Assessing the Risk of Ships Striking Large Whales in Marine Spatial Planning

Marine spatial planning provides a comprehensive framework for managing multiple uses of the marine environment and has the potential to minimize environmental impacts and reduce conflicts among users. Spatially explicit assessments of the risks to key marine species from human activities are a requirement of marine spatial planning. We assessed the risk of ships striking humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), blue (Balaenoptera musculus), and fin (Balaenoptera physalus) whales in alternative shipping routes derived from patterns of shipping traffic off Southern California (U.S.A.). Specifically, we developed whale‐habitat models and assumed ship‐strike risk for the alternative shipping routes was proportional to the number of whales predicted by the models to occur within each route. This definition of risk assumes all ships travel within a single route. We also calculated risk assuming ships travel via multiple routes. We estimated the potential for conflict between shipping and other uses (military training and fishing) due to overlap with the routes. We also estimated the overlap between shipping routes and protected areas. The route with the lowest risk for humpback whales had the highest risk for fin whales and vice versa. Risk to both species may be ameliorated by creating a new route south of the northern Channel Islands and spreading traffic between this new route and the existing route in the Santa Barbara Channel. Creating a longer route may reduce the overlap between shipping and other uses by concentrating shipping traffic. Blue whales are distributed more evenly across our study area than humpback and fin whales; thus, risk could not be ameliorated by concentrating shipping traffic in any of the routes we considered. Reducing ship‐strike risk for blue whales may be necessary because our estimate of the potential number of strikes suggests that they are likely to exceed allowable levels of anthropogenic impacts established under U.S. laws. Evaluación del Riesgo de Colisiones de Barcos y Ballenas en la Planificación Marina Espacial     

The estimated reduction in the odds of loss-of-control type crashes for sport utility vehicles equipped with electronic stability control

INTRODUCTION: Using data from the NASS General Estimates System (GES), the method of induced exposure was used to assess the effects of electronic stability control (ESC) on loss-of-control type crashes for sport utility vehicles. METHOD: Sport utility vehicles were classified into crash types generally associated with loss of control and crash types most likely not associated with loss of control. Vehicles were then compared as to whether ESC technology was present or absent in the vehicles. A generalized additive model was fit to assess the effects of ESC, driver age, and driver gender on the odds of loss of control. In addition, the effects of ESC on roads that were not dry were compared to effects on roads that were dry. RESULTS: Overall, the estimated percentage reduction in the odds of a loss-of-control crash for sport utility vehicles equipped with ESC was 70.3%. Both genders and all age groups showed reduced odds of loss-of-control crashes, but there was no significant difference between males and females. With respect to driver age, the maximum percentage reduction of 73.6% occurred at age 27. The positive effects of ESC on roads that were not dry were significantly greater than on roads that were dry.     

开发沸石矿用于农业的经济评价

我国沸石矿资源丰富。开发利用沸石矿于农业,可增产粮食400亿公斤,加上节约化肥和用作饲料添加剂等方面,年经济效益为496.25亿元。因此,开发利用沸石矿于农业具有重大的经济意义,从促进我国粮食生产上新台阶的角度考虑,则具有重大的战略意义。     

添加剂升温烧蚀法在制备新型介孔水环境净化材料中的应用

首次探索了一种破坏式造孔与有机复合相结合的新方法以制备介孔复合水环境净化材料,使最终产品成为一种具有广谱孔结构分布的复合环境材料。详细介绍了该方法的第二步工艺即添加剂升温烧蚀法,在优化后的最佳条件下,产品的孔径得到了进一步扩大,其中部分孔道直径可达至介孔级,同时材料的表面得到了进一步活化。经此步工艺后,所制备的中间产品染料吸附量是原材料的194倍,是酸洗刻蚀后产品的122倍;24h吸湿率是原材料的38倍,是酸洗刻蚀后产品的19倍。     

A heuristic approach to predicting water beetle diversity in temporary and fluctuating waters

