An assessment of the Spanish national hydrological plan

The paper is a comprehensive review of the Spanish National Hydrological Plan, which proposes to transfer water from the lower part of the Ebro River up to the Levante basins, around 912 km away. The National Hydrological Plan is a conventional, static plan, which focuses primarily on supply management. The plan is based on the explicit assumption that the world will change only incrementally during its entire economic life of 100-200 years. The analysis indicates that much of the increased water demands forecasted are unlikely to materialize due to increasing emphasis on demand management practices, major structural changes in the agricultural sector that will occur by 2020 and the requirements of the Water Directive of the European Union, which must be fulfilled by 2010. Even now, the cost per cubic metre of water delivered at the end of the transfer is nearly twice the cost of desalinated water. The National Hydrological Plan in its present form cannot be justified for economic, environmental and social reasons. In addition, the plan will not be necessary if demand management practices are implemented.     

Behavior of a periodic chromatic test with an achromatic Ronchi grating as a background

The aim of this article is to study the influence of an achromatic Ronchi grating (white and black stripes) used as a background, over a periodic chromatic test (red or green). Depending on the grating frequency, two parameters were used to study this influence: modulation ratio and grating contrast. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2012     

The roles of altitude and fear in the perception of height.

Previous research on perceiving spatial layout has found that people often exhibit normative biases in their perception of the environment. For instance, slant is typically overestimated and distance is usually underestimated. Surprisingly, however, the perception of height has rarely been studied. The present experiments examined the perception of height when viewed from the top (e.g., looking down) or from the bottom (e.g., looking up). Multiple measures were adapted from previous studies of horizontal extents to assess the perception of height. Across all of the measures, a large, consistent bias was found: Vertical distances were greatly overestimated, especially from the top. Secondary findings suggest that the overestimation of distance and size that occurs when looking down from a high place correlates with reports of trait- and state-level fear of heights, suggesting that height overestimation may be due, in part, to fear. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of handedness and reachability on perceived distance.

Previous research has suggested that perceived distances are scaled by the action capabilities of the body. The present studies showed that when “reachability” is constrained due to a difficult grasp required to pick up an object, perceived distance to the object increases. Participants estimated the distances to tools with handle orientations that made them either easy or difficult to grasp with their dominant and nondominant hands. Right-handed participants perceived tools that were more difficult to grasp to be farther away than tools that were easier to grasp. However, perceived distance did not differ in left-handed participants. These studies suggest that, when reaching toward a target, the distance to that target is scaled in terms of how far one can effectively reach, given the type of reaching posture that is executed. Furthermore, this effect is modulated by handedness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chromium remediation or release? Effect of iron(II) sulfate addition on chromium(VI) leaching from columns of chromite ore processing residue

Chromite ore processing residue (COPR), derived from the so-called high lime processing of chromite ore, contains high levels of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) and has a pH between 11 and 12. Ferrous sulfate, which is used for remediation of Cr(VI) contamination in wastewater and soils via reduction to Cr(III) and subsequent precipitation of iron(III)/chromium(III) hydroxide, has also been proposed for remediation of Cr(VI) in COPR. Instead, however, addition of FeSO4 to the infiltrating solution in column experiments with COPR greatly increased leaching of Cr(VI). Leached Cr(VI) increased from 3.8 to 12.3 mmol kg(-1) COPR in 25 pore volumes with 20 mM FeSO4, reaching solution concentrations as high as 1.6 mM. Fe(II) was ineffective in reducing Cr(VI) to Cr(III) because it precipitated when it entered the column due to the high pH of COPR, while Cr(VI) in solution was transported away with the infiltrating solution. The large increase in leaching of Cr(VI) upon infiltration of sulfate, either as FeSO4 or Na2SO4, was caused by anion exchange of sulfate for chromate in the layered double hydroxide mineral hydrocalumite, a process for which scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis provided direct evidence.     

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: improving water services in cities affected by extreme weather events

Abstract

This article discusses how key risks from extreme weather events might affect progress towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 11 in cities in developing countries. It outlines the magnitude of the existing shortfall in safe water and sanitation services, and how climate change will exacerbate existing problems. It argues that the performance of many governments thus far has lacked urgency and purpose. Unless governments in particular become more committed, with redoubled effort, the goals are unlikely to be achieved.     

为什么人机界面无处不在

显示器、触摸屏、终端一这些人机界面似乎无处不在。它们中的很多比二十年前的按钮和开关还要小,而且功能已经非常复杂,可以帮助管理和运营进行控制,并为其提供信息。