Specific Contributions of Politics,Economics, and Toxicology in Setting Socially Consensual Limit Values

/ Limit values are legal limits for the concentrations of substances in the environment. They must be agreed upon in a consensual procedure between science, economics/technology, and political forces. This is a crucial political precondition for their social acceptance. The arguments put forward to justify their expediency and numerical level are based not only on risk-benefit considerations but also on the aspect of the technical avoidability of direct and indirect exposure. The critical assessment of the direct benefit of specified exposures falls within the responsibility of economics/technology, whereas criteria for their potential adverse effects (direct and indirect) are provided by medicine/biochemistry and/or ecology. Within this concept, the avoidance of nonbeneficial-even if not openly adverse-exposure is the essential aim of environmental hygiene and should be promoted by politics/science. In general, society or segments thereof reject adverse, accept beneficial, and tolerate unavoidable exposure. Conflicts of interest arise when different groups of society simultaneously define a given exposure as being adverse, beneficial, and unavoidable. Therefore, from the viewpoint of society as a whole, an optimal exposure lies as far as reasonably achievable at a level lower than known or plausible adverse effect thresholds (as defined by toxicology or ecology). This optimal level of exposure must be determined using a transparent and, hence, public procedure.KEY WORDS: Legal limit values; Benefit threshold; Social acceptance; Social tolerability; Adverse effect threshold; Avoidable exposure; Tolerance threshold; Environmental hygiene     

A TAU-LIKE TEST FOR TREND IN THE PRESENCE OF MULTIPLE CENSORING POINTS1

ABSTRACT: A common problem arises in testing for trends in water quality when observations are reported as “less than detection limit.” If a single detection limit is used for the entire study, existing non-parametric statistical methods, modified for ties, are applicable. If, however, the detection limit varies during the course of the study, resulting in multiple detection limits, then the commonly used trend detection methods are not appropriate. A statistic similar to Kendall's tau, but based on expected ranks, is proposed. Monte Carlo simulations show that the normal approximation to the distribution of this statistic is quite good, even for small samples and a large proportion of censored observations. The statistic is also shown to have greater power than the ad-hoc method of treating all observations less than the target censored observation as tied.     

双室微生物燃料电池重金属毒性传感器的研制

构建了双室微生物燃料电池（double microbial fuel cells,DMFC）型毒性传感器分别对Cr（Ⅵ）、Cd2+、Cu2+、Zn2+进行在线检测研究。通过对反应器进行优化,确定DMFC在外电阻为1 000 Ω时达到最大功率密度;外循环速率为0.933 4 mL·min-1时反应器运行较稳定。在最优条件下,通过监测铜离子来确定检测时间为60 min,清洗时间为10 min。在以上条件下进行重金属检测,结果表明4种重金属的检测范围分别为0.3~10、0.4~10、40~160、15~80 mg·L-1。抑制率可以用来验证反应器的可行性,检测范围内抑制率与重金属浓度呈现一定的线性关系,其相关系数分别为0.959 7、0.979 5、0.944 1、0.936 6。并可得到相应的线性方程,这些方程可用于验证DMFC-传感器的稳定性。选取检测范围内的浓度进行验证,结果表明4种重金属的相对误差均小于11%,传感器相对稳定并可长期运行。     

Kalman最优平滑器在滑坡位移监测数据处理中的应用

针对传统方法中利用Kalman滤波器来处理物体的形变数据存在精度低的缺点,依据Kalman平滑比滤波的精度要高的原理,提出了将滑坡形变的估计问题视为Kalman平滑问题,而不仅仅是Kalman滤波问题;利用Kalman最优平滑器来处理滑坡位移监测数据,可使滑坡预测预报的精度得到较大提高,并在此基础上给出了一种固定区间平滑算法;最后,以龙羊峡龙西滑坡为例进行了实例分析,结果表明本文提出的方法是可行和有效的。此外,结论中针对实际运用中存在的问题提出了相应的建议。     

Laboratory evidence of natural remobilization of multicomponent DNAPL pools due to dissolution

