Reconceptualizing water management in Khorezm,Uzbekistan

The Khorezm region is located in the northwest of Uzbekistan, approximately 350 km from the current shore of the Aral Sea. It comprises a large‐scale irrigation system that conveys water from the river Amu Darya to agricultural land cropped mainly with cotton, wheat, and rice. Khorezm's water resources are vulnerable as they depend on upstream developments and are indispensable to rural livelihoods and state budgets. Since water scarcity is expected to increase in the future, sustainable water management is a necessity. Hence, the objectives of the paper are to: (1) conceptualize the distinctive features of water management in Khorezm; (2) provide an integrated analysis of water management by establishing linkages between society, technical infrastructure, and the bio‐physical environment; and (3) make policy and technology recommendations for improved water management. To conceptualize water management in Khorezm, the paper distinguishes three types of practices: formal practices, strategic practices, and discursive practices. Based on these, it presents an analysis of water management on the state water management level, the water user association level, and the farmer and field level. For each level, recommendations are given. The paper concludes that elements of integrated water resources management (IWRM) such as transparency, accountability, participation, and technical efficiency are relevant to improve water management in Khorezm, as elsewhere. In addition, it underlines the need to create legal space for agency and innovation. Technical tools such as models are increasingly important for facilitating transparency and enabling agents to access and make use of information across the management hierarchy.     

The value of open ocean ecosystems: A case study for the Spanish exclusive economic zone

Valuing goods and services from open oceans provides arguments for the ocean's protection and plays an increasingly important role in debates on the use and management of natural resources. This paper identifies and estimates the monetary value of some of the most important goods and services provided by open oceans. The list of goods and services considered includes food production, raw materials, water supply, CO₂ regulation, bioremediation of waste, biomass and biodiversity conservation. Therefore, not only values associated with productive uses are quantified but also values assigned to other biological ecosystem services. This paper constitutes a first attempt in the open ocean literature at evaluating services such as water supply, biomass and biodiversity conservation. To obtain their monetary value, different techniques, some not applied before in this area, have been used depending on the ecosystem service to be evaluated. As a general criterion we use the concept of net value added (revenues obtained from the services less incurred costs). Our methodology is illustrated by estimating the monetary values of goods and services provided by the open ocean ecosystem of Spain as defined by its exclusive economic zone. The total economic value obtained measures the contribution of oceans to overall welfare and it may be an important instrument in managing open ocean ecosystems and developing environmental policies in the future.     

Screening of factors influencing Cu(II) extraction by soybean oil-based organic solvents using fractional factorial design

This study aimed to identify the significant factors that give large effects on the efficiency of Cu(II) extraction from aqueous solutions by soybean oil-based organic solvents using fractional factorial design. Six factors (mixing time (t), di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid concentration ([D2EHPA]), organic to aqueous phase ratio (O:A), sodium sulfate concentration ([Na(2)SO(4)]), equilibrium pH (pH(eq)) and tributylphosphate concentration ([TBP])) affecting the percentage extraction (%E) of Cu(II) were investigated. A 2(6-1) fractional factorial design was applied and the results were analyzed statistically. The results show that only [D2EHPA], pH(eq) and their second-order interaction ([D2EHPA] × pH(eq)) influenced the %E significantly. Regression models for %E were developed and the adequacy of the reduced model was examined. The results of this study indicate that fractional factorial design is a useful tool for screening a large number of variables and reducing the number of experiments.     

Water Dispatch Model for Middle Route of a South‐to‐North Water Transfer Project in China1

Chang, Jian‐xia, Yi‐min Wang, and Qiang Huang, 2011. Water Dispatch Model for Middle Route of a South‐to‐North Water Transfer Project in China. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(1):70‐80. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00478.x Abstract: The objective of this paper is to present a simulation model to address the water dispatch problem of the south‐to‐north water transfer project for the Middle Route system in China. Reasonable rules and a system network structure are established. This model consists of five modules: (1) a data‐processing module, (2) an initial control module, (3) a multisource simulation dispatch module, (4) a system identification module, and (5) a revision module. Water allocated to each province and city along the route is obtained by simulation, and the long‐term operation results show that water supply reliabilities are significantly improved if the transferred water is jointly dispatched with the local water resources.     

