城市生活垃圾填埋场向大气释放汞的通量及形态研究——以贵阳市和武汉市为例

城市生活垃圾填埋场作为大多数国家生活垃圾的主要处理场所，也常常成为一些有毒有害元素的最终归宿地。很多含汞的废弃产品，如荧光灯管、电池、水银温度计、压力计、电开关、恒温器等，在缺乏分类回收的情况下，大多混入城市生活垃圾并最终进入垃圾填埋场。在填埋场这一特殊场合，汞可以通过物理途径、化学途径、生物途径或不同途径的结合而向大气释放，并且还可能在填埋场内形成毒性很高的甲基形态汞而释放到大气中。国外对垃圾的焚烧处理已经造成了严重的大气汞污染，但是目前对垃圾填埋场向大气释放汞的研究在国内外还不多见，我国几乎还是空白。作为城市生活垃圾的生产大国，我国每年的生活垃圾产量超过1.5亿吨，占世界的1/4以上，且近九成是以填埋法进行处理的，因此研究垃圾填埋场这一人为源向大气排放汞的通量和形态、排放汞的特点以及相关的影响因素，必将为认识该释放源对大气汞的贡献以及评估其对生态环境的影响程度提供重要的参考依据，并为制定控制垃圾填埋场汞污染的相关措施提供指导，本文在理论上和现实上都具有重要意义。 2003年10月份到2006年1月份，我们对贵阳市和武汉市的5座城市生活垃圾填埋场进行了野外实地研究。这几个填埋场包括贵阳市的高雁、大转弯、仙人脚，以及武汉市的金口和岱山垃圾填埋场，它们采用不同的垃圾填埋方式（卫生填埋和简易填埋）并处于不同的运行阶段（封闭的和运行中的）。本文从两个方面开展研究：（1）垃圾填埋场通过地表向大气释放汞的通量；（2）垃圾填埋场向大气释放汞的形态。前者利用低汞空白的石英玻璃动力学通量箱法，结合高时间分辨率的大气自动测汞仪（Tekran 2537A），现场对填埋场内不同特征的地表区域（绿化区、覆土地表、裸露生活垃圾、工作面等）进行了测定；后者利用不同的捕集材料（金管、稀HCl溶液和CarbotrapTM捕集管），对排气筒垃圾填埋气中的不同形态汞（气态总汞、单甲基汞和二甲基汞）进行预富集，并结合气相色谱、冷原子荧光等检测技术进行测定。根据同步测定的相关参数对垃圾填埋场向大气释放汞的过程和影响机制进行了探讨，对垃圾填埋场向大气的排汞量进行了估算。另外对垃圾填埋场周围环境介质中的汞分布特征进行了探讨。通过两年多的野外工作，得到以下主要结论： （1）垃圾填埋场地表与大气间的汞交换通量主要以向大气的释放为主，少数情况下（如降雨、大气汞浓度较高时）也会出现大气向地表的沉降。地表/大气间的汞交换过程具有明显的日变化特征，一般在白天中午前后达到最高，夜间降至最低，并维持在稳定的水平。汞交换过程主要与光照等气象因子有关，通量强度白天高于夜间、晴天高于阴雨天。另外，通量还与基质中的汞含量密切相关，汞含量越高，排放强度越大，生活垃圾的汞含量一般高于覆盖土壤，因而裸露的生活垃圾或工作面区域汞释放强度明显高于有土壤覆盖的区域。绿化措施（植草和种树）有效的降低了汞的释放。垃圾填埋场地表汞的释放强度暖季节高出冷季节数倍。地表/大气间的汞交换通量特征显示，垃圾填埋场向大气释放汞的主要来源为上层基质，而非填埋场内部，由于覆土隔离层的屏障作用使得填埋场内部的气态汞很难垂直向上迁移和释放。垃圾填埋场的汞释放强度与城市规模以及经济发展水平没有直接相关性。 （2）垃圾填埋场地表/大气间的汞交换通量强度由于以上因素的影响，在不同地表区域以及不同时段内都可能发生很大变化。封闭的垃圾填埋场地表/大气间的汞交换通量最高出现在汞污染的覆土区，其次为未污染的覆土区，最低为绿化区，三种区域平均的汞交换通量分别为112.8~559.1、50.7~53.6、19.7 ng Hg m-2 h-1。运行中的垃圾填埋场地表/大气间的汞交换通量最高为裸露垃圾区和工作面，最高达5609.6 ng Hg m-2 h-1，平均为57.5~664.6 ng Hg m-2 h-1；其次为老的覆土区，平均为19.6~192.5 ng Hg m-2 h-1；新盖覆土区最低，平均为-1.4~27.8 ng Hg m-2 h-1。