Landmark‐based summarized messages for flood warning

In order to evacuate residents in time, flood warning systems must have rapid data processing algorithms to translate detailed numerical data into simple warnings and navigation aids. Although it is common to display warning messages by directly drawing red circles on a map embedded in a Web page to indicate the regions about to be inundated, such an approach has some drawbacks. We propose an alternative way by summarizing the warning messages based on landmarks, so that the messages can be short and convey even more information. We have designed two approaches to output such messages. They are the nearest landmark approach and the threshold approach, which differ in the way of determining which landmarks will be influenced by a certain flooded region. These two methods are implemented and we compare their performance through real and synthetic datasets. Experimental results show that the threshold approach usually takes less execution time than the nearest landmark approach. Its severity ranking of landmarks is also better suited to human behaviour.     

Research on heavy metals in Ruditapes philippinarum and soda industry wastes

Heavy metals pollution in Jiaozhou Bay was studied in Ruditapes. philippinarum, a bioindicator of seawater pollution. Heavy metals in soda industry wastes “white mud” were also studied. Comparison of microwave digestion method with general digestion method revealed that microwave digestion is superior to general digestion in precision, recovery, digestion speed and efficiency, etc. Cd concentration in Hongdao R.philippinarum samples exceeded the national standard by 0.046 mg/kg, that of Yinghai sample by 0.02 mg/kg,and that of Hongshiya sample by 0.22 mg/kg. Sample Pb concentration in Hongshiya was found to exceed the national standard by 0.02 mg/kg. However the heavy metals concentration in R. philippinarum near the Qingdao Alkaline Factory was complied with the standard. This was proved by Penaeus chinensis culture experiment.Therefore, the possible contamination source may come from other land areas.     

Revising the ‘host country standard’ principle: a step for China to align its overseas investment with the Paris Agreement

ABSTRACT

China’s overseas investment flows (US$ 183 billion) and stock (US$ 4.7 trillion) reached a record peak in 2016, second only to those of the US. A major cause for concern lies in the environmental sustainability of China’s overseas investment portfolio, which is compounded by the lack of transparency of China’s main development finance arms. We intend in this paper to give an update on the magnitude of green finance in China’s overseas investment and development finance portfolio on the basis of the best available estimates, and to put these figures into a broader perspective of multilateral development banks’ commitments and practices to combat climate change. We derive practical policy recommendations that Chinese development banks could take to further align China’s overseas investment with the 2°C target of the Paris Agreement, with the first step being to revise the ‘host country standard’ principle, to ensure that Chinese development banks use the most stringent of the two environmental standards, abroad or at home.

Key policy insights

• Chinese development banks lend, give or invest between US$ 38 billion and US$ 45 billion every year to developing countries, without either elaborating on, or integrating, the provisions of the Paris Agreement into their investment strategy.

• Regulations and safeguards are much more stringent for China’s domestic investment than for China’s overseas investment, and this stringency gap has been widening over recent years.

• As a step towards aligning Chinese overseas investment with the Paris Agreement, Chinese development banks could revise the ‘host country standard principle’. They could instead choose the highest among the two – recipient country or Chinese domestic – in terms of environmental stringency, consequently harmonizing overseas environmental regulation and safeguards with those that apply domestically.

     

Displacement-based seismic design of hysteretic damped braces for retrofitting in-elevation irregular r.c. framed structures

A displacement-based design procedure is proposed for proportioning hysteretic damped braces (HYDBs) in order to attain, for a specific level of seismic intensity, a designated performance level of a reinforced concrete (r.c.) in-elevation irregular framed building which has to be retrofitted. To check the effectiveness and reliability of the design procedure, a numerical investigation is carried out with reference to a six-storey r.c. framed building, which, originally designed according to an old Italian seismic code (1996) for a medium-risk zone, has to be retrofitted by inserting of HYDBs to attain performance levels imposed by the current Italian code (NTC08) in a high-risk zone. To simulate a vertical irregularity, a change of use of the first two floors, from residential to office, is also supposed; moreover, masonry infill walls, regularly distributed along the perimeter, are substituted with glass windows on these floors. Nonlinear dynamic analyses of unbraced (UF), infilled (IF) and damped braced infilled (DBIF) frames are carried out considering sets of artificially generated and real ground motions, whose response spectra match those adopted by NTC08 for different performance levels. To this end, r.c. frame members are idealized by a two-component model, assuming a bilinear moment–curvature law whose ultimate bending moment depends on the axial load, while the response of an HYDB is idealized by a bilinear law, to prevent buckling. Finally, masonry infills are represented as equivalent diagonal struts, reacting only in compression, with an elastic–brittle linear law.     

