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Microbe-assisted phytoremediation is emerging as one of the most effective means by which plants and their associated rhizosphere microbes degrade organic contaminants in soils. A pot study was conducted to examine the effects of inoculation with Rhizobium meliloti on phytoremediation by alfalfa grown for 90 days in an agricultural soil contaminated with weathered polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Planting with uninoculated alfalfa (P) and alfalfa inoculated with R. meliloti (PR) significantly lowered the initial soil PAH concentrations by 37.2 and 51.4% respectively compared with unplanted control soil. Inoculation with R. meliloti significantly increased the counts of culturable PAH-degrading bacteria, soil microbial activity and the carbon utilization ability of the soil microbial community. The results suggest that the symbiotic association between alfalfa and Rhizobium can stimulate the rhizosphere microflora to degrade PAHs and its application may be a promising bioremediation strategy for aged PAH-contaminated soils.

Abstract The rapid economic development of China has been accompanied by the emission of a great number of pollutants, which in turn have caused severe environmental problems. To strengthen environmental management and to establish a pollution source information database covering all key pollution sources and activities, China carried out its first National Census of Pollution Sources (NCPS) in 2007. The survey contents include the basic environmental situation in 2007, the generation levels of the main pollutants at that time, and the amount of pollution actually discharged into the environment after end-of-pipe treatment at all kinds of pollution sources. Based on the first NCPS report for China released in 2011, and taking two typical industry pollutants, sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) as examples, we first revised the historical data concerning environmental statistics based on the NCPS documents. Subsequently, we analyzed the overall industrial scale in the change of SO 2 and COD emissions using index decomposition analysis, and then studied the contributions and comparative significance of the “three pollution emission reduction measures” put forward by the Chinese government. The latter are: Engineering Emission Reduction (EER), Structure Emission Reduction (SrER) and Supervision Emission Reduction (SuER). From these analyses, we were able to identify the main driving forces for SO 2 and COD emission reduction in China's industrial system. The results indicate that, with continually increasing pollution pressure caused by rapid economic development, EER and SuER have made the greatest contributions to reducing SO 2 and COD emissions; but SrER has not had an obvious effect. In the future, EER and SuER will gradually have less and less potential and become more challenging, while SrER should be achievable through adjusting the economic structure.

This work was aimed to comprehensively evaluate the potential for sustainable development of China's shale gas industry. It will contribute to the sustainable development of China's energy and economic. Factors of resource, technology, economy and environment were selected to develop the DPSIR framework evaluation indicators in system for shale gas based on the previous research. Next, The PPFCI (projection pursuit fuzzy clustering model) technique was developed by combining the projection pursuit model with a fuzzy clustering iterative model. So that it can deal with the multi-source, high-dimensional, fuzzy data of the proposed evaluation indicators. And then, the RAGA (accelerated genetic algorithm based on real coding) algorithm was developed to run the PPFCI technique. The results show that core technical capability, investment in projects of prevention of geological disasters, and ecological environment damage indicators were the key factors affecting the sustainability of China's shale gas industry. The potential for sustainable development of China's shale gas industry was relatively low. And it was unbalanced in different provinces. The potential for sustainable development of the southwest region was better than the northwest region. Among them, the development of Sichuan was more stable than Chongqing, with a 99% probability of maintaining a stable and sustainable development state, while Chongqing province has a 15%-20% probability to fluctuate towards the poles.

SummaryEnvironmentally extended multiregional input‐output (EE MRIO) tables have emerged as a key framework to provide a comprehensive description of the global economy and analyze its effects on the environment. Of the available EE MRIO databases, EXIOBASE stands out as a database compatible with the System of Environmental‐Economic Accounting (SEEA) with a high sectorial detail matched with multiple social and environmental satellite accounts. In this paper, we present the latest developments realized with EXIOBASE 3—a time series of EE MRIO tables ranging from 1995 to 2011 for 44 countries (28 EU member plus 16 major economies) and five rest of the world regions. EXIOBASE 3 builds upon the previous versions of EXIOBASE by using rectangular supply‐use tables (SUTs) in a 163 industry by 200 products classification as the main building blocks. In order to capture structural changes, economic developments, as reported by national statistical agencies, were imposed on the available, disaggregated SUTs from EXIOBASE 2. These initial estimates were further refined by incorporating detailed data on energy, agricultural production, resource extraction, and bilateral trade. EXIOBASE 3 inherits the high level of environmental stressor detail from its precursor, with further improvement in the level of detail for resource extraction. To account for the expansion of the European Union (EU), EXIOBASE 3 was developed with the full EU28 country set (including the new member state Croatia). EXIOBASE 3 provides a unique tool for analyzing the dynamics of environmental pressures of economic activities over time.

