Spatial distribution characteristics of national protected areas in China

Journal of Geographical Sciences - This paper investigated spatial structures of 3418 national protected areas (NPAs) grouped into 13 types using GIS and quantitative analysis, including point...     

Evaluation System for Yunnan Cultural Tourism Routes Based on a Five Component Model: Case Study of the Ancient Tea-horse Road in the South of Yunnan

Cultural tourism routes can reveal and protect cultural tourism heritage by means of cultural tourism in the “time category” and the “space category”. The construction of an evaluation system for cultural tourism routes and the evaluation, scoring and grading of existing and potential cultural tourism routes are the key to the protection of heritage, history and culture along these routes, and the key to encouraging the standardization, branding and sustainable development of various formats on the routes. Yunnan cultural tourism routes are diverse and rich in resources, and their developmental foundation is good. However, the tourism development and cultural development activities occur along separate lines and there is a lack of unified management. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct research on information collection, information analysis, problem diagnosis and improvement of status in the local practices of Yunnan cultural tourism routes, and to guide the sustainable development of Yunnan cultural tourism routes. Based on the advanced experience of COE (Council of Europe), UNESCO WHC (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Heritage Committee) and ICOMOS(International Council on Monuments and Sites), this paper comprehensively analyzes the decisive criteria for line evaluation by interpreting and summarizing the connotations of cultural tourism routes, and determines that the evaluation of cultural tourism routes should include lines. Five aspects―the theme, the participating subject, the object itself, related activities and multi-party value―are used to construct a five-component model. At the same time, based on the consumer utility function, a complete route evaluation and hierarchical system is constructed. Then, taking the Ancient Tea-horse Road cultural tourism route as an example and using the expert scoring method and the analytic hierarchy process, the actual scores and grades of the Ancient Tea-horse Road cultural tourism route are determined, and countermeasures and suggestions for its sustainable development are proposed. The paper also verifies the applicability and practicability of the evaluation system, and promotes and improves the feedback evaluation system. The aim is to at promote and widely apply the evaluation system of cultural tourism routes, realizing the transformation from individual cases to joint cases, and promoting the standardization and sustainable development of cultural tourism routes.     

荒漠生态质量科学框架:概念、指标、监测及评估（英文）

荒漠生态系统是地球上最大的陆地生态系统,全球四分之一的人口生活在这一区域。清晰地定义荒漠生态系统生态质量,制定反映生态质量优劣的关键监测指标,集成"星–空–地"一体化监测技术、构建综合评价模型可为干旱区生态质量监测、促进区域可持续发展提供技术支撑。荒漠生态质量是指一定时空范围内荒漠生态系统要素、结构和功能的综合特征。该研究通过集成卫星、无人机和地面传感器网络的"星–空–地"一体化监测技术,在区域和站点两个尺度上对荒漠生态系统的生态要素、生物多样性和生态功能进行连续监测,通过标准化生态质量指标数值、厘定其阈值范围,构造判断矩阵建立生态质量综合评价模型,评价荒漠生态系统质量状况。本论文阐明了构建荒漠生态质量动态综合监测技术规范与评价方法的概念框架,为实现我国荒漠生态系统生态质量综合监测、科学诊断和定量评估提供理论基础。     

The Scientific Conceptual Framework for Ecological Quality of the Dryland Ecosystem: Concepts,Indicators, Monitoring and Assessment

The dryland ecosystem is the dominant component of the global terrestrial ecosystem since arid regions occupy 45% of the earth’s land area and feed 38% of the world's population. The stability and sustainable development of the dryland ecosystem are critical for achieving the millennium development goal (MDG) in the arid and semiarid areas. However, there is still no scientific guideline for measuring and conserving the health and productivity of dryland ecosystems. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop the scientific conceptual framework of defining, monitoring and evaluating the ecological quality of dryland ecosystems. The ecological quality of dryland ecosystems is represented by a system of comprehensive indicators that are each extracted from the ecological elements, and structural and functional indices of the ecosystem. These indicators can be monitored by integrating satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles with ground-based sensor networks at the scale of either observational sites or regional scales. Finally, the ecological quality can be evaluated by evaluation models based on the normalized index values and their thresholds. This paper presents a conceptual framework for monitoring and evaluating the ecological quality of drylands, which provides a way of advancing the monitoring, diagnosis, and evaluation of the ecological quality of the dryland ecosystems.     

