Analysis of types and changes of village-level economy in rural Gongyi city,Henan Province since 1990

Based on the research on the rural living standard in China in terms of annual net income per capita, we define six types of village-level economy, i.e. ＂to be extremely poor＂, ＂to make a basic living＂, ＂to dress warmly and eat one＇s fill＂, ＂to try to enrich （to disengage poverty）＂, ＂to be well-off＂ and ＂to be affluent＂. The data of average annual net income of all the 292 villages between 1990 and 2004 in rural Gongyi City, Henan Province were collected, verified and classified. By using standard deviation, coefficient of variation and regression analysis, it is found that the Gongyi＇s rural economy has boosted up remarkably from the relative-poverty and absolute-poverty stages in 1990 to the well-off in 2004. However, the absolute differences between villages present a trend of enlargement, while the relative differences fluctuating. On the other hand, spatial analysis of village-level economy shows that most villages with relatively high economic development level were located along national expressway and most villages with absolute-poverty lay in remote mountainous areas in 1990. Since the 1990s, the rapid urbanization and industrialization have had strongly positive effects on rural economic growth. Initial economic foundation, natural resources and traditional techniques also contribute to village economy. From the perspective of geography, villages with location advantages, such as near urban center or industrial parks, have more chances for their economic development and the ＂core-periphery＂ economic structure has been presented in the process of rural development.     

Modeling rhamnolipids production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa from immiscible carbon source in a batch system

A mathematical model to predict the rhamnolipids production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa from oleic acid in a two phase liquid-liquid batch reaction system, was developed in this study. The model was based on two theoretical assumptions: 1) the convective oleic acid mass transfer is coupled to a bioreaction in the aqueous liquid bulk, and 2) the volume of the immiscible oleic acid drops and the saturation concentration at the interface are a function of rhamnolipids production. The model was able to accurately predict the experimental growth of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain, and the rhamnolipids production data with oleic acid as carbon source. This mathematical approach indicated a high correspondence between the saturation dimensionless profiles of oleic acid at the interface and the experimental profiles of surface tension difference. This modeling approach may constitute a useful tool in the design and scaling-up of bioreactors applied to the production of biosurfactants with immiscible carbon sources.     

Misconceptions about the Hubble recession law

Almost all astronomers now believe that the Hubble recession law was directly inferred from astronomical observations. It turns out that this common belief is completely false. Those models advocating the idea of an expanding universe are ill-founded on observational grounds. This means that the Hubble recession law is really a working hypothesis. One alternative to the Hubble recession law is the tired-light hypothesis originally proposed by Zwicky (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 15:773, 1929). This hypothesis leads to a universe that is an eternal cosmos continually evolving without beginning or end. Such a universe exists in a dynamical state of virial equilibrium. Observational studies of the redshift-magnitude relation for Type Ia supernovae in distant galaxies might provide the best observational test for a tired-light cosmology. The present study shows that the model Hubble diagram for a tired-light cosmology gives good agreement with the supernovae data for redshifts in the range 0<z<2. This observational test of a static cosmology shows that the real universe is not necessarily undergoing expansion nor acceleration. An erratum to this article can be found at     

A comparative study of sequential minimal optimization-based support vector machines,vote feature intervals,and logistic regression in landslide susceptibility assessment using GIS

Landslide susceptibility assessment using GIS has been done for part of Uttarakhand region of Himalaya (India) with the objective of comparing the predictive capability of three different machine learning methods, namely sequential minimal optimization-based support vector machines (SMOSVM), vote feature intervals (VFI), and logistic regression (LR) for spatial prediction of landslide occurrence. Out of these three methods, the SMOSVM and VFI are state-of-the-art methods for binary classification problems but have not been applied for landslide prediction, whereas the LR is known as a popular method for landslide susceptibility assessment. In the study, a total of 430 historical landslide polygons and 11 landslide affecting factors such as slope angle, slope aspect, elevation, curvature, lithology, soil, land cover, distance to roads, distance to rivers, distance to lineaments, and rainfall were selected for landslide analysis. For validation and comparison, statistical index-based methods and the receiver operating characteristic curve have been used. Analysis results show that all these models have good performance for landslide spatial prediction but the SMOSVM model has the highest predictive capability, followed by the VFI model, and the LR model, respectively. Thus, SMOSVM is a better model for landslide prediction and can be used for landslide susceptibility mapping of landslide-prone areas.     

Experimental constraints on ultrapotassic magmatism from the Bohemian Massif (durbachite series, Czech Republic)

The equilibrium phase relations of a mafic durbachite (53 wt.% SiO₂) from the Třebíč pluton, representative of the Variscan ultrapotassic magmatism of the Bohemian Massif (338–335 Ma), have been determined as a function of temperature (900–1,100°C), pressure (100–200 MPa), and H₂O activity (1.1–6.1 wt.% H₂O in the melt). Two oxygen fugacity ranges were investigated: close to the Ni–NiO (NNO) buffer and 2.6 log unit above NNO buffer (∆NNO + 2.6). At 1,100°C, olivine is the liquidus phase and co-crystallized with phlogopite and augite at 1,000°C for the whole range of investigated pressure and water content in the melt. At 900°C, the mineral assemblage consists of augite and phlogopite, whereas olivine is not stable. The stability field of both alkali feldspar and plagioclase is restricted to low pressure (100 MPa) at nearly water-saturated conditions (<3–4 wt.% H₂O) and T < 900°C. A comparison between experimental products and natural minerals indicates that mafic durbachites have a near-liquidus assemblage of olivine, augite, Ti-rich phlogopite, apatite and zircon, followed by alkali feldspar and plagioclase, similar to the mineral assemblage of minette magma. Natural amphibole, diopside and orthopyroxene were not reproduced experimentally and probably result from sub-solidus reactions, whereas biotite re-equilibrated at low temperature. The crystallization sequence olivine followed by phlogopite and augite reproduces the sequence inferred in many mica-lamprophyre rocks. The similar fractionation trends observed for durbachites and minettes indicate that mafic durbachites are probably the plutonic equivalents of minettes and that K- and Mg-rich magmas in the Bohemian Massif may have been generated from partial melting of a phlogopite–clinopyroxene-bearing metasomatized peridotite. Experimental melt compositions also suggest that felsic durbachites can be generated by simple fractionation of a more mafic parent and mixing with mantle-derived components at mid crustal pressures.     

