Tourism: economic development without increasing CO2 emissions in Pakistan

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Globally, the national and cultural resources of a country are major sources of attraction for tourism. Pakistan is gifted with abundant natural and...     

Aerosol optical properties under different pollution levels in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China

To clarify the aerosol hygroscopic growth and optical properties of the Pearl River Delta(PRD)region,integrated observations were conducted in Heshan City of Guangdong Province from October 19 to November 17,2014.The concentrations and chemical compositions of PM_(2.5),aerosol optical properties and meteorological parameters were measured.The mean value of PM_(2.5) increased from less than 35(excellent) to 35-75 μg/m~3(good) and then to greater than 75 μg/m~3(pollution),corresponding to mean PM_(2.5) values of 24.9,51.2,and 93.3 μg/m~3,respectively.The aerosol scattering hygroscopic growth factor(f(RH = 80%)) values were 2.0,2.12,and 2.18 for the excellent,good,and pollution levels,respectively.The atmospheric extinction coefficient(σext)and the absorption coefficient of aerosols(σ_(ap)) increased,and the single scattering albedo(SSA)decreased from the excellent to the pollution levels.For different air mass sources,under excellent and good levels,the land air mass from northern Heshan had lower f(RH) and σ_(sp) values.In addition,the mixed aerosol from the sea and coastal cities had lower f(RH) and showed that the local sources of coastal cities have higher scattering characteristics in pollution periods.     

Influence of floc dynamic protection layer on alleviating ultrafiltration membrane fouling induced by humic substances

Cake layer formation is inevitable over time for ultrafiltration (UF) membrane-based drinking water treatment. Although the cake layer is always considered to cause membrane fouling, it can also act as a “dynamic protection layer”, as it further adsorbs pollutants and dramatically reduces their chance of getting to the membrane surface. Here, the UF membrane fouling performance was investigated with pre-deposited loose flocs in the presence of humic acid (HA). The results showed that the floc dynamic protection layer played an important role in removing HA. The higher the solution pH, the more negative the floc charge, resulting in lower HA removal efficiency due to the electrostatic repulsion and large pore size of the floc layer. With decreasing solution pH, a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer was formed, and more HA molecules were adsorbed. The potential reasons were ascribed to the smaller floc size, greater positive charge, and higher roughness of the floc layer. However, similar membrane fouling performance was also observed for the negative and positive floc dynamic protection layers due to their strong looseness characteristics. In addition, the molecular weight (MW) distribution of HA also played an important role in UF membrane fouling behavior. For the small MW HA molecules, the chance of forming a loose cake layer was high with a negatively charged floc dynamic protection layer, while for the large MW HA molecules it was high with a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer. As a result, slight UF membrane fouling was induced.     

Metabolomic modulations in a freshwater microbial community exposed to the fungicide azoxystrobin

An effective broad-spectrum fungicide, azoxystrobin (AZ), has been widely detected in aquatic ecosystems, potentially affecting the growth of aquatic microorganisms. In the present study, the eukaryotic alga Monoraphidium sp. and the cyanobacterium Pseudanabaena sp. were exposed to AZ for 7 days. Our results showed that 0.2–0.5 mg/L concentrations of AZ slightly inhibited the growth of Monoraphidium sp. but stimulated Pseudanabaena sp. growth. Meanwhile, AZ treatment effectively increased the secretion of total organic carbon (TOC) in the culture media of the two species, and this phenomenon was also found in a freshwater microcosm experiment (containing the natural microbial community). We attempted to assess the effect of AZ on the function of aquatic microbial communities through metabolomic analysis and further explore the potential risks of this compound. The metabonomic profiles of the microcosm indicated that the most varied metabolites after AZ treatment were related to the citrate cycle (TCA), fatty acid biosynthesis and purine metabolism. We thereby inferred that the microbial community increased extracellular secretions by adjusting metabolic pathways, which might be a stress response to reduce AZ toxicity. Our results provide an important theoretical basis for further study of fungicide stress responses in aquatic microcosm microbial communities, as well as a good start for further explorations of AZ detoxification mechanisms, which will be valuable for the evaluation of AZ environmental risk.     

磁性有序介孔碳的制备及其对水中双酚A的吸附

采用水热法成功制备了磁性有序介孔碳（Fe-OMC）,用于吸附水中双酚A （BPA）.采用高倍投射电镜、X射线衍射仪、傅里叶红外光谱仪、比表面积分析仪和振动样品磁强计对Fe-OMC进行表征.结果表明,该吸附剂具备较大的比表面积、独特的有序介孔孔道结构、丰富的含氧官能团以及较强的超顺磁性.Fe-OMC能够高效地吸附去除水中的BPA,平衡吸附量可达72.62mg/g,经过外加磁场分离回收后依旧具备较好的吸附性能.随着BPA浓度从1mg/L提高到20mg/L,其平衡吸附量由8.33mg/g增至91.78mg/g.随着pH值的升高呈现出先降低后升高再降低的趋势,最高吸附量出现在pH=8（75.34mg/g）.Fe-OMC对BPA的吸附过程可用准二级吸附动力学模型和Langmuir吸附等温模型进行描述.计算的热力学参数表明,Fe-OMC对BPA的吸附过程是自发进行的放热过程.     

