The Performance of MEFOS, the ESO Multi-Object Fibre Spectrograph

We are describing a new multi-fibre positioner, MEFOS, that was in generaluse at the La Silla Observatory, and implemented at the prime focus of theESO 3.6 m telescope. It is an arm positioner using 29 arms in a one degreefield. Each arm is equipped with an individual viewing system for accuratesetting and carries two spectroscopic fibres, one for the astronomical objectand the other one for the sky recording needed for sky subtraction. Thespectral fibres intercept 2.5 arcsec on the sky and run from the prime focusto the Cassegrain, where the B&C spectrograph is located. Afterdescribing the observational procedure, we present the first scientificresults.     

Study of a comprehensive assessment method of the environmental quality of soil in industrial and mining gathering areas

Industrial and mining activities have been recognized as major sources of heavy metal contamination in soil. Here, we developed a comprehensive assessment method for the soil environment in industrial and mining gathering areas based on the pressure–state–response model. Using this method, we assessed the environmental quality of soil in a typical industrial and mining gathering area in Tianjin City, China. The results are as follows: (1) The comprehensive environmental quality index of the soil in the study area was 0.532, which corresponds to an alert state and shows that the soil environment is generally poor. (2) The pressure, state, and response indexes were 0.609, 0.634, and 0.163, respectively, which suggests that the pressure in the soil environment of the study area is barely acceptable, and the state is merely passable. Furthermore, the response measures are not ideal. (3) The low response index scores indicate poor production processes, low pollutant treatment level, and unsatisfactory level of management by the enterprises in the study area. (4) The distribution of soil risks was found to be inseparably related to that of contamination sources and land use types. Furthermore, the distribution was uneven to a certain degree. Finally, we propose recommendations for the optimization, adjustment, and management of typical industrial and mining gathering areas with petrochemical, metallurgy, and other heavily polluting enterprises.     

The developmental characteristics and strategic ideas of urbanization in China

Since cities and towns are places where those nonagricultural industries are centralized, urbanization is greatly interrelated with industrialization and de-agriculturalization. By means of this kind of interrelationship, Chinese urbanization level may be estimated with the formulas: P1=I1/I0/u0, Pr = N1/N0/u0. The urbanization after the founding of the People's Republic of China can be divided into the following 5 stages: the stage at the out set of industrialization (1949-1957); the high-speed urbanization stage (1958-1960); the first counter-urbanization stage (1961-1965); the second counter-urbanization stage (1966-1976); and the high-speed urbanization stage (1978-now). The characteristics of Chinese urbanization are: the industrialization launched by the government; the simultaneous development of urbanization of cities and urbanization of rural areas; the quite low capability of urbanization to absorb nonagricultural labor force; the incoordinate development of cities, etc. Before establishing a     

X60钢在CO2饱和盐水中缓蚀作用的研究

本文采用动电位极化、线性极化、电偶电流和高压釜挂片失重等法,研究了含氮、硫有机缓蚀剂和/或Me~(2+)对X60钢在CO_2饱和的盐水溶液中的缓蚀作用。结果表明,含氮、硫的有机缓蚀剂在缓蚀过程中,开始是以抑制阳极过程为主,随后是以抑制阴极过程为主的混合型缓蚀剂。如与Me~(2+)复配使用,能明显地提高缓蚀效能。     

Discrete numerical modeling of granular materials considering crushability

The aim of this study is to numerically investigate the influence of particle breakage on the mechanical behavior of granular materials using a discrete element method (DEM). To enable particle crushing, non-crushable elementary particles are boned together to represents the granular aggregates which can be crushed when the external force exceeds its strength. The flaw of the aggregate was also modeled by randomly distributed void. Single particle crushing tests were carried out to determine the distribution of particle strength. The results of single particle crushing tests illustrate that the simulated single particle fracture strength and pattern agree well with the Weibull’s distribution equation. Conventional oedometer tests, drained monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests were also carried out to investigate the crushing of the aggregates and the associated mechanical behaviors. The effect of confining pressure on the crushing of aggregates and the mechanical behavior was also analyzed. It was found that the peak stress and dilation decrease significantly when particle crushing was considered. The deformation behavior of the specimen is essentially controlled by two factors: particle rearrangement - induced dilation and particle crushing - induced contraction. The increase of permanent strain and the reduction of dilation were observed during cyclic loading and they tend to reach a stable state after a certain number of cycles. The crushing of aggregate is most significant in the first two cycles. The results also indicated that for the same axial strain the volumetric strain and the bound breakage in the cyclic loading tests are significantly larger than that in the monotonic loading tests, especially at high cyclic stress ratio.     

The early-type eclipsing contact binary TY Puppis

In this paper we present theBV photoelectric light curves of the W UMa-type eclipsing binary TY Pup. We have gained ephemerides by means of the times of minima. The obtained light curves have been solved using Wilson-Devinney's synthetic code. The results indicate that TY Pup is a contact system with mass ratio 0.185 and a large degree of overcontact of 52%. Combined with spectroscopic material, absolute parameters of TY Pup are derived. It may be concluded that TY Pup is an evolved contact binary.     

Surface conductivity in rocks: a review

Electrical properties of rocks depend on composition (i.e. bulk properties of the constituents), micro structure (i.e. geometrical arrangement of the constituents) and interfacial effects. We consider here a rock as a three component system — grains, pores, and interfaces — in order to account for the observed behaviour. We review first the main results relative to DC. conductivity. Surface conductivity effects show up clearly in the case of shaly formations or at low salinities. Although Archies' law (1942) and Waxman and Smits model (1968) are widely used, a more physically based model is that of Johnson and Sen (1988). We review also the variable frequency conductivity (complex conductivity) data and models. The important effect in that case is the enhancement of the dielectric constant at low frequencies (Knight and Nur, 1987) which can be interpreted as a geometrical effect although electrochemical interactions may also play an important role at low frequencies, depending on the rock type.     

Platinum-Group Element Geochemical Certified Reference Materials (GPt1-7)

Unlike the situation for other elements, few reference materials certified for the platinum-group elements are currently available. Therefore, the GPt1-7 series of PGE geochemical CRMs, prepared by the IGGE, represent an important addition and comprise a range of matrix types, including a soil, stream sediment, Mg-rich ultramafic rock, Fe-rich ultramafic rock, platinoid ore depleted in Cu, Ni and Fe, and a chromitite. The concentration of PGE in these samples ranges over 4-5 orders of magnitude and the samples were shown to have good homogeneity as assessed by a variance test. Analytical methods based on different principles were used in sample certification, including several fire assay and wet chemical procedures used for decomposition and preconcentration. Certified values for the elements Pt, Pd, Os, Ru, Ir, Rh and Au were determined by AAS, catalytic colourimetry (COL), catalytic polarography (POL), atomic emission spectrometry (AES), ICP-MS and NAA. Recently, the GPt1-7 samples were approved as national primary CRMs by the State Bureau of Technical Supervision of China.