Information presentation compatibility in a simple digital control panel design: eye-tracking study

Various designs of typical digital control panels were analyzed experimentally from both the effectiveness and efficiency points of view. Subjects performed information comparison tasks aimed at keeping vehicle velocity at the same level. The experiment involved two versions of speedometers for displaying current and target velocities (clock-face and digital). The stimuli were also differentiated by the target velocity value (20, 50 and 80?km/h) and the correct response type (increase or decrease). Subjects’ performance results along with the eye-tracking data were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed for all 24 experimental conditions.     

居民活动空间与生态约束协调的城市开发边界划定方法——以长沙市为例

为了遏制长沙市城市的无序扩张,促进土地节约集约、高效利用,保障生态空间质量,划定长沙市城市开发边界成为重要举措。基于居民活动空间扩展,选取人口密度、居民活动分布、基础设施布局等多源时空数据,通过量化居民活动空间扩展概率,并利用植被覆盖度构建生态约束强度,确定二者协调规则,作为CA模型的约束条件,进行城市建设用地模拟,划定城市开发边界。结果表明：划定的长沙市城市开发边界,结果与长沙市“十三五”规划的城市空间发展框架基本一致,对未来建设用地扩展方向预测合理,而且避免了侵占重要生态资源,达到了兼顾城市空间发展和生态资源保护的多重目的。     

洪泛湖泊水位-流量关系的非线性特征分析

湖泊的水位-流量关系是湖泊水文特性的重要表征。该关系与湖盆形态、湖泊与周围水系的水力联系等因素有关。鄱阳湖是长江中游的大型通江湖泊,洪泛特征显著。本文以鄱阳湖为例,研究洪泛湖泊入湖流量-湖泊水位关系及非线性特征。基于1960~2010年实测湖泊日水位和流域日径流数据,采用交叉小波和小波相干方法分析多时间尺度上水位对入湖流量的响应关系。结果表明,鄱阳湖入湖流量-湖泊水位关系存在3个特征阶段:阶段1中,入湖流量与湖泊水位相位差从0°过渡到45°~90°,水位上升初期与流量同步上升,后期水位对流量的响应产生迟滞效应,滞后时间为2~9d;阶段2中,入湖流量与湖泊水位相位差在90°左右波动,入湖流量率先下降,湖泊水位却保持缓慢上升;阶段3中,入湖流量与湖泊水位的相位变化与阶段1相反,从45°~90°过渡到0°,湖泊水位与入湖流量下降逐渐变为同步。本文提出鄱阳湖入湖流量-湖泊水位关系的3个阶段并分析其产生的主要原因,概化其水文特征,对通江洪泛湖泊的水文特征有新的认识,为下一步湖泊水文过程的刻画与模拟提供重要理论基础。     

Bordering Ecosystems: The Rhetorical Function of Characterization in Gray Wolf Management

Decisions about iconic species such as the wolf provide a key index of human–nature relations. The gray wolf's reintroduction in the USA has been controversial, particularly at the interface of state versus federal management. This essay analyzes discourse surrounding this controversy, focusing on how wolves are characterized as ecological and social actors in official correspondence and management plans. I interpret this textual evidence by drawing from social theory regarding sovereignty, discipline, and population, including studies on bordering practices imposed on humans. As with humans, bordering practices in the case of the wolf may illuminate how political forces impose physical and discursive limits upon mobile bodies motivated to move across political borders by powerful exigencies of need. The essay seeks to amplify understanding about how regimes of power enact difference from “others” whose presence strongly influences the health of ecosystems and economies.     

Greening up: the effects of environmental standards in EU and US trade agreements

Can environmental provisions in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) foster an environmental race to the top? The ways in which different enforcement mechanisms in North–South PTAs affect the implementation of environmental standards in developing countries are examined. It is argued that environmental provisions in European Union (EU) and United States (US) PTAs will be effective in instigating policy change in partner countries, although the timing of the effect will vary significantly. Fines and sanctions in US PTAs incentivize partner countries to reform during the negotiation process. Reform in EU PTA partners is predicted to occur during agreement implementation as a result of the EU’s policy dialogue approach. Illustrative evidence is provided and the hypotheses are tested using statistical estimations of EU and US PTAs with environmental provisions on developing countries’ environmental policy reform.     

Polyoxometalates for photocatalytic degradation of aqueous dyestuff solutions and quantitative structure–property relationship study on photolysis rate constants

