Trend in the Status of Breeding Bird Fauna in British Columbia, Canada, Based on the IUCN Red List Index Method

Abstract:  The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Index (RLI) is used to measure global trends in the status of biodiversity. We examined how the index might be used to measure the trend in the status of indigenous breeding birds in British Columbia between 1992 and 2006. We followed the RLI method described by Butchart et al. (2004, 2007) as closely as possible . Because IUCN Red List assessments at the regional level are not available in British Columbia, we used NatureServe S (subnational) ranking data. We calculated three index trend lines. The first two of these allowed us to compare an index based on our original data to one based on data that had been retrospectively corrected; the latter produced a smooth, flat line. A third trend line, based on the corrected data but excluding species new to province since 1947, produced a gently sloping downward trend. Ongoing immigration of bird species in and out of British Columbia added to the complexity of interpreting our regional RLI-type index, especially because our S-rank data did not incorporate transboundary "rescue" effects. Because the RLI is scaled so that the maximum value is based on a state in which all species are simultaneously ranked as least concern, it may exaggerate the highest potential status of intrinsically vulnerable species. A simpler, more intuitive graphic allows reporting that is less dependent on context. We believe the RLI approach holds useful innovation for an indicator of change in biodiversity within jurisdictional boundaries.     

Summary of 25 Years of Xylem Tracheids and Sewage/Sludge in the Sea

The Rapid Sewage/Sludge Indicator Technique (RSIT), developed during the early 1970's, responded to critical needs within the Bureau of Water Pollution Control. It enabled quick detection of contamination in ocean water and bottom sediments during sewage-related emergencies and routine monitoring. RSIT became an invaluable tool for resource management, in determining where and to what extent marine environments are impacted, and when immediate information is necessary for public health decisions.

The RSIT utilizes microscopic examination for terrestrial plant vascular tissue, especially the xylem tracheid elements, as identifiers of sewage/sludge. Not normally found in ocean waters, this material, in toilet paper and the roughage of the human diet which passes through the digestive system intact, is an indicator of human faecal contamination. Minimal training and common laboratory materials allow gross screening in five minutes. New studies by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), United States Geologic Survey (USGS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), most recently at the 106-mile dump site off the New York Bight, revalidated the technique as a rapid, inexpensive, easy to use, semiquantitative indicator both for water column and sediment samples.     

A new approach to determine relieving temperature and thermodynamic behavior of trapped single and multi-phase fluid exposed to fire

Process safety plays a key role in modern industries. This is more significant specifically in off-shore oil and gas platforms where releasing hydrocarbons could cause irreversible damages to both environment and personnel. An important instrument device which can provide safety for process equipment in oil and gas fields is safety relief valve. Correct sizing procedure of such devices depends strongly on physical properties of fluid and relieving condition. The present study revolved around applying thermodynamic concepts and modeling to throw some light on the behavior of trapped fluid exposed to fire in order to evaluate precise temperature and fluid properties at relieving condition. Peng–Robinson equation of state together with a three phase flash has been utilized to handle the calculation. Effect of different design parameters has been evaluated for three distinct categories of fluids namely natural gas, gas-condensate mixture, and gas-oil mixtures. These parameters encompass of operating temperature, operating pressure, Difference of Operating and Design Pressure, gas and oil specific gravities, gas-oil ratio, and water cut. The study depicted that American Petroleum Institute practice number 521 which suggests an ideal gas assumption fails to provide reliable predictions as it significantly overestimate the relieving temperature. Moreover, black oil correlations were also used for the relief temperature estimation of gas-oil-water mixtures. Comparison with HYSYS results as a prominent engineering software proved that black oil models are reliable tools to predict relief temperature.     

