Structural characterization and thermal stabilities of the isomers of the brominated flame retardant 1,2,5,6-tetrabromocyclooctane (TBCO)

1,2,5,6-Tetrabromocyclooctane (TBCO) is a commercial brominated flame retardant that is employed mainly as an additive in textiles, paints and plastics. Very little is known about its presence or behavior in the environment or its analysis. TBCO can exist as two diastereomers, the stereochemistries of which have not been previously reported. We have named the first eluting isomer, under HPLC conditions, as alpha-TBCO (α-TBCO) and the later eluting isomer as beta-TBCO (β-TBCO) when using an Acquity UPLC BEH C₁₈ column with methanol/acetonitrile/water as the mobile phase. The structural elucidation of these two isomers was accomplished by ¹H NMR spectroscopy, GC/MS, LC/MS and X-ray structure determinations. α-TBCO is (1R,2R,5S,6S)-1,2,5,6-tetrabromocyclooctane and β-TBCO is rac-(1R,2R,5R,6R)-1,2,5,6-tetrabromocyclooctane. As with some other brominated cycloaliphatic compounds, TBCO is thermally labile and the isomers easily interconvert. A thermal equilibrium mixture of α- and β-TBCO consists of approximately 15% and 85% of these isomers, respectively. Separation of the two diastereomers, with minimal thermal interconversion between them, is achievable by careful selection of GC-capillary column length and injector temperature. LC/MS analyses of TBCO also presents an analytical challenge due to poor resolution of the isomers on chromatographic stationary phases, and weak intensity of molecular ions (or major fragment ions) when using LC-ESI/MS. Only bromide ions were seen in the mass spectra. APCI and APPI also failed to produce the molecular ion with sufficient intensity for identification.     

The USGS Water Availability and Use Science Program: Needs,Establishment, and Goals of a Water Census

Many reports have recognized the need for a national water census for the United States and have called upon the U.S. Geological Survey to undertake this challenge. For example, the National Science and Technology Council stated: “The United States has a strong need for an ongoing census of water that describes the status of our Nation's water resource at any point in time and identifies trends over time.” Responding to the need for this information, the U.S. Congress established the SECURE Water Act. The directives are to provide a more accurate assessment of the status of the water resources of the United States; determine the quantity of water available for beneficial uses; identify long‐term trends in water availability; assist in determination of the quality of the water resources; and develop the basis for an improved ability to forecast the availability of water for future economic, energy production, and environmental uses. This article provides summary and new information on the process and progress on work to estimate water budget components nationwide, involvement of stakeholder interests, efforts to examine water‐use characteristics throughout the Nation, studies of water availability in geographically focused areas and the initiation of methods to provide open access to existing and new water resources information contributing to Open Water Data Initiative (OWDI) efforts and objectives.     

A Multi‐Scale Analysis of Low‐Rise Apartment Water Demand through Integration of Water Consumption,Land Use,and Demographic Data

Over the past decades, multi‐unit housing developments have been vastly expanded across urban areas due to the population growth. To properly supply water to this growing sector, it is essential to understand the determinants of its water use. However, this task has largely remained unexplored through the empirical study of water demand mainly due to the scarcity of data in this sector. This study integrated apartment water consumption, property characteristics, weather, water pricing, and census microdata to overcome this issue. Using a rich source of GIS‐based urban databases in Auckland, New Zealand, the study developed a large dataset containing the information of 18,000 low‐rise apartments to evaluate the determinants of water use both in the household scale and aggregated scale. The household‐scale demand analysis helped to assess the heterogeneity in responses to the demand drivers specifically water price across different consumer groups, whereas the aggregated analysis revealed the determinants behind the spatial variation in water demand at the census area unit level. Through applying panel data models, the study revealed the household size as the most important determinant of apartment water use in Auckland, where other socioeconomic factors, building features, and water pricing were not significant determinants. This knowledge of determinants of water demand can help water planners to better manage water demand in the compact urban environments.     

Using OpenMI and a Model MAP to Integrate WaterML2 and NetCDF Data Sources into Flood Modeling of Genoa,Italy

Extreme hydrometeorological events such as flash floods have caused considerable loss of life and damage to infrastructure over recent years. Flood events in the Mediterranean region between 1990 and 2006 caused over 4,500 fatalities and cost over €29 billion in damage, with Italy one of the worst affected countries. The Distributed Computing Infrastructure for Hydro‐Meteorology (DRIHM) project is a European initiative aiming at providing an open, fully integrated eScience environment for predicting, managing, and mitigating the risks related to such extreme weather phenomena. Incorporating both modeled and observational data sources, it enables seamless access to a set of computing resources with the objective of providing a collection of services for performing experiments with numerical models in meteorology, hydrology, and hydraulics. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how this flexible modeling architecture has been constructed using a set of standards including the NetCDF and WaterML2 file formats, in‐memory coupling with OpenMI, controlled vocabularies such as CF Standard Names, ISO19139 metadata, and a Model MAP (Metadata, Adaptors, Portability) gateway concept for preparing numerical models for standardized use. Hydraulic results, including the impact to buildings and hazards to people, are given for the use cases of the severe and fatal flash floods, which occurred in Genoa, Italy in November 2011 and October 2014.     