垃圾填埋场的工作面具有最大的汞释放潜力，但是因大气汞浓度较高以及波动较大等原因，动力学通量箱法无法真实测定该区域的汞释放强度，运用美国环保局提供的面状复合工业污染源模型（ISCST3）对工作面的汞释放强度估算显示，不同天气状况下的平均释汞因子为0.93 mg Hg t-1垃圾。与全球以及区域背景土壤相比，垃圾填埋场向大气的单位面积释汞强度要高出数倍乃至数千倍。因而城市生活填埋场必将对大气汞环境，特别是局域大气汞环境造成一定影响。 （3）垃圾填埋场排气筒释放的垃圾填埋气中不同形态汞的浓度差别很大。高雁、金口和岱山垃圾填埋场排气筒的气态总汞浓度为2.0~1406.0 ng Hg m-3，3座填埋场平均分别为89.8、24.6和14.2 ng Hg m-3。气态总汞浓度主要与排气筒附近的垃圾汞含量有关，并表现出一定的日变化特征，晴天比较稳定，降雨过程中上升很快，降雨过后又恢复到降雨前的水平。这一有趣现象主要与降雨时雨水置换填埋场内的含汞气体、大气压下降、通过地表释放的通道受阻有关。高雁垃圾填埋场垃圾填埋气中的单甲基汞和二甲基汞平均浓度为1.93 ng Hg m-3和9.21 ng Hg m-3，分别占同期气态总汞的0.51％和1.79％。垃圾填埋气中的甲基形态汞浓度高出背景区域大气3个数量级以上，使得垃圾填埋场成为大气甲基汞已知不多的、重要的释放来源之一。 （4）结合垃圾填埋场不同特征地表的面积以及对应的汞交换通量强度、工作面的垃圾处理量以及汞的释放因子，估算本研究的5座垃圾填埋场每年通过地表向大气的释汞量为17~1111 g Hg yr-1，工作面贡献67％~91％，覆土区较少，绿化区最少。根据垃圾填埋气的产量以及其中不同形态汞的含量，估算高雁、金口和岱山垃圾填埋场每年通过排气筒向大气的排汞量在1~2 g Hg yr-1之间；高雁填埋场通过排气筒每年向大气释放的单甲基汞和二甲基汞为20和90 mg Hg yr-1。垃圾填埋场向大气释放汞的通道主要为地表，而排气筒的贡献仅为0.2％左右（地表＋排气筒）。对全国垃圾填埋场进行的初步估算显示，2004年我国这一人为源向大气的排汞量约为600 kg Hg yr-1，占我国大气人为汞释放源的1％以下。 （5）垃圾填埋场大气中的不同形态汞浓度明显高于全球背景值，但与区域大气相当或稍高一点，部分区域有轻微污染，总体而言属于“安全”浓度范围。城市生活垃圾中的汞含量分布极不均匀，浓度为0.170~46.222 mg kg-1，几何均值0.574 mg kg-1，个别异常偏高的样品可能是被含汞的废弃产品污染了，大部分垃圾汞含量低于0.5 mg kg-1。不同垃圾填埋场覆盖土壤的汞含量差异显著，反映了填埋场所在区域的土壤背景值以及垃圾填埋活动对覆盖土壤的污染程度，有时覆土的汞含量超过区域土壤背景值的2~23倍。填埋场生长的植物因生活习性的不同汞含量分布特征也不同。高雁垃圾填埋场产生的渗滤液汞含量较低，为79.4 ng l-1，主要因为垃圾汞含量低、渗滤液呈碱性、难溶硫化物的形成以及有机/无机物对汞的吸附等。以高雁垃圾填埋场为例进行的质量平衡计算显示，每年排向渗滤液和大气的汞分别占每年输入填埋场总量的0.004％和0.3％，其余超过99％的汞仍然保留在垃圾填埋场的固体废物中，这一特点使得垃圾填埋场向大气的排汞量远低于垃圾焚烧法，后者由于高温作用使得垃圾中的汞几乎全部挥发进入大气。 （6）减少垃圾填埋场汞污染的措施包括：从源头上杜绝含汞的进入，如减少含汞产品的生产和使用，对含汞废弃产品进行专门的收集和处理；垃圾填埋以后及时进行覆土和绿化，特别是在工作面，应争取做到每日覆土；垃圾填埋场产生的气体应收集和处理，将其进行焚烧（沼气发电）可以分解其中的甲基形态汞，降低其毒性。

