Kinetic and equilibrium isotherm studies for the adsorptive removal of Brilliant Green dye from aqueous solution by rice husk ash

The present study deals with the adsorption of Brilliant Green (BG) on rice husk ash (RHA). RHA is a solid waste obtained from the particulate collection equipment attached to the flue gas lines of rice husk fired boilers. Batch studies were performed to evaluate the influences of various experimental parameters like initial pH (pH0), contact time, adsorbent dose and initial concentration (C0) on the removal of BG. Optimum conditions for BG removal were found to be pH0 approximately 3.0, adsorbent dose approximately 6 g L(-1) of solution and equilibrium time approximately 5 h for the C0 range of 50-300 mg L(-1). Adsorption of BG followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Intra-particle diffusion does not seem to control the BG removal process. Equilibrium isotherms for the adsorption of BG on RHA were analyzed by Freundlich, Langmuir, Redlich-Peterson (R-P), Dubnin-Radushkevich (D-R), and Temkin isotherm models using a non-linear regression technique. Langmuir and R-P isotherms were found to best represent the data for BG adsorption onto RHA. Adsorption of BG on RHA is favourably influenced by an increase in the temperature of the operation. Values of the change in entropy (DeltaS0) and heat of adsorption (DeltaH0) for BG adsorption on RHA were positive. The high negative value of change in Gibbs free energy (DeltaG0) indicates the feasible and spontaneous adsorption of BG on RHA.     

Cultivar-dependent rhizobacteria community and cadmium accumulation in rice: Effects on cadmium availability in soils and iron-plaque formation

The association between the rhizospheric microbial community and Cd accumulation in rice is poorly understood. A field trial was conducted to investigate the different rhizobacterial communities of two rice cultivars with high Cd accumulation (HA) and low Cd accumulation (LA) at four growth stages. Results showed that the Cd content in the roots of the HA cultivar was 1.23 - 27.53 higher than that of the LA cultivar (0.08 - 10.5 µg/plant) at four stages. The LA cultivar had a significantly lower Cd availability in rhizosphere and a higher quantity of iron plaque (IP) on the root surface than the HA cultivar at four stages. This resulted in the reduction of Cd concentration in IPs and Cd translocation from IP-to-root. Microbial analysis indicated that the LA cultivar formed a distinct rhizobacterial community from the HA cultivar and had less α-diversity. The rhizosphere of the LA cultivar was enriched in specific bacterial taxa (e.g., Massilia and Bacillus) involved in Cd immobilization by phosphate precipitation and IP formation by iron oxidization. However, the rhizosphere in the HA cultivar assembled abundant sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (e.g., Sulfuricurvum) and iron reduction bacteria (Geobacter). They promoted Cd mobilization and reduced IP formation via the metal redox process. This study reveals a potential approach in which specific rhizobacteria decrease or increase Cd accumulation in rice on contaminated soil and provides a new perspective for secure rice production.     

高盐废水人工湿地处理中耐盐植物的筛选

天津塘沽作为滨海新区核心区,是目前天津发展最快的地区之一。由于本区盐碱土壤等自然条件,污水中盐分含量较高,制约了废水的回用。本文通过模拟人工湿地实验,比较了芦苇（Phragmites australis）、盐地碱篷（Suaeda salsa）、碱蒿（Artemisia anethifo原lia）、黄花鸢尾（Iris wilsonii）、盐角草（Salicornia europaea）和大米草（Spartina anglica）等耐盐植物对轻污染水体中高浓度氯离子的去除能力,筛选出去除能力较强的植物,并确定植物对盐分去除率达到最大时的生态系统条件。结果表明,适合人工湿地的耐盐碱植物对氯离子的去除效果依次为：芦苇＆gt;盐地碱篷＆gt;碱蒿＆gt;黄花鸢尾＆gt;盐角草＆gt;大米草,停留时间一般在第4d时可达到平衡。该研究为利用人工湿地处理高盐废水提供了科学依据。     

