Allowed Quantity of Explosive Charge Depending on the Distance from the Blast

This paper analyses results of trial, construction and quarry blasting, carried out in sediment rock deposits, mainly limestone and dolomite. Based on results of seismic measurements and engineering geological observations in sedimentary formation, an empirical relationship was established between ground vibration and geological strength index (GSI). The charge weight of explosive that may be detonated per delay for any given distance of nearby structures from the blast is approximately determined by using the concept of the scaled distance (SD) along with the DIN 4150 standard.     

Characteristics of secondary circulations over an inhomogeneous surface simulated with large-eddy simulation

Large-eddy simulation is used to study secondary circulations in the convective boundary layer modulated as a result of horizontally varying surface properties and surface heat fluxes over flat terrain. The presence of heat flux heterogeneity and its alignment with respect to geostrophic wind influences the formation, strength and orientation of organized thermals. Results show boundary-attached roll formation along heat flux maxima in the streamwise direction. The streamwise organization of the updrafts and downdrafts formed downwind of heterogeneities leads to counter-rotating secondary circulations in the crosswind plane. The distribution of resolved-scale pressure deviations shows large pressure gradients in the crosswind plane. Spanwise and vertical velocity variances and heat flux profiles depict considerable spatial variability compared to a homogeneous forest simulation. Secondary circulations are observed for various ambient wind scenarios parallel and perpendicular to heterogeneities. In the presence of increased wind speed, thermals emerging from the heat flux heterogeneity are elongated, and organize along and downwind of large-scale heterogeneity in the streamwise direction. Simulation with a reduced heat flux shows a shallower circulation with a lower aspect ratio. Point measurements of heat flux inside the roll circulation could be overestimated by up to 15–25% compared to a homogeneous case.     

The Role of Planetary Boundary-Layer Parameterizations in the Air Quality of an Urban Area with Complex Topography

The effect of different planetary boundary-layer (PBL) parameterization schemes on the spatial distribution of atmospheric pollution over the complex topography of the greater Athens area is investigated. Four PBL schemes originally implemented in a numerical meteorological model and a fifth one simulating the urban effect are examined. Two different atmospheric conditions are analyzed; a typical summer and a typical winter pollution episode. The relative importance of chemical and physical processes of the pollution predictions is discussed using process analysis. It is revealed that, for primary pollutants, a local scheme seems more adequate to represent the maximum observed concentrations while, completely different in structure, a non-local scheme reproduces the mean observed values in the basin. Concerning secondary pollutants, peak concentration differences, due to the different PBL schemes, are smoothed out. Nevertheless, the PBL scheme selection shapes the horizontal and the vertical extension of maximum values. The non-local and semi non-local schemes are superior to the others, favouring strong vertical mixing and transport towards the surface. The stronger turbulence accommodated effectively by the semi non-local urban scheme enhances ozone production along the sea-breeze axis and preserves the high ozone concentrations during the nighttime hours in the urban core.     

New insights into rare earth element (REE) particulate generated by cigarette lighters: an electron microscopy and materials science investigation of a poorly understood indoor air pollutant and constraints for urban geochemistry

Cigarette smoking is a well-recognized cause of lung cancer and other diseases and is a major contributor to indoor air pollution in numerous settings worldwide. Most cigarette lighters use rare earth element (REE) mischmetal in their flints in order to aid ignition, and these lighters thus have pyrophoric properties. REE particulate emitted from these lighters presents a complexity in the role of health of smokers that has yet to be explored fully. Furthermore, these particles are likely present in numerous urban settings and contribute to the complexities of urban geochemistry. Details of the material properties of rare earth element (REE) particulate derived from smoking lighters are determined first the first time. Particulate was investigated using back-scatter detection scanning electron microscopy techniques and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Several particle types were observed and demonstrate a diverse range of size and textures, many of which are previously not documented and are much smaller than previous basic scanning electron microscopy investigations. These include irregularly shaped fragments of mischmetal, micrometer-scale spherules, aggregates of nanospherules, and platy sponge-like nanoparticles. All of these particles have significant REE content, and most are of a particle size that can be deposited deep in the lung. The available literature regarding toxicity of REEs and the material science data presented here argues very strongly for cause for concern.     

Predicting Sea Surface Salinity Using an Improved Genetic Algorithm Combining Operation Tree Method

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the use of an improved genetic algorithm combining operation tree method (IGAOT) and apply it to monitor the salinity of the Taiwan Strait by using remote-sensing data. The genetic algorithm combining operation tree (GAOT) is a data mining method used to automatically discover relationships among nonlinear systems. Based on genetic algorithms (GAs), the relationships between input and output can be expressed as parse trees. The GAOT method typically has the disadvantages of premature convergence, which means it cannot produce satisfying solutions and performs satisfactorily when applied to only low-dimensional problems. Therefore, the GAOT method is enhanced using an automatic incremental procedure to improve the search ability of the method and avoid trapping in a local optimum. In this case study, an IGAOT is used to determine the relationship between the in situ data on the salinity of the Taiwan Strait and the data on the spectral parameters, seven wavebands, of a Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor. The results indicate that the IGAOT model performs more favorably than do the GAOT and linear regression (LR₁ and LR₂) models, exhibits higher correlation coefficients, and involves fewer estimating errors. The results of this study indicate that the proposed technique is useful for estimating the Taiwan Strait salinity.     

