Energy intensity of a clean break

Institute of Mining, Siberian Branch, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Novosibirsk. Translated from Fiziko-Tekhnicheskie Problemy Razrabotki Poleznykh Iskopaemykh, No. 1, pp. 114–118, January–February, 1989.     

Prediction of High Methane-Recovery Regions and Gas Extraction Technology Based on Geodynamic Zoning of Bowels

An analysis is performed for the existing hypotheses and theories used for calculating the technological parameters of operations on methane extraction from coal seams. The priority of geodynamic processes in methane collector formation, as well as the methods applied for the morphometry and processing of the remote probing data are substantiated. The urgency is shown for the investigation into the autooxidation and other exothermic reactions proceeding in coal seams and leading to methane transition to the free state.     

Uptake of cadmium, zinc, copper, lead and chromium in the pacific oyster. Crassostrea gigas. Grown in the tamar river. Tasmania

Hundreds of oysters and mud samples from 15 sites along the Tamar River were analysed for cadmium, copper, zinc, lead and chromium. The widely accepted concept of enrichment factors of up to several hundred thousand, describing accumulation by oysters of cadmium, zinc and copper from seawater has been found to be grossly misleading. Concentrations found for these three metals in oysters were only 10–40 times the concentrations in inhabited muds. Concentrations of metals in muds may be used to indicate whether a potential oyster bed would produce oysters that were grossly contaminated. Approximately 1 ppm cadmium in mud could result in oysters containing at least 25 ppm, i.e. 4–5 ppm wet wt. Similarly. 100 ppm zinc in mud could produce oysters containing at least 4000 ppm. i.e. 800–1000 ppm wet wt. Three heavy metal accumulation processes were discernible. Copper and chromium appeared to be absorbed up to a maximum weight that was limited by the size of the oyster and was independent of the amount of metal in the mud. Lead was not absorbed through any physiological demand, but was randomly incorporated at sites containing high concentrations in the mud. Zinc and cadmium were accumulated by a process that depended primarily on the concentrations of these metals in the mud at each site. Mean dry wt concentrations of metals in oysters and mud samples ranged from: 4.2–134 ppm and 0·4 to 5·7 ppm cadmium; 200–1700 ppm and 3–224 ppm copper: 0 135 ppm and 4–1500 ppm lead: 1–37 ppm and 2–88 ppm chromium; 1700 14.000 ppm and 20–500 ppm zinc. respectively.     

Effect of agitation, turbidity, aluminium foil reflectors and container volume on the inactivation efficiency of batch-process solar disinfectors

We report the results of experiments designed to improve the efficacy of the solar disinfection of drinking water, inactivation process. The effects of periodic agitation, covering the rear surface of the container with aluminium foil, container volume and turbidity on the solar inactivation kinetics of Escherichia coli (starting population = 10(6) CFU ml(-1)) were investigated. It was shown that agitation promoted the release of dissolved oxygen from water with subsequent decrease in the inactivation rates of E. coli. In contrast, covering the rear surface of the solar disinfection container with aluminium foil improved the inactivation efficiency of the system. The mean decay constant for bacterial populations in foil-backed bottles was found to be a factor of 1.85 (std. dev. = 0.43) higher than that of non-foil-backed bottles. Inactivation rates decrease as turbidity increases. However, total inactivation was achievable in 300 NTU samples within 8 h exposure to strong sunshine. Inactivation kinetics was not dependent on the volume of the water container for volumes in the range 500-1500 ml.     

Particle-size distribution and phosphorus levels in soil, sediment, and urban dust and dirt samples from the Menomonee River Watershed, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Soil, bottom sediment, suspended sediment, and urban street dust and dirt samples from the Menomonee River Watershed, Wisconsin, were dispersed by ultrasound, fractionated and analyzed for the P content of each of three particle-size fractions. The major soil types in the watershed were used as a reference for comparing particle-size distribution and P content in urban street dust and dirt, and in sediments.Phosphorus level was found to be greater in the clay-sized particles than in the sand- or silt-sized particles of urban street dust and dirt samples, but 48% of the P was in the sand-sized fraction because of the predominance of sand-sized particles in these samples. The highest P level in the clay-sized fraction of the bottom sediments occurred at the site below a sanitary treatment plant (STP) outfall with secondary treatment capability. The P level found below a tertiary STP outfall was equal to the level found in agricultural areas. When using P level in sediment for locating areas of possible P input to the river, the clay-sized fraction of bottom sediments was more precise than P levels in unfractionated samples.     

Eating to your hearts delight

Food and knowledge of food is an essential part of life. Knowledge about how to get enough and how to get it right is an essential part of all cultures. Since food is vital, nutrition policy is critical. Nutrition policy is about who should eat what, why, when and how in order to promote better health. This article deals with the politics of nutrition, which is about who eats what, why, when, how, and with what impact on their lives. For food, whether it is scarce or abundant, affects people unequally, hence food has always been a social concern. Regulating its supply has been a source of civilization. The state of nutrition is one of the most potent indicators of the state of society. Hence, food is also one of the oldest objects of politics--indeed, one cannot think of politics without it. This is the first issue I will address: by offering a capsule history of humanity from the perspective of the politics of nutrition. Next, I will address, in a similarly compressed history, the development of the science of nutrition, as nutrition policy has become based on research--particularly on medical science. Finally, I will address nutrition policy as a subpart of the politics of nutrition--how it has been defined and how it has developed, its changing agendas and current concerns.