Evaluation of urban sprawl and urban landscape pattern in a rapidly developing region

Urban sprawl is a worldwide phenomenon happening particularly in rapidly developing regions. A study on the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban sprawl and urban pattern is useful for the sustainable management of land management and urban land planning. The present research explores the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban sprawl in the context of a rapid urbanization process in a booming economic region of southern China from 1979 to 2005. Three urban sprawl types are distinguished by analyzing overlaid urban area maps of two adjacent study years which originated from the interpretation of remote sensed images and vector land use maps. Landscape metrics are used to analyze the spatiotemporal pattern of urban sprawl for each study period. Study results show that urban areas have expanded dramatically, and the spatiotemporal landscape pattern configured by the three sprawl types changed obviously. The different sprawl type patterns in five study periods have transformed significantly, with their proportions altered both in terms of quantity and of location. The present research proves that urban sprawl quantification and pattern analysis can provide a clear perspective of the urbanization process during a long time period. Particularly, the present study on urban sprawl and sprawl patterns can be used by land use and urban planners.     

Population Distribution and Influencing Factors Based on ESDA

Based on the exploratory spatial data analysis(ESDA) technique and geographic information system(GIS) platform,with statistic data of counties in 2005,this paper confirms that there is a large population density gap between counties in 2005 because the Gini coefficient is 0.55.Population distribution does not change a lot during the past decades,and the southeast China is still much more densely populated than the northwest China.The global spatial autocorrelation of population distribution is obvious because Moran’s I scores 0.42 and local spatial autocorrelation is partly significant.Climate and elevation are still the main natural influencing factors.Meanwhile industrial structure and transportation significantly influence population distribution.Different combinations of natural factors have different effects on population distribution.For a long term,climate and terrain factor stability affect population distribution.But its influence will be weakened by progress of technology.Economic development is the main factor that changes population distribution for a short term.     

Spatial analysis of the driving factors of grassland degradation under conditions of climate change and intensive use in Inner Mongolia, China

In recent years, steppe degradation in North China has become a serious environmental problem. Most research on steppe degradation is conducted at the level of communities or at the scale of small regions. To better understand the spatio-temporal variation and driving factors of grassland degradation, monitoring and analysis at broad regional scales are needed. This paper systematically describes the state and characteristics of steppe degradation at the Xilinhot plateau, makes an in-depth empirical analysis of the natural and man-made causes leading to degradation, and analyzes what driving factors have influenced degradation in this typical steppe region over the last 20?years. Ten biophysical and socio-economic variables, including altitude, slope, precipitation, temperature, soil conditions, distance to river, distance to highway, population density, sheep unit density, and fencing policy, were evaluated on their impact on observed patterns of degradation. The results indicate that all of these factors had a significant influence on the process of steppe degradation. During the first 10?years, from 1991 to 2000, steppe degradation increased, but after 2000, the degradation trend has, to some extent, reversed. The analysis indicates that the measures taken by the government, such as fencing vulnerable areas, played an important role in this change. The results advance the understanding of grassland degradation and contribute to constructing an empirical and theoretical base for grassland management and planning.     

Prolonged environmental exposure of arsenic through drinking water on the risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes

Prolonged exposure to inorganic arsenic has been a severe environmental public health issue worldwide in the recent decades. Increasing evidence has suggested a possible role of prolonged arsenic exposure through drinking water in the development of arsenic-induced chronic noncancer diseases, among which hypertension and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are the focus of concern. Although exposure to high levels of arsenic has been reported to be associated with excess risk of hypertension or T2D in a dose-dependent manner, the association has yet to be established, especially low-level exposure. This cross-sectional study was designed to evaluate the potential association between prolonged environmental arsenic exposure through drinking water and the prevalence of hypertension and T2D in Inner Mongolia, China, with emphasis on the assessment of low-level exposure. In this study (a total of 669 men and women), we found that the blood pressure levels were significantly correlated with cumulative arsenic exposure and that the systolic blood pressure of the subjects with arsenic exposure >50 μg/L was significantly higher than those of the subjects with <10 and 10–50 μg/L exposure. Significant prevalence of hypertension was found in the subjects of the >50 μg/L group both before and after adjustment for confounders. In addition, a significant negative relationship was found between urinary arsenic percentage of dimethylated arsenic (DMA%) and the prevalence of hypertension in the >50 μg/L group. However, low-level arsenic exposure (10–50 μg/L) was not statistically associated with hypertension. No significant difference of blood glucose was found among the groups with different arsenic exposure levels. No statistical association was found between arsenic exposure and T2D. Our findings suggested that prolonged arsenic exposure might play a role in the development of hypertension; however, only high-level arsenic was associated with the risk of hypertension. Our findings also indicated that lower DMA% might be related with the increased susceptibility of arsenic-induced hypertension.     