Abstract Radiation damage in biological systems is initiated by free radicals and progresses with time through a variety of mechanisms. The time-scale and details of these mechanisms are briefly reviewed. Because of the variety of mechanisms of radio-biological damage, any single radio-protective or therapeutic agent can be only partially effective. The potential of and need for simultaneously using several radio-protective and therapeutic agents, including sulfhydryl compounds, superoxide dismutase, antioxidant proteins, and DNA repair enzymes, are examined, based on a priori considerations of the consequences of radiation exposure.

Abstract Natural gas vehicles offer the benefits of reducing oil use, CO2 emissions and air pollutants. Promoting the use of natural gas vehicles is considered as one of the most important strategies towards sustainable transportation. China made remarkable progress in promoting natural gas vehicles over recent years, and its 4.6 million natural gas vehicles in 2014 represented the world׳s largest natural gas vehicle fleet. In this paper, the development of natural gas vehicles in China is reviewed based on a triple-perspective (Fuel-Vehicle-Infrastructure) technical–economical framework. The review indicates that (a) pricing of vehicle-use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is essential in determining natural gas vehicle development. A pricing principle similar to the fixed CNG/gasoline price ratio (0.75:1) should be applied to LNG/diesel price ratio; (b) for CNG passenger vehicles, the modified CNG vehicles, with ¥3000–5000 additional cost, is more attractive to consumers than originally manufactured CNG vehicles, with about ¥10,000 additional cost. Vehicle retrofit should be permitted by the government with the precondition that retrofit standards are strictly enforced; (c) for CNG/LNG transit buses, the deployment is strongly affected by local government׳s preference. In regions with sufficient natural gas supply, the government should prioritize the deployment of CNG/LNG transit buses rather than other technologies; (d) for LNG commercial vehicles, with ¥60,000–80,000 higher cost than their counterpart diesel vehicles, financial incentive is critical for their development. China׳s current vehicle subsidy scheme should be extended to cover LNG commercial vehicles; (e) regarding refueling infrastructures, interference with urban land-use planning and long-time administrative approval are the major barriers. Local governments should launch dedicated plans and strategies to support the further deployment of CNG/LNG refueling infrastructures.

Up to 100 billion devices will be seeking to visually map out our existence over the internet by 2020 (UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser 2014). Just as the urban is a forcefield "of spatial transformations... that takes many different morphological forms” (Brenner 2014), this paper explores another underlying forcefield: our visual relationship with data. The most important piece of data, the individual, exists in the city as both prey and predator; having evolved from a "passive aesthetic view of the city” (Appleyard 1979, 144); transformed through shared territory (Evans and Jones 2008); and forged into impressively intricate sets of power relations through collective intentionality (Searle 2011). Through the presentation of self (Goffman, 1969, cited in Appleyard 1979, 146) we inhabit another home: the digital; in which we are simultaneously co-existent and removed by synchronisation of data. Traditionally, the software authoring the physical production of ‘space/hardware' has been value driven (Raban, 1974, 128, cited in Appleyard 1979, 146). In a parallel universe, algorithms drive the data. For Ellis (2012) it is in the software, that meaning resides. What then is the allure of data to the individual? And what is the allure of the individual to data? It lies arguably in the perception of power and control through meaning (Appleyard, Searle et al.). We seek in the new reality to "discover where the real power lies” (Appleyard 1979, 146). Curiously, the power of data appears to increase the irrelevancy of ownership, between "ours” and "theirs” (Appleyard 1979, 152). This paper analyses past, present, and future states of data production. The data we get from data; data produced from objects; and objects produced from data. In closing, a speculative working hypothesis is presented of visual data production, which hopefully encourages further research reconciling data with meaning in the context of visual sustainability.