Imagining the Future at the Global and National Scale: A Comparative Study of British and Dutch Press Coverage of Rio 1992 and Rio 2012

Climate change and imagined futures are intricately linked, discussed by policy-makers and reported in the media. In this article we focus on the construction of future expectations in the press coverage of the 1992 and 2012 United Nations conferences in Rio de Janeiro in British and Dutch national newspapers. We use a novel combination of methods, semantic co-word networks and metaphor analysis, to study imagined futures. Our findings show that between 1992 and 2012 there was an overall shift from future-oriented hope to past-oriented disappointment regarding implementing international agreements on climate change policy, but with subtle and interesting differences between the UK and The Netherlands. Certain national differences seem to be stable over time and are indicative of rather dissimilar policy cultures in two nations which are geographically quite close.     

HISTORICAL CHANGES IN UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATER AREAS AND ISLANDS1

ABSTRACT: Periodic surveys of the upper Mississippi River since 1866 and a discharge record of nearly equal length provided an opportunity to learn more about the magnitudes and rates of geomorphic processes at work in large stream systems. Furthermore, geomorphic and hydrologic adjustments could be evaluated in relation to watershed land use changes, small‐scale climate fluctuations, and considerable modifications to the channel and floodplain during the period of record. The present study uses GIS mapping to quantitatively compare historical changes in mapped land and water phenomena in the upper Mississippi River Pool 10, located along southwest Wisconsin's border. Modest channel widening and decreases in island area throughout the study reach during the last century are detectable. Flood magnitudes and frequencies also have varied during this time, and stages and low flow discharges have increased since the 1940s. The latter hydrologic change appears to be closely associated with the reach's geomorphic adjustments. Results are representative of a valley reach where a major tributary contributes a large sand bedload, forming an alluvial fan of considerable size in the floodplain.     

Landfill space consumption dynamics in the Lower Rio Grande Valley by grey integer programming-based games

The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) region in South Texas emerges as a warehouse and transportation center between Central America and the US with positive growth impacts due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In 10 years time, a 39.8% population increase has resulted in a 25% boost in solid waste per capita disposal rate in the region. A landfill space shortage drives a need for landfill operators to understand their optimal management strategies in this highly-competitive market. Initially, a strategic plan for optimal solid waste pattern distribution minimizes net costs for cities. This is accomplished through a grey integer programming algorithm that encapsulates all uncertainty present in the solid waste system. Secondly, a series of grey integer submodels construct payoff matrices for a zero-sum two-person game. The ensuing game theoretic analysis is critical for evaluating optimal pricing strategies for tipping fees available to the most significant regional landfills (e.g. Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) and City of Edinburg) as they compete over disposal contracts. The BFI landfill intrinsically benefits from its competitive pricing policy and central location to solid waste generators. The City of Edinburg landfill, on the other hand, wishes to secure its lucrative solid waste management revenue. It desires a gaming strategy backed by optimality that integrates ambiguity in solid waste generation, design capacity boundaries, and unitary shipping costs. Results show that a two-tiered analysis via grey integer programming-based games may pave the way for 'grey Nash equilibria' pricing tactics that will help the Edinburg landfill maintain its waste contracts.     

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PROGRAMS IN APPALACHIA AND THEIR IMPACT ON REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT1

ABSTRACT: The reduction of regional unemployment requires a sufficient demand for regional labor and the demand pattern must parallel that of supply. Due to the interdependency of Appalachian economy with the rest of the Nation, the leakage of the final demand imposed on a subregion of Appalachia is substantial. The more capital intensive the investment the higher the leakage which will lead to less demand for labor in Appalachia. While water resource projects are generally longterm projects which aim at structural changes in a regional economy, consumption expenditures induced by welfare payments or public employment programs are basically temporary measures for the rescue of unemployment. Average consumption and private investment programs may impose on Appalachia a larger material demand but the demand for the total regional labor, off-site and on-site combined, is estimated to be less than that from water resource investments. The public expenditure program for combating regional unemployment must be discretionary based on its purpose and its potential to generate optimum demand for labor which will be created by the pattern of regional resource distribution and interindustrial and interregional interactions. An interregional I/O model is best suited for analysis of this type.     

