Seasonal variation of airborne fungi of the Tiantishan Grottoes and Western Xia Museum,Wuwei, China

In this study, a systematic survey of cultural airborne fungi was carried out in the occurrence environments of wall paintings that are preserved in the Tiantishan Grottoes and the Western Xia Museum, China. A bio-aerosol sampler was used for sampling in four seasons in 2016. Culture-dependent and -independent methods were taken to acquire airborne fungal concentration and purified strains; by the extraction of genomic DNA, amplification of fungal ITS rRNA gene region, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis, thereafter the fungal community composition and distribution characteristics of different study sites were clarified. We disclosure the main environmental factors which may be responsible for dynamic changes of airborne fungi at the sampling sites. The concentration of cultural airborne fungi was in a range from 13 to 1,576 CFU/m³, no significant difference between the two sites at the Tiantishan Grottoes, with obvious characteristics of seasonal variation, in winter and spring were higher than in summer and autumn. Also, there was a significant difference in fungal concentration between the inside and outside of the Western Xia Museum, the outside of the museum was far more than the inside of the museum in the four seasons, particularly in the winter. Eight fungal genera were detected, including Cladosporium, Penicillium, Alternaria, and Filobasidium as the dominant groups. The airborne fungal community structures of the Tiantishan Grottoes show a distinct characteristic of seasonal variation and spatial distribution. Relative humidity, temperature and seasonal rainfall influence airborne fungal distribution. Some of the isolated strains have the potential to cause biodeterioration of ancient wall paintings. This study provides supporting information for the pre-warning conservation of cultural relics that are preserved at local sites and inside museums.     

A hybrid discrete–finite element model for numerical simulation of geomaterials

A hybrid discrete–finite element model is introduced for simulation of mechanical behavior of geomaterials. The soil or rock is modeled as a system of discrete balls that interact through normal and shear springs. The balls can be bonded at the contact points to withstand the applied deviatoric stresses. The important feature of this model is that the confining walls that can be imagined for example as the surrounding membrane or the mold in a physical test are modeled by deformable finite elements. This allows simulation of laboratory test features more realistically compared to the situations where the surrounding walls are rigid. The relationships between micro- and macro-properties are investigated in this paper as well. These relationships and the corresponding curves are helpful tools in calibration of the numerical model for the macroscopic elastic properties.     

云南洱海炭屑记录揭示的近千年来古火演化历史

中国云南地区是森林火灾多发的典型区域, 了解该地区近千年来古火灾的演化历史及其驱动机制对于未来区域森林火灾的防护与治理以及生物多样性的保护具有重要的科学意义。本研究以滇西北地区洱海湖泊的3个沉积岩芯(EHB1岩芯, 58.5 cm; EHN1岩芯, 78.5 cm; EHB2岩芯, 80 cm)为研究对象, 通过对沉积物中高分辨率炭屑记录的分析, 基于 ²¹⁰Pb/¹³⁷Cs和加速器质谱法(AMS)¹⁴C测年技术建立的年代序列, 重建了洱海地区近千年来的古火演化历史。研究结果表明, 基于洱海湖泊沉积岩芯上部大炭屑指标重建的火事件与现代森林火灾记载资料的对比, 确定了大炭屑指标反映湖泊周围约10 km范围即大理市的古火活动情况, 验证了炭屑记录在重建古火灾活动方面的可靠性。古火历史的重建结果显示近千年来洱海地区共发生20次火事件, 其主要集中在1200~1350 A.D.期间和1540~2000 A.D.期间; 近千年来, 洱海地区古火活动的强度整体上呈现先降后升的趋势, 其中火事件的发生频率及其强度在近100年均达到千年来的最高值, 分别对应10次/300年和652.4粒/cm²/peak。炭屑记录和古火活动与区域高分辨率气候记录、植被状况以及人口历史资料的相关分析、冗余分析(RDA)和对比分析结果表明, 大理州人口变化是洱海地区近千年来古火活动最重要的驱动因子, 其次为区域降雨量和植被类型, 温度和植物量则对区域古火活动的影响较小。

     

外部利润、产权界定与土地资源优化配置——成都市农村土地股份合作制改革的制度经济学解析

以"外部利润——产权界定——资源优化配置"为研究主线,对成都市农村土地股份合作制改革进行了制度经济学解析。研究发现,制度创新空间的形成、土地的增值收益、土地规模利用效应和土地集约利用效应构成了成都市农村土地股份合作制改革的外部利润。成都市农村土地股份合作制改革,一方面可以提高土地规模和集约利用效应,促进土地资源优化配置;另一方面可以明晰集体土地产权主体,健全基层组织治理机制。要采取诸如放松法律限制、加强理论研究、规范机制建设等措施,从而推动土地股份合作制的生成和发展。     

Integrated Approaches,Multiple Scales: Snag Dynamics in Burned Versus Unburned Landscapes*

