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Chemical weathering is a pivotal geochemical process that shapes the carbon cycling and climates in the critical zone. Among its critical drivers, river discharge holds a particular significance, especially in the orogenic landscapes. Here, we examined the impact of discharge on mineral weathering in southwestern (SW) Taiwan by analyzing river water chemistry across a wide discharge range. Current observations indicated that carbonate contributes significantly to total weathering (50-80 %), with sulfuric acid accounting for one-half to two-thirds of carbonate weathering. A statistically strong correlation between river discharge and sulfuric acid-mediated carbonate weathering was highlighted, while the silicate weathering remained constant. This relationship suggests an increased influx of fresh minerals, such as pyrite, into the weathering regime as water flow increases. Our model identifies a critical discharge threshold of 4.6 m 3  s -1 , determining whether mineral weathering acts as a net source or sink of CO 2 . Consequently, mineral weathering in SW Taiwan acts as a net CO 2 sink during dry periods but turns into a net source during wet periods. Through analyzing a decade of daily discharge data, we found mineral weathering in SW Taiwan is a net CO 2 source, with a 2.6-fold increase in annual mean discharge causing a 3.8-fold increase in net CO 2 flux. This pattern is likely to be applicable to other similar minerals containing mountain-building regions, highlighting the significant role of hydrology in determining weathering sources and their potential impact on the carbon cycle balance., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Hou-Chun Liu reports financial support was provided by National Science and Technology Council. Chen-Feng You reports financial support was provided by National Science and Technology Council. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The association between clay minerals and organic carbon is pivotal for understanding transport, burial, and preservation processes of sedimentary organic carbon. However, fine-scale microscopic studies are still limited in assessing the effect of diverse clay mineral structures and properties on organic carbon sequestration. In this study, we employed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy analyses to investigate the nanoscale interaction between clay minerals and organic carbon of two typical fluvial sediment samples with contrasting clay mineral compositions and organic carbon origins. Sample from Taiwan shows abundant illite and chlorite with petrogenic organic carbon, while sample from Luzon has significant smectite with pedogenic organic carbon. We observed that the nanostructure of the clay minerals controls the distribution of organic carbon. In the Luzon sample, the organic carbon is tightly associated with smectite, occupying expandable interlayer spaces. In the Taiwan sample, however, the organic carbon is primarily confined on the surface and edge of illite. These findings offer valuable insights into the selective association of organic carbon with clay minerals and underscore the role of clay mineral nanolayer structures in governing the occurrence and preservation of organic carbon in sediments. A comprehensive understanding of these interactions is crucial for accurate assessments of carbon cycling and sequestration in the natural environment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Human health risk and phytoremediation of potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in the edible vegetables have been widely discussed recently. This study aimed to determine the concentrations of four PTMs, namely Cd, Fe, Ni, and Zn) in Amaranthus viridis (leaves, stems, and roots) collected from 11 sampling sites in Peninsular Malaysia and to assess their human health risk (HHR). In general, the metal levels followed the order: roots > stems > leaves. The metal concentrations (µg/g) in the leaves of A. viridis ranged from 0.45 to 2.18 dry weight (dw) (0.05−0.26 wet weight (ww)), 74.8 to 535 dw (8.97−64.2 ww), 2.02 to 7.45 dw (0.24−0.89 ww), and 65.2 to 521 dw (7.83−62.6 ww), for Cd, Fe, Ni, and Zn, respectively. The positive relationships between the metals, the plant parts, and the geochemical factions of their habitat topsoils indicated the potential of A. viridis as a good biomonitor of Cd, Fe, and Ni pollution. With most of the values of the bioconcentration factor (BCF) > 1.0 and the transfer factor (TF) > 1.0, A. viridis was a very promising phytoextraction agent of Ni and Zn. Additionally, with most of the values of BCF > 1.0 and TF < 1.0, A. viridis was a very promising phytostabiliser of Cd and Fe. With respect to HHR, the target hazard quotients (THQ) for Cd, Fe, Pb, and Zn in the leaves of A. viridis were all below 1.00, indicating there were no non-carcinogenic risks of the four metals to consumers, including children and adults. Nevertheless, routine monitoring of PTMs in Amaranthus farms is much needed.

Human activities due to different land uses are being studied widely in many countries. This study aimed to determine the ecological risks and human health risk assessments (HHRA) of Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, and Zn in the topsoils of six land uses in Peninsular Malaysia. The ranges of the potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in the soils (mg/kg, dry weight) of this study were 0.24-12.43 for Cd (mean: 1.94), 4.66-2363 for Cu (mean: 228), 2576-116,344 for Fe (mean: 32,618), 2.38-75.67 for Ni (mean: 16.04), 7.22-969 for Pb (mean: 115) and 11.03-3820 for Zn (mean: 512). For the ecological risk assessments, the potential ecological risk index (PERI) for single metals indicated that the severity of pollution of the five metals decreased in the following sequence: Cd > Cu > Pb > Zn > Ni. It was found that industry, landfill, rubbish heap, and mining areas were categorized as "very high ecological risk". For HHRA, the land uses of industry, landfill and rubbish heap were found to have higher hazard quotient (HQ) values for the three pathways (with the order: ingestion > dermal contact > inhalation ingestion) of the five metals for children and adults, when compared to the mining, plantation, and residential areas. The values for both the non-carcinogenic (Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn), and carcinogenic risks (CR) for inhalation (Cd and Ni) obtained for children and adults in this study showed no serious adverse health impacts on their health. However, of public concern, the hazard index (HI), for Pb of children at the landfill (L-3) and the rubbish heap (RH-3) sites exceeded 1.0, indicating non-carcinogenic risk (NCR) for children. Therefore, these PERI and HHRA results provided fundamental data for PTMs pollution mitigation and environmental management in areas of different land uses in Peninsular Malaysia.

