Impact of conservation areas on trophic interactions between apex predators and herbivores on coral reefs

Apex predators are declining at alarming rates due to exploitation by humans, but we have yet to fully discern the impacts of apex predator loss on ecosystem function. In a management context, it is critically important to clarify the role apex predators play in structuring populations of lower trophic levels. Thus, we examined the top‐down influence of reef sharks (an apex predator on coral reefs) and mesopredators on large‐bodied herbivores. We measured the abundance, size structure, and biomass of apex predators, mesopredators, and herbivores across fished, no‐take, and no‐entry management zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia. Shark abundance and mesopredator size and biomass were higher in no‐entry zones than in fished and no‐take zones, which indicates the viability of strictly enforced human exclusion areas as tools for the conservation of predator communities. Changes in predator populations due to protection in no‐entry zones did not have a discernible influence on the density, size, or biomass of different functional groups of herbivorous fishes. The lack of a relationship between predators and herbivores suggests that top‐down forces may not play a strong role in regulating large‐bodied herbivorous coral reef fish populations. Given this inconsistency with traditional ecological theories of trophic cascades, trophic structures on coral reefs may need to be reassessed to enable the establishment of appropriate and effective management regimes. El Impacto de las Áreas de Conservación sobre las Interacciones Tróficas entre los Depredadores Dominantes y los Herbívoros en los Arrecifes de Coral     

大落差原油管道投产油顶水过程研究

为了探究隔离球在大落差原油管段投产过程中的影响作用,以某大落差“U”型起伏原油管线为实际案例（其最大高差达1 490 m）,基于OLGA多相流瞬态模拟方法,对大落差原油管段油顶水过程进行仿真研究。分析隔离球对原油顶水过程中的混油影响,同时对不同输量、管内积液量条件下隔离球在大落差管段中的运动特性进行研究,得到了清管器的平均运行速度、管中压力、持液率的变化趋势以及清管过程中的段塞行为等。结果表明:当输量为900~2 500 m3/h时,隔离球的加入能够降低混油量84.2%~93.7%;同时,还能减少投产过程中由于油品轻质组分汽化所产生的气体,并将更多管内气体带走,减少管中段塞流,提高原油投产效率,为工程实际投产过程提供有效依据。     

Monoterpene emissions and carbonyl compound air concentrations during the blooming period of rape (Brassica napus)

An increasing percentage of agricultural land in Germany is used for oil seed plants. Hence, rape has become an important agricultural plant (in Saxony 1998: 12% of the farmland) in the recent years. During flowering of rape along with intensive radiation and high temperatures, a higher production and emission of biogenic VOC was observed. The emissions of terpenes were determined and more importantly, high concentrations of organic carbonyl compounds were observed during this field experiment. All measurements of interest have been carried out during two selected days with optimal weather conditions. It is found that the origin or the mechanism of formation of different group of compounds had strong influence on the day to day variation of their concentrations. The emission flux of terpenes from flowering rape plants was determined to be 16–32 μg h⁻¹ m⁻² (30–60 ng h⁻¹ per g dry plant––540–1080 ng h⁻¹ per plant), in total. Limonene, α-thujene and sabinene were the most important compounds (about 60% of total terpenes). For limonene and sabinene reference emission rates (M_S) and temperature coefficients were determined: β_limonene=0.108 K⁻¹ and M_S=14.57 μg h⁻¹ m⁻²; β_sabinene=0.095 K⁻¹ and M_S=5.39 μg h⁻¹ m⁻².The detected carbonyl compound concentrations were unexpectedly high (maximum formaldehyde concentration was 18.1 ppbv and 3.4 ppbv for butyraldehyde) for an open field. Possible reasons for these concentrations are the combination of primary emission from the plants induced by high temperature and high ozone stress, the secondary formation from biogenically and advected anthropogenically emitted VOC at high radiation intensities and furthered by the low wind speeds at this time.     

制备方法对铁钛复合氧化物磷吸附性能的影响:共沉淀法与机械物理混合法

为了研究制备方法对金属复合氧化物表面性质与吸附性能的影响,本文分别采用共沉淀法与机械物理混合法制备了铁钛复合氧化物CFe-Ti与MFe-Ti.采用SEM、BET、XRD与FTIR等表征技术,研究了两种铁钛复合氧化物CFe-Ti与MFe-Ti的形貌结构、比表面积、表面羟基浓度等表面特性;通过批式吸附实验,考察了其磷吸附性能.结果表明,与纯的氧化物Fe OOH及TiO_2相比,共沉淀法制备的CFe-Ti纳米颗粒更疏松,孔结构更发达,表面羟基浓度更高,CFe-Ti的最大磷吸附容量达40.6mg·g~(-1),高于纯Fe OOH(27.2 mg·g~(-1))与TiO_2(16.7 mg·g~(-1)),分别为其1.5倍和2.4倍,展示了显著的协同效应.而MFe-Ti的形貌结构和表面性质与Fe OOH及TiO_2相比变化不大,其磷最大吸附容量为22.7 mg·g~(-1),不仅明显低于CFe-Ti,且低于纯Fe OOH,表明未产生协同效应.研究也表明,磷在CFe-Ti与MFe-Ti表面的吸附性质未发生变化,均通过形成内层表面络合物而发生了化学吸附.因此,金属复合氧化物的表面性质和吸附性能与其制备方法密切相关,与机械物理混合法相比,共沉淀法是一种更为简单经济制备高效能铁钛复合氧化物磷吸附剂的方法.     

