Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Alkali concentration'

En France, il est envisagé de stocker en couche géologique profonde les déchets radioactifs de moyenne activité à vie longue (MAVL). Ces déchets sont chargés en sels de nitrates et après des milliers d'années, le relâchement des nitrates pourrait favoriser la mobilité des radionucléides hors des déchets. Cependant, en présence de matière organique ou d'hydrogène, l'activité bactérienne peut théoriquement réduire les nitrates en espèces azotées plus réduites via la dénitrification. Le 1er objectif de cette thèse est d'évaluer la capacité des bactéries à s'adapter aux conditions physico-chimiques à proximité des déchets, c'est à dire en absence d'oxygène, à pH alcalin entre 9 et 13, en présence de concentrations élevées en nitrates, en présence d'un donneur d'électrons organique (acétate) ou minéral (hydrogène) et en présence de ciment et d'acier solides. Le 2nd objectif est d'évaluer les cinétiques de réduction des nitrates dans les conditions précédemment décrites. La réduction bactérienne des nitrates a été observée jusqu'à pH 11 et 400 mM de nitrates en présence d'acétate et jusqu'à pH 10.5 et 150 mM de nitrates en présence d'hydrogène. En présence d'hydrogène les cinétiques de réduction des nitrates étaient globalement plus ralenties et les bactéries étaient plus sensibles aux pH alcalins que les bactéries qui se développent en présence d'acétate. Ceci s'explique par le fait que l'hydrogène a une solubilité limitée à pression atmosphérique, que l'assimilation de carbone minéral est énergétiquement coûteuse pour les bactéries et enfin qu'en présence d'hydrogène le pH s'élève au cours de l'avancement de la dénitrification. En présence d'acétate le pH s'équilibre autour de 10 grâce aux CO2 produit par l'oxydation de l'acétate. Enfin la présence de ciment solide n'a pas eu de répercussion importante sur l'activité bactérienne, en revanche l'acier solide a stimulé de façon conséquente la réduction des nitrates<br>France has the project to dispose long-lived intermediate-level radioactive waste (ILW-LL) in a deep geological repository. The radioactive waste is loaded with nitrate salts and after thousands of years, the release of nitrates could promote the mobility of radionuclides out of the waste. However, in the presence of organic matter or hydrogen, bacterial activity can theoretically reduce nitrate to smaller nitrogen species through denitrification. The first objective of this thesis is to evaluate the ability of bacteria to adapt to the environment near the waste, i.e. in the absence of oxygen, at alkaline pH between 9 and 13, in the presence of high nitrate concentrations, in the presence of an organic (acetate) or mineral (hydrogen) electrons donor and in the presence of solid cement and solid steel. The second objective is to quantify nitrate reduction kinetics under the conditions described above. Bacterial reduction of nitrates was observed up to pH 11 and 400 mM of nitrates in the presence of acetate and up to pH 10.5 and 150 mM of nitrates in the presence of hydrogen. In the presence of hydrogen, nitrate reduction kinetics were generally slower and bacteria were more sensitive to alkaline pH than heterotrophic bacteria using acetate. This is a consequence of the low solubility of hydrogen, the mineral carbon assimilation expense for bacteria and the alkalinisation during denitrification in the presence of hydrogen. In the presence of acetate the pH equilibrate toward 10, due to CO2 generation when acetate is oxidized. Finally, while the presence of solid cement did not have a significant impact on bacterial activity, solid steel stimulated the reduction of nitrates