Source identification of environmental pollutants is critical for pollution prevention and controlling. In this work, Zn isotopic compositions and Zn spatial distribution from headwater to estuary of Erren River (ER) catchments (southern Taiwan) were systematically investigated as a potential source tracer for distinguishing natural weathering and anthropogenic activities. Industrial wastewaters/effluents including leather, printed circuit board (PCB), metal surface treatment (MST), semiconductor wafer (SCW), and electroplating (EP) industries were collected and analyzed as the potential sources of Zn isotopic database. Results implied that MST wastewaters/effluents had the lowest δ 66 Zn values (Zn isotopic composition) in the range of -0.40 to +0.04. Oppositely, high Zn isotopic composition was observed in leather (δ 66 Zn = +0.41 to +0.71) and EP wastewaters/effluents (δ 66 Zn = +0.54 to +1.84). Significantly, the plot of δ 66 Zn versus 1/Zn clearly indicates that riverine Zn isotope in the ER waters (-0.73 to 1.77‰) can be simply explained by at least three end-member mixing which contains EP, MST wastewaters, and natural component. Our data importantly proved that Zn isotopic composition is a powerful tracer for distinguishing different Zn sources of anthropogenic pollution in rivers., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Air pollution resulted from fossil fuel burning has been an environmental issue in developing countries in Asia. Sulfur-bearing compounds, in particular, are species that are regulated and monitored routinely. To assess how the species affect at local and global scales, regional background level has to be defined. Here, we report analysis of sulfur isotopes in atmospheric sulfate, the oxidation end product of sulfur species, in particulate phase collected at the Lulin observatory located at 2862 m above mean sea level in 2010. The averaged sulfate concentration for 44 selected samples is 2.7 ± 2.3 (1-σ standard deviation) μg m -3 , and the averaged δ 34 S is 2.2 ± 1.6‰, with respect to the international standard Vienna Canyon Diablo Troilite. Regardless of the origins of air masses, no noticeable difference between the low-altitude Pacific and high-altitude free troposphere sulfate aerosols is observed. Also, no identifiable seasonal cycle in seen. Correlation analysis with respect to coal burning tracers such as lead and oil industry tracers such as vanadium shows sulfate concentration is in better correlation with vanadium (R 2  = 0.86, p-value < 0.001) than with lead (R 2  = 0.45, p-value < 0.001) but no statistically significant correlation is found in δ 34 S with any of physical quantities measured. We suggest the sulfate collected at Lulin can best represent the regional background level in the Western Pacific, a quantity that is needed in order to quantitatively assess the budget of sulfur in local to country scales.

Radiometric dates of key rock units indicate that a remnant Late Mesozoic ocean of the Huatung Basin is still preserved today east of the South China Sea (SCS). We integrate regional geology with a Cretaceous oceanic basement in the vicinity of the Huatung Basin to reconstruct the Huatung Plate east of the Eurasian continent. Results of geophysical investigations, four expeditions of deep-sea drilling and a renaissance of regional geology allow us to propose a hypothesis that the mechanism responsible for the SCS opening was raised from strike-slip fault on the east. The hypothesis suggests that the SCS opening could highly relate to the strike-slip faults inherited from Late Mesozoic structures onshore-offshore the SE Cathaysia Block to develop rhombic-shaped extensional basins en echelon on the thinned Eurasian continental crust in the Early Cenozoic. It was followed by sinistral strike-slip movements along the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Huatung Plate driven by oblique subduction of the Huatung Plate to the northwest coupled with slab-pull force by southward subduction of the Proto-SCS to open up the triangle-shaped oceanic East Sub-basin in the Early Oligocene (33/34 Ma). The spreading ridge then propagated southwestward in the step-over segment between the Zhongnan-Lile and the Red River strike-slip fault systems to open the triangle-shaped oceanic Southwest Sub-basin by 23 Ma. The plate boundary fault was subsequently converted into the Manila Trench when the Eocene Sierra Madre arc of the Huatung Plate had moved from the south to its present latitude by the Middle Miocene., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of China Science Publishing & Media Ltd.)

Infrequent extreme events such as large earthquakes pose hazards and have lasting impacts on landscapes and biogeochemical cycles. Sediments provide valuable records of past events, but unambiguously identifying event deposits is challenging because of nonlinear sediment transport processes and poor age control. Here, we have been able to directly track the propagation of a tectonic signal into stratigraphy using reservoir sediments from before and after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Cycles in magnetic susceptibility allow us to define a precise annual chronology and identify the timing and nature of the earthquake's sedimentary record. The grain size and Rb/Sr ratio of the sediments responded immediately to the earthquake. However, the changes were muted until 2 years after the event, when intense monsoonal runoff drove accumulation of coarser grains and lower Rb/Sr sediments. The delayed response provides insight into how climatic and tectonic agents interact to control sediment transfer and depositional processes.

