WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT SALT WATER INTRUSION?1

Almost thirty years after the first known publication on salt water problems published in 1855 by Braithwaite, two investigators developed an approximate theory to find the boundaries of fresh water lenses in coastal aquifers. Their theory is now known as Ghyben-Herzberg Theory. Although their theory is based on oversimplified assumptions, it has stimulated others through various periods of time. A review of the main investigations in this field is summarized in this paper. The discussions are subdivided into three main eras: (1) The period through which the problems were identified and field observations were explained (from 1855 until the early forties); (2) the analytic approaches during the period from 1940 to the late sixties; and (3) the refined techniques during the past three years. A brief summary of the recharge methods is also given in addition to a more or less comprehensive list of references.     

INCREASING THE AGRICULTURAL USE OF SALINE WATER BY MEANS OF TRICKLE IRRIGATION1

ABSTRACT .A study was conducted in two arid zones to determine the effect of saline water applied to various crops growing in coarse-textured soil, using trickle irrigation. The test crops responded most favorably to this new method of water application in terms of plant development and yield. The method provides us with the possibility of raising the permissible salinity level of irrigation water, and thus to increase the water reserves suitable for agricultural use in the world.     

MODEL STUDIES OF SALT WATER INTRUSION1

Model studies were and are still being used to verify certain theories in ground-water flow systems in general. In complex cases, the model studies may be extremely useful especially when a theoretical rigorous analysis does not exist. The models cannot be considered entirely satisfactory due to the several drawbacks in each type in addition to the normal human errors in experimentation. This paper is concerned only with the viscous flow models. However, a brief summary of the other types of models, which may possibly be used in connection with salt water intrusion problems is given. It should be noted that some of such experiments are not directly related to the field of salt water intrusion. Two main types lie within this category: The gravity flow systems which are analogous to some phases of salt intrusion problems and problems in oil fields which bear general similarities to sea water intrusion zones. In oil fields, gas cycling studies give valuable information to sea water problems. Model studies are used by hydraulic engineers, geologists, petroleum engineers, physicists, foundation engineers and several other professional groups.     

Detection of petroleum hydrocarbons at low ppb levels using quartz resonator sensors and instrumentation of a smart environmental monitoring system

Petroleum hydrocarbon vapors at low ppb levels can be detected using a thickness shear mode resonator (TSMR) coated with a chemical-sensing overlayer, prepared by radiofrequency sputtering of porous sintered-polyethylene (PS-PE). The sensing capabilities of PS-PE sensors were profoundly affected by the sputtering methods; they were enhanced by the photo-excitation effect, and were reduced by carbonization and water treatment. The photo-assisted PS-PE sensor was extremely sensitive and could detect linear hydrocarbon (> C12) vapors below the ppb level. The time constant of the sorption curve, however, was large, indicating a slow sensing speed. Toward creating instrumentation for a smart environmental monitoring system, the TSMR sensors were arrayed on a circuit board equipped with a serial interface and signal processing chips of the oscillation drive and frequency counter. Co-sorption with water vapor at a relative humidity of about 10% has almost no effect on the sensing ability of PS-PE sensors for 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene. Conversely, it enhances the sensitivity of the TSMR sensor coated with a D-phenylalanine film. Upward shifts in the baseline are evident with elapsed time. However, a rigorous ten-cycle iteration test for 100 ppm toluene vapor demonstrated good reproducibility of the sensor's signals.     

Investigation the effect of adding graphene oxide into diesel/higher alcohols blends on a diesel engine performance

ABSTRACT

This article aims to study the influence of the addition of graphene oxide nanoparticles (GO) to diesel/higher alcohols blends on the combustion, emission, and exergy parameters of a CI engine under various engine loads. The higher alcohols mainly n-butanol, n-heptanol, and n-octanol are blended with diesel at a volume fraction of 50%. Then, the 25 and 50 mg/L concentrations of GO are dispersed into diesel/higher alcohols blends using an ultrasonicator. The GO structures are examined using TEM, TGA, XRD and FTIR. The findings show that there is a reduction in p_max. and HRR when adding higher alcohols with diesel fuel. Regarding engine emission, there is a significant improvement in emissions formation with adding higher alcohols. The addition of GO into diesel/higher alcohols blends improves the brake thermal efficiency by 15%. Moreover, the p_max. and HRR are both enhanced by 4%. The CO, UHC and smoke formation are reduced considerably by 40%, 50 and 20%, respectively, while NO_x level is increased by 30% with adding GO. Finally, adding high percentages of n-butanol, n-heptanol, and n-octanol with diesel fuel with the presence of GO has the potential to achieve ultra-low CO, UHC, and smoke formation meanwhile keeping high thermal efficiency level.     