The role of situation awareness in accidents of large-scale technological systems

In the last two decades, several serious accidents at large-scale technological systems that have had grave consequences, such as that at Bhopal, have primarily been attributed to human error. However, further investigations have revealed that humans are not the primary cause of these accidents, but have inherited the problems and difficulties of working with complex systems created by engineers. The operators have to comprehend malfunctions in real time, respond quickly, and make rapid decisions to return operational units to normal conditions, but under these circumstances, the mental workload of operators rises sharply, and a mental workload that is too high increases the rate of error. Therefore, cognivitive human features such as situation awareness (SA)—one of the most important prerequisite for decision-making—should be considered and analyzed appropriately. This paper applys the SA Error Taxonomy methodology to analyze the role of SA in three different accidents: (1) A runaway chemical reaction at Institute, West Virginia killing two employees, injuring eight people, and requiring the evacuation of more than 40,000 residents adjacent to the facility, (2) The ignition of a vapor cloud at Bellwood, Illinois that killed one person, injured two employees, and caused significant business interruption, and (3) An explosion at Ontario, California injuring four workers and caused extensive damage to the facility. In addition, the paper presents certain requirements for cognitive operator support system development and operator training under abnormal situations to promote operators’ SA in the process industry.     

Application of a hydroxylamine nitrate stability model to plutonium purification process equipment

A mathematical model that predicts hydroxylamine nitrate (HAN) (NH₂OH·HNO₃) stability is applied to aqueous solutions containing HAN, nitric acid and plutonium that are used in plutonium purification processes. The model estimates the stability of these solutions with respect to the rapid, hazardous, autocatalytic reaction of HAN with nitric acid that generates heat and gas. It also accounts for reaction kinetics, temperature changes, gas generation rates, solution volumes and flow rates, and distribution of plutonium and nitric acid between aqueous and organic phases. The model is applied to three typical process vessels used in solvent extraction purification of plutonium – a countercurrent aqueous/organic plutonium stripping column, an oxidation column used for HAN and hydrazine destruction, and a plutonium rework tank. Both normal and off-normal process scenarios are modeled. Two of the off-normal scenarios lead to the rapid autocatalytic reaction of HAN with nitric acid where heat and gas are generated and that could lead to damage of the process equipment and/or release of hazardous plutonium solution from the vessel. In these two cases, stationary aqueous solutions containing HAN, Pu(III), and nitric acid were allowed to slowly react until conditions for the autocatalytic reaction were reached.     

Exergetic Sustainability Indicators as a Tool in Commercial Aircraft: A Case Study for a Turbofan Engine

This paper focuses on the exergetic sustainability indicators of a medium-range commercial aircraft engine for constant reference environment and ground running conditions. First, a detailed exergy analysis of turbofan engine have been performed based on engine test cell parameters. Starting from the sustainability considerations and the second law of the thermodynamics, the paper presents six exergy-based sustainability indicators. The indicators of the turbofan engine developed here in conjunction with exergetic analysis and sustainable development are exergy efficiency, waste exergy ratio, exergy destruction factor, recoverable exergy rate, environmental effect factor, and exergetic sustainability index. The investigated sustainable indicators have been calculated by using exergy analysis outputs for aircraft ground running condition. Results from this study show that values of exergy efficiency, waste exergy ratio, exergy destruction factor, recoverable exergy rate, environmental effect factor, and exergetic sustainability index of investigated turbofan engine are found to be 0.315, 0.685, 0.408, 0, 2.174, and 0.460, respectively. These parameters are expected to quantify how the turbofan engine and aircraft become more environmentally benign and sustainable.     

