Using culturomics and social media data to characterize wildlife consumption

Wildlife provides food, medicine, clothing, and other necessities for humans, but overexploitation can disrupt the sustainability of wildlife resources and severely threaten global biodiversity. Understanding the characteristics of consumer behavior is helpful for wildlife managers and policy makers, but the traditional survey methods are laborious and time-consuming. In contrast, culturomics may more efficiently identify the features of wildlife consumption. As a case study of the culturomics approach, we examined tiger bone wine consumption in China based on social media and Baidu search engine data. Tiger bone wine is one of the most purchased tiger products; its consumption is closely related to tiger poaching, which greatly threatens wild tiger survival. We searched a popular social media website for the term “tiger bone wine” and focused on posts that were originally created from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2018. We filtered and classified posts related to the purchase, sale, or consumption of tiger bone wine and extracted information on providers, consumption motivations, year of production, and place of origin of the tiger bone wines based on the texts and photos of these posts. We found 756 posts related to tiger bone wine consumption, 113 of which mentioned providers of tiger bone wine, including friends (53%), elder relatives (37%), peer relatives (7%), and others (3%). Out of the 756 posts, 266 indicated the motivations of tiger bone wine consumption. Tiger bone wines were consumed as a tonic (34%), medicine (23%), game product (30%), and a symbol of wealth (28%). Some posts indicated ≥2 consumption motivations. These findings were consistent with the search queries from Baidu index. Such information could help develop targeted strategies for tiger conservation. The culturomics approach illustrated by our study is a rapid and cost-efficient way to characterize wildlife consumption.     

Analysis of the Trend and Seasonal Cycle of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in an Urban Area (4 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Air quality is an field of major concern in large cities. This problem has led administrations to introduce plans and regulations to reduce pollutant emissions. The analysis of variations in the concentration of pollutants is useful when evaluating the effectiveness of these plans. However, such an analysis cannot be undertaken using standard statistical techniques, due to the fact that concentrations of atmospheric pollutants often exhibit a lack of normality and are autocorrelated. On the other hand, if long-term trends of any pollutant’s emissions are to be detected, meteorological effects must be removed from the time series analysed, due to their strong masking effects. Materials and Methods The application of statistical methods to analyse temporal variations is illustrated using monthly carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations observed at an urban site. The sampling site is located at a street intersection in central Valencia (Spain) with a high traffic density. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It is a typical Mediterranean city in terms of its urban structure and climatology. The sampling site started operation in January 1994 and monitored CO ground level concentrations until February 2002. Its geographic coordinates are W0°22′52″ N39°28′05″ and its altitude is 11 m. Two nonparametric trend tests are applied. One of these is robust against serial correlation with regards to the false rejection rate, when observations have a strong persistence or when the sample size per month is small. A nonparametric analysis of the homogeneity of trends between seasons is also discussed. A multiple linear regression model is used with the transformed data, including the effect of meteorological variables. The method of generalized least squares is applied to estimate the model parameters to take into account the serial dependence of the residuals of this model. This study also assesses temporal changes using the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter. The KZ filter has been shown to be an effective way to remove the influence of meteorological conditions on O₃ and PM to examine underlying trends. Results The nonparametric tests indicate a decreasing, significant trend in the sampled site. The application of the linear model yields a significant decrease every twelve months of 15.8% for the average monthly CO concentration. The 95% confidence interval for the trend ranges from 13.9% to 17.7%. The seasonal cycle also provides significant results. There are no differences in trends throughout the months. The percentage of CO variance explained by the linear model is 90.3%. The KZ filter separates out long, short-term and seasonal variations in the CO series. The estimated, significant, long-term trend every year results in 10.3% with this method. The 95% confidence interval ranges from 8.8% to 11.9%. This approach explains 89.9% of the CO temporal variations. Discussion The differences between the linear model and KZ filter trend estimations are due to the fact that the KZ filter performs the analysis on the smoothed data rather than the original data. In the KZ filter trend estimation, the effect of meteorological conditions has been removed. The CO short-term componentis attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in emissions. There is a significant seasonal cycle. This component is a result of changes in the traffic, the yearly meteorological cycle and the interactions between these two factors. There are peaks during the autumn and winter months, which have more traffic density in the sampled site. There is a minimum during the month of August, reflecting the very low level of vehicle emissions which is a direct consequence of the holiday period. Conclusions The significant, decreasing trend implies to a certain extent that the urban environment in the area is improving. This trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and economics. It is also due to the effect of introducing reformulated gasoline. The additives enable vehicles to burn fuel with a higher air/fuel ratio, thereby lowering the emission of CO. The KZ filter has been the most effective method to separate the CO series components and to obtain an estimate of the long-term trend due to changes in emissions, removing the effect of meteorological conditions. Recommendations and Perspectives Air quality managers and policy-makers must understand the link between climate and pollutants to select optimal pollutant reduction strategies and avoid exceeding emission directives. This paper analyses eight years of ambient CO data at a site with a high traffic density, and provides results that are useful for decision-making. The assessment of long-term changes in air pollutants to evaluate reduction strategies has to be done while taking into account meteorological variability     