贵阳市表层土壤重金属污染元素环境地球化学基线研究

贵阳市位于贵州省中部云贵高原东斜坡地带，地处东经106°07′至107°17′，北纬262°11′，至272°22′之间，属东部平原向西部高原的过渡地带，地形地貌多样，海拔高，纬度低，具有亚热带湿润温和型气候的特点，资源丰富，能源充足，自然环境得天独厚。本论文详细研究了贵阳市8046平方公里面积内表层土壤中砷、福、铬、铜、汞、镍、铅、锌8种重金属污染元素的环境地球化学特征，确定了土壤环境地球化学基线，并建立了判别自然的和人为的环境影响的地球化学指标，进而计算污染参数：重金属累计指数和污染程度，在此基础上进行了土壤重金属污染来源分析。取得认识如下：1、贵阳市表层土壤中重金属污染元素的均值、标准差、极值、主要含量区间分别是：砷18·ogmg／kg、11·57 mg／kg、79.30mg/kg、AS95.9％＜40mg/kg；福0.302mg／kg、0.363mg／kg、2.620mg／lcg、Cd95.7％＜1.000mg／kg；铬75.3mg／kg、37.3mg／kg、271.0mg／kg、Cr95.9％＜150.0mg／1cg；铜43．lmg／kg、30.3mg/kg、213.0mg瓜g，Cu94.6o／＜100mg／kg；铅43.2mg／kg、31.3mg／kg、318.9mg/kg，Pb95.5％＜100.0mg/kg；汞0.222mg／kg、0.531mg／kg、7.030mg／kg，Hg98.2％＜1.00Omg/kg；镍38.3mg/kg、14.9mg／kg、102.5mh/kg，Ni95.8%＜70mg/kg；锌84.7mkg、49.8mg／kg、385.0mg/kg，Zn93.4％＜150.0mg/kg。2、利用相对累计总量分析方法和相对累计频率分析方法确定贵阳市表层土壤中重金属元素的基线值和受人为影响的下限：砷为9.04mk和29.0mg/kg；福为0.068mg／kg和1 ．OIOms／kg；铬为44.0mg／kg和100.2mg/kg；铜为18.8mg/kg和68.4mg/kg；铅为14.8mg/kg和70.lmg／kg；汞为0.045mg／kg和0.530mkg；镍为17.0mg/kg和57.0mg/kg；锌46.3mg/kg和112.0mg/kg。3、对贵阳市表层土壤重金属含量进行地质累计指数分析，结果显示贵阳市的表层土壤中：41％未受砷污染，43％的在无污染到中度污染之间，14％的中度污染，只有2％的介于中度污染到强污染之间；40％未受福污染，19％无污染到中度污染之间，14％的中度污染，19％的介于中度污染到强污染之间，7％的强污染，1％的表层土壤强污染到极强污染之间；46％未受铬污染，47％在无污染到中度污染之间，6.8％的中度污染，0.2％介于中度污染到强污染之间；38％未受铜污染，38％在无污染到中度污染之间，22％的中度污染，2％的介于中度污染到强污染之间；18％未受铅污染，47％在无污染到中度污染之间，28％的中度污染，3％介于中度污染到强污染之间；12％未受元素汞污染，37％在无污染到中度污染之间，36％的中度污染，11％介于中度污染到强污染之间，2％的强污染，1％的介于强污染与极强污染之间，1％的极强污染；19.2％未受镍污染，63.7％在无污染到中度污染之间，16.8％的中度污染，0.3％介于中度污染到强污染之间；41％未受锌污染，50％在无污染到中度污染之间，7％的中度污染，2％介于中度污染到强污染之间。4、贵阳市表层土壤中重金属元素含量的污染程度计算显示：砷的污染程度最大为4，27，50.2％的表层土壤未受污染，97％的表层土壤污染程度小于2，总污染程度略大于O，即受到轻微污染；蝠的污染程度最大为12.1，57.9％的表层土壤未受污染，％％的表层土壤污染程度小于4，总污染程度大于。