RESEARCH: Managing Mountainous Degraded Landscapes After Farmland Abandonment in the Central Spanish Pyrenees

Genista scorpius. Under a dense shrub cover both runoff and sediment yield are strongly controlled. As the shrub cover becomes open, sediment yield and runoff increase greatly. A dense herbaceous cover yields high runoff coefficients but moderate soil losses. From the results obtained, the possibility of abandoned field reclamation by means of selective clearing of scrub is discussed.     

Montréal's Eco-quartier environmental program: local action and municipal management

This article assesses the City of Montréal's éco-quartier program from the viewpoint of managing the urban environment and improving living environments. It evaluates the actual achievements of the program, looking especially at the ability of local communities to take effective action to improve their living environments, while under the guidance of the associations mandated to manage the program at the local level. Our research concentrated on three main areas: a) the development of the City of Montréal's environmental program; b) the effectiveness of the éco-quartiers in carrying out their mandate; c) the actual impacts of the program in improving living environments.     

Individual difference factors in risky driving among older adults

INTRODUCTION: Motor-vehicle crashes kill roughly 4,500 American adults over the age of 75 annually. Among younger adults, one behavioral factor consistently linked to risky driving is personality, but this predictor has been overshadowed by research on cognitive, perceptual, and motor processes among older drivers. METHOD: In this study, a sample of 101 licensed drivers, all age 75 and over, were recruited to complete self-report measures on personality, temperament, and driving history. Participants also completed a virtual environment (VE) course designed to assess risk-taking driving behavior. State records of motor-vehicle crashes were collected. RESULTS: Results suggest both a sensation-seeking personality and an undercontrolled temperament are related to risky driving among older adults. Sensation-seeking was particularly related to history of violations and tickets, while temperamental control was more broadly related to a number of risky driving measures. Methodological and crash prevention issues are discussed.     

TC18钛合金在海洋大气环境中的腐蚀行为研究

目的为TC18钛合金应用范围扩展和产品结构的设计与选材提供有益的借鉴和参考。方法采用宏微观腐蚀形貌、静态力学性能、断裂韧度、疲劳裂纹扩展速率研究TC18钛合金在海洋大气环境下暴露6年的腐蚀行为。结果 TC18钛合金在微观形貌上未见点蚀坑等明显腐蚀,抗拉强度和断裂韧度随海洋环境试验时间的延长呈下降趋势,试验4年,TC18断裂韧度下降了6.7%,其断口形貌表现为准解理断口。在da/d N-ΔK双对数坐标中,2,4,6年三个试验周期中两者均呈现很好的线性关系,Paris公式da/d N=C(ΔK)~n中,参数分别为C_1=5.846×10~(-11),n_1=2.320,C_2=6.01×10~(-14),n_2=3.48,C_3=1.81×10~(-13),n_3=3.30。结论 TC18钛合金在海洋大气环境下表现出较低的腐蚀敏感性。     

Influence factors for the oxidation of pyrite by oxygen and birnessite in aqueous systems

The oxidation of exposed pyrite causes acid mine drainage, soil acidification, and the release of toxic metal ions. As the important abiotic oxidants in supergene environments, oxygen and manganese oxides participate in the oxidation of pyrite. In this work, the oxidation processes of natural pyrite by oxygen and birnessite were studied in simulated systems, and the influence of pH, Fe(II) and Cr(III) on the intermediates and redox rate was investigated. SO₄^2 − and elemental S were formed as the major and minor products, respectively, during the oxidation processes. Ferric (hydr) oxides including Fe(OH)₃ and goethite were formed with low degree of crystallinity. Low pH and long-term reaction facilitated the formation of goethite and ferric hydroxide, respectively. The rate of pyrite oxidation by birnessite was enhanced in the presence of air (oxygen), and Fe(II) ions played a key role in the redox process. The addition of Fe(II) ions to the reaction system significantly enhanced the oxidation rate of pyrite; however, the presence of Cr(III) ions remarkably decreased the pyrite oxidation rate in aqueous systems. The introduction of Fe(II) ions to form a Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple facilitated the electron transfer and accelerated the oxidation rate of pyrite. The present work suggests that isolation from air and decreasing the concentration of Fe(II) ions in aqueous solutions might be effective strategies to reduce the oxidation rate of pyrite in mining soils.     

海洋环境下金属腐蚀评估与预测研究现状

围绕金属在海洋环境中所面临的腐蚀问题,概述了金属海洋环境腐蚀评估与预测研究现状。首先,探讨了海洋环境中多种化学、物理和生物因素对金属腐蚀的影响,归纳总结了当前常用的金属腐蚀评估方法,涵盖基于试验和检测结果、仿真计算和大数据分析的评估方法。此外,全面综述了现有经验式、基于物理机制以及数据驱动的金属腐蚀预测模型的特点及应用现状,提出了未来金属海洋环境腐蚀评估和预测的研究方向。     

Mathematical equivalence of geometric mean fitness with probabilistic optimization under environmental uncertainty

Natural selection can be considered as optimising fitness. Because ‘mean’ fitness is maximized with respect to the genotypes of carriers, traditional theory can be viewed as a statistical theory of natural selection. Probabilistic optimisation is a way to incorporate such uncertainty into optimality analyses of natural selection, where environmental uncertainty is expressed as a probability distribution. Its canonical form is a weighted average of fitness with respect to a given probabilistic distribution. This concept should be applicable to three different levels of uncertainty: (1) behavioural variations of an individual, (2) individual variations within a generation, and (3) temporal change over generations (geometric mean fitness). The former two levels are straightforward with many empirical evidences, but the last category, the geometric mean fitness, has not well understood. Here we studied the geometric mean fitness by taking its logarithm, where the log growth rates become the fitness value. By further transforming the log growth rates, the fitness of log growth rates becomes its linear function. Therefore, a simple average of these distributions becomes the fitness measure across generations and consideration of variance discount or the entire probability distributions becomes unnecessary. We discuss some characteristic features of probabilistic optimization in general. Our view is considered a probabilistic view of natural selection, in contrast with the traditional statistical view of natural selection.     

区域环评中产业定位调整建议的探讨

本文以山东省两个经济开发区区域环评为例,分析了各开发区在资源和环境方面的优劣势条件,论证了各开发区规划产业定位的合理性,探讨了开发区产业定位合理性评价的指标体系、调整原则、思路、方法,提出了各开发区产业定位的调整建议,并论证了调整后产业定位的合理性,促进了开发区的可持续发展。     

A Study of Annoyance Caused by Low-Frequency Noise During Mental Work

This article presents the results of an analysis of annoyance caused by low-frequency noise (including infrasonic noise) that occurs at work stations located in offices. The tests covered measurements of acoustic parameters specific for this type of noise and a survey conducted in the working environment and in laboratory conditions at a model of a work station.