Collisional excitation of interstellar cyclopropenylidene

Theoretical rotational excitation rates were computed for C3H2 in collisions with He atoms at temperatures from 30 to 120 K. The intermolecular forces were obtained from accurate self-consistent field and perturbation theory calculations, and collision dynamics were treated within the infinite-order sudden approximation. The accuracy of the latter was examined by comparing with the more exact coupled states approximation.     

Effects of water-borne copper on metallothionein and lipid peroxidation in the marine amphipod Gammarus locusta

The aim of the current work was to determine over 10 days the effects of water-borne exposure of the marine amphipod Gammarus locusta to 4 microgCu l(-1) on the metallothionein (MT; measured by differential pulse polarography) protection system and lipid peroxidation (LP: thiobarbituric acid-reactive malondialdehyde equivalents) as a measure of oxidative damage. MT levels in exposed animals increased significantly at day 2 (36% > control; P < 0.001) and remained high at days 6 and 10 (55 and 38%, respectively, P < 0.001). The maximum level of MT at day 6 coincided with the highest Cu body-burden. LP increased within I day of exposure, indicative of Cu as an oxidative stressor. However, in contrast to MT, the highest LP level was seen at day 4 (68% > control, P < 0.001) before returning to control values by day 6, indicating a protective role of MT against the pro-oxidant effects of Cu.     

Can turbidity caused by Corophium volutator (Pallas) activity be used to assess sediment toxicity rapidly?

The standard toxicity test organism, Corophium volutator, exhibits a behavioural response to contaminated sediments that causes increased turbidity of overlying water. We quantify the effects of this response to an estuarine sediment spiked with copper and hydrocarbon contaminated sediments from an oil installation in the North Sea. Turbidity measured 24 h after the start of a toxicity test shows a strong relationship with contaminant concentrations and with mortality after 10 days. Turbidity measurements can therefore give a rapid indication of sediment toxicity, permitting a reduction in storage time of sediments to be used in dilution series and toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) tests, reducing the likelihood of contaminants degrading prior to testing.     

Multi-level assessment of chronic toxicity of estuarine sediments with the amphipod Gammarus locusta: II. Organism and population-level endpoints

This study aimed to test the performance of the amphipod Gammarus locusta (L.) in chronic sediment toxicity tests. It constitutes part of a multi-level assessment of chronic toxicity of estuarine sediments, integrating organism and population-level endpoints with biochemical markers responses. Here we account for organism and population-level effects, while biomarker responses were reported in a companion article. Five moderately contaminated sediments from Sado and Tagus estuaries were tested, comprising 3 muddy and 2 sandy sediments. These sediments either did not show acute toxicity or were diluted with control sediment as much as required to remove acute toxicity. Subsequent chronic tests consisted of 28-day exposures with survival, individual growth and reproductive traits as endpoints. Two of the muddy sediments induced higher growth rates in the amphipods, and improved reproductive traits. This was understood to be a consequence of the amount of organic matter in the sediment, which was nutritionally beneficial to the amphipods, while concurrently decreasing contaminant bioavailability. Biomarker responses did not reveal toxicant-induced stress in amphipods exposed to these sediments. One of the sandy sediments was acutely toxic at 50% dilution, but in contrast stimulated amphipod growth when diluted 75%. This was presumed to be an indication of a hormetic response. Finally the two remaining contaminated sediments showed pronounced chronic toxicity, affecting survival and reproduction. The sex ratio of survivors was highly biased towards females, and offspring production was severely impaired. The particulars of the responses of this amphipod were examined, as well as strengths versus limitations of the sediment test. This study illustrates the utility of this chronic test for toxicity assessment of contaminated estuarine sediments, with potential application all along Atlantic Europe.     

A photochemical model of the martian atmosphere

The factors governing the amounts of CO, O2, and O3 in the martian atmosphere are investigated using a minimally constrained, one-dimensional photochemical model. We find that the incorporation of temperature-dependent CO2 absorption cross sections leads to an enhancement in the water photolysis rate, increasing the abundance of OH radicals to the point where the model CO abundance is smaller than observed. Good agreement between models and observations of CO, O2, O3, and the escape flux of atomic hydrogen can be achieved, using only gas-phase chemistry, by varying the recommended rate constants for the reactions CO + OH and OH + HO2 within their specified uncertainties. Similar revisions have been suggested to resolve discrepancies between models and observations of the terrestrial mesosphere. The oxygen escape flux plays a key role in the oxygen budget on Mars; as inferred from the observed atomic hydrogen escape, it is much larger than recent calculations of the exospheric escape rate for oxygen. Weathering of the surface may account for the imbalance. Quantification of the escape rates of oxygen and hydrogen from Mars is a worthwhile objective for an upcoming martian upper atmospheric mission. We also consider the possibility that HOx radicals may be catalytically destroyed on dust grains suspended in the atmosphere. Good agreement with the observed CO mixing ratio can be achieved via this mechanism, but the resulting ozone column is much higher than the observed quantity. We feel that there is no need at this time to invoke heterogeneous processes to reconcile models and observations.     