This study systematically evaluates Neodymium (Nd) recovery from actual seawaters and wastewater using functionalized magnetic ferrite (3-mercaptopropionic acid-tetraethyl orthosilicate ferrite, MPA-TEOS-ferrite). The recovery of Nd by MPA-TEOS-ferrite displayed an L-shaped nonlinear isotherm, suggesting limiting binding sites on the adsorbent surface. At room temperature, a significant recovery of Nd by MPA-TEOS-ferrite increased from 8.99% to 99.99% with increasing pH (2.89-8.16) and an enhanced maxima Nd recovery capacity was observed on MPA-TEOS-ferrite (25.58 mg/g) when compared with pure ferrite (22.27 mg/g). The L3-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra for the adsorbents collected after Nd recovery indicated that Nd(III) was still the predominant oxidation species on the surface of MPA-TEOS-ferrite. Only slightly change in the oxidation state or electronic structure around the Nd ions could be found during the adsorption process. Importantly, no significant change was found on Nd recovery while the NaCl ionic strength increased from 0.01 to 0.5 N. Furthermore, the results also displayed that the synthesized MPA-TEOS-ferrite has a great potential in efficient and rapid recovery of Nd from seawaters and wastewater.

The present review discusses different mass spectrometric techniques-viz, thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)-used to determine 11 B/ 10 B isotope ratio, and concentration of boron required for various applications in earth sciences, marine geochemistry, nuclear technology, environmental, and agriculture sciences, etc. The details of the techniques-P-TIMS, which uses Cs 2 BO 2 + , N-TIMS, which uses BO 2 - , and MC-ICPMS, which uses B + ions for bulk analysis or B - and B + ions for in situ micro-analysis with SIMS-are highlighted. The capabilities, advantages, limitations, and problems in each mass spectrometric technique are summarized. The results of international interlaboratory comparison experiments conducted at different times are summarized. The certified isotopic reference materials available for boron are also listed. Recent developments in laser ablation (LA) ICPMS and QQQ-ICPMS for solids analysis and MS/MS analysis, respectively, are included. The different aspects of sample preparation and analytical chemistry of boron are summarized. Finally, the future requirements of boron isotope ratios for future applications are also given. Presently, MC-ICPMS provides the best precision and accuracy (0.2-0.4‰) on isotope ratio measurements, whereas N-TIMS holds the potential to analyze smallest amount of boron, but has the issue of bias (+2‰ to 4‰) which needs further investigations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 36:499-519, 2017., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Isotopic compositions of B and Sr in rocks and sediments can be used as tracers for plant provincial sources. This study aims to test whether tea leaf origin can be discriminated using (10)B/(11)B and Sr isotopic composition data, along with concentrations of major/trace elements, in tea specimens collected from major plantation gardens in Taiwan. The tea leaves were digested by microwave and analyzed by multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS). The data showed significant variations in (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios (from 0.70482 to 0.71462), which reflect changes in soil, groundwater or irrigation conditions. The most radiogenic tea leaves were found at the Taitung garden and the least radiogenic ones were from the Hualien garden. The δ (11)B was found to change appreciably (δ (11)B = 0.38-23.73 ‰) which could be due to fertilizers. The maximum δ (11)B was also observed in tea samples from the Hualien garden. Principal component analysis combining (87)Sr/(86)Sr, δ (11)B and major/trace elements results successfully discriminated different sources of major tea gardens in Taiwan, except the Hualien gardens, and this may be due to rather complicated local geological settings.

An efficient method for removing and recovering molybdenum (Mo) from water was developed by using ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles. The Mo adsorption displayed a nonlinear isotherm that fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm, showing limited adsorption sites on the surface of ZnFe2O4. The adsorption of Mo(VI) was dependent on solution pH. With increasing pH, the build-up of negative charges of both adsorbent and adsorbate led to enhanced electric repulsion between them. The K-edge XANES spectra for the adsorbents collected after Mo adsorption revealed that Mo(VI) was the predominant oxidation state sorbed on ZnFe2O4, indicating that the reduction of Mo(VI) did not occur on ZnFe2O4. The different peak positions of k-space and R-space shown in K-edge EXAFS spectra demonstrated that the adsorbed Mo could be bound on the surface or be slipped in the vacancy position of the ZnFe2O4 crystal. Importantly, Mo could be efficiently adsorbed from photoelectric industrial wastewater and these adsorbed Mo anions were rapidly replaced by OH(-) ions, implying the potential for Mo removing and recovering in industrial wastewater., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A protocol for highly accurate and precise determination of Sr isotope ratios in plant materials, (87)Sr/(86)Sr and δ (88/86)Sr, by multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) is presented in this study. An Eichrom Sr resin was used for matrix separation and an improved Zr empirical external normalization coupled with standard-sample bracketing method (Zr EEN-SSB) was applied to mass bias correction during Sr isotope MC-ICP-MS measurements. Potential influences of matrix elements, and polyatomic and isobaric interferences on the Sr isotopic determination were further evaluated using NIST SRM 987 Sr isotopic standard spiked with various amount of Ca, Mg, and Rb contents. Concentrations of Ca and Mg lower than 30 ng g(-1) or Rb < 2 ng g(-1) in 150 ng g(-1) Sr analyte were estimated to have only a minor effect on Sr isotope ratios determination. On the other hand, intensity differences between sample and standards (IntSample/IntStandards) represented a large δ (88/86)Sr deviation of <0.9 or >1.3, reflecting the significance of intensity bias attributed to different mass bias behavior. An apple leaf material, NIST SRM 1515, was adopted as the plant material for overall evaluation of sample digestion, matrix separation, and potential spectral interferences on the measurements of Sr isotope ratios. Our results suggest that the partially remaining organic compounds in the incomplete digestion would have a significant bias on the extraction chromatography procedure, resulting in sizable uncertainty in δ (88/86)Sr ratios. Thus, complete digestion of the organic-enriched materials is of great importance for efficiency assurance in matrix separation. Extraction chromatography works well for the total digested samples, where Ca, Mg, and Rb were efficiently removed. The obtained average (87)Sr/(86)Sr and δ (88/86)Sr values for the NIST SRM 1515 apple leaves are 0.71398 ± 0.00004 and 0.23 ± 0.03‰ (2SD, n = 10), respectively.

