Roads and Landscape Pattern in Northern Wisconsin Based on a Comparison of Four Road Data Sources

Abstract:  Roads are important components of landscapes; they fragment habitat, facilitate invasive species spread, alter hydrology, and influence patterns of land use. Previous research on the ecological impacts of roads may have underestimated their effect because currently available sources of road data do not include the full road network. We compared differences in road density and landscape pattern among U.S. Census Bureau TIGER line files, U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale digital line graphs, and U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000-scale digital raster graphics in northern Wisconsin to road data derived from 1:40,000-scale digital orthophotos. Road density measured from digital orthophotos (2.82 km/km²) was significantly greater than that of digital raster graphics (1.62 km/km²) and more than double that of digital line graphs (1.21 km/km²) and TIGER (1.27 km/km²) data. The increased road densities in raster graphics and orthophoto data were mainly due to the addition of minor roads. When all roads were used to define patch boundaries, landscape metrics produced with orthophoto data showed significantly greater levels of fragmentation than those based on line or raster graphics. For example, maximum patch size was 1074 ha and total edge was 109 km for line graphs, compared with 686 ha and 211 km for orthophoto data. Roads are missing in commonly used data, primarily because mapping standards systematically exclude minor roads. These standards are not ecologically based and may result in false assumptions about the ecological effects of roads. We recommend that future studies take special consideration of the completeness of road data and consider whether all ecologically relevant roads are included.     

Virtues and humanitarian ethics

This paper analyses the contribution of virtue ethics, the study of good character traits, to the humanitarian context. It argues that a virtue ethics perspective paints a realistic picture of the use of ethical standards in morally complex circumstances. Virtuous relief workers can employ standards in their thinking, but they are also committed to professional excellence that goes beyond any formal code. The concept of virtue ethics places a stress on moral development, which can be facilitated by role models that impart modest and feasible ideals. However, virtue ethics cannot provide simple guidelines on how to resolve difficult situations. It is possible that two virtuous persons can disagree on what should be done in a particular instance. In addition, a virtue ethics perspective emphasises the need for both individuals and organisations to discuss the actual purpose of relief work in order to pinpoint the virtues of a good relief professional.     

Estimation of Cumulative Frequency Distribution for Carbon Monoxide Concentration from Wind-Speed Data, in Buenos Aires (Argentina)

In this article we apply and test a methodology to estimate cumulative frequency distribution for air pollutant concentration from wind-speed data. We use the inverse relationship after Simpson et al. (Atmospheric Environment, 19, 75–82, 1985) between the opposing percentile values in the statistical distributions for air pollutant concentrations and wind-speed data. This relationship is valid, irrespective of the statistical distributions of both variables, if an inverse relationship between them is also applicable. The available data are five years of 8-h average carbon monoxide concentration and 8-h mean wind-speed, observed in Buenos Aires (Argentina). The performance of the obtained empirical expressions in estimating cumulative frequency distributions for 8-h CO is statistically evaluated. The results show that it is possible to obtain an acceptable cumulative frequency distribution for 8-h CO concentration at the site if the cumulative frequency distribution for wind-speed is known. Q–Q plots show a good agreement between estimated and observed values. From our data, the mean relative error of the estimations was found to be as much as 8.0%.     

Air‐Water Temperature Relationships in the Trout Streams of Southeastern Minnesota's Carbonate‐Sandstone Landscape

Carbonate‐sandstone geology in southeastern Minnesota creates a heterogeneous landscape of springs, seeps, and sinkholes that supply groundwater into streams. Air temperatures are effective predictors of water temperature in surface‐water dominated streams. However, no published work investigates the relationship between air and water temperatures in groundwater‐fed streams (GWFS) across watersheds. We used simple linear regressions to examine weekly air‐water temperature relationships for 40 GWFS in southeastern Minnesota. A 40‐stream, composite linear regression model has a slope of 0.38, an intercept of 6.63, and R² of 0.83. The regression models for GWFS have lower slopes and higher intercepts in comparison to surface‐water dominated streams. Regression models for streams with high R² values offer promise for use as predictive tools for future climate conditions. Climate change is expected to alter the thermal regime of groundwater‐fed systems, but will do so at a slower rate than surface‐water dominated systems. A regression model of intercept vs. slope can be used to identify streams for which water temperatures are more meteorologically than groundwater controlled, and thus more vulnerable to climate change. Such relationships can be used to guide restoration vs. management strategies to protect trout streams.     

