The production of methyl mercaptan is the main odor source of chicken manure treated with a vertical aerobic fermenter.

The process of harmless treatment of livestock manure produces a large amount of odor, which poses a potential threat to human and livestock health. A vertical fermentation tank system is commonly used for the environmentally sound treatment of chicken manure in China, but the composition and concentration of the odor produced and the factors affecting odor emissions remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the types and concentrations of odors produced in the mixing room (MR), vertical fermenter (VF), and aging room (AR) of the system, and analyzed the effects of bacterial communities and metabolic genes on odor production. The results revealed that 34, 26 and 26 odors were detected in the VF, MR and AR, respectively. The total odor concentration in the VF was 66613 ± 10097, which was significantly greater than that in the MR (1157 ± 675) and AR (1143 ± 1005) (P < 0.001), suggesting that the VF was the main source of odor in the vertical fermentation tank system. Methyl mercaptan had the greatest contribution to the odor produced by VF, reaching 47.82%, and the concentration was 0.6145 ± 0.2164 mg/m3. The abundance of metabolic genes did not correlate significantly with odor production, but PICRUSt analysis showed that cysteine and methionine metabolism involved in methyl mercaptan production was significantly more enriched in MR and VF than in AR. Bacillus was the most abundant genus in the VF, with a relative abundance significantly greater than that in the MR (P < 0.05). The RDA results revealed that Bacillus was significantly and positively correlated with methyl mercaptan. The use of large-scale aerobic fermentation systems to treat chicken manure needs to focused on the production of methyl mercaptan.

Source apportionment of particulate matter based on numerical simulation during a severe pollution period in Tangshan, North China.

Facing serious air pollution problems, the Chinese government has taken numerous measures to prevent and control air pollution. Understanding the sources of pollutants is crucial to the prevention of air pollution. Using numerical simulation method, this study analysed the contributions of the total local emissions and local emissions from different sectors (such as industrial, traffic, resident, agricultural, and power plant emissions) to PM2.5 concentration, backward trajectory, and potential source regions in Tangshan, a typical heavy industrial city in north China. The impact of multi-scale meteorological conditions on source apportionment was investigated. From October 2016 to March 2017, total local emissions accounted for 46.0% of the near-surface PM2.5 concentration. In terms of emissions from different sectors, local industrial emissions which accounted for 23.1% of the near-surface PM2.5 concentration in Tangshan, were the most important pollutant source. Agricultural emissions were the second most important source, accounting for 10.3% of the near-surface PM2.5 concentration. The contributions of emissions from power plants, traffic, residential sources were 2.0%, 3.0%, and 7.2%, respectively. The contributions of total local emissions and emissions from different sectors depended on multi-scale meteorological conditions, and static weather significantly enhanced the contribution of regional transport to the near-surface PM2.5 concentration. Eight cluster backward trajectories were identified for Tangshan. The PM2.5 concentration for the 8 cluster trajectories significantly differed. The near-surface PM2.5 in urban Tangshan (receptor point) was mainly from the local emissions, and another important potential source region was Tianjin. The results of the source apportionment suggested the importance of joint prevention and control of air pollution in some areas where cities or industrial regions are densely distributed.

[Characterization and Health Risk Assessment of Exposure to Odorous Pollutants Emitted from Industrial Odor Sources].

Odor pollution has a high complaint rate with strong public concern, and industrial production is an important source of this type of pollution in China. To understand odor pollution in industrial parks and to protect the safety of work environments, samples were collected from 14 industrial odor sources and then were analyzed for odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odor concentration. Based on the field data, the main compounds causing odor were assessed and identified. The cancer and non-cancer risk of odor exposure were correspondingly estimated by the health risk model. These following results were noted. ①The substances discharged from 14 sources were the same, but the content varied greatly. Alkanes and alkenes are the major odorous compounds of fibers and batteries manufacturing and in the synthesis of hydrocarbons, anhydrides, esters, and solvents. Benzene and benzene series in waste gases from refineries, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and latex sources were the highest. Esters are the main pollutants emitted from activated carbon processing, resin synthesis, and spraying. Carbonyl compounds and sulfides are the main exhaust gases from ceramic manufacturing and additive synthesis. ②Exhaust gases from 14 sources caused strong irritation. The synthesis of lubricating oil additives and latex sources result in severe olfactory stimulation. Ethyl mercaptan, ethyl sulfide, n-butanol, and toluene were the major odorous compounds of lubricating oil additives sources. Styrene, propylbenzene, cumene, butyl acrylate, and 1,3-butadiene were the major odorous compounds of latex sources. ③The carcinogenic risk levels for 14 sources ranged from 3.06×10-7 to 1.06×10-2, expressed as life cancer risk (LCR). Refinery, PTA, ester, and latex sources had the highest carcinogenic risk among the 14 emission sources. The non-carcinogenic risk levels for the 14 sources ranged from 0.02 to 51.66, expressed as hazard index (HI). The total HI of latex synthesis, ester synthesis, petroleum refining, PTA synthesis, and fiber manufacturing has certain non-carcinogenic health risks. Factory boundaries for latex, anhydrides synthesis, and resin synthesis sources have potential carcinogenic risk.