An Attempt to Partition Stomatal and Non-stomatal Ozone Deposition Parts on a Short Grassland

To evaluate the damaging effect of tropospheric ozone on vegetation, it is important to evaluate the stomatal uptake of ozone. Although the stomatal flux is a dominant pathway of ozone deposition onto vegetated surfaces, non-stomatal uptake mechanisms such as soil and cuticular deposition also play a vital role, especially when the leaf area index \({LAI}< 4\). In this study, we partitioned the canopy conductance into stomatal and non-stomatal components. To calculate the stomatal conductance of water vapour for sparse vegetation, we firstly partitioned the latent heat flux into effects of transpiration and evaporation using the Shuttleworth–Wallace (SW) model. We then derived the stomatal conductance of ozone using the Penman–Monteith (PM) theory based on the similarity to water vapour conductance. The non-stomatal conductance was calculated by subtracting the stomatal conductance from the canopy conductance derived from directly-measured fluxes. Our results show that for short vegetation (LAI \(=\) 0.25) dry deposition of ozone was dominated by the non-stomatal flux, which exceeded the stomatal flux even during the daytime. At night the stomatal uptake of ozone was found to be negligibly small. In the case of vegetation with \({LAI}\approx 1\), the daytime stomatal and non-stomatal fluxes were of the same order of magnitude. These results emphasize that non-stomatal processes must be considered even in the case of well-developed vegetation where cuticular uptake is comparable in magnitude with stomatal uptake, and especially in the case of vegetated surfaces with \({LAI}< 4\) where soil uptake also has a role in ozone deposition.     

Deformation features of garnet-bearing granites from Huwan,western Dabie Mountains

Foliated garnet-bearing granite, usually associated with high pressure and ultrahigh -pressure (UHP) metamophic rocks, is a particular rock-type extensively exposed in the Mesozoic Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt of China. This study focuses on deformation features and SHRIMP zircon dating of foliated garnet granite in a high-pressure metamorphic unit from Huwan, western Dabie Mountains in order to resolve discrepancies in current versions of its petrogenesis and structural evolution. SHRIMP dating reveals a zircon age of 762 ± 15 Ma (MSWD=1.7) for Huwan granites, representing the Middle to Late Neoproterozoic age of intrusion and crystallization. Field and microstructural studies show that the Huwan granite body underwent multiple-stage deformation. The deformation was manifested by an early stage of rootless folding and imposition of relict foliation (S₁); an Indosinian main stage marked by imposition of north-dipping penetrative gneissosity (S₂) and development of ductile shear zones under NNE-SSW directed compression; and a final Indosinian stage of southward thrusting of the Huwan high-pressure unit. Shallow level extension prevailed after the Late Triassic, giving rise to south-dipping thrust faults and north-dipping normal faults. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40802046 and 40334037) and the Project of Science & Technology Research and Development from Sinopec (Grant No. P02009)     

Comparative study of different wavelets for developing parsimonious Volterra model for rainfall-runoff simulation

Although the Volterra models are non-parsimonious ones, they are being used because they can mimic dynamics of complex systems. However, applying and identification of the Volterra models using data may result in overfitting problem and uncertainty. In this investigation we evaluate capability of different wavelet forms for decomposing and compressing the Volterra kernels in order to overcome this problem by reducing the number of the model coefficients to be estimated and generating smooth kernels. A simulation study on a rainfall?runoff process over the Cache River watershed showed that the method performance is successful due to multi-resolution capacity of the wavelet analysis and high capability of the Volterra model. The results also revealed that db2 and sym2 wavelets have the same high potential in improving the linear Volterra model performance. However, QS wavelet was more successful in yielding smooth kernels. Moreover, the probability of overfitting while identifying the nonlinear Volterra model may be less than the linear model.     

Automatic mapping of lunar landforms using DEM-derived geomorphometric parameters

Developing approaches to automate the analysis of the massive amounts of data sent back from the Moon will generate significant benefits for the field of lunar geomorphology. In this paper, we outline an automated method for mapping lunar landforms that is based on digital terrain analysis. An iterative self-organizing (ISO) cluster unsupervised classification enables the automatic mapping of landforms via a series of input raster bands that utilize six geomorphometric parameters. These parameters divide landforms into a number of spatially extended, topographically homogeneous segments that exhibit similar terrain attributes and neighborhood properties. To illustrate the applicability of our approach, we apply it to three representative test sites on the Moon, automatically presenting our results as a thematic landform map. We also quantitatively evaluated this approach using a series of confusion matrices, achieving overall accuracies as high as 83.34% and Kappa coefficients (K) as high as 0.77. An immediate version of our algorithm can also be applied for automatically mapping large-scale lunar landforms and for the quantitative comparison of lunar surface morphologies.     

Climate change and infectious diseases: Can we meet the needs for better prediction?

The next generation of climate-driven, disease prediction models will most likely require a mechanistically based, dynamical framework that parameterizes key processes at a variety of locations. Over the next two decades, consensus climate predictions make it possible to produce forecasts for a number of important infectious diseases that are largely independent of the uncertainty of longer-term emissions scenarios. In particular, the role of climate in the modulation of seasonal disease transmission needs to be unravelled from the complex dynamics resulting from the interaction of transmission with herd immunity and intervention measures that depend upon previous burdens of infection. Progress is also needed to solve the mismatch between climate projections and disease projections at the scale of public health interventions. In the time horizon of seasons to years, early warning systems should benefit from current developments on multi-model ensemble climate prediction systems, particularly in areas where high skill levels of climate models coincide with regions where large epidemics take place. A better understanding of the role of climate extremes on infectious diseases is urgently needed.