Agro-ecosystem modeling can aid in the optimization of biomass feedstock supply

Recent European Directives promoted the development of biofuels, requesting mandatory limits to their emissions ot greenhouse gases (GHG). Second-generation biofuels based on lignocellulosic biomass are prime candidates but their GHG emissions are variable and uncertain. Agro-ecosystem modeling can capture them and the performance of biofuel feedstocks.This study aimed at optimizing feedstock supply for a bioethanol unit in France, from agricultural residues, annual and perennial crops. Their productivity and environmental impacts were modelled on a regional scale using geo-referenced data on soil properties, crop management, land-use and future weather data. Several supply scenarios were tested. Cereal straw was the most efficient feedstock but had a low availability, and only miscanthus could meet the bioethanol plant's demand. Sorghum combined poor yields and high GHG emissions compared by miscanthus and triticale. A mix of three biomass sources used less than 3% of the regional agricultural land while abating GHG emissions by 60%.     

模糊专家理论在炮兵指挥控制系统中的运用

针对炮兵指挥控制系统在作战训练中遇到的问题,在科学地分析了影响效果和相关因素的基础上,依据模糊专家理论的方法和原理,设计了相关的运用决策框架,并提出了运用规则。     

运用管理在机务管理中的应用分析

机车运用管理是铁路行车组织工作的有机组成部分,铁路运输要围绕列车运行图来进行运行管理,机务管理工作要靠列车运行图牵引动力的机车周转图,机车周转图的完成是机务段各项工作顺利完成的最终目的。要根据本机务段的实际情况制订、安排机车周转图,保证铁路运输的经济和社会效益。探讨了运用管理在机务管理中的应用。     

Groundwater use in Spain: an overview in light of the EU Water Framework Directive

In semi-arid regions, aquifers provide a series of practical advantages that make them preferential sources of water supply. In Spain, groundwater meets about one-fifth of the total water demand and is used to irrigate over one-third of the total irrigated land. This article examines groundwater use in Spain from the perspective of the EU Water Framework Directive. Analysis of different sector uses suggests that core problems (and solutions) related to groundwater lie in agricultural uses and that the Directive's environmental requirements remain distant from reality on the ground, where economic, political and social reasons prevail on legal obligations set by national and supranational authorities.     

Spatial Water Use efficiency Index towards resource sustainability: application in the island of Crete,Greece

This paper introduces a new index to test water resource sustainability in regions where groundwater is the main source of water supply. The Spatial Water Use efficiency Index (SWUI) is a geographical information system (GIS) environment index which expresses the ratio of potential available water volume (groundwater recharge minus water needs) to the respective water needs. Its low and/or negative values indicate water stress. SWUI is applied in the island of Crete, Greece, where water needs are mainly covered by groundwater abstractions. The annual water mass balance is estimated using the RIBASIM (River Basin Simulation) model. The total freshwater needs in the Cretan region reach 535 hm³ annually according to the model's simulation. SWUI with values ranging from ? 0.8 to 214.3 has proved to be an important visual tool towards depicting the low efficiency of the east part of the island to cover water demand and a useful decision-making tool in the sustainability evaluation of groundwater aquifers.     