长江口及邻近海域水体主元素和锶同位素地球化学

根据2005年6月对长江口及其邻近海域水体的现场调查,分析探讨了长江口水体主元素、Sr及Sr同位素的组成变化。长江河水的Sr含量和87Sr/86Sr同位素比值分别为1.75μmol/L和0.7105,反映出长江流域以碳酸盐岩风化为主的化学风化特征;河口区主元素与盐度的显著正相关关系显示出它们在河水与海水混合过程中的保守特性;87Sr/86Sr与1/Sr的非线性关系则暗示了长江口水体的Sr不是河水与海水的简单混合,可能伴有其他端元水体的混入。     

东湖生态学研究慨况

以长江中下游流域具代表性的武汉东湖为基地对其生态学进行了长期的观测和系统研究．详细地阐述了氮、磷在水体中分布、转移及积累,浮游植物的演替,浮游植物初级生产力及其对鱼产潜力的估算,浮游动物现存量和生产量,有机碎屑在生态系统中的功能和鱼类放养对生态系统的下行效应等     

Testing the importance of accurate meteorological input fields and parameterizations in atmospheric transport modelling using dream - validation against ETEX-1

A tracer model, the DREAM, which is based on a combination of a near-range Lagrangian model and a long-range Eulerian model, has been developed. The meteorological meso-scale model, MM5V1, is implemented as a meteorological driver for the tracer model. The model system is used for studying transport and dispersion of air pollutants caused by a single but strong source as, e.g. an accidental release from a nuclear power plant. The model system including the coupling of the Lagrangian model with the Eulerian model are described. Various simple and comprehensive parameterizations of the mixing height, the vertical dispersion, and different meterological input data have been implemented in the combined tracer model, and the model results have been validated against measurements from the ETEX-1 release. Several different statistical parameters have been used to estimate the differences between the parameterizations and meterological input data in order to find the best performing solution.     

炸药及火工品可靠性与安全性评定方法

可靠性的评定结果是否可信,直接关系到炸药及火工品的使用安全性和作用可靠性。但是,现有炸药及火工品可靠性评定方法却存在着达不到置信度要求、评价结果偏于危险的缺点。为此,提出了一种确定炸药及火工品安全度和可靠度的高精度方法,并给出了应用实例。该方法不仅可信程度高,而且适用于小样本情况,尤其是在利用了以往试验数据后,既可提高安全性和可靠性评定的精度,又可大大节省试验的费用及时间     

Fuel efficiency enhancement of modified diesel engine operated in dual fuel mode using renewable and sustainable fuels

ABSTRACT

Renewable and sustainable fuels for diesel engine applications provide energy protection, overseas exchange saving and address atmospheric and socio-economic concerns. This study presents the investigational work carried out on a single cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection diesel engine operated in dual fuel (DF) mode using renewable and sustainable fuels. In the first phase, a Y-shaped mixing chamber or venture was developed with varied angle facility for gas entry at 30°, 45° and 60°, respectively, to enable homogeneous air and gas mixing. Further effect of different gas and air mixture entry on the DF engine performance was studied. In the next phase of the work, hydrogen flow rate influence on the combustion and emission characteristics of a compression ignition (CI) engine operated in DF mode using diesel, neem oil methyl ester (NeOME) and producer gas has been investigated. During experimentation, hydrogen was mixed in different proportions varied from 3 to 12 l/min (lpm) in step of 3 lpm along with air-producer gas and the mixtures were directly inducted into engine cylinder during suction stroke. Experimental investigation showed that 45° Y-shaped mixing chamber resulted in improved performance with acceptable emission levels. Further, it is observed that investigation showed that at maximum operating conditions and hydrogen flow rate of 9 lpm, Diesel–producer gas and NeOME–producer gas combination showed increased thermal efficiency by 13.2% and 3.8%, respectively, compared to the DF operation without hydrogen addition. Further, it is noticed that hydrogen-enriched producer gas lowers the power derating by 5–10% and increases nitric oxide (NO_x) emissions. However, increased hydrogen addition beyond the 12 lpm leads to sever knocking.

Abbreviations: NeOME: Neem oil methyl ester; BTE: brake thermal efficiency; CI: compression ignition; ITE: indicated thermal efficiency; PG: producer gas; CA: crank angle; K: Kelvin; BP: brake power; IP: indicated power; H₂: hydrogen; HC: unburnt hydrocarbon; CO: carbon dioxide; CO₂: carbon dioxide; NO_x: nitric oxide; HRR: heat release rate; %: percentage; PPM: parts per million; CMFIS: conventional mechanical fuel injection system.     

南京北郊春季气溶胶吸湿性分析

大气气溶胶的吸湿性对气溶胶粒子的谱分布、云凝结核形成、气候强迫、人体健康等均有重要的影响.利用吸湿性串联差分迁移率分析仪(HTDMA)在2014年4月16日~5月21日对南京北郊的大气气溶胶吸湿特性进行观测.30~230 nm气溶胶粒子在90%相对湿度下的吸湿增长观测结果表明,气溶胶粒子的吸湿增长因子平均概率分布函数(GF-PDF)呈现明显的双峰分布,即一个占主导地位的强吸湿模态,和一个相对较小但仍很明显的弱吸湿模态.对吸湿性的日夜对比分析发现,整体上白天的气溶胶粒子吸湿性大于夜间气溶胶粒子,白天强吸湿模态的粒子数目比例高于夜间,夜间气溶胶粒子的外混合程度更高.利用HYSPLIT模式对气溶胶来源分析结果表明,观测期间南京北郊主要受到3类气团的影响.其中西北大陆气团背景下爱根核模态粒子在经过大陆的长距离输送过程后,老化程度较高,吸湿性也更强.而对于积聚模态粒子,则为来自东方气团的粒子吸湿性更强,强吸湿模态粒子数目比例也较高.局地气团背景下气溶胶粒子在各粒径段都具有较高的强吸湿比例.