Leaching toxicity characteristics of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash

The continuously increasing production of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWIBA) has promoted its utilization as construction material and raised environmental concern. The physico-chemical properties and leaching behavior of MSWIBA were studied, and ecotoxicological testing using a luminescent bacterium bioassay was performed to assess the ecological pollution risks associated with its leached constituents. The MSWIBA was leached by two types of leachants, H₂SO₄/HNO₃ and HAc solution, at different liquid to solid ratios and contact times. The concentrations of heavy metals and anions in the leachates were analyzed. Multivariate statistical analyses, including principle component analysis, Pearson's correlation analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, were used to evaluate the contributions of the constituents to the toxicity (EC₅₀) of the MSWIBA leachate. The statistical analyses of the ecotoxicological results showed that the Ba, Cr, Cu, Pb, F⁻ and total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations were closely correlated with the EC₅₀ value, and these substances were the main contributors to the ecotoxicity of the MSWIBA leachate. In addition, the cluster of these variables indicated similar leaching behaviors. Overall, the research demonstrated that the ecotoxicological risks resulting from MSWIBA leaching could be assessed before its utilization, which provides crucial information for the adaptation of MSWIBA as alternative materials.     

兆欧表的禁忌分析与防范措施

通过对电气领域的电气安全问题长期研究以及对测试工作中经验、教训的总结,针对兆欧表在电气领域应用中的十六种不正确、不妥当的使用方法,对其错误及危害性逐项进行分析探讨,并提出了相应的改进办法及防范措施。实践表明,这些改进办法及防范措施在电气技术工作和安全生产管理中具有一定的实用价值。     

高速公路路基下采空区充填效果试验研究

为了经济高效地治理高速公路下覆采空区,实现路面行车安全,建立某段高速公路下覆采空巷道的物理力学模型,确立正交试验方案,从充填体、充填率、充填数量三个因素及各因素三个水平出发,利用FLAC3D进行9次试验,借助极差和方差分析,确定出各因素显著性影响顺序和最优化充填方案。结果表明:最优化充填后路面沉降值和水平变形值是所有试验中最小的,充填治理效果显著,验证了最优化充填方案的正确性。     

Patterns and Trends in Southern Ontario Lake ice Phenology

An analysis is presented of 46 ice break up and 15 ice free season phenology data series obtained largely through volunteer monitoring efforts in Southern Ontario. Observations spanned the years 1853–2001. Available data included dates of ice formation and ice break up as well as the number of ice free days in a year. A high degree of temporal coherence in ice phenology between lakes was observed (137/365 pairwise correlations significant at P<0.05). Significant monotonic trends towards earlier break up dates and longer ice free seasons were observed across the region both in the entire series and in the last thirty years of data. Trends in longer series may be associated with the end of the Little Ice Age. The significantly longer ice free seasons and earlier ice break up dates observed in the study area have important implications for lakes in other parts of Canada where climate change effects are predicted to be more extreme than in South-Central Ontario.     

Future use and development of prenatal diagnosis. Consumers' attitudes

The rapid progress of prenatal diagnosis and genetic tests makes it important to investigate attitudes towards this development. A total of 40 women and 20 men with personal experience of prenatal diagnosis for chromosome aberrations were interviewed about their moral opinion of the development. The majority (88 per cent) considered it certain or probable that all new methods developed will also be used in the future. The majority (62 per cent) were hesitant about testing for common disorders, e.g., diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis, but regarded it justified in some situations. One-third of the individuals (31 per cent) wanted some kind of restrictions for the use of the tests, but only 13 per cent recommended legislation for this purpose. The majority (84 per cent) believed that ethical principles are influenced by scientific progress. In most aspects, the women and their partners had similar attitudes. However, 82 per cent of the women but only 20 per cent of the men considered that the couple itself should decide about prenatal diagnosis. The results demonstrated a considerable respect regarding the difficult choices associated with the development of prenatal diagnosis, also among those who have decided in favour of the test. The study indicated a greater need for autonomy among women than among men.     

尾矿坝的液化判别研究

概述尾矿坝液化试验判别的一般步骤,即根据《建筑抗震设计规范》中的初判条件对尾矿坝土层进行初判,在尾矿坝土层不满足初判的条件下,利用标准贯入试验对尾矿坝是否存在液化危害进行复判。影响尾矿料液化的因素很多,现有的液化判别方法过于繁琐,在综合考虑希德简化法和《构筑物抗震设计规范》提出的简化法的基础上,提出了一种主要考虑地震震级以及尾矿料的中值粒径、相对密度、静应力和尾矿料物理力学指标影响因素,并将其他影响因素综合为一个影响因素的简化判别法。以某个进行了标准贯入试验的尾矿坝为工程实例,采用简化判别法对该尾矿坝进行理论分析计算,并对试验和计算结果进行比较,得出理论分析结果与试验结果一致,表明该方法切实可行,可供类似工程参考。     

