Individual risk analysis of high-pressure natural gas pipelines

Transmission pipelines carrying natural gas are not typically within secure industrial sites, but are routed across land out of the ownership of the pipeline company. If the natural gas is accidentally released and ignited, the hazard distance associated with these pipelines to people and property is known to range from under 20 m for a smaller pipeline at lower pressure to up to over 300 m for a larger pipeline at higher pressure. Therefore, pipeline operators and regulators must address the associated public safety issues.This paper focuses on a method to explicitly calculate the individual risk of a transmission pipeline carrying natural gas. The method is based on reasonable accident scenarios for route planning related to the pipeline's proximity to the surrounding buildings. The minimum proximity distances between the pipeline and buildings are based on the rupture of the pipeline, with the distances chosen to correspond to a radiation level of approximately 32 kW/m². In the design criteria for steel pipelines for high-pressure gas transmission (IGE/TD/1), the minimum building proximity distances for rural areas are located between individual risk values of 10⁻⁵ and 10⁻⁶. Therefore, the risk from a natural gas transmission pipeline is low compared with risk at the building separated minimum distance from chemical industries.     

温州市粮食生产潜力及土地人口承载力研究

在光能生产潜力计算的基础上,经过温度、降水、土壤肥力和土壤质量等自然因素的订正,分析了温州市的土地生产潜力、粮食生产潜力。通过对温州市历年来主要粮食作物产量分析,采用产潜比增长速度法预测了２０００年和２０１０年的粮食产量,并据此计算了２０００年、２０１０年和潜在最大的人口承载量,指出温州市建立稳定协调可持续发展的人地关系的关键。     

桫椤群落内主要乔木种群的种间联结性

在相邻格子抽样调查的基础上,采用X^2检验、联结系数（Ac)和种间共出现百分率（Pc)等指标,分析了福建省永定桫椤群落内主要乔木种群的种间联结性。结果表明：除少数种对外,绝大多数种群间的联结性不显著,在联结性显著的种对中,下述7个种对之间有较高的正联结性：朴树－野鸦椿、青冈－黄瑞木、青冈－油柿、翻白叶树－拉氏栲、黄瑞木－油柿、 青冈－香叶树和Song木－盐肤木,就桫椤群落而言,桫椤与猴欢喜、水团花之间有一定的正联结,与广东润楠、黄瑞木、柳叶山 茶、朴树和野鸦椿有较紧密的负联结。图3参11     

木根麦冬的种群数量动态

运用静态生命表、生殖力表和Leslie矩阵模型,研究了木根麦冬种群数量动态过程,揭示了种群各龄级植株的动态规律,结果表明,木根麦冬种群为衰退型种群,种群的净增殖率、内禀增长率和周限增长率较低,种群世代周期偏长,种群不能自我更新,在20a内种群幼苗数量和总数量将持续快速下降,木根麦冬种群在16-20a年龄段受到了环境筛的强烈过滤作用。     

Benzene Exposure Assessment at Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Levels. The French Contribution to the Life MACBETH Programme

Many VOC represent hazards to human health through chronic exposure. Recent European and world-wide legislation proposes limit values for ambient concentrations of these compounds. However, very little experimental data exists for true population exposure. In 1996, the European MACBETH initiative set out to measure population exposure to benzene in six European cities. This study details the French contribution to this program. Six campaigns were carried out, each comprising measurements at 100 outdoor sites and the participation of 50 non-smoking volunteers who wore personal samplers and had passive monitors installed in their homes. Iso-concentration maps were drawn for each campaign and the results showed that outdoor concentrations were significantly lower than indoors. Almost 75% of the volunteers were exposed to mean concentrations higher than the limit value of 5µgm³. It is demonstrated that personal exposure levels cannot be deduced simply by combining indoor and outdoor background concentrations. It is also shown that there is need for better knowledge of the contributions to overall exposure of outdoor microenvironments and the authors hope that future European directives will take this into account.     

中国人口集疏格局与形成机制研究

人口集聚和疏散是人口空间分布格局最直观和最集中的体现,基于人口集聚度的中国人口集疏的空间格局和形成机制的研究,有助于准确把握中国人口空间分布的基本脉络,具有重要的学术价值和实践意义。研究采用了人口集聚度分级评价的方法,依据人口集聚度的不同,将各个地区划分为不同等级的人口集聚区,并对其分别讨论。在此基础上,结合中国人口分布格局、自然条件的空间分布格局、人居环境自然适宜性评价结果以及经济发展格局和城市化格局,对中国的人口集疏的空间格局进行了归纳,并进一步对相应的形成机制进行了探讨,得出了我国人口分布的空间不平衡日益加剧,并呈现沿海、沿江、沿线集聚的态势的基本结论,并对我国人口分布集疏格局的形成进行了探讨,提出了自然因素奠定我国人口分布的基本格局,而经济发展不平衡与城市化成为人口集聚的动力的观点。     

棱鮻寄生小钩鲻鱼虫的种群生态学

棱鮻(Liza carinatus)样品于2000年12月～2001年10月取自广东湛江.按常规方法从鱼鳃上挑取小钩鲻鱼虫(Ligophorus hamulosus),进行压片、计数.结果显示:随着宿主体长的增长,小钩鲻鱼虫种群的平均密度、平均感染强度呈上升趋势;从12月到次年4月,其平均密度和平均感染强度上升,随后呈下降趋势,8月最低.10月略有回升;小钩鲻鱼虫种群在不同大小的宿主上和在不同季节均呈聚集分布.     