Thesis (Master of Horticultural Science)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019<br>The purpose for this study was to investigate whether Sceletium tortuosum was suitable for cultivation in hydroponics and to determine whether different soilless media and fertigation regimes would have an effect on the vegetative growth and alkaloid concentration of the plant. The experiment was conducted over a period of 6 weeks. Three hundred plants were cultivated from one initial mother plant obtained from Verve Dynamics (Pty) Ltd, Somerset West. Twenty treatments were evaluated with 15 sample replicates. Treatments were made up of 4 different soilless growing media, namely: pure silica sand (SS), 50% silica sand with 50% coco-peat (SC), 50% silica sand with 50% vermiculite (SV), and 50% silica sand with 50% perlite (SP). These growing media were tested in conjunction with 5 different fertigation regimes (FR), plants treated with fertigation regime 1 (FR1) received aqueous nutrient solution once every week, fertigation regime 2 (FR2) received aqueous nutrient solution once every second week, fertigation regime 3 (FR3) received aqueous nutrient solution once every third week, fertigation regime 4 (FR4) received aqueous nutrient solution once every fourth week and fertigation regime 5 (FR5) received aqueous nutrient solution once every fifth week respectively. Chapter 2 reviewed the importance of S. tortuosum and its viability as a Traditional African Medicinal Plant. It was found that S. tortuosum has clear pharmaceutical and economical importance and is one of the only known plants to contain the alkaloids mesembrenone and mesembrine which can be utilized for the promotion of health and treating a variety of psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression. In chapter 3 it was seen that the various treatments had significant effects in terms of plant root growth, shoot growth and dry weight. Treatment SCFR3 showed the highest individual mean value for root growth, while the average from treatments SVFR1-5 displayed the highest average value. The lowest individual value for root growth was observed in treatment SPFR5. Overall treatments with fertigation regime FR3 had better root growth, while fertigation regimes FR5 showed sub-optimal root growth. For shoot growth the highest individual mean value was found in treatment SVFR1, while the highest average value was observed in treatments SCFR1-5. In chapter 4 treatments also had a significant effect on alkaloid concentrations. It was observed that shoot extracts contained a higher concentration of total alkaloids than root extracts, however root extracts had an overall higher amount of delta 7 mesembrenone, and mesembrenone in terms of area %, while shoots had higher amounts of mesembrine. Further the mesembrine standard as mentioned in 4.4.5, shoots clearly have an overall higher concentration of mesembrine than roots. These results suggest that roots of S. tortuosum should be harvested for the purpose of extracting delta 7 mesembrenone and mesembrenone molecules, while the shoots should be harvested for extracting mesembrine. Chapter 5 further investigated the interaction between the vegetative growth and alkaloid concentration of S. tortuosum. There appears to be a clear trend that displays higher concentrations of mesembrine where shoot growth was more optimal, however more optimal growth did not display a higher concentration of total alkaloids. In terms of root growth and total alkaloid concentration, it did not appear that more optimal growth induced higher concentrations of total root alkaloids, meaning reasonable stress on plant root and shoot growth could possibly promote higher concentrations of total alkaloids. It is also clear that overall roots contain more delta 7 mesembrenone and mesembrenone than shoots, suggesting roots should be harvest for extracting these molecules specifically. In most cases high results of delta 7 mesembrenone in roots also had similar amounts of mesembrenone, however certain treatments resulted in higher concentrations of the former and the latter, therefore their similar molecular structure does not always permit similar manifestation in the plant material. Overall this study has found that S. tortuosum is suitable for cultivation in hydroponics, and that soilless media, fertigation regimes as well as soilless media in conjunction with fertigation regimes affected the vegetative growth and alkaloid concentration of S. tortuosum. This research has shown that some soilless media and fertigation regime treatments had more desirable results in terms of vegetative growth and/or alkaloid concentration of the plant.

Ingestion of endophyte infected (E+) fescue by pregnant mares can cause significant reproductive problems. Plateau® and Cimarron® herbicides suppress fescue while leaving desired forages unharmed. To determine if these herbicides are harmful to pregnant mares, they were allowed to graze pastures treated with Plateau®, Cimarron®, or vehicle carrier. Pregnancies were monitored via ultrasonography, blood chemistry, and hematology. Of the components measured only creatinine differed among treatments over time (P=0.0003) and that increase was only significant in one of four studies. Two additional experiments were conducted to determine the effect of the herbicides on alkaloids within E+ fescue. A greenhouse experiment utilizing 52 pots of E+ fescue treated with Plateau®, Cimarron®, or nothing was inconclusive, as some alkaloids increased while others decreased. These results indicated that UV light may be required for normal plant death. In a field experiment 12 plots of mixed vegetation were sprayed with the same treatments, and herbicides decreased ergovaline, N-formylloline, and lysergic acid content (P=0.0460, P=0.0324, P=0.0093 respectively). In conclusion, the herbicides did not alter blood components outside physiological norms, but the alkaloids were still present in dying E+ fescue. It may be safest to remove late gestation mares until E+ fescue is completely decayed.

Three mathematical models, two of primary alkaline battery cathode discharge, and one of primary alkaline battery discharge, are developed, presented, solved and investigated in this thesis. The primary aim of this work is to improve our understanding of the complex, interrelated and nonlinear processes that occur within primary alkaline batteries during discharge. We use perturbation techniques and Laplace transforms to analyse and simplify an existing model of primary alkaline battery cathode under galvanostatic discharge. The process highlights key phenomena, and removes those phenomena that have very little effect on discharge from the model. We find that electrolyte variation within Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide (EMD) particles is negligible, but proton diffusion within EMD crystals is important. The simplification process results in a significant reduction in the number of model equations, and greatly decreases the computational overhead of the numerical simulation software. In addition, the model results based on this simplified framework compare well with available experimental data. The second model of the primary alkaline battery cathode discharge simulates step potential electrochemical spectroscopy discharges, and is used to improve our understanding of the multi-reaction nature of the reduction of EMD. We find that a single-reaction framework is able to simulate multi-reaction behaviour through the use of a nonlinear ion-ion interaction term. The third model simulates the full primary alkaline battery system, and accounts for the precipitation of zinc oxide within the separator (and other regions), and subsequent internal short circuit through this phase. It was found that an internal short circuit is created at the beginning of discharge, and this self-discharge may be exacerbated by discharging the cell intermittently. We find that using a thicker separator paper is a very effective way of minimising self-discharge behaviour. The equations describing the three models are solved numerically in MATLABR, using three pieces of numerical simulation software. They provide a flexible and powerful set of primary alkaline battery discharge prediction tools, that leverage the simplified model framework, allowing them to be easily run on a desktop PC.

