The time dimension and lithium resource constraints for electric vehicles

The availability of lithium resources for a transition to electric vehicles is a vital topic for transport technology strategy. Recent debate seems to have concluded that there is ‘sufficient’ lithium available, but for the purposes of a technological transition, time matters. It is not simply the quantity of resource that is relevant—the flow rate into society may be a much more difficult constraint and transient events have disrupted heavily concentrated material supply chains in the past. Furthermore, critical assumptions such as the presence of recycling systems may not be justified without policy support. Complacency is therefore not an appropriate stance for a robust evaluation of material risks in the case of lithium.     

Value Plurality among Conservation Professionals

Abstract: Debate on the values that underpin conservation science is rarely based on empirical analysis of the values conservation professionals actually hold. We used Q methodology to investigate the values held by international conservation professionals who attended the annual Student Conference in Conservation Science at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) in 2008 and 2009. The methodology offers a quantitative means of examining human subjectivity. It differs from standard opinion surveys in that individual respondents record the way they feel about statements relative to other statements, which forces them to focus their attention on the issues they believe are most important. The analysis extracts the diverse viewpoints of the respondents, and factor analysis is used to reduce the viewpoints to a smaller set of factors that reflect shared ways of thinking. The junior conservation professionals attending the conference did not share a unifying set of core values; rather, they held a complex series of ideas and a plurality of opinions about conservation and how it should be pursued. This diversity of values empirically challenges recent proposals for conservation professionals to unite behind a single philosophy. Attempts to forge an artificial consensus may be counterproductive to the overall goals conservation professionals are pursuing.     

模拟氮沉降对北亚热带落叶阔叶林土壤呼吸的影响

于2008年4月～2009年4月在龙王山北亚热带落叶阔叶林地进行模拟氮沉降试验,利用静态箱-气相色谱法测定土壤呼吸,研究氮沉降增加对森林土壤呼吸的影响.结果表明,氮沉降没改变土壤呼吸的季节性变化规律和日变化规律.与对照(CK)相比,低氮(TL)、中氮(TM)和高氮(TH)处理使森林土壤年平均呼吸速率分别降低了8.51%、9.74%和11.24%,使日平均呼吸速率分别降低了4.42%、11.09%和12.17%.森林土壤呼吸与土壤温度存在极显著的指数关系(p0.01),CK、TL、TM和TH的土壤呼吸温度敏感系数(Q10)分别为2.53、3.22、2.64和2.92,氮沉降提高了林地土壤呼吸的温度敏感系数.本研究表明,氮沉降显著降低了森林土壤呼吸,但提高了土壤呼吸的温度敏感性.     

源解析中环境受体数据处理与扩展方法的建立

本文对包含污染源或气象条件等发生剧烈变化且数据量小的实测受体数据进行了正态扩展,得到扩展数据.同时,利用PMF和PCA模型验证了扩展方法得到的数据量是否能满足模型的要求.结果表明,扩展范围和扩展受体成分谱个数是两个影响扩展数据合理性的主要因素,最佳扩展条件为:扩展范围取标准差的0.5倍,扩展受体成分谱个数为6个.通过53 h算法标记出每个化学成分时间序列中能够代表污染源或气象条件等发生剧烈变化的值并给出对应的估计值.将与估计值的相对误差(RE)超过80%的被标记的值剔除,其余的替换成估计值,发现扩展后PCA解析结果与原始数据处理后数据解析结果基本一致,能够得到主要贡献的污染源及贡献率;若将被标记的值全部剔除后,则不适合做PCA解析;仅通过PMF验证,且扩展数据与原始数据的解析结果中污染源类的判断一致.将受体数据各化学成分的时间序列中代表污染源或气象条件等发生剧烈变化的值替换成53 h算法给出的估计值,对于受体数据量小且用无源成分谱的多元统计方法解析无法给出结果的情况下的源解析有更大价值.     

