Zinc-sulphate-heptahydrate coated activated carbon for microbe removal from stormwater

There is a need to develop effective stormwater filters for passive (without any addition of chemicals or energy) and effective removal of pathogens in order to mainstream stormwater harvesting. This study focuses on the development of coated granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration material in order to develop filters for effective removal of pathogens from urban stormwater. Several laboratory trials were performed to gauge the effectiveness of the filters, which use a mixture of the zinc-sulphate-heptahydrate coated GAC and sand, on the removal of Escherichia coli (E. coli) from semi-natural stormwater. On average, a 98% removal of the inflow concentration of E. coli was achieved. Furthermore, there was also an improvement of approximately 25% in the removal of phosphorous. However, it was found that the treated material was leaching zinc. It was important to determine whether the observed removal of E. coli was indirectly caused by the sampling methodology. The results showed that the inactivation of the E. coli in the collected sample was small compared with the inactivation which actually occurred within the filter. This provides much promise to the filter, but the presence of zinc in the outflow demonstrates the need for further investigation into the stabilisation of the coating process.     

煤灰结渣特性的粗集评判

基于粗集理论,提出了煤灰结渣特性的粗集评判模型,由于直接来源于实际观测数据,可靠性高,与其它判别方法相比,能更有效地判别结渣特性。     

中国天然气勘探开发现状及物探技术需求

2000年以来,中国石油天然气集团公司在鄂尔多斯盆地、四川盆地、塔里木盆地、松辽盆地、柴达木盆地、渤海湾盆地等的天然气勘探中不断获得新的发现,初步形成了东部、中部、西部协调发展的合理布局。现阶段面临的问题是如何尽快将资源优势转化为经济优势。目前,我国天然气主要储集层为碎屑岩、碳酸盐岩和火山岩三大岩石类型。碎屑岩储层特征表现为我国中部丘陵地区的低孔、低渗的致密砂岩以及西部复杂高陡构造的孔隙砂岩;碳酸盐岩和火山岩储层普遍埋藏较深,非均质性强,缝洞单元难以刻画。因此,必须采用有针对性的地球物理勘探技术,优先发展碎屑岩气藏检测勘探技术,强化地震岩石物理等基础研究,加快碳酸盐岩、火山岩气藏检测技术攻关。同时开展高密度、多波地震勘探等前沿技术研究,为定量评价和产能建设提供技术保障。     

提高储层预测精度技术思路与对策

采用地质、地震、测井人员协同一体化作业，对地下地质目标进行综合预测与评价，可提高储层预测精度，降低预测结果的多解性。主要方法是针对不同的区块，采用不同的方法和对策，首先从单井储层划分对比入手，建立储层沉积模式，同时对地震数据目的层段进行精细解释，建立地层构造模式，用沉积、构造等地质规律来指导和约束反演；利用测井资料对地震资料进行精细标定，建立各井的单井波阻抗模型，建立井数据和地震数据沟通的桥梁；在严格的测井约束、地质模型约束、层位控制下进行储层反演；充分利用地质、地震反演结果、地震参数提取及分析结果、测井、测试和分析化验等资料对储层预测结果进行综合分析与评价。该方法应用于长庆、大庆、准噶尔等实际区块，取得了较好的效果。     

Survival of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30 on inoculated almond kernels in hot water treatments

Almonds are blanched by exposure to hot water or steam-injected water to remove the pellicle (skin) from the kernel. This study evaluated the survival of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30, Salmonella Senftenberg 775W and Enterococcus faecalis on whole raw almond kernels exposed to hot water. Whole, inoculated (7 to 9 log CFU/g) Nonpareil almonds (40 g) were submerged in 25 L of water maintained at 60, 70, 80 and 88 °C. Almonds were heated for up to 12 min, drained for 2 s, and transferred to 80 mL of cold (4 °C) tryptic soy broth. Almonds in broth were stomached at high speed for 2 min, serially diluted, plated onto tryptic soy and bismuth sulfite agars (Salmonella) or bile esculin agar (Enterococcus) and incubated at 37 °C for 24 and 48 h, respectively. D values of 2.6, 1.2, 0.75 and 0.39 min were calculated for exposure of S. Enteritidis PT 30 to water at 60, 70, 80 and 88 °C, respectively; the calculated z value was 35 C°. D values determined for Salmonella Senftenberg 775W and E. faecalis at 88 °C were 0.37 and 0.36 min, respectively. Neither Salmonella serovar could be recovered by enrichment of 1-g samples after almonds inoculated at 5 log CFU/g were heated at 88 °C for 2 min. These data will be useful to validate almond industry blanching processes.     

German tobacco industry's successful efforts to maintain scientific and political respectability to prevent regulation of secondhand smoke

Objective

To examine the tactics the tobacco industry in Germany used to avoid regulation of secondhand smoke exposure and to maintain the acceptance of public smoking.

Methods

Systematic search of tobacco industry documents available on the internet between June 2003 and August 2004.

Results

In West Germany, policymakers were, as early as the mid 1970s, well aware of the fact that secondhand smoke endangers non‐smokers. One might have assumed that Germany, an international leader in environmental protection, would have led in protecting her citizens against secondhand smoke pollution. The tobacco manufacturers in Germany, however, represented by the national manufacturing organisation “Verband” (Verband der Cigarettenindustrie), contained and neutralised the early debate about the danger of secondhand smoke. This success was achieved by carefully planned collaboration with selected scientists, health professionals and policymakers, along with a sophisticated public relations programme.