Understanding the Lessons and Limitations of Conservation and Development

Abstract: The lack of concrete instances in which conservation and development have been successfully merged has strengthened arguments for strict exclusionist conservation policies. Research has focused more on social cooperation and conflict of different management regimes and less on how these factors actually affect the natural environments they seek to conserve. Consequently, it is still unknown which strategies yield better conservation outcomes? We conducted a meta‐analysis of 116 published case studies on common resource management regimes from Africa, south and central America, and southern and Southeast Asia. Using ranked sociodemographic, political, and ecological data, we analyzed the effect of land tenure, population size, social heterogeneity, as well as internally devised resource‐management rules and regulations (institutions) on conservation outcome. Although land tenure, population size, and social heterogeneity did not significantly affect conservation outcome, institutions were positively associated with better conservation outcomes. There was also a significant interaction effect between population size and institutions, which implies complex relationships between population size and conservation outcome. Our results suggest that communities managing a common resource can play a significant role in conservation and that institutions lead to management regimes with lower environmental impacts.     

α1-Microglobulin levels and correlation with cadmium and other metals in urine of non-smoking women among general populations in Japan

The present study was initiated to examine urinary α₁-microglobulin (α₁-MG-U) levels among non-smoking women in the general population in Japan. A previously established database on spot urine samples from adult woman volunteers in 10 non-polluted areas all over Japan was re-examined. The data examined were on α₁-MG-U, cadmium, calcium, magnesium and zinc levels in urine (Cd-U, Ca-U, Mg-U and Zn-U, respectively), urinary creatinine (CR or cr), urine specific gravity (SG or sg), smoking habits and age. Thus, 8975 never-smoking women were selected for statistical analyses. The grand geometric mean (GM) for α₁-MG-U among the population was 2.1?mg/L or 2.5?mg/g?cr, depending on the correction for urine density. It was 1.1?µg/L or 1.3?µg/g?cr for GM Cd-U. The inter-area difference in α₁-MG-U was <1.5?mg/g?cr or <0.7?mg/L; the area with the highest or lowest GM Cd-U was not always highest or lowest in GM α₁-MG-U. The correlation coefficient (0.53) between log?Cd-U and log?α₁-MG-U (both without urine density correction) became substantially smaller when the analyte levels were corrected for CR (0.25) or SG (0.26). In multiple regression analysis, the power of influence of the five independent variables (log?Cd-U, Ca-U, Mg-U, Zn-U and age) in combination was small (R ²?≦?0.13). In contrast, logistic regression analysis suggested that α₁-MG-U might be elevated as a function of an increase in Cd-U, depending on the cut-off values. Discussion was made on dose (Cd-U_cr) and response (α₁-MG-U_cr) relationship based on information available in literatures to show that the increment in α₁-MG-U_cr per Cd-U_cr was much greater when Cd-U_cr was large, e.g., in excess of 10?µg/g?cr.     

Combining Measures of Dispersal to Identify Conservation Strategies in Fragmented Landscapes

Abstract: Understanding the way in which habitat fragmentation disrupts animal dispersal is key to identifying effective and efficient conservation strategies. To differentiate the potential effectiveness of 2 frequently used strategies for increasing the connectivity of populations in fragmented landscapes—corridors and stepping stones—we combined 3 complimentary methods: behavioral studies at habitat edges, mark‐recapture, and genetic analyses. Each of these methods addresses different steps in the dispersal process that a single intensive study could not address. We applied the 3 methods to the case study of Atrytonopsis new species 1, a rare butterfly endemic to a partially urbanized stretch of barrier islands in North Carolina (U.S.A.). Results of behavioral analyses showed the butterfly flew into urban and forested areas, but not over open beach; mark‐recapture showed that the butterfly dispersed successfully through short stretches of urban areas (<500 m); and genetic studies showed that longer stretches of forest (>5 km) were a dispersal barrier, but shorter stretches of urban areas (≤5 km) were not. Although results from all 3 methods indicated natural features in the landscape, not urbanization, were barriers to dispersal, when we combined the results we could determine where barriers might arise: forests restricted dispersal for the butterfly only when there were long stretches with no habitat. Therefore, urban areas have the potential to become a dispersal barrier if their extent increases, a finding that may have gone unnoticed if we had used a single approach. Protection of stepping stones should be sufficient to maintain connectivity for Atrytonopsis new species 1 at current levels of urbanization. Our research highlights how the use of complementary approaches for studying animal dispersal in fragmented landscapes can help identify conservation strategies.