Responses of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), a new reclamation species, to cyclic moisture stress

A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate the response of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa) to six levels of cyclic soil moisture stresses in a 17-week period. The results showed that the cultivar continued to grow and the biomass continued to increase even when the soil moisture stress was as high as at the wilting point (1500 Kpa). Also, transpiration recovery rate was quick and values of root/shoot ratio were high when the plant was subject to the cyclic moisture stress condition. All these characteristics, along with strong rooting and spreading ability, suggest this legume as a promising drought hardiness species for reclamation purposes.     

Marine Organisms as Indicators of Heavy Metal Pollution-Experience from 16 Years of Monitoring at a Lead Zinc Mine in Greenland

In monitoring the impact of a lead-zinc mine in Greenland, species of fish, prawns, seaweed and mussels have been analysed for cadmium, copper, lead and zinc for several years. These metals have been released to the marine environment in significant amounts from the mining operation.     

Chemical speciation and anthropogenic sources of ambient volatile organic compounds(VOCs)during summer in Beijing,2004

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured at six sites in Beijing in August, 2004. Up to 148 VOC species, including C₃ to C₁₂ alkanes, C₃ to C₁₁ alkenes, C₆ to C₁₂ aromatics, and halogenated hydrocarbons, were quantified. Although the concentrations differed at the sites, the chemical compositions were similar, except for the Tongzhou site where aromatics were significantly high in the air. Based on the source profiles measured from previous studies, the source apportionment of ambient VOCs was preformed by deploying the chemical mass balance (CMB) model. The results show that urban VOCs are predominant from mobile source emissions, which contribute more than 50% of the VOCs (in mass concentrations) to ambient air at most sites. Other important sources are gasoline evaporation, painting, and solvents. The exception is at the Tongzhou site where vehicle exhaust, painting, and solvents have about equal contribution, around 35% of the ambient VOC concentration. As the receptor model is not valid for deriving the sources of reactive species, such as isoprene and 1,3-butadiene, other methodologies need to be further explored.     

混凝过程中铝与聚合铝水解形态的动力学转化及其稳定性

采用Ｆｅｒｒｏｎ逐时络合比色法，并结合电泳测定研究了混凝过程中氯化铝和聚合氯化铝的水解形态动力学转化及稳定性。结果表明，ＡＣ在混凝过程中所形成的水解形态完全不同于ＰＡＣ的预制水解聚合形态，其电荷及分子量均明显低于聚合铝且不稳定，ＡＣ随混凝条件如投加浓度、ＰＨ和混合时间而变，而ＰＡＣ－２５水解聚合形态不随混凝条件变化，始终保持稳定状态，ＡＣ水解沉淀规律与理论计算相符并形成无定形Ａｌ（ＯＨ）３絮体颗粒     

徐州市岩溶地质灾害与岩土工程问题

隐伏岩溶地质灾害的危害在于其隐蔽性和突发性,岩溶与土洞成因上相关联,工程环境中共存,查明其发育及分布特征,预测岩溶地质灾害,有针对性的分析处理地基基础问题,是岩土工程勘察的重要工作内容。本文结合工程实例对隐伏型岩溶地区桥梁基础选型与地基处理问题进行分析。     

Insight into phase structure-dependent soot oxidation activity of K/MnO2 catalyst

In the present study, two nanosized MnO₂ with β and δ phase structures and potassium loaded MnO₂ catalysts with varied K loading amounts (denoted as K/MnO₂) were prepared. Temperature programmed oxidation and isothermal reactions in loose contact modes were employed to examine the soot oxidation activity of the as-prepared catalysts. Characterization results show that as compared with β-MnO₂, δ-MnO₂ has larger surface area and higher content of hydroxyl groups. Upon K loading, abundant hydroxyl groups in δ-MnO₂ effectively sequestrate K cation to form bound K species and free K species are available only at K loading above 3.0 wt.%. In contrast, the majority of K species present as free state in β-MnO₂ even at a K loading of 1.0 wt.% due to its very low hydroxyl group content. The O₂ temperature-programmed desorption (O₂-TPD) demonstrates that the catalysts with free K species exhibit strong ability in activating gaseous O₂, whereas the catalysts only having bound K display minor O₂ activation capability. As a result, despite of slightly lower activity of β-MnO₂ than δ-MnO₂, the K/β-MnO₂ catalysts exhibit substantially higher activities than K/δ-MnO₂ catalysts with identical K loadings. The finding in this study clearly demonstrates that for MnO₂ based catalysts, the enhancement of catalytic activity for soot oxidation is highly K loading amount dependent and the dependency is strongly associated with the phase structure of MnO₂.     

When biologists and engineers collide: Habitat conservation planning in the middle of urbanized development

The City of Austin, Texas, is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. It is also in one of the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystems in the world: the Balcones Canyonlands. Five cave invertebrates and two species of birds that inhabit the area are listed as threatened or endangered, two species of plants are candidates for listing, several others are considered rare and of concern, and a species of the salamander has also been proposed for listing. A habitat conservation plan, of national significance according to Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbit (Haurwitz 1996), has been under development for the last several years to conserve those endangered species through a 2400-ha system of preserves and to allow development to continue in more than 162,000 ha of surrounding area. The preserve system, comprising several units ranging in size from less than a hundred to several thousand hectares, would be bordered in many instances by developed areas. Development and maintenance of the infrastructure necessary for new and existing development, both commercial and residential, could have negated the biological value of the preserves (e.g., power-line corridors, water-treatment pipelines and facilities). The challenge of bringing this plan to fruition illustrates the complex biological, technical, and sociological context within which habitat conservation planning may occur. Resolving resource use conflicts of this nature have several commonalities that overarch these contexts. If recognized and addressed, one may move easily and foster positive results. These commonalities can be expressed as principles such as: relying on scientists to recognize, but not solve problems; acting before a scientific consensus is achieved; including human motivation and responses as part of the system to be studied and managed; and confronting uncertainty.     

Utility participation in a multispecies plan

Single-species listings under provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) have caused, or have been accused of causing, significant regional economic impact. In an attempt to avoid such adverse effects on regional economic development, the state of California passed the Natural Communities Conservation Planning Act (NCCP) in 1991. It is a voluntary, consensus-based approach to balancing protection of sensitive biota and biodiversity with regional economic development. The pilot NCCP program for the conservation of several threatened, endangered, and category 1 species, plus an additional 35 coastal sage scrub-related species in southern California, was completed and submitted to the public for review and comment in December 1995. This program proposes the voluntary establishment of a 86,600-ha multispecies reserve system. Once completed, participating landowners will receive ESA Section 10(a) incidental take permits for present and identified future projects. Utility rights-of-way are incorporated into the program as important connective linkages between reserve units and other adjacent important habitat areas. All data and information regarding the proposed results of the NCCP are subject to change pending agency response to public comments on the draft Habitat Conservation Plan and joint EIR/EIS.     

离子色谱－原子吸收联用测定水体中的Fe（Ⅲ）和Fe（Ⅱ）

研究离子色谱（ＩＣ）与石墨炉原子吸收光谱（ＧＦＡＡＳ）联用测定水体中铁形态的方法。用Ｓｈｉｍ－ｐａｃｋ阳离子交换柱分离Ｆｅ（Ⅲ）和Ｆｅ（Ⅱ），用石墨炉原子吸收法检测，Ｆｅ（Ⅱ）和Ｆｅ（Ⅲ）的检出限分别为３．８ｎｇ／ｍｌ和７．７ｎｇ／ｍｌ。本方法已用于检测自来水和河水的铁的价态，取得了令人满意的结果。