Influence of sludge reflux ratios on biodegradation performance in a coupled landfill leachate treatment process based on UASB and submerged MBR.

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of different sludge reflux ratios (SRRs) on the overall performance and the fouling behavior of the up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor-anoxic-membrane bioreactor (MBR). The leachate and synthetic municipal wastewater were mixed in order to improve the biodegradability of the old leachate. Results showed that excellent removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) were obtained by using the integrated UASB-anoxic-MBR process. The average COD removals were 91.01%, 93.90%, and 92.67% and that of NH3-N were 98.1%, 98.5%, and 98.9% when SRRs were 100%, 300%, and 500%, respectively. The study of the membrane fouling mechanism indicated that proteins, hydrocarbons and inorganic matter are the main elements of the cake layers.

Optimal land use management for soil erosion control by using an interval-parameter fuzzy two-stage stochastic programming approach.

Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental and public health problems, and such land degradation can be effectively mitigated through performing land use transitions across a watershed. Optimal land use management can thus provide a way to reduce soil erosion while achieving the maximum net benefit. However, optimized land use allocation schemes are not always successful since uncertainties pertaining to soil erosion control are not well presented. This study applied an interval-parameter fuzzy two-stage stochastic programming approach to generate optimal land use planning strategies for soil erosion control based on an inexact optimization framework, in which various uncertainties were reflected. The modeling approach can incorporate predefined soil erosion control policies, and address inherent system uncertainties expressed as discrete intervals, fuzzy sets, and probability distributions. The developed model was demonstrated through a case study in the Xiangxi River watershed, China's Three Gorges Reservoir region. Land use transformations were employed as decision variables, and based on these, the land use change dynamics were yielded for a 15-year planning horizon. Finally, the maximum net economic benefit with an interval value of [1.197, 6.311] × 10(9) $ was obtained as well as corresponding land use allocations in the three planning periods. Also, the resulting soil erosion amount was found to be decreased and controlled at a tolerable level over the watershed. Thus, results confirm that the developed model is a useful tool for implementing land use management as not only does it allow local decision makers to optimize land use allocation, but can also help to answer how to accomplish land use changes.

Effect of different buffer agents on in-vessel composting of food waste: performance analysis and comparative study.

This study investigated the performance and feasibility for application of different buffer agent combinations, including K2HPO4/MgSO4, KH2PO4/MgSO4 and NaAc, in composting of food waste. The variations of temperature, pH, O2 consumption, organic mass and ammonia release were monitored. The results showed that addition of all these three types of agents could prolong the thermophilic stage during composting. The amendments of KH2PO4/MgSO4 and NaAc could increase and decrease the final pH levels, respectively. Application of K2HPO4/MgSO4 and NaAc would lead to a peak daily oxygen uptake rate of 10.0 and 12.4 mg/(g·h) respectively, which were all higher than that with KH2PO4/MgSO4 amendment. Similarly, the reactors with K2HPO4/MgSO4 and NaAc were also associated with a higher cumulative oxygen uptake and total organic degradation rate. The amendment of NaAc resulted in a higher ammonia loss than the other two agents. More inorganic nitrogen contents were observed in the series with K2HPO4/MgSO4 and NaAc. It can be concluded that K2HPO4/MgSO4 additive showed the most favorable influence on composting performance. The results of this study will have important implications for developing appropriate treatment approach for food waste composting.

An electrochemical DNA sensor based on a layers-film construction modified electrode.

This work developed a relatively inexpensive and layers-film construction electrochemical sensor for DNA recognition and its performance was investigated. The Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles-cysteine were immobilized on the carbon paste electrode (CPE) surface using magnetic force. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), gold nanoparticles (GNPs), and chitosan (Chi) were used successively to coat on the electrode surface. The thiolated capture probe was assembled and competitively hybridized with the target nucleic acid and biotinylated response probe. The electrochemical behavior was analyzed by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. In addition, the sensor performance was also analyzed by introducing the notion of detection efficiency. The experimental results showed that although the electron transfer capability of the CPE is less strong than that of a metal electrode used in the DNA sensor, the materials modified on the CPE could significantly improve the performance. A detection limit of 1 nM of target DNA and a sensitivity of 2.707 × 10(3) mA M(-1) cm(-2) were obtained. Although the resulting detection limit was not remarkable, further experiments could improve it.