Modern acidification by the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 can profoundly affect the physiology of marine organisms and the structure of ocean ecosystems. Centennial-scale global and regional influences of anthropogenic CO2 remain largely unknown due to limited instrumental pH records. Here we present coral boron isotope-inferred pH records for two periods from the South China Sea: AD 1048-1079 and AD 1838-2001. There are no significant pH differences between the first period at the Medieval Warm Period and AD 1830-1870. However, we find anomalous and unprecedented acidification during the 20th century, pacing the observed increase in atmospheric CO2. Moreover, pH value also varies in phase with inter-decadal changes in Asian Winter Monsoon intensity. As the level of atmospheric CO2 keeps rising, the coupling global warming via weakening the winter monsoon intensity could exacerbate acidification of the South China Sea and threaten this expansive shallow water marine ecosystem.

We describe a method for rapid, precise and accurate determination of calcium ion (Ca(2+)) concentration in seawater using isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS). A 10 μL aliquot of seawater was spiked with an appropriate (43)Ca enriched solution for (44)Ca/(43)Ca ID-ICP-MS analyses, using an Element XR (Thermo Fisher Scientific), operated at low resolution in E-scan acquisition mode. A standard-sample bracketing technique was applied to correct for potential mass discrimination and ratio drift at every 5 samples. A precision of better than 0.05% for within-run and 0.10% for duplicate measurements of the IAPSO seawater standard was achieved using 10 μL solutions with a measuring time less than 3 minutes. Depth profiles of seawater samples collected from the Arctic Ocean basin were processed and compared with results obtained by the classic ethylene glycol tetra-acetic acid (EGTA) titration. Our new ID-ICP-MS data agreed closely with the conventional EGTA data, with the latter consistently displaying 1.5% excess Ca(2+) values, possibly due to a contribution of interference from Mg(2+) and Sr(2+) in the EGTA titration. The newly obtained Sr/Ca profiles reveal sensitive water mass mixing in the upper oceanic column to reflect ice melting in the Arctic region. This novel technique provides a tool for seawater Ca(2+) determination with small sample size, high throughput, excellent internal precision and external reproducibility.

Monthly atmospheric deposition was collected in Northeast of Sichuan Province from August 2011 to July 2012. Contents of Na, Mg, Ca, K, Si, Sr, Ba and Zn in weak-acid leachable fraction (with pH values of ca. 2) of the deposition were determined using ICP-MS. The results indicated that the deposition fluxes of all these elements exhibited notable seasonal variations. For example, the deposition flux of Na increased with precipitation, suggesting a dominant derivation from wet deposition; whereas the fluxes of Ca, Ba, Si, Sr and Mg displayed higher values during winter or spring season, suggesting that these elements may be closely associated with atmospheric dust activity. The annual fluxes of these elements were remarkably different in value. Na had the highest flux of 30 497 microg x (10(2) cm2 x a)(-1), more than three orders of magnitude higher than the lowest flux of Ba of 27.4 microg x (10(2) cm2 x a)(-1).