Reliability of solid phase microextraction in estimating bioavailability of pyrene in soil

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography was employed to estimate bioavailability of pyrene in soils with different properties of textures, organic matter contents (SOM) and aging periods. Experimental results indicated that biodegradation rates increased from 0.10 (sandy loam) to 0.15 (silty loam) microg g-1 hr1. By contrast, biodegradation rate decreased from 0.10(1.3% SOM) to 0.04 (7.6% SOM) microg g-1hr1. The amounts of pyrene biodegraded decreased 27% when SOM was modified from 1.3 to 7.6%, indicating that distributions of pyrene in soils at biodegradation end points were affected by the SOM. Sequestration as measured by sonication extraction had evidently occurred in aged soil samples. SPME measurements slightly overestimated the amount of pyrene degraded by indigenous and seeded microorganisms, in soils with the different properties (correlation coefficient, R2= 0.74). The present study demonstrates that the SPME method can not replace biodegradation tests commonly used for predicting bioremediation efficacy.     

Prediction of total bed material load for rivers in Malaysia: A case study of Langat,Muda and Kurau Rivers

A soft computational technique is applied to predict sediment loads in three Malaysian rivers. The feed forward-back propagated (schemes) artificial neural network (ANNs) architecture is employed without any restriction to an extensive database compiled from measurements in Langat, Muda, Kurau different rivers. The ANN method demonstrated a superior performance compared to other traditional sediment-load methods. The coefficient of determination, 0.958 and the mean square error 0.0698 of the ANN method are higher than those of the traditional method. The performance of the ANN method demonstrates its predictive capability and the possibility of generalization of the modeling to nonlinear problems for river engineering applications.     

缙云山4种森林植被土壤团聚体有机碳分布特征

以重庆市缙云山的竹林、阔叶林、针叶林和针阔叶混交林这4种亚热带森林植被为研究对象,分析不同林分下土壤团聚体及团聚体有机碳在0～20、20～40、40～60和60～100 cm土壤剖面上的分布规律.结果表明,阔叶林土壤 2 mm粒级团聚体含量、平均重量直径(MWD)、几何平均直径(GMD)及 0. 25 mm团聚体含量(R0. 25)均随土层深度的增加而降低,而其他林分在整个土层中则无明显规律.在各土层中,竹林以 2 mm粒级团聚体为主(30. 73%～53. 08%);阔叶林和混交林的2～0. 25 mm粒级团聚体含量较高,为36. 27%～44. 67%和48. 69%～52. 44%;针叶林的优势粒径为2～0. 25 mm和0. 053 mm.总体上,在各土层中,竹林团聚体的MWD、GMD、R0. 25值均高于其他林分,且其分形维数(D)低于其他林分,可见竹林的土壤团聚体稳定性较好.随着土层深度的增加,不同林分(除针叶林外)土壤团聚体有机碳含量逐渐降低,其中竹林团聚体有机碳含量最高,显著高于针叶林和混交林.就不同团聚体粒级而言,4种林分土壤团聚体有机碳在整个土壤剖面上无明显规律,但各土层均以2～0. 25 mm和0. 053 mm粒级团聚体有机碳含量较高.不同林分下土壤团聚体有机碳相对贡献率存在显著差异,其中针叶林中0. 053 mm粒级团聚体有机碳贡献率最高;竹林的 2 mm粒级团聚体有机碳贡献率高达27. 44%～53. 47%;而阔叶林和混交林则以2～0. 25 mm粒级团聚体有机碳贡献率最高.缙云山的4种林分中,竹林的土壤团聚体稳定性较好,而针叶林的较差;在各土层中,竹林土壤各粒级团聚体有机碳含量最高,针叶林最低.     

