Towards the solution of urban transport problems in China

１　ＴｈｅｎａｔｕｒｅｏｆｕｒｂａｎｔｒａｎｓｐｏｒｔｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓＭｏｓｔｌａｒｇｅｃｉｔｉｅｓａｒｏｕｎｄｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄａｒｅｓｕｆｆｅｒｉｎｇｆｒｏｍｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓｃａｕｓｅｄｂｙｔｒａｎｓｐｏｒｔ，ｉｎｃｌｕｄｉｎｇｃｏｎｇｅｓｔｉｏｎａｎｄａｔｍｏｓｐｈｅｒｉｃｐｏｌｌｕｔｉｏｎ．Ｔｈｅｓｅｓｔｅｍｆｒｏｍｉｎｃｒｅａｓｉｎｇｃａｒｏｗｎｅｒｓｈｉｐａｎｄｕｓｅ．Ｔｈｅｃａｒｅｎａｂｌｅｓｉｔｓｏｗｎｅｒｓｔｏｅｎｊｏｙａｒａｎｇｅｏｆｏｐｐｏｒｔｕｎｉｔｉｅｓ，ｍｏｒｅａｎｄｍ…     

A note on Prudencio's experimental tests of the coase propositions

The purpose of this note is to review Prudencio's recent experimental test of the Coasian propositions of neutrality and efficiency. His conclusion that the propositions are statistically supported by the experimental results is not substantiated. A careful examination of the design and methodology of the experiment leads to the conclusion that the experimental bargaining cannot be considered voluntary, and that the results are likely to be influenced by hypothetical bias. Other problems with the representativeness of Prudencio's participants are also discussed.     

Microscale genetic differentiation in a sessile invertebrate with cloned larvae: investigating the role of polyembryony

Microscale genetic differentiation of sessile organisms can arise from restricted dispersal of sexual propagules, leading to isolation by distance, or from localised cloning. Cyclostome bryozoans offer a possible combination of both: the localised transfer of spermatozoa between mates with limited dispersal of the resulting larvae, in association with the splitting of each sexually produced embryo into many clonal copies (polyembryony). We spatially sampled 157 colonies of Crisia denticulata from subtidal rock overhangs from one shore in Devon, England at a geographic scale of ca. 0.05 to 130 m plus a further 21 colonies from Pembrokeshire, Wales as an outgroup. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that the majority (67%) of genetic variation was distributed among individuals within single rock overhangs, with only 16% of variation among different overhangs within each shore and 17% of variation between the ingroup and outgroup shores. Despite local genetic variation, pairwise genetic similarity analysed by spatial autocorrelation was greatest at the smallest inter-individual distance we tested (5 cm) and remained significant and positive across generally within-overhang comparisons (<4 m). Spatial autocorrelation and AMOVA analyses both indicated that patches of C. denticulata located on different rock overhangs tended to be genetically distinct, with the switch from positive to negative autocorrelation, which is often considered to be the distance within which individuals reproduce with their close relatives or the radius of a patch, occurring at the 4–8 m distance class. Rerunning analyses with twenty data sets that only included one individual of each multilocus genotype (n = 97) or the single data set that contained just the unique genotypes (n = 67) revealed that the presence of repeat genotypes had an impact on genetic structuring (PhiPT values were reduced when shared genotypes were removed from the dataset) but that it was not great and only statistically evident at distances between individuals of 1–2 m. Comparisons to a further 20 randomisations of the data set that were performed irrespective of genotype (n = 97) suggested that this conclusion is not an artefact of reduced sample size. A resampling procedure using kinship coefficients, implemented by the software package GENCLONE gave broadly similar results but the greater statistical power allowed small but significant impacts of repeat genotypes on genetic structure to be also detected at 0.125–0.5 and 4–16 m. Although we predict that a proportion of the repeat multilocus genotypes are shared by chance, such generally within-overhang distances may represent a common distance of cloned larval dispersal. These results suggests that closely situated potential mates include a significant proportion of the available genetic diversity within a population, making it unlikely that, as previously hypothesised, the potential disadvantage of producing clonal broods through polyembryony is offset by genetic uniformity within the mating neighbourhood. We also report an error in the published primer note of Craig et al. (Mol Ecol Notes 1:281–282, 2001): loci Cd5 and Cd6 appear to be the same microsatellite. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Prenatal diagnosis of klippel—trénaunay—weber syndrome by ultrasound

Ultrasound examination due to an elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein level showed lower extremity asymmetry. The findings were felt to be consistent with Klippel—Trénaunay—Weber syndrome. The pregnancy was terminated based on these findings. The ultrasound findings, confirming post-mortem examination, and counselling issues are discussed.     

Analysis of volatile organic compounds in water,waste water and an industrial effluent

Three analytical methods have been evaluated for the determination of volatile organic compounds in water. These techniques have been subsequently applied to the study of a trade effluent discharge problem.     

Full-scale class A biosolids production by two-stage continuous-batch thermophilic anaerobic digestion at the hyperion treatment plant, Los Angeles, California.

The City of Los Angeles Hyperion Treatment Plant (HTP) (California) converted its anaerobic digesters to thermophilic operation to produce Class A biosolids. Phase IV tests demonstrated compliance of a two-stage, continuous-batch process with Alternative 1 of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 40 CFR Part 503 (U.S. EPA, 1993), which defines the time-temperature requirement for batch treatment (T > or = 56.3 degrees C at 16-h holding). Fecal coliforms, Salmonella sp., viable helminth ova, and enteric viruses were not detected in biosolids in the postdigestion train, including the truck-loading facility and the farm for land application as the last points of plant control where compliance is to be demonstrated. The same results were achieved during Phase V tests, after lowering the second-stage holding temperature to 52.6 degrees C to reduce the elevated methyl mercaptan production that was observed during Phase IV. Hence, the Phase V process complied with Alternative 3 of 40 CFR Part 503. Currently, HTP operates its digesters under the same conditions as tested in Phase V. In 2003, monthly monitoring of the biosolids at the truck-loading facility and the farm for land application demonstrated consistent compliance with Alternative 3.     