An inexact reverse logistics model for municipal solid waste management systems.

This paper proposed an inexact reverse logistics model for municipal solid waste management systems (IRWM). Waste managers, suppliers, industries and distributors were involved in strategic planning and operational execution through reverse logistics management. All the parameters were assumed to be intervals to quantify the uncertainties in the optimization process and solutions in IRWM. To solve this model, a piecewise interval programming was developed to deal with Min-Min functions in both objectives and constraints. The application of the model was illustrated through a classical municipal solid waste management case. With different cost parameters for landfill and the WTE, two scenarios were analyzed. The IRWM could reflect the dynamic and uncertain characteristics of MSW management systems, and could facilitate the generation of desired management plans. The model could be further advanced through incorporating methods of stochastic or fuzzy parameters into its framework. Design of multi-waste, multi-echelon, multi-uncertainty reverse logistics model for waste management network would also be preferred.

A hybrid inexact optimization approach for solid waste management in the city of Foshan, China.

An interval-parameter two-stage chance-constraint mixed integer linear programming (ITCMILP) model is provided for supporting long-term planning of solid waste management in the City of Foshan, China. The ITCMILP is formulated by integrating interval-parameter, two-stage, mixed integer, and chance-constraint programming methods into a general framework, and can thus deal with multiple uncertainties associated with model parameters, constraints and objectives. Three scenarios are examined, covering combinations of various system conditions and waste management policies. Scenario 1 is designed for comparison purposes. Scenarios 2 and 3 correspond to situations when the existing landfill's life is to be extended. The results demonstrate that the centralized composting and incinerating facilities are desired for treating the organic waste flows. The tradeoff among system cost, violation risk, and the related policy implications are also analyzed. The results obtained could help decision makers gain in-depth insights into the impact of uncertainties on long-term solid waste management in the City of Foshan.

Identifying optimal regional solid waste management strategies through an inexact integer programming model containing infinite objectives and constraints.

The previous inexact mixed-integer linear programming (IMILP) method can only tackle problems with coefficients of the objective function and constraints being crisp intervals, while the existing inexact mixed-integer semi-infinite programming (IMISIP) method can only deal with single-objective programming problems as it merely allows the number of constraints to be infinite. This study proposes, an inexact mixed-integer bi-infinite programming (IMIBIP) method by incorporating the concept of functional intervals into the programming framework. Different from the existing methods, the IMIBIP can tackle the inexact programming problems that contain both infinite objectives and constraints. The developed method is applied to capacity planning of waste management systems under a variety of uncertainties. Four scenarios are considered for comparing the solutions of IMIBIP with those of IMILP. The results indicate that reasonable solutions can be generated by the IMIBIP method. Compared with IMILP, the system cost from IMIBIP would be relatively high since the fluctuating market factors are considered; however, the IMILP solutions are associated with a raised system reliability level and a reduced constraint violation risk level.

An integrated simulation, inference, and optimization method for identifying groundwater remediation strategies at petroleum-contaminated aquifers in western Canada.

This study advances an integrated simulation, inference, and optimization method (ISIOM) for optimizing groundwater remediation systems. SIOM has the advantages of (i) automotive screening of potential explanatory variables (e.g., the pumping rates at various remediation wells), (ii) providing a flexible manner for investigating the linear, interactive, and quadratic effects of operating conditions on the benzene levels, and (iii) mitigating the computational efforts in optimization processes. The method is applied to a petroleum-contaminated site in western Canada for identifying the optimal remediation strategies under a given set of remediation durations and environmental standard levels. To examine the effect of pumping duration on contaminants removing efficiency, 4 duration options are considered including 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, respectively. The results indicate that the pumping duration would have effect on the optimized scheme. It is suggested that the 10-year duration would be more desirable than the 15-year one. The simulation results demonstrate that the peak benzene concentrations would be reduced to satisfy the environmental standard when the optimal remediation strategy is carried out.

Use of potassium dihydrogen phosphate and sawdust as adsorbents of ammoniacal nitrogen in aerobic composting process.

