Removal of Remazol Brilliant Violet-5R dye using periwinkle shells

The purpose of this research is to obtain optimal processing conditions for the adsorption of Remazol Brilliant Violet-5R (RBV-5R) dye onto activated carbon prepared from periwinkle shells (PSAC) by chemical activation with KOH using response surface methodology. Central composite design (CCD) was used to determine the effects of three preparation variables; CO₂ activation temperature, CO₂ activation time and KOH:char impregnation ratio (IR) on two responses; percentage RBV-5R dye removal and PSAC yield. Based on the CCD, two quadratic models were developed for percentage RBV-5R dye removal and PSAC yield, respectively. The most influential factor on each experimental design response was identified from the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimum conditions for the adsorption of RBV-5R dye onto PSAC were CO₂ activation temperature of 811 °C, CO₂ activation time of 1.70 h and IR of 3.0, resulting in 81.28% RBV-5R dye removal and 28.18% PSAC yield. PSAC prepared under optimum conditions was mesoporous with a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of 1894 m²·g^?1, total pore volume of 1.107 cm³·g^?1 and average pore diameter of 2.32 nm. The surface morphology and functional groups of the activated carbon were respectively determined from the scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared analysis.     

中部6省生态足迹的测算与比较分析

生态足迹方法是区域可持续发展研究的一种重要方法,在中部6省大区域框架下,运用生态足迹模型对中部6省1989—2011年的生态足迹进行了测算和对比研究。研究结果表明:中部6省1989—2011年的生态承载力较为平稳,其中江西、河南、湖北和湖南4省的生态承载力略有上升,而山西、安徽两省的生态承载力有下降趋势。中部6省的社会经济活动对生态系统的消耗远大于生态系统本身的承载能力,并且这种差距正在不断增大,导致生态赤字不断增大。考察期间,山西省生态赤字的绝对值最小,平均生态赤字为0.49 hm2 cap-1,湖北省生态赤字最大,平均值为1.15 hm2 cap-1,其次为河南和湖南,生态赤字增长最快的是山西省和河南省,增长倍数分别达到了7.38和4.27倍。中部6省6种生态生产性土地的生态足迹均呈现出上升趋势,平均来看,6类生态生产性土地在中部6省总的生态足迹中所占比重由高到低依次为耕地、化石能源地、草地、建筑用地、水域、林地。耕地生态足迹是生态足迹中最重要的组成部分,在总的生态足迹中所占比重最大,中部6省耕地的生态足迹时间序列数据比较平稳,在考察时间内从1989年的0.4241上涨到2011年的0.5851,上升趋势较平稳,但由于耕地生态足迹所占比重大,尽管增长速度缓慢,但对中部6省生态足迹总的影响较大。建筑用地和林地生态足迹虽然增长幅度较大,但由于基数小,因此建筑生态足迹和林地生态足迹对中部6省生态足迹总的影响较小。草地、水域和化石能源用地生态足迹基数大,增长幅度也大,加上耕地生态足迹,共同决定了中部6省人均生态足迹的逐年上升趋势。     

依据材料与构件的受弯性能综合评价ECC的控裂性

为了研究国产的工程水泥基复合材料(Engineered Cementitious Composites,ECC)和普通聚乙烯醇(Polyvi-nyl Alcohol,PVA)纤维混凝土对结构增韧和控裂的效果,分别采用材料试验和构件试验进行研究。通过四点弯曲试验,发现ECC的峰值荷载和峰值荷载对应的拉应变要远远大于普通混凝土、PVA纤维混凝土,而且ECC起裂以后,裂缝宽度较小,且发展较慢,控制较好;采用不同高度的ECC、PVA纤维混凝土作为钢筋混凝土梁底保护层,发现1/4h ECC对钢筋混凝土增韧的效果最好,且裂缝宽度为0.2mm时,1/4h ECC的承载能力比普通钢筋混凝土提高1.6倍,峰值荷载比普通钢筋混凝土提高约12%;同时发现,在相同荷载作用下,采用ECC作为梁底保护层时,裂缝宽度比钢筋混凝土小,且可以有效地控制裂缝宽度的快速增长,间接提高结构的耐久性。     

Inadvertent advocacy

Policy advocacy is an issue regularly debated among conservation scientists. These debates have focused on intentional policy advocacy by scientists, but advocacy can also be unintentional. I define inadvertent policy advocacy as the act of unintentionally expressing personal policy preferences or ethical judgments in a way that is nearly indistinguishable from scientific judgments. A scientist may be well intentioned and intellectually honest but still inadvertently engage in policy advocacy. There are two ways to inadvertently engage in policy advocacy. First, a scientist expresses an opinion that she or he believes is a scientific judgment but it is actually an ethical judgment or personal policy preference. Second, a scientist expresses an opinion that he or she knows is an ethical judgment or personal policy preference but inadvertently fails to effectively communicate the nature of the opinion to policy makers or the public. I illustrate inadvertent advocacy with three examples: recovery criteria in recovery plans for species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, a scientific peer review of a recovery plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature's definition of threatened. In each example, scientists expressed ethical judgments or policy preferences, but their value judgments were not identified as such, and, hence, their value judgments were opaque to policy makers and the public. Circumstances suggest their advocacy was inadvertent. I believe conservation scientists must become acutely aware of the line between science and policy and avoid inadvertent policy advocacy because it is professional negligence, erodes trust in scientists and science, and perpetuates an ethical vacuum that undermines the rational political discourse necessary for the evolution of society's values. The principal remedy for inadvertent advocacy is education of conservation scientists in an effort to help them understand how science and values interact to fulfill the mission of conservation science.     