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of using chemical and isotopic compositions of coffee beans to identify their geographic origins. Twenty-one Coffea arabica beans collected from 14 countries in 3 major coffee-producing regions, Africa, America and Asia, were analysed for multi-element of B, Rb, Sr, Ba, Fe, Mn and Zn, as well as isotopic compositions of B and Sr. Our results demonstrate that the geographic origin of coffee beans could be classified based on concentrations of Rb, Sr and Ba. However, the isotope ratios of B and Sr provide more sensitive information for the growth localities. Combined with literature data, this study indicates that B and Sr isotopes are excellent indicators of the origin of coffee beans., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A novel technique was successfully developed for manufacturing Mn-Zn ferrite nano-particles by acid dissolution and ferrite processes. The powders of waste dry batteries (PWDBs) were used as starting raw materials because the Mn and Zn content inside the PWDBs is potentially high. Our data showed that the most abundant elements inside PWDBs are manganese (41.0%), oxygen (40.6%), zinc (15.3%), and carbon (3.1%). It was found that proper reductant was critical for dissolution where FeSO4 is essential for spinel ferrite formation. Synthesized Mn-Zn ferrite particles reached their saturation magnetization at 63.8 emu/g and were successfully applied for As, Cd, and Pb removal in aqueous solution. Under the conditions of Mn-Zn ferrite 0.005 g, volume 10 mL, temperature 27°C, and contact time 1h, As, Cd, and Pb removal could reach 99.9, 99.7, and 99.8%, respectively. We demonstrate a novel method that can be applied for transforming WDBs into resource materials. This not only reduces the amount of WDBs, but also supports the concept of waste-battery reusable green-energy policy., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Two marine sediment cores from offshore mid-western Taiwan were subsampled and pre-treated using a sequential extraction procedure to separate carbonate and reducible fractions. Aliquots of these extracts were analyzed to determine their chemical composition to evaluate the geochemical processes responsible for heavy metal distribution and accumulation in the coastal environment. Our data demonstrate that sedimentation rates derived from excess (210)Pb associated with metal fluxes show large increases circa A.D. 1990. A well-synchronized increase in metal flux in both geochemical fractions was found and validated by Pearson's correlation. Principal component analysis revealed the heavy metal fluxes to be highly correlated with the sediment deposition rate, with metal contamination potentially driven by a sole contributor. This study emphasizes the changes in sedimentation rate is potentially caused by activities associated with the inland economic development during this time, rather than by raising heavy metal pollution dominated the accumulation offshore mid-western Taiwan., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Arsenic (As) in groundwater and surface water is a worldwide problem possessing a serious threat to public health. In this study, a magnetic ferrite, was synthesized and investigated for its As(V) removal efficiency. The adsorption of As(V) by magnetic ferrite exhibited an L-shaped nonlinear isotherm, suggesting limiting binding sites on the adsorbent surface. The As K-edge X-Ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES) revealed that the adsorbed As(V) on ferrite was not reduced to more toxic As(III) by Fe(2+) in the ferrite structure. The maximum As adsorption capacity of ferrite was 14 mg/g at pH 3 and decreased with increasing pH due to enhanced electrostatic repulsion between As(V) and the adsorbent surface. Desorption of As(V) using six different acid and salt solutions showed that the desorption rate decreased in an order of H3PO4 > Na3PO4 > H2SO4 > Na2SO4 > HCl > HNO3. These results suggest that magnetic ferrite without surface modification is an effective adsorbent for removing As(V) from water, which was confirmed by the effective removal of As(V) from contaminated groundwater using this material. The used material can then be recovered using a magnet because of its paramagnetism; the adsorbed As(V) on the material can be recovered using H3PO4 or Na3PO4 solutions., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We developed a fast and simple analytical procedure for precise determination of U isotopic compositions in low concentration natural samples. The main advantage of the new method is that it requires only 12ng U and can obtain all U isotopic ratios without using spike. Five carbonate reference materials (JCp-1, RKM-4, RKM-5, GBW04412 and GBW04413) and 3 international standards with different matrices (IAPSO, IRMM-3184 and CRM-U010) were analyzed for ((234)U/(238)U) and (238)U/(235)U ratios by MC-ICPMS. Using our method, the results for these standards are in close agreement with the certified values, 1.144 ± 0.004, 0.966 ± 0.004 and 0.990 ± 0.003 for ((234)U/(238)U) and 137.72 ± 0.13, 137.64 ± 0.15 and 98.63 ± 0.04 for (238)U/(235)U, in IAPSO, IRMM-3184 and CRM-U010, respectively. The long-term reproducibility of ((234)U/(238)U) and (238)U/(235)U is 0.970 ± 0.002 and 137.56 ± 0.09; 1.144 ± 0.004 and 137.72 ± 0.13, respectively, for in-house U solution and IAPSO. The new ((234)U/(238)U) results for carbonates show much better precision than previous studies and also reflect their age variability. The obtained (238)U/(235)U ratios, representing the first measurements in these carbonate specimens, are rather constant. The method described here requires only 12 ng of U for analysis and can be completed in 5.2 min. The approach provides a fast method to measure ((234)U/(238)U) and (238)U/(235)U ratios in sample matrices commonly encountered in studies of chemical weathering, oceanography and paleoclimatology., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Magnetic nano-particles CuFe(2)O(4) were successful manufactured from industrial sludge by combination of acid leaching, chemical exchange, and ferrite process. For the first time these recycled nano-particles were used as adsorbent to investigate the kinetics and thermodynamics for adsorption of Cd in aqueous solutions. These experimental results showed that Cd(2+) adsorption efficiency increased from 0.85 to 99.9% when pH increased from 2 to 6. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cd(2+) was found to be 17.54 mg g(-1) under the conditions at pH 6.0, contact time 30 min, and temperature 318 K. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model provides the best correlation with the experimental data compared to the pseudo-first-order model. The Langmuir model yields a better fitting than the Freundlich model for Cd(2+) adsorption on CuFe(2)O(4) nano-particles under investigated temperatures. The thermodynamic constants of the adsorption process were evaluated, ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° is -6.05 kJ mol(-1) (at 318 K), 0.71 kJ mol(-1), and 4.53 J mol(-1) K(-1), respectively. These results imply that Cd(2+) adsorption onto CuFe(2)O(4) is feasible, spontaneous and endothermic in nature., (Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A green method for manufacturing CuFe(2)O(4) from industrial Cu sludge was successfully developed by a combination of acid leaching, chemical exchange and ferrite process. The CuFe(2)O(4) was applied for combustion of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) derived from isopropyl alcohol (IPA). The results show that IPA was reacted to form intermediate acetone and CO(2) at the temperature range of 110-170°C. When the temperature was increased to 180°C, IPA can be 100% converted into CO(2). The 96-h decay tests indicated that the catalyst has a good thermal stability and durability under the conditions of gas hourly space velocity 30,000 h(-1), oxygen content 21%, IPA inlet concentration 2000 ppm, and reaction temperature 180°C. The results demonstrate great potential that our manufactured CuFe(2)O(4) catalyst can be used in combustion IPA streams to eliminate the emission of IPA., (Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Complete removal of heavy metal from complex heavy-metal wastewater (CHMW) requires advanced technology. This study investigated the feasibility of a multi-staged ferrite process (MSFP) for treating CHMW, containing Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr, Zn, Ag, Hg, Ni, Sn and Mn. Our experimental results showed that most of the supernatants after conventional single-step ferrite process could conform to the effluent standard of Environmental Protection Administration in Taiwan. However, the sludge could not satisfy the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) limits due to high Cd, Cu, and Pb concentrations. The performance of MSFP in removing heavy metals from wastewater was subsequently investigated and the parameters of three treating steps in MSFP were optimized under 70°C and 90°C at pH 9, and 80°C at pH 10. After the three-staged procedures, all heavy metals in supernatant and sludge could fulfill the contamination levels regulated by law. In addition, the sludge generated from the MSFP was examined by XRD and forms a stable spinel structure, which could be effectively separated by external magnetic field., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The non-traditional stable strontium (Sr) isotopes have received increasing attention recently as new geochemical tracers for studying Sr isotopic fractionation and source identification. This has been attributed to the advancement in multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS), allows to determine precisely and simultaneously of the triple Sr isotopes. In this study, we applied a modified empirical external normalization (EEN) MC-ICPMS procedure for mass bias correction in Sr isotopic measurement using (92)Zr/(90)Zr. High-purity Zr Standard was spiked into sample solutions and the degree of fractionation was calculated off-line using an exponential law. The long-term external reproducibility for NIST SRM 987 δ(87)Sr and δ(88)Sr was better than 0.040‰ and 0.018‰ (2SD), respectively. The IAPSO standard seawater was used as a secondary standard to validate the analytical protocol and the absolute ratios measured were 0.709161±0.000018 for (87)Sr/(86)Sr, 0.177±0.021‰ for δ(87)Sr, and 0.370±0.026‰ for δ(88)Sr (2SD, n=7). These values are in good agreement with the literature data analyzed by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) double spike technique. Rock standards, BHVO-2, BCR-2 and AGV-2 were also analyzed to validate the robustness of the methodology and showed identical results with literature data. Compared to previous (91)Zr/(90)Zr correction, we obtained improved results based on (92)Zr/(90)Zr, probably due to similar mass difference between (92)Zr/(90)Zr and measured Sr isotopes. The new analytical protocol presented in this study not only improves the analytical precision but also increases sample efficiency by omitting the use of the standard-sample bracketing (SSB) procedure., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The natural variation in stable water isotope ratio data, also known as water isoscape, is a spatiotemporal fingerprint and a powerful natural tracer that has been widely applied in disciplines as diverse as hydrology, paleoclimatology, ecology and forensic investigation. Although much effort has been devoted to developing a predictive water isoscape model, it remains a central challenge for scientists to generate high accuracy, fine scale spatiotemporal water isoscape prediction. Here we develop a novel approach of using the MODIS-EVI (the Moderate Resolution Imagining Spectroradiometer-Enhanced Vegetation Index), to predict δ(18)O in precipitation at the regional scale. Using a structural equation model, we show that the EVI and precipitated δ(18)O are highly correlated and thus the EVI is a good predictor of precipitated δ(18)O. We then test the predictability of our EVI-δ(18)O model and demonstrate that our approach can provide high accuracy with fine spatial (250×250 m) and temporal (16 days) scale δ(18)O predictions (annual and monthly predictabilities [r] are 0.96 and 0.80, respectively). We conclude the merging of the EVI and δ(18)O in precipitation can greatly extend the spatial and temporal data availability and thus enhance the applicability for both the EVI and water isoscape.