1993年中甸M5.8地震前后区域尾波衰减研究

以Aki,K和Chouet^[1]提出的地方震尾波散射理论为基础，利用1993年7月17日中甸MS5．8地震的前震和余震资料，研究了该次地震前后的尾波振幅衰减率β和QC^-1值的时空变化。结果表明，主震前后区域尾波振幅衰减率β和QC^-1值发生了明显的变化。主震前，区域平均β值为0．0122s^-1，相应的QC值为111；主震后，区域平均β值为0．023s^-1，相应的QC值为60。主震前后的QC值变化为1．85倍，表明在以主震为中心，半径约50km的小范围内主震前后的介质背景发生了明显变化。用释放的地震应变能ε（t)的空间分布特点分析，表明主震前高QC值地区与高应变能释放地区是相一致的。中甸地震序列的尾波振幅衰减β和QC值显示了具有前兆意义地空变化的过程，并以力学观点分析解释了产生这种变化的成因。     

The coda attenuation of the Yao''''an area in Yunnan Province

IntroductionThetravellingqualityfactorQofseismicwaveisoneofbasicphysicalparametersformeasuringthemediaattenuation(1/Q)intheearthandreflectionofinhomogeneityandinelasticityofthemedia,whichisusedinstudiesoffocalphysicsandengineeringearthquake.Qiscloselyrelatedtotheregionaltectonicactivityandseismicity.Thisfeaturehasbeenstudyingasoneoffactorsofearthquakeprediction(Chouet,1979;JinandAki,1986,1989).InYunnanregion,QIN(1992)andQIN,etal(1995)hadstudiedthefeaturesofregionalvariationofcodaQcandflu…     

利用前兆事件对云南地区地震进行中短期预测研究

对某些类型的主震事件, 进行中短期预测也许是可能的. 利用Varnes, Bufe和Varnes提出的破裂时间法模拟前兆地震能量加速释放模型,通过实际观测资料与理论公式的拟合, 可以建立主地震事件的中短期预测技术, 用以确定表示主震的地点、时间和震级大小. 本文使用的是云南区域台网的地震目录资料，覆盖的时间段为1965~2002年. 统计分析表明，在此37年时间内，等于或大于2.5级地震资料是相当完整的. 本文对云南地区的30次主震事件进行了模拟，其中25次主震事件由前兆序列模拟得到的预测时间和震级与实际值相当接近，主震震级预测精度约0.57个震级单位，假定已知前兆序列中最后一次事件，则预测主震发生时间误差约0.64年.对另外的5次主震事件，由于没有足够的前兆事件来充分确定前兆能量加速曲线或是存在对能量加速释放曲线的干扰事件，而不能进行破裂时间法模拟.本文的研究结果还表明，由于云南是破坏性地震和中小地震活跃的地区，因此，主地震与前兆事件最佳搜索半径不存在明显的线性关系.主震矩与系数k，m之间存在强烈的相关性，利用主震地震矩与系数的关系和限制指数m的取值范围，可进一步缩小预测时间和预测震级的最佳拟合区范围，提高了模拟主震事件的预测精度. 本文采用破裂时间法对30次主震事件进行拟合，80％以上获得了较好的结果. 显示出该方法在预测已知主震事件序列的能力方面大有希望，因此，利用前兆事件对未来主震事件进行中短期预测的前景是令人鼓舞的.      

2007年宁洱6.4级地震余震序列尾波QC值研究

基于Aki和Chouet的地方震尾波单次散射模型,利用思茅台记录到的2007年云南宁洱6.4地震余震的数字化波形观测资料,测量了震源区尾波Qc(f)值。当中心频率为1.5Hz时,宁洱地区的尾波Qc值在51～147之间,平均值为79,尾波的振幅衰减率βc(f)在0.014～0.039之间,平均值为0.028;测量得到该地区尾波Qc值与频率f的关系为Qc(f)=53f0.88;尾波波源因子与震级成正比关系,满足关系lgA0=1.51ML-0.94;测量结果显示宁洱地震余震序列的尾波值Qc较低,表明宁洱震源区属于构造运动较为活跃区。