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Nitrobenzene is a widespread contaminant in water. Biochar (BC) is a promising material for removing organic pollutants, but the adsorption capacity of pristine BC is low. Chemical modification is often used to improve the adsorption performance, but information on the sorption of nitrobenzene by modified BC is rare. In this study, BCs pyrolyzed at 300, 500, and 700 °C were modified by hydrochloric acid (HCl), sulfuric acid (H

To improve the accuracy of signal recognition in optical fiber perimeter defense systems, a method based on Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) and a fast dynamic time warping (FastDTW) algorithm is proposed. Four kinds of sensing signals are acquired by employing an in-line Sagnac interferometer system. MFCC features of the signals are extracted. The FastDTW algorithm is utilized to calculate distances of the optimal warping paths between a test sample and all reference templates. According to the nearest neighbor criterion, signal recognition results are obtained. The average accuracy is over 96%. This proposed identification method is highly efficient and easy to implement.

The present study was conducted to explore the mechanisms of surfactant-enhanced phytoremediation of soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), focusing on the bioavailability of PAHs and microbial diversity. We investigated the remediation efficiencies of phenanthrene and pyrene after the addition of mixed surfactants (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and Tween 80) of different ratios (1:1, 1:2, and 2:1) at the concentration of 100 mg/kg to soils cultured with ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.). The fractions of phenanthrene and pyrene were determined using a sequential extraction method, and the microbial diversity was evaluated using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that mixed surfactants could enhance the remediation efficiencies of PAHs, and mainly occurred in the initial 21 days. Mixed surfactants at the ratio of 1:1 (HM1) showed the best remediation efficiency in enhancing the dissipation of pyrene in 21 days. Mixed surfactants showed little effects on the removal of phenanthrene. In general, HM1 significantly decreased the bioavailable, bound and residual fractions of pyrene; additionally, higher abundances of PAH-degradation bacteria and degradation-related genes were observed. Pearson correlation analysis among PAH degraders, degradation-related genes and bioavailable fraction of PAHs was performed. Our results indicated that mixed surfactants could promote the transformation of pyrene from the bound and residual fractions to bioavailable fractions and enhance the abundances of PAH degradation bacteria and PAH degradation-related genes, thereby enhancing the degradation of pyrene.

In order to improve identification rates (IRs) of signal recognition for optical fiber perimeter defense systems, a novel signal recognition method based on the fast dynamic time warping (FastDTW) algorithm and nearest neighbor criterion is proposed. The distributed optical fiber sensing system based on an in-line Sagnac interferometer is employed as a simulated perimeter defense system to acquire three different kinds of sensing output signals. The signals are divided into several signal segments according to their categories and selected as reference templates and test samples, respectively. The FastDTW can calculate the optimal warping path distance between the test sample and each reference template. The signal recognition results are obtained according to the nearest neighbor criterion. The experimental results show that the average IR of the three kinds of sensing signals is above 99%. The proposed recognition method does not need special training process, hence is simple, and easy to implement. It can achieve a high identification rate under small sample condition which provides a new approach for the signal recognition of optical fiber perimeter defense systems.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an important organic matter fraction that affects many biological and chemical processes in soil. Biochar can change soil DOM while the effects were paradoxical, and contributions of biochar to soil DOM was not clear yet. In this study, excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy was applied to determine the biochar-induced changes of DOM composition. Batch experiments were conducted to quantify the contributions of biochar to soil DOM. Biochars were prepared by pyrolyzing wheat straw (S300/700) and cow manure (M300/700) at 300 and 700 °C, respectively. Generally, biochar increased the humification of soil DOM possibly by the release of indigenous DOM and selective adsorption of the small molecule DOM. Besides, contributions of S300 and M300 to soil DOM (37–91%) were higher than that of S700 and M700 (2–19%) irrespective of application rates. The indigenous DOM released from S300 and M300 was 6.4–12.1 times more than the soil DOM adsorbed by S300 and M300, leading to the increase of DOM content. Contrarily, the DOM from S700 and M700 was only 11–17% of the soil DOM adsorbed by them, resulting in the decrease of DOM content. In addition, contributions of biochar to soil DOM increased as the application rate increased, especially for S300 and M300. This study indicated that the release and adsorption of DOM were the key processes determining the effects of biochar on soil DOM, which were closely related to the pyrolysis temperature and application rate of biochar.

Root exudates play an important role in the phytoremediation of soils contaminated by organic pollutants, but how root exudate components affect the remediation process is not well understood. In this study, we explored the effects and mechanisms of the major root exudates, including glucose, organic acids, and serine, in the rhizoremediation of pyrene-contaminated soil. The results showed that glucose increased the degradation of pyrene (54.3 ± 1.7%) most significantly compared to the organic acids (45.5 ± 2.5%) and serine (43.2 ± 0.1%). Glucose could significantly facilitate the removal of pyrene in soil through promoting dehydrogenase activity indicated by a positive correlation between the removal efficiency of pyrene and the soil dehydrogenase activity (p Mycobacterium markedly, which is dominant in the degradation of pyrene. These findings provide insights into the mechanisms by which root exudates enhance the degradation of organic contaminants and advance our understanding of the micro-processes involved in rhizoremediation.

To reveal the pollution status associated with rapid urbanization and economic growth, extensive areas of agricultural soils (approximately 45,800 km(2)) in the Yangtze River Delta of China were investigated with respect to selected endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs), including phthalate esters (PAEs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The residues of sum of 15 PAEs, sum of 15 OCPs and sum of 13 PBDEs were in the range of 167-9370 ng/g, 1.0-3520 ng/g, and