Three mathematical models, two of primary alkaline battery cathode discharge, and one of primary alkaline battery discharge, are developed, presented, solved and investigated in this thesis. The primary aim of this work is to improve our understanding of the complex, interrelated and nonlinear processes that occur within primary alkaline batteries during discharge. We use perturbation techniques and Laplace transforms to analyse and simplify an existing model of primary alkaline battery cathode under galvanostatic discharge. The process highlights key phenomena, and removes those phenomena that have very little effect on discharge from the model. We find that electrolyte variation within Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide (EMD) particles is negligible, but proton diffusion within EMD crystals is important. The simplification process results in a significant reduction in the number of model equations, and greatly decreases the computational overhead of the numerical simulation software. In addition, the model results based on this simplified framework compare well with available experimental data. The second model of the primary alkaline battery cathode discharge simulates step potential electrochemical spectroscopy discharges, and is used to improve our understanding of the multi-reaction nature of the reduction of EMD. We find that a single-reaction framework is able to simulate multi-reaction behaviour through the use of a nonlinear ion-ion interaction term. The third model simulates the full primary alkaline battery system, and accounts for the precipitation of zinc oxide within the separator (and other regions), and subsequent internal short circuit through this phase. It was found that an internal short circuit is created at the beginning of discharge, and this self-discharge may be exacerbated by discharging the cell intermittently. We find that using a thicker separator paper is a very effective way of minimising self-discharge behaviour. The equations describing the three models are solved numerically in MATLABR, using three pieces of numerical simulation software. They provide a flexible and powerful set of primary alkaline battery discharge prediction tools, that leverage the simplified model framework, allowing them to be easily run on a desktop PC.

Ce travail a porté sur une étude physico-chimique de trois séries de tensioactifs fluores non ioniques: c#mf#2#m+#lch#2(oc#2h#4)#noh, hc#mf#2#mch#2(oc#2h#4)#4oh et c#mf#2#m#+#lch#2c(o)n (c#2h#4o)ch#3#2. Les phases lamellaires des systèmes fluorés dans l'eau sont beaucoup plus stables que celles des systèmes hydrogénés. La substitution d'un atome de fluor terminal de la chaine hydrophobe par un atome d'hydrogène limite la solubilité de ces tensioactifs dans l'eau. Au point de vue nicellisation cette substitution correspond à une diminution du nombre de cf#2 d'un motif. La présence de 10 carbones fluorés dans la chaine hydrophobe provoque la formation de phases gels dans l'eau. D'une façon générale, l'étude structurale détaillée a montré que l'épaisseur des chaines fluorées dans les phases lamellaires correspond au 2/3 de celle d'une chaine étirée. Dans la phase lamellaire le volume molaire partiel des tensio-actifs dans l'eau ne se contracte que de 2% par rapport aux tensioactifs purs. Par ailleurs la mesure de viscosité des tensioactifs dans l'eau montre qu'au voisinage d'un point de trouble de 1% les micelles sont allongées tandis qu'elles sont globulaires au voisinage d'un point de trouble de 10%

Des lipopeptides amphipathes ont ete synthetises : suivant la methode utilisee. On obtient des lipsamino-acides ou des lipopeptides ; etude par diffraction x, proprietes tensio-actives, pouvoir emulsifiant. Par le test d'hemolyse, il a ete montre que certains lipopeptides ont une hemocompatibilite similaire a celles des meilleurs tensio-actifs bicatenaires

L'objectif de cette these est la mise au point d'une methode d'etherification en serie osidique et l'etude des proprietes des molecules amphiphiles ainsi synthetisees. La methode d'etherification proposee est une methode indirecte qui se deroule en deux etapes: une iodation selective des positions primaires des derives osidiques est effectuee et les derives iodes obtenus sont alkyles a l'aide d'un hypochlorite d'alkyle. Cette methode nous a permis de synthetiser differents ethers osidiques tels que les methyl 6-o-methyl-, 6-o-ethyl-, 6-o-hexyl-, 6-o-octyl-, 6-o-benzyl-a-d-glucopyranoside. Toutes ces molecules sont obtenues avec de bons rendements (de l'ordre de 75%) et sont caracterisees par resonance magnetique nucleaire du proton et du carbone. Cette methode d'alkylation appliquee aux cyclodextrines a permis de synthetiser les per (6-o-methyl)-a- et -b-cyclodextrines avec de bons rendements (environ 70%). Le mecanisme et les limitations de cette methode sont discutes. Les proprietes des derives obtenus ont ensuite ete etudiees. La concentration micellaire critique du methyl 6-o-octyl-a-d-glucopyranoside a ete mesuree (10 mm). En ce qui concerne les cyclodextrines, les proprietes de complexation de la per (6-o-methyl)-b-cyclodextrine avec deux composes modeles hydrophobes (le paranitrophenol et l'anthraquinone 2-sulfonate de sodium) ont ete etudiees par resonance magnetique nucleaire. Afin de mener a bien ces etudes, la sequence 1d-cosy, technique selective de resonance magnetique nucleaire, a ete mise au point. En particulier, nous avons etudie la determination theorique et experimentale d'un des parametres de cette sequence, le delai d efficace, particulierement important dans les sequences 1d selectives. Ces constantes de complexation sont de 500 m#-#1 a 323 k pour le complexe avec le paranitrophenol et de 2000 m#-#1 pour le complexe avec l'anthraquinone 2-sulfonate de sodium

Récupération du baryum à partir du milieu aqueux par flottation ionique utilisant des alkylbenzène-sulfonates de sodium. Récupération du gallium, par flottation ionique en utilisant des alkylsulfates de sodium en milieu acide, et des collecteurs à fonction oxine en milieu basique

