[Effects of Different Substrates and Particle Sizes on Wastewater Purification].

Choosing suitable substrate is key to improving the efficiency of wetland decontamination. However, little is known about the effect of particle size. In order to study the effect of substrate type and size on COD, TN, and TP removal from sewage, 1-2, 2-4, and 4-8 mm zeolite, 2-4, 4-8, and 8-16 mm gravel, and 2-4, 3-5, and 6-8 mm anthracite were selected for establishment of the constructed system of experimental media with three replications. Results showed that removal efficiency of COD, TN, and TP varied with different particle sizes of the same material. The greatest COD removal was achieved with 4-8 mm zeolite and gravel and 6-8 mm anthracite, with removal rates of 53.74%, 60.76%, and 62.93%, respectively. Denitrification is the main pattern of nitrogen removal in the artificial test column; results show that smaller particle size is more effective for removal of TN. The removal rate of TP is also higher with smaller sizes of gravel and anthracite, but the opposite pattern occurred with zeolite. The removal of COD, TP, and TN also varied by substrate type. Anthracite led to good removal of COD, TP, and TN. Zeolite was most effective for removal of TN but had lower removal of TP. Gravel has high removal rate for COD, and has a general removal effect on TP.

Temporal and spatial distribution characteristics in the natural plague foci of Chinese Mongolian gerbils based on spatial autocorrelation.

BACKGROUND: The nest flea index of Meriones unguiculatus is a critical indicator for the prevention and control of plague, which can be used not only to detect the spatial and temporal distributions of Meriones unguiculatus, but also to reveal its cluster rule. This research detected the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of the plague natural foci of Mongolian gerbils by body flea index from 2005 to 2014, in order to predict plague outbreaks. METHODS: Global spatial autocorrelation was used to describe the entire spatial distribution pattern of the body flea index in the natural plague foci of typical Chinese Mongolian gerbils. Cluster and outlier analysis and hot spot analysis were also used to detect the intensity of clusters based on geographic information system methods. The quantity of M. unguiculatus nest fleas in the sentinel surveillance sites from 2005 to 2014 and host density data of the study area from 2005 to 2010 used in this study were provided by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. RESULTS: The epidemic focus regions of the Mongolian gerbils remain the same as the hot spot regions relating to the body flea index. High clustering areas possess a similar pattern as the distribution pattern of the body flea index indicating that the transmission risk of plague is relatively high. In terms of time series, the area of the epidemic focus gradually increased from 2005 to 2007, declined rapidly in 2008 and 2009, and then decreased slowly and began trending towards stability from 2009 to 2014. For the spatial change, the epidemic focus regions began moving northward from the southwest epidemic focus of the Mongolian gerbils from 2005 to 2007, and then moved from north to south in 2007 and 2008. CONCLUSIONS: The body flea index of Chinese gerbil foci reveals significant spatial and temporal aggregation characteristics through the employing of spatial autocorrelation. The diversity of temporary and spatial distribution is mainly affected by seasonal variation, the human activity and natural factors.