Worldwide impacts of atmospheric vapor pressure deficit on the interannual variability of terrestrial carbon sinksOA

Interannual variability of the terrestrial ecosystem carbon sink is substantially regulated by various environmental variables and highly dominates the interannual variation of atmospheric carbon dioxide(CO₂) concentrations.Thus,it is necessary to determine dominating factors affecting the interannual variability of the carbon sink to improve our capability of predicting future terrestrial carbon sinks.Using global datasets derived from machine-learning methods and process-based ecosy...     

Electron diffusion,electron attachment,and the aging of negative ions in commercial nitrogen at atmospheric pressure

A criticism by Loeb and Bradbury of my interpretation of the experimental results of that part of a previous paper which dealt with the aging of negative ions in commercial nitrogen is shown to be invalidated by a mistake in their analysis and by assumptions which do not represent facts with sufficient accuracy. A more extended analysis of the previous work and new evidence which is given confirm the correctness of the former contention that the negative ions in question changed in size with age. The lateral spread, owing to diffusion, of a stream of electrons in this nitrogen at atmospheric pressure, when moving in an electric field of about 100 volts/cm., was found to be very nearly the same as that for positive ions under like conditions. The average energy losses of the electrons at collision with the molecules must therefore have nearly balanced the gains from the electric field and hence were greater than would result from purely elastic collisions. The experimental results indicate that in fields down to at least 20 volts/cm. nearly all of the attachment of electrons to molecules in the gas used occurred close to the place of their liberation.     

The role of surface instability in electrical discharges from drops of alcohol and water in air at atmospheric pressure

A study of previous work on discharges from charged attached drops and from uncharged drops falling in electric fields shows that the surface electric intensities at these drops, when the discharges begin, satisfy the theoretical relations for surface instability. Glow discharges, if initially present, are conditioned by the surface deformation arising from instability. Experiments are described that indicate that the highly charged droplets ejected by an alcohol surface may have mobilities not much below those of normal air ions while such droplets coming from a water surface may have mobilities even greater than those of air ions. Calculations, by Stokes' Law, show such large mobilities for both kinds of drops to be possible. Further experiments show that under certain conditions the whole discharge current from an alcohol drop is carried solely by droplets of the liquid, resulting from surface instability, and under more restricted conditions the same may be true for a water drop.     

Emergent values for automatons: Ethical problems of life in the generalized Internet

The infrastructure is becoming a network of computerized machines regulated by societies of self-directing software agents. Complexity encourages the emergence of novel values in software agent societies. Interdependent human and software political orders cohabitate and coevolve in a symbiosis of freedoms.     

College Chemistry: how a textbook can reveal the values embedded in chemistry

This paper explores the norms, values and ethical attitudes that Linus Pauling wanted to convey to his students in his famous textbook College Chemistry. In this classic textbook, Pauling aimed to introduce beginners into the world of chemistry by presenting chemistry as a systematic science based on a collection of empirical data and a recent theoretical framework. In doing so, he expressed his epistemic and didactic choices clearly. College Chemistry therefore offers an ideal opportunity to examine some of the norms at the core of chemistry's 'moral economy'.     

规制性科学视角下我国PM2.5标准制定中的“反向规制”

规制性科学是指,在一定期限内,利用有限的科学证据制定标准,常见于生态、环境和公共卫生领域。我国在对雾霾中可吸入颗粒物PM2.5的标准制定中,出现了一种特殊的"反向规制"——对于雾霾的成因、现状、病理效应尚未有充分认知时,首先直接沿用世界卫生组织设定的PM2.5最宽限值,再逐渐开展针对我国雾霾限值的科学研究。反向规制因其过程的倒置性,只有在"好的科学"、"可用的科学"、"为谁的科学"这三个方面做出比常规规制更为严格的考量,才能承担起其本身负载的认知和伦理双重承诺,使我国PM2.5标准以实质的方式服务于公众健康、环境保护和绿色发展。     

Lockbox: mobility,privacy and values in cloud storage

This paper examines one particular problem of values in cloud computing: how individuals can take advantage of the cloud to store data without compromising their privacy and autonomy. Through the creation of Lockbox, an encrypted cloud storage application, we explore how designers can use reflection in designing for human values to maintain both privacy and usability in the cloud.     