碩士<br>國立交通大學<br>分子醫學與生物工程研究所<br>105<br>Carbon is the fundamental element of the living system, and carbon dioxide (CO2) is the source of carbon for microalgae. Previous studies indicate that the relatively high CO2 concentration with high microalgal biomass productivity. However, it is too expensive to construct gas line in large scale microalgae pond. The microalgae growth can be provided by exhaust gases (flue gases) from industrial plants, which significantly increases the biomass productivity and the CO2 bioavailability for algae, and it is conducive to carbon capture and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the CO2 concentration of flue gases is very high (10~30%), a lot of CO2 is too late to be absorbed by water and easy escape into the environment, so the CO2 bioavailability is extremely low. Therefore, it is essential to develop a system that has high efficient absorb CO2 from exhaust gas, then there is no need to lay a large number of gas pipelines, and also can absorb CO2 with culture medium to provide microalgae growth, the system will be effectively applied to large-scale farming microalgae. This study investigates alkaline medium could absorption more CO2 concentration and provides the technique to promote microalgae biomass productivity in large-scale cultivation. Present study enhances the CO2 retaining capacity of microalgae alkaline culture medium by the addition of NaOH. Microalgae absorb carbon source directly from the dissolved CO2 or HCO3- in the culture medium. Our data showed that microalgae culture medium capture 226, 507, 677, 903, 1100, 1214, and 3195 ppm CO2 by addition of 0 (pH 6), 0.005 (pH 7), 0.01 (pH 8), 0.015 (pH 9), 0.02 (pH 10), 0.025 (pH 11), and 0.06 M (pH 12) M NaOH. Moreover, the microalgae were incubated in a different concentrations (0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.0125, 0.02, 0.025, and 0.06 M) NaOH medium, as a result, the higher the concentration of NaOH capture higher concentration of CO2 to improve the biomass productivity (0.29, 0.40, 0.46, 0.48, 0.51, 0.54, and 0.55 g L-1 day-1). In addition, the microalgae grows in a high pH environment for a long time will be inhibited with intermittent CO2 aeration culture in alkaline medium. In order to improve the microalgae biomass productivity in alkaline medium systems, an alkaline-tolerance Chlorella sp. HPT mutant strain was screened by wild-type Chlorella sp. of NTG mutagenesis. Chlorella sp. HPT could grow well in pH 8~11 medium with air aeration and the mutant microalgae had better alkali resistance compared to the original microalgae Chlorella sp. wild type at pH 10. When microalgal cells were cultured in pH 10 medium, the maximum biomass productivity of Chlorella sp. HPT was higher approximately 2-fold than wild-type Chlorella sp. for 7-days cultivation. Then the mutant microalgae Chlorella sp. HPT was used in alkaline culture medium system. At intermittent CO2 aeration for 30 min at 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours the pH of medium was gradually close to 10 and Chlorella sp. HPT also could grow well in these alkaline culture medium, and the biomass productivity was higher than the Chlorella sp. wild type. When Chlorella sp. HPT aerated with 10% CO2 continuously and 10% CO2 intermittently for 30 min at 3 hours interval indoor semi-continuous cultivation with 3-day replacement for a period of 21 days, the average biomass concentration and biomass productivity of Chlorella sp. HPT were 5.08 and 4.35 g L-1, and 0.878 and 0.726 g L-1 day-1, respectively. For a period of 21 days outdoor semi-continuous cultivation with 7-day replacement, the average biomass concentration and average biomass productivity of Chlorella sp. HPT aerated with CO2 continuously and intermittently during the daytime were 2.13 and 1.87 g L-1, and 0.195 and 0.163 g L-1 day-1, respectively. The results demonstrate that a stable growth performance of Chlorella sp. HPT could be achieved for long-term microalgal cultivation indoor 1-L PBR and outdoor 60-L PBR in semi-continuous cultivation.

碩士<br>國立成功大學<br>化學工程學系<br>87<br>In this present thesis, the recovery of alkaline lipase from Acinetobacter radiaresistens by adsorption was investigated. It was found that the hydrophobic adsorbent of Accurrel MP1000 would not effectively adsorb enzyme under the conditions of weak ionic strength. With Celite 535 as the adsorbent, the concentration and pH of the phosphate buffer might effect the enzyme adsorption. However, the further addition of salts to the phosphate buffer would not improve the enzyme recovery due to the existing ions in the solution. Adding salts to RO water enhance the enzyme adsorption, in which 100 mM (NH4)Cl was found to give the highest lipase activity and protein recovery with 1.65-fold purification. The surface charge of Celite 535 in RO water was found to be negative from the zeta potential measurement. Although salts did effect the zeta potential of Celite 535, no correspondence between the changes of zeta potential and enzyme adsorption was observed. This implied that electrostatic interaction force between Celite 535 and lipase was not the predominate factor during the protein adsorption. Compared to the adsorption, a higher overall protein recovery without purification effects was found when using the precipitation method of adding acetone into the aqueous solution. With the acetone volume percentage higher than 52.4 %, more than 85 % recovery of lipase activity and protein were obtained. Moreover, adding Celite 535 to the precipitation solution would not improve the recovery such that the adsorb just acted as a dispersant and filler.