ESTIMATION OF WATER TEMPERATURE EXCEEDANCE PROBABILITIES USING THERMO-HYDRODYNAMIC MODELING1

ABSTRACT: A continuous simulation approach is proposed for estimating water temperature exceedance probabilities using thermo-hydrodynamic modeling. The approach uses (1) a deterministic unsteady flow and heat transport model, (2) continuous hydrological and meteorological data for a long historical period, and (3) synthetic records of tributary water temperatures and other model inputs. Representative historical records of streamflow, air temperatures, and other hydrometeorological variables are obtained from nearby gages. Stochastic modeling methods are used to construct synthetic records for other model inputs, including inflow water temperatures. An application of this deterministic-stochastic approach is presented for a complex waterway in northeastern Illinois with heat discharges from several power plants and wastewater treatment plants. Statistical results from the continuous simulations are compared to results obtained from traditional event simulations. The application illustrates the information that engineers and biologists can obtain for (1) evaluating compliance with water temperature standards, and (2) assessing the effect of water temperatures on aquatic habitat.     

锥形凹模内挤压/拉拔过程的上限解分析

论述了适用于分析锥形凹模内挤压/拉拔过程的几种上限模型,分析了采用一般模型得到的上限解.     

鄂尔多斯盆地上古生界天然气的运移与聚集

通过对上古生界烃源岩天然气排气史、天然气运移方向和沉积相带的展布等综合分析 ,可将上古生界天然气的运移聚集分为三叠纪—早白垩世和早白垩世后两个阶段。在三叠纪—早白垩世阶段 ,天然气运移方向主要是向北 ,而在早白垩世后阶段 ,天然气主要是就近运移聚集而成藏 ,这一阶段是鄂尔多斯盆地上古生界天然气重要的运移与聚集期 ,故上古生界煤成气藏的成藏期较晚。鄂尔多斯盆地北部和中部的靖边古三角洲是天然气聚集的有利地区 ,具有较好的天然气勘探前景     

带毂直齿圆柱齿轮精锻的计算机模拟

此文利用上限法建立带毂直齿圆柱齿轮精锻过程的数学模型,并利用该模型对带毂直齿圆柱齿轮精锻过程中坯料外形尺寸和力一行程曲线进行了计算机模拟。对所得结果作了实验校核。实验结果与模拟结果吻合得较好,证明此文所建立的数学模型和模拟方法是可行的。     

浙江省上石炭统-中二叠统生物地层划分进展

本文划分论述了浙江省上石炭统—中二叠统16条化石带（其中11条为新建化石带）,对比研究结果表明它们分布于老虎洞组、黄龙组、船山组、梁山组、栖霞组、孤峰组、龙潭组下部的地层,可分别与滑石板阶、达拉阶、逍遥阶、紫松阶、隆林阶、栖霞阶、祥播阶、茅口阶、冷坞阶等9个阶对比。探讨研究了上石炭统底界、下二叠统底界和中二叠统底界;指出上石炭统未见底,缺失罗苏期的沉积;下二叠统底界位于Sphaeroschwagerina subrotunda带之底,以Sphaeroschwagerina属的始现作为底界的标准;石炭—二叠系界线位于Triticites subcrassulu筵带与Sphaeroschwagerina subrotund筵带之间;中二叠统的底界位于Orthotichia chekiangensis腕足组合带之底,以Orthotichia chekiangensis的始现作为中二叠统底界的标准。进一步论证了船山组是一个跨越石炭—二叠系界线的岩石地层单位,下部归属上石炭统逍遥阶,中部归属下二叠统紫松阶和上部归属下二叠统隆林阶。     

长江上游高寒草地生态建设和管理中生态理论的若干质疑

现有的草地管理政策和措施建立在西方经典生态学理论的基础上，并在很大程度上改变了传统管理模式．本文针对长江上游高寒草地生态建设与管理中的问题，结合草地生态学的新进展，从草地生态系统特征、多样性与稳定性、草地承载力、平衡与非平衡等几个方面进行了讨论，旨在能引起今后草地生态建设中加强这些方面的针对性研究，并有效地避免由于理论自身偏差而导致不应有的技术失误．本文的中心观点在于，由于长江上游地区的高寒草地处在环境因子剧烈变化的条件之下，草地的生态过程在很大程度上受制于非生物条件(如气候)，而不是生物因子的相互作用(如放牧)，因此，已有的一些草地生态理论不能完全解释草地动态变化的机理，其适用性受到限制，而任何简单套用理论以及基于这些理论发展的技术和模式都有可能给生态治理和管理带来负面影响．图2参22