FEASIBILITY OF INTERBASIN WATER TRANSFER1

ABSTRACT: Interbasin water transfer is one of the most controversial water-resources-planning topics. Local communities, particularly those from which the water is to be taken (donor regions), generate enough opposition to doom many projects to failure. The opposition often arises because planners have traditionally considered excess water a free commodity rather than a marketable resource. To make transfer schemes mutually acceptable to donor and recipient regions, visible benefits must be offered. Agreement must be made on an acceptable purchase price and/or on other benefits such as a substantial amount of low flow augmentation or possibly some degree of flood control on the donor source stream. The hydrologic and economic feasibility of water transfer from the East Susquehanna River basin to the Delaware Reservoir System for supplemental supply to the New York City area was investigated. Nine alternative schemes for diversions up to 400 cfs and compensations in the form of low flow augmentation and/or flood control were considered resulting in unit costs to the recipient region between $90 and $380/mg. If only the minimum state-mandated flow is released to the Susquehanna River, the savings to the water recipients would be sufficient to pay a purchase price of about $21/mg, which would be equivalent to a total amount of $420,000/year for an average export of 100 cfs.     

DETERMINATION OF SEDIMENT YIELD BY TRANSFERRING RAINFALL DATA1

ABSTRACT: A methodology for obtaining the optimal design value to allow for sediment storage in a reservoir is presented for the situation where no data on sediment loads in the incoming streams are available. Information concerning the amount of sediment delivered to the reservoir over its life-time is obtained by a sediment yield model which uses data on rainfall amount and duration obtained from a nearby experimental watershed. Bayesian Decision Theory is used to obtain the optimal storage requirements in order to consider the natural variation of rainfall and the sampling error due to the short rainfall record available. The normally difficult calculations involved were made tractable by the use of simplifications and approximations valid in the context of the problem. Results show that sediment storage requirements can be calculated in this manner and that consideration of the uncertainties involved leads to a storage requirement substantially larger than that calculated without such consideration.     

基于粒子群算法的城市垃圾中转站的空间布局研究

随着城市化的进程，垃圾处理设施成为影响城市化质量的重要指标。依据人们实际所关注的垃圾处理设施的总成本和负效应两个因素，在前人研究的基础上，建立了垃圾收运多目标模型，使得总成本和负效应最优化。根据模型设计了粒子群算法，该算法属于智能算法，且精度高，收敛快，在许多领域也得到广泛应用。用设计的粒子群算法并结合案例求出了Pareto最优解，给出三种决策方案，验证了模型和算法的有效性和可行性，为决策者提供了一种理论参考。     

The controlled short circuit GMAW process: A tutorial

The paper reviews the principles, benefits and limitations of the conventional short circuit transfer mode in GMA welding before describing the development and benefits of the controlled short circuit approach. Various options are described and an attempt is made to categorize the current commercial systems.     

Seminal fluid enhances sperm viability in the leafcutter ant Atta colombica

The seminal fluid that accompanies sperm in ejaculates has been shown or suggested to affect sperm competition and paternity success of insects by preventing female remating, inducing oviposition, and forming mating plugs. In Atta leafcutter ants, queens have multiple mates but never remate later in life, although they may live and produce fertilized eggs for several decades. The mating biology and life history of these ants therefore suggests that the major function of seminal fluid is to maximize sperm viability during copulation, sperm transfer, and initial sperm storage. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the viability of testis sperm and ejaculated sperm (mixed with seminal fluid) and found a significant positive effect of seminal fluid on sperm viability. We further quantified this positive effect by adding accessory gland secretion (a major component of seminal fluid) in a dilution series, to show that minute quantities of accessory gland secretion achieve significant increases in sperm viability. Sperm stored by queens for 1 year benefited in a similar way from being exposed to accessory gland compounds after dissection in control saline solution. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that seminal fluid is important for the production of viable ejaculates and that the accessory glands of Atta males—despite their small size—are functional and produce a very potent secretion.     

