Comparative analysis of small mammal communities in Chisinau and Yaroslavl, two European cities located in different biomes

Comparative analysis of the structure of small mammal communities has been performed in two European cities located in different biomes: Chisinau (2008?C2009) and Yaroslavl (1994?C2002). The parameters studied included abundance, species composition, similarity and difference of faunas, species diversity, and proportions of groups differing in predisposition to synanthropy. It has been found that the structure of small mammal communities in these cities depends on specific physiographic conditions of the surrounding areas and on the distinctive features of the cities themselves (their structure, age, etc.). The similarity between the faunas is accounted for by the common ecological patterns of fauna formation in the biota of urban cenoses.     

基于DEM的山区旱灾风险评价模型——以西南地区为例

旱灾研究中,地形导致的水热再分配容易造成地域间旱灾灾情的明显差异,因此地形因子对于旱灾风险的准确评价及灾情的客观评估至关重要。采用气象站点观测数据和DEM数据,通过模拟复杂地形影响下的下垫面真实水分情况,加入地形因子的影响,建立了以干旱致灾因子(水分条件)、孕灾环境(地形)、承灾体(农作物脆弱性曲线)综合的旱灾风险评价三度模型;并以地形复杂、旱灾多发的西南地区为例,编制了旱灾风险等级图,以期为客观评估旱灾灾情,有效开展区域旱灾风险防范提供科学依据。     

干旱区2种猪毛菜萌发过程对水盐胁迫的生态响应

在实验室内模拟研究的基础上,运用生理生态学的原理,研究了水盐胁迫对钠猪毛菜(salsola nitraria)和散枝猪毛菜(salsola brachiata)种子萌发的影响,结果显示,钠猪毛菜与散枝猪毛菜种子萌发的最适温度分别为25 ℃和15 ℃.在盐溶液和PEG溶液中,2种种子的萌发规律相似,即随着水势的降低,萌发率和萌发速率下降.在盐胁迫下钠猪毛菜和散枝猪毛菜种子萌发的最低水势接近-7.2 MPa;在水分胁迫下2种种子萌发的最低水势均未超过-2.0 MPa,其中,钠猪毛菜种子表现出较强的耐水分胁迫能力.在相同水势条件下,PEG对2种猪毛菜种子萌发的抑制程度显著大于等渗NaCl,说明渗透胁迫是影响2种植物种子萌发的主要因素.     

Technical feasibility study of a low-cost hybrid PAC-UF system for wastewater reclamation and reuse: a focus on feedwater production for low-pressure boilers

This study has applied the concept of the hybrid PAC-UF process in the treatment of the final effluent of the palm oil industry for reuse as feedwater for low-pressure boilers. In a bench-scale set-up, a low-cost empty fruit bunch-based powdered activated carbon (PAC) was employed for upstream adsorption of biotreated palm oil mill effluent (BPOME) with the process conditions: 60 g/L dose of PAC, 68 min of mixing time and 200 rpm of mixing speed, to reduce the feedwater strength, alleviate probable fouling of the membranes and thus improve the process flux (productivity). Three polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes of molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of 1, 5 and 10 kDa were investigated in a cross-flow filtration mode, and under constant transmembrane pressures of 40, 80, and 120 kPa. The permeate qualities of the hybrid processes were evaluated, and it was found that the integrated process with the 1 kDa MWCO UF membrane yielded the best water quality that falls within the US EPA reuse standard for boiler-feed and cooling water. It was also observed that the permeate quality is fit for extended reuse as process water in the cement, petroleum and coal industries. In addition, the hybrid system’s operation consumed 37.13 Wh m⁻³ of energy at the highest applied pressure of 120 kPa, which is far lesser than the typical energy requirement range (0.8–1.0 kWh m⁻³) for such wastewater reclamation.

     

Does vehicle colour influence crash risk?

An often asked question regarding vehicle safety is whether vehicle colour has an influence on crash risk and if so, what is the differential in risk between the various colours of vehicles available. The major objective of this study was to assess the relationship between vehicle colour and crash risk through the analysis of real crash outcomes described in Police reported crash data. The study employed induced exposure methods utilising single vehicle crashes as the comparison crash type. It estimated the crash risk associated with each vehicle colour relative to a reference colour which was chosen to be white. Results of the analysis identified a clear statistically significant relationship between vehicle colour and crash risk. Compared to white vehicles, a number of colours were associated with higher crash risk. These colours were black, blue, grey, green, red and silver. The association between vehicle colour and crash risk was strongest during daylight hours where relative crash risks were higher for the colours listed compared to white by up to around 10%. No colour had a statistically significantly lower crash risk than white although crash risks for a number of other colours were not statistically significantly different from white.     

