On "China-measures related to the exportation of various raw materials" case in terms of DSB's interpretations

The Appellate Body report in January 2012 had supported the decision of Panel in the"China-measures related to the exportation of various raw materials"case(WT/DS394,395,398)and affirmed that China's restrictions(such as tariffs and quota measures)on the exportation of raw materials violated rules put forth by the WTO,which were required to be modified.In this case China's right to invoke Article 20 of GATT1994("general exception")to justify its exemption from the guidelines in Article 11.3 of the WTO Accession Protocol was denied by the Panel and the Appellate Body.This was due to the fact that the phrasing in Article 11.3 of Protocol failed to mention"GATT."This was the consequence of the two interpretation approaches the Dispute Settlement Body(DSB)adopted-a narrow textual interpretation and a subjective presumption of"legislative silence."The inappropriate use of the two methods of interpretation lead to an imbalance between the right and obligation of China under the additional obligations that were imposed upon China by the WTO,which create a negative impact on China's rare earth case and the protection of domestic natural resources.     

Exergy efficiency analysis of a refurbished dwelling: a case study in Ljubljana,Slovenia

Buildings contribute almost half of the world's carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Energy and water consumption are some of the largest and fastest growing pressures on the global environment. The use of energy is mainly attributed to the heating and cooling of buildings. The type of materials used in the construction of buildings plays a significant role in the life-cycle emissions of each dwelling. Changing the material use in the construction of an existing building and adding insulation could have a major impact on energy use and the environment of the building in its entire life cycle. This paper investigates the amount of exergy savings and the decrease in CO₂ emissions resulting from the refurbishing of an existing building in Ljubljana. This study results from the growing awareness that in the choice of building materials, the designer must consider not only the requirements of the owner and occupier of the building, but also the resulting energy savings, the resource base and the effects of the manufacturing and processing of building materials on the environment. The exergy efficiency of the material use is calculated and the environmental impact assessment of energy and material use is accounted for.     

Eco-material selection using fuzzy TOPSIS method

In the classical multiple attribute decision-making or MADM methods, the ratings and the weights of the criteria are known precisely. However, in eco-material selection exercises, the available data are typically inadequate because of the selection dual quantitative and qualitative natures. Some of the qualitative selection criteria can be rated in several classes rather being expressed by exact numerical values; hence the application of fuzzy concepts in decision-making seems attractive to deal with such kind of ratings. Thusly, the presented study attempts to propose an eco-material selection approach specific to the automobile body panels using a fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), to incorporate both numerical and rating-based criteria into one holistic sustainability model. TOPSIS and fuzzy logic can aid the material selection process in translating the design goals and parameters into usable numbers that in turn can be used to rank candidate materials in their closeness to the ideal solution. An additional uniqueness of this study stems from using the fuzzy-TOPSIS as a scoring tool without any assigned weights for the different selection attributes, in order to avoid the bias that is typically associated with other classical MADM, such as quality function deployment, analytical hierarchy process and digital logic.     

Metabolism of nC11 fatty acid fed to Trichoderma koningii and Penicillium janthinellum II: Production of intracellular and extracellular lipids

Abstract

Little is known about the fungal metabolism of nC₁₀ and nC₁₁ fatty acids and their conversion into lipids. A mixed batch culture of soil fungi, T. koningii and P. janthinellum, was grown on undecanoic acid (UDA), a mixture of UDA and potato dextrose broth (UDA+PDB), and PDB alone to examine their metabolic conversion during growth. We quantified seven intracellular and extracellular lipid classes using Iatroscan thin-layer chromatography with flame ionization detection (TLC-FID). Gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) was used to quantify 42 individual fatty acids. Per 150 mL culture, the mixed fungal culture grown on UDA+PDB produced the highest amount of intracellular (531 mg) and extracellular (14.7 mg) lipids during the exponential phase. The content of total intracellular lipids represented 25% of the total biomass-carbon, or 10% of the total biomass dry weight produced. Fatty acids made up the largest class of intracellular lipids (457 mg/150 mL culture) and they were synthesized at a rate of 2.4 mg/h during the exponential phase, and decomposed at a rate of 1.8 mg/h during the stationary phase, when UDA+PDB was the carbon source. Palmitic acid (C_16:0), stearic acid (C_18:0), oleic acid (C_18:1), linoleic acid (C_18:2) and vaccenic acid (C_18:1) accounted for >80% of the total intracellular fatty acids. During exponential growth on UDA+PDB, hydrocarbons were the largest pool of all extracellular lipids (6.5 mg), and intracellularly they were synthesized at a rate of 64 μg/h. The mixed fungal species culture of T. koningii and P. janthinellum produced many lipids for potential use as industrial feedstocks or bioproducts in biorefineries.     