，即受到污染；铬的污染程度最大为2.01，69％的表层土壤未受到重金属元素铬的污染，30.6％的表层土壤受到轻微污染，总污染程度小于O，即未受到污染；铜的污染程度最大为5.09，53.2％的表层土壤未受到重金属元素铜的污染，总污染程度略大于0，即受到轻微污染；铅的污染程度最大为8.11，49.9％的表层土壤未受到重金属元素铅的污染，总污染程度略大于0，即受到轻微污染；汞的污染程度最大为45.87，56.1％的表层土壤未受到重金属元 素汞的污染。总污染程度大于0，即受到污染；镍的污染程度最大为1.56，64％的表层土壤未受到重金属元素镍的污染，总污染程度小于O，即未受到污染；锌的污染程度最大为2.85，77.8％的表层土壤未受到重金属元素锌的污染，总污染程度小于0，即未受到污染。综合考虑8种重金属污染元素，贵阳市40.2％的表层土壤无重金属元素污染，巧％的表层土壤在无污染到轻微污染之间，36.1的表层土壤轻微污染，7.2％的中度污染，1.4％的表层土壤严重污染。5、福和镍只存在较少的污染区域，其余六种元素都存在局部的重金属含量受人为因素影响。砷的污染区域主要集中在筑东部的马场和西部清镇的暗流、王家院等地；铬的污染区域主要集中筑南部的花溪马林、西部的暗流一酒坪等地；铜的污染区域则主要集中在筑南部的燕楼马林处；汞的污染区域分布在筑北开阳双流、筑西北六广以及筑中扎佐三片；铅的污染区域分布在筑东北的宅吉、城关；筑西麦格等处；而锌的污染区则集中在筑东北面的开阳花梨和城关。总体来说，镍、铜的含量是处于最安全的位置，而汞、铅的警戒区域面积很大，几乎函盖了全部研究区域，福次之，砷、锌、铬适中。6、贵阳市表层土壤中重金属污染元素的含量主要与矿山、长期的农业措施和燃煤带来的污染有关。所有重金属含量超标区几乎都对应于矿区，其污染可能来自于母岩，也可能来自矿区生产而导致的“三废”污染。汞、铅、镉的“警戒”区域面积较大，主要是由长期的农业污染造成，特别是磷肥和含污染元素的农药、除草剂等的施用，汞、隔“警戒”区域面积较大的原因还与燃煤后重金属的大气沉降有关。另外砷的污染也和燃煤后大气沉降有关。贵阳市表层土壤没有受到重金属污染元镍的污染。7、在本研究区域内，重金属含量呈现不同含量等级的土类是由于长时间受人为影响的结果，而重金属含量处于单一等级区间的土类则受人为因素影响较小，其含量区间反映了背景值含量范围。在贵阳市的表层土壤中，黄壤、石灰土、水稻土受人为影响较多，石质土、粗骨土、紫色土、黄棕壤受人为影响适中，沼泽土和山地草甸土受人为影响较少。8、本文建议：（1）在乌当区金华镇三铺村、修文县久长镇新隆村、白云区牛场乡小山村、修文县扎佐镇丁官村、修文县大石乡天桥村、开阳县双流镇凉水井村、修文县六广镇滨江村这几个综合污染较为严重的区域采取政府宏观调控手段，指导当地农户进行绿化苗木、花卉等不进入食物链的植物，或者在合适的地方，进行退耕还林，种植生态林。同时建议有关部门在这些区域开展土壤重金属治理工作；（2）在清镇市的暗流一卫城、王家院、水塘以及开阳县马场一哨上等砷含量较高区域种植旱生禾谷类食用籽粒的作物，如小麦、玉米、高粱等，不能种植水生作物和叶菜类作物；在北部开阳双流片、西北部修文六广一大石片、筑中扎佐一牛场片汞含量较高区域推广竺麻的种植；在东北部开阳花梨一城关锌含量较高区域建议农户种植玉米；在开阳的宅吉一龙水、城关和清镇的麦格片区铅含量较高区域，大力发展烟草的种植；在修文久长、大石、开阳城关一马场、清镇麦格、乌当水田一新堡等搞含量较高地区推荐种植豆科食用籽粒作物。9、综合考虑国家《土壤环境质量标准（GB15618一1995）》中规定监测的8种重金属污染元素，污染程度（Cd）的判别指标可以定量化为：Cd≤O：无污染；O＜Cd燕1无污染到轻微污染；1＜Cd≤5：轻微污染：5＜Cd≤10中度污染；Cd＞10：严重污染。