Three kinds of adsorbents-potassium dihydrogen phosphate, sawdust and mixture of potassium dihydrogen phosphate and sawdust were added respectively into composting to investigate their adsorption effect on ammonia. The experimental results showed that all the adsorbents could restrain ammonia volatilizing, with the sorption of potassium dihydrogen phosphate adsorbents being the best of all, the sorption of mixture adsorbent with potassium dihydrogen phosphate and sawdust being the second and the sorption of sawdust adsorbent being the last. Therefore, the total nitrogen loss ratios respectively reduced from 38% to 13%, 15% and 21% after adding these three kinds of adsorbents into composting. However, potassium dihydrogen phosphate produced negative influence on composting properties as its supplemented amount exceeded a quantity basis equivalent to 18% of total nitrogen in the composting, for example: pH value had been lessened, microorganism activity reduced, which finally resulted in the reduction of biodegradation ratio of organic matter. But it did not result in these problems when using the mixture of potassium dihydrogen phosphate and sawdust as adsorbent, in which the amount of potassium dihydrogen phosphate was under a quantity basis equivalent to 6% of total nitrogen in the composting. Moreover, the mixture adsorbent produced better adsorption effect on ammonia, and raised biodegradation ratio of organic matter from 26% to 33%.

[Soil microbial diversity of artificial peashrub plantation on North Loess Plateau of China].

Peashrub (Caragana korshinskii Kom) is a kind of excellent shrub used for dune-fixation in Loess Plateau of China. In order to explore relationship between peashrub and soil microorganisms, microbial communities diversity associated with rhizoplane, rhizosphere and bulk soil of peashrub in Loess Plateau of China were characterized based on a culture-independent approach. Three 16S rDNA gene libraries were constructed, respectively, and each different profile was used to define an operational taxonomic unit (OTU). The numbers of microorganisms decreased as root proximity decreased and a few OTUs became dominant. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that Proteobacteria was the predominant group in rhizoplane, which included many alpha-Proteobacteria, partially consisted of rhizobia, and gamma-Proteobacteria beneficial to plant growth. In bulk soil, the most frequent OTUs were closely related to Archaea, while Acidobacteria was the dominant group in rhizosphere of peashrub. The diversity index (H') was higher in rhizosphere than in rhizoplane and bulk soil, whereas microbial populations in rhizoplane and bulk soil had the greater dominance indices (D). It was shown that there was a significant change in microbial species composition along the root gradient, shifting from complex plant-associated bacterial community in the root habitats to a simple bacterial community in the bulk soil. These results showed that plant roots and soil conditions created a selective environment for microbial populations.

[Analysis of bacterial communities in vegetable and straw wastes composting by Biolog method].

Bacterial communities were analyzed using Biolog method in agricultural waste composting. The results of cluster analysis and principle component analysis indicated that bacterial communities varied greatly during the first stage of composting, while began to stabilize during the second stage. Bacteria that could utilize the first and second kinds of carbon sources on Biolog plate were found to be the dominant ones during composting, which were also believed to be related with lignocellulose degradation. Thermophilic bacteria were believed to be able to metabolize the fourth and sixth kinds of carbon sources on Biolog plate. Thereinto, the fourth kinds of carbon sources were also connected with lignocellulose transformation. The bacteria utilizing the sixth kinds of carbon sources were just able to metabolize some simpler organic matters.

Application of a by-product of Lentinus edodes to the bioremediation of chromate contaminated water.

The agricultural by-product of Lentinus edodes was used as a novel biosorbent for bioremediation of chromate contaminated waste water in the simulated experimental conditions. The contact time, particle size, biosorbent dosage and optimum pH range were investigated to optimize the sorption condition. The biosorption by the biomass was strongly affected by pH. At pH 1.0-2.5, all hexavalent chromium was diminished, either removed by the biosorbent or reduced to less toxic trivalent chromium even in very high concentration of 1000 mg/L. The adsorbed hexavalent chromium and reduced trivalent chromium were both linearly dependent on the initial chromium concentration. Most uptake of Cr occurred at pH around 4. The maximum uptake of chromium was 21.5 mg/g when simulated with Langmuir model, which showed the potential biosorption capacity of this biomaterial. The change of oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) during biosorption process revealed strong reduction ability of this biosorbent. Comparing analysis from Fourier transform infrared spectrums indicated that nitrogen oxide and carboxyl groups were increased after biosorption. The energy-dispersive X-ray microanalyzer revealed the mechanism of cation exchange during biosorption.