Surface and groundwater quality characterization of Deoria District,Ganga Plain,India

A water quality investigation was carried out in the Deoria district, Ganga plain, to assess the suitability of surface and groundwaters for domestic, agricultural, and industrial purposes. As much as 50 representative samples from river and groundwater were collected from various stations to monitor the water chemistry of various ions, comprising Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, HCO₃ ⁻, SO₄ ²⁻, NO₃ ⁻, Cl⁻, F⁻, and trace metals, such as Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cd, and Pb. The results showed that electrical conductance (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), HCO₃ ⁻, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, and total hardness (TH) are above the maximum desirable limit, and apart from Fe and Mn all other trace metals are within the maximum permissible limit for drinking water. The calculated values for sodium absorption ratio (SAR), salinity, residual sodium carbonate (RSC), and permeability index (PI) indicate well to permissible use of water for irrigation. High values of Na%, RSC, and Mg-hazard (MH) at some stations restrict its use for agricultural purpose. Anthropogenic activities affect the spatial variation of water quality. Economic and social developments of the study area is closely associated with the characteristics of the hydrological network.     

Errors and correction of precipitation measurements in China

In order to discover the range of various errors in Chinese precipitation measurements and seek a correction method, 30 precipitation evaluation stations were set up countrywide before 1993. All the stations are reference stations in China. To seek a correction method for wind-induced error, a precipitation correction instrument called the ＂horizontal precipitation gauge＂ was devised beforehand. Field intercomparison observations regarding 29,000 precipitation events have been conducted using one pit gauge, two elevated operational gauges and one horizontal gauge at the above 30 stations. The range of precipitation measurement errors in China is obtained by analysis of intercomparison measurement results. The distribution of random errors and systematic errors in precipitation measurements are studied in this paper. A correction method, especially for wind-induced errors, is developed. The results prove that a correlation of power function exists between the precipitation amount caught by the horizontal gauge and the absolute difference of observations implemented by the operational gauge and pit gauge. The correlation coefficient is 0.99. For operational observations, precipitation correction can be carried out only by parallel observation with a horizontal precipitation gauge. The precipitation accuracy after correction approaches that of the pit gauge. The correction method developed is simple and feasible.     

Assessment of rock slope stability by probabilistic-based Slope Stability Probability Classification method along highway cut slopes in Adilcevaz-Bitlis (Turkey)

Rock slope stability is of great concern along highway routes as stability problems on cut slopes may cause fatal events as well as loss of property. In rock slope engineering, stability evaluations are commonly performed by means of analytical or numerical analyses, principally considering the factor of safety concept. As a matter of fact, the probabilistic assessment of slope stability is progressively getting popularity due to difficulties in assigning the most appropriate values to design parameters in analytical or numerical methods. Additionally, the effect of heterogeneities in rock masses and discontinuities on the analysis results is minimized through the probabilistic concept. In this study, slope stability of high and steep sedimentary rock cut slopes along a state highway in Adilcevaz-Bitlis (Turkey) was evaluated on the basis of probabilistic approach using the Slope Stability Probability Classification (SSPC) system. The probabilistic assessment indicates major slope stability problems because of discontinuity controlled and discontinuity orientation independent mass movements. Almost all studied cut slopes suffer from orientation-independent stability problems with very low stability probabilities. Additionally, the probability of planar and toppling failures is significantly high with respect to the SSPC system. The stability problems along the investigated rock slopes were also verified by field reconnaissance. Remedial measures such as slope re-design and reinforcement at the studied locations should be taken to prevent hazardous events along the highway. On the other hand, the probabilistic approach may be a useful tool during rock slope engineering to overcome numerous uncertainties when probabilistic and analytic results are compared.     

Terrestrial photogrammetric techniques applied to the control of a parabolic dune in the Liencres dune system,Cantabria (Spain)

The spatial–temporal variations of a dune system can be determined by using diverse ‘geomatic’ methodologies: geodesy, global positioning system (GPS) and photogrammetry. In the case of the Liencres dune system, a study will be carried out using the ‘close‐range’ photogrammetry technique and the topography technique (total station and GPS). In order to determine the dynamic of the dune system it is necessary to repeat the process of study after a specific interval of time. For this reason, three dimensional data should be available in two different time periods, between which the displacement of the object of analysis (the front portion of the dune) will be significant enough to evaluate its magnitude. This work analyses the viability of photogrammetry for the determination of the spatial–temporal changes of a coastal parabolic dune. Two factors have been analysed: first, the comparison of the photogrammetric results with the results obtained from topographic methods (total station and GPS), and second, the quantification of the displacement of the dune system. The analysis of the correspondence between the movement of different parts of the dune and the influence of the intensity and direction of the prevailing wind in the area is also desired. The dune advanced 12·15 ± 0·06 m (an average of 8·5 m/yr), and the partial implications for the dynamic of human modified processes on the natural park have been established. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.