1H-NMR-based metabolomic study on toxicity of methomyl and methidathion in fish

A ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with multivariate analysis was applied to detect the toxicity of antiacetylcholinesterase insecticides, methomyl (methyl (1E)-N-(methylcarbamoyloxy)ethanimidothioate) and methidathion (3-(dimethoxyphosphinothioyl sulfanylmethyl)-5-methoxy-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-one), using zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Chinese bleak (Aphyocypris chinensis). Generally, methomyl and methidathion have been believed not to highly accumulate in fish tissues. However, these pesticides showed their toxicity by altering patterns of whole-body metabolites in neurotransmitter balance, energy metabolism, oxidative stress, and muscle maintenance in low concentrations. We used Pearson correlation analysis to contextualize the metabolic markers in pesticide treated groups. We observed that the positive correlations of choline with acetate and betaine in untreated control were shifted to null correlations showing acetylcholinesterase specific toxicity. This research demonstrated the applicability and potential of NMR metabolomics in detecting toxic effects of insecticide with a modicum of concentrations in aquatic environment.     

“互联网+”时代的环境风险评估探讨

环境风险评估是环境管理的前提和依据。目前比较成熟的方法分为项目"事先"环评和健康"事后"风险评估。以上两种风险评估方法由于多种原因制约,无法提供给环境管理部门实时在线的环境风险结果。实际上,环境风险评估方法在不断完善中,随着互联网、物联网、云计算、三网融合等IT与通信技术的迅猛发展,环境保护领域也迎来了大数据时代,风险评估也将逐渐步入"互联网+"时代。新型环境风险评估更具系统性,将以数字化的形式体现环境(E)—污染物(M)—人为因素(H)的风险耦合度。虽然数字化环境风险评估在相关风险因子和风险评估方法上仍处于起步阶段,但它是新形势下环境风险管理的一个全新方向,其应用将对环境管理领域产生巨大影响。本文将分析传统环境风险评估与"互联网+"时代的环境风险评估差异,探讨新型数字化环境风险评估需要的支撑硬件与平台,并对数字化环境风险评估的发展趋势与挑战做出展望。     

民族八省区城镇化发展质量研究

本文以2007-2014年民族八省区的相关社会经济统计数据为样本,基于柯布—道格拉斯的生产函数理论,将民族八省区的城镇化发展过程概括为各类资源要素投入进而得到相应产出的过程,运用数据包络分析方法,计算民族八省区城镇化发展质量的评价指数,进一步分析民族八省区城镇化发展质量水平。研究结果显示:民族八省区的城镇化发展质量评价指数区域间差异性显著,在时间序列上大部分省区呈现不同程度的下降趋势,云南、广西和贵州主要受资本和资源要素过度投入影响,近年来城镇化发展质量评价指数逐年下降;新疆和宁夏两省区主要受第二三产业从业人口外流影响,导致第二三产业地区生产总值增长缓慢,城镇化发展质量指数呈一定的下降趋势;通过优化路径分析,民族八省区城镇化发展的投入要素优化存在巨大空间。     

气候变暖等因素对山东省种植业产出的影响

通过建立引入气候因素的种植业生产函数模型,利用1990-2009年山东省40个县市种植业生产及气象面板数据,运用产出增长分解法,实证分析气候因素和非气候因素对山东省种植业产出的影响并对产出增长的各要素贡献进行分解。结果表明:气候变暖对山东省种植业带来明显的负面影响。1990-2009年间气候因素对山东省40个县市的总体产出增长的影响为-11.03%,在其他条件不变的情况下,平均温度每升高1℃,总体种植业总产值减少2.2%,总体产值增长下降1.48%;温度升高对鲁西北地区、鲁南地区种植业产出的影响最为明显;同时,降水对种植业产出影响显著,降水因素使得山东省种植业产出增长减少16.86%;物质投入中化肥和农药对种植业产出增长贡献最大,但农业劳动力减少,特别是种植业劳动力的减少,开始显著地影响种植业产出,使得种植业产出增长减少5.90%;技术进步的影响作用在下降。     

基于TFP的中部地区经济增长中自然资源贡献分析

运用Romer的内生经济增长模型和全要素贡献模型,对1988~2009年中部地区经济和自然资源进行面板数据分析,计算出各省自然资源要素和其他要素对经济增长的贡献值。结论显示：中部地区经济增长中自然资源生产率呈现出“能源主打,水土作衬;北煤南水,地异明显”的结构、空间特性;其他生产性要素中,资本、劳动力资源生产率对经济增长的贡献不相上下;而全要素生产率除湖北外都不及全国平均水平,中部6省的科技创新能力亟待提高。针对中部经济资源现状提出相应政策建议,认为中部地区应该在资源利用效率的提高、自主研发能力的推崇、各项人才的培养和产业优化的推动方面多做工作,推进低碳经济发展     

我国环境治理投资效率评价及其关键影响因素

在系统地归纳了环境治理投资效率的相关研究的基础上,依据构建评价指标体系的原则,以环境治理投资总额作为投入指标,以及环境治理投资在水、气、固体等方面控制绩效作为产出,建立我国环境治理投资效率的评价指标体系,构建基于DEA方法的我国环境治理投资效率评价模型,再以环境治理投资效率为母因素,以各评价指标为环境治理投资效率的影响因素,利用灰色关联度分析方法,构建我国环境治理投资效率的关键影响因素分析模型,通过《中国环境统计年鉴2010》和《中国统计年鉴2010》收集2009年我国各省市（自治区）投入产出数据,得到我国各省市的环境治理投资效率及其关键影响因素,证实控制关键因素--环境治理投资总额,能够有效地提高环境治理投资效率