Synthesis of soluble oligsiloxane-end-capped hyperbranched polyazomethine and their application to CO2/N2 separation membranes.

Three soluble hyperbranched polyazomethines containing oligosiloxane end group HBP-PAZ-SiOn were successfully synthesized. HBP-PAZ-SiOns were used as modifiers of ethyl cellulose (EC) and polysulfone (PS) membranes. Blend membranes, HBP-PAZ-SiOn /EC and HBP-PAZ-SiOn /PS were prepared by blending the THF solution of HBP-PAZ-SiOn with ethanol solution of EC and dichloromethane solution of PS, respectively. Surprisingly, the permeabilities for CO2 of the blend membranes were more than 15-16 times higher than those of pure EC and PS membranes without any drop of pemselectivity to N2. This unusual improvement has been achieved by both enhancement of diffusivity for carbon dioxide and nitrogen by the oligosiloxane groups and enhancement of affinity of the amino groups with carbon dioxide at the end groups of HBP-PAZ-SiOn .

[Emission Characteristics of Vehicle Exhaust in Artery and Collector Roads in Nanjing Based on Real-time Traffic Data].

The vehicle emissions were estimated by the Urban High Temporal-Spatial Resolution Vehicle Emission Inventory Model and Decision Support System (hereinafter referred to as the HTSVE system) with the real-time data including traffic flow, average speed and fleet compositions obtained from Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and emission factors based on COPERT. The study focused on the characteristics of vehicle emissions by means of non-parametric test and cluster analysis with ArcGIS in artery roads and collector roads in Nanjing, 2014. The result showed that the proportion of passenger cars reached up to 80%, and China 3 and China 4 accounted for over 90% while China 3 contributed most. The daily average emissions in special periods including morning, noon and evening were affected by both road types and weekend effect. The artery and collector roads were classified as 5 clusters. Each type had similar emission rates distribution and was affected by spatial position to support traffic management.

Enhanced oral bioavailability of felodipine by novel solid self-microemulsifying tablets.

The novel self-microemulsifying (SME) tablets were developed to enhance the oral bioavailability of a poor water-soluble drug felodipine (FDP). Firstly, FDP was dissolved in the optimized liquid self-microemusifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDS) containing Miglyol® 812, Cremophor® RH 40, Tween 80 and Transcutol® P, and the mixture was solidified with porous silicon dioxide and crospovidone as adsorbents. Then after combining the solidified powders with other excipients, the solid SME tablets were prepared by wet granulation-compression method. The prepared tablets possessed satisfactory characterization; the droplet size of the SME tablets following self-emulsification in water was nearly equivalent to the liquid SMEDDS (68.4 ± 14.0 and 64.4 ± 12.0 nm); differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray diffractometry (PXRD) analysis demonstrated that FDP in SME tablets had undergone a polymorphism transition from a crystal form to an amorphous state, which was further confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A similar dissolution performance of SME tablets and liquid SMEDDS was also obtained under the sink condition (85% within 10 min), both significantly higher than commercial tablets. The oral bioavailability was evaluated for the SME tablets, liquid SMEDDS and commercial conventional tablets in the fasted beagle dogs. The AUC of FDP from the SME tablets was about 2-fold greater than that of conventional tablets, but no significant difference was found when compared with the liquid SMEDDS. Accordingly, these preliminary results suggest that this formulation approach offers a useful large-scale producing method to prepare the solid SME tablets from the liquid SMEDDS for oral bioavailability equivalent enhancement of poorly soluble FDP.

Influence of Mg+2 and Cu+2 on the interaction between quinolone and calf thymus DNA.

Mg(+2) and Cu(+2) have different binding capacities to quinolone drugs and have different binding modes with calf thymus DNA. Using the method of absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, the influence of Mg(+2) and Cu(+2) on the binding between calf thymus DNA and each of four quinolone drugs has been studied. The results show that both Mg(+2) and Cu(+2) can bind with the four drugs. In the absence of divalent metal ions, quinolone drugs interact with DNA double helix by forming hydrogen bonds between the carboxyl and carbonyl groups of the drugs and the phosphate groups of the DNA bases, and the binding capacity shows a close relationship with the drug structures. The two metal ions show different influences on the binding between the drug and DNA, which depends on the type of ion, concentration of the metal ions and the structure of drugs. Mg(+2) in lower concentrations (0.01 mM to 3.0 mM) can act as a bridge between the carboxyl group/carbonyl group of the drug and the phosphate group of the DNA by electrostatic interaction, while Cu(+2) can act as an intermediary ion between carboxyl group/carbonyl group of the drug and the DNA bases by a co-ordinate bond. Both actions can increase the interaction of the π electron between the condensed rings of the drugs and the DNA bases. In some conditions, Cu(+2) can weaken the binding between the drug and the DNA by competitive inhibition if there is a site on the drug that can directly bind both DNA bases and Cu(+2).