Diversity and spatial distribution of Opuntia spp. in the Mediterranean Basin

This work offers a methodology based on statistical tools and GIS applications in a study of the adaptability of Opuntia to the environment, applied on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. Detailed surveys of habitats containing naturalized populations of Opuntia spp. were made in order to select study sites. The topographic, soil and climatic features of these are described. The local biotypes are ascribed mainly to the spineless Opuntia ficus–indica (L.) Mill. and to the spiny Opuntia amyclaea Ten. Although introduced at different times, for different uses, they have adapted to the Sardinian environment and established in the wild. The distributions of the two species differed. The FloraMap^® modelling approach was used to simulate Opuntia distribution as a function of the island's climate and produced individual distribution maps using the accession points for the two species. Our analysis showed that environmental conditions at elevations above 800 m are the main limiting factors for the presence and abundance of Opuntia in Sardinia. Spatial representation developed by GIS software indicated temperatures below 2 °C as the threshold impairing the species naturalized distribution. The statistic results also show that variation in rainfall does not affect Opuntia spatial distribution in Sardinia.     

Numerical Modeling of the Ston-Slano (Croatia) Aftershock Sequence

The rate of aftershock occurrence after the M6 Ston-Slano (Croatia) earthquake is modeled as the Epidemic Type Aftershock Sequence (ETAS). Increase of the modeled cumulative number of aftershocks with time was fitted to observations by the least-squares criterion using the combined grid-search and Monte-Carlo approach. This enabled not only the estimation of the most probable ETAS parameters, but also the determination of their confidence limits, as well as the estimation of the bias between them. It has been found that the bias is significant for some of the parameter pairs, regardless of the threshold magnitude assumed. Residual analyses revealed that all strong aftershocks (M _L 4.5) occurred during the periods of normal to high aftershock activity. There were two periods of quiescence in the sequence, both of which were followed by a strong aftershock.     

Life-cycle cost analysis of design practices for RC framed structures

The objective of this study is to perform life-cycle cost analysis on three design practices namely weak ground storey, short and floating columns and their combinations. Life-cycle cost analysis is recognized as the only suitable tool for assessing the structural performance when the structure is expected to be functional for a long period of time. Life-cycle cost analysis is considered in this study assessing the behaviour of the three design practices against earthquake hazard. Although, a number of checks are performed in order to reduce the influence of these design practices on the seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) framed structures, it was found that the total life-cycle cost of partially infilled RC designs is significantly increased compared to that of the fully infilled one. Through the test example examined in the framework of this study general conclusions are obtained regarding the behaviour of the three design practices.     

石岛湾四种常见鱼类的热耐受性比较研究

作者分别采用动态法和静态法两种实验方法,以石岛湾4种常见鱼类(许氏平鲉(Sebastes schlegeli)、大泷六线鱼(Hexagrammos otakii)、褐菖鲉(Sebastiscus marmoratus)和矛尾虎鱼(Chaeturichthys stigmatias))为研究对象,对比研究了在4个季节基础水温(5.0~26.0℃)和9个温升速率(0.5~15.0℃/h)下这些鱼类的热耐受性。结果表明,4种鱼类的CTM(最大临界温度)和24 h UILT_(50)(24 h高起始致死温度)均与基础水温呈显著正相关,温升速率对鱼类耐热性的影响因鱼种和季节基础温度而异;相同基础水温下4种实验鱼类的CTM值均高于24 h UILT_(50)。4种鱼类的24 h UILT50依次为:矛尾虎鱼许氏平鲉褐菖鲉大泷六线鱼。     

驯化水温及温升速率对三门湾三种虾蟹类热耐受性的影响

作者采用动态实验法与静态实验法相结合的方法,研究了三门湾脊尾白虾(Exopalaemon carinicauda)、口虾蛄(Oratosquilla oratoria)和日本(Charybdis japonica)在不同季节的基础水温即驯化水温(8~29℃)和温升速率(0.5~15.0℃/h)下的热耐受能力。结果表明,驯化水温和温升速率对各实验动物的热耐受性均有显著影响。实验动物的热耐受性与驯化水温总体上呈显著正相关,而温升速率对热耐受性的影响具有物种特异性,并受驯化水温制约;在不同驯化水温下,各实验动物的热耐受性随温升速率增大呈不同变化趋势。各实验动物的24 h高起始致死温度受驯化水温的影响显著,随着驯化水温从8℃升高到29℃,脊尾白虾、日本和口虾蛄的24hUILT50分别从24.2、34.6、24.9℃显著增大到35.3、37.4和34.4℃。结合3种实验动物的最大临界温度分析,它们的热耐受能力依次为:日本脊尾白虾口虾蛄。研究结果可为探究三门湾水域潜在的热污染状况及其生态环境效应提供科学依据。     

Overwintering of terrestrial Arctic arthropods: the fauna of Svalbard now and in the future

