Predicting Extinction Risk of Brazilian Atlantic Forest Angiosperms

Understanding how plant life history affects species vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbances and environmental change is a major ecological challenge. We examined how vegetation type, growth form, and geographic range size relate to extinction risk throughout the Brazilian Atlantic Forest domain. We used a database containing species‐level information of 6,929 angiosperms within 112 families and a molecular‐based working phylogeny. We used decision trees, standard regression, and phylogenetic regression to explore the relationships between species attributes and extinction risk. We found a significant phylogenetic signal in extinction risk. Vegetation type, growth form, and geographic range size were related to species extinction risk, but the effect of growth form was not evident after phylogeny was controlled for. Species restricted to either rocky outcrops or scrub vegetation on sandy coastal plains exhibited the highest extinction risk among vegetation types, a finding that supports the hypothesis that species adapted to resource‐limited environments are more vulnerable to extinction. Among growth forms, epiphytes were associated with the highest extinction risk in non‐phylogenetic regression models, followed by trees, whereas shrubs and climbers were associated with lower extinction risk. However, the higher extinction risk of epiphytes was not significant after correcting for phylogenetic relatedness. Our findings provide new indicators of extinction risk and insights into the mechanisms governing plant vulnerability to extinction in a highly diverse flora where human disturbances are both frequent and widespread. Predicción del Riesgo de Extinción de Angiospermas del Bosque Atlántico Brasileño     

Process analysis of an industrial waste-to-energy plant: Theory and experiments

Thermal conversion is fundamental in an integrated waste management system due to the capability of reducing mass and volume of waste and recovering energy content from unrecyclable materials. Indeed, power generation from industrial solid wastes (ISW) is a topic of great interest for its appeal in the field of renewable energy production as well as for an increasing public concern related to its emissions. This paper is based on the process engineering and optimization analysis, commissioned to the University Campus-Biomedico of Rome by the MIDA Tecnologie Ambientali S.r.l. enterprise, ended up in the construction of an ISW thermo-conversion plant in Crotone (Southern Italy), where it is nowadays operating. The scientific approach to the process analysis is founded on a novel cascade numerical simulation of each plant section and it has been used initially in the process design step and after to simulate the performances of the industrial plant. In this paper, the plant process scheme is described together with the values of main operating parameters monitored during the experimental test runs. The thermodynamic and kinetic basics of the mathematical model for the simulation of the energy recovery and flue gas treatment sections are presented. Moreover, the simulation results, together with the implemented parameters, are given and compared to the experimental data for 10 specific plant test runs. It was found that the model is capable to predict the process performances in the energy production as well as in the gas treatment sections with high accuracy by knowing a set of measurable input variables. In the paper fundamental plant variables have been considered such as steam temperature, steam flow rate, power generated as well as temperature, flow rate and composition of the resulting flue gas; therefore, the mathematical model can be simply implemented as a reliable and efficient tool for management optimization of this kind of plants.     

广东省药物活性化合物的污染特征及生态风险评价

随着药物活性化合物(PhACs)的大量生产和使用,PhACs已成为环境中的一类新污染物.为了调查PhACs在广东省的污染特征,采集了全广东省21个城市,包括178个乡镇及行政区,共186个污水厂的原始污水.采用全自动固相萃取仪和高效液相色谱-三重四级杆质谱联用仪,分析了污水厂进水中10种典型PhACs的污染水平,全面揭示了PhACs在广东省的空间分布特征,并对PhACs的潜在生态风险进行评价.调查结果表明,全部污水厂均有PhACs检出,各污水厂进水中∑PhACs质量浓度范围为21.00～9 558.25 ng·L^-1,其中美托洛尔、对乙酰氨基酚、苯扎贝特和咖啡因是广东省污水厂进水中的主要污染物.在空间分布上,广东省各区域∑PhACs质量浓度平均值呈现出珠三角>粤北>粤东≈粤西的分布特征.根据污水厂的处理工艺,对∑PhACs质量浓度超过2 500 ng·L^-1的污水厂的出水质量浓度进行估算,并根据估算的出水进行PhACs的生态风险评价.结果表明,广东省PhACs的生态风险较低,苯扎贝特在韶关、江门和深圳呈现出中风险,∑PhACs生态...     

典型超低排放燃煤电厂可凝结颗粒物特征和成因

燃煤电厂排放的可凝结颗粒物（condensable particle matter,CPM）由于其潜在的大气环境影响引起广泛关注,而目前对于燃煤电厂CPM的特征和成因尚不清楚.本研究通过稀释间接法收集了超低排放改造后的典型燃煤电厂石灰石-石膏湿法脱硫（wet flue gas desulfurization,WFGD）入口/出口和湿式静电除尘（wet electrostatic precipitator,WESP）出口位置的CPM,并对其进行重量分析和水溶性离子分析,同时测量了可能的CPM气态前体物浓度.结果表明,烟气中CPM的主要气态前体物为HCl、HNO₃、SO₃和NH₃等.烟气温度降低后,这些气态前体物通过冷凝或化学反应形成CPM.所形成CPM主要化学组分包括SO₄^2-、Cl^-、NO₃^-和NH₄⁺等水溶性离子.WFGD和WESP可以降低CPM气态前体物的浓度,进而减少CPM排放,经过WFGD和WESP后CPM浓度的平均下降比例分别为27%和45%.此外,稀释降温后烟气中的SO₃非均相冷凝在已有的颗粒物表面上,导致颗粒物中的SO₄^2-增加,同时Cl^-和NO₃^-减少,致使最终排口处CPM的水溶性离子组分主要为SO₄^2-.     

