A modular approach to Integrated Assessment modeling

In this paper, we present a new approach to model coupling that probably forms the methodological basis of a new generation of Integrated Assessment models. This approach respects the knowledge and expertise that is embodied in existing models and encourages their gradual evolution. Modularity is the guiding principle. Our approach is distinguished by the way modules are coupled which is based on an interplay of a job control module, a numerical coupling module, and a couple of stand-alone functional modules. The numerical coupling module - the core component - serves to treat the feedbacks between the functional modules. A first implemented example that couples an economic and a climate module by means of a two-phase meta-optimization is presented here. The algorithm and mathematical structure behind are discussed as well as important features such as convergence behavior and reliability.     

Optimizing the removal of small fish passage barriers

Removing small artificial barriers that hinder upstream migrations of fish is a major problem in riparian habitat restoration. Because of budgetary limitations, it is necessary to prioritize barrier removal and repair decisions. These have usually been based on scoring and ranking procedures, which, although simple to use, can be very inefficient in terms of increasing the amount of accessible instream habitat. We develop a novel decision-making approach, based on integer programming techniques, which optimizes repair and removal decisions. Results show based on real datasets of barrier culverts located in Washington State that scoring and ranking is over 25% below the optimum on average and a full 100% below in the worst case, producing no net habitat gain whatsoever. This is compared to a dynamic programming method that was able to find optimal solutions in less than a second, even for problems with up to several hundred variables, and a heuristic method, which found solutions with less than a 1% average optimality gap in even less time.     

The modern theory of biological evolution: an expanded synthesis

In 1858, two naturalists, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, independently proposed natural selection as the basic mechanism responsible for the origin of new phenotypic variants and, ultimately, new species. A large body of evidence for this hypothesis was published in Darwins Origin of Species one year later, the appearance of which provoked other leading scientists like August Weismann to adopt and amplify Darwins perspective. Weismanns neo-Darwinian theory of evolution was further elaborated, most notably in a series of books by Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ernst Mayr, Julian Huxley and others. In this article we first summarize the history of life on Earth and provide recent evidence demonstrating that Darwins dilemma (the apparent missing Precambrian record of life) has been resolved. Next, the historical development and structure of the modern synthesis is described within the context of the following topics: paleobiology and rates of evolution, mass extinctions and species selection, macroevolution and punctuated equilibrium, sexual reproduction and recombination, sexual selection and altruism, endosymbiosis and eukaryotic cell evolution, evolutionary developmental biology, phenotypic plasticity, epigenetic inheritance and molecular evolution, experimental bacterial evolution, and computer simulations (in silico evolution of digital organisms). In addition, we discuss the expansion of the modern synthesis, embracing all branches of scientific disciplines. It is concluded that the basic tenets of the synthetic theory have survived, but in modified form. These sub-theories require continued elaboration, particularly in light of molecular biology, to answer open-ended questions concerning the mechanisms of evolution in all five kingdoms of life.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Dr. hc mult. Ernst Mayr on the occasion of his 100th birthdayThis revised version was published online in March 2004, with corrections to the caption of Figure 6.     

A/O和A2/O法除磷脱氮工艺影响因素及除磷动力学的研究

重点介绍A/O除磷工艺和A~2/O除磷脱氮工艺,以及影响除磷脱氮工艺因素和除磷动力学的研究。工艺研究采用了动态与静态实验方法,采用色质联机研究了有毒有机物的降解情况。试验结果表明,A/O、A~2/O工艺的BOD_5去除率近于二级污水处理厂,A~2/O法TP去除率近于三级污水处理厂,且去除难降解有毒有机物的效率高于传统的活性污泥法。动力学公式的修正使之更适于低碳源的情况。八种影响因素的研究为工艺的设计与运行提供了依据。     

