A survey for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in Vancouver Harbour

Shellfish samples were collected from seven inter-tidal and two sub-tidal sites between 23 May and 8 June 1999 in Vancouver Harbour and were analysed for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) using a mouse bioassay. PSP was detected in mussels collected at four sampling sites in English Bay and Burrard Inlet, at a concentration below 20 microg saxitoxin equivalents (STXeq)/100 g wet weight.     

地震物理学展望

1998年 6月在美国南加州地震中心学术会议期间 ,曾举行过一次关于地震与断层行为的物理本质的讨论会 ,内容包括地震成核 ,断裂传播及抑制 ,地震活动的时空模式 ,断层的相互作用 ,断层系统的演化等。加深对地震物理过程的理解有助于提高对未来地震发生地点、震级、时间的概率估算能力 ,改善地震灾害的评估方法。它使科学家能把动态破裂与地震波传播的模拟结合到地震危险性分析模型中 ,从而合成设定地震的强地面运动时间过程 ,这是动态结构抗震设计的基础。这一问题牵涉到诸多领域 ,如连续介质力学、统计物理学、室内实验与野外观测等。来自各大学、美国地质调查局、国家实验室与政府机构的 5 3名代表参加了讨论会 ,对比各自的研究结果 ,讨论未来研究的关键性问题。以下是会议发言要点。Ｂｅｎ -Ｚｉｏｎ综述了在断裂力学、损伤流变学、颗粒力学 (ｇｒａｎｕｌａｒｍｅｃｈａｎｉｃｓ)、统计物理学方面的进展。当不存在一个统一的地震物理学框架时 ,连续固体材料的运动方程也许是一个好的选择。这些方程与尺度无关 ,即变形过程产生幂律统计学上的自相似模式。这种模式在地震现象中比比皆是。然而 ,在流变学与构造研究中 ,尺度效应会导致与自相似模     

从断层泥石英颗粒表面结构来判定断层的活动

由于沉坡地质过程、形成条件、诱发因素的复杂性、多样性及其变化的随机性、非稳定性，从而导致滑坡动态信息极难捕捉，加之滑坡动态监测技术的不成熟和滑坡研究理论的不完善，滑坡滑动时间的预测预报一直被认为是一十分困难的前沿课题。本文作者对此潜心研究多年，译者摘译其部分成果，以飨读者。     

DEPTH-AVERAGED 2-D CALCULATION OF FLOW AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT IN CURVED CHANNELS

The helical flow significantly affects the flow, sediment transport and morphological evolution in curved channels. A semi-empirical formula is proposed to determine the cross-stream distribution of the helical flow intensity in the developed regions of a channel bend. It is then used to evaluate the dispersion terms in the depth-averaged 2-D momentum equations and suspended-load transport equation as well as the bed-load transport angle, thus enhancing the depth-averaged 2-D model to account for the effect of helical flow. The tests in several experimental and field cases show that the enhanced depth-averaged 2-D model can much more reasonably predict the shifting of main flow from inner bank to outer bank, the erosion along outer bank and deposition along inner bank than the depth-averaged 2-D model without considering this effect.     

A correlation between pulse diagnosis of human body and health monitoring of structures

The concept of health monitoring is a key aspect of the field of medicine that has been practiced for a long time. A commonly used diagnostic and health monitoring practice is pulse diagnosis, which can be traced back approximately five thousand years in the recorded history of China. With advances in the development of modem technology, the concept of health monitoring of a variety of engineering structures in several applications has begun to attract widespread attention. Of particular interest in this study is the health monitoring of civil structures. It seems natural, and even beneficial, that these two health-monitoring methods, one as applies to the human body and the other to civil structures, should be analyzed and compared. In this paper, the basic concepts and theories of the two monitoring methods are first discussed. Similarities are then summarized and commented upon. It is hoped that this correlation analysis may help provide structural engineers with some insights into the intrinsic concept of using pulse diagnosis in human health monitoring, which may be of some benefit in the development of modem structural health monitoring methods.     

Historical trends of organic pollutants in sediment cores from Hong Kong

Recent studies have indicated the occurrence of a wide range of trace organic contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the Hong Kong environment. These contaminants are potentially harmful to ecological systems, particularly in coastal areas. In this study, two sediment cores (4m) were collected from southern waters of Hong Kong in 2004 to study the historical trends, distribution patterns, and potential sources of trace organic contaminants. DDTs (p,p'-DDT, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDD and p,p'-DDE), hexachlorohexanes (HCHs) (alpha and gamma), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and PCBs were detected in the samples, whereas other target compounds were all below detection limits. Many OCPs have not been produced or used for many years due to toxicological or environmental concerns and PCB use is prohibited in Hong Kong. However, some compounds were still detectable in recent years, and were found to be widely distributed in the environment, likely because of pollutant inputs from the highly industrialized Pearl River Delta region. These results provide important information on current and historical contamination in Hong Kong, and help to reconstruct the pollution history of these trace organic pollutants in Hong Kong coastal waters.     

Contamination and potential biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mangrove sediments of Xiamen, China

Five stations were established in the Fenglin mangrove area of Xiamen, China to determine the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the numbers of PAH-degrading bacteria in surface sediments. Assessing the biodegradation potential of indigenous microorganisms and isolating the high molecule weight (HMW)-PAH degrading bacteria was also one of the aims of this work. The results showed that the total PAH concentration of sediments was 222.59 ng g(-1) dry weight, whereas the HMW-PAH benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) had the highest concentration among 16 individual PAH compounds. The variation in the numbers of PAH-degrading bacteria was 2.62 x 10(2)-5.67 x 10(4)CFU g(-1) dry weight. The addition of PAHs showed a great influence in increasing the microbial activity in mangrove sediments. A bacterial consortium, which could utilize BaP as the sole source of carbon and energy, and which was isolated from mangrove sediments and enriched in liquid medium for nearly one year degraded 32.8% of BaP after 63 days incubation.