A massive fish kill of approximately 50 tons of flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) occurred in August 2006 in the Tanshui River, northern Taiwan. To clarify the origin of these mullets, 42 individuals were randomly collected to determine their ages by reading otolith annuli and to measure the trace elements in the otolith. The total lengths of the fish averaged 32.7±4.4 cm, and most of the individuals were 2 years old, indicating that the mullets in the mass fish kill event were in the immature and growth stages. The Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios of a subsample of 14 otoliths showed that half of the fish killed were estuarine residents, and the rest originated from marine and freshwater habitats. The multiple causes involved in this fish kill implied that additional unknown factors influenced the mullet populations on a large scale and induced them to move quickly and gather at this estuary., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In a pilot study, arsenic in a stalagmite (SJ3) collected from Central China was measured, and its association with past climate and environment was explored. Most of the SJ3 arsenic concentrations ranged from 120 to 320 ppb with the highest concentrations associated with relatively warm and humid climatic phases and lowest concentrations with cold and dry phases. The SJ3 arsenic record was very similar to the manganese record of SJ3. Variations of arsenic in SJ3 might be controlled by metal oxides of iron, manganese, and aluminum in karst groundwater at the study site, which in turn were closely related with changes in past climate and environment. A considerable proportion of arsenic was in excess over manganese in SJ3, which might be related with incorporation of arsenic into the calcite lattice during the formation of SJ3. It was speculated that more arsenic was released due to stronger weathering of the surface soils and sequestrated by metal oxides in karst groundwater under warm-humid climatic phases than under cold-dry phases. This suggested that climate shift might alter arsenic balance in sedimentary areas and aquifer systems and potentially exert significant influence on global arsenic contamination.

A 182-year long record of trace metal concentrations of aluminum, zinc and lead was reconstructed from a massive Porites coral skeleton from southeastern Hong Kong to evaluate the impacts of anthropogenic activity on the marine environment. Zn/Ca and Pb/Ca ratios fluctuate synchronously from the early 19th century to the present, indicating that the marine environment has been anthropogenically influenced since industrialization. Additionally, land reclamation, mining, and ship building activities are recorded by elevated Al/Ca ratios from 1900 to 1950. The coral record indicates that high levels of Zn, Pb and Al occur coincidentally with local wars, and may have contributed to partial colony mortality. Pb/Ca does not correlate well with hemispheric proxy records after 1950, indicating that coastal corals may be recording local rather than hemispheric contamination. Pb/Ca levels in Hong Kong, Guangdong and Hainan corals imply a continuous supply of Pb-based contamination to southern China not reflected in hemispheric signals., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Subcapsular renal hematoma (SRH) is an extremely rare complication of acute pyelonephritis (APN). We report a case of SRH complicating APN with a ureteral stone, together with a review of the literature., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A method in combination of acid leaching, chemical exchange and ferrite process was applied to recycle copper and confer higher chemical stability to the sludge generated from etching process in printed circuit board industry. Ninety-five percent copper could be recycled in the form of powder from the sludge. Moreover, not only the wastewater after chemical exchange can be treated to fulfill the effluent standard, but also the sludge can satisfy the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) limits made by Taiwan's environmental protection administration., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

