矿井火区可燃性混合气体爆炸三角形判断法及其爆炸危险性分析

矿井火区可燃性混合气体爆炸危险性的判断 ,目前常用单纯的瓦斯爆炸三角形判别法。此法对实际的判断往往未综合考虑火区温度的影响。为此 ,笔者论述了矿井火区多种可燃性气体同时存在时 ,其混合气体爆炸三角形各参数的工程计算方法 :爆炸界限可用 Le Chatelier法 ,但需根据火区实测温度进行修正 ;爆炸时的临界氧浓度 ,则需用另一种三角形图示法予以确定。由此画出的混合气体爆炸三角形分析图 ,可用于矿井火区 ,尤其是矿井大面积火区的密闭和启封过程中 ,作为可燃性混合气体爆炸危险性的综合判断及其防爆措施的制定 ,都具有实用价值和指导意义     

扑救森林火灾时的注意事项

总结分析了在林火扑救中指挥员应掌握了解的基本情况及扑火队员应注意的事项。     

钢管混凝土柱耐火性能和抗火设计的特点

简要论述了按ISO－834和GS9978－88规定的标准升温曲线升温作用下钢管混凝土柱耐火性能的特点,分析了影响钢管混凝土柱耐火极限的因素,说明了由于钢管和混凝土的共同工作且核心混凝土具有较好的吸热性能,从而使钢管混凝土柱具有较好的耐火性能。在进行钢管钢混凝土柱的抗火设计时,柱子外围只需进行适当的防火涂料保护,即可达到《高层用民建筑设计防火规范（GB50045－95）》对柱结构所要求的耐火极限。《高层用民建筑设计防火规范（GB50045－95）》中对钢结构柱防火保护层厚度的确定方法不适合于钢管混凝土。     

闪火灾害的后果分析

闪火是可燃性气体或蒸气泄漏到空气中并与之混合被点燃而发生的一种非爆炸性的蒸气云燃烧,其主要危害是热辐射和火焰直接灼烧。闪火的热辐射计算包括闪火动力特性及热通量计算。热辐射的大小由火焰的辐射能,视角系数和大气传输率所决定。运用Pietersen(1990)热辐射的伤害－破坏理论,分析计算了一起闪火灾害热辐射造成人的伤害后果和对建筑物的破坏后果。     

近10年来长江下游地区耕地动态变化特征

基于遥感资料和GIS分析,对1988～1998年长江下游地区耕地与其他土地利用类型之间相互转变数量特征,以及耕地变化强度、耕地流失强度的区域分异特征进行了分析和描述,对耕地变化导致的环境效应进行了初步探讨。研究结果表明:①1988～1998年,耕地与林地、灌丛、水体之间的转变,对其数量动态变化起着主要作用,在上述转变过程中,耕地总体表现出数量明显减少、质量降低的趋势;②农田向城镇的单向转移,体现了区域快速城市化对耕地的侵占过程,从空间分布看,该过程主要体现于上海、苏锡常地区、南京、杭州等城市化过程最为剧烈的地区;③长江下游地区1988～1998年耕地年均流失率为0.77%,流失的主体部分是位于长江三角洲和巢湖平原自然条件优越、水利灌溉配套设施完善的传统优质耕地,新形成的部分则主要来自于滩涂湿地开垦及低山丘陵地区毁林开荒。总体而言,长江下游地区耕地流失体现在数量锐减、质量下降两个方面,并伴随着一系列生态破坏问题的出现。     

Comparing environmental influences on coral bleaching across and within species using clustered binomial regression

Differential susceptibility among reef-building coral species can lead to community shifts and loss of diversity as a result of temperature-induced mass bleaching events. We evaluate environmental influences on coral colony bleaching over an 8-year period in the Florida Keys, USA. Clustered binomial regression is used to develop models incorporating taxon-specific responses to the environment in order to identify conditions and species for which bleaching is likely to be severe. By building three separate models incorporating environment, community composition, and taxon-specific responses to environment, we show observed prevalence of bleaching reflects an interaction between community composition and local environmental conditions. Environmental variables, including elevated sea temperature, solar radiation, and reef depth, explained 90% and 78% of variability in colony bleaching across space and time, respectively. The effects of environmental variables were only partially explained (33% of variability) by corresponding differences in community composition. Taxon-specific models indicated individual coral species responded differently to local environmental conditions and had different sensitivities to temperature-induced bleaching. For many coral species, but not all, bleaching was exacerbated by high solar radiation. A 25% reduction in the probability of bleaching in shallow locations for one species may reflect an ability to acclimatize to local conditions. Overall, model results indicate predictions of coral bleaching require knowledge of not just the environmental conditions or community composition, but the responses of individual species to the environment. Model development provides a useful tool for coral reef management by quantifying the influence of the local environment on individual species bleaching sensitivities, identifying susceptible species, and predicting the likelihood of mass bleaching events with changing environmental conditions.     