碩士<br>國立中山大學<br>海洋生物科技暨資源學系研究所<br>94<br>The objectives of this study were to investigate the difference and interaction of mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) among fish species and tissues. In addition, by comparing with the detected concentrations in other regions, it would be possible to evaluate the pollution status. In the meanwhile, this study analyzed the edibility of the fish, the interaction between Hg and Se as well as their impacts on fish growth. Ten species of fish, including tenpounder (Elops machnata), fourlined terapon (Pelates quadrilineatus), whipfin silverbiddy (Gerres filamentosus), common ponyfish (Leiognathus equulus), Hamilton''s thryssa (Thryssa hamiltonii), tilapia (Orechromis niloticus), western Pacific gizzard shad (Nematalosa come), large-scaled mullet (Liza macrolepis), flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus) and milkfish (Chanos chanos), and 20 sediment samples were collected from September to October of 2003 at the reservoir adjacent to a chlor-alkali plant, which had been abandoned for 22 years in Tainan City. Total mercury (THg) and organic mercury (OHg) concentrations were determined in fish muscles, livers, kidneys, gonads, gills and sediment samples. Besides, Se concentrations were also analyzed in fish muscles and livers. Concentrations (mg/kg dry wt.) of THg and OHg in sediment were 43.2±23.4(mean±sd) and 0.013±0.008, respectively. THg, OHg and Se concentrations (mg/kg wet wt.) in fish muscles were 0.432±0.360, 0.305±0.206 and 0.126±0.030, similar to the concentrations in other chlor-alkali polluted regions. With the diet habit of Taiwanese, the Hg concentrations of muscles in the seven fish species exceeded the limit of Hg which was allowed to be consumed by humans. THg and OHg concentrations in the fish muscles showed significant species difference. Obviously, the concentrations in carnivorous fishes were higher than those in omnivorous and herbivorous fishes. The OHg concentrations of fish livers and kidneys were highest in carnivorous fishes, but the THg concentrations were higher in omnivorous fishes than in that of carnivorous and herbivorous fishes. Besides, Se concentrations in fish muscles and livers also showed significant species difference, but did not show relation with the feeding habit of fishes. The Hg levels among fish tissues were highest in livers or kidneys, followed by gonads and muscles, lowest in gills. Generally speaking, Se levels were higher in livers than in muscles. The liver THg concentrations of tilapia reached 10 mg/kg wet wt. Their muscle THg concentrations decreased suddenly and maintained at a level about 0.4 mg/kg wet wt. Meanwhile, the liver inorganic Hg and Se concentrations increased with fish weight, while the liver OHg concentrations did not show such a trend but stay at a low level. High Hg concentrations in the fish tissues resulted in adverse effects on fish health. High Hg concentrations in muscles and livers caused heptasomatic index to decrease in western Pacific gizzard shad and milkfish, and condition factor declined in tilipia. Moreover, gonasomatic index remained low while the Hg concentrations of muscles, livers and gonads reached a threshold, which suggested that the growth of those fishes was likely inhibited in Hg polluted environment.

碩士<br>國立成功大學<br>化學工程學系<br>87<br>Acinetobacter radioresistens, a Gram-negative bacterium isolated from wastewater sludge, produces an extracellular lipase with the properties of absorption at air-water interface. In this study, we try recovering foam by semicontinuous foam-recovery fermentation to separate the lipase from the fermentation system to decrease the lipase concentration for keeping the production of lipase, while reaching the goal of raising the total production, separating the lipase and concentrating it. From the investigation, we found the semicontinuous foam-recovery fermentation not only maintains cells produce lipase but also recovers high-activity lipase from fermentor continually. Consequently, it obtains the effect of producing and concentrating lipase at the same time. Additionally, the best condition of semicontinuous foam-recovery fermentation is to add 0.3﹪gum arabic with basic medium in fermentor and feed 5.0﹪gum arabic with 15 fold basic medium .We can get the recovery of lipase above 50﹪.

The application of municipal sewage biosolids to agricultural land is a common practice worldwide. Increasing attention is being directed at the presence of organic contaminants bound to the organic phase during wastewater treatment, which end up in the biosolids. The goal of this study was to investigate the decomposition of an alkaline-stabilized biosolid being used as an agricultural soil amendment containing unknown organic contaminants. A two year field trial and a 120 day laboratory soil incubation using increasing rates (0, 7, 14, 28, and 42 Mg ha-1) of an alkaline-stabilized biosolid (ASB) were set up to monitor biosolid decomposition and concentrations of selected contaminants over time. The seven contaminants selected for monitoring (p-cresol, indole, 4-t-octylphenol, phenanthrene, triclosan, carbamazepine, and benzo[a]pyrene) represent a wide range of physico-chemical properties and fall under several different chemical classes. The decomposition of ASB in soil was examined in the incubation study. Almost half of the CO2-C evolved from ASB amended soils occurred within the first 6 days, indicating that a relatively labile pool of carbon remains in ASB following the sewage treatment process. By day 121, between 71 to 78% of the total carbon added to soil had been evolved as CO2-C. A new model developed during this study to describe carbon mineralization, a first order plus logistic function (FLOG), performed better than other commonly used models. The method chosen to analyze organic contaminants in soil was only able to determine four out of seven compounds reliably, with recoveries greater than 50% for 4-t-octylphenol, phenanthrene, triclosan, and benzo[a]pyrene. In treated soils, only triclosan was able to be detected and quantified. Average triclosan concentration in the incubation study ranged from a high of 143 ng g-1 on day 3 to a low of 26 ng g-1 by day 121, representing an 81% decrease over a roughly 4 month period under idealized conditions. In the field, triclosan concentrations following a Fall biosolids application in Oct. 2008 increased to detectable levels (29 to 47 ng g-1) in all three plots measured in Nov. 2008, which remained elevated (29 to 66 ng g-1) over the winter period in two out of three plots when sampled in May 2009. Following the Spring application in June 2009, measured triclosan concentrations in July 2009 samples from these same two plots were lower than predicted (33 to 48 ng g-1) and eventually decreased to levels below the detection limit by the Oct. 2009 sampling.

