(Re)surveying the uses of Geographical Information Systems in Health Authorities 1991–2001

This paper provides a comparative analysis of two separate national surveys of the uptake and use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) by Health Authorities (HAs) in England and Wales. The surveys were undertaken at two different time points (1991 and 2001), and the intervening period has been characterized by major (and continuing) health sector restructuring. The substantial number of HA mergers between 1991 and 2001 provide a methodological challenge in attempting to make comparisons. A pragmatic approach is adopted and the presentation of results has to be restricted solely to English and Welsh HA data. Our findings show that there has been a considerable increase in the use of GIS since the early 1990s, and there is some evidence of more sophisticated uses for a wider range of policy-related and application tasks. However, we conclude that there is still considerable scope for the wider uptake and use of GIS within the NHS. In addition, our findings provide a baseline with which to monitor the impacts of future organizational restructuring on the uses of GIS within the NHS. We suggest that this is important given the replacement of 95 English HAs with 28 new Strategic HAs (StHAs) from April 2002, and the repercussions of the anticipated shift in GIS responsibility to Primary Care Trusts.     

Eco-environment range in the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers

Based on geographical and hydrological extents delimited, four principles are identified, as the bases for delineating the ranges of the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers in the paper. According to the comprehensive analysis of topographical characteristics, climate conditions, vegetation distribution and hydrological features, the source region ranges for eco-environmental study are defined. The eastern boundary point is Dari hydrological station in the upper reach of the Yellow River. The watershed above Dari hydrological station is the source region of the Yellow River which drains an area of 4.49×104 km2. Natural environment is characterized by the major topographical types of plateau lakes and marshland, gentle landforms, alpine cold semi-arid climate, and steppe and meadow vegetation in the source region of the Yellow River. The eastern boundary point is the convergent site of the Nieqiaqu and the Tongtian River in the upstream of the Yangtze River. The watershed above the convergent site is the source region of the Yangtze River, with a watershed area of 12.24×104 km2. Hills and alpine plain topography, gentle terrain, alpine cold arid and semi-arid climate, and alpine cold grassland and meadow are natural conditions in the source region of the Yangtze River.     

Present land use and cover patterns and their development potential in North Ningxia

With the objectives to acquire the fundamental data of the territorial resource, understand the impacts of human activities on the land use and cover patterns and evaluate the potential of the future exploitation, an intensive land cover classification with an accuracy of 93% has been completed for North Ningxia by remote sensing technique based on the adoption of a combination method composed of texture training, maximum likelihood classification and post-processing such as re-allocation and aggregation. This classification result was incorporated with the contemporaneous socio-economic and meteorological data for cross-sectional regression modelling to reveal the spatial determinants of the land cover patterns and understand the human-environmental relationships. A tentative evaluation on the potential of soil exploitation in the near future was carried out in combination with our land use and cover change detection results aiming at supplying some useful references for the central and local governments in their sustainable land use planning.     

应县木塔地基工程地质勘测与分析

对山西应县木塔环境地质进行了研究,弄清了地层年代及存在的断层;通过样品分析、标准贯入及静探等方法试验、测试,得出了塔院区塔基土的工程物理性质和力学性质、承载力;用地学层析成像技术探测了木塔的基础结构及塔院地基的分层结构。     

天然气水合物研究现状与展望

自20世纪90年代以来,世界各国对潜力巨大的新型能源———天然气水合物的研究做了大量的投入,已经取得了重大进展。本文在阐述国外天然气水合物的研究现状的同时,重点介绍了我国在天然气水合物勘探开发和实验模拟方面取得的一些进展,并展望其在能源、环境和其它研究领域的发展前景。     

细菌浸铜技术在紫金山铜矿的应用

介绍了生物浸矿技术在紫金山铜矿的应用及在这一过程中发现的一些问题，并提出了有待进一步解决的一些问题。     

覆盖区地球化学异常特征及甄别方法探讨

覆盖区地球化学异常是由自然和人为因素引起的，在土壤垂直剖面上元素有多种分布类型，它反映了元素在土壤中迁移、演化及人为干扰的分布特征；通过对自然和人为污染的地球化学异常源追踪和评价，为环境污染治理和地区经济可持续发展提供决策依据。     

充电激发极化法在金属矿上的应用

充电激发极化法是矿山物探的一种主要方法，其兼有充电法与激发极化法的特点，可利用已有的工程，最大限度地了解地下三度空间地球物理场的分布情况，解决地质问题。概述了其理论基础和方法技术，并列举了该方法在多个金属矿上的应用实例。