Water Network Synthesis Using Mutation-Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization

Different techniques for the synthesis of industrial water reuse/recycle networks have been developed in recent process integration research. These tools range from graphical pinch analysis approaches to mathematical programming models. The latter have the advantage of being flexible enough to incorporate various water network constraints, but in many cases these are often non-linear, thus making the identification of global optima difficult. Recent work has demonstrated the effectiveness of metaheuristic algorithms such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), for finding good solutions these problems. This work describes the use of a modified PSO for solving mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) models for water network synthesis. By incorporating a mutation operator for the binary variables in the model, the algorithm is able to escape sub-optimal network topologies and proceed towards better solutions than can be found with ordinary PSO. Two case studies involving water recycle/reuse are used to demonstrate the new design methodology.     

WATER BUDGET COMPUTATION FOR A SHALLOW LAKE-LAKE OKEECHOBEE,FLORIDA1

ABSTRACT: The water budget computation in shallow lakes is complicated because marsh vegetation can transpire large quantities of lake water. Thus, a model including the marsh zone evapotranspiration (WET) was developed to compute the water budget for Lake Okeechobee. Three periods of testing (1969–74), planning (1963–74), and recorded period (1952–77) were used to compare the differences of the sum of storage deviation between the WET and conventional methods (WOET). Results of the WOET method showed that the sum of stage deviations were 87.42 cm (2.868 ft.), 231.80 cm (7.605 ft.), and 284.50 cm (9.333 ft.) in the testing, planning, and recorded periods, respectively. These stage deviations are equivalent in the same order to 29, 76, and 93 percent of the lake volume. In general, the WET method not only was applicable to compute the water budget for the lake but also reduced the sum of storage deviation by about 42, 31, and 49 percent, respectively, in those three periods. The storage deviation in WET method was reduced on an average to about 2 percent each year in all three periods, and the deviations were scattered more randomly than in WOET.     

OBJECTIVES AND CONSTRAINTS IN FEDERAL WATER RESOURCES PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The Water Resources Council's Principles and Standards stipulate that plans should be formulated to meet national, regional, state, and local needs or problems. It is not clear, however, how appropriate consideration can be given to both national objectives (NED and EQ) and local needs and problems. Two methods of incorporating national objectives and local problem solving into water resources planning are examined. They are plan formulation primarily in pursuit of national objectives, and plan formulation to solve local problems, but constrained by national objectives. The first of these methods is the approach which is becoming increasingly explicit in the development and elaboration of the Water Resources Council's Principles and Standards. The analysis indicates that the Water Resources Council's approach is neither the most practical nor the most desirable of the two methods examined. It creates unnecessary difficulties and fails to achieve its purpose. Plan formulation to solve local problems, but constrained by national objectives not only describes what field planners actually do, but is also more practial and more desirable.     

Incorporating Geological Effects in Modeling of Revegetation Strategies for Salt-Affected Landscapes

The work highlights the difficulties of using standard sampling and statistical techniques to investigate regional phenomena and presents an integrated approach combining small-scale sampling with broad-scale observations to provide input into a modeling exercise. It is suggested that such approaches are vital if landscape- and regional-scale processes are to be understood and managed. The way in which the problem is perceived (holistically or piecemeal) affects the way treatments are designed and their effectiveness: past approaches have failed to integrate the various scales and processes involved. Effective solutions require an integrated holistic response.     

多元信息综合的市县国土空间规划空间功能识别方法

空间功能识别是确定国土空间规划空间开发保护格局的关键环节,理论和实践意义重大。基于土地利用和地表覆盖现状、精细化DEM、地形单元等基础地理信息,水、生态、环境、灾害等专题数据,社会统计数据等多元信息,利用空间分析、多元统计、计量模型、基于规则的分类模型等技术方法,从多元信息综合集成和自动分类识别的角度,研究构建了一套市县国土空间规划空间主导功能识别的关键技术与方法,并对榆林市域进行空间功能分区。研究表明：本文方法有效将地理实体单元、功能评价指标综合于统一的地域单元,保证了空间功能分类识别的准确性;通过自动分类算法建模,实现空间功能识别的自动化,提高了国土空间规划的客观性和工作效率。     

