An Analysis of Reducing Perchloroethylene Emissions in the Urban Environment: A Case Study of Taiwan

Selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from commercial activities and industrial processes have been classified as hazardous air pollutants, posing a potential health risk in the urban environment. In this respect, perchloroethylene (PCE), a suspected human carcinogen, is the most noticeable compound because it is widely used in laundries and hotels as a dry‐cleaning solvent. The objective of this paper was to quantify the emissions of PCE and other petroleum‐based solvents from dry cleaning business in illustration of the regulatory infrastructure of reducing PCE exposure in the environment of Taiwan. Based on the Emission Factors (AP‐42) method, the emissions of the non‐methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) from dry cleaning business had decreased from 5100 metric tons in 1997 to 2800 metric tons in 2007. The success of significant reduction of NMHCs in Taiwan has been ascribed to the fact that Taiwan established the relevant regulations at the end of the 1990s. From the data on the industrial/commercial demand for PCE and the emission inventories of NMHCs from dry cleaning business, the reduction of PCE emissions will show a declining trend in the near future.     

An Alpine Lacustrine Record of Early Holocene North American Monsoon Dynamics from Dry Lake, Southern California (USA)

Dry Lake (2763 m), located in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California, USA, provides a high-resolution climate record from the coastal southwest depicting early Holocene terrestrial climate. 27 AMS ¹⁴C dates and multi-proxy analyses, including magnetic susceptibility, total organic mater, microfossil counts, and grain size, suggest the early Holocene was significantly wetter then present, due to an enhanced North American Monsoon (NAM). Elevated insolation at 9000 cal year B.P., raised summer sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of California and the eastern tropical Pacific, as well as land surface temperatures, extending the NAM into southern California. The data also provide evidence of the 8.2 ka event, which registers as a 300-year cool period characterized by reduced monsoonal precipitation, depressed basin productivity, and increased erosion. We suggest this event is the most likely period for the early to middle Holocene (9000–5000 cal year B.P.) glacial advance in the San Bernardino Mountains proposed by Owen et al. (2003, Geology 31: 729–732).     

川西草地的传统利用--关于游牧的辩驳

自然资源的不断减少和生态环境的日趋退化,使人们开始从各种角度思考人类发展的长期可持续性,但当追求可持续发展时,自然资源保护本身与相关乡土知识系统的保护具有同等重要的地位。综合各学派观点,界定了游牧、半游牧、山地季节性畜牧业和混农季节性牧业等几个与川西草地畜牧业密切相关的概念,描述了游牧现象在全世界的地理分布和川西地区存在的主要类型,并对其生态内核进行了剖析。研究认为,移动型草地畜牧业是川西藏族牧民对高寒地区环境异质性的适应,是在可持续的框架下利用时间和空间差异对草地进行最大限度利用的生态对策。同时,在牧区普遍存在的以牲畜头数论贫富的表象之下,其本身也是适应高寒地区气候条件非规律性变化的保险策略,类似于动物所采取的“r-对策”。因此,对于牧区的发展来说,深刻地理解游牧体系的传统知识,并将其结合于现代发展规划中,是保证高寒牧区走可持续道路的必要基础。     

“080527”湖北老河口短历时暴雨的中尺度天气成因分析

以2008年5月27日发生在湖北老河口的短历时暴雨为例,利用NCEP客观再分析资料,开展中尺度天气系统诊断分析。结果表明：干线、500 hPa冷温度槽、冷切尾部辐合区、中低层湿区及地面风场辐合线等中尺度天气系统的活动与暴雨发生、发展密切相关。干空气自北向南、自上而下侵入湿区,具有典型的湖北干侵入暴雨特征。干侵入使干冷空气与暖湿空气汇合上升,同时激发冷切尾部辐合区中的正涡度柱沿假相当位温锋区向上发展,配合地面中尺度辐合线,增强对流上升运动。500 hPa冷温度槽活动及干侵入造成垂直方向上对流不稳定,冷式切变线尾部由于冷暖平流、干湿平流交汇构成水平方向不稳定区,不稳定区受露点锋生扰动,从而触发强对流天气。中低层深厚湿区的维持和水汽辐合为老河口中尺度暴雨提供了水汽来源。     

Griffith Taylor's ‘palimpsest theory’ of the dry valleys of Victoria land,antarctica

Griffith Taylor was the first geomorphologist to work in the Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Following his field work in February 1911, he proposed a multistage model in which earlier cirque erosion was later swamped by expanding outlet glaciers. Subsequently these glaciers retreated leaving the present form of the valleys. The topography retained the imprint of each episode, hence his name ‘palimpsest theory’. I summarise later research and compare Taylor's theory with current views.     

