From proposal to decision: Suggestions for tightening up the “NEPA process”

Although the process of documenting compliance with NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act) requires no drastic revisions, it can be managed more rigorously. Suggestions for revision can be grouped under five major steps: 1) getting a complete proposal from the applicant; 2) getting the decision-making process onto the right decision-making path; 3) modifying the applicant's proposal 4) going down a shorter path through the EA/FONSI (environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact) or through categorical exclusion review; and 5) going down the longer path through the EIS. Step 2 is perhaps the most critical, because there a decision must be made whether to write an EA/FONSI or an EIS, on the basis of whether the proposal would “significantly affect … the … environment.” In the past, this decision has not always been made promptly or rigorously. Accordingly, we suggest that the agency responsible for NEPA compliance should develop a system (a “black box”), consisting of a core group of specialists working with an interdisciplinary team, using sophisticated techniques for modeling impacts and directing both their research and their writing according to the concept of significance. By determining more efficiently and reliably whether the impacts of a proposal would be significant, such an approach would improve management of the total process.     

还原脱氯-生物联合降解2,4-二氯苯氧乙酸

采用Pd/Fe双金属对2,4-二氯苯氧乙酸(2,4-D)进行催化还原脱氯,以活性污泥对2,4-D脱氯产物进行生物氧化,考察初始pH、活性污泥量、污染物初始浓度、温度等因素对生物氧化的影响情况.通过PCR-变性梯度凝胶电泳分析污泥体系菌群变化情况,高效液相色谱测定来推测目标污染物的降解过程.结果表明:1 Pd/Fe双金属可有效还原2,4-D,其主要先还原为2-氯苯氧乙酸(2-CPA),最终顺序脱氯为苯氧乙酸(PA).2 2,4-D具有较大生物毒性,其脱氯产物毒性下降,更易被生物降解.3 pH=7、污泥量50 mL/200 mL、适量的初始PA浓度(14.6 mg·L-1)和30℃均有利于PA的去除.在该条件下反应96 h,PA去除率可达84.3%.     

Effects of climate and land-cover change on the conservation status of gibbons

Species shift their distribution in response to climate and land-cover change, which may result in a spatial mismatch between currently protected areas (PAs) and priority conservation areas (PCAs). We examined the effects of climate and land-cover change on potential range of gibbons and sought to identify PCAs that would conserve them effectively. We collected global gibbon occurrence points and modeled (ecological niche model) their current and potential 2050s ranges under climate-change and different land-cover-change scenarios. We examined change in range and PA coverage between the current and future ranges of each gibbon species. We applied spatial conservation prioritization to identify the top 30% PCAs for each species. We then determined how much of the PCAs are conserved in each country within the global range of gibbons. On average, 31% (SD 22) of each species’ current range was covered in PAs. PA coverage of the current range of 9 species was <30%. Nine species lost on average 46% (SD 29) of their potential range due to climate change. Under climate-change with an optimistic land-cover-change scenario (B1), 12 species lost 39% (SD 28) of their range. In a pessimistic land-cover-change scenario (A2), 15 species lost 36% (SD 28) of their range. Five species lost significantly more range under the A2 scenario than the B1 scenario (p = 0.01, SD 0.01), suggesting that gibbons will benefit from effective management of land cover. PA coverage of future range was <30% for 11 species. On average, 32% (SD 25) of PCAs were covered by PAs. Indonesia contained more species and PCAs and thus has the greatest responsibility for gibbon conservation. Indonesia, India, and Myanmar need to expand their PAs to fulfill their responsibility to gibbon conservation. Our results provide a baseline for global gibbon conservation, particularly for countries lacking gibbon research capacity.     

Optimization of the recovery of plastics for recycling by density media separation cyclones

Material recovery processes are presented as the optimum option for recycling plastic wastes as a means of recovering hydrocarbon resources. There exist a large variety of automated material recovery processes for recycling of such wastes but each with significant limitations. Of these, the separation based on differences in densities is advocated as the optimum process either for producing recycled products or preparing wastes for subsequent recovery processing.Density separation processes based on cyclone type density media separation (DMS) is presented as an important, potential method for increasing plastics recycling process capacities. It is demonstrated to have the capacity to separate a significantly larger range of particle sizes than those presently processed industrially. The mathematical relationship for the prediction of quality of typical LARCODEMS type density media separations by particle size and density as expressed by the Ecart Probable is presented.A proposed device configuration is presented for density media separation to optimize the recovery and purity of both density fractions produced. It is also suggested that to be economically viable, a large scale of operation is required for industrial plastics recycling operations recovering and producing a number of different plastics with a purity to be used as a substitute for virgin material.     