辽河口粪便污染指示菌的时空分布特征

2013年分别于夏季和秋季对辽河口海域的粪便污染指示菌(总大肠菌群、粪大肠菌群和肠球菌)及环境、水化学要素进行分析,研究粪便污染指示菌在海水中的数量、分布特征及其与环境、水化学指标间的相关性,在此基础上,选取河口地区合适的粪便污染指示菌.结果表明:夏季总大肠菌群数量在1.7×105~6.2×106CFU·L-1之间,粪大肠菌群数量在5.0×102~8.7×104CFU·L-1之间,肠球菌数量在1.0×101~2.5×102CFU·L-1之间;秋季总大肠菌群数量在5.0×102~1.1×105CFU·L-1之间,粪大肠菌群数量在4.0×102~1.0×103CFU·L-1之间,肠球菌数量在3~95 CFU·L-1之间.总大肠菌群、粪大肠菌群和肠球菌的数量变化与环境指标之间有着密切联系,特别是与盐度存在显著相关性;粪大肠菌群、肠球菌与水化学指标Si O4-4-Si、NH+4-N、TP和COD之间均存在显著相关性;其中粪大肠菌群与SiO4-4-Si和TP的相关性系数均大于0.742(p0.01),肠球菌与TP和COD的相关性系数均大于0.742.实验结果表明,辽河口粪便污染指示菌的数量在夏季高于秋季,近岸高于远海,其中粪大肠菌群和肠球菌的数量、分布特征与陆源污染物特别是氮磷的输入量密切相关,而且两者之间呈显著正相关关系.粪大肠菌群与肠球菌在一定程度上可以反映河口粪便污染情况,建议采用粪大肠菌群与肠球菌作为河口粪便污染的指示菌.     

工贸行业安全生产预警指数数学模型构建

通过对《冶金等工贸行业安全生产标准化基本规范评分细则》的仔细解读,将安全预警指标分解成13个一级指标和38个二级指标,对应指标给以相应的经过归一化处理后的权重。针对这十三个安全预警指标建立了数学量化模型,给出了计算方法和安全预警指数的状态划分。结合GM(1,1)灰色预测理论和等维新息模型,构建适合工贸企业的预测模型,对未来的安全生产预警指数作出预测,帮助工贸企业实时掌握安全生产动态,做到科学合理决策。     

鱼体中多氯联苯的气相色谱/质谱分析研究

建立了鱼体中共平面多氯联苯(co-PCBs)和指示性多氯联苯(indicator PCBs)残留量的快速溶剂萃取气相色谱质谱分析方法.结果表明,18种多氯联苯在20 μg/L～500 μg/L范围内线性良好(r＞0.998),方法的检出限为0.2 ng/kg～0.5 ng/kg.当添加浓度为100 ng/kg时,多氯联苯的回收率为70.2％～113.5％.该方法前处理简便快速,准确性高,满足鱼体痕量多氯联苯残留的分析要求.     

鄱阳湖典型湿地沉水植物的分布格局及其水环境影响因子

沉水植物是湖泊湿地生态系统中关键组分,调查研究沉水植物分布格局及其水环境影响因子,对于沉水植被的恢复与重建具有重要的指导意义。2013年5月初期分别对鄱阳湖典型湿地区域中有沉水植物的25个样地进行群落结构调查,采用系统取样方法对沉水植物进行调查采样并监测水环境因子,在野外调查的基础上运用GIS软件制作鄱阳湖典型区域沉水植物的生物量分布图,并采用主成分分析(PCA)和典范对应分析(CCA)方法分析其主要影响因子。结果表明:鄱阳湖湿地沉水植物以苦草(Vallisneria natans)为广布种,其中蚌湖及白沙湖以黑藻(Hydrilla verticillata)为优势种,白沙洲及乐安河龙口段以苦草为优势种,伴生种主要有金鱼藻(Ceratophyllum demersum)、马来眼子菜(Potamogeton malaianus)、菹草(P.crispus)、小茨藻(Najas minor)、大茨藻(N.marina)、刺苦草(V.spinulosa)和水车前(Ottelia alismoides)等。采用双向指示种分析法将研究区沉水植物分为6个群落;5月初大部分沉水植物尚处于生长季初期,生物量相对较低,仅菹草的生物量较大;沉水植物与浮叶植物共存现象明显。主成分分析(PCA)结果显示,第一主成分中水深、总磷和溶解氧等因子的系数值较大,第二主成分中pH值、化学需氧量和水体透明度等因子的系数值较大,是影响沉水植物分布的关键因子;典范对应分析(CCA)结果显示,水深、总磷和总氮对苦草和黑藻的影响显著,水体透明度是马来眼子菜的主要影响因子。