Evaluation of the temporal variations of air quality in Taipei City, Taiwan, from 1994 to 2003

Data collected from the five air-quality monitoring stations established by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei City from 1994 to 2003 are analyzed to assess the temporal variations of air quality. Principal component analysis (PCA) is adopted to convert the original measuring pollutants into fewer independent components through linear combinations while still retaining the majority of the variance of the original data set. Two principal components (PCs) are retained together explaining 82.73% of the total variance. PC1, which represents primary pollutants such as CO, NO(x), and SO(2), shows an obvious decrease over the last 10 years. PC2, which represents secondary pollutants such as ozone, displays a yearly increase over the time period when a reduction of primary pollutants is obvious. In order to track down the control measures put forth by the authorities, 47 days of high PM(10) concentrations caused by transboundary transport have been eliminated in analyzing the long-term trend of PM(10) in Taipei City. The temporal variations over the past 10 years show that the moderate peak in O(3) demonstrates a significant upward trend even when the local primary pollutants have been well under control. Monthly variations of PC scores demonstrate that primary pollution is significant from January to April, while ozone increases from April to August. The results of the yearly variations of PC scores show that PM(10) has gradually shifted from a strong correlation with PC1 during the early years to become more related to PC2 in recent years. This implies that after a reduction of primary pollutants, the proportion of secondary aerosols in PM(10) may increase. Thus, reducing the precursor concentrations of secondary aerosols will be an effective way to lower PM(10) concentrations.     

Measuring bed shear stress along vegetated river beds using FST-hemispheres

The measurement of the bed shear stress along vegetated river beds is essential for accurately predicting the water level, velocity and solute and sediment transport fluxes in computational hydroenvironmental models. Details are given herein of an experimental and theoretical study to determine the bed boundary shear stress along vegetated river beds introducing a novel field measuring method, namely the FliessWasserStammtisch (FST)-hemispheres. Although investigations have been conducted previously for sedimentary channels using the FST-hemispheres, this preliminary study is thought to be the first time that such hemispheres have been used to investigate the bed shear stresses in vegetated channels. FST-hemispheres were first developed by Statzner and Müller [1989. Standard hemispheres as indicators of flow characteristics in lotic benthos research. Freshwater Biology 21, 445-459] to act as an integrated indicator of the gross hydrodynamic stresses present near the bed. Test and validation data were found to be at least of the same order of magnitude for the stresses predicted from literature for sedimentary channels, with this study establishing the commencement of a database of calibrated FST-hemisphere laboratory data for vegetated channel beds. In a series of experiments, depths ranging from 0.1 to 0.28m were considered, equating directly to comparable conditions in small rivers or streams. The results of this study provide a basis for enabling the FST-hemispheres to be used to evaluate the boundary shear stress for a wider range of applications in the future, including vegetated river beds.     

安全评价方法在危险废物处置环境风险评价中的应用探讨

对安全评价方法在危险废物处置建设项目环境风险评价中的运用进行初步探索。主要用"工艺过程风险因素分析表"对工艺过程潜在风险性识别;用蒙德法进行源项分析;用池火灾模型、蒸气云爆炸伤害模型对易燃、易爆物质的火灾、爆炸等重大事故后果进行计算,得出人员的伤亡半径和财产损失半径等参数,以便于判断风险的可接受水平。分析结果表明:采用安全评价方法对危险废物处置建设项目进行环境风险评价是适用的、可行的。     

官地水电站竹子坝料场高边坡的稳定性分析及其影响因数研究

竹子坝料场是官地水电站混凝土浇筑骨料的重要来源之一。结合竹子坝料场的地形地质情况,以及料场开挖后形成的东、南、西三段人工边坡,运用刚体极限平衡的方法进行稳定性分析及其影响因数的研究。     

现行财税体制下我国耕地资源数量变化的实证研究

耕地资源数量变化受到人口、经济等诸多因素的影响，而财税体制是影响耕地资源数量变化的更深屡次原因。通过数量关系的初步观察和作用机理分析说明我国现行财税体制对耕地资源数量变化存在正反两方面作用，总体来看，对耕地资源保护不利。计量结果进一步证实了我国现行财税体制对耕地资源数量变化存在显著影响。揭示了其影响的方向和大小。根据研究结果，文章有针对性地提出了增加地方财政预算收入，合理分配土地出让金比例和科学使用土地出让金等相关政策建议。     

