The utility of behavioral studies for aquatic toxicology testing: A meta-analysis

Behavioral responses have been applied for decades as tools for aquatic toxicity testing, but have received far less attention than studies assessing lethality, development or reproduction. With improved visual and non-visual assessment tools and increased knowledge of the importance of behavior for organism health and fitness, interest in behavioral analysis has increased in recent years. However, to our knowledge there has never been a quantitative assessment of the available techniques for organismal toxicity testing, so it is not clear whether behavioral studies represent valuable additions to environmental monitoring. We performed a meta-analysis comparing the relative sensitivities and average durations of behavioral studies to those assessing acute lethality, development and reproduction. Results demonstrate that the average duration of behavioral studies is consistently less than developmental or reproductive studies, and that behavioral endpoints are generally more sensitive than those assessing development or reproduction. We found effect sizes to be lower but power to be higher in behavioral and reproductive studies compared to studies assessing development, which likely relates to low sample sizes commonly used in developmental studies. Overall, we conclude that behavioral studies are comparatively fast and sensitive, and therefore warrant further attention as tools for assessing the toxicological effects of environmental contaminants. We suggest that research aimed at developing and optimizing techniques for behavioral analysis could prove extremely useful to the field of toxicology, but that future work must be directed at determining what specific behaviors are most sensitive to various classes of contaminants, and at understanding the relevance of changes to discrete behaviors for influencing organismal and population-level health and fitness.     

Experimental and modeling study of de novo formation of PCDD/PCDF on MSW fly ash

The effect of sulfur dioxide （SO2） on the formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins （PCDDs） and polychlorinated dibenzofurans （PCDFs） has been studied in an entrained-flow reactor （EFR） under simulated waste combustion conditions. A chlorination model based on conditional probability was employed to evaluate the homologue patterns of PCDDs and PCDFs. Results revealed that the presence of SO2 did not alter the formation pathway although SO2 suppressed PCDD/F formation. The prediction model of PCDF showed good agreement with the experimental data （R--0.95）, whereas the prediction for PCDDs did not correlate well with the experimental data. This may be explained because potential chlorination pathways play a significant role in PCDF formation, whereas PCDDs are mainly formed through condensation reactions. Furthermore, the result indicated that the steric hindrance during formation has more effects on PCDD than on PCDF due to the symmetric molecular structures of PCDDs.     

Experimental research on the variational characteristics of vertical stress of soft coal seam in front of mining face

Permeability of coal seam is extremely sensitive to the in situ stress loaded. The techniques of “Pressure relief” have been proved significantly effective in practice to improve the gas permeability and the gas extraction rate to the soft coal seam. It is very necessary to make clear of the variational characteristics of the stress distribution in front of coal mining face with the production process. The vertical stress values of the top and bottom layer of the coal seam at different distances in front of the coal face are respectively measured, and the corresponding curves of the vertical stress variation along the mining direction have been obtained. According to the research conclusions in this paper, some available technical measures of “Pressure relief” at different distances and different layers of soft coal seam in front of mining face, are expected to make and to put into practice. The research methods and correlative data included in this paper also can be referred to conduct some further and deep-seated exploration to get new theories and practical techniques for the gas drainage of the soft and low permeability coal seam.     

电梯困人应急救援理论的初步建立

针对备受社会关注的电梯困人应急救援的快速实现,在电梯应急救援体系建设下,研究电梯困人救援的快速实现的影响因素、改进措施及标准化电梯困人应急救援体系的建立,提出了一种建立标准化电梯困人应急救援体系的理论,该理论在提升电梯应急救援效率,缩短电梯困人救援时间上给出了指导性理论,通过以某医院为实施对象进行了试验数据采集、统计与...     

一体式MBR处理蛋白废水的实验研究

蛋白废水是水体中的重要耗氧污染物,其特点是有机物,COD、BOD、可溶解性氮均较高,PH一般为酸性,易产生恶臭,且对自然环境和人体均有很大的危害作用。本论文通过实验着重研究了一体式MBR处理蛋白废水的运行特性,对相关污染物的去除效果进行分析、探讨。     

Influence of water storage on deflagration characteristics of methane in confined space

Comparative experiments were conducted under different water level heights and methane concentration conditions using a self-designed explosion experiment pipeline. The results showed that, in comparison with the scenario without water storage, when the water level was 2 cm and methane concentration was 6.5–12.5%, there was a dual effect including a pressure decrease caused by the endothermic cooling of liquid water and a pressure increase caused by the expansion of water vapour. These effects caused the pressure time history curve to exhibit a double-peak or multi-peak structure, and the average decrease in the peak deflagration pressure was 23.76%. The heat of vaporisation absorbed by the stored water and barrier effect of water vapour on the transfer of the heat slowed down the increase in the deflagration temperature. The average decrease in the peak deflagration temperature of methane was 13.82%, and the time to reach the peak deflagration temperature was extended as a whole, with an average delay of 0.22 s. Water storage also changed the shape of the deflagration flame front, which exhibited ‘knife’, ‘V’, and ‘crescent’ structures. Moreover, the flame propagation speed was significantly reduced, with the peak and average flame propagation speeds decreased by 83.3% and 83.6%, respectively. The research results can provide a certain reference for preventing gas explosions in typical confined spaces, and also help to explore new anti-explosion methods, which can be applied to marine equipment such as ships.     

The Politics of Waste Incineration in Beijing: The Limits of a Top-Down Approach?

The siting of waste incinerators is often a highly contentious issue. Although most studies have focused on Western countries, municipal solid waste management has become an extremely pressing issue in China. Incineration is being strongly promoted by government officials, yet this has resulted in strong societal opposition. Through documentary analysis and in-depth stakeholder interviews, this article analyses three anti-incineration campaigns in Beijing, focusing on outcomes and campaigner strategies. Anti-incineration campaigns have partly undermined the government's top-down, non-consultative approach to waste management. In developing an ‘expert strategy’, campaigners have exploited government weakness whilst depoliticizing the issue. Yet rather than lead to a more open and consultative incineration policy, it is more likely that officials will circumvent unrest through increasing opacity and by choosing sites in locations where opposition is less likely to emerge.     

What can economic experiments tell us about institutional change in social–ecological systems?

Today, economic experiments are well accepted in mainstream economics. They are also widely applied in ecological economics, often focusing on institutions. Yet, many empirical studies in this field lack a sound theoretical foundation of institutions and institutional change. In this paper, I show that in a structure–agency framework three theoretical viewpoints on institutions can be distinguished. They can be viewed as (1) structures that shape incentives, (2) cognitive media, embedded in beliefs and cognition of agents, or (3) evolving from a process of agents’ choices and structural aspects. Using examples from the empirical experimental literature, I argue that all three viewpoints are mirrored in experimental practice, and that these can be organized into an institutional typology of economic experiments. Placing special emphasis on experiments with endogenous institutional choice and their relationship to evolutionary economic theory, I discuss under which conditions experiments are a useful method for the analysis of social–ecological systems, concluding that methodological and methodical innovations are an important prerequisite for challenging the dominant paradigm of neoclassical economics.     

山地林火蔓延模型的研究

建立了有风速有坡度条件下的林火蔓延模型,并进行了模拟山丘条件下的数值计算和实验模拟。通过对计算结果和实验结果的分析比较,获得了模拟山地条件下的一些流场变化规律,为进一步预测林火行为为奠定了基础,同时也证明了采用该模型的必要性。