省以下生态转移支付制度环境保护激励效应

现有文献认为生态转移支付具有基本公共服务均等化与提升地方生态环境质量双目标,而目标的多样性会影响地方财政转移支付资金效果及目标的实现。文章基于环保支出和农林水支出的中介与调节效应,对生态转移支付的生态环境目标进行了理论分析,利用2010—2018年甘肃、贵州、湖北及河南四省的199个县的面板数据进行实证检验。实证研究表明:在样本期内,生态转移支付促进了地方生态环境质量的提升,中介效应和调节效应模型的结果表明,中国地方生态转移支付资金对辖区环境保护效果中,环境保护支出起到部分中介效应,农林水支出不仅调节了生态转移支付的地方环境保护支出效果,而且调节了环境保护支出对地方环境质量的影响。因此,由于地方政府具有环境治理信息优势,省以下制度目标更能体现辖区生态需求,省对县生态转移支付制度会有效促进地方生态环境质量的改善,环保激励效应较为明显。同时,县级地方政府应该逐步摆脱"先污染后治理"的路径依赖,逐步转向经济与环境"双目标协同发展"模式。为了协同生态转移支付的双目标,"自下而上参与式决策"可以作为环境治理的有益补充,通过地方政府多元化实践改善环境质量。     

铜合金实验室试验与实海挂片结果的比较与分析

目的比较实验室试验结果与实海挂片结果对B10和H62两种铜合金腐蚀性能评价的异同之处。方法采用线性极化、电化学阻抗、显微形貌观察等,比较两种铜合金在实验室模拟海水中的的腐蚀速率、点蚀倾向,结合反应机理、腐蚀形貌、环境等外部因素,分析导致实验室与实海环境下出现差异的原因。结果除榆林海域外,实海挂片与实验室结果都表明,B10试样的平均腐蚀速率小于H62。B10和H62两种铜合金随温度升高腐蚀速率增大,在实验室和实海情况下表现出一致性,且平均腐蚀速率都随浸泡时间的延长而降低。结论在实海环境中,温度不是影响点蚀的主要因素,微生物等其他环境因素会对点蚀产生较大影响。     

密封组合形式对结构密封性能影响研究

目的研究密封组合形式对结构密封性能的影响。方法开展密封性能试验,从密封形式、装配形式和涂覆形式的3种组合形式开展试验研究,找出结构密封性能影响因素,筛选密封最优组合形式。结果结构密封3种组成形式分别为有无贴合面的密封形式,干涉装配、湿装配形式,部分涂覆、全涂覆形式。开展2种应力水平下8种密封组合形式的密封性能试验,在保证密封工艺质量条件下,按照飞机结构和受载特点选取合理密封组合形式能有效提高结构密封性能。结论在飞机应力较高、不常拆的密封部位应选择贴合面密封、干涉装配、部分涂覆的密封组合形式,在飞机结构设计要求间隙装配、常拆卸的密封部位选择贴合面密封、湿装配、部分涂覆的密封组合形式。     

用EXCEL进行精密度-偏性分析质控数据处理

利用EXCEL强大的数据处理功能，可以方便地对精密度—偏性分析质控数据进行处理，具有较高的推广价值。     

Modelling of Materials Policies

This paper discusses the REAP1 model and its application for the analysis of CO₂ reduction and waste management policies for Japanese petrochemicals. The pros and cons of this modelling approach in comparison to other tools is elaborated. This is followed by a discussion of the model code and the modelling results. The results show that CO₂ policies can have significant impacts on waste flows and waste policies can have significant CO₂ benefits. As a consequence both effects must be considered in policy assessment. Pricing instruments are recommended instead of regulations because of the complex physical relations in the materials life cycle that extend beyond sector boundaries. A taxation approach is superior to a subsidy approach because rebound effects can be avoided.     

地球化学数据去噪方法研究

在简要介绍移动平均、傅立叶交换和小波变换基本原理的基础上，比较了它们在地球化学数据处理过程中去除噪声效果的优劣，并应用于塔北雅克松-轮台地区的地球化学勘探实际。研究结果表明，小波变换是一种理想的数据处理方法。     

浅议提高废水污染源监测数据代表性

对废水污染源监测中影响监测数据代表性的主要因素进行了分析,并对提高废水污染源监测数据代表性提出了可行性建议。     

三峡库区长江水位变化条件下滑坡稳定性二元指标体系研究

安全系数是边坡稳定性评价中的常用方法,在长期的工程实践中积累了丰富的经验,其最大的缺点是不能考虑边坡岩土体中实际存在的不确定性。可靠性理论可有效地考虑边坡系统内实际存在的不确定性和相关性,但是缺乏丰富的工程实践经验,因此,将工程实践经验丰富的安全系数与先进的可靠性理论相结合,建立安全系数与可靠性相耦合的二元评价体系具有重要的理论意义和应用价值。以巴东县东壤口镇宋家屋场滑坡为实例,计算了长江水位从135 m至175 m变化过程中的平均安全系数(最大可能安全系数)和相应的可靠性。将最大可能安全系数与边坡可靠性相乘,对最大可能安全系数进行折减,得到边坡可靠的安全系数。设折减后安全系数的临界值为1．05,由此计算出不同最大可能安全系数的临界变异系数和临界破坏概率。根据不同的最大可能安全系数及它的临界破坏概率,绘制出边坡稳定性分区图。用均值安全系数和可靠性二元指标对宋家屋场滑坡的稳定性进行了评价,结果是可靠的安全系数为1．068,略大于临界值,处于基本稳定状态。文中论述了边坡稳定性二元指标体系的建立方法。