基于短时傅里叶变换的干扰信号识别方法

目的提高无线电引信识别欺骗式干扰的能力。方法根据炮弹弹体自旋的特点,使得采用连续波线极化天线的无线电引信所收到的干扰信号呈现出有别于地面回波的周期性幅度调制特征,通过对此特征进行短时傅里叶变换后进行识别,可以作为无线电引信是否受到欺骗式干扰的判断依据。结果通过仿真和试验对方法的可行性进行了验证,表明该识别方法可以很好地提高连续波无线电引信的识别欺骗式干扰的能力。结论基于短时傅里叶变换检测旋转调制的对地旋转弹无线电引信欺骗干扰识别的方法可以对干扰信号特征进行识别,算法处理时间短,能够作为引信是否受到干扰的一种判断依据。     

SI-traceable certification of Cu, Cr, Cd and Pb in sediment and fly ash candidate reference materials

Many fields in environmental analytical chemistry deal with very low limits and thresholds as set by governmental legislations or transnational regulations. The need for the accuracy, comparability and traceability of analytical measurements in environmental analytical chemistry has significantly increased and total uncertainties are even asked for by accreditation bodies of environmental laboratories. This paper addresses achieving these goals to guarantee accuracy, quality control, quality assurance or validation of a method by means of certified reference materials. The assessment of analytical results in certified reference materials must be as accurate as possible and every single step has to be fully evaluated. This paper presents the SI-traceable certification of Cu, Cr, Cd and Pb contents in geological and environmentally relevant matrices (three sediments and one fly ash sample). Certification was achieved using isotope dilution (ID) ICPMS as a primary method of measurement. In order to reduce significantly the number of analytical steps and intermediate samples a multiple spiking approach was developed. The full methodology is documented and total uncertainty budgets are calculated for all certified values. A non-element specific sample digestion process was optimised. All wet chemical digestion methods examined resulted in a more or less pronounced amount of precipitate. It is demonstrated that these precipitates originate mainly from secondary formation of fluorides (essentially CaF2) and that their formation takes place after isotopic equilibration. The contribution to the total uncertainty of the final values resulting from the formation of such precipitates was in general < 0.1% for all investigated elements. Other sources of uncertainty scrutinised included the moisture content determination, procedural blank determination, cross-contamination from the different spike materials, correction for spectral interferences, instrumental background and deadtime effects, as well as the use of either certified values or IUPAC data in the IDMS equation. The average elemental content in the sediment samples was 30-130 micrograms g-1 for Pb, 0.5-3 micrograms g-1 for Cd and 50-70 micrograms g-1 for Cu. Cr was measured in one sample and was about 60 micrograms g-1. The concentrations in the fly ash sample were up to 2 orders of magnitude higher. Expanded uncertainty for the investigated elements was about 3% (coverae factor k = 2) except for Cr, (measured by high resolution ICPMS), for which the expanded uncertainty was about 7% (k = 2).     

城市中水回用环境经济效益分析——以福州市洋里污水处理厂出水回用为例

以福州市洋里污水厂出水回用为例,运用费用效益分析方法计算得出静态投资回收期为2.64 a,远远小于基准投资回收期15~20 a。效益-费用比为1.44,大于1。结果表明,洋里污水厂达标出水作为中水回用的经济效益良好,并且具有明显的社会效益和环境效益。     

环境物质拟除虫菊酯毒理学研究进展

拟除虫菊酯作为一种重要的合成杀虫剂,在人们的生产生活中有着广泛的应用,但同时其毒理学问题也越来越引起人们的注意,许多学者对此进行了深入的研究,在此研究基础上,从对动物的神经毒性、生殖毒性和生理生化毒性三个方面,对拟除虫菊酯的毒理学研究进展作一综述.     

滕南煤田煤矸石对土壤的影响分析

通过对山东滕南煤田地区的土壤、煤矸石及部分农作物的灰份进行化学分析，从理论上探讨了其促进植物增产的机理；并认为该煤田3煤层的矸石含有与该地区土壤类似的化学组成，但其所含植物生长需要的主要元素普遍高于土壤中的含量，即煤矸石中含有较丰富的植物生长所需的矿物肥料。