An improved technique for precise and accurate determination of boron isotopic composition in Na-rich natural waters (groundwater, seawater) and marine biogenic carbonates was developed. This study used a 'micro-sublimation' technique to separate B from natural sample matrices in place of the conventional ion-exchange extraction. By adjusting analyte to appropriate pH, quantitative recovery of boron can be achieved (>98%) and the B procedural blank is limited to <8 pg. An additional mass bias effect in MC-ICP-MS was observed which could not be improved via the standard-sample-standard bracketing or the 'pseudo internal' normalization by Li. Therefore a standard other than NBS SRM 951 was used to monitor plasma condition in order to maintain analytical accuracy. An isotope cross-calibration with results from TIMS shows that the space-charge mass bias on MC-ICP-MS can be successfully corrected using off-line mathematical manipulation. Several reference materials, including the seawater IAPSO and two groundwater standards IAEA-B-2 and IAEA-B-3, were used to validate this approach. We found that the delta(11)B of the reference coral JCp-1 was 24.22+/-0.28 per thousand, corresponding to seawater pH based on the coral delta(11)B-pH function., (Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The elements Na, Mg, Mn, Ca, Sr and Ba in otoliths of southern bluefin tuna Thunnus maccoyii, collected from their feeding ground in the central Indian Ocean and spawning ground between southern Java and north-western Australia were measured by laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) and compared among sampling locations and developmental stages. The Na, Mg and Mn to Ca concentration ratios were significantly higher at the larval stage than at the adult stage, and the ratio reached a peak at the first inflection point of the otolith, mean +/-s.d. 43.3 +/- 4.9 days after hatching and decreased sharply to a low level thereafter. The temporal change of the elements:Ca ratios in the first inflection point corresponded to the life stage transition from larva to juvenile, indicating that the uptake rate of elements from ambient waters was significantly influenced by the ontogenetic change in the fish. The elemental composition at the otolith edge differed significantly in sub-adults on the feeding grounds and adults on the spawning grounds. Thus, the otolith elemental composition can be used as a biological tracer to study the time of the ontogenetic shift and to reconstruct the past migratory environmental history of T. maccoyii. In addition, the elemental composition of the otolith core of the adult was similar between feeding and spawning grounds, indicating that the fish in the Indian Ocean had the same larval origin, which is consistent with the single spawning population hypothesis.

A novel approach to obtain a fractionation free (11)B/(10)B isotope ratio based on oxygen isotopes determined in situ from the same filament loading by N-TIMS is described. The method uses only a few nanograms of B to produce BO(2)(-) ions. First, the oxygen isotopes are determined at a lower filament temperature using ReO(4)(-) ions and employing (187)Re/(185)Re for internal normalization. Subsequently, the filament temperature is increased to get sufficient BO(2)(-) ions and predetermined (18)O/(16)O isotopes from the same filament loading is used to correct for boron mass fractionation. The validity of the method has been demonstrated by analyzing a NIST-SRM-951 boron isotopic certified standard, two synthetic B mixtures, and two coral reference materials. An average analytical precision of 0.6 per thousand (n = 6) has been demonstrated. This is an important and crucial step forward in making the application of BO(2)(-) ions by N-TIMS routine in coral, foraminifera, and other samples where only limited amounts of boron are available. This new method does not require any additional effort in loading or in carrying out the mass spectrometric analysis but eliminates the need of assuming a fixed (18)O/(16)O ratio and thus provides higher accuracy for applications in paleo-oceanography, geochemistry, and cosmo-chemistry.

Aneurysms arising from the subclavian artery are very rare vascular abnormalities in von Recklinghausen's disease, which often have a silent clinical presentation and are difficult to diagnose before rupture. We report a case of von Recklinghausen's disease with life-threatening upper airway obstruction caused by spontaneous rupture of the left subclavian artery aneurysm in a 46-year-old woman. The diagnosis was eventually confirmed by a reconstructed enhanced computed tomography of aorta. We emphasise the importance of it as a differential diagnosis because life-threatening upper airway obstruction may develop in such patient.

Recognition of cardiac syncope masquerading as epilepsy may be difficult in the Emergency Department. We report a middle-aged man with recent onset convulsions who posed a diagnostic puzzle before it was found that he had paroxysmal ventricular standstill with complete atrioventricular block: he made a complete recovery after temporary pacemaker insertion. The main lessons from this case were (1) a convulsive seizure of only seconds duration and with an abrupt return of consciousness suggests syncope not epilepsy, (2) repeated, convulsive syncopes without provocation suggest cardiac syncope, (3) a 12-lead ECG should be recorded as soon as possible after such a series of episodes and should not be discontinued until an event is captured, and (4) Emergency Department clinicians should be familiar with any automatic gain on their ECG machine, lest fast, atrial activity be mistaken for narrow complex tachycardia. In summary, a good clinical history is of prime importance in differentiating convulsive syncope from epilepsy, and a simple, non-invasive cardiovascular evaluation may help to diagnose the condition as cardiac syncope.