赣西北中部逆冲推覆构造的形成时间和形成模式

江西九岭地体南缘武功山地体北侧以及其间的萍乐盆地内，有大量的逆冲推覆构造分布。逆冲推覆构造的类型有两种──逆冲推覆型和重力滑覆型。逆冲推覆构造具有横向上对冲挤压，纵向上多层滑动的特征，据此笔者建立了一个可能的多层滑动──对冲挤压模式，并根据地质和同位素年龄资料讨论了逆冲推覆构造的演化历史，指出区内大规模逆冲推覆构造的形成时间为中生代晚期（119.6Ma）。     

贯彻执行《职业病防治法》保障企业员工的健康权益

<职业病防治法>于2002年5月1日起实行已有3年多了,但在企业实行过程中仍存在许多盲点,有些企业片面追求眼前利益,忽视员工的健康权益,使职工的身体健康遭到损害.因此,有必要对目前企业在职业病防治工作中如何贯彻执行<职业病防治法>进行探讨.     

试论矿区土地复垦法规建设与管理

资源、环境与人口问题是困扰全球发展的三大要素。矿产资源的开采为国民经济的发展提供了重要的原材料和能源，同时，也占用、破坏了大量农田。为减缓矿业开发与土地保护的矛盾，土地复垦是切实可行的办法。为使我加土地复垦走上规范化、法制化轨道，应切实制定并实施土地复垦法规，从政策法规的角度，探讨对矿区土地复垦的保证。继而对我国实施可持续局长战略作出重要贡献。     

Overestimates of black carbon in soils and sediments

Several recent reports suggest that black carbon (BC), which broadly encompasses charcoal, soot, and other forms of pyrogenic carbon, may constitute a significant proportion of the refractory carbon in soil and sedimentary organic matter. BC is a sink for biospheric and atmospheric carbon dioxide, and is intimately tied to the biogeochemical cycling of both carbon and oxygen through its role in organic matter cycling. Additionally, BC may represent a large fraction of the missing carbon sink in global carbon accounting. Here, we demonstrate that documented measurements of BC may be the result of methodological artifacts, which inadvertently overestimate the amount of BC. We found that a widely used thermal oxidative method can create a residue that falls under the operational definition of BC in samples that are relatively BC-free. Moreover, during this procedure, labile organic matter constituents are condensed into pyrogenic carbon, implying that the labile components are present in lesser quantities. These methodological deficiencies are promoting overestimates in the amount of refractory carbon in soil and sedimentary organic matter and may endorse inaccuracies in the rates of carbon fluxes, the mean residence times of terrestrial carbon, and organic matter burial rates in oceanic environments.     

The effect of octopamine on behavioral responses of free-foraging bumblebees to a change in food source profitability

The invertebrate neuromodulator octopamine is known to be involved in bees' associative learning, enhancing the responsiveness of a bee to a conditioned stimulus. In this study, we tested the effect of octopamine on the choice behavior of free-flying bumblebees using a two-phase experiment in an array of artificial flowers. During the first phase of the experiment, the bee was allowed to collect octopamine-laden sugar water from two types of equally rewarding flowers (yellow versus blue). In the second phase, one type of flower was set to be unrewarding. The behavior of the bee (proportion of visits to the unrewarding flowers) over the two phases was fitted to a sigmoid regression model. Our results show that octopamine had no significant effect on the bees' equilibrium choice or on the overall rate of the behavioral change in response to the change in reward. Rather, octopamine significantly affected the time interval between the change in reward status and the initiation of behavioral change in the bee.     

The Value Of Public Participation During a Hazard,Impact, Risk And Vulnerability (HIRV) Analysis

The first part of this paper discusses the links between hazard, risk and vulnerability (HRV) analysis and the development of mitigative strategies. The second part discusses the need to include public participation when completing an HRV analysis. Two current HRV models are used to illustrate the general failure of HRV analysis to include public participation. The third part of this paper provides a brief overview of the Hazard, Impact, Risk and Vulnerability (HIRV) model and its use of public participation. The paper concludes by offering a synopsis of a case study in the town and regional area surrounding Barriere, British Columbia, Canada. This case study demonstrates a positive outcome when public participation is incorporated into an HIRV analysis.