Cadmium accumulation characteristics of floricultural plant Cosmos bipinnata*

The artificially high soil cadmium (Cd) concentration screening method was used to screen Cd-hyperaccumulators from floricultural plants. Among the five species of floricultural plants screened, Cosmos bipinnata showed the characteristics of Cd-accumulators. A pot experiment was conducted to further study Cd accumulation characteristics of C. bipinnata. The results showed that the biomass, chlorophyll content, superoxide dismutase activity, peroxidase activity and soluble protein content of C. bipinnata first increased and later decreased with the increase in soil Cd concentration, but the carotenoid content and catalase activity of C. bipinnata reduced. Cd contents in roots, stems, leaves and shoots of C. bipinnata increased with increasing soil Cd concentration. When the soil Cd concentration was 50?mg?kg^?1, the Cd content in shoots was up to 112.62?mg?kg^?1, which was higher than the Cd-hyperaccumulator critical value. The root and shoot bioconcentration factors exceeded 1 in various Cd treatments, but the translocation factors were less than 1. When the soil Cd concentration was 50?mg?kg^?1, the Cd accumulation in shoots achieved the maximum of 224.30?μg plant^?1. Therefore, considering the tolerance and accumulation of Cd, C. bipinnata is a Cd-accumulator that could be used to remediate Cd-contaminated urban soil.     

Weighing the pig never made it heavier: Auditing OHS,social auditing as verification of process in Australia

South Australian organizations assess their OHSMS through audits as evidence of risk control and to help make workplaces healthy and safe. Auditing is an evaluative process regarded as an important step in the cycle of continuous improvement in OHS. Auditing began with financial audits conducted for reasons of corporate governance: for accountability, to inform management decisions and to provide market confidence. Society expects audits to be a tool of regulation, governance and accountability, but celebrated failures of audits to warn of impending financial collapse in organizations in recent years appears to have led to an increased fervour for auditing, rather than a decline. Social audits, including auditing of OHSMS, are intended to determine that an organization is meeting its corporate social responsibilities; but what is audited is often contested and requires subjective analysis. Financial and social audits are subject to failure: unintentional errors, deliberate fraud, financial interests causing undue influence, and undue influence from personal relationships between the auditor and client. We identify five further categories of failure: lack of worker participation; paperwork for the sake of the audit; goal displacement of audit scoring; confusion of audit criteria; and lack of auditor independence and skill. There has been a shift in focus: the current demand and preparation for auditing distracts organizations from the primary goal of making the workplace healthy and safe. We argue that auditing OHSMS has become a ritual rather than a means of improving workplace health and safety and should at least be treated with caution.     

Quantifying the effects of trampling and habitat edges on forest understory vegetation – A field experiment

We investigated the effects of human trampling on boreal forest understory vegetation on, and off paths from suburban forest edges towards the interiors and on the likelihood of trampling-aided dispersal into the forests for three years by carrying out a trampling experiment. We showed that the vegetation was highly sensitive to trampling. Even low levels of trampling considerably decreased covers of the most abundant species on the paths. Cover decreased between 10 and 30% on paths which had been trampled 35 times, and at least by 50% on those trampled 70–270 times. On-path vegetation cover decreased similarly at forest edges and in the interiors. However, some open habitat plant species that occurred outside the forest patches and at forest edges dispersed into the forests, possibly through the action of trampling. A higher cover percentage of an open habitat species at the forest edge line increased its probability to disperse into the forest interior. The vegetation community on, next to, and away from lightly trampled paths remained the same throughout the trampling experiment. For heavily trampled paths, the community changed drastically on the paths, but stayed relatively similar next to and away from the paths. As boreal vegetation is highly sensitive to the effects of trampling, overall ease of access throughout the forest floor should be restricted to avoid the excessive creation of spontaneous paths. To minimize the effects of trampling, recreational use could be guided to the maintained path network in heavily used areas.     

我国环保产业技术现状与发展方向

本文对我国环保产业技术现状进行了全面分析，并指出我国环保产业技术与国外的差距和不足，同时针对环保产业技术落后的各种因素和实际需要，提出了我国环保产业技术的发展方向。