Fecal source tracking by antibiotic resistance analysis on a watershed exhibiting low resistance

The ongoing development of microbial source tracking has made it possible to identify contamination sources with varying accuracy, depending on the method used. The purpose of this study was to test the efficiency of the antibiotic resistance analysis (ARA) method under low resistance by tracking the fecal sources at Turkey Creek, Oklahoma exhibiting this condition. The resistance patterns of 772 water-isolates, tested with nine antibiotics, were analyzed by discriminant analysis (DA) utilizing a five-source library containing 2250 isolates. The library passed various representativeness tests; however, two of the pulled-sample tests suggested insufficient sampling. The resubstitution test of the library individual sources showed significant isolate misclassification with an average rate of correct classification (ARCC) of 58%. These misclassifications were explained by low antibiotic resistance (Wilcoxon test P < 0.0001). Seasonal DA of stream E. coli isolates for the pooled sources human/livestock/deer indicated that in fall, the human source dominated (P < 0.0001) at a rate of 56%, and that human and livestock respective contributions in winter (35 and 39%), spring (43 and 40%), and summer (37 and 35%) were similar. Deer scored lower (17–28%) than human and livestock at every season. The DA was revised using results from a misclassification analysis to provide a perspective of the effect caused by low antibiotic resistance and a more realistic determination of the fecal source rates at Turkey Creek. The revision increased livestock rates by 13–14% (0.04 ≤ P ≤ 0.06), and decreased human and deer by 6–7%. Negative misclassification into livestock was significant (0.04 ≤ P ≤ 0.06). Low antibiotic resistance showed the greatest effect in this category.     

Modeling Parent and Metabolite Fate and Transport in Subsurface Drained Fields With Directly Connected Macropores1

Abstract: Few studies exist that evaluate or apply pesticide transport models based on measured parent and metabolite concentrations in fields with subsurface drainage. Furthermore, recent research suggests pesticide transport through exceedingly efficient direct connections, which occur when macropores are hydrologically connected to subsurface drains, but this connectivity has been simulated at only one field site in Allen County, Indiana. This research evaluates the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) in simulating the transport of a parent compound and its metabolite at two subsurface drained field sites. Previous research used one of the field sites to test the original modification of the RZWQM to simulate directly connected macropores for bromide and the parent compound, but not for the metabolite. This research will evaluate RZWQM for parent/metabolite transformation and transport at this first field site, along with evaluating the model at an additional field site to evaluate whether the parameters for direct connectivity are transferable and whether model performance is consistent for the two field sites with unique soil, hydrologic, and environmental conditions. Isoxaflutole, the active ingredient in BALANCE^® herbicide, was applied to both fields. Isoxaflutole rapidly degrades into a metabolite (RPA 202248). This research used calibrated RZWQM models for each field based on observed subsurface drain flow and/or edge of field conservative tracer concentrations in subsurface flow. The calibrated models for both field sites required a portion (approximately 2% but this fraction may require calibration) of the available water and chemical in macropore flow to be routed directly into the subsurface drains to simulate peak concentrations in edge of field subsurface drain flow shortly after chemical applications. Confirming the results from the first field site, the existing modification for directly connected macropores continually failed to predict pesticide concentrations on the recession limbs of drainage hydrographs, suggesting that the current strategy only partially accounts for direct connectivity. Thirty‐year distributions of annual mass (drainage) loss of parent and metabolite in terms of percent of isoxaflutole applied suggested annual simulated percent losses of parent and metabolite (3.04 and 1.31%) no greater in drainage than losses in runoff on nondrained fields as reported in the literature.     

城市燃气管道事故应急抢修方案的决策分析

通过对近年来的城市燃气管道事故抢险统计数据的分析与研究,管道事故抢险方案的选择存在着很大的主观性和片面性.为了克服应急抢修方案的种种局限,笔者应用模糊综合评判方法建立了城市燃气管道事故应急抢修方案评价选择模型;考虑可靠性、抢修时间、事故损失、抢险费用、社会影响及政治影响等6类影响因素来评判抢修方案的优劣,可以科学合理地选择最佳的管道事故应急抢修方案,达到经济合理、快速可靠的目的;实例验证,评判模型对城市燃气管道事故抢险具有重要的现实意义和参考价值.