Mixtures of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) trapped in the subsurface can act as long-term sources of contamination by dissolving into flowing groundwater. In general, the components of higher solubility are removed more quickly, thus altering the composition of the remaining DNAPL, and possibly leading to changes in its physical properties. Through the development of a simple compositional model, Roy et al. [J. Contam. Hydrol. 2002 (59) 163] showed that preferential dissolution of a mixed DNAPL could potentially result in changes in density and interfacial tension that could subsequently lead to remobilization of an initially static DNAPL pool. The laboratory experiments presented in this next paper provide a proof-of-concept for the previously presented theory, demonstrating and quantifying this process of remobilization. In addition, the experiments provide a data set for evaluation of the model presented by Roy et al. [J. Contam. Hydrol. 2002 (59) 163]. In the four experiments, a DNAPL pool comprised of tetrachloroethene and benzene was created as an open pool overlying glass beads within a water-saturated 2-D flow box. Experiments included rectangular and triangular pools. In each of the experiments, remobilization (as breakthrough) was observed more than 2 weeks after formation of the initial pool. During each experiment, the pool height declined as mass was lost by dissolution, while sampling indicated a decrease in the mole fraction of benzene, the more soluble component. Small protuberances formed along the bottom of the pool as its composition changed with time and the displacement pressure was achieved for various pore throats. Eventually one of the protuberances extended further, forming a finger (breakthrough). In general, the pool emptied as the finger proceeded further into the beads. It was also shown theoretically and experimentally that remobilization will occur sooner for pools with a triangular (pointing down), rather than rectangular, shape. The experimental results were simulated using the model developed by Roy et al. [J. Contam. Hydrol. 2002 (59) 163]. The model matched the observations well, suggesting that it accurately represents the primary mechanisms involved with natural remobilization under the conditions of the study.     

Transport modeling of copper and cadmium with linear and nonlinear retardation factors

The predictive accuracy of using the one-dimensional advection–dispersion equation to evaluate the fate and transport of solute in a soil column is usually dependent on the proper determination of chemical retardation factors. Typically, the distribution coefficient (K_d) obtained by fitting the linear sorption isotherm has been extensively used to consider general geochemical reactions on solute transport in a low-concentration range. However, the linear distribution coefficient cannot be adequately utilized to describe the solute fate at a higher concentration level. This study employed the nonlinear equilibrium-controlled sorption parameters to determine the retardation factor used in column leaching experiments. Copper and cadmium transportation in a lateritic silty-clay soil column was examined. Through the explicit finite-difference calculations with a third-order total-variation-diminishing (TVD) numerical solution scheme, all results of the theoretical copper and cadmium breakthrough curves (BTCs) simulated by using the Freundlich nonlinear retardation factors revealed good agreement with the experimental observations.     

敌百虫萃取分离的研究

在考察敌百虫亲油性的基础上,本文对敌百虫稀溶液进行了溶剂萃取和络合萃取的研究。结果表于敌百虫的亲油一般,溶剂萃取分配系数较小,加入胺类络合剂提高了溶剂对敌百虫的萃取分配系数。     

The living environment and children's fears following the Indonesian tsunami

The tsunami that struck South-east Asia on 26 December 2004 left more than 500,000 people in Aceh, Indonesia, homeless and displaced to temporary barracks and other communities. This study examines the associations between prolonged habitation in barracks and the nature of fears reported by school-age children and adolescents. In mid-2007, 30 months after the tsunami, the authors interviewed 155 child and parent dyads. Logistic regression analysis was used to compare the fears reported by children and adolescents living in barracks with those reported by their peers who were living in villages. After adjusting for demographic factors and tsunami exposure, the data reveals that children and adolescents living in barracks were three times more likely than those living in villages to report tsunami-related fears. The study demonstrates that continued residence in barracks 30 months after the tsunami is associated with higher rates of reporting tsunami-related fears, suggesting that barracks habitation has had a significant impact on the psychological experience of children and adolescents since the tsunami.     

盾构隧道纵向地震响应简化动力有限元法分析(英文)

本文重点关注对盾构隧道的纵向地震响应分析方法的研究,提出了一种简化的动力有限元分析方法。这种方法采纳了响应位移法的一些基本思想,采用和响应位移法一样的环梁和土弹簧模型,但采用动力有限元法来评估地基地震动,而摒弃了响应位移法中采用的地基振动为谐波形式的假定。与响应位移法相比,简化动力有限元法能够提高地基震动的计算精度,从而提高结构响应的计算精度;而与三维连续模型相比,新方法的计算规模小得多,从而能够大幅提高计算效率。然后,本文分别采用相应位移法和新提出的简化动力有限元法,对武汉长江隧道盾构段隧道进行了纵向地震响应分析,并对这2种方法计算结果的差异进行了分析。     

西安咸阳国际机场污水排放口潜在滑坡稳定性分析

对西安咸阳国际机场污水排放口潜在滑坡的工程地质勘察结果表明,该滑坡处于极限平衡状态。采用B ish-op法参数反演和直快剪试验结果,分别用二维、三维极限平衡法和二维、三维有限元法,对该滑坡进行稳定性计算。结果表明:有限元法(二维、三维)的计算结果偏大,二维极限平衡法的计算结果最小;极限平衡法(二维、三维)与二维有限元法宜选取试验结果的大值平均值,三维有限元法则取试验结果的小值平均值较为合理。最后,根据三维有限元法的计算结果,提出了削坡压脚的防护措施。