Relationships between ENSO events and San Francisco rainfall, 1949-1991

As California entered its sixth consecutive year of drought, the onset of a positive sea surface temperature anomaly in the equatorial Pacific and other indicators of a developing ENSO event were observed. This brought the following question from the media, water officials, and the public: What effect will El Niño have on the current rainfall season in general and on the intraseasonal distribution of rain in particular? To answer the question, the historical San Francisco rainfall record was examined in relationship to previous ENSO events.

Climatic impacts of the 1991-92 Western winter

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): The latest in a series of unusual winters affected the western United States during 1991-92. This report is primarily concerned with the 6 to 8 coolest months, with some consideration of the adjacent summer months. ... Much of the winter was characterized by "split flow" west of North America. As it approached the West Coast, the jet stream frequently diverged into a northern branch toward Panhandle Alaska and a second southern branch that dived south along the California coast and then eastward along the US-Mexican border. Repeatedly, storms approaching the West Coast were stretched north-to-south, losing their organization in the process.

Appraisal of PD6493:1991 fracture assessment procedures

PD6493:1991 fracture assessment have been performed for a range of large-scale fracture mechanics tests conducted at TWI in the past. These tests cover several material groups, including pressure vessel steels, pipeline steels, stainless steels and aluminium alloys, including parent material and weldments. Ninety-two wide plate and pressure vessel tests have been assessed, following Levels 1, 2 and 3 PD6493:1991 procedures. In total, over 400 assessments have been performed, examining many features of the fracture assessment procedure including toughness input, proof testing, residual stress assumptions and stress state (tension, bending and biaxial). In all cases the large scale tests have been assessed as one would actual structures: i.e., based on lower bound toughness values obtained from small scale fracture toughness specimens.

Some examples of multiple solutions in limiting flaw calculations using PD6493:1991 fracture mechanics analyses

The use of PC-based PD6493:1991 fracture assessment procedures has revealed that, under certain circumstances, flaws of different dimensions may be found as being limiting or critical for identical applied conditions. The main causes for multiple solutions are a steep applied stress gradient, residual stress relaxation and flaw re-characterisation. This work uses several case studies to illustrate some of the circumstances under which multiple solutions occurs.

Reports of the ICSF seminar / workshop on the conditions of fishworkers on distant water vessels, Manila, Philippines, 1-3 February 1991

This ICSF Exchange Programme held in Manila is an offshoot of the Bangkok Conference on “Global Fisheries Trends and Future of Fishworkers” held on January 22–27, 1990. One of the issues raised in that conference was about the operation of Taiwanese fishing vessels outside its territorial waters and the impact of such operations on small fishermen from the countries concerned. The presence of a Taiwanese fishworker as well as an NGO supporter contributed to an enlightening discussion as the former shed light on the sad plight of Taiwanese fishworkers who are the victims of such structural problems. This meaningful exchange between groups of fishermen, particularly Taiwanese and Filipinos, resulted in the plan of the Taiwanese delegation to have some Taiwanese fishermen visit the Philippines and immerse in fishing communities.

Degradation of tropical forest in Hainan, China, 1991-2008: Conservation implications for Hainan Gibbon (Nomascus hainanus)

The Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) is one of the most endangered primates in the world, confined to mature natural forest in Hainan Island, China. We assessed changes in habitat condition on the island between 1991 and 2008, using vegetation maps generated by remote-sensing images. We defined forest suitable for gibbons based on composition, tree size and canopy cover. During the 17-year period, the area of suitable gibbon forest decreased by 540 km(2) (35%) across the whole island, and by 6.3 km(2) (7%) in the locality of the sole remaining gibbon population at Bawangling National Nature Reserve. The forest patches large enough (>1 km(2)) to support a gibbon group decreased from 754 km(2) to 316 km(2) in total area, and from 92 to 64 in number. Suitable natural forest was mainly replaced by plantations below 760 m, or degraded by logging, grazing and planting of pines above 760 m. Meanwhile, forests in former confirmed gibbon areas became more fragmented: mean area of patches decreased by 53%. We mapped the patches of natural forest in good condition which could potentially support gibbons. We recommend a freeze on further expansion of plantations between core patches at Bawangling, Jiaxi-Houmiling and Yinggeling Nature Reserves in accordance with forest protection regulations; establishment of nature reserves in currently unprotected natural forest patches elsewhere in line with the local government's nature reserve expansion policy; and active natural-forest restoration between remaining fragments at Bawangling. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Report of the catch assessment survey: fishery survey of Kyoga Lakes August 1990 - March 1991

This report presents the information obtained during catch assessment surveys made by the ADP Fishery Survey of Lake Kyoga and Lake Kwania between August 1990 and July 1991. It supersedes previous interim reports on these surveys. The Kyoga lakes had not been surveyed in a long time. Information on the state of the stocks was largely confined conclusions drawn from data collected along the southern shore of L.Kyoga proper. The effect of harmful/illegal gear types on the stocks was not documented. Part I provides a description of the survey. Part II comprises a review of the fishing strategies. Parts III and IV present the principal results obtained on L.Kyoga and L.Kwania. Part V presents a discussion of the main conclusions.

Bibliometric analysis of biological invasions research during the period of 1991 to 2007

The objective of this study is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of all biological invasions-related publications in the Science Citation Index (SCI) from 1991 to 2007. The indicator citation per publication (CPP) was used to evaluate the impact of articles, journals, and institutions. In the 3323 articles published in 521 journals, 7261 authors from 1905 institutions of 100 countries participated. As the most productive country of biological invasions research, the US will benefit from more collaboration between institutions, countries, and continents. In addition, analysis of keywords was applied to reveal research trends.

Bibliometric analysis of nicotine research in China during the period of 1991 to 2007

With the widespread exposure of people to nicotine through recreational use of tobacco products, research into nicotine has attracted increasing attention. Tobacco smoking is by far the most important cause of lung cancer. As the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco products, China bears a large proportion of the global burden of smoking-related disease; therefore, information on nicotine publications should be collected to formulate future research policy. In the present study, we investigated nicotine-related research articles published by Chinese authors that were indexed in the Science Citation Index (SCI) from 1991 to 2007. An indicator "citations per publication" (CPP) was used in the study to evaluate the impact of journals, articles, and institutes. The quantity of publications has increased at a quicker pace than the worldwide trend. Article visibility, measured as the frequency of being cited, also increased during the period. However, the overall quality of articles, based on the impact factor of journals publishing those articles, dropped behind the worldwide average level. There has been an increase in international collaboration, mainly with researchers in the USA. The average CPP of international co-authorship articles was higher than that of single country publications. Besides the USA, nicotine research in China will benefit from more collaboration with Taiwan, England, and Germany. Some 110 of 264 articles were published by a single institute, and the top six institutes were compared from various angles. Seventy-two subject categories were covered, and trends (in terms of both quantity and quality) of nicotine research in China were compared with worldwide trends. In addition, analysis of keywords in both nicotine and lung cancer research fields was applied to indicate research interests. Mutual cooperation among multiple disciplines needs further strengthening.