Scale Effects on the Calculation of Ecosystem Service Values: A Comparison among Results from Different LULC Datasets

Land use/land cover (LULC) has an important impact on the ecological environment and is crucial for calculating ecosystem service values (ESVs). However, whether and to what extent the ESVs vary when calculated by LULC product data at different spatial scales remain unclear. Data from two LULC products were used in this study, and two datasets with different spatial scales were obtained by resampling. Then, the ESVs were calculated by the equivalent factor method. Finally, the impacts of LULC on ESVs at different scales were studied, revealing the following: (1) The ESVs calculated by LULC products and by the same products at different scales are different. (2) The difference in the ESVs calculated by the two LULC datasets is approximately 28%, and the difference tends to decrease with increasing scale. (3) With an increase in the LULC scale, the overall change trend of ESVs also increases, and the increasing trend gradually moderates. In addition, the ESVs and LULC scale conform to a logarithmic relationship, and the coefficient of determination (R2) is greater than 0.7. These results have important reference value for obtaining reliable ESVs.

An adaptive equivalent consumption minimization strategy considering catalyst temperature for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

In the process of sufficiently considering fuel economy of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the working time of engine will be reduced accordingly. The increased frequency that the three-way catalytic converter (TWCC) works in abnormal operating temperature will lead to the increasing of emissions. This paper proposes the equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) to ensure the catalyst temperature of PHEV can work in highly efficient areas, and the influence of catalyst temperature on fuel economy and emissions is considered. The simulation results show that the fixed equivalent factor of ECMS has great limitations for the underutilized battery power and the poor fuel economy. In order to further reduce fuel consumption and keep the emission unchanged, an equivalent factor map based on initial state of charge (SOC) and vehicle mileage is established by the genetic algorithm. Furthermore, an Adaptive changing equivalent factor is achieved by using the following strategy of SOC trajectory. Ultimately, adaptive equivalent consumption minimization strategy (A-ECMS) considering catalyst temperature is proposed. The simulation results show that compared with ordinary ECMS, HC, CO, and NOX are reduced by 14.6%, 20.3%, and 25.8%, respectively, which effectively reduces emissions. But the fuel consumption is increased by only 2.3%. To show that the proposed method can be used in actual driving conditions, it is tested on the World Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTC).

Genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of traditionally roasted meat using indicator polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Port Harcourt, Nigeria

This research is targeted to employ indicator like PAHs, mainly PAH4 and PAH8 to evaluate the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of PAHs in traditionally roasted meat (Suya) in selected locations at Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria, since its estimation using toxicity equivalent factor (TEF) model is not convenient. Suya sample were obtained at designated locations in the metropolitan city and were analyzed for PAHs present in them by using GC-FID and Chemstation after the PAHs were extracted using USEPA 8270 method. The series of results clearly indicated that indicator PAHs, i.e., PAH4 gave the best outlook on genotoxicity and carcinogenicity potential of the Suya over PAH8, PAH2 and Bap indicator PAHs and also visibly showed peak loadings of 0.15131 μg/Kg, which indicates that the sample Suya meat is not genotoxic or carcinogenic especially when correlated with current maximum regulatory value of 12 μg/Kg for PAH4. Regular consumption of Suya is however risky and may expose consumers to cancer.

Genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of traditionally roasted meat using indicator polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Port Harcourt, Nigeria

This research is targeted to employ indicator like PAHs, mainly PAH4 and PAH8 to evaluate the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of PAHs in traditionally roasted meat (Suya) in selected locations at Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria, since its estimation using toxicity equivalent factor (TEF) model is not convenient. Suya sample were obtained at designated locations in the metropolitan city and were analyzed for PAHs present in them by using GC-FID and Chemstation after the PAHs were extracted using USEPA 8270 method. The series of results clearly indicated that indicator PAHs, i.e., PAH4 gave the best outlook on genotoxicity and carcinogenicity potential of the Suya over PAH8, PAH2 and Bap indicator PAHs and also visibly showed peak loadings of 0.15131 μg/Kg, which indicates that the sample Suya meat is not genotoxic or carcinogenic especially when correlated with current maximum regulatory value of 12 μg/Kg for PAH4. Regular consumption of Suya is however risky and may expose consumers to cancer.

A Real-Time Optimal Car-Following Power Management Strategy for Hybrid Electric Vehicles with ACC Systems

This paper develops a model predictive multi-objective control framework based on an adaptive cruise control (ACC) system to solve the energy allocation and battery state of charge (SOC) maintenance problems of hybrid electric vehicles in the car-following scenario. The proposed control framework is composed of a car-following layer and an energy allocation layer. In the car-following layer, a multi-objective problem is solved to maintain safety and comfort, and the generated speed sequence in the prediction time domain is put forward to the energy allocation layer. In the energy allocation layer, an adaptive equivalent-factor-based consumption minimization strategy with the predicted velocity sequences is adopted to improve the engine efficiency and fuel economy. The equivalent factor reflects the extent of SOC variation, which is used to maintain the battery SOC level when optimizing the energy. The proposed controller is evaluated in the New York City Cycle (NYCC) driving cycle and the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule (UDDS) driving cycle, and the comparison results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Optimal Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle with Improved Genetic Algorithm

The equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) is a promising energy management approach to low-fuel economy with the outstanding features of high efficiency. In this article, an optimal ECMS by Improved Genetic Algorithm (IGA) is proposed. To this end, we improved the genetic algorithm (GA) from the coding method, initialization mode, and cross and mutation process. And based on the comprehensive energy consumption and Pontryagin’s minimum principle, the equivalent factor was derived. The IGA was used to optimize the equivalent factor. To evaluate the performance of the proposed energy management strategy (EMS), the average efficiency of the engine and the motor was analyzed in an urban area, high-speed area, and the whole area. The comprehensive fuel consumption was used as the energy consumption index, and the battery capacity loss under the transient conditions was amplified to 10 years as the evaluation battery life index. The simulation results show that under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), the proposed strategy improves the fuel economy and battery life index by 14.64% and 36.76%, respectively, compared with the rule-based EMS.