北京城区夏季O3化学生成过程

选取2007年7月1日—8月31日中的21个晴空日,利用观测资料和光化学箱模式计算了北京城区测点的O₃生成速率G(O₃)和O₃生成效率OPE.结果表明,21个晴空日中G(O₃)日最高小时值分布在(18~82)×10^-9h^-1之间;在O₃污染和非污染日G(O₃)最高值的平均水平无显著差异,且与O_x浓度之间不存在一致的对应关系,表明O₃化学生成过程不能全面解释地面O₃浓度的累积,物理传输过程对测点O₃实测浓度有显著作用;各个化学过程对G(O₃)的贡献率对比结果显示,HO₂ 在 NO向NO₂的转化中贡献最大;OPE值分布在2.8~5.8之间,总体水平为4.1±0.1;OPE值与NO_x浓度之间为非线性关系,OPE值随NO_x浓度的增加而减少,表明消减测点附近VOCs排放能有效降低O₃浓度.     

污水管道中硫循环三阶段模型研究综述

污水在管道输送的过程中很容易出现厌氧环境,产生的硫化氢常引起恶臭、中毒和腐蚀等一系列问题。这些问题可归结为因硫元素在管道中不同相态间的迁移转化所致,该过程主要包括三个阶段：污水中硫化物的产生和扩散、硫化氢由液相到气相的逸散以及管壁上硫化氢的氧化进而引起混凝土等管道腐蚀。对这三阶段机理模型进行了归纳总结,最后在三阶段模型的基础上阐述了控制和预防硫化氢问题的方法,从而为污水输送系统的运行、管理和设计提供参考。     

Capturing market impacts of farm level policies: a statistical extrapolation approach using biophysical characteristics and farm resources

Technical change at the farm level or changes in input prices often have an impact on the firm's supply function, which in turn affect their economic and environmental performance. These changes can take place in numerous ways. This paper presents a methodology that increases the consistency of supply responses across various sets of agricultural products and most representative farm typologies in Europe, with a market model based on a statistical response function approach. Since most farm simulation models are limited to a subset of regions and farm types, the linkage to an aggregated model requires a procedure for expanding these results to non-sample regions to achieve full regional coverage. This paper addresses theoretical aspects related to the consistency between micro and market level models. The proposed approach is applied using a consistent set of simulation results from farm models in seven European regions. Our results show a fairly stable behaviour of the farm models considered for the analysis and quite good fit of the estimated response surface. As results are still preliminary we critically reflect on the applicability of this method in addressing further needs on up-scaling of other economic as well as environmental indicators.     

A~2/O工艺厌氧池有机物降解动力学模型对比研究

试验考察了东阿县污水处理厂一期A2/O工艺厌氧池去除有机污染物效能,当进水ρ(COD)为548.3 mg/L时,厌氧池平均去除率达78.7%。同时探讨了几种常见数学模型模拟厌氧池去除有机物规律情况,根据实际工程监测数据确定有机底物降解动力学常数,得出Grau模型、Stover-kincannon模型和改进的Monod模型较适合模拟厌氧池去除有机物的规律,并对模型进行了检验。     

Modeling Diapause Termination of Rhipicephalus Appendiculatus using Statistical Tools to Detect Sudden Behavioral Changes and Time Dependencies

This paper presents statistical methodology to analyze longitudinal binary responses for which a sudden change in the response occurs in time. Probability plots, transition matrices, and change-point models and more advanced techniques such as generalized auto-regression models and hidden Markov chains are presented and applied on a study on the activity of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, the major vector of Theileria parva, a fatal disease in cattle. This study presents individual measurements on female R. appendiculatus, which are terminating their diapause (resting status) and become active. Comprehending activity patterns is very important to better understand the ecology of R. appendiculatus. The model indicates that activity and non-activity act in an absorbing way meaning that once a tick becomes active it shows a tendency to remain active. The change-point model estimates that the sudden change in activity happens on December 10. The reaction of ticks on acceleration and changes in rainfall and temperature indicates that ticks can sense climatic changes. The study revealed the underlying not visually observable states during diapause development of the adult tick of R. appendiculatus. These states could be related to phases during the dynamic event of diapause development and post-diapause activity in R. appendiculatus.     

大气中持久性有机污染物在气相和颗粒相中的分配特征研究进展

大气中持久性有机污染物(POPs)的气(气相)-粒(颗粒相)分配是影响POPs在大气中分布、迁移和转化的一个重要因素,研究POPs的气-粒分配特征有助于提高POPs环境归趋预测的准确性,对区域范围内的大气POPs污染防治具有重要意义.本文简要介绍了两种经典的POPs气-粒分配理论及模型,总结了有关大气中几类典型POPs在气相和颗粒相中的分配特征研究的最新进展,讨论了不同种类POPs气-粒分配的一些差异性特征和可能的影响因素,并提出了大气中新型POPs气-粒分配特征研究中亟待解决的问题.