Scientific Gear as a Vector for Non-Native Species at Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents

The fauna of deep-sea hydrothermal vents are among the most isolated and inaccessible biological communities on Earth. Most vent sites can only be visited by subsea vehicles, which can and do move freely among these communities. Researchers assume individuals of the regionally homogeneous vent fauna are killed by the change in hydrostatic pressure the animals experience when the subsea vehicles, which collected them, rise to the surface. After an Alvin dive, we found 38 apparently healthy individuals of a vent limpet in a sample from a hydrothermally inactive area. Prompted by our identification of these specimens as Lepetodrilus gordensis, a species restricted to vents 635 km to the south of our dive site, we tested whether they were from a novel population or were contaminants from the dive made 36 h earlier. The 16S gene sequences, morphology, sex ratio, bacterial colonies, and stable isotopes uniformly indicated the specimens came from the previous dive. We cleaned the sampler, but assumed pressure changes would kill any organisms we did not remove and that the faunas of the 2 areas were nearly identical and disease-free. Our failure to completely clean the gear on the subsea vehicle meant we could have introduced the species and any diseases it carried to a novel location. Our findings suggest that the nearly inaccessible biological communities at deep-sea vents may be vulnerable to anthropogenic alteration, despite their extreme physical conditions.     

Comprehensive River Water Quality Management by Simulation and Optimization Models

In this paper, the performance of water quality modeling is investigated in the analysis of the natural assimilative capacity (NAC) of a river system. The new data available, along with the appropriate integrated model, allow for the analysis of the NAC of the entire river. The integrated model developed here emphasized the implementation of the QUAL2E simulation model and the appropriate allocation of waste loads (optimization model) in a subtropical area. Simulations are calibrated and validated according to the data from the Water Quality and Flow Rate Monitoring Project using the QUAL2E model. On the basis of the optimal allocation model, the results of the NAC and allowable pollution loading in the Putzu River basin are discussed. The study provides a framework of the integrated model that can be used as a guideline to determine the NAC of subtropical rivers.     

Incorporating connectivity into conservation planning for the optimal representation of multiple species and ecosystem services

Conservation planning tends to focus on protecting species’ ranges or landscape connectivity but seldom both—particularly in the case of diverse taxonomic assemblages and multiple planning goals. Therefore, information on potential trade-offs between maintaining landscape connectivity and achieving other conservation objectives is lacking. We developed an optimization approach to prioritize the maximal protection of species’ ranges, ecosystem types, and forest carbon stocks, while also including habitat connectivity for range-shifting species and dispersal corridors to link protected area. We applied our approach to Sabah, Malaysia, where the state government mandated an increase in protected-area coverage of approximately 305,000 ha but did not specify where new protected areas should be. Compared with a conservation planning approach that did not incorporate the 2 connectivity features, our approach increased the protection of dispersal corridors and elevational connectivity by 13% and 21%, respectively. Coverage of vertebrate and plant species’ ranges and forest types were the same whether connectivity was included or excluded. Our approach protected 2% less forest carbon and 3% less butterfly range than when connectivity features were not included. Hence, the inclusion of connectivity into conservation planning can generate large increases in the protection of landscape connectivity with minimal loss of representation of other conservation targets.     

Research Areas for Improved Incineration System Performance

In the past few years, many combustion tests were conducted in full scale operating incinerators. Those test data indicate that certain issues need to be re-evaluated, and point out certain research areas for improved incineration system performance. The issues include incinerability ranking and its relationship with operating temperature; significance of CO monitoring; and significance of products of incomplete combustion emission. The research areas for improvement include waste feed control; oxygen control; expert system; hydrogen halide conversion; submicron particulate formation; and improved air pollution control devices.     

Late-onset growth restriction in Galloway–Mowat syndrome: a case report

Galloway–Mowat syndrome (GMS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder and is characterized by marked intrauterine growth retardation, central nervous system anomalies, and early onset nephrotic syndrome. Of the reported cases in the literature, all were diagnosed postnatally. We describe a case of GMS in which only late-onset intrauterine growth restriction was detected by prenatal ultrasound. In her fourth pregnancy, the mother had delivered a male baby with clinical features of GMS who died at seven months of age due to early onset of nephrotic syndrome. In her fifth pregnancy, serial ultrasound examinations were normal during the first and second trimester of pregnancy. Growth restriction and microcephaly were not detectable until 28 to 32 weeks' gestation. At 40 weeks' gestation, a female baby was born with dysmorphic features of GMS. Nephrotic syndrome developed after birth and renal biopsy revealed minimal change nephrotic syndrome. The prenatal course of this case suggests GMS may not be diagnosed in early pregnancy and the only abnormality detected before birth was intrauterine growth restriction. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transport of dusts from East Asian and non-East Asian sources to Hong Kong during dust storm related events 1996–2007