基于生物质能的芒属（Miscanthus）植物碳动态和收支研究进展

生物质能（Biomass energy）是最为广泛的可再生能源，其中多年生芒属C4植物（Miscanthus）由于具有巨大碳固定能力而成为潜力巨大的生物质能植物。中国是芒属植物芒草起源中心，但相对于欧洲国家应对能源危机和温室效应而采取的芒草研究与应用来说，仍处于起步阶段。我国长期以来传统的草地利用模式，决定了在南方草地的研究显著少于北方，近年来芒草在华南地区的运用研究集中于生态修复，对草本植物群落基于生态系统水平的 CO2气体交换能力的研究仍然相当缺乏，在二氧化碳浓度持续增长及全球变暖背景下，生物质能植物及其碳汇功能的相关研究尤显重要。我国南方近6700万hm2退化丘陵草坡急待恢复或处于恢复中，草坡地芒属植物符合生物质能植物标准，施肥少，害虫少，农药输入少，能够有效地利用光、水等自然资源。考虑到C4植物具有比C3植物更强的光合作用能力，高光能利用率C4芒属植物的碳固定能力及能源潜力值得重视，但缺乏科学的碳动态和碳收支评估。综述了国内外芒草生物量特征与生物质能潜力研究现状，重点论述芒属植物生态系统水平的碳动态和收支能力研究，探讨了系统水平更客观评估芒属碳源汇（Carbon sequestration）功能的方法，基于生物量过程的研究结果及华南地区草坡研究历史和现状，为草坡地生物质能的合理开发利用提出了相关对策，强调在我国南方开发和利用芒属植物资源具有重要能源价值和经济、环境效益。     

Ecological Survey of Coastal I Water Adjacent to Nuclear Power I Plants in Taiwan

A total of six nuclear reactors installed in three power plants, two along the northern and one along the southern coasts of Taiwan, started their operations one after another since October 1977. Owing to the large quantities of cooling water intake into and discharge from the plants, some environmental factors such as water temperature, chlorine, environmental radioactivity and nearshore currents may be significantly changed. Variations of these abiotic environmental factors may influence the biological activities in the ecosystem, particularly doing some kinds of damage to marine biological resources. Therefore, the possible environmental impact upon the biological systems including the fishery resources along the northern and southern coasts of Taiwan should be studied before and during the plant operation.

We have started the long-term programmes of biological, chemical and hydro-graphical surveys of the nuclear power plant sites on both northern (since July 1974) and southern (since July 1979) coasts of Taiwan. the survey items include ocean currents, physical and chemical properties of sea water, primary productivity, specific compositions and interspecific relationships among phyto- and zooplankton, algae, invertebrates, corals, and fishes; and radionuclides in water and biological specimens, and fishery statistics. in general, except for a few events, the operations of the six units of nuclear power plants have not produced detectable effects on the marine ecosystem. Radio activity levels and radionuclides in water and the biological specimens remained the same as background levels throughout the survey period. However, the events of coral bleaching and fish body anomalies caused by thermal discharges were observed respectively along the outlets of third and second Nuclear Power Plants. the purposes of this paper are to report and evaluate these two events during the operations of nuclear power plants in Taiwan.     

考虑“双碳”目标与健康损失的区域现役火电机组有序退役研究

火电行业是我国经济社会发展的重要基础和保障，但也是碳排放的主要源头之一。在“双碳”目标约束下，新能源装机将持续增长，而火电机组则面临降碳和退役的压力。以安徽省为研究区域，考虑“双碳”目标与污染导致的健康损失等因素，对全省现役火电机组的计划退役与有序退役方案进行对比分析，为火电行业实现低碳发展提供路径参考。在有序退役方案下，结合初始投资、使用年限、年度发电收益与污染物排放计算出现役机组每年的净现值，并且根据未来安徽省碳排放削减目标，得到优化后的机组退役时间和顺序。结果表明：与常规的计划退役方案相比，有序退役方案使安徽省火电机组退役时间平均提前约5 a，在2060年碳中和之前可实现现役机组全部退役。2020—2060年，现役机组有序退役可累计减少碳排放量12.76亿t；累计减少SO₂、NO_x、PM_2.5排放量分别为1.44万t、2.13万t、0.17万t，比计划退役方案减少8.66亿元的健康损失。机组的有序退役不仅能带来巨大的环境效益与社会效益，也为“双碳”目标的实现提供了有力保障。     