Metabolism of gamma‐hexachlorocyclohexah (HCH) in vivo. Metabolism of orally administered gamma‐2,3,4,5,6‐pentachlorocyclohexen (PCCH)

Abstract

Mexacarbate (4‐dimethylamino‐3,5‐xylyl N‐methylcarbamate) insecticide has potential for use in spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clem.) control operations in Canada. Its persistence and fate in balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), litter and soil samples were studied by spraying aerially oil‐based and water‐based formulations, each at 70 g A.I./ha over a coniferous forest near Bathurst, New Brunswick. The oil‐based formulation gave the maximum concentration of the chemical in the substrates studied. In fir needles, the highest concentrations observed were 0.51 ppm and 0.19 ppm (fresh weight) for the oil‐based and emulsion formulations respectively, 1 h after application. The residue levels decreased very rapidly with a half‐life of approximately 5 h. Three and eight days after the spray application of the emulsion and oil formulations respectively, the concentrations of mexacarbate in foliage decreased to trace levels ( 0.008 ppm). Only very low levels of residue were detected in litter and soil. The peak concentrations for the two formulations ranged from 0.02 to 0.11 ppm (fresh weight) in litter and from 0.01 to 0.06 ppm (fresh weight) in soil. The residue levels in both litter and soil decreased to below the detection limit (0.005 ppm) within 1 d. The ground deposit levels found on glass plates and the droplet density and size spectra measured on Kromekote® cards reflected the variations in concentrations found in fir needles, litter and soil samples and correlated with the observed maximum concentrations in them. Under the stipulated use pattern, mexacarbate concentrations found in the terrestrial components studied were low and are not likely to have any undue adverse effects on non‐target species.     

纳米TiO2/硅藻土光催化降解废水中二甲胺

通过凝胶-溶胶法制备纳米TiO2/硅藻土复合催化剂,对常见工业难降解有机污染物二甲胺(DMA)进行了降解实验.采用扫描电镜和X射线衍射技术对催化剂能进行了表征,考察了废水初始浓度、pH、催化剂用量、外加氧化剂对DMA光催化降解效果的影响,进行了降解动力学和降解机理的分析.结果表明,所制催化剂为锐钛矿和金红石混合晶型,均达纳米级,对中低浓度(≤400 mg/L)DMA废水具有良好的降解效果.常温常压、18W紫外汞灯下,3 g/L TiO2/硅藻土对DMA废水(400 mg/L)降解率可达70％以上;其降解反应符合Langmuir-Hinshelwood动力学模型;其可能的降解途径为:二甲胺(DMA)→甲胺(MA)→CO2/CO32-、H2O和NH4+.     

S-K型管式混合器-微絮凝高速过滤的实验研究简

基于2种传统管式混合器的特点,研究了苏尔士-凯尼斯（S-K）新型组合管式混合器在预氧化-微絮凝高速过滤技术中的应用,对苏尔士（Sulzer）管式混合器、凯尼斯（Kenics）管式混合器及S-K型管式混合器高速过滤出水水质进行了对比分析,结果表明,S-K型微絮凝方式对浊度、COD及TP的平均去除率比其他2种混合器混合方式的去除效果提高了5%~10%,分别为80.3%、64.76%和51.15%。S-K型混合器过滤形成的絮体能够充分利用深层滤料,延长过滤周期。     

蓄热式高温带压蒸汽发生器设计

介绍了自制蓄热式高温带压蒸汽发生器的工作原理及运行过程,对炉体结构进行了设计计算,设计并计算了保温层的厚度,通过部分热态实验,验证了高温带压蒸汽发生器设计的合理性和系统运行的可靠性。试验结果表明,经过高温带压蒸汽发生器蓄热室的换热,可以生产出压力在0.2～0.4 MPa、温度在650℃以上的高温过热水蒸气。从而说明系统的整体设计能满足要求。     

复合加筋排水褥垫软土路堤排水设计方法

复合加筋排水褥垫是针对沿海缺砂地区开发的一项可取代水平排水砂垫层、具有水平排水与加筋作用的新型专利技术。本文介绍了复合加筋排水褥垫的性能指标,给出了复合加筋排水褥垫软土路堤排水设计方法,并将复合加筋排水褥垫与水平排水砂垫层的排水性能进行了对比分析。算例结果表明,复合加筋排水褥垫能满足软土路堤排水要求,其排水性能要明显优越于水平排水砂垫层。