An understanding of the causal mechanisms and processes that shape macroinvertebrate communities at a local scale has important implications for the management and conservation of freshwater biodiversity. Here we compare the performance of linear and non-linear statistics to explore diversity-environment relationships using data from 76 temporary and fluctuating ponds in two regions of southern England. We focus on aquatic beetle assemblages, which have been shown to be excellent surrogates of wider freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity. Ponds in the region contained a rich coleopteran fauna, totaling 68 species, which provided an excellent model system with which to compare the performance of two non-linear procedures (artificial neural networks—ANNs and generalised additive models—GAMs) and one more traditional linear approach (Multiple linear regression—MLR) to modelling diversity-environment relationships. Of all approaches employed, the best fit was obtained using an ANN model with only four input variables (conductivity, turbidity, magnesium concentration and depth). This model accounted for 82% of the observed variability in Shannon diversity index across ponds. In contrast, the best GAM and MLR models only explained 50% and 14% of this variation, respectively. Contribution profile analysis of conductivity, turbidity, magnesium concentration and depth, obtained from the best fit ANN through a hierarchical cluster analysis, allowed the identification of direct and proxy effects in relation to the environmental variables measured in this study. In each case, distinct clusters of ponds were identified in contribution profile analysis, suggesting that ponds across the two regions fall into a number of discrete groups, whose beetle faunas respond in subtly yet significantly different ways to key environmental variables. Aquatic coleopteran diversity in ponds in the two regions appears to be driven at a local scale by changes in relatively few physicochemical gradients, which are related to diversity in a clearly non-linear manner.     

添加蚓粪对玉米秸秆厌氧发酵产气特性的影响

以玉米秸秆为原料,总固体(TS)含量为50g.kg-1,采用中温35℃批式发酵,考察了添加蚓粪对玉米秸秆厌氧发酵产气的影响。结果表明:玉米秸秆单独发酵时,单位TS产气量为333.3mL.g-1,甲烷产量为202.0mL.g-1,并在反应初期出现酸化现象;蚓粪与玉米秸秆TS质量比为1:1进行发酵时,单位TS产气量为400.0mL.g-1,甲烷产量为269.6mL.g-1,相对于玉米秸秆单独厌氧发酵分别提高了20.0%和35.5%,且反应过程中未出现酸化现象。说明蚓粪适合作为玉米秸秆厌氧发酵产气的添加剂。     

添加剂对煤燃烧特性的影响研究

为研究助燃添加剂对煤燃烧特性的影响 ,选择了 5种金属的氧化物及盐类作为基本成分 ,运用正交试验方法考察了添加剂对炭粒燃烧特性的影响 ,然后根据极差分析和方差分析 ,得到了添加剂的最佳组成。本研究所推荐的添加剂能有效降低煤的着火温度 ,并提高其燃烧发热量。与某商品煤伴侣比较 ,在各种添加量时的助燃效果均优于该商品煤伴侣。     

用次磷酸钠废渣制备饲料级磷酸三钙

采用高温煅烧工艺,以工业生产次磷酸钠的废渣为原料,制备饲料级磷酸三钙,并对最佳工艺条件进行探讨。最佳工艺条件：煅烧温度600℃、煅烧时间20min。制得的饲料级磷酸三钙中磷的质量分数为16％～18％,符合Q／YHY01—2003《饲料级磷酸三钙》产品质量企业标准。     

两种改性剂对多氯联苯污染土壤协同热脱附影响研究

采用热脱附技术处理多氯联苯污染土壤已经成为了一种主要的场地修复方式。为提高热脱附效率,降低能耗,以典型电力电容器污染土壤为对象,采用2种改性剂(零价纳米铁和氢氧化钠)研究协同热脱附下多氯联苯的去除效率、分布特性及毒性当量。结果表明纳米铁和NaOH存在的条件下,有效提高了多氯联苯和毒性当量的去除效率,在较低温度下尤其显著,因此添加改性剂能够有效地促进热脱附过程。纳米铁的协同热脱附机理为显著强化了热脱附过程的传质传热,同时伴有一定的脱氯降解。NaOH的添加在较低温度下实现了较强的脱氯降解作用,加氢脱氯机理可用来解释协同热脱附过程中多氯联苯的脱氯反应过程。上述研究结果为多氯联苯污染土壤的场地修复提供理论基础。     

藻渣添加对玉米秸秆厌氧发酵特征的影响

厌氧发酵是农业废弃物资源化的有效途径之一.将农业废弃物同其他富含氮元素的有机废物混合发酵能够有效地提高产气效率.以玉米秸秆为例,尝试利用藻渣作为添加剂,提高农业废弃物厌氧发酵的性能.实验主要研究了混合发酵比例对沼气产量、甲烷产量、沼渣沼液特征的影响.当玉米秸秆、藻渣和接种污泥的挥发性固体质量分数为10∶ 2∶2时,沼气产率最高可达421.0 mL/g,甲烷产率为218.7 mL/g.沼渣组分分析表明,纤维素和半纤维素降解效率分别为83.7％和68.4％,和对照相比纤维素的降解效率显著提高.结果表明,藻渣的添加能够有效地促进玉米秸秆厌氧发酵产甲烷过程.