Europeanization through biodiversity conservation: Croatia’s bid for EU accession and the Natura 2000 designation process

This paper explores the impacts of Europeanization on the environments of EU accession and candidate countries. By bridging research in political geography on Europeanization (Moisio et al., 2013; Clark and Jones, 2011) with theories of the production of nature (Smith, 1984; Katz, 2005), this work illustrates that the Europeanization process has distinct spatial impacts. Using a case study on nature protection in Croatia, this study investigates changes to law, governance, and conservation mapping in order to show the pathways by which the Europeanization process produces uniquely European natures within candidate countries.     

Cosmogenic activation of a natural tellurium target

¹³⁰Te is one of the candidates for the search for neutrinoless double beta decay. It is currently planned to be used in two experiments: CUORE and SNO+. In the CUORE experiment TeO₂ crystals cooled at cryogenic temperatures will be used. In the SNO+ experiment ^natTe will be deployed up to 0.3% loading in the liquid scintillator volume. A possible background for the signal searched for, are the high Q-value, long-lived isotopes, produced by cosmogenic neutron and proton spallation reaction on the target material. A total of 18 isotopes with Q-value larger than 2 MeV and T_1/2 > 20 days have been identified as potential backgrounds. In addition low Q-value, high rate isotopes can be problematic due to pile-up effects, specially in liquid scintillator based detectors. Production rates have been calculated using the ACTIVIA program, the TENDL library, and the cosmogenic neutron and proton flux parametrization at sea level from Armstrong and Gehrels for both long and short lived isotopes. The obtained values for the cross sections are compared with the existing experimental data and calculations. Good agreement has been generally found. The results have been applied to the SNO+ experiment for one year of exposure at sea level. Two possible cases have been considered: a two years of cooling down period deep underground, or a first purification on surface and 6 months of cooling down deep underground. Deep underground activation at the SNOLAB location has been considered.     

黑洞旋转能量的电磁提取及其在天体物理中的应用

该文着重介绍了两种大尺度磁场提取黑洞旋转能量的机制,即BZ机制和MC机制,以及BZMC共存模型在天体物理中的应用。BZ机制对应于连接黑洞与遥远天体物理负载的"开放"磁力线,而MC机制对应于连接黑洞与吸积盘的"闭合"磁力线。在BZ过程中大尺度磁场把黑洞的旋转能量以Poynting能流的形式输送到天体物理负载,成为驱动黑洞系统的喷流和伽马射线暴的中心发动机。在MC过程中能量和角动量通过大尺度磁场在黑洞与吸积盘之间转移。BZMC共存模型在高能天体物理中的应用包括以下几个方面:1)对活动星系核与黑洞双星的陡发射指数的拟合;2)对黑洞X射线双星的高频QPO与喷流的相关性的解释;3)对伽马射线暴的能量、时标的拟合以及对伽马射线暴与超新星成协的解释。最后对另外两种大尺度磁场提能机制,即BP机制和PC机制也作了简略介绍。     

溴化锂的生产工艺综述

综述了国内外溴化锂生产方法,并指出了每种方法的优缺点,同时展望了今后溴化锂生产方法的发展方向。     

2013年中国矿产品供需形势

2013年,中国矿产品供应能力不断增强,矿产品需求继续保持增长。全国一次能源生产总量为34.0亿吨标准煤,增长2.4%;消费总量37.5亿吨标准煤,增长3.7%;能源自给率为90.7%。煤炭产量36.8亿吨,进口量超过3亿吨;原油产量2.09亿吨,原油进口量2.82亿吨;铁矿石产量14.5亿吨,进口量超过8亿吨;黄金产量428.2吨,消费量1176.4吨,首次超过印度居世界第一。     

Siliceous microfossil record of late Holocene oceanography and climate along the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia (Canada)

Diatoms, silicoflagellates, and biogenic silica (BSi) were analyzed from two piston cores recovered from Effingham Inlet, British Columbia. Relatively productive marine conditions from 4850 to 4000 cal yr BP were followed by a transition to the modern ocean-climate regime marked by a decreased siliceous microfossil production since 2800 cal yr BP. This change in the northeast Pacific climate was characterized by an apparent cooling associated with higher rainfall and lower light levels. The reduced abundance of most spring-summer bloom diatom taxa (Skeletonema-Thalassiosira-Chaetoceros) was coupled with a decreased abundance of diatoms normally associated with incursions of offshore water into coastal inlets. This pattern reflected a weaker summer upwelling along Vancouver Island associated with the insolation-related increase in the strength of the Aleutian Low and a weakened North Pacific High. After ca. 2800 cal yr BP, diatom assemblages also indicated more frequent periods of relatively low spring-summer surface water salinity and a disruption of the typical bloom sequence, indicative of increased climatic variability. A period of warmer and drier climate conditions and possibly increased coastal upwelling offshore occurred ca. 1450-1050 cal yr BP. The most recent 500 yr are marked by reduced diatom production and the appearance of three distinct diatom biomarkers in the stratigraphic record (Rhizosolenia setigera ca. AD 1940; Minidiscus chilensis ca. AD 1860; Thalassionema nitzschioides morphotype A, ca. AD 1550). The oceanographic changes recorded in Effingham Inlet are correlative with other marine and terrestrial paleoenvironmental records in the northeast Pacific Ocean.     