Conclusions

The strategies of the tobacco industry have been largely successful in inhibiting the regulation of secondhand smoke in Germany. Policymakers, health professionals, the media and the general public should be aware of this industry involvement and should take appropriate steps to close the gap between what is known and what is done about the health effects of secondhand smoke.     

Modifications to methods for the enumeration and detection of injured Escherichia coli O157:H7 in foods

Reliable methods are required for the detection and enumeration of potentially injured E. coli O157 in food in the presence of outnumbering competing bacteria. Selective agents can prevent or inhibit the recovery and subsequent multiplication of injured cells and direct inoculation, either into selective enrichment broths or onto selective agar plates is still used in many methods for E. coli O157 detection and enumeration. When compared with tryptone soya agar (TSA), sorbitol MacConkey agar (SMAC) was shown to underestimate the concentration of viable E. coli O157:H7 subjected to low pH and high NaCl concentration. Using a resuscitation stage on TSA followed by membrane transfer to SMAC improved recovery to levels obtained on TSA. The membrane method was used to monitor the numbers of artificially contaminated E. coli O157:H7 during the fermentation of a meat product and demonstrated better survival when compared to counts on SMAC. Six rapid methods for the detection of E. coli O157 in food (BAX E. coli O157, Reveal 8 E. coli O157-H7 screening test, VIP EHEC, VIDAS E. coli O157 (ECO), EHEC-Tek and Tecra E. coli O157 visual immunoassay), were evaluated using beetburgers, parsley and fermented meat artificially contaminated with injured cells. Methods using direct selective enrichment, with or without an elevated incubation temperature gave false-negative results. The incorporation of a non-selective pre-enrichment medium improved the detection rates of these assays by up to ten fold.     

北京妫水河湿地植物多样性调查与评价研究

为探究北方缺水地区湿地植物物种多样性变化,选取北京市延庆区妫水河为研究区,采用物种丰富度(R),Shannon-Wiener指数(H),Simpson指数(D)和Peilou均匀度指数(J)作为植物群落多样性指标,使用方差法和典型对应分析(CCA)对不同河段和区域间湿地植物物种分布与环境因子之间的响应关系进行研究。研究结果表明:研究区现有湿地植物93种,隶属于44科76属,优势科有菊科(Asteraceae)、禾本科(Poaceae)、豆科(Fabaceae)和莎草科(Cyperaceae); 93种植物的Shannon-Wiener指数(H)小于3,Simpson指数(D)和Peilou均匀度指数(J)介于0. 5～0. 75之间,物种数量总体不多,但分布较均匀,处于中等水平;对湿地植物群落形成及生长影响较大的水质因子依次为全氮(TN)、p H和化学需氧量(COD)。     

Supercritical CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-assisted,silicone-modified wood for enhanced fire resistance

A composite fabrication method is reported that incorporates silicones into bulk aspen substrates and subsequently crosslinks the additives in situ. This process utilizes supercritical CO₂, a non-toxic and easily recoverable solvent, as a transport and reaction medium resulting in aspen composites that have been uniformly infused with silicone. Flexure properties of aspen–silicone composites were determined to be indistinguishable from those of aspen. However, after thermal degradation, the residual flexure properties of the composite char were significantly improved compared to the virgin aspen char. Energy release rate, total energy released, and char yield of aspen and aspen–silicone composites were measured and a significant improvement in all three of these fire-resistance parameters was observed after the incorporation of silicone. Samples were also exposed to a controlled thermo-oxidative environment under an applied stress to measure lifetimes of each sample at given temperatures and stress levels. This data were subjected to an Arrhenius analysis and show a good linear correlation. Composite systems demonstrate significantly longer lifetimes than virgin aspen and the slopes of all lines are nearly identical, suggesting that no change in the chemical degradation mechanism has occurred.     

Rapid detection of a Schistosoma mansoni circulating antigen excreted in urine of infected individuals by using a monoclonal antibody

Schistosoma circulating antigens were used to indicate the infection intensity and to assess cure. An immunoglobulin G2a (IgG2a) mouse monoclonal antibody was used in a fast dot-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; FDA) for rapid and simple diagnosis of schistosomiasis in the field. Seven hundred Egyptians were parasitologically examined for Schistosoma mansoni and other parasitic infections. A rectal biopsy was done as a "gold standard" for individuals showing no S. mansoni eggs in their feces. Egg counts were obtained by the Kato smear method for only 100 of 152 individuals with eggs in their feces. Specific anti-schistosome IgG antibodies were evaluated in sera by ELISA. Urine samples from the 700 individuals were tested by FDA for detection of the circulating antigen. The assay showed a sensitivity of 93% among 433 infected individuals and a specificity of 89% among 267 noninfected individuals. FDA showed the highest efficiency of antigen detection (91%) compared with the efficiency of antibody detection by ELISA (75%) and stool analysis (60%). In addition, FDA detected infected patients with 20 eggs/g of feces. Also, the sensitivity of FDA ranged from 90 to 94% among samples from patients with different clinical stages of schistosomiasis. All the assay steps can be completed within 30 min at room temperature for 96 urine samples. The monoclonal antibody identified a 74-kDa antigen in different antigenic extracts of S. mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium and in the urine of infected individuals. In addition, a 30-kDa degradation product was identified only in the urine samples. On the basis of these results, FDA should be used as a rapid tool for the sensitive and specific diagnosis of Schistosoma infection.