Detecting river pollution using fluorescence spectrophotometry: case studies from the Ouseburn,NE England

Recent advances in fluorescence spectrophotometry enable the analysis of river dissolved organic matter. We investigate the potential of detecting sewage pollution in a small, urbanised catchment. Downstream sampling highlighted a summer maximum in tryptophan fluorescence intensity during low flow. No correlation is observed between ammonia and tryptophan fluorescence intensity. In contrast, two sewage related point-pollution events had both high tryptophan fluorescence intensity and ammonia, suggesting that the summer tryptophan increase does not original from foul sewage. Sewage inputs to the river were therefore monitored at summer base flow. This demonstrated that > 10% of the rivers' discharge is provided by sewerage inputs and that these inputs could be grouped by their fluorescence and ammonia properties: (1) 'clean' storm waters with low ammonia and tryptophan intensity (2) 'grey' waters with high tryptophan intensity and low ammonia concentration, and (3) 'foul' waters with high tryptophan intensity and ammonia concentration. All three types of sewerage input occurred irrespective of flow conditions,suggesting that sewerage cross connections are occurring.     

Sampling of epichlorohydrin and ethylene chlorohydrin in workroom air using Amberlite XAD-7 resin

Activated charcoal, Amberlite XAD-2 and Amberlite XAD-7 were evaluated for the adsorption of epichlorohydrin and ethylene chlorohydrin from air followed by desorption with solvent. Ethylene chlorohydrin was found to be unstable on activated charcoal in the presence of carbon disulfide. Recoveries from XAD-2 were low, and XAD-7 was found to be the best adsorbent for the sampling of these compounds from air.     

Temperature effects on chlorinated-benzene sorption to hydrophobic surfaces

Sorption and desorption of chlorinated benzenes were investigated in a series of column experiments using porous silica that had phenyl groups bonded to the surface; the mass-fraction organic carbon was 0.016. Both sorption and desorption curves were asymmetrical, but they were mirror images of each other for most experiments, indicating good sorption reversibility. The resulting breakthrough curves were fit to an advection-dispersion mathematical model, with sorption as a first-order, reversible reaction. Significantly greater tailing in the chlorinated-benzene breakthrough curves versus the salt-tracer ones was evidence of slow sorption and desorption. ΔH° values for di-, tri- and tetra-chlorobenzene were 13–21 kJ mol₋₁, indicative of strong van der Waals binding. Despite these small values, slow desorption was attributed to slow binding and release rather than diffusion through the bonded organic phase. Desorption rates decreased in going from di- to tri- to tetra- to penta-chlorobenzene. This decrease was significantly more than the decrease in molecular-diffusion coefficients in the same series, suggesting a chemical rather than a physical rate control. There was less difference in sorption rates through the series, suggesting an inverse relation between partition coefficient and desorption rate. ΔG° values were −17 to −23 kJ mol⁻¹, giving TΔS° values of about 4 kJ mol⁻¹. Thus enthalpic contributions to sorption appear to be of greater importance than entropic contributions.     

Comparing estimates of fugitive landfill methane emissions using inverse plume modeling obtained with Surface Emission Monitoring (SEM), Drone Emission Monitoring (DEM), and Downwind Plume Emission Monitoring (DWPEM)

ABSTRACT

As part of the global effort to quantify and manage anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, there is considerable interest in quantifying methane emissions in municipal solid waste landfills. A variety of analytical and experimental methods are currently in use for this task. In this paper, an optimization-based estimation method is employed to assess fugitive landfill methane emissions. The method combines inverse plume modeling with ambient air methane concentration measurements. Three different measurement approaches are tested and compared. The method is combined with surface emission monitoring (SEM), above ground drone emission monitoring (DEM), and downwind plume emission monitoring (DWPEM). The methodology is first trialed and validated using synthetic datasets in a hand-generated case study. A field study is also presented where SEM, DEM and DWPEM are tested and compared. Methane flux during two-days measurement campaign was estimated to be between 228 and 350 g/s depending on the type of measurements used. Compared to SEM, using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) allows for a rapid and comprehensive coverage of the site. However, as showed through this work, advancement of DEM-based methane sampling is governed by the advances that could be made in UAS-compatible measurement instrumentations. Downwind plume emission monitoring led to a smaller estimated flux compared with SEM and DEM without information about positions of major leak points in the landfill. Even though, the method is simple and rapid for landfill methane screening. Finally, the optimization-based methodology originally developed for SEM, shows promising results when it is combined with the drone-based collected data and downwind concentration measurements. The studied cases also discovered the limitations of the studied sampling strategies which is exploited to identify improvement strategies and recommendations for a more efficient assessment of fugitive landfill methane emissions.

Implications: Fugitive landfill methane emission estimation is tackled in the present study. An optimization-based method combined with inverse plume modeling is employed to treat data from surface emission monitoring, drone-based emission monitoring and downwind plume emission monitoring. The study helped revealing the advantages and the limitations of the studied sampling strategies. Recommendations for an efficient assessment of landfill methane emissions are formulated. The method trialed in this study for fugitive landfill methane emission could also be appropriate for rapid screening of analogous greenhouse gas emission hotspots.