Aim: To explore the relationship between the level of proinsulin with cardiovascular risk factors and sleep snoring., Methods: Based on the random stratified sampling principle, 1 193 Chinese residents in Pizhou City, Jiangsu Province (530 males and 663 females, aged 35-59 years with an average age of 46.69 years) were recruited. Their sleep snoring habits were investigated. Biotin-avidin based double mAbs ELISA was used to detect specific insulin and proinsulin, and a risk factor score was established to evaluate the individuals according to the number of their risk factors., Results: The results of Spearman correlation analysis and covariate ANOVA analysis after age and sex were controlled, indicated that not only the level of proinsulin (r = 0.156, P = 0.000, F = 5.980 P = 0.000), but also cardiovascular risk factors score (r = 0.194, P = 0.000, F = 11.135, P = 0.000) significantly associated with the frequency of sleep snoring, and the significant relationship between true insulin and frequency of sleep snoring was only shown in the covariate ANOVA analysis (F = 2.868, P = 0.022). The result of multivariate stepwise logistic regression after age, sex, body mass index, waist circumference and true insulin were controlled showed that proinsulin (division by interval of quartile) was an independent risk factor for sleep snoring (OR = 1.220, 95%CI: 1.085-1.373, P = 0.001)., Conclusion: The interaction of cardiovascular risk factors clustering, high proinsulin level and sleep breathing disorder may be a syndrome, which has not been recognized in human beings so far.

Aim: To investigate the association between true insulin and proinsulin and clustering of cardiovascular risk factors., Methods: Based on the random stratified sampling principles, 1196 Chinese people (533 males and 663 females, aged 35-59 years with an average age of 46.69 years) were recruited. Biotin-avidin based double monoclonal antibody ELISA method was used to detect the true insulin and proinsulin, and a risk factor score was set to evaluate individuals according to the number of risk factors., Results: The median (quartile range) of true insulin and proinsulin was 4.91 mIu/L (3.01-7.09 mIu/L) and 3.49 pmol/L (2.14-5.68 pmol/L) respectively, and the true insulin level of female subjects was significantly higher than that of male subjects (P = 0.000), but the level of proinsulin displayed no significant difference between males and females (P = 0.566). The results of covariate ANOVA after age and sex were controlled showed that subjects with any of the risk factors had a significantly higher true insulin level (P = 0.002 for hypercholesterolemia, P = 0.021 for high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, P = 0.003 for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and P = 0.000 for other risk factors) and proinsulin level (P = 0.001 for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and P = 0.000 for other risk factors) than those with no risk factors. Furthermore, subjects with higher risk factor scores had a higher true insulin and proinsulin level than those with lower risk factor scores (P = 0.000). The multiple linear regression models showed that true insulin and proinsulin were significantly related to cardiovascular risk factor scores respectively (P = 0.000)., Conclusion: True insulin and proinsulin are significantly associated with the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors.

Boron isotopes are potentially very important to cosmochemistry, geochemistry, and paleoceanography. However, the application has been hampered by the large sample required for positive thermal ionization mass spectrometry (PTIMS), and high mass fractionation for negative-TIMS (NTIMS). Running as BO(2)(-), NTIMS is very sensitive and requires only nanogram sized samples, but it has rather poor precision (approximately 0.7-2.0 per thousand) as a result of the larger mass fractionation associated with the relatively light ion. In contrast, running as the much heavier molecule of Cs(2)BO(2)(+), PTIMS usually achieves better precision around 0.1-0.4 per thousand. Moreover, there is a consistent 10 per thousand offset in the (11)B/(10)B ratio for NIST SRM 951 standard boric acid between the NTIMS and the certified value, but the cause of this offset is unclear. In this paper, we have adapted a technique we developed earlier to measure the (138)La/(139)La using LaO(+) (1) to improve the NTIMS technique for BO(2). We were able to correct for instrumental fractionation by measuring BO(2)(-) species not only at masses of 42 and 43, but also at 45, which enabled us to normalize (45)BO(2)/(43)BO(2) to an empirical (18)O/(16)O value. We found that both I(45)/I(42) = ((11)B(16)O(18)O/(10)B(16)O(16)O) and (I(43)/I(42))(C) = ((11)B(16)O(16)O/(10)B(16)O(16)O) vary linearly with (I(45)/I(43))(C) x 0.5 = ((11)B(16)O(18)O/(11)B(16)O(16)O) x 0.5 = (18)O/(16)O. In addition, different activators and different chemical forms of B yield different slopes for the fractionation lines. After normalizing (11)B(16)O(18)O/(11)B(16)O(16)O x 0.5 to a fixed (18)O/(16)O value, we obtained a mean (11)B/(10)B value of NIST SRM 951 that matches the NIST certified value at 4.0430 +/- 0.0015 (+/-0.36 per thousand, n = 11). As a result, our technique can achieve precision and accuracy comparable to that of PTIMS with only 1 per thousand of the sample required. This new NTIMS technique for B isotopes is critical to the studies of early solids in the solar system and individual foraminifera in sediments that require both high sensitivity and precision.

All 35 confirmed clonorchiasis cases showed a positive reaction in dot-immunogold-silver staining (Dot-IGSS) with a mean serum titre of 1:1656, while none of the sera from 35 normal individuals reacted. A seroepidemiological survey of middle-school students revealed a positive rate of 17.0% (142/836), and 76.1% (105/138) of the serologically positive students were egg positive in stool examination. The egg positive rates in those with antibody at levels of 1+ to 4+ were 57.1% (28/49), 75.7% (28/37), 94.7% (36/38) and 92.9% (13/14) respectively. It is believed that Dot-IGSS can be used for the clinical diagnosis and epidemiological survey of clonorchiasis.