滁州花山水文实验流域氮流失特征分析

以滁州花山水文实验流域为研究对象,研究不同土地利用类型中各种形态的氮随径流流失的特征。基于2012年10月—2013年9月滁州花山水文实验流域氮素实验观测数据,对流域的氮随径流流失的特征进行了分析。结果表明:林地比重较大的集水区域径流中的TN质量浓度和NO-3-N质量浓度较高,农田比重较大的集水区域径流中的NH3-N质量浓度较高;在林地面积比例较大集水区域,TN质量浓度与NO-3-N质量浓度有较好的相关性;而在耕地面积比例较大的集水区域,TN质量浓度与NH3-N质量浓度表现出较好的相关性。对于嵌套子流域,NO-3-N质量浓度沿河道往下游随集水区域的增大和森林覆被比例的减少而呈逐渐递减趋势;在农田非施肥季节,各个月的TN质量浓度空间上自上而下随森林覆被比例的减少而呈逐渐递减趋势,而NH3-N质量浓度变化较小;在施肥季节,TN质量浓度随NH3-N质量浓度的上升而上升。研究还发现:研究区域汪郢左支断面和军事牌断面的集水区域林地比重高达99.92%以上,虽然人类活动较少,但TN质量浓度较高,分别为2.830 mg/L和4.028 mg/L,高于集水区域农田比重较大的竹园沟断面和新坝断面(两断面农田比重分别为39.59%和35.63%),分别是竹园沟断面和新坝断面的1.42~2.51倍、2.02~3.57倍;这一事实与人们通常的认识不一致,值得进一步深入研究。     

The use and acceptance of new media entertainment technology by elderly users: development of an expanded technology acceptance model

Research on elderly people's ICT acceptance and use often relies on the technology acceptance model (TAM) framework, but has been mostly limited to task-oriented uses. This article expands approaches in technology acceptance and use by developing a model to explain entertainment-related uses of new media technology by elderly people. On a theoretical level, we expand the TAM perspective by adding concepts that act as barriers and/or facilitators of technology acceptance, namely technophobia, self-efficacy and previous experience and expertise with technology. We develop an expanded TAM by testing the role of these concepts in two studies on entertainment media technology. In Study 1, we investigate behavioural intention to use 3D cinema among N?=?125 German elderly media users (Age 50+). In Study 2, we focus the actual use of a computer game simulation by N?=?115 German and US elderly media users (Age 50+). Findings in both studies point towards the central role of perceived usefulness, here modelled as enjoyment, as the reason for elderly people's use and acceptance of entertainment media technology. Perceived ease of use is seen as a precondition for enjoyment, particularly for interactive media.     

Business Intelligence Acceptance: The Prominence of Organizational Factors

The specifics of business intelligence systems compared to operational IS motivate the necessity to research the business intelligence systems acceptance determinants separately. The authors followed an exploratory approach in order to conceptualize a business intelligence acceptance model. Their findings show that in the Business Intelligence Systems context, there is a significant emphasis on organizational factors, such as result demonstrability, social influence, and facilitating conditions with sufficient resources that help build an adequate information culture all substantially influencing the effective acceptance of business intelligence systems.     

Ethnography of Novices' First Use of Web Search Engines

Abstract

Without prior searching instruction, undergraduate novices wrote structured self-reports during their first session on a Web search engine. Users chose their own topics and followed written instructions that prompted them to describe thoughts and feelings during specified stages of the search: pre-search formulation; search statement formulation; search strategy; and evaluation of results. The sentences in the self-reports were numbered and then coded according to their affective or cognitive function. The affective sentences reveal how users set goals and limit the scope of the cognitive operations. Search acts appear to be governed by an affective filter that organizes incoming information and provides criteria for ranking cognitive relevance to search goal. The cognitive sentences reveal a variety of operations in executing searches. Following the search, students made self-ratings on self-confidence as searchers and satisfaction with the search experience, with explanations of their ratings. Content analysis identified reasons users have for rating self-confidence, stress level, satisfaction, usefulness, and success with future searches.     

节水型社会建设与用水效率控制

在综合分析区域水资源特点、水资源承载能力、用水水平与效率及产业结构调整和水价等影响因素的基础上,提出了工业、农业和生活等方面的节水潜力.以提高水资源利用效率和效益为核心,根据我国不同地区的自然特点、水资源条件、经济社会发展和生态环境保护及其对水资源高效利用的要求,研究提出全国节水型社会建设的目标与任务,确定了不同区域用水效率控制红线,制定了全国节水战略与布局,提出了工业、农业和城镇生活等重点领域节水对策措施.按照量水而行、以水定发展的原则,因地制宜确定不同区域节水型社会建设的重点和方向.