God's signature: DNA profiling,the new gold standard in forensic science

In the mid-1980s, when the first DNA profiling techniques were developed, the name DNA 'fingerprinting' was widely used. At the time, fingerprinting was a well-established forensic method, and it was rarely questioned in the courts. Fingerprint examiners were permitted to describe matching prints as evidence of individual identity, and they were not required to give probability estimates. Despite its nominal association with the older technique, DNA 'fingerprinting' went through a period of controversy, especially in the US courts. The association with fingerprinting was questioned, and experts were required to qualify their testimony with probability figures. Heated debate occurred in scientific publications and law courts about the statistical and population genetic assumptions that went into the probability calculations presented in court cases. However, by the late 1990s DNA profiling was so widely accepted that it became a basis for invidious comparison with all other forms of forensic evidence, including fingerprinting. In the past three years, the admissibility of fingerprint evidence has been challenged in several US federal and state courts. This article discusses the socio-legal and socio-technical issues that led to the inversion of credibility that characterized the intertwined history of the two techniques.     

Citizens as planners: Harnessing information and values from the bottom-up

In this paper, we focus on understanding the critical role of everyday citizen in planning and policy-related issues in their city enabled by the newly emerging technological platforms such as mobile-based application and internet-based participatory platforms. The interest and capability of citizens to use and benefit from such online platforms that facilitate urban planning has grown in recent times, which makes it important to study the nature of these platforms and civic engagement that is facilitated through them. We study three such platforms and provide policy recommendations to urban planners based on our analyses of the platforms.     

Exploring atmospheric free-radical chemistry in China: the self-cleansing capacity and the formation of secondary air pollution

Since 1971, it has been known that the atmospheric free radicals play a pivotal role in maintaining the oxidizing power of the troposphere. The existence of the oxidizing power is an important feature of the troposphere to remove primary air pollutants emitted from human beings as well as those from the biosphere. Nevertheless, serious secondary air-pollution incidents can take place due to fast oxidation of the primary pollutants. Elucidating the atmospheric free-radical chemistry is a demanding task in the field of atmospheric chemistry worldwide, which includes two kinds of work: first, the setup of reliable radical detection systems; second, integrated field studies that enable closure studies on the sources and sinks of targeted radicals such as OH and NO₃. In this review, we try to review the Chinese efforts to explore the atmospheric free-radical chemistry in such chemical complex environments and the possible link of this fast gas-phase oxidation with the fast formation of secondary air pollution in the city-cluster areas in China.     

价值平衡视角下企业社会责任的实现途径分析

企业社会责任日益强调对利益相关者群体的影响。利益相关者群体有不同的价值倾向,社会型价值倾向与经济型、能力型及学习型的价值倾向间有互斥的一面,更有互利的一面。从平衡社会型价值倾向与其他价值倾向的角度分析了企业社会责任的实现途径。     

技术标准中的企业专利战略:一个案例分析

专利战略的重要意义已经普遍得到认识,然而专利战略的实际制订和实施依然没有成熟的模式。技术标准是公司梦寐以求的目标,那是获得市场的法宝。通过对GSM技术标准形成的回顾以及摩托罗拉和诺基亚等公司的专利战略分析,指出作为技术标准中的主要专利持有者,可以充分的挖掘专利的直接价值和间接价值,保证市场份额的同时,能够延续在技术上的优势。作为技术标准中的新进入者,或者是后发企业,则可以通过专利收购等措施获得部分专利,进入标准,同时凭借专注和投入,积极学习和创新,实现赶超。     

Gaining social values of wireless technology: An interpretive case study in the healthcare institutional context

The existing literature has given little consideration to social values of information technology in general or of wireless technology in particular. The purpose of this paper is thus to shed new light on this issue. Based on an interpretive case study, we examine two healthcare organisations and discover that social values are often manifested beyond, as well as within, organisations. A matrix of social values in relation to technology changes and their interactions with various stakeholders is further discussed. The matrix helps understand how various social values emerge from and revolve around organisations’ strategic management of information technology. The implications of the findings about social values are discussed and future research directions are suggested.