黑海参(Holothuria atra)对环境沉积物的摄食选择及消化系统功能适应性研究

黑海参(Holothuria atra)是热带珊瑚礁大型底栖动物群落中的代表种类之一,其摄食活动对珊瑚礁生境底质有机物的循环再利用具有重要作用。本文研究了三亚蜈支洲岛典型热带珊瑚礁海域野生黑海参的沉积物选择特征及其触手和消化系统结构功能的适应性。结果表明,黑海参摄取的沉积物颗粒相对较粗,其中粒径0.25mm部分占到了总重量的96.67%。触手上3—6个乳突形成乳突簇[直径(283.00±40.94)μm],适宜摄取大颗粒沉积物。黑海参胃内含物有机物含量显著高于环境沉积物,证实其对有机物含量的选择性;粒径0.25mm部分有机物含量占摄入总有机物量的75%,与环境沉积物中相同粒度的有机物总量占比接近(76%),表明黑海参选择的沉积物粒径范围有效保证了其高效摄入有机质。黑海参前肠的脂肪酶、淀粉酶、纤维素酶、胰蛋白酶活性最高,同时绝大部分的有机质(98.33%)在前肠被吸收。组织学定量分析表明,黑海参前肠黏膜层厚度最大,占总厚度的56.33%,这与其高效吸收有机质的功能相适应;后肠的肠壁总厚度和黏膜下层、肌层厚度均显著高于前肠和中肠,表明其具有相对更好的弹性和收缩能力,适合于大颗粒有机质的高效输送与排出。研究结果证实,黑海参摄食器官和消化道独特的结构与功能保证了其在珊瑚砂粗颗粒生境中高效摄取有机物。     

Experimental study on hydrodynamic performance of SWATH vessels in calm water and in head waves

An extensive experimental investigation on four SWATH hull forms has been conducted in calm water and in regular waves at University of Naples Federico II. Calm water tests have been analyzed in the range of Froude number Fr_T from 0.1 to 0.6. For all four SWATH configurations at the speed, corresponding to Fr_T 0.32, the behaviour in regular waves has been tested. The results of heave, pitch and vertical accelerations are presented in nondimensional form as RAO. For the “most promising” SWATH #4 configuration, a set of stabilizing fins have been designed and an active stabilization system has been developed. The developed SWATH#5 has been tested in calm water on three displacements in the range of Fr_T from 0.1 to 0.65. The dynamic wetted surface has been identified and the residual resistance coefficient C_R as well as R_T/Δ are reported. Seakeeping tests have been performed in regular head sea and in head and following irregular sea at Fr_T = 0.50. The conditions for the occurrence of dynamic longitudinal instabilities have been identified. The results allows to comment the effect of slenderness of struts and SWATH’s immersed bodies on resistance and seakeeping and concerns the applicability of SWATH concept to small craft.     

Experimental investigation on a cabin-suspended catamaran in terms of motion reduction and wave energy harvesting by means of a semi-active motion control system