Proactive socialization behavior in China: The mediating role of perceived insider status and the moderating role of supervisors' traditionality

This paper identified the dimensions of proactive socialization behavior among Chinese employees. We examined the mediating effects of perceived insider status on the relationships between proactive socialization behavior and socialization outcomes, and the moderating effect of supervisors' traditionality on the relationship between proactive socialization behavior and perceived insider status. Results from 280 newcomer–supervisor pairs supported the hypotheses that proactive socialization behavior was positively associated with task performance and social integration through perceived insider status. In addition, supervisors' traditionality significantly influenced the indirect relationships that proactive socialization behavior had with task performance and social integration via perceived insider status, such that the relationships became weaker as supervisors' traditionality increased. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of high-tech process furnace using inherently safer design strategies (I) temperature distribution model and process effect

High-tech industries, such as those producing semiconductor and TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display), have recently become the most important economic activities in Taiwan. Each of these industries has a complete chain of supply from raw material production, production pre-processing, product manufacturing, to waste handling. Any company in the chain is a critical component, since any accidents of fire, explosion, gas leakage, or power outage would cut off the supply chain, causing inability of continuous operation. In industries of semiconductor and TFT-LCD, great amounts of special gases and chemicals with many machinery equipments are used in the production processes. In cases of accidents or improper installation, this chain of supply, from raw material production, preproduction, product manufacturing, to waste handling materials and equipments may cause severe damages or incidents.This study used the existing model of the horizontal furnace to develop a simulation program. The simulation results were consistent with the existing model, and produced even slightly better results on temperature distribution and temperature sensitivity. The simulation model applied on a vertical furnace could provide data on furnace temperature control for industrial use. Meanwhile, this study also deduced actual temperature control and an ISD strategy, which are consistent with design strategy principles.The validation results on the proposed temperature distribution model suggested that the model can be applied in temperature distribution and sensitivity analysis to obtain adjustment and control models for various heating zones. In the case of a single tool, when processing reduction is 60 pieces, switching off the two heating zones can reduce 44% of power output, for a capacity utilization rate of 93.7% for the entire plant. The application of the proposed temperature control model can reduce power consumption by 121.4 kWh. In addition, with the same number of tools, facilities layouts in two cases have an area difference of 41.4775 m², thus shortening the evacuation time for operators. The experimental results proved that the proposed model has realized the ISD principles of intensification, attenuation, and limitation of effects.     

Study of high-tech process furnace using inherently safer design strategies (II). Deposited film thickness model

In the low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) process, there are many factors that could affect the thin film thickness and homogeneity in the thin film deposition process. Besides temperature, the volume flow rate of the reactant gas, the Mole fraction, and pressure are all affecting factors. On the basis of the forecast mode result of the thermal model of wafer temperature distribution in the previously published article, this study used the optimal method to calculate the conversion rate of the surface of each wafer under simulated conditions of various furnace temperatures and Mole fractions, as well as silane flow rates and pressures, and finally calculated the thin film growth rate and homogeneity of the surface of each wafer.This study validated four types of process conditions, and found that the results were very close to the experimental values in the previous studies, when conditions such as temperature, Mole fraction of silane, flow rate and pressure in the process were changed. This study thus concluded that the proposed process film thickness mode could meet the requirement of the process capacity. This study found that adjusting the heating zone temperature to regulate the film thickness growth rate was able to control uniformity of the film thickness. These feasible adjustment measures could be very effective on the industry commercial processes.Furthermore, the film thickness mode established in this study was used to discuss the application level of the inherently safer design strategies. This study mode could be used to adjust the temperature, mole fraction (mf), flow rate (F) and pressure (P) in the process for a single machine. Under the condition of meeting the film thickness process recipes required by the process, the silane flow rate was lowered through the adjustment of the control system. The study took the silane supply system as the basis of the case study. Based on a daily required silane consumption of 64.4 L, the daily required amount was 1.5 cylinders in the case of using 40 L high-pressure cylinders. The total daily required amount would be three 40 L high-pressure cylinders, including one more reserve amount on top of the daily required amount, which could match the inherently safer design philosophy and the principles of intensification, attenuation and limitation of effects.In terms of the factory evaluation, among all of the 12-inch furnace machines in Taiwanese wafer factories, nine out of 47 sets use silane, and the total daily consumption reaches 579.6 L. The total required amount, including the reserve, is 27 cylinders for 40 L high-pressure cylinders. As for the setting of the gas cabinet, the required amount could be reduced, since the gas supply pipeline could be designed in a multiple circuit. The minimum reactant gas input amount could be obtained in combination with the proposed film thickness mode, and the safety could be improved greatly, in accordance with the inherently safer design philosophy and the principles of intensification, attenuation and limitation of effects. In addition to the process capacity, this study also took the elevation of the inherently safer level into consideration, which could be provided to the industry for more comprehensive design consideration.