Bioremediation of Pb-contaminated soil by incubating with Phanerochaete chrysosporium and straw.

The bioremediation of the simulated lead (Pb)-contaminated soils by incubating with Phanerochaete chrysosporium and straw was studied at laboratory-scale. The soil pH, Pb concentration, soil microbial biomass, microbial metabolic quotient, microbial quotient and microbial biomass C-to-N ratios were monitored. The above indicators were to study the stress of Pb on soil and the microbial effects during the bioremediation process. It was found that the soils treated with P. chrysosporium and straw showed a much lower concentration of soluble-exchangeable Pb, lower metabolic quotient and biomass C-to-N ratios (0mgkg(-1) dry weight soil, 1.9mg CO(2)-Cmg(-1) biomass carbon and 4.9 on day 60, respectively) and higher microbial biomass and microbial quotient (2258mgkg(-1) dry weight soil and 7.86% on day 60, respectively) compared with the controls. In addition, the kinetic parameters in the model based on logistic equation were calculated by the BIOLOG data. By analyzing those kinetic parameters some information on the metabolic capacity of the microbial community could be obtained. All the results indicated that the bioavailability of Pb in contaminated soil was reduced so that the potential stress of Pb was alleviated, and also showed that the soil microbial effects and the metabolic capacity of microbial community were improved.

Scavenging of Cd through Fe/Mn oxides within natural surface coatings.

The dynamics of Cd scavenging from solutions by Fe/Mn oxides in natural surface coatings (NSCs) was investigated under laboratory conditions. Selective extraction methods were employed to estimate the contributions of Fe/Mn oxides, where hydroxylamine hydrochloride (0.01 mol/L NH2OH x HCl + 0.01 mol/L HNO3), sodium dithionite (0.4 mol/L Na2S2O4) and nitric acid (10% HNO3) were used as extraction reagents. The Cd scavenging was accomplished with developing periods of the NSCs (totally 21 data sets). The resulting process dynamics fitted well to the Elovich equation, demonstrating that the amount of Cd scavenged was proportional to the increments of Fe/Mn oxides that were accumulated in the NSCs. The amount of Cd bound to Fe oxides (M,,) and Mn oxides (MCdMn could be quantified by solving two equations based on the properties of two extraction reagents. The amount of Cd scavenged by Fe/Mn oxides could also be estimated using MCdFe and MCdMn, divided by the total amounts of Fe and Mn oxides in the NSCs, respectively. The results indicated that the Cd scavenging by Fe/Mn oxides was dominated by Fe oxides, with less roles attributed to Mn oxides. The estimated levels of Cd scavenging through Fe and Mn oxides agreed well with those predicted through additive-adsorption and linear-regression models.

[Mechanism and Surface Fractal Characteristics for the Adsorption of p-nitrophenol on Water-quenched Blast Furnace Slag].

In the present study, the removal of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) from aqueous solution through the adsorption on water-quenched blast furnace slag (WBFS) was investigated. The physicochemical properties of the slag were characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR and BET. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the mechanism, kinetics and thermodynamics of adsorption process. The results showed that the experimental data could fit to Freundlich model. The enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS) were 3.29 kJ·mol-1 and 4.66 J·(mol·K)-1, respectively. It indicated that the adsorption of p-NP on WBFS was an endothermic and entropy-increasing process. The values of ΔG decreased with increasing temperature, indicating the spontaneous adsorption proportional to the temperature. The adsorption could be divided into two parts, one was high-speed surface coverage, and the other was slow-speed internal diffusion adsorption. It was also found that the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The fractal dimensions of WBFS surface calculated by Freundlich adsorption fractal model were 2.78, 2.80, 2.84 and 2.87 at different temperatures, respectively. It indicated the existence of fractal phenomenon with higher fractal dimension of WBFS at higher temperature.

Immunosensor for rapid detection of gibberellin acid in the rice grain.

