Calculating losses of crops in Denmark caused by high ozone levels

In order to help guide air pollution legislation at the European level, harmful air pollution effects on agriculture crops and the consequent economic implications for policy have been studied for more than a decade. Ozone has been labeled as the most serious of the damaging air pollutants to agriculture, where growth rates and consequently yields are dramatically reduced. Quantifying the effects has formed a key factor in policymaking. Based on the widely held view that AOT40 (Accumulated exposure Over Threshold of 40 ppb) is a good indicator of ozone-induced damage, the Danish Eulerian Model (DEM) was used to compute reduced agriculture yields on a 50 km×50 km grid over Europe. In one set of scenarios, a ten year meteorological time series was combined with realistic emission inventories. In another, various idealized emission reduction scenarios are applied to the same meteorological time series. The results show substantial inter-annual variability in economic losses, due in most part to meteorological conditions which varied much more substantially than the emissions during the same period. It is further shown that, taking all uncertainties into account, estimates of ozone-induced economic losses require that a long meteorological record is included in the analysis, for statistical significance to be improved to acceptable levels for use in policy analysis. In this study, calculations were made for Europe as a whole, though this paper presents results relevant for Denmark.     

市场失灵、非市场价值与农地非农化过度性损失

农地资源不仅具有经济生产功能,还具有大气调节、涵养水源、保持土壤成分、休闲娱乐等多种生态功能,而在非农化过程中这些功能在市场中没有以价格的形式体现出来,没有包含在农地的现实价值中。因而,有必要对农地的非市场功能进行详尽的分类及价值估算。同时,将由于市场失灵而没能包含到农地总价值中的生态环境等非市场价值纳入到成本效益决策中,来减少市场失灵所造成的农地非农化的效率损失。通过对农地非市场功能的具体分类及量化,测算我国不同经济区域因市场失灵导致的农地非农化过度损失,结果显示,代表东、中、西部地区的江苏、湖北和甘肃省的农地非农化过度损失Ⅰ分别为31.58%、38.13%和43.85%,这为我国农地非农化的行为调控及相应公共政策措施的制订和实施提供了理论依据。     

Effects of the new nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on nitrate and potassium leaching in two soils

In this study, soil column was used to study the new nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on nitrate (NO3--N) and potassium (K) leaching in the sandy loam soil and clay loam soil. The results showed that DMPP with ammonium sulphate nitrate (ASN) ((NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3) or urea could reduce NO3--N leaching significantly, whereas ammonium (NH4 -N) leaching increased slightly. In case of total N (NO3--N NH4 -N), losses by leaching during the experimental period (40 d) were 37.93 mg (urea), 31.61 mg (urea DMPP), 108.10 mg (ASN), 60.70 mg (ASN DMPP) in the sandy loam soil, and 30.54 mg (urea), 21.05 mg (urea DMPP), 37.86 mg (ASN), 31. 09 mg (ASN DMPP) in the clay loam soil, respectively. DMPP-amended soil led to the maintenance of relatively high levels of NH4 -N and low levels of NO3--N in soil, and nitrification was slower. DMPP supplementation also resulted in potassium leached less, but the difference was not significant except the treatment ASN and ASN DMPP in the sandy loam soil. Above results indicate that DMPP is a good nitrification inhibitor, the efficiency of DMPP seems better in the sandy loam soil than in the clay loam soil and lasts longer.     

滨岸缓冲带控制农田氮磷流失的作用和机理研究

农田面源氮磷的流失是导致河流湖泊等水体产生富营养化的主要原因之一,其带来的环境、经济及社会问题已引起国内外广泛关注。近年来,关于滨岸缓冲带截留污染物的效率和机理已成为研究热点。文章介绍了滨岸缓冲带在农业面源污染防治上的功能和作用,论述了滨岸缓冲带对氮磷养分的截留转化机理以及稳定同位素技术在机理研究中的应用,讨论了影响滨岸缓冲带截留转化氮磷养分的调控因子,在此基础上就目前滨岸缓冲带控制农田氮磷流失研究中存在的问题提出了未来的研究展望。     

Differential N uptake by maize cultivars and soil nitrate dynamics under N fertilization in West Africa

Nitrate is prone to leaching in the sandy soils of the West African moist savannas. Better management of nitrogen (N) resources and maize cultivars with enhanced genetic capacity to capture and utilize soil and fertilizer N are strategies that could improve N-use efficiency. In two field experiments conducted at Zaria, northern Nigeria, five maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars planted early in the season were assessed under various N levels for differences in N uptake, soil N dynamics, and related N losses. Cultivar TZB-SR accumulated more N in the aboveground plant parts in both years than the other cultivars. All, except the semi-prolific late (SPL) variety, met about 50–60% of their N demand by the time of silking (64–69 DAP). In both years, SPL had the greatest capacity to take up N during the grain filling period, and it had the highest grain-N concentration and the least apparent N loss through leaching in the second year. There were no significant differences in soil N dynamics among cultivars in both years. At harvest, the residual N in the upper 90 cm of the profile under all the cultivars ranged from 56 to 72 kg ha⁻¹ in the first year and from 73 to 83 kg ha⁻¹ in the second year. Apparent N loss from 0 to 90 cm soil profile through leaching ranged from 35 to 122 kg ha⁻¹ in both years. N application significantly increased N uptake by more than 30% at all sampling dates in the second year of the experiment, but had no effect on apparent N loss. Results indicate that the use of maize cultivars with high N uptake capacity during the grain filling period when maximum leaching losses occur could enhance N recovery and may be effective in reducing leaching losses of mineral N in the moist savanna soils.     

Chorionic villus sampling: Analysis of fetal losses to delivery,placental pathology,and cervical microbiology

A population of 1639 patients were seen for chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Embryonic death was identified at ultrasound in 5.3 per cent of patients. The number of patients undergoing CVS was 1551, with 1416 transcervical procedures and 135 transabdominal procedures. The most common indication for CVS was advanced maternal age. Spontaneous pregnancy losses identified by increased risk of pregnancy loss with increasing aspiration attempts. The total fetal loss for this population was 5.4 per cent with the pregnancy loss estimated due to procedure being 1.2 per cent. Analysis of placentae from patients having CVS and amniocen-tesis showed no differences. Microbiological assessment prior to CVS was similar to previous publications.     

The effects of adaptation measures on hurricane induced property losses: Which FEMA investments have the highest returns?

This paper evaluates the relative effectiveness of FEMA expenditures on hurricane induced property losses. We find that spending on FEMA ex-ante mitigation and planning projects leads to greater reductions in property losses than spending on ex-post adaptation programs – specifically, a one percent increase in annual spending on ex-ante risk reduction and warning projects reduces damages by 0.21 percent while a one percent increase in ex-post recovery and clean-up spending reduces damages by 0.12. Although both types of program spending are effective, we find the marginal return from spending on programs that target long-term mitigation and risk management to be almost twice that of spending on ex-post recovery programs. With the predicted increases in the frequency and severity of North Atlantic hurricanes in the future, our findings suggest there are important potential gains that could be realized from the further diversification of FEMA spending across project categories.     

基于震后现场调查的震害损失评估软件

根据国家地震局的有关文件,研制了本软件。主要用于震后现场调查的地震灾害损失评估,也可根据抽样调查数据及背景资料对某地区地震灾害进行预估。本软件采用汉化的友好操作界面,使用方便。