The influence of public transportation on housing values

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is becoming an increasingly common development strategy with potential consequences on property values. This study explores the potential relationship between the proximity to public transportation and housing values. The objective is achieved by performing a hedonic regression using the 2013 American Housing Survey (AHS) sample, which includes 25 metro areas. In 2013, the AHS added a topical supplement addressing public transportation issues which makes understanding public transportation impacts on housing values more feasible. In this study, being located within half a mile of a public transportation stop was a significant factor in explaining housing values for 6 out of 25 metro areas. This research is important to real estate practitioners operating within TODs as proximity to public transportation may significantly influence property values.     

Understanding the Diversity of Public Interests in Wildlife Conservation

Abstract:  North American state wildlife agencies are increasingly faced with the challenge of effectively representing a diverse public. With increasing social conflict over wildlife issues, the future of wildlife conservation hinges on preparedness of the profession to respond to this challenge. In the interest of finding ways to improve response, 19 agencies in the western U.S. joined forces to initiate an investigation that would provide a better understanding of the diversity of wildlife-related interests in the region. Specific objectives, accomplished through use of a mail survey administered in 2004, were to categorize people on the basis of their value orientations toward wildlife and explore how different groups were distributed across states and to examine differences on sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes toward wildlife-related topics among groups. The focus was on two orientations: domination (view of wildlife that prioritizes human well-being over wildlife and treats wildlife in utilitarian terms); and mutualism (view of wildlife as capable of relationships of trust with humans and defined by a desire for companionship with wildlife). Four types of people were identified on the basis of these orientations. Types differed in their geographic distribution and wildlife-related attitudes and behaviors, revealing how value orientations can form the foundation for conflict on wildlife issues. Our characterizations of stakeholder groups offer a framework that can be applied over time and across geographic scales to improve conservation planning efforts and inform broader thinking about the social aspects of wildlife conservation .     

Integrating ecosystem services evaluation and landscape pattern analysis into urban planning based on scenario prediction and regression model

ABSTRACT

Urban planning has become a widely concern for minimizing the negative effects of urban expansion on terrestrial ecosystems. We developed an interdisciplinary modeling framework to evaluate the effectiveness and shortcomings of urban expansion management strategies. A three-step method was applied to Yinchuan Plain in the northwestern of China, including (1) analyzing the relationship between landscape pattern and ecosystem service values through mathematical statistics; (2) predicting landscape pattern and ecosystem services change under different scenarios based on cellular automaton model (SLEUTH-3r model); and (3) designing and validating optimized scenario through integrating historical analysis experiments and future multi-comparison suggestions. Results have suggested that landscape composition and configuration can significantly affect regional ecosystem service values, especially the connectivity and shape of landscape. Compact urban growth policy and medium environment protection policy are the appropriate setting for urban expansion plan. Optimization validation of the combined designed scenario implied the reliability of this method. Our results highlighted the significance of integrating application of landscape pattern analysis, ecosystem service value evaluation, model simulation and multi-scenario prediction in urban planning.     

中部六省区制造业地理集中度分析

中部六省区在我国经济社会发展格局中占据重要地位.采用Eillison和Glaser设计的公式计算了中部六省区制造业17个行业从2007-2010年间的地理集中指数.通过对地理集中指数的分析发现,中部六省区制造业存在“小范围小幅度集中,大范围大幅度扩散”现象,且集中主要存在于化学纤维制造业、化学原料及化学制品制造业和专用设备制造业这些技术和资本密集型行业.从制造业17个行业扩散大于集中的现象可见,中部六省区目前还处于聚集效应的下降阶段.     

集中空调系统积尘理化特征

利用现场采样与实验分析的方法,对集中空调系统内的积尘进行了粒径分布、水溶性碳物质及离子含量的分析,以评估集中空调系统内积尘对微生物滋生的影响.结果表明,集中空调系统除新风段外的6个采样段,积尘平均粒径介于6—20μm之间,新风段积尘平均粒径为41.30μm;沿送风方向,微粒的平均粒径减小,单位积尘量所含的水溶性离子和有...     

中部地区碳排放时空演变及其影响因素分析

为实现碳达峰、碳中和目标,研究我国中部地区的碳排放时空演变及其影响因素有着重要的意义.使用2012—2019年NPP-VIIRS夜光遥感数据计算中部地区的碳排放量,结合地理探测器对碳排放时空变化及其影响因子进行分析.分析结果显示：①山西省碳排放量居中部地区首位,河南省次之,安徽省碳排放量位居第三,后为湖北省和湖南省,江西省碳排放最低;②2012—2019年在中部地区碳排放量聚集程度逐年减弱,高高聚集面积从210742.9 km²减少到153999.3 km²,低低聚集面积由148249.2 km²减少到103804.0 km²;③通过地理探测器分析的结果得到：对中部地区各省份碳排放影响因子解释力较大的为经济要素：地区生产总值和第二生产总值;中部地区各省份碳排放因子解释力较高的双因子交互多为经济要素.研究显示,中部地区各个省份碳排放分布及影响因素存在一定的差异,在制定碳达峰、碳中和行动方案时应考虑到不同地区碳排放的差异,本研究为中部地区制定节能减排政策提供数据支撑.