Influence of Mowing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Artemisia tridentata</Emphasis> ssp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">wyomingensis</Emphasis> on Winter Habitat for Wildlife

Mowing is commonly implemented to Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis (Beetle & A. Young) S.L. Welsh (Wyoming big sagebrush) plant communities to improve wildlife habitat, increase forage production for livestock, and create fuel breaks for fire suppression. However, information detailing the influence of mowing on winter habitat for wildlife is lacking. This information is crucial because many wildlife species depended on A. tridentata spp. wyomingensis plant communities for winter habitat and consume significant quantities of Artemisia during this time. Furthermore, information is generally limited describing the recovery of A. tridentata spp. wyomingensis to mowing and the impacts of mowing on stand structure. Stand characteristics and Artemisia leaf tissue crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) concentrations were measured in midwinter on 0-, 2-, 4-, and 6-year-old fall-applied mechanical (mowed at 20 cm height) treatments and compared to adjacent untreated (control) areas. Mowing compared to the control decreased Artemisia cover, density, canopy volume, canopy elliptical area, and height (P < 0.05), but all characteristics were recovering (P < 0.05). Mowing A. tridentata spp. wyomingensis plant communities slightly increases the nutritional quality of Artemisia leaves (P < 0.05), but it simultaneously results in up to 20 years of decrease in Artemisia structural characteristics. Because of the large reduction in A. tridentata spp. wyomingensis for potentially 20 years following mowing, mowing should not be applied in Artemisia facultative and obligate wildlife winter habitat. Considering the decline in A. tridentata spp. wyomingensis-dominated landscapes, we caution against mowing these communities.     

复杂地形机械湍流扩散的粒子随机行走模拟

应用粒子随机行走模拟方法模拟了高架点源在中性情况下在复杂地形上的排放,并将模拟结果与风洞实验进行了比较,二者能较好地吻合。虽然将该方法用于复杂地形大气扩散计算在技术上不存在什么困难,但是在确定模式基本参数等方面,还应该慎重考虑。      

Critical aspects for collision induced oil spill response and recovery system in ice conditions: A model-based analysis

The recovery effectiveness for oil spills in ice conditions depends on a complex system and has not been studied in depth, especially not from a system risk control perspective. This paper aims to identify the critical aspects in the oil spill system to enable effective oil spill recovery. First, a method is developed to identify critical elements in a Bayesian Network model, based on an uncertainty-based risk perspective. The method accounts for sensitivity and the strength of evidence, which are assessed for the different Bayesian Network model features. Then, a Bayesian Network model for the mechanical oil spill recovery system is developed for the Finnish oil spill response fleet, contextualized for representative collision accident scenarios. This model combines information about representative sea ice conditions, ship-ship collisions and their associated oil outflow, the oil dispersion and spreading in the ice conditions, and the oil spill response and recovery of the fleet. Finally, the critical factors are identified by applying the proposed method to the developed oil spill response system model. The identified most critical system factors relates collision aspect: Forcing Representative Scenario, Representative Accident Location, Impact Speed, Impact Location, Impact Angle and response aspect: Response Vessel Operability.     

Properties of Distillers Grains Composites: A Preliminary Investigation

Interest in renewable biofuel sources has intensified in recent years, leading to greatly increased production of ethanol and its primary coproduct, Distillers Dried Grain with Solubles (DDGS). Consequently, the development of new outlets for DDGS has become crucial to maintaining the economic viability of the industry. In light of these developments, this preliminary study aimed to determine the suitability of DDGS for use as a biofiller in low-cost composites that could be produced by rapid prototyping applications. The effects of DDGS content, particle size, curing temperature, and compression on resulting properties, such as flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, water activity, and color were evaluated for two adhesive bases. The composites formed with phenolic resin glue were found to be greatly superior to glue in terms of mechanical strength and durability: resin-based composites had maximum fiber stresses of 150–380 kPa, while glue composites had values between 6 kPa and 35 kPa; additionally, glue composites experienced relatively rapid microbial growth. In the resin composites, both decreased particle size and increased compression resulted in increased mechanical strength, while a moderate DDGS content was found to increase flexural strength but decrease Young’s modulus. These results indicate that DDGS has the potential to be used in resin glue-based composites to both improve flexural strength and improve potential biodegradability.     