Polyoxometalate, K₆TiW₁₁O₃₉Sn·7H₂O (TiW₁₁Sn), was synthesized and characterized. TiW₁₁Sn and K₆ZrW₁₁O₃₉Sn·12H₂O (ZrW₁₁Sn) were evaluated for their photocatalytic degradation of triarylmethane (brilliant green and acid blue 9), bisazo (C.I. reactive black 5), and monoazo dyestuffs (C.I. reactive red 24, C.I. reactive red 194, and C.I. reactive orange 5) with natural sunlight in homogeneous aqueous solutions. TiW₁₁Sn and ZrW₁₁Sn effectively and photocatalytically decolorized the dyestuffs. The TiW₁₁Sn- and ZrW₁₁Sn-mediated photocatalytic degradation of the dyestuffs involved a pseudo-first-order reaction and was modeled by Langmuir–Hinshelwood-type kinetics. The observed pseudo-first-order rate constants (K^/) of triarylmethane dyestuffs were generally bigger than that of the azo dyestuffs. Quantitative structure–property relationship models of the K^/ of the dyestuffs were developed using partial least-square regression. The cumulative variance of the dependent variable explained by the partial least-square components was > 0.753 for each optimal model. This value indicated that the model had good predictive ability and robustness. The K^/ values of the dyestuffs were related to the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, and the most positive net atomic charges on a sulfur atom of dyestuffs. The linear correlation coefficients between the predicted and experimental values were all > 0.9950.     

Effervescence assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction followed by microvolume UV-Vis spectrophotometric determination of surfactants in water

The novel and simple methods for the sensitive determination of cationic and anionic surfactants in water based on effervescence assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and microvolume UV-Vis spectrophotometry have been developed. The method involves ion-pair extraction of cationic and anionic surfactants with organic dyes (methyl orange and azure A, respectively) during the dispersion of extraction solvent (CHCl₃) by CO₂ bubbles which are formed by the injection of a mixture of the extraction solvent and proton donor solvent into the sample solution which contains carbonate-ions as effervescency agent. The analytical performance of the proposed procedure was compared with the conventional dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction. Appropriate experimental conditions for both methods were investigated. The absorbances of the colored extracts at wavelengths of 440 and 625 nm obey Beer's law within the range of 0.1–5.0 mg/L for both cationic and anionic surfactants. The limit of detection (LOD) obtained using the effervescence assisted extraction method was 30 µg/L for cationic and anionic surfactants. The proposed methods were successfully applied to determination of surfactants in water samples.     

Herbicidal activity of slow-release herbicide formulations in wheat stands infested by weeds

The present study reports the herbicidal activity of metribuzin and tribenuron-methyl embedded in the degradable matrix of natural poly-3-hydroxybutyrate [P(3HB)/MET and P(3HB)/TBM]. The developed formulations were constructed as films and microgranules, which were tested against the weeds such as white sweet clover Melilotus albus and lamb's quarters Chenopodium album in the presence of soft spring wheat (Triticum aestivum, cv. Altaiskaya 70) as the subject crop for investigation. The activity was measured in laboratory scale experiments by determining the density and weight of the vegetative organs of weeds. The study was also aimed at testing the effect of the experimental formulation on the growth of wheat crop as dependent on the method of herbicide delivery. The experimental MET and TBM formulations showed pronounced herbicidal activity against the weed species used in the study. The effectiveness of the experimental formulations in inhibiting weed growth was comparable to and, sometimes, higher than that of the commercial formulations (positive control). The amount of the biomass of the wheat treated with the experimental herbicide formulations was significantly greater than that of the wheat treated with commercial formulations.     

禾草灵对水稻生长和典型土壤酶活性的影响

禾草灵是一种广泛使用的除草剂,在土壤中大量残留,对非靶标生物产生危害。为探究除草剂对环境生物的毒性作用,本研究模拟水稻自然生长的环境,评估禾草灵对水稻及土壤微生物的影响。研究结果表明,低浓度禾草灵(200μg·L-1)处理4d对土壤微生物量没有显著影响(P0.05);8 d时,水稻生长没有明显变化,但土壤微生物量较对照组显著升高(P0.05)。高浓度禾草灵(1 000μg·L-1)处理4 d后,土壤脲酶、酸性磷酸酶和过氧化氢酶的活性显著下降(P0.05),下降幅度分别为8.9%,16.6%和10.2%;处理8 d后,水稻幼苗鲜重显著降低(P0.05),叶绿素a和叶绿素b含量分别下降了13.5%和13.3%。本研究证实高浓度的禾草灵残留会对植物和土壤微生物产生不良的影响。     

植物-微生物修复石油烃污染土壤与根际微生态环境变化

石油烃作为一类持久性难降解有机污染物对土壤环境质量产生严重的危害。以天津大港油田原油污染土壤中筛选出的耐低温高效石油烃降解菌为靶细胞,以小麦、紫花苜蓿作为供试植物,利用盆栽试验,对植物-外源菌协同修复体系中的脱氢酶活性和土壤微生物多样性进行研究,分析其变化及其与石油烃降解率的关系。结果表明植物-微生物协同修复对石油烃具有较好的降解能力,其中小麦-固定化外源菌组具有最高的降解率,石油烃含量从最初的30 600 mg獉kg-1下降为24 300 mg獉kg-1,降解率为20.6%,并且其试验后期石油烃的降解率最大,远远高于其他时期,表现出良好的修复潜力。外源菌投加的初始阶段会迅速提高脱氢酶活性,然而这种影响随着降解时间延长而逐渐减弱。初期脱氢酶活性与总石油烃的降解存在较好的相关性,脱氢酶活性可以在一定程度上表征土壤石油烃的降解情况。微生物多样性与总石油烃降解也存在一定的相关性。