Interpretation of the lime column penetration test

Dry soil mix (DSM) columns can be used to reduce the settlement of embankments constructed on soft clays and to improve the stability. During construction the shear strength of the columns needs to be confirmed for compliance with technical assumptions. However, the measurement of the column shear strength can be a contentious issue. All methods of assessing the ultimate shear strength of DSM columns have limitations. These are caused by uncertainties in empirical probe factors required to convert pullout or push in force measured during the lime column penetration test to shear strength and/or testing a small proportion of the DSM column volume and determining whether it is representative of the strength of the entire column. The penetration resistance measured using the lime column test is considered to be more representative of average column shear strength than some other test types. This test can be carried out as a pullout resistance test (PORT) or a push in resistance test (PIRT). Both PORT and PIRT require empirical correlations of measured resistance to an absolute measure of shear strength, in a similar manner to the Piezocone test. In this paper, finite element techniques developed for assessment of T-bar, Ball and Piezocone penetration tests ,  and  are used to assess bounds for the empirical probe factor, N. To simulate the cemented DSM columns, analyses have incorporated a model for a strain softening material. Measured settlements from an embankment constructed on DSM ground improvement are then compared with finite element calculations to infer the shear strength of the columns. These inferred shear strengths are then compared with the results of PORT tests performed beneath the embankment.     

Microbial growth and air pollutants in the corrosion of carbonate building stone: results of laboratory and outdoor experimental tests

The combined effect of microbial colonization by fungal growth and atmospheric pollutants in the sulfation of carbonate rocks was investigated by means of laboratory experiments of dry deposition of sulfur and nitrogen dioxides, in vitro microbiological assays and outdoor exposure tests. All the experiments were performed on Scaglia limestone, which is a very common building material in ancient monuments in Central Italy. Results point to a combined action of particulate matter deposition and sulfation in the formation of gypsum on the samples exposed outdoor, and to a significant influence of fungal growth in the conversion of metal sulfide particulate matter to sulfate thus promoting subsequent formation of gypsum also in the absence of pollution. The chemical and textural features of stone tend to enhance chemical weathering and fungal colonization in the short term, and to preserve the material in the long term.     

Behaviour of model footing on pond ash

This paper focuses on the effective utilization of pond ash, as foundation medium. A series of laboratory model tests have been carried out using square, rectangular and strip footings on pond ash. The effects of dry density, degree of saturation of pond ash, size and shape of footing on ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations are presented in this paper. Local shear failure of a square footing on pond ash at 37% moisture content (optimum moisture content) is observed up to the values of dry density 11.20 kN/m³ and general shear failure takes place at the values of dry density 11.48 kN/m³ and 11.70 kN/m³. Effects of degree of saturation on ultimate bearing capacity were studied. Experimental results show that degree of saturation significantly affects the ultimate bearing capacity of strip footing. The effect of footing length to width ratio (L/B), on increase in ultimate bearing capacity of pond ash, is insignificant for L/B ≥ 10 in case of rectangular footings. The effects of size of footing on ultimate bearing capacity for all shapes of footings viz., square, rectangular and strip footings are highlighted.     

The discrete methods for free vibration analyses of an immersed beam carrying an eccentric tip mass with rotary inertia

In this paper, a beam without contact with water is called the “dry” beam and the one in contact with water is called the “wet” beam. For a partially (or completely) immersed uniform beam carrying an eccentric tip mass possessing rotary inertia, the conventional analytical (closed-form) solution is achieved by considering the inertial forces and moments of the tip mass and rotary inertia as the boundary conditions at the tip end of the beam. However, it has been found that the approximate solution for the last problem may be achieved by two techniques: Method 1 and Method 2. In Method 1, the basic concept is the same as the conventional analytical method; but in Method 2, the tip end of the beam is considered as a free end, while the inertial forces and moments induced by the tip mass and rotary inertia are considered as the external loads applied at the tip end of the beam. The main differences between the formulation of Method 1 and that of Method 2 are: In Method 1, the “normal” shapes of the “dry” beam are functions of the frequency-dependent boundary conditions but the external loads at the tip end are equal to zero; On the contrary, in Method 2, the “normal” mode shapes of the “dry” beam are determined based on the zero boundary conditions at the tip end of the beam but the external loads at the tip end due to the inertial effects of the tip mass and rotary inertia must be taken into consideration for the free vibration analysis of the “wet” beam. Numerical results reveal that the approximate solution obtained from Method 2 are very close to that from Method 1 if the tip mass moment of inertia is negligible. Besides, the two approximate solutions are also very close to the associated analytical (closed-form) solution or the finite element solution. In general, it is hoped that there exist several methods for tackling the same problem so that one may have more choices to incorporate with the specified cases. It is believed that the two approximate methods presented in this paper will be significant from this point of view.     

Enhanced atmospheric phosphorus deposition in Asia and Europe in the past two decades

磷是植物生长必需的元素,磷缺乏将限制植被生产力及碳汇功能.为厘清全球大气磷沉降的时空格局,本文收集了 1959-2020年发表的396条观测资料.结果发现,全球大气磷沉降的几何均值为0.32 kg ha-1 yr-1,全球大气磷库约4.4Tg yr-1.与1959-2000年相比,近20年亚洲和欧洲大气磷沉降呈现上升趋势,主要来源是农业活动,沙尘传输和燃烧源排放.碳中和背景下,清洁空气行动是否会改变磷沉降的途径和形态,进而影响到生态系统的结构和功能,是需要回答的科学问题.