酒泉地区城镇体系可持续发展构想

酒泉地区城镇类型较多，城镇体系中的许多关系需要统筹协调，本文侧重从城镇的规模和空间关系分析，城乡一体化和区一发展，基础产业和环境建设等三个角度，探讨了区域城市可持续发展问题。     

Summary of 25 Years of Xylem Tracheids and Sewage/Sludge in the Sea

The Rapid Sewage/Sludge Indicator Technique (RSIT), developed during the early 1970's, responded to critical needs within the Bureau of Water Pollution Control. It enabled quick detection of contamination in ocean water and bottom sediments during sewage-related emergencies and routine monitoring. RSIT became an invaluable tool for resource management, in determining where and to what extent marine environments are impacted, and when immediate information is necessary for public health decisions.

The RSIT utilizes microscopic examination for terrestrial plant vascular tissue, especially the xylem tracheid elements, as identifiers of sewage/sludge. Not normally found in ocean waters, this material, in toilet paper and the roughage of the human diet which passes through the digestive system intact, is an indicator of human faecal contamination. Minimal training and common laboratory materials allow gross screening in five minutes. New studies by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), United States Geologic Survey (USGS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), most recently at the 106-mile dump site off the New York Bight, revalidated the technique as a rapid, inexpensive, easy to use, semiquantitative indicator both for water column and sediment samples.     

Intraspecific Chromosome Number Variation: a Neglected Threat to the Conservation of Rare Plants

Abstract: The effectiveness of rare plant conservation will increase when life history, demographic, and genetic data are considered simultaneously. Inbreeding depression is a widely recognized genetic concern in rare plant conservation, and the mixing of genetically diverse populations in restoration efforts is a common remedy. Nevertheless, if populations with unrecognized intraspecific chromosome variation are crossed, progeny fitness losses will range from partial to complete sterility, and reintroductions and population augmentation of rare plants may fail. To assess the current state of cytological knowledge of threatened and endangered plants in the continental United States, we searched available resources for chromosome counts. We also reviewed recovery plans to discern whether recovery criteria potentially place listed species at risk by requiring reintroductions or population augmentation in the absence of cytological information. Over half the plants lacked a chromosome count, and when a taxon did have a count it generally originated from a sampling intensity too limited to detect intraspecific chromosome variation. Despite limited past cytological sampling, we found 11 plants with documented intraspecific cytological variation, while 8 others were ambiguous for intraspecific chromosome variation. Nevertheless, only one recovery plan addressed the chromosome differences. Inadequate within‐species cytological characterization, incomplete sampling among listed taxa, and the prevalence of interspecific and intraspecific chromosome variation in listed genera, suggests that other rare plants are likely to have intraspecific chromosome variation. Nearly 90% of all recovery plans called for reintroductions or population augmentation as part of recovery criteria despite the dearth of cytological knowledge. We recommend screening rare plants for intraspecific chromosome variation before reintroductions or population augmentation projects are undertaken to safeguard against inadvertent mixtures of incompatible cytotypes.     

Mainstreaming climate change adaptation at the local level

National authorities in many countries aim at having climate change adaptation mainstreamed into existing policy domains in order to achieve coherence and synergies, and to avoid mal-adaptation. Because of local variations in climate change impacts, the lion's share of climate adaptation work will have to take place at the local level. This means also that the mainstreaming process needs to occur locally. This article examines the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into existing sectors in five Norwegian municipalities. Applying theories of mainstreaming and policy integration we find that policy development is slower, but perhaps more robust in the municipalities that have chosen a horizontal, cross-sectoral approach to mainstreaming than in the municipalities that have chosen a vertical sector approach to mainstreaming.     

基于云平台的重庆环境监察移动执法系统集成研究

通过分析重庆市环境监察现场执法业务应用需求,结合现有的信息化现状及信息技术发展趋势,设计了“一个平台、一个中心、两个体系”的系统总体架构,提出了“移动端防控、链路安全、内网和服务器防护”的网络传输和信息安全系统设计,采用VPN专网,有效解决了符合三级等保安全的移动设备的传输网络,采用虚拟化的云服务平台,研发了市－区两级的重庆市环境监察移动执法系统,并在市局、涪陵和九龙坡区试点应用,取得了很好的应用效果。