There are over 500 species of arthropods recorded from Svalbard. These animals overwinter either within the soil or on the ground surface, and have to tolerate an environment where the ground is frozen for over 9 months each year. Three cold-tolerance strategies have been described from Svalbard invertebrates: freeze avoidance, freeze tolerance and desiccation. Once in a cold-tolerant state the animals can be extremely cold tolerant in terms of both minimum exposure temperature and period of exposure. How the overwintering capabilities of these animals will be affected by climate changes during the next 100 years, as predicted by climate models, is not yet known. Four principle factors with an impact on overwintering of the terrestrial arthropod fauna are outlined here: (1) warmer winter temperatures, with an increased frequency of extreme events such as freeze–thaw cycles and surface icing; (2) changes in snow fall and snow lie; (3) pollutant load; and (4) dispersal of invertebrates to Svalbard. Finally, areas where further research is required are highlighted: including the development of controlled multi-season field experiments; effect of freeze–thaw cycles; changes in thickness and distribution of snow lie, with the subsequent effects on duration of the summer period; chill susceptibility of soil arthropods; assessing potential colonizing species and the likelihood of these species becoming established; assessing the effect of gene flow from surrounding populations; interactions between pollution and cold tolerance; anoxia stress; and the genetics of cold tolerance.     

Fuzzy process capability indices for quality control of irrigation water

Water covers over 70% of the Earth surface and is a very important resource to people and the environment. Water pollution affects drinking water, rivers, lakes and oceans all over the world. This consequently harms human health and the natural environment. Water pollution can also affect the crops. So, water pollution is an important issue for humanity. Therefore, the control of irrigation water is a necessity. In this paper, a methodology based on process capability indices (PCIs) has been presented to control the levels of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature (T) in dam’s water for irrigation. Fuzzy PCIs have been proposed for this aim. The fuzzy estimates of $ \hat C_p Water covers over 70% of the Earth surface and is a very important resource to people and the environment. Water pollution affects drinking water, rivers, lakes and oceans all over the world. This consequently harms human health and the natural environment. Water pollution can also affect the crops. So, water pollution is an important issue for humanity. Therefore, the control of irrigation water is a necessity. In this paper, a methodology based on process capability indices (PCIs) has been presented to control the levels of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature (T) in dam’s water for irrigation. Fuzzy PCIs have been proposed for this aim. The fuzzy estimates of and are obtained for pH, DO, and T based on Buckley’s interval estimation approach and based on fuzzy specification limits. An application has been made for Kesikk?prü Dam in Ankara, Turkey. In this paper, Buckley’s approach is re-arranged to obtain a triangular fuzzy membership function because it cannot be obtained from Buckley’s approach in some situation.     

Pumpellyite–actinolite facies of the Sanbagawa metamorphism

The pumpellyite–actinolite facies proposed by Hashimoto is defined by the common occurrence of the pumpellyite–actinolite assemblage in basic schists. It can help characterize the paragenesis of basic and intermediate bulk compositions, which are common constituents of various low-grade metamorphic areas. The dataset of mutually consistent thermodynamic properties of minerals gives a positive slope for the boundary between the pumpellyite–actinolite and prehnite–pumpellyite facies in P–T space. In the Sanbagawa belt in Japan, the mineral parageneses of hematite-bearing and -free basic schists, as well as pelitic schists have been well documented. The higher temperature limit of this facies is defined by the disappearance of the pumpellyite+epidote+actinolite+chlorite assemblage in hematite-free basic schists with X_Fe3+ of epidote around 0.20–0.25 and the appearance of epidote+actinolite+chlorite assemblage with X^Ep_Fe3+≤0.20. In hematite-bearing basic schists, there is a continuous change of paragenesis to higher grade, epidote–glaucophane or epidote–blueschist facies. In pelitic schists, the albite+lawsonite+chlorite assemblage does occur but only rarely, and its assemblage cannot be used to determine the regional thermal structure. The lower temperature equivalence of the pumpellyite–actinolite assemblage is not observed in the field. The Mikabu Greenstone complex and the northern margin of the Chichibu complex, which are located to the south of the Sanbagawa belt, are characterized by clinopyroxene+chlorite or lawsonite+actinolite assemblages, which are lower temperature assemblages than the pumpellyite+actinolite assemblage. These three metamorphic complexes belong to the same subduction-metamorphic complex. The pumpellyite–actinolite facies or subfacies can be useful to help reveal the field thermal structure of metamorphic complexes     

谈基础地理信息数据成果的容灾与备份

成果容灾及备份是数据管理的主要内容之一,建立完善、高效、安全的管理体制是一个循序渐进的过程.本文从基础地理信息数据成果管理的角度,简单描述容灾备份的管理内容、方法及存在的问题.     

基于H∞理论的磁流变阻尼器半主动容错控制

建筑结构的半主动控制系统中的传感器,在强震作用下可能因出现故障而影响控制效果。以磁流变阻尼器为例,研究半主动容错控制系统的设计方法。首先,研究了基于状态观测器的半主动H∞控制器设计方法,并将之应用到建筑结构采用磁流变阻尼器的减振控制中;运用改进Bouc-Wen模型,计算磁流变阻尼器的阻尼力,通过求解一个代数Riccati方程和一个状态观测方程,得出了基于状态观测器的H∞主动控制律;再对其采用Clipped-optimal方法实施半主动控制策略。然后,针对传感器故障,利用观测器组的输出残差对故障进行在线诊断,并通过几个观测器状态值的比较得到故障的大小,并据此对传感器的测量值进行修正,从而消除故障对闭环系统的影响,最终实现半主动H∞容错控制。仿真结果表明,该方法具有很好的容错控制效果。