成炭型有机大分子/层状无机物复合成炭剂的制备及应用研究

层状无机物在聚合物基体中易团聚,限制了其在聚合物材料中的规模化应用。本工作通过将有机改性蒙脱土(OMMT)与一种具有超支化结构的磷氮大分子化合物HTPPP(以三嗪结构为基础,通过焦磷酸结构连接)在醇水体系中混合溶胀,再经过高温脱水,制备成HTPPP插层、剥离的OMMT成炭型有机大分子/层状无机物复合成炭剂(HTPPP-OMMT)。XRD测试表明层状结构的OMMT能够在HTPPP中被完全剥离。OMMT的复合降低了HTPPP的水溶性,并提高了其热稳定性。将有机/无机复合成炭剂HTPPP-OMMT作为单组分无卤膨胀阻燃剂应用于聚丙烯(PP),阻燃测试表明HTPPP-OMMT复合成炭剂的阻燃效率高于HTPPP。这是由于其在材料燃烧过程中能够催化形成更加致密的膨胀多孔炭层,而炭层在高温下的热氧稳定性更好。此外,有机/无机复合改善了HTPPP-OMMT在PP的相容性,能提高材料的力学和耐析出性能。     

Assessment of frequent cutting as a plant-community management technique in power-line corridors

Repeated cutting of vegetation at or near ground level in power-line corridors is a common practice for inhibiting tree growth and regeneration. However, few data exist on long-term community responses. In this study, we sampled 20 northern Kentucky power-line corridors and compared their seedling and sapling communities to the edges and interiors of adjacent undisturbed forests. Mean seedling and sapling density in corridors was roughly twice that of adjacent undisturbed forest interiors, suggesting that repeated cutting is not a viable method of inhibiting tree regeneration. Corridor communities were dominated byRobinia pseudoacacia (black locust) andFraxinus americana (white ash), but ordinations indicated strong similaritties among communities in corridors and adjacent forests. Many of the tree species found in adjacent forests, with the exception of a few shade-tolerant species, had highest seedling and sapling densities in corridors. Stump or root sprouting by many species appears to regenerate forests quickly after cutting. However, disturbed soil and detritus accumulations caused by management crews and their equipment may also create a large variety of microsites for seedling establishment. Because repeated cutting selects for dominance by species with highest sprout growth rates, it should not be used as the sole management technique. It may instead be used to alter the vigor, stature, and stored reserves of trees so that herbicides or other methods of tree control can be used more efficiently.     

废弃电子设备的资源化研究发展现状

分析了废弃电子设备的主要特点、资源化回收与利用的不同方法及其优缺点，并详细介绍了废弃电子设备机械处理的研究及工业应用现状。     

Octachlorinated dioxin in pulps and effluents: Where does it come from?

Studies on the formation/destruction of dioxins associated with the pulping of wood artificially impregnated with an industrial grade of pentachlorophenol lend support to an earlier observation that ambient dioxins deposition may not necessarily be a unique source of the higher chlorinated dioxins occasionally found in pulps and final effluent discharges. These dioxins, which seemingly occur in products from a wide range of pulping technologies including recycle operations, may also originate from pentachlorophenol-based fungicides.     

Utilization of limestone dust waste as filler in natural rubber

The possibility of using limestone dust waste (LDW) as a filler in natural rubber (NR) was investigated. First, the basic properties of LDW were characterized; LDW was then incorporated into NR and the compound properties were determined. Comparison of the reinforcing effect of LDW and other commercial fillers such as light-precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and nanoprecipitated calcium carbonate (NPCC) was made. The results revealed that even though the addition of LDW has little effect on compound processability, it has a negative effect on most mechanical properties, e.g., tensile strength, tear strength, and abrasion resistance, of the vulcanizate. Among the three fillers, the degree of reinforcement could be placed in the following order: NPCC > PCC > LDW. Due to their relatively low specific surface area and thus low reinforcement ability, both LDW and PCC can be grouped as nonreinforcing fillers, whereas NPCC, the specific surface area of which is relatively high, could be grouped as a semi-reinforcing filler for rubber.     

Experimental and life cycle assessment analysis of gas emission from mechanically–biologically pretreated waste in a landfill with energy recovery

The global gaseous emissions produced by landfilling the Mechanically Sorted Organic Fraction (MSOF) with different weeks of Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) was evaluated for an existing waste management system. One MBT facility and a landfill with internal combustion engines fuelled by the landfill gas for electrical energy production operate in the waste management system considered. An experimental apparatus was used to simulate 0, 4, 8 and 16 weeks of aerobic stabilization and the consequent biogas potential (Nl/kg) of a large sample of MSOF withdrawn from the full-scale MBT. Stabilization achieved by the waste was evaluated by dynamic oxygen uptake and fermentation tests. Good correlation coefficients (R²), ranging from 0.7668 to 0.9772, were found between oxygen uptake, fermentation and anaerobic test values. On the basis of the results of several anaerobic tests, the methane production rate k (year^?1) was evaluated. k ranged from 0.436 to 0.308 year^?1 and the bio-methane potential from 37 to 12 N m³/tonne, respectively, for the MSOF with 0 and 16 weeks of treatment. Energy recovery from landfill gas ranged from about 11 to 90 kW h per tonne of disposed MSOF depending on the different scenario investigated. Life cycle analysis showed that the scenario with 0 weeks of pre-treatment has the highest weighted global impact even if opposite results were obtained with respect to the single impact criteria. MSOF pre-treatment periods longer than 4 weeks showed rather negligible variation in the global impact of system emissions.