Over a twelve year period from 1996 to 2007, 76 dust storm related events (as days) in Hong Kong were selected for study, based on Aluminium and Calcium concentrations in PM₁₀. Four of the 76 events reach episodic levels with exceedances of the Hong Kong air quality standards. The purpose of the study is to identify and characterize dust sources impacting Hong Kong.Global distribution of aerosols in NASA’s daily aerosol index images from TOMS and OMI, are compared to plots generated by NRL(US)’s Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System. Possible source areas are assigned by computing air parcel backward trajectories to Hong Kong using the NOAA HYSPLIT model. PM₁₀ and elemental data are analyzed for crustal mass concentrations and element mass ratios.Our analysis reveals that 73 out of the 76 dust events (96%) involve non-East Asian sources-the Thar, Central/West Asian, Arabian and Sahara deserts (Saharan influence is found in 63 events), which are previously not known to affect Hong Kong. The Gobi desert is the most frequent origin of dust, affecting 68 dust events while the Taklamakan desert impacts only 30 of the dust events. The impact of the Gobi desert in March and December is apparently associated with the northeast monsoon in East Asia.Our results also show a seasonal pattern in dust impact from both East Asian and more remote sources, with a maximum in March. Dust event occurrences are conspicuously absent from summer. Dust transport to Hong Kong is commonly associated with the passage of frontal low-pressure systems.The coarse size fraction of PM₁₀ concentrations were, as indicated by Al, Ca and Fe concentrations, about 4–8 times higher during dust events. The mean Ca/Al ratios of sources involving the Taklamakan desert are notably higher than those for non-East Asian sources owing to a higher Ca content of most of the East Asian deserts. The Fe/Al ratios follow a similar trend.Contributions from the desert sources are grossly estimated where possible, by using the average Al abundance of 8% in the upper continental crust to convert the Al mass in the PM₁₀ to dust concentrations. This is done for the six events identified with air mass purely of non-East Asian origin and the two events related only to the Thar/Arabian/Sahara deserts. Results reveal that the average contribution from the non-East Asian sources (including C/W Asia) is approximately 10% and, that from the Thar/Arabian/Sahara deserts is about 8%.     

Friction measurements on “anti-slip” floors under shoe sole,contamination, and inclination conditions

Friction measurements were conducted to study the effects of shoe sole, floor, contamination, and inclined angle of the floor surface on friction coefficient. The shoe sole samples included composite rubber outsole samples with and without V-shaped tread design. Unglazed ceramic tiles of both flat and tiles with molded profile design were tested. The contamination conditions included dry, wet, and glycerol-contaminated conditions. The inclined angles included 0°, 5°, and 10°. A Brungraber Mark II slipmeter was used. The results showed that all the four factors affected friction coefficient significantly (p < 0.0001). Flat rubber soles had higher friction coefficients than the soling samples with V-shaped tread design on all tested floors and inclined angles under wet conditions. Flat soles, however, had extremely low friction when tested on flat floors under glycerol-contaminated conditions. The floors with molded grooves perpendicular to friction measurement direction had the highest friction coefficients than all other floor conditions under both the wet and glycerol-contaminated conditions except the wet/flat sole/10° condition. A regression model with a cosine function was established to describe the relationship between friction coefficient and inclined angle of the floor under the experimental conditions. This model is statistically significant at p < 0.0001 with an R² of 0.97.     

Recovery of indium from used LCD panel by a time efficient and environmentally sound method assisted HEBM

In this study, a method which is environmentally sound, time and energy efficient has been used for recovery of indium from used liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. In this method, indium tin oxide (ITO) glass was crushed to micron size particles in seconds via high energy ball milling (HEBM). The parameters affecting the amount of dissolved indium such as milling time, particle size, effect time of acid solution, amount of HCl in the acid solution were tried to be optimized. The results show that by crushing ITO glass to micron size particles by HEBM, it is possible to extract higher amount of indium at room temperature than that by conventional methods using only conventional shredding machines. In this study, 86% of indium which exists in raw materials was recovered about in a very short time.     

Dust Collection Efficiency Analysis in a Two-Dimensional Circulating Granular Bed Filter

Abstract

Dust collection efficiency data were analyzed to determine better operating conditions for a two-dimensional circulating granular bed filter (CGBF). The dust collection efficiency in the granular bed was affected by the following operating parameters: the louver angle, the solids mass flow rate, and the particle size of the bed material. Experimental results showed that higher dust collection efficiency occurs when the solids mass flow rates were 20.34 ± 0.24, 21.50 ± 0.11, and 30.51 ± 0.57 g/sec at louver angles of 45°, 30°, and 20°, respectively. Optimal dust collection efficiency peaked with a louver angle of 30°. Average particle sizes of bed material by sieve diameters (μm) of 795 μm had higher dust collection efficiency than the average collector particle size of 1500 μm. Dust collection efficiency is influenced by bed material attrition phenomenon, causing dust collection efficiency to decrease rapidly. The dust collection efficiency analysis not only found the system free of design defects but also assisted in the operation of the two-dimensional CGBF system.     

Non-destructive ultrasonic techniques on sequence error of carbon fiber/epoxy composite solid laminates

When propagating in the thickness direction of composite laminates, shear ultrasonic waves are particularly sensitive to layup sequence in the cured CF/Epoxy composite laminates manufactured from unidirectional prepregs and are interacting with the polarization direction of propagating through its thickness. The strength and stiffness in laminates often are attributable to the specific fiber orientation and layup sequence. So the layup orientation greatly influences its properties in a composite laminate. There is a good correlation between the model and the non-destructive ultrasonic technique developed to inspect the sequence error of cured symmetric layups of the laminates. The physical model is based on the decomposition and recombination of shear polarization. Non-destructive evaluation capabilities are highly desirable for reusing unidirectional prepreg sheets.