共情、共情唤醒机制及共情结果的关系

Empathy was defined as affective experience isomorphic to another person’s affective experience elicited by the person’s affective state in this research. By constructing questionnaires and situational measurement approaches, the relationship among empathy, perspective-taking, imagination, empathic concern, distress, and interconnectedness and helping was analyzed. Perspective-taking and imagination were regarded as arousal mechanisms of empathy. Empathic concern and distress were reactive outcomes of empathy. Interpersonal outcomes of empathy were discussed in this research were empathic interconnectedness and helping. The results showed that perspective-taking had significant positive influence on empathic concern. Empathy partly mediated the effects of perspective-taking on empathic concern. Influence of imagination on empathic distress was partly mediated by empathy also. Perspective-taking had significant negative influence on empathic distress. Empathy had direct effects on its reactive outcomes, and indirect effects on its interpersonal outcomes mediated totally by empathic concern. Classification analysis according to the relationship among empathy, its arousal mechanisms, and reactive outcomes of empathy showed that disposition of empathic reactivity could be divided into 4 styles: general high empathy (22.5%), general low empathy (25.7%), empathic concern (24.4%) and empathic distress (27.3%). 4 styles were different in interpersonal acuity and mental health. It was suggested that adaptive function of 4 styles was different. And the styles of disposition of empathic reactivity significantly predicted situational empathy and its intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes.

Timidity: A useful emotional mechanism for robot control?

M J Neal and J Timmis. Timidity: A useful mechanism for robot control? Informatica - special issue on perception and emotion based control, 4(27):197-204, 2003.

Botany origin and protein content of homemade honeys from Galicia hives (NW Spain)

The botanic origin and the protein content of 15 honeys from small bee farms exploitations of Galicia, for family consume, were studied; the aim is to check if the protein wealth and the pollen wealth are dependent parameters. Seven honeys resulted to be Rhamnus frangula unifloral (pollen patterns with low diversity), two Castanea sativa Miller unifloral, other one heather unifloral, and five was multifloral honeys of various pollen patterns (four Castanea predominant and one Rhamnus frangula predominant). Their pollen wealth was low; eight honeys classified in the Maurizio Class I, 3 in Class II, 2 in Class III, and one in Maurizio Class IV. There has been a wide variability in its protein content (0.09- 4.83 mg prot./g honey). The relative amount of pollen from different taxa has a direct or inverse proportionality to wealth protein.

The ocean sampling day consortium.

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world's oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits.

Dielectronic recombination of He-like to C-like iodine ions

KLL dielectronic recombination resonances, where a free electron is captured into the L shell and at the same time a K shell electron is excited into the L shell, have been measured for open shell iodine ions by measuring the detected yield of escaping ions of various charge states and modeling the charge balance in an electron beam ion trap. In the modeling, the escape from the trap and multiple charge exchange were considered. Extracted ions were used to measure the charge balance in the trap. The different charge states were clearly separated, which along with the correction for artifacts connected with ion escape and multiple charge exchange made the open shell highly charged ion measurements of this type possible for the first time. From the measured spectra resonant strengths were obtained. The results were 4.27(39)x10(-19) cm(2) eV, 2.91(26)x10(-19) cm(2) eV, 2.39(22)x10(-19) cm(2) eV, 1.49(14)x10(-19) cm(2) eV and 7.64(76)x10(-20) cm(2) eV for the iodine ions from He-like to C-like, respectively.