Practicing for and performance on drivers license tests in relation to gender differences in crash involvement among novice drivers

PROBLEM: Young male novice drivers are overrepresented in injury motor-vehicle crashes compared to females in the same category. This difference in crash involvement is often assumed to include factors such as overestimation, risk acceptance, and sensation seeking, but it can also be related to acquisition of knowledge, skills, insight, and driving experience. Therefore, this study explored possible gender differences among 18-24-year-olds in Sweden regarding practicing as learners, outcome of the driver's tests, and crash involvement during the first year after licensure. METHOD: Data for 2005 from different sources (e.g., questionnaires, license test, and crash statistics) were examined. It was not possible to follow individual subjects through all stages or in all analyses. Nevertheless, the study design did enable scrutinization and discussion of gender differences between younger inexperienced drivers with respect to education and training, license test results, and initial period of licensure. RESULTS: Males and females assimilated tuition in different ways. Females studied more theory, pursued training in a more structured manner, practiced more elements of driving in several different environments, and participated more extensively in driving school instruction. National statistics showed that females did better on the written test but not on the driving test. Males were involved in 1.9 more injury crashes per 1,000 drivers than females during their first year of licensed driving. The proportional distribution of crash types was the same for both sexes during the first period as novice drivers, but the circumstances surrounding the accidents varied (e.g., males were involved in more night crashes). IMPACT ON TRAFFIC SAFETY: More structured training while learning appears to be one of the reasons why females initially do better than males as novice drivers. Therefore, in the future, driver education should focus not only on matters such as the amount of time spent on training and preconditioning, but also on the importance of the organization and content of the learning process.     

Early responses of soil ammonium and nitrate nitrogen to forest gap harvesting of a Pinus massoniana plantation in the upper reaches of Yangtze River北大核心CSCD

To understand the short-term effects of forest gap by human harvesting on soil available nutrient in Pinus massoniana plantations, the variations of soil ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) concentrations in the gap center and gap edge during growing season were observed in seven gaps of different size (Gl: 100 m2; G2:225 m2; G3:400 m2; G4:625 m2; G5:900 m2; G6:1225 m2; G7:1600 m2) and pure understory of a 39-year-old masson pine plantation in a hilly area of the upper reaches of Yangtze River. The results showed that in the early stage of gap formation, the gap size had significant effect on NH4+-N, the season changes on NP3--N, and the interaction effect of gap size and seasonal variation on NH4+-N and NO3--N. The difference of NH4+-N and NO3--N between the gap center and gap edge was not significant. (I) The NH4+-N content was 4.30-11.99 mg kg-1, and NO3--N content was 2.57-10.81 mg kg-1. There was no obvious difference in NH4+-N and N03--N among gaps of different size in early or late growing seasons, when both increased first and decreased afterwards in the middle of growing season. The gaps of 100∼400 m2 area had a higher content of available nitrogen. (2) The seasonal dynamic differed between NH4+-N and NO3--N, with the former lower in middle growing season whereas the latter higher in the middle growing season but lower in the end of growing season. The soil NH4+-N was higher than NO3- -N in the early and late periods, but lower in the middle period. (3) The soil NH4+-N and NO3--N in parts of gaps were lower than understory in the early and late growing season. (4) Correlation analyses showed that NH4+-N had significant positive correlation with microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and NO3--N with soil temperature, MBN and organic matter. But the impact of soil water content on available nitrogen was not significant. These results suggested that soil temperature and microbial activity variation caused by gap harvesting are the main factors affecting soil available nitrogen content of Pinus massoniana plantations.     

Field investigation of pavement rehabilitation utilizing cold in-place recycling

Despite the widespread field and laboratory research works there are still a lot of unknown aspects about the cold in-place recycling. This paper presents the outcomes of a five year evaluation of a major highway in Iran which had been rehabilitated by cold in-place recycling. Before starting the rehabilitation process, a comprehensive field survey was performed. During the pavement surveying, type, severity and reason of distresses were investigated and PCI parameter was calculated. Furthermore, both destructive and nondestructive tests were carried out to evaluate the pavement condition and estimate the remaining life. On the basis of these investigations studied highway was divided to six design sections. Based on technical analysis four sections were recycled whereas two other sections were rehabilitated with the conventional cold milling and overlay method. Afterwards, the pavement performance was monitored during the next 5 years. After about six months of monitoring, structural failures were detected in about 10% of recycled areas. Based on field surveying, low compaction and load bearing of subgrade materials and lack of high quality unbound pavement layers accompanied by some shortcomings in recycled layer resulted in undesirable results in these areas. Based on obtained results and performed analysis a practical flowchart was presented which could be used as a project selection guideline.