Spectrophotometric determination of hydroxylamine in biological wastewater treatment processes

Hydroxylamine, a very important intermediate in nitrification, has a direct relationship with the production of nitrous oxide in biological wastewater treatment processes. The spectrophotometric method taking ferric ammonium sulfate and 1, 10-phenanthroline as the oxidant and the chromogenic agent, respectively, was used to determine the concentration of hydroxylamine in biological wastewater treatment processes. The impacts of nitrite, nitrate, orthophosphate, calcium ion and trace elements on the method were examined. The results indicated that the spectrophotometric method can be used for the determination of hydroxylamine in biological wastewater treatment processes. The correlation was significant in the range of 0.02–1.00 mg N/L (y = 1.5078x ? 0.0132, R ² = 0.9991), and the range varied to 0.05–1.00 mg N/L when nitrite and orthophosphate presented. Nitrate, calcium ion and trace elements did not interfere with the determination of hydroxylamine nitrogen. When the concentrations of nitrite nitrogen in the samples were lower than 15.00 mg/L, nitrite had a minor interference on the method. The impacts of orthophosphate on the method were complex. When the concentrations of hydroxylamine nitrogen were higher than 0.10 mg/L, the interference of orthophosphate on the method can be ignored. However, when the concentrations of hydroxylamine nitrogen in the samples were lower than 0.10 mg/L, orthophosphate had significant impacts on the determination, and a numerical method proposed can eliminate the interference of orthophosphate. The spectrophotometric method can determine the concentration of hydroxylamine in biological wastewater treatment processes quickly and conveniently and was helpful to understand the function of NH₂OH in N₂O production in biological wastewater treatment processes.     

Hyperspectral Image Compression Using JPEG2000 and Principal Component Analysis

Principal component analysis (PCA) is deployed in JPEG2000 to provide spectral decorrelation as well as spectral dimensionality reduction. The proposed scheme is evaluated in terms of rate-distortion performance as well as in terms of information preservation in an anomaly-detection task. Additionally, the proposed scheme is compared to the common approach of JPEG2000 coupled with a wavelet transform for spectral decorrelation. Experimental results reveal that, not only does the proposed PCA-based coder yield rate-distortion and information-preservation performance superior to that of the wavelet-based coder, the best PCA performance occurs when a reduced number of PCs are retained and coded. A linear model to estimate the optimal number of PCs to use in such dimensionality reduction is proposed     

Short-term and diurnal temperature changes alter the response of harmful algal blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia pungens to solar ultraviolet radiation

In this study, we explored the interactive effects of temperature and solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on the growth, pigment contents, photochemical efficiency and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) of Pseudo-nitzschia pungens, which forms harmful algal blooms globally. Cells were first pre-acclimated to temperatures of 20°C, 25°C or 28°C for 10 days. They were then exposed to three different types of solar radiation for 60?min. We then measured the photochemical efficiency of the cells during the 60-min exposure and a 360-min recovery period under dim light (20?μmol?photons?m^?2?s^?1). In addition, we analysed the diural change in photochemical efficiency and NPQ over a 10-h period. We found that P. pungens that were exposed to higher temperatures in the short term (i.e. 20–25°C, 20–28°C and 25–28°C) or long term (i.e. 25–25°C and 28–28°C) exhibited lower levels of photoinhibition and faster recovery rates than samples exposed to a lower temperature (i.e. 20–20°C). This indicated that the deleterious effects of UVR can be minimised by both chronic and acute exposure to higher temperatures within the tolerated temperature range for P. pungens.     

Impact of forest degradation on streamflow regime and runoff response to rainfall in the Garhwal Himalaya,Northwest India

Baseflows have declined for decades in the Lesser Himalaya but the causes are still debated. This paper compares variations in streamflow response over three years for two similar headwater catchments in northwest India with largely undisturbed (Arnigad) and highly degraded (Bansigad) oak forest. Hydrograph analysis suggested no catchment leakage, thereby allowing meaningful comparisons. The mean annual runoff coefficient for Arnigad was 54% (range 44–61%) against 62% (53–69%) at Bansigad. Despite greater total runoff Q_t (by 250 mm year^–1), baseflow at Bansigad ceased by March, but was perennial at Arnigad (making up 90% of Q_t vs. 51% at Bansigad). Arnigad storm flows, Q_s, were modest (8–11% of Q_t) and occurred mostly during monsoons (78–98%), while Q_s at Bansigad was 49% of Q_t and occurred also during post-monsoon seasons. Our results underscore the importance of maintaining soil water retention capacity after forest removal to maintain baseflow levels.

EDITOR D. Koutsoyiannis; ASSOCIATE EDITOR D. Gerten     

华北地区春季和夏季降水特征及与气候相关的分析

利用美国NCEP再分析月平均资料及我国华北地区25个气象站1951~2003年53年的月降水资料,研究了华北春季和夏季降水的年代际和年际变化特征及与大气环流的联系。结果表明,华北春季和夏季的年代际和年际变化特征有一定的差别,春季降水存在3种典型降水类型,即“全部一致型”、“东西型”和“东北西南型”。第一特征向量为主导,其时间变化系数与春季降水量特征基本一致,说明华北春季降水主要受西北气流影响,具有降水偏多(少)一致性特征。降水偏多、偏少年异常场差值显示春季华北主要受东亚上空的异常反气旋环流影响,其底部偏东气流在南海、台湾海峡一带转向向北一直吹到华北。华北夏季降水存在3种典型降水类型,即“全部一致型”、“南北型”和“东西型”。降水偏多、偏少年异常场差值显示夏季华北受副高西侧西南气流的影响从印度孟加拉湾携带大量水汽从西南方向吹向华北,带来较多的降雨。     