Stochastic Transfer Function Model and Neural Networks to Estimate Soil Moisture1

Abstract: A practical methodology is proposed to estimate the three‐dimensional variability of soil moisture based on a stochastic transfer function model, which is an approximation of the Richard’s equation. Satellite, radar and in situ observations are the major sources of information to develop a model that represents the dynamic water content in the soil. The soil‐moisture observations were collected from 17 stations located in Puerto Rico (PR), and a sequential quadratic programming algorithm was used to estimate the parameters of the transfer function (TF) at each station. Soil texture information, terrain elevation, vegetation index, surface temperature, and accumulated rainfall for every grid cell were input into a self‐organized artificial neural network to identify similarities on terrain spatial variability and to determine the TF that best resembles the properties of a particular grid point. Soil moisture observed at 20 cm depth, soil texture, and cumulative rainfall were also used to train a feedforward artificial neural network to estimate soil moisture at 5, 10, 50, and 100 cm depth. A validation procedure was implemented to measure the horizontal and vertical estimation accuracy of soil moisture. Validation results from spatial and temporal variation of volumetric water content (vwc) showed that the proposed algorithm estimated soil moisture with a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 2.31% vwc, and the vertical profile shows a RMSE of 2.50% vwc. The algorithm estimates soil moisture in an hourly basis at 1 km spatial resolution, and up to 1 m depth, and was successfully applied under PR climate conditions.     

Individual adaptive performance in organizations: A review

Modern work is frequently characterized by jobs where adaptive performance (AP) is crucial for employees to succeed in light of new or altered task demands. This recognition has fueled growing interest in AP as a dimension of workplace performance. To this point, however, research on AP has evolved from disparate perspectives and methods, resulting in fragmentation and a less than coherent knowledge base. This paper presents a comprehensive review of research studies regarding the nomological network of individual AP. In doing so, we synthesize the current knowledge base surrounding correlates of AP, elucidate current ambiguities, and suggest directions for future research efforts. We conclude that although the extant AP literature has amassed a critical body of studies linking various predictors to successful AP outcomes, much remains unknown, most critically regarding the implications of different methods of assessing AP, the effects of different types of changes in the task environment, the process of AP, and the steps organizations can take to foster AP among their employees. We hope that our synthesis and analysis paves the way for efforts to address these important questions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase transfer protocol for the highly efficient extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous phase

A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase-transfer protocol is developed for the extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous solution to a hydrocarbon phase, which calls for first mixing the aqueous metal ion solution with an ethanolic solution of 1-dodecanethiol, and then extracting the coordination compounds formed between noble metal ions and 1-dodecanethiol into a non-polar organic solvent. A number of characterization techniques, including inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis demonstrate that this protocol could be applied to extract a wide variety of noble metal ions from water to dichloromethane with an efficiency of >96%, and has high selectivity for the separation of the noble metal ions from other transition metals. It is therefore an attractive alternative for the extraction of noble metals from water, soil, or waste printed circuit boards.     

运用正弦扫频实现电动振动台模型的频域辨识

目的研究以电动振动台为典型设备的相关振动试验装置的频域辨识技术。方法通过分析电动振动台数学模型,采用正弦扫频试验方法,进行全频带振动台空台面正弦扫频,并对所获得的时域正弦扫频数据进行频谱分析,进而获得系统的频率数据,再运用复数域上的最小二乘拟合算法,完成振动台模型传递函数的辨识。结果通过某型电动台空台面试验,对一组实测数据进行辨识,辨识出的电动振动台模拟与真实模拟一致。结论通过该方法并合理选取模型结构,能够很好地辨识出振动试验装置的模型。     

基于变更平衡表的土地利用演化信息提取与预测方法研究——以苏州市为例

变更平衡表为国土资源管理部门历年实地调查、汇总所得,精度高,目前的研究中对其深入的应用较少,基于变更平衡表的应用方法研究可为区域土地利用演变信息提取与预测提供帮助。推导了由连续年份的年度变更平衡表求多年周期的平衡表的方法,提出了基于土地利用综合动态度分析土地利用有序程度的思路,探讨了利用连续年份的变更平衡表预测任意年份土地利用结构的方法,并基于传统方法进行了改进,提出了利用矩阵开方法求预测概率矩阵。应用苏州市一定时期的连续年份的年度变更平衡表对上述方法进行了验证,结果表明:提出的信息提取方法有效,预测结果可信;在分析期内(1998~2008年),苏州市耕地大量减少的去向是各类建设用地增加的来源,区域土地利用有序程度较高;预测显示至2020年土地利用结构变化仍将维持农用地、耕地不断减少和建设用地总量不断增加的趋势,但转化的速率将有所放缓;对变更平衡表的深入应用有一定的借鉴意义。