A Graph-Theory Framework for Evaluating Landscape Connectivity and Conservation Planning

Abstract:  Connectivity of habitat patches is thought to be important for movement of genes, individuals, populations, and species over multiple temporal and spatial scales. We used graph theory to characterize multiple aspects of landscape connectivity in a habitat network in the North Carolina Piedmont (U.S.A).^. We compared this landscape with simulated networks with known topology, resistance to disturbance, and rate of movement. We introduced graph measures such as compartmentalization and clustering, which can be used to identify locations on the landscape that may be especially resilient to human development or areas that may be most suitable for conservation. Our analyses indicated that for songbirds the Piedmont habitat network was well connected. Furthermore, the habitat network had commonalities with planar networks, which exhibit slow movement, and scale-free networks, which are resistant to random disturbances. These results suggest that connectivity in the habitat network was high enough to prevent the negative consequences of isolation but not so high as to allow rapid spread of disease. Our graph-theory framework provided insight into regional and emergent global network properties in an intuitive and visual way and allowed us to make inferences about rates and paths of species movements and vulnerability to disturbance. This approach can be applied easily to assessing habitat connectivity in any fragmented or patchy landscape.     

Disturbance cues in freshwater prey fishes: do juvenile convict cichlids and rainbow trout respond to ammonium as an ‘early warning’ signal?

Summary.  Several freshwater invertebrate and vertebrate prey species rely on chemosensory cues, including non-injury released disturbance cues, to assess and avoid local predation threats. The prevailing hypothesis is that a pulse of ammonia released by disturbed or stressed prey functions as the disturbance cue. Here, we test this hypothesis in two phylogenetically distant freshwater prey fishes, convict cichlids and rainbow trout. In our first experiment, we measured NH₄ ⁺ concentration in tanks containing shoals of cichlid or trout before and after exposure to a realistic model predator (or left undisturbed). We failed to find an increase in ambient NH₄ ⁺ concentration for either cichlids or trout. In our second experiment, we exposed cichlids or trout to NH₄ ⁺ at 0.1 or 0.5 mg L⁻¹ (or a distilled water control) and measured the change in antipredator behaviour (time moving, foraging rate and area use). We found no consistent increase in antipredator behaviour in response to NH₄ ⁺. In our third study, we exposed cichlids and trout to the disturbance cues of cichlids or trout (versus the odour of undisturbed donors). We found significant increases in antipredator behaviour, regardless of donor species, for both cichlids and trout. Thus, the results of our first two experiments do not support the hypothesis that ammonium functions as a disturbance cue in prey fishes. However, the results of our final experiment do confirm the use of disturbance cues in convict cichlids and rainbow trout and support that hypothesis that the disturbance cue is indeed some generalized metabolic byproduct.     

Methodological approach of coastal areas concerning typology and spatial indicators, in the context of integrated management and environmental assessment

The general objective of this paper is to trigger off the development of a more comprehensive approach to Hellenic coastal areas (in the perspective of territorial cohesion), at local level and especially along the non-urban areas close to the sea. Methodological issues linked to the building of an appropriate coastal database constitute the key goal of this paper (the space and time scale, the relationship to the already proposed set of indicators, the impact of driving forces and policies, the possible sources of data and their feasibility etc.). Furthermore, specific emphasis should be given to the choice of new indicators, particularly for the coastal abiotic environment and the land cover/uses along coastal areas, especially near the seafront. Those indicators should be able to aid the formation (in the near future) of an algorithm linked to the total man-made activities in coastal areas. In conclusion, this paper will be considered successful if the just above illustrated objectives could enrich the argument about the typology of coastal areas and the development of a spatial (coastal) observatory. Actually, this paper is part of a broader research of the author regarding the monitoring of coastal spatial changes in different scales (AMICA, “Appraisal of man-made interventions along the Hellenic coastal areas”). This research aims to broaden the coastal knowledge (not only by means of coastal data) on behalf of all stakeholders been implicated into sustainable spatial planning, integrated coastal management and the strategic environmental assessment along coastal areas.

Spatial pattern and persistence of historical fire boundaries in southern interior British Columbia

Recent ecosystem and fire management research aims to quantify, model and understand historical fire disturbances focusing on their frequency, size and distribution. Less attention, however, has been paid to fire boundaries and their location on the landscape. Our study presents a spatial method to quantify the location, pattern and persistence of historical fire boundaries using tree ring fire scar data in the lower Stein watershed (British Columbia). Data from Pinus ponderosa and Pseudotsuga menziesii collected in 35 one-hectare plots over a 412-hectare study area were analyzed for the period between 1879 and 1947 using local spatial statistics and boundary detection techniques. Results of the analysis using local spatial statistic Moran’s I showed significant clustering of boundaries near topographic breaks. To determine and test whether fire boundaries between plots were persistent, we used boundary detection methods and developed a spatially restricted randomization test. The results revealed that out of 86 possible boundary links, 8 were significantly persistent (P < 0.025) while another 8 were significantly rare (P < 0.025). These spatial methods can help determine the historical spatial configuration of persistent boundaries and can be used to maintain natural forest dynamics.