Integration of field observation and air quality modeling to characterize Beijing aerosol in different seasons.

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution in Beijing was investigated based on field observation and air quality modeling. Measurement results showed that when using elemental carbon (EC) as the reference component, concurrent increases were observed in the relative abundances of sulfate, nitrate, organic carbon (OC) and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) when RH exceeded ∼65% during winter. The observed increases could not be explained by variations of primary biomass burning emissions, instead they likely pointed to heterogeneous chemistry and presumably indicated that formation of secondary inorganic and organic aerosols might be related during winter haze events in Beijing. Large gaps were found in winter when comparing the observational and modeling results. In summer, RH exhibited little influence on the observed sulfate/EC, OC/EC or WSOC/EC, and the observed and modeled results were in general comparable for the concentrations of sulfate, EC and OC. This study suggests that distinct yet poorly-understood atmospheric chemistry may be at play in China's winter haze events, and it could be a substantial challenge to properly incorporate the related mechanisms into air quality models.

[Effect of permeabilization on sulfate reduction activity of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough cells in the presence of different electron donors].

The Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH) cells permeabilized with ethanol were used as biocatalysts to enhance hydrogenotrophic sulfate conversion. The effect of permeabilization extent of DvH cells on sulfate reduction was studied in the presence of different electron donors. When hydrogen was used as an electron donor, the highest level of sulfate reduction activity attained in cells treated with 10% ethanol (V/V), followed by 15% -ethanol treated cells. Furthermore, sulfate reduction activity markedly decreased when the ethanol concentration exceeded 15%. However, when lactate was used as the electron donor, the optimum ethanol concentration of the permeabilizing reagent was 20%, followed by 15% and 10%. Even when ethanol concentration reached 25%, DvH cells remained their partial activity with lactate. In a word, sulfate reduction activity of DvH cells responded differently in the presence of different donors. This was because the oxidation process of H2 and lactate occurred at different positions in DvH cells, and consequently intracellular electron transport pathway differed. To ensure the integrity of the electron transport chain between the donor and the accepter was a key factor for determining the permeabilization extent and for the application of cell permeabilization technology.