A rapid, selective, sensitive, accurate, and inexpensive immunosensor for gibberellin acid detection was designed by coupling immunoassay with the square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) technique involving copper ion labeled antigen in the competitive immunoreaction. The response signal expressed as the percentage of current reduction CR % (y) is linearly related to the concentration of GA (x) in the 1 microg/mL to approximately 150 microg/mL range with a regression equation of the form y = 0.44x + 15.59 and a correlation coefficient of 0.99. The results of the immunosensor assay were compared with those obtained by HPLC and ELISA, which show a satisfactory agreement. The immunosensor was used to determine the GA content in the hybrid rice grain samples taken in the growing period.

A novel biosorbent: characterization of the spent mushroom compost and its application for removal of heavy metals.

The spent mushroom compost of Lentinus edodes was used as a biosorbent for adsorbing cadmium, lead and chromium from solutions under batch conditions for the first time. Titration of the biomass revealed that it contained at least three types of functional groups. The Fourier transform infrared spectrometry showed that the carboxyl, phosphoryl, phenolic groups were the main groups. The simulated values of pKH and molar quantity were 5.00 and 0.44 mmol/g, 7.32 and 1.38 mmol/g, 10.45 and 1.44 mmol/g, respectively. The biosorption ability increased with pH in acid condition. When 10 mg/L biomass dosage was added in, there was no significant increment of metal uptake. The maximum uptake estimated with the Langmiur isotherm model were 833.33 mg/g for Cd(II), 1000.00 mg/g for Pb(II) and 44.44 mg/g for Cr(III), respectively. All the results showed that vast potential sorption capacity was existed in the biomass for adsorbing these three kinds of metals studied.

Application of Bayesian regularized BP neural network model for analysis of aquatic ecological data-a case study of chlorophyll-a prediction in Nanzui water area of Dongting Lake.

Bayesian regularized BP neural network(BRBPNN) technique was applied in the chlorophyll-a prediction of Nanzui water area in Dongting Lake. Through BP network interpolation method, the input and output samples of the network were obtained. After the selection of input variables using stepwise/multiple linear regression method in SPSS 11.0 software, the BRBPNN model was established between chlorophyll-a and environmental parameters, biological parameters. The achieved optimal network structure was 3-11-1 with the correlation coefficients and the mean square errors for the training set and the test set as 0.999 and 0.00078426, 0.981 and 0.0216 respectively. The sum of square weights between each input neuron and the hidden layer of optimal BRBPNN models of different structures indicated that the effect of individual input parameter on chlorophyll-a declined in the order of alga amount > secchi disc depth (SD) > electrical conductivity (EC). Additionally, it also demonstrated that the contributions of these three factors were the maximal for the change of chlorophyll-a concentration, total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) were the minimal. All the results showed that BRBPNN model was capable of automated regularization parameter selection and thus it may ensure the excellent generation ability and robustness. Thus, this study laid the foundation for the application of BRBPNN model in the analysis of aquatic ecological data(chlorophyll-a prediction) and the explanation about the effective eutrophication treatment measures for Nanzui water area in Dongting Lake.

Carbazole as fluorescence carrier for preparation of doxycycline sensor.

Carbazole is a promising pharmaceutical species. A novel optical sensor for determining doxycycline based on the fluorescence quenching of N-allylcarbazole immobilized on an quartz glass plate surface by covalent bonding has been described. The sensor shows satisfactory virtues in reversibility, repeatability, selectivity and sufficient lifetime resulting from its excellent optode membrane. Its response time is less than 60 s. The determination range and detection limit of the sensor are 6.0 x 10(-7)-2.0 x 10(-3) M and 2.0 x 10(-7) M, respectively. The lifetime of each sensor is at least three to four months. The sensor can be used for direct determination of doxycycline in pharmaceutical preparations and urine samples.

A novel piezoelectric biosensor for the detection of phytohormone beta-indole acetic acid.

A novel piezoelectric immunosensor has been developed for the determination of beta-indole acetic acid (IAA) in dilute solutions. The detection is based on competitive immunoreaction between a hapten (IAA) and an antigen (IAA-BSA, hapten-protein conjugation) bound to an anti-IAA antibody, immobilized on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The frequency change (y) of the sensor caused by antigen is linearly related to the logarithm of the concentration of IAA (x) in the range of 0.5 ng/ml - 5 microg/ml with a regression equation of the form y = -23x + 151 (r = 0.9937).