Mitigating Impact of Devils Lake Flooding on the Sheyenne River Sulfate Concentration

Devils Lake is a terminal lake located in northeast North Dakota. Because of its glacial origin and accumulated salts from evaporation, the lake has a high concentration of sulfate compared to the surrounding water bodies. From 1993 to 2011, Devils Lake water levels rose by ~10 m, which flooded surrounding communities and increased the chance of an overspill to the Sheyenne River. To control the flooding, the State of North Dakota constructed two outlets to pump the lake water to the river. However, the pumped water has raised concerns about of water quality degradation and potential flooding risk of the Sheyenne River. To investigate these perceived impacts, a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was developed for the Sheyenne River and it was linked to a coupled SWAT and CE‐QUAL‐W2 model that was developed for Devils Lake in a previous study. While the current outlet schedule has attempted to maintain the total river discharge within the confines of a two‐year flood (36 m³/s), our simulation from 2012 to 2018 revealed that the diversion increased the Sheyenne River sulfate concentration from an average of 125 to >750 mg/L. Furthermore, a conceptual optimization model was developed with a goal of better preserving the water quality of the Sheyenne River while effectively mitigating the flooding of Devils Lake. The optimal solution provides a “win–win” outlet management that maintains the efficiency of the outlets while reducing the Sheyenne River sulfate concentration to ≤600 mg/L.     

Deployment of parabolic trough concentrated solar power plants in North Africa – a case study for Libya

The study addresses the potential of using concentrated solar power plants (CSPs) as a sustainable alternative of clean energy generation in the Mediterranean region and, in particular, in its North Africa shore. This location presents attractive conditions for the installation of CSPs, in particular high solar irradiation, good manpower concentration, and proximity and availability of water resources for condenser cooling. Energetic, exergetic, and economic analyses were conducted taking into consideration a particular type of CSPs - the parabolic trough concentrated solar power plant, which incorporates the most proven technology and it is already used in Southern Europe (Spain). In addition, the study considered the impact of project financing and incentives on the cost of energy. The combination of higher values for performance and potentially lower levelized cost of electricity (LCE) for the North Africa Mediterranean Rim than the South of Spain region can yield a very favorable return for the invested capital. Tripoli compared to Almeria presented superior performance and potentially lower LCE values ($0.18/kWh versus $0.22/kWh). This is significant, even when it is taken into consideration the fact that the plant in Tripoli, despite a relatively modest capacity factor of 34%, has a large gross power output of 173,886 MWhe. In addition, the implementation at the Tripoli location of a plant similar to the Anadsol plant has a slight advantage (2–3%) in terms of overall efficiency.     

洪涝灾害条件下疏散交通生成预测方法

为有助于有关部门更准确预测洪涝灾害受灾民众的疏散量,结合非集计数据和集计数据的优点,提出分区集计数据的概念,设计了受灾区域分区方法,并通过意向偏好(SP)调查法对我国居民在洪涝条件下疏散交通需求数据进行调查。在此基础上,引入BP神经网络建立基于分区集计数据的疏散交通生成预测模型。利用调查数据进行实证分析发现,所设计方法取得了较好的预测效果,鲁棒性较好,平均相对预测误差仅为1.8%,其预测效果明显优于现有的非集计和整集计模型。     

Ti3C2纳米层状材料对废水中Cr（Ⅵ）的光催化去除性能

以Ti₃AlC₂为原料,采用HF刻蚀工艺制备出12种Ti₃C₂纳米层状材料,对其形貌进行了表征,并考察了以其作为光催化剂对废水中Cr（Ⅵ）的处理效果。实验结果表明：HF体积分数为80%、刻蚀时间为48 h时得到的MX-80-48的形貌较好;MX-80-48具有类似石墨烯的二维层状结构,纳米层厚度约20~50 nm,孔径2~10 nm,比表面积14.8 m²/g,在400~700 nm可见光范围内表现出强烈的吸光性;当Cr（Ⅵ）的初始质量浓度为40.00 mg/L、MX-80-48投加量为200 mg/L、pH=2、反应时间4 h（暗反应1 h+光照3 h）时,Cr（Ⅵ）去除率可达100%。     

甘肃省风力发电现状及发展对策

介绍了甘肃省的风力资源及风力发电的发展现状，重点阐述了白银地区、玉门地区、酒泉瓜州、金昌地区、敦煌地区和武威地区等几个具有代表性地区的风能资源优势及风电建设情况，指出了甘肃省风力发电在技术和政策等方面目前还存在的主要问题，分析了产生这些问题的原因，提出了促进甘肃省风力发电事业发展的对策。     

Understanding implications of consumer behavior for wildlife farming and sustainable wildlife trade