Endophytes live in partial symbiosis inside a plant and have been detected in all tested plants. They belong to the group of fungi or bacteria and their ecological function is mostly unknown. The fungal endophytes of the genus Epichloë belong to a special group of endophytes. Epichloë endophytes live symbiotically inside cool season grass species and some of them are able to produce alkaloids toxic to vertebrates and insects. Their symbiosis is seen as mutualistic for the following reasons: the fungus provides the plant herbivore resistance by producing alkaloids, and it increases the plant’s drought tolerance as well as its biomass production. In return, the grass provides the fungus shelter, nutrients and dispersal. Epichloë endophytes are host specific and the ability to produce alkaloids differs between species. In order to estimate intoxication risks in grasslands, it is necessary to detect infection rates of different grass species with Epichloë endophytes, and to determine the genotypes and chemotypes of the Epichloë species as well as the produced alkaloid concentrations. Factors like land-use intensity or season may have an influence on infection rates and alkaloid concentrations. Also, different methodological approaches may lead to different results. In this doctoral thesis my general aim was to evaluate intoxication risks in German grasslands caused by Epichloë endophytes. For that I investigated infection rates of different grass species and the genotypes and chemotypes of their Epichloë endophytes in German grasslands (Chapter II). Furthermore, I compared alkaloid concentrations detected with dry and fresh plant weight and different analytical methods. I also detected possible changes on the influence of season or land-use intensity (Chapter III). Additionally, I examined infections with Epichloë endophytes and alkaloid concentrations in commercially available grass seed mixtures and determined how that influences the intoxication risk of grazing animals in Europe (Chapter IV). It is of agricultural interest to estimate intoxication risks for grazing livestock on German grasslands due to Epichloë infected grass species. Therefore, it is important to investigate which grasses are infected with the Epichloë endophyte, if the endophytes have the ability to produce vertebrate and invertebrate toxic alkaloids and if the alkaloids are indeed produced. I showed that Epichloë festucae var. lolii infecting agriculturally important Lolium perenne lacked the starting gene for ergovaline biosynthesis. Hence, vertebrate toxic ergovaline was not detected in the majority of the collected L. perenne plants. The detection of alkaloid concentrations is an important tool to estimate intoxication risk for vertebrates, but also invertebrates. My studies showed that the usage of dry plant material is crucial to quantify the correct alkaloid concentrations, and that alkaloid concentrations can vary depending on the detection method. Hence, the usage of validated, similar detection methods is important to be able to compare alkaloid concentrations from different studies. Nevertheless, the trends of seasonal changes and the influence of land-use intensity stayed the same, regardless if dry or fresh plant weight was used. Also, alkaloid concentrations were below toxicity thresholds on population level, regardless of the method used. Two commercially available forage grass and two commercially available turf grass seed mixtures were infected with Epichloë endopyhtes and alkaloids were detected. This might contribute to the spreading of Epichloë endopyhtes in Germany, therefore seed mixtures should be tested for Epichloë infections. My results indicate that the intoxication risk is generally low in Germany at the moment, although that might change due to climate change, an increase of monocultural land-use, or the seeding of Epichloë infected grass seeds<br>Endophyten leben, zumindest zeitweise, symbiontisch in Pflanzen und sind bisher in allen untersuchten Pflanzen nachgewiesen worden. Es handelt sich dabei um Pilze oder Bakterien und ihre ökologische Funktion ist meistens unbekannt. Eine spezielle Gruppe der Endophyten sind Pilzendophyten der Gattung Epichloë. Diese leben symbiontisch innerhalb von kaltgemäßigten Grasarten und einige sind in der Lage vertebraten- und/oder insektentoxische Alkaloide herzustellen. Die Symbiose wird meist als mutualistisch bezeichnet, weil der Pilz der Pflanze einen Herbivorenschutz durch die Produktion der Alkaloide und eine gesteigerte Trockenresistenz und Biomassesteigerung bietet. Das Gras hingegen bietet dem Pilz Unterkunft, Nährstoffe und Verbreitung. Epichloë Endophyten sind wirtsspezifisch und die Fähigkeit Alkaloide zu produzieren schwankt zwischen den Arten. Um das Vergiftungsrisiko im Grünland einzuschätzen, ist es nötig Infektionsraten verschiedener Grasarten mit Epichloë Endophyten, die Geno- und Chemotypen der Epichloë Arten, und die produzierten Alkaloidkonzentrationen zu bestimmen. Faktoren wie Landnutzungsintensität oder die Jahreszeit können Infektionsraten und Alkaloidkonzentrationen beeinflussen. Ebenso können Alkaloidkonzentrationen von methodischen Faktoren abhängen. In dieser Doktorarbeit habe ich Infektionsraten verschiedener Grasarten in Deutschland und die Geno- und Chemotypen ihrer Epichloë Endophyten untersucht (Kapitel II). Außerdem habe ich Alkaloidkonzentrationen mit Frisch- bzw. Trockengewicht gemessen und mit verschiedenen analytischen Methoden verglichen, um mögliche Änderungen beim Einfluss von Jahreszeiten oder der Landnutzungsintensität zu detektieren. Des Weiteren habe ich das Vergiftungsrisiko auf deutschen Grasflächen abgeschätzt (Kapitel III). Zusätzlich habe ich kommerziell erhältliche Grassaatgutmischungen auf Epichloë Infektionen und Alkaloidgehalt untersucht und habe versucht einzuschätzen, wie sich das auf das Vergiftungsrisiko von Weidevieh in Europa auswirkt (Kapitel IV). Die Einschätzung von Vergiftungsrisiken für Weidevieh aufgrund von Epichloë infizierten Grasarten auf deutschen Graslandflächen ist von landwirtschaftlichem Interesse. Deshalb ist es wichtig zu untersuchen, welche Grasarten mit Epichloë Endophyten infiziert sind, ob der Endophyt in der Lage ist vertebraten- oder insektentoxische Alkaloide zu produzieren und ob diese tatsächlich produziert werden. Ich konnte zeigen, dass Epichloë festucae var. lolii, welches das landwirtschaflich wichtige Lolium perenne infiziert, das Startgen für die Ergovalinbiosynthese fehlt. Deshalb wurde das vertebraten-toxische Ergovalin in der Mehrheit der gesammelten L. perenne Pflanzen nicht nachgewiesen. Die Detektion von Alkaloidkonzentrationen ist ein wichtiges Werkzeug, um das Vergiftungsrisiko für Vertebraten aber auch Invertebraten einschätzen zu können. Ich konnte zeigen, dass die Verwendung von trockenem Pflanzenmaterial essenziell ist, um korrekte Alkaloidkonzentrationen zu quantifizieren und dass Alkaloidkonzentrationen in Abhängigkeit von der Detektionsmethode schwanken können. Deshalb ist die Verwendung von validierten, ähnlichen Detektionsmethoden wichtig, um die Alkaloidkonzentrationen von verschiedenen Studien vergleichen zu können. Dennoch blieben die jahreszeitlichen Trends und der Einfluss von Landnutzungsintensität gleich, egal ob Trocken- oder Frischgewicht der Pflanze verwendet wurde und Alkaloidkonzentrationen lagen unter der Toxizitätsschwelle auf Populationsebene. Ich konnte außerdem zeigen, dass zwei kommerziell erwerbliche Futtergrasmischungen, sowie zwei Rasengrasmischungen mit Epichloë Endophyten infiziert waren und auch Alkaloide detektiert werden konnten. Das könnte zu einer weiteren Ausbreitung von Epichloë-Endophyten in Deutschland beitragen, weshalb Saatgutmischungen auf Epichloë Infektionen getestet werden sollten. Meine Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Vergiftungsrisiko in Deutschland im Moment generell eher niedrig ist. Allerdings kann sich das auf Grund von Klimawandel, zunehmenden Monokulturen in der Landnutzung, aber auch der Aussaat von Epichloë infiziertem Saatgut ändern

