Quantitative evaluation of the performance of a permit auction system in reducing bycatch of sea turtles in the Hawaii Swordfish longline fishery

Many authors have suggested the use of a cap and trade auction system to help reduce bycatch—the incidental take of species by fishing gear targeting other species—of sea turtles in the Hawaii-based swordfish longline fishery. However, we know of no quantitative evaluations of the method. We present a simple mathematical model to serve as a framework to evaluate bycatch auction systems quantitatively. We conclude that cap and trade auction systems have the potential to reduce sea turtle bycatch by creating a financial incentive, while keeping permit costs down to 2–3% of total revenues. While stringent regulations aimed at conserving endangered sea turtles would still be essential, implementation of an auction for issuing transferable bycatch permits would likely enhance the economic efficiency of the fleet. Sea turtle mortality could be reduced further if a shrinking cap on total turtle mortality was introduced, taking advantage of the incentives for reducing turtle mortality that are introduced by the cap and trade auction system.     

云南下侏罗统禄丰组恐龙足迹的发现和张北足迹属新观察

记述了云南省禄丰县腰站乡下侏罗统禄丰组2个恐龙足迹,命名了棋盘张北足迹（Changpeipus pareschequier ichnosp. nov.）一新种。这是在禄丰组中首次发现恐龙足迹化石,重新观察并修订了张北足迹一属的属征。滦平张北足迹（Changpeipus luanpingeris）应为石炭张北足迹（Changpeipus carbonicus）的亚成年个体,为同物异名。此前被认为是石炭张北足迹（Changpeipus carbonicus）前足迹的IVPP V2472 2a,应为其未成年体的后足迹。张北足迹与卡岩塔足迹（Kayentapus）类似。综合种种特征,棋盘张北足迹（新种）的造迹恐龙很可能为禄丰组的腔骨龙类（Coelophysoidea）     

Model development and calibration for the coupled thermal,hydraulic and mechanical phenomena of the bentonite

In the international DECOVALEX-THMC project, five research teams study the influence of thermal-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupling on the safety of a hypothetical geological repository for spent fuel. In order to improve the analyses, the teams calibrated their bentonite models with results from laboratory experiments, including swelling pressure tests, water uptake tests, thermally gradient tests, and the CEA mock-up THM experiment. This paper describes the mathematical models used by the teams, and compares the results of their calibrations with the experimental data.     

The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake and response of high-rise buildings under long-period ground motions

In the afternoon of March 11, 2011, the eastern Japan was severely attacked by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake (the Great East Japan earthquake). Nearly 30,000 people were killed or are still missing by that earthquake and the ensuing monster tsunami as of April 11, 2011. This paper reports some aspects of this devastating earthquake which hit an advanced country in seismic resistant design. It has been reported that long-period ground motions were induced in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. The properties of these long-period ground motions are discussed from the viewpoint of critical excitation and the seismic behavior of two steel buildings of 40 and 60 stories subjected to the long-period ground motion recorded at Shinjuku, Tokyo is determined and discussed. This paper also reports the effectiveness of visco-elastic dampers like high-hardness rubber dampers in the reduction of responses of super high-rise buildings subjected to such long-period ground motions. The response reduction rate is investigated in detail in addition to the maximum response reduction. In December 2010 before this earthquake, simulated long-period ground motions for earthquake resistant design of high-rise buildings were provided in three large cities in Japan (Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka) and nine areas were classified. Two 40-story steel buildings (slightly flexible and stiff) are subjected to these long-period ground motions in those nine areas for the detailed investigation of response characteristics of super high-rise buildings in various areas.     

Intelligent seismic isolation system using air bearings and earthquake early warning

Recently strong seismic waves or long period seismic waves have been observed in various earthquakes that occurred in Japan. As a result improvements of existing seismic isolation systems are deemed necessary. The present study proposed an intelligent seismic isolation system encompassing air bearings and earthquake early warning (EEW) system. Such system exhibits adequate isolation performance. The air bearings are isolation device that may render infinite the superstructure natural period by floating them, and the EEW is applied for a trigger of isolation. This paper illustrates the proposed system and discusses the experimental results of a test carried out with the system. Laboratory tests carried out in the present research demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed base isolated systems and prove its efficacy in mitigating the effects of three-dimensional seismic waves. For example, the system suppressed the horizontal response acceleration of an isolation target to 38% of input acceleration.     

