Study on biogenic amines in various dry salted fish consumed in China

This study was carried out to investigate the biogenic amines（BAs）, physicochemical property and microorganisms in dry salted fish, a traditional aquatic food consumed in China. Forty three samples of dry salted fish were gathered from retail and wholesale markets and manufacturers, which had been produced in various regions in China. Cadaverine（CAD） and putrescine（PUT） were quantitatively the most common biogenic amines. About 14% of the samples exceeded the histamine content standards established by the FDA and/or EU. The highest histamine content was found in Silver pomfret（Pampus argenteus）(347.79 mg kg^-1). Five of forty three samples exceeded the acceptable content of TYR(100 mg kg^-1), and 23.26% of dried-salted fish contained high contents of biogenic amines(above 600 mg kg^-1). In addition, species, regions, pickling processes and drying methods made the physicochemical property, microorganisms and biogenic amines in dry salted fish to be different to some extents. The total plate count（TPC） was much higher than that of total halophilic bacteria in all samples. The biogenic amines, physicochemical property and microbiological counts exhibited large variations among samples. Furthermore, no significant correlation between biogenic amines and physicochemical property and TPC was observed. This study indicated that dry salted fish may still present healthy risk for BAs, depending on the processing methods, storage conditions among others.     

Tide and current observations in the central Chukchi Sea during the summer of 2012

Current data from a moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler(ADCP) deployed at 69?30.155′N,169?00.654′W in the central Chukchi Sea during 2012 summertime is analyzed in the present paper.Characteristics of tidal and residual currents are ob-tained with Cosine-Lanczos filter and cross-spectral analyses.The main achievements are as follows:1) Along with the local inertial frequency of 12.8 h,two other peaks at ~12-h and ~10-d dominate the time series of raw velocity;2) The M_2 dominates the 6 resolved tide constituents with significant amplitude variations over depth and the ratios of current speed of this constituent to that of the total tidal current are 54% and 47% for u and v components,respectively.All the resolved tidal constituents rotate clockwise at depth with the exception of MM and O1.The constituents of M_2 and S_2 with the largest major semi-axes are similar in eccentricity and orientation at deeper levels;3) The maximum of residual currents varies in a range of 20–30 cms~(-1) over depth and the current with lower velocities flow more true north with smaller magnitudes compared to the current in surface layer.The ~10 d fluctuation of residual current is found throughout the water column and attributed to the response of current to the local wind forcing,with an approximate 1.4 d lag-time at the surface level and occurring several hours later in the lower layer;4) Mean residual currents flow toward the north with the magnitudes smaller than 7 cms~(-1) in a general agreement with previous studies,which suggests a relatively weaker but stable northward flow indeed exists in the central Chukchi Sea.     

Autonomic visiting in digital 3D scenes

Human-machine interactive visiting and fixed-route visiting are currently the main roaming modes in digital three-dimensional (3D) scenes. However, in general, when a person visits an attraction area, s/he does not follow a fixed path, but instead wander about according to his/her interests. Here, we propose a new roaming mode, called autonomic visiting. That is, in a digital 3D scene, a user selects several interest spots, then a route connecting these spots can be automatically determined and 3D scene can be seen along this route. This study presents a technical approach that enables the realization of autonomic visiting in 3D scenes. Firstly, Delaunay triangular meshes for the terrain in 3D scene are established. Secondly, a plane-growth algorithm and a line-connection algorithm are introduced to automatically mend the broken parts of these triangular meshes. Thirdly, the triangular meshes are then merged and differently weighted according to different layers. Finally, a progress-zone transmission algorithm is presented to optimal the shortest route, which is derived from A-Star (A*) algorithm. Digital 3D campus of Nanjing University, China, is taken as the experimental materials. The experimental results prove the effect of the proposed approach.     

