Does time dilation tell us the distance to gamma-ray bursts?

Since the discovery that dim gamma-ray bursts last longer on average than bright ones (time dilation) the cosmological origin of this effect has been contested by various researchers. I discuss the current status of this issue and conclude that current models for a non-cosmological time dilation only explain part of the observed phenomenon, and even then betray themselves by distinct signatures in the data. As those signatures have not been seen, the cosmological origin remains the favoured explanation of the time dilation.     

Church-based social capital, networks and geographical scale: Katrina evacuation, relocation, and recovery in a New Orleans Vietnamese American community

This research examines the role of social capital and networks to explain the evacuation, relocation, and recovery experiences of a Vietnamese American community in New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As the single largest community institution, the parish church’s complex bonding and bridging social capital and networks proved particularly critical in part because of its historically based ontological security. The process of evacuation, but especially relocation and recovery, was dependent on deploying co-ethnic social capital and networks at a variety of geographical scales. Beyond the local or community scale, extra-local, regional, and national scales of social capital and networks reproduced a spatially redefined Vietnamese American community. Part of the recovery process included constructing discursive place-based collective-action frames to successfully contest a nearby landfill that in turn engendered social capital and networks crossing ethnic boundaries to include the extra-local African American community. Engaging social capital and networks beyond the local geographical scale cultivated a Vietnamese American community with an emergent post-Katrina cultural and political identity.     

Identifying China’s leading world city: a network approach

This paper reports our research on China’s world cities. Formal network analysis of air passenger linkages for recent years among China’s most populous cities and among many of the world’s largest cities allows us to identify the country’s leading world city from among the leading Mainland candidates, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. We theorize our findings about China’s world cities in relation to both global forces (and China’s increasing entanglement with them) and the policies and actions of the national state. We examine the national and global urban network through a longitudinal, two-level analysis of airline passenger travel for four time points between about 1990 and 2005. We show that Beijing was China’s leading world city at the beginning of the time period, a status it lost nationally in as early as 1995, and then globally 10 years later. On the other hand Shanghai became China’s leading world city, and it acquired this status first nationally in 2000, and then globally in 2005. The changing status of the Chinese capital corresponds to the country’s increasing involvement with the capitalist world economy. Shanghai’s ascendance as the leading world city in China may indicate that global forces have come to play an increasingly important role relative to that of the developmental state.

Influence of Structural Non-Stationarity of Surface Roughness on Morphological Characterization and Mechanical Deformation of Rock Joints

Summary Structural non-stationarity of surface roughness affects accurate morphological characterization as well as mechanical behaviour of rock joints at the laboratory scale using samples with a size below the stationarity threshold. In this paper, the effect of structural non-stationarity of surface roughness is investigated by studying the scale dependence of surface roughness and mechanical behaviour of rock joints. The results show that the structural non-stationarity mainly affects the accurate characterization of the surface roughness of the fracture samples. It also controls the amount and location of the contact areas during shear tests, which in turn affects the mechanical properties and asperity degradation of the samples. It is concluded that for accurate determination of the morphological and mechanical properties of rock joints at laboratory and field scales, samples with size equal to or larger than the stationarity threshold are required. Author’s address: Nader Fardin, Rock Mechanics Group, Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box: 11365/4563, Tehran, Iran     

贵州修文小山坝铝土矿中镓等伴生元素分布规律研究

通过ICP-MS等分析方法对贵州小山坝铝土矿中伴生元素的研究,发现该矿床TiO2、Ga、Ge、Sc、Nb、Li和REE等有用伴生元素在铝土矿矿体中均有较高富集,其含量大多接近或超过了工业综合利用标准,具有较大的经济价值,特别是矿区富铁铝土矿石中Ga和Sc等含量异常高.贵州铝土矿资源丰富,其伴生元素在铝土矿冶炼过程中所产生的赤泥中更为富集,因此,贵州铝土矿综合利用前景十分巨大,这些元素潜在的经济价值,在某种程度上,甚至会超过主导产品氧化铝的价值.开展铝土矿中镓等伴生有用元素的分布及赋存状态的研究,对于镓等稀散元素在特殊地质地球化学环境中超常富集机制、矿产资源综合价值的重新认识评估和矿产资源的综合利用将十分重要,不仅可为铝工业注入新的活力,增加新的经济增长点,而且还可以解决大量赤泥堆放和利用问题,同时获得较大的社会效益与环境效益.     

季节内SST和混合层深度变化的模式研究

用Niiler—Kraus类型的混合层积分模式,对TOGA—COARE强化观测期间由《实验3号》科学考察船观测资料得到的混合层深度和SST在季节内时间尺度的变化进行了模式研究。指出:1.混合层耗散参数与较长时间尺度过程风应力的变化存在着比较好的对应关系;2.模式可以较好的对风场和热通量场在季节内时间尺度的变化作出响应,模拟出季节内时间尺度SST的变化;3.Niiler,-Kraus模式在考虑耗散作用后,可用于海洋季节内时间尺度变化的模式研究。     

疏浚物倾倒区海水水质级别的模糊综合评价

应用模糊综合评价方法对大连臭水套海域疏浚物预选倾倒区的水质状况进行了评价，得到了有益的结论。     

废弃海洋桩基平台拆除方案的系统决策研究

海洋平台拆除是一项复杂的、受多种因素制约的、涉及许多技术领域的综合性系统工程。采取适当的拆除方案是工程安全、经济、环保地进行的基础和保证。针对这一问题，文章对拆除方案的评估进行了系统的研究，从环境、工艺、安全、经济、工期的角度建立了拆除方案评估指标体系，并综合运用群决策层次分析理论和模糊数学理论对拆除方案进行系统的评估。经实例验证，所建立的评估指标体系，可科学、公正、快捷地对方案进行评估，为决策者提供科学的决策基础。