Detailed data on the long-term performance of bioretention cells (BC) for stormwater management are sparse. This research aimed at setting up and testing an infrastructure that will provide the data on hydrologic and chemical performance of BC. Two identical experimental BC’s were built. The monitoring methodology monitoring was developed and tested during a first growing season with the first BC supplied with natural rainfall, while the second BC was used for ponding experiments. Key layer of the BCs, a biofilter, was composed of sand, compost and topsoil. Both BCs are equipped with sensors monitoring the components of water balance and the water potential of the biofilter. High levels of total suspended solids were detected in the outflow. The runoff coefficient for the entire period of the growing season was 0.72 in the first BC and 0.86 in the second BC, while the peak outflow reduction for individual rainfall episodes ranged between 75% to 95% for the first BC and 19% to 30% for the second BC. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of the biofilter in the first BC decreased by two orders of magnitudes after the first year of operation. Retention curves of the biofilter changed due to material consolidation.
The recently advanced approach of wavelet transforms is applied to the analysis of lake levels. The aim of this study is to investigate the variability of lake levels in four lakes in the Great Lakes region where the method of continuous wavelet transform and global spectra are used. The analysis of lake-level variations in the time-scale domain incorporates the method of continuous wavelet transform and the global spectrum. Four lake levels, Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, and Lake Superior in the Great Lakes region were selected for the analysis. Monthly lake level records at selected locations were analyzed by wavelet transform for the period 1919 to 2004. The periodic structures of the Great Lakes levels revealed a spectrum between the 1-year and 43- year scale level. It is found that major lake levels periodicities are generally the annual cycle. Lake Michigan levels show different periodicities from Lake Erie and Lake Superior and Lake Ontario levels. Lake Michigan showed generally long-term (more than 10 years) periodicities. It was shown that the Michigan Lake shows much stronger influences of inter-annual atmospheric variability than the other three lakes. The other result was that some interesting correlations between global spectrums of the lake levels from the same climatic region were found. and Nedávno zdokonalená metóda vlnovej transformácie je aplikovaná na analýzu úrovne hladín jazier. Táto práca obsahuje výsledky štúdia variability úrovne hladín štyroch jazier v regióne Veľkých jazier, s využitím metódy kontinuálnej vlnovej transformácie a globálneho spektra. Boli študované variácie hladín vybraných Veľkých jazier v závislosti od času. Na analýzu úrovne hladín boli vybrané štyri jazerá: Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, a Lake Superior v regióne Great Lakes. Mesačné chody úrovne hladín za obdobie rokov 1919 až 2004 boli študované vlnovou analýzou. Periodická štruktúra hladín Great Lakes bola zistená v spektre medzi 1 a 43 rokmi. Bolo zistené, že hlavnou periódou úrovne hladín je ročný cyklus. Na rozdiel od jazier Lake Erie, Lake Superior a Lake Ontario úrovne hladín Lake Michigan majú inú periodicitu. Lake Michigan má vo všeobecnosti dlhodobú (viac ako 10-ročnú) periodicitu. Je ukázané, že jazero Michigan reaguje na medziročnú variabilitu vlastností atmosféry výraznejšie ako ostatné tri jazerá. Ďalšími výsledkami analýzy sú niektoré zaujímavé korelácie medzi všeobecným spektrom úrovne hladín jazier z identického klimatického regiónu.
The primary purpose of this work was to assess the persistence of water repellency in the surface horizon of coarse-textured soils under natural Quercus robur ecosystems, and Pinus pinaster and Eucalyptus globulus plantations, in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Water repellency was determined by applying the water drop penetration test (WDPT) to soil samples collected from variable depths (0–40 cm). Measurements were made on field-moist samples obtained at the end of the dry period and on samples dried at 25ºC in the air. All soils exhibited very high (severe to extreme) water repellency in the topmost soil layer (0–5 cm) but no significant differences among the three plant species studied. Extreme persistence was observed down to 20 cm in the soils under eucalyptus and down to 10 cm in those under pine. The soils under oak were those exhibiting the highest variability in water repellency and the greatest decrease in it with increasing depth (especially in relation to soils under eucalyptus).
Water repellency exhibited significant positive correlation with the C content and C/N ratio of the soils. Soil water repellency was similar in the air-dried samples and field-moist samples.
There are two general views about the nature of what matters, i.e. about the metaphysical ground of prudential concern, the ground of the concern we have for our own future welfare. On the one hand, the identity-is-what-matters view tells us that prudential concern is grounded on one’s continuing identity over time; I am concerned with my own future welfare because it is my own future welfare. On the other hand, the identity-is-not-what-matters view tells us that prudential concern is not grounded on such continuing identity; rather, it is grounded on some continuity-relation, which only coincides with identity. In this paper, I explore a primary motivation for the latter view—viz., Parfit’s fission case—and show that there are interesting ways to resist it., Existují dva obecné názory o podstatě toho, co je důležité, tj. O metafyzickém základě obezřetného znepokojení, o důvodech zájmu, které máme k našemu vlastnímu budoucímu blahu. Na jedné straně je názor ''identity-co-záleží'', který nám říká, že obezřetnostní obava je založena na trvalé identitě v průběhu času; Zajímám se o své budoucí sociální blaho, protože je to moje vlastní budoucí blaho. Na druhou stranu názor ''identity-ne-jak-to-záleží'' nám říká, že obezřetnostní obava není zakotvena na takovéto pokračující identitě; spíše je založen na nějakém vztahu kontinuity, který se shoduje pouze s identitou. V tomto článku zkoumám primární motivaci k posledně uvedenému pohledu - viz., Parfitovu štěpící případ - a ukázat, že existují zajímavé způsoby, jak tomu odolat., and Jeremiah Joven Joaquin
The article deals with some questions that are closely connected with clarifying the meaning of causal claims and understanding of their distinctive features. It presents a perspectival view of causation that regards both the asymmetry of causation and its temporal orientation as products of our own perspective we all share. The author argues against one of the basic thesis of causal perspectivalism according to which the notion of causation arises from our experience of success as agents, and she asserts that the distinction between causes and effects can also be relevant to practical or epistemic behaviour of creatures who are mere observers., Článek se zabývá některými otázkami, které úzce souvisejí s objasňováním významu kauzálních tvrzení a pochopením jejich charakteristických rysů. Představuje perspektivní pohled na příčinnou souvislost, která se týká jak asymetrie příčinných souvislostí, tak její časové orientace jako produktů našeho vlastního pohledu. Autor argumentuje proti jedné ze základních tezí kauzální perspektivy, podle které pojem příčinnosti vyplývá z naší zkušenosti s úspěchem jako agentů, a tvrdí, že rozlišení mezi příčinami a následky může být také relevantní pro praktické nebo epistemické chování tvorů, jsou pouhými pozorovateli., and Zdeňka Jastrzembská