Assessing the spatial distribution of crop areas using a cross-entropy method

While crop production statistics are reported on a geopolitical – often national – basis, we often need to know, for example, the status of production or productivity within specific sub-regions, watersheds, or agro-ecological zones. Such re-aggregations are typically made using expert judgments or simple area-weighting rules. We describe a new, entropy-based approach to the plausible estimates of the spatial distribution of crop areas. Using this approach tabular crop production statistics are blended judiciously with an array of other secondary data to assess the areas of specific crops within individual ‘pixels’—typically 25–100 km² in size. The information utilized includes crop production statistics, farming system characterization, satellite-based interpretation of land cover, biophysical crop suitability assessments, and population density. An application is presented in which Brazilian state level production statistics are used to generate pixel level crop area data for eight crops. To validate the spatial allocation we aggregated the pixel estimates to obtain synthetic estimates of municipality level areas in Brazil, and compared those estimates with actual municipality statistics. The approach produced extremely promising results. We then examined the robustness of these results compared to simplified approaches to spatializing crop production statistics and showed that, while computationally intensive, the cross-entropy method does provide more reliable spatial allocations.     

Transnational companies as a source of skill upgrading: The electronics industry in Ho Chi Minh City

Employment and training in TNCs constitute a potential route through which FDI-led industrialization can contribute to national and regional development and economic growth. The article explores this link through the case of TNCs in the electronics industry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The skill upgrading contribution of TNCs is related to the type of factories located in Vietnam and the role they play in regional production networks using a model combining the reverse product cycle and regional waves of FDI. Most electronics factories in Vietnam are ‘reproduction factories’ with mature technology and a narrow role in basic component manufacturing; it is shown that their contribution to skill upgrading is correspondingly narrow. Training for the majority of employees is very simple, and those who receive additional training do this especially in labour management, not in technical fields. Only a small group of engineers receive advanced technical training, in Vietnam and in the parent company abroad. The best prospects for increased skill upgrading are found in those companies that are more than reproduction factories for assembly; however, such companies are still few. The TNCs also represent a potential contribution to skill upgrading in local firms through supplier linkages and movement of staff, but when they operate in isolation from a local economy with little absorptive capacity, as in this case, this potential is not realized.     

Trophic pathways and carbon flux patterns in the Laptev Sea

The Laptev Sea is a high-Arctic epicontinental sea north of Siberia (Russia) that is one of the least understood regions of the world’s ocean. It is characterized by a shallow and broad shelf plateau, high influx of river water, sediments and nutrients during summer, long-lasting sea-ice cover from October to May, and the formation of a narrow flaw-lead polynya off the fast-ice edge during winter.Here, we describe results of a German–Russian research project (1993-present), presenting the distribution patterns and dynamics of its marine flora and fauna, as well as pathways and processes of coupling between sea-ice, water-column and sea-floor biota.Three ecological zones are distinguished along a combined east–west and Lena-impact gradient, differing in the composition of pelagic and benthic communities. In general, high Chl a concentrations in the sediments indicate a tight coupling between sympagic and pelagic primary production and nutrient supply to the benthos throughout the entire Laptev Sea. However, there were pronounced regional differences between the ecological zones in magnitude of primary production and trophic dynamics. Primary production during the ice-free summer was highest in the estuarine zone most strongly influenced by the Lena River (210 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹). The western and northeastern Laptev Sea yielded 55 and 95 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹, respectively. Moreover, the zones differed in the partitioning of carbon flux between zooplankton and benthic food webs. In the Lena zone zooplankton carbon demand was about 31 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹ whereas in the western zone it was 21 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹ and in the eastern zone 4 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹. Total benthic carbon demand was 32 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹ for the Lena zone, 56 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹ in the western zone and 100 mg C m⁻² day⁻¹ in the northeastern zone.A carbon budget constructed for the Laptev Sea indicates that (1) a high proportion of primary production is channelled through the benthic trophic web, bypassing the pelagic trophic web, and (2) autochthonous primary production in the northeastern and western Laptev Sea might not be sufficient to fuel both pelagic and benthic secondary production and, hence, input of allochthonous organic carbon is required to balance the overall carbon demand.