The oil industry along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon: Assessing impacts and possible solutions

While the oil industry along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon has made important contributions to the national economy, this has been accompanied with adverse environmental impacts. There has been significant pollution from oil drilling, refinery waste, oil spillage, gas and flaring. After discussing these impacts, this paper argues that prevailing regulations are inadequate and need overhauling. It proposes that cleaner production requires:

(i)

specific laws to protect dwellers in the neighbourhood of oil refineries, filling stations, service stations and pipelines;     

Individual-based modelling of fishermen search behaviour with neural networks and reinforcement learning

A model to mimic the search behaviour of fishermen is built with two neural networks to cope with two separate decision-making processes in fishing activities. One neural network deals with decisions to stay or move to new fishing grounds and the other is constructed for the purpose of finding prey within the fishing areas. Some similarities with the behaviour of real fishermen are found: concentrated local search once a prey has been located to increase the probability of remaining near a prey patch and the straightforward movement to other fishing grounds. The artificial fisherman prefers areas near the port when conditions in different fishing grounds are similar or when there is high uncertainty in its world. In the latter case a reluctance to navigate to other areas is observed. The artificial fisherman selects areas with higher concentration of prey, even if they are far from the port of departure, unless a high uncertainty is related to the fishing ground. Connected areas are preferred and followed in orderly fashion if a higher catch is expected. The observed behaviour of the artificial fisherman in uncertain scenarios can be described as a risk-averse attitude. The approach seems appropriate for an individual-based modelling of fishery systems, focusing on the learning and adaptive characteristics of fishermen and on interactions that take place at a fine scale.     

Social dimensions of mining: Research,policy and practice challenges for the minerals industry in Australia

The social dimensions of the mining industry are increasingly acknowledged as critical to business success, yet remain the least understood aspect of the business concept of sustainable development—the ‘triple bottom line’ of economy, environment and society.     

Q235钢在火灾条件下的力学性能研究

在试验的基础上,对建筑中常用的Q235铜在火灾条件下的力学性能进行了研究,获得了Q235钢的屈服强度、极限强度、弹性模量、极限应变等力学性能随温度变化而变化的规律,并对影响Q235钢力学性能的因素进行了分析。     

三丁基锡对正常人胚胎羊膜细胞凋亡相关蛋白表达的影响

首次采用蛋白质印迹法研究三丁基锡(tributyltin,TBT)对正常人胚胎羊膜细胞FL(human amniotic cells)的Bcl-2、Bax和p53表达的影响.结果显示,在0、1、2、3、4μmol·L-1三丁基锡下作用2 h后,FL细胞的Bax蛋白表达量随浓度增加逐渐升高,Bcl-2蛋白表达量仅在3、4μmol·L-1浓度组相比于对照组明显下降.作为凋亡是否发生的决定因素,Bax/Bcl-2比值在三丁基锡高浓度组(3、4μmol·L-1)相比于对照有显著升高;而p53蛋白表达量没有明显变化.研究表明,Bcl-2和Bax参与了TBT诱导的细胞凋亡.     

高地应力条件下Q系统在某勘探洞围岩分类中的应用

西南地区某水电站勘探洞高地应力是一个突出问题,高地应力洞段岩体属于坚硬岩或较坚硬岩,主要破坏方式是岩爆。高地应力区非岩爆岩体中未见结构性流变和软岩塑性流动等变形破坏现象,岩体质量较好。通过对岩体质量分类Q系统在该勘探洞高地应力洞段的应用,发现Q系统对于高地应力区非岩爆段岩体没有给出相应的SRF值;岩爆的发育条件是多方面的,但Q系统对岩爆的发育条件考虑较单一,所以它在高地应力区岩爆段的分类结果不能准确地体现出岩爆的等级和围岩类别。基于这2个问题,本文对Q系统做了相应的修改,以适应该勘探洞围岩分类,从修改后Q系统的分类结果看,效果良好。