Demonstration of increased concentrations of circulating glycated insulin in human Type 2 diabetes using a novel and specific radioimmunoassay.

Aims/hypothesis: Glycation of insulin, resulting in impaired bioactivity, has been shown within pancreatic beta cells. We have used a novel and specific radioimmunoassay to detect glycated insulin in plasma of Type 2 diabetic subjects.

Methods: Blood samples were collected from 102 Type 2 diabetic patients in three main categories: those with good glycaemic control with a HbA1c less than 7%, moderate glycaemic control (HbA1c 7–9%) and poor glycaemic control (HBA1c greater than 9%). We used 75 age- and sex-matched non-diabetic subjects as controls. Samples were analysed for HbA1c, glucose and plasma concentrations of glycated insulin and insulin.

Results: Glycated insulin was readily detected in control and Type 2 diabetic subjects. The mean circulating concentration of glycated insulin in control subjects was 12.6±0.9 pmol/l (n=75). Glycated insulin in the good, moderate and poorly controlled diabetic groups was increased 2.4-fold (p<0.001, n=44), 2.2- fold (p<0.001, n=41) and 1.1-fold (n=17) corresponding to 29.8±5.4, 27.3±5.7 and 13.5±2.9 pmol/l, respectively.

Conclusion/interpretation: Glycated insulin circulates at noticeably increased concentrations in Type 2 diabetic subjects. [Diabetologia (2003) 46:475–478]

High concentrations of pepsin in bronchoalveolar lavage from children with cystic fibrosis are associated with high interleukin-8

Background Gastro-oesophageal reflux is common in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) and is thought to be associated with pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents. The measurement of pepsin in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid has recently been suggested to be a reliable indicator of aspiration. The prevalence of pulmonary aspiration in a group of children with CF was assessed and its association with lung inflammation investigated. Methods This was a cross-sectional case–control study. BAL fluid was collected from individuals with CF (n=31) and healthy controls (n=7). Interleukin-8 (IL-8), pepsin, neutrophil numbers and neutrophil elastase activity levels were measured in all samples. Clinical, microbiological and lung function data were collected from medical notes. Results The pepsin concentration in BAL fluid was higher in the CF group than in controls (mean (SD) 24.4 (27.4) ng/ml vs 4.3 (4.0) ng/ml, p=0.03). Those with CF who had raised pepsin concentrations had higher levels of IL-8 in the BAL fluid than those with a concentration comparable to controls (3.7 (2.7) ng/ml vs 1.4 (0.9) ng/ml, p=0.004). Within the CF group there was a moderate positive correlation between pepsin concentration and IL-8 in BAL fluid (r=0.48, p=0.04). There was no association between BAL fluid pepsin concentrations and age, sex, body mass index z score, forced expiratory volume in 1 s or Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonisation status. Conclusions Many children with CF have increased levels of pepsin in the BAL fluid compared with normal controls. Increased pepsin levels were associated with higher IL-8 concentrations in BAL fluid. These data suggest that aspiration of gastric contents occurs in a subset of patients with CF and is associated with more pronounced lung inflammation.

Community-living nonagenarians in northern ireland have lower plasma homocysteine but similar methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase thermolabile genotype prevalence compared to 70-89-year-old subjects