Correlation analysis of major control factors for the formation and stabilization of aerobic granule

In recent years, aerobic granular sludge technology has demonstrated significant advantages in areas such as the sludge–water separation, residual sludge minimization, simultaneous biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal, and toxic organic compounds degradation in biological wastewater treatment. However, the critical control factors and their relation during sludge granulation have not been revealed indeed, and the stability of aerobic granular sludge is still not good. The Gray’s correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship of aerobic granular characteristics and control factors in the study. Results showed that the organic loading rate, hydraulic shear stress, and sludge settling time were the major factors affecting the aerobic sludge granulation, and the associated regulating strategy was important for the stabilization of granular sludge system. Based on above results, the mechanism of aerobic sludge granulation was proposed, and it was expected to favor the application of aerobic granular sludge technology.     

改性粉煤灰处理低浓度含磷废水的研究

以酸改性粉煤灰为吸附剂,处理低质量浓度(1 mg/L左右)磷酸盐溶液,探讨了改性剂的种类、改性剂用量、吸附剂用量、反应时间、pH以及温度对除磷效果的影响.结果表明:(1)经过酸改性后粉煤灰的磷去除率显著提高,而且硫酸改性粉煤灰的除磷效果更好,磷去除率最高可达97.68％.(2)最佳条件:选择硫酸用量为5 mL/g进行改性,硫酸改性粉煤灰投加量为2.0g,反应时间为60 min,pH为7.2～10.8,温度为25℃(即室温).(3)改性粉煤灰对磷的吸附更符合Freundlich吸附等温模型,既有物理吸附,也有化学吸附,并以Ca、Mg氧化物与磷形成磷的沉淀物为主.     

消解/分光光度法测定废水中CODCr的研究

文章对废水中CODCr测定方法中的快速消解/分光光度法、微波消解/分光光度法和回流消解/滴定法进行了比较。结果显示:快速消解/分光光度法和微波消解/分光光度法两种方法的准确度和精密度都达到质量控制的要求,两种方法分光光度法与回流消解/滴定法测定标准水样的方法相比,CODCr测定结果稍微偏高,但对于废水样品,两种方法的测定结果没有显著差异。快速消解/分光光度法和微波消解/分光光度法值得在环境监测工作中推广应用。     

聚合酶链反应—变性梯度凝胶电泳技术研究梯田式人工湿地微生物群落动态变化

采用聚合酶链反应(PCR)—变性梯度凝胶电泳(DGGE)技术对梯田式人工湿地(TTCW)和复合垂直流式人工湿地(IVCW)生活污水处理系统内的微生物群落结构的动态变化及其对生活污水处理效果的影响进行了对比研究。结果表明:(1)TTCW和IVCW对生活污水均具有较好处理效果,其COD去除率平均分别为76.2%和72.6%、TP去除率平均分别为90.7%和85.6%、NH4+-N去除率平均分别为65.2%和58.8%;TTCW增氧作用明显。(2)2种人工湿地内均存在丰富的微生物群落,并均存在共有的微生物种群;在湿地沿程不同位置均存在一定数量的优势种群。(3)TTCW强化了大气复氧能力,使得湿地内DO较相同深度的IVCW的高。TTCW具有较强的污染物去除能力,特别是具有高效的脱氮除磷能力。这种能力可能主要是TTCW中微生物群落结构的变化所致。     

火灾时人员疏散行为对疏散时间的影响

人员如何在最短的时间内从着火的建筑物疏散出来是应急救援研究的一个重要课题,文章分析了发生火灾后影响人员安全疏散的因素,并根据这些影响因素得出人员在不同疏散行为下疏散时间的计算方法,最后通过实例验证了人员疏散行为不同时,疏散到安全场所需要的时间也不同。