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle trade in the Cayman Islands, where turtles have been farm raised for human consumption for almost 50 years, as a case study to explore consumer preferences toward wild‐sourced (illegal) and farmed (legal) products and potential conservation implications. Combining methods innovatively (including indirect questioning and choice experiments), we conducted a nationwide trade assessment through in‐person interviews from September to December 2014. Households were randomly selected using disproportionate stratified sampling, and responses were weighted based on district population size. We approached 597 individuals, of which 37 (6.2%) refused to participate. Although 30% of households had consumed turtle in the previous 12 months, the purchase and consumption of wild products was rare (e.g., 64–742 resident households consumed wild turtle meat [i.e., 0.3–3.5% of households] but represented a large threat to wild turtles in the area due to their reduced populations). Differences among groups of consumers were marked, as identified through choice experiments, and price and source of product played important roles in their decisions. Despite the long‐term practice of farming turtles, 13.5% of consumers showed a strong preference for wild products, which demonstrates the limitations of wildlife farming as a single tool for sustainable wildlife trade. By using a combination of indirect questioning, choice experiments, and sales data to investigate demand for wildlife products, we obtained insights about consumer behavior that can be used to develop conservation‐demand‐focused initiatives. Lack of data from long‐term social–ecological assessments hinders the evaluation of and learning from wildlife farming. This information is key to understanding under which conditions different interventions (e.g., bans, wildlife farming, social marketing) are likely to succeed.     

Impact of posture and upper-limb muscle activity on grip strength

Purpose. The current research was carried out to determine grip strength (GS) with change in posture and upper-limb muscle activity of manual workers and investigate the impacts of these changes. Methods. For the current research, 120 male and 80 female participants were selected and GS was assessed using a digital hand grip dynamometer in various conditions. Results. The outcomes showed that male participants had higher GS as compared to female participants. Maximum GS was found in a standing posture with the fixed forward shoulder at 45°, elbow at 90° and a neutral position of the wrist and forearm for all participants. Conclusions. Higher values of GS were attained in standing postures which may result in attainment of higher performance levels by the workers. The outcomes justify the importance of correct postures during manual work in industries employing traditional methods.     

层状氧化物NaCo_2O_4热催化H_2O_2降解亚甲基蓝

采用固相烧结法制备了NaCo_2O_4催化剂,构建了NaCo_2O_4-H_2O_2热催化体系降解亚甲基蓝(MB)。XRD和SEM表征结果显示,合成的NaCo_2O_4催化剂具有良好的稳定性。NaCo_2O_4对H_2O_2具有良好的热催化性能,反应温度越高,反应速率常数k越大,该催化反应符合一级动力学方程。NaCo_2O_4-H_2O_2体系对MB具有较好的降解效果,在反应温度为50℃、NaCo_2O_4加入量为50 mg、MB溶液加入量为100 mL、MB初始质量浓度为30 mg/L、H_2O_2加入量为1.00 mL的最优条件下,反应340 min时,MB降解率达87.00%;催化剂重复使用三次,MB降解率仍可达85%以上;经捕获剂效果对比实验发现,催化反应体系中存在h~+、·OH等催化活性物种。     

气质联用法测固定污染源中三氟甲烷、四氟甲烷、六氟乙烷和六氟化硫

建立了固定污染源排气中三氟甲烷、四氟甲烷、六氟乙烷和六氟化硫的采样和气质联用分析方法,检出限分别为0.06、0.15、0.21、0.71 mg/m3,精密度在3.2%以下,相关系数大于0.999 6,并对浙江省内2家典型企业排放的温室气体进行了监测,实际样品监测结果表明,该方法能够满足废气中4种温室气体的监测要求。     

The accounting method and application of CO2 emissions responsibility by the electricity sector at the provincial level in China

When accounting the CO₂ emissions responsibility of the electricity sector at the provincial level in China,it is of great significance to consider the scope of both producers’ and the consumers’ responsibility,since this will promote fairness in defining emission responsibility and enhance cooperation in emission reduction among provinces.This paper proposes a new method for calculating carbon emissions from the power sector at the provincial level based on the shared responsibility principle and taking into account interregional power exchange.This method can not only be used to account the emission responsibility shared by both the electricity production side and the consumption side,but it is also applicable for calculating the corresponding emission responsibility undertaken by those provinces with net electricity outflow and inflow.This method has been used to account for the carbon emissions responsibilities of the power sector at the provincial level in China since 2011.The empirical results indicate that compared with the production-based accounting method,the carbon emissions of major power-generation provinces in China calculated by the shared responsibility accounting method are reduced by at least 10%,but those of other power-consumption provinces are increased by 20% or more.Secondly,based on the principle of shared responsibility accounting,Inner Mongolia has the highest carbon emissions from the power sector while Hainan has the lowest.Thirdly,four provinces,including Inner Mongolia,Shanxi,Hubei and Anhui,have the highest carbon emissions from net electricity outflow- 14 million t in 2011,accounting for 74.42% of total carbon emissions from net electricity outflow in China.Six provinces,including Hebei,Beijing,Guangdong,Liaoning,Shandong,and Jiangsu,have the highest carbon emissions from net electricity inflow- 11 million t in 2011,accounting for 71.44% of total carbon emissions from net electricity inflow in China.Lastly,this paper has estimated the emission factors of electricity consumption at the provincial level,which can avoid repeated calculations when accounting the emission responsibility of power consumption terminals（e.g.construction,automobile manufacturing and other industries）.In addition,these emission factors can also be used to account the emission responsibilities of provincial power grids.