Contamination of soils and plants by mercury as influenced by the proximity to industries in Alexandria,Egypt

The amounts of total Hg in the soils and the edible parts of seven vegetable plant crops grown in unpolluted and polluted soils were studied.The highly polluted soils contained higher levels of Hg (495 ppb) than those in the unpolluted (35 ppb). The topsoil was highly enriched with Hg than the subsoil as the result of the deposition of Hg particulates produced from the industries.Plants grown in soils near industries contained high levels of Hg up to 362 ppb. The amounts of Hg in the plant species which grown in winter were higher than those grown in summer.     

Shifting balances in U.S. metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area growth

"This paper assesses some of the recent attempts to explain the perceived growth reversal between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in the United States during the 1970s. The paper argues that the reversal in population trends was not a one-time, radical shift in settlement trends, but rather the result of more continuous underlying industrial trends. Indeed, since 1979, population growth has again become faster in metropolitan than nonmetropolitan areas." The paper includes three sections. Regional and area population and industrial earnings growth patterns are first summarized for the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Theories of polarization and polar reversal are then evaluated and found to be inadequate. Finally, a reconstruction of the neoclassical model is proposed.     

Expansion of the US wildland–urban interface

For at least two decades, expansion of low-density residential development at the wildland–urban interface has been widely recognized as a primary factor influencing the management of US national forests. We estimate the location, extent, and trends in expansion of the wildland–urban interface (WUI) in the continental United States. We mapped the WUI by determining the intersection of housing density classes computed from refined US Census data with a map of wildfire hazards based on broad forest types using definitions of WUI from the Federal Register. Our methods allowed us to provide a more spatially precise estimation of the WUI that better reflects development patterns of interest to forest land managers. We defined three wildfire hazard classes based on vegetation type. “High” severity applies to vegetation types in which stand-replacing fires dominate both historical and recent fire regimes, e.g., lodgepole pine forest. “Low” severity applies where fuels and climate foster mostly low-intensity fires, e.g., aspen-birch forest. “High (historically low or variable)” applies to vegetation types in which fires historically were of low or variable intensity, but recently have often burned at high intensity because of a century of fire exclusion, e.g., southwestern ponderosa pine forest. In 2000, the WUI that includes a 3.2 km community protection zone occupied 465,614 km², and contained over 12.5 million housing units. This is an expansion of over 52% from 1970, and by 2030 the WUI is likely to expand to at least 513,670 km² with the greatest expansion occurring in the intermountain west states. Roughly 89% of the WUI is privately owned land and about 65% of the WUI occurs in high or high (historically low or variable) severity fire regime classes.     

Controlein situ du compactage de remblais sous eau

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - La fermeture de l'Escaut oriental constitute le couronnement des travaux du Plan Delta aux Pays-Bas. Le danger de l'érosion et de...     

A preliminary note on the sequential decomposition of pectin by aquatic bacteria

In a eutrophic lake, an inverse relationship was observed between total aerobic heterotrophic bacteria and their pectolytic share which consisted mainly of Flavobacterium-Cytophaga species. When grown in a medium containing pectin and yeast extract as organic compounds pure cultures of the most abundant type of this bacterial group showed a diauxic characteristic of growth. Short time before entering the first lag phase of growth, production of pectolytic enzymes increased until the end of the second log phase of growth. This phenomenon may be due to the mechanism of a catabolic repression and derepression.     

Evacuation of a Metro Train in an Underground Rail Transportation System: Flow Rate Capacity of Train Exits,Tunnel Walking Speeds and Exit Choice

Including in total 135 participants in the ages 19–69 years (recruited from the general public), an unannounced full-scale field evacuation experiment was performed in the Stockholm underground metro system on the night between October 17 and 18, 2014. The purpose was to collect data on the flow rate of people in train exits during the evacuation of a train in a tunnel and on the walking speed of people when moving long distances on an uneven surface in a tunnel, and to study exit choice and behaviour during an evacuation. Consequently, the experiment involved the evacuation of a rail car (a Bombardier C20 train) in a tunnel as well as the subsequent evacuation of the tunnel itself; the latter meant that the participants either could evacuate to the closest station (~400 m) or to an available emergency exit (~200 m). Among other things, the experiment demonstrated that the averaged flow rates of people in the train exits varied between 0.19 p/s and 0.22 p/s (0.14–0.16 p/m s when considering the train exit width of 1.4 m) and that the averaged walking speeds in the tunnel varied between 1.1 m/s and 1.2 m/s (no smoke present). Furthermore, all 135 participants found and used the available emergency exit, which had been equipped with a technical system consisting of a loudspeaker that broadcasted a combined alarm signal and a pre-recorded voice message.     

Feature analysis of women's wedding dresses in new,style weddings in the Wu culture region in modern times北大核心CSCD

To further clarify the features of wedding dresses in new, style weddings in cities and towns of the Wu culture region, the author sorted out and made a statistical analysis of modern journals and periodicals as well as conducted a comparison in combination with diaries of celebrities and novels in modern times to collect 368 wedding photos in total in the Wu culture region. The analysis results indicate that wedding dresses in the Wu culture region were mainly of modified styles from 1859 to 1949, the development of wedding dresses went through the stages of unitary styles, mixed styles and diversified styles, in each of which there were also representative regular ways of matching. In general, wedding dresses were in simple, elegant and delicate styles, and the silhouettes kept up with popular western styles, showing a high level of acceptance of foreign cultures. The colors of wedding dresses tended to combinations of light colors, while traditional colors were gradually reduced. Besides, patterns of flowers and plants with thin stems and leaves were mainly used to decorate wedding dresses, showing the distribution features of scattering and covering. © 2018 China Silk Association. All rights reserved.     

Column Kinetic Tests Assessing Geochemical Behavior of Mine Wastes in the Jerada Coal District (Morocco)

The Jerada anthracite mine in Morocco was abandoned in 2001 after producing approximately 20 million tonnes of solid waste. The acid generating potential of these wastes was determined by performing tests on five samples collected from relatively older and more recent waste deposits. No carbonate minerals were identified. Pyrite was the only sulphide mineral observed and much of it had been completely transformed into Fe-oxides. Analysis of the waste indicated low levels (<1 %) of Ca and Mg, while Fe and Al concentrations generally exceeded 5 %. Modified Sobek static tests and column kinetic tests were conducted for 24 months. The static test results were not conclusive (20 <net neutralising potential <20 Kg CaCO₃/t). Leachates from the kinetic tests for three of the five samples showed an initially acidic pH, while those of the remaining two became acidic by the end of the tests. Sulfate concentrations (SO₄ ^2?) decreased over time from 5000 to 200 mg/L.