Runoff regulation and nitrogen and phosphorus removal performance of a bioretention substrate with HDTMA-modified zeolite

As a commonly used material in bioretention substrates, natural zeolite (NZ) provides decent adsorption capacity for cation pollutants and heavy metals, but limited ability to remove anion pollutants. Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA)-modified zeolite (MZ) was used as the bioretention substrate material. The performance of the media including runoff reduction, nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) removal, ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) removal, and total phosphorus (TP) removal was assessed by the column experiment. The effects of different levels of modification, ratio of zeolite in the substrate, and rainfall intensity on media performance were investigated. The results indicate that HDTMA-modified zeolite significantly improves the NO3−-N (up to 38.2 times of NZ) and TP (up to17.5 times of NZ) removal rate of media and slightly increases the NH4+-N (up to 1.5 times of NZ) purification performance of the substrate. Compared with the media with NZ, decline on both runoff volume reduction (maximum decline up to 32.9%) and flow rate reduction (maximum decline up to 29.9%) of the media with MZ were observed. Based on multiple regression analysis, quantitative relationship models between influencing factors and response variables were established (R2 > 0.793), the level of the effect of influencing factors on response variables was investigated, and the interactions between influencing factors were explored. The main effect analysis found that the degree of modification affects NO3−-N and TP removal rate of the substrate the most, and when the amount of HDTMA molecules loaded on the zeolite surface exceeds 0.09meq/g, the modification can no longer improve NO3−-N removal efficiency

Organized Crime or Individual Crime? Endogenous Size of a Criminal Organization and the Optimal Law Enforcement

This article develops a simple but general criminal decision framework in which individual crime and organized crime are coexisting alternatives to a potential offender. It enables us to endogenize the size of a criminal organization and explore interactive relationships among sizes of criminal organization, the crime rate, and the government's law enforcement strategies. We show that the method adopted to allocate the criminal organization's payoffs and the extra benefit provided by the criminal organization play crucial roles in an individual's decision to commit a crime and the way in which he or she commits that crime. The two factors also jointly determine the market structure for crime and the optimal law enforcement strategy to be adopted by a government. (JEL K4) Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

Phenolic Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Different Peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] Cultivars in China

China is an important centre of diversity for Prunus persica. In the present study, 17 Chinese peach cultivars were evaluated for phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Neochlorogenic acid (NCHA), chlorogenic acid (CHA), procyanidin B1 (B1), catechin (CAT), cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G), quercetin-3-O-galactoside (Q3GAL), quercetin-3-O-glucoside (Q3GLU), quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (Q3R), and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (K3R) were identified and quantified. CHA and CAT were the predominant components in both the peel and pulp of this fruit. In general, peel extracts showed higher antioxidant activities than the pulp counterparts, consistent with the observed higher phenolic content. The melting peach cultivar “Xinyu” showed the highest antioxidant potency composite (APC) index. The principal component analysis (PCA) of peel phenolics showed a clear distinction between the melting peach and nectarine. Overall, peach cultivars rich in hydroxycinnamates and flavan-3-ols showed relatively higher antioxidant activities and might be excellent sources of phytochemicals and natural antioxidants