Synthetic endocrine disruptors in the environment and water remediation by advanced oxidation processes

The present study is an overview of the literature on classes and types of compounds described as "endocrine disruptors" and their treatability in water by advanced oxidation processes, which generate hydroxyl radicals in water. The review is limited to details of the destruction of three classes of endocrine disruptors, namely bisphenols, alkylphenols and phthalates, which are among the most highly suspected endocrine disrupting compounds that interfere with the hormonal system of wildlife. It was found that photocatalysis with titanium dioxide was the most frequently tested advanced oxidation method most likely due its potential to render complete mineralization. There is sufficient research also with direct and indirect photolysis and ozonation, which were less effective for the overall mineralization but more representative of the conditions existing in real water treatment plants.     

生物膜法A/O/O工艺城市污水脱氮处理的挂膜启动

生物膜法A/O/O脱氮系统处理城市污水中试挂膜启动研究结果表明:挂膜启动的关键在于进行硝化处理的二级生物接触氧化池能否培养出以硝化菌为优势菌种的成熟生物膜。试验中水温、气水比和进水氨氮负荷是影响挂膜启动的主要因素。为加速挂膜启动,水温不宜低于15℃;挂膜初期在保证供氧充足的情况下最好采用较小的气水比,而后气水比可逐渐随DO的实际需求作相应的调整,同时保持出水DO不低于4mg/L,5.5～6mg/L时效果较好;启动期内氨氮负荷宜低于0.6kg/(m3·d)。     

基于CAN总线的新型煤矿粉尘浓度检测系统的研究

为了实现对粉尘的实时在线检测和粉尘超限报警,以及实现煤矿粉尘浓度检测系统的高性能运行,本文设计了一种基于CAN总线的新型煤矿粉尘浓度检测系统.本文首先对粉尘浓度检测系统的整体设计方案进行了描述,然后对系统的传感器及调理转换电路、声光报警电路和CAN通信电路等硬件电路进行了设计,对粉尘检测系统的软件进行了详细的设计分析.最后给出了实验结果,并通过实验结果证明了该系统能长时间实时监测粉尘浓度,并通过CAN总线接口可以实现系统的远距离、高可靠性通信功能和远程监控功能.本系统具有测量准确、速度快、可靠性高和能及时报警等特点.     

硼-氮共掺杂中空碳纳米纤维的制备及其活化过一硫酸盐降解双酚A的性能研究

碳材料由于良好的稳定性、无二次污染、高的比表面积等特性,近年来作为催化剂广泛应用于水处理领域.本文以金属有机骨架（MOFs）材料作为前驱体,通过"静电纺丝+热解"的方法制备了硼-氮共掺杂的中空碳纳米纤维（B-HCNFs）,并利用X射线光电子能谱仪（XPS）、拉曼光谱仪（Raman）、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、透射电子显微镜（TEM）、氮气吸附仪等对制备材料的组成和结构进行了详细的分析.将合成的B-HCNFs用于催化剂活化过一硫酸盐（peroxymonosulfate,PMS）降解双酚A（BPA）,结果表明制备的催化剂具有优异的性能.考察了B掺杂前后以及催化剂投加量、初始pH、温度等因素对BPA去除效率的影响,发现B掺杂可以有效提升催化剂的性能.此外,自由基淬灭实验和电子顺磁共振波谱仪（EPR）研究表明,非自由基（电子转移中间体）在BPA的降解过程中占主导作用,而自由基（SO₄^·-,^·OH）贡献较小.动态循环实验显示该催化剂具有良好的稳定性和应用前景.     

Evaluation of theories and calculation tools in ecology

The concept of validation is inappropriate for the evaluation of ecological models. Classification of models into logical, theoretical, and calculation tool (predictive) types provides a sounder basis for choosing an evaluation technique. The dangers of model “tuning” are presented.     