Physiological Age of Host Plant Foliage and Survival of Gypsy Moth Larvae

The pH of leaf homogenates of common birch (Betula verrucosa L.), a food plant of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) larvae, was measured at different times of day in the course of leaf organogenesis, and midgut pH was measured in gypsy moth larvae phenotypically differing in the color of the hypodermis at the fifth instar. A possible relation between these parameters is discussed.     

Size-Dependent Selective Leaf Damage by Insects and Some Methodological Implications of This Phenomenon

The area of leaves on birch (Betula pubescens ssp. tortuosa) auxiblasts and brachyblasts and the degree of their damage by the complex of leaf-gnawing and leaf-mining insects were studied in a light birch forest. The results showed that phyllophagous insects, primarily snout beetles, prefer young leaves on the apexes of auxiblasts. Thus, selective damage is inflicted on smaller leaves, both on the auxiblasts and in the entire sample. This phenomenon is widespread and may manifest itself in different ways, depending on the pattern of leaf area distribution along the extended shoot and the feeding preferences of the insects. Thus, it is necessary to reconsider research methods and approaches based on the assumption that insects damage leaves nonselectively, irrespective of their size.     

Phenogenetic Analysis of Pygmy Wood Mouse (Apodemus uralensis Pall.) Populations in the Zone of the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT)

Monitoring of A. uralensis populations in Kamenskii raion, Sverdlovsk oblast, in 1992–2002 and in Kaslinskii raion, Chelyabinsk oblast, in 2000–2001 revealed an increase in the proportion and diversity of minor morphogenetic aberrations and abnormalities in the structure of the cranium along the axis of the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT). The samples from the southern and northern parts of the EURT (contaminated with ⁹⁰Sr to 500 and 4 Ci/km², respectively) were characterized by directed deviations from the control with respect to the frequencies of phenes of nonmetric cranial traits and an increase in the level of their fluctuating asymmetry in young females, which is indicative of epigenetic rearrangements in populations living in a radioactive environment.     

Residues of dicofol on cucumber grown under plastic covers in Jordan

Residues of dicofol were determined on cucumber leaves and fruits under plastic house (PH) and plastic tunnels (PT). Five sprays, 8 d apart, were applied at 0.15% concentration. Initial deposits on leaves were 48 and 58 ppm under PH and PT, respectively. In the last sampling date of leaves, the amounts of 191 and 135 ppm were detected under both cultures, respectively. There was a continuous increase in the initial residue after each spray. The highest amount of dicofol (401) was determined 1 d after the fifth spray under PH. The exposure to high residues may pose a risk to fieldworkers. On cucumber fruits, residues of 0.95 and 1.60 ppm were determined 1 d after the fourth spray under PH and PT, respectively. These residues decreased after 4 d to 0.40 and 1.49 ppm, respectively. Almost no detectable residues could be determined 8 d after sprays number 4 and 5 under both cultures. All dicofol residues on the fruits were below the tolerance level of 2 ppm.     

Morphological correlates of intraspecific grafting reactions in the marine demosponge Callyspongia diffusa

There are profound differences in the ways that the sponge Callyspongia diffusa reacts to self versus non-self tissue contact. Syngeneic or isogeneic contacts result in rapid tissue fusion and persistent maintenance of normal sponge structure. However, allogeneic contacts result in immune-type rejection reactions leading to tissue death at the interface. Using grafted sponge tissues, both types of response were subject to fine-structural analysis by scanning electron microscopy. Isografts showed no overt cellular reactions other than compatible fusion, whereas sponge tissues at allograft interfaces showed incompatibility reactions. The major steps in the histopathologic sequence of events in allograft reactions may be summarized as follows: (1) immediate allorecognition occurs accompanied by microscopic cellular rearrangements; (2) macroscopic tissue bridges form across the graft interface; (3) massive cellular infiltration towards graft sites, with cells often passing into a graft partner through the tissue bridges; (4) cellular hyperplasia and then cell death occurs at the interface; and (5) sloughing of dead tissue leaves areas of vacant skeleton between the two grafted individuals. Allograft rejection reactions in sponges have many of the hallmarks of histoincompatibility reactions in higher animals. Although there could be different alloimmune mechanisms operating in different animals, the salient events of allorecognition and antagonistic rejection appear strikingly similar among diverse multicellular animals.