基于甲烷氧化菌的城镇污水厂尾水极限脱氮系统构建及机制

好氧甲烷耦合反硝化（AME-D）在城镇污水厂尾水深度脱氮方面具有巨大的应用潜力,研究采用改良型反硝化生物滤池,利用低浓度甲烷构建出AME-D极限脱氮系统.研究发现该系统在间歇式运行方式下,出水中总氮和氨氮的平均浓度能达到1.05 mg·L^-1和0.54 mg·L^-1,其平均去除率分别为94.77%和93.30%.拉曼光谱分析结果显示,由NO₃^-对称伸缩引起的峰明显消失,由醇COH面外弯曲或C—H面外弯曲振动吸收引起峰明显增强,甲烷被氧化形成的中间产物可能主要为醇类物质.16S rRNA基因测序结果表明,系统中的甲烷氧化菌主要为Methylocystis（0.27%）、Methylosarcina（0.10%）和Methyloparacoccus（0.12%）,反硝化菌主要为Pseudomonas（56.92%）、Paenibacillus（3.52%）和Lysinibacillus（3.00%）,硝化菌主要为Nitrospira（0.1%）,说明AME-D极限脱氮系统的脱氮功能是由好氧甲烷氧化菌、反硝化菌和硝化菌协同实现.     

Effect of acid solutions on plants studied by the optical beam deflection method

The optical beam deflection method was applied to study the effects of acid solution on both a terrestial and aquatic plants Egeria and Cerastium, which are common aquatic plant and terrestial weed respectively. A probe beam from a He-Ne laser was passed through a vicinity of a leaf of the plants, which were put in culture dishes filled with acid solutions. Deflection signals of the probe beam were monitored and compared for acid solutions with different pH values. The results of Egria showed that the deflection signals changed dramatically when pH values of acid solutions were 2.0 and 3.0, while little at pH of 4.0 and 5.0. For Cerastium when pH were below 3.0, deflection signals changed greatly with time at the begining. After a certain period of time, deflection signals changed little with time. When pH value was above 4.0, deflection signals of Cerastium were still changing with time even after 20 hours. The results suggested that the damage threshold of pH was between 3.0 and 4.0 for both the land and aquatic plants.     

Screening of endophytic bacteria against fungal plant pathogens

Bacterial endophytes were found from 6 plant leaves among 35 plant leaves screened. Two of the isolated bacteria showed antagonistic activity against fungal plant pathogens. An isolate named KL1 showed the clear inihibition against plant pathogens, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani, on PDA as well as TSA plate. Supernatant of the bacterial culture also showed the clear inhibition against the fungal growth on the plate and the antibiotic substance was identified as iturin A by HPLC analysis. KL1 was identified as Bacillus sp. from the 16S rRNA gene analysis. Very thin hyphae of R. solani was miccroscopically observed when the fungus was co-cultivated with KL1.     

Combined effects of cadmium and fluoranthene on germination, growth and photosynthesis of soybean seedlings

The single and combinational effects of cadmium (Cd) and fluoranthene (FLT) on germination, growth and photosynthesis of soybean seedlings were investigated. Exposure to 5, 10, or 15 mg Cd/L or 1, 5, or 10 mg FLT/L individually or in combination significantly decreased germination vigor (3 days) and final germination rate of soybean seeds, except at 1 and 5 mg FLT/L. The results of two-way ANOVA analysis and the Bliss independence model showed that at lower concentrations of FLT (1 mg/L), the interaction between Cd and FLT on germination was antagonistic, whereas the interaction was synergistic when the concentration of FLT was 5 or 10 mg/L and the concentration of Cd was 15 mg/L. Growth, expressed as dry weight, length of shoot and root, leaf area, and photosynthesis, expressed as net photosynthetic rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, chlorophyll contents and fluorescence of soybean seedlings were also reduced by exposure to 5 or 10 mg Cd/L or 1 or 5 mg FLT/L, singly or jointly. Significant antagonistic effects of exposure to 5 or 10 mg Cd/L or 1 or 5 mg FLT/L on shoot growth and photosynthesis were observed, whereas synergy and antagonism of Cd and FLT were both observed for root growth.     

燃煤电厂烟尘铅排放状况外场实测研究

选取30台燃煤电厂锅炉开展燃料铅含量及烟尘铅排放浓度的系列外场测试.结果表明,燃煤电厂燃料铅含量均值为8.50 mg·kg-1,烟尘铅平均排放浓度为0.0081 mg·m-3,排放因子为0.0643 g·t-1.不同机组容量及有无选择性催化还原(SCR)装置状况下烟尘铅排放因子无显著性差异(p＞0.1),不同除尘设施类型下烟尘铅排放因子有显著性差异(p＜0.1),布袋除尘(Fiber Filter,FF)电厂烟尘铅排放因子低于静电除尘(Electrostatic Precipitator,ESP)电厂.本研究中铅排放因子低于国内估算值,与AP 42燃煤电厂铅排放因子处于同一水平.基于本研究排放因子计算的全国2011年燃煤电厂烟尘铅排放量为126.76 t.     

化石燃料电厂CO2俘获方案研究

论述了CO2俘获的重要性和紧迫性,介绍了4种适用于化石燃料电厂的CO2俘获方案：煤粉燃烧中的CO2分离和俘获处理、气化CO2分离和俘获处理、氧燃烧CO2分离和俘获处理和化学环燃烧处理。