碩士<br>國立東華大學<br>體育與運動科學系<br>106<br>Purpose：This study aims at exploring the influence of drinking alkaline electrolyzed water on uric acid concentration after high intensity interavl exercise. Methods：Nine healthy university male students were selected to perform high intensity interavl exercise by riding cycle ergometer, and drank alkaline electrolyzed water or pure water after the exercise. The blood samples were collected before the exercise, right after the exercise, and one hour, two hours, twenty-four hours after the exercise. The urine samples were collected before the exercise, right after the exercise, and one hour, two hours after the exercise. Serum uric acid (SUA) , Urine rine acid(UUA), Creatinine(Cre), and Lactate Dehydrogenase(LDH) were examined by biochemical tests. Data were analyzed by SPSS 14.0 nonparametric methods with the statistical significance set at .05 . Conclusions：The effects of drinking alkaline electrolyzed water and pure water were statistically significant( p < .05) on all time points. The highest SUA were found an hour after intensity interavl exercise, and gradually decreased afterwards. There was a decrease in UUA excretion after intensity interavl exercise. Although immediate influences were found on Cre and LDH, they, however, both resumed to normal levels twenty-four hours after the exercise. Our findings also indicated that drinking alkaline electrolyzed water and pure water showed no significant effects ( p > .05) on all physiological data.