This cross-sectional study assessed relationships between plasma homocysteine, 'thermolabile' methylenetetrahydrofolatereductase (MTHFR) genotype, B vitamin status and measures of renal function in elderly (70-89 years) and nonagenarian (90+ years) subjects, with the hypothesis that octo/nonagenarian subjects who remain healthy into old age as defined by 'Senieur' status might show reduced genetic or environmental risk factors usually associated with hyperhomocysteinaemia. Plasma homocysteine was 9.1 micromol/l (geometric mean [GM]) for all elderly subjects. Intriguingly, homocysteine was significantly lower in 90+ (GM; 8.2 micromol/l) compared to 70-89-year-old subjects (GM; 9.8 micromol/l) despite significantly lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and serum B12 in nonagenarian subjects and comparable MTHFR thermolabile (TT) genotype frequency, folate and B6 status to 70-89-year-olds. For all elderly subjects, the odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals for plasma homocysteine being in the highest versus lowest quartile was 4.27 (2.04-8.92) for age 90 years, 3.4 (1.5-7.8) for serum folate 10.7nmol/l, 3.0 (0.9-10.2) for creatinine >140 compared

Monsters, Dinosaurs, Ghosts

A stage play for the Abbey Theatre, Dublin 4-27 June 2015

Process simulation of co-firing torrefied biomass in a 220 MWe coal-fired power plant

Torrefaction based co-firing in a pulverized coal boiler has been proposed for large percentage of biomass co-firing. A 220 MWe pulverized coal-power plant is simulated using Aspen Plus for full understanding the impacts of an additional torrefaction unit on the efficiency of the whole power plant, the studied process includes biomass drying, biomass torrefaction, mill systems, biomass/coal devolatilization and combustion, heat exchanges and power generation. Palm kernel shells (PKS) were torrefied at same residence time but 4 different temperatures, to prepare 4 torrefied biomasses with different degrees of torrefaction. During biomass torrefaction processes, the mass loss properties and released gaseous components have been studied. In addition, process simulations at varying torrefaction degrees and biomass co-firing ratios have been carried out to understand the properties of CO₂ emission and electricity efficiency in the studied torrefaction based co-firing power plant. According to the experimental results, the mole fractions of CO ₂ and CO account for 69-91% and 4-27% in torrefied gases. The predicted results also showed that the electrical efficiency reduced when increasing either torrefaction temperature or substitution ratio of biomass. A deep torrefaction may not be recommended, because the power saved from biomass grinding is less than the heat consumed by the extra torrefaction process, depending on the heat sources. 

Estimation of glomerular filtration rate in hospitalised patients: are we overestimating renal function?

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY AND PRINCIPLES: Estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in hospitalised patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is important for drug prescription but it remains a difficult task. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of selected algorithms based on serum creatinine, cystatin C and beta-trace protein to estimate GFR and the potential added advantage of measuring muscle mass by bioimpedance. In a prospective unselected group of patients hospitalised in a general internal medicine ward with CKD, GFR was evaluated using inulin clearance as the gold standard and the algorithms of Cockcroft, MDRD, Larsson (cystatin C), White (beta-trace) and MacDonald (creatinine and muscle mass by bioimpedance). 69 patients were included in the study. Median age (interquartile range) was 80 years (73-83); weight 74.7 kg (67.0-85.6), appendicular lean mass 19.1 kg (14.9-22.3), serum creatinine 126 μmol/l (100-149), cystatin C 1.45 mg/l (1.19-1.90), beta-trace protein 1.17 mg/l (0.99-1.53) and GFR measured by inulin 30.9 ml/min (22.0-43.3). The errors in the estimation of GFR and the area under the ROC curves (95% confidence interval) relative to inulin were respectively: Cockcroft 14.3 ml/min (5.55-23.2) and 0.68 (0.55-0.81), MDRD 16.3 ml/min (6.4-27.5) and 0.76 (0.64-0.87), Larsson 12.8 ml/min (4.50-25.3) and 0.82 (0.72-0.92), White 17.6 ml/min (11.5-31.5) and 0.75 (0.63-0.87), MacDonald 32.2 ml/min (13.9-45.4) and 0.65 (0.52-0.78). Currently used algorithms overestimate GFR in hospitalised patients with CKD. As a consequence eGFR targeted prescriptions of renal-cleared drugs, might expose patients to overdosing. The best results were obtained with the Larsson algorithm. The determination of muscle mass by bioimpedance did not provide significant contributions.

Décret de la Convention nationale du 2 germinal, l'an second de la Republique... : contenant une proclamation de la Convention nationale au peuple français

[Décret. 1794, 22 mars]