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Abstract: Radon (222Rn) found in uranium mine shaft ventilation exhaust gases could pose hazards to the surrounding environment and the public by virtue of its progeny. Radon migration under complex terrain is complicated by pollution source characteristics, geographical features of the dispersion region, meteorological conditions and precipitation. Fluid dynamics computations of 222Rn dispersion are performed for uranium mine shaft exhausts for complex models of the actual physical terrain corresponding to a mine in the Jiangxi Province of China. The eight cases studied included a ventilation shaft source, four downwind velocities (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 m s−1) and two underlying surface roughness characteristics (0.1 m, 1.0 m). 222Rn distributions in the vicinity of uranium mine ventilation shaft are computed and compared with field measurements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The seeds of Sophora alopecuroides L. have been utilized as a crude drug in China for thousands of years. Quinolizidine alkaloids are the main bioactive components of this plant. To determine the distribution and content of quinolizidine alkaloids in different seed organs (seed coat and cotyledon), a reliable method has been established using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a triple quadrupole electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS). Seven constituents, namely cytisine, oxymatrine, oxysophocarpine, sophoridine, sophoramine, matrine, and sophocarpine, were simultaneously determined in 10min. The proposed method was fully validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, precision, repeatability as well as recovery. The analysis results showed there were remarkable differences in the distribution and contents of the chemical markers between seed coat and cotyledon. The established approach could be helpful for the quality control of S. alopecuroides seeds, and also for the determination of this type class of alkaloids in other medicinal herbs. The present study can provide necessary information for the rational utilization of S. alopecuroides resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article examines the influence of different ecological environments on chemical constituents of plants. It highlights the results of a systematically phytochemical investigation on Ligularia intermedia Nakai collected from Guan Di mountain, Shanxi province in China. The article describes the general methods and plant material used in the research.

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) construction project is a mega one with high level of occupational health and safety and environment (OHSE) risks, and it is necessary to propose an approach for the OHSE risk assessment so as to prevent the OHSE accidents or reduce their outcomes. However, there has not been such an approach due to the high uncertainty and complexity of NPP construction project. Therefore, this paper proposed a novel approach for the OHSE risk assessment which includes systematically identifying the OHSE risks by using brainstorming method, establishing an OHSE risk assessment index system by using Delphi method, and formulating a mathematical model by combining set pair analysis (SPA), trapezoidal fuzzy number (TPFN), and set-valued statistics (SVS) methods for determining the overall OHSE risk level for NPP construction project. The approach was used to assess the OHSE risks for the NPP construction project in East China, and its overall OHSE risk level was assessed at level 2 (low OHSE risk level). In addition, the problems in the OHSE risk management were found, and the corresponding OHSE risk treatments for these problems were implemented. The results showed that the approach helped reduce the OHSE risk level and protect the workers' occupational health and safety and the environment while the NPP construction project was under construction. • A novel approach for OHSE risk assessment for NPP construction project. • The OHSE risks for NPP construction project. • The OHSE risk assessment index system for NPP construction project. • A mathematical model for OHSE risk assessment for NPP construction project. • The overall OHSE risk level for the NPP construction project in FQNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new strategy was developed for accurately identifying metabolites. • A number of significant difference metabolites were accurately identified. • Licorice from different regions could be separated clearly. • The quality of licorice from different regions in China was inconsistent. Licorice is famous as a herbal medicine and food sweetener. This study provided a comprehensive strategy for investigating the quality of licorice based on untargeted metabolomics. A new strategy for identifying metabolite was developed, including fragment ion identification algorithm and ion fusion algorithm. The results showed that it can accurately integrate mass spectra from positive and negative ion modes to benefit metabolite identification. Based on the strategy, a number of significant difference metabolites were identified among licorice samples and 9 metabolites were confirmed by standards. Additionally, the geographical discrimination models of licorice samples were comprehensively investigated by chemometric methods. The results indicated that the supporting vector machine provided the best performance, with a prediction accuracy above 80%. The study results supported the conclusion that the quality of licorice from different regions in China was inconsistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]