卤水镁矿产资源开发态势计量分析

从专利视角出发,对全球卤水镁矿产资源开发技术的发展现状与态势进行了分析,通过专利量的年度走势、区域分布、申请人分布、IPC分布、文本聚类、主题关联等信息,展示了百年卤水镁矿产资源开发的技术概况;为了了解近期卤水镁资源开发的状况,分析了近5年全球卤水镁矿产资源开发技术的专利,通过对比分析,清晰而客观地展现了卤水镁矿产资源研发的热点与态势。     

黑河流域下游额济纳三角洲气候及生态环境变化分析

气候是生态环境变化的重要驱动因子,分析其变化特征对生态环境监测具有重要意义。本文以生态环境急剧恶化的黑河流域下游额济纳三角洲为研究对象,利用1960~2012年额济纳气象站的气温、降水资料,采用Mann-Kendall检验、回归分析及累积距平曲线分析气候特征,结合重标极差(R/S)分析法预测未来趋势。结果表明:近53 a额济纳三角洲气温显著升高、降水无明显趋势;气温年代际增温幅度差异明显,1980年代、1990年代增幅最大;降水呈"少—多—少"波动变化,21世纪暖干化明显;暖冬现象显著。结合GIMMS-NDVI及东居延海面积、正义峡径流量,通过Pearson相关分析,结果表明:气候暖干化及黑河干流下泄量减少导致东居延海萎缩盐化、植被退化;2003年以后东居延海面积增加是2002年开始人为生态输水的结果,而非气候暖湿化的表现。     

实施全球资源战略“走出去”勘查开发国外资源

实施全球资源战略是经济全球化的客观要求，是保障国家资源供应安全的重要条件，也是中国可持续发展的必然选择。在阐述我国实施全球资源战略客观性、必要性的基础上，提出了我国实施全球资源战略、利用国外资源的措施和建议。     

径向基函数方法在南泥湾油田勘探中的应用

为明确利用奇特开发井网数据拟合地质曲面拟合的合理性和可靠性,选用多二次曲面函数进行插值计算.该方法具有数学算法简单、计算灵活、易于实现及结果比较准确等诸多优点,适合用于散乱数据的插值.通过实例的分析验证,证明了该方法在建立散乱数据点地质曲面时具有良好的逼近效果,可以反映比较真实的地质现象.     

The stellar composition of the star formation region CMa R1 – II. Spectroscopic and photometric observations of nine young stars

We present new high- and low-resolution spectroscopic and photometric data of nine members of the young association CMa R1. All the stars have circumstellar dust at some distance, as could be expected from their association with reflection nebulosity. Four stars (HD 52721, HD 53367, LkH α  220 and LkH α  218) show H α emission and we argue that they are Herbig Be stars with discs. Our photometric and spectroscopic observations of these stars reveal new characteristics of their variability. We present first interpretations of the variability of HD 52721, HD 53367 and the two LkH α stars in terms of a partially eclipsing binary, a magnetic activity cycle and circumstellar dust variations, respectively. The remaining five stars show no clear indications of H α emission in their spectra, although their spectral types and ages are comparable with those of HD 52721 and HD 53367. This indicates that the presence of a disc around a star in CMa R1 may depend on the environment of the star. In particular we find that all H α emission stars are located at or outside the arc-shaped border of the H  ii region, which suggests that the stars inside the arc have lost their discs through evaporation by UV photons from nearby O stars, or from the nearby (<25 pc) supernova, about 1 Myr ago.