西藏冈底斯成矿带南缘喜马拉雅早期成矿作用——来自冲木达铜金矿床的Re-Os同位素年龄证据

采集冈底斯成矿带南部克鲁-冲木达铜金成矿亚带冲木达矽卡岩型铜金矿床的辉钼矿样品进行了Re-Os法精确同位素定年。该矿区辉钼矿的模式年龄介于37.63～41.19Ma之间,6件辉钼矿样品得到187Re-187Os等时线年龄为(40.3±5.6)Ma。该成矿年龄明显早于冈底斯成矿带中带和北带的驱龙、厅宫等斑岩铜矿床和甲马、知不拉、帮浦等矽卡岩型铜铅锌矿床的成矿年龄,而与冈底斯成矿带中广泛发育的碰撞期花岗质岩浆活动的年龄基本一致。据此认为,冲木达铜金矿床形成于喜马拉雅早期,与欧亚-印度大陆碰撞阶段的花岗质岩浆活动密切相关。     

Immobilized <Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-lactamase on Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> magnetic nanoparticles for degradation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-lactam antibiotics in wastewater

The emergence of antibiotics residues in pharmaceutical industrial wastewater has been a significant environment problem. However, current methods of treating antibiotic-polluted wastewater are inefficient, of high cost and time-consuming. In this study, highly effective enzymatic Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles were developed, which is extremely simple and can degrade antibiotics in a fast manner at a low cost. β-Lactamase, a representative enzyme for β-lactam antibiotic degradation, was covalently immobilized on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles modified with amino groups by a simple cross-linking process. The immobilized β-lactamase displayed a wider pH and temperature range for penicillin G degradation than the free enzyme. Meanwhile, the thermostability and storage stability of the immobilized β-lactamase were improved. Fifty milligrams magnetic nanoparticles immobilized with β-lactamase can thoroughly degrade 100 mL penicillin G (5–50 mg L^?1) within 5 min. Even if the β-lactamase immobilized on the nanoparticles was reused 35 times in the 5 mg L^?1 penicillin G solution, it still kept more than 95% degradation efficiency. These suggest that magnetic nanoparticles immobilized with β-lactamase have a sufficient capacity for degrading antibiotics in wastewater and will serve as a practical and economical solution to antibiotic pollution in pharmaceutical industrial wastewater treatment.     

Chemical composition of the background aerosol at two sites in southwestern and northwestern China: potential influences of regional transport

Concentrations of organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), selected trace elements and water-soluble (WS) ions were determined for samples collected from August 2004 to February 2005 to assess the aerosol background at two remote sites in China. The OC and EC concentrations in PM₁₀ from near the Tibetan Plateau at Zhuzhang (ZUZ) were comparable with other background sites, averaging 3.1 and 0.34 μg m⁻³, respectively, with no pronounced seasonality. At Akdala (AKD) on northern margin of the Zhungaer Basin, the average concentrations were similar (mean OC = 2.9 μg m⁻³ and EC = 0.35 μg m⁻³), but the concentrations were higher in winter. The aerosol mass at both sites was dominated by OC and SO₄²⁻, but a stronger contribution from soil dust was observed at AKD. At ZUZ, NO₃⁻ showed a unique weather-related fluctuation in PM₁₀ with a periodicity of ∼1 week. Anthropogenic sources in the Sichuan Basin and southeastern Yunnan Province evidently influence ZUZ in summer and autumn while pollutants from Russia and the China–Mongolia border affect AKD nearly all year. The identification of these upwind sources demonstrates that transboundary transport needs to be taken into account when assessing air quality in remote parts of China.     

Observational Studies of the X-Ray Quasi-Periodic Oscillations of a Solar Flare

We study an M2.6 flare observed with RHESSI on 22 August 2005. The light curves of the hard X-rays (counts and photon fluxes), the derived number fluxes, as well as the energy fluxes of energetic electrons all presented a damped quasi-periodic oscillation. The modulation depth of the hard X-rays increased with the energies. For the energy fluxes of energetic electrons, the modulation depth can be as high as 90%. During the oscillations, however, the plasma temperature had no apparent change. No correspondence was found between the motions of the flare loops and the quasi-periodic oscillations. We conclude that an oscillation with a high modulation depth for a period of about four minutes cannot be easily explained with the existing mechanisms.     

峨眉山大火成岩省中高Os苦橄岩的发现及地质意义

本文对峨眉山大火成岩省中苦橄岩及其共生的玄武岩进行了铂族元素(PGE)分析,结果表明苦橄岩比玄武岩的PGE含量要高至少一个数量级,并且具有明显高的Os含量,不仅比熔融程度最高的科马提岩要高,而且比原始地幔还要高,另外,还显示出超球粒陨石的Os/Ir比值(2.84～3.88)。其高的Os/Ir比值可能与岩浆上升过程中混入黑色页岩有关。部分熔融计算表明,含有0.01%硫化物的原始地幔 0.5%的外核在7%的熔融程度下,然后又被约10%的黑色页岩混染可以模拟原始岩浆的PGE含量。其Os含量及其他地球化学特征与其同时代的西伯利亚暗色岩系的相似性可能暗示了这两个大火成岩省来自于同一个起源于核-幔边界的超级地幔柱。另外,还根据苦橄岩和玄武岩PGE的含量估算了该地区PGE的成矿潜力。