Evaluation of spatial-temporal variations and trends in surface water quality across a rural-suburban-urban interface

Water quality degradation is often a severe consequence of rapid economic expansion in developing countries. Methods to assess spatial-temporal patterns and trends in water quality are essential for guiding adaptive management efforts aimed at water quality remediation. Temporal and spatial patterns of surface water quality were investigated for 54 monitoring sites in the Wen-Rui Tang River watershed of eastern China to identify such patterns in water quality occurring across a rural-suburban-urban interface. Twenty physical and chemical water quality parameters were analyzed in surface waters collected once every 4-8 weeks from 2000 to 2010. Temporal and spatial variations among water quality parameters were assessed between seasons (wet/dry) and among major land use zones (urban/suburban/rural). Factor analysis was used to identify parameters that were important in assessing seasonal and spatial variations in water quality. Results revealed that parameters related to organic pollutants (dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (manganese) (COD(Mn)), and 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅)), nutrients (ammonia nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺-N), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP)), and salt concentration (electrical conductivity (EC)) were the most important parameters contributing to water quality variation. Collectively, they explained 70.9 % of the total variance. A trend study using the seasonal Kendall test revealed reductions in COD(Mn), BOD₅, NH₄ ⁺-N, petrol, V-phen, and EC concentrations over the 11-year study period. Cluster analysis was employed to evaluate variation among 14 sampling sites representative of dominant land use categories and indicated three, three, and four clusters based on organic, nutrient, and salt water quality characteristics, respectively. Factors that are typically responsible for water quality degradation (including population, topography, and land use) showed no strong correlation with water quality trends implying considerable point source inputs in the watershed. The results of this study help inform ongoing water quality remediation efforts by documenting trends in water quality across various land use zones

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Atomic spectrometry update: Review of advances in the analysis of metals, chemicals and materials

There has been a large increase in the number of papers published that are relevant to this review over this review period. The growth in popularity of LIBS is rapid, with applications being published for most sample types. This is undoubtedly because of its capability to analyse in situ on a production line (hence saving time and money) and its minimally destructive nature meaning that both forensic and cultural heritage samples may be analysed. It also has a standoff analysis capability meaning that hazardous materials, e.g. explosives or nuclear materials, may be analysed from a safe distance. The use of mathematical algorithms in conjunction with LIBS to enable improved accuracy has proved a popular area of research. This is especially true for ferrous and non-ferrous samples. Similarly, chemometric techniques have been used with LIBS to aid in the sorting of polymers and other materials. An increase in the number of papers in the subject area of alternative fuels was noted. This was at the expense of papers describing methods for the analysis of crude oils. For nanomaterials, previous years have seen a huge number of single particle and field flow fractionation characterisations. Although several such papers are still being published, the focus seems to be switching to applications of the nanoparticles and the mechanistic aspects of how they retain or bind with other analytes. This is the latest review covering the topic of advances in the analysis of metals, chemicals and materials. It follows on from last year's review1-6 and is part of the Atomic Spectrometry Updates series