冬克玛底冰川和煤矿冰川的物质平衡（1992／1993年）

对青藏高原唐古拉山大、小冬克玛底冰川和昆仑山煤矿冰川的同观测研究表明，１９９２／１９９３年冰川的物质平衡为正平衡，其平衡值唐古拉山冰川大于昆仑山冰川。冰川物质过程存在四个阶段，即低水平维持阶段，强积累弱消隔阶段，强消隔阶段和较强积累弱消隔阶段，空间上反映出随海拔升高波动增大的趋势。     

Estimation of crustal structure from observed group velocities ofPL-waves in Japan

Forward modelling of the crustal structure of the eastern Honshu Island, Japan, was made based on the group velocities ofPL-waves in the period range of 20–30 s. The observed values of group velocity were obtained by appling the multiple filter technique to the seismograms for earthquakes with the epicentral distance ranging from 500 to 1000 km. The theoretical values were calculated using Oliver and Major's method to find the best fit dispersion curve in the least-squares sense. The obtained structural model has considerably high crustal velocities compared to other previous models. It was shown that thePL-wave group velocity in the period range of interest was most sensitive to seismic velocities of the center of the crust. Numerical experiments confirmed the applicability of the approximation methods employed to obtain both observed and theoretical group velocities.     

Estimation of crustal structure in central and west Japan from waveform modeling of regionalPL waves

An inverse method of modeling the regionalPL waveform with the predominant period of about 20 s was developed to estimate the averageS-velocity structure of the upper crust. Applicability of the waveform modeling was confirmed by the results of the numerical experiments: thePL waveform is most sensitive to theS velocity in the upper crust, whereas it is not affected significantly by errors involved in the focal mechanism solution and focal depth determination when thePL wave is well developed. The method was applied to the observed seismograms recorded in central Japan from the earthquakes with epicentral distances 300–500 km. As a result, distinct regional differences were found in the upper crustalS velocity; in particular, between the southern Shikoku district, west Japan, and the southern Chubu district, central Japan, and between the mountainous and the coastal areas in the southern Chubu district. These differences are in agreement with the general features ofP-velocity structures obtained by explosion experiments and by analyses of natural earthquakes. Our method is effective to the extent that the crustal structure along the propagation path can be assumed a horizontally layered structure; it is not applicable when the sensitivity of thePL waveform to the error in the focal mechanism solution is exceptionally high.     

Reconstructions of annual discharge and equilibrium line altitude of glaciers at Qilian Shan,northwest China,from 1978 to 2002

Discharge was calculated from a mountainous area, including discharge from glaciers, in the Qilian Shan (Qilian Mountains) of northwest China. The studied Yingluoxia basin is 9983 km² in area, with glaciers making up 0·3% of the basin. The calculation method was based on the heat balance, requiring only daily temperature and precipitation. Calculated annual discharge from the basin corresponded well with the observed data. Calculated annual discharge from glaciers was 3·6% of the total discharge from the basin. The temporal trend of the calculated equilibrium line altitude (ELA) at the July 1st Glacier (western side of the Yingluoxia basin) was similar to that of the observed ELA. The calculated annual mass balance of glaciers within the Yingluoxia basin has a larger negative value than the other glaciers in China, as the ratio of accumulation area to the total glacier area in the Yingluoxia basin is much lower than in neighbouring basins to the west. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nondestructive Sensor Using Microwaves From Laser Plasma by Subnanosecond Laser Pulses

Conventional ground-penetrating radar (GPR) requires large-aperture antennas or long-span measurements to survey a remote location precisely. We propose a laser-driven GPR (LGPR) as a new detection method. LGPR uses microwaves from laser-produced plasmas as remote transmitters and can survey a remote location using a compact instrument. We performed numerical simulations to investigate the radiation mechanism of microwaves from laser plasmas and confirmed the pulsewidth of the laser suitable for LGPR. Experiments with subnanosecond pulse lasers clarified the feasibility and detection performance of LGPR.