A novel concept catamaran equipped with a suspended cabin, named Wave Harmonizer Type 4 (WHzer-4), is proposed and evaluated. The mass-spring-mass system is constructed by mounting four sets of suspensions in-between the cabin and the twin-hull. Two sets of dual motor/generators (M/Gs) are attached on the center beam of the cabin's deck fore and aft. Each shaft-end of the dual M/Gs is connected to the twin-hull through a rack-pinion gear unit. In this way the vertical relative motion between the cabin and the twin-hull can be transferred into the rotational motion of the M/Gs, and vice versa. A semi-active motion control system, which contains a proportional-integral (PI) controller, is designed and applied to each of the dual M/Gs for the aim of absorbing wave energy under the condition of suppressing the local vertical velocity of the cabin as much as possible. A 1/5 scale model ship with a length of 1.6 m is built, and a forced-oscillation bench test is implemented to validate the performance of the control system. Then, a series of towing tank tests is carried out in regular head waves. The heave and pitch responses of the cabin, those of the twin-hull and the corresponding wave energy capture width ratio (CWR) at five control scenarios and two reference scenarios are investigated. Discussion on the results of the tank test shows that the motion reduction of the cabin and the wave energy harvesting can be achieved simultaneously at a few wave conditions. However, at other conditions, although noticeable amount of wave energy is harvested, motion reduction of the heave and pitch of the cabin could not be obtained at the same time. It is suggested that varying the gain settings of the PI controllers according to the location of the controllers may improve the effectiveness of the proposed control system.     

Feedback control system for blow-out preventer positioning

During the drilling of ultra-deep-water subsea petroleum wells, a blow-out preventer (BOP), a piece of safety equipment, must be assembled on the wellhead. The BOP is suspended using the drilling riser during the wellhead approach operation, and the riser's top end is connected to the floating platform rig. This article presents a feedback control system for the automatic approach of the BOP to the wellhead. Compared to state-of-the-art controls, ours does not require ancillary thrusters installed alongside the riser nor inclination sensors atop of the drilling riser. Additionally, our proposed control embeds a closed-loop dynamic positioning system, thus retaining the characteristics of the original control system and adding an extra closed-loop. This eases implementation of the BOP approach control to an existing platform. To calculate the optimal gains for the BOP controller, we assume a linear system for the riser, including only the pendulum-shape. The simulation is carried out using nonlinear models for both riser and floating platform. We assume an International Towing Tank Conference standard semi-submersible platform, coupled with a 3000-m free-hanging vertical riser for the time-domain simulation. The results show the BOP tracking to be a step-shaped input signal under current and wave loads. A discussion of the performance of feedback control under different environmental loads is also included.     

Formation control of multiple underwater vehicles subject to communication faults and uncertainties

This paper proposes a novel approach to analyze and design the formation keeping control protocols for multiple underwater vehicles in the presence of communication faults and possible uncertainties. First, we formulate the considered vehicle model as the Port-controlled Hamiltonian form, and introduce the spring-damping system based formation control. Next, the dynamics of multiple underwater vehicles under uncertain relative information is reformulated as a network of Lur’e systems. Moreover, the agents under unknown disturbances generated by an external system are considered, where the internal model is applied to tackle the uncertainties, which still can be regulated as the Lur’e systems. In each case, the formation control is derived from solving LMI problems. Finally, a numerical example is introduced to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical approach.     

长江三角洲蓝图重绘的基础科学问题:进展与未来研究

在全球气候变化和人类活动影响加剧的背景下,作为河口海岸重要子系统的三角洲正在发生快速变化。长江三角洲地处长江入东海交汇处,是中国最重要的经济核心区之一,对邻近区域乃至整个长江经济带经济社会发展都起着重要作用。由于全球变暖、海面上升和强烈人类活动引发了三角洲系统状态转换,因此以往基于恒定系统状态而获得的有关长江三角洲的认识已不能满足未来需求,迫切需要对未来海面变化、极端事件、流域与河口工程影响下的三角洲物质循环条件、物理过程、地貌冲淤演化、源-汇格局调整等科学问题进行深入研究。在三角洲系统行为、未来演化趋势的预测能力建设中,应重视从海面到海底的综合立体观测系统的发展,以获取关键数据;基于三角洲系统的时、空演化特征,建立三角洲本征态和衍生态的谱系理论。未来需针对系统状态转换而调整原先的经济社会发展模式,以便保护自然资源、重建生态系统,更好地支撑长江经济带发展,重绘长江三角洲发展蓝图。