By studying landscape form and patterns, we can study processes at multiple scales and determine how collectively those processes inform us about function(s). Integrating landscape ecology from a biogeographical perspective with geographic information science (GIScience) practices offers new ways to study how landscapes change over time and space, including how they can be measured, analyzed, and modeled for management needs. This article presents methodologies and selected results of analyzing spatial patterns from field data across multiple scales by examining standing dead tree (snag) processes across wildfire‐disturbed landscapes in Arizona. Our primary motivation was to illustrate a particular type of work benefiting from the coalescing of landscape ecology and GIScience, functioning at the methodological and practical overlap of these two contributing fields. Our management goals were to (1) describe spatial patterns and characteristics of snags in pairs of burned and unburned ponderosa pine forests of Arizona in four recent (within the past ten years) wildfires, (2) document bird response to wildfires by combining landscape ecology and GIScience methods, and (3) link these patterns to snag monitoring plots and cavity‐nesting bird use to predict the probability of snag use by birds and cavity nesters based on snag characteristics (snag use model). The methods and results demonstrate how integration of landscape ecology with both GIS and GIScience improves the ways to study landscapes and land management issues, in this case offering guidelines for retention of snags that provide habitat for wildlife.     

Estimating spatial efficiency using cyber search,GIS, and spatial optimization: a case study of fire service deployment in Los Angeles County

ABSTRACT

The efficiency of public investments and services has been of interest to geographic researchers for several decades. While in the private sector inefficiency often leads to higher prices, loss of competitiveness, and loss of business, in the public sector inefficiency in service provision does not necessarily lead to immediate changes. In many cases, it is not an entirely easy task to analyze a particular service as appropriate data may be difficult to obtain and hidden in detailed budgets. In this paper, we develop an integrative approach that uses cyber search, Geographic Information System (GIS), and spatial optimization to estimate the spatial efficiency of fire protection services in Los Angeles (LA) County. We develop a cyber-search process to identify current deployment patterns of fire stations across the major urban region of LA County. We compare the results of our search to existing databases. Using spatial optimization, we estimate the level of deployment that is needed to meet desired coverage levels based upon the location of an ideal fire station pattern, and then compare this ideal level of deployment to the existing system as a means of estimating spatial efficiency. GIS is adopted throughout the paper to simulate the demand locations, to conduct location-based spatial analysis, to visualize fire station data, and to map model simulation results. Finally, we show that the existing system in LA County has considerable room for improvement. The methodology presented in this paper is both novel and groundbreaking, and the automated assessments are readily transferable to other counties and jurisdictions.     

Evaluating the fitness for use of spatial data sets to promote quality in ecological assessment and monitoring

This article proposes and illustrates a practical methodological framework to evaluate the fitness for use of spatial data sets for environmental and ecological applications, focusing on user requirements for specified application contexts. The methodology is based on the use of metadata to analyze similarity between the data characteristics and the user’s needs or expectations for several quality indicators. Additionally, the concept of ‘critical factors’ is introduced in this framework, allowing users to define which quality indicators have greater importance given their own requirements or expectations and the specified application contexts. The proposed methodology further allows integrating and interconnecting the spatial data quality (SDQ) evaluation methodology with metadata geoportals in WebGIS platforms, facilitating its operation by users from non-spatial disciplines and with often limited expertise on this subject. Examples of the evaluation of fitness for use for specific application contexts within the project BIO_SOS (‘Biodiversity Multi-SOurce Monitoring System: From Space To Species’ FP7 project) are presented. By providing a prompt and straightforward evaluation tool, the proposed methodology can encourage the implementation of SDQ evaluation routines in ecological assessment and monitoring programs, promoting a more adequate use of geospatial data and ultimately contributing to well-supported policy and management decisions.     

EXTERNAL CONTROL OF NONMETROPOLITAN INDUSTRY IN KENTUCKY

The organizational separation of management and other quaternary activities from production operations in American manufacturing has resulted in a divergent pattern of production and headquarter locations. We examine the external control relationships that arise from this separation between headquarter location and branch plant operations in nonmetropolitan Kentucky. Although corporate headquarters have diffused to the Sunbelt, no shift was found in the corporate control of branch plants in Kentucky. Nonmetropolitan manufacturing in Kentucky was oriented toward the metropolitan centers of the traditional manufacturing belt rather than the newer corporate centers of the South. Also control relationships are more likely to be local among smaller factories. Large plants having more autonomy in production or producing finished goods were more likely to be owned by a distant firm located in a large SMSA.     

旅游生态环境容量的经济学探讨

在总结旅游环境容量研究进展的基础上，提出了研究旅游环境容量意义及其概念体系，并就影响旅游环境容量的关键性因子－旅游生态环境容量进行了分析，运用经济学的理论和方法，提出了引起旅游生态环境容量的深层原因是外部不经济性，最后就为了实现资源环境的可持续发展，应该从法律、行政，经济、社会等角度对社会各利益加以协调，构建了有效的制度平台和相应的措施，使外部成本内部化，并提出了解决这些问题的具体对策和建议。     

Revision of thickness design of cylindrical frozen walls considering frost heave

This paper outlines development of the thickness design of cylindrical frozen walls in artificial ground freezing (AFG). A plain strain mechanical model coupled with infinite surrounding soil and rock ...