Waste loading in shrimp and fish processing effluents: potential source of hazards to the coastal and nearshore environments

On average, only 30-40% of the global fishery production is consumed fresh and the rest 60-70% is processed for human consumption and other purposes. Although the proportion of the total fishery production that are processed remained relatively stable over the last decade, the total bulk of processed fishery commodity increased due to the steady increase in the total fishery production. Processing of large bulk of fish, shrimp and other aquatic organisms produces a corresponding large bulk of by-products and wastes. Although recent trend shows that much of these wastes are made into various value added products, considerable quantities are discharged as the processing effluents with large volume of waters used in processing. Reports suggest that fish and shrimp processing effluents are very high in biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), fat-oil-grease (FOG), pathogenic and other microflora, organic matters and nutrients, etc. Fish and shrimp processing effluents are, therefore, highly likely to produce adverse effects on the receiving coastal and marine environments. Although substantial reduction of the waste loads is possible by applying available simple techniques, this is not in practice in most part of the world due to lack of proper managerial and regulatory approach. The present paper reviews the characteristics of fish and shrimp processing effluents as a potential source of coastal and marine pollution and, using the existing data, analyzes the global production and discharge of waste loads from the processing plants and discusses available options for waste treatment and management.     

A model oscillator of irregular stellar variability

We have studied a set of equations with nonlinear and nonadiabatic terms which describes a simple oscillator. The equations have only one fixed point located at the origin. It is found that the oscillator shows the sequence of the period-doubling for the change of a parameter and results in chaotic oscillation. We illustrated the behaviour of the oscillator for several set of parameters and showed that the equations of the oscillator can be reduced to the one-zone model of stellar pulsation with simple nonlinear terms. It is suggested that the stellar irregular variability is resulted from the chaotic motion due to the nonlinear effect.     

Anguilar momentum transport by tidal acoustic wave

We give an analytic expression of the braking torque on a Jacobian ellipsoid rotating steadily in an environmental gas, based on the assumption that the ellipsoid rotates around its shortest principal axis with an angular momentum slightly larger than that at the bifurcation point of the Maclaurin spheroid. This braking torque is effected by the gravitational interaction between the ellipsoid matter and a spiral density configuration in the environmental gas. This spiral configuration, which we call a tidal acoustic wave, is caused by the zone of silence effect in a supersonic flow. With respect to a coordinates system rotating with the ellipsoid, a supersonic region appears outside a certain radius. In this supersonic region, the effect of the non-axisymmetric fluctuation in the ellipsoid potential propagates only along the downstream branches of the Mach waves. This one-sided response of the supersonic part causes the tidal acoustic wave. We restrict ourselves to the equatorial plane, and use an acoustic approximation of the basic equations under the assumption that the self-gravity effect of the environmental gas is negligible in comparison to the main gravity of the ellipsoid. The results are applied to the pre- and post-Main Sequence phases of a rotating star, and relating astrophysical problems are discussed.     

Tracing the equilibrium path by dynamic relaxation in materially nonlinear problems

Material non-linearity in non-associated high friction materials exhibiting post-peak softening such as granular materials poses a great problem in solving the non-linear differential equations. In this regard, a dynamic relaxation (DR) family of solutions provides a very strong tool to solve. In this paper, the DR method is evaluated from the viewpoint of its ability to trace the whole equilibrium curve in the load–displacement (stress–strain) space. In the case of material non-linearity, usually there is a snap-through. This problem has been handled in three ways: (1) load control with a real time dynamic solution at post-peak, (2) direct displacement control and (3) arc-length control. These three methods of non-linear equilibrium path tracing are critically evaluated with respect to their speed of convergence, accuracy of the solution and states of unequilibrium. Finally, the results of multi-element FEM simulations of a bearing capacity test of a strip footing on sand carried out to validate the DR methods are presented.     

Seasonal variation in the energy and water exchanges above and below a larch forest in eastern Siberia

The water and energy exchanges in forests form one of the most important hydro‐meteorological systems. There have been far fewer investigations of the water and heat exchange in high latitude forests than of those in warm, humid regions. There have been few observations of this system in Siberia for an entire growing season, including the snowmelt and leaf‐fall seasons. In this study, the characteristics of the energy and water budgets in an eastern Siberian larch forest were investigated from the snowmelt season to the leaf‐fall season. The latent heat flux was strongly affected by the transpiration activity of the larch trees and increased quickly as the larch stand began to foliate. The sensible heat dropped at that time, although the net all‐wave radiation increased. Consequently, the seasonal variation in the Bowen ratio was clearly ‘U’‐shaped, and the minimum value (1·0) occurred in June and July. The Bowen ratio was very high (10–25) in early spring, just before leaf opening. The canopy resistance for a big leaf model far exceeded the aerodynamic resistance and fluctuated over a much wider range. The canopy resistance was strongly restricted by the saturation deficit, and its minimum value was 100 s m^?1 (10 mm s^?1 in conductance). This minimum canopy resistance is higher than values obtained for forests in warm, humid regions, but is similar to those measured in other boreal conifer forests. It has been suggested that the senescence of leaves also affects the canopy resistance, which was higher in the leaf‐fall season than in the foliated season. The mean evapotranspiration rate from 21 April 1998 to 7 September 1998 was 1·16 mm day^?1, and the maximum rate, 2·9 mm day^?1, occurred at the beginning of July. For the growing season from 1 June to 31 August, this rate was 1·5 mm day^?1. The total evapotranspiration from the forest (151 mm) exceeded the amount of precipitation (106 mm) and was equal to 73% of the total water input (211 mm), including the snow water equivalent. The understory evapotranspiration reached 35% of the total evapotranspiration, and the interception evaporation was 15% of the gross precipitation. The understory evapotranspiration was high and the interception evaporation was low because the canopy was sparse and the leaf area index was low. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地面电探CT技术的研究及其在三峡地区地下考古中的应用试验

１９９４年３月在三峡淹没区进行综合考古物探研究（该项目主要由日本田中保士先生资助）时，根据电流扩散及穿透原理，提出了地面电探ＣＴ新技术并将其用于考古实践．为获得资料的充分重叠，可使用数十至５０００个探头，现场实时或线下处理得到数百幅纵、横断面及一定深度平剖面的彩色影像图、可直观显示数十米深的地下微观结构．至少对１—３个推断墓，经洛阳铲钻探结果发现了‘活土”，有可能发现公元前４７５—２２１年的“巴王陵”．本研究所发展的地面电探ＣＴ有益于考古技术现代化及三峡地下文物的抢救．     

Rapid and Simple Measurement of H2 Emission from Active Faults Using Compact Sampling Equipments

Smaller equipment has been developed for sampling and measuring H₂ in fault zones. A considerable volume of hydrogen emission, suggesting the presence of fluid paths along fault zones, was detected within a 1‐h simple field procedure at an active fault in Central Japan, the Atotsugawa Fault. The equipment enabled measurements in a thin fault gouge with a thickness of 10 mm; this led to pervasive sampling from small fault zones hosted in harder rocks. A rapid evaluation of the spatio‐temporal heterogeneity of hydrogen emissions along the faults, using the present method, would increase knowledge of fluid circulation around faults.