The prediction of scenic beauty from landscape content and composition

Two studies were conducted to examine distance classes of vegetation (foreground, middleground and background) and scene composition (presence of vegetation in left, center or right section of the image) as predictors of perceived scenic beauty. In study one, 41 students rated 63 landscape scenes with regard to scenic beauty. The Scenic Beauty Estimation Method was used to derive interval scale beauty values (SBEs). For each landscape image, areal measures of vegetation in each distance class and for each vertical section were taken and used as predictors. Presence of haze, clouds and human impacts were also recorded. Among the most important contributors to scenic beauty were amount of center middleground vegetation, and center background vegetation. Left foreground vegetation and right foreground vegetation were found to have significant and opposing regression weight signs—negative for the left and positive for the right. Study two was conducted to determine whether these opposing regression weight signs for foreground vegetation were due to a perceptual right-left bias or to some specific content in the image itself. In the second study, the photographic slides used to present landscape scenes to subjects were reversed so that the content which was previously on the right was now left, and vice versa. Thirty-nine students rated the reversed slides with regard to their scenic beauty. The signs of the regression weights in study two shifted such that left foreground was now positively valued and right foreground was negatively valued. This finding suggests that viewers are sensitive to foreground content and its placement in the image, and not simply to one side of the field of vision.     

Analysis and application of forest fuels data

Recent advances in fire modeling permit quantitative estimations of fire behavior from quantitative inputs that describe the fuel array and conditions, such as weather and site data, under which it will burn. This paper describes the collection, analysis, and stratification of flammable forest fuels data for coniferous forest ecosystems in Montana and then illustrates the resource management application of these data in three areas: the development of the fire behavior model, a determination of the model's sensitivity to input errors as reflected by fire behavior prediction errors, and the development of a fire hazard simulator (TAROT). A new integrated stand simulator, GANDALF, is highlighted.Conclusions center on the need to integrate fire management into the land management planning decision-making process.This work was supported by a USDI National Park Service contract to Gradient Modeling, Inc., a nonprofit research foundation devoted to ecologic research and resource management applications, and by cooperative aid agreements between Gradient Modeling, Inc. and the USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Northern Forest Fire Laboratory (Fire in Multiple Use Management, R, D, and A Program).     

BACTERIAL LEVELS IN CISTERN WATER SYSTEMS OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY1

ABSTRACT: In rural Northern Kentucky, rainwater is commonly collected from rooftops and stored in cement block cisterns as the sole source of drinking water. Although every cistern system is unique in some aspect of design, use, or maintenance, a bacterial survey of 30 rural Northern Kentucky cistern systems suggests that coliforms and heterotrophic bacteria are common to all types of cistern storage systems. An average of 600 coliforms/ml and 3.6 ± 10⁵ heterotrophic bacteria/ml were detected in water samples from the bottoms of the cistern storage tanks. Bacterial levels in water delivered to household cold tap faucets were similar to the levels found in the storage tanks. When detected, fecal coliforms were recovered throughout the entire system including the household cold tap faucet. Current U.S. regulations for drinking water quality are discussed, with a suggestion that fecal coliform levels may be a more appropriate guideline for interpreting the water quality of individually maintained, nonchlorinated, nonpiped water supplies, such as cistern storage systems.     

The relationship between the black carbon and bisphenol A in sea and river sediments (Southern Baltic)

This study was derived from field investigations to assess bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations in the sea and river sediments of the Gulf of Gdansk. Black carbon (BC) and total organic carbon (TOC) were identified as influencing factors on the accumulation. As a result of the transportation of BC with organic matter via rivers into the Gulf of Gdansk, the highest mean concentrations (11.26 ng BPA/(g dry weight (dw))), were determined in the sediments of river estuaries. Sediments in coastal stations were characterized by the lowest mean concentrations (5.73 ng BPA/(g dw)). TOC content below 0.1% determined the sorption of BPA on BC particles in sediments, and statistically significant correlation between the concentration of BPA and the BC/TOC ratio was found in these cases. In addition, dependency between the concentration of BPA and the content of BC was discovered in sediments where the BC/TOC ratio was > 0.33.