Heavy metal bioaccumulation in selected medicinal plants collected from Khetri copper mines and comparison with those collected from fertile soil in Haridwar,India

Heavy metal distribution in medicinal plants is gaining importance not only as an alternative medicine, but also for possible concern due to effects of metal toxicity. The present study has been focused on emphasizing the heavy metal status and bioaccumulation factors of V, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Se (essential metals) and Cr, Ni, Cd, As and Pb (potentially toxic metals) in medicinal plants grown under two different environmental conditions e.g., near to Khetri copper mine and those in fertile soils of Haridwar, both in India, using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (relative method) and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The copper levels in the medicinal plants from Khetri were found to be 3-4 folds higher (31.6–76.5 mg kg^?1) than those from Haridwar samples (7.40–15.3 mg kg^?1), which is correlated with very high copper levels (763 mg kg^?1) in Khetri soil. Among various heavy metals, Cr (2.60–5.92 mg kg^?1), Cd (1.47–2.97 mg kg^?1) and Pb (3.97–6.63 mg kg^?1) are also higher in concentration in the medicinal plants from Khetri. The essential metals like Mn (36.4–69.3 mg kg^?1), Fe (192–601 mg kg^?1), Zn (24.9–49.9 mg kg^?1) and Se (0.13–0.91 mg kg^?1) and potentially toxic metals like Ni (3.09–9.01 mg kg^?1) and As (0.41–2.09 mg kg^?1) did not show much variations in concentration in the medicinal plants from both Khetri and Haridwar. The medicinal plants from Khetri, e.g., Ocimum sanctum, Cassia fistula, Withania somnifera and Azadirachta Indica were found rich in Ca and Mg contents while Aloe barbadensis showed moderately high Ca and Mg. Higher levels of Ca-Mg were found to correlate with Zn (except Azadirachta Indica). The bioaccumulation factors (BAFS) of the heavy metals were estimated to understand the soil-to-plant transfer pattern of the heavy metals. Significantly lower BAF values of Cu and Cr were found in the medicinal plants from Khetri, indicating majority fraction of these metals are precipitated and were immobilized species unsuitable for plant uptake. Overall, Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) showed very high metal bioaccumulation.     

Bacterial colonization of the phyllosphere of nineteen plant species and antimicrobial activity of their leaf secondary metabolites against leaf associated bacteria

Summary. The scope of this work was to examine whether leaf constitutive secondary metabolites play a role in determining bacterial colonization of the phyllosphere. To this aim, we surveyed nineteen native or cultivated plant species that share a common bacterial pool in a North Mediterranean area, and estimated the size of total and ice nucleation active (INA) bacterial populations on their leaves. Large differences in the colonization of their phyllosphere were found; the population size of epiphytic bacteria ranged from 7.5 × 10² to 1 × 10⁶ CFU/g fresh weight, in eucalypt and celery, respectively. Species native in Mediterranean-type climate areas, particularly those belonging to the group of aromatic plants, are characterized by scarce presence of INA bacteria. The antibacterial activity of essential oils, surface phenolics and leaf tissue extracts was also estimated against the INA strains P. syringae and E. herbicola, isolated from two of these plant species. E. herbicola proved more sensitive than P. syringae. Of the species examined, oregano [Origanum vulgare L. subsp. hirtum (Link.) Ietswaart], an aromatic plant, had the highest antimicrobial activity, whereas six species showed no activity at all. Further experiments were performed with oregano and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) that represent two extremes in their secondary metabolite content. Both plants were inoculated with P. syringae. By the end of incubation, the bacterial population on bean plants was about 100 times higher than that on oregano leaves. Scanning electron micrographs showed that bacterial growth on oregano leaves was confined to sites away from glandular hairs. Results from the bacterial colonization survey together with those from the toxicity tests showed that all species rich in antibacterial secondary metabolites harbored low leaf bacterial populations. These results provide substantial evidence that leaf secondary metabolites function as constitutive defense chemicals against microbial invasions. However, the fact that species with non- or moderately active leaf secondary metabolites are not always highly colonized suggests mediation of other unknown factors, the contribution of which requires further investigation.