Application of magnetic adsorbent with silicate and phenyl polymers to adsorb Rhodamine B

The extensive use of Rhodamine B (RhB) for textile, paper, pigment, food, cosmetic, and drug manufacturing and its indiscriminate disposal leads to serious human, biological, and environmental hazards. A magnetic adsorbent with silicate and phenyl polymers (Ph/SiO₂/Fe₃O₄) has been prepared to absorb RhB. The morphology and structure of the adsorbents have been characterized by TGA, XRD, FTIR, and adsorption–desorption measurement. The results revealed that Ph/SiO₂/Fe₃O₄ exhibited a paramagnetic behavior and could easily and quickly be separated from a suspension. The RhB adsorption behavior was almost pH independent due to the adsorption between the phenyl ring of Ph/SiO₂/Fe₃O₄ and RhB by π–π electron-donor–acceptor interactions. The adsorption behavior of RhB adsorption was in good agreement with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 142.186 mg g^?1. Good desorption performance of Ph/SiO₂/Fe₃O₄ showed that this novel magnetic adsorbent cannot only be activated by ethanol extraction process but also reuse by the recovery of magnetic force.     

Experimental and numerical investigation on coal drawing from thick steep seam with longwall top coal caving mining

Steep coal seam mining activities will frequently occur during the next few decades in China. In this study, both experimental and numerical methods are employed to investigate the coal drawing from thick steep seam with longwall top coal caving mining. A series of analyses is performed to investigate the features of the drawing body, the distribution of top coal recovery ratio and the shape of the rock flow under steep conditions. The results indicate that the drawing body of top coal develops prior to upper side of the panel face obviously, and the top coal in the central part of the panel has a higher recovery ratio than that in the lower and upper parts in steep coal seam with caving mining method. The flow paths of the fragmented top coal are nearly straight lines moving towards the drawing window, and the fastest path maintains a constant angle with the plumb line. The spatial shape of the rock flow indicates “bidirectional asymmetry,” which results from the presence of the shield beam and dip angle of the coal seam; thus, this is the root cause of the appearance of the drawing body’s prior development towards the upper side of the panel. The field observation data indicates the same distribution of top coal recovery as that in the physical experiment and numerical simulation. Furthermore, suggested measurements are proposed to improve top coal recovery in steep seam mining based on the engineering practice of Dayuan coal mine.     

Correction to: Assessing real options in urban surface water flood risk management under climate change

Windblown dust originating in China and Mongolia causes health effects and agricultural damage in its source areas and causes Asian dust events in Japan. An early warning system that could be combined with weather forecasts would be helpful in preventing serious damage. However, it is difficult to specify source areas of dust with current dust modeling systems because land surface information, including vegetation coverage and land surface soil water content, is inadequate. To find and monitor dust source regions, a semi-real-time dust erodibility map was developed based on MODIS satellite data that focuses particularly on the threshold wind speed in a target area of northeast Asia including China and Mongolia (35°–50°N, 75°–120°E). The mapping system incorporates satellite data on snow cover, areas of frozen soil, surface soil water content, and vegetation cover.     

Object- and pixel-based classifications of macroalgae farming area with high spatial resolution imagery

Macroalgae plays an important role in coastal ecosystems. The accurate delineation of macroalgae areas is important for environmental management. This study compared the pixel- and object-based methods using Gaofen satellite no. 2 image to explore an efficient classification approach. Expert system rules and nearest neighbour classifier were adopted for object-based classification, whereas maximum likelihood classifier was implemented in the pixel-based approach. Normalized difference vegetation index, normalized difference water index, mean value of the blue band and geometric characteristics were selected as features to distinguish macroalgae farms by considering the spectral and spatial characteristics. Results show that the object-based method achieved a higher overall accuracy and kappa coefficient than the pixel-based method. Moreover, the object-based approach displayed superiority in identifying Porphyra class. These findings suggest that the object-based method can delineate macroalgae farming areas efficiently and be applied in the future to monitor the macroalgae farms with high spatial resolution imagery.     

Dynamic Response and Mechanical Behaviours of Geogrid for High Earth-rockfill Dams

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Due to the complexity of the interaction between the geogrid and the soil interface in high earth-rock dams, the method of replacing the grid with steel...     

Investigation of the penetration characteristics of snake skin-inspired pile using DEM

Acta Geotechnica - Snake can perfectly utilize its scales to move. Inspired by the snake scales, this study investigated the characteristics of the snake skin-inspired pile penetration process. Six...