碩士<br>元智大學<br>化學工程學系<br>93<br>Abstract Printed circuit board (PCB) production in Taiwan is currently ranked No. 3 worldwide, next only to the US and Japan. The PCB production is complex involves a number of specialty chemicals and materials, leading to many waste solid and liquid pollutants being discarded. Typical waste liquid solutions of a PCB plant from the etching processes contain high concentrations of many heavy metals, including copper, lead, nickel, etc. Disposal of these etching waste solutions is not easy and is usually done out of site by professional agencies. The purpose of this research is to investigate the feasibility of utilizing the acidic and alkaline etching solutions for copper recovery. Three sets of experimental tests were performed in the present research. The first set was to test the neutralization process using alkaline and acid or acidic solutions. These tests focused on the pH optimization for maximum copper recovery. The test results indicated that very high copper recovery over 98% can be achieved as a solid product. Using ammonium chloride, the residual solution could be properly adjusted for recycle for etching reuse. In the second test set, acidic etching solution was neutralized using sodium hydroxide at various pHs and temperatures. The recovered copper first appeared as copper hydroxide which was then converted copper oxide. In the first test set, the residual solution still contained a significant amount of copper. It could be adjusted for ammonium context for recycle as etching agent. However, in the third test set, attempt was made to further recover the remaining copper in the residual solution by utilizing sodium chloride neutralization. Operating under the conditions of pH 12 and 95oC, the copper content in the residual waste solution could be further reduced from about 2,000 mg/l to below 1 mg/l, enabling discharge standard of the treated waste solution.

碩士<br>國立中山大學<br>海洋地質及化學研究所<br>99<br>In this study, concentrations of organic biomarkers of core MD012404, recovered from central part of the Okinawa Trough, were analyzed, included of unsaturated alkenones and n-alkanes, for reconstructing paleoenviromental and paleoclimatic records for the past 100,000 years. The unsaturated alkenone index of Uk′37 were calculated for reconstructing past variations of sea surface temperature (SST) in the East Chna Sea (ECS). Through the past 100,000 years, our record revealed that the varied pattern of paleo-SSTs of the ECS was mainly reflecting Interglacial/Glacial cycles. This result indicates that the enhanced East Asian winter monsoon which is induced by the changing orbital forcing is the dominant controlling factor to influence the hydrological conditions in the ECS. Otherwise, except of the warming event of Bølling-Allerød and cooling event of Younger Dryas, no obviously cooling trends were observed in the record indicating that the Uk′37 based SST was not sensitive to the millennial-scaled climate events. This may be caused by the slow response of the SST to the millennial-sclaed events. The concentrations of unsaturated alkenones reconstructed in this study can represent to the surface productivity of the ECS. Our record shows that the values are higher in glacial period than in interglacial period. The higher productivity observed in glacial period may result from the wind-driven water mixing. Therefore, the well-mixing of surface and subsurface water thus can supply higher nutrients upto the surface water than induce the higher productivity in glacial period in the ECS. However, a more complicated pattern is found in MIS 5, the unsaturated alkenones have extremely high values in this interval which is different to the Holocene even though that the climatic conditions and global sea level are similar in these two periods. These high values may be caused by either higher surface production or well preservation, which results from the pool ventilation in the ECS. In addition, distributed pattern of n-alkanes can represent to the possible sources of organic materials and vegetation changes on land. Our record shows that n-C31 alkane is dominant in n-alkanes, and the distribution pattern of n-alkanes (C31 > C29 > C33 > C27 > C25 ) is similar to the sediments discovered on the continental shelf of ECS and the estuary of the Changjiang River and is different with the sediments from the Lanyang Hsi River. This fact indicates that the organic materials buried in sediments of the Okinawa Trough are mainly contribute from the ECS continental shelf and the Changjiang River is serves as the main contributor of terrestrial sediments in the study region. Our calculated Carbon preference index (CPI) indicates that terrigenous orangic matters are less influenced by degradation and diagenesis in glacial period, especially during LGM, and the changing pattern is highly correlated with the global sea level changes. Lower sea level observed in glacial period shorten the transporting distance of sediments from the Changjiang River to the Okinawa Trough thus causes more terrestrial inputs and deposits in the Okinawa Trough.

碩士<br>國立臺灣大學<br>臨床牙醫學研究所<br>105<br>Patients with RA are at high risk for vertebral fractures (VF). Higher serum concentrations of non-hepatic alkaline phosphatase (NHALP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Nonetheless, no epidemiological study in RA patients has been conducted to investigate the interaction and joint effect of NHALP and CRP on VF. We analyzed 507 patients diagnosed with RA (ICD-9 codes: ICD-9-CM codes: 714.0, 714.2, 714.30–714.33 ) from January 2006 to June 2017 from hospital databanks. Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of VF were calculated for different categories of serum NHALP and CRP using the Cox regression model. The modification effect between serum NHALP and CRP on VF was determined using an interaction product term. Higher serum concentrations of NHALP (NHALP>150U/L) and CRP (>3.0mg/dL) were associated with incremental risks of VF (aHR: 1.8 [95% confidence intervals (CIs): 1.1-2.7] and 1.9 [95% CI: 1.3-2.8] compared to the lowest HR category, respectively). The interaction between NHALP and CRP on VF events was statistically significant (p<0.05). In the stratified analysis, patients with combined highest serum NHALP and CRP had the greatest risk (aHR: 3.6 [95% CI: 1.5-7.6]) compared to the lowest HR group (NHALP < 80 U/L and CRP < 1mg/dL). Our study indicates higher serum concentrations of NHALP and CRP are valuable predictors of VF and interact to increase the risk of VF in RA patients. Combined NHALP and CRP could serve as a useful surrogate marker of VF in RA patients.