCB) values of 0.006 ng TEQ g⁻¹ have been found. On the other hand close to and southwest and northeast of the steel plant the values are comparatively higher and range between 0.011 ng TEQ g⁻¹ and 0.026 ng TEQ g⁻¹. However, even stronger Σ₇PCB_ind enrichments have been observed at a few places in the city center of Kehl, where ΣDL-PCB values of up to 0.11 ng TEQ g⁻¹ have been detected. These enrichments, however, are the result of ancient pollutions since recent long-term measurements at the same sites indicate that the atmospheric PCB concentrations are close to baseline. Emissions from an old landfill of waste and/or great fires might have been the reasons of these PCB enrichments. Other urban environments of the cities of Kehl and Strasbourg show significantly lower Σ₇PCB_ind concentrations. They suffer especially from road and river traffic and have typically Σ₇PCB_ind concentrations ranging from 11 ng g⁻¹ to 29 ng g⁻¹. The PCB concentration of 29 ng g⁻¹ has been found in tree bark close to the railway station of Strasbourg. Nevertheless, the corresponding TEQ_DL-PCB are low and range between 0.2 × 10⁻³ ng TEQ g⁻¹ and 7 × 10⁻³ ng TEQ g⁻¹. Samples collected near road traffic are enriched in Fe, Sb, Sn and Pb. Cd enrichments were found close to almost all types of industries. Rural environments not far from industrial sites suffered from organic and inorganic pollution. In this case, TEQ_DL-PCB values may reach up to 58 × 10⁻³ ng TEQ g⁻¹ and the corresponding V, Cr, Co, Ni, and Cd concentrations are comparatively high.