Zhou Pei-jiang

Contamination and spatial distribution of heavy metals in soil of Xiangxi River water-level-fluctuating zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

ABSTRACT The Three Gorges Reservoir is the largest hydroelectric project in China. It forms water-level-fluctuating (WLF) zones with a water level difference which can reach 30 m and a total area of 349 km2 along the Yangtze River. To determine the pollution level and spatial distribution of heavy metals in WLF regions, Xiangxi River (XXR), the largest first-order tributary, was selected as the study area. Both single-factor and multi-factor evaluation methods were employed to assess the contamination indices of heavy metals in soil. The results showed that the pollution degree for sampling sites varied from slight to moderate pollution levels, where 64% were in slight pollution degree and 4% were in moderate pollution degree. Approximately 68% of the sites were polluted. The ranking of 6 different kinds of heavy metals according to pollution degree was Cd > Pb > Cr > Hg > Ni > Cu. While Cd and Pb contributed the most to the pollutions, the contributions of the other four remained minor. Furthermore, a spatial distribution map of the comprehensive contamination index for the XXR basin is generated. The concentrations of heavy metals in sediments along 4 transects showed an overall decreasing trend with increasing elevation.

Studies of the energy release of mitochondria from sporophyte cytoplasmic male sterile rice by differential scanning calorimetry

The differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) curves of the mitochondria isolated from two varieties of sporophyte cytoplasmic male sterile and their fertile lines of Yie Bai and Ma Xie type rice have been determined. The curves show that the energy is released continuously as temperature rise to 70°C. Some thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the energy release of the mitochondria have been obtained. The presented results showed that the mitochondria from cytoplasmic male sterile rice released more heat and they had higher energy barrier, less rate, and more complicated mechanism than that of their fertile lines in the energy release process.

Microcalorimetric study on the germination of seeds

The power-time curves of the germination of different rice and tree seeds have been studied by using a microcalorimeter set up by ourselves. Some characteristic values have been obtained from these curves in different thermogenesising stages of the germination of rice and tree seeds. These parameters can be used in comparison of character and activity for different seeds, moreover the effects of different strain germinating shape and temperature on the power-time curves of the germination of seeds have been discussed.