汽车用材料——PA66及其玻璃纤维复合材料在不同介质中的老化行为研究

在三种介质（二次水，汽油，乙二醇，50℃温度）条件下对PA66及PA66／GF进行95天左右的人工模拟材料在汽车使用环境下的加速试验，对不同老化时间的PA66及PA66／GF试样进行了宏观力学测试及吸湿性测试，并进一步利用示差扫描量热法（DSC），红外光谱及扫描电镜等手段分析老化前后试样的微观结构及组织差异。结合老化前后试样的力学性能变化，揭示了PA66及复合材料的老化规律和机理。实验表明，PA66及PA66／GF在三种介质中拉伸强度呈现下降趋势。其主要机理是介质溶液对试样渗入的结果影响，降低了分子间的相互作用力（范德华力）从而使材料机械性能下降；同时未发现化学作用对材料的力学性能有明显的变化。     

水稻悬浮细胞诱导生成植保素的研究

运用化学试剂处理水稻悬浮细胞诱导生成植保素Sakuranetin(SA)和Mom ilactone A(MA).结果表明,在悬浮培养液中添加1.5 mmol/L的金属阳离子Ag 、Ca2 、Zn2 、Mg2 和Cu2 ,都可以在一定程度上诱导悬浮细胞产生SA或MA,其中以K 处理效果最好;添加1.5 mmol/L的NH4 也可诱导产生MA;MA的产生量显著高于SA,每20 mL悬浮液中的产量可以分别高达158.9~1337.9μg和0.16~7.6μg,说明水稻悬浮细胞中存在这些阳离子的高效防御识别系统,从而开发新型绿色环保农药是可行的.图1表1参9     

固相萃取—ICP-MS分析西藏咸水湖泊中的微量元素

本研究建立了一种以NOBIAS PA1螯合树脂为富集手段,结合电感耦合等离子体质谱（ICP-MS）测试富含有机碳的咸水湖泊中Mn、Fe、Co、Ni、Cu和Zn的分析方法.该方法首先使用UV/H₂O₂法对湖泊水体进行消解,去除有机络合作用对Co和Cu的干扰;然后对咸水中的微量元素进行预富集,并使用醋酸铵去除树脂上吸附的盐类;最后使用HNO₃洗脱样品并用ICP-MS进行测试.结果表明,在pH值6.35±0.30的情况下,不同微量元素流程空白值为0.49~6.43ng/kg;检出限为0.17~4.55ng/kg;样品的回收率为99%~102%.该方法用于西藏雅根错、色林错、昂仁金错的测试结果显示,该方法加标（内标元素In）回收率>99%;样品（n=3）的相对标准偏差<5%.本方法适用于内陆湖泊尤其是富含有机质的咸水湖泊（包括盐湖）微量元素分析.     

MIE determination and thermal degradation study of PA12 polymer powder used for laser sintering

Pulverized materials such as metallic or polymer powders play a considerable role in many industrial processes. Their use requires the introduction of preventive safeguards to control the plant's safety.PA12 polymer powder processing by laser sintering is characteristic of this tendency. The present work concerns PA12 powder (bimodal particle size distribution: 10 μm and 55 μm) and relates to explosion sensitivity and the thermal degradation of this powder, which can occur during laser sintering. Minimum Ignition Energy is determined using a modified Hartmann tube combined with the Langlie method developed in the PRISME Laboratory. This study shows the influence of parameters such as distance between the electrodes, powder concentration and arc power on MIE values. Theses parameters vary in the range of 3–6 A for the current intensity of the spark and the electrode gap in the range of 2.5–4 mm. The MIE is obtained for a spark gap of 3 mm and current intensity of the 4 A spark in our device. It shows that the MIE is less than 40 mJ for concentrations approaching 1000 g/m³. At lower concentrations (under 150 g/m³) the MIE increases but discrepancies in measurements appear, probably because of the static electricity that creates strong irregularities in dust dispersion. The second part of this study concerns the thermal degradation of the PA12 which is performed by thermogravimetric experiments coupled with mass spectrometric (MS) analysis for gas investigation. The mass loss measurement combined with the gas analysis allows the principal stages of degradation to be determined so as to calculate the kinetics parameter PA12. Experiments have been performed for different heating rates between 1 and 30 K min^?1 and the reproducibility of experiments has been verified. The activation energy is determined using two methods: Freidman and KAS. For a reaction rate of between 0.2 and 0.6, the activation energy is nearly constant. The KAS method gives a value of E_a = 250 kJ mol^?1 and the Friedman method gives E_a = 300 kJ mol^?1. The gas analysis by MS shows that oxidation begins at over 350 °C and finishes at under 650 °C with the formation of CO₂ and H₂O. Other major peaks with an m/z ratio of 29, 28 and 30 are noticed in this range of temperature. They show the presence of intermediate species such as C₂H₆, NO or CH₂O. The presence of HCN is also detected (m/z ratio of 27).     

PA6/煤系高岭土复合材料的制备与性能

用不同硅烷类偶联剂和钛酸酯偶联剂处理煤系高岭土,研究了煤系高岭土活化指数的变化,制备了PA6／煤系高岭土复合材料,研究了材料的力学性能和结晶行为。结果表明：在PA6中填充用偶联剂处理的煤系高岭土,可起到增强作用,其中钛酸脂偶联剂NDZ101效果较好,其合适用量为1％,经偶联剂处理的煤系高岭土比未处理的煤系高岭土具有更好的增强效果;煤系高岭土使尼龙6的结晶温度升高,结晶速度加快。     

符合ASME要求的承压设备焊缝超声相控阵检测（一）

结合国际权威法规AsME最新要求,研讨承压设备焊缝超声检测使用相控阵（PA）技术的重要条件和方法要领,突出该技术的工程应用实际和装置选项须知。旨在为国内承压设备推广应用PA技术、制定相应行业标准和刷新、升级UT人员的操作技能,提供有用借鉴。