Structural-functional organization of lower vegetation layers in tree communities of the upper timberline ecotone in the Polar Urals

Typologically identical (dwarf birch-herb-dwarf shrub-moss) open and closed larch forests growing on the same altitudinal transect have proved to differ in the structural-functional organization of lower vegetation layers. Coverage, general species composition, and species richness of the herb-dwarf shrub layer are higher in the open forest than in the closed forest. Correlations between individual species of vascular plants weaken upon transition from the open to the closed forest. Conversely, the coverage of the lichen-moss layer increases in the closed forest, which contributes to its role as a factor of selection of vascular plant species against the background of the prevailing influence of the tree layer.     

A methodology for assessing urban sustainability: Aalborg commitments baseline review for Riga, Latvia

Both the Aalborg Commitments and the guidance on integrated urban environmental management and sustainable urban transport plans proposed by the EU Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment foresee a baseline review as the first step in developing integrated urban management plans and systems. A baseline review of urban sustainability undertaken in Riga reveals significant discrepencies between the sustainability criteria of the Aalborg Commitments and the: responsibilities and competencies of the municipal government and administration as defined by statutes; policy goals and measures defined in municipal planning documents; policy goals and measures defined in the Riga Development Plan. To better orient the mandate of the municipality towards sustainable development, municipal statutes should be supplemented to more fully reflect the issues defined by the Aalborg Commitments and should include sustainability as a goal. In order to strengthen the implementation of sustainable development specific policy goals, measures and targets should be formulated for all the Aalborg Commitments issues when revising existing municipal planning documents or developing a municipal sustainable development management plan. An analysis of the European Common Indicators and the State of the Environment in Riga 2001 indicators indicates that they can only partially fulfill a monitoring function for the implementation of the Aalborg Commitments. This highlights a need to better coordinate sustainable development initiatives at the European level. The methodology used for the baseline review in Riga is useful for assessing the status of urban sustainability when preparing integrated urban management plans or systems, but requires testing elsewhere. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Gas/particle partitioning of atmospheric PCDD/Fs in a satellite town in Eastern China

Gas/particle partitioning of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in ambient air was investigated in a satellite town in Eastern China from April 2007 to January 2008 comprehending large temperature variations (from 3 to 34 °C, daily average). Molecular weight, molecular structure and ambient temperatures are the three major factors that govern the gas/particle partitioning of atmospheric PCDD/Fs throughout the year. Generally, good agreements were obtained (except for winter) between measured particulate fractions and theoretical estimates of both the Junge–Pankow adsorption model and Harner Bidleman absorption model using different sets of subcooled liquid vapor pressure and octanol–air partition coefficient (K_oa), respectively. Models utilizing estimates, derived from gas chromatographic retention indices (GC-RIs), are more accurate than that of entropy-based. Moreover, during winter, the K_oa-based model using the GC-RIs approach performs better on lower chlorinated PCDD/Fs than that of -based. Furthermore, possible sources of mismatch between measured and predicted values in winter (3–7 °C) were discussed. Gas adsorption artifact was demonstrated to be of minor importance for the phenomena observed. On the other hand, large deviations of slopes (m_r) and intercepts (b_r) in logK_p vs. plots from theoretical values are observed in the literature data and these are found to be linearly correlated with ambient temperatures (P<0.001) in this study. This indicates that the non-equilibrium partitioning of PCDD/Fs in winter may be significantly influenced by the colder temperatures that may have slowed down the exchange between gaseous and particulate fractions.     

地下水位下降对塔里木河下游绿洲生态环境的影响——以34团为例

塔里木河地处我国西北干旱区,是我国最长的内陆河。过去50a来由于大规模的不合理的水土资源开发和人类活动,导致塔里木河在以水资源开发利用为核心的大强度人类经济、社会活动的作用下,流域自然生态过程发生了显著变化。分析了塔里木河下游地下水位下降对绿洲农业生态环境的影响,提出了保障该地区生态和经济发展的对策与建议。     

张家口市中心城区饮用水安全的探讨

饮用水与人民群众的生活与健康休戚相关,因此保护饮用水水源地尤其重要。张家口市中心城区的饮用水水源地为地下水水源地,市区共有南北五个集中式供水水源地。近年来,由于农业污染、生活污染、个别企业超标排污以及上游来水不达标等原因,水源地水质下降。本文主要从5个水源地的水质、水量现状出发,探讨了影响水源地安全的因素,并提出相应的水源地保护措施：切实落实《饮用水水源地保护规划》、加强监管和立法以及提高公民环境意识。     

电袋复合除尘器的应用研究

针对我国燃煤电厂的除尘现状,指出电袋复合除尘器的技术经济优势.电袋复合除尘器在新建及改扩建电厂的成功应用取得了良好的经济、环境效益,并有广阔的发展前景.其研究重点是静电除尘单元和布袋除尘单元之间的结合.     

虹膜识别在肉类食品安全追溯系统中的应用及关键技术研究

为了提高大型动物肉类食品的安全性,在研究肉类食品供应链的安全管理的基础上,将大型动物的虹膜识别技术引入食品供应链管理中,构建基于虹膜识别的大型动物肉类食品安全可追溯系统,达到肉类食品安全信息查询及出现安全问题后的个体溯源的目的。借鉴人眼虹膜识别的相关技术,以牛眼为例对大型动物虹膜识别的相关算法和虹膜定位等关键技术进行研究,运用改进的Sobel算子对图像进行边缘检测;引入二次B样条曲线算法实现了牛眼虹膜的精确定位;分析牛虹膜纹理特征的分布特点,实现了虹膜特征区域的提取及归一化处理。研究成果对大型动物的虹膜识别研究和肉类食品供应链安全管理具有一定的参考意义。     

中美职业安全健康法对比

通过对中美职业安全健康立法目的和背景的考察,对比分析职业安全健康法涉及的6项具体内容,即体例结构、适用范围、监管方式、监管体制、教育与培训、法律责任,并指出国情不同是造成中美职业安全健康法立法巨大差异的原因之一。经对比分析,可得出几点结论:从中国国情出发,走逐步完善的职业安全健康立法路径,建立独立的职业安全健康法律体系,是我国安全生产的治本之策;对从业人员的职业安全健康保护具有首要性,须明晰保护劳动者的上层法律要求,《安全生产法》并不能代替《职业安全健康法》;完善中国职业安全健康法律制度须走一体化整合的道路。     

基于化工园区整体风险量分析的安全规划研究

通过对园区安全容量和危险量的分析,得到园区整体的风险评估值;提出并定义园区危安比最大临界点,用其反映园区的最大可接受风险量;运用"二八法则",确定危安比上限;当危安比在3种不同值域区间下,对应的园区安全规划的重点不同;从园区整个生命周期考虑,提出包含各个阶段的园区安全规划主要内容。