Adsorption-desorption and leaching potential of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in acidic Malaysian soil amended with cow dung and rice husk ash

This study investigates adsorption-desorption and the leaching potential of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in control and amended—addition of cow dung or rice husk ash—acidic Malaysian soil with high oxide mineral content. The addition of cow dung or rice husk ash increased the adsorptive removal of AMPA. The isotherm data of glyphosate and AMPA best fitted the Freundlich model. The constant K_f for glyphosate was high in the control soil (544.873 mg g^?1) followed by soil with cow dung (482.451 mg g^?1) then soil with rice husk ash (418.539 mg g^?1). However, for AMPA, soil with cow dung was high (166.636 mg g^?1) followed by soil with rice husk ash (137.570 mg g^?1) then the control soil (48.446 mg g^?1). The 1/n values for both glyphosate and AMPA adsorptions were <?1 indicating their strong affinity for adsorbents. Desorption of both glyphosate and AMPA occurred only in the control soil. The compounds were not detected in soils with added cow dung or rice husk ash. The addition of cow dung or rice husk ash increased glyphosate mobility. However, ground water ubiquity scores for both control and amended soils were <?2.8. This indicated glyphosate is a transitional herbicide; therefore, its leaching potential in the soil is low, despite the addition of cow dung or rice husk ash. Addition of these wastes decreased the mobility and leaching potential of AMPA. The addition of cow dung or rice husk ash could be beneficial in increasing adsorption and enhancing degradation of these compounds.     

Using fuzzy set theory to address the uncertainty of susceptibility to drought

This paper presents the technical aspects of a new methodology for assessing the susceptibility of society to drought. The methodology consists of a combination of inference modelling and fuzzy logic applications. Four steps are followed: (1) model input variables are selected—these variables reflect the main factors influencing susceptibility in a social group, population or region, (2) fuzzification—the uncertainties of the input variables are made explicit by representing them as ‘fuzzy membership functions’, (3) inference modelling—the input variables are used to construct a model made up of linguistic rules, and (4) defuzzification—results from the model in linguistic form are translated into numerical form, also through the use of fuzzy membership functions. The disadvantages and advantages of this methodology became apparent when it was applied to the assessment of susceptibility from three disciplinary perspectives: Disadvantages include the difficulty in validating results and the subjectivity involved with specifying fuzzy membership functions and the rules of the inference model. Advantages of the methodology are its transparency, because all model assumptions have to be made explicit in the form of inference rules; its flexibility, in that informal and expert knowledge can be incorporated through ‘fuzzy membership functions’ and through the rules in the inference model; and its versatility, since numerical data can be converted to linguistic statements and vice versa through the procedures of ‘fuzzification’ and ‘defuzzification’.     

Combined influence of food level and inoculation density on competition between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anuraeopsis fissa</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brachionus patulus</Emphasis> or <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brachionus macracanthus</Emphasis> (Rotifera: Brachionidae)

We tested separately the effect of two taxonomically related rotifers (B. patulus and B. macracanthus) on the population dynamics of another species (A. fissa) at low (0.5 ×10 ⁶) and high food levels (1.5 × 10⁶ cells/ml of Chlorella vulgaris) using different inoculation densities (0–100%). We also quantified the impact of A. fissa on the two brachionid species. Regardless of the presence of the competing species, an increase in the availability of food led to increase in the abundances of the three rotifers. The population growth of B. patulus, B. macracanthus, or A. fissa was affected negatively when cultured together with another species. An increase in the initial density of any one of the competing species became advantageous to maintain a certain population size. At a low algal food level, B. patulus was able to suppress A. fissa more strongly than B. macracanthus. On the other hand, at a high food level, B. macracanthus suppressed the population of A. fissa more strongly than B. patulus. Peak population densities for A. fissa varied from about 150 to 1000 ind./ml, depending on food density and the presence of competitors. The rate of population increase (r) of A. fissa, B. patulus, and B. macracanthus increased with an increase in food availability but decreased with increasing initial density of the competitor. Both Brachionus spp. experienced negative growth rates in the presence of A. fissa, especially at a high initial density of the latter. Published in Russian in Ekologiya, 2007, Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 381–390. The article was submitted by the authors in English.     

Assessment of the natural-cultural resources in Çanakkale for nature-based tourism

While the world is going into different tourism expectations, the tourism understanding in Turkey is defined as tourism in the sea-sand-sun triangle. However, it is possible to contribute to the income and local development of the indigenous people by developing nature-based tourism. Besides, with the sustainable use and preservation of the natural-cultural assets, the damage of the traditional tourism industry on the natural and cultural environment could be reduced. In this study, it is aimed to bring up the nature-based tourism concept in Çanakkale by evaluating the nature-based tourism industry in the general of Turkey and assessing the natural-cultural resources that Çanakkale comprehends. The most important areas that have a nature-based tourism potential in Çanakkale and the tourism activities that are most suitable for these areas have been determined.     

提高转炉OG效率的对策

对武钢第一炼钢厂100t转炉OG系统设备存在的问题进行了分析、研究，结合生产实际进行了一系列的技术改进和工艺参数调整，提高了OG系统效率。     

治污投资的政府最优政策博弈

外部性的存在及制造商治污投资动机不足要求政府对制造商的行为进行相应的规制，政府在制造商的治污投资行为中主要的作用是通过各种措施使得制造裔有动机地去自觉地进行有效的治污投资;政府的主要控制手段包括直接管制及借助市场激励，政府制定环境管理策略的关键因素是“惩罚的力度与激励的强度”。基于社会福利最大化的角度；从制造商的治污投资行为出发研究政府制定环境管理规制的策略，通过一个三阶段的博弈模型分析福利增进量、洽污成本与治污效果等三个因素对“惩罚力度与激励强度”的影响。     

Exposure to radiation from global system for mobile communications at 1,800 MHz significantly changes gene expression in rat hippocampus and cortex

We have earlier shown that radio frequency electromagnetic fields can cause significant leakage of albumin through the blood–brain barrier of exposed rats as compared to non-exposed rats, and also significant neuronal damage in rat brains several weeks after a 2 h exposure to a mobile phone, at 915 MHz with a global system for mobile communications (GSM) frequency modulation, at whole-body specific absorption rate values (SAR) of 200, 20, 2, and 0.2 mW/kg. We have now studied whether 6 h of exposure to the radiation from a GSM mobile test phone at 1,800 MHz (at a whole-body SAR-value of 13 mW/kg, corresponding to a brain SAR-value of 30 mW/kg) has an effect upon the gene expression pattern in rat brain cortex and hippocampus—areas where we have observed albumin leakage from capillaries into neurons and neuronal damage. Microarray analysis of 31,099 rat genes, including splicing variants, was performed in cortex and hippocampus of 8 Fischer 344 rats, 4 animals exposed to global system for mobile communications electromagnetic fields for 6 h in an anechoic chamber, one rat at a time, and 4 controls kept as long in the same anechoic chamber without exposure, also in this case one rat at a time. Gene ontology analysis (using the gene ontology categories biological processes, molecular functions, and cell components) of the differentially expressed genes of the exposed animals versus the control group revealed the following highly significant altered gene categories in both cortex and hippocampus: extracellular region, signal transducer activity, intrinsic to membrane, and integral to membrane. The